loose from society that he considered frivolous; and to have used
the extraordinary influence he possessed over his friends to
endeavour to induce them also to forsake the world of fashion. The
long letter which follows is from Lord Calthorpe (a relation of
Barbara,[29] Wilberforce's wife), who had been strongly advised by
Wilberforce not to spend a Sunday with the Duchess of Gordon in
Scotland. Lord Calthorpe writes in great chagrin at having neglected
the good advice of his mentor, had found the warnings against her
fascinations very necessary, and had had the mortification of seeing
her go to sleep while he read Leighton's "Commentary" to her. It would
be of interest to know what were the "full and useful directions for
public speaking" for which Lord Calthorpe is grateful to Wilberforce.
_Lord Calthorpe to Mr. Wilberforce._
"KINRARA,
"_September 2, 1801, Saturday_.
"MY DEAR SIR,--I have just evinced a proof of want of vigilance and
self-discipline which vexes me so much that I am endeavouring to find
relief from my vexation by telling it to you, as it is a satisfaction
to me to think that you will pity me, in spite of the neglect of your
advice, which I have betrayed. After having had the carriage at the
door to leave this place (the Duchess of Gordon's) in order that we
might spend to-morrow quietly, about twenty miles off, I have suffered
myself to be persuaded to stay here till Monday. O how subtle are the
devices of the enemy of our peace, and how weak our natural means of
defence; the real cause of my falling into this temptation is now plain
enough, but the shadow of delusion that for a moment imposed upon me
was the idea of having some serious conversation with the Duchess, when
we were likely to be almost alone, and which company has hitherto given
me but little opportunity for; and this I was weak enough to indulge in
spite of more sober convictions and the advice of Mr. Gorham and other
objections, and I am just awakened to see the extent of my folly,
conceit, and wilful depravity, by finding that we are to have no chance
of having my imagination gratified, as Sir Wm. Scott has written word
that he is coming to-morrow, and the delight with which the Duchess
welcomed the intelligence has opened my eyes to my sottishness in
thinking her sincere in her wish that I might pass a Sunday with her. I
cannot conceive a scene more calculated to excite feelings of devotion
and to expose worldly vanities than this spot, which is quite lovely,
yet here I have found how strongly the world may engage the affections;
there is something in the Duchess that pleases, although against the
judgment (perhaps a little in the way of Falstaff), and makes her
entertaining even when she is the subject of melancholy reflections;
indeed, I feel how necessary your warnings against her fascinations
were; she talked a great deal about her friend Wilberforce, and
threatens you with a letter about me, and told me all my faults which
she intended to report to you; I have not spent a Sunday (for it is
now over) with so much self-reproach since I came into Scotland. She
seems to be on the same kind of terms with religion as she is with
her Duke, that is, on terms of great nominal familiarity without ever
meeting each other except in an hotel or in the streets of Edinburgh.
She fell asleep on Sunday while I was reading to her part of Leighton's
Commentary and awoke with lively expressions of admiration at what
she had not heard; she talks of setting off for Ireland in a few weeks
and of going to London afterwards, so I hope that she will do no harm
at Edinburgh next winter. I left Kinrara on Monday and got to Blair at
night; I found there more of ancient stateliness than I have yet seen,
and I think the Duke of Athol is fond of keeping it up; he has some
very fine scenery about him there, and his other place Dunkeld, which
is twenty miles off, is perhaps more beautiful although less wild and
magnificent. Sir W. Scott (whom I never see without thinking of you) is
on a visiting tour, and went from Blair with Lord Frederick Campbell
to Lord Melville's and from thence goes to the Duke of Argyle's and
Montrose's back to Edinburgh; he was very tortuous and amusing. I have
written this by scraps, and am ashamed to have been so long about it.
Many thanks for your last letter, and especially for your kindness in
giving me such full and useful directions for acquiring a talent for
public speaking; I will endeavour, as far as I am able, to do justice
to them, and I expect to find your technical lines of great service to
me. I believe that the plan of religious reading which you mention is
the best, and surely I have no small encouragement to pursue it, and
when I am so great a gainer by its beneficial effects in your case.
