Wilberforce was deeply conservative when it came to challenges to the existing political and social order . He advocated change in society through Christianity and improvement in morals , education and religion , fearing and opposing radical causes and revolution . The radical writer William Cobbett was among those who attacked what they saw as Wilberforce 's hypocrisy in campaigning for better working conditions for slaves while British workers lived in terrible conditions at home . " Never have you done one single act , in favour of the labourers of this country " , he wrote . Critics noted Wilberforce 's support of the suspension of '' habeas corpus '' in 1795 and his votes for Pitt 's " Gagging Bills " , which banned meetings of more than 50 people , allowing speakers to be arrested and imposing harsh penalties on those who attacked the constitution . Wilberforce was opposed to giving workers ' rights to organise into unions , in 1799 speaking in favour of the Combination Act , which suppressed trade union activity throughout Britain , and calling unions " a general disease in our society " . He also opposed an enquiry into the 1819 Peterloo Massacre in which eleven protesters were killed at a political rally demanding reform . Concerned about " bad men who wished to produce anarchy and confusion " , he approved of the government 's Six Acts , which further limited public meetings and seditious writings . Wilberforce 's actions led the essayist William Hazlitt to condemn him as one " who preaches vital Christianity to untutored savages , and tolerates its worst abuses in civilised states . " Wilberforce 's views of women and religion were also conservative . He disapproved of women anti-slavery activists such as Elizabeth Heyrick , who organised women 's abolitionist groups in the 1820s , protesting : " F or ladies to meet , to publish , to go from house to house stirring up petitions – these appear to me proceedings unsuited to the female character as delineated in Scripture . " Wilberforce initially strongly opposed bills for Catholic emancipation , which would have allowed Catholics to become MPs , hold public office and serve in the army , although by 1813 , he had changed his views and spoke in favour of a similar bill
Peterloo Massacre
Peterloo Massacre
William Wilberforce