WILLIAM WILBERFORCE. WILLIAM WILBERFORCE was to the other boys, as a model for imiborn at Hull, in Yorkshire, tation. His father dying when his son England, the 24th of August, 1759. was but nine years old, he was transThough the first of his name to bring ferred to the care of his uncle, William the family into prominent notice be- Wilberforce, at London, who placed fore the public, he came of an ancient him as a parlor boarder in a school at stock. His grandfather, who was twice Wimbledon, kept by a Scotchman, mayor of Hull, changed the name from chiefly frequented by the sons of mer its older form, Wilberfoss. He was pos- chants, where, as he afterwards said, sessed of considerable property by in- "they taught everything and nothheritance and was engaged in business ing." Here he remained two years, in the Baltic trade, at the head of a mer- passing his holidays at his uncle's cantile house in which his son Robert house, with occasional visits to Nothad a share. The latter was married to tingham and Hull. The example or the daughter of Thomas Bird, of Barton, exertions of his aunt, a member of the in Oxfordshire. Four children were Thornton family, a great admirer of the offspring of this marriage, of whom the preaching of Whitefield, seemed William was the third-the only son. likely permanently to affect his religHe was apparently of weak constitu- ious character by drawing him within tion in his infancy, small and feeble, the fold of Methodism, for which his but with indications of a vigorous intel- mother, who was afterwards described lect. His disposition in these early years by Wilberforce himself, as what I is spoken of as singularly affectionate. should call an Archbishop Tillotson At the age of seven, he was sent to the Christian," seemed to have little symgrammar-school of his native place, pre- pathy, if not a decided repugnance. sided over by Joseph Milner, elder Becoming acquainted with the impresbrother of the celebrated Isaac Milner, sions thus made upon his mind, she Dean of Carlisle, who was at this time promptly withdrew him from what the his assistant. Wilberforce was noticed family considered a dangerous influat the school for the beauty of his elo- ence and brought him home again. cution, his recitations being held forth | The views of his grandfather on the A subject were expressed in the promise that when he came of age he should travel with Isaac Milner, accompanied by the threat that if he turned Methodist he should not inherit a sixpence of his money. His friends also set about to effect a diversion by engaging the youth he was then but twelve-in a round of social entertainments and amusements. Hull, as he wrote in a reminiscence of this period of his life, "was then as gay a place as could be found out of 'London. The theatres, balls, great suppers and card parties were the delight of the principal families in the town. The usual dinner hour was two o'clock, and at six they met at sumptuous suppers. This mode of life was at first distressing to me, but by degrees I acquired a relish for it, and became as thoughtless as the rest. As grandson to one of the principal inhabitants, I was everywhere invited and caressed; my voice and love of music made me still more acceptable. The religious impressions which I had gained at Wimbledon continued for a considerable time after my return to Hull, but my friends spared no pains to stifle them. I might almost say that no pious parent ever labored more to impress a beloved child with sentiments of piety than they did to give me a taste for the world and its diversions." He was now, while partaking of these gayeties, pursuing his studies for the university in the grammar-school at Pocklington, in Yorkshire. One of his school-fellows afterwards recalled the circumstance that he placed in his hands a communication for the York paper, which he said was "in condemnation of the odious traffic in human flesh," an indication that in his disposition the boy was father of the man. He was fond of English poetry, and excelled in composition, for which he had great readiness, and being sufficiently instructed in the classics entered St. John's College, Cambridge, in the autumn of 1776, at the age of seventeen. Coming into possession of a large property by the death of his grandfather and uncle, he was now left free in a great measure to follow his own inclinations, and appears at the outset of his college life to have fallen in, to some slight extent, with the dissipations of his fellow-students. "On the first night of my arrival at Cambridge," he writes, "I was introduced to as licentious a set of men as can well be conceived. They drank hard, and their conversation was was even worse than their lives. I lived amongst them for some time, though I never relished their society; often, indeed, I was horror struck at their conduct, and after the first year I shook off in great measure my connection with them.” He was never, indeed, censurable for any gross immoralities. Though accustomed in later years to judge himself somewhat severely, he admitted in his favor that though he had altered his mode of life and thinking, he was in his college days, "so far from being what the world calls licentious, that he was rather complimented on being better than young men in general.” He soon, while he remained at the university, sought the acquaintance of the higher circle of the place, became intimate with the Fellows, and, though he charged himself with neglecting the mathematics, much to his disadvantage very first time I went to Boodle's, I as he came to think, he was yet a good scholar and acquitted himself well at the examinations, and obtained a de gree. Before leaving the university, the mercantile business, in which he might have engaged, being no longer a necessity to him, he had turned his thoughts towards political life, and a speedy dissolution of parliament being expected, looked forward to the representation of his native town of Hull. In anticipation of this event, he engaged actively in the canvass on the spot, and followed up a body of the freemen of the place who resided in the vicinity of the Thames in London, entertaining them at suppers at Wapping, and practicing the art of popular eloquence in addressing them. The dissolution opportunely came off just after he arrived at age, an event which was duly celebrated with the roasting of an ox and other festivities on his own grounds. In the election which followed he was successful against powerful opposition in the county, according to the custom of the day paying the voters freely for their suffrages. The election cost him over eight thousand pounds. His success gave him a brilliant introduction to the capital. "When I went up to Cambridge," he said, "I was scarcely acquainted with a single person above the rank of a country gentleman; and even when I left the university, so little did I know of general society, that I came up to London stored with arguments to prove the authenticity of Rowley's Poems; and now I was at once im mersed in politics and fashion. The won twenty-five guineas of the Duke of Norfolk. I belonged at this time to five clubs, Miles and Evans's, Brookes's, Boodle's, White's, Goostree's. The first time I was at Brookes's, scarcely knowing any one, I joined from mere shyness in play at the faro-table, where George Selwyn kept bank. A friend who knew my inexperience, and regarded me as a victim decked out for sacrifice, called to me, 'What, Wilberforce, is that you?' Selwyn quite resented the interference, and turning to him, said in his most expressive tone, "O, sir, don't interrupt Mr. Wilberforce, he could not be better employed.' Nothing could be more luxurious than the style of these clubs. Fox, Sheridan, Fitzpatrick and all your leading men, frequented them, and associated upon the easiest terms; you chatted, played at cards, or gambled, as you pleased." Wilberforce had formed the acquaintance of Pitt at Cambridge; they were born in the same year, and commenced their parliamentary career about the same time. An intimacy was formed between them in their friendly association at the club at Goostree's, of which Pitt at this time was a constant frequenter, and where the society was composed mostly of a number of intellectual young men recently from their university studies, and then entering upon public life. "Pitt," says Wilberforce, in his memoranda of this period, "was the wittiest man I ever knew, and what was quite peculiar to himself, had at all times his wit under perfect control. Others appeared struck by the unwonted asso |