Abstract
Many of these studies have a filiopietistic flavor, as Wilberforce is held up as a model of evangelical spirituality (his True Christianity became a bestseller), social activism, and political engagement. Despite chronic health problems, he served as a member of parliament for forty-five years and engaged in a life-long crusade to reform English "manners" by outlawing hanging, dueling, and bull-bating, and by promoting factory and prison reform, education, home and foreign missionary work, Bible societies, and the prevention of cruelty to animals.
