^^- i 
 
 % ALUMNI LIBRARY, | 
 
 I THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, f 
 
 ^ PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 * 
 
 BR 1643 .Al B57 1826 
 :l^- Bishop, Alfred 
 ^ Christian memorials of the 
 Nineteenth century 
 
 i 
 
.# 
 
 l!# 
 
LONDON : 
 R. CLAV. IRINTER. OKVONSmKr. STRfifT, RlSIIOPsr, ATC. 
 
CHRISTIAN MEMORIALS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NINETEENTH CENTUR Y; 
 
 OR, 
 
 SELECT EVANGELICAL BIOGRAPHY 
 
 Tin: LAST T\Vi:\TY-FIVE YEARS. 
 
 COLLECTED A N IJ CONDENSED BY 
 
 ALFRED BISHOP. 
 
 " Pr.vcepia docciit, exoiiipla movent." 
 
 " Wherefore, seeing we are compassed aboiK with so great a 
 ii.oL'D OF wiTXKssts, let IIS lay aside every weight, and Ihc sin 
 which doth go easily beset us, and let ns rnn With patience (he rare 
 that i.* set before us, looking nnio Jksus." 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 I'UBLlSHEl) BY H. J. H () L DS WO RT H, 
 
 18, ST. pail's tllURCII-YAKl). 
 
 1826. 
 
TO 
 
 nil. RE\. WILLIAM EVANS BISHOP, 
 
 OF S I D B U R Y, D i: V O N, 
 
 i!rf)i0 Folume» 
 
 IN fJRATEFUL RECOLLECTION OF THE BOINDLESS 
 
 OBLIGATIONS 
 
 DERIVED FROM HIS EXALTED WISDOM 
 
 AND TENDER SOLICITUDE 
 
 DURING THE PERIOD OF YOUTH, 
 
 AND 
 
 AS A SI.UJllT TOKEN OF TIIK IROFOIND KEVERENLE 
 AND LOVE 
 
 WHICH EVERY SUCCEEDING YEAR HAS TENDED TO 
 CONFIRM, 
 
 IS MOST AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED 
 BY HIS DUTIFUL SON 
 
 AND OBEDIENT SERVANT, 
 
 THE ED ITU U. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I' \UE 
 
 I'refacc ix 
 
 The Rev. John Ekskink, I). D I 
 
 The Rev. John Evre 10 
 
 The Rev. EuwARD Dudley Jackson IG 
 
 Mrs. Mart Bishop ;{0 
 
 The Rev. Edward Ashburner 38 
 
 The Right Hon. Lady Ann Agnes Erskixe 18 
 
 The Rev. Abraham Booth J5 
 
 David Dale, Esq. ()5 
 
 The Rev. James Moody 71 
 
 The Rev. Samuel Lavington 77 
 
 The Rev. John Newton 84 
 
 The Rev. William Kingsblry 90 
 
 The Rev. Richard Cecil, M. .\ 99 
 
 Tlie Rev. Thomas Spencer 118 
 
 Dr. J. T. Vanderkemp 125 
 
 Mrs. Harriet Newell J30 
 
 The Rev. Henry Martyn, B.D 136 
 
 Beilby Purtels, D. D 140 
 
 The Rev. Edward Williams, D. D 147 
 
 Mrs. Graham 163 
 
 The Rev. Thomas Charles, B. A 171 
 
 The Rev. Claudius Buchanan, D. D •• 176 
 
 The Rev. Andrew Fuller 185 
 
 Timothy Dwioiit, D. D 195 
 
VIU CONTENTS. 
 
 PtCE 
 
 The Rev. John Fawcett, D. D 205 
 
 The Rev. Jehoiada Brewek 209 
 
 The Rev. Robert Simpson, D. D 213 
 
 Joseph Hardcastle, Esq 220 
 
 The Rev. Henry Kollock, D. D 230 
 
 Arthur Young, Esq. F. R. S. &:c 238 
 
 The Rev. J. N. Toller 244 
 
 The Rev. Joseph Benson 252 
 
 The Rev. Thomas Scott 258 
 
 Walter Venning, Esq 273 
 
 Elias BouDiNOT, Esq. LL. D 280 
 
 William Friend Durant 285 
 
 Thomas Bateman, M. D 290 
 
 Charles Grant, Esq 310 
 
 Miss Jane Taylor 319 
 
 The Rev. John Ryland, D. D 334 
 
 The Rev. David Bogue, D. I) 347 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following collection of Memoirs owes 
 its origin to the fact, that amidst the multitude 
 of biographical works which have of late years 
 issued from the press, none, with which the 
 Editor is acquainted, has limited its range to a 
 precise period of modern history ; but they have 
 in general gone back to a remote antiquity, for 
 lives already familiar to the public ; while those 
 of more recent date have been either wholly 
 omitted, or superficially described. The illus- 
 trious examples of holiness and wisdom, which 
 are supplied by the records of past ages, cannot 
 indeed be too frequently exhibited to the ad- 
 miration of their descendants. But it is, at the 
 same time, highly important to demonstrate, 
 by instances nearer our own time, or even con- 
 temporaneous with ourselves, that as the prin- 
 ciples of evangelical religion are in themselves 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 the same, — the same in the nineteenth century 
 as in tlie primitive age, or in tlie glorious period 
 of the Reformation, — so they continue to exer- 
 cise an undiminished energy, in elevating the 
 character through life, and in supporting under 
 the final conflict. 
 
 Besides — to employ the language of a dis- 
 tinguished living writer*, " It is a homage due 
 to departed worth, whenever it rises to such a 
 height as to render its possessor an object of 
 general attention, to endeavour to rescue it 
 from oblivion, that when it is removed from the 
 observation of men, it may still \i\e in their 
 memory, and transmit through the shades of 
 the sepulchre some reflection, however faint, of 
 its living lustre. By enlarging the cloud of 
 witnesses with which we are encompassed, it is 
 calculated to give a fresh impulse to the desire 
 of imitation ; and even the despair of reaching 
 it is not without its use, by checking the levity, 
 and correcting the pride and presumption of 
 the human heart.' 
 
 The present moment, likewise, appeared 
 peculiarly suitable for a work like tiic present ; 
 
 * Mr. R.Hall. 
 
PREFACE. » 
 
 the first quarter of the current century having 
 just elajjsed, during which so many " of whom 
 the world was not worthy," have " fought the 
 good fight, " and " kept the faith," and 
 "finished their course." — Such have been the 
 motives which prevailed with the Editor to un- 
 dertake the labour of collection, arrangement, 
 and publication, connected with the following 
 pages. 
 
 In accomplishing his plan, he has, of course, 
 been necessitated to adopt, in some cases with 
 no little difficulty, the principle of selection ; — 
 in which he has aimed at presenting to the 
 reader a constellation of greater and lesser 
 luminaries, — but all shining with the mild and 
 useful splendour of wisdom, purity, and bene- 
 volence. He has, after all, found himself 
 compelled to exclude many a name of perhaps 
 equal excellence with those to which he has 
 given insertion ; — names which might, in case 
 either of an enlargement of the present volume, 
 or of the addition of a second, to complete his 
 original design, be profitably introduced. 
 
 In conclusion, — he has only to address the 
 reader in the language of the amiable Arch- 
 bishop Leighton, who, on sending Valerius 
 
Xll PREFACE. 
 
 Maximus as a present to a friend, says, " I 
 conceived it would cloy you the less, because 
 it is of so much variety of selected examples, 
 and the stages are so short, you may begin 
 and leave off where you will, without wearying. 
 But when all is done, there is one only blessed 
 story, wherein our souls must dwell and take 
 up their rest; for amongst all the rest, we 
 shall not read — ' Venite ad me, &c.' — * Come 
 unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy 
 laden, and I will give you rest ;' and never 
 any yet that tried him, but found him as good 
 as his word : to whose sweet embraces I re- 
 commend you, and desire to meet you there.' 
 
 RiNGWOOD, 
 
 April 15M, 1826. 
 
CHRISTIAN MEMORIALS, 
 
 THE REV. JOHN ERSKINE, D. D. 
 
 If honourable birth and personal endow- 
 ments, — if amiable manners and extensive 
 benevolence, — if early and exemplary piety, 
 and unremitted zeal during a long and la- 
 borious life, — if any, or all these qualities 
 combined, can give weight and interest to 
 character, Dr. John Erskine must be ranked 
 among the most eminent persons of the age 
 in which he lived. 
 
 This excellent man was descended from 
 two of the most ancient houses in the peerage 
 of Scotland, and his nearest relations belong 
 to some of the most distinguished and respec- 
 table families of that country. His father, 
 Mr. Erskine of Carnock, who will always 
 be mentioned as a man of superior worth 
 and eminent talents, was an advocate at the 
 Scotch bar, and, for some time. Professor of 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
2 REV. JOHN ERSKINE, D. D. 
 
 Scotch Law in the University of Edinburgh. 
 His " Institutes of the Law of Scotland," in 
 five foho vokimes, as a book of authority and 
 of profound information, is well known to 
 have placed his name among lawyers of the 
 first rank. 
 
 Dr. Erskine was the eldest son of this 
 respectable man, and will be allowed to have 
 added, in no small degree, to the honour of 
 his family. His noble soul animated a feeble 
 and slender body ; and yet, through the 
 goodness of Providence to the church and 
 to the world, he was enabled to sustain many 
 severe shocks of adversity, and was preserved 
 with his faculties unimpaired, till he had out- 
 lived almost all his contemporaries. 
 
 Dr. E. feared God from his earliest youth. 
 Even when at school, though he excelled as 
 a scholar, he had a settled delight in the du- 
 ties of devotion, and in reading and studying 
 the word of God ; and as it points out the 
 tendency of his mind, it is not unimportant to 
 mention, that in these favourite exercises he 
 was frecjuently employed while his class-fellows 
 were engaged in their youthful amusements. 
 
 In choosing the ministry of the gospel as 
 the profession in which he was ambitious to 
 employ the talents which God had given 
 him, it is manifest that his motives were of 
 the purest kind, and that he sought not the 
 
REV. JOHN ERSKINE, D. D. 3 
 
 advantages of this world, but " the profit 
 of many, that they might be saved." This 
 choice did not at first meet the views of some 
 of his respectable relations. They recom- 
 mended to him the study and profession of the 
 law, as more suitable to his rank in life, and 
 as opening to him a surer prospect of acquiring 
 the distinctions to which it entitled him. To 
 enlarge his stock of knowledge, as well as to 
 gratify their wishes, he submitted to receive 
 an education for the bar ; and there is no 
 doubt, that, from this circumstance, he de- 
 rived considerable advantages, of which he 
 availed himself through life. 
 
 But theology was all along his favourite 
 study. He adhered firmly to his ])urpose, 
 unshaken by the view of any worldly disad- 
 vantage he could sustain by means of it ; and 
 when he obtained a licence to preach the 
 gospel, which was in 1742, one of the first 
 texts from which he preached was this, — ** I 
 had rather be a door-keeper in the house of 
 my God, than dwell in the tents of wicked- 
 ness." He was full of this sentiment, and 
 never departed from it ; persuaded not merely 
 that true religion is the only source of sub- 
 stantial and permanent enjoyment, but that 
 the meanest office of usefulness in the church 
 of God, is in itself highly honourable ; and 
 that in respect of dignity, of utility, and of 
 b2 ' 
 
4 REV. JOHN ERSKINE, D. D. 
 
 personal satisfaction, the ministerial function, 
 rightly discharged, is to be placed above the 
 most splendid secular employments. 
 
 He was ordained a minister of the gospel, 
 and became minister of the parish of Kirk- 
 intullock, in 1744. In 1753, he was translated 
 to the borough of Culross ; and was brought 
 from thence to Edinburgh in 1758, where he 
 was appointed minister of the New Greyfriars' 
 Church, and afterwards of the Old Greyfriars', 
 in conjunction with the celebrated Dr. Ro- 
 bertson, who had been his fellow-student. 
 
 At these different places he enjoyed the 
 esteem and affections of his people. They 
 were proud of having a man of his rank, piety, 
 and learning for their minister, and deeply 
 lamented his removal from them. They were 
 delighted and improved by his instructions 
 in public and in private ; and the poor and 
 distressed of every condition, who had been 
 relieved by his charity, or consoled by his 
 sympathy and advice, loved him sincerely, and 
 long after spoke of him with gratitude and 
 respect. His attention to the duties of the 
 pastoral office was exemplary, and such as 
 could not but secure the attachment of a dis- 
 cerning people. He was ever ready to assist 
 them with his counsel; he grudged no time, 
 and declined no labour that could be employed 
 in their service. 
 
REV. JOHN ERSKINE, D. D. 5 
 
 While he faitlifully discharfred the laborious 
 duties of tiie ministerial office, he was not 
 negligent of literary studies. They were not 
 permitted to engross much of his time, but 
 they did not pass without a proportionable 
 share of regartl. Of this many proofs might 
 be given. We shall, however, only mention 
 two: — the first is, that no books of merit, 
 either on subjects of literature or science, were 
 published, which he did not read ; and that 
 as he obtained the earliest information of the 
 state of knowledge abroad, so many foreigners, 
 of eminence for their piety and learning, 
 were indebted to him for copies of new and 
 valuable British works, of whose existence 
 they often received the first intimation by the 
 arrival of his present. But besides this fact, 
 we have another evidence of the same truth, 
 equally indubitable, and not less to the Doc- 
 tor's honour, — namely, his own publications. 
 Whoever reads his discourses, which, in purity 
 and energy of style, no less than in precision 
 of thought and originality of senthnent, may 
 challenge a comparison with any contemporary 
 sermons, must be sensible that their author, 
 whose education had been comjjleted sixty 
 years before their publication, must have paid 
 no common attention to Hterary composition ; 
 who could watch the variations of taste, keep 
 pace with its improvements, and adapt his 
 
6 REV. JOHN ERSKINE, D. D. 
 
 productions to the style of the day. But this 
 conchision, honourable as it is to his memory, 
 is short of the truth. His labours contributed 
 to accomplish that remarkable revolution, which 
 in the course of his public life, took place in 
 the literature of Scotland. In the detached 
 sermons which he printed when a country- 
 clergyman, there was a propriety and correct- 
 ness which had never been exhibited in any 
 religious productions of North Britain, and 
 which was scarcely surpassed in the English 
 lanmiaoe at that time. His Theoloo-ical Dis- 
 sertations, which appeared so early as 1765, 
 contain several masterly disquisitions on some 
 highly interesting branches of divinity. 
 
 Indeed, as has been abeady hinted, with him 
 learning was only the handmaid of religion. 
 He gave the latter the first place in his regard, 
 and cultivated other pursuits only so far as 
 they qualified him for the more competent dis- 
 charge of his pastoral functions, and enabled 
 him to promote, with greater success, the eter- 
 nal interests of man. These were the objects, 
 towards the accomplishment of which he di- 
 rected every power of his mind ; and nothing 
 on earth ever gave him purer satisfaction, than 
 to see the salutary effects of his own ministra- 
 tions, or to hear of the progress of religion in 
 foreign parts. About the time that he obtained 
 licence, a remarkable concern for religion had 
 
REV. JOHN ERSKINE, D. D. < 
 
 appeared in the States of North America. 
 To obtain the most early and authentic intelli- 
 gence relative to that great event, he commenced 
 a correspondence with the principal agents in 
 that affair. Nor was his epistolary intercourse 
 confined to American divines. He soon esta- 
 blished a communication with several men of 
 distinguished piety on the continent. This 
 correspondence, which he assiduously culti- 
 vated during the whole of his long and labo- 
 rious life, was at last carried on with many of 
 the successors in the third and fourth genera- 
 tion, from his first correspondents. Besides 
 requiring much time to answer the numerous 
 letters he received from abroad, his acquaint- 
 ance with foreigners multiplied his labours in 
 another respect. In consequence of having 
 thus rendered himself so extensively known, and 
 of his general character being so high, the 
 friends of many eminent deceased divines were 
 solicitous to put the manuscripts of their rela- 
 tions, which had been intended for the press, 
 into his hands. The trouble which attended 
 the revisal and correction of many of these 
 publications, was immense. But his active 
 and benevolent spirit shunned no toil that pro- 
 mised to be productive of general good. To 
 his voluntary labours in this way, the religious 
 world is indebted for the greater part of the 
 works of Presidents Edwards and Dickenson, 
 of Stodart, and of Frazer of Alness. 
 
8 REV. JOHN ERSKINE, D. D. 
 
 Such was his desire to obtain information of 
 the state of rehgion, morahty, and learning, 
 that, besides' this correspondence with fo- 
 reigners, which he had early established, and 
 constantly maintained, at a very advanced 
 period of life, by his own private application, 
 he made himself master of the Dutch and Ger- 
 man languages. These opened to him treasures 
 of which he had hitherto but little knowledge. 
 The fruits of his labours in these fields soon 
 appeared in the first volume of " Sketches and 
 Hints of Church History, and Theological Con- 
 troversy," chiefly translated or abridged from 
 modern foreign writers, Edinburgh, 1790. A 
 second volume was published in 1797. 
 
 His zeal to advance the interest of religious 
 truth, led him likewise to take a principal share 
 in the business of the Society in Scotland for 
 Propagating Christian Knowledge, of which, 
 so long as his strength remained, he w^as an 
 active and useful member. When, through 
 the Infirmities of age, he was unable to attend 
 its meetings, such was the confidence which the 
 directors had in his information and judgment, 
 that when any difficulty occurred in the manage- 
 ment of its affairs, they were in the habit of con- 
 sulting him at his own house. 
 
 His feeble bodily constitution soon felt the 
 approach of old age. For many years, his ap- 
 pearance was that of a man whose strength was 
 gone. For several winters he had been unable 
 
REV. John erskine, d. d. 9 
 
 to preach regulai'ly, and for the last thirteen 
 months of his hfe, he had not preached at all. 
 Before he was entirely laid aside from puhlic 
 duty, his voice was hecome too weak to he 
 distinctly heard hy his congregation. Still, 
 however, the vivacity of his look, and the 
 energy of his manner, bespoke the warmth of 
 his heart, and the vigour of his mind. His 
 mental faculties remained unaffected by his 
 bodily decay. His memory was as ready, his 
 judgment as acute, his imagination as lively, 
 and his inclination for study as strong, as in his 
 youthful years. To the last hours of his being, 
 he was busily employed in those pursuits which 
 were the business and pleasure of his life. 
 
 While thus actively and usefully employed, 
 his life was fast hastening to a close. No 
 acute disease announced his dissolution; his 
 death was sudden, but easy and gentle. In 
 the circumstances of it, the words of Dr. Young 
 seemed to be realized : 
 
 " Heaven owns her friends 
 
 On this side death, and points them out to man." 
 
 On the 18th of January, 1803, he was occu- 
 pied till a late hour in his study. About four 
 o'clock in the morning of the 19th, he was 
 taken ill. The alarm was inunediately given 
 to his family ; but before they could be col- 
 lected around him, he expired. 
 b3 
 
THE REV. JOHN EYRE. 
 
 The Rev. John Eyre, of Homerton, near 
 London, was, in his day, " a burning and 
 shining hght;" his hfe was employed in the 
 uniform pursuit of the great object wliich 
 engrossed his heart, the glory of his crucified 
 Lord. Holy zeal was the prominent feature 
 of his character. It was not the spirit of 
 party, but liberal and amiable. Nor was it 
 confined, in its exercise, to his own congre- 
 gation ; but meditated schemes for the general 
 increase of the Saviour's kingdom. 
 
 The first thing of public notoriety in 
 which he engaged, was the Evangelical Mag- 
 azine. He had observed the liitrh degree of 
 importance which, even at that time, peri- 
 odical publications had obtained in the world, 
 by their extensive circulation. Philosophers 
 apd politicians had availed themselves of this 
 aid, to extend the boundaries of science, or 
 strengthen the interest of party. A periodical 
 
REV. JOHN EYRE. 11 
 
 publication exhibits a mode of instruction, with 
 which the world was foiTnerly unacquainted ; but 
 since it has been adopted, it has produced a 
 surprising revolution in sentiments and man- 
 ners. Perceiving that a certain description of 
 writers, by monopolizing a work of this kind, had 
 made more converts to their opinions, and done 
 more mischief to the cause of vital religion, 
 than the folios of Socinus, or the laboured 
 productions of his more infidel followers, he 
 justly concluded, that an engine, so capable 
 of a destructive or a salutary tendency, ought 
 to be applied for evangelical })urposes ; re- 
 marking, that should the servants of Christ 
 neglect the use of those means which cir- 
 cumstances had rendered favourable for the 
 propagation of scriptural sentiments, it would 
 argue a criminal supineness, or a total in- 
 dift'erence to the best interests of society. Of 
 this indifference, he found no reason to 
 complain. No sooner was the nature and 
 design of the work made public, than JNlr. 
 Eyre received the warmest encouragement 
 from his brethren in the ministry. It was 
 agreed, that the editors of such a work should 
 be composed of Churchmen and Dissenters of 
 different denominations ; uniting their efforts 
 in the connnon cause of gospel-truth ; and, 
 at the same time, diffusing liberal sentiments, 
 wheresoever the providence of God might 
 
12 REV. JOHN EYRE. 
 
 direct their " little confluence of Christian 
 doctrine and Catholicism to wind its peaceful 
 and salutary course." Pecuniary reward was 
 abandoned, when they resolved to devote the 
 profits to alleviate the distresses of widows of 
 Evangelical Ministers. 
 
 In July 1793, their first Number was pub- 
 lished ; and in the preface to the volume of 
 the following year, they had to acknowledge 
 the Divine goodness for an extensive circu- 
 lation of their work. Under the auspices of 
 heaven, it has since increased its sale to a 
 prodigious extent, and has been productive 
 of the most extensive and important benefits 
 to the Christian world. 
 
 Scarcely had the Magazine been published 
 one wliole year, before a paper appeared in 
 it, written by one of its first editors, the 
 Rev. David Bogue, addressed to the Evan- 
 gelical Dissenters, calling upon them to unite 
 in exertions for evangelizing the poor heathen ; 
 and concluding with a particular exhortation 
 to the ministers of the metropoHs, " To 
 consult together on this important subject ; 
 and, without loss of time, to propose some 
 plan for the accomplishment of this most de- 
 sirable end." This address gave occasion to 
 various private conversations on tlic subject. 
 At length, on the 4th of November, 1794, 
 the first meeting, with a view to forming the 
 
REV. JOHN EYRE. 13 
 
 Missionary Society, took place. It was a 
 small, l)ut glowing and harmonious circle of 
 ministers, of various connexions and denomi- 
 nations ; and in this number was Mr. Eyre. 
 The active part he took in the formation of 
 this Society, and the steady zeal he manifested 
 towards its important object, are well known 
 to thousands. 
 
 At the first yearly meeting of the Society, 
 when they declared their unanimous approba- 
 tion of the design to establish a society for 
 sending Missionaries to heathen countries, an 
 overpowering ploasiu'e attended in the breasts 
 of many, on the passing of that important 
 resolution. Mr. Eyre, when words, almost 
 interru])ted by joy, " fovuul out their way," 
 introduced a plan, which had been proposed 
 for the consideration of the meeting, by a 
 series of historical observations, pointing out 
 the analogy between the first propagation of 
 the gospel by the Apostles and others in the 
 early ages, ai*d the work then in view ; and 
 explaining the manner in which Christianity 
 had been in later ages introduced into some 
 countries, formerly Pagan ; — together with an 
 account of missionary attempts since the period 
 of the lleformation. Of all objects, this en- 
 gaged most of Mr. Eyre's zealous attention, 
 in discharging his duty as a director, and 
 afterwai'ds as the secretary of this Society. 
 He was " in weariness and painfulness, in 
 
14 REV. JOHN EYRE. 
 
 watchings often, in fastings, and in cold." 
 Many ardent prayers did he put up to the 
 great Head of the Churcli for its success ; — 
 prayers, which now eminently appear to have 
 been heard and answered ; — and from his 
 letters to the missionaries, it might be per- 
 ceived how much his heart was occupied in 
 this work. 
 
 At the formation of that institution, a hope 
 was indulged by its members, that salutary 
 effects at home would be seen to arise from 
 such combined benevolent exertions. In this 
 they were not disappointed. Many thousands 
 hear the gospel in villages and towns, where 
 it was not preached before the formation of 
 this society. Mr. Eyre, in particular, besides 
 his perpetual attention to this society, in the 
 year 179(), formed another, composed of five 
 or six affluent and pious individuals, of his 
 own congregation, for the purpose of propa- 
 gating the gospel at home, in villages or 
 towns, notorious for their ignorance and vice. 
 This society, of which he was the secretary 
 and treasurer, fixed its attention on a part of 
 the county of Hants, where it was productive 
 of great good. 
 
 Useful as this institution then was, he pro- 
 jected a plan to enlarge its sphere of action 
 and utility, in a vei'y considerable degree, by 
 founding a seminary for the education of 
 young men, designed to act as itinerants, or 
 
REV. JOHN EYRE. 15 
 
 in breaking up new ground in which to sow 
 the seed of the kingdom. In the execution of 
 this pLin, he was assisted by his friends, and 
 particularly by Mr. Hanson and Mr. Townsend : 
 the latter of whom generously agreed to give 
 500/. per annum during his own life; and to 
 pay, by instalments, or give by his will, the 
 principal sum of 10,000/. for the same purpose. 
 This institution has, since Mr. Eyre's death, 
 been conducted for many years, by the Kev. 
 G. Collison, at Hackney, with great and 
 general usefulness. 
 
 His eager activity to be useful, often urged 
 him beyond the powers of a body, enfeebled 
 by labour and disease. The sword was too 
 sharp for the scabbard ; his vivid feelings and 
 exertions shook the tabernacle of clay ; and his 
 spirit was plumed for flight to the eternal rest. 
 He never looked on death with dismay, — but 
 " as a consummation devoutly to be wished." 
 His increasing cares and pursuits, more abun- 
 dantly to diftuse the gospel of the grace of 
 God, over^vhelmed a frame become broken, 
 yet exulting in the pleasure and prospect of 
 doing good, and he died just at the moment 
 when the great object of his heart appeared 
 ready to be accomj^lished. His last hours 
 displayed the trium])hs of faith, and amidst 
 every endeared attaclunent, anil the love of all 
 his brethren, he meekly bowed his head on 
 the bosom of his Lord, March 29th, ISOJ. 
 
THE REV. 
 
 EDWARD DUDLEY JACKSON. 
 
 Glancing at the family of this man of God, 
 we are struck with the vicissitudes of human 
 affairs. He was paternally descended from a 
 very respectable family : — his grandfather was 
 a beneficed clergyman, chaplain to the Prince 
 of Wales, (the father of George III.) and mas- 
 ter of a free grammar school in the metropolis. 
 He married a lady of large fortune, by whom 
 he had only one child, Mr. Warburton Jackson, 
 the father of the subject of this memoir, who, 
 with Mrs. E. Jackson, his mother, survived 
 this, the eighth of sixteen chihlren, and the 
 only one who reached the age of twenty months. 
 He was called by his mother's family-name, 
 Dudley; Mrs. Jackson being descended from 
 an ancestor of the present Lord Dudley. INIr. 
 and Mrs. Jackson's union took place with more 
 flattering prospects than they lived to realize. 
 They soon proved that riches take to them- 
 selves wings and llee away ; their property 
 
REV. E. DUDLEY JACKSON. 17 
 
 beinfT reduced by enterinir into trade which 
 proved unsuccessful. This circumstance proved 
 the source of frequent regret to their son, it 
 having deprived him of that education he 
 might otherwise have enjoyed. When six 
 years of age, through the interest of a noble- 
 man, he had the promise of a presentation to 
 the Blue-coat School. Providence, however, 
 had determined otherwise, that his future ad- 
 vancement might appear to be of God ; for 
 disappointment took place, from his not having 
 fully attained his seventh year when the va- 
 cancy occurred. The promise of admission 
 the next Ivister was, indeed, renewed, but 
 never fulfdled. 
 
 He appears from his infancy to have been 
 of an inquisitive, reasoning, and solid turn. 
 He was early impressed with veneration for 
 the Deity, and attachment for worship. At 
 an almost incredibly early age, he voluntarily 
 and constantly attended divine service twice 
 a day, at St. George's Church in the Borough, 
 (very near to Avhich he lived,) taking a prayer- 
 book with hhn, and conducting himself as 
 orderly as if he had attained to mature age 
 and understanding. At four years old, he 
 went one sacrament sabbath by himself; but 
 instead of leaving with the congregation, he 
 remained with the communicants, to the no 
 small alarm of his mother, who, making 
 
18 REV. E. DUDLEY JACKSON. 
 
 .leffectual inquiry for him, concluded he was 
 tolen. From this fear she was happily reUeved 
 jy his return with the beadle, who stated, that 
 at the earnest solicitation of the child, the 
 minister was prevailed on to allow him to be 
 present; that he went to the table with the 
 communicants, and kneeling with them, par- 
 took of the bread ; but was omitted in the 
 handing of the wine, " because," said little 
 Jackson to his mother, *' from being so small, 
 I was overlooked by the clergyman." He was 
 accustomed, at this period, to bring home the 
 text and parts of the discourse ; would be very 
 frequent and fervent in private prayer; and, 
 to use the apostle's expression, afterwards 
 adopted by himself, he was, " as touching the 
 law, a Pharisee." 
 
 The dispositions and impressions of which 
 he was now the subject, excited in his pious 
 parent the fond hope of seeing another Timothy, 
 fearing God from his youth ; but the apostolic 
 remark was soon verified, ''■Evil communica- 
 tions corrupt good manners." He no sooner 
 mingled with a herd of boys, than he became 
 acquainted with a host of sins ; and the plant, 
 which in better soil and tillage had promised 
 such an ample store of line fruit, soon began 
 to shed untimely leaves. 
 
 His time being now divided between a shop 
 of profane workmen and a school of mischievous 
 
REV. E. DUDLEY JACKSON. 19 
 
 boys, he soon lost all serious impressions ; but 
 was preserved from plunging into very gross 
 immorality. The profanation of the sabbath, 
 and an attendance on the amusements of the 
 stage, appear to have been his ruling vices. 
 A very great fondness for lieing on the water, 
 though it had twice nearly cost him his life, 
 proved a strong temptation to the former, 
 while the nearness of his residence to the 
 theatres, and his being employed in dying for 
 the actors, gave him frequent opportunities of 
 indulfiinu his inclination fur the latter. On 
 one of these occasions, a slip of the foot pre- 
 cipitated him into the Thames from a float of 
 timber on which he was entertaining himself, 
 when he twice sunk in a very narrow opening 
 between it and a barge ; but providentially 
 risuig perpendicular a third time, he seized 
 the boat, and was saved. At another time, 
 while swimming in the Hyde-Park Canal, and 
 completely beyond his depth, he was snatched 
 from death by the humanity of a passing 
 stranger, who plunged hi to assist him. So 
 thoughtless, however, was this youth, and so 
 insensible was he either to the danger he had 
 escaped, or the gratitude his rescue demanded, 
 that he was no sooner out of the water, and 
 found himself on the opposite bank to his 
 clothes, than, to avoid a longer route, he 
 plunged in again, and reached them in safety. 
 
20 REV. E. DUDLEY JACKSON. 
 
 About the sixteenth year of his age, he was 
 one Lord's-day pursuing his pleasure, when 
 seeing the people go into church, where the 
 Rev. Mr. Foster was preaching, he turned in 
 with them, and a part of the discourse made a 
 deep impression on his mind. This, however, 
 did not at first prevent his visits to the play- 
 house; for having mistaken the sentiment of 
 Dr. Watts, that " Religion never was designed 
 to make our pleasures less," he endeavoured 
 to reconcile his attendance upon these opposite 
 places, till what he heard in the one produced 
 a complete disgust with the productions of the 
 other. He took his final leave of the tlicatres, 
 on the perusal of a pamphlet which he was at 
 first reluctantly persuaded to look at by a 
 serious friend who was printing it, and from 
 whom he afterwards, with avidity, obtained 
 the remaining proof-sheets as f\ist as they 
 came off. Thus God was pleased to illumi- 
 nate his understanding, to bring him to the 
 knowledge of himself as a sinner, and to ac- 
 quaint him with Jesus Christ as a Saviour. 
 He was neither led long nor far about Sinai, 
 nor was he ever exercised with many perplex- 
 ing doubts. He grew rapidly in grace ; and 
 appeared like another John, leaning on his 
 Master's bosom, fiivoured with peculiar access 
 to his heart, and grew in the knowledge of 
 his word. Old things now passed away, and 
 
REV. E. DUDLEY JACKSON. 21 
 
 in Christ Jesus he became a new creature. 
 Possessing a new nature, new appetites, and 
 new desires, he found, in the preaching of 
 Messrs. Foster, Cecil, and some others, the 
 food he wanted. But food is not the only 
 requisite ; babes in grace, as well as in nature, 
 need a nursing parent. This he was also 
 provided with, in the acquaintance of a " mo- 
 ther in Israel," whose heart and house were 
 open to God and to his people. She jios- 
 sessed a discerning spirit, and discovered in 
 young Jackson, talents that promised future 
 gloi*y to God, in usefulness to his church. 
 To her he frequently resorted, and benefited 
 by her counsel. On one of these occasions 
 she insisted on his praying with her. Startled 
 at the recjucst, he refused ; but she was firm, 
 and resolved to accept no excuse. On hear- 
 ing him, she was confirmed in this unexpected 
 opinion. She next persuaded him to engage 
 in a select company who assembled at her 
 house for prayer and exhortation. With this 
 society he met constantly, sometimes praying, 
 but never attempted to speak till one evening, 
 when, being disappointed of their speaker, the 
 old lady fixed ujjon Mr. Jackson to supply the 
 lack of service. A call so public and unex- 
 pected overwhelmed him for a time ; but all 
 waiting in silence, and every eye being fixed 
 upon him, he felt the attempt a duty ; and 
 
22 REV. E. DUDLEY JACKSON. 
 
 intreating the Lord for assistance, he addressed 
 them in such a way, as left no hesitation on 
 the mind of any present, respecting his fitness 
 for the work of the ministry. 
 
 He was now ahout eighteen, and no longer 
 permitted to inclose his light in a bushel ; but 
 continued to preach in London, and its en- 
 virons, till the expiration of his apprenticeship ; 
 befoi'e Avhich, he had attracted the attention of 
 the Rev. John Townsend of Rotherhithe, Mr. 
 Aldridge of Jewry Street, and other respec- 
 table ministers, whose pulpits he frequently 
 filled, to the edification of their hearers. As 
 soon as he was at liberty from his master, he 
 accepted an invitation from Bromyard, in 
 Worcestershire, where he remained al)out ten 
 months, — and left the congregation much in- 
 creased, and the chvu-ch very desirous of his 
 taking the pastoral charge of them. During his 
 residence at Bromyard, he frequently visited 
 Worcester ; and the savour of his labours in 
 that city continued long to be remembered by 
 many with pleasure and gratitude, as having 
 led to the permanent revival of evangelical 
 religion in the congregation to which he oc- 
 casionally ministered. 
 
 At the close of 1790, he visited Bristol Hot 
 Wells; and supplied Hope Chapel, where he 
 had an unanimous invitation to settle; but con- 
 scientious motives induced his dechuing it, as 
 
REV. E. DUDLEY JACKSON. 23 
 
 he from principle dissented from the ceremo- 
 nies, as well as government, of the Established 
 Church. 
 
 Early in the year 1792, he rather acciden- 
 tally visited Yeovil, in Somersetshire, having 
 spent most of the intermediate months very use- 
 fully at Cradely, in Worcestershire, and a few in 
 Ireland. While he laboured in Somersetshire, 
 there was a great revival of religion: a new 
 meeting-house was erected and filled ; and he 
 t\vice received an united call, and intended to 
 accept it; but the unexpected disclosure of 
 sentimental diiierence, in a few individuals of 
 the church, determined him otherwise. — In 
 October, he spent a single sabbath at War- 
 minster, where neither his person nor name 
 were known when he entered the pulpit ; but 
 his first sermon v.as blessed to two persons, who 
 became ornamental members of the church ; 
 and such was the general sentiment, that many 
 observed, — " If this man be not to settle, and 
 live, and die among us, we hope we shall never 
 hear him again." He was, ultimately, ordained 
 at Warminster to the pastoral office, Novem- 
 ber 9, of the following year. 
 
 Previously to his settlement here, the interest 
 was reduced very low, and the church divided ; 
 but under his ministry, by the uniting influence 
 of the great Head of the Church, they soon 
 became a harmonious body ; and the congrega- 
 
24 REV. E. DUDLEY JACKSON. 
 
 tion continued to increase till the old inconve- 
 nient house gave place to a new, neat, and 
 spacious building, which was erected by the 
 exclusive efforts of the people themselves. 
 
 So soon as he thus became settled, he applied 
 himself with great assiduity, to increase his 
 mental stores ; and his mind rapidly expanded. 
 At home, he continually grew in the affections 
 of his people ; and abroad, he stood high in 
 the esteem of his neighbouring brethren in the 
 ministry. But it is not in the study alone the 
 man of God is to be thoroughly furnished to 
 every good work ; he must pass through the 
 fiery ordeal: and as he enjoys comforts in 
 common with men and Christians, so it is neces- 
 sary he should be exercised with trials similar 
 to their's, that he might be able to mourn with 
 those that mourn, as well as to rejoice with 
 those that rejoice. Accordingly he was exer- 
 cised with many and severe strokes of affliction 
 in domestic life, which were deeply felt by a 
 mind possessing, as his did, exquisite sensibi- 
 lity; and yet, through the power of divine grace, 
 "In all this he sinned not, nor charged God 
 foolishly : " but restless nights and hard study 
 impaired his nervous system, if not his consti- 
 tution, and occasioned a slight paralytic stroke 
 while in the pulpit, which excited considerable 
 alarm among his friends. He continued, how- 
 ever, to labour with increasing proofs of 
 
REV. E. DUDLEY JACKSON. Q5 
 
 usefulness/till the month of June, 1803 ; when 
 he was attacked with dizziness and faintings, 
 accompanied by symptoms of general debihty. 
 He, nevertheless, preached as usual tliree 
 times on the sabbath, and twice besides in the 
 week, till finding his complaints increasing, he 
 took the opinion of a physician, but did not 
 fully communicate it to any one, having been 
 recommended to discontinue preaching ; an 
 idea so unpleasant to his mind, that shortly 
 after, writing to a friend, he says, "It is of all 
 trials the most painfid to me ; I am even now. 
 (the physician's opinion having been corrobo- 
 rated) afraid to give it up, and think I should 
 prefer dying in it, to living out of it." He was 
 prevailed upon to try the effects of sea breezes 
 and bathing, but in vain. His symptoms, on 
 returning home, became more serious ; but he 
 was not apprehensive of his approaching disso- 
 lution till within twelve hours of death. On 
 recovering from a convulsive fit in the after- 
 noon, he blessed God for so good a night; and 
 observing the light, inquired the hour ; being 
 informed it was half-past two;—'* Is it sabbath 
 afternoon still ? how long have I been asleep ?" 
 Learning that it had been but a few minutes, 
 he observed, " How strange 1 should feel re- 
 freshed." A friend took this opportunity of 
 apprizing him of his state, and noticed to him 
 that he would soon enjoy a new sabbath: he 
 VOL. I. c 
 
26 REV. E. DUDLEY JACKSON. 
 
 answered, *' Not so soon, perhaps, as you ex- 
 pect ; " but the opinion being acquiesced in by. 
 another friend, he repHed immediately, 
 
 "If sin be pardon'd, I'm secure, 
 
 Death has no sting beside ; 
 The law gave sin its damning power, 
 
 But Christ my ransom died." 
 
 He then broke forth in a highly evangelical 
 and experimental strain, encouraging his sur- 
 rounding friends to stand fast in the good ways 
 of God. As frequently as his breath allowed 
 him, he continued to animate his attendants, 
 especially those who were members of his 
 church ; observing to them, the ground of their 
 hope must be the same as his, — the blood and 
 righteousness of Jesus Christ: he added, "Oh 
 live near to God, that is the way to live com- 
 fortable, and die happy." Sometime after, 
 seeing him unappalled by the rapid approach 
 of death, one of them inquired into his present 
 views of the gospel ; he answered, 
 
 "Firm as the earth thy gospel stands," &c. &c. 
 
 One saying, " How blessed it is to have 
 nothing to do in a dying moment !" he repHed, 
 *' If I am saved, it must be as a poor sinner, by 
 grace alone." In the evening, one of his deacons 
 inquired if he preferred any text, from which 
 his death might be improved to his people ; he 
 said, " No ; " but pausing a moment, added. 
 
REV. E. DUPLET JACKSON. 27 
 
 " except that which has been my living doctrine, 
 and is now my dying hope : * It is a faithful 
 saying,' &c. Give my love to my church, and 
 say, that I wish them a better and more faith- 
 ful pastor." His convulsions now succeeded 
 quicker, and with greater violence ; nature con- 
 tinued to struggle, and grace to triumph. A 
 few days before, he had said to a friend, "I do 
 not wish the stroke lighter;" and in his last 
 minutes, on telling another that he had never 
 before known bodily affliction, he added, " He 
 will not always chide," ike. 
 
 At his urgent request he was again assisted 
 to his chair ; and when seated, he said, " Once 
 more, and I shall cease to trouble you , — you 
 take great pains to keep a worthless creature 
 here, but it is in vain.' As he was guided 
 back to his bed, he prayed, " O Lord, cut 
 short thy work in righteousness, and let me 
 enter into rest! Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" 
 On lying down, he looked up on his attending 
 friends, and seeing them much affected, said, 
 ** You must be pleased with your Father ; " and 
 turning on his side, was again convulsed, and 
 received the accomplishment of his last petition ; 
 thus illustrating his own remarks on a funeral 
 occasion, tliat the departure of good men 
 naturally tends to impress us with the vanity 
 of life, — to convince us of the worth of religion, 
 — to affect us with the preciousness of Jesus, — 
 c 2 
 
28 REV. E. DUDLEY JACKSON. 
 
 to deliver us from the fear of death, — and to 
 animate us in the expectation of eternity. 
 
 Grace in the heart, hke the process of the 
 laboratory, converts the most deadly poisons 
 into salutary medicine. Strong powers, with 
 impetuous passions, indefatigable diligence, 
 and obstinate perseverance, distinguished the 
 successive stages of Mr. J.'s childhood and 
 youth. These characteristic traits, so danger- 
 ous while unrestrained by religion, became, 
 under its benign influence, by separating the 
 evil from the good, most subservient to a suc- 
 cessful ministry. While the courage of the 
 lion, and the wisdom of the serpent are retained, 
 the ferocity of the former is converted into the 
 harmlessness of the lamb, and the venom of the 
 latter into the innocence of the dove. Such 
 was the change divine grace effected on Mr. 
 Jackson's mind, that the most intimate friend 
 of his last years never witnessed an ebullition 
 of anger, naturally so prominent in his temper. 
 In the pulpit he had few equals, and still 
 fewer superiors. Whatever subject he took 
 up, was thoroughly investigated. He read and 
 reflected much ; was always full and ready. If 
 in preaching "he had a fanlt, it was excess ; and 
 yet his divisions were so just and natural, so 
 comprehensively expressed, and eminently sim- 
 ple, that an attentive hearer could, without pain, 
 carry away nearly his whole discourse. He 
 
REV. E. DUDLEY JACKSON. 29 
 
 was peculiarly happy in exhibiting divine truth 
 in its own most lively colours. At times, his 
 hearers were induced, reversing the apostle's 
 order, to consider eternal things as visible, 
 while they experienced present ones as ob- 
 scured ; and were ready to exclaim, ** Let us 
 make tents, that we may abide here." But 
 while the saint was thus carried on the wing of 
 divine contemplation, into the bosom of his 
 Saviour, the sinner's heart was alarmed witn 
 fearful anticipations of fiery indignation. 
 
 In the neighbouring churches he was highly 
 esteemed for his great prudence and wisdom in 
 council ; and among his brethren, the solidity 
 of his judgment, and the urbanity of his man- 
 ners, gave weight to liis opinion, and pointed 
 him out as their adviser in every difficulty. 
 
 Full of fruit, in the midst of usefulness, and 
 in the prime of life, he " finished his course with 
 
 joy." 
 
MRS. MARY BISHOP. 
 
 On the 15th of March, 1804, died at West- 
 bury, in Wilts, aged 72, Mrs. Mary Bishop, 
 relict of the Rev. Thomas Bishop, formerly 
 pastor of a dissenting congregation in that 
 town. She had the honour of being related 
 to a family which has furnished the church 
 with many worthy ministers, some of whom 
 officiated in the estabhshment, prior to the 
 ejection in 1662; and afterwards severely suf- 
 fered with the ejected during the reigns of 
 Charles and James, till the revolution. Her 
 immediate parents were reputable members of 
 a christian society at Ottery St. Mary, in 
 Devon. Under the superintendence of her 
 mother, a woman of eminent piety in her day, 
 and who, like Dorcas, died amidst the lamen- 
 tations of the poor, she grew up, from child- 
 hood, in the knowledge of christian truths, as 
 well as in the practice of every moral duty. 
 At an early age, she was prevailed upon to 
 
MRS. MARY BISHOP. 31 
 
 join in the celebration of the Lord's supper; 
 but, as she has often declared, she then knew 
 not the plague of her own heart, nor had any 
 experimental acquaintance with the gospel of 
 Christ. Her rehgion was the mere effect of 
 education. Not long after her marriage, re- 
 tired for accustomed exercises on a sabbath 
 evening, a ray of light penetrated her mind, 
 which discovered the method of becoming 
 righteous before God by faith. She welcomed 
 the divine illumination, and was enabled imme- 
 diately to renounce her legal confidence. In 
 proportion as hght increased, the spirit of 
 bondage departed. Her course of practice, as 
 it had been strict, had been likewise destitute 
 of pleasure. An oppressive awe of God had 
 been long the temper of her spirit ; it was now 
 tempered with love. As her views of the gos- 
 pel became clearer, this awe and this love were 
 more justly combined ; forming that fear of 
 God which is the true principle of obedience. 
 While she had an habitual and realizing sense 
 of the divine glory, she felt her obligations to 
 divine grace. Solicitous by an universal confor- 
 mity to his will, to please God, her Father, her 
 Saviour and her Sanctifier, she kept her heart 
 with all diligence ; she conscientiously governed 
 her tongue ; she closely watched over her con- 
 duct. Although, perhaps, she could not be 
 more exact in the performance of duty than 
 
32 MRS. MARY BISHOP. 
 
 before ; yet as her motives and ends were now 
 essentially changed, she enjoyed evangelical 
 liberty. Sensible of personal insufficiency for 
 the preservation and improvement of the 
 spiritual life, she was daily an importunate 
 suppliant at the feet of God. No business, 
 however pressing, would she permit to curtail, 
 much less to set aside the services of the closet. 
 As it was her custom to vent her heart in an 
 audible, though inarticulate voice, her family 
 witnessed the length, and often, indeed, the 
 fervour of her devotions. On the Lord's 
 Day, she gave up herself wholly to divine 
 engagements. From her closet she proceeded 
 to the sanctuary, and from the sanctuary to the 
 closet. In the evening, most generally, for 
 two hours, she was apart with God ; reflecting 
 on and applying the word that had been pub- 
 licly dispensed, and imploring the divine bless- 
 ing. Aware of the deceitfulness of the heart, 
 she frequently, in her Lord's Day evening 
 retirement, examined the foundation of her 
 hope, or surveyed her temper and her conduct 
 in different cases and circumstances, or pried 
 into the spring of her actions, or formed reso- 
 lutions of more active service. In passing 
 through the world, she was exercised with a 
 variety of tribulations ; but none ever lieard 
 a nun-muring word. She felt, however, what 
 she disapproved. " O what a struggle," would 
 
MRS. MARY BISHOP. 33 
 
 she at times say, "have I had with myself!" 
 The conflicts of her soul were visible in her 
 countenance. Her ejaculations for help, amid 
 sighs and groans, were easily perceptible by 
 others, but it was in solitude she obtained the 
 needed succour. She departed gloomy, or 
 nearly overwhelmed ; she reappeared with a 
 sweet composure ; not seldom with a heavenly 
 smile. 
 
 That principle which influenced her in per- 
 sonal, actuated her also in relative hfe. As a 
 christian helpmate to her husband in the mini- 
 stry, she would be ever exciting him to diligence, 
 pressing him to greater exertions, and en- 
 couraging him under the toil of his profession. 
 Happy those ministers, who, in so near a 
 relation, have such fellow-helpers to the truth! 
 Nor less happy those children who have such 
 a parent. Her natural temper was peculiarly 
 gentle and aftectionate; but as a christian 
 parent, her natural tenderness did not confine 
 itself to the present interests of her children. 
 She watched the first openings of reason, and 
 took the little one by the hand, discoursing on 
 the authority and goodness of God, the love 
 and redemption of Christ, the blessedness of 
 Heaven, and the way which leads to it; teach- 
 ing with so much simplicity, admonishing with 
 so much seriousness, reproving with so much 
 gentleness, as to be almost irresistible. Oppor- 
 c3 
 
34 MRS. MARY BISHOP. 
 
 tunities of instruction were daily embraced, 
 common incidents improved, every advisable 
 method of usefulness pursued with patience. 
 Her heart was set upon success ; and God 
 gave her the desire of her heart. Of six 
 children, four must, in a judgment of candour, 
 be considered at the time of the death, as 
 united with their parents on high. Her affec- 
 tion extended to an only grandchild*, who was 
 then preparing for the ministry. He had been 
 favoured with her teachings, and with her 
 prayers, for many years. On return from the 
 table of communion, about two years before 
 her death, she mentioned, with lively pleasure, 
 that, having there requested of her God his 
 covenant blessing on him, the following words 
 were immediately and deeply impressed upon 
 her mind: "I will be a God to thee, and to 
 thy seed's seed." In the churches with which 
 she was connected, she studied the things 
 which make for peace. The far greater part 
 of her public life was spent in a town which 
 had two conscreoational societies of the same 
 evangelical principles. It was her concern to 
 maintain harmony between the ministers and 
 congregations. Careful of what dropped from 
 her own lips, she frowned on tale-bearers ; and 
 if a report appeared to be well founded, she 
 
 * Tlie Editor of these Volumes. 
 
MRS. MARY BISHOP. 35 
 
 would suggest palliation, or be silent. Har- 
 mony and peace were not all she sought: she 
 sought to forward all in the life of God ; coun- 
 selling the perplexed, animating the fearful, 
 cheering the mourner, quickening the slothful, 
 and by serious converse on the truths and pre- 
 cepts of the gospel, aiming to render all more 
 holy and happy. But her chief aim was to 
 impress the youthful heart with sentiments of 
 piety. The young of both sexes, just entering 
 on the world, she seized every opportunity of 
 acquainting with the realities of eternity, the 
 nature and necessity of the gospel-salvation, 
 the fehcity of a religious course ; and these 
 generous endeavours were conducted with so 
 much ease and sweetness, that even the gayest 
 and most dissipated would not shun her com- 
 pany ; would even hear with attention, and 
 express themselves concerning her in the 
 highest terms of esteem and veneration. Her 
 love was not confined to those of her own 
 party : possessed of genuine Catholicism, Con- 
 formists, and Nonconformists, Presbyterians, 
 Independents, Baptists, Methodists, were to 
 her names of no importance ; modes of admi- 
 nistering divine institutions, and modes of dis- 
 cipUne, were, in her view, comparatively trifling. 
 In the capacious bosom of her charity, she 
 embraced, with equal warmth, all of every 
 denomination, who discovered a vital know- 
 
36 MRS. MARY BISHOP. 
 
 ledge of the truth as it is in Jesus; and, 
 devoted to her beloved Saviour, she cordially 
 wished, prayed for, and rejoiced in the success 
 of all missions for the spread of his kingdom, 
 at home and abroad. All who knew her, 
 beheld the eminence of her character ; she saw 
 in herself nothing but sincerity : she acknow- 
 ledged herself an unprofitable servant. Humi- 
 lity shone with distinguished lustre in the 
 whole of her conversation. She often re- 
 marked, that her many afflictions had been 
 designed to mortify her pride ; and seemed to 
 recollect them with pleasure, under that con- 
 sideration. 
 
 As death is the end of all, it was an event 
 which she steadily kept in view : — she wished 
 to be actually ready whenever the summons 
 should arrive. Returning from the house of 
 God on sabbath evening, March 11th, she com- 
 plained of illness. Her illness confined her 
 to her bed. Here, her whole attention was 
 fixed on the great transition before her: she 
 surveyed it with sedateness, resting on the 
 promises of God. These, which had been 
 her support through the whole of her pilgri- 
 mage, were now more than ever precious. 
 Amidst continual and very acute pain, she 
 passed the hours away in repeating and en- 
 joying them. As the period of her dismission 
 approached, she desired her christian friends 
 
MRS. MARY BISHOP. 37 
 
 not to pray for her continuance ; she longed 
 to depart, and to l)e with Christ. The last 
 words which she was heard to utter, \^^ed- 
 nesday evening, March 14th, (and they were 
 uttered with unusual ardour) were " Mercies ! 
 mercies! great mercies! — worlds! worlds!" 
 After this, strength departed, pain gradually 
 ceased, the tongue faltered, and, at nine of 
 the following morning, she fell asleep. 
 
