Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public speakers of his day. The nickname derives from a comment by Benjamin Disraeli that the Bishop's manner was "unctuous, oleaginous, saponaceous" (slippery, evasive).
He is probably best remembered today for his opposition to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution — most notably at a famous debate in 1860 during which he is said to have asked Thomas Henry Huxley whether it was through his grandfather or his grandmother that he claimed his descent from a monkey, and got as answer that
"he would not be ashamed to have a monkey for his ancestor, but he would be ashamed to be connected with a man who used his great gifts to obscure the truth."
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