William Wilberforce
1759-1833 18th century Feast day: July 30
The perseverance of a conscience enlightened by prayer, holding firm for decades in a just fight.
Who was William Wilberforce?
A brilliant and worldly English MP, his conversion at twenty-six nearly led him to leave politics; he was persuaded to stay and serve God there. For nearly twenty years, defeat after defeat, he carried the parliamentary fight against the slave trade until its abolition in 1807. Three days before his death, he learned that the vote abolishing slavery in the British Empire was secured.
In their own words
God Almighty has set before me two great objects: the suppression of the Slave Trade and the reformation of manners.
I mean not to accuse anyone, but to take the shame upon myself, in common with the whole Parliament of Great Britain, for having suffered this horrid trade to be carried on under their authority. We are all guilty.