 Some, perhaps, may be tempted to consider 
 the above rather a display of what a christian 
 should be, tlian as a picture taken from life. 
 To the circumstantial truth of this narrative, 
 her family, her relatives, and the churches in 
 and near the town where she long resided, 
 could bear ample testimony. It is presented 
 to the eye of the public, as affording an ad- 
 ditional instance of the reality and power of 
 the gospel. May Jesus, by whose spirit alone 
 she was made thus to differ even from the most 
 depraved, be eminently glorified in her ! May 
 he render it a mean of exciting many wlio are 
 slothful, though sincere, to a iaith, a love, an 
 active, persevering zeal, becoming their glo- 
 rious destiny ! * 
 
 * Written by the Rev. W. E. Bishop, of Sidbury, Devon, 
 son of the subject of the above Biographical sketch. 
 
THE 
 
 REV. EDWARD ASHBURNER. 
 
 The Rev. E. Ashburner was born at Olney, 
 Buckinghamshire, October, 1734. His parents, 
 whom he beUeved to be truly pious, were mem- 
 bers of the Independent church in that town, 
 of which the Rev. John Drake was then 
 pastor, and on whom Mr. Ashburner attended 
 with his parents. Mr. A. Sen. was a grazier; 
 and brought up his son to some agricultural 
 business. 
 
 Prior to his conversion, Mr. A. pursued sin 
 with eagerness, against the dictates of a reli- 
 gious education, and the expostulations of an 
 enlightened conscience. The first abiding 
 impressions of a serious nature that his mind 
 received, were occasioned by hearing the Rev. 
 W. Walker, the Baptist minister at Olney, 
 deliver an address at the grave ; and on whose 
 ministry he attended for some time. He also 
 found considerable benefit from the ministry of 
 the Rev. James Hervey. Though he travelled 
 
REV. EDWARD ASHBURNER. 39 
 
 on foot eleven miles to hear him, and almost 
 without food, he obtained so much instruction 
 from his preaching, as amply to compensate his 
 toil. AVhen it came to be known that he at- 
 tended Mr. Hervey, his father, from whom it 
 had been concealed, was much displeased ; 
 being prejudiced against that clergyman, be- 
 cause he was, what the world called, a Me- 
 thodist. The good old man was afterwards 
 brought to think very respectfully of the Rector 
 of Weston Favell, in consequence of reading 
 his excellent Dialogues. Mr. A. being, how- 
 ever, brought up a Dissenter, at length joined 
 the church, under the pastoral care of the Rev. 
 Mr. Grant, of Wellingborough, under whose 
 ministry he enjoyed so much pleasure, as to in- 
 duce him to walk, regularly, not less than eleven 
 miles, in all kinds of weather, to hear him. 
 Once he related to a friend, that after hearing 
 Mr. Grant on a particular subject, and musing 
 on it in the intervals of worship, in the meet- 
 ing-house, such was the mental refreshment 
 experienced by him, that he would not but 
 have been there, to use his own expression, for 
 his hat-full of guineas. 
 
 While he lived at Olney, at one season, 
 being much distressed in mind, he retired to a 
 soUtary walk ; and drawing near a particular 
 spot, where there was a small well of water, he 
 was led to pour forth his heart before God: 
 
40 REV. EDWARD ASHBURNER, 
 
 there it pleased the Lord, in a most remarkable 
 manner, to manifest himself to his soul. His 
 doubts were dissipated, and he was enabled to 
 sing of the loving-kindness of the Lord. To 
 this beloved spot he used constantly to repair 
 whenever he visited Olney, tracing by the 
 stream the way up to the well, which has since 
 been enclosed ; and here, doubtless, he remem- 
 bered, like Jacob, where he had " wept and 
 made supplication, and the Bethel where the 
 Lord spake unto him." 
 
 At the age of twenty-six, having long enter- 
 tained a desire to engage in the work of the 
 ministry, he was introduced into the Academy, 
 at Mile-End, then under the care of the Rev. 
 Drs. Conder, Gibbons, and Walker. Here, 
 at first, he met with great difficulty, having 
 been acquainted with no other language than his 
 own, and was nearly on the point of relinquish- 
 ing his studies. But it was so ordered by Him, 
 who does all things well, that, at this critical 
 season, a young student*, who had been edu- 
 cated from his earliest years in public schools, 
 became intimate with him. His young friend 
 encouraged him to persevere with resolution, 
 assuring him that the difficulties which lay in 
 his way would soon be surmounted. The 
 youth, it should be observed, at that time, 
 
 * Afterwards the Rev. W. Kingsbury, of Southampton. 
 
REV. EDWARD ASHBURNER. 41 
 
 laboured under much oppression of mind, on 
 account of his own wretched and sinful condition ; 
 for though he knew the doctrines of the gospel, 
 yet he could not obtain the relief he sighed 
 after : — he wanted a spiritual friend, w^ho could 
 afford him counsel resulting from experience. 
 Such a friend he found in Mr. Ashburner, who 
 was even then an adept in doctrinal, polemical, 
 and experimental divinity ; — and who in return 
 for the spiritual consolation he was instru- 
 mental in affording, received considerable as- 
 sistance from his young companion, in the 
 commencement of his classical studies. Thus, 
 while the letter-learned youth was imparting 
 his literary knowledge, he was obtaining in- 
 struction in the most important of all sciences, 
 — the humbling knowledge of the human heart, 
 and the consolatory knowledge of Jesus Christ 
 the Lord. 
 
 Strengthened by divine assistance, and per- 
 severing with unwearied labour and patience, 
 at length he went through most of the Latin 
 and Greek authors used in public schools ; 
 and also read through the whole of the Old 
 Testament, in Hebrew and Chaldee, three 
 times ; and the New Testament, in Greek as 
 often ; and, afterwards, those became almost 
 as familiar as his English Bible. The learned 
 Dr. J. Walker, who was considered one of the 
 greatest linguists of the age, was so much 
 
42 REV. EDWARD ASHBURNER. 
 
 attached to him, on account of his assiduity 
 and progress, that he used to invite him to 
 spend the long vacations at his hou=e, that our 
 student might converse with him on Hterary 
 topics, in which the Doctor enjoyed much 
 pleasure. 
 
 He entered on his ministerial labours, and 
 settled at Poole, in the year 1T67. Soon after 
 his settlement, the chiu-ch and congregation 
 greatly increased ; and on this account, a new 
 and spacious meeting-house was erected and 
 opened in the year 1777. How he fulfilled 
 his ministry, there are many Uving witnesses 
 to attest ; but far more, who have left our 
 world. He gave much of his time to reading, 
 that he might fill up those stores of knowledge, 
 which, by the frequency of his preaching, were 
 continually exliausting. Xo genius," however 
 fertile, — no pulpit talents, however popular for 
 a season, will, for a series of years, supply such 
 fresh and suitable matter as is necessary for 
 keeping up the attention of the same audi- 
 tory, without laborious cultivation. The soU, 
 though oricrinallv rich, will be worn out without 
 manure; and, unless fresh seed be sown, an 
 abundant harvest is not to be expected. 
 iVIr. A. was not such a foolish husbandman 
 as to think it would : he laid in his seed in 
 proportion as he gave out his crop. He did 
 not sufifer his talents to be wrapped up in indo- 
 
REV. EDWARD ASHBURNER. 43 
 
 lence. Independendy of his regular public 
 duties on the sabbath and the week days, he, 
 on Thursday evenings, unless engaged in the 
 villages, met his young friends in the vestry for 
 prayer and conversation; for which, many in 
 heaven and on earth are praising God, for the 
 advantasres thev received. His itinerant ex- 
 cursions were very extensive and laborious in 
 the villages around Poole ; and in these he was 
 frequently exposed to rain, snow, and frost; 
 but neither the dark nights, nor the inclement 
 weather of winter, could intimidate his heart, 
 or cool his zeal, in attempting to do good to 
 inunortal souls. 
 
 Once in the year he visited London ; 
 preached at the Tabernacle and Tottenham- 
 court Chapel; and also paid an annual visit 
 to Bristol Tabernacle, and Kingswood. Many 
 acknowledged the spiritual benefits they re- 
 ceived from his Ups. 
 
 Mr. A. never cultivated elegance of compo- 
 sition. His prevailing taste was acquired in 
 early life, — not by perusing the writings of the 
 politer moderns, but by reading the old puritan 
 divines ; and his habits and modes of address 
 beincj formed while he lived among a serious but 
 rustic people, he had too much good sense after- 
 wards to afiect that refinement of speech, and 
 that pohshed manner, which would never have 
 been easv to him. He seemed to have formed 
 
44' REV. EDWARD ASHBURNER. 
 
 himself after tlie model of Luther, who some- 
 where says, " He is the best preacher who 
 speaks in plain and entertaining language, and 
 in a manner most calculated to draw the atten- 
 tion of the young, and best adapted to the ca- 
 pacities of the common people." He was more 
 of a rough Burgess, than a glittering Bates, — 
 though a great admirer of the latter. He used, 
 what the celebrated Whitfield called, market- 
 language. His vivacious and vigorous concep- 
 tions were conveyed in terms clear and strong, 
 in bold metaphors, and abrupt sentences, to 
 the understandings and feelings of his hearers. 
 But there was such an unction on his spirit, — 
 such a richness in his matter, as made serious 
 and spiritual hearers pass over what persons 
 of fastidious refinement would call coarse and 
 uncouth. 
 
 It pleased God to honour him, however, 
 with signal and very extensive success in the 
 convei*sion of *' sinners from the error of their 
 ways," and the " building up of the saints in 
 their most holy faith." In the midst of all 
 his knowledge and success, he was himself 
 often cast down by the most distressing 
 doubts; and was often afraid, " lest, after hav- 
 ing preached to others, he himself should be 
 a castaway." These apprehensions arose 
 partly from his views of the spiritual nature 
 and sanctifying operations of real religion; — 
 
REV. EDWARD ASHBURNER. 45 
 
 partly from the deep knowledge he had of 
 his own heart, and the strict observations he 
 had made on the mixture of motives which 
 discover themselves in the labours of the 
 sanctuary ;— and partly from that legality of 
 spirit to which good men are prone. His 
 . severe conflicts, however, occasioned that 
 tender sensibility, which was easily touched 
 with compassion towards those who were ex- 
 ercised with similar fears. They taught him 
 '• how to speak a word in season to him that 
 was weary and ready to faint," and made him 
 " a son of consolation" to the tempted and 
 distressed. Indeed it is in the school of ex- 
 perience, and with a discipline so diversified, 
 as to be best suited to different circumstances 
 and dispositions, that our great Master trains 
 up his pupils to be humble, affectionate, 
 patient, and sympathizing ministers in his 
 church. 
 
 Infirmities at length increasing upon him, 
 he resigned his office as pastor of the church ; 
 and the people chose, in his stead, the Rev. 
 T. Durant, who was ordained to the pastoral 
 office, September 8, 1801 ; and with whom he 
 maintained the most undisturbed harmony to 
 the time of his death. 
 
 It is remarkable, that after several threaten- 
 ing attacks, he was restored to a full capacity 
 for preaching again for some time, in turn with 
 
46 REV. EDWARD ASHBURNER. 
 
 his successor, with ahnost as much clearness 
 and energy as ever. But, at length, the time 
 drew near that Ashburner must die. The 
 last service in which he engaged on a week- 
 day, was the concluding prayer after the gene- 
 ral sacrament, at the Hants Association, held 
 at Poole, April 25th, 1804; and the last ser- 
 mon he preached was delivered on the follow- 
 ing sabbath. The text was Romans viii. 26, 
 and 34. In this discourse he treated of the 
 two intercessions in which the christian is in- 
 terested ; — the intercession of Christ in Heaven, 
 and the intercession of the Spirit in the heart. 
 When he came home he said, " Now my work 
 is done !" — During his last illness he enjoyed 
 sweet peace of mind, with a calm resignation 
 to the will of God, and a good hope through 
 grace. He spoke of dying with great familia- 
 rity and fortitude ; and said, " I used to have 
 doubts and fears respecting death ; but now 
 the sting of death is gone ; Jesus is precious ; 
 I have no fear as to death ; that is all gone." 
 At another time he said, with sweet composure 
 of mind, '* I wait for thy salvation, O Lord ; 
 I have got the world behind me, and I am 
 glad I have done with it ; and I see a greater 
 beauty in that promise than ever, — As thy day 
 is, so shall thy strength be." 
 
 " I have," said he to a brother who visited 
 him a short time before his death, " no choice 
 
REV. EDWARD ASHBURNER. 4< 
 
 as it respects life or death ; I have a persuasion 
 in my own mind that I shall die suddenly ; the 
 thought is not in the least distressing ; whether 
 I live this night or not, be it as the Lord will ; 
 I am ready to go whenever he calls : I shall 
 never again worship him in his house below, 
 but shall join in nobler worship above. In 
 the time of health I have had many sore con- 
 flicts and doubts ; but now, in the near view of 
 eternity, I have none : thus it was with me 
 when God laid his afflicting hand last upon 
 me ; but when restored, my conflicts and 
 doubts returned, and now I think death near, 
 it hath no sting in it." 
 
 From this time to the day of his dissolu- 
 tion, being for the greater part confined to his 
 bed, he grew weaker and weaker, still express- 
 ing perfect confidence in Christ, composure of 
 mind, and delightful expectation of being con- 
 veyed by angels to the celestial paradise. At 
 length, his happy spirit was released from the 
 house of clay in which it had so long *' groaned 
 being burdened," and sprang away from earth, 
 and all its labours, griefs, and diseases ; and 
 reached its appointed rest in one of those 
 mansions which the Lord Jesus went to pre- 
 pare for all his disciples. 
 
THE RIGHT HON. 
 
 LADY ANNE AGNES ERSKINE. 
 
 The noble lady who is the subject of this 
 Memoir, was the daughter of the Earl of 
 Buchan, by a lady of the house of Stuart, 
 and the eldest of a numerous family, several 
 other branches of which were the first orna- 
 ments of the Bar and the Bench in England 
 and Scotland ; and more distinguished by 
 their talents and integrity, than even by the 
 nobility they inherited or acquired. The 
 names of Thomas (late Lord Chancellor) and 
 Henry Erskine need only to be mentioned to 
 be universally known and honoured. It may 
 be pleasing to remark that the great grand- 
 father of these distinguished persons was a 
 man of eminent piety, and a considerable 
 sufferer in the cause of religious profession 
 in the days of that unprincipled monarch 
 Charles the Second: and as the names of 
 Ralph and Ebenezer Erskine have received 
 a stamp of especial reverence in the religious 
 
LADY ANNE AGNES ERSKINE. 49 
 
 world, it may not be uninteresting to observe, 
 that they were Hkewise branches of this 
 family. 
 
 Her early days were spent in Scotland, 
 and she mentioned to a lady her acquaintance, 
 the gracious dealings of the Lord with her, 
 when she was only about seven or eight years 
 old: — Her maid was reading to her a little 
 book of the nature of Janeway's Token for 
 Children; and the hfe of Ameha Geddie, a 
 little girl remarkable for early piety, made a 
 deep impression on her mind, which she for 
 a while retained ; and at times prayed with 
 fervour and feeling ; and, as she then thought, 
 with real answers to her prayers in repeated 
 instances, both of childish infirmity and de- 
 sires. As she grew up, however, early im- 
 pressions wore off; and for some years she 
 lived, like too many of her rank and sex, in 
 fashionable follies, and in the company of 
 those who were strangers to themselves, little 
 affected about the eternal world into which 
 they were going, whose frivolity and love of 
 pleasure left no place for matters of more 
 solemn consideration. About this time, the 
 Earl of Buchan, for his family convenience, 
 removed to Bath; and there commenced Iier 
 acquaintance with the great and excellent 
 Lady Huntingdon, whose hfe mms spent in 
 endeavouring to do good; and her efforts 
 
 D 
 
50 LADY ANNE AGNES ERSKINE. 
 
 were especially directed, at that time, to those 
 of her own rank and station. An acquaintance 
 formed about this time with the other branches 
 of the Hawkestone family, eminent for their ex- 
 cellence, whom she visited, contributed to fix 
 the sense of divine truths on her mind ; and 
 she became a professor of the principles of 
 evangelical religion. A growing intimacy with 
 Lady Huntingdon tended to confirm her mind ; 
 and some congeniality of spirit probably en- 
 gaged Lady Huntingdon to invite Lady Anne 
 to be with her as a friend and companion ; and 
 as this was equally pleasing to both, for many 
 years of the latter part of Lady H.'s life, she 
 was her constant friend and intimate. During 
 these years, as a helper in the truth, she 
 walked with her aged friend in great affection, 
 making herself useful in assisting to discharge 
 the immensity of cares and engagements in 
 which she was involved; and how well she 
 approved herself, may be concluded from the 
 disposition that good lady made of her aflTairs 
 to such as she thought would most faithfully 
 pursue the line she had so successfully drawn, 
 and among whom Lady Anne was one, as a 
 trustee and executrix of the deceased. 
 
 During Lady Huntingdon's life. Lady Anne 
 was only known as zealously disposed to pro- 
 mote the cause of truth, without appearing in 
 any prominent character; not being by Pro- 
 
LADY ANNE AGNES ERSKINE. 51 
 
 vidence favoured with the hberal provisions 
 which her predecessor enjoyed, and which 
 died with her. Indeed, her zeal always out- 
 ran her income; and though no person ever 
 spent so httle on herself as Lady Huntingdon, 
 she left such incumbrances as her assets were 
 unequal to discharge, unless some of her houses 
 of God were disposed of. It was upon this 
 occasion that Lady A. Erskine Mas called 
 forth to a more distinguished station than she 
 had yet filled; for as she was better ac- 
 quainted with Lady Huntingdon's mode of 
 procedure, and the persons preaching in the 
 connexion than any other, the trustees desired 
 her to occupy part of Lady H.'s house in Spa 
 Fields, and be in constant residence there as 
 the centre of business, and to carry on all the 
 immense correspondence which was needful. 
 From this time she became the prominent 
 person in the connexion ; and indeed, in every 
 view, Lady Anne Mas eminently qualified for 
 her place, both by a measure of ability, here- 
 ditary in the fomily of Erskine, and by a de- 
 votedness of heart, which made it her pleasure 
 to undergo any labour and difficulties for the 
 sake of tlie work in which she was engao-ed. 
 For twelve years she M-as enabled to go on in 
 this most laborious office, M^ith almost perfect 
 satisftiction to her colleagues, and without 
 the slightest breach betMeen them. Durinrr 
 
52 LADY ANNE AGNES ERSKINE. 
 
 these years, which occupied the most active 
 part of her hfe, those who knew her best, 
 witnessed the course of prayer and medi- 
 tation on the word which she maintained. 
 The very marks in her Bible spake the deep 
 attention she paid to it. Her correspondence 
 was of vast extent — her room hardly with- 
 out visitors, from morning to night, giving 
 account of commissions fulfilled, or taking 
 directions where to go, and what to do. 
 
 Her conversation was always heavenly ; and 
 speaking of God's dealings with her own soul, 
 none could express a deeper and humbler sense 
 of her own unworthiness. Nothing can speak 
 more feelingly in this respect, than the senti- 
 ment she uttered the last evening of her hfe : — 
 " The most holy are the most humble in their 
 own eyes." She improved every opportunity 
 of converse with her friends, especially the 
 young, who visited her. Indeed, her whole 
 time and thoughts seemed to be engajred in 
 endeavouring to fill her place, conscious of 
 being highly honoured in the service, and feel- 
 ing it her delight as well as duty, to discharge 
 her trust, as she must answer to the great 
 Shepherd and Bishop of souls. 
 
 But this is not our home, nor our rest; it 
 remaineth in a better world for those mIio are 
 found faithful unto death. Lady Anne had, 
 for some time, complaints which alarmed those 
 
LADY ANNE AGNES ERSKINE. 53 
 
 who knew how much they should feel her loss ; 
 and though she struggled with ill health, and 
 hardly suffered it to interrupt her labours, yet 
 it seemed evident the mortal tabernacle was 
 faihng. The frame of her mind seemed in a 
 preparation for an eternal world ; and two or 
 three mornings before her departure, she came 
 much refreshed from her room, and said to a 
 friend with her, " The Lord hath met me this 
 morning with so much sweetness of mind, that 
 I seemed as if surrounded of God : " on which 
 she added, " My Lord and my God!" The 
 day before her death she took an airing in a 
 coach ; and did not seem affected by it ; but 
 conversed as usual. The evening of that day, 
 she was visited by a gentleman of her acquaint- 
 ance, and spoke in her usually spirited manner, 
 as if nothing ailed her : and her health being 
 the subject, she said, "I have no presentiment 
 of death upon my mind : " but she added, " Be 
 that as it may, God is faithful ; and 1 feel un- 
 shaken confidence in him ; " with many other 
 expressions of the hope that maketh not 
 ashamed. Soon after retiring to bed, she took 
 a composing draught, (having had no good 
 sleep for the two preceding nights) and prayed 
 over it, that if the Lord had more work for her 
 to do, he would bless it to the promoting a 
 good night's sleep, and restoring her strength ; 
 and, speaking to her attendant, who slept in 
 
54< LADY ANNE AGNES ERSKINE. 
 
 the room with her, she added, " How happy 
 am I that my soul is not in hell, where I might 
 have been ! " And on her going out of the 
 room, Lady Anne added, as if under some 
 doubt or difficulty, " The Lord will reveal 
 himself to me to-morrow !" The person asked, 
 " if any outward matters made her uneasy?" she 
 replied, " No : in these respects I am perfectly 
 easy." These were the last words she was 
 heard to utter; and lying down in her bed, 
 apparently fell asleep. About five o'clock, the 
 attendant heard her cough slightly, and sup- 
 posed her again composed. At six, she got 
 up ; and going to her bed-side, saw her reposed, 
 her head on her hand, and thought her asleep : 
 on a nearer approach, it was the sleep of death. 
 So finished her course, another faithful 
 follower of the Lamb that was slain ; and added 
 one more to the list of honourable and devout 
 women, whose memory is deserving of being 
 held in everlasting remembrance. She lived 
 to the age of sixty -five years ; more than forty 
 of which she had spent in the works of faith, 
 and the labours of love. Glory to God ! 
 
THE 
 
 REV. ABRAHAM BOOTH. 
 
 As an eminent saint, a useful writer, and a 
 faithful, laborious, successful minister of our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Abraham 
 Booth deserves an honourable and distin- 
 guished notice in the present record. 
 
 He was born at Annesley Woodhouse, in 
 Nottinghamshire, May, 17, 1731. His parents 
 were destitute of all vital religion, till hearing 
 a preacher who visited the country, they be- 
 came seriously concerned about their eternal 
 interests. Abraham was their first child, and 
 discovered early maiks of piety. He chose 
 the most retired place for prayer; and was 
 frequently overheard, alone, wrestling with 
 God. He made an early profession of religion ; 
 but he recollected not any particular day when 
 he was suddenly alarmed, any striking sermon 
 under which he was roused, nor any remark- 
 able seasons of overwhelming sorrow ; and he 
 
56 REV. ABRAHAM BOOTH. 
 
 has often said, that if he had judged of the 
 state of his soul by such rehgious convictions 
 only, he must have concluded that he had 
 never been savingly converted to God. 
 
 His first religious connexions were formed 
 among the General Baptists; and in the nine" 
 teenth year of his age, he was ordained pastor 
 of a church at Kirkby Woodhouse, near the 
 place of his birth. He was then a zealous 
 enemy of the orthodox system, and greatly 
 opposed the doctrine of election, in a poem 
 " On Absolute Predestination." Gradually, 
 however, as the light of truth arose on his 
 mind, he reflected its beams in his conversations 
 and sermons among his hearers : and though, 
 from a conviction of his worth, they were 
 unwilling to part with him, notwithstanding 
 the change of his sentiments, yet he found it 
 necessary to remove. 
 
 His next place of settlement was at Sutton 
 A-shfield, in the same county ; where he began 
 to preach in a room called Bore's Hall. Here 
 lie formed a small church of the Calvinistic, or 
 Particular Baptist denomination ; and to this 
 situation the religious public are indebted for 
 the first edition of The Reign of Grace, which 
 contains the substance of a great number of his 
 sermons, preached at Sutton Ashfield, and 
 other places. This work has proved tlie most 
 popular of all his publications ; and with it all 
 
REV. ABRAHAM BOOTH. 57 
 
 the circumstances of the latter half of his life 
 are connected. 
 
 The manuscript had been recommended to 
 the Rev. Mr. Venn, who, hearing a pleasing 
 account of Mr. Booth's life and ministry, 
 desired to peruse it, though he entertained no 
 raised expectations concerning it ; but " to my 
 great surprise," says Mr. Venn, "there ap- 
 peared to me in it, the marks of a genius, joined 
 with the feelings of a christian heart ; a vigour 
 of style nuich above what is common in our 
 best religious writers ; in his reasoning, clear- 
 ness and force ; and in his doctrine an apostoUc 
 purity. I flatter myself also, that this work 
 will prove both so pleasing and useful to men 
 of an evangelical taste, that some better situa- 
 tion may be found for INIr. Booth : a situation 
 proper for a man whom God hath endowed 
 with abilities, and a taste for good learning; 
 so that he shall be no more subject to the 
 necessity of manual labour." Tliis recom- 
 mendation, with the merits of the work itself, 
 brought him into public notice, and became the 
 occasion of his settlement with the church in 
 Prescot Street, Goodman's Fields, on the 
 decease of the Rev. Mr. Burford, who died 
 April 15, 17G8. 
 
 Thus united with a gcdly, respectable people, 
 the objects of his laudable ambition were before 
 him, and within his reach. As, therefore, his 
 d3 
 
58 REV. ABRAHAM BOOTH. 
 
 love of books had been ardent from early life, 
 it now increased, and became almost insatiable ; 
 so that he seems to have formed the determina- 
 tion which Dr. Owen formerly made, that if 
 learning were attainable, he would, by the 
 blessing of God, surely possess it. The cir- 
 cumstances of his former situation rendered it 
 necessary for him to observe the jirst part of 
 Pliny's rule for reading, Nonmulta, sedrmdhim; 
 while his inclination impelled him to follow the 
 second part of it ; for though he had not many 
 books to read, yet he read much, digested what 
 he read, and often reduced it to common places. 
 His being already so good a divine, and fur- 
 nished with a vast variety of matter methodized 
 for the pulpit, gave him leisure, and ministered 
 to the execution of his plan, of which he never 
 lost sight. After his residence in London, he 
 was considerably indebted to the erudition of 
 an eminent classic, who had been a Roman 
 Catholic priest. Except the assistance which 
 he derived from this preceptor, he might fairly 
 be denominated a self-taught scholar, whose 
 literary acquisitions equalled, and often sur- 
 passed his means. Few were better acquainted 
 with the writers of ecclesiastical history, or of 
 Jewish antiquities ; but he had another object, 
 which seems to have been the height of his 
 ambition; he obtained an easy access to the 
 exhaustless stores of theology, pubhshed 
 
HEV. ABRAHAM BOOTH. 59 
 
 abroad. Some of these, which he signaUzed 
 with a pecuhar regard, were Witsius, Turre- 
 tine, Stapfer, Vitringa, and Venema. Nor must 
 we omit among his favourites at home, Dr. 
 John Owen, to whose learned and evangeUcal 
 writings he often acknowledged himself deeply 
 indebted. 
 
 These exertions from early youth, till he was 
 more than sixty, unquestionably demonstrate of 
 what importance sound learning appeared to 
 him, especially for a gospel minister ; and his 
 opinion on this head must be of consequence, 
 as few were more capable of appreciating its 
 value than himself: he knew its utility by his 
 former want of it. Nevertheless, he constantly 
 maintained that a knowledge of the languages 
 in which the sacred Scriptures were originally 
 written, however highly desirable, is by no 
 means essential to a minister of Christ. 
 
 As his doctrinal sentiments were Calvinistic, 
 so he faithfully contended for those doctrines, 
 at a time when the idea of the innocence of 
 mental error was fast gaining ground, — when 
 candour and liberality were terms employed in 
 favour of none but those who discovered a total 
 indifference to the grand truths of the gospel, 
 — when all catechisms and creeds and systems 
 were execrated, except such as were in the 
 interests of the Sabellian, the Arian, or the 
 Socinian heresy. At a monthly meeting of 
 
60 REV. ABRAHAM BOOTH. 
 
 ministers, on that text, *'Buy the truth, and 
 sell it not," he stated, with great energy of mind 
 and force of argument, that " if error be harm- 
 less, truth must be worthless;" and, with a 
 voice, for him unusually elevated, declared, 
 that every partisan of the innocence of mental 
 error is a criminal of no common atrocity, but 
 guilty of high treason against the majesty of 
 Eternal Truth. 
 
 But intent as he was in defence of the whole 
 sacred palladium of revealed truth, there is 
 evidence to conclude, that of late years, two 
 points lay peculiarly near his heart. One is, 
 the freeness of the Gospel, as containing " glad 
 tidings to perishing sinners ;" or, in other words, 
 that the genuine gospel is a complete warrant 
 for the most ungodly person to believe in 
 Jesus. The other was, the doctrine of the 
 Satisfaction of Christ. 
 
 His sermons were always good, often truly 
 great, and mostly directed to the conscience ; 
 while more than a few of them, with a felicity 
 of combination, interested the mind, the con- 
 science, and the heart, at the same moment: 
 and if they had not all the accompaniments of 
 a modern elocution, they were delivered with 
 that dignified, solemn energy, which gave a 
 forcible effect to all he said. And as all his 
 discourses were studied, those which he deli- 
 vered in the freest and most affectionate man- 
 
REV. ABRAHAM BOOTH. 61 
 
 ner, unembarrassed by laboured recollection, 
 were remarkably acceptable. As he entered 
 into his sermon, and advanced, his hearers 
 were constrained to say, " This man is in 
 earnest : he believes what he says, and says 
 what he believes : verily, this is a man of God ! 
 Ten such men, and Sodom would have stood ! " 
 
 His prayers did not partake of the nature of 
 sermons, but were solemn evangelical addresses 
 to Jehovah. In confession of sin, he was more 
 abundant ; while in every part of this duty he^ 
 was fervent and devotional. As a christian 
 minister, he was a pastor according to God's 
 heart ; and his true character was such as was 
 unintentionally drawn by himself in his admira- 
 ble sermon, entitled, " Pastoral Cautions." This 
 was an exact moral likeness, a whole-leno-th 
 picture of himself. 
 
 The members of his church found that he 
 had the bosom of a shepherd, and the heart of 
 a father. In some of their families he was 
 received and consulted as a jiarent. All 
 recognized him as a friend ; and he was re- 
 markably affectionate to the children of afflic- 
 tion and distress. He was eminently attentive 
 to the poor of the flock ; and could always find 
 time to call on them, to visit them, even if 
 others thought themselves neglected. 
 
 His different publications obtained for him a 
 lasting reputation, and have been rendered a 
 
62 REV, ABRAHAM BOOTH. 
 
 blessing to thousands. His volume on the 
 Reign of Grace, and his Essay, entitled, " The 
 Death of Legal Hope the Life of Evangelical 
 Obedience," received the honour of being 
 translated abroad. But he was not more 
 zealous in recommending divine things to others 
 than he was conscientious in regarding them 
 himself. Hence he was a brilliant example of 
 walking with God. If there were any trait in 
 his character more distinguishing than the 
 rest, it was that of integrity. His word was 
 enough without any other engagement. De- 
 ceit of every kind was far from him, and he 
 detested flattery ; and of him it might truly be 
 said, ** Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is 
 no guile ! " Amidst many severe afflictions in 
 his family and in his church, he displayed 
 uncommon patience and humility. 
 
 Through the chief part of his days he en- 
 joyed good health, and for many years was 
 seldom interrupted in his pastoral labours. 
 But when sixty summers or more had passed 
 over his head, a painful asthma increasingly 
 afflicted him year by year, till at length his 
 winters, and especially the three last, were 
 severe and threatening. But the frame of his 
 mind corresponded to a life which had been 
 devoted to God, and to a hope full of inunor- 
 tality. ToM-ards the end of January, 1805, in 
 one of the visits of his assistant, Mr. Gray, he 
 
REV. ABRAHAM BOOTH. 6S 
 
 appeared very poorly, and not able to talk 
 much ; but what he said was of a spiritual kind ; 
 *' O that I may be submissive to the will of the 
 Lord, whether for life or for death ! What an 
 unspeakable mercy it is, that Christ Jesus 
 came into the world to die for poor sinners '." 
 Then, breathing with great difficulty, he said, 
 " O that I may breathe after holiness, more 
 and more after holiness ; and be fitted for the 
 great change whenever it shall come !" 
 
 A few weeks after, being very ill, he said, 
 " But I am in good hands ; I think I am more 
 afraid of dishonouring God by impatience, than 
 I am afraid of death :" adding, " I must go to 
 Christ as a poor sinner, a poor grey-headed 
 sinner; I can go no other way." In this manner 
 he generally talked with different persons ; and 
 they left him, ashamed of themselves, that 
 they felt no more of the same spirit. Indeed, 
 through his whole affliction, he was graciously 
 supported. He felt no raptures ; nor have we 
 any reason to believe that he even so much as 
 wished for them. He was generally serene, 
 breathing after heaven, expressing his earnest 
 desires after conformity to the image of Christ, 
 and submission to the will of God ; daily bless- 
 ing him for a good hope, through grace, and 
 waiting for the coming of his Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 On the Lord's day before his death, several 
 
64 REV. ABRAHAM BOOTH. 
 
 of his friends, apprehensive that his dissolution 
 was very near, went to see him, as they sup- 
 posed, for the last time. They found him in 
 the sweet enjoyment of the Lord's presence, 
 and Satan kept at a distance from him. To 
 one he said, " Ah ! Jesus Christ is indeed a 
 good master !" To another, '' But a little 
 while, and I shall be with you, dear father and 
 mother !" He also affectionately dropt a word 
 to several of his young friends, who longed just 
 to see him. To one, " I have often borne you 
 on my heart before the Lord ; noM , you need 
 to pray for me." Soon after, to a son of one of 
 his most intimate friends, " Take care of your 
 precious soul ; take care that you be not merely 
 half a Christicin." He did not, however, at this 
 time, imagine the moment of his departure so 
 near as his family apprehended it to be. When 
 a friend, at parting with him on the Lord's- 
 day evening, said to liun, ** The Lord be with 
 you ! and if I do not see you again, I trust we 
 shall meet in the better world !" — he replied, ** I 
 expect to see you again in this." On the next 
 day, he was mostly deprived of his speech ; it 
 was thought, not of his reason: but just at nine 
 o'clock, his sons-in-law, thinking that they did 
 not hear him breathe, went to his bed-side, and 
 saw him lay himself quite back ; — wlicn, in a 
 moment, he gently expired, without even a 
 struggle or a sigh, January 27, IS06. 
 
DAVID DALE, ESQ. 
 
 OF GLASGOW. 
 
 Mr. Dale was born in the year 1739, 
 in the village of Stewart-town, in Ayrshire, 
 where also he received his education. His 
 parents, respectable both in circumstances and 
 character, were of the Presbyterian denomi- 
 nation. Very early he discovered a love for 
 religion, and made an open and devout pro- 
 fession of it. On leaving home, he resided a 
 few years at Paisley, where he followed the 
 weaving business ; and became intimately ac- 
 quainted with the great Dr. Witherspoon, then 
 one of the ministers of that town, with whom 
 he ever afterwards maintained a correspon- 
 dence. 
 
 In the year 1785, took place the establish- 
 ment of the celebrated Lanark Cotton Mills, 
 which were exclusively his own, and which 
 have since been greatly enlarged under the 
 superintendence of his son-in-law, Robert 
 Owen, Esq. In Mr. Dale's time, the village 
 
66 DAVID DALE, ESQ. 
 
 of New Lanark, which owed its existence to 
 the erection of his mills, contained about 1500 
 inhabitants ; of whom there were 500 children, 
 who were entirely fed, clothed, and educated 
 at his expense. Their healthy and pleasur- 
 able appearance frequently attracted the at- 
 tention of the traveller. Peculiar regulations, 
 adopted by him for the preservation of the 
 health and morals of those under his protec- 
 tion, made this striking difference between his 
 manufactory, and many other similar under- 
 takings in the kingdom ; — so that while some 
 other mills must be regarded as seminaries of 
 vice, and sources of disease, those at Lanark 
 were so peculiarly exempt from these objec- 
 tions, that out of near 3000 children employed 
 in them, durmg a period of twelve years, only 
 fourteen died; — and not one was the subject of 
 judicial punishment. 
 
 Mr. Dale was also many years one of the 
 cashiers of the Royal Bank, and a magistrate 
 of the city of Glasgow. 
 
 Early attached, as he had been from edu- 
 cation, to the Presbyterian establishment, he 
 was led to be a great frequenter of the Sacra- 
 ments, which in the Church of Scotland being 
 but seldom administered, are considered as 
 great solemnities, and are very numerously 
 attended. He generally went along with a 
 party of religious people, who attended at 
 
DAVID DALE, ESQ. 67 
 
 select places, where the ministers were es- 
 teemed orthodox ; and here he formed some 
 friendships which continued with unabated af- 
 fection till death separated them. It was usual, 
 on these occasions, for those \vho went from 
 Glasgow to any place where they had no pre- 
 vious acquaintances, to travel in parties, and 
 lodge together at a convenient pubUc-house 
 on the Saturday evening, where they held a 
 meeting for prayer and religious conversation. 
 At one of these opportunities, Mr. Dale being 
 desired to engage in prayer, the company were 
 so struck with his solemn, grand, and pathetic 
 address to God, that they acknowledged to 
 each other they never heard the like from so 
 young a man before. 
 
 But about the year 1769, having adopted the 
 system of Independency, then a novelty in the 
 North, he was ordained a joint Elder over a 
 church in Glasgow, consisting of about twenty 
 members. lie, iiowever, accepted the office 
 with reluctance, and with such diffidence and 
 anxiety, that his health was thereby materially 
 ari'ected. In this connexion, he suffered much 
 from the disposition to contention and division 
 on insignificant points, which was prevalent 
 in his church. lie himself, however, always 
 pleaded for the doctrine of Christian forbear- 
 ance and forgiveness. All the doctrines he 
 taught were the result of mature deliberation ; 
 
68 DAVID DALE, ESQ. 
 
 for he was naturally thoughtful and considerate. 
 He searched the Scriptures daily, to know the 
 will of God ; and never shunned to declare it 
 to the best of his judgment, — preaching the 
 gospel of the kingdom faithfully, and with all 
 boldness. 
 
 His prosperity in the world, far from con- 
 tracting the heart, as is too often the case, 
 enabled him to adorn the doctrine of Christ 
 by very extensive liberality to the poor, and 
 to display a very active and public-spirited be- 
 nevolence on all occasions, being constantly 
 ready to every good work. Above all, he was 
 interested in the propagation of the gospel 
 throughout the world. Whenever he could 
 approve the principles of missionaries, he was 
 most cordial in affording them assistance ; and 
 in every attempt to translate and publish the 
 Holy Scriptures, his zeal was remarkable. 
 
 For several of his latter years he was infirm ; 
 but was not confined till within two or three 
 weeks of his end. The very day before his 
 departure, which was the Sabbath, he sent 
 for some of his brethren in the church to 
 confer with them. He told them he had now 
 found time to review his principles, and had 
 seen no reason to change them. He recom- 
 mended attending simply to the word of God, 
 and following it with implicit obedience. He 
 particularly begged their attention to our 
 
DAVID DALE, ESQ. 69 
 
 Lord's dying testimony, " My kingdom is not 
 of this world;" and added, " Never give up 
 that." lie spoke briefly of the way of salva- 
 tion by the Son of God, as what alone could 
 satisfy the mind of a dying man. He men- 
 tioned the song of the redeemed in heaven: 
 " To him that loved us, &c. ;" and how dis- 
 tinguished a privilege it is for believers to join 
 it upon earth. He told them he had left no- 
 thing to the church, and wished to know their 
 opinion. They were glad of it : because they 
 thought the church should rely only on her 
 exalted Head, and not on any earthly funds. 
 These, he said, were his sentiments ; and he 
 was happy they were theirs. " The church," 
 he added, "has nothing to fear: the Lord will 
 be with you through fire and through water, 
 till he bring you to a wealthy place." — The 
 next day, being April 17, 1806, he departed, 
 in his sixty-eighth year, beloved and lamented 
 by all with whom he had been connected, or 
 to whom he had been known. His fellow- 
 citizens, and especially the poor, bewailed him 
 as their father ; for on all occasions, they had 
 found him such, being applied to as well for 
 counsel as for assistance. His manners were 
 always modest and unassuming : his charities, 
 though numerous and great, were never osten- 
 tatious ; on the contrary, he was so careful to 
 conceal them, that many of the individuals who 
 
70 DAVID DALE, ESQ. 
 
 were saved by him from wretchedness and 
 want, never knew the instrument which Provi- 
 dence employed for their dehverance. Though 
 a dissenter, he was highly esteemed by all 
 parties of Christians ; and by his own, affec- 
 tionately beloved. In short, his memory is 
 still deeply engraven in the hearts of his 
 friends, his fellow-christians, and his country- 
 men. 
 
THE REV. JAMES MOODY, 
 
 OF WARWICK. 
 
 Mr. Moody was descended from pious an- 
 cestors, who resided at Paisley, ia Scotland. 
 When a child, he discovered many marks of 
 genius ; and it was soon perceived by those 
 about him, that he was likely to become a 
 superior man. He was active, sprightly, in- 
 quisitive, and enterprising ; and at the same 
 time, remarkably dutiful to his parents. At 
 school, he was attentive and studious, and 
 gained the friendship of his master by his di- 
 ligence. Here he acquired some knowledge 
 of the Latin and French tongues; but as no 
 thoughts were then entertained of his becoming 
 a minister, he was taken from school at the usual 
 period, and placed apprentice to a reputable 
 tradesman. In this situation also, he became 
 a favourite with his master, by his industry 
 and usefulness, so that he obtained peculiar 
 indulgences. He was, however, strongly ad- 
 dicted to vain and worldly pursuits. His heart 
 
72 REV. JAMES MOODY. 
 
 was devoted to music, dancing, and theatrical 
 amusements. Of the latter he was so fond, 
 that he used to meet with some young men of 
 a similar cast, to rehearse parts of plays ; and 
 used to entertain a hope that he should make 
 a figure on the stage. To improve himself 
 in music, he would rise very early, even in 
 severely cold weather, and practise on the 
 German flute. By his skill in music and sing- 
 ing, with his general power of entertaining, he 
 became a desirable companion, and was led 
 into company in a manner very dangerous to 
 youth. He would somethnes venture to pro- 
 fane the day of God, by turning it into a season 
 of carnal pleasure, and would join in excursions 
 on the water to various parts of the vicinity of 
 London. 
 
 But the time was approaching when the 
 Lord, who had designs of mercy for him, and 
 for many others by his means, was about to 
 stop him in his vain career of sin and folly. 
 
 There were two professing servants in the 
 house where he lived. One of these was a 
 porter, who, when brushing his clothes before 
 he went out to the playhouse, would say, 
 *' Master James, tliis will never do ; you must 
 be otherwise employed. You must be a mini- 
 ster of the gospel." This worthy man, 
 earnestly wishing his conversion, put into his 
 hands that excellent book, which God has so 
 
REV. JAMES MOODY. 73 
 
 much owned, " AUeine's Alarm to the Uncon- 
 verted;" which, it is beheved, proved of great 
 service to him. About this time, it pleased 
 God to visit him with a disorder in his eyes, 
 occasioned, as it was thought, by his sitting up 
 in the night to improve himself in drawing. 
 The apprehension of losing his sight occasioned 
 many serious reflections: his mind was im- 
 pressed with the importance and necessity of 
 seeking the salvation of his soul, and he was 
 induced to attend the preaching of the gospel. 
 The first sermon that he heard with a desire 
 to profit, was at Spa-Fields Chapel ; a place 
 which he had formerly frequented when it was 
 a temple of vanity and dissipation. Strong 
 convictions of sin fixed on his mind; and he 
 continued to attend the preached word, parti- 
 cularly at Tottenham Court Chapel. Every 
 sermon increased his sorrow that he had not 
 earlier sought the Lord. It was a considerable 
 time before he found comfort from the gospel. 
 He has stood in the free part of the chapel, 
 hearing with such emotion, that the tears have 
 flowed from his eyes in torrents ; and when he 
 has returned home, he has continued a great 
 part of the night on his knees, praying over 
 what he had heard. 
 
 The change now effected on his heart 
 became visible to all. He became at once a 
 
 VOL. I. E 
 
74 REV. JAMES MOODY. 
 
 decided character, and gave up for ever all his 
 vain pursuits and amusements ; devoting him- 
 self with as much resolution and diligence to 
 the service of God, as he had formerly done to 
 folly. Next to his own soul, the salvation of 
 his former vain companions became his care. 
 He went to them, one by one, and took his 
 Bible with him, having previously turned down 
 suitable texts ; commenting on which, he gave 
 them a faithful warning to " flee from the wrath 
 to come ; " and then took his final leave of them. 
 
 He now became a preacher to his father, 
 who, though a hearer and approver of the 
 gospel, was yet a stranger to its power. Nor 
 were his pious and affectionate exhortations in 
 vain : he had the happiness to see his dear 
 parent a serious christian; and when his son 
 entered into the ministry, he chose to reside 
 with him, and spend his latter years in the 
 enjoyment of God and religion. 
 
 His zeal and talents soon pointed him out as 
 a fit person to become a minister ; and at length, 
 by the solicitations of his serious friends, he 
 determined to relinquish his worldly pursuits, 
 and devote himself to that honourable work. 
 He was advised to go to college, with a view 
 of entering into the Established Church ; but 
 having scruples which he could not conquer, 
 he determined to join the dissenters. 
 
REV. JAMES MOODY. 75 
 
 He was admitted into a seminary then under 
 the tuition of the Rev. Messrs. Brewer, Barber, 
 and Kello ; and having continued there the 
 usual time, received an invitation from the 
 infant church at Warwick. Here he settled, 
 and here he continued to labour, for twenty-five 
 years, with the utmost fidehty, and with emi- 
 nent success. His occasional labours, likewise, 
 in London, Bristol, and other places, were 
 greatly prized and blessed. 
 
 In the midst of usefulness, of apparent health, 
 and mental vigour, the sovereign disposer of 
 human life, and the great director of all the 
 affairs of the church, was pleased to put an 
 unexpected period to the services of this man 
 of God. His unwearied labours brought on a 
 succession of paralytic strokes which terminated 
 in death. During liis illness, though his mind 
 was for some time, from the nature of the dis- 
 order, greatly depressed, for many weeks 
 before his death, he was generally calm, some- 
 times joyful in the Lord; his resignation to 
 the divine will was exemplary, and he seemed 
 to have no desire, of his own, either for life or 
 death, referring it wholly to the Lord. When 
 his usefulness in the ministry was mentioned 
 to him, — what an enemy he had been to Satan 
 and his kingdom, he immediately stopped this 
 conversation, and said that nothing offended 
 liis ears so much, as mentioning any thing that 
 e2 
 
76 REV. JAMES MOODY. 
 
 he had ever done ; and then proceeded to 
 speak of himself in the most humiUating terma 
 imaginable. He breathed his last, Nov. 22, 
 1806. 
 
THE REV. SAMUEL LAVINGTON, 
 
 OF BIDEFORD. 
 
 Tins venerable, amiable, and eloquent minis- 
 ter of Christ, was the son of the Rev. John 
 Lavington, a worthy and respectable minister 
 of the city of Exeter, known to the world by 
 some useful publications, but more renowned 
 as the single champion for the truth, when 
 Arianism arose and prevailed among the minis- 
 ters of Exeter. He was born in that city, in 
 the year 172G. He received his classical edu- 
 cation from Mr. Churley, a dissenting minister 
 at Uffculm, Devon. He afterwards entered 
 upon a course of studies, preparatory to the 
 ministry, under Mr. Moore, who preached and 
 kept an academy, at Bridgewater, in Somerset- 
 shire. Here Mr. L. enjoyed great advantages 
 from Mr. Moore's superior attainments, and 
 his easy and agreeable method of conveying 
 knowledge. His tutor, however, embracing 
 the Arian doctrines, he was removed to London, 
 to the academy, at that time under the care of 
 
78 REV. SAMUEL LAVINGTON. 
 
 Dr. Zephaniah Marryat, and Dr. John Walker, 
 both of them men eminently quahfied by piety 
 and learning, to usher their pupils into the 
 sacred work of the ministry. 
 
 After he left the academy, he displayed a 
 firm and conscientious character, in a trial 
 which might be deemed severe, even to persons 
 of more advanced age, and settled opinions. 
 Whether from a similarity of name, or distant 
 family connexion, is not certain, but from 
 whatever motive it might arise, Mr. L. was 
 much noticed by Dr. Lavington, then Bishop 
 of Exeter. The Bishop treated him with much 
 kindness, frequently invited him to dine at his 
 palace, and offered him very tempting prefer- 
 ment, if he would conform to the Established 
 Church. Mr. L. however, knew too well the 
 value of his dissenting principles, derived from 
 the Scriptures, and transmitted to his care by 
 a confessing ancestry, to barter them basely for 
 filthy lucre's sake. The temptation lay more 
 in the kindness and hospitality with which the 
 proposal was accompanied ; but even this per- 
 suasive method failed ; and by divine help, he 
 was enabled to appreciate, at its own value, the 
 kindness shewn him by so distinguished a cha- 
 racter ; while he modestly, though firmly, de- 
 clined a proposal repugnant to his conscience. 
 
 In the year 1752, he undertook the pastoral 
 charge at Bideford, at that timo a place of very 
 
REV. SAMUEL LAVINGTON. 79 
 
 considerable trade with Virginia and Newfound- 
 land, and where dissent had long flourished, 
 as was apparent from the structure of the 
 meeting-house, which is spacious and handsome 
 beyond almost any other dissenting place of 
 worship in the west, and which had been 
 erected in the year 1690. 
 
 Though Mr. L. found the people in a very 
 unsettled and divided state, yet his amiable 
 disposition, and his pacific measures, united all 
 parties, and softened down the bitterness of 
 dispute. His soft answers turned away wrath, 
 and his " meek and quiet spirit " hushed all 
 fierce and angry contentions. Although, in 
 consequence of a decline in the trade of the 
 town, soon after his settlement, his congrega- 
 gation decreased in the course of forty years, 
 yet in his youth he was deservedly popular, 
 and many who attended his ministry were 
 called to the knowledge of the truth ; and 
 tliere is no reason to doubt that had he been 
 placed in a situation less hable to the fluctua- 
 tions of trade, his popularity and his usefulness 
 would have flourished together till the last. 
 He never declined, till nature yielded to the 
 irresistible decays of age. For half a century 
 he retained the same interesting character as a 
 preacher, and the same spotless reputation as a 
 christian. If his opportunities of doing good 
 to the extent he wished, were curtailed, yet 
 
80 REV. SAMUEL LAVINGTON. 
 
 his posthumous usefulness, through the medium 
 of those original and instructive discourses, 
 which have been published, is likely to be at 
 least as great, as that of which he was the 
 honoured instrument while alive. 
 
 In his person tall and commanding ; — in his 
 manners exhibiting a happy union of gravity 
 and cheerfulness; — in his family, habitually 
 regular and orderly; — as a friend, " given to 
 hospitality ;" — looked up to as a kind of patriarch 
 by younger ministers, who delighted in his 
 company ; — he likewise ever lived on the best 
 terms with his flock and all around him. By 
 the clergy of the Establishment, with whom he 
 was acquainted, and by the inhabitants of 
 Bideford in general, he was always spoken of 
 in the highest terms of respect. Undoubtedly, 
 the basis of that general esteem, in which he 
 was held by all who knew him, was pure and 
 fervent piety. He " walked with God." His 
 closet prepared him for appearing to so much 
 advantage as a christian, and as a minister. 
 As long as nature would permit, he rose early ; 
 frequently he was in his closet by break of day ; 
 there he enjoyed early and uninterrupted com- 
 munion with God, and composed his admirable 
 and edifying discourses. 
 
 In his public prayers there was much to 
 approve. They had the correctness of a pre- 
 composed form, without its sameness and 
 
REV. SAMUEL LAVINGTON. 81 
 
 formality. Without being drawn out to a 
 wearisome length, — for in all services connected 
 with religion, he,upon principle, avoided tedious- 
 ness, — his devotions in the sanctuary were full, 
 scriptural, and pertinent. At the Lord's Supper 
 he was peculiarly solemn, yet highly animated. 
 He greatly excelled in delivering charges at the 
 ordination of ministers, and hence he was often 
 engaged in this service. Indeed, all extra- 
 ordinary occasions he had a most happy talent 
 for improving — the seasons, deaths, shipwrecks, 
 ike. 
 
