15th December, 2003

A perserverant heart

TONY TOWNSEND looks at the life of William Wilberforce...

“…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us”
(Hebrews 12:1)

William Wilberforce, who became the conscience of a nation in his fight for the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, stands out as an example of the sort of perseverance spoken of here by the writer of Hebrews.

Born in Hull, England, in 1759, Wilberforce was the child of a wealthy merchant. After he lost his father at age eight, Wilberforce went to live with an uncle and aunt who had been influenced by the famous preacher George Whitfield and were also well aquainted with John Newton - a ship’s captain and the writer of the hymn Amazing Grace. Wilberforce heard Newton give account of the cruelty of the African slave trade and his conversion to Jesus Christ - a testimony which became a seed of destiny when sown in Wilberforce’s heart.

Returning to Hull, Wilberforce attended a private school and went on to Cambridge University but focused more on socializing than serious study. However he become a close friend of William Pitt, the future Prime Minister of Britain, and in 1780 decided to run for a seat in parliament. Winning the important seat of Yorkshire convincingly, he entered the House of Commons where he would remain for 44 years.

While traveling on the European continent Wilberforce studied the book The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul. It sparked a drawn-out spiritual journey in which he moved from an intellectual position on Christ to the experience of a heart-felt reality, causing him to enter into a season of deep inner conviction over his sins.

This season of struggle caused him to seek counsel from John Newton and it was Newton who helped him gain a true assurance of his salvation in Christ and persuaded him not to abandon public service but to see it as a means to serve God. It was also Newton who was influential in causing Wilberforce to take up the cause of slaves.

In 1787, after being petitioned by a group of Christians, Wilberforce agreed to bring a bill before the House of Commons for the abolition of the slave trade in which British ships were transporting black slaves from Africa to the West Indies.

It would not be an easy road. Wilberforce encountered many obstacles along the way - including, in 1788, almost losing his life to illness - and almost twenty years would pass before the abolition of the slave trade became a reality.

In 1789 he brought the bill before parliament. But pro-slavery forces managed to delay the vote and in 1791, the bill was defeated. Brought back to parliament, it was again negated in 1792 - this time because the wording in the bill was not properly defined.

The Napoleonic Wars began in 1793 and action against the slave trade was again hindered because of the advantage it would give to France. Wilberforce nonetheless perservered and each year introduced the proposed legislation only to again suffer defeat.

It wasn’t until 1807 that The House of Commons finally voted 283-16 in favour of abolishing the slave trade. Wilberforce received a well deserved acknowledgment from the members of the house. In response, he wept.

But the battle didn’t end there. For the next 17 years - from 1807 until1824 -Wilberforce worked to abolish slavery throughout the British Empire.

Year after year his bill to outlaw slavery was defeated until, three days prior to his death, it was finally passed into law in the House of Commons.

It’s worth noting as a final comment that while it is primarily for his position on slavery that Wilberforce is remembered, he also worked tirelessly for prison reform, helped to open up India to missionaries in 1813, lobbied to reduce the number of crimes subject to capital punishment and founded what was known as the African Institute to promote civilization and offset the evil done by the slave trade.

Wilberforce’s life reveals to us what God can accomplish through one man when driven by a sense of God’s conviction.

May his life encourage us to persevere even when obstacles would want to thwart us in fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives.

Sources:
Morning Star journal Volume 12 –No 1
Britannia Biographies - www.britannia.com
Heroes of the faith - www.peterjblackburn.com
A Lion Handbook: The History of Christianity, Lion Publishing 1996

FOR MORE SAINTS OF PAST AGES click here