Lord Glenelg's conduct on this occasion is most creditable
to him.]
The latest act of Thomas Clarkson's life has been one which, or rather
the occasion for which, it is truly painful to contemplate; but this too
must be recorded, or the present historical sketch would be incomplete.
He whose days had all been spent in acts of kindness and of justice to
others, was at last forced to exert his powers, supposed, by some, and
erroneously supposed, to be enfeebled by age, in obtaining redress for
his own wrongs. He whose thoughts had all been devoted to the service of
his fellow-creatures, was now obliged to think of himself. A life spent
in works of genuine philanthropy, alike standing aloof from party, and
retiring with genuine humility from the public gaze, might have well
hoped to escape that detraction, which is the lot of those who assume
the leading stations among their contemporaries, and mingle in the
contentious scenes of worldly affairs. Or, at least, it might have been
expected that his traducers would only be found among the oppressors of
the New World, or the slave-traders of the Old. This felicity has not
been his lot; and the evening of his days has been overcast by an
assault upon his character, proceeding from the quarter of all others
the most unexpected and the most strange.
Pages:
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49