691 



WILBERFORCE, WILLIAM. 



WILBRORD, SAINT. 



692 



bear up against the bodily fatigues which he was forced to endure. In 

 the spring of 1788, when his labours were yet to come, his health 

 appeared entirely to fail, from an absolute decay of the digestive 

 orgxns. The first physicians, after a consultation, declared to his 

 family "that he had not stamina to last a fortnight ;" and although 

 he happily recovered from his illness, we find him exclaiming on New 

 Year's Day, 1790, "At thirty and a half I am in constitution sixty." 

 From his infancy he had suffered much from weak eyes, and his exer- 

 tions were constantly interrupted or rendered painful by this infirmity. 

 Still rising with new hopes and vigour from every disappointment, ho 

 confidently relied upon ultimate success. At length the hour of triumph 

 was at hand. In January 1807 he published a book against the slave- 

 trade, at the very moment that question was about to be discussed in 

 the House of Lords. The Abolition Bill passed the Lords, and its 

 passage through the Commons was one continued triumph to its 

 author. Sir Samuel Romilly concluded an affecting speech in favour 

 of the bill " by contrasting the feelings of Napoleon iu all his greatness 

 with those of that honoured individual who would this day lay his 

 head upon his pillow and remember that the slave-trade was no more ; " 

 when the whole House, we are told, burst forth in acclamations of 

 applause, and greeted Mr. Wilberforce with three cheers. 



During the whole of this period he had been actively interested in 

 all the momentous questions of that time. He had opposed the war 

 with France at the cost of a temporary estrangement from Pitt ; he 

 braved the court and the minister in resisting an addition to the 

 income of the Prince of Wales, and clashed with his early friends in 

 supporting the impeachment of Lord Melville ; though no one could 

 have felt more keenly than Mr. Wilberforce such sacrifices of friend- 

 ship to duty. In the midst of his various engagements he bad also 

 done public service to religion. In 1797 he published his 'Practical 

 View of the prevailing Religious System of professed Christians in 

 the Higher and Middle Classes of this country, contrasted with real 

 Christianity.' This work met with extraordinary success. In a few 

 days it was out of print, and within half a year five editions (7500 

 copies) issued from the press. Since that time a large number of 

 editions have been published in England and America. It has also 

 been translated into the French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, and German 

 languages. Its merits were applauded by the highest dignitaries of 

 the church, and by the most eminent of his contemporaries. Edmund 

 Burke spent the last two days of his life in reading it, and sent a par- 

 ticular message of thanks to Mr. Wilberforce for having written it. 

 He had also during this period exerted himself to establish a national 

 church in India, and led the way to the appointment of Indian 

 bishoprics. The Church Missionary Society and other religious and 

 benevolent associations were likewise indebted to him for his zealous 

 aid. 



Mr. Wilberforce had represented Yorkshire during the whole of that 

 portion of his parliamentary career which ended in the abolition of the 

 slave-trade. Five times he was elected without a contest, and his sixth 

 election tested the affection of his constituents even more than their 

 previous unanimity. Immense subscriptions were immediately raised 

 to defend him against his wealthy opponents, and such was the zeal of 

 the freeholders in his favour, that while the joint expenses of Lord 

 Milton and Mr. Lascelles amounted to 200,000?., the whole charge of 

 bringing to the poll his large majority did not exceed 28.600J. At 

 length, when a dissolution was expected in 1812, he determined to 

 resign his seat for the county, although no contest was to be appre- 

 hended. Among the chief causes which led to this determination were 

 the great pressure upon his time and strength, in attending to the 

 business of so large a constituency, and the desire of watching over the 

 education of his children. 



In 1797 he had married Barbara Ann, the eldest daughter of 

 J. Spooner, Esq., by whom he had a family of six children, the eldest 

 at this time fourteen years old. Though unable to discharge to his 

 own satisfaction the duties of a member for Yorkshire, he was unwil- 

 ling to retire from parliament, and accepted a seat for the borough of 

 Bramber. His activity in his new position appears to have been as 

 unremitting as before. His chief care was to induce foreign powers 

 to follow the example of England in abolishing the slave-trade. He 

 overlooked no opportunity for furthering this object. The restoration 

 of the Bourbons in France, the visit of the Allied Sovereigns to this 

 country, and the Congress of Vienna especially, were seized upon by 

 him as favourable occasions for enforcing upon European governments 

 the abolition of the slave-trade. In personal interviews and correspond- 

 ence he laboured to implant his principles in the most influential 

 minds of Europe. The Emperor Alexander, the King of Prussia, Tal- 

 leyrand, the Duke of Wellington, and Lord Castlereagh, were all in 

 turn solicited, exhorted, or instructed. Even the pope did not escape 

 his vigilance, whose influence he endeavoured to secure in condemna- 

 tion of the slave trade. 



Up to 1822 his public exertions had been confined to the universal 

 extinction of the slave trade, but his views of the ultimate abolition of 

 slavery itself had not been withheld, and were now more distinctly 

 declared. His declining health however precluded him from devoting 

 the same labour to this cause that he had given to the former. H< 

 entrusted its management in the House of Commons to Mr. Fowel] 

 Buxtou, and in 1825 retired from parliament, after having spent forty 

 six years in public life. He spent the remainder of his days in com- 



parative retirement, an affectionate, cheerful, benevolent, and devout 

 old man, devoting, as' he had done through life, much of his time 

 and from one-third to a fourth of his income in acts of private charity. 

