Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 61.djvu/218

 Nore. Wilberforce's agreement with the opposition was temporary. Though he had been made a citizen of France in 1792, along with Franklin, Bentham, Paine, and other uncongenial persons, he was thoroughly anti-Jacobin. He heartily supported the coercive measures brought in at the end of 1795. A meeting in opposition to them had been summoned at York for 1 Dec. On hearing of the plan Wilberforce resolved to attend, and travelled down at full speed in Pitt's carriage, his own not being ready. The opponents of the measures had met in the Guildhall, when Wilberforce appeared and carried by a large majority an adjournment to the Castle Hill, the regular place of meeting. His opponents declined to follow, but he was accompanied by a majority of the meeting, to whom he delivered ‘a most incomparable speech,’ and loyal addresses were unanimously voted. The performance was supposed to have greatly strengthened the government. In the following June he was again elected for Yorkshire.

Wilberforce was now thoroughly reconciled to Pitt, whom he believed to be sincerely anxious for peace, and had many intimate conversations with him during the critical period which followed. He was a constant attendant at a committee upon the Bank Restriction Act. Meanwhile he had finished a book upon ‘Practical Christianity,’ which was published on 12 April 1797. Cadell, his publisher, ventured on his putting his name to the work to print five hundred copies. In six months 7,500 had been sold. Fifteen editions were published in England by 1824, and twenty-five in America. It was translated into French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, and German, and may be taken as the manifesto of the evangelical party of the time. Burke was said to have studied it during the last two days of his life, and sent a grateful message.

On 30 May following Wilberforce married Barbara Ann, eldest daughter of Isaac Spooner of Elmdon Hall, Warwickshire. From 1792 till his marriage Wilberforce had occupied apartments in Henry Thornton's house at Battersea Rise. He now took Broomfield, a house on the south-west side of Clapham Common, close to Thornton's, then regarded as a rustic retirement. His headquarters during the parliamentary session were at his house in Palace Yard. At Clapham he was the most distinguished member of the so-called ‘Clapham sect,’ including Thornton, Charles Grant (1746–1823) [q. v.], and (till his death in 1797) E. J. Eliot, Pitt's brother-in-law. Among other supporters were Zachary Macaulay [q. v.] and James Stephen (1758–1832) [q. v.], who in 1800 married his sister, the widow since 1797 of the Rev. T. Clarke of Hull. In the summer Wilberforce often stayed with Gisborne and Babington. His health took him occasionally to Bath or the neighbourhood. His first visit with his bride was to Hannah More. In 1795 he had visited her at Cowslip Green and discussed her plans for schools. In 1798, finding himself to be richer than he had supposed, he agreed with Henry Thornton to allow her 400l. a year as a subsidy towards her various good works. He was lavish in his charities even to the injury of his estate. Besides contributing to the cause of abolition and to many of the favourite causes of his party, he had a number of regular annuitants, and was constantly helping persons, not always much deserving help, in various difficulties. He took a part in the foundation of various societies promoted by his party, especially the Church Missionary Society, which was first discussed at his house in November 1798, and the Bible Society, established with his co-operation in 1803. He was also co-operating in the ‘Society for bettering the Condition of the Poor,’ started by him with Sir Thomas Bernard [q. v.] and E. J. Eliot in 1796. The ‘Christian Observer,’ the organ of the Clapham sect, first appeared in January 1801, and he contributed to the early numbers.

During the parliament elected in 1796 the abolition question had made slow progress. On 6 April 1797 a dilatory motion proposed by Charles Ellis, in the interest of the planters, was carried by 93 to 63. It recommended that the colonies themselves should be instructed to introduce measures preparing gradually for abolition of the trade. Pitt, in opposing the motion, declared that every one was now agreed that the trade should be abolished. On 15 May, however, Wilberforce's motion for leave to introduce a bill was rejected by 82 to 74. A majority of 87 to 83 rejected a similar proposal on 1 April 1798, when Wilberforce gained an ally in Canning and lost one in Windham. Finally, on 1 March 1799 the bill was again defeated by 84 to 54. A bill for limiting the area of the slave trade was thrown out by a small majority in the House of Lords on 5 July. In spite of these failures, Wilberforce was convinced that the cause was gaining ground, and that the abolition was only a question of time. For the remainder of this parliament, however, the question was not brought forward in the house. The indifference of Addington and of the majority of the house, and an illness of Wilberforce himself, prevented him from