I spent yesterday at Lord Mansfield's, at Scoone, where the Kings of
Scotland used to be crowned; the old palace has been pulled down, and
a very large Gothic house built upon its site. I hope you are enjoying
health and quiet where you are, and every other blessing. Give my
kindest remembrance to Mrs. W.
"Believe me, my dear sir,
"Affectly yours,
"CALTHORPE.
"You shall hear from me again."
Wilberforce's influence with Pitt was also known to Maria, Duchess of
Gloucester.[30] It will be remembered that Henry William, third son of
George II. (created Duke of Gloucester in 1764), married Maria, Dowager
Countess of Waldegrave, in 1766. This lady writes to Wilberforce,
hoping that through his "mediation with Pitt" a regiment of dragoons
may be given to her son Lord Waldegrave.
_The Duchess of Gloucester to Mr. Wilberforce._
"GENOA, _February 4, 1786_.
"SIR,--Although you did not succeed in one of my requests to Mr.
Pitt, you were more successful in the other; and for that I return
you my thanks. I did not very much flatter myself that Mr. Pitt would
add a place to what Lord Waldegrave at present possesses, indeed a
regiment is almost the only addition he is likely to gain; and as Mr.
Pitt has expressed his satisfaction in the marks of favour already
received from the King, may I hope, through your mediation, that Mr.
Pitt will be so good as to remind His Majesty how very acceptable a
regiment of dragoons will be to Lord Waldegrave. If Lord Waldegrave
was distressed from his own extravagance I would not trouble Mr. Pitt,
but my daughter's father left his brother a clear estate which is now
encumbered as much as if the late Lord Waldegrave had come to the
title and estate, at twenty-four, instead of forty-four. The Duke of
Grafton's reconciliation with his son is now so old a story that I only
mention it as a fact that I am sensible gives you pleasure? Mr. Pitt
is so much attached to Lord Euston, that I must take part in an event
that I know gives him so much pleasure. I hope Lord Lucan will suffer
the match to take place, but till it is over I shall have my doubts. If
Mrs. Wilberforce and your sister are in town will you give them my best
compliments. Sophia and William are both as tall as yourself.
"Sir,
"I remain yours, &c., &c.,
"MARIA."
The next letter is from the same lady, thanking Wilberforce for having
written "so full an explanation of what so few people understand" in
his work on "Practical Christianity."
"GLOUCESTER HOUSE,
"_April 14, 1797_.
"I received your inimitable book the day before I got your letter, and
had read a good way in it. I have continued to read in it with the
greatest satisfaction, and beg of you to accept of my thanks for having
written so full an explanation of what so few people understand. I hope
and trust it will be universally read, and that with attention, as then
the good it will do will be infinite. Mrs. H. More was with me last
night; she is so exalted by your book that she almost forgets humility
is one of the Christian requisites.
"I remain, dear sir,
"Your _very_ much obliged, &c.,
"MARIA."
Let us turn to the more serious friendships of Wilberforce's middle
age. So much of his correspondence with Hannah More has been published
that it is only lightly touched on here.
In 1809 Hannah More wrote to Mr. Wilberforce: "Oh, if I could have had
the benefit of your assistance in Cœlebs![31] but I could not be such
an unfeeling brute as to ask it. 'Tis not to _make a speech_ when I say
that _you_ are the _only being_ whose counsels would _in all points_
have exactly fallen in with my own ideas from your uniting a critical
knowledge of the world in its higher classes with such deep religious
feelings--either of these I might have found in a very few, but not
both in any."
Hannah More and her friends had apparently unfortunate experiences with
regard to the spiritual help to be obtained from the higher ranks of
the clergy at that time, as she writes: "I have had many interviews
with Ladies Waldegrave and Euston. They told me that, though acquainted
with several bishops, they never could get a word of seriousness or
profit from any of them." Whether it was the "critical knowledge of
the world in its higher classes" joined to "deep religious feeling"
mentioned by Hannah More, or the "indulgent benevolent temper, with
no pretension to superior sanctity or strictness," of which Maria
Edgeworth writes,[32] certain it is that Wilberforce became a guide
of the religious life of many of his friends. For instance, Mr. Eliot,
the brother-in-law of Pitt, writes from Burton Pynsent a letter, marked
"very pleasing and serious" by Wilberforce, in which he says in answer
to Wilberforce, who "hoped he had been going on in a regular, steady
way," that he had been "endeavouring to work a good will into a good
habit, that so the habit may come in turn to the assistance of the
will, which, as you very truly say, I am sure (except under the special
favour of God's grace), will flag and waver in its best pursuits and
firmest intention. My chief reading for the month has been Warburton."
