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RESHAPING SOCIETY – THE CLAPHAM SECT
A paper presented for workshops at the Wellington Theological Colloquium 28 August
2010
An extraordinary generation 1780 to 1830Within the space of 50 years entrenched views held by English society in 3 areas were
turned upside down by a small group of Christian activists known as “the Clapham sect”
slavery
personal and public morality (reformation of manners)
attitudes to missionary enterprise
Clapham Sect
A name given to Wilberforce and a group of like-minded people many of them living at
Clapham, then a village near London, and attending the Clapham Parish Church. Many
were MP’s who voted with Wilberforce. They were not in fact a sect. All were
evangelicals within the Church of England. The group never numbered more than 25 to
30 persons but they came from influential positions and families. The principal names
were:
William Wilberforce MP for Hull
Charles Grant MP – chairman of board of directors of East India Co.
Zachary Macaulay, researcher, estate manager, later became Governor of
Sierra Leone, a colony for freed slaves founded by the Clapham Sect.
James Stephen, lawyer, Master of Chancery , MP
John Shore, Lord Teignmouth, became Gov General of India
Henry Thornton, MP, banker, married Wilberforce’s cousin
Samuel Thornton, Governor Bank of England
Thomas Babington, MP, banker
Edward Eliot, MP
William Smith, MP
Henry Venn, Vicar of Clapham
John Venn, son of Henry Venn, Rector of Clapham Church
Isaac Milner, scientist, member of Royal Society
Granville Sharp, on fringe of group, anti-slavery campaigner
Hannah More,
“
“
“ but was a close contact of Wilberforce.
Spenser Perceval
“ “ “
MP and Prime Minister 1809 -12
The list of names of those involved differs in the various accounts of the “sect” . The
network of influence was wide and opinions differ on who should be regarded as
forming a part of the central core.
Evangelicals
The evangelicals were the response to Methodism within the Church of England
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Developed in latter part of 18th century when rise of Methodism stirred the
Puritan heritage in the established church and challenged the formalism
and corruption of 18th century church.
Early figures were John Newton and Charles Simeon of Cambridge
Cambridge as in Reformation became a centre for drawing young men
into evangelical ministry
Attracted hostility from established church – “enthusiasts”. The young
Wilberforce removed from his uncle and aunt by an anxious mother
because of their Methodist leanings.
characterized by preparedness to work across denominational boundaries
characterised by Puritan “earnestness” - rejected 18th century frivolity and
profanity – strong sense of accountability to God.- godly purpose in life
return to Bible as basis for life. Many members of the Clapham Sect were
foundation members of the Bible Society (1804).
strong social conscience driven by concern for “souls”
urge to evangelise in England and overseas. Members of the Clapham Sect
were on the board of CMS and influential in launching CMS.
Described by Halevy in English Thought in the 19th Century as “ the moral
cement of English society” and that “evangelicalism was the principal
ingredient in the state of mind which we today describe, contemptuously
perhaps, as Victorian”.
had within itself the seeds of its own demise
SlaveryThe discovery of the new world was soon followed by use of slaves to work the
plantation economy that followed. Beginning with Portuguese traders on west coast of
Africa Africans were enslaved and transported on the “middle passage “ to Brazil, Cuba,
West Indian islands and American colonies. Jacques Ellul claims the “Christian” nations
were influenced by Islam which then (and still) regards slavery as morally acceptable and
had carried on a slave trade from West Africa to North Arica and Middle East for
centuries.
England rapidly through its naval power and commercial dominance became largest
trader in slaves. It was highly profitable, conducted at huge cost in lives and suffering of
both slaves and sailors and blighted western society for 400 years. The impact on Africa
of exporting between 12 and 25 m (estimates vary widely) of its people is incalculable.
Obama’s appointment as US President a defining moment in relation to this moral blight.
What is astonishing now is that a practice which was then highly profitable and regarded
as an inevitable part of life (like the poor who will always be with us) is now universally
condemned and viewed as repugnant.
Wilberforce and the Clapham sect set out to change the accepted thinking of their time..
Early in his parliamentary career Wilberforce stated “God, Almighty has put before me
two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners”.
The struggle to turn the conscience of the nation and through that the British Parliament
took 20 years. In 1807 the slave trade was abolished. It took a further 16 years and
approval by Parliament of 20m pounds compensation (an enormous sum at that time) to
abolish slavery.
