Private Papers of William WilberforceWilberforce, William
History
Private Papers of William Wilberforce
Wilberforce, William
Wilberforce, William, 1759-1833
maintaining our communication with heaven, and the life of religion in
the soul claiming all possible attention."
In the next letter Wilberforce mentions that he had limited his
personal expenditure so as to have larger sums to give away. He
says that he had left off giving claret, then a costly wine, and
some other expensive articles still exhibited by those of his rank.
He speaks strongly against gratifying all the cravings of fashion,
thoughtlessness, or caprice.
"BARMOUTH, _October 14, 1823._
"MY VERY DEAR SAMUEL,--I again take up my pen to give you my sentiments
on the important subject on which I promised to write to you, and on
which you have kindly asked my advice. But before I proceed to fulfil
this engagement let me mention what I had intended to state in my last,
but omitted, that I have reason to believe dear Robert has suffered
in the estimation of some of my friends, whether rightly or wrongly I
really know not, from the idea that his associates were not religious
men (irreligious in its common acceptation would convey more than
I mean), and therefore that he preferred that class of companions.
Now when people have once conceived anything of a prejudice against
another, on whatever grounds, they are disposed to view all he says and
does with different eyes, and to draw from it different conclusions
from those which would otherwise have been produced, and I suspect dear
Robert has suffered unjustly in this way. However, he will, I doubt
not, live through it, and so long as all is really right, I care less
for such temporary misconceptions, though, by the way, they may be
very injurious to the temporal interests, and to the acceptance of the
subject of them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account