Mrs. Elizabeth Fry writes to Wilberforce to say:--
"When thou hast leisure, advise with me as with a child if thou hast
any hint to give me in my new circumstances. I look before long once
more to entering the prisons. The cause is near my heart, and I do not
see that my husband, having lost his property, should, when he and my
family do not want me, prevent my yet attending to these duties; in
this I should like to have thy advice."
In 1801 the question of Irish Union divided educated opinion. Dr.
Burgh,[33] a well-known man at this time and friend of Wilberforce,
takes one side, and Lord Hardwicke, Viceroy of Ireland, the other.
_Dr. Burgh to Mr. Wilberforce._
"YORK, _February 9, 1801_.
"MY DEAR WILBER.,--I sincerely thank you for the communication you
have made to me, and assure you that you may rely upon my profoundest
silence. The cruel and corrupt means that were adequately resorted to,
in order to effect the revolutionary Union which has subverted the
prescriptive constitution of both these kingdoms, have so entirely
infected the sweetness of affiance in my bosom, that whatever systems
or changes are adopted my eye sets instantly to search among all
possible motives in order to find the worst of issues. Can I see
Addington climb upon the stooping neck of Mr. Pitt, and not believe
that it is done in hostility, or in a masked confederacy? If the
former, how am I to estimate the man who comes in? If the latter,
what judgment can I form of the man who goes out? Is a retiring
administration to be allowed, in a temporary agreement with opposition,
to support the claims of Irish Popery, and by carrying their point in
their new character, to exonerate the Cabinet of the charge; and are
they to re-occupy their posts when there are no farther measures to be
carried by them in their unresponsible situations? All this I foresaw,
though not perhaps in the detail; and, indeed, it required no prophet's
eye to foresee it, when hints which bind not were conscientiously
substituted for promises in order to purchase a momentary calm. The
downfall of the Church of England is still involved, and however the
Papists of Ireland, on merging the two kingdoms into each other, may
be considered as outnumbered by the Protestants, it is not by the
Protestants of the Establishment, who will, on the whole, be outweighed
by the incorporated force of the Protestant Dissenters with those of
the same description in Ireland, who will derive the most unqualified
assistance from the Romish body. Show favour to Popery, and the
Dissenters' claims will be abetted by millions who will only infer a
kind of right against all anticipation of consequences; or, on the
other hand, deny the demands of Popery, and you instantly and directly
unite the two denominations against the Church of England. I know but
one mode to prevent all these, and ten thousand other unconsidered
evils; at once declare the impracticability of carrying conditions into
execution, and dissolve this ill-starred Union, from which no benefit
will ever flow, but every evil that imagination can picture.
"I will trouble you no farther now except to desire that you will not
charge me with defective candour; the things that are already done will
surely too clearly justify whatever inference I have drawn from them.
"May every happiness attend you and yours--in opposition to prospects I
say it; but if a few good men may not save a nation, they yet may save
and purchase favour to themselves.
"I am ever, my dear Wilber.,
"Most fervently yours,
"W. B."
_Lord Hardwicke to Mr. Wilberforce._
"_September 30, 1801._
"I think the alterations made by the Union are in some respects
likely to facilitate the conduct of public business in this country
with a view to the public benefit. I have hitherto had great reason
to be satisfied with my reception. The city of Dublin, I mean the
leading part of it, is extremely loyal and attached to Government,
but they still consider the Union as having affected in some degree
their local interests, and it will be some time before this feeling
is entirely removed. There can however be little doubt that when they
see the United Parliament as attentive to Irish as they have been to
British interests, and disposed to promote them by the same liberal
encouragement, that whatever partial dissatisfaction may remain
will gradually wear off. If the French do not succeed in landing a
considerable body of troops in this country we shall certainly continue
to enjoy tranquillity, but if the enemy effect a landing in force, we
must expect rebellion to revive."
