STEPHEN'S MISCELLANIES.

LIFE OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE BY HIS SONS.*

[EDINBURGH REVIEW, 1838.]

hands of a schoolfellow, (who survives to re- | University, had ripened into an affectionate cord the fact,) a letter to be conveyed to the union which none of the vicissitudes of polieditor of the York paper, which he stated to be "in condemnation of the odious traffic in human_flesh.”—On the same authority he is reported to have "greatly excelled all the other boys in his compositions, though seldom beginning them till the eleventh hour."

From school Mr. Wilberforce was transferred, at the age of seventeen, to St. John's College, Cambridge. We trust that the picture which he has drawn of the education of a young gentleman of fortune, in an English University, towards the close of the last century, will seem an incredible fiction to the present members of that learned society. "The Fellows of the College," he says, "did not act towards me the part of Christians, or even of honest men. Their object seemed to be to make and keep me idle. If ever I appeared studious, they would say to me-Why, in the world should a man of your fortune trouble himself with fagging?' I was a good classic, and acquitted myself well in the College examinations, but mathematics, which my mind greatly needed, I almost entirely neglected, and was told that I was too clever to require them."

tical life could afterwards dissolve. They partook in each other's labours and amusements, and the zest with which Mr. Pitt indulged in these relaxations, throws a new and unexpected light on his character. They joined together in founding a club, at which, for two successive winters, Pitt spent his evenings, while, at Mr. Wilberforce's villa at Wimbledon, he was established rather as an inmate than as a guest. There he indulged himself even in boisterous gayety; and it strangely disturbs our associations to read of the son and rival of Lord Chatham rising early in the morning to sow the flower-beds with the fragments of a dress-hat with which Lord Harrowby had come down from the opera. There also were arranged fishing and shooting parties; in one of which the future champion of the anti-Gallican war narrowly escaped an untimely grave from the misdirected gun of his friend. On the banks of Windermere, also, Mr. Wilberforce possessed a residence, where the Parliamentary vacation found him "surrounded with a goodly assortment of books." But the discovery was already made that the actumnal ennui of the fashionable world might find relief among the lakes and mountains of Westmoreland, and "boating, riding, and continual parties" fully occupied the time which had been devoted to retirement and study. From these amici fures temporis Mr. Wilberforce escaped, in the autumn of 1783, to pass a few weeks with Mr. Pitt in France. They readily found introductions to the supper table of Marie Antoinette, and the other festivities of Fontainbleau. Louis XVI. does not appear to have made a very flattering impression on his young guests. "The King," says Mr. Wilberforce, in a letter written about that time, "is so strange a being of the hog kind, that it is worth going a hundred miles for a sight of him, especially a boar-hunting." At Paris "he received with interest the hearty greetings which Dr. Franklin tendered to a rising member of the English Parliament, who had opposed the American war."

With such a preparation for the duties of active life, Mr. Wilberforce passed at a single step from the University to the House of Commons. The general election of 1780, occurring within less than a month from the completion of his twenty-first year, "the affection of his townsmen, 'not unaided by' an expenditure of from eight to nine thousand pounds," placed him at the head of the poll for "the town and county of Hull." Although at this time Mr. Wilberforce states himself to have been "so ignorant of general society as to have come up to London stored with arguments to prove the authenticity of Rowley's Poems," yet so rich and so accomplished an aspirant could not long be excluded from the mysteries of the world of fashion which now burst upon him. Five clubs enrolled him among their members. He "chatted, played at cards, or gambled" with Fox, Sheridan, and Fitzpatrick-fascinated the Prince of Wales by his singing at Devonshire House-produced inimitable imitations of Lord North's voice and manner-sang catches with Lord Sandwich-exchanged epigrams with Mrs. Creeve-partook of a Shaksperian dinner at the Boar, in East Cheap-"shirked the Duchess of Gordon"-and danced till five in the morning at Almack's. The lassitude of fash-invective; and, at a public meeting in the ionable life was effectually relieved by the duties or amusements of a Parliamentary career, not unattended by some brilliant success. Too rich to look to public service as a means of subsistence, and, at this period, ambitious rather of distinction than of eminence, Mr. Wilberforce enjoyed the rare luxury of complete independence. Though a decided opponent of the North American war, he voted with Lord North against Sir Fletcher Norton's re-election as Speaker, and opposed Mr. Pitt on the second occasion of his addressing the House, although he was already numbered amongst the most intimate of his friends. This alliance, commenced apparently at the

Graver cares awaited Mr. Wilberforce's return to England. He arrived in time to second Mr. Pitt's opposition to the India Bill, and to support him in his memorable struggle against the majority of the House of Commons. The Coalition was now the one subject of popular