Personal and public morality
This was the second of Wilberforce’s “great objects”. The 18th century following the
enlightenment although a vigorous age aesthetically, intellectually and in the
advancement of science, was morally bankrupt. It was an age of private licence and
viciousness and public corruption and commercial exploitation. Harold Perkin ( a secular
historian) puts it aptly in The Origins of Modern English Society 1780 - 1880:
“…what may be called the Moral Revolution, that profound change in the national
character which accompanies the industrial revolution. Between 1780 and 1850 the
English ceased to be one of the most aggressive, brutal, rowdy, outspoken, riotous, cruel
and bloodthirsty nations in the world and became one of the most inhibited, polite,
orderly, tender-minded, prudish, and hypocritical.
The transformation diminished cruelty to animals, criminals, lunatics and children (in that
order); suppressed many cruel sports and games, such as bull baiting and cock-fighting,
as well as innocent amusements, including many fairs and wakes; rid the penal code of
about two hundred capital offences, abolished transportation, and cleaned up the prisons,;
turned Sunday into a day of prayer for some and mortification for all; “bowdlerised”
Shakespeare, Gibbon and other “obscene” classics, inhibited every kind of literature, save
that suitable for family reading, and almost gave the death blow to the english stage; and
generally removed from the language except for official publications and medical
literature, all words calculated to “bring a blush to the cheeks of a young person”.
Our society may today despise many of the Victorian values inherited from the Clapham
Sect and the evangelicals, but takes for granted standards of integrity in the professions
and freedom from corruption in the courts, civil service and public life which it also owes
to this group and their secular allies, the Utilitarians.
Missionary enterprise
18th century England while paying lip service to the need to convert the heathen was
opposed to any systematic evangelism of “native peoples” and even more so those of
other established religions such as Hinduism or Islam. Carey had to struggle against
entrenched ultra Calvinist hostility to establish the first missionary society and his
mission was attacked by Sydney Smith, the wit of the day, as “consecrated cobblers”.
Evangelism of slaves was discouraged because of an ambivalence as to what this might
mean if a slave became a baptized Christian brother. Unlike the great Catholic missionary
orders of 15th to 17th centuries English Protestants neglected missionary enterprise. John
Eliot and David Brainerd in the American colonies and the praying Indians were (a
largely despised) exception but that is a separate story.
In India evangelism was strongly opposed and forbidden by the East India Company.
William Carey had to go to neighbouring Danish Serampore to evangelise and Adoniram
Judson was forced out of India into Burma.
The Clapham sect took on this hostility, challenged the great East India Company in
Parliament and won in 1813. It took them 20 years. In doing so it had the energetic
support of two “insiders” John Shore (Lord Teignmouth) who became Governor General
of India and Charles Grant Snr chairman of the E I Co board. The admission of
missionaries to India was a breakthrough that shaped a new public attitude to mission and
by 1814 when Marsden arrived in New Zealand missionary enterprise was an integral
part of the expansion of British influence in the world with (for a time) the strong support
of the Colonial office - in the 1830’s dominated by evangelicals – unthinkable 25 years
earlier.
The anti slavery campaign
The 17th and 18th century Quakers were a remarkable group of people. The
Quakers in early 18th century were the first group to condemn the slave trade and
slavery. By the mid 18th century no Quaker was permitted to own a slave. In 1787
they formed the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade involving
Quakers and others such as Granville Sharp who had already been involved in 3
court cases challenging the legality of slavery in England) and Thomas Clarkson.
The Committee recognised two important factors
slavery was too well entrenched and economically important to be
attacked head on. The slave trade must be the first target and it was
expected that slavery would then wither away.
The campaign needed a leader in Parliament. Only Anglicans
could sit in Parliament – Test Acts. Wilberforce as a sitting MP
invited to join the campaign.
Wilberforce’s campaign in Parliament took 20 years and the tensions and unremitting
effort this required are well depicted in “Amazing Grace” although a few historical short
cuts have been taken.
a) William Pitt is rightly shown as a pivotal point of encouragement to
Wilberforce in taking up this task but he did not attend the Committee meeting.
b) The Duke of Clarence (future William IV) and Lord Tarleton were ferocious
foes of the campaign as depicted but in the House of Lords not the Commons
where Wilberforce was a member.
c) The Clapham Sect gets barely a mention apart from Marianne and Henry
Thornton, but it was Mary and Thomas Babington, not the Thorntons who were
the matchmakers. James Stephen, another leading member of the “sect” receives
proper credit for the move that outwitted the pro-slavers in Parliament. He was
Wilberforce’s closest confidant after the earlier years of closeness to Pitt and
became his brother-in law..
d) Barbara, Wilberforce’s wife, receives rather more credit than due to her for
restoring Wilberforce’s passion to end slavery, but the romance was indeed a
whirlwind one (met on 15th April and engaged on 23rd!) and to the surprise of
Wilberforce’s friends the marriage was a very happy one.
e) Amazing Grace was written by John Newton long before his conscience was
awakened to the evils of the slave trade.