The state of Ireland at a later date after the Union is alluded to
in the next letter from Lord Redesdale,[34] who was apparently much
aggrieved at the treatment which he had experienced in giving up
the Lord Chancellorship of that country. The letter is marked by
Wilberforce "Lord Redesdale shamefully used on being turned out of
Chancellorship."
_Lord Redesdale to Mr. Wilberforce._
"ELY PLACE, DUBLIN,
"_March 5, 1806_.
"MY DEAR SIR,--I rely upon your letter, desiring to know whether
there was any establishment in this country by contribution to which
you could forward its civilisation, for excusing my sending you
'observations on the necessity of publishing the Scriptures in the
Irish language,' by Dr. Stokes, of the College, who is engaged in
such a work, without any view of emolument, but merely to promote
the civilisation of the country, and the propagation, as much as
possible, of the Christian religion in its purity. He is supported by
contribution of the college, and some private contributions; but such
is the temper of the Irish that even their charities, liberal as they
frequently are, are more the result of pride and vanity than of any of
the true feelings of the charitable mind. I think Dr. Stokes's work
will be very useful; and that in spite of all the arts of the priests,
the circulation of the Scriptures will prevail amongst the lower
orders, and must reform even the Irish Catholic Church, which I take to
be the most corrupt now remaining of all the members of the Church of
Rome. It will also have the effect of enabling the Protestant clergy
of the Establishment to perform their duty; namely, to endeavour to
instruct those who do not understand the English language; and I think
it will also enable the gentlemen of the country to gain so much of
the Irish language as will give them some intercourse with their poor
neighbours, where the English language is not spoken; and I think it
will also contribute to diffuse the English language, which I think
is a most important advantage. I have thought it my duty to subscribe
ten guineas for the encouragement of Dr. Stokes, and I believe a
few subscriptions with what the College proposes to give him, will
encourage him to proceed with activity; as I have strong assurances
that he seeks for nothing but indemnity and desires no compensation
for his time or his labour. I yesterday gave up the Great Seal, in
consequence of Lord Spencer's having thought fit to advise His Majesty,
after he had signed a warrant for Mr. Ponsonby's appointment, to sign
another for putting the Great Seal in commission, and then to send
it _by express_, directing the Lord Lieutenant to _lose no time_ in
procuring the Commission to pass the Seal. This has been done in so
much hurry that I have great doubts of its regularity; and if it had
been the case of any man but myself, I should have refused to put the
Great Seal to the patent, without further consideration; and I find the
Lords Commissioners are very much puzzled how to act. But this I feel
principally as a marked and gross personal affront to me, and through
me to the Lord Lieutenant.
"I could do nothing (without the Lord Lieutenant's warrant) but
despatch the business of the Court of Chancery; and yet I am not to be
trusted with the Great Seal _for a few days_ till the arrival of Mr.
Ponsonby for that purpose; and the suitors of the Court of Chancery
were to be equally injured; for the Commissioners being the Chief
Justice and Chief Baron, who have too much business in their own
courts to sit in the Court of Chancery, and the Master of the Rolls who
cannot (from the state of his health) do more business than he does
as Master of the Rolls, very little of the business which would have
been dispatched by me can be done till the arrival of Mr. Ponsonby; and
by that time all the counsel will be gone the circuit. I must confess
I resent this wanton and childish insult (for I have no doubt the
affront was intended by Lord Spencer) much more than my removal from
my office, and nothing could be more insulting than the terms of the
letters written by my old friend C. W. Wynne, by order of Lord Spencer,
with the directions to have the patent to the Commissioners sealed
forthwith. From Lord Spencer and from Wynne I had certainly a claim at
least to personal civility. But it is the miserable effect of party
violence to blind all those who suffer themselves to be led by it. I
have the satisfaction of knowing that all those persons here whose
good opinion is of any value regret my removal, and have given me most
affectionate testimonies of their regard. I am sorry to add that the
conduct of His Majesty's ministers, in various instances, has raised
in the Protestant inhabitants of this country great and serious alarm.