 The discourses of Mr. L. possessed a re- 
 markable and almost singular character. They 
 are indeed considered as bearing a striking 
 resemblance to those of the celebrated Dr. 
 Grosvenor, whom he had frequently attended 
 while he was prosecuting his studies in London. 
 Yet he was no servile imitator ; if he has not, 
 indeed, much surpassed his model. His 
 thoughts and manner were animated, without 
 approaching to levity. He aimed not to be- 
 spangle his sermons with points of wit, and 
 other puerile ornaments, for the purpose of 
 attracting regard. But he conveyed his sen- 
 timents in so lively and engaging a method, that 
 he possessed an art, almost pecuhar to himself, 
 of fixing the attention of the most careless and 
 dissipated hearer. A very gay young man, 
 who occasionally heard him, once said, " I will 
 e3 
 
82 REV. SAMUEL LAVINGTON. 
 
 honestly confess, I am always weary before 
 other ministers have half done; but Mr. L. 
 never tires me." He was particularly happy 
 in his scriptural allusions. From his youth he 
 had been taught to wield the sword of the 
 Spirit. When he first appeared in public, 
 an old minister addressed him after preaching, 
 on the frequent use he made of scripture, ob- 
 serving, " If you go on so, young gentleman, 
 you will soon get through the Bible, and what 
 will you do then?" " I will begin again," re- 
 plied the young divine. 
 
 In the introduction of his sermon, he was often 
 peculiarly striking. No feature in his discourse 
 was more conspicuous than his ease and fa- 
 miliarity of expression, without any thing 
 grovelling, negligent, or inconsistent with the 
 solemnity of the pulpit. His sermons were 
 not mere essays, but close addresses to the con- 
 science, the understanding, and the best feelings 
 of his hearers ; a kind of '* dignified conversa- 
 tion ;" a flowing, manly and pathetic eloquence, 
 which shewed that he was earnest in the cause 
 he pleaded. Without any of the adventitious 
 aids of the orator, — for he always read his 
 sermons, and, in later life, with a glass, — yet no 
 orator ever excelled him in the effect of his 
 discourses. The secret of his success may, 
 perhaps, be attributed, under the divine bless- 
 ing, to the origiiudity of his thoughts, to the 
 
REV. SAMUEL LAVINGTON. 83 
 
 simplicity of his illustrations, to the solemnity 
 of his manner, and to the hoHness of his life. 
 
 We have now to record the last end of this 
 " man of God." Having reached a good old 
 age, for the last two or three years of his life 
 he gradually declined in strength. He continued 
 his public services generally once on the Lord's 
 day, but they were more frequently interrupted 
 than usual, and his trembling frame could no 
 longer totter over the ground which for so many 
 years he had trodden to the house of God. 
 Being wheeled in his chair thither, for the last 
 time, about ten months before his death, he 
 was enabled to deliver his parting address at 
 the Lord's supper. The powers both of body 
 and mind being much enfeebled, he was unable 
 from this period to leave his own house. \Mien 
 he saw his flock passing before his door in their 
 way to the sanctuary, he deeply lamented his 
 absence from " that dear place," as he termed 
 it, " the house of God." In this declining 
 state he quietly waited for his dismissal to the 
 churcli triumphant. Sometimes a few clouds 
 obscured his prospects for eternity, but they 
 were the natural effects of age and infirmities, 
 and were soon dispersed. On the 18th of 
 April, 1807, without a sigh or a struggle, he 
 closed his eyes on all visible and temporal 
 things, to behold those which are " not seen 
 and eternal." 
 
THE REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 Of the life, the labours, and the sufferings 
 of this extraordinary man, it is difficult to give 
 any account, at once condensed and satis- 
 factory ; and it is the less necessaiy, as the 
 circulation of his "Authentic Narrative," and 
 excellent letters, of which several volumes are 
 in print, have rendered him very extensively 
 known, both in Britain and America. 
 
 He was born in London, in 1725. His father, 
 who appears to have been a sensible and moral 
 man, was captain of a merchant ship. His 
 mother was a very pious, experienced Chris- 
 tian, a dissenter, in connexion with Dr. Jen- 
 nings. Mr. Newton was her only child ; and 
 she devoted herself almost entirely to his edu- 
 cation. She earnestly desired that he might 
 become a minister of the Gospel, if the Lord 
 should so incline his heart. But his early life 
 was devoted to the sea ; and he experienced a 
 great vicissitude of circumstances, from those 
 
REV. JOHN NEWTON. 85 
 
 of a sailor to a slave captain ; — was himself re- 
 duced to the situation of a miserable slave, in 
 which he suft'ered almost incredible hardships ; — 
 but again rose to fill a respectable sphere, as a 
 minister of the Established Church ; first at 
 Olney, where he was the bosom friend of the 
 pious poet, Cowper ; and afterwards in the 
 church of St. Mary Woolnoth, Lombard Street, 
 London. 
 
 The leading traits of his character were 
 simplicity, piety, and benevolence ; and he 
 devoted a long life to the propagation of evan- 
 gelical truth, and to the service of the church 
 of Christ. Mr. N.'s sentiments, as to doctrine, 
 were avowedly Calvinistic ; but he did not make 
 the particular points generally distinguished by 
 that term the prominent subjects of his preach- 
 ing, though they were always implied in his 
 discourse. He used, in familiar conversation, 
 to say, that " he wished his Calvinism to be 
 found in his sermons as sugar in a cup of tea, 
 which sweetens it all, but is no where to be 
 found in a lump." 
 
 If his mental talents were not of the very 
 first order for strength and splendour, yet he 
 possessed a soundness of understanding, which 
 was not merely the result of observation, but 
 evidenced powers superior to the ordinary 
 level. So much was his judgment respected, 
 that many sought his advice on afKiirs of a 
 
86 REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 secular nature, as well as those immediately 
 connected with his functions as a minister of 
 the gospel. If his genius was not brilliant, 
 it was far from dull ; and that he had a happy 
 talent of invention, appears in his works, and 
 particularly in his epistolary correspondence, a 
 branch of writing in which he peculiarly excel- 
 led. The name of Newton is sweetly embalmed 
 in the recollection of various persons belong- 
 ing to different denominations of Cliristians. 
 His candour was exercised in its proper sphere ; 
 and indulged there to a very wide extent. 
 Provided his friends and connexions (to use 
 his own expression) " held the head, and 
 acted imder his direction and influence," he 
 esteemed them irrespectively of the sect to 
 which they were attached ; and was ever ready 
 to give them proofs of his affectionate regard. 
 
 As a companion, he was remarkable for his 
 cheerfulness and pleasantry. The former habits 
 of his life enabled him to enrich his parlour 
 discourse with that variety of detail which 
 always gives a zest to conversation ; and being 
 of a facetious temper, he enlivened his friends 
 by point and sprightliness of remark, which 
 produce a lawful mirth, that " doeth good like 
 a medicine ;" yet nothing was more abhorrent 
 to the purity of his mind, than a levity sport- 
 ing with sacred things, or exciting a laugh at 
 the vices or infirmities of mankind. 
 
REV. JOHN NEWTON. 87 
 
 His unfeigned and fervent piety gave a polish 
 to every other excellence. Deep was the vene- 
 ration he felt for the word of God ; and sedu- 
 lously did he cultivate an experimental ac- 
 quaintance with its hallowed contents. In 
 prayer he discovered the utmost fervour of 
 devotion. His conscience was exquisitely ten- 
 der ; and in the varied walks of life, he ex- 
 emplified the consistency of the Christian. 
 
 His praise, as an author, is in all the churches. 
 Most of his works will long continue to edify 
 the body of Christians. The ease and sim- 
 plicity of his style, and the warmth of affection 
 which breathes in his published letters to his 
 correspondents, can never fail to afford a rich 
 repast to all who can relish the familiar plea- 
 sures, and prize the delicate fidelity of Christian 
 friendship. 
 
 In the pulpit, his whole soul appeared to 
 flow out in ardent concern for the spiritual 
 welfare of his hearers ; so that all might per- 
 ceive his principal design was to " win souls " 
 to Jesus Christ. And he was made an instru- 
 ment of great and lasting benefit to the souls 
 of many. 
 
 About two years before his decease, his 
 strength began sensibly, but gradually to de- 
 cline. He became very feeble, and scarcely 
 able to ascend the pulpit. A man servant 
 used to stand behind him while he preached. 
 
88 REV. JOHN NEWTON. 
 
 His recollection was observed to fail : and it 
 was with difficulty he continued those public 
 services, which love to his Master and his 
 people made him unwilling to relinquish. At 
 length it was painfully evident, that his mini- 
 sterial work was finished ; and he appeared no 
 more in the pulpit after October, 1806, a little 
 more than a year before his death. His last 
 public sermon was preached for the benefit of 
 the sufferers from the battle of Trafalgar, when 
 his facvdties were so far gone, that he was 
 obliged to be reminded of the object of his 
 discourse. When he could no longer preach, 
 he usually sat in the pulpit, to hear his curate, 
 as deafness accompanied the other infirmities 
 of age. 
 
 He continued for about eleven months con- 
 fined to his room, calmly looking for his ex- 
 pected dismission, of which he would sometimes 
 speak with his usual pleasantry. " I am," said 
 he, " like a person going a journey in a stage 
 coach, who expects its arrival every hour, and 
 is frequently looking out at the window for it :" 
 and, at another time, to the inquiry how he 
 was, he replied ; " I am packed, and sealed, 
 and waiting for the post." His mind was gene- 
 rally tranquil ; though at times, during his ill- 
 ness, his spirits were low, and his religious 
 comforts suffered some degree of interruption ; 
 but, ** he knew in whom he had believed ;" and 
 
REV. JOHN NEWTON. 89 
 
 when speaking to a friend, on the subject of 
 behevers' doubts and fears, he observed, that 
 he could not give place to fear, and believed he 
 never should, while these words were in the 
 Bible : " Him that cometh unto me, I will in 
 no wise cast out." 
 
 *' Mr. Newton," says Mr. Cecil, in his fune- 
 ral sermon for him, " gradually sunk as the 
 settmg sun, shedding to the last those declining 
 rays, which gilded and gladdened the dark 
 valley. In the latter conversations I had with 
 him, he expressed an unshaken faith in eter- 
 nal realities ; and when he could scarcely utter 
 words, he remained a firm witness to the truths 
 he had preached." 
 
 His dismission from a body, now become so 
 unfit a tabernacle for his active spirit, was 
 graciously afforded on the evening of Monday, 
 December 21st, 1807, in his 83d year. 
 
THE REV. WILLIAM KINGSBURY, 
 
 OF SOUTHAMPTON. 
 
 Mr. Kingsbury was born in London, 1744. 
 His parents were in respectable circumstances, 
 and his prospects in life were flattering. Under 
 the patronage of Sir John Barnard, who was 
 then the father of the City, he was early ad- 
 mitted into Merchant Taylors' School, and, a 
 few years afterwards, into the school of Christ's 
 Hospital, where he made considerable progress 
 in the acquisition of Latin and Greek ; and, by 
 the exercise of an acute understanding, and a 
 retentive memory, laid the foundation of those 
 complete and solid attainments in general li- 
 terature, by which his ministry, v/ritings, and 
 conversation were afterwards distinguished. 
 From the views of his patron, and the nature 
 of his education, it was expected by some of 
 his friends that he would enter the Established 
 Church, and seek the road of ecclesiastical pre- 
 ferment ; but the more humble wishes of his 
 pious mother (his father being dead), and the 
 
REV. WILLIAM KINGSBURY. 91 
 
 deliberate convictions of his own judgment and 
 conscience, were decidedly in favour of an union 
 with the Independent dissenters. While, how- 
 ever, the mother and the son were always agreed 
 on this point, there was a transient difference 
 between them upon the question of his becoming 
 a minister. She had early dedicated him to the 
 sanctuary; and, to further her pious purpose, 
 she sent him to board in the family of Dr. 
 Walker, one of the tutors in the Academy at 
 Mile End, who was soon encouraged, from what 
 he beheld in his youthful inmate, to favour his 
 design, and to propose his becoming an acade- 
 mical student. But to this important step he 
 was for a time seriously averse, and that upon 
 a principle which cannot be mentioned without 
 exciting admiration. He was fearful he had 
 not attained those spiritual qualifications which 
 such a profession demanded, and he could not 
 assume before the world a character which his 
 conscience told him he did not fully possess.. 
 This humble view of himself, and this honest 
 avowal of his feelings, were, however, most 
 promising signs in the opinion of others, espe- 
 cially of his judicious and discerning tutor. His 
 own riiind, likewise, soon became more deeply 
 impressed with a sense of the importance of 
 religion, and of his obligations to devote his 
 time and talents to the service of Christ; and 
 his scruples gradually yielded to the advice of 
 
92 REV. WILLIAM KINGSBURY. 
 
 those whom he revered and loved, and subsided 
 in a settled conviction that the christian ministry 
 was the path marked out for him by the hand 
 of God. 
 
 He was about sixteen when he commenced his 
 studies under those able divines, Drs. Conder, 
 Walker, and Gibbons. The chief companion 
 of his studies, and friend of his bosom, was the 
 late Mr. Ashburner, who, much to Mr. Kings- 
 bury's satisfaction and comfort, settled at Poole, 
 soon after he was settled at Southampton, and 
 continued his frequent associate, as well as his 
 most intimate friend, till the year 1804, when 
 " he came to his grave like a shock of corn 
 fully ripe in his season." There is something 
 peculiarly interesting in the commencement and 
 confirmation of the friendship which so long 
 subsisted between these excellent ministers. 
 Mr. A. entered the academy when he was 
 twenty-six years of age, and with no previous 
 learning beyond his native tongue ; hence he 
 had to encounter considerable difficulties, and 
 suffered much discouragement in the early stage 
 of his literary pursuits, from which, however, 
 he was at last effectually delivered by the un- 
 ceasing assistance of his younger and more 
 skilful friend. But for this kindness, the 
 latter was amply repaid. lie had entered the 
 academy with an understanding enlightened by 
 the dawn at least of learning and science, at 
 
REV. WILLIAM KINGSBURY. 93 
 
 the same time with a heart broken and distressed 
 by deep convictions of sin, and venting its grief 
 "with strong crying and tears," at the footstool 
 of divine mercy. This inward and urgent af- 
 fliction Mr. A.'s spiritual knowledge and mature 
 experience well fitted him to comprehend, 
 commiserate, and relieve. " Thus," to adopt 
 Mr. Kingsbury's own description of this in- 
 teresting period of his life, " while the school- 
 taught youth was assisting the heaven-taught 
 man to get through the first principles of the 
 languages, the latter, with the tongue of the 
 spiritually learned, was giving the eager disciple 
 lectures on the most important of all sciences — 
 the humbling knowledge of the human heart, 
 and the consolatory knowledge of Christ Jesus 
 the Lord."* 
 
 On occasion of his ordination at Southampton, 
 October the 8th, 1765, his confession of faith 
 deserves our highest praise ; not only because 
 it contains a luminous and judicious statement 
 of evangelical truth, but particularly on account 
 of the bold and faithful stand Avhich it made 
 against the Arianism which had deeply in- 
 fected, and almost destroyed many surrounding 
 churches. 
 
 He paid the greatest attention to the duties 
 of his new and important station, notwithstanding 
 
 * See Memoir of ^Ir. Ashburner, p. 38. 
 
94 REV. WILLIAM KINGSBURY. 
 
 the cares of a rising family, and the labours of a 
 considerable school, which he found it necessary 
 to keep, in consequence of the miserable par- 
 simony and injustice of his congregation towards 
 him. Dissenters are iioiv generally and mani- 
 festly improved in liberality to their ministers ; 
 in proportion at least to their increased regard 
 for personal and vital religion, and to theu- zeal 
 in propagating the gospel in other parts of the 
 country, and in other countries of the world. 
 
 Upon the death of Dr. Conder, in the year 
 1781, Mr. K. was invited to become the Divi- 
 nity and Resident Tutor of Homerton Academy ; 
 and of his suitableness for the office, as it re- 
 gards both talents and temper, there could be 
 but one opinion in the minds of those who knew 
 him. He, however, declined this honour, out 
 of regard to the wishes of his people, who im- 
 mediately assembled on the occasion, presented 
 him with a handsome token of their esteem, 
 and unanimously entreated hhn to remain among 
 them. This decision he had no reason, nor 
 any disposition, to regret. His congregation 
 continued gradually to increase, and his useful- 
 ness to be attested, by frequent instances of 
 the power and holiness of divine truth. 
 
 When the Missionary Society was established, 
 in the year 1795, he took a lively hiterest in its 
 purposes and proceedings, and his congregation 
 largely shared the zeal which that institution 
 
REV. WILLIAM KINGSBURY. 95 
 
 was the means of exciting among different de- 
 nominations of Christians. He was chosen to 
 preside at the first pubhc meeting at Spa-Fields 
 Chapel ; and when he returned to his people, 
 after the society was formed, he found them 
 animated beyond his expectation, with the 
 intelligence he had communicated by every 
 evening's post, and eager to supply him with 
 money for the great and glorious undertaking. 
 Their first subscription and collection amounted 
 to 240/. which was the greatest sum received 
 at that time from any one congregation. 
 
 In the same year, he published a letter, 
 addressed to the Rev. Dr. Mant, rector of All 
 Saints, Southampton, and father of the cele- 
 brated advocate for baptismal regeneration. 
 The letter was occasioned by some severe and 
 unjust reflections cast by the Doctor upon the 
 mode of worship practised by dissenters, in a 
 sermon preached before the Bishop of Exeter, 
 at the consecration of the new cluu'ch in All 
 Saints parish, and ably vindicates the manner 
 in which protestant dissenters perform prayer 
 in public worship. Soon after he was con- 
 strained to step forward as the public advocate 
 of village preaching, in answer to an anonymous 
 " appeal to the public,' against that practice, 
 and indeed against all preaching beyond the 
 pale of the Establishment. 
 
 Amidst his numerous and diligent efforts to 
 
96 REV. WILLIAM KINGSBURY. 
 
 diffuse religion in neighbouring and distant 
 parts, he watched with eager and affectionate 
 solicitude, its progress among his own people, 
 and saw with delight, tlie growing success of 
 his ministry, in the increase of his church and 
 congregation, and in their united readiness to 
 support his exertions for the public good. He 
 continued his full work till 1802, when Mr. 
 George Clayton, now of Walworth, was chosen 
 to assist him, but who soon removed to the 
 neighbourhood of London. Others, after this, 
 successively assisted him, till, in the year 1808, 
 having now been forty-four years the honoured 
 messenger of truth and salvation in that place, 
 and feeling the necessity of entire relief from 
 the cares and labours of the pastoral office, he 
 resigned his charge. On this occasion, his 
 people generously proposed to allow him 200/. 
 a year, for the remainder of his life, of which 
 sum, however, he, with equal generosity, ac- 
 cepted but 120/. He now removed to the 
 village of Caversham, near Reading, where he 
 closed his days, not without having been called 
 to suffer many severe domestic afflictions. Here, 
 while his strength admitted, he continued to 
 make himself useful, by occasional preaching, 
 and in other ways. When it became necessary 
 to confine himself at home, and the days 
 evidently drew near that he must die, the cheer- 
 ful confidence of his mind rather increased than 
 
REV. WILLIAM KINGSBURY. 97 
 
 abated ; and as long as he was able, he conversed 
 with his relatives and friends in the most 
 animated, spiritual, and impressive manner, 
 discovering an undiminished interest in every 
 thing that related to the cause of God. To- 
 wards the close of his life, his difficulty of arti- 
 culation (which had been for years increasing) 
 became so great, that they only who had been 
 his constant attendants, could underst;\nd him. 
 Enough, however, fell from him, in short occa- 
 sionJri sentences, to prove, that he possessed 
 " the peace of God." To an inquiry how he 
 was, he answered, " I am as it pleases God 
 1 should be." When his kind friend, Mr. 
 Douiilas, was about to engage in prayer with 
 him, he said, " God assist you!" and when he 
 asked if there were any thing he wished par- 
 ticularly to be requested, he replied, " only 
 submission." To a pious friend, who called on 
 him about the same time, he said, *' I am hoping 
 in the only hope." To his son-in-law, on leaving 
 him just a week before he died, he said, *' Give 
 my love to your dear father, and tell him, I 
 have a good hope through grace." Soon after, 
 he said, in the hearing of his youngest son, 
 " When will my Beloved come!" — and to a 
 faithful servant, who constantly attended him, 
 " Pray for me, that my faith fail not ; the enemy 
 strives hard, but I am enabled to overcome 
 him." A few days before his departure, he 
 
 VOL. 1. V 
 
98 REV. WILLIAM KINGSBURY. 
 
 said to his family, as they stood around his bed, 
 " I have no fears, — I am at peace with God, — 
 All is well." About twenty minutes before he 
 expired, he made a final effort to pray ; but 
 exhausted nature would not permit him to 
 succeed. His affectionate son perceived his 
 anxiety, and said, " If you wish me, my dear 
 father, to pray with you, put up your finger, 
 and I will." The dying saint instantly raised 
 his hand and his eyes, and joined in silent, but 
 ardent devotion, with his weeping family, while 
 his son attempted to spread his and their de- 
 sires before God. When a few petitions had 
 been offered, his labouring breath was observed 
 to get slower and weaker; and without one 
 convulsive groan or struggle, his happy spirit 
 soon took its flight to join the kindred *' spirits 
 of the just made perfect," in heaven. 
 
THE REV. RICHARD CECIL, M. A. 
 
 This eminently distinguished and holy man 
 was a native of London, and born Nov. 8th, 
 1748. His father was an eminent dyer in 
 Chiswell Street, and a zealous member of the 
 Establishment ; but his mother was a dissenter, 
 the only daughter of Mr. Grosvenor, the bro- 
 ther of the excellent Dr. G., an evangelical 
 and popular preacher among the dissenters, 
 and author of the Mourner, &c. 
 
 St. Jude speaks of believers being " preserved 
 in Christ Jesus, and called." Such was evi- 
 dently the case with Mr. C, who experienced 
 several remarkable instances of providential 
 deliverance, before he was called to the know- 
 ledge of the truth. Two of them are most 
 observable. Once he fell under the ice in a 
 large back of water, in his father's grounds, 
 where he was discovered by a remarkable cir- 
 cumstance, taken out apparently dead, and with 
 difficulty recovered. At another time, his coat 
 F 2 
 
100 REV. R. CECIL. 
 
 was caught in the wheel of a mill, from which 
 he was extricated throvigh an extraordinary 
 presence of mind, by kicking against the horse's 
 face, which stopped instantly the motion of the 
 mill. None of these things, however, suitably 
 affected him. His father took him constantly 
 to the parish-church ; and his mother, who was 
 a woman of real piety, admonished him a long 
 time in vain. He was designed for business, 
 and placed in a respectable commercial house ; 
 but his disposition was gay and thoughtless, 
 and his attachment was to literature and the 
 arts, particidarly painting : for the latter he 
 had so strong a passion, that, unknown to his 
 parents, he rambled to France, to see the works 
 of the foreign masters, and would have gone to 
 Home also, if his means had been sufficient. 
 Circumstances, however, compelled him to re- 
 turn to his father, who, perceiving the strong 
 inclination of his mind, was about giving him 
 up to his favourite pursuit ; but Providence 
 prevented it by an accidental circumstance, as 
 the time approached when he was to be called 
 by grace to a very different sphere of life. 
 
 Young Mr. C. had long indulged in reading 
 sceptical books, thereby hardening his con- 
 science, and fortifying himself in infidelity. He 
 went farther; he led others into the same depths 
 of sin, from which all his subsequent endeavours 
 never could reclaim them. But while thus 
 
REV. R. CECIL. 101 
 
 proceeding in a course of evil, the spirit of God 
 began tf) work upon his conscience. Ruminating 
 one night upon his bed, he thought of his pious 
 mother, and the support she seemed to derive 
 from her Bible. " But," said he, " she has a 
 secret sjiring of comfort of which I know no- 
 thing ; and if there is any such secret in religion, 
 why may not I attain it as well as my mother ? 
 I will inmiediately seek it of God." He rose 
 up in his bed, and began to pray ; but he soon 
 recollected that much of his mother's comfort 
 seemed to arise from her faith in Christ. 
 " Now," thought he, " this Christ have I ri- 
 diculed ; he stands much in my way, and can 
 form no part of my prayers." He therefore 
 lay down again in much confusion. The next 
 day, however, he resumed his prayers, began 
 to read religious books, listened to the admo- 
 nitions of his mother, and attended to the 
 preaching of the gospel ; insomuch, that his 
 father now began to be alarmed lest he should 
 turn jNlethodist, in which case he threatened 
 to abandon him. To prevent this, he proposed 
 sending him to a University, and afterwards to 
 purchase him a living, if he would regularly 
 enter into the Church. This offer he accepted, 
 and was entered at Queen's College, Oxford, 
 May 9, 1773. 
 
 During his residence at the College, he 
 suffered many reproaches from his profligate 
 
102 REV. R. CECIL. 
 
 fellow-students, and many secret conflicts in his 
 own mind. At one time, while walking in the 
 physic-gardens, he observed a fine pomegranate 
 tree cut almost through the stem, near the root. 
 On inquiring of the gardener the reason of this, 
 he replied, " This tree used to shoot so strong, 
 that it bore nothing but leaves ; but when I had 
 it cut in this manner, it began to bear plenty of 
 fruit." This explanation he instantly applied 
 to his own case, and derived much consolation 
 from the reflection. Thus the Lord pierces 
 many of his chosen to the heart, to make them 
 fruitful. 
 
 September 22, 1 766, Mr. Cecil was ordained 
 Deacon. In the Lent term following, he took 
 his degree of B. A. with great credit ; and on 
 February 23, 1777, received Priest's orders. 
 His first ministerial duty was with Mr. Pugh, 
 of Rauceby, Lincolnshire; but soon after, at 
 his request, he went to serve three churches 
 in Leicestershire — Thornton, Bagworth, and 
 Markfield, till such time as INIr. Abbot, the 
 late vicar's son, should be able to take the 
 charge. Here he not only laboured with 
 success among the people, but was made the 
 happy instrument of converting young Mr. 
 Abbot himself, who became a faithful minister 
 of the gospel. At Mr. C.'s return to Kauceby, 
 he was informed that two small livings had 
 been procured for him at Lewes, in Sussex, 
 
REV. R. CECIL. 103 
 
 of M'hicli he now went to take possession. Both 
 livings together brought in about 80/., which 
 he was obhged to expend in employing a curate, 
 as lie was long afflicted with a rheumatic dis- 
 order in his head, through the dampness of 
 his situation, which obliged him eventually to 
 remove to London. He retained, however, the 
 livings, till he had the satisfaction to resign 
 them to the late Rev. Mr. Dale. 
 
 He now resided at Islington, and used to 
 supply different London churches and chapels 
 in the Establishment. For some years he 
 preached the early Sabbath-Morning Lecture 
 at Lothbury, and a Sunday and Wednesday 
 Evening Lecture in Orange-Street Chapel, 
 beside the whole duty at St. John's. 
 
 In 1787, he was appointed to the Sunday- 
 Evening Lecture at Spitalfields, which he 
 preached alternately with that of Long Acre 
 Chapel, both in connexion with Mr. Foster. 
 But his most important sphere of usefulness 
 was at St. John's Chapel, Bedford How, in 
 which he began to preach, March, 1780. He 
 was encouraged to take this large and com- 
 modious place, which cost 500/. to put it into 
 repair, by the support of Mrs. Wilberforce 
 (aunt to the Friend of Africa), and of Mr. 
 Cardale, of Bedford Row, whom Mrs. Cecil, 
 in the biography of her husband, styles " the 
 nursing-father both of St. John's and of its 
 
104 REV. R. CECIL. 
 
 minister." For the first three years he received 
 no emohmient from the chapel, and his income, 
 on commencing this duty, was but 80^., which 
 accrued from his lecture at Orange- Street 
 Chapel ; and afterwards, for several years, his 
 income from St. John's was very inconsiderable. 
 Emolument was never the object of his pursuit; 
 but no sooner was he settled here, than he 
 began to plan schemes of benevolence. He 
 established an annual sermon, on May -day 
 morning, for young people. Two sermons Mere 
 preaclied annually for the Welsh Charity 
 School, which attended his ministry ; two for 
 the Parish School ; and two for a Sunday 
 School recently established at his Chapel ; and 
 he would have added several more, but for the 
 remonstrances of some of his congregation. 
 
 Mr. C. was many years greatly afflicted with 
 a painful complaint, supposed to be the sciatica, 
 Avhich, in the close of the year 1798, liecame so 
 alarming, that it was judged necessary to have 
 a consultation of the faculty ; and he was for- 
 bidden to preach any more while the threatening 
 symptoms continued. He had, however, been 
 given out to preach two sermons the following 
 Lord's-day for his Sunday School. In the 
 morning, notwithstanding the injunctions of his 
 physicians, he ascended his pulpit, but had not 
 spoken more than five minutes before he Mas 
 evidently in great pain, and at the end of tMcnty 
 
REV. R. CECIL. 105 
 
 minutes was obliged to conclude; which he did, 
 not with the usual benediction, but with the 
 words immediately following his text, which 
 happened to be the last in the New Testament ; 
 and it was generally supposed that he was 
 closing his public ministry : it pleased God, 
 however, to add twelve more years to his va- 
 haable life. During this illness, he said to a 
 person who spoke to him concerning it, " It is 
 all Christ. I keep death in view. If God does 
 not please to raise me up, he intends me better. 
 / know ivhom I have believed. How little do we 
 think of improving the time while we have 
 opportunity ! I find every thing but religion 
 only vanity. To recollect a promise of the 
 Bible, this is substance. Nothing will do but 
 the Bible. If I read authors, and hear dif- 
 ferent opinions, I cannot say this is truth. I 
 cannot grasp it as substance; but the Bible 
 gives me something to hold. I have learnt 
 more within these curtains, than from all the 
 books I ever read." 
 
 The violence of this attack was mercifully 
 abated ; and Mr. C. was so far recovered, that 
 he ventured to preach the Evening Lecture at 
 St. John's, February 24th, 1799 ; but, though 
 he used great precaution, he found the exertion 
 too much for him, and was obliged again to 
 retire, until, by a blessing on the means used, 
 his strength was sufficiently recovered. 
 f3 
 
106 REV. R. CECIL. 
 
 In the year 1800, Mr. Samuel Thornton 
 requested him to take the livmgs of Chobham 
 and Bisley, which his late father, the ever- 
 memorahle John Thornton, Esq., had pur- 
 chased, and placed in the hands of trustees. 
 Mr. C. repeatedly declined, but was at length 
 prevailed on to accept them, and to do the duty 
 in the summer. By these livings, after deducting 
 all expenses, about 150/. per annum was added 
 to his net income. 
 
 These parishes were deeply sunk in vice and 
 ignorance. — " When I first came to Chobham," 
 says Mr. C, " as I was sitting in the vestry, on 
 hearing the noise and uproar of the boys, and 
 the people in the gallery talking aloud to each 
 other, I burst into tears, and felt with the 
 prophet, when he said, ' Can these dry bones 
 live ?' " He did not, however, labour in vain ; 
 a large and attentive congregation was collected, 
 and much good was done. After a few years 
 his good friend, Mr. Bainbridge, bought several 
 acres of ground, and erected a house for him, in 
 which he spent a few months, during the sum- 
 mer of 1807, but did not live to see it entirely 
 completed. 
 
 During this year, Mr. C. had a slight para- 
 lytic affection, but soon recovered sufficiently 
 to resume his usual labours. During this 
 affliction, he thus writes, in answer to the in- 
 quiries of a friend : " I find it easy to tell the 
 
REV. R. CECIL. 107 
 
 people from the pulpit how to act in such cases, 
 and particularly Christians ; but things are 
 stronger than we are, and I find it very diffi- 
 cult to act myself. People say, and physicians 
 too, that my preaching three times a day, 
 through the hot weather, at St. John's, was the 
 cause of my present infirmity; — a state, in 
 which I have not only seemed to lose my fa- 
 culties, but at one time was unable to speak at 
 all. I dare say they are right; but I have 
 an interior feeling, which, while I hear people 
 talking thus on this subject, makes me smile, 
 and say within myself, ' You talk well, but you 
 know nothing of the matter; God is in this 
 thing, and he is teaching me a lesson which I 
 cannot learn from books.' " 
 
 In February following, another stroke totally 
 disabled him for pubUc service. Electricity was 
 prescribed, which proving ineffectual, he was 
 ordered to Bath. The waters here were tried 
 for several months ; but these also proving in- 
 effectual, he was again advised to change of 
 air ; when Providence raised him up an un- 
 expected friend, whom he had never seen ; — 
 Isaac Cooke, Esq. of Clifton, who offered him 
 a house ready furnished, and every accom- 
 modation and supply his state of affliction could 
 require. Here he resided four months, and 
 for some time seemed considerably better ; but 
 again relapsing, he was desirous to return to 
 
108 REV. R. CECIL. 
 
 town ; and the same kind friend provided an 
 easy carriage for his reniovah 
 
 In the sj.ring of 1809 he arrived at his own 
 house, in a state of extreme debihty. The 
 weather becoming warm, the closeness of the 
 town, together with its noise and bustle, be- 
 came intolerable in Mr. C.'s state of nervous 
 irritabilitv, and he again siohed for the coun- 
 try ; when another friend, Mr. Offley, procured 
 him a comfortable retreat at Tunbridge Wells, 
 where he remained for the season ; but derived 
 no benefit either from the air or the waters. 
 
 In October 1809, he came back to town for 
 the winter ; but on the return of spring, found 
 it again necessary to leave it, and took up 
 his last earthly residence at Hampstead, from 
 whence he was finally removed by a fit of apo- 
 plexy, August 15, 1810. Thus died a man 
 dearly beloved, not only by his family, but by 
 all who knew him ; and a minister highly 
 esteemed and respected, not only by his own 
 congregation, but by the church of God at 
 large, both in and out of the Establishment. 
 To his own peculiar congregation at St. John's 
 he might truly say, as St. Paul said to the 
 Galatians, " I bear you record, that if it had 
 been possible, you would have plucked out 
 your own eyes, and have given them to me." 
 
 Although the nature of his last illness was 
 such as to prevent that rich vein of reflection 
 
REV. R. CECIL. 109 
 
 which he had exhibited during his confinement 
 in 1798, yet, through all obstacles, his mind, 
 Hke the compass, tended ever and only to his 
 one grand object, — his interest in his Saviour, 
 and the infinite concerns of eternity. From 
 this his attention could not be diverted by any 
 subject of a temporal nature, save one only, and 
 that with subordination and submission. His 
 evangelical views became more and more vivid 
 latterly. He read such authors only as treated 
 these views most simply. Archbishop Leigh- 
 ton's Sei'mons afforded him a continual source 
 of satisfaction. He read them perpetually, and 
 particularly his Sermon on 1 Cor. v. 30 ; — that 
 on Cant. i. 3 ; and two on Kom. viii. S^, 34. 
 He earnestly wished that all his own writings 
 had been of this description. One evening, 
 after reading the Bible for some hours, he 
 said, " I derive my whole consolation from 
 meditating on the godhead and character of 
 Jesus, in whom I place all my hope." He 
 read Gurnall's Christian Armour without inter- 
 ruption, during the last four days of his life ; 
 and expressed his having been much helped 
 and benefited by that writer. Though his 
 mind was often bowed down by the fatal para- 
 lysis which put an end to his labours, yet he 
 retained to the last somethuig of his ministerial 
 spirit ; and in a lucid moment, often spoke of 
 preaching again, saying, " Should it please 
 
110 REV. R. CECIL. 
 
 God ever to raise me up to preach again, Christ 
 would be my only subject." In conversation with 
 a young friend and minister, he said, " In your 
 preaching, hold up Christ. This should be 
 your great object and aim in your sermons. 
 Some have objected, that I have preached too 
 much on faith; but, were I to preach again, 
 they would hear much more of it." A short 
 time before his decease, he requested one of 
 his family to write down for him, in a book, 
 the following sentence : '' ' None but Christ, 
 none but Christ,' said Lambert, dying at a 
 stake ; the same, in dying circumstances, with 
 his whole heart, saith Richard Cecil." The 
 name was signed by himself, with his left hand, 
 in a manner hardly legible, through infirmity. 
 
 In delineating the virtues of jNIr. Cecil's 
 character, in which there was little room for 
 flattery or exaggeration, his amiable biographer 
 observes, ** I cannot but remark, that Mr. C. 
 possessed opposite points of excellence beyond 
 most men. While he was generous and liberal 
 to others, I have known him much wanting to 
 himself. He was neither extravagant nor 
 penurious, but endeavoured wisely to steer l)e- 
 tween both these extremes. He was abste- 
 mious to an unusual extent." 
 
 Speaking of his independent spirit, and of 
 his refusal, in many cases, to receive ftivours, 
 she remarks, " It is to be considered, that 
 
REV. R. CECIL. Ill 
 
 not only when a single man, but at all times, 
 his whole soul was under the influence of a 
 sacred dedication to the grand object which he 
 had in view. He was naturally intrepid, and 
 did not appear to possess with men in common 
 the fears and anxieties attending poverty. 
 There was nothing which he would not have 
 made a willing sacrifice to his grand object, 
 the church ; with a firm determination to avoid 
 all impediments in the way of his reproving 
 and exhorting with all authority, in the midst 
 of a corrupt generation, striving to become a 
 light, and not a stumbUiig- block to them. He 
 was, therefore, while gratefully alive to favour 
 and friendship, not to be fettered by any, — not 
 to be shackled by obligations to the creature, 
 so as to endanger his faithfulness ; but with a 
 dignified and Christian independence he pur- 
 sued his course, unconcerned as to what might 
 befal him in the way. His refusals, howevei*, 
 were not indiscriminate. When his necessities 
 required it, and he saw no o1)jection arising 
 from the situation or disposition of the bene- 
 factor, he submitted to be under obligations. 
 Duty varies with circumstances. \\'hatever 
 Mr. C. perceived to be a dutt/y he never asked 
 a question upon." 
 
 His natural perceptions were quick, and his 
 feelings exquisite. He was most sensibly alive 
 to kindness or unkindness. As his cast and 
 
1\2 REV. R. CECIL. 
 
 character led liiin to think rather than to 
 speak, under such im])ression.s, his feehngs 
 were often too acute for his comfort ; and his 
 views of rectitude were so high, that tliey 
 opened perpetual avenues to pain : but this 
 tended to keep his mind more steadfastly fixed 
 on that world, where disorder or deformity 
 have no place. He often quoted the words 
 of Hooker on his death-bed, who exulted in 
 the pros})oct of entering a tvorld of order. 
 
 Humanity was a very striking feature in Mr. 
 C.'s character, inasmuch as frequently to pro- 
 duce great i)ain and self-torture. The very 
 contemplation of oppression was intolerable to 
 him. To use his own words ; — " There is 
 nothing 1 abhor like cruelty and oppression. 
 Tenderness and sympathy are not enough cul- 
 tivated by any of us. There is no flesh in 
 man's obdiuate heart. No one is kind enough, 
 gentle enough, forbearing and forgiving enough. 
 We find throughout our Lord's history the 
 strongest traits of compassion." But of all spe- 
 cies of cruelties, he seems most to have a!)horred 
 that of an unfeeling husband. 
 
 He used to speak of himself as being' by 
 nature violently passionate. If it was so, nuich 
 indeed was due to the power and glory of that 
 grace which subdued his passion. Indeed, 
 it was dilHcult to discover what his natural 
 defects really were, while they were under 
 
REV. R. CFXIL. 11.3 
 
 perpetual chastisement and controul. Though 
 his aspect and manner frequently obscured the 
 real kindness of his disposition ; and sometimes 
 he might be thought, Hke Joseph, to " speak 
 roughly ;" of which he was not only aware, but 
 deeply lamented it; yet his heart was also like 
 Joseph's, full of love to his brethren. 
 
 Dis'iiitcn-stediiess was a preeminent character- 
 istic of Mr, C. as a Christian. His whole spirit 
 and conduct spoke one language: — *' Let me 
 and mine be nothing, so that thy kingdom may 
 come ! — Associated with this, was a singular 
 practical reliance on Providence, in all the most 
 minute and seemingly indifferent afiiiirs of his 
 life. He was, emphatically, to use his own 
 expression, " a pupil of signs" — waiting for 
 and following the leadings and openings of 
 Divine Providence in his affairs. On one oc- 
 casion he said, " We make too little of the 
 subject of Providence. My mind is by nature 
 so intrepid and sanguine, and it has so often 
 led me to anticipate God in his guidings, to 
 my severe loss, that perhaps I am now too 
 suspicious and dilatory in following him. How- 
 ever, this is a maxim with me, tliat, when 1 
 am waiting with a simple, child-like spirit for 
 openings and guidings, and imagine I perceive 
 them, God woukl cither prevent the semblance 
 of them from rising up l)efore me, if these 
 were not his leadings iji realitv, or he would 
 
lit REV. R. CECIL. 
 
 preserve me from deeming them such ; and, 
 therefore, I always follow what appears to me 
 my duty without hesitation." 
 
 But the spring of all these Christian virtues, 
 and the master-grace of his mind, was Faith. 
 He appeared never to be exercised with doubts 
 and fears. His magnanimity entered most 
 strikingly into his religious character. He was 
 convinced and satisfied by all the divine de- 
 clarations and promises — and he left himself, 
 with unsuspecting confidence, in God's hands. 
 
 It is almost needless to add, that Mr. Cecil 
 possessed remarkable decision of character. 
 When he went to Oxford, he had made a 
 resolution of restricting himself to a quarter of 
 an hour daily, in playing on the violin ; on 
 which instrument he greatly excelled, and of 
 which he was extravagantly fond : but he found 
 it impracticable to adhere to his determination ; 
 and had so frequently to lament the loss of 
 time in this fascinating amusement, that, with 
 the noble spirit which characterized him through 
 life, he cut his strings, and never afterwards 
 replaced them. He studied for a painter; and, 
 after he had changed his object, retained a 
 fondness and a taste for the art : he was once 
 called to visit a sick lady, in whose room there 
 was a painting which so strongly attracted his 
 notice, that he found his attention diverted 
 from the sick person, and absorbed by the 
 
REV. R. CECIL. 115 
 
 painting : from that moment he formed the reso- 
 lution of mortifying a taste which he found so 
 intensive, and so obstructive to him in his 
 nobler pursuits ; and determined never after- 
 wards to frecjuent the exhibition. 
 
 Nor was his intrepid and injlexible firmness 
 less conspicuous, whenever the interests of 
 truth and the honour of Christ were concerned. 
 The world in arms would not have appalled 
 him, while the glory of Christ was in his view. 
 " Nor do 1 believe," says Mr. Pratt, " that he 
 would have hesitated for a moment, after he 
 had given to nature her just tribute of feeling 
 and of tears, to go forth from his family, and 
 join " the noble army of martyrs" who expired 
 in the flames of Smithfield, had the honour of 
 his Master called him to this sacrifice : nor 
 would his knees have trembled, nor his look 
 changed." 
 
 As a Minister, he stood preeminent. His 
 qualifications for the discharge of the ministry 
 were peculiar. The great natural powers 
 which (iod had given him, were moulded and 
 matured l)y the training and discipline through 
 which lie was led, and were consecrated by 
 grace to the service of his Master. His learn- 
 ing consisted more in the knowledge of other 
 men's ideas, than in an accurate acquaintance 
 with the niceties of the languages ; and it was 
 so solid and extensive, that there were no 
 
116 REV. R. CECIL. 
 
 I important points, in morals or religion, on 
 which he had not read the best authors, and 
 made up his mind on the most mature delibe- 
 ration ; nor could any topic be stated in history 
 or philosophy, on subjects of art or of science, 
 with which he was not found more generally 
 acquainted than other men. But, in the learn- 
 ing, which is more peculiarly appropriate to his 
 profession, he was indeed a master. 
 
 He had the pouter of exciting and preserving 
 attention above most men. All his effort was 
 directed, first to engage attention, and then 
 repay it — to allure curiosity, and then to gratify 
 it. His poiver of illustration Avas great and 
 versatile. His topics were chiefly taken from 
 scripture and from life, and his manner of in- 
 troducing them was most finished and effectual. 
 His style, particularly in preaching and in free 
 conversation, was easy and natural. If he ever 
 laboured his expression, it was in search of 
 emphasis, rather tlian precision, — of words 
 which would penetrate the soul, rather than 
 round his period and float in tlie car. 
 
 Impression was the leading feature of his 
 ministry. Perhaps the information conveyed 
 by it to the mind was not sufficiently systematic 
 and minute. Some of his printed sermons are 
 perfect models of simplicity, vivacity, and eflect. 
 That, for instance, on the " Power of Faith." 
 There was a familiarity and an authority in 
 
REV. R. CECIL. 117 
 
 his manner, which to strangers sometimes ap- 
 peared dogmatism. His manner was, in truth, 
 like that of no other man. It was altogether 
 original ; and, because it was original, it some- 
 times offended those who had no other idea 
 of manner than of that to which they had been 
 accustomed. Yet even the prejudiced could 
 not hear him with indifference. There was a 
 dignity and command, a decision and energy, a 
 knowledge of the heart and the world, an up- 
 prightness of mind, and a desire to do good, 
 and all this united with a tenderness and affec- 
 tion, which few could witness without some 
 favourable impressions. 
 
THE 
 
 REV. THOMAS SPENCER 
 
 Was born at Hertford, Jan. 21, 1791, the 
 third child of his parents, who, in middling 
 circumstances in life, were respectable for their 
 piety. At the early period of four years, he 
 was remarkable for a retentive memory, and a 
 thirst of knowledge ; and was in the habit of 
 proposing curious questions on religious sub- 
 jects, and of imitating, on his return from places 
 of worship, of which he was passionately fond, 
 the actions of the minister and the clerk. About 
 the close of his fifth year, he lost his mother. 
 
 He applied himself diligently to his book, 
 and discovered great sweetness of disposition. 
 From the curiosity that is born with genius, he 
 was, while at school, excessively addicted to 
 the reading of novels, romances, adventures, 
 and histories. Though he took no dchght in 
 the games or quarrels of his schoolfellows, he 
 amused them by his talk, which was often not 
 very correct. At this early age he was not 
 
REV. THOMAS SPENCER. 1 19 
 
 without reflection of the most solemn and 
 alarming nature. His bias to the Christian 
 ministry appeared in attempts to address the 
 members of his family, which made him be 
 considered as " a parson in onbrj/o" By the 
 late Rev. K. White, then pastor of the society 
 of Independents, at Hertford, he was assisted 
 in acquirinij; the elements of the Latin tongue. 
 ^^ hen he was about twelve years of age, 
 religious impressions of a permanent nature 
 were made in his mind, by what means, or in 
 what manner, is uncertain. The effect was 
 an earnest desire to be a minister of the gospel, 
 to which he had a persuasion he was destined. 
 But iiis father's circumstances obliged him to 
 remove his son from school. Though this was 
 ccmtrary to Mr. Spencer's wishes, he yet 
 yielded, as to the will of God. Meanwhile his 
 father's business grew dull, and it was resolved 
 to settle him elsewhere. After a fruitless at- 
 tempt for this purpose, he was at last placed 
 with a resi)ectable glover in the Poultry. By 
 his diligence, modesty, integrity, and piety, he 
 gained the affection of his master's family. He 
 fonned an ac(juaintance with several pious 
 young men ; and at the house of his fellow- 
 servant's father, he sometimes explained and 
 improved a portion of scripture. 
 
 After four months' absence, Mr. S. returned 
 to his father's house. Before this tune, he had 
 
120 REV. THOMAS SPENCER. 
 
 been introduced to the notice of Thomas 
 Wilson, Esq., the Treasurei' of Hoxton Aca- 
 demy. This gentleman had encouraged Mr. 
 Spencer to hoj^, that his desire of engaging 
 in the Christian ministry might be gratified, 
 and now proposed to put him, for that pur- 
 pose, under the care of the Rev. W. Hordle, 
 of Harwich. In this gentleman's family Mr. 
 S. found another home, and under his care 
 made progress in different branches of know- 
 ledge. His diligence and application are evi- 
 dent, from an abridgment that he made of 
 Parkhurst's Hebrew Lexicon. With progress 
 in knowledge was connected an equal progress 
 in devout feeling. INIr. Hordle thought him 
 " born a preacher, and as much called to it as 
 Jeremiah to the prophetic, or Paul to the 
 apostolic office." 
 
 On leaving Mr. H.'s, he spent a few weeks 
 with his father at Hertford ; and after the usual 
 examination, which he anticipated with great 
 anxiety, he was admitted into Hoxton Academy. 
 While, by his amiable manners, he secured 
 himself the affection of his tutors and fellow- 
 students, he applied himself closely to his stu- 
 dies, particularlx those coimected with j)reach- 
 ing. Having returned to his father's to spend 
 the summer vacation, he preached his first ser- 
 mon. Those who heard him were struck with 
 admiration, and earnestly entreated a repetition 
 
REV. THOMAS SPENCER. 121 
 
 of his services. So much were persons taken 
 with his appearance, his address, and above 
 all, the fervour of his devotion, that he preached 
 incessantly till he returned to his studies, in 
 August. The following vacation he preached 
 at Hertford, with still greater success. He 
 then returned to the Academy. The Rev. J. 
 Leifchild, who happened to be preaching at 
 the chapel connected with that institution, pro- 
 cured his assistance one day to perform part 
 of the worship. " When he appeared in the 
 pulpit," says that gentleman, " after the first 
 emotions of surprise were over, and after the 
 mistakes of some, who supposed that he was 
 a little boy belonging to the gallery, who from 
 ignorance or thoughtlessness, had gone up the 
 pulpit stairs, instead of those leading to his 
 seat, had been corrected, so sweetly did he 
 read the chapter, so earnestly, so scripturally, 
 so experimentally, did he engage in prayer, 
 that for the whole six sabbaths afterwards, he 
 became the chief magnet of attraction to the 
 place." 
 
 Contrary to the rules of the institution, he 
 was permitted, at the intreaties of the people, 
 to preach in the chapel. His youth, together 
 with his modesty, simplicity, and earnest piety, 
 marvellously operated upon his hearers, who 
 were no less charmed than edified. He now 
 became the general subject of discourse ; but 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
122 REV. THOMAS SPENCER. 
 
 as he grew more popular, he seemed to grow 
 more humble. By preaching frequently in the 
 vicinity of London, he exercised his talents, 
 and made himself known, to the gratification 
 and improvement of thousands. But, while 
 during the early part of the ensuing year, he 
 delivered many discourses in London and its 
 neighbourhood, with astonishing effect, his 
 health was much impaired. He spent the 
 vacation at Dorking, being in a pleasant situa- 
 tion, and having but little labour. On his 
 return, he laboured in the metropolis ; but 
 though his zeal and activity increased, his 
 health was still precarious, and his spirits sub- 
 ject to great fluctuation. He was appointed 
 to spend his next vacation at Liverpool. To 
 visiting that place he had an extreme aversion, 
 and, had it been left to himself, he would never 
 have done it. His first sermon delivered there 
 made a great impression ; and in the course 
 of his labours for six weeks, he lost his own 
 prejudices against the place, and fixed him- 
 self in the affection of those who heard him. 
 Soon after his departure, they sent him a most 
 pressing invitation to settle with them; to 
 which, after seven weeks' deliberation, he ac- 
 ceded, though he had invitations of the same 
 nature from many other places. He now pre- 
 pared diligently for his new situation, both by 
 study and preaching. 
 
REV. THOMAS SPENCER. 123 
 
 His labours at Liverpool were commenced 
 Feb. 3, 1811. The attention excited by his 
 preaching there was universal. Those who dis- 
 liked his principles, were affected by his elo- 
 quence. It was soon found necessary to pro- 
 cure a larger place of worship, at laying the 
 foundation of which he delivered an animated 
 oration. He grew daily more intent on his 
 work, and his success was wonderful. He was 
 ordained June 27 ; and went on in his work 
 with a deep sense of its importance, and at 
 the same time with great refreshment and de- 
 light of spirit. But he had now nearly finished 
 his course. August the 4th he preached his 
 last sermon ; and the next day, while bathing, 
 he lost his life ; — being at an age at which 
 there have been few men of any service to their 
 fellows, and fewer still whose death has been so 
 deeply and so generally deplored by strangers. 
 
