which, in his diary, he gives no very favorable account. On leaving college, he immediately entered upon active life, being, in 1780, sent by his own town of Hull to Parliament, when he had just completed his twenty-first year. He soon found his way into the highest circles of fashionable and political society; and, in the autumn of 1783, he set out for a tour in France with Mr. Pitt, with whom he had formed an acquaintance at Cambridge-an acquaintance that ripened into a friendship that lasted through life. He returned in 1784, and in the latter part of the same year he went again on the continent, accompanied by the celebrated Isaac Milner, Dean of Carlisle. This excursion forms a memorable era in his life; since, through the influence of Milner, his early impressions of religion, which had been greatly dissipated by his political life, were fully revived, and a deep and fervent piety took entire possession of his mind, and regulated the whole of his future conduct. In the year 1787, he entered upon his labors in that great cause with which his name will for ever be associated-the Abolition of the Slave Trade. To that holy cause he now dedicated his days and nights, even to his closing hours. In the year 1789, he first proposed the abolition of the slave trade to the House of Commons, in "a speech which Burke rewarded with one of those imperishable eulogies which he alone had the skill and the authority to pronounce; and the zeal, the patience, the talents, and courage which he displayed during the many dispiriting delays and formidable difficulties which he had to encounter before the cause of justice and humanity finally triumphed, are above all praise."2 In 1797, he published his celebrated work on "Practical Christianity," which met with such remarkable success that not less than five editions were called for within the first six months; and it exerted a most powerful influence in stemming the tide of irreligion and nominal Christianity. In 1807, after twenty years of anxiety and unremitting labor, he had the high gratification of seeing the slave trade abolished by act of Parliament. From this time forward, until he quitted the House of Commons, in the year 1825, his parliamentary labors were devoted to a ceaseless 1 "But a victory over Guinea merchants," says the "Edinburgh Review," "was not to be numbered among the triumphs of eloquence. The slave-traders triumphed by an overwhelming majority. In the political tumults of those days the voice of humanity was no longer audible, and common sense ceased to discharge its office." The English abolitionists had much to contend with--but then they had a host of good and eloquent and learned men on their side. They had Burke, and Pitt, and Fox, and Wilberforce, and Brougham in Parliament:-they had Cowper, Montgomery, Coleridge, Campbell, Hannah More, and many others in the higher walks of literature: and they had a large number of the clergy, espe cially of the "dissenters." The press, too, was open to them to a great extent. Let us, then, never despair of the ultimate triumph of truth, however numerous and influential they may be who combine to stop its onward march! Among the letters of encouragement addressed to Mr. Wilberforce, is one written by John Wesley, from his death-bed, dated February 24, 1791. As they are probably the last written words of that extraordinary man, I subjoin them here: MY DEAR SIR-Unless Divine Power has raised you up to be as Athanasius contra mundum, I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise, in opposing that execrable villany which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils; and if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? Oh! be not weary of well-doing. Go on in the name of God, and in the power of his might, till even American slavery, THE VILEST THING THAT EVER SAW THE SUN, shall vanish away before it. That He who has guided you from your youth up may continue to strengthen you in this and all things, is the prayer of, dear sir, your affectionate servant, JOHN WESLEY. It is said that nearly one hundred editions have been printed in England, and it has been translated into the French, Italian, Spanish, and German languages. watchfulness over the interests of the African race; and he lived to witness the consummation of the struggle for the abolition of slavery throughout the British dominions. He died July 27, 1833, when within a month of completing his seventy-fourth year, and was interred in Westminster Abbey, near the tombs of Pitt, Fox, and Canning. "Few persons," says Lord Brougham, "have ever reached a higher or more enviable place in the esteem of their fellow-creatures, or have better deserved the place they had gained, than William Wilberforce. His immense influence was no doubt greatly owing to the homage paid to his personal character; but he possessed many other qualifications which must of themselves have raised him to a great eminence." As a public speaker, he enjoyed great and well-merited celebrity. Sir Samuel Romilly esteemed him "the most efficient speaker in the House of Commons ;" and Pitt himself said repeatedly, "Of all men I ever knew, Wilberforce has the greatest natural eloquence." But of what worth is eloquence when not joined to purity of character, and enlisted in the cause of God and of humanity? Few think of William Wilberforce as an orator; but as a philanthropist his name will be revered by the good in all time to come.1 THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE. MR. SPEAKER-I cannot but persuade myself that whatever difference of opinion there may have been, we shall this day be at 1 I must subjoin here a few extracts from an admirable notice of his character, in the sixty-seventh volume of the "Edinburgh Review:"-"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. 