But in looking further into this question, it seemed to make a material
difference which of the two they selected, as far as they had in view the
due execution of any laws, which might be made respecting them, and their
own prospect of success in the undertaking. For, by aiming at the abolition
of the Slave-trade, they were laying the axe at the very root. By doing
this, and this only, they would not incur the objection, that they were
meddling with the property of the planters, and letting loose an irritated
race of beings, who, in consequence of all the vices and infirmities, which
a state of slavery entails upon those who undergo it, were unfit for their
freedom. By asking the government of the country to do this, and this only,
they were asking for that, which it had an indisputable right to do;
namely, to regulate or abolish any of its branches of commerce; whereas it
was doubtful, whether it could interfere with the management of the
internal affairs of the colonies, or whether this was not wholly the
province of the legislatures established there.
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