Hello and welcome to episode 11 of the Giants of the Faith podcast. My name is Robert Daniels and I'm the host of this show. This is the podcast where we look at individuals from the age of the Church who have lived out their faith in a unique or interesting way. These are people who are giants in the history of Christendom; hall of famers, if you will.
Today we'll focus on the 18th and 19th century statesman, William Wilberforce. Wilberforce was the public face of the abolitionist movement in Britain and his convictions came from his faith. He persevered in the face of great opposition and is remembered and revered today by both Christian and secular audiences alike.
William Wilberforce was born August 24, 1759 in Kingston upon Hull, England, to parents Robert and Elizabeth. His family was a wealthy one - his grandfather had made the family fortune and his father continued it. He was the third child, and only boy, of his parent. When he reached 8 years old he began to attend the Hull Grammar School where he met and was influenced by prominent Christian scholar Joseph Milner. Wilberforce was a small, sickly child who began to flourish at Hull Grammar.
Unfortunately his father died in 1768 and William was sent to live with his childless and wealthy aunt and uncle Hannah and William Wilberforce in London. Hannah and William were committed Methodists and so young William was exposed to the preaching of George Whitefield and John Newton at an early age. Whitefield was one of the founders of the Methodism movement. And Newton was a former slave and slaver who's most known for penning the great hymn Amazing Grace.
Methodism, if you aren't familiar, is a Protestant movement that came out of the teachings of John and Charles Wesley. We'll cover them in a future episode. Methodist distinctives include imparted righteousness, which is a righteousness given by God at conversion, and the possibility of perfect sanctification. This leads Methodists to participate and support charitable works and organizations and to put their faith into practice to try and improve society. William's mother was not a fan of the Methodist influence on her son, however, and called him home in 1771.
His mother didn't want to send him back to Hull Grammar School because the headmaster there had become a Methodist himself so he was sent to the Pocklington School where he was enrolled until 1776. While at school, his aunt and uncle's religious influence on him faded and he became a regular card player, theater goer, and a regular man of society. In October of 1776 he enrolled in St. John's College at Cambridge. Not long after both his uncle and grandfather expired and that left William as a very rich young man with property and financial security. This newfound wealth led him to neglect his studies somewhat and throw himself into cards and gambling and drinking. He wasn't a total failure at school, however, as he did achieve a Bachelor's degree in 1781 and a Master's in 1788. He also met and became friends with William Pitt, future Prime Minister of Great Britain and the United Kingdom and also the son of a former Prime Minister.
While Wilberforce and Pitt were still students they would often attend the gallery at the House of Commons. Pitt was destined for a career in politics. He was the son of a former Prime Minister so it was almost a foregone conclusion. Wilberforce had not considered a political future but his friend Pitt encouraged one and in 1780, while only 21 years old and a student lacking even a Bachelor's degree, he ran for and won the MP seat for Kingston on Hull. He ran and governed as an independent, supporting Tory and Whig policies and bills alternatingly.
While serving in London, Wilberforce was a regular at the card clubs, often playing into the night. He would often sing and regale his clubs with his wit. Contemporary socialite Madam de Stael referred to him as "the wittiest man in England." He later wrote about this period. “The first years I was in Parliament, I did nothing-nothing that is to any purpose. My own distinction was my darling object.”
In 1783 Wilberforce and Pitt travelled to France for a holiday. They were suspected of being English spies by provincial police but they resolved the confusion and travelled on to Paris. There they met Benjamin Franklin, Marie Antoinette, and King Louis among other dignitaries. Later that same year Pitt would become the youngest Prime Minister at only 24 in British history.
In October 1784, Wilberforce and his mother and a former teacher named Isaac Milner took a break from politics to tour Europe. On the journey, Wilberforce engaged in his typical regimen of drinking, card playing, and gambling. He and Milner, a committed Christian, debated the evangelical faith that Wilberforce had been exposed to by his aunt and uncle. Milner was an example to Wilberforce of the practical application of faith. Through their discussions, Wilberforce began to see the emptiness of his wealth and his pastimes. “I was filled with sorrow,” he wrote. “I am sure that no human creature could suffer more than I did for some months.”