The expressions of Mr. Fox on the subject of the Union have sunk deep
into their minds; and though it has been contrived to quiet those
adverse to the Union for the moment, with a view to prevent alarm, the
poison is working in their minds, and you will probably soon perceive
its effects. Mr. Fox's answer to Lord Shrewsbury and Mr. Scully, as
stated in the papers, has also had a very unfortunate effect. It is
a libel on the Government of the country in all its parts; imputing
to it gross partiality even in the administration of justice, and it
promises the Roman Catholics a different order of things; not by the
interposition of the legislature, but _by the influence and favour
of the executive_ government; and it applies itself directly and
particularly to the _army_, as if it were intended to frighten the
Protestants into acquiescence. It should be recollected that Lord
Shrewsbury is not connected in any way with Ireland, except by a claim
of peerage; and that Mr. Scully is the author of a pamphlet in which
he writes of James the Second as _the lawful King of Ireland_ at the
battle of the Boyne, and King William as a _Dutch invader_. You can
have no conception of the gloom which prevails in the minds of thinking
people in this country. Our Chief Justice and Chief Baron, both very
sound men and highly esteemed, are very strongly affected. The Chief
Justice forebodes every species of mischief. Lord Norbury, who is
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, is of a lighter turn of mind, and
irritated by a gross and ridiculous affront in omitting his name in the
Commission for custody of the Great Seal--evidently a mere piece of
party malice. But he also is full of gloomy apprehensions of the result
of the measures likely to be adopted.
"But my apprehensions are greatly increased by observing that Lord
Grenville and Lord Spencer are mere dupes to the other party in the
Cabinet with respect to Ireland, if not generally so. Lord Grenville
and Lord Spencer perhaps imagine that they may have some influence in
Ireland through Mr. Elliott and Sir J. Newport. Most certainly they
will have none. The Ponsonby family will govern Ireland through the
Lord Lieutenant, who is completely in their hands. Lord Grenville and
Lord Spencer seem also to have put Scotland and India out of their
control; and with the influence of all the great appendages of the
Empire against them, and a majority in the Cabinet to contend with at
home, what can they hope for? As the least of two evils, I shall yet
feel it my duty to support them against their rivals in the Cabinet,
though the personal insults I have received have come through them,
and their rivals have been comparatively civil. I shall get rid of
my property here as soon as I can, and with the miserable remains
transport myself to England for the rest of my days.
"I have had enough of office, and especially in my last change, which
has had the effect of making me pay a fine of at least twenty thousand
pounds for the honour of serving four years in a laborious office,
separated from my family and all my old friends, I shall return to
England, however, with pleasure; for though I shall be reduced to
practise an economy to which for thirty years I have been a stranger,
I shall return to my old friends, and to a country where my life will
probably be in no greater danger than that of any other person, and
where Lady Redesdale will be relieved from the fear and anxieties
which have long agitated her mind, and made her ardently wish that I
had never taken the office of Chancellor of Ireland; a wish in which I
most heartily concur. The remainder of my life I trust will be passed
more quietly than the last three years. Lady Redesdale begs to join in
respects to Mrs. Wilberforce, and I am
"Truly, my dear sir,
"Your faithful, humble servant,
"REDESDALE."
Sydney Smith writes in 1807 with regard to the Yorkshire election,
and the state of Ireland: his letter is marked "characteristic" by
Wilberforce.
"DEAR SIR,--If Mrs. S. remains in her present state of health I hardly
know how I can go down to Yorkshire at all. It is eight weeks since
her lying-in, and she cannot yet stand upon her feet. If I do come I
will certainly vote for Lord Milton and for you. I hope now you have
done with Africa you will do something for Ireland, which is surely
the greatest question and interest connected with this Empire. There
is no man in England who from activity, understanding, character, and
neutrality could do it so effectually as Mr. Wilberforce--and when this
country conceded a century ago an establishment to the Presbyterian
Church, it is horrible to see four millions of Christians of another
persuasion instructed by ragged priests, and praising their Creator
in wet ditches. I hope to God you will stir in this great business,
and then we will vote you the consulship for life, and you shall be
perpetual member for Yorkshire.
"In the meantime I remain, with great respect,
"Your obedient servant,
"SYDNEY SMITH."
Wilberforce had evidently written to Lord Eldon begging him not to
take up the great question of abolition of slavery on party grounds;
and Lord Eldon wrote that he wished that the House of Lords might
not disgrace itself by its mode of proceeding, as he saw a strong
inclination to do justice, "if abolition be justice, in a most unjust
mode." This letter is undated; it was probably written in 1802.
_Lord Eldon to Mr. Wilberforce._