 The character of this most promising youth 
 can hardly be thought thoroughly formed ; and 
 years, it is probable, would have fully deve- 
 loped qualities that were but just discernible 
 at his death. He was, however, modest, un- 
 affected, disposed to charity and friendship; 
 and he possessed, happily tempered together, 
 all those qualities which are essential to make 
 a preacher of the most efficient order, — dili- 
 gence, intimate acquaintance with scripture, 
 and the manner of its operating on the mind 
 g2 
 
124 REV. THOMAS SPENCER. 
 
 of man, a retentive memory, a fine appearance, 
 an easy and impressive elocution, deep sen- 
 sibility, and a most intense desire to promote 
 the salvation of his hearers. To an intimate 
 friend, not long before he quitted London, he 
 could say, that he had never preached a sermon 
 which he had not experimentally felt before 
 he delivered it. 
 
DR. J. T. VANDERKEMP. 
 
 This extraordinary man was of a respectable 
 family in Holland. His father was a worthy 
 minister of the Dutch Church, in Rotterdam, 
 where his son John was born, in the year 1748. 
 He made a rapid progress in learning when in 
 the University of Leyden; but, on leaving 
 college, he entered into the army, and became 
 a lieutenant of the dragoon guards. Unhap- 
 pily, imbibing the principles of infidelity, he 
 soon became the slave of vicious passions. 
 But upon his marriage, which produced a 
 degree of external reformation, he quitted the 
 army, in which he had spent sixteen years, 
 and applied himself to the study of me- 
 dicine, and resided about two years at Edin- 
 burgh. He commenced practice at Middle- 
 burgh, and afterwards retired to Dort, intending 
 to employ the rest of his days in literary pur- 
 suits and rural amusements. But such a sudden 
 
126 DR. J. T. VANDERKEMP. 
 
 revolution took place in his domestic relations, 
 as totally deranged his plans, and introduced 
 him, as it were, into a new world. 
 
 On the 27th of June, 1791, while sailing on 
 the river with his wife and daughter, a sudden 
 squall overset the boat ; both the ladies were 
 drowned, and his own life was with difficulty, 
 and in a peculiar manner, preserved. This 
 awful event, in the hand of the Spirit of God, 
 gave a shock to his infidel principles, and he 
 became deeply serious. He cordially received 
 the Sacred Scriptures as the word of God, and 
 determined to make them the rule both of his 
 faith and practice. 
 
 In the year 1795, a paper emitted by the 
 London Missionary Society being put into his 
 hand, he conceived the design of becoming a 
 missionary, and oftbred his services to the 
 directors of that institution. He was gladly 
 accepted, and sailed for Africa in December 
 1798. He soon visited the country of the Caftres, 
 where he wished to establish a missionary settle- 
 ment, but it was then found impracticable : he 
 therefore removed to a spot near Algoa Bay, 
 which was granted to the mission by Governor 
 Dundas, and since named Bethelsclorp. This 
 was in 1802. This place proved to many a 
 Bethel,-"' the house of God, and the gate of 
 heaven." Here Dr. Vanderkcmp, with Mr. 
 James Read, his colleague, and others, laboured 
 
DR. J. T. VANDERKEMP. 127 
 
 for several years, with considerable success. 
 In the course of six years there were sixty or 
 seventy hut.s of Hottentots, and about GOO 
 inhabitants ; among whom the worship of God 
 was constantly maintained, the gospel preached, 
 schools supported, and a church, composed of 
 lively Christians, formed. In the year 1810, 
 the number of inluibitants, including men, 
 women and children, amounted to near 1000. 
 Industry continually increased ; mats and bas- 
 kets were made, and sold in the country around. 
 The manufacture of salt was encouraged, and 
 bartered in the neighbourhood for corn, &c. : 
 soap-boiling, sawing, and wood-cutting, became 
 also a source of support. 
 
 About this time, the Doctor, having so well 
 established the mission at Bethelsdorp, was 
 strongly induced to extend his labours to other 
 places : and the populous island of Madagascar 
 particularly excited his attention. Mr. Pacalt, 
 another missionary from the London Missionary 
 Society, declared his readiness to unite in this 
 labour of love. Having business to transact 
 with the colonial government, Dr. \'. repaired 
 to Cape Town, where he was necessarily de- 
 tained a considerable time. 
 
 But the period was at hand when this truly 
 apostolic man was to be dismissed from his 
 labours, and to be called up to the joy of his 
 Lord. On the morning of December 7th, 
 
128 DR. J. T. VANDERKEMP. 
 
 1811, he expounded a chapter with much 
 freedom ; after which, finding himself much 
 indisposed, he said to Mrs. Smith, a venerable 
 mother in Israel, who had resided for a time 
 at Bethelsdorp, and taught the females to 
 knit, " Oh, Mrs. Smith, I find myself ex- 
 tremely weak; I should be glad of an oppor- 
 tunity to settle my affairs." But, alas ! that 
 opportunity was not afforded. He was seized 
 the same evening with a cold shivering : a 
 fever ensued, and he retired to his bed, from 
 which he rose no more. His disorder, not- 
 withstanding the use of suitable means, rapidly 
 advanced, and his surrounding friends could 
 not but entertain the most painful anticipations 
 of the fatal result. It might have been hoped, 
 that a man who had devoted so many years of 
 active life to the service of his Divine Master, 
 and whose lips had fed such multitudes with 
 spiritual knowledge, would have been enabled to 
 instruct and strengthen his afflicted friends, w^ith 
 his dying testimony to the truth and excellency 
 of that holy gospel, to promote which he had 
 made such uncommon sacriiices : but so great 
 was the violence of his disorder, that he was 
 rendered almost incapable of speaking; such 
 a lethargic heaviness oppressed his powers, 
 that it was with great difficulty he could be 
 prevailed upon even to answer a question. 
 One of his friends, however, who called upon 
 
DR. J. T. VANDERKEMP. 129 
 
 him a day or two before his departure, asked 
 him what was the state of his mind ? His 
 short, but emphatical answer, was higlily satis- 
 factory, — " ALL IS WELL ! " and, in reply to a 
 similar inquiry, — " Is it light or dark with 
 you?" he replied, "light!" The light of 
 the Redeemer's countenance illumined the 
 darksome valley of the shadow of death, the 
 harbinger of that brighter light which is sown 
 for the righteous — that gladness which awaits 
 
 the upright in lieart. Dr. Vanderkemp died 
 
 at the age of 63. 
 
 63 
 
MRS. HARRIET NEWELL 
 
 Was a daughter of Mr. Moses Attwood, a 
 merchant of Haverhill, Massachusetts, and 
 was born October 10th, 1793. Her dispo- 
 sition was naturally cheerful and unreserved ; 
 she possessed a lively imagination and great 
 sensibility, a taste for reading, and a reten- 
 tive memory. 
 
 No peculiar seriousness manifested itself 
 upon her mind before the year 1806. In the 
 summer of that year, while at the academy at 
 Bradford, she first became the subject of those 
 deep and religious impressions, which laid the 
 foundation of a Christian life. After a time, 
 however, her love to religion abated, and led 
 away by gay amusements, and the perusal of 
 romances, she almost forgot the Bible, and 
 avoided the society of those Christians, whose 
 company she once so much valued. Yet, even at 
 this period, she sighed to be *' as in the months 
 that were past," — and her sighs obtained the 
 
MRS. HARRIET NEWELL. lol 
 
 favourable regard of that God, whose pity is 
 ever exercised towards penitential backshders. 
 The conversation of a pious friend induced 
 serious reHection ; past transgressions arose 
 before her as great mountains; anguish seized 
 her mind ; and she resolved to return to the 
 Lord with full purpose of lieart, and devote to 
 Him herself, and all her powers. These trans- 
 actions she solemnly performed in the retire- 
 ment of the closet, and then set to them her 
 seal in the assembly of the saints, by an ap- 
 proach to the Table of the Lord. In the year 
 181'2, she married the Rev. Samuel Newell, 
 missionary to India. 
 
 On February 19th, 1812, with Mr. Newell, 
 and Mr. and Mrs. Judson, she sailed from her 
 native shores, amidst the prayers and benedic- 
 tions of multitudes ; and after a tedious voyage 
 they arrived at Calcutta on June 17th. No 
 sooner had they enjoyed the pleasure of being 
 once more upon land, than they were again 
 obliged to venture upon the stormy seas ; 
 orders for their departure were spee<lily issued, 
 and they soon embarked for the Isle of France ; 
 and this second voyage proved more tedious 
 and severe than the former. About this time, 
 consumption seized upon Mrs. N. ; and beneath 
 its insiilious power, she gradually wore away. 
 In view of those sutlerings which she after- 
 wards experienced, she thus writes : ** I hope 
 
\S^2 MRS. HARRIET NEWELL. 
 
 to reach the place of our destination in good 
 health, but I feel no anxiety about that ; I 
 know that God orders every thing in the best 
 possible manner. If he so orders events that 
 i should suffer pain and sickness on the stormy 
 ocean, without a female friend, exposed to the 
 greatest inconveniences, shall I repine, and 
 think He deals hardly with me ? Oh ! no, let 
 the severest trials and disappointments fall to my 
 lot, guilty and weak as I am, yet I think I can 
 rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my 
 salvation." 
 
 During her long series of sufferings, she 
 meekly yielded to the will of her heavenly 
 Father, without one mvu'muring word ; " My 
 wicked heart," she again wrote, " is inclined to 
 think it hard that I should suffer such fatigue 
 and hardship. I sinfully envy those whose 
 lot it is to live in tranquillity on land. Happy 
 people ! ye know not the toils and trials of 
 voyagers across the rough and stormy deep. 
 Oh ! for a little Indian hut on land ! But hush ! 
 my warring passions : it is for Jesus, who sacri- 
 ficed the joys of his Father's kingdom, and 
 expired on the cross to redeem a fallen world, 
 that thus I wander from place to place, and 
 feel no where at home. How reviving the 
 thought! how great the consolation it yields to 
 my sinking heart ! I will cherish it, and yet 
 be happy." 
 
MRS. HARRIET NEWELL. 133 
 
 In the iirst part of her sickness, with the 
 birth of her babe, she had some doubts which 
 occasionally interrupted her spiritual comfort ; 
 but they were soon removed, and her mind 
 was filled with that peace of God, which 
 passeth all understanding. 
 
 When asked, a few days before she died, if 
 she had any remaining doubts respecting her 
 spiritual state, she answered with emphasis, 
 " that she h;ul none." Tliroughout the whole 
 of her illness, she talked in the most familiar 
 manner, and with great delight of death, and 
 the glory that was to follow. \^ hen her me- 
 dical attendant one day told her, these were 
 gloomy thoughts, she had better get rid of 
 them ; she replied, that, on the contrary, they 
 were to her cheering and joyful beyond ex- 
 pression. 
 
 She often spoke of meeting her friends in 
 heaven. " Perhaps," said she, " my dear 
 mother has gone before me to heaven, and as 
 soon as I leave this body, I shall find myself 
 with her. At another time, she said, " We 
 often talk of meeting our friends in heaven, 
 but what would heaven be with all our friends, 
 if God were not there !" 
 
 " Tell them," said she, referring to her 
 brothers and sisters, — *' tell them from the lips 
 of their dying sister, that there is nothing but 
 religion worth living for. O ! exhort them to 
 
134 MRS. HARRIET NEWELL. 
 
 attend immediately to the care of their precious 
 immortal souls. Tell them not to delay repen- 
 tance. The eldest of them will be anxious to 
 know how I feel with respect to missions. Tell 
 them, and also my dear mother, that I have 
 never regretted leaving my native land for the 
 cause of Christ. Let my dear brothers and 
 sisters know that I love them to the last. I 
 hope to meet them in heaven : but, Oh ! if I 
 should not." — Here the tears burst from her 
 eyes, and her sobs of grief at the thought of 
 an eternal separation, expressed the feelings 
 that were too big for utterance. After she 
 had recovered a little, she attempted to speak 
 of several other friends, but was obliged to 
 sum up all she had to say in — '* Love, and an 
 affectionate farcAvell to them all." 
 
 Within a day or two of her death, such 
 conversation as the following, passed between 
 her and Mr. N. — " Should you not be willing 
 to recover, and live awhile longer here?" — 
 " On some accounts it would be desirable; I 
 wish to do something for God before I die ; 
 but the experience I have had of the deceit- 
 fulness of my heart leads me to expect, that 
 if I should recover, my future life would be 
 much the same as my past has been, and I 
 long to be perfectly free from sin. God has 
 called me away before we have entered on the 
 work of the mission, but the case of David 
 
MRS. HARRIET NEWELL. 135 
 
 affords me comfort ; I have had it in my heart 
 to do what 1 can for the heathen, and I hope 
 God will accept me." 
 
 " But what shall I do when you are gone ? 
 How can I bear the separation?" — " Jesus will 
 be your best friend, and our separation will be 
 short. We shall soon, very soon meet in a 
 better world." — " How does your life appear 
 to you now? " Bad enough ! but that makes 
 the grace of Christ appear the more glorious." 
 — " Jesus, thy blood and righteousness, 8cc." 
 
 When told that she could not live through 
 tlie next day, she replied, " Oh ! joyful news ; I 
 long to depart." Some time after, when asked 
 " How does death appear to you now ?" She 
 replied, " Glorious; truly welcome." 
 
 The last words which she uttered relative to 
 her departure, were — " The pains, the groans, 
 the dying strife ! — How long, O Lord ! — how 
 long?" 
 
THE REV. HENRY MARTYN, B.D. 
 
 Was born in Cornwall, in 1781, and after 
 being several years at the Grammar school, 
 went to Cambridge in 1799, where his profi- 
 ciency obtained great reputation. He was 
 ordained in 1803, and became the curate of 
 the Rev. Mr. Simeon, at Cambridge, whose 
 ministry had been eminently useful to him. 
 Having obtained an appointment as one of the 
 chaplains of the East India Company, he em- 
 barked for India in 1805. His arrival afforded 
 great pleasure to Dr. Buchanan and the Rev. 
 Mr. Brown, who much wished for additional 
 labourers. Mr. Martyn had the true spirit of 
 a missionary, and followed the steps of the 
 renowned Brainerd and Swartz, the former of 
 whom he much resembled. For a time he 
 laboured at Dinapore, and afterwards at Cawn- 
 pore. But his health began to dechne, and he 
 had thoughts of returning to Europe ; but his 
 help being greatly needed in Persia, to assist 
 in the translation of the New Testament into 
 
REV. HENRY MARTYN. 137 
 
 the language of that great country, he con- 
 sented to go, notwithstanding the weakness of 
 his body. 
 
 ♦'On the 1st of January," 1811, says Mr. M. 
 in his diary, " I pass from India to Arabia, not 
 knowing the things which shall befal me there : 
 but assured that an ever-faithful God and 
 Saviour will be with me in all places whither- 
 soever I may go. May he guide me and protect 
 me, and bring me back again to my delightful 
 work in India," But he adds, " I am, perhaps, 
 leaving it to sec it no more ; " — and so indeed 
 it proved : he departed for ever from those 
 shores, where he had fully and fondly purposed 
 to spend all his days. 
 
 Five months were occupied in his passage 
 from the Hoogly to Shiraz. On the 532d of 
 May, he landed at Bushire in the Persian 
 dominions, and on the oOth set out for Shiraz, 
 and his sufferings by the extreme heat were 
 almost insupportable ; but on the 9th of June 
 he arrived at the celebrated seat of Persian 
 literature, and immediately commenced, with 
 proper assistants, another version of the New 
 Testament : and on the 24th of April of the 
 following year, he finished the last sheet of the 
 work ; and on the loth of March, his transla- 
 tion of the Psalms. 
 
 On the i^ 1th of May, one year after entering 
 Persia, Mr. M. left Shiraz, intending to lay 
 
138 REV. HENRY MAKTYN. 
 
 before the King his translation of the New 
 Testament ; but finding that without an intro- 
 ductory letter from the British ambassador he 
 could not be admitted into the royal presence, 
 he determined to proceed to Tebriz, where the 
 ambassador, Sir Gore Ousley, then resided. 
 His journey of eight weeks, to this place, was 
 extremely harassing: he suffered much, espe- 
 cially by a fever which then attacked him with 
 great severity : the pain in his head was at 
 times almost insupportable, and he was scarcely 
 able to proceed ; and when he arrived at 
 Tebriz, he appeared to be in the last stage of 
 debility and exhaustion. 
 
 The following extract is from the last letter 
 he ever wrote, addressed to a beloved friend in 
 England : — 
 
 " I wrote to you last in great disorder ; my 
 fever had approached nearly to delirium, and 
 my debility was so great, that it seemed impos- 
 sible I could withstand the power of the disease 
 many days ; yet it has pleased God to restore 
 me to life and health again : not that I have 
 recovered my former strength yet, but consider 
 myself sufficiently restored to prosecute my 
 journey. In three days I intend setting my 
 horse's head towards Constantinople, distant 
 about 1300 miles." 
 
 On the 2d of September, Mr. Martyn com- 
 menced his formidable journey, accompanied 
 
REV. HENRY MARTYN. 139 
 
 by two Armenian servants. His sufferings from 
 heat, from cold, and from severe illness, were 
 extreme ; and they were greatly augmented by 
 the unfeeling haste and cruelty of a Tartar, to 
 whose guidance he was unhappily consigned. 
 This man hurried him on, though very ill with 
 a fever, when scarcely able to move, and at 
 times through a heavy rain. At one time, 
 Mr. M. thus writes : — " My fever has increased 
 to a violent degree ; the heat in my eyes and 
 forehead was so great, that the fire almost 
 . made me frantic." 
 
 A few days after, October 0th, the following 
 words appear in his diary, and they are proba- 
 bly the last that he penned : " No horses being 
 to be had, I had an unexpected repose. I sat 
 in the orchard, and thought with sweet comfort 
 and peace of my God ; in solitude my company, 
 my friend and comforter ! O when shall time 
 give place to eternity ! When shall appear 
 that new heaven and new earth wherein 
 dwelleth righteousness ! There, there shall in 
 no wise enter in any thing that defileth : none 
 of that wickedness that has made men worse 
 than wild beasts ; none of those corruptions 
 that add still nwre to the miseries of mortality, 
 shall be seen or heard of any more." 
 
 Scarcely had Mr. M. breathed these aspira- 
 tions after that state of blissful purity, for 
 which he had attained such a measure of meet- 
 ness, when he was called to exchange a condi- 
 
140 REV. IIENllY MARTVN'. 
 
 tion of pain, weakness, and suffering, for that 
 everlasting "rest which remaineth for the 
 people of God." At Tocat, October IGth, 
 1812, either falling a sacrifice to the plague, 
 which then raged there, or sinking under that 
 disorder, which, when he penned his last 
 words, had so greatly reduced him, he surren- 
 dered his soul into the hands of his Redeemer. 
 There was something deeply affecting in his 
 sinking into the grave among men who were 
 strangers both to him and to his God. No 
 friendly hand was stretched out, no sympa- 
 thizing voice heard, when the tender offices of 
 christian affection are so soothing and so 
 delightful. Yet, doubtless, the Saviour, whom 
 he so cordially loved, and so faithfully served, 
 was with him in his last moments ; and as soon 
 as the conflict was ended, took him to himself, 
 to be for ever with his Lord. 
 
 In this excellent man, talents of the first 
 order, and attainments of no vulgar fame, were 
 ennobled by fervent piety, and zealously em- 
 ployed in the best of causes. His days were 
 few; but if we measure life by the achieve- 
 ments effected, rather than by the lapse of 
 years, they will seem neither few nor inglorious. 
 He has bequeathed to his successors great and 
 durable monuments of successful labours. 
 He has left an example which may guide the 
 ardour of youth, and rouse the dormant 
 energies of age. 
 
BEILBY PORTEUS, D. D. 
 
 BISHOP OF LONDON. 
 
 Bishop Portfa's was born at York, on 
 the 3d of May, 1731, the youngest but one 
 of nineteen children. His parents were both 
 natives of Virginia, in North America, and 
 were respectively descended from good families • 
 emigrated from Britain. His father, born to, 
 what was then considered an independent 
 fortune, followed no profession, but lived upon 
 his estate, in affluence and tranquilHty, till 
 IT^JO; when, induced as well by decHning 
 heakh, as by the desire of procuring for his 
 children a better education, he removed to 
 England, and fixed his residence in York. 
 
 Having attended school at York till he was 
 thirteen years of age, and afterwards passed a 
 considerable time in a respectable seminary at 
 Rippon, young Porteus was sent to Cambridge, 
 where, under the judicious superintendence of 
 an elder brother, he was admitted as a sizer 
 at Christ's College. Here he distinguished 
 
142 BEILBY PORTEUS, D. D, 
 
 himself both in mathematical and chissical 
 pursuits; and in 1752 was chosen Fellow of 
 his college, and from that time resided in 
 Cambridge. He had long destined his powers 
 for the sublime service of the sanctuary. He 
 accordingly took orders at the age of 26, and 
 was ordained deacon in 1757, and shortly after 
 priest. Continuing, however, at the University, 
 he took a few wealthy pupils under his private 
 care and instruction, and found time for the 
 cultivation of his poetical talents. The early 
 production of his noted poem on ' Death,' which 
 obtained the Seatonian Prize, manifested his 
 success. 
 
 In 1762, Archbishop Seeker selected him to 
 be one of his domestic chaplains. In conse- 
 quence he quitted college, and took up his 
 residence at Lambeth, still applying with the 
 utmost diligence to the improvement of his 
 understanding and his heart. In 1765, he 
 married; and in the same year, he was pre- 
 sented by his patron to two small livings in 
 Kent, which he soon resigned for the rectory of 
 Hunton in the same county, in addition to a 
 Peterborough prebend. In 1767, he obtained 
 also the rectory of Lambeth, and shortly after 
 took his degree of Doctor in Divinity. In the 
 following year, Dr. P. suffered an incalculable 
 loss in the death of his venerable patron, Arch- 
 bishop Seeker. He, and his friend. Dr. 
 
BEILBY PORTEUS, D. D. 143 
 
 Stinton, were left joint executors, and to them 
 were entrusted the pubHcation and other dis- 
 posal of his various manuscripts. In the faith- 
 ful discharge of this duty, Dr. P. paid his 
 parting tribute of reverence and love to his 
 benefactor, in the very popular ' Review of his 
 Life and Character,' which has been described 
 as one of the most instructive pieces of modern 
 biographical composition. 
 
 After this, he devoted his entire attention to 
 the duties of his two benefices, in each of 
 which, alternately, he resolutely and zealously 
 fulfilled his work ; preaching generally twice 
 on the sabbath, attentive to the poor, visiting 
 the sick, relieving the indigent, and consoling 
 the distressed. In 1769, he was appointed 
 Chaphiin to the King, and soon after. Master 
 of the Hospital of St. Cross, near Win- 
 chester, where he resided occasionally for some 
 years. 
 
 At length, without solicitation, or even 
 expectation on his part, he was raised first to 
 the See of Chester, and afterwards, in 1787, to 
 that of London. One of the earliest objects 
 which engaged the Bishop, after his translation 
 to London, was the. success of a Society then 
 recently instituted, now called the Society for 
 the Suppression of Vice, of which he became 
 the president. 
 
 The well-known Lectures on the Gospel of 
 Matthew, were preached by him for four sue- 
 
144 BEILBY PORTEUS, D. D, 
 
 cessive years, on the Fridays during Lent. 
 His sentiments were hostile to Cathohc Eman- 
 cipation. Still he was the unshaken advocate 
 of liberal opinion and discussion, and the 
 steady friend of religious toleration. As an 
 ardent admirer and a powerful supporter of 
 the British and Foreign Bible Society, he was 
 always prominent; and was one of its Vice 
 Presidents from the beginning. 
 
 In the long struggle for the abolition of the 
 African slave trade, he was eminently inde- 
 fatigable. Clarkson, in his map of his fellow- 
 abolitionists, has given to the name of Porteus 
 a lasting distinction ; and he nobly earned it. 
 Next to the great and paramount concerns 
 of religion, it was, of all others, the object 
 nearest to his heart. He never spoke of it but 
 with the utmost animation and enthusiasm. He 
 spared no pains, no fatigue of body or mind, to 
 further its accomplishment. In short, the best 
 years of his life, and all his talents and powers, 
 were applied and devoted to it; and the 
 happiest day, beyond comparison, that he ever 
 experienced, was the day of its final triumph. 
 Nor did his labours cease here. He continued 
 to recommend and urge all means for the 
 comfort and instruction of the wretched victims 
 who were already enthralled ; and one of the 
 last offices of his life was to address a public 
 *' Letter to the West India Governors and 
 Proprietors," pressing on their notice the 
 
BEILBY PORTEUS, D. D. 145 
 
 expediency of an immediate establishment of 
 parochial schools for the education in religious 
 knowledge especially, of the children of the 
 slaves. 
 
 An unceasing vigilance over the sanctity of 
 the sabbath, was one of the most distinguished 
 features in the Bishop's official conduct. 
 Among other instances of his beneficial inter- 
 ference on this subject, may be mentioned his 
 ** Admonitory Epistle " to some ladies of rank, 
 at the west end of the town, on their introduc- 
 tion of Sunday concerts ; and his successful 
 application to the Prince of Wales, with 
 reference to a meeting chiefly of military 
 gentlemen, at a hotel, which was announced as 
 held on every other Sunday during the winter 
 season. 
 
 As his dissolution approached, he anticipated 
 the event with calm confidence and christian 
 devotion. His mind at length seemed alto- 
 gether absorbed in the opening scenes of the 
 eternal world ; and to his friend and chaplain, 
 he spoke little more than to request his earnest 
 prayers for an easy and speedy release. At 
 last, he literally fell asleep in death ; and with- 
 out a pang or a sigh, his spirit fled from its 
 earthly mansion to the realms of peace. 
 
 His intellectual powers were of a superior 
 order, and carefully disciplined. His percep- 
 tion was rapid, his judgment discreet and 
 decisive, his memory retentive and ready, his 
 
 VOL. I. H 
 
146 BEILEY PORTEUS, D. D. 
 
 taste accurate and delicate, his imagination 
 vigorous and glowing. He was an elegant 
 classical scholar. His knowledge of Hebrew 
 literature was very respectable. He was 
 familiarly conversant with historical composi- 
 tion, civil and ecclesiastical, ancient and mo- 
 dern, of which his tract on the *' Beneficial 
 Effects of Christianity," may serve in illustra- 
 tion. He was a humble, diligent, patient 
 student of the word of God. The Homilies, 
 Articles, and Liturgy of his church, he consi- 
 dered as scriptural ; refusing, however, to admit 
 their Calvinistic interpretation. His piety and 
 virtue placed him foremost in the ranks of 
 Methodism, and reflected dignity and grace on 
 the appellation. 
 
 As a preacher, the Bishop's reputation stood 
 deservedly high. His voice was uncommonly 
 clear, sweet, and flexible : his delivery chaste, 
 carrcct, spirited, devout. His style was admi- 
 rably adapted to the pulpit; plain, without 
 being too familiar ; classical, without being 
 pedantic. His whole soul was evidently in 
 his subject. It is to be regretted, however, 
 that some of the essential, fundamental doc- 
 trines of the Gospel did not receive that pre- 
 eminence, that fulness and frequency of illus- 
 tration and enforcement in his discourses, which 
 they demand from every herald of the Chris- 
 tian faith. 
 
THE 
 
 REV. EDWARD WILLIAMS, D.D. 
 
 This great and good man was born at Glan- 
 clwyd, near Denbigh, in North Wales, No- 
 vember 14th, 1750. His father and family 
 were zealously attached to the Established 
 Church, and entertained but little charity to- 
 wards those who separated from its communion. 
 Indeed, they scarcely attended to any thing 
 more than the form of religion, and were dis- 
 posed to ridicule such of their neighbours as 
 were more serious than themselves. To his 
 parents, by whom he was treated with the 
 greatest tenderness, the more so on account 
 of his being their only surviving son, he was 
 indebted for so much of a religious education, 
 as consists in a moderate care over the morals, 
 a constant attendance on public worship at 
 church, and a degree of respect for the word 
 of God, his day and ordinances. From his 
 fifth to his ninth year, young Williams was 
 placed under the care of an aged preceptress 
 n2 
 
148 EDWARD WILLIAMS, D. D. 
 
 in the neighbourhood of the family residence, 
 spending only the sabbath days at home. At 
 the expiration of this period, he was transferred 
 to another school for improvement in writing 
 and arithmetic, in which he remained two 
 years, and where he was characterized by a 
 love of play so excessive, as to prevent a 
 common advancement in learning; not, how- 
 ever, without being the subject of religious 
 impressions and exercises, which he recollected 
 through life. 
 
 The period now arrived when, at eleven 
 years of age, his friends began to think of a 
 profession for him. Since the Church is re- 
 garded as a respectable and advantageous 
 sphere of hfe, it generally has a share in the 
 calculations of those who, thinking little of the 
 sacred office to be sustained, look out for a 
 convenient support for their children. The 
 parents of this youth had certainly not evinced 
 any very scrupulous care to furnish him with 
 moral and spiritual instruction ; but still, his 
 father had a strong wish to bring up his son 
 for a clergyman. 
 
 The very measures, however, which he 
 adopted for that end, frustrated his purpose. 
 At St. Asaph there was a flourishing school, 
 from which many youths at that time were 
 sent to the universities. In this school, there- 
 fore, he was entered as a pupil, in the year 
 
EDWARD WILLIAMS, D. D. 149 
 
 1761. The scholars were numerous, and some 
 of them grown up to manhood. Advantages 
 for learning were not wanting, and there is 
 no reason to suppose that he was deficient 
 «^ither in capacity, or, at that time, in inchnation 
 to avail himself of them. Thither, however, 
 besides a desire for learning, he carried a 
 tender conscience ; and scenes, such as were 
 there disclosed, must either prove fatal to moral 
 susceptibiUty, or excite feelings the most 
 painful. 
 
 The young stranger could not, without dis- 
 gust, be witness to violations of the external 
 decencies of religion ; and when he saw his 
 schoolfellows, at whose dissrj^ation and impiety 
 his mind had revolted, clothed in robes em- 
 blematic of innocence, and chaunting with 
 solemn pomp the professed praises of the 
 Divine Majesty, he was grieved beyond en- 
 durance. From the boyish candidates who 
 thus began the race of ecclesiastical expectation, 
 he turned to those of mature age, who had 
 proceeded far in the course ; but even there 
 he beheld conduct so paradoxical, as to con- 
 found his reason. Hence he was led to think, 
 and to examine, and to turn away with deep 
 distaste from the proposal of being a clergyman 
 in the national establishment. After con- 
 tinuing, therefore, for about two years, it was 
 thought best to take him home again. 
 
150 EDWARD WILLIAMS, D. D. 
 
 Another profession was now contemplated ; 
 and that of the law being chosen, he was placed 
 by his father in a grammar-school at Caerwys, 
 under the tuition of the curate of the parish, 
 
 UreparatorV to his pntpring rtn legal studies. 
 
 For these, however, the son had no relish : 
 and in his seventeenth year, he was taken 
 home to assist his father in his business of 
 farming and grazing. He was impressed with 
 a sense of religion about the age of eighteen, 
 in consequence of hearing a sermon in a barn 
 near his father's house, by a lay preacher in 
 connexion with the Calvinistic Methodists ; and 
 he received the word with such power, as to 
 produce an evident alteration in the state of 
 his mind, and the character of his deportment. 
 The disappointment experienced by Mr. 
 Williams, sen. in respect to his son, acting 
 upon his mind, in combination with the offence 
 taken at these new associations, now led him to 
 adopt a course of severity for the purpose of 
 reclaiming him from his religious connexions; 
 which proved in this instance, as it has in most 
 similar cases, altogether ineffectual. Mild 
 methods were next employed with the same 
 design ; and, through the medium of a friend, 
 the proposal was communicated of entering 
 into the ministry of the Established Church, 
 with the offer of his being supported at Oxford 
 in the mean time. This offer lie at length 
 
EDWARD WILLIAMS, D. D. 151 
 
 accepted ; and accordingly, on October 3, 
 1770, he was placed under the care of a clergy- 
 man at Derwen, with the View of being quali- 
 fied to enter at college. He had now nearly 
 completed his tA;\'entieth year; and it was at 
 this period that the powers of his mind first 
 began in any remarkable degree to unfold. 
 While under the care of this gentleman, he at- 
 tentively read, among other religious books, the 
 celebrated work of Elisha Coles, on the Sove- 
 reignty of God, in reference to which he relates 
 the following anecdote in the Appendix to his 
 Christian Preacher; "When setting out in 
 the ways of God, I found this book singularly 
 useful. A carnal minister, who had gravely 
 recommended for my perusal Dean Swift's 
 Tale of a Tub, observing my partiality to it, 
 remarked, with great emotion, '* If the doc- 
 trines contained in that book be true, I am sure 
 to go to hell." I then replied, what I now 
 dehberately confirm, " If these doctrines be not 
 true, I have no /wy;e of going to heaven." 
 
 While he was now studying with a view to 
 the established ministry, he heard that an 
 ordination was about to take place at St. Asaph. 
 Anxious to contemplate a scene in which he 
 was hereafter to be personally concerned, he 
 obtained leave to witness the solemn transaction. 
 On the road thither, he was passed by some 
 fashionable charioteers, who, driving furiously. 
 
152 EDWARD WILLIAMS, D. D. 
 
 swore with loud oaths, that they should be too 
 late. At tlie inn he met with them again, and 
 observed in them the same kind of behaviour. 
 Having entered the Cathedral, he recognized 
 the young men, whom he had so lately known 
 to be influenced by an evil spirit, among the 
 number of those who declared that they were 
 moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon them 
 the sacred office of preaching the Gospel. 
 Shocked at the sight, he was led to consider 
 the propriety of conforming to a church, the 
 bonds of whose discipline were so relaxed. 
 The question, thus brought a second time 
 under review, was again resolved as before : 
 and from this period, he was determined to 
 think no more of the Establishment as a field 
 of labour. 
 
 In 1761, he entered the Dissenters' Academy 
 at Abergavenny, then under the superinten- 
 dance of Dr. Davies ; his fiither, who long 
 opposed the design, having at last reluctantly 
 agreed to afford the assistance required while 
 there. He pursued his studies with unwearied 
 application, and enjoyed the high esteem and 
 confidence of his tutor and his fellow-students. 
 His attainments in llabbinical learning and 
 Biblical criticism, were very respectable. In 
 divinity, he studied the works of some of the 
 best foreign divines, particularly Turretine, 
 Stapfer, and Wolfius. To moral science his 
 
EDWARD WILLIAMS, D. D. 153 
 
 attention was chiefly directed. Cudworth's 
 Intellectual System, Gale's Court of the Gen- 
 tiles, and Wollaston's ReUgion of Nature 
 Delineated, were among his favourite authors. 
 
 Aflor spending four years at Abergavenny, 
 he removed, in 1775, to Ross ; where he was 
 ordained, on March 27, 1776. In the following 
 year he married, and subsequently removed to 
 Oswestry, where his ministry was much blessed 
 to the enlargement of the congregation, and 
 the building up of tlie church. Here he opened 
 a grammar-school, soon after he had taken the 
 charge of the congregation ; and in the year 
 1781, an application was received by him from 
 Mr. Scott of Drayton, which led to his appoint- 
 ment, under the patronage of Lady Glenorchy, 
 as a tutor of young men destined for the chris- 
 tian ministry. Soon after, he was solicited to 
 accept of the situation in the academy at Aber- 
 gavenny, vacated by Dr. Davies, who had 
 removed to Homerton. This latter affair was 
 one of some difficulty, and occasioned a corre- 
 spondence of some extent. In conclusion, Mr. 
 Williams refused to quit Oswestry, and his 
 family was increased by the accession of a 
 number of students from Abergavenny, in 
 addition to those who Mere supported by Lady 
 Glenorchy. 
 
 ^^'hile employed in this enlarged sphere of 
 action, he experienced much domestic afl^iction, 
 u'3 
 
154 EDWARD WILLIAMS, D. D. 
 
 especially in the frequent indispositions of Mrs. 
 W. ; but under these circumstances, his dili- 
 gence, patient perseverance, and unfeigned 
 piety, were the- more conspicuous. *' He 
 attended," says Mr. Lewis, his colleague, "to 
 a great variety of things, and I never knew a 
 man so capable of doing it : for he seemed 
 clearly to understand every kind of business he 
 had to superintend. Considering his duties as 
 a tutor, minister, and head of a family, I used 
 to think he did the work of a Hercules." 
 
 It was during his residence at Oswestry, 
 that Mr. W. commenced author. In 1786, he 
 published an edition of Maurice's Social Reli- 
 gion, in an abridged form. In 1789, he appeared 
 in the Baptismal controversy, in reply to Mr. 
 Booth. Next followed his abridgment of Dr. 
 Owen on the Epistle to the Hebrews, accom- 
 panied by Letters to Dr. Priestley and Mr. 
 David Levi. In 1791, he published a discourse 
 occasioned by Mr. Belsham's sermon at the 
 Old Jewry before the supporters of the New 
 College at Hackney, with a letter addressed to 
 that gentleman. 
 
 In 1791, Mr. W. removed to Birmingham, 
 to take the charge of a congregation. It was 
 about this time he was unexpectedly pre- 
 sented with his degree of Doctor in Divinity, 
 by the University of Edinburgh, as a testimony 
 of respect for his talents, acquirements, and 
 
EDWARD WILLIAMS, D. D. 155 
 
 writings. One of his friends called with the 
 intelligence, and laid it before him; after 
 reading which, he pleasantly said, " Well, I 
 shall still keep to my text," meaning that he 
 should still "glory only in the cross of Christ ; " 
 a subject on whicli he was then preparing a 
 discourse for the press. 
 
 At this time his mind was much occupied 
 with the pitiable condition of the heathen 
 world, and with such plans for the propagation 
 of Christianity as appeared most likely to 
 prove successful ; and as it fell to his lot to 
 draw up a circular letter to the Associated 
 Churches in Warwickshire, he added a post- 
 script addressed to the Independent Associa- 
 tions of Ministers in the other Counties of 
 England and Wales, recommending, among 
 other objects, the sending of Missionaries 
 among the Heathen. It was, therefore, to be 
 expected, that when the London Missionary 
 Society was instituted in 1795, he would take a 
 lively interest in its affairs ; which he continued 
 to manifest to the end of his life. He dehvered 
 a charge to tlie first missionaries sent out to 
 the islands of the South Sea, July, 1796; and 
 was one of the preachers at the Eleventh 
 General Meeting of the Society in 1805. 
 
 In 1795, he again entered upon the office of 
 tutor, having received an invitation to super- 
 intend the Institution re-established at Masbro' 
 
156 EDWARD WILLIAMS, D. D. 
 
 near Rotherham. At the same time he ac- 
 cepted the pastoral charge of a society of Dis- 
 senters at Rotherham. This was the last and 
 most important station which he occupied ; and 
 here his character, talents and piety were seen 
 to the greatest advantage, and the services he 
 rendered to religion and learning were most 
 extensive and efficient. 
 
 Amidst his numerous engagements as a 
 pastor, and a tutor, the Doctor published, 
 while at Rotherham, several of his most valua- 
 ble works. Among these may be mentioned 
 his " Christian Preacher ; " his " Sermon on 
 the Kingdom of Christ ; " and another which 
 obtained much publicity, and proved the occa- 
 sion of some controversy, under the title of 
 " Predestination to Life," &c. He likewise 
 rendered no inconsiderable service to the cause 
 of truth, as an Editor of two esteemed and 
 valuable authors, whose works had never 
 appeared in any uniform edition : — the Works 
 of Dr. Doddridge, with notes illustrative, 
 theological, and philosophical, in ten volumes; 
 and those of President Edwards in the same 
 style, in eight vols. 
 
 In 1809, he pubhshed his " Essay on the 
 Equity of Divine Government, and the Sove- 
 reignty of Divine Grace:" the most elaborate 
 of all his works, and which he had announced 
 while he was at Oswestry; and in 1812, his 
 
EDWARD WILLIAMS, D. D. 157 
 
 ** Defence of Modern Calvinism," in reply to 
 Bishop Tomline, the best written of all his 
 publications, and particularly admirable for its 
 regular and comprehensive plan. The publi- 
 cation of the Essay was productive of such con- 
 sequences as not unfrequently attend the 
 declaration of sentiments by an author who 
 does not write in accordance with the prevail- 
 ing opinions of his connexions. Attempts to 
 discredit the Doctor's character for orthodoxy 
 were so successful as to make an impression 
 for a time upon his congregation, and to alarm 
 the friends of the institution over which he 
 presided, lest it should suffer material injury 
 in public patronage. His reputation, however, 
 stood too high, and was too solidly estabhshed, 
 to be permanently affected by insinuations in 
 prejudice of his evangelical probity; while his 
 doctrinal views have, to the present day, been 
 constantly advancing in public estimation, in 
 proportion as they have been impartially exa- 
 mined, and fairly understood. 
 
 In consequence of Dr. Williams's continued 
 and laborious application to study, and to the 
 numerous avocations that devolved on him as 
 tutor, his health was greatly injured, and his 
 valuable life apparently shortened. In Fe- 
 bruary, 1813, he experienced a violent bihous 
 attack, which proved his last sickness, — to him 
 tlie messenger of mercy, which came to call 
 
158 EDWARD WILLIAMS, D. D. 
 
 him from his labours to receive an everlasting 
 reward. Previous to his departure, he had 
 been unable to preach, or deliver his stated 
 lectures to the students for about four or five 
 weeks, though not confined to his bed more 
 than two days. His disorder increased at in- 
 tervals, until at length nature was exhausted. 
 His dissolution, however; was wholly unex- 
 pected ; for on the very day of his death one of 
 the medical gentlemen expressed great hopes 
 of his recovery ; and about half an hour before 
 the mournful event occurred, his physician 
 thought he would pass a comfortable night. 
 But no sooner had he left the house, than 
 symptoms of dissolution began to appear. The 
 alarm was instantly spread-^-the students as- 
 sembled for prayer — but soon found that the 
 spirit of their tutor had taken its flight. This 
 happened on the 9th of March, 1813. 
 
 The following account of his last hours and 
 expressions was written by his highly respected 
 colleague in the Academy, since likewise de- 
 ceased: — " After a violent attack of pain on 
 the Wednesday, which continued for fifteen 
 hours, his strength was so exhausted as scarcely 
 to admit of speaking. He said, however, that 
 his mind had not abated its vigour, and that 
 he was happy in God ; but could not talk. 
 To a friend he exclaimed, ' I am in the hands 
 of a sovereign God, who will perfect that which 
 
EDWARD WILLIAMS, D. D. 159 
 
 concerns me, and mine, and the church, and 
 all his.' At another time, — ' I have been for 
 a short season employed about personal con- 
 cerns, but now I find my soul all engaged about 
 the interests of the church, and God's public 
 glory.' It was remarked, ' Paul could say, 
 For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.' 
 ' Yes,' he rejoined, ' and for me as well as Paul, 
 to live is Christ and to die is gain.' On the 
 last day he observed, ' I know not how it is, 
 my mind has ceased to work ; it is at rest to- 
 day.' * That,' said his dear partner, * is what 
 we wanted : now I have some hope.' Alas ! 
 it was fallacious. The tide of life was fast 
 retiring, and by ten o'clock it ceased to be. 
 The change was so gradual, that it could not 
 be said precisely when he breathed his last, 
 and only a slight movement of the eye declared 
 what had transpired. He spoke within half an 
 hour of the sad event, and was perfectly sen- 
 sible." 
 
 An admirable monument to the memory of 
 this man of God, has been erected, in the in- 
 structive and gratifying Memoir of his Life and 
 Writings, by the Rev. Joseph Gilbert. From 
 that work the following extract is taken : 
 
 *' His piety was most pure and ardent, though 
 unobtrusive and unaflected. It consisted not 
 at all of superstitious forms and abstinences, 
 but was fed by habitual meditation and prayer. 
 
160 EDWARD WILLIAMS, D. D. 
 
 and by occasional seasons of special self-exa- 
 mination and humiliation before God. He 
 seemed constantly to breathe devotion, and his 
 prayers were in nothing so much remarkable 
 as in their fulness, fervency, and depth of ado- 
 ration. On such occasions he seemed to go 
 as far as man could in abhorring sin, annihilat- 
 ing self, and glorifying God. The word of God, 
 with every part of which he was perfectly 
 familiar, was still his constant study ; and per- 
 ceiving, as he did, the harmony of its doctrines, 
 his mind was unembarrassed, and his heart in- 
 vigorated by its holy sentiments. Religion 
 was to him not so much duty as enjoyment. 
 Devoted more than many to abstruse thinking, 
 and possessing a ceaseless thirst after know- 
 ledge, yet his devotion was not injured by his 
 studies; for he viewed every thing in its rela- 
 tion to human obligations and divine claims. 
 Such was the habitual temperament of his 
 spirit, that all his investigations were practically 
 religious. They led him the more clearly to 
 see, and the more impressively to feel, that all 
 good, and only good, proceeds from God, but 
 that evil is exclusively from the creature; of 
 which the result was, a more lowly disesteem 
 of himself, a more exalted admiration of divine 
 grace, and a more glowing delight in the God 
 of his salvation. In the divine laws and sanc- 
 tions, in the procedures of providence, and the 
 
EDWARD WILLIAMS, D. D. 161 
 
 general government of creatures, he recognised 
 nothing unbefitting just conceptions of Deity, 
 nothing capricious, nothing unsanctioned by 
 obvious principles of equity ; while every where 
 in the work of redemption and human recovery 
 he beheld, with enraptured admiration, displays 
 of unutterable benevolence, wisdom, power, 
 and mercy. The expiatory efficacy of the 
 Saviour's sacrificial oflering, and the reno- 
 vating influence of the Spirit, were subjects 
 the dearest to his heart. It may be said truly 
 that he ' delighted himself in the Lord, and 
 that he had the desire of his heart.' 
 
 " Though he possessed little of what is, in a 
 sense far too confined, especially denominated 
 genius, his intellectual power was great and 
 pecidiarly active. He was not a man of fiction, 
 but of reality ; delighting not in the excursions 
 of fancy, but in the investigation of truth. He 
 had imagination enough to illustrate by apt 
 comparison, but not so to adorn his composi- 
 tion as to inspire it with life and action. He 
 could not abstract the mind of his reader from 
 personal consciousness, call up scenes before 
 the eye at pleasure, or make whomsoever he 
 would follow the bidding of his imagery ; but 
 he could instruct the wiUing learner, and lead 
 forth the attentive mind to a noble maturity of 
 judgment. They who sought repose from 
 doubt, and solid ground to stand on amidst 
 
162 EDWARD WILLIAMS, D. D. 
 
 the fluctuations of time, and the approaching 
 reahties of eternity, could not commit them- 
 selves amongst men to a safer or more skilful 
 guide. His penetration was keen, his judg- 
 ment solid, his memory tenacious, and his 
 conceptions clear and forcible. In closeness 
 of argument he had few equals, and such was 
 his pleasure in it, that he noted no flight of 
 time while so engaged." 
 
 His various compositions unquestionably rank 
 among the richest treasures of the christian 
 church; and theological science, already so 
 highly indebted to the productions of his pen, 
 would, there is reason to believe, had he lived, 
 have received still larger and richer contri- 
 butions. Many works of moment to the cause 
 of christian truth were yet in contemplation, 
 and would easily and speedily have been ac- 
 complished, had his days been lengthened. 
 
MRS. GRAHAM. 
 
 Isabella Marshall, afterwards Mrs. Gra- 
 ham, was born July 29tli, 1742, in the county 
 of Lanark in Scotland. She was trained to an 
 active Hfe, as well as favoured with a superior 
 education. She possessed an intellect — strong, 
 prompt, and inquisitive ; a temper — open, ge- 
 nerous, cheerful and ardent ; a heart — replete 
 with tenderness, and alive to every social affec- 
 tion, and every benevolent impulse. 
 
 To form her betimes for the future dispensa- 
 tions of his providence, the Lord touched the 
 heart of this " chosen vessel" in her early 
 youth. The spirit of prayer sanctified her 
 infant lips ; and taught her, as fiir back as her 
 memory could go, *' to pour out her heart 
 before God." She had not reached her 
 eleventh year, when, in the words of Kldersly, 
 " she selected a bush, to which she resorfed 
 in seasons of devotion, and there dedicated 
 herself to God by faith in the Redeemer." 
 
164 MRS. GRAHAM. 
 
 The incidents of her education, thouglitless 
 companions, the love of dress and the dancing- 
 school, chilled for a while the warmth of her 
 piety, and robbed her bosom of its peace ; but 
 her gracious Lord revisited her with his mercy, 
 and bound her to himself in an everlasting 
 covenant, which she sealed at his table about 
 the seventeenth year of her age. 
 
 Having married, a few years after, Dr. John 
 Graham, surgeon to the 60th British regiment, 
 she accompanied him, first to Montreal, and 
 after to Fort Niagara. Mere, during four 
 years of temporal prosperity, she had no op- 
 portunity, even for once, of entering " the ha- 
 bitation of God's house," or hearing the sound 
 of the gospel. Secluded from the waters of 
 the sanctuary, and all the public means of 
 growth in grace, her religion began to languish, 
 and the leaf to droop ; but the root was peren- 
 nial — it was of the " seed of God, which abideth 
 for ever." The sabbath was still to her the 
 sign of his covenant. On that day of rest, 
 with her Bible in her hand, she used to wander 
 through the woods, renew her self-dedication, 
 and pour out her prayer for the sahation of 
 her husband and her children. He who dwel- 
 leth not in temples made Avith hands, heard 
 her cry from the wilds of Niagara, and 
 strengthened her with strength in her soul. 
 
 By one of the vicissitudes which chequer 
 
MRS. GRAHAM. 165 
 
 military life, the regiment was ordered to the 
 island of Antigua, in the West-Indies. Here 
 she met with that exquisite enjoyment to which 
 she had been so long a stranger — the com- 
 munion of kindred spirits in the love of Christ : 
 and soon did she need all the soothing and 
 support which it is fitted to administer : for in 
 a very short time the husband of her youth, , 
 her whole earthly stay, was taken from her by 
 death. The stroke was indeed mitigated by 
 the sweetest assurance that he slept in Jesus. 
 But a heart like hers, convulsed by a review 
 of the past, and anticipation of the future 
 world, would have burst with agony, had she 
 not known how to pour out its sorrows into 
 the bosom of her heavenly Father. Bowing to 
 the mysterious dispensation, and committing 
 herself to his protection, she returned to her 
 native land, to contract alliance with penury, 
 and to live by faith for her daily bread. There 
 the same grace, under whose teaching she 
 knew how to abound, taught her also to suffer 
 need. With a dignity that belongs only to 
 those who have treasure in heaven, she de- 
 scended to her humble cot, employment, and 
 fare. 
 
 But her humility was the forerunner of her 
 advancement. The light of her virtues shone 
 brightest in her obscurity, and pointed her 
 way to the confidential trust of forming the 
 
166 MRS. GRAHAM. 
 
 minds and manners of young females of diffe- 
 rent ranks in the metropolis of Scotland. 
 Here, respected by the great, and honoured 
 by the good, she continued in the successful 
 discharge of her duties, till Providence con- 
 ducted her back to the American shores, where, 
 in the city of New York, she opened a school 
 for the education of young ladies. 
 
 Admonished, at length, by the infirmities of 
 age, and importuned by her friends, this vener- 
 able matron retired to private life. But it was 
 impossible for her to be idle. Her leisure only 
 gave a new direction to her activity. With no 
 less alacrity than she had displayed in the edu- 
 cation of youth, did she now embark in the 
 reUef of misery. In her house, originated a 
 society for the relief of poor widows with small 
 children. The Orphan Asylum originated also 
 with her: and even the sabbath previous to 
 her last illness, occupied her mth a recent 
 institution — a Sunday School for Ignorant 
 Adults. 
 
 She was greatly refreshed in spirit by the 
 success of Missionary and Bible Societies, and 
 used to speak with much afiection of those 
 missionaries with whom she had become ac- 
 quainted, since they visited New York, on 
 their way to the stations in India. 
 
 On Tuesday, the 19th of July, she com- 
 plained of not feeling well ; and on the Satur- 
 
MRS. GRAHAM 167 
 
 day, she requested that Mrs. Christie, her in- 
 timate friend might be sent for; this alarmed 
 her relations, who knew that there existed an 
 understanding between those two friends, that 
 one should attend the dying bed of the other. 
 For upwards of twenty-four years, they liad 
 loved each other, feeling reciprocal sympathy 
 in their joys and their sorrows. 
 
 On Mrs. Christie's entering the chamber of 
 her friend, Mrs. Graham welcomed her with 
 a sweet expressive smile, seeming to say, " I 
 am going to get the start of you, I am called 
 home before you : it will be your office to fulfil 
 our engagement. WTien she sat by her bed- 
 side, Mrs. G. said, — " Your face is very 
 pleasant to me, my friend." During Saturday 
 night, a lethargy appeared to be overpowering 
 her frame. On Sabbath morning, also, she 
 was disposed to constant slumber. 
 
