n
intimate friend of some of the most eminent men of the day, not only
casting in his lot with the 'calumniated school' (as Hannah More calls
it), but straining every nerve to recommend its principles. It has been
said, indeed, that Wilberforce was not, properly speaking, an
Evangelical.[830] This is so far true, that Wilberforce did not identify
himself entirely with any religious party, and that he was, as Thomas
Scott observes, 'rather afraid of Calvinism.' But it would be robbing
Evangelicalism of its due, to deny that Wilberforce's deep religious
convictions were solely derived (so far as human agency was concerned)
from the Evangelical school. He was early impressed by the preaching,
and perhaps the private counsel, of his schoolmaster, Joseph Milner.
These impressions were afterwards revived and deepened by his
intercourse with Isaac Milner, whom he accompanied on a continental tour
just before the decisive change in his character. He was then led to
consult John Newton, and was advised by him to attend the ministry of
Thomas Scott at the Lock Hospital, from which he himself tells us that
he derived great benefit; and he afterwards attended regularly the
ministry of J. Venn. Surely these facts speak for themselves. The
religious character of Wilberforce was moulded by the Evangelical
clergy, and he was himself to all intents and purposes an Evangelical.

If further proof were needed, it would only be necessary to refer to
Wilberforce's best known publication, entitled in full, 'A Practical
View of the prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians in the
Higher and Middle Classes in this country, contrasted with real
Christianity.' No book, since the publication of the 'Serious Call,'
had exerted so wide and deep an influence as the 'Practical View.'
Wilberforce took up very much the same position as Law had done; and it
would be difficult to award higher praise to the later work than to say,
as one justly may, that it will bear comparison with the earlier. Not
that as mere compositions the two works can for one moment be compared.
In depth of thought, strength of argument, and beauty of language, Law's
is immeasurably superior. But, on the other hand. Wilberforce had on
many points a distinct advantage. To begin with, the mere fact that the
'Practical View' was written by a layman--and such a layman!--gave it a
weight which no book of the kind written by a clergyman could
possess.[831] The force of the latt