The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade or, to be more precise, the Society's guiding London Committee, was the prototype of the 19th-century reform organisation. Its self-appointed task was to create a constituency for British anti-slavery through the distribution of abolitionist books, pamphlets, prints and artefacts. The Committee also had its own network of local contacts ('agents' and 'country committees') scattered across the length and breadth of the country. And, finally, there was Thomas Clarkson, a sort of 'TRAVELLING AGENT', who provided a vital link between London and the provinces, organising committees, distributing tracts and offering advice and encouragement to hundreds of grass-roots activists.