 Observing her son-in-law, Mr. Bethune, 
 looking at her with agitation, she was roused 
 from her heaviness, and stretching her arms 
 towards him, and embracing him, she said, 
 " My dear, dear son, I am going to leave you: 
 I am going to my Saviour." *' I know," he 
 replied, " that when you do go from us, it will 
 be to the Saviour ; but, my dear mother, it may 
 not be the Lord's time now to call you to him- 
 self." '* Yes," said she, ** now is the time ; 
 and. Oh! I could weep for sin." Her words 
 
168 MRS. GRAHAM. 
 
 were accompanied with her tears. " Have you 
 any doubts, then, my dear friend?" asked Mrs. 
 Christie. " Oh ! no," repHed Mrs. G. ; and 
 looking at Mr. and Mrs. Bethune as they 
 wept, " my dear children, I have no more 
 doubt of going to my Saviour, than if I were 
 abeady in his arms. My guilt is all trans- 
 ferred ; he has cancelled all I owed ; yet I could 
 weep for sins against so good a God ; it seems 
 to me as if there must be weeping even in 
 heaven for sin." 
 
 Having asked Dr. Mason to pray with her, 
 he inquired if there was any particular request 
 she had to make of God through him : she 
 replied, that God would direct : then, as he 
 kneeled, she put up her hands, and raising her 
 eyes towards heaven, breathed this short, but 
 expressive petition, " Lord, lead thy servant in 
 prayer!" 
 
 After Dr. Mason had taken his leave, she 
 again fell into a deep sleep. Her physicians 
 still expressed a hope of her recovery. One 
 of them, however, declared his opinion, that 
 his poor drugs would prove of little avail, 
 against her own ardent prayers to depart, and 
 be with Christ. 
 
 On Monday the Rev. Mr. Rowan prayed 
 with her, and to him she expressed also the 
 tranquillity of her mind, and the steadfastness 
 of her hope, through Christ, of eternal felicity. 
 
MRS. GRAHAM. 169 
 
 Her lethargy increased: at intervals, how- 
 ever, she would occasionally assure her daugh- 
 ter, Mrs. B., that all was well; and when she 
 could rouse herself only to say one word at a 
 time, that one word, accompanied with a smile, 
 was, " Peace." 
 
 On Tuesday afternoon, she slept with little 
 intennission. " This," said Dr. Mason, " may 
 be truly called falling asleep in Jesus." 
 
 At a quarter past twelve o'clock, on the 
 morning of the 27th of July, 1814, witliout a 
 struggle or a groan, her spirit winged its Hight 
 from a mansion of clay to the realms of glory, 
 while around the precious remnant of earth, 
 her family and friends stood weeping, yet ele- 
 vated by the scene they were witnessing. 
 
 After a silence of many minutes, they kneeled 
 by her bed, adored the goodness and grace of 
 God towards his departed child, and implored 
 the divine blessing on both the branches of her 
 family, as well as on all the Israel of God. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
THE REV. THOMAS CHARLES, B.A. 
 
 Was the son of a respectable farmer in the 
 parish of Llanfihangel, near Caermarthen, 
 where he was born, October 14 th, 1755. He 
 became truly serious in early life ; and, after 
 having spent some years at school, was sent to 
 Oxford in 1775, where he made good use of 
 his time. He spent the summer vacation, of 
 1777, with the Rev. Mr. Newton, at Olney : 
 this visit proved very profitable to him. In 
 June, 1778, he was ordained, and became 
 curate of a parish in Somersetshire, where he 
 laboured about five years. In 1784, he en- 
 gaged in the curacy of Llanymowddy, in Meri- 
 onethshire, but was obliged to quit it in less 
 ^;han a year. After this, he waited some time 
 for employment in the Established Church ; but 
 obtaining none, he collected together poor 
 children in various places, to instruct them ; 
 but the number becoming great, he was pre- 
 vailed upon to adjourn these meetings to the 
 
REV. THOMAS CHARLES. 171 
 
 chapels of the Calvinistic Methodists, whom 
 he finally joined, and among whom he became 
 eminently and extensively useful. He travelled 
 much in North Wales, in all seasons, sustain- 
 ing great labour and difficulty, and visiting the 
 numerous societies of that denomination, at 
 least annually ; yet, so conducting his arrange- 
 ments, that he usually preached at Bala on the 
 last Sunday of every month, and administered 
 the sacrament to about five hundred persons. 
 He also visited the Welsh societies in Liver- 
 pool, Manchester, Gloucester, and London. 
 In the latter city he regularly supplied, in 
 rotation with other ministers. Lady Hunting- 
 don's chapels at Spa-fields, and Sion, where 
 he was universally respected. 
 
 In 1785, he was the chief instrument in 
 establishing circulating charity schools in North 
 Wales, by which many thousands of poor chil- 
 dren were taught to read the Bible, and mul- 
 titudes were made wise unto salvation. He 
 was also eminently useful in setting up Sunday 
 schools, which became so numerous, that he 
 established a printing press at Bala, to supply 
 them and others with catechisms and tracts. 
 He became also the occasion of an institution 
 in Scotland, called " Tlte Society for the sup- 
 port of Gaelic Schools." 
 
 About the year 180'2, having purchased all 
 the Welsh Bibles he could obtain, and findino- 
 i2 
 
172 REV. THOMAS CHARLES. 
 
 no supply adequate to the increasing demand 
 for them in Wales, where so many persons had 
 recently learned to read, he projected the 
 scheme of printing a new edition of the Welsh 
 Bible, by private subscription ; and his con- 
 versation with pious friends in London, on this 
 subject, especially with the members of the 
 Religious Tract Society, led ultimately to the 
 formation, in 1804, of that noble institution — , 
 " The British and Foreign Bible Society." 
 
 Among the numerous efforts of a most 
 ardent mind, constantly diffusing the light of 
 the gospel, was his elaborate work — a Scripture 
 Dictionary, in four volumes octavo. He also 
 compiled several Catechisms, and other ele- 
 mentary tracts, for schools and families ; also 
 a small work, entitled " The Welsh Method- 
 ists vindicated;" he likewise conducted the 
 Spiritual Magazine, published quarterly, in the 
 Welsh language ; and commenced a Concord- 
 ance, for the use of his countrymen. It may 
 convey to the reader some idea of his immense 
 labours, when he is told that, in the space of 
 eleven years, more than 320,000 copies of his 
 small publications issued from the press at 
 Bala. While engaged in these arduous pur- 
 suits, he generally rose, in summer and winter, 
 by four or five o'clock in the morning. 
 
 It is astonishing that Mr. Charles was en- 
 abled so long to support these incessant 
 
REV. THOMAS CHARLES. 173 
 
 labours, endure the hardships and fatigue of 
 travelling, the danger arising from damp beds, 
 and the severity of the cold, in passing over 
 the mountains : but " the servants of Christ 
 are innnortal till their work is done." He had 
 a most earnest desire to live until the large 
 edition of the Welsh Bible, which he revised 
 witli consummate care and attention, should be 
 finished; " 1 shall then," said he, '' be content 
 to lay my head upon my pillow, and die." His 
 fervent wish was gratified ; he just lived to see 
 its completion ; and the last words he ever 
 wrote Mere — " it is noiv finished." 
 
 Mr. Charles's health had been gradually de- 
 clining for about three years before his decease, 
 owing to an internal injury he received in ojien- 
 ing a gate ; yet he continued his ministerial 
 labours till within a few weeks of his death. 
 The last day he preached was September od, 
 1814, at Machynlleth (where he went for 
 change of air) ; in the morning, on liuke xv. 7, 
 and in the afternoon, on 1 Cor. xvi. ^"2. On 
 his return to Bala, on the 9th, his friends were 
 alarmed at the change of his a])pearance ; and 
 he said to one who helped him to aliglit from 
 the carriage, " 1 am very thankful that the 
 Lord has enabled me to reach home once 
 more ; — and now 1 have nothing to do but to 
 die." Notwithstanding the excruciating pains 
 which he endured from his disorder, not a 
 
174 REV. THOMAS CHARLES. 
 
 murmuring or impatient word dropped from 
 his lips. He said, that he had never thought 
 so much of the sufferings of Christ, as during 
 his illness. His mind was always tranquil, and, 
 at times, very cheerful. The promises were 
 his support. " My flesh and my heart faileth," 
 said he, " but God is the strength of my heart, 
 and my portion for ever." He would often 
 repeat those words in 2 Kings xiii. 14; *' Now 
 Elisha became sick of the sickness whereof he 
 died;" adding, " I know not what the Lord 
 intends to do with me ; but either for life or 
 death, I am in his hands. He is a good mas- 
 ter, and he may do with me what he pleases ; 
 I have given myself to him a thousand times." 
 
 In the week preceding his death, a female 
 domestic, who had lived in the family many 
 years, and who attended him during his illness, 
 was suddenly seized with a typhus fever, which 
 carried her oft' in three days ; at the same time, 
 his eldest son was taken ill, and his recovery 
 seemed very doubtful. These distressing 
 events were perhaps too much for his weak 
 frame. " The Lord," said he, " seems to have 
 his rod in the family ; but it is in the hands of 
 a tender Father." To a friend who called to 
 see him, he said, '* You see we are in the fur- 
 nace; but after we have suffered awhile, we 
 shall come out purified." 
 
 To one who sat up with him, he often said. 
 
REV. THOMAS CHARLES. 175 
 
 " Charles is a poor sinner — nothing but a poor 
 unworthy sinner — but there is forgiveness with 
 God." At another time, he said, " I have 
 settled the few things I had in this world, and 
 have committed my soul to the Lord. I know 
 whom I have believed." While thus deliffhtins: 
 in God, his views of himself were deeply 
 abasing. " When I reflect on my sinfulness," 
 said he, ** my suffering is as nothing." 
 
 On retiring in the evening, he said to Mrs. 
 Charles, on account of whose infirm state of 
 health he expressed much anxiety, — " W^ell, 
 my dear, shall I die, and leave you ? the Lord 
 still lives to take care of you — He cannot die." 
 Early next morning, symptoms appeared, which 
 intimated, that the hour was at hand which 
 was to deprive Wales of one of its brightest 
 ornaments, and the church militant of one of 
 its most faithful, indefatigable, and useful 
 ministers. A shivering fit, with which he had 
 been seized, having subsided, he appeared to 
 be easy, and did not, for a time, utter a word ; 
 when a friend, approaching the bed, said, 
 " Well, Mr. Charles, the day of tribulation is 
 arrived;" to which he hnmediately replied, 
 ** There is a refuge." His breathing now be- 
 came weaker, and soon, without a strujjcrle or 
 a sigh, he fell asleep in Jesus. He departed, 
 October 9th, 1814, having nearly completed 
 the fifty-ninth year of his age. 
 
THE REV. 
 
 CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN, D.D. 
 
 ■ ♦ — 
 
 Claudius Buchanan was born at Cambus- 
 lang, near Glasgow, in 1766. At the age of 
 seven years, he was sent to the grammar-school 
 at Inverary; and when he had but just com- 
 pleted his fourteenth year, was appointed by a 
 gentleman, tutor to his two sons. In the year 
 1782, he left this family, in order to pursue his 
 studies in the university of Glasgow; where, at 
 the age of seventeen, he conceived the romantic 
 design of making the tour of Europe, like Gold- 
 smith, on foot. It was not, however, till nearly 
 four years afterwards, that the unfavourable 
 issue of an imprudent attachment to a lady, supe- 
 rior to himself in birth and fortune, determined 
 him to prosecute his long cherished design. 
 He left Scotland for this purpose in 1787, and his 
 friends supposed him to have gone abroad ; but 
 he continued in London, where he was in a short 
 time reduced to the lowest extreme of wretched- 
 ness and want. At length, however, he became 
 engaged as a clerk with a respectable solicitor 
 
CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN, D.D. 177 
 
 in the city, with whom he remained nearly three 
 years. During this time, he uiihappily hved 
 in the total neglect of religion, and in the pur- 
 suit of vanity. But in the year 1790, he was 
 first impressed with a concern for salvation, 
 by means of conversation with a friend. By 
 the recommendation of his pious mother, lie 
 then went to hear, and subsequently introduced 
 himself to, the venerable John Newton, rector 
 of St. jNIary AN'oolnoth, London. jNIr. N. in- 
 terested himself in the welfare of the young 
 stranger, with his characteristic warmth of be- 
 nevolence ; and in him Buchanan found an en- 
 lightened and faithful counsellor, and a steady 
 friend. The total change thus superinduced 
 in his views and feelings, gave rise to a deter- 
 mination, which his venerable friend was forward 
 to approve, to relinquish the study of the law, 
 and to devote himself to the ministry of the 
 gospel, for which his parents had once designed 
 him. For the accomplishment of this newly 
 awakened desire, he was indebted to the muni- 
 ficent kindness of the late estimal)le Henry 
 Thornton, Esq. who sent him to Queens Col- 
 lege, Cambridge, at his own expense. Here he 
 remained for full four years, under the care of 
 the late excellent Dean Milner, prosecuting his 
 studies with equal zeal and success ; and was 
 eminently useful to some of his fellow-students. 
 In 1794, Mr. Newton made lum the first 
 i3 
 
178 CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN, D.D. 
 
 direct proposal of a voyage to India ; on receiv- 
 ing w^liich, he referred its decision implicitly to 
 Mr. Newton, Mr. Thornton, and Mr. Grant. 
 In 1795, he was ordained by the late Bishop 
 Porteus, and soon after introduced into the 
 Churcli as Curate to Mr. Newton ; but in a few- 
 months he was appointed a chaplain in the ser- 
 vice of the East India Company, in Bengal. He 
 sailed for India, August the 11th, 1796; arrived 
 at Calcutta, March 10th, following; and now 
 found himself, to his extreme mortification, con- 
 signed to a total seclusion from active duty, at a 
 military station at Barrackpore, 16 miles above 
 Calcutta. Here he studied the Hindoostanee 
 and Persian languages ; but complained bitterly 
 of the enervating effect of the climate, on both 
 his body and his mind. 
 
 At length, towards the close of the year 1799, 
 the Marquis Wellesley, then Lord Mornington, 
 appointed Mr. B. a third Chaplain to the Pre- 
 sidency, and he immediately entered on the 
 duties of his office. In the following year, his 
 Lordship desired Mr. B. to draw out a sketch 
 of the constitution of the College, which he was 
 intent upon founding at Fort William, for the in- 
 struction of the young civil servants of the Com- 
 pany in eastern literature and general learning. 
 Of tills college, the Rev. David Brown was ap- 
 pointed Provost, and Mr. Buchanan, Vice- 
 Provost. 
 
CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN, D.D. 179 
 
 We now find him in a station which rekindled 
 all his ardour, deeply interested his feelings, 
 and demanded his utmost talents and exertions. 
 He now preached at one of the churches in Cal- 
 cutta once, and sometimes twice, on a Sunday. 
 In his capacity as Vice-Provost, with which was 
 united the classical professorship, the super- 
 intendence and practical government of the 
 College principally devolved upon him ; besides 
 which, he had to attend to his lectures, an 
 extensive correspondence, and a multiplicity of 
 occasional engagements. His assiduity and dili- 
 gence were most exemplary ; they were prompt- 
 ed by a pure spirit of devotedness to the Gospel, 
 which manifested itself in a constant dissatisfac- 
 tion with the inadequacy of his own exertions. 
 " One thi-,>g urges me," he writes, " to press for- 
 ward with hope : and that is, that all I hear, 
 and all I say, appears to be so very unlike what 
 it ought to be, that I imagine something better 
 might be attempted." Perhaps there was a mix- 
 ture of morbid feeling in this restlessness and 
 dissatisfoetion. It is remarkable, that in the 
 midst of his indefatigable labours, he confesses, 
 that he did not know he ever had what Chris- 
 tians call '* zeal." If so, however, the strength 
 and consistency of his principles, and the noble 
 elevation of his character, were but the more 
 fully evinced by this circumstance, that he had 
 to toil through all his performances with a 
 
180 CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN, D.D. 
 
 languid and heartless constitution, as he himself 
 describes it, both in body and mind, which made 
 him bear easily Avith all things, and have little 
 pleasure in any thing. He gave a most amiable 
 proof of the genuine excellence of his character, 
 when in the year 1802, his income being now 
 considerably enlarged, he authorized his aged 
 mother to draw upon his agents for 300/. an- 
 nually I and further, when he remitted to his 
 early patron, Mr. H. Thornton, 400/. as the 
 amount of what he had expended on Mr. Bu- 
 chanan's account during his residence at college. 
 *' He never expected that I should repay him," 
 he says ; " but God has put it in my power, and 
 therefore it is my duty." In addition to this 
 sum, he resolved to devote 500/. to the support 
 of a young man at the University, of re'igious 
 character and good ability, who might be in the 
 circumstances of poverty, in which he had once 
 himself been placed. 
 
 Dr. Buchanan now projected a work on " The 
 Expediency of an Ecclesiastical Establishment 
 in India," which he afterwards pubhshed ; and 
 his project has since been carried into effect by 
 the British Government. 
 
 He had not long been here, before he also 
 projected a tour, which might materially serve 
 the cause of true religion and of the Scriptures. 
 The su})erintendants of the above college had, 
 before this period, entered into correspondence 
 
CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN, D.D. 181 
 
 with intelli<jcnt persons, in order to ascertain 
 the state of Christianity and of superstition in 
 Asia ; but the accounts received were, in many 
 instances, so vague and contradictory, that they 
 coukl not well be reconciled, much less de- 
 pended upon. Dr. Buchanan therefore, con- 
 ceived the design of devoting the last year 
 or two of his residence in the East, to purposes 
 of local investigation and inquiry. With this 
 view he travelled through the Peninsula by 
 land, from Calcutta to Cape Comorin, a con- 
 tinent extending through 14 degrees of lati- 
 tude, and visited Ceylon thrice ; and he soon 
 discovered that a person might reside all his 
 life in Bengal, and yet know almost as little 
 of other countries in India, (for instance, of 
 Travancore, Ceylon, Goa, or INIadras, of their 
 manners, customs, habits, and religion,) as if he 
 had never left England. The principal objects 
 of this tour were to investigate the state of su- 
 perstition at the most celebrated temples of the 
 Hindoos ; to examine the churches and libraries 
 of the Romish, Syrian, and Protestant Chris- 
 tians ; to ascertain the present state and recent 
 history of the Jews in the East ; and to discover 
 what persons might be fit instruments for 
 the promotion of learning in their respective 
 countries, and for maintaining a future corre- 
 spondence on the subject of disseminating the 
 Scriptures in India. In pursuit of these objects, 
 he visited the whole eastern and western coasts of 
 
182 CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN, D.D. 
 
 the Peninsula, Ceylon, and the interior of Tra- 
 vancore, and of Malabar ; also seven principal 
 temples of the Hindoos. After this tour he 
 returned to Calcutta, where he remained about 
 three quarters of a year longer, and then 
 visited the Jews and Syrian Christians in Mala- 
 bar and Travancore a second time, before his 
 return to England. 
 
 The Doctor's visit to the Inquisition at Goa, 
 1808, discovers a degree of fortitude and courage 
 not often met with in the clerical profession. 
 Soon after this, he returned to England. He 
 had designed to come over land, to visit 
 Mesopotamia and Judea : but was dissuaded, 
 on account of the unsettled state of many of 
 the countries he would have to pass throufyh. 
 The important results of his journies in the east 
 were afterwards communicated to the world in 
 his " Christian Researches in Asia ; " a book 
 replete with interest to every real Christian, 
 and which doubtless contributed much to pro- 
 mote the great cause of missions to the Heathen 
 in India, and other eastern countries. 
 
 After his return, he intimated a wish to make 
 a second eastern tour to Mesopotamia and the 
 Holy Land. In the former country, he had the 
 names of 100 churches which he had a desire 
 to see, and afterwards to visit the Syriac press 
 at Mount Lebanon, to touch at Alexandria, 
 from thence to proceed to Greece, and the Isles 
 of the Archipelago ; and the whole with the 
 
CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN, D.D. 183 
 
 same views of encouraging sacred literature, 
 and the circulating of the Scriptures. The de- 
 bihtated state of his health, however, not per- 
 mittmg him to undertake this journey, he em- 
 ployed himself usefully in promoting the same 
 cause at home. Latterly he retired to the village 
 of Broxbourne, and devoted usually nine hours 
 a day, to prepare an edition of the Syriac 
 Scriptures, for the use of the Syrian Christians 
 in India. In January, 1815, he was sunnnoned 
 to attend the grave of his friend and patron, 
 Henry Thornton, Esq. ; and on the ninth of the 
 next month, he was called suddenly to follow 
 him to the world of happy spirits, at the age of 
 forty-eight years ; but if the length of his life 
 were calculated from the number and variety 
 of his services in the cause of religion, he must 
 be pronounced much older. 
 
 As to his character, it is already so well 
 established, both for piety and learning, as to 
 need no encomium. He was "a burning and 
 a shining light," and a signal blessing to the 
 nations of the Ivist. His humility and piety 
 will appear in the following extract from his will. 
 
 " I commit my soul and body to Jesus Christ, 
 the Saviour of lost sinners, of which sinners I 
 am one, — the chief of sinners : but 1 truest I have 
 obtained mercy ; and I look for eternal salva- 
 tion through the obedience of Christ unto death, 
 even the death of the cross. 1 account the 
 
184 CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN, D.D. 
 
 origin of my salvation to be the love of God the 
 Father, who loved my soul in Christ before the 
 foundation of the world. I renounce all works 
 as a claim of merit. All my works have been 
 mixed and sullied with sin and imperfection. 
 Whatever has been acceptable to God is his 
 own, even the work of his Holy Spirit ; it is 
 not mine. Glory be to the Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen." 
 
THE REV. ANDREW FULLER. 
 
 Andrew Fuller was the son of pious 
 parents, Robert and Philippa Fuller, both 
 Cal\ iiiistic Dissenters ; and the latter, who 
 survived liini, eminent for piety. At the time 
 of his birth, Feb. 6, 17 5i; his father occu- 
 pied a little farm at Wicken, a small village in 
 Cambridgeshire. He was not indebted either 
 to eminence of birth, or to fortunate patron- 
 age, for any part of his subsequent rej)utation. 
 His earlier years were diversilied only by the 
 commission of crimes and follies too common 
 to childhood and youth ; succeeded by those 
 moral convictions, sometimes deepened into 
 horror and remorse, which often result from 
 the natural operations of conscience. As to 
 his education, which was received at the Free 
 School of Soham, it was confined to the com- 
 mon course of reading, writing, and accounts. 
 So little indication did his early ytars afford of 
 his future excellence and usefulness. 
 
186 REV. ANDREW FULLER. 
 
 In his sixteenth year, his convictions had 
 assumed a more enhghtened and commanding 
 character, and they issued eventually in his 
 cordially embracing the doctrine and the pro- 
 mise of the gospel, He attributes to the 
 preaching which he then heard, the prolonga- 
 tion of the terror and disquietude with which 
 the deep consciousness of his guilt had filled 
 his mind. " If, at that time," to use his own 
 impressive language, " I had known that any 
 poor sinner mig/it warrantably have trusted in 
 the Saviour of sinners for salvation, I conceive 
 I should have done so, and found rest to my 
 soul sooner than I did." The sufterings of 
 his mind under the agitation produced by these 
 distressing exercises, seem to have qualified 
 him to state with distinctness, as he afterwards 
 did, the errors and disadvantages of the system 
 from which they emanated. 
 
 The following year introduced him into the 
 Baptist Church at Soham. He entered into 
 this connexion with all the ardent eagerness 
 and affection of a recent convert. It afforded 
 him considerable pleasure, but proved to be of 
 very transient duration. A division in the 
 church, amounting almost to a dissolution, 
 shortly ensued. By slow and progressive 
 steps, he was led to settle as their minister 
 among the few members that remained. — 
 The first seven years of his pastoral labours 
 
REV. ANDREW FULLER. 187 
 
 were spent in the retirement and obsenrity of 
 Soliani, cuul among a people who were few in 
 number, and whose means were incompetent 
 to his support. It was during his residence 
 here, that he imbibed these views which are 
 conspicuous in *' The Gospel worthy of all 
 acce})tation." Hitherto, he had been the 
 discii)le of Gill and Brine; but, perceiving a 
 discordancy l)etween some of their leading 
 sentiments and the sacred writings, he sedu- 
 lously prosecuted his inquiries, concerning 
 the points on which they differed, and they 
 eventually terminated in his renouncing his ad- 
 herence to the peculiar opinions of these two 
 writers. About this tune jMr. F. became ac- 
 quainted with Mr. Hall, of Arnsby, who 
 rec(mimended to him the work of President 
 Edwards on the ^^'ill, from which he derived 
 great advantage. A corresponding change in 
 the character of his pi'caching naturally re- 
 sulted from the change his religious sentiments 
 had undergone. At this time, also, several 
 other theological questions of minor importance 
 passed under his review, and in the retreat of 
 a country village he gave them a serious and 
 ample consideration, ever seeking to form his 
 sentiments, by a patient and cautious investi- 
 gation of the Scriptures, and earnest prayer 
 for divine direction. 
 
 Mr. F. had married, in 1776, an amiable 
 
188 REV. ANDREW FULLER. 
 
 young woman of the church in Soham ; and 
 in the same year he acquired two most valuable 
 friends, the late Mr. SutclifFe, of Olney, and 
 the late Dr. Ryland, of Bristol, who formed 
 together " a lovely triumvirate," *' a threefold 
 cord," which death alone could break. 
 
 In the year 1782, he removed to Kettering, 
 in Northamptonshire. It would seem, that 
 Providence had been wisely preparing him, in 
 his former retreat, for this wider sphere of 
 action. His judgment had been exercised 
 and strengthened, and his powers of action 
 had acquired a maturity which qualified him 
 to discharge with success the arduous duties 
 that attached to the distinguished situation in 
 which he was about to be placed. 
 
 The year 1792 was a year replete with 
 interest to Mr. Fuller and to India. In the 
 office of Secretary to the Baptist Mission, 
 which originated at that time, his energetic 
 mind found an object commensurate with its 
 almost boundless capacity and ardour. In the 
 pursuit of the objects connected with the 
 welfare of this mission, he found his highest 
 joy, and, eventvially, his grave. The labours 
 which the barren years of this mission, as well 
 as its future periods of success and extension, 
 occasioned to Mr. F., it is not easy to enumerate. 
 They were witnessed by others, and heard of 
 from them, though he dwelt little upon them 
 
REV. ANDREW FULLER. 18f) 
 
 in his own conversation. But the consulta- 
 tions which he held — the correspondence he 
 maintained — the personal solicitations which 
 he employed — the contributions he collected — 
 the management of these and other funds — 
 the selection, probation, and improvement of 
 intending missionaries — the works which he 
 composed and compiled on these subjects — the 
 discourses he delivered — and ^he journies he 
 accomplished, to extend the knowledge and to 
 promote the welfare of the mission, required 
 energy almost unequalled. In short, the his- 
 tory of his life, for the last three and twenty 
 years of it, was so completely identilied with 
 that of the mission, that all its principal 
 transactions must be referred to his agency. 
 He was of himself a host, and no one man 
 could supply his place. AMiile his health was 
 constantly impaired by the greatness of his 
 exertions, he persevered in them with un- 
 abating ardour to the very last. He appears, 
 mdeed, to have expected that these labours 
 would have cost him his life, but it affected 
 him not ; and had it not been for the unusual 
 strength and vigour of his constitution, he 
 would have fallen a sacrifice much sooner than 
 he did. 
 
 After some months of previous indisposition, 
 the arduous and truly honourable career of 
 this excellent man, terminated on the morning 
 
190 REV. ANDREW FULLER. 
 
 of the Lord's clay, May the 7th, 1815. As 
 his end drew near, he complained of great 
 depression and sinking, saying, he must die. 
 A friend replied, " I know of no person. Sir, 
 who is in a more happy situation than yourself; 
 a good man, on the verge of a blessed im- 
 mortality." Mr. F. humbly acquiesced, and 
 hoped it was so. He afterwards lifted up his 
 hands, and exclaimed, " I have been a great 
 sinner ; and if I am saved, it must be by great 
 and sovereign grace, — b?j great ami sovereign 
 grace! And to another friend he said, " I 
 have no religious joys, but I have a hope in the 
 strength of which I think I could iilunge into 
 eternity." At other times, he said, " I am 
 not dismayed. My God, my Saviour, my 
 Refuge, to thee I commit my spirit. Take me 
 to thyself; bless those I leave behind." — " In 
 nothing," said Mr. Toller, '* can I so fully 
 join issue with him, as in the manner of his 
 dying. Had he gone off full of rapture and 
 transport, I might have said, ' O ! let me die 
 the triumphant death of the righteous !' But 
 it would have been far more than I could have 
 realized or expected in my own case ; but the 
 state of his mind towards the last appears to 
 have been, if I may so express it, ' after my 
 own heart.' lie died as a penitent sinner at the 
 foot of the cross." 
 
 As a preacher, Mr. Fuller was always prac- 
 
REV. ANDREW FULLER. 191 
 
 tical ; but his practical exhortations were always 
 founded on evangelical principles. His ex- 
 positions were clear, simple, natural; and his 
 addresses to the conscience, close, pungent, 
 and often eminently patlietic. 
 
 As an author, he possessed much originahty, 
 simplicity, and perspicuity. His reasoning Mas 
 forcible, his propositions were guarded, and 
 his inferences naturally deduced. He called no 
 man master, yet he never affected singularity, 
 but endeavoured to confine himself to the 
 simplicity of Scripture. His writings, chiefly 
 controversial, were of the most valuable cast. 
 Tlie first controversy which particularly ex- 
 cited his attention, was that which is called 
 The Modern Question, and produced his " Gos- 
 pel worthy of all Acceptation ;" the object of 
 which is to enforce on all men their obligation 
 to believe and embrace it; to repel the idle 
 excuse of men who have no uill to do so, that 
 they want the power, and to shew that the 
 impediment rests wholly with themselves. On 
 this occasion, he was attacked both by friends 
 and foes. The former were alarmed at his 
 supposed inclination to Arminianism, and the 
 Arminians would gladly have claimed him as 
 their own. But he had founded his system on 
 the rock of the Scriptures, and from thence he 
 could not be removed. '* When," says Mr. 
 Fuller, " 1 first ]niblished my treatise on tlie 
 
192 REV. ANDREW FULLER. 
 
 nature of faith, and the duty of all men who 
 hear the gospel to believe it, the Christian 
 profession had sunk into contempt among us; 
 insomuch, that had matters gone on but a few 
 years longer, the Baptists would have become 
 a perfect dunghill in society." It was among 
 the best effects of this controversy, that men 
 were directed more to the study of the Scrip- 
 tures ; and, for models of preaching, to the 
 practice of Christ and his Apostles. 
 
 His next attack was on Socinianism, in 
 1792, and that upon grounds somewhat new. 
 Others had shewn the system to be anti-scrip- 
 tural; he endeavoured to shew, by the con- 
 fession of its own writers, its defect in " moral 
 tendency," and that it was as contrary to the 
 spirit as to the letter of the gospel. This 
 masterly work attracted the admiration of all 
 the friends of vital and evangelical religion, 
 and was severely felt by the Socinians, or Uni- 
 tarians, as they now choose to be denominated. 
 Although more than thirty years have elapsed 
 since its first publication, no answer to it, 
 deserving the name, has been pi'oduced by 
 the party against which it is directed. 
 
 In 1800, our author attacked the strong- 
 holds of Deism, in his work, entitled " The 
 Gospel its own Witness ;" in which he de- 
 monstrated, that the grand objection of infidels 
 is to the purity of the gospel. The system of 
 
REV. ANDREW FULLER. 
 
 193 
 
 '* Universal Salvation" now successfully en- 
 gaged his attention, in opposition to Mr. Vidler. 
 In 1810, he devoted a duodecimo volume to 
 the subject of Sandemanianism, and is thought 
 to have bestowed more pains on it than per- 
 haps on any of his other works. Mr. F. also, 
 with the assistance of a learned friend, wrote 
 an unanswerable defence of missions, under 
 the modest title of an Apology, which was 
 occasioned by the opposition of some of the 
 directors and servants of the East-India Com- 
 pany. But his writings were not all contro- 
 versial. His remarks on the first and fast 
 books of the Bible have been printed in three 
 volumes, the latter but just before his death, 
 and are in high esteem. Besides, he was the 
 author of a variety of single sermons, tracts, 
 memoirs, and contributions to different peri- 
 odical works, all more or less valuable. 
 
 The character of Mr. F. cannot be better 
 estimated than in the following dehneation of 
 it by a writer of first-rate eminence, Mr. R. 
 Hall— who, speaking of Mr. Fuller, describes 
 him as a *' man, whose sagacity enabled him to 
 penetrate to the depths of every subject he ex- 
 plored, whose conceptions were so powerful and 
 luminous, that what was doubtful and original, 
 appeared familiar; what was intricate, easy 
 and perspicuous in his hands ; e(iually success- 
 ful in enforcing the practical, stating the theo- 
 
 VOL. I, K 
 
194 REV. ANDREW FULLER. 
 
 retical, and discussing tlie polemical branches 
 of theology ; M'ithout the advantage of early 
 education, he rose to high distinction among 
 the religious writers of his day ; and, in the 
 midst of a most active and laborious life, left 
 monumerits of his piety and genius, which 
 will survive to distant posterity. Were I 
 making his eulogium, I should dwell on the 
 spotless integrity of his private life, his fidelity 
 in friendship, his neglect of self-interest, his 
 ardent attachment to truth, and especially the 
 series of unceasing labours and exertions, in 
 superintending the mission to India, to which 
 he most probably fell a victim. He had no- 
 thing feeble or undecisive in his character, but 
 to every undertaking in which he was engaged, 
 he brought all the powers of hi^ understanding, 
 all the energies of his heart ; and if he were 
 less distinguished by the comprehension, than 
 the acumen and solidity of his thoughts, — less 
 eminent for the gentler graces, than for stern 
 integrity and native grandeur of mind, we have 
 only to remember the necessary limitations of 
 human excellence." * 
 
 ♦ Hall's Terms of Communion, Preface, pp. 6, 7. 
 
TIMOTHY DWIGIIT, D. D. 
 
 Endowed by nature with uncommon talents, 
 enriched, by industry and research, with valu- 
 able and diversified attainments, amiable and 
 consistent in his private life, and eminently 
 useful in the discharge of his professional 
 duties, Dr. Dwight is indisputably entitled to 
 rank among the very first men of the age. 
 
 He was liorn at Northampton, in the county 
 of Hampshire, and state of Massachusetts, on 
 the 4th of May, 1752. His fatlier was, by pro- 
 fession, a merchant, and owned a handsome 
 estate in the town in which he lived. He was 
 a man of sound imderstanding, of fervent 
 piety, and of great purity of life. His mother 
 was the third daughter of Jonathan Edwards, 
 for many years the minister of Northampton, 
 and afterwards President of Nassau Hall; 
 well known as one of the ablest divines of the 
 last century. With a mind originally vigorous 
 and discriminating, she had been accustomed, 
 k2 
 
196 TIMOTHY DWIGHT, D. D. 
 
 from her infancy, to the conversation of literary 
 men, who resorted in great numbers to her 
 father's house ; and thus was she forcibly taught 
 the importance of that learning, the effects of 
 which she had so often the opportunity of wit- 
 nessing. It was a maxim with her (the sound- 
 ness of which her own observation through life 
 fully confirmed), that children generally lose 
 several years, in consequence of being con- 
 sidered by their friends as too young to be 
 taught. She pursued a different course with 
 her son : she began to instruct him almost as 
 soon as he was able to speak ; and such was his 
 eagerness, as well as capacity, for improvement, 
 that he learned the alphabet at a single lesson ; 
 and, before he was four years old, was able to 
 read the Bible with ease and correctness. 
 With the benefit of his father's example before 
 him, enforced and recommended by the pre- 
 cepts of his mother, he was sedulously in- 
 structed in the doctrines of religion, as well as 
 in the whole circle of moral duties. She taught 
 him, from the very dawn of his reason, to fear 
 God and keep his commandments ; to be con- 
 scientiously just, kind, affectionate, charitable, 
 and forgiving ; to preserve, on all occasions, 
 and under all circumstances, the most sacred 
 regard to truth ; to relieve the distresses and 
 sup})ly the wants of the poor and unfortunate. 
 She aimed at a very early period to enlighten 
 
TIMOTHY DWIGHT, D. D. 197 
 
 his conscience; to make him afraid to sin, and 
 to teach him to hope for pardon only through 
 the righteousness of Christ. The impressions 
 thus made upon his mind in infancy, were never 
 erased. A great proportion of the instruction 
 he received hefore he arrived at the age of six 
 years, was at home with his mother. Her 
 school-room was the nursery. There he had 
 his regular hours for study ; and twice every 
 day she heard him repeat his lesson. Here, 
 in addition to his stated task, he watched the 
 cradle of his younger brothers. When his 
 lesson was recited, he was permitted to read 
 such hooks as he chose, until the limited period 
 expired. During these intervals, he often 
 read over the historical parts of the Bible, and 
 gave an account of them to his mother. So 
 deep and distinct was the impression which 
 these narrations then made upon his mind, that 
 their minutest incidents were indehbly fixed 
 upon his memory. 
 
 With such advantages, young Dwight made 
 rapid and extraordinary advances in every kind 
 of knowledge to which his attention was turned. 
 At school, he was always the first, though the 
 youngest, of his class. Before he had reached 
 the age of seven, he had twice studied through 
 Lilly's Latin Grammar, by borrowing the 
 books of the elder boys, while they were at 
 play. Besides acquiring, at an early period. 
 
198 TIMOTHY DWIGHT, D. D. 
 
 a very accurate and extensive acquaintance 
 with the Roman and Greek classics, he studied, 
 with great assiduity and pleasure, ancient and 
 modern history, geography, and astronomy. It 
 is but seldom that we find the same person 
 equally fitted to cultivate the Parnassian re- 
 gions of taste, and to toil in the mine of meta- 
 physics, or to excel in the sublimer departments 
 of philosophy. In the present instance, how- 
 ever, these rare endowments were combined. 
 While Dwiglit relished the beauties of Homer 
 and Virgil, he could enter into the abstract 
 reasonings of Locke, and master the Principia 
 of Newton. He became himself a poet of no 
 mean rank, and a mathematician of very re- 
 spectable attainments. But, however distin- 
 guished as a scholar, it is with far more lively 
 and agreeable emotions, that we contem- 
 plate his character as a Christian. We see 
 here exhibited the regular process and incal- 
 culable importance of a religious education. 
 
 At the age of thirteen, Timothy Dwight was 
 admitted a member of Yale College. We can 
 scarcely conceive of a more perilous situation ; 
 and had not his mental constitution been 
 admirably fortified, the contagion which sur- 
 rounded him must have proved of fatal conse- 
 quence. Infidel principles, and theu* usual 
 attendants, levity and profligacy, prevailed in 
 the college to an alarming extent. The 
 
TIMOTHY DWIGHT, D. D. 199 
 
 Students spent much time in various kinds of 
 loose amusement and dissipation, particularly 
 gaming. Our scholar was not, it seems, entirely 
 exempt from the contaminating influence of this 
 fashionable folly; yet he happily escaped, with- 
 out having either his principles shaken, or his 
 moral conduct stained. But some who can re- 
 fuse the sweets of Circe's fascinating cup, are 
 speedily intoxicated with the love of fame. 
 Young Dwightwas indeed soon brought to ano- 
 ther test, which strikingly evinced the power of 
 religion over his mind. After far outstripping 
 his rivals in the career of literature, and being 
 called to become a tutor in the college, at the 
 early age of nineteen, an office which he filled 
 with high credit to himself, and great advan- 
 tage to the seminary, he heard the painful 
 intelligence of his father's death, and saw it 
 his duty to resign a situation so congenial with 
 all his feelings, so flattering to all his hopes, 
 and to take the charge of his mother and a 
 numerous family. In this situation he past 
 five years of the most interesting period of his 
 life, performing, in an exemplary manner, the 
 office of a son, and of a brother and guardian 
 to the younger children. While he resided at 
 Northampton with his mother, the hihabitants 
 shewed a strong inclination to employ him in 
 civil life. Twice he consented to serve the 
 town, as their representative in the state 
 
200 TIMOTHY DWIGHT, D.D. 
 
 legislature. But though he possessed talents for 
 business, which might have raised him to notice 
 in the political world, yet his heart was too much 
 set upon literary pursuits, and the work of 
 the Christian ministry, to be satisfied with any 
 prospects, however flattering, of secular honour 
 and emolument. 
 
 In May, 1795, upon the death of Dr. Stiles, 
 he was, highly to the satisfaction of all classes, 
 elected to be President of Yale College. This 
 was a situation in which he was eminently 
 adapted to serve his country, by advancing the 
 interest of both learning and religion. At the 
 time Dr. Dwight entered upon his arduous 
 office, the students were deeply and deplo- 
 rably infected with infidelity. All discussions 
 connected with the authority or evidence of 
 revealed religion had been previously avoided. 
 This led the students to believe that their 
 instructors were afraid to meet the question 
 fairly, and that Christianity was not founded 
 on argument. One of tlie questions now pre- 
 sented by the first division of the college was 
 this, ** Are the Scriptures of the Old and New 
 Testament the word of God ?" — To their sur- 
 prise, the President selected it for discussion ; 
 told them to write on which side they pleased, 
 as he should not impute to them any sentiments 
 they advanced as their own ; and requested 
 those who should write on the negative side of 
 
TIMOTHY DWIGIIT, D.D. 201 
 
 the question, to collect and bring forward all the 
 facts and arguments they could procure ; enjoin- 
 ing it upon them, however, to treat the subject 
 with becoming respect and reverence. Most, if 
 not all of the members of the first division, came 
 forward as the champions of infidelity. When 
 they had finished the discussion, he first ex- 
 amined the ground they had taken ; trium- 
 phantly refuted their arguments ; proved to 
 them that their statement of facts was mis- 
 taken or irrelevant ; and, to their astonishment, 
 convinced them, that their accjuaintance with 
 the subject Mas wholly superficial. After this, 
 he entered into a direct defence of the divine 
 origin of Christianity, in a strain of powerful 
 argument and animated eloquence, which no- 
 thing could resist. — The effect upon the stu- 
 dents was electrical. From that time, infidelity 
 was not only without a strong-hold, but without 
 a lurking place. To espouse her cause was 
 now as unpopular, as before it had been to pro- 
 fess a belief in Christianity. Lnable to endure 
 the exposure of argument, she fled from the 
 retreats of learning, ashamed and disgraced. 
 
 In consequence of the system of discipline 
 estabhshed, the order and decorum maintained, 
 and the spirit of emulation excited by him, the 
 number of students increased in a short tune, 
 from one hundred and ten to more than three 
 hundred. His authority did not assume an air 
 k3 
 
^^ TIMOTHY DWIGIIT, D. D. 
 
 of arrogance and repulsive sternness, nor break 
 forth in oracular and dictatorial lansuage, or 
 acrimonious and sarcastic accents. His deport- 
 ment was grave and dignified, yet mild, affable, 
 kind and condescending ; such were his faith- 
 fulness, prudence, gentleness, and affection, in 
 reproving, advising, and encouraging his pu- 
 pils, that he acquired the honourable appellation 
 qftJie young maris friend. 
 
 We shall now briefly notice the character of 
 Dr. Dwight, as a preacher and professor of 
 theology. In the commencement of his minis- 
 try, at Greenfield, notwithstanding the various 
 and important engagements connected with the 
 tuition of youth committed to his care, by almost 
 incredible industry, he found time regularly to 
 compose two sermons every week. At the 
 age of twenty-three, he was visited by a Cida- 
 mity, which, to one so passionately fond of 
 books, must have been felt as a very heavy 
 affliction. His eyes, which had been previously 
 vfeakened by intense application, was so much 
 injured by the small-pox, that he could never 
 afterwards, to the end of his life, read or write 
 more than a few minutes at a time. He was 
 then compelled to prepare for the pulpit short 
 notes only, and to depend on the promptitude 
 of his own mind for the choice of expressions, 
 when the discourses were delivered. At a 
 later period, he had an amanuensis, who 
 
TIMOTHY DWIGIIT, D. D. 203 
 
 penned from his lips the sennons which have 
 been given to the pubhc, with many others yet 
 unpubhshed. Nor can we forbear to mention 
 the sinirular command which he had over his 
 mental faculties; for when interrupted, if pro- 
 priety did not forbid, he would proceed with 
 two trains of thought by the hour together ; 
 conversing with company, and also dictating to 
 his amanuensis. As a preacher, Dr. D. is said 
 to have been distinguished by the originality 
 and copiousness of his ideas ; the simplicity, 
 force, and fitness of his language; the dignity, 
 propriety, and seriousness of his manner. 
 There was in his pulpit addresses, a freedom, 
 a fervor, a pathos, a power, an unction, rarely 
 equalled, and never surpassed, by any of his 
 countrymen or contemporaries. A sermon 
 preached by him from Jer. viii. 20. " The 
 harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we 
 are not saved," will never be forgotten by 
 those who heard it. In two instances the 
 delivery of it was obviously the commencement 
 of a revival of religion among his pupils ; in the 
 first of which, nearly half of them were united 
 to the college church. Similar consequences 
 have been ascribed to the delivery of it on two 
 other occasions in difi'erent places. 
 
 In this short biographical sketch, it is mani- 
 festly impossible to enlarge on the merits of 
 Dr. Dwight as a professor of theology. It is 
 
204 TIMOTHY DWIGHT, D. D. 
 
 evident, however, that while he made frequent 
 and successful excursions into the vast and 
 varied regions of learning and science, divinity 
 was the province in which he always found 
 himself thoroughly at home. This was the 
 favourite field, which duty and inclination 
 prompted him to explore with unwearied dili- 
 gence, and to cultivate with exquisite delight. 
 His theological lectures, which have already 
 passed through several English and American 
 editions, will be a lasting monument to his 
 fame, and a lasting benefit to the church. 
 
 Dr. Dwight continued to discharge the 
 duties of his station, both as a minister, and as 
 the president of the college, to the age of sixty- 
 five, when, after a lingering and painful illness, 
 he expired in peace and triumph, on the 11th 
 of January, 1817. 
 
THE REV. JOHN FAWCETT, D. D. 
 
 Was born near Bradford in Yorkshire, in the 
 year 1740. His early hfe was chiefly remark- 
 able for an intense love of reading : and though 
 his fathers limited number of books afforded 
 but little scope to his literary taste, yet those 
 to which, through other channels, he could 
 gain access, were diligently and constantly 
 perused. He was afterwards assisted in the 
 acquirement of the Latin language, and with 
 the loan of some valuable books in divinity, by 
 Bonie intimate friends. 
 
 It does not appear that he received the bless- 
 ing of vital religion till Mr. \\ hitefield visited 
 that part of the country where he resided, and 
 revived the almost expiring flame of Chris- 
 tianity, which had shone so brilliantly there in 
 the days of the first nonconformists. Shortly 
 after this, he became acquainted with the non- 
 conformist controversy, and gradually lost his 
 predilection for the EstabUshmcnt. Under 
 
206 JOHN FAWCETT, D. D. 
 
 the preaching of a Mr. Crabtree, the first 
 pastor of a new Society formed in Bradford, 
 his views on baptism experienced a change ; he 
 was accordingly immersed, and became a mem- ' 
 ber of that body. He continued to indulge, 
 with unabated ardour, his strong attachment 
 to learning. So insatiable was his thirst for 
 information, that the purchase of books led him 
 occasionally into pecuniary embarrassments. 
 
 In the year 1764, having for some time 
 previously exercised his talents as a public 
 speaker in a more private manner, he accepted 
 the pastoral charge of a small congregation at 
 Wainsgate, where he laboured with so much 
 success, that the neighbouring population, 
 whose character had before but too much 
 resembled the barren and uncultivated country 
 in which they dwelt, underwent a pleasing and 
 propitious change. 
 
 In 177o, by the advice of Messrs. Evans and 
 Ryland, and other gentlemen of the Antipa^do- 
 baptist body, Mr. F. in conjunction with Mr. 
 J. Sandys, was induced to undertake the tui- 
 tion of young men for the ministry of the gos- 
 pel. This plan met with considerable success, 
 and many young men were sent out from under 
 their instructions, who reflected great credit 
 upon the talents and assiduity of their tutors, 
 among whom was Mr. Ward, the late Mis- 
 sionary in the East. 
 
JOHN FAWCETT, D. D. 207 
 
 Mr. Fawcett's labours becoming increasingly 
 useful, and his congregation more numerous, a 
 new and more commodious meeting-house was 
 Erected, in tlie year 1777, in the neighbouring 
 village of Hebdenbridge, to which he removed, 
 and where he continued his labours to the day 
 of his dissolution. In 1811, he was honoured 
 with the degree of Doctor in Divinity by one of 
 the American Universities. After this pei'iod, 
 he gradually declined in health ; and having 
 experienced a succession of attacks, about the 
 middle of the year 1817, he expired, after a few 
 days of languishing pain, aged 77 years. To 
 his last hours, he joined in those prayers which 
 his affectionate friends offered at his bed-side, 
 and exclaimed, shortly before his departure, 
 " Come, Lord Jesus ! come quickly." One of 
 his friends having said, *' There remaincth a 
 rest for the people of God," he finished his 
 testimony to the truths he had believed and 
 preached, by exclaiming, " O receive me to thy 
 children !" 
 
 Dr. Fawcett was a devoted and zealous 
 servant of his divine iMaster. The energies of 
 his soul were exclusively directed to the ex- 
 tension of the kingdom of Christ, and, in this 
 respect, perhaps, no individual in that part of 
 England was more honourably conspicuous. 
 As an author, he was nuicli above mediocrity. 
 His Essay on Anger is generally the most 
 
208 JOHN FAWCETT, D. D. 
 
 esteemed of his works. His Life of Oliver 
 Heywood is an interesting and able memoir, 
 and highly instructive to ministers. The X)e- 
 votional Family Bible has long maintained a 
 high reputation as an excellent and judicious 
 summary of elucidations of the sacred volume. 
 His other smaller works have been rendered 
 extensively useful, particularly his tract entitled 
 The History of John Wise. 
 
THE REV. JEIIOIADA BREWER, 
 
 OF BIRMINGHAM. 
 
 Few men were more eminently endowed by 
 nature and by grace, for a life of usefulness, 
 than the late Jehoiada Brewer; and few mi- 
 nisters of the present generation, have been 
 indulged with a larger share of success. 
 
 He was born at Newport, in Monmouth- 
 shire, about the year 1752. His family was 
 highly respectable. Having obtained clear and 
 scriptural views of the method of salvation, 
 under the ministry of the Rev. Mr. Glascott, 
 who M as preaching at the chapel of the Coun- 
 tess of Huntingdon, in Bath; he first laboured 
 in the villages around that city, and afterwards 
 preached, with remarkable popularity, through- 
 out Monmouthshire and the surrounding coun- 
 ties. His intention, at this time, was to enter 
 the national church ; and he studied under a 
 clergyman to recover his classical knowledge 
 
210 REV. J2H0IADA BREWER. 
 
 acquired at school, and to prepare himself for 
 taking orders ; but was diverted from this plan 
 by the positive refusal of ordination, and com- 
 pelled, if he would preach the gospel, on which 
 his heart was set, to exercise his ministry among 
 Protestant Dissenters. The grounds on which 
 the bishop refused, were, that his sentiments 
 were Calvinistic, his spirit too methodistical, 
 and his practice irregular, since he had already 
 preached. It was the privilege of Rodborough, 
 in Gloucestershire, to enjoy his ministrations 
 for a few years. Here he was greatly be- 
 loved, and very useful. He afterwards I'aised 
 a large and flourishing congregation, from a 
 very small one, at Sheffield, where he spent 
 thirteen years, and ultimately settled at Bir- 
 mingliam, where his ministry was numerously 
 attended, and with increasing usefulness, even 
 to its close. After a very gradual decline of 
 health for two or three years, on the 2kh of 
 August, 1817, he gently died away, sleeping in 
 Jesus. 
 
 He possessed a strong and vigorous under- 
 standing, and a large share of firmness and 
 decision of character. His feelings were quick 
 and susceptible : in his friendships he was ardent 
 and sincere. He was a man of strict integrity, 
 of great moral worth : he had a high sense of 
 honour, in its best acceptation, and was the 
 decided and mortal enemy of every thing like 
 
REV. JEIIOIADA BREWER. 211 
 
 duplicity and meanness. He was, — what his 
 friends have often heard him admire and com- 
 mend, — a truly honest man. This, too, was a 
 leading feature of his ministry : he held forth 
 the word of life in no equivocal or suspicious 
 tones; he gave the trumpet no uncertain sound. 
 He spoke as he believed ; he believed as he 
 spoke ; for he ever aimed, not to please the 
 corrupt fancies and depraved tastes of men, but 
 to reach their consciences, and save their souls. 
 The most stupid and careless could scarcely 
 hear him without feeling, without trembling. 
 His words were as goads, they pierced like 
 arrows, and rankled in the heart. It was not 
 either the beauty of his imagery, or the richness 
 of his taste or language, which attracted and 
 secured the attention of his audience, though 
 his illustrations were often pecuharly striking, 
 and his language was generally correct, strong, 
 and nervous. No ; it was the vigour, the 
 fervour, the directness of his address, the so- 
 lemnity and eai'nestness of his manner, wliich 
 arrested the heart and conscience, and inte- 
 rested the feelings of the hearer, and made him 
 sensible that he was the person intended and 
 addressed. A favourite sentiment of his, and 
 often alluded to by him, was this: *' A\ hen a 
 man preaches as he ought, he goes direct to 
 the conscience, instead of stooping to trifle with 
 the imagination." 
 
