Editing William Wilberforce (section)

===Moral reform===
Greatly concerned by what he perceived to be the degeneracy of British society, Wilberforce was active in matters of moral reform, lobbying against "the torrent of profaneness that every day makes more rapid advances", and considered this issue and the abolition of the slave trade as equally important goals.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tomkins|2007|pp=54–55}}</ref>  At the suggestion of Wilberforce and [[Beilby Porteus|Bishop Porteus]], [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]] was requested by the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] to issue in 1787 ''[[Proclamation For the Encouragement of Piety and Virtue|A Proclamation for the Encouragement of Piety and Virtue]]'', as a remedy for the rising tide of immorality.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pollock|1977|p=61}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Brown|2006|p=346}}</ref><ref name="Devereaux2015"/> The proclamation commanded the prosecution of those guilty of "excessive drinking, blasphemy, profane swearing and cursing, lewdness, [[Sabbath breaking|profanation of the Lord's Day]], and other dissolute, immoral, or disorderly practices".<ref>{{Harvnb|Hochschild|2005|p=126}}</ref><ref name="Devereaux2015" /> Greeted largely with public indifference, Wilberforce sought to increase its impact by mobilising public figures to the cause,<ref name="Hague 2007 108">{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|p=108}}</ref><ref name="Devereaux2015">{{Cite journal |last=Devereaux |first=Simon |date=2015 |title=Inexperienced Humanitarians? William Wilberforce, William Pitt, and the Execution Crisis of the 1780s |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/DA5821170E59D63DF61D543291A285DA/S0738248015000449a.pdf/div-class-title-inexperienced-humanitarians-william-wilberforce-william-pitt-and-the-execution-crisis-of-the-1780s-div.pdf |journal=Law and History Review |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=839–885 |doi=10.1017/S0738248015000449 |s2cid=151411243 |issn=0738-2480 |access-date=7 July 2023 |archive-date=3 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503060753/https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/DA5821170E59D63DF61D543291A285DA/S0738248015000449a.pdf/div-class-title-inexperienced-humanitarians-william-wilberforce-william-pitt-and-the-execution-crisis-of-the-1780s-div.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref> and by founding the [[Society for the Suppression of Vice]].<ref name="Hague 2007 108"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Brown|2006|p=385}}</ref> This and other societies in which Wilberforce was a prime mover, mustered support for the prosecution of those who had been charged with violating relevant laws, including brothel keepers, distributors of pornographic material, and those who did not respect the Sabbath.<ref name="Hind1987" />

The writer and clergyman [[Sydney Smith]] criticised Wilberforce for being more interested in the sins of the poor than those of the rich, and suggested that a better name would be the "Society for suppressing the vices of persons whose income does not exceed £500 per annum".<ref name="Tomkins 2007 55"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|p=109}}</ref> Wilberforce's attempts to legislate against adultery and Sunday newspapers were also in vain; his involvement and leadership in other, less punitive, approaches were more successful in the long-term, however. By the end of his life, British morals, manners, and sense of social responsibility had increased, paving the way for future changes in societal conventions and attitudes during the Victorian era.<ref name="Wolffe2009" /><ref name="Hind1987" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|p=514}}</ref>