![]() He spoke against the decline of morality in the nation but, more than anything, his own personal testimony and views. In the same year, Wilberforce completed writing his book “ A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians in the Higher and Middle Classes of This Country Contrasted With Real Christianity,” which he’d been working on for some four years. In total, he supported 69 philanthropic causes, giving one-fourth of his annual income to the poor. ![]() He championed the cause of chimney sweeps, single mothers, Sunday schools, orphans, and juvenile delinquents. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.Society for Bettering the Cause of the Poor.Wilberforce was himself dedicated to helping found many para-church groups like the: When in 1797, he settled in Clapham, he became a member of the so-called “ Clapham Sect,” a group of devout Christians dedicated to correcting social ills. Let the consequences be what they would: I from this time determined that I would never rest until I had effected its abolition.” “So enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did the trade’s wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for abolition. All his life, he suffered chronic ill health, including a crooked spine, poor eyesight, and stomach problems. Though he continued to be plagued by poor health that kept him bedridden at times for weeks, he attended to his causes. This did not dissuade him from the cause against slavery or other issues, for that matter. Wilberforce’s early optimism was met with one defeat after another. The abolitionist Thomas Clarkson influenced Wilberforce to become an activist on the issue of slavery, and together they proposed to Parliament a dozen resolutions against the slave trade. ![]() He was noted for his charm and eloquence indeed, his phenomenal rhetorical skill caused the young Prime Minister William Pitt subsequently to challenge Wilberforce with a considerable undertaking - the abolition of slavery. Still, Wilberforce was not a serious student and was given to late nights of drinking, gambling, and card playing.Īt the youngest age at which one could be elected, at 21, he was elected to Parliament. John’s College in Cambridge - where he began a lasting friendship with the future Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger. However, his mother and grandfather wanted him away from Newton’s influence, which they thought was too evangelical and “Methodist,” much too enthusiastic for respectable Anglicans, and returned him to Hull.įollowing private school, Wilberforce took his B.A. ![]() The former slave-trading sea captain, pastor John Newton, also influenced him. While there, he came into contact with the great evangelist George Whitfield. Though physically challenged, he worked for nearly 20 years to push through Parliament a bill to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire 200 years ago.īorn in 1759 in Hull in Yorkshire, upon his father’s death in 1768, he was sent to live with an aunt and uncle in Wimbledon. William Wilberforce was born to privilege and wealth in 18th-century England. He became, in his day, not just a politician, philanthropist, and abolitionist but also a writer of such popularity at the time as C. Wilberforce was a man well-known to the Founding Fathers of the American Revolution. ![]() However, the 2007 film “ Amazing Grace” is about the life of one of Newton’s protégés, William Wilberforce. In the first part, we discussed the life of the song’s author, John Newton. HISTORY OF AMAZING GRACE, part 2: William WilberforceĪs I mentioned in my first article on the History of Amazing Grace, this is the story of the lives of two men and that one song. ![]()
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