212 REV. JEHOIADA BREWER. 
 
 Perhaps much of the secret of that skill, 
 that happy art, by which he produced such 
 powerful effects on his congregation, lay here, 
 — he consulted his own heart in the preparation 
 of his sermons, and therefore seldom failed to 
 get at the hearts of his hearers in delivering 
 them. On one of the blank leaves of his pulpit 
 Bible, he had inscribed the following very sig- 
 nificant and striking extracts, which he adopted 
 as his mottos, and to which, under a Divine 
 blessing, much of the impression often witnessed 
 in his preaching, may warrantably be attributed : 
 *' Prius afficiamur ipsi, ut alios officiamus ! — 
 Ardeat, qui vult incendere. — Si vis me flere, 
 dolendum est." 
 
THE 
 
 REV. ROBERT SIMPSON, D.D. 
 
 The Rev. Robert Simpson, D. D. was born 
 at the form-house of Little Tillerye, near 
 Milnathort, in Kinrossshire, Scotland, Feb. 15, 
 174-6, (O. S.) The form on which his fother 
 resided had been in the occupation of the 
 family for several generations. It appears, from 
 Wodrow's Historical Records, that as far back 
 as the year 16G4, when the arbitrary and cruel 
 attempts of Charles the Second to introduce 
 Episcopacy into Scotland, occasioned so much 
 opposition and bloodshed, an ancestor of the 
 Doctor, George Simpson, was included in the 
 list of proscribed and fugitive adherents to 
 truth and a good conscience; towards whom 
 every office of humanity was strictly forbidden, 
 as a crime against the state. On the re-esta- 
 bhshment of Presbyterianism, this honoured 
 disciple of Christ was restored to his home at 
 Tillerye, where the family uninterruptedly re- 
 sided till the birth of Dr. Simpson. As he 
 
214 ROBERT SIMPSON, D. D. 
 
 inherited the name, so he venerated the cha- 
 racter, of his pious ancestors, accounting it his 
 chief honour to have descended from a race 
 so distinguished. His father was destined by 
 his parents for the ministry, and with this view 
 had received a classical education, preparatory 
 to his entering on a course of study at St. 
 Andrew's ; but losing his father when about 
 thirteen years of age, he was necessitated to 
 engage in secular pursuits. His two eldest 
 children, of whom the Doctor was one, were, 
 after a time, taken to live v.'ith their maternal 
 grandmother, at Balcanqual, in Strathmeglo ; 
 a woman of distinguished eminence for piety. 
 It is probable, that during his residence with 
 her, he was occupied either in tending the 
 sheep, or in other duties which accorded with 
 his age and strength. He is described by a 
 relative as being at this period " a volatile 
 young creature," and as at times affording early 
 proofs of superior genius and capacity. In the 
 year 1764, he bound himself apprentice to a 
 dyer at .Dumfermline, where, impelled by a 
 native ambition, and a desire to excel in what- 
 ever he undertook, he applied himself with 
 great assiduity to acquire a knowledge of his 
 trade. He also discovered, at this time, an 
 ardent thirst for literary acquisition ; for, after 
 having discharged the duties of the day, he 
 frequently devoted a great part of the night 
 
ROBERT SIMPSON, D. D. 215 
 
 to the Study of the Hebrew and Greek lan- 
 guages, assisted by a Mr. Donaldson, a man 
 well qualified to give him the necessary in- 
 struction; and from this pursuit he suffered 
 nothing to divert him ; and quite unconscious 
 of the arduous and important duties awaitino- 
 him, he was now laying in stores of knowledfre, 
 influenced and impelled by the secret workings 
 of Him, M-ho was gradually preparing the 
 destined instrument for future and extensive 
 usefulness. 
 
 The state of religion in Dumfermline, and 
 in the whole of that district, was at this period 
 very flourishing. It was a usual saying of the 
 venerable John Bro^vn, of Haddington, that 
 he " never was in a strath of country where 
 there was so much religion and good sense." 
 It was the cradle of the secession; it was 
 blessed with the enlightened and zealous mini- 
 stry of Messrs. Ralph and Ebenezer Erskine, 
 and of many others, the savour of whose 
 preaching extended over the whole district. 
 These circumstances would operate favourably 
 on a mind like that of Dr. S. Accordingly, 
 he acquired much knowledge, attained a soli- 
 dity of judgment, and was at times the subject 
 of deep impressions and lively sensations, under 
 the powerful preaching of the popular ministers 
 of that day. 
 
 In Dumfermline he remained about ten years ; 
 
216 ROBERT SIMPSON, D. D. 
 
 and having by industrious application attained 
 to great proficiency in his trade, aiming at still 
 greater improvement, he came to the resolution 
 of visiting England, without any view, at that 
 time, of ultimately settling there ; but from a 
 desire of obtaining a thorough knowledge of 
 his business. He went first to Haddington; 
 here he introduced himself to the Rev. John 
 Brown, who, in his early days, had lived with 
 Ii ispious grandmother at Balcanqual, in the 
 capacity of herd-boy ; nor is it a little remark- 
 able, that from the same farm, and probably 
 engaged in the same occupation, two persons 
 should proceed to attain to such eminence and 
 usefulness, and to occupy stations so similar 
 m the church of Christ. Leaving Haddington, 
 he proceeded, through various places, to Cot- 
 terstone, in Yorkshire ; a place destined to be 
 the scene of events, infinitely important to him- 
 self, and highly beneficial to the church of 
 Christ. 
 
 He brought with him to this place materials 
 for the formation of a most excellent character ; 
 a healthy, vigorous constitution, great energy 
 of mind and feeling, a high degree of moral 
 excellence, an amiable and generous dispo- 
 sition, which raised him in the esteem of all 
 who knew him; and when all these natural 
 and acquired endowments were sanctified and 
 crowned by Divine grace, he became " a vessel 
 
ROBERT SIMPSON, D. D. 217 
 
 unto honour, sanctified and meet for the Mas- 
 ter's use, and prepared unto every good work." 
 He made, at this time, a profession of reli- 
 gion, was considered an upright and consistent 
 character ; and he so eminently excelled in de- 
 votional exercises, as to excite the astonishment 
 of all who heard him. Such was his character 
 antecedent to that change which places him 
 amonff the excellent of the earth. On his 
 first coming to Cotterstone, like all steady, 
 judicious Scotchmen, he associated with the 
 dissenters, and sat under the evangelical and 
 useful ministry of the Rev. Mr. Prattman, who 
 proved the honoured instrvuuent, in the hand 
 of God, of bringing him to a saving knowledge 
 of the truth. Some single sentence, coming 
 from the lips of the man of God, was directed 
 to the heart. He was brought to experience 
 those terrors of an awakened conscience, which 
 drank up his spirit, and by which, to adopt 
 his own expression, he *' was shaken, as it 
 were, over the mouth of hell." Previous to 
 this, it has been seen, that he had much light 
 in the understanding, exhibited much rectitude 
 of moral conduct, was the subject of occasional 
 fervour of religious feeling, and possessed con- 
 siderable gifts in prayer ; afibrding, hereby, 
 a striking specimen how far a person may 
 advance in a profession of religion, without 
 becoming the subject of its subduing and 
 VOL. r. L 
 
 %■ 
 ^ 
 
218 ROBERT SIMPSON, D.D. 
 
 sanctifying power. Influenced by a lively recol- 
 lection of his own experience, he was led to 
 entertain jealous apprehensions of the reality 
 of religion, in many who came with a fair cha- 
 racter from beyond the Tweed, until he had 
 obtained some decided evidence that their re- 
 ligion was something more than educational 
 and theoretical. 
 
 That he had now undergone a wonderful 
 and entire revolution of views and feelings, 
 was as evident to his own mind, as the light 
 of day, or the reality of his own existence ; 
 and of this he never entertained a shadow of 
 a doubt to his last moment. 
 
 Great as were the horrors he at first ex- 
 perienced, they were fully equalled by the joy 
 which flowed into his heart when the gospel 
 came to his relief. So great was the change, 
 that at first, almost overpowered, it appear- 
 ed a pleasing dream. To borrow his own 
 simple mode of expression, when describing his 
 state of mind at that period, he repeatedly 
 went to the door, to see if the trees and the 
 meadows remained the same ; imagining that 
 nature herself nuist have sympathized in the 
 change. He was for a while almost unfitted 
 for the sober realities of life: in short, his 
 joyful feelings, occasioned by the sensible de- 
 liverance he had obtained, were of the highest 
 order, amounting to rapture. '* For days 
 
ROBERT SIMPSON, D. D. S19 
 
 together," said he to a friend, " I was Uke one 
 transported to the third heavens, &c. O ! what 
 days were those ! the recollection of them, after 
 a lapse of fifty years, is still fresh and delight- 
 ful. I seemed to have got within the very 
 GRASP of the Invisible." Much as he had 
 been esteemed before, he now became an object 
 of more interesting contemplation and ardent 
 affection. Wliereas before he excelled in the 
 gift of prayer, now the inworkings of holy fer- 
 vour invested his supplications with an ardour 
 which astonished and melted those who joined 
 with him at social meetings for prayer and 
 praise. On one of those occasions, the whole 
 assembly was melted to tears, and on rising 
 from their knees, one of them came ,to him, 
 and embracing him, said, " Simpson, you have 
 been into the third heavens, and have carried 
 us along with you." 
 
 Now, not satisfied with the circumscribed 
 field of usefulness around him, he felt a desire 
 to be employed in proclaiming the gosjjel to 
 his fellow-creatures. In this laudable wish he 
 was encouraged by his pastor and Christian 
 friends. Accordinuly, in the year 1776, he 
 entered the academy at Heckmondwike, York- 
 shire, under the truly excellent Rev. James 
 Scott. 
 
 While prosecuting his studies, he enjoved 
 the high esteem of his tutor, and of his fellow- 
 L 2 
 
220 ROBERT SIMPSON, D. D. 
 
 students, for his ardent piety, his uncommon 
 dihgence in study, and his serious spiritual con- 
 versation. His occasional services, while a stu- 
 dent, ])roduced a deep impression, and held out 
 a promise of future excellence. When he had 
 completed his course of study, and by diligent 
 application had improved his mind, and laid 
 in considerable stores of useful knowledge, 
 he preached, for different periods, at various 
 places in the North ; but finally settled at 
 Bolton-le-Moor, in Lancashire, where he was 
 ordained in the year 1782. Here he found 
 the congregation in a low state ; but he had 
 soon the satisfaction of witnessing a gradual 
 increase of hearers, and of knowing that many 
 were savingly impressed with divine things. 
 He preached with great fervour ; and on some 
 remarkably happy seasons, when he enjoyed 
 great liberty in the pulpit, his ardent soul, in 
 endeavouring to grasp the mighty theme of 
 redeeming love, seemed on the point of break- 
 ing from its prison of clay, while his admiring 
 and astonished hearers really expected he 
 would expire under the intensity of his feelings. 
 Visiting London, in the year 1T8G, with a 
 view to solicit contributions to liquidate a debt 
 which had been incurred by enlarging the 
 place of worship at Bolton, he soon attracted 
 considerable attention, and his eminent talents, 
 which before this had been buried in com- 
 
ROBERT SIMPSON, D. D. 221 
 
 parative obscurity, now became conspicuous: 
 and this burning light was no longer to be 
 confined to a small part of the churcli, but to 
 be placed on an eminence, in order that it 
 might shine to a greater extent. It happened 
 at this time, that the Evangelical Academy, as 
 it was then called, was destitute of a tutor, in 
 consequence of the resignation of Dr. Adding- 
 ton ; and by the recommendation of several 
 individuals, the attention of the Committee was 
 directed to Dr. Simpson. A pressing invitation 
 was sent him to accept the office. For some 
 time he shrunk back from the weighty task, 
 alleo-ino; want of sufficient talents, habits of 
 tuition, &c. The correspondence, however, 
 strengthened the conviction, that he was a 
 suitable person; and on further solicitation, 
 with the consent and acquiescence of the church 
 at Bolton, to whom he referred the decision, 
 he yielded to what evidently appeared, both to 
 him and his people, to be the leadings of Divine 
 Providence. 
 
 Having taken an affectionate leave of his 
 beloved flock at Bolton, he came with his flunily 
 to Hoxton in 1791. Here, as soon as he began 
 to feel himself at home, and became fully occu- 
 pied in the discharge of his new duties, he 
 proceeded with all his wonted ardour of soul, 
 impressing his own character on all around 
 him. During the first six years, the whole 
 
222 ROBERT SIMPSON, D. D. 
 
 weight of the charge rested on himself. The 
 fruits of his unremitting assiduity were soon 
 perceptible, in the increasing number of ap- 
 plications for admission, and the growing po- 
 pularity of the institution. Beside the daily 
 routine of labour in the academy, the Doctor, 
 at his first coming to town, in the prime and 
 vigour of his days, was abundant in labours 
 beyond the precincts of the institution ; preach- 
 ing much in various pulpits : converting some 
 of the buildings on the premises belonging to 
 the academy into a chapel, which was opened 
 in 1796; and at length taking the pastoral 
 charge of the church in Artillery Street, which, 
 however, he soon relinquished. 
 
 In addition to his labours as a tutor and as 
 a preacher, he took an active part in pro- 
 moting schemes of public and general utility ; 
 and was one of the earliest and most active 
 friends of the Evangelical Magazine, the 
 London Missionary Society, &c. 
 
 In the year 1797, his declining health, with 
 the increased number of students, dictated the 
 propriety of choosing an assistant. His first 
 colleague was the Rev. G. Collison, now tutor 
 of another academy at Hackney. Afterwards 
 the Rev. J. Atkinson : in 1808, the Rev. J. 
 Hooper ; and shortly after, in consequence of 
 the adoption of a more enlarged system of 
 education, a third tutor being deemed neces- 
 
ROBERT SIMPSON, D. D. 223 
 
 sary, the Rev. H. F. Burder was invited to 
 Hoxton; and with these colleagues, the Doctor 
 spent the last nine years of his laborious and 
 useful life, in the greatest harmony and affec- 
 tion. 
 
 In May 1817, finding a disorder with which 
 he had been long troubled increase, and his 
 strength abate, he tendered his resignation to 
 the Conunittee. He still, however, continued 
 to lecture, as often as his bodily pains would 
 allow. Death at length drew near ; but amidst 
 the greatest sufferings, he was patient and 
 tran(juil ; and in the prospect of eternity, joyful 
 and triumphant. At intervals he employed 
 his tongue in giving expression to the strong 
 feelings and the lively hopes which animated 
 his breast ; and he spoke like one who was in 
 the very suburbs of the new Jerusalem. The 
 most sublime ideas, clothed in the most forcible 
 and appropriate language, and expressed with 
 uncommon energy, often astonished and over- 
 whelmed those who were standing by. His 
 sun went down, after a lengthened and useful 
 course, in surpassing glory ; no cloud of un- 
 belief being suffered for a single moment to 
 obscure its lustre. Many of his expressions 
 were recorded, and two or three of the most 
 remarkable are inserted here. 
 
 One day, when several of his family were 
 in the room, he said, " Oh, that 1 had strength 
 
~24 ROBERT SIMPSON, D. D. 
 
 to speak what I feel ! My body, it is true, is 
 tormented Leyond measure ; but the joy of my 
 soul is transporting : my prospects are ravish- 
 ing in the extreme. Oh ! what must it be to 
 dwell with Jesus in heaven, to behold his in- 
 expressible glories, to feast on his love ! If 
 faith can see and enjoy so much, what must 
 the beatific vision be ! Why, the very prospect 
 of this is enough for all ' the pains, the 
 groans, the dying strife,' of frail mortality. 
 Why should we refuse, and be afraid to die ? 
 What is death but a conquered enemy ? Has 
 not Christ opened for us a passage to immor- 
 tality ? Oh, yes, blessed be his name ! I feel 
 it, I rejoice and triumph in the thought : 
 
 " The holy triumphs of my soul 
 
 Shall death itself outbrave ; 
 Leave dull mortality behind, 
 
 And fly beyond the grave ! " 
 
 Many other memorable sayings dropped from 
 his lips ; but his triumphant challenge, ad- 
 dressed to the King of Terrors, on the morning 
 of his dissolution, which took place about noon, 
 on Lord's-day, December 21st, 1817, must not 
 be omitted. He had endured a night of in- 
 describable agony ; and early in the morning, 
 as if he saw the enemy actually approaching, 
 with a fixed look, and an energy not to be 
 described, he exclaimed, " Now, have at thee, 
 
ROBERT SIMPSON, D. D. 225 
 
 Death ; — have at thee, Death ; — have at thee, 
 Death : — what art thou ? I am not afraid of 
 thee. Thou art a vanquished enemy, through 
 the blood of the Cross. Thou art only a 
 skeleton, a mere phantom. Have at t/tee, 
 Death, — Have at thee, Death] ! " 
 
 L 3 
 
JOSEPH HARDCASTLE, ESQ. 
 
 Was a native of Yorkshire, born in the year 
 1753, but removed to London in early Ufe, 
 where he was initiated into habits of com- 
 mercial activity, by his respectable uncle ; and 
 before he had attained the age of manhood, 
 had the superintendance of an extensive mer- 
 cantile concern. The same immutable prin- 
 ciples of integrity and honour with which he 
 entered on his career, he maintained inviolate 
 to its close. His high reputation in the com- 
 mercial world was, at length, the growth of 
 ahnost half a century ; during which it sus- 
 tained no blemish, and will long be remembered 
 even by those who are unacquainted with the 
 excellence of his religious character. 
 
 As a Christian, his attainments in divine 
 knowledge were very superior ; his acquaint- 
 ance with tlie Scriptures was accurate and 
 profound ; and on the grand and leading doc- 
 trines of the gospel, he used to express his 
 sentiments with a precision and an elevation 
 
JOSEPH IIARDCASTLE, ESQ. 227 
 
 worthy of one who was familiar witli the 
 writings of Owen and of Howe. 
 
 The preservation of spirituaUty of mind, 
 amidst the affairs of secular hfe, was an ex- 
 cellence which he habitually displayed. He 
 seemed always inclined to spiritual conversa- 
 tion ; and it was a privilege to attend the 
 morning and evening devotions of his family, 
 which he conducted with singular ability. Of 
 his enga^jing manners in private life, it would 
 be difficult to convey an adequate idea to those 
 who had not the happiness of his acquaintance. 
 His eye beamed with benignity ; in his con- 
 versation there was perfect ease and aftability ; 
 and in his whole demeanour, unaffected and 
 unconscious dignity. The intelligent were 
 attracted by his wisdom, the serious by his 
 piety, the accomplished by his urbanity, and 
 tlie young by his condescension. 
 
 Enhghtened and diffusive benevolence form- 
 ed the most prominent feature of his character. 
 To every philanthropic object he was disposed 
 to contribute, especially when that charity had 
 the spiritual and immortal interests of mankind 
 in view. 
 
 The distinguished j)art which he took in 
 the formation and support of the London Mis- 
 sionary Society, is well known ; nor will his 
 judicious, generous, and useful efforts in that 
 cause be soon forgotten. The institution had 
 
228 
 
 JOSEPH HARDCASTLE, ESQ. 
 
 not a more enlightened and zealous friend thail 
 Mr. Hardcastle. 
 
 For several years, the declining state of Mr. 
 Hardcastle's health no longer permitted him 
 to take an active part in the concerns of the 
 Missionary Society : and at length he deemed 
 jit necessary to resign the office which he had 
 discharged with so much honour to himself, 
 and so much advantage to the institution. 
 Still, however, when retired from public avo- 
 cations, with leisure for the enjoyment of the 
 air and gentle exercise, he was favoured with 
 considerable exemption from pain and disorder, 
 and with habitual tranquillity and cheerfulness 
 of mind. Much he delighted in the society 
 of his family, in the study of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, in the admiring contemplation of the 
 beauties of nature, and in communion with his 
 God. Thus he continued to pursue the even 
 tenour of his course, till November 1817, when 
 he was vitiited with an attack of paralysis, which 
 induced great debility ; and for some days there 
 appeared to be great cause for apprehension, 
 that the time of his departure was at hand ; 
 and he regarded himself as arrived at the very 
 confines of the eternal world. Under this per- 
 suasion, and in the full exercise of intellectual 
 vigour, he repeatedly addressed the members 
 of his family, in strains of holy elevation and 
 exquisite tenderness. From the effect of this 
 
JOSEPH HARDCASTLE, ESQ. 
 
 229 
 
 severe and threatening attack, he was, how- 
 ever, partially restored ; till, more than a year 
 afterwards, another violent accession of illness 
 took place, too severe to be sustained by a 
 frame already feeling the pressure of extreme 
 debility. The mind, indeed, retained its seat, 
 and preserved its undisturbed tranquillity. A 
 good hope, through grace, and an entire free- 
 dom from the fear of death, reigned in his 
 serene breast ; but the earthly tabernacle ex- 
 hibited from day to day, and at length from 
 hour to hour, additional symptoms of approach- 
 ing dissolution, until Wednesday, the od of 
 March, when glory dawned upon the departing 
 spirit, and it was conducted along the path of 
 Hfe to its high destination, among the per- 
 fected spirits of the just, and the angels that 
 surround the throne of God and the Lamb. 
 
THE REV. HENRY KOLLOCK, D. D. 
 
 American biography is highly interesting in 
 all its branches, civil, military, and ecclesiastical. 
 Among those pious and sound-minded men 
 who, descended from those martyrs of a good 
 confession that first peopled the northern shores 
 of Anglo- America, have held forth the word of 
 life in its purity and evangelical richness, Henry 
 Kollock may justly claim an honourable place 
 as a well-furnished theologian, a popular and 
 able preacher, and an exemplary pastor. He 
 was born at New Providence, in New Jersey, 
 on the 14th December, 1778, during the re- 
 volutionary war. He enjoyed the advantages 
 of an early and effective intellectual training ; 
 and so severe were his habits of application, as 
 to impair his health, and to require interference 
 to induce sufficient relaxation. Happier still 
 was the season of his youth, in that he de- 
 rived from conscientious parents the knowledge 
 which, with the Divine blessing, maketh wise 
 
HENRY KOLLOCK, D. D. 231 
 
 unto salvation ; and of these salutary instruc- 
 tions the impressions were never effaced. After 
 the usual period of grammatical instruction, 
 he entered, in November 1792, the College of 
 New Jersey, and took his first degree, with 
 distinguished honour, in 1794. After the 
 completion of his collegiate education, he re- 
 turned to his father's house, and in this period 
 of quiet reflection, experienced deep and so- 
 lemn impressions on the subject of religion. 
 The preaching of the word was quick and 
 powerful in its operation on his conscience, 
 and his fee'ings, thus awakened, were directed 
 to the only ground of hope, — the mercy of God 
 in Christ Jesus, welcomed by ftiith, kindling 
 the affections, and sanctifying the heart. At 
 the age of seventeen, he made a public pro- 
 fession of his attachment to the Redeemer, and 
 was admitted to the communion of the Presby- 
 terian Church in Elizabeth Town, the residence 
 of his pai-ents. The bias of his mind tended 
 strongly towards the ministry, and he became 
 a candidate fur orders, under the inspection of 
 the New York Presbytery. It was about this 
 time that he accepted the ofhce of junior tutor 
 iii the College of Princeton, and availed himself 
 of the various opportunities presented by that 
 situation, to prosecute his theological studies 
 with ardour and perseverance. Having passed 
 with credit the various examinations, he was 
 
HENRY KOLLOCK, D. D. 
 
 licensed, in May 1800, to preach the gospel, 
 and he began his work of an evangelist without 
 delay. He is represented, by his American 
 biographer, as combining in his sermons " the 
 sound sense, acute reasoning, and argumentative 
 eloquence" of the English divines, with " the 
 imaginative and impassioned oratory of the 
 French." Such was his early reputation, as to 
 procure him, in the first year of his licentiate, 
 urgent invitations from important churches to 
 become their pastor. One of these was from 
 Elizabeth Town; and to this, as the place of 
 his education, and the residence of his family, 
 he gave the preference. He was ordained to 
 the pastoral charge in December 1800. To 
 the exigencies of this situation, however trying 
 to a youthful minister, Henry Kollock was 
 found adequate ; his vigorous and accomplished 
 mind supplied him with inexhaustible variety, 
 and his sincere piety gave effect and evangelical 
 character to his labours, while divine grace 
 animated his spirit, and put a seal upon his 
 ministrations. In the winter of 1802, a peculiar 
 attention to the concerns of eternity was pre- 
 valent among his flock, and numbers were 
 added to the church, many of whom still adorn 
 the profession, and some have died in the faith. 
 In the following year, he declined an advan- 
 tageous invitation to chaniie the scene of his 
 official exertions, but, shortly afterwards, felt it 
 
HENRY KOLLOCK, D. D. 23S 
 
 his duty to accept the Professorship of Divinity 
 in the College of New Jersey, and leaving the 
 congregation of Elizabeth Town, he removed 
 to Princeton, in January 1803. Here he was 
 on trying ground. To come in the succession 
 of such men as Dickenson, Burr, and Wither- 
 spoon, was at once a high distinction, and a 
 formidable test both of character, ability, and 
 industry. Dr. Kollock appears to have sus- 
 tained the assay with entire credit to himself, 
 and advantage to the objects of his care. His 
 sabbaths were employed in pastoral and cate- 
 chetical labours. As Professor of Theology, 
 he instructed his pupils in all the branches 
 connected with this science. 
 
 In 1806, he received the degree of D. D. 
 from two colleges at once. In the same year 
 he received a pressing invitation from the 
 Presbyterian congregation at Savannah, and 
 he determined to accept it. The state of reli- 
 gion in that city was exceedingly low, and the 
 gospel ministry was scantily supplied, but the 
 labours of Dr. Kollock were abundant, and 
 they are stated to have been greatly blessed. 
 At his first administration of the Lord's Supper 
 in that place, twenty were added to the church ; 
 and at the second, eighteen more. He was 
 active as a citizen in promoting plans of genefal 
 utility : his exertions were successful in reviving 
 an important academical institution which had 
 
234 HENRY KOLLOCK, D. D. 
 
 fallen into decay, and in originating the valuable 
 and extensive public library of Savannah. In 
 Boston, his occasional labours were so accept- 
 able, that a new congregation was formed for 
 the express purpose of soliciting his acceptance 
 of the pastoral office. This, after long hesita- 
 tion, he felt it right to decline. In 1810, he 
 refused an appointment to the Presidency of 
 the University of Georgia. In 1811, Savannah 
 was visited by earthquakes, and the minds of 
 the inhabitants were strongly directed to the 
 consideration of the things belonging to their 
 peace. Dr. K. was actively engaged in his 
 ai'duous and important duties ; there was reli- 
 gious worship on almost every evening, and 
 many were led to give themselves to Christ. 
 The six following summers were spent by him 
 among his people, and none but those acquainted 
 with the peculiar circumstances of the southern 
 cities of the American Union, can form an 
 adequate idea of the laborious, exhausting, and 
 hazardous duties which devolved upon this 
 servant of God during those seasons. Disease 
 and death make the most fearful ravages at 
 those fatal periods ; and as Dr. K. was fre- 
 quently the only clergyman remaining in the 
 place, he was literally employed as the pastor, 
 not of a single congregation, but of a whole 
 city. The sanctuary, the sick chamber, the 
 last services to the dead, absorbed the whole 
 
HENRY KOLLOCK, D. D. 235 
 
 of his time, and kept alive his unremitting 
 anxiety. In no one instance did he take the 
 fever to which he so fearlessly exposed himself; 
 but his vigorous constitution gave way under 
 his excessive fatigues : palpitation of the heart 
 and spasmodic affections of the lungs clearly 
 indicated the necessity of intermitted labour, 
 and a total change of climate. A long sea 
 voyage having been recommended, he deter- 
 mined on a visit to Europe. In March 1817, 
 he sailed for England, which he reached early 
 enough to take part in the missionary and other 
 important anniversaries of the month of May, 
 in that year. He had anticipated these meetings 
 with great delight, and his expectations were 
 more than realized. In a letter to a friend at 
 home, he says, " I am more and more con- 
 vinced of the piety and benevolence of British 
 Christians." 
 
 An absence of eight months restored him to 
 health, and he sailed for his native land, which 
 he reached in November 1817. In 1819, a 
 more spacious edifice for public worship was 
 completed for him, Mhich he opened by a 
 dedicatory sermon from Haggai ii. 7. But 
 the term of his labours was approaching. 
 During that summer and autumn. Savannah 
 had been visited with nnusual severity of 
 disease, and the labours of Dr. Kollock had 
 been proportionally great. He gradually 
 
236 HENR/Y KOLLOCK, D. D. 
 
 relapsed into debility, his flesh wasted, and 
 his bodily strength gave way. After a suc- 
 cession of jiaralytic attacks, and inexpressible 
 sufferings, he at length, without groan or 
 struggle, peacefully fell asleep in Jesus, on the 
 29th of December, 1819, aged 41. 
 
 During his last illness, his resignation was 
 exemplary : in the midst of intense pain, not 
 a, murmur fell from his lips. " Are your suf- 
 ferings great ?" said a friend to him, at a time 
 when his whole body was covered with blisters. 
 " Oh ! if you can imagine a human being 
 placed on a bed of living coals, you can have 
 some idea of my tortures. — Pray, pray for me 
 that I may have gratitude and patience." One 
 of the members of his church, approaching 
 his bed, said to him, " My dear pastor, do 
 you remember the dying words of Stephen ?" 
 His countenance brightened, and he answered, 
 with animated voice, " O yes ! Lord Jesus, 
 receive my spirit!" 
 
 His loss was felt as a public calamity. The 
 newspapers which announced his death, bore 
 the insignia of mourning ; the ships in the 
 harbour hoisted their colours half-mast high; 
 and the Mayor issued a proclamation, requiring 
 the suspension of all tralHc. His funci'al 
 procession was attended by all the associations, 
 civil, religious, and literary. The members of 
 the Christiiui churches were in the train, and 
 
IIENKV KOLLOCK, D. D. 2iJ7 
 
 even the Jews appeared, as a society, to attest 
 their admiration of his exahed character. The 
 last service was conducted by ministers of all 
 persuasions, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, 
 arid Episcopal. 
 
ARTHUR YOUNG, ESQ. F.R.S. &c. 
 
 Was born in the year 1741. His father, 
 Dr. Young, was a beneficed clergyman of the 
 Church of England, Prebendary of Canter- 
 bury, and chaplain to Arthur Onslow, Esq., 
 Speaker of the House of Commons, from whom 
 the subject of this memoir took his Christian 
 name. His early youth was passed as is usual 
 with young men of his rank in life. His attain- 
 ments in useful knowledge and secular learning 
 were highly respectable ; but religion engaged 
 scarcely a serious thought ; though from his 
 connexions, it might have been supposed likely 
 to make early impressions on his heart. We 
 do not even find that it was admitted to a 
 share of that attention, which was casting 
 about for themes of instruction and profit; 
 and which began already to be engrossed by a 
 multiplicity of important but inferior pursuits. 
 Before he was forty years old, he was known 
 both in England and America, and on the 
 
ARTHUR YOUNG, ESQ. 239 
 
 continent of Europe, as one of the first practical 
 and scientific agriculturists of the age. But 
 there was httle, even in his favourite pursuit, 
 to afford permanent satisfaction to his mind. 
 His course, hitlierto, had been of ahnost unin- 
 terrupted success ; and liis fife, as far as earthly 
 things could contribute to his felicity, might 
 be denominated happy. One thing, however, 
 was lacking, which alone could have taught 
 the inadequacy of all he had hitherto pursued, 
 to prepare him for affliction, or fit him for the 
 hour of death. Even to the age of fifty-six, 
 excursive and various as had been his pursuits, 
 he had scarcely viewed himself in any higher 
 relation, than that of a scientific tiller of the 
 earth — a character somewhat more intellectual, 
 but little more elevated, than that of the 
 creatures which graze on it. We do not find 
 that he even avowed himself an infidel or a 
 sceptic ; but it is certain that he had no rational 
 convictions of the truth of Christianity, and no 
 sense of his obligations, even to give a calm 
 and dispassionate examination to its evidences. 
 In short, it was a subject, and almost the only 
 one, that had no interest in his heart ; and 
 which, from its severe aspect against worldly- 
 mindcdness, and literary ambition, may be 
 supposed, even at the outset of life, to have 
 excited in him a powerful disinclination to 
 come in contact with a system of moral agency 
 
240 ARTHUIl YOUNG, ESQ. 
 
 SO hostile to the cherished propensities of his 
 nature. 
 
 But this state of mind was soon to he 
 changed. Brighter discoveries than any he 
 had made in useful arts, or secular sciences, 
 were in reserve for him. A vast field of un- 
 explored truth, rich with the sweetest fruits, 
 was soon to be opened before his view ; though 
 the access to it was to be by a path more diffi- 
 cult and thorny than any he had yet trodden. 
 In the year 1797, the affliction and death of 
 his youngest daughter, who had been the 
 object of his too partial and ardent affection, 
 first smote his heart with an anguish too keen 
 to be assuaged by any of the consolations which 
 human nature, or philosophy, or the whole 
 world, could afford. The loss of his favourite 
 child led him to reffection on the nature of all 
 earthly good. The satisfaction deri^ed from 
 it appeared to him in a new light. He saw its 
 uncertainty, and traced, through all the objects 
 which had been hitlicrto capable of delighting 
 his heart, an universal instability — a fatal 
 taint of mortality. Nor could he fail to realize, 
 in the midst of these mortifying reflections, that 
 his own death might be near, for which he felt 
 himself wholly un})rej)ared. In this state of 
 mind, he was induced to seek counsel from a 
 friend qualified to give him the best advice. 
 He wrote to that friend, frankly confessing his 
 
ARTHUR YOUNG, ESQ. 241 
 
 ignorance of God and religion ; — his need of 
 instruction and consolation ; — and earnestly 
 soliciting direction. The reply of his friend 
 instantly led him to the only true fountain of 
 joy ! The Bible was pointed out as suited to 
 his case. The perusal of this blessed book was 
 attended with the desired effect. His prayers 
 for divine grace were answered. The convic- 
 tion of the truth of the gospel was accompanied 
 with that divine influence, Avhich subdued the 
 hostility of his heart, and presented the Re- 
 deemer to his view, in all his divine and glori- 
 ous attractions. He soon sought the company 
 of religious friends, and found them as willing 
 to impart, as he was anxious to receive, in- 
 struction. The conversation of some of these 
 friends was eminently useful, in the early stage 
 of his convictions, in leading him to just views 
 of divine truth, and directing him to prayer. 
 In fact, he now deemed religion worthy of 
 becoming his chief pursuit ; in comparison with 
 which, like the ai)ostle Paul, he was wilHng to 
 " count all things but loss." Yet he continued 
 diligent in business. The official station which 
 he held, necessarily re(iuircd the vigorous ex- 
 ertion of his powers; and happily for him, were 
 of such a nature, as not to interfere with his 
 religious ])ri!icij)les. 
 
 For about ten years after this important 
 change in his character and principles, Mr. 
 
 VOL. I. M 
 
242 ARTHUR YOUNG, ESQ. 
 
 Young continued to enjoy the vigorous use of 
 all his powers and senses ; and they Mere as 
 sedulously employed in the promotion of his 
 own and his fellow-creatures* spiritual interests, 
 as they had been formerly in his own secular 
 aggrandizement. — About the end of the year 
 1807, he was afflicted with a disease of the 
 eyes, which proved to be cataract. So deeply 
 did he feel this deprivation, that in the year 
 1811, in the seventieth year of his age, he 
 submitted to the operation of couching. The 
 attempt proved unsuccessful ; and total blind- 
 ness, through the remaining nine years of his 
 life, was the result. The severity of this afflic- 
 tion, to a man of Mr. Young's ardent mind and 
 studious habits, can scarcely be conceived. 
 But here his religious principles soon began 
 to display their vigour. He submitted, with 
 cheerfulness, to be dependant on others for 
 the mental food which he daily sought ; and 
 while his piety made him submissive as a little 
 child, to what, at any other period of his life, 
 would have fretted his mind almost to dis- 
 traction; yet he continued to make even this 
 darkness tributary to his own spiritual improve- 
 ment, and to the illumination of others. He 
 prepared, after this distressuig calamity, seve- 
 ral useful publications, both on his favourite 
 subject of agriculture, and on practical and 
 experimental religion. Two of the most 
 
ARTHUR YOUNG, ESQ. 2iS 
 
 celebrated of the Nonconformist divines were 
 among his chosen authors ; and from their 
 writings, he made interesting selections, of 
 the most choice and favourite passages, and 
 pubhshed them, in two duodecimo volumes, 
 entitled, Oweniana, and Baxteriana. 
 
 The closing scenes of his valuable and use- 
 ful life were worthy of so great a man, and 
 truly honourable to that grace of which he 
 enjoyed no common share. The disease with 
 which he was afflicted, was of the most painful 
 nature. Under its progress to the fatal issue, 
 he manifested the strongest confidence in the 
 reality of religion, and the all-sufficient grace 
 of the Redeemer. He was never heard to 
 repine against the will of his heavenly Father; 
 but frequently admonished himself, by pious 
 and solemn reflections, which he would utter 
 aloud. His last hours were chicfiy occupied 
 in prayer, and in ejaculations of the most 
 spiritual character. Towards the last, he 
 expressed strong confidence in the hopes and 
 promises of the gospel, and earnestly sought 
 deliverance from the body of sin and death, 
 under which he groaned. He expired in the 
 house of the Board of Agriculture, of which 
 he was secretary, on the l>2th of April, 1820, 
 in the 79th year of his age. 
 
 M 2 
 
THE REV. J. N. TOLLER, 
 
 OF KETTERING, 
 
 Was born June 12th, 1756, at South Pether- 
 ton, in the county of Somerset, where his 
 father, Mr. John Toller, was an attorney of 
 high character. The maiden name of his 
 mother was Northcote. She belonged to the 
 same family as the Royal Academician of that 
 name. His parents were both pious ; and, 
 therefore, doubtless united their eftbrts to train 
 up their children in the way in which they 
 should go. But the instructions of his mother 
 appear to have been the means of awakening 
 the first religious emotions in his breast. Her 
 addresses, exhortations, and warnings, seem 
 to have been characterized by the deepest ear- 
 nestness and the most tender affection. To 
 them, in the course of his preaching, he fre- 
 quently alluded, in such a way as to convey 
 the idea, that he ever remembered them with 
 pleasure and gratitude, and that they were 
 advantageous to him, not only at the time 
 
REV. J. N. TOLLER. 245 
 
 when they were given, but, in consequence of 
 the feeUng which they awakened, and of the 
 reflections to which they gave rise, during his 
 wliole hfe. 
 
 In the year 1771, when only fifteen years old, 
 Mr. T. was sent to the Dissenting Academy 
 at Daventry, then under the care of Dr. Ash- 
 worth. Here his attainments were highly re- 
 spectable; and it is said that he was at one 
 time of his life solicited to become the tutor of 
 the institution, in which he had received his 
 education. On the first day of October, 1 775, 
 he, as an occasional supply, preached his first 
 sermon at Kettering. He came thither, when 
 only a youth of eighteen, without the most 
 distant idea of settling there. He, however, 
 soon received an invitation to become the mi- 
 nister of the church and congregation, which 
 had been left in a very disjointed state by the 
 resignation of their former minister, — and he 
 was ordained, May 28th, 1788. He entered on 
 his work, according to his own account, under 
 the jjressure of an almost intolerable load on 
 his spirits, almost despairing of ever being 
 happy in his station, or of giving permanent 
 satisfaction to the people. He firmly resolved, 
 however, to act, as far as he could, in such 
 a way as was calculated to conciliate and unite 
 the people, and to accomplish the great pur- 
 poses of the gospel ministry. The grace and 
 
246 REV. J. N. TOLLER. 
 
 strength on which he depended, were found 
 sufficient for him. His effiDrts were crowned 
 with the most pleasing success. He grew, 
 almost every sabbath, in the esteem and affec- 
 tion of his people. His ministerial labours were 
 very useful ; and the church and congregation 
 became as firmly united in brotherly love 
 amongst themselves, and in affection to their 
 pastor, as perhaps ever a religious society 
 was on earth. This success may doubtless be 
 attributed, under God, in a great degree to 
 the influence of his talents, especially as mani- 
 fested in the interesting nature of his public 
 discourses. But these were very considerably 
 aided by his prudent and amiable deportment, 
 and by the pleasing union of sterling good 
 sense, wisdom, and piety, which appeared in 
 every part of his conduct. Indeed, the whole 
 of his character was calculated to secure love 
 mingled with respect. 
 
 During his long residence with this people, 
 his firmness and disinterested afl^ection were 
 repeatedly evinced by his resisting all solicita- 
 tions to change his situation : " living," as he 
 often expressed it, *' among his own people ;" 
 notwithstanding these offers were accompanied 
 with the prospect of considerable pecuniary 
 and literary advantage. In the principles that 
 regulated his conduct on these occasions, there 
 is much to call forth our admiration and esteem. 
 
REV. J. N. TOLLER. 247 
 
 The same noble sentiments were likewise dis- 
 covered by him on occasion of a design being 
 formed by some of his people to raise a sum of 
 money, to be presented to him as a mark of 
 respect, and to form the basis of a provision 
 for his family. While the measure was in 
 agitation, he wrote to one whose heart was 
 set on accomplishing it, so as to discover \ 
 unequivocally his reluctance to accept it, except 
 on such terms as should be universally agree- 
 able both to the circumstances and the feelings 
 of the people. 
 
 In 1812, he was chosen one of the Secreta- 
 ries of the Northamptonshire Bible Society. 
 This event, more than any other of his life, 
 tended to make him extensively known. His 
 speeches at the anniversaries of Bible Societies 
 contributed, more than any thing else, to bring 
 him into public notice. One in particular, 
 which he delivered at the formation of a Bible 
 Society at Northampton, interested and de- 
 lighted all who heard him; and pleasingly 
 surprised those who had not known him before. 
 
 Mr. T. possessed a considerable degree of 
 what is called orighiaUtij, both in his intellec- 
 tual powers, and in his manner; and this was 
 one principal cause of his populai'ity as a 
 preacher. His mental abilities, and his talents 
 for public speaking, were of a superior order. 
 He was not, indeed, a finished orator. Elegance 
 
248 
 
 REV. J. N. TOLLER. 
 
 of manner, and beauty of expression, had evi- 
 dently occupied little of his attention. All 
 his action in speaking was produced by his 
 earnestness, by the interest which he felt in his 
 subject, for which he was remarkable. He 
 was much more solicitous to be plain and per- 
 spicuous, than to be profound or eloquent; to 
 bring home, as he expressed it, the truths of 
 the gospel to the understandings and con- 
 sciences of his hearers, than to state them in 
 smooth and polished periods, or adorn them 
 with the flowers of rhetoric. The encomiums 
 which, it is said, an eloquent orator of the 
 present day passed on his preaching, was not 
 without foundation: — "He may be understood 
 by a child, and an angel will hear him with 
 delight." Perhaps, during the forty-six years 
 of his public ministry, he uttered very few sen- 
 tences which the poorest of his congi-egation 
 did not understand. He always seemed to be 
 perfectly master of every idea which he under- 
 took to state to others, to have viewed it on 
 every side, and to have felt its weight and 
 importance. He ever appeared to state, with 
 the greatest ease, all that he intended to say, 
 and all that was necessary for the illustration 
 of his subject. 
 
 His preaching was also characterized by in- 
 genuity. His views of his text, his plans and 
 illustrations, were often original. This was 
 
REV. J. N. TOLLER. 249 
 
 one cause of his popularity, though not the 
 only one. Though he generally read his dis- 
 courses, and was not remarkable for either 
 vehemence of manner, or expression, yet few 
 persons exerted themselves more in preaching 
 than he did ; none knew better how to concen- 
 trate all the powers of their mind in delivering 
 a sermon, or how to throw, as it were, all their 
 energy into every sentence, sometimes into 
 almost every word, than he did. Perhaps no 
 one ever uttered fewer superfluous words from 
 the pulpit, lie made everyone tell. If his 
 sermons were not so much distinguished for 
 comprehensiveness, for richness, and copious- 
 ness, as those of some others are, we must re- 
 member that " every one has his proper gift 
 of God, one after this manner, and another 
 after that." He excelled grcatly in illustrating 
 his subject by figures taken from the ordinary 
 occupations and occurrences of life. An old 
 labourer, when speaking of his illustrations, 
 said, " One would think Mr. Toller had been 
 bred to the plougli, he knows every thing about 
 it so well." Another exclaimed, ** I have, all 
 my life, been engaged in field labour, and have 
 seen these things thousands of times, but I 
 never thouglit of them so before ; but I shall 
 never forget them now." Mr. T. was pecu- 
 liarly excellent in prayer. Never, perhaps, 
 was there a minister better quafified to lead 
 m3 
 
250 REV. J. N. TOLLER. 
 
 the devotional exercises of the sanctuary, or 
 to spread all the wants and desires of a con- 
 gregation before the throne of grace. The 
 copiousness, the appropriateness, the devo- 
 tional feeling, the fervour of his prayers, have 
 seldom been equalled, perhaps never exceeded. 
 Arising in a great degree from constitutional 
 disease in the latter years of his life, he was 
 subject to very great depression of spirits, so 
 as to be at times reduced to doubt of the truth 
 of his own religion. But happily these seasons 
 were never of long continuance : and strange 
 as it may appear to some, yet it is a fact, that 
 the event which chiefly contributed to free him 
 from them, was one which filled his people and 
 his friends with dismay and apprehension: it 
 was a fit of apoplexy, with which he was seized 
 on the morning of the olst of October, 1819. 
 He had for many years supposed that he should 
 be subject either to apoplexy or to palsy. His 
 fears and depression of spirits led him to fix 
 on the latter; but this occurrence removed, 
 almost entirely, that apprehension from his 
 mind ; and the conviction, that the former dis- 
 order would probably put an end to his life, 
 and the hope, that when his work was finished, 
 his Master would, without pain or lingering 
 affliction, kindly dismiss him from the present 
 scene, and call him to his eternal rest, had an 
 immediate and exhilarating effect on his mind. 
 
REV. J. N. TOLLER. 251 
 
 He was frequently afterwards attacked in the 
 same way. In tlie anticipations of death, his 
 prospects were heightened, and his hopes sup- 
 ported, by simple dependence on a Redeemer, 
 ** able to save to the uttermost all who come 
 unto God, by hun." On October 25, 1820, 
 he preached in the morning, with all his usual 
 animation and feeling; and spent the evening 
 of that day, surrounded by his friends, and 
 in conversation with his family, in a strain of 
 cheerful piety. On the following day, about 
 noon, he was found m a fit of apoplexy, and 
 hfe was already extinct. Thus was he " heard 
 in that which he feared." Once, after recover- 
 ing from a fit, similar to that which put an end 
 to his Hfe, he said to Mrs. T., " Well, if I had 
 died, death would have been nothing ; I should 
 have felt no pain ; I should never have known 
 any thing till I was in heaven; death would 
 have been a translation." These words may 
 well be considered a description of what death 
 was to him when it actually arrived. 
 
THE REV. JOSEPH BENSON. 
 
 This eminent preacher and writer, among 
 the Wesleyan Methodists, was, in the fullest 
 sense of the word, a man of genius as well as 
 of ardent piety. He was born January 25, 
 1748, at Melmerby, in Cvmiberland, of respect- 
 able parents. His habits were studious, even 
 in early life ; and when not more than seven 
 years of age, he frequently retired to call upon 
 God in secret ; and often in the fields, after 
 meditating upon Heaven and Hell, did he kneel 
 down and pray for grace, that he might obtain 
 the former and escape the latter. 
 
 His own account of his conviction for sin, 
 and subsequent deliverance from guilt, is as 
 follows : — " When I was about sixteen years 
 of age, it pleased God, by means of conversa- 
 tion with a cousin of mine, to convince me that 
 I was not in his fiivour, since I did not know 
 my sins pardoned. I was more and more deeply 
 made sensible of my alienation from God, by 
 
REV. JOSEPH BENSON. 253 
 
 continuing to hear the Methodists, with whom 
 I was united, and was in great disquietude and 
 distress ahnost continually for about ten months, 
 till the Lord gave me to believe in his Son, 
 and shed abroad his love in my heart. I may 
 observe I was not without some gracious 
 drawings from God, and transient tastes of his 
 goodness at times, during that distress ; but for 
 about seven or eight weeks before it was given 
 me to beheve, I was powerfully tempted to 
 despair of ever obtaining mercy. Satan thrust 
 sore at me, and I was in horrid agony : wdien I 
 kneeled down to pray, I could not pray ; it 
 seemed as though the heavens were brass, and 
 not to be pierced. My tears, I saw, availed 
 nothing. I was sorely impatient, and ready to 
 give up all for lost. But, glory be to God, he 
 turned my heaviness into joy, and made light 
 to spring up in my heart." 
 
 In his seventeenth year, he left his paternal 
 dwelling, for the purpose of procuring an 
 interview with Mr. Wesley; and in 176G, was 
 appointed by him classical master of Kingswood 
 School, an office for which he had been suffi- 
 ciently ([ualified by a good education, and by 
 his steady pursuit of knowledge. It was dur- 
 ing his residence here that he made his first 
 essays in preaching, by occasionally ministering 
 among the neighbouring colliers. In 1770, he 
 became head-master of Lady Huntingdon's 
 
254 REV. JOSEPH BENSON. 
 
 College at Trevecca, but his residence there was 
 short and harassed. In the weighty matter 
 of theological education, Calvinism and Armi- 
 nianism were not very likely to move hand in 
 hand. Lady H. when Mr. B. retired, gave 
 him a written attestation to his " capacity, 
 sobriety, and diligence." In March, 1769, 
 he had entered his name as a student of St. 
 Edmvmd's Hall, Oxford. 
 
 Apprized by Mr. Benson himself of his con- 
 nexion with Lady Huntingdon and Mr. Wesley, 
 the tutor of St. Edmund's Hall announced his 
 intention of refusing to sign any testimonials 
 for orders. Mr. B. consequently withdrcAV ; 
 and failing in a subsequent attempt to procure 
 ordination, connected himself finally with 
 Mr. Wesley as a travelling preacher. In this 
 laborious and honourable office, he went on for 
 many years, without other interruptions than 
 those which invariably attend the work of souls, 
 till in 1779, Dr. Coke took it into his head to 
 charge him with Arianism. It appears, how- 
 ever, that Mr. Wesley and all the preachers in 
 London were fully satisfied with the sentiments 
 of Mr. B. on the subject of Christ's divinity. 
 At the first Conference held after Mr. Wesley's 
 death in 1791, Mr. B. was appointed to preach ; 
 in the same year he published a work on the 
 unscriptural character of Socinianism, partly 
 written by Mr. Fletcher, and partly by himself. 
 
REV. JOSEPH BENSON. 255 
 
 In 1794, he was appointed to the Bristol 
 circuit, where he found the minds of the peo- 
 ple exceedingly inflamed by their differences, 
 respecting the question which had for some 
 time agitated the members of this body, in 
 reference to the sacrament, whether or not 
 it should be administered by the hands of the 
 preachers. The cool and sagacious mind of 
 Benson was, however, unmoved by all this 
 excitement. In 1795, he assisted in framing 
 what was called " the plan of pacification." 
 In the same year, he took a journey into 
 Cornwall, and preached with astonishing effect 
 to immense congregations of ten, fifteen, and 
 in one instance twenty thousand persons. 
 
 In 1820, on the 20th of November, he 
 preached his last sermon. Long before this 
 the symptoms of decay had been manifesting 
 themselves, but the energy of his spirit carried 
 him through a large field of labour, while his 
 bodily weakness required repose. He occupied 
 the pulpit till within about ten weeks before his 
 death, and he continued to perform hi.s full 
 work as editor of the Magazine, till within three 
 weeks of that event, and even then he did not 
 relinquiish it wholly. In the near contem- 
 plation of eternity, he maintained a calm and 
 unshaken trust in God. Two days before his 
 departure, Dr. Clarke, Mr. Bunting, and 
 Mr. R. Smith visited him. Dr. Clarke said. 
 
25$ REV. JOSEPH BENSON. 
 