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 among 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 more 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-humor could resist. The courtesy of the heart, and the refinement of the most polished society, united to great natural courage, and a not ungraceful consciousness of his many titles to respect, completed the charm which his presence infallibly exercised. "It is scarcely an exaggeration to say of him that God was in all his thoughts. He sur veyed human life as the eye of an artist ranges over a landscape, receiving innumerable intimations which escape any less practised observer. In every faculty he recognized a sacred trust; in every material object, an indication of the Divine wisdom and goodness; in every human being, an heir of immortality; in every enjoyment, a proof of the Divine be nignity; in every affliction, an act of parental discipline. The early development of this habit of mind appears to have been attended with much dejection and protracted self-denial; but the gay and social spirit of the man gradually resumed its dominion. A piety so profound was never so entirely free from asceticism. It was allied to all the pursuits and all the innocent pleasures of life. A fusion of religious with secular thoughts added to the spirit with which every duty was performed, and to the zest with which every enjoyment was welcomed; and the triumph of Christianity was eminently conspicuous in that inflexi ble constancy of purpose with which he pursued the great works of benevolence to which his life was consecrated. No aspirant for the honors of literature, or for the dignities of the woolsack, ever displayed more decision of character than marked his labors for the Abolition of the Slave Trade." Read his "Life," by his sons, in five volumes,-one of the most interesting and instructive memoirs ever published. It is deeply to be regretted that the American editor and publisher have given us such a mutilated edition in two volumes. 2 From his speech, delivered on the 2d of April, 1792, length unanimous. I cannot believe that a British House of Commons will give its sanction to the continuance of this abominable traffic-the African slave trade. We were for a while ignorant of its real nature; but it has now been completely developed, and laid open to your view in all its horrors. Never was there, indeed, a system so big with wickedness and cruelty; it attains to the fullest measure of pure, unmixed, unsophisticated wickedness; and scorning all competition or comparison, it stands without a rival in the secure, undisputed possession of its detestable preeminence. But I rejoice, sir, to see that the people of Great Britain have stepped forward on this occasion, and expressed their sense more generally and unequivocally than in any instance wherein they have ever before interfered. I should in vain attempt to express to you the satisfaction with which it has filled my mind to see so great and glorious a concurrence, to see this great cause triumphing over all lesser distinctions, and substituting cordiality and harmony in the place of distrust and opposition. Nor have its effects among ourselves been in this respect less distinguished or less honorable. It has raised the character of Parliament. Whatever may have been thought or said concerning the unrestrained prevalency of our political divisions, it has taught surrounding nations, it has taught our admiring country, that there are subjects still beyond the reach of party. There is a point of elevation where we get above the jarring of the discordant elements that ruffle and agitate the vale below. In our ordinary atmosphere, clouds and vapors obscure the air, and we are the sport of a thousand conflicting winds and adverse currents; but here, we move in a higher region, where all is pure, and clear, and serene, free from perturbation and discomposure As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, Swells from the vale and midway leaves the storm; Here, then, on this august eminence, let us build the temple of benevolence; let us lay its foundation deep in truth and justice, and let the inscription on its gates be "peace and good-will toward men." Here let us offer the first fruit of our prosperity; here let us devote ourselves to the service of these wretched men, and go forth burning with a generous ardor to compensate, if possible, for the injuries we have hitherto brought on them. Let us heal the breaches we have made. Let us rejoice in becoming the happy instruments of arresting the progress of rapine and desolation, and of introducing into that immense country the blessings of Christianity, the comforts of civilized, and the sweets of social life. I am persuaded, sir, there is no man who hears me, who would not join with me in hailing the arrival of this happy period; who does not feel his mind cheered and solaced by the contemplation of these delightful scenes.1 NOMINAL CHRISTIANS. Servile, and base, and mercenary, is the notion of Christian practice among the bulk of nominal Christians. They give no more than they dare not withhold: they abstain from nothing but what