 Family bereavements and loss of fortune were borne with pious resigna- 

 tion, and his last days were cheered by the abolition of slavery. He 

 died in Cadogan-place, when nearly seventy-four years old, on Monday, 

 July 29th 1833 ; and at the very last sitting of the House of Commons 

 on the preceding Friday, the bill for the abolition of slavery was read 

 a second time. " Thank God," he exclaimed, " that I should have 

 lived to witness a day in which England is willing to give twenty 

 millions sterling for the abolition of slavery." He was buried in West- 

 minster Abbey, with all the honours of a public funeral, and a statue 

 by Joseph is there erected to his memory. 



(Life of William Wilberforce, by his Sons ; Parliamentary History 

 and Debates.) 



* WILBERFORCE, RIGHT REV. SAMUEL, Bishop of Oxford, 

 was born Sept. 7, 1805, at Broomfield, Clapham Common. He is the 

 third eon of the late William Wilberforce, M.P. He was educated 

 at Oriel College, Oxford; in 1826 he graduated first class in mathe- 

 matics and second class in classics ; and M.A. in 1829. He was ordained 

 iu 1828, and was appointed rector of Brightstone in the Isle of Wight 

 in 1830. In 1837 he was select preacher before the University of 

 Oxford. In 1839 he received the appointments of rector of Alver- 

 stoke, archdeacon of Surrey, and chaplain to Prince Albert, and in 

 1840 was made a canon of Winchester Cathedral. In 1841 he was 

 Bampton lecturer. In 1844 he received the appointment of sub- 

 almoner to the Queen, and in 1845 that of dean of Westminster. In 

 1845 he was again select preacher before the University of Oxford, 

 took his degrees of B.D. and D.D., and in November 1845 was 

 appointed bishop of Oxford, to which is attached the office of chan- 

 cellor of the Order of the Garter. In November 1847 he was 

 appointed lord high almoner to the Queen. 



Bishop Wilberforce, besides several single sermons, charges to his 

 clergy, and addresses delivered at public meetings, has published 'The 

 Life of William Wilberforce, by his Sons, R. I. Wilberforce, M.A., and 

 S. Wilberforce, M.A./ 5 vols. Svo, 1838. He has since published, 

 ' Eucharistica," 32mo, 1839, consisting of prayers and reflections on 

 the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, selected from old English divines; 

 'Sermons at Oxford,' 12mo, 1839; ' Rocky Island, and other Parables/ 

 18mo, 1840; 'Agathos, and other Sunday Stories,' 18mo, 1840; 'The 

 Correspondence of William Wilberforce, edited by his Sons, Robert 

 Isaac Wilberforce, M.A., and Samuel Wilberforce, M.A.,' 2 vols. Svo, 

 1840; 'History of the Episcopal Church in America,' fc. Svo, 1844; 

 'Sermons,' dedicated to the Queen, as having been "preached before 

 her, and now published by her command," 12mo, 1844; and 'Sermons 

 preached on several Occasions,' Svo, 1854. 



WILBRORD, or WILLIBROD, SAINT, commonly characterised 

 as ' The Apostle of the Frisians,' was a native of the Saxon kingdom 

 of Northumbria, where he was born about the year 657. His father's 

 name was Widgils. He was placed, while still a child, under the 

 charge of the inmates of Wilfred's monastery at Ripon, and he 

 remained there till the time when he received the tonsure, which ho 

 appears to have done before he reached his twentieth year, At th.it 

 age he visited Ireland, and attached himself to the ministrations of 

 Egbert and Wigbert, two members of the Anglo-Irish Church. The 

 latter of these had been in Friesland, and had there preached 

 Christianity two years in vain. Wilbrord remained for thirteen years 

 in Ireland, and then resolved to attempt the conversion which had 

 baffled his preceptor. He departed in the year 690, taking with him 

 attendants or disciples to the number of twelve, as Bede and Alcuin 

 say, though Mr. Wright states their number at eleven. They entered 

 the Rhine and proceeded to Traject or Utrecht. Pepin had then just 

 gained a victory over the Frisians, and the conqueror gave the apostle 

 a warm welcome. The latter resolved to add to the influence of the 

 monarch that of the pope, and with this view he visited Rome in 

 C92. Three years afterwards he made a second visit to the head of 

 the Church, and, receiving the pall from the hand of Pope Sergius I., 

 he returned with, the title of bishop over the converts attached to his 

 church at St. Cecilia, and with the ecclesiastical name of Clemens. 

 He established his episcopal chair at Utrecht, where he built a church 

 dedicated to St. Saviour, and restored one dedicated to St. Martin. A 

 few years after these events Wilbrord made a proselyting tour through 

 the territories in the vicinity of his diocese. He reached the country 

 of the Danes, where, though Ongend their ruler resisted all his 

 influence, he made several converts. Proceeding by sea, he reached 

 an island called Fositisland, supposed to be the same which is now 

 called Heligoland. Its ancient name was given to it from that of an 

 idol to whose worship it was sacred. The animals that lived upon the 

 island were considered as consecrated, and were not to be used as 

 human food, while the water of its fountains had a like hallowed 

 character. Wilbrord appeased the hunger of his followers with the 

 flesh of the sacred animals, and baptising converts in the holy 

 fountains, roused the wrath of the heathen Frisians and their chief, 

 who subjected him to an ordeal, or lottery, which constituted a form 

 of trial for the indication of those who should be justly punished. 

 The result of the ordeal was, it seems, miraculously in favour of the 

 apostle ; but though it occasioned hia honourable acquittal, it does 

 not appear to have increased the number of his converts. 