 " Well, Sir, you are not far from the kingdom 
 of our God !" He replied, " I am not only not 
 far from the kingdom of our God, but I am sure 
 of finding God in that kingdom." The Doctor 
 prayed with him; after Avhich he said, "• You 
 feel the power of those great truths you have 
 for so many years so fully declared to us : we 
 have not followed a cunningly devised fable." 
 He answered, " No, no; I have no hope of 
 being saved, but by grace through faith. I 
 still feel the need of the renewing influences of 
 the Holy Spirit." To Mr. Bunting he said, 
 " I am very weak, I feel my infirmities; I feel 
 that I have no sufficiency for any thing good 
 in myself r Mr. Bunting replied, " You now 
 realize the truths which you have so frequently 
 pressed upon us." He answered, *' Yes, O yes.'' 
 On the IGth of February, 1821, he died, in the 
 74th year of his age. 
 
 Mr. B. as a preacher, had great faults ; but 
 such was the power of his intellect, and such 
 the transcendant energy of his mind and manner, 
 that his defects were altogether forgotten. In 
 fact, his excellences were of that native and 
 uncompromising cast, that could not be other- 
 wise than allied to concomitant failures, though 
 the latter always partook of the masculine mould 
 of his understandin<T. He sometimes offended 
 by coarseness, but he never even approached 
 the confines of meanness or feebleness. His 
 
REV. JOSEPH BENSON. 257 
 
 taste was not remarkable for refinement, but 
 the force and manly simplicity of his mind kept 
 him from touching upon affectation. Yiis forte 
 did not lie in that finished and sustained style, 
 which, however beautiful and attractive it may 
 sometimes be, has a tendency at length to pall 
 upon the car; he had little of Cicero and less 
 of Isocrates in his composition ; his eloquence 
 was Demosthenian, and its effect almost irre- 
 sistible. 
 
THE REV. THOMAS SCOTT. 
 
 This faithful minister of Jesus Christ was, 
 and is, emphatically, an illustrious character. 
 He had faculties which would have placed him 
 high in the world's esteem, hut these tilings he 
 counted dross. He might have been the leader 
 of a party, the commander of an army, or a 
 successful investigator of science ; but these 
 were, in his estimate, the objects of a mean 
 ambition; — his aim was to be the servant of 
 Chi'ist, and to win souls for his Master : and 
 never did the most enthusiastic votary of the 
 world pursue his object with more intense and 
 unswerving assiduity, than did this holy con- 
 temner of the world follow on to know and do 
 his heavenly Father's will. If there were one 
 quality which, more than any other, distin- 
 guished Mr. Scott, it was single-mindedness, 
 calmly and resolutely pressing forward in the 
 simple line of reason and duty. In fancy, in 
 taste, in learning, and eloquence, he has been 
 
REV. THOMAS SCOTT. Q59 
 
 excelled by thousands ; but in this rare property 
 of mind, he has been equalled by few. 
 
 Mr. Scott was born on the 4th of February, 
 1747, at Bray toft, in Lincolnshire. His father 
 was a grazier, a man of uncommon energy of 
 mind and vigoiu* of intellect. His circum- 
 stances were, for many years, very narrow, but 
 he rose above his difficulties, and though never 
 affluent, his credit was supported, and he lived 
 in more comfortable circumstances to the age 
 of 76 years. Mr. S. was the tenth of thirteen 
 children, ten of whom lived to maturity. His 
 mother, too, seems to have been a valuable 
 woman, and from her he learnt to read : a 
 neighbouring day-school afforded him the means 
 of acquiring the first elements of Latin. At 
 eight years of age, he was transferred to a 
 different seminary, where he made some pro- 
 gress in the common acquisitions of youth. His 
 elder brother had been trained to the medical 
 profession, and was a surgeon's mate in the 
 navy; ])ut his zeal in the pursuit of knowledge 
 leading him to expose himself to a malignant 
 fever, which was raging among the crew of a 
 ship of war just arrived from a foreign station, 
 he fell a victim to its ravages. This event 
 altered the destination of Thomas, who having 
 exhibited a certain degree of readiness in ac- 
 quiring information, was singled out from the 
 rest of the family, to enjoy the advantages of 
 
260 REV. THOMAS SCOTT. 
 
 a professional training. After spending five 
 years, not to much purpose, at school in York- 
 shire, he was bound apprentice to a surgeon 
 practising in the vicinity, but misconducted 
 himself so grossly, as to give his master a 
 plausible reason for dismissing him at the ex- 
 piration of two months. 
 
 It is a most remarkable circumstance in the 
 history of Mr. Scott's religious experience, 
 that, during the brief season of this service, he 
 received his first serious conviction of sin as 
 committed against God. His master, though 
 apparently destitute of moi'al principle, and 
 with no respect for Christianity, while remon- 
 strating with him on some instance of miscon- 
 duct, told him that it was " wicked in the sight 
 of God." This simple observation sunk deep 
 into his heart; the impression was never effaced, 
 and proved, with the divine blessing, the primary 
 means of his subsequent conversion, though a 
 long and dreary period of darkness and enmity 
 against God intervened. He returned home, 
 of course, in deep disgrace ; but the mortifi- 
 cation which he sustained had little salutary 
 influence on his disposition or character. About 
 his sixteenth year, his first attendance at the 
 Lord's table took place ; and amid all the dis- 
 advantages and profanations of that formal 
 administration, in which he participated, there 
 was a solemnity in the act and its associations 
 
REV. THOMAS SCOTT. 261 
 
 which produced much, though temporary agi- 
 tation of conscience. With a sort of vindictive 
 feehng on the part of his father, the dehnquent 
 was now set to do the most laborious and dirty 
 parts of the work belonging to a grazier. His 
 previous modes of life had not prepared him 
 for this exposure to the vicissitudes of wintry 
 seasons, amid the damps and inundations of a 
 low and unwholesome site ; and his constitution 
 sustained repeated shocks, of which, in after 
 life, he felt the injurious effects. Yet even 
 amidst these hardships, the force of his cha- 
 racter, mixed indeed with much pride and 
 passion, bore him up without complaint ; and 
 his parents had not knowledge enough of the 
 human mind to discern the elements of noble 
 qualities, which were visible through all the 
 gloom and turbulence of his spirit. Strong 
 convictions frequently prevailed within him, 
 and he was often assailed by appalling temp- 
 tations; but that gracious Being, who was 
 preparing him through all this severe discipline 
 for happy and honourable service in the Church 
 of Christ, kept him from despair. For about 
 nine years, he followed his harassing employ- 
 ment, associating with the riotous, the vulgar, 
 and the profane, but still cherishing the secret 
 hope of better days, and persevering, amidst 
 all discouragements, in giving to his mind such 
 culture as came within his reach. At length, 
 
262 REV. THOMAS SCOTT. 
 
 having discovered that in the ultimate disposal 
 of the family property, his interests were to be 
 completely sacrihced, he applied himself Avith 
 redoubled diligence to the study of his few torn 
 Latin books, with his Eton Greek Grammar ; 
 and having been one day harshly and unde- 
 servedly reproved by his father, fiercely retorted, 
 and renouncing his shepherd's life and garb, 
 declared his intention of never resuming either. 
 He then left his paternal dwelling, slept that 
 night at his brother's house, and after returning 
 home to pay some necessary attention to the 
 flock he had left, set off for Boston, and waited 
 on a clergyman to whom he was slightly known, 
 for the purpose of acquainting him with his 
 desire to obtain orders. This gentleman, finding 
 him, to his surprise, already tolerably versed in 
 Latin and Greek, promised to introduce him to 
 the Archdeacon, who was to be there the fol- 
 lowing week. After an interview with him, who 
 gave him reason to hope for final approbation, 
 Mr. S. applied with redoubled diligence to his 
 studies, and at the appointed time presented 
 himself in London for ordination, but failed in 
 procuring admission as a candidate. Ascertain- 
 ing that the real objection arose from a most 
 unfounded suspicion of Methodism ! he solicited 
 an introduction to the Bishop, who treated him 
 with courtesy, but negatived his apphcation, 
 until he should obtain liis father's consent, and 
 
REV. THOMAS SCOTT. 263 
 
 a satisfactory attestation from some beneficed 
 clergyman in his own neighbourhood. With 
 this answer, in the 26th year of his age, and 
 with every avenue apparently closed against 
 him, bafHed but not disheartened, the subject 
 of our memoir quitted London ; and on the day 
 of his retiu'n home, after walking twenty miles 
 in the forenoon, laid aside his clerical clothes, 
 resumed his shepherd's dress, and sJieared 
 eleven large sheep in the afternoon. After 
 some ftirther difficulties, he obtained his father's 
 reluctant consent, and sucli additional docu- 
 ments as were sufHcient to gain him admission 
 as a probationer : his answers were satisfactory, 
 and Dr. Gordon, the Examiner, expressed his 
 approbation in forcible language. He was 
 ordained Deacon in September 1772, and 
 Priest in jNIarch of the following year. His 
 state of mind, when he took upon himself the 
 ministerial office, was afterwards described by 
 himself in the strongest terms of reprobation. 
 •' 1 dehberately judge," are his own words, 
 " this whole transaction to have been the most 
 atrocious wickedness of my life. — As far as 1 
 understood such controversies, 1 was nearly a 
 Socinian and Pelagian, and wholly an Arminian. 
 While I was preparing for the solemn office, 1 
 lived, as before, in known sin, and in utter 
 neglect of prayer ; my whole preparation con- 
 sistino of nothing else than an attention to those 
 
264 REV. THOMAS SCOTT. 
 
 studies, which were more immediately requisite 
 for reputably passing through the previous 
 examination." 
 
 Soon after Mr. S.'s expulsion from his ap- 
 prenticeship, his father had given him an ewe 
 Iamb; and, by judicious management, he had 
 reared a small flock of sixty-eight sheep, be- 
 sides lambs: for these, with much difficulty, 
 he obtained from his father sixty-eight pounds ; 
 and after the purchase of clothes and books, as 
 well as defraying his travelling and ordination 
 expenses, he entered on his labours, possessed 
 of twenty guineas. " On such trivial inci- 
 dents," observes Mr. Scott, '* do the most im- 
 portant events depend. Without this lamb, 
 and the sheep, which in this way I acquired, 
 as far as I can see, my whole plan of entering 
 into holy orders must have failed." His lirst 
 labours were in the curacies of Stoke and 
 Weston Underwood, in Buckinghamshire, with 
 the occasional supply of Gayhurst, where he 
 made a pleasant acquaintance with George 
 Wright, Esq., a man of wealth and influence. 
 Whatever of error and obscurity might rest on 
 his religious views, his labours, at least, on 
 assuming his new office, were exemplary; he 
 studied the Scriptures dilgently, and was inde- 
 fatigable in the acquisition of the languages 
 and dialects which are connected with biblical 
 investigation. 
 
REV. THOMAS SCOTT. 265 
 
 Not long after his establishment in this 
 neighbourhood, he was induced to hear Mr. 
 Newton at Olncy : the sermon, as he imagined, 
 was directly pointed at lihn, and this idea ex- 
 cited little other feeling than contempt and 
 ridicule. Mr. N. was then expounding the 
 Acts, and, in regular order, he had taken as 
 his text the apostle's stern rebuke to Elymas, 
 in the loth chapter, 9th and 10th verses. The 
 coincidence was striking, but the impression 
 was extremely slight : the doctrines of Mr. N. 
 appeared to Mr. S. " abstruse, imaginative, 
 and irrational ; and his manner uncouth." The 
 pastoral conduct of that excellent man seems, 
 however, to have excited his respect and emu- 
 lation. 
 
 The time was now approaching, in which the 
 seed, which had been gradually germinating in 
 his heart, was to expand into full maturity, and 
 to " bring forth fruit unto perfection." The 
 details of this glorious process have been so 
 amply and so impressively stated in one of the 
 best and most deservedly popular books in the 
 English language — '* The Force of Truth" — 
 that we shall enter into their history with less 
 minuteness than we should have otherwise 
 deemed expedient. In 1775, he removed to 
 the curacy of Ravenstone; which place was 
 made a Bethel to him, for he sought, and, 
 
 VOL. I. N 
 
266 REV. THOMAS SCOTT. 
 
 in a considerable measure, found the know- 
 ledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. 
 
 It was about this time that he commenced a 
 correspondence with Mr. Newton, in which we 
 know not which most to admire, the skilful 
 forbearance with which the latter conducted 
 himself in his treatment of his patient, or the 
 acuteness and knowledge of character which 
 he displayed in his anticipations of the grand 
 result. The work of grace had indeed been 
 for a considerable time unfolding itself in the 
 heart of Mr. S. ; but he satv not his signs ; and 
 while the hand of God was upon him for good, 
 he was for a long time disposed to look else- 
 where for the sources of his confidence and 
 hope. At this period, too, his mind was much 
 agitated with scruples respecting subscription, 
 which, with that conscientiousness which dis- 
 tinguished him on all occasions, he intimated to 
 his patron, much to the displeasure of the 
 latter. He afterwards professed himself satis- 
 fied that his " objections were groundless;" 
 but by what process his mind was brought to 
 this satisfaction we are not informed. 
 
 Early in 1777, he removed to the house in 
 Weston Underwood, which was afterwards 
 tenanted by the poet Co^vper ; and while resi- 
 dent here, he began to administer medical 
 assistance to his poorer neighbours, for which 
 he was well qualified. Here, too, he lived 
 
REV. THOMAS SCOTT. 267 
 
 when he published the Force of Truth, in the 
 cast and composition of which he was much 
 assisted by the counsel of his friend Cowper. 
 
 When Mr. Newton, in 1780, left Olney for 
 London, he was extremely anxious that Mr. 
 Scott should succeed him ; and after a time, at 
 the intreaty of the leading inhabitants, jNlr. S. 
 took the office, though the step was, on the 
 whole, disadvantageous in a pecuniary view. 
 So limited were the means of Mr. Scott, at 
 this period of his life, that, from inabihty to 
 defray the cost of a study and a separate fire, 
 he fretfuently wrote with a child on his knee, 
 or rocking the cradle, and liis wife working by 
 him. And so little promise was there of use- 
 fulness from his writings, that, having given 
 away one hundred copies of his Discourse on 
 Repentance, the rest remained on hand ; and 
 even of the Force of Truth, the first edition, 
 one thousand copies, lingered in its sale through 
 the term of ten years, though, when its worth 
 became known, that number did little more 
 than answer the annual demand ; and a cheap 
 edition, of six thousand copies, was exhausted 
 in six months. 
 
 In 1785, an invitation to becomejointpreacher 
 at the Lock Hospital was sent to Mr. S. from 
 the governors of that institution, which, after 
 due deliberation, he accepted. He found, 
 however, that he had placed himself in a 
 n2 
 
268 REV. THOMAS SCOTT. 
 
 situation which brought him many anxieties and 
 vexations, with a very inadequate recompense. 
 His preaching was unpopular; his fearless and 
 universal offer of the invitations of the gospel, 
 and his practical strain of appeal, exposed him 
 to the charge of Arminianism; while his stern 
 and uncompromising regard to consistency in- 
 volved him at times in unpleasant circum- 
 stances : still he persevered, and, by the steady 
 and undeviating rectitude of his course, bore 
 down all opposition. His work was, indeed, 
 laborious, and scantily paid. His salary at 
 the Lock was no more than 80/. ; his lecture- 
 ship produced him 30/. ; and he preached on 
 alternate Sabbaths in Lothbury church, at six 
 o'clock in the morning, for 7s. Qd. a time ; he 
 had, in addition, such presents as the preca- 
 rious liberality of his friends might induce them 
 to bestow. 
 
 While in this situation, a proposal was made 
 to him, that he should write a commentary on 
 the Bible, to be published in weekly numbers. 
 He acceded, and commenced in January, 1788; 
 but he was unfortunate in his early commercial 
 connexions. His first bookseller imposed on 
 him grossly; and the publication of a third 
 edition involved him in a chancery suit, which 
 ended in the discomfiture of his adversary. 
 His last publishers were, happily, honourable 
 men ; and, in addition to the punctual dis- 
 
REV. THOMAS SCOTT. 269 
 
 charge of their engagements, they exonerated 
 him from all expense on account of the law 
 proceedings. Twelve thousand copies of the 
 commentary have heen pnnted in England, 
 and at least double that number in America : 
 the retail price of the whole would amount to 
 the large sum of 199,900/. 
 
 In September, 1790, he lost his excellent 
 wife, who had been, during nearly sixteen 
 years, the faithful and affectionate sharer of his 
 anxieties, and a wise counsellor in his difficul- 
 ties. He soon married again ; and, respecting 
 the object of his second choice, his whole 
 family concurred in the sentiment which he 
 pronounced on his dying bed, that she had 
 been an unspeakable blessing to him and his 
 for more than thirty years. 
 
 A severe illness in 1801 compelled him to 
 give up his morning lecture at Lothbury ; and 
 in the same year he obtained the living of 
 Aston Sandford. In 180i2, he was appointed 
 sole chaplain at the Lock, but, in the following 
 year, removed wholly to Aston. This rectory 
 was nominally worth ISO/, annually; but the 
 expenses consequent on building a new parson- 
 age house reduced that small amount to less 
 than 100/. Such were the honours and re- 
 wards with which the ecclesiastical establish- 
 ment of England crowned one of the best and 
 most useful of her sons ! The man, who would 
 
270 REV. THOMAS SCOTT. 
 
 have conferred honour on a mitre, was over- 
 looked amidst the higher claims of courtiers 
 and university graduates. 
 
 The quiet and seclusion which he enjoyed 
 in this small village enabled him to pursue, 
 without interruption, his other plans. In 1807, 
 however, he acceded to the request of the 
 Church Missionary Society, that he would 
 undertake the preparation of their mission- 
 aries; a labour in which he persevered until, 
 in 1814, his impaired health compelled him to 
 resign the charge. It is to be mentioned, as an 
 illustration of the unbroken energy of his mind 
 at this advanced age, that, in compliance with 
 the very singular request of the Society, he 
 mastered the Susoo and Arabic languages, for 
 the purpose of instructing his pupils. 
 
 In 1813, unexpectedly finding himself in 
 debt to his printer to the amount of 1200/., 
 agitated with the overwhelming apprehension 
 of dying insolvent, the only I'esource which 
 occurred to him was to issue a circular to a few 
 friends, stating the facts, and soliciting their 
 purchase of his works, in five volumes octavo, 
 at a reduced price. The result was delightful. 
 His friends exerted themselves on all sides. 
 From Cambridge he received, through Mr. 
 Simeon, .590/. as a present, besides a consider- 
 able sum for books. From Bristol and from 
 York liberal donations were sent him ; and, in 
 
REV. THOMAS SCOTT. 271 
 
 addition to the purchase of the works which he 
 tendered for sale, he received 2000/. as pre- 
 sents, in Httle more than two months. 
 
 On the 16th of April, 1821, this good and 
 faithful servant entered into tlie joy of his Lord. 
 His sufferings were severe, hut his supports 
 were strong. He had experienced great dark- 
 ness and dejection in the prospect of death ; 
 but he was at length delivered from these 
 feelings. He knew in whom he had believed, 
 and his strong consolation was in the promise 
 and the oath of his lieavenly Father. The last 
 scene is thus described by his daughter : — 
 
 " He seemed, about half-past six, almost 
 disquieted by seeing the bitter distress of a 
 servant who sat by him, and repeatedly shook 
 his head, as a sign that she should moderate 
 her grief. As her feelings became ungovern- 
 able, she rose to leave the room ; which when 
 he perceived, he made an attempt to take his 
 hand out of bed, to give her before she went: 
 but his weakness prevented his succeeding. It 
 was his last efibrt. He soon after made a sign 
 to Mr. D. to raise his head. Mr. D. took him 
 in his arms ; he laid his head on his shoulder, 
 and raised his eyes to heaven : a look of un- 
 utterable joy, an expression of glory begun, 
 came over his whole countenance, and in a few 
 minutes, without sigli or struggle, without even 
 a discomposed feature, he sweetly slejjt in 
 
272 REV. THOMAS SCOTT. 
 
 Jesus. We all, even my poor mother, stood 
 by, and were comforted. We could hardly 
 conceive it could be death." 
 
 Of Mr. S.'s various and important writings, 
 the Force of Truth has been already men- 
 tioned; his Essays stand, probably, next in 
 value, and his controversial works are full of 
 important matter ; but his Commentary is the 
 work by which he will, for a long time to come, 
 be most commonly estimated. Of that excel- 
 lent production, it would be difficult to speak 
 in terms of exaggerated praise ; it is an 
 inexhaustible treasury of things new and old. 
 Unlike many other similar works, it is em- 
 phatically trustworthy ; and if it were neces- 
 sary, in scriptural investigations, to follow any 
 commentator implicitly, tliat leader should be 
 Scott. It might, perhaps, have been advan- 
 tageously compressed; more vivacity and 
 energy of style might have given it greater 
 and more general attraction ; but it is marked 
 with all the peculiar soundness of mind and 
 depth of scriptural knowledge which distin- 
 guished the author, and it will never be super- 
 seded. 
 
WALTER VENNING, ESQ. 
 
 It was the unspeakable privilege of Mr. 
 Venning to have been blessed with a religious 
 education, under the care of eminently pious 
 parents in Devonshire, who had used every 
 effort to lead him to the knowledge and service 
 of God. Commercial engagements obliged 
 him in early life to visit St. Petersburgh. He 
 carried out with him that general sense of re- 
 ligion, and particularly that regard to the 
 sanctity of the sabbath, which he had im- 
 bibed from the habits of his youth ; and 
 greatly was he shocked at the profanation of 
 the holy day, which prevailed even among the 
 British inhabitants of that city. The feeling, 
 however, which was then excited, was of no 
 long continuance. His inexperienced mind 
 even manifested its depraved tendencies by 
 gradual compliance with the customs of the 
 place, to which he was urged by the ridicule 
 to which he found himself exposed, when he 
 N 3 
 
274 WALTER VENNING, ESQ. 
 
 attempted to plead for observances which were 
 associated with his earhest recollections. With 
 the neglect of the sabbath were connected the 
 slight performance and frequent omission of 
 secret prayer. Hence arose a growing care- 
 lessness about spiritual and eternal concerns, 
 which, by his OAvn confession, prevailed to a 
 lamentable degree, but never so thoroughly as 
 to leave him in quiet possession of the worldly 
 habits which he had assumed. 
 
 About the year 1807, an event took place 
 wliich called back his wandering heart, and 
 appears to have been the principal means of 
 fixing his convictions and determinations on 
 the side of religion. That event was the 
 death of his aged and pious father. Under 
 the deep feelings of regret which the loss of a 
 parent occasioned, he retraced his past life, 
 and found that he had been pursuing " vanity 
 and vexation of spirit." Many tender scenes 
 of ])arental instruction and admonition, which 
 had been nearly obliterated from his recollec- 
 tion, were now renewed. The calm composure 
 with Mliich this revered and beloved parent 
 " waited for the salvation of God," until he 
 " finished his course with joy," became the 
 means of fixing the convictions of the affec- 
 tionate and dutiful son ; and, to adopt his own 
 words, " led him again to bless and praise that 
 Almighty Power, which enabled his parent on 
 
WALTER VENNING, ESQ. 275 
 
 his dying pillow to comfort those who came to 
 comfort him." 
 
 These impressions, it appears, never after- 
 wards forsook him. Some remarkahle provi- 
 dential preservations, experienced in the fre- 
 quent voyages occasioned hy his commercial 
 connexions, especially between this country 
 and Russia, greatly strengthened his altered 
 views. Hence he was induced to study, with 
 serious attention, the Holy Scriptures, and 
 cordially to receive the great truths of the 
 everlasting gospel. 
 
 In the year 1810, or in the early part of 
 1811, being then resident in London, he be- 
 came a stated attendant on the ministry of the 
 Rev, Dr. Winter, in New Court, Carey Street: 
 and in the autumn of the last mentioned year, 
 was received into communion with the church 
 in that place. He now became increasingly 
 desirous of usefulness ; and spent much time 
 in praying and conversing with the poor, the 
 sick, and the dying, in the crowded alleys and 
 courts of the metropoUs. Before he finally 
 left his native shores, he was much occupied 
 in visiting the prisons of London, in endea- 
 vouring to impart instruction to those who 
 were confined in them, and in distributing to 
 them Bibles and tracts. 
 
 In the year 1817, he undertook another, 
 which was his fouith and last, voyage to 
 
276 WALTER VENNING, ESQ. 
 
 Russia ; intending, when he left England, 
 an absence of only three months. Various 
 circumstances, however, conspired to prolong 
 his stay. One was the cordial reception which 
 he met with from a near relative, whose mind 
 he was most happy to find increasingly opened 
 to those great truths which he himself had 
 received. Another was the greatly improved 
 state of religious society in St. Petersburgh. 
 A third, in connexion with this, was the en- 
 larged opening which he here perceived for all 
 plans of promoting the diffusion of religion by 
 the wonderful exertions of the Bible Society, 
 and by other means. And the fourth was the 
 opportunity of usefulness, which he found in 
 his favourite employment of visiting the prisons 
 both in St. Petersburgh and in other parts of 
 the empire. In short, this excellent man was 
 daily approximating to the character and ex- 
 ertions of Howard ; and under the auspicious 
 sanction of the Emperor Alexander, and his 
 prime minister. Prince Gallitzin, his labours 
 were very efficient. They were, however, des- 
 tined to be prematurely terminated, together 
 with his life. About three weeks before his 
 death, he and another member of the visiting 
 Committee were at the prison in St. Peters- 
 burgh ; both of them caught fever ; the other 
 gentleman was seized first, and soon discovered 
 symptoms of typhus ; his life was despaired of, 
 
WALTER VENNING, ESQ. 277 
 
 but he soon recovered. Mr. V.'s disorder 
 began with a cold ; i,t increased, and ten days 
 before liis death, he was confined to his bed. 
 On the 18th of January, 1821, he sent for 
 Dr. Paterson and Mr. Knill, the missionary 
 then stationed at Petersburgh. Dr. P. was 
 not at home, but the latter went immediately. 
 To him he expressed his expectation of death ; 
 saying, "It is probable that all my work is 
 done, and this idea induced me to send for you : 
 we shall be companions in eternity. If we are 
 Christians indeed, we shall be angels in the 
 world to come." He desired the chapter in 
 Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion, 
 entitled, " The Christian rejoicing in the views 
 of Death and Judgment," to be read to him as 
 death should approach ; saying, it had already 
 afforded him much peace and comfort, and he 
 hoped it would again. In the most solenm and 
 affecting manner, he said to Mr. Knill, — 
 " There is a great work going on, and all of it 
 is preparing for the Judgment-day ; there it will 
 be tried. What a scrutiny ! what a day !" — 
 " Knill," said he, " labour for Jesus Christ as 
 long as you have breath in your body. Christ 
 is worthy, Christ is worthy ; preach the pure 
 gospel; warn every man to beware of trusting 
 in his own righteousness. O, what a day is 
 coming ! What a day will the Judgment-day 
 be ! what scenes will then appear !— O, could 
 
278 ' WALTER VENNING, ESQ. 
 
 I but give you a view of my thoughts on that 
 subject ! — It is too vast ; — but this let me tell 
 you, that dreadful beyond description will it 
 be for all those who are not placing all their 
 hopes of heaven on the Lord Jesus Christ!" 
 After this he rapidly sunk. Dr. Paterson 
 and some other Christian friends were present, 
 praying for an easy dismission, at the moment 
 when the spirit took its flight to the realms of 
 day. 
 
 At the Annual Meeting of the General Com- 
 mittee of the St. Petersburgh Prison Society, 
 held on the 27th of January, his Excellency 
 Prince Alexander Gallitzin delivered an ad- 
 dress, containing a high eulogium on the 
 character of this excellent man, expressing 
 affectionate regret at the loss of so active and 
 efficient a fellow-labourer, who was indeed the 
 prime mover, under Providence, in this great 
 work. This admirable address concluded with 
 the following animated passage. Having pro- 
 posed to ask of his Imperial Majesty permission 
 to erect a monument on the spot where his 
 mortal remains were deposited, he proceeded 
 thus—*' While Russia has to shew near our 
 frontier the ashes of his countrymen, who 
 marked the first traces of amelioration in the 
 condition of prisoners, the sick, and the suf- 
 fering, let her also shew a second monument of 
 another Howard here ; a worthy follower and 
 
WALTER VENNING, ESQ. 279 
 
 imitator of the good deeds of the first. The 
 Lord blesses his work when he bestows the 
 instruments of his grace on the earth. The 
 Lord has accomphshed his work when he 
 takes them to himself in heaven." 
 
ELIAS BOUDINOT, ESQ. LL.D. 
 
 Dr. Boudinot was born in Philadelphia, on 
 the 2(1 of May, 1740. He was descended from 
 one of those pious Protestants, who, at the 
 revocation of the Edict of Nantes, fled from 
 France to America, to escape the horrors of 
 ecclesiastical persecution, and to enjoy religious 
 freedom in that favoured land. He had the 
 advantage of a classical education, and pursued 
 the study of the law. 
 
 Shortly after his admission to the bar of New 
 Jersey, Dr. B. rose to the first grade in his 
 profession. Early in the revolutionary war, he 
 was appointed by Congress to the important 
 trust of Commissary-General of prisoners. In 
 the year 1T7T, he was chosen a member of the 
 national Congress, and in the year 1782, he 
 was elected President. In this capacity he 
 had the honour and happiness of putting his 
 signature to the Treaty of Peace, which for 
 ever established his country's independence. 
 
ELIAS BOUDINOT, LL.D. 281 
 
 On the return of peace, he resumed the practice 
 of the law. It was not long, however, before 
 he was called to a more important station. On 
 the adoption of the present constitution of the 
 United States, the confidence of his fellow- 
 citizens allotted him a seat in the House of 
 Representatives of the United States. In this 
 honourable place, he was continued for six 
 successive years. On quitting it to return once 
 more to the pursuits of private life, he was ap- 
 pointed by that consummate judge of character, 
 the Jiifit President of the United States, to fill 
 the office of Director of the National Mint, 
 vacated by the death of the celebrated Ritten- 
 hause. This trust he executed with exemplary 
 fidelity, during the administration of \\'ashing- 
 ton, of Adams, and, in part, of Jefterson. 
 Resigning this office, and seeking seclusion 
 from the perplexities of public life, and from 
 the bustle of a commercial metropolis, he fixed 
 his residence in the city of Burlington. Here, 
 surrounded by affectionate friends, and visited 
 by strangers of distinction — engaged much in 
 pursuits of biblical literature — practising the 
 most liberal and unceremonious hospitality — 
 filhng up life in the exercise of the highest 
 Christian duties and of the loveliest charities 
 that exalt our nature — meekly and quietly 
 communicating and receiving happiness of the 
 purest kind ; he sustained and left such a 
 
282 ELIAS BOUDINOT, LL.D. 
 
 character as will for ever endear his memory 
 to his friends, and do honour to his country. 
 
 Prior to the revolution he was elected a 
 Member of the Board of Trustees of New 
 Jersey College. The semi-annual meetings of 
 this respectable body he always attended with 
 punctuality, unless prevented by severe indis- 
 position. The liberal donations he made it 
 during his life, and the more ample one in his 
 last will, must be long remembered with grati- 
 tude by the friends of science. 
 
 But while anxious to promote the interests 
 of literature, he was not unmindful of the 
 superior claims of religion. Attached from 
 principle and habit to the religious denomi- 
 nation of which he was so distinguished a 
 member, he was most liberal in his testamen- 
 tary donation to the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church, and to their Theological 
 Seminary at Princeton. 
 
 But as his mind, unshackled by bigotry, 
 was expanded by the noblest principles of 
 Christian benevolence, he also very liberally 
 endowed various institutions whose object was 
 to diffuse more widely the light of revealed 
 truth, — to evangelize the heathen, — to instruct 
 the deaf and dumb, — to educate youth for the 
 sacred ministry, — to advance knowledge, and 
 to relieve the wants of the sick or suffering 
 poor. The efforts he at first made, notwith- 
 
ELIAS BOUDINOT, LL.D. 283 
 
 standing the infirmities of age, to establish 
 the American Bible Society, — his munificent 
 donation at its first organization, — his sub- 
 sequent liberality to aid in the erection of a 
 depository, — the devise of a large and valuable 
 tract of land, — and the deep and undiminished 
 interest he has taken in all the concerns of the 
 National Society ever since he was chosen to 
 be its President, — while they spread his fame 
 through every region of the globe, will con- 
 secrate his memory to the hearts of his fellow- 
 citizens in America and his fellow-Christians 
 throughout the world. 
 
 But if his public services and his private 
 worth claim the tribute of general esteem and 
 affectionate remembrance, the closing scene of 
 his life was not less calculated to console his 
 friends under the heavy loss they have sus- 
 tained, than it was to edify and support the 
 departing Christian. In the full possession 
 of his mental faculties, and in the assured 
 persuasion of his approaching dissolution, his 
 faith was firm, his patience unexhausted, and 
 his hopes were bright. While with paternal 
 sohcitude he exhorted those around him to 
 rest on the liord Jesus Christ as the only true 
 ground of trust, — while, with solemnity and 
 tenderness, he commended a dutiful and affec- 
 tionate daughter, his only child, to the care of 
 his surviving friends, — with humble resignation 
 
284 ELIAS BOUDINOT, LL.D. 
 
 he expressed his readiness, his desire to de- 
 part in peace to the bosom of his Father 
 in Heaven ; and the last prayer he was heard 
 to articulate was, '' Lord Jesus, receive my 
 spirit !" He died the 24th of October, 1821, 
 in the 82d year of his age. 
 
WILLIAM FRIEND DURANT. 
 
 This excellent and surprising youth was the 
 only child of his father, the Rev. Thomas 
 Durant, of Poole, Dorsetshire. From his 
 earhest yeai's, he discovered an uncommon 
 share of natural talent, which was fostered and 
 regulated in its progress of improvement by 
 the wise and assiduous lessons of both his 
 parents. Being, up to his fifteenth year, edu- 
 cated wholly at home, he enjoyed peculiar 
 advantages for the promotion both of his moral 
 and literary character ; and, througli a divine 
 blessing, success of the most brilliant order 
 attended the plan which was pursued. His 
 father and biographer declares, that " never, 
 for the last fourteen years" before his death, 
 " had he endured one anxious feeling of ap- 
 prehension respecting his child's future interests 
 in time and eternity." The soundness and 
 vigour of his judgment were far above his years, 
 while the varietv and extent of his attainments 
 
286 WILLIAM FRIEND DURANT. 
 
 gave witness to his unwearied industry. There 
 was a maturity in his whole mental character 
 essentially different from the precocity of genius 
 which has so often proved a fatal though bril- 
 liant endowment ; — a manliness united with a 
 simplicity of mind which afforded the surest 
 indication of future eminence. 
 
 " The clearness of his conceptions," says 
 Professor Mylne, " the precision of his lan- 
 guage, and the closeness and accuracy of his 
 reasoning ; his candour in comparing and esti- 
 mating different philosophical doctrines ; his 
 caution in forming opinions ; his moderation 
 and temper in stating and defending them; and 
 the mild but decisive firmness with which he 
 maintained them, when he felt their evidence 
 to be satisfactory, and their consequences im- 
 portant, — appeared to me clear indications of 
 an intellect which had not only been naturally 
 endowed with great acuteness and perspicacity, 
 but which also had already reached to no com- 
 mon degree of eminence in steadiness, coolness, 
 mildness, and other qualities which we scarcely 
 cx])ect to find except in those whose powers 
 have been maturetl, whose principles have been 
 fixed, by lives spent not merely in the pursuits 
 of science, but in the cultivation of practical 
 wisdom." 
 
 At the age of seven, the habit of regular 
 application was completely formed in his mind, 
 
WILLIAM FRIEND DURANT. 287 
 
 and mental exertion became henceforth his 
 dehght. From that time till he quitted the 
 parental roof, he continued to make advances, 
 equally rapid and substantial, in almost every 
 branch of liberal knowledge. Many of his 
 compositions, both in prose and verse, from a 
 very early age, bear convincing proofs of his 
 vigorous understanding and uncommon pro- 
 ficiency. 
 
 Towards the close of the year 1818, William, 
 now in his sixteenth year, was placed under 
 the roof of the Rev. Dr. Wardlaw, of Glasgow, 
 for the purpose of completing his studies in 
 the University of that city. He returned 
 home once every year, to spend the vacation 
 with his M'idowed father and beloved aunt. 
 On the 17th of October, 1821, he left them 
 for the last time, to commence those studies 
 which would have completed his literary and 
 philosophical course at the University. He 
 entered at the same time the public class of 
 Dr. Meikleham, the extra class of Professor 
 Mylne, and that of the Hebrew Professor. But 
 an insidious disease was already undermining 
 his health; and the shock produced by the 
 intelligence of his aunt's death, shortly after 
 his arrival at Glasgow, gave a dreadful activity 
 to the seeds of the disorder. His father 
 arrived too late to sec more than the corpse 
 of that cherished and accomphshcd son. He 
 had not quite completed his nineteenth year. 
 
288 WILLIAM FRIEND DURANT. 
 
 " In him," says Dr. Wardlaw, " was united 
 the splendour of science, with the mild and 
 holy radiance of sincere piety ; not the senti- 
 mental piety of poetry and romance, but the 
 intelligent devotion of examined and settled 
 principle. He was a firm believer in divine 
 revelation ; and his was not a mind that could 
 ever be satisfied with a belief, resting on mere 
 educational prejudice and prepossession. 
 The truth of the gospel was a question of 
 which he felt the infinite importance, and 
 which he was early encouraged to examine. 
 He gave all his mind, with becoming serious- 
 ness, to the inquiry ; he weighed proofs ; he 
 considered objections ; he searched the scrip- 
 tures — for himself. His faith was thus founded 
 on evidence, and established by his own 
 experience of the power of those motives to 
 godliness, which the gospel presents to the 
 mind. Amidst the temptations of youth, and 
 especially the fascinating seductions of " that 
 honour that cometh from men," he maintained 
 a steady and dignified consistency. He was 
 serious on serious subjects, and would never 
 bear to hear them treated with levity. 
 
 " After the tidings arrived of the death of 
 that dear relative, who was removed so very 
 recently before him, and who had been to him 
 as a second mother, his mind was evidently 
 drawn, with a peculiar degree of interest and 
 impression, to the contemplation of eternal 
 
WILLIAM FRIEND DIRANT. 289 
 
 things. He conversed, with solemn pleasure, 
 about death and heaven. His mind was serious 
 and spiritual. It seems as if lier departure 
 had been purposely timed to prepare him for 
 his own ; and he was in a frame of mind for 
 dying, before the symptoms of approaching 
 dei.th discovered themselves. During his short 
 and rapid illness, the difficulty and indistinct- 
 ness of articulation, which was one of its most 
 affecting indications, rendered conversation 
 impracticable." In answering, however, by a 
 simple negative or affirmative, the questions 
 which were put to him in reference to his 
 prospects for a future world, he gave a decided 
 testimony of his faith and hope. And thus, 
 in his own beautifully simple and touching 
 words, — written on occasion of his aunt's 
 death, — but which might be appropriately 
 inscribed on his own early tomb — 
 
 " Though to-night the seed be sown in gloom, 
 
 Amid darkness, and tears, and sorrow, 
 It shall spring from the tomb, in immortal bloom, 
 
 On the bright and glorious morrow. 
 The tears that we shed o'er holy dust 
 
 Are the tribute of human sadness : 
 But the grave holds in trust the remains of the just, 
 
 Till the day of eternal gladness.'' 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
THOMAS BATEMAN, M.D. 
 
 " The late Dr. Bateman settled in London 
 soon after his graduation at Edinburgh in the 
 year 1801 ; and his professional merits being 
 very considerable, he was speedily elected 
 Physician to two public institutions — a large 
 Dispensary, and the House of Recovery for 
 Fever. He also conducted the medical depart- 
 ment of Rees's Encyclopa?dia, and was joint 
 editor of the Edinburgh Medical Journal. 
 He continued to distinguish himself, as he had 
 done in Edinburgh, by his zeal and industry 
 in the pursuit of science and literature ; though 
 he contrived to mix with his severer studies a 
 large portion of the dissipations of gay society, 
 and canned with him, into both these opposite 
 pursuits, an energy of mind and of feeling 
 which rendered him more than ordinarily sus- 
 ceptible of the enjoyments which either of them 
 can afford. He always retained a high "sense 
 of honour," as it is called, and was strictly 
 
THOMAS BATEMAN, M. D, 291 
 
 careful to avoid, in all his conduct, every thing 
 that the world esteems discreditable. He 
 lived, however, to see and to feel, what at that 
 time he had no conception of, how meagre a 
 system of morality is that which the world is 
 satisfied ^ith, compared with the comprehen- 
 sive morality of the Gospel — that Christian 
 hohness without which *' no man can see the 
 Lord." His habits of life thus concurring with 
 the natural corruption of the human licart, and 
 estranging him more and more from God, he 
 soon became confirmed in his leaning to the 
 wretched doctrine of Materialism, which he 
 had been already tempted to adopt during the 
 pursuit of his anatomical and physiological 
 studies at Edinburgh. This lamentable ten- 
 dency was strongly increased by the society 
 which he now fell into of some men of conside- 
 rable talent, who had already espoused all the 
 principles of that unphilosophical as well as 
 unchristian system ; and though never able 
 fully to embrace those opinions himself, he was 
 yet sufficiently influenced by them to become 
 sceptical respecting the truth of Divine Reve- 
 lation, and was therefore of course a stranger 
 to the hopes, as well as negligent of the duties, 
 of Christianity. 
 
 " In the summer of 1815, his health began to 
 decline, and in the following year a complaint 
 in his eyes came on, which threatened loss 
 o 2 
 
292 THOMAS BATEMAN, M. D. 
 
 of sight, and precluded him from all his accus- 
 tomed sources of occupation and amusement. 
 Under these circumstances, the writer of this 
 memoir became his constant companion and 
 attendant ; and for four years had the misery 
 of witnessing his total estrangement from God 
 and religion. His health continuing to decline, 
 he left London in July, 1819, with an intention 
 of trying the effect of a sulphurous water at 
 Middleton, in the county of Durham, on his 
 debilitated constitution. He was taken ill on 
 the road, and with difficulty reached a village 
 near Beverley, in Yorkshire ; where he was 
 obliged to remain during the following winter; 
 and finding, at length, that his health required 
 the sacrifice, he finally determined not to 
 attempt returning to London. He had for 
 some time been subject to attacks of the most 
 alarming nervous languor, during which he 
 was thought by all around him, as well as by 
 himself, to be dying ; and these now returned 
 upon him continually, especially after using 
 the least bodily exertion. During the winter 
 he was considerably better ; but on the return 
 of warm weather, early in the spring of 1820, 
 he had a severe attack of languor after a short 
 ride. His dread of these attacks was so great, 
 and they were brought on so frequently by the 
 smallest fatigue, that he gradually relinquished 
 all exertion, as he even believed that the 
 
THOMAS BATEMAN, M. D. 293 
 
 exhaustion which would be produced* by the 
 effort of walking- across a room might prove 
 fatal. 
 
 " It was on Sunday, tlie 9th of April, that he 
 first spoke to me on the subject of religion. 
 He had passed the whole of the day in a state 
 of extraordinary suffering, from languor, and 
 a variety of nervous feelings, which he always 
 said it was impossible to describe, farther tlian 
 that they were inconceivably painful and dis- 
 tressing ; and he went to bed at night with 
 a firm persuasion tliat he should never again 
 quit it; and, in fact, he did confine himself to 
 it for the following three weeks, from the mere 
 apprehension of the consequences of exertion. 
 Religion was a subject which, for many reasons, 
 had never been discussed between us. Though 
 the tenor of his life had made me but too well 
 acquainted with the state of his mind, he had 
 always avoided any declaration of his opinions, 
 knowing the pain it would give me to hear 
 them. He was habitually fond of argument, 
 and skilled in it ; and I knew that I was quite 
 incompetent to argue with him. I considered 
 too that the habit of disputing in favour of any 
 opinion, only serves in general to rivet it the 
 more firmly in the mind; men commonly find- 
 ing their own arguments more convincing than 
 those of their adversaries. And, above all, I 
 knew that this was a case in which mere 
 
294 THOMAS BATEMAN, M. D. 
 
 argument must always be insufficient, — for 
 " it is with the heart that man beheveth unto 
 righteousness :" and in most, if not all, cases of 
 scepticism, the will and the affections need to 
 be set right even more than the understand- 
 ing ; .and upon these, argument can have no 
 influence. — On the evening of the day I have 
 mentioned, Dr. Bateman had been expressing 
 to me his conviction that he could not live 
 much longer, and complaining of the dreadful 
 nervous sensations which continually harassed 
 him ; and then he added, " But all these 
 sufferings are a just pimishment for my long 
 scepticism, and neglect of God and rehgion." 
 This led to a conversation, in the course of 
 which he observed, that medical men were 
 very generally sceptical ; and that the mischief 
 arose from what he considered a natural ten- 
 dency of some of their studies to lead to 
 materialism. I replied, that the mischief ap- 
 peared to me to originate rather in their neglect 
 to examine into the evidences of the truth of 
 the Bible, as an actual revelation from God; 
 because, if a firm conviction of that were once 
 established, the authority of the Scriptures 
 must be paramount; and the tendency of all 
 inferior studies, in opposition to their decla- 
 I'ations, could have no weight. He said, he 
 believed I was right, and that he had in fact 
 been intending to examine fully into the subject, 
 
THOMAS BATEMAN, M. D. 295 
 
 when the complaint m his eyes came on, and 
 shut him out from reading. Our conversation 
 ended in his permitting me to read to him 
 the first of Scott's *' Essays on the most im- 
 portant Subjects in ReUgion," which treats of 
 " The Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures." 
 He hstened with intense earnestness ; and when 
 it was concluded, exclaimed, " This is demon- 
 stration! complete demonstration!" He then 
 asked me to read to him the account given in 
 the New Testament of the resurrection of our 
 Saviour; which I did from all the four Evan- 
 gelists. I read also many other passages of 
 Scripture, with some of which he was ex- 
 tremely struck; especially with that declara- 
 tion, that " the natural man rcceiveth not the 
 things of the Spirit of God, for they are 
 foolishness unto him : neither can he know 
 them, because they are spiritually discerned." 
 (1 Cor.ii. 14.) 
 
 " For two or three days he shewed increasing 
 interest in the subject of religion ; and I read 
 to hmi continually the Scriptures, and other 
 books which seemed to me best calculated to 
 give him the information he thirsted for. When 
 I went into his room a few mornings after, he 
 said, "It is quite impossible to describe to you 
 the' change which has taken place in my mind ; 
 I feel as if a new world was opened to me, and 
 all the interests and pursuits of this have faded 
 
296 THOMAS BATEMAN, M. D. 
 
 into nothing in comparison with it. They 
 seem so mean, and paltry, and insignificant, 
 that my bUndness, in hving so long immersed 
 in them, and devoted to them, is quite incon- 
 ceivable and astonishing to myself." He often 
 expressed in the strongest terms, and with 
 many tears, his deep repentance, and his ab- 
 horrence of himself for his former sinful life 
 and rebellion against God ; but he seemed to 
 have from the tirst so clear a view of the all- 
 sufficiency of the Saviour's atonement, and of 
 the Christian scheme of salvation, as freed 
 him at once from that distrust of forgiveness, 
 which is so apt to afflict persons at the first 
 sight of their sins, and of the purity and holi- 
 ness of Him " with whom they have to do." 
 The self-abasing views which he entertained of 
 himself necessarily enhanced his sense of the 
 pardoning love and mercy of God in Christ 
 Jesus, thus graciously extended to him; and 
 which he felt so strongly, that he was filled 
 with the liveliest emotions of gratitude and joy, 
 and in this happy state continued for several 
 days. 
 
 *' He soon, however, experienced an afflicting 
 reverse of feeling. One evening I left him to 
 visit a near relative, at that time confined to 
 her room in a precarious state of health ; and 
 his mother, who had been in attendance upon 
 her, took my place at the bed-side of hor son. 
 
THOMAS BATEMAN, M. D. 297 
 
 Dr. Bateman told her, that I had been reading 
 to him various detached portions of Scripture, 
 and that he now wished to hear the New 
 Testament read regularly through from the 
 beginning. She consequently began to read, 
 and had proceeded as far as the tenth chapter 
 of St. Matthew, when he suddenly exclaimed, 
 that he could not believe in the miracles of the 
 Saviour, and that therefore he must perish for 
 ever*. This suggestion of his spiritual enemy 
 threw him into a state of the most dreadful 
 anguish, and I was immediately sent for to his 
 bed-side. On my arrival he had become a 
 little more composed, but was still in great 
 agitation ; and was praying in agony to be 
 saved, and not to be given up to this dreadful 
 state of unbelief. To comfort bis mind, we 
 said what we could from Scripture, and from 
 the experience of other Christians : and he was 
 a little relieved by hearing some passages from 
 an Essay in the volume before mentioned, 
 " On the Warfare and Experience of Be- 
 lievers ;" finding that his was not, as he had 
 supposed, a case of new occurrence ; but that 
 the author of that work was already acquainted 
 
 * It needs scarcely be pointed out, how much more 
 properly this might be called temptation to unbelief, than 
 unbelief itself. While the difficulty of believing was felt, 
 the awful consequences of not believing were fully ad- 
 mitted ; that is, were firmly believed. 
 
 o 3 
 
298 THOMAS BATEMAN, M.D. 
 
 with its symptoms, and augured favourably of 
 them, as often accompanying tlie progress of 
 reUgion in the soul. Still the idea that his 
 death was fast approaching, and that there 
 was no hope of his mind being convinced before 
 it arrived, quite overwhelmed him. Feeling 
 ourselves to be very inadequate guides and 
 comforters in these afflicting circumstances, we 
 gladly adopted a suggestion of a friend that we 
 should request a neighbouring clergyman of 
 piety and judgment to visit him. Dr. Bateman 
 himself grasped eagerly at the proposal, and 
 I wrote immediately to the clergyman in ques- 
 tion ; but he was from home, and was not 
 expected to return for two or three weeks. A 
 few days after this unwelcome intelligence, 
 Dr. Bateman told me, he had no doubt this 
 disappointment was for his good ; and that it 
 was better for him to be left to himself, as he 
 did not think any thing could have convinced 
 him so fully of the efficacy of praijer, as the 
 sensible relief which he experienced from it 
 during those conflicts of doubt and unbeUef 
 with which his mind continued to be harassed. 
 He added, that he now spent whole nights in 
 prayer. He felt perfectly assured that these 
 doubts were the suggestions of the great ad- 
 versary of souls ; and remarked, that they were 
 vividly and manifestly darted, as it were, into 
 his mind, instead of arising from his own 
 
THOMAS BATEMAN, M. D. 299 
 
 reflections, or resulting from any train of rea- 
 soning; and the absurdity of them, in many 
 instances, was so obvious, that his judgment 
 detected it at once, though he still had not 
 power to drive them from the hold they took 
 on his imagination, or to banish them, for tlie 
 time, from his thoughts. 
 
 " These paroxysms of distress and conflict, 
 which somethnes lasted many hours, he con- 
 tinued subject to for about a fortnight: but 
 they gradually became less long and violent ; 
 and he experienced increasingly great relief 
 from prayer during their continuance ; till at 
 length they subsided entirely, and left his 
 mind satisfied on all those points which had 
 before presented so many obstacles to his 
 belief 
 
 " About this time he received an unexpected 
 visit from a medical friend, whose piety and 
 truly Christian character distinguished him still 
 more than his eminent abilities and professional 
 skill. This gentleman, with great difficulty, 
 succeeded in persuading him that he was by 
 no means in that state of danger and debility 
 which he had apprehended, and that he had 
 the })ower of taking exercise if he could but 
 exert sufficient resolution to attempt it. Ex- 
 periment convinced him that this opinion was 
 correct: he was prevailed upon to leave his 
 bed; and in a very few days was able to be 
 
300 THOMAS BATEMAN, M. D. 
 
 some hours daily in the open air, and to take 
 considerable exercise ; and it is remarkable, 
 that from this time he had no return of languor 
 after fatigue, except in one instance. Thus 
 was he delivered, by the gracious providence 
 of God, from those overwhelming apprehen- 
 sions of immediate death, which had been so 
 instrumental in bringing him to Christ, as soon 
 as they had effected that blessed purpose. 
 
 " He now rarely spoke of the state of his 
 mind and feelings ; for such was the extreme 
 reserve of his character, that it could only be 
 overcome by deep and powerful emotions ; and 
 when no longer agitated by these, he returned 
 to his natural habits, and was silent on the 
 subject that most deeply interested him. Still 
 it was abundantly evident that it did interest 
 him. The avidity with which he listened to 
 the word of God — his eagerness to attend 
 ])ublic worship (which for many years he had 
 entirely neglected,) and the heartfelt and devout 
 interest which he obviously took in the service 
 — his enlarged and active benevolence — the 
 change which had taken place in his tastes, 
 inclinations and pursuits — all testified that he 
 was indeed " brought out of darkness into 
 marvellous light:" "old things had passed 
 away, and all things had become new." 
 