Particular reasons for success of the campaign:
a)
The ground had been broken by the Sommersett case in 1772 where a
reluctant Lord Chief Justice Mansfield had been manouvered by Granville
Sharp into holding that slavery was incompatible with English common law
and could not exist in England. “The air of England is too pure for any slave
to breathe”. The Zong case in 1783 where slaves were thrown overboard to
save water and a claim made then on insurers, provided major propaganda for
Sharp and anti slavers. The Sommersett case was the first time a pressure
group had used the courts as an instrument.
b)
The choice of Wilberforce to lead the campaign in Parliament. A deeply
committed evangelical Christian, Wilberforce had natural charm, great gifts as
a speaker and a wide circle of friends in upper society. The PM was probably
his closest friend. He was also unlike too many Christians in politics a person
of complete integrity – Teflon proof in this area. He challenged Pitt more than
once at personal cost to their friendship - over Pitt’s resort to a duel, - he also
attacked the alleged corruption of his leading minister Dundas and to Pitt’s
dismay he gave support at times to the peace party in Parliament.
c)
The principled dedication of the leaders of the campaign and their deep
Christian faith. Their motivation was not the cause itself but the more
powerful motivation of commitment to the cause of Christ and the gospel.
Wilberforce was driven by conscience and not party spirit. For example he
supported Catholic Emancipation despite his objections to Catholicism and
despite hostility from many Protestant colleagues. For him continued
discrimination against Catholics was against conscience.
d)
The team effort and unity of the Clapham sect. Wilberforce was not a lone
campaigner but backed by a very talented dedicated group of like minded
evangelicals with a wide circle of influence. Sadly disunity has been a
hallmark of much Christian enterprise.
e)
A preparedness to work with any like minded supporters of the same cause. A
feature of the early evangelicals was their preparedness to work across
denominational boundaries with Quakers and other dissenters. Wilberforce
also joined forces with Benthamites and the Utilitarians against capital
punishment and in favour of prison reform.
f)
The support the campaign received from main stream politicians such as Pitt
and Grenville Fox who led the Whig opposition much of this time also
supported abolition.
g)
Tireless research. Unlike too many more recent campaigns the Anti Slavery
Committee put huge energy into getting the facts on the slave trade and was
able to demonstrate the hypocrisy of and challenge the many claims made by
the trade. Christian campaigners have too often played loose with the facts.
h)
Recognised that politics is the art of the possible. The slave trade rather than
slavery itself targeted as a more attainable objective. In the latter stages of the
campaign Stephens produced the idea of targeting carriage of slaves on
foreign ships to British colonies. Christian campaigners have often failed to
recognise this basic principle in politics eg in abortion.
i)
Using every available means of arousing public opinion. This was the first
“pressure group” to use public opinion to put pressure on the law makers.
They pioneered a host of techniques still used. Public meetings and
committees all over Britain marshalled support from thousands of people and
put out newsletters and publicity. Petitions were signed from across the
nation. William Cowper wrote ballads (Bono has nothing new on this score!)
Josiah Wedgewood made antislavery merchandise - pottery and ornaments,
boycotts of sugar were organized. . Street marches were however , unknown.
This was the time of the French revolution and Napoleonic wars and the
security of Britain drew an almost paranoid response from Pitt and the
government (cf reaction to terrorism today).. .
j)
The broad basis on which the evangelicals attacked a whole range of social
evils gave their cause credibility and took the “sting” out of their unpopular
causes such as Sabbath observance, attacks on blasphemy, and hostility to
entertainment etc. Wilberforce supported all the major social concerns of his
time – sought improved working conditions in factories, and for seamen,
opposed capital punishment and harsh penalties for minor offences, sought
better conditions for convicts including those sent to Australia. The charge
that he loved the slaves and did nothing for the white slaves of Britain was a
baseless calumny put out by West Indian planters and sadly is still repeated by
historians. It is totally without foundation.
Single issue campaigners, on the other hand can struggle because of the
narrowness of their appeal. A contemporary positive example of the value of
tackling the needs of society on a broad front is the Salvation Army.
k)
The campaigning of freed slaves such as Equiano Olaudah and the threat of
black insurrections in the West Indies.
