{"product_id":"1822-william-wilberforce","title":"1822 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE. Works to Help Establish an Evangelical Church in Moscow - Prince Golitsyn.","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis 1822 manuscript letter by William Wilberforce is an excellent example of the Wilberforce's pervasive Evangelical influence during the first two decades of the 19th century. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe letter centers on an effort led by Mrs. Keir, wife of Dr. William Keir, a prominent Scottish physician who spent decades practicing in Moscow. They wished to establish a permanent Anglican chaplaincy and Church of England minister in Moscow for the growing community of British expatriates and diplomats. Following the devastating Fire of Moscow in 1812 and the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the British population in the ancient Russian capital grew significantly, yet lacked an official Church of England place of worship, unlike the long-established British Factory chapel in St. Petersburg.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWilberforce’s advice reveals the complex network of religious and political bodies required to launch such an overseas ecclesiastical venture. His mention of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPGFP) reflects the standard institutional avenues for British missionary and colonial church funding, even if Wilberforce correctly notes their bureaucratic limitations regarding independent foreign chaplaincies. His suggestion to appeal directly to the Foreign Secretary and the King highlights the diplomatic weight required to gain royal permission from Tsar Alexander I to establish a non-Orthodox Protestant church within the heart of the Russian Empire.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWilberforce’s reference to Prince Alexander Golitsyn (Gallitzin) is particularly significant. Prince Golitsyn was the Minister of Spiritual Affairs and Education under Tsar Alexander I and the president of the Russian Bible Society. During the 1810s and early 1820s, Golitsyn was the chief patron of evangelical and Bible Society efforts across Russia, maintaining close ties with British evangelicals like Wilberforce, Hannah More, and Ebenezer Henderson. Wilberforce invoking Golitsyn’s former warmth toward the Bible Society directly captures the high-water mark of British-Russian evangelical cooperation, just before Tsar Alexander I bowed to conservative Orthodox pressure and suppressed the Bible Society a few years later.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe docketing on the back indicating that Bishop Daniel Sandford would reply introduces a vital Scottish Episcopal connection. Bishop Sandford was the Bishop of Edinburgh, and because Dr. Keir and his wife had strong Scottish ties, they utilized Scottish Episcopal and Church of England networks simultaneously to vet the feasibility of sending an episcopally ordained minister to Moscow.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1822. 4pp, the first three in a secretarial hand, hand-signed by Wilberforce. The docketing on the back of page four with record of his follow up entirely in the hand of William Wilberforce. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFair condition with edges abraded as shown, minor losses, and the paper torn across the horizontal fold. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Specs Fine Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51255885987876,"sku":null,"price":1250.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0093\/3910\/9435\/files\/08-13-2026SpecsFineBooks-79.jpg?v=1787086304","url":"https:\/\/specsfinebooks.com\/products\/1822-william-wilberforce","provider":"Specs Fine Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}