Something else notable happened on the way back to England. He read an influential book, The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul by Phillip Doddridge. Through this book and Milner's persistence, and the working of the Holy Spirit Wilberforce began to experience a spiritual awakening. He began to read the Bible and pray. He turned his mind toward God's Kingdom. He began to journal about this awakening and conversion. He repented of his former life and his drinking and gambling. He committed himself to doing God's work.
What he wasn't certain of, however, was if that commitment meant he needed to leave politics and enter the ministry. His Prime Minister friend, almost predictably, encouraged him to continue. But Wilberforce wasn't sure so he consulted his onetime influencer, John Newton. Newton surprised Wilberforce by urging him to stay in government. “It is hoped and believed that the Lord has raised you up for the good of his church and for the good of the nation,” Newton said. And with that it was decided. "My business is in the world," he wrote, "and I must mix in the assemblies of men or quit the post which Providence seems to have assigned me."
Wilberforce would continue to serve in the House of Commons. In all, he served in the government for 45 years.
By Easter 1786 Wilberforce was full of hope. He felt a renewal in himself that coincided with the renewal of the Spring landscape and the celebration of the resurrection. His heart was full of hope and optimism for the future. He began to throw himself into his studies. Remember, at this point he was still a Master's student. He stopped drinking and gambling. He also began to withdraw from the endless parade of social dinners. Wilberforce was practicing what he saw as the appropriate life of a true and serious Christian.
Then, as now, anyone truly adhering to Christian principles was seen as something of a pariah in political and high social circles. The progressives looked down on his, in their view, extreme adherence to his faith. Conservatives didn't trust him fully because he was guided by his faith rather than a political philosophy. His was not an easy role to play.
And it was made no easier in 1786 when friends, including Pitt, approached him and encouraged him to put forth a bill to end the salve trade in England. At the time, the British had been involved in the trade for 200 years. British ships brought slaves from Africa to mostly the West Indies where they worked on sugar, tobacco, and cotton plantations. The ships then brought the goods back to England for purchase and export. The British dominated the slave trade, though other nations like France, Spain, and more participated.
Years earlier, Wilberforce had met the Reverend James Ramsey. Ramsey had been a ships doctor on slave ships and what he witnessed compelled him to leave the trade and enter the ministry. He went on to speak and write of the atrocities of the slave trade. Though Wilberforce took no action at the time of that meeting it did influence him when the subject came up again. He began to read and study and investigate the slave trade himself, seeing firsthand some of the deplorable conditions and practices it fostered.
William still hesitated to become the public face of the abolition movement. On May 12, 1787, Pitt, Wilberforce, and William Grenville (who would later go on to serve as Prime Minister) were seated under an oak tree on the Pitt estate when Pitt said "Wilberforce, why don't you give notice of a motion on the subject of the Slave Trade? You have already taken great pains to collect evidence, and are therefore fully entitled to the credit which doing so will ensure you. Do not lose time, or the ground will be occupied by another." There and then Wilberforce agreed. The tree became known as the Wilberforce Oak, the remains of which can still be seen. Wilberforce wrote in his journal, "God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of Manners" He later said, "So enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did the trade’s wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for abolition. Let the consequences be what they would; I from this time determined that I would never rest until I had effected its abolition."
Wilberforce thought that he and his friends could not fail. They had Pitt and other prominent politicians Edmund Burke and Charles Fox on their side. They had the moral and ethical position. But they also had enemies. The slave trade was worth millions of pounds to the British economy. It was important for port cities, shipbuilders, traders, and more. All of these, and even the King, opposed the abolition of the slave trade.
John Wesley wrote Wilberforce from his deathbed and his words are dark, but hopeful. "I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that execrable villainy, which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature." Wesley wrote. "Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you?”
The task would not be easy. In addition to the expected opposition, Wilberforce suffered from weak and painful eyes. He had colitis, a condition which gave him horrible stomach pains. And he was weak. In fact, in the last years of his life his body was held upright by a strange steel frame because he could not support himself. His conditions led to him becoming dependent on opiods. He would suffer addiction and hallucinations throughout this battle.
Wilberforce persisted, however. Abolition-minded Quakers and Anglicans came together to form the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1787. Wilberforce joined the group in 1791. The society was very effective in raising public awareness of the horrors of slavery. They wrote pamphlets, held meetings, organized boycotts, and urged the newspapers to speak out against this evil. They also gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures on petitions to be presented to Parliament.