By 1807 the anti-slavers had won the moral high ground and had captured the
conscience of England. It is in my view fallacious to suggest as do a number of
historians beginning with Eric Williams of Trinidad in Capitalism and Slavery, OUP
1944, (who are reluctant to give credit to the Clapham Sect and the evangelicals), that
slavery withered away because it no longer made economic sense. In fact when the
trade was abolished by Britain it was at its peak and still the foundation of Bristol and
Liverpool’s economic success. Despite Britain’s use of the Royal Navy to suppress
the trade it thrived for several more years through use of foreign vessels. It was
tenaciously retained by the southern US states because it still made economic sense in
the mid 19th century. It was abolished essentially because public opinion had been
aroused in Britain and eventually found expression in Parliament. The New Oxford
History of the British Empire Vol II, OUP 2000 effectively demolishes Williams
view.
The decline of the evangelicals
During the period 1850 to 1870 the influence of the evangelicals had declined not only in
relation to government policy in New Zealand but more widely. As noted in the
previous session the leading thinkers in the third generation after the Clapham Sect ( the
children of those involved in establishing the Aborigines Protection Society) no longer
adhered to the evangelical movement. An example is Sir James Fitzjames Stephens, son
of the Under-Secretary, who became a leading free thinker. There are many other
examples. Three reasons are:
a) The evangelical movement had within itself the seeds of its own demise. It was a
movement of action with little attention given to developing a coherent
philosophy or depth of theology. For that reason it failed to hold the thoughtful
members of the third generation. The challenge of Darwinism in the 1860’s
received no adequate response from the evangelicals . A sad poignant
commentary on this can be found in Tennyson’s In Memoriam. The issue is well
put by Robin Furneaux, William Wilberforce, Regent College Publishing, 1974, in
what is perhaps the best biography on Wilberforce:
The success of the Evangelical Movement was due to its vigour and its positive
and constructive approach. Its followers could feel that they were takling the
most important problems of their time. Its failure to produce any profound
thinkers or writers eventually led to the movement’s becoming sterile.
Gladstone described it as “beneficial as an impulse and a moral example [but]
when considered as a system, incomplete and abnormal. It did not represent the
whole of Anglicanism, or indeed any other whole…It has not had, and in truth
hardly could have what can with strictness be called a Theology. For penetrating
and exacting minds, it raises questions to which it can furnish no reply”
b) This lack of a coherent theology and philosophy meant that the efforts of the next
generation under Lord Shaftesbury went into alleviating the symptoms of
inequality and exploitation in Victorian society without tackling the institutional
evils. The leadership here passed to the labour movement.
c) The evangelicals, even the most flexible among them like Wilberforce, had a
serious blind spot when dealing with moral failure. Their attitude was often seen
as censorious and unforgiving and marked by a lack of compassion. This often
led to an institutionalising of their charitable activities and a loss of personal
warmth and care. A leading example is the prosecution by the Proclamation
Society (successor to the Vice Society) of the printer and distributor of Thomas
Paine’s books, Williams. Wilberforce in this instance failed to comprehend the
extent to which the Society, in condemning Williams’ sin had failed to show the
compassion of Christ towards the sinner.
d) The movement in reaction to the rise of “modernism” and liberal theology in the
late 19th century retreated to the evangelical fundamentals and the maintenance of
its missionary enterprise. Evangelicals largely withdrew from involvement in
political life and social activism labelling these the products of the “social gospel”
that was associated with modernism. The generations associated with
Wilberforce and Shaftesbury were looked to as past evangelical heroes to be
admired but not copied.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Belmonte, K. William Wilberforce, Zondervan, 2002
Bradley, I. The Call to Seriousness, Jonathan Cape, London, 1976
Ferneaux, R. William Wilberforce, Regent College, Vancouver, 1974
Hague, W. Life of Wilberforce, Harper Collins, 2007
Hill, C The Wilberforce Connection, Monarch Books, Oxford, 2004
Howse, EM. The Saints in Politics, George Allen and Unwin, London,
McKenzie P D, “The Reformation of Manners”, Stimulus Vol 6 No 3 1998 56 [The
author retracts footnote 8 which is incorrect in its reference to Claudia Orange, The Treaty of Waitangi.
Orange does discuss Lord Glenelg’s contribution as a humanitarian and evangelical].
McKenzie P D, ‘The International Moral Policeman” Stimulus, Vol 7 No 3 1999 10
Neill, S Anglicanism, Ch 9, Penguin Books 1958
Pollock, J. Wilberforce , Lion, Oxford 1977
Wilberforce, Wm Real Christianity, Regal Books, California, 2006