Castle-yard at York, in March, 1784, Mr. Wilberforce condemned their measures, in a speech which was received with the loudest applause. The praise of James Boswell is characteristic at once of the speaker and of the critic. In an account of the scene which he transmitted to Mr. Dundas, “I saw," writes Boswell, “what seemed a mere shrimp, mount upon the table, but, as I listened, he grew and grew, until the shrimp became a whale." A still more convincing attestation to his eloquence is to be found in the consequences to which it led. Mr. Wilberforce attended the meeting with the avowed purpose of defeating, at the approaching election, the predominant influence of the

great Whig families of Yorkshire, and with the secret design of becoming a candidate for the county. During his speech the cry of "Wilberforce and Liberty" was raised by the crowd; and the transition was obvious and readily made, to "Wilberforce and the Representation of Yorkshire." The current of popular favour flowed strongly in his support. He was the opponent of the Coalition and the India Bill, and the friend and zealous partisan of Mr. Pitt; then rich in hereditary honours, in personal renown, and in the brightest promise. Large subscriptions defrayed the expense of the contest, and, without venturing to the poll, his Whig opponents surrendered to him a seat, which he continued to occupy, without intermission, for many successive Parliaments. With this memorable triumph Mr. Wilberforce closed his twenty-fifth year, and returned to London in possession of whatever could gratify the wishes, or exalt the hopes of a candidate for fame, on the noblest theatre of civil action which the world had thrown open to the ambition of private men.

now became his preceptor and his spiritual guide.

The day dreams on the subject of religious conversions, which they who list may hear on every side, are like other dreams, the types of substantial realities. Though the workings of the Almighty hand are distinctly visible only to the omniscient eye, yet even our narrow faculties can often trace the movements of that perennial under-current which controls the sequences of human life, and imparts to them the character of moral discipline. In the comprehensive scheme of the Supreme Governor of the world for the progressive advancement of the human race, are comprised innumerable subordinate plans for the improvement of the individuals of which it is composed; and whether we conceive of these as the result of some preordained system, or as produced by the immediate interposition of God, we equally acknowledge the doctrine of Divine Providence, and refer to him as the author of those salutary revolutions of human character, of which the reality is beyond dispute. It is a simple matter The time had, however, arrived at which a of fact, of which these volumes afford the most new direction was to be given to the thoughts conclusive proof, that, about the twenty-sixth and pursuits of this favourite of nature and year of his age, Mr. Wilberforce was the subfortune. Before taking his seat in the House ject of such a change; and that it continued of Commons, as member for the county of for half a century to give an altered direction York, Mr. Wilberforce, accompanied by some to his whole system of thought and action. female relations, and by Isaac Milner, the late Waiving all discussion as to the mode in Dean of Carlisle, undertook a journey to the which the divine agency may have been emsouth of France, and thence through Switzer-ployed to accomplish this result, it is more to land to the German Spa. This expedition, interrupted by a temporary return to England, during the winter of 1784-5, continued some months, and forms a memorable era in his life. The lessons which he had learned in childhood at Wimbledon had left an indelible impression on a mind peculiarly susceptible of every tender and profound emotion. The dissipation of his subsequent days had retarded the growth of those seeds of early piety, but had not entirely choked them. To the companions of his youth many indications had occasionally been given, that their gay associate was revolving deeper thoughts than formed the staple of their ordinary social intercourse. These were now to take entire possession of his mind, and to regulate the whole of his future conduct. The opinions of Whitfield had found a more impressive expositor than the good aunt who had originally explained and enforced them.

Isaac Milner was a remarkable man, and but for the early possession of three great ecclesiastical sinecures, which enabled him to gratify his constitutional indolence, would probably have attained considerable distinction in physical and in theological science. In a narrow collegiate circle he exercised a colloquial despotism akin to that which Johnson had established, and to which Parr aspired, amongst the men of letters and the statesmen of their age. But Milner's dogmatism was relieved by a tenderness of heart not inferior to that of the great moralist himself; and was informed by a theology incomparably more profound, and more fitted to practical uses, than that of the redoubted grammarian. He was amongst the dearest of the friends of Mr. Wilberforce, and

our purpose to inquire in what the change really consisted, and what were the consequences for which it prepared the way.

The basis of Mr. Wilberforce's natural character was, an intense fellow-feeling with other men. No one more readily adopted the interests, sympathized with the affections, or caught even the transient emotions of those with whom he associated. United to a melancholy temperament, this disposition would have produced a moon-struck and sentimental "Man of Feeling;" but, connected as it was with the most mercurial gayety of heart, the effect was as exhilarating as it was impressive. It was a combination of the deep emotions, real or pretended, of Rousseau, with the restless vivacity of Voltaire. Ever ready to weep with those that wept, his nature still more strongly prompted him to rejoice with those that rejoiced. A passionate lover of society, he might (to adopt, with some little qualification, a well-known phrase) have passed for the brother of every man, and for the lover of every woman with whom he conversed. Bayard himself could not have accosted a damsel of the houses of Longueville or Coligni with a more heartfelt and graceful reverence, than marked his address to every female, however homely or however humble. The most somnolent company was aroused and gladdened at his presence. The heaviest countenance reflected some animation from his eye; nor was any one so dull as not to yield some sparks of intellect when brought into communication with him. Few men ever loved books more, or read them with a more insatiate thirst; yet, even in the solitude of his library,

the social spirit never deserted him. The one great object of his studies was, to explore the springs of human action, and to trace their influence on the character and happiness of mankind.