they must not practise. When you state to them the doubtful quality of any action, and the consequent obligation to desist from it, they reply to you in the very spirit of Shylock, "they cannot find it in the bond." In short, they know Christianity only as a system of restraint. She is despoiled of every liberal and generous principle: she is rendered almost unfit for the social intercourses of life, and is only suited to the gloomy walls of a cloister, in which they would confine her. LITTLE RELIGION NO COMFORT. "Drink deep, or taste not," is a direction fully as applicable to religion, if we would find it a source of pleasure, as it is to knowledge. A little religion is, it must be confessed, apt to make men gloomy, as a little knowledge is to render them vain hence the unjust imputation often brought upon religion by those whose degree of religion is just sufficient, by condemning their course of conduct, to render them uneasy; enough merely to impair the sweetness of the pleasures of sin, and not enough to compensate for the relinquishment of them by its own peculiar comforts. Thus, then, men bring up, as it were, an ill report of that land of promise, which, in truth, abounds with whatever, in our journey througli life, can best refresh and strengthen us. THE SUPPORTS OF RELIGION.2 When the pulse beats high, and we are flushed with youth, and healtn, and vigor; when all goes on prosperously, and success seems 1 On the final triumph of the bill for abolishing the Slave Trade, the vote was 283 to 16. Several comrades went home with Wilberforce after the house was up. "Well, Henry," aid he to his friend Thornton, "what shall we abolish next?" "The lottery, I think," was the answer. William Smith said, "Let us make out the names of these sixteen miscreants. I have four of them." "Never mind," said Wilberforce, who was kneeling on one knee at the table, writing a note, and looking up as he spoke; "never mind the miserable sixteen: let us think of our glorious 283." As for himself, all selfish triumph was lost in unfeigned gratitude to God. How wonderfully," he writes in his Journal of March 22, 1807, the providence of God has been manifested in the Abolition Bill! Oh what thanks do I owe the Giver of all good, for bringing me in his gracious providence to this great cause, which at length, after almost nineteen years' labor, is successful!" 2 Nobody can deny but religion is a comfort to the stressed, a cordial to the sick, and Sometimes a restraint upon the wicked; whoever therefore wants to argue or inugh it out of the world, without giving au equivalent for it, ought to be treated as a common enemy."LADY M. W. MONTAGU. almost to anticipate our wishes, then we feel not the want of the consolations of religion: but when fortune frowns, or friends forsake us; when sorrow, or sickness, or old age comes upon us, then it is that the superiority of the pleasures of religion is established over those of dissipation and vanity, which are ever apt to fly from us when we are most in want of their aid. There is scarcely a more melancholy sight to a considerate mind than that of an old man who is a stranger to those only true sources of satisfaction. How affecting, and at the same time how disgusting, is it to see such a one awkwardly catching at the pleasures of his younger years, which are now beyond his reach; or feebly attempting to retain them, while they mock his endeavors and elude his grasp! To such a one gloomily, indeed, does the evening of life set in! All is sour and cheerless. He can neither look backward with complacency, nor forward with hope; while the aged Christian, relying on the assured mercy of his Redeemer, can calmly reflect that his dismission is at hand; that his redemption draweth nigh. While his strength declines, and his faculties decay, he can quietly repose himself on the fidelity of God; and at the very entrance of the valley of the shadow of death, he can lift up an eye, dim perhaps and feeble, yet occasionally sparkling with hope, and confidently looking forward to the near possession of his heavenly inheritance, "to those joys which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man." What striking lessons have we had of the precarious tenure of all sublunary possessions! Wealth, and power, and prosperity, how peculiarly transitory and uncertain! But religion dispenses her choicest cordials in the seasons.of exigence, in poverty, in exile, in sickness, and in death. The essential superiority of that support which is derived from religion is less felt, at least it is less apparent, when the Christian is in full possession of riches, and splendor, and rank, and all the gifts of nature and fortune. But when all these are swept away by the rude hand of time or the rough blasts of adversity, the true Christian stands, like the glory of the forest, erect and vigorous; stripped, indeed, of his summer foliage, but more than ever discovering to the observing eye the solid strength of his substantial texture. One extract from his private Journal, as a specimen of the spirit of the whole, it is due to his memory to make, as showing his spiritual-mindedness and habitual self-examination. It is written at the close of the year 1802: FROM HIS JOURNAL. How many and great corruptions does the House of Commons discover to me in myself! What love of worldly estimation, vanity, earthly-mindedness! How different should be the frame of a real Christian, who, poor in spirit, and feeling himself a stranger and a |