In 1791 Wilberforce introduced his first bill proposing the abolition of the slave trade. It was soundly defeated 163 to 88. This was the true beginning of the fight in Parliement. In 1792 Wilberforce's abolition bill was set aside in favor of a policy of gradual abolition that passed 230 to 85. This was no victory for the abolitionists, however, but one for the pro-slavery side. There was little, if any, true reform in this 1792 bill.
Wilberforce's 1793 abolition bill was defeated again. This time narrowly by only eight votes. By now, England was at war with France and the abolition movement was derailed. Support waned as people feared the outcome of the war. Even Pitt's longtime support was set aside in an attempt to unify the country and focus on the war. This tested the long friendship of the two men. In 1795 the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade broke up. It was a dark time for the abolitionists. But still Wilberforce persisted in introducing bills.
William married Barbara Spooner in 1797 and she was a great comfort to him. The two met on April 15 and were married on May 30. They would end up with six children - four boys and two girls. Barbara was a committed Christian and shared William's detest for slavery. One of their daughters, Elizabeth, many years later fell in love with Charles Pinney. They Pinneys had earned their fortune on the backs of slaves and this distressed Wilberforce greatly. After much back and forth, he ended the relationship and his daughter ended up marrying a minister.
In 1804 the fight was picked up afresh. The Society reformed and in June of that year Wilberforce's bill was finally passed in the House of Commons. It was too late to be considered in the House of Lords, however. At the opening of the 1805 legislative session the bill was resubmitted but disappointingly failed to pass. Even Wilberforce's longtime friend William Pitt did not support the bill this time. It was a crushing defeat after what had been such an uplifting result the previous year.
In January 1806 William Pitt died. His death led to a change in tactics and approach for Wilberforce. He threw himself in league with the Whig party which had assumed power. A bill was proposed which would forbid British involvement in bringing slaves to foreign colonies. This was a blow to the British slavers as many of them traded with French and Dutch colonies under false flags. That practice was now illegal and opened those ships up to seizure by privateers. This new approach was kept on the down-low by the abolitionists so it would not draw the attention of the pro-slavery crowd and the bill was quietly passed.
1807 brought a further tweak in strategy. This time, the bill was introduced in the House of Lords at the direction of Prime Minister Grenville. It passed easily there. Emboldened and smelling victory in the wind, the bill was read in the House of Commons on February 23, 1807.
Abolitionists wanted to push for an immediate emancipation of British slaves and attach it to the bill. Wilberforce wouldn't jeopardize it's passage so he declined. The bill would make it illegal to transport slaves on British ships and no more. Tributes were made to Wilberforce who broke down and sobbed as the bill was passed 283 to 16. The Slave Trade Act received the royal seal on March 25 1807 and was the law of the land. Wilberforce finally had his long-sought victory.
While Wilberforce is best know for his role in the abolitionist movement fueled by his Christian faith he made at least one other major lasting contribution to British society. He was one of the founders of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the world's first animal welfare organization. It continues today as the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
In his later years Wilberforce suffered from years of opium use. He was sickly, with failing eyesight and a weak constitution. He moved in and out of Parliament serving in different districts and sometimes retiring to private life to rest and recuperate. He never lost an election he stood for. In 1821 he selected the younger Thomas Buxton to take the lead in the abolitionist movement as he took on more of a figurehead role. In June 1824 Wilberforce made his last speech in the House of Commons in favor of abolition. He retired permanently soon after. His family fortune was lost in 1830 when his son invested in a farming venture and incurred huge debts. Wilberforce settled the debts even though it made him a poor man. He spent the last few years of his life living with relatives.
On July 26, 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act was read in the House of Commons. The government had made certain concessions that guaranteed that the bill would pass and be given royal ascent. Three days later, on July 29, William Wilberforce died with the knowledge that the long hard fight of his life had ended in total victory. He was buried at Westminster Abbey near his friend William Pitt.
The excellent film Amazing Grace was released in 2007 to coincide with the bicentennial of the passage of the Slave Trade Act. The movie focuses on Wilberforce's role in the passage of the act. It's an excellent historical drama and I highly recommend it to you.
That ends this episode of Giants of the Faith. Thank you very much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you have any comments or corrections please send them along to podcast@giantsofthefaith.com. I'd love to get some feedback on what you like and don't like about the show. Until next time, God bless.
RESOURCES
Christian History Institute: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/william-wilberforce-fighting-the-slave-trade
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wilberforce