Such a temperament, combined with such an education, might have given the assurance of a brilliant career, but hardly of any enduring fame. Ordinary foresight might have predicted that he would be courted or feared by the two great parties in the House of Commons; that he would be at once the idol and the idolator of society; and that he would shine in Parliament, and in the world, in the foremost rank of intellectual voluptuaries. But that he should rise to be amongst the most laborious and eminent benefactors of mankind was beyond the divination of any human sagacity. It is to the mastery which religion acquired over his mind that this elevation is to be ascribed.

To this vivid sympathy in all human interests and feelings were united the talents by which it could be most gracefully exhibited. Mr. Wilberforce possessed histrionic powers of the highest order. If any caprice of fortune had called him to the stage, he would have ranked amongst its highest ornaments. He would have been irresistible before a jury, and the most popular of preachers. His rich mellow voice, directed by an ear of singular accuracy, gave to his most familiar language a variety of cadence, and to his most serious discourse a depth of expression, which rendered it impossible not to listen. Pathos and drollery-solemn musings and playful fancies -yearnings of the soul over the tragic, and the most contagious mirth over the ludicrous events of life, all rapidly succeeding each other, and harmoniously because unconsciously blended, threw over his conversation a spell which no prejudice, dulness, or ill-humour could resist. The courtesy of the heart, and the refinement of the most polished society, united to great natural courage, and a not un-"Strange," he would say, "that Christians graceful consciousness of his many titles to respect, completed the charm which his presence infallibly exercised.

To these unrivalled social powers was added a not less remarkable susceptibility of enjoyment, in whatever form it presented itself. The pleasures, such as they are, of a very fastidious taste, he did not cultivate. If Haydn was not to be had, a street ballad would seem to shoot quicksilver through his frame. In the absence of Pitt or Canning, he would delight himself in the talk of the most matter of fact man of his constituents from the Cloth hall at Leeds. With a keen perception of beauty and excellence in nature, literature, and art, the alchymy of his happy frame extracted some delight from the dullest pamphlet, the tamest scenery, and the heaviest speech. The curiosity and the interest of childhood, instead of wearing out as he grew older, seemed to be continually on the increase. This peculiarity is noticed by Sir James Mackintosh, with his accustomed precision and delicacy of touch, in the following words:-" Do you remember Madame de Maintenon's exclamation, Oh the misery of having to amuse an old king!-qui n'est pas amusable?' Now, if I was called upon to describe Wilberforce, I should say, he was the most amusable' man I ever met with in my life. Instead of having to think what subjects will interest him, it is perfectly impossible to hit on one that does not interest him. I never saw any one who touched life at so many points; and it is the more remarkable in a man who is supposed to live absorbed in the contemplations of a future state. When he was in the House of Commons, he seemed to have the freshest mind of any man there. There was all the charm of youth about him; and he is quite as remarkable in this bright evening of his days as when I saw him in his glory many years ago."

It is not wonderful that many have claimed Mr. Wilberforce as the ornament of that particular section of the Christian Church which has assumed or acquired the distinctive title of Evangelical; nor that they should resent as injurious to their party any more catholic view of his real character. That he became the secular head of this body is perfectly true; but no man was ever more exempt from bondage to any religious party. Immutably attached to the cardinal truths of revelation, he was in other respects a latitudinarian.

have taken as the badge of separation the very Sacrament which their Redeemer instituted as the symbol of their union." And in this spirit, though a strict conformist to the Church of England, he occasionally attended the public worship of those who dissent from her communion, and maintained a cordial fellowship with Christians of every denomination. The opinion may, indeed, be hazarded that he was not profoundly learned in any branch of controversial theology, nor much qualified for success in such studies. His mind had been little trained to systematic investigation either in moral or physical science. Though the practice of rhetoric was the business of his mature life, the study of logic had not been the occupation of his youth. Skepticism and suspended judgment were foreign to his mental habits. Perhaps no man ever examined more anxiously the meaning of the sacred writings, and probably no one ever more readily admitted their authority. Finding in his own bosom ten thousand echoes to the doctrines and precepts of the Gospel, he wisely and gladly received this silent testimony to their truth, and gave them a reverential admission. Instead of consuming life in a protracted scrutiny into the basis of his belief, he busied himself in erecting upon it a superstructure of piety and of virtue. In fact, his creed differed little, if at all, from that of the vast majority of Protestants. The difference between him and his fellow Christians consisted chiefly in the uses to which his religious opinions were applied. The reflections which most men habitually avoid he as habitually cherished. It is scarcely an exaggeration to say of him that God was in all his thoughts. He surveyed human life as the eye of an artist ranges over

landscape, receiving innumerable intimations which escape any less practised observer. In every faculty he recognised a sacred trust; in