In
looking into the subject, it appeared to them that there were two evils,
quite distinct from each other, which it might become their duty to
endeavour to remove. The first was the evil of the Slave-trade, in
consequence of which many thousand persons were every year fraudulently and
forcibly taken from their country, their relations, and friends, and from
all that they esteemed valuable in life. The second was the evil of slavery
itself, in consequence of which the same persons were forced into a
situation, where they were deprived of the rights of men, where they were
obliged to linger out their days subject to excessive labour and cruel
punishments, and where their children were to inherit the same hard lot.
Now the question was, which of the two evils the commitee should select as
that, to which they should direct their attention with a view of the
removal of it; or whether, with the same view, it should direct its
attention to both of them.
It appeared soon to be the sense of the commitee, that to aim at the
removal of both would be to aim at too much, and that by doing this we
might lose all.
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