 " In the course of the summer his health and 
 strength were considerably recruited ; but 
 
THOMAS BATEMAN, M. D. 301 
 
 towards the close of it, a little over-exertion in 
 walking brought on an accession of fever, and 
 a great aggravation of all the symptoms of his 
 disorder; but still he continued able to take 
 a little exercise. While he remained in the 
 country he had much leisure, which was de- 
 voted entii'cly to religious reading ; for every 
 other subject had now become insipid and 
 uninteresting to him; and never did the pur- 
 suits of science and literature afford him such 
 vivid enjoyment as he now received from these 
 hallowed studies. In November, he removed 
 to Whitby for the winter: and his health con- 
 tinued in much the same state till a short time 
 before Christmas, when a walk, rather longer 
 than usual, again produced increased fever and 
 debility ; and from that period his strength and 
 appetite visibly declined, while his spirit was 
 as visibly ripening for heaven. His fiiith and 
 patience were strengthened ; his hope was in- 
 creased ; his charity enlarged : yet he was 
 naturally so extremely reserved in the expres- 
 sion of his feelings, that he rarely spoke of 
 them till within the last month of his hfe, when 
 he rejoiced " with a joy unspeakable and full 
 of glory," which bore down all opposition ; for 
 he experienced a happiness to which all the 
 accumulated enjoyments of his whole previous 
 life could bear no proportion or comparison, 
 even that " peace of God" which " passeth all 
 
302 THOMAS BATEMAN, M. D. 
 
 understanding," and which must be felt, or at 
 least witnessed, in order to form any just con- 
 ception of its nature and effects. What a 
 striking example did our dying friend now 
 exhibit to us ! From his early youth he had 
 devoted himself with delight and industry to 
 the acquisition of knowledge and the pursuits 
 of literature and science ; and he had " had 
 his reward" in the honour and reputation 
 which his success had procured for him, a 
 reward which he keenly enjoyed and very 
 highly prized. Those who have known only 
 the pleasures which arise from worldly grati- 
 fications, surely ought to recollect, that, being 
 confessedly ignorant of those spiritual enjoy- 
 ments which they despise, they cannot be com- 
 petent to decide upon their reality or their 
 value : it belongs only to those who have 
 experienced both, to appreciate eitJier. And 
 how did Dr. Bateman appreciate them ? In 
 contrasting, as he frequently did, his present 
 happiness with all that he had formerly enjoyed 
 and called happiness, he seemed always at a 
 loss to find words to express how poor, and 
 mean, and despicable all earthly gratifications 
 appeared to him, when compared with that 
 *' joy and peace in believing," which now 
 filled his soul; and "one particle of which," 
 he sometimes said, " ten thousand worlds would 
 not tempt him to part with." And it should 
 
THOMAS BATEMAN, M. D. 303 
 
 be remembered, that this was not the evidence 
 of a man disappointed in his worldly pursuits : 
 he had already, as before observed, " had his 
 reward" in this world — he had experienced 
 the utmost success in the path which he had 
 chosen — he had been keenly susceptible of 
 intellectual pleasures ; and of these, as well as 
 of all inferior amusements, he had enjoyed 
 more than a common portion ; but when the 
 only object that can satisfy the affections, and 
 fill the capacities of a rational and immortal 
 being was revealed to him — when he viewed 
 by the eye of faith that life and immortality 
 which are brought to hght by the gospel — 
 earthly fame, and honour, and pleasure sunk 
 into the dust ; and, in reflecting upon his past 
 life, the only thing that gave him any satis- 
 faction was the hope that his labours might 
 have been beneficial to his fellow-creatures, for 
 whom his charity had now become unbounded. 
 He often said, that *' the blessing of his con- 
 version was never out of his mind day or night ; 
 that it was a theme of perpetual thanksgiving ; 
 and that he never awoke in the night without 
 being overwhelmed with joy and gratitude in 
 the recollection of it." He always spoke of 
 his long bodily afflictions with the most devout 
 thankfulness, as having been instrumental in 
 bringing him to God ; and considered his almost 
 total blindness as an especial mercy, because 
 
304 THOMAS BATEMAX, , M. D. 
 
 by shutting out external objects, it had enabled 
 him to devote his mind more entirely to spiri- 
 tual things. Often, latterly, he expressed an 
 ardent desire to *' depart and to be with Christ ;" 
 but always added, that he was cheerfully willing 
 to wait the Lord's pleasure, certain that if he 
 was continued in this world it was only for his 
 own good, and to make him more " meet to 
 be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints 
 in light." 
 
 " He bore his bodily afflictions with the most 
 exemplary patience, and even cheerfulness, 
 and continually expressed his thankfulness that 
 they were not greater ; sometimes saying, 
 " What a blessing it is to be allowed to slij) 
 gently and gradually out of life as I am doing." 
 He would not allow any one to speak of his 
 sufferings, always saying, " they did not de- 
 serve a stronger name than inconveniences." 
 He neither complained himself, nor would 
 permit others to complain for him. Once, 
 when the nurse who attended him said, " Oh, 
 that cough! how troublesome it is!" he replied, 
 " Have a little patience, nurse: I shall soon be 
 in a better world ; and what a glorious change 
 that will be!" Indeed, the joy of his mind 
 seemed to have absorbed all sense of his 
 physical sufferings. I once remarked to him, 
 that he a})peared to have experienced no in- 
 termission of these joyful feelings ; and he 
 
THOMAS BATEMAN, M. P. 305 
 
 answered, *' For some months past never, and 
 never the smallest rising of any thing like im- 
 patience or complaint." His mind, naturally 
 active and ardent, retained all its powers in 
 full vigour to the last moment of his life ; and 
 was never once clouded or debilitated, even in 
 the most depressing nervous languors. Indeed, 
 after the whole current of his tastes and affec- 
 tions had been turned into a new channel, its 
 ardour and activity rather increased than di- 
 minished, from the deep conviction which he 
 felt of the superiority of his present views 
 and pursuits to all that had hitherto engrossed 
 him. During the last week of his life espe- 
 cially, the strength and clearness of his intel- 
 lect, and of his spiritual perceptions, wei'C 
 very remarkable ; and on its being one day 
 observed to him, that as his bodily powers 
 decayed, those of his soul seemed to become 
 more vigorous, he replied, "They do, exactly 
 in an inverse ratio : I have been very sensible 
 of it;' 
 
 ** He conversed with the greatest animation 
 all the day, and almost all the night preceding 
 his death, principally on the joys of heaven 
 and the glorious change he was soon to expe- 
 rience, often exclaiming, " What a happy hour 
 will the hour of death be ! " He dwelt much 
 on the description of the new Jerusalem in the 
 Revelation of St. John, and listened with great 
 
306 TIJOMAS BATEMAN, M. D. 
 
 delight to several passages from Baxter's 
 ** Saint's Rest," and to some of Watts's hymns 
 on the same subject. Once in the night he 
 said to his mother, " Surely you are not in 
 tears ! Mine is a case that calls for rejoicing, 
 and not for sorrow. Only think what it will 
 be to drop this poor, frail, perishing body, and 
 to go to the glories that are set before me!" 
 Not more than an hour before his death, when 
 he had been expressing his faith and hope in 
 very animated terms, I remarked to him, how 
 striking was the uniformity of faith and of feel- 
 ing expressed by believers at every distance of 
 time and place ! and spoke of it as an indispu- 
 table evidence that these graces are wrought 
 by *' one and the self-same Spirit," and as a 
 proof of the truth of the Bible, the promises 
 and descriptions of which are thus so strikingly 
 fulfilled and exemplified. lie entered into 
 the argument with his accustomed energy, and 
 assented to its truth with delight. It seemed 
 remarkable, that though he had during his 
 whole illness been very sensible of his increas- 
 ing weakness, and had watched and marked 
 accurately all its gradations, yet he spoke, in 
 the last moments of his life, of going down 
 stairs as usual (he had been carried up and 
 down for several days,) and said, " it could 
 not require more than a very few weeks now to 
 wear him out;" not appearing to be at all 
 
THOMAS BATEMAN, M. D. 307 
 
 aware that his end was so very near, till about 
 half an hour beibre his death. Finding him- 
 self extremely languid, he took a little milk, 
 and desired that air might be admitted into 
 the room ; and on being asked if he felt re- 
 lieved at all, said, " Very little: I can hardly 
 distinguish, indeed, whether this is languor or 
 drowsiness which has come over me; but it is 
 a very agreeable feeling." Soon after, he said 
 suddenly, " I surely must be going now, my 
 strength sinks so fast;" and on my making 
 some observation on the glorious prospect 
 before him, he added, " Oh, yes! I am glad 
 to go, if it be the Lord's will." He shut his 
 eyes and lay (juite composed, and by and by 
 said, ** What glory! the angels are waiting for 
 me!" — then, after another short interval of 
 quiet, added, " Lord Jesus, receive my soul!" 
 and to those who were about him, " Fare- 
 well!" These were the last words he spoke: 
 he gradually and gently sunk away, and in 
 about ten minutes breathed his last, cahnly and 
 without a struggle, at nine in the morning of 
 the 9th of Ai)ril, the very day on which, 
 twelve months before, his mind had first been 
 awakened to the hopes and joys of the ever 
 blessed gospel! 
 
 " What a contrast did his actual departure 
 form with what I had reason to apprehend, 
 when 1 watched over his couch in London, 
 
308 THOMAS BATEMAN, M. D. 
 
 expecting that every moment would be his 
 hist; and when, with a hard indifference and 
 insensibility, he talked only of going to his 
 *' last sleep !" And how can I worthily acknow- 
 ledge the goodness of Almighty God, who 
 effected such a change in his state ! 
 
 " It appears that he preceded his revered, 
 though unknown instructor, Mr. Scott, exactly 
 one week. He never ceased to remember, 
 with the deepest gratitude, his obligations to 
 that excellent man. It was only the evening 
 before his death that he was recommending 
 with great fervency, to a young friend, whose 
 mother, under affliction, was first beginning to 
 inquire after religious truth, to engage her to 
 read " Scott's Essays," acknowledging, with 
 fervent gratitude, the benefit he had himself 
 received from that work, and concluding an 
 animated eulogium, by saying, ** How have 
 I prayed for that man !" What a blessed 
 meeting may we not suppose they have had in 
 the world of glory ! 
 
 " The medical friend before alluded to has 
 most justly remarked, that " the entire simpli- 
 city and sincerity of Dr. Bateman's natural 
 character, give additional value to all that 
 fell from him. He never used a language that 
 was at all at variance with his real feelings, 
 and was in no degree given to vain imagina- 
 tions." This testimony is very true, and this 
 
THOMAS BATEMAN, M. D. 309 
 
 remarkable simplicity and sobriety of his na- 
 tural character remained unaltered in the ^reat 
 revolution which took place in his principles 
 and dispositions : he went into no exaggera- 
 tions of feelings, or excesses of enthusiasm. 
 And surely the merciful Providence which 
 preserved his sound understanding, in all its 
 integrity, to the last moment of his hfe, must 
 silence the gainsay er and " the disputer of this 
 world," who might strive to attribute the sacred 
 influence of religion on his mind to the errors 
 of an intellect impaired by long disease and 
 sufFerinff."* 
 
 * See Memoir of the late Thomas Bateman, M. D. 
 11th edit. Butterworth and Son. London, 1822. 
 
CHARLES GRANT, ESQ. 
 
 This very eminent and respectable indivi- 
 dual was a native of North Britain, being born 
 in the county of Inverness, in the year 1746. 
 He received his education in the town of Elgin, 
 for which he was indebted to the kindness of 
 an uncle, having lost his father in his infancy. 
 At the age of twenty-one he went to India in 
 a military capacity, but on his arrival in that 
 country, he was taken into the service of Mr. 
 Becher, a member of the Bengal council, and 
 continued there about three years. 
 
 In 1770, Mr. Grant returned to his native 
 country, and married a Miss Frazer, with 
 whom, her sister and mother, and a friend of 
 the family, he re-embarked for India in 1772, 
 having obtained the appointment of a writer on 
 the Bengal establishment. About this period 
 he formed an acquaintance with the excellent 
 missionary C. F. Schwartz, with whom he af- 
 terwards corresponded, and to whose memory, 
 at his suggestion, a monument was erected at 
 
CHARLES GRANT, ESQ. 311 
 
 Fort St. George, by the Honorable East India 
 Company. 
 
 Soon after Mr. G.'s arrival at Calcutta, he 
 was appointed Secretary to the Board of Trade, 
 of which he was chosen to be a member in 
 1787. Within three years after this, however, 
 the impaired health of his family obliged him 
 to solicit permission to return to England, 
 which Lord Cornwallis granted with regret, 
 and not without expressing his sincere regard, 
 and a high sense of his zealous and faithful 
 services. Within four years after his return 
 to England, (namely, in 1794,) he was chosen 
 a Director of the East India Company, and in 
 six years afterwards a representative in Parlia- 
 ment for his native county. 
 
 During Mr. G.'s residence in India, its spiri- 
 tual interests were very near his heart. In 
 1770 he subscribed 500 rupees to the erection 
 of a new church for Protestant worship at 
 Calcutta, the old one having been destroyed 
 by a hurricane many years before ; and in 1787, 
 when this church was placed under sequestra- 
 tion for the debts of the missionary, he ad- 
 vanced 10,000 rupees to redeem it, and placed 
 it in trust for sacred purposes for ever. In 
 England the same object still engaged his 
 attention ; and in 1797, he laid on the table of 
 the Board of Directors, " Observations on the 
 state of Society among the Asiatic Subjects of 
 
312 CHARLES GRANT, ESQ. 
 
 Great Britain," which he had drawn up imme- 
 diately on his return, with a view to procure 
 leave for missionaries to be sent to India from 
 this country : and he uniformly supported 
 the same object while he lived. In 1804 he 
 was elected Deputy Chairman, and next year 
 Chairman of the Court of Directors, to which 
 office he was afterwards several times re-elected. 
 In this situation he always contended against 
 plans of conquest and aggrandizement, wishing 
 to see our government in Hindostan founded 
 on character and integrity, and supported by 
 liberal and benevolent principles; in which 
 respects he was a steady admirer of the course 
 pursued by his friend and patron. Lord Corn- 
 wallis. He also suggested and supported the 
 plan of a College at Hayleybury, Herts; in 
 order to fortify the minds of young men in the 
 Christian faith, before they were exposed to 
 the temptations of idolatry and the arts of 
 Brahmins. Mr. Grant was also a zealous 
 friend to education, and promoted the appro- 
 priation of a lack of rupees annually to that 
 object in Hindostan. 
 
 In 1807, on a motion in the House of Com- 
 mons relative to the conduct of our Government 
 towards the Poligars, '* Mr. Grant traced the 
 Vellore mutiny io the wish of the Mohammedans 
 for the return of the sons of Tippoo Sultan to 
 power. Whatever might be the remoter causes, 
 
CHARLES GRANT, ESQ. 313 
 
 the immediate occasion was, clearly, some in- 
 judicious military regulations, which tended to 
 obliterate the fondly cherished distinctions of 
 caste among the native soldiers. It certainly 
 did not originate, (says the Christian Observer) 
 directly or remotely in the conduct of the 
 missionaries, whom Mr. Grant, on every occa- 
 sion, was among the foremost to defend from 
 the unjust imputations with which they have 
 been so often assailed." 
 
 Mr. Wilson, in his excellent Funeral Dis- 
 course for Mr. G. (to which we are indebted 
 for several of these facts,) remarks, " This dis- 
 tinguished person, in point of natural endow- 
 ments, was highly gifted. He had a vigorous 
 understanding, a clear and sound judgment, a 
 sagacity and penetration, particularly in the 
 discernment of character, which were seldom 
 deceived or eluded ; a singular faculty of 
 patient, impartial, and comprehensive investi- 
 gation, an activity of spirit, and a power of 
 continued and persevering application, which 
 difficulties could not damp, nor labour exhaust. 
 These qualities, united with quick sensibility 
 of feeling, delicacy of sentiment, and a strong 
 sense of moral rectitude, constituted, even 
 independently of rehgion, that which is gene- 
 rally understood by the term greatness of 
 character. 
 
 " It was not, however, the possession, but 
 
 VOL. I. p 
 
314 CHARLES GRANT, ESQ. 
 
 the direction and the improvement of these 
 endowments and quahfications ; it was the use 
 which he made of his powers and facuUies ; it 
 was the sincere and honest dedication of every 
 talent and acquirement to the service and glory 
 of God, which constituted him, in the proper 
 sense of the term, a Christian. He did not, 
 indeed, learn this lesson easily, or at small 
 cost. At an early stage of his Indian career, 
 it pleased God to visit him with a succession of 
 severe domestic afflictions, painfully illustrative 
 of the vanity of human hopes, the precarious- 
 ness of earthly enjoyments, and the awful near- 
 ness of the things which are unseen and 
 eternal. He was in circumstances very unfa- 
 vourable to religious instruction and improve- 
 ment ; — heathenism and false religion prevailing 
 all around ; — the partial intermixture of Chris- 
 tianity which existed, possessing little of that 
 divine religion beyond the name ; — his situation 
 ill allowing of seclusion from worldly occupation 
 and society. Yet that season of heavy calamity 
 was blessed to his mind. It led him to the 
 only true source of felicity. He derived, on 
 this occasion, much useful spiritual counsel 
 from a friend, who afterwards became his near 
 connexion, and who was himself the friend and 
 disciple of the celebrated missionary Schwartz. 
 Thus, in a soil prepared by the means of grief 
 and trouble, it pleased God that the good seed 
 
CHARLES GRANT, ESQ. 315 
 
 should be sown ; it was subsequently cherished 
 amidst the silence and comparative solitude of 
 one of the remoter stations in our Indian domi- 
 nions; and it produced blessed fruit to the 
 praise and glory of God. With regard to his 
 efforts to serve rehgion, and especially to pro- 
 mote the cause of Christianity among our native 
 subjects in the East — when we consider the 
 extensiveness of the work, and the powerful 
 obstacles by which it was opposed, it is sur- 
 prising how much he was the means of effecting. 
 The results, indeed, of his labours did not fully 
 appear during his residence in India ; and even 
 yet we may trust that they await a further and 
 a progressive development. Humanly speak- 
 ing, however, he may be said to have laid the 
 foundation of much, if not all, of the moral and 
 religious good that has been accomplished in 
 India during the last thirty-five years." 
 
 Thus Mr. Grant continued to his seventy- 
 eighth year, walking with God, as Enoch 
 walked, in the way of holy obedience ; his path 
 "growing progressively brighter as he pro- 
 ceeded; till at length all seemed ripe for the 
 perfect day. 
 
 *' And it pleased God that that day broke 
 unawares. During his whole life, he had risen 
 to the full measure of the demands of his 
 station. The spring of all his influence, as I 
 have already remarked, was the actual dis- 
 p2 
 
316 CHARLES GRANT, ESQ. 
 
 charge, in the very best manner, of the duties 
 and functions assigned to him. He was ever 
 ' diUgent in business, fervent in spirit, serving 
 the Lord.' And in this honourable position 
 he stood, when the last messenger arrested 
 him as in a moment, (Oct. 31, 1823.) In the 
 midst of his labours, with a heart full of zeal 
 for the diffusion of the knowledge of Christ, 
 with his lips uttering sentiments relative to his 
 favourite object, the spiritual welfare of India, 
 without any lingering or protracted disease, by 
 a release as placid as that of an infant, he fell 
 asleep in the Lord. 'Mark the perfect man, 
 and behold the upright ; for the end of that 
 man is peace ! " 
 
 Mr. Grant being one of the Vice-Presidents 
 of the British and Foreign Bible Society and 
 of the Church Missionary Society, the Com- 
 mittees of both these Societies, on hearing the 
 painful news of his decease, passed, at their 
 next meeting. Resolutions expressive of the 
 high esteem in which they held his services 
 and character; and we shall close this brief 
 INIemoir with a short extract from each. 
 
 " With feelings of the deepest interest, the 
 Committee have listened to the melancholy 
 intelligence of the death of Charles Grant, 
 Esq. one of the Vice-Presidents of this So- 
 ciety ; — and while they desire to express their 
 heartfelt sympathy with his afllicted family, 
 
CHARLES GRANT, ESQ. 317 
 
 they feel it incumbent on tliem to record their 
 sense of the eminent services he was enabled 
 to render, not only to this Society, but to the 
 cause of religion throughout the world. In 
 this cause, during the long period of half a. 
 century, he laboured with unwearied zeal ; 
 and his active and persevering exertions, pro- 
 ceeding from Christian principle, and directed 
 by talents of the highest order, and by a judg- 
 ment singularly enlightened, profound and 
 penetrating, were productive of the most bene- 
 ficial effects. Closely connected as he was 
 from early hfe, with British India, its spiritual 
 interests lay peculiarly near his heart, and his 
 efforts to promote them only ceased at the 
 moment when he was called to his eternal 
 reward. It pleased Divine Providence to 
 honour him with numerous opportunities of 
 extensive usefulness in that quarter of the 
 globe ; and those opportunities he both eagerly 
 embraced, and successfully improved. In par- 
 ticular, he was greatly instrumental in promot- 
 ing and protecting those beneficent institutions 
 for the diffusion of the Holy Scriptures, which 
 sprang up in India itself, and which have so 
 copiously enriched our Asiatic dominions with 
 the treasures of divine truth." 
 
 The Committee of the Church Missionary 
 Society, after a similar token of respect, close 
 with the following interesting anecdote, which 
 
318 CHARLES GRANT, ESQ. 
 
 we hope may prove prophetic. *' Even in the 
 last evening which he (Mr. G.) spent on earth 
 he mingled his thankful contemplation of the 
 light actually spreading in the East, with the 
 hope that his children would be permitted to 
 behold the fulness of that day, of which he 
 had lived to enjoy the dawn." 
 
MISS JANE TAYLOR, 
 
 OF ONGAR, IN ESSEX. 
 
 This truly pious and eminently gifted lady 
 was born in London, September 23, 1783. 
 She was the second daughter of the Rev. L 
 Taylor, Pastor of the Independent Church at 
 Ongar, in Essex. Her early infancy was 
 marked by considerable delicacy of constitu- 
 tion, which rendered the prospect of life very 
 precarious during the three first years of her 
 existence. The removal, however, of her 
 parents from the confinement of a great metro- 
 polis to the pure air of Lavenham, in Suffolk, 
 was the means of completely establishing her 
 health, and sparing, at least for a season, a life 
 of unusual promise. Country scenes, and 
 country occupations seemed, in a high degree, 
 congenial to the mind of this remarkable child. 
 Accustomed, for more than three years, to the 
 restraints peculiar to a residence in London, 
 her retirement into the country was associated 
 
320 
 
 MISS JANE TAYLOR. 
 
 with a degree of pleasure which her whole 
 infantile pursuits most significantly expressed. 
 Even at the tender age of four, the lively 
 fancy and intellectual superiority of Jane 
 Taylor began to evince themselves. *' I 
 can remember," says her sister, (now Mrs. 
 Gilbert) " that Jane was always the saucy, 
 lively, entertaining little thing — the amuse- 
 ment and the favourite of all who knew her. 
 Her plays, from the earliest that I can recol- 
 lect, were deeply imaginative. But I think 
 I may say that the retiring character of her 
 mind — a morbid sensil)ility towards things 
 and persons without, as well as much refined 
 feeling, operated to prevent a due estimate 
 being formed of her talents. I need not tell 
 9/ou, that they were never made a show of to 
 any body." But though her education was 
 not conducted upon the mistaken prmciple of 
 display, she was exposed, when but a child, to 
 a measure of flattery, from injudicious friends, 
 which, to a mind less characterized by intellec- 
 tual and moral strength, must have proved, in 
 the highest degree pernicious. Her native 
 and habitual diffidence, however, never 
 forsook her ; so that with truth it may be said, 
 that a playful innocence and simplicity of cha- 
 racter shed an imperishable lustre upon the 
 openings of her genius, and rendered the 
 
MISS JANE TAYLOR. 321 
 
 watchful fears of parental solicitude compara- 
 tively unnecessary. 
 
 Mucli, doubtless, of the early and subse- 
 quent proficiency of Jane Taylor, must be 
 traced to the judicious education which she 
 received from her excellent parents, who in- 
 structed her under their own roof, and taught 
 her not only to obey them as parents, but also 
 to confide in them as friends. The conduct of 
 Mrs. Taylor, as a mother, is beyond all praise ; 
 and it is needless to state, that the character 
 of a dau<rhter must be prodigiously influenced 
 by the habits and intercourses of a mother. 
 
 One delightful trait in the youthful history of 
 Jane Taylor was the warmth and stability of 
 her friendships. When she was but ten years 
 of age, she wrote a most tender little poem, 
 expressive of her pungent grief at parting with 
 a friend, who left this country for New England. 
 When she had reached her thirteenth year, 
 her father received an invitation to become the 
 Pastor of an Independent congregation at Col- 
 chester, which, after due deliberation, he 
 deemed it his duty to accept. In this new 
 sphere, having recovered from a long indispo- 
 sition, he addressed himself, with renewed 
 vigor, to the education of his children, and 
 here it was that Jane Taylor formed some of 
 the choicest friendships of her existence — 
 friendships which nothing but the grave 
 
MISS JANE TAYLOR. 
 
 could interrupt. Of one of the objects of 
 these early friendships, the biographer of 
 Miss Taylor thus writes : " Those who 
 may still remember Mira S. will allow that 
 they have rarely seen united so much intelli- 
 gence and sweetness of disposition, and loveli- 
 ness of manners and person. Her charm was 
 that of blended dignity and gentleness." This 
 interesting lady and her sisters were cut off by 
 fell disease, in the course of a few years ; and 
 the death of one of them, in particular, from 
 the interest attaching to it, left a powerful 
 impression on the mind of Miss Taylor. She 
 had become the victim of Socinianism, which 
 "only twenty years ago," as Mr. Taylor 
 observes, *' was much more specious than it is 
 at present. For within this period, the course 
 of controversy has deprived its professors of 
 an advantage — so important to the success of 
 infidel insinuations — that of having itself no 
 defined or avowed principles to defend." This 
 interesting female had learned to boast of 
 having vanquished the "errors of her educa- 
 tion," and in the eagerness of thinking for her- 
 self, had trained herself to look with great 
 contempt upon all her early religious opinions. 
 Her health became so indifferent as to render 
 a removal to Devonshire highly expedient. 
 Never, however, was she permitted to reach it. 
 Her disorder advanced with such rapidity, that 
 
MISS JANE TAVLOR. 323 
 
 she was compelled to stop at an irin by the way, 
 from which she was never removed till after 
 death. Happily she was taught, in her last 
 days, to mourn, and to renounce the awful 
 errors by which she had been be\vildered ;~- 
 and her dying words were — "My hope is in 
 Christ, — in Christ crucified — and I would not 
 give up that hope for all the world." 
 
 The constant aim of Miss Taylor's parents 
 was to impress the minds of theu' children with 
 the powers of the world to come ; and there is 
 reason to believe, notwithstanding her timid 
 and distrustful disposition, that at a very early 
 period she was brought to the saving know- 
 ledge of the truth. " Her imagination," says 
 her brother, *' susceptible as it was in the 
 highest degree to impressions of fear, rendered 
 her liable, at times, to those deep and painful 
 emotions which belong to a conscience that is 
 enhghtened, but not fully pacified. And these 
 feelings, when blended with the pensiveness of 
 her tender heart, gave a character of mourn- 
 fulness and distress to her religious feelings 
 during several years. Some unfinished verses, 
 written about this time, were evidently com- 
 posed under the influence of feelings too strong 
 to allow the exercise of her poetic talents." 
 
 The following extracts from letters written 
 about this time, will shew how much personal 
 religion was an object of her devout concern: 
 
S24> MISS JANE TAYLOR. 
 
 " Oh ! it is hard fighting in our own strength 
 against the evil bias of the heart, and external 
 enemies. Their united forces are, I am daily 
 more convinced, far too much for any thing but 
 grace to overcome. No good resolutions, no 
 efforts of reason, no desire to please, can alone 
 succeed : they may varnish the character ; but, 
 O ! how insufficient are such motives for the 
 trying occasions of common life. 'I would 
 shine most at home ; yet I would not be good 
 for the sake of shining ; but for its own sake : 
 and when thus I trace the subject to its 
 principles, I find a change of heart can alone 
 effect what I desire : that * new heart and right 
 spirit,' which is the gift of God." — Memoirs, 
 Vol. I. p. 41. 
 
 On a subsequent occasion she writes in the 
 following terms to the same friend : 
 
 " I am grieved, my dear E., to hear from 
 you so melancholy an account of the state of 
 your mind. I wish I were a more able coun- 
 sellor ; or rather, I wish you would overcome 
 your feelings, and apply to those whose con- 
 solations and advice might be useful to you. 
 I can sincerely sympathize with you in all 
 your griefs. I rejoice in having obtained your 
 confidence ; and I cannot make a better use 
 of it than to urge you to seek some abler ad- 
 viser. I speak from experience when I say, 
 how much benefit you might derive from an 
 
MISS JANE TAYLOR. 325 
 
 open communication of your feelings to your 
 dear mothei*. Well do I know how difficult 
 it is ; yet the good to be gained is worthy the 
 effort. You say she is so total a stranger to 
 your feelings, that she even supposes you to be 
 an enemy to religious principles. If then you 
 consider the pleasure it would afford her to 
 find you seriously inquiring on such subjects, 
 I think you will feel it to be an additional 
 argument for the disclosure. Two or three 
 years ago, my mind was in a state of extreme 
 depression : for months I had been conflicting 
 with the most distressing fear, and longing to 
 disburden myself to my father : at last I could 
 no longer support myself, and breaking through, 
 what 1 had thought insurmountable difficulties, 
 I opened my mind to him completely. It was 
 a struggle ; but the immediate relief I ex- 
 perienced fully repaid me ; and the unspeakable 
 benefit I have derived from the conversations 
 I have since, from time to time, held with hini, 
 encourages me to pursue." — Memoirs, \o\. I. 
 p. 11. 
 
 The education and tastes of jMiss T. led 
 her to cherish an ardent love of science in 
 general, and of astronomy in particular. " Her 
 eye," says her brother, " was never indifferent 
 to the revolutions of night." She describes 
 her own feelings in saying, 
 
MISS JANE TAYLOR. 
 " I used to roam aad revel 'mid the stare, 
 
 When in my attic, with untoW delight 
 
 I watch'd the changing splendours of the night." 
 
 But it ought to be recorded, to the honour 
 of the deceased, that the growth of her intel- 
 lectual character was associated with no re- 
 laxation of those minutely domestic habits which 
 she acquired under the judicious instruction 
 of her invaluable mother. She dreaded nothing 
 more than to acquire the reputation of a 
 merely " literary lady," — a phrase which too 
 generally imports a high contempt for the 
 common and unostentatious, but at the same 
 time momentous, duties of life. 
 
 Of her manifold attainments, she was hap- 
 pily never puffed up. In a letter to her mother, 
 she says : 
 
 ** If, in comparison with some of my friends, 
 others of them may appear less pleasing, or 
 less intelHgent, believe me, whenever I compare 
 any with myself, the result is always humili- 
 ating. My dear mother, do me the justice to 
 believe, that at whatever crevice my vanity may 
 endeavour to creep out, it will ever fly from 
 the literary corner of my character. I am not 
 indifferent to the opinion of any one ; though 
 I never expect to acquire the philosophic sere- 
 nity which shall enable me to regard the whole 
 
MISS JANE TAYLOR. 327 
 
 circle of my acquaintance with the same glow 
 of affection, or smile of complacency." — Me- 
 moirs, p. 55. 
 
 Miss T.'s relative character, as a child, a 
 sister, and a friend, was of the most engaging 
 description. At all times obliging and affec- 
 tionate, in seasons of sickness she put forth 
 the whole energy of her sympathies, and often 
 became a sufferer herself, by what she endured 
 on behalf of others. 
 
 The first production of Miss T.'s pen, which 
 was given to the public, appeared in the 
 Minor's Pocket Book, for the year 1804, 
 under the title — " The Beggar Boy ;" and 
 no one who marked the pathos, simplicity, 
 and sprightliness of this juvenile effort, could 
 fail to predict the future celebrity of its amia- 
 ble author. The publication of " Original 
 Poems," to which she had largely contributed ; 
 of " Rhymes for the Nursery," (some of which 
 were written by Mrs. Gilbert) ; of " The Asso- 
 ciate Minstrels," (in which she wrote the 
 *' Remonstrance to Time," and " The Birth- 
 day Retrospect) ;" of *' Hymns for Infant 
 Minds;" of " Display;" of " Essays in Rhyme;" 
 and, finally, of " Contributions to the Youth's 
 Magazine," more than realized the expectation 
 of her most sanguine friends. 
 
 Her literary career, however, seemed in no 
 way to interfere with her advancement in vital 
 
S2S MISS JANE TAYLOR. 
 
 piety. Had her religion partaken, in a larger 
 degree, of the joys of faith, and the pleasures 
 of hope, it would have been worthy of uni- 
 versal imitation. Yet, even in these parti- 
 culars her '* path was like the shining light, 
 which shineth more and more unto the perfect 
 day." She seemed to cherish a deep jealousy 
 of the deceitfulness of her heart, and often 
 declined the expression of her religious feelings, 
 for fear of sinking into a common-place hypo- 
 crisy. To a friend she thus writes, who endea- 
 voured to console her under her spiritual 
 depression : — 
 
 " I dread, much more than total silence, 
 falling into a common-place, technical style 
 of expression, without real meaning and feel- 
 ing ; and thereby deceiving both myself and 
 others. I well know how ready my friends 
 are to give me encouragement; and how 
 willing to hope the best concerning me ; and 
 as I cannot open to them the secret recesses 
 of my heart, they put a favourable construc- 
 tion on every expression. You will not impute 
 it to a want of confidence, though I cannot 
 speak generally on this subject. * * * * Yet, 
 I do hope that I have of late seen something 
 of the vanity of the woi'ld ; and increasingly 
 feel that it cannot be my rest. The com- 
 panions of my youth are no more : — our own 
 domestic circle is breaking up: — time seems 
 
MISS JANE TAYLOR. 329 
 
 every day to fly with increased rapidity ; and 
 must I not say, ' the world recedes V Under 
 these impressions, I would seek consolation 
 where only I know it is to be found. I long 
 to make heaven and eternity the home of my 
 thoughts, to which, though they must often 
 wander abroad on other concerns, they may 
 regularly return, and find their best enter- 
 tainment. Uut I always indulge with fear and 
 self-suspicion in these most interesting con- 
 templations ; and doubtless, the enjoyments 
 arising from them belong rather to the ad- 
 vanced Christian, than to the doubting, wan- 
 dering beginner. I am afraid I feel practically, 
 rather than piously, on these subjects; and 
 while I am indulging in vain conjectures on 
 the employments and enjoyments of a future 
 state, I must envy the humble Christian who, 
 with juster views, and better claims, is longing 
 * to depart and be with Christ.' Nor would 
 I mistake a fretful impatience with the fatigues 
 and crosses of life, for a temper weaned from 
 the world. I could, indeed, sometimes sing : 
 
 * I long to lay this painful head, 
 
 And aching heart, beneath the soil ; 
 To slumber in that dreamless bed 
 From all my toil 1 
 
 And I have felt too these lines : 
 
330 MISS JANE TAYLOR. 
 
 * The bitter tear — the arduous struggle ceases here- 
 The doubt, the danger, and the fear, 
 All, all, for ever o'er." 
 
 " But these feelings, though they may afford 
 occasional relief, I could not indulge in." vol. i. 
 p. 100. 
 
 In 1817, Miss T.'s distressing doubts as to 
 her personal religion forsook her, " and she 
 admitted joyfully the hope of salvation." She 
 immediately improved this gracious interposi- 
 tion on the part of her heavenly Father, by 
 publicly professing her faith as one of Christ's 
 disciples ; and in the month of October, 1817, 
 was united to the church at Ongar, in Essex, 
 under her father's pastoral care. 
 
 Upon this solemn occasion, she wrote the 
 following impressive letter to her sister: 
 
 " My mother told you of my having joined 
 the church. You may have supposed that I 
 was frightened into it by my complaint ; but I 
 feel thankful that this was not the case, for it 
 was not till after I had consulted Mr. CUne 
 that I felt any alarm about it ; nor had I, 
 before, any idea of its being of a formidable 
 kind. My mind, all the summer, had been 
 much in the state it has been in for years past ; 
 that is, unable to apply the offer of the gospel 
 to myself, and all confusion and perplexity 
 when I attempted to do so. One evening, 
 
MISS JANE TAYLOR. 331 
 
 (about three weeks before going to London 
 for advice,) while alone in my room, and 
 thinking on the subject, I saw, by an instan- 
 taneous light, that God would, for Christ's 
 sake, forgive my sins. The effect was so 
 powerful, that I was almost dissolved by it. I 
 was mispeakably happy ; I believed, that had I 
 died that moment, I should have been safe. 
 Though the strength of the emotion soon abated, 
 the effect in a great degree remained. A fort- 
 night afterwards, I told Isaac what had taken 
 place, and he urged me to be proposed immedi- 
 ately to the church. It was in this state I went 
 to London ; and when I heard what was to me 
 wholly unexpected, I could not but consider 
 the change in my feelings as a most kind and 
 timely preparation for what, but a few weeks 
 before, would have overwhelmed me with con- 
 sternation and distress. As it was, I heard it 
 with great composure, and my spirits did not 
 at all sink till after I returned home. Since 
 then, I have had many desponding hours from 
 the fear of death. The happiness I enjoyed 
 for a short time, has given place to a hope 
 wliich, though faint, secures me from distress." 
 —Vol. i. p. 164. 
 
 During all this, while the seeds of disease 
 were making rapid progress in a frame natu- 
 rally delicate, she was much affected by the 
 death of her uncles, the Rev. James Hinton, 
 
S32 MISS JANE TAYLOR. 
 
 of Oxford, and Mr. Charles Taylor, of 
 London ; and thought within herself that these 
 heavy strokes had not come alone. Her 
 anticipations were but too correct ; for in a 
 few months after the death of her uncle in 
 London, she v/as herself conveyed to her long- 
 home. She bore her afflictions, though of 
 the most excruciating kind, with most exem- 
 plary fortitude and patience : — 
 
 " Though she had, at this time, become 
 incapable of long-continued religious exercises, 
 yet, to the last day of her life, her stated times 
 of retirement were observed by her usually in 
 the evening. By her request, her brother 
 read to her some portion of Scripture, and a 
 few pages of Bennett's Christian Oratory — 
 a book she highly valued. On these occasions 
 her conversation, though not elevated by the 
 language of unclouded hope, frequently con- 
 tained expressions of a humble and growing 
 trust in the power and grace of the Saviour." 
 —Vol. i. p. 187. 
 
 In her last moments one of her brothers 
 arrived from London. To him she spoke with 
 the most emphatic earnestness, professing, 
 very distinctly, the ground of her hope, and 
 the deep sense she then had of the reality and 
 importance of eternal things. Her voice was 
 now deep and hollow, her eyes glazed, and the 
 dews of death were on her features ; but her 
 
MISS JANE TAYLOR. 333 
 
 recollection was perfect, and her soul full of 
 feeling. A\liile thus sitting up, and surrounded 
 by her family, in a loud but interrupted voice, 
 she said, "Though I walk through the valley 
 of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil ; for 
 thou art with me : thy rod and thy staff they 
 comfort me." 
 
 Soon afterwards she repeated, with the same 
 emphasis, the verses of Dr. Watts :— 
 
 " Jesus, to thy dear faithful hand 
 
 My naked soul I trust; 
 And my flesh waits for thy command 
 
 To drop into the dust." 
 
 Repeating with intense fervour the words, 
 
 " Jesus, to thee my naked soul, — 
 My naked soul I trust." 
 
 Calm and tranquil to the last, she breathed 
 her redeemed and happy spirit into the bosom 
 of her exalted and compassionate Saviour. 
 Thus lived, and thus died, one of the sweetest 
 of writers, and one of the most interesting of 
 Christians. 
 
THE REV. JOHN RYLAND, D. D. 
 
 Dr. Ryland was born a. d. 1753, January 
 29th, at Warwick, where his venerable father 
 exercised his ministry for some years; from 
 whence he removed to Northampton. 
 
 The most remarkable particular recorded in 
 his infancy, is his early proficiency in the 
 Hebrew language, which was such, that he 
 read a chapter of the Hebrew Bible to the 
 celebrated Hervey, before he was five years 
 old. About his thirteenth year, he became 
 deeply impressed with religious concern ; and 
 without any thing very singular in his experience, 
 his convictions ripened into genuine conversion, 
 and he was baptized on a profession of his faith 
 in his fourteenth year. At the request of the 
 church, he began to exercise his ministerial gifts 
 in his seventeenth year ; and after continuing to 
 assist his father for some years, he was ordained 
 co-pastor with him in the year 1781. In this 
 situation he remained for some time ; when, on 
 
JOHN RYLAND, D. D. 335 
 
 Ills father's removal from Northampton, he be- 
 came sole pastor, until the year 1793, when he 
 received an unanimous invitation to the joint 
 offices of President of the Bristol Education 
 Society, and Pastor of Broadmead. How he 
 conducted himself in the first scene of his 
 labours, many living witnesses can attest: suffice 
 it to say, that his ministry during that period 
 was eminently acceptable and useful. During 
 his residence at Northampton, he was " in 
 labours more abundant :" far from confining his 
 ministry to a single spot, he dift\ised its benefits 
 over a wide circle, preaching much in the sur- 
 rounding villages ; and though, on his removal 
 to Bristol, his numerous avocations rendered 
 his ministerial exertions less frequent, he may 
 justly be considered, on the whole, as one of 
 the most laborious of pastors. He preached, 
 during his whole career, not less than eight 
 thousand six hundred and ninety-one sermons, 
 and at two hundred and eighty-six distinct 
 places. 
 
 If, as a preacher, he never attained the 
 highest summit of popularity, he was always 
 heard with attention. His ministry was replete 
 with instruction, and not unfrequently accom- 
 panied with an unction which rendered it 
 irresistible. As he possessed none of those 
 graces of elocution and manner which secure 
 superficial applause, he was always most 
 
336 JOHN RYLAND, D. D. 
 
 esteemed by those who heard him the oftenest ; 
 and his stated hearers rarely if ever wished to 
 exchange the voice of their pastor for that of 
 a stranger. His address was such as produced 
 an instantaneous conviction of his sincerity. It 
 displayed, even to the most superficial observer, 
 a mind infinitely above being actuated by the 
 love of applause ; a spirit deeply imbued with 
 a sense of eternal realities, and ready to pour 
 itself forth as a libation on the sacrifice of the 
 faith and obedience of his converts. The effect 
 of his discourses, excellent as they were in 
 themselves, was prodigiously heightened by the 
 veneration universally felt for his character, and 
 the just and high estimation entertained for his 
 piety. Piety, indeed, was his distinguished 
 characteristic, which he possessed to a degree 
 that raised him inconceivably above the level 
 of ordinary Christians. Devotion appeared to 
 be the principal element of his being : it was 
 next to impossible to converse with him without 
 perceiving how entirely it pervaded his mind, 
 and imparted to his whole deportment an air 
 of purity, innocence, and sanctity, difficult for 
 words to express. His piety did not display 
 itself in a profusion of religious discourse, nor 
 in frequently alluding to the interior exercises 
 of his mind on spiritual subjects. He was 
 seldom known to speak of his religious joys or 
 sorrows : his devotional feelings were too deep 
 
JOHN RYLAND, D. D. 337 
 
 or too sacred to suffer themselves to evaporate 
 in ordinary conversation. His religion appeared 
 in its fruits ; in gentleness, humility, and bene- 
 volence ; in a steady, conscientious performance 
 of every duty, and a careful abstinence from 
 every appearance of evil. As little did his 
 character partake of the ascetic. It never en- 
 tered into his thoughts that religion was an 
 enemy to the innocent pleasures and social 
 endearments of human life, of which he enter- 
 tained a high relish, and which his constant 
 regard to the Deity rendered subservient to 
 piety, by the gratitude which they inspired, 
 and the conviction which they deepened of the 
 divine benignity. His love to the great Supreme 
 was equally exempt from slavish timidity and 
 presumptuous familiarity : it was an awful love, 
 such as the beatific vision may be supi)osed to 
 inspire, where tlie worshippers veil their faces 
 in that presence in which they rejoice with 
 ecstatic joy. As he cherished a firm persuasion 
 that the attributes of the Deity ensure the pro- 
 duction of the greatest possible sum of good, 
 in comparison of which, the quantity of natural 
 and moral evil permitted to remain vanishes and 
 disappears, his views of the divine administration 
 were a source of unmingled joy ; while his 
 profound sense of the essential iioliness and 
 justice of the Supreme Kuler, kept alive those 
 sentiments of penitence and humihty, to which 
 
 VOL. I. Q 
 
338 JOHN RYLAND, D. D. 
 
 too many optimists are strangers. " He feared 
 the great and terrible name of the Lord his 
 Godr 
 
 Humility was, in fact, the most remarkable 
 feature of his character. It was depicted on 
 his countenance, his manners, his language ; 
 it pervaded almost every thing he said or did. 
 He might most truly be said, in the language 
 of Scripture, to be " clothed'"' with it. The 
 mode in which it operated, was at the utmost 
 remove from the shallow expedients adopted 
 by those who vainly attempt to secure the 
 praise of that quality, without possessing it. 
 It neither prompted him to depreciate his 
 talents, nor to disclaim his virtues ; to speak 
 in debasing terms of himself, nor to exaggerate 
 his imperfections and failings. It taught him 
 the rarer art of forgetting himself. His readi- 
 ness to take the lowest place, could only be 
 exceeded by the eagerness of all who knew 
 him, to assign him the highest ; and this was 
 the only competition which the distinctions of 
 life ever cost him. His modesty was such, that 
 the pi'aises he was most solicitous to merit he 
 blushed to receive ; and never appeared so dis- 
 concerted and embarrassed, as when he was 
 necessitated to hear his own commendations. 
 Hence it will be easily inferred, that he was 
 completely exempt from the jealousy of superior 
 talent or reputation; that it gave him not a 
 
JOHN RYLAND, D. D. 339 
 
 moment's uneasiness to find himself eclipsed, 
 and that he was the ardent admirer and pa- 
 negyrist of the mental endowments in which he 
 was most deficient. Though he had neglected 
 to cultivate the powers of his imagination, and 
 was little distinguished for the graces of style, 
 no one was ever more disposed to admire them 
 wherever they were conspicuous. The candour 
 and benignity of his mind prepared him to 
 embrace every kind of intellectual superiority; 
 to rejoice in every display of talent, devoted to 
 the interest of religion ; and to derive exquisite 
 gratification from the operation of those qualities 
 and powers, to which he made the least pre- 
 tension. His enjoyment of intellectual repast 
 was not impaired by the consciousness of not 
 having contributed to furnish it ; and his virtue 
 was thus its own reward, by enabling him to 
 reap the harvest, where he neither sowed the 
 seed, nor prepared the soil. 
 
 If any man ever practised the gentleness of 
 Jesus Christ, it was certainly our lamented 
 friend. Possessed of a temper naturally quick 
 and irritable, he had, by the aid of reason and 
 religion, so far subdued that propensity, that 
 it was rarely suftered to appear ; and when it 
 did, it was a momentary agitation, which quickly 
 subsided into kindness and benignity. His 
 sensibility was exquisite. There were a nu- 
 merous class of subjects to which he could 
 q2 
 
340 JOHN RYLAND, D. D. 
 
 rarely advert without tears. The hare re- 
 currence to his mind of the great objects of 
 reUgion, was sufficient to produce a gush of 
 tenderness ; so entirely was his heart softened, 
 that it might be truly styled " a heart of fleshy 
 Nor was his sensibility confined to religion. It 
 pervaded the whole system of his life, producing 
 a quick and powerful sympathy, not only with 
 his own species, but with the whole circle of 
 animated nature, the properties of which he 
 took great delight in investigating, and in 
 tracing the exquisite contrivance of its bene- 
 volent Author for its preservation and enjoy- 
 ment. 
 
 " Justice to his memory will not permit me," 
 says Mr. Hall, " to suppress the mention of 
 that strict and inviolable regard to truth, which 
 he preserved in all his words and actions. He 
 would never allow himself to employ those 
 exasffferations and colours in the narration of 
 facts, which many who would shudder at a de- 
 liberate falsehood freely indulge, some for the 
 gratification of their passions, or the advance- 
 ment of their interests, and others purely from 
 the impulse of vanity, and a wish to render their 
 narratives more striking and their conversation 
 more poignant. Whatever Dr. R. affirmed, 
 was, as far as his knowledge extended, as certain 
 as an identical proposition : nor was he satisfied 
 with the substantial truth of what he asserted ; 
 
JOHN RYLAND, D. D. 341 
 
 he was so anxious that the impression he con- 
 veyed should exactly coincide, as well in its 
 degree, as in kind, with his internal conviction, 
 that, if it be possible, he was too tenacious of 
 truth, and may be said to have carried his 
 scrupulosity too far. I have often been amused 
 at observing the compass he would fetch, and 
 the circumlocutions he would have recourse to, 
 in the narration of facts, rather than incur the 
 possibility of misrepi'esentation or mistake. 
 
 " Few men have exhibited more vmequivocal 
 proofs of candour. Though a Calvinist in the 
 strictest sense of the word, and attached to its 
 peculiarities in a higher degree than most of 
 the advocates of that system, he extended his 
 affections to all who bore the image of Christ, 
 and was ingenious in discovering reasons for 
 thinking well of many who widely dissented 
 from his religious views. No man was more 
 remarkable for combining a zealous attachment 
 to his own principles with the utmost liberality 
 of mind towards those who differed from him; 
 an abhorrence of error, with the kindest feelings 
 towards the erroneous. He detested the spirit 
 of monopoly in religion, and opposed every 
 tendency to circumscribe it by the limits of 
 party. His Treatise on Baptism furnishes a 
 beautiful specimen of the manner in which re- 
 ligious controversy should be conducted on a 
 subject on which the combatants on both sides 
 
342 JOHN RYLAND, D. D. 
 
 have frequently disgraced themselves hy an 
 acrimony and bitterness, in an inverse pro- 
 portion to the importance of the point in debate. 
 His love of good men of every nation, sect, and 
 party, was fervent and disinterested ; nor was it 
 confined to the bounds of his personal knowledge ; 
 it engaged him in a most affectionate corre- 
 spondence with many eminent persons in remote 
 quarters of the globe, whom he never saw, so 
 signally was he prepared for sitting do^vn with 
 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of 
 heaven, where the whole assembly of the church 
 of the first-born will be convened before the 
 throne of God and the Lamb. 
 
 " In addition to his other excellencies, none, 
 who were honoured with his intimacy, will fad 
 to recollect his diligence in the improvement of 
 time, of the value of which he entertained too 
 deep a sense, to allow any part of it to run to 
 waste. By the practice of early rising, and 
 a most exact distribution of his hours to their 
 respective employments, he continued to hus- 
 band a treasure, which no one is permitted to 
 squander without severely repenting it, though 
 that repentance may possibly arrive too late. 
 Employing every day as if it were the last, and 
 subjecting every portion of time to a religious 
 regulation, he ' worked out his salvation with 
 fear and trembling.' From taste as well as from 
 principle, he was warmly attached to order and 
 
JOHN RYLAND, D. D. 343 
 
 method, which he extended to the minutest 
 particulars. Thus the transactions of his whole 
 life lay before him, by looking back on the turns 
 and vicissitudes of which, he was accumulating 
 fresh materials for gratitude, and acquiring new 
 lessons of prudence and piety. 
 
 " In respect to his Hterary character and at- 
 tainments, — he was a scholar from his infancy ; 
 his attainments in the Hebrew language were 
 profound ; he had a general acquaintance with 
 the principles of science ; and his reading was 
 various and extensive. As he was extremely 
 addicted to study and meditation, so his mental 
 opulence was much gieater than his modesty 
 would permit hun to reveal ; his disposition to 
 conceal his attainments being nearly as strong 
 as that of some men to display them. 
 
 " He had a passion for natural history, in the 
 pursuit of which he was much assisted by the 
 peculiar structure of his eyes, which were a 
 kind of natural microscopes. The observations 
 he made on various natural productions, without 
 the aid of instruments, were really surprising ; 
 and though the peculiarit}- in his visual organs 
 deprived him of the pleasure of contemplating 
 the sublime and magnificent features of nature, 
 it gave him a singular advantage for tracing her 
 minuter operations. 
 
 *' But the science m which he most dehghted, 
 and to which he bent the full force of his 
 
344 JOHN RYLAND, D. D. 
 
 mind, was theology, — not that theology which 
 is built on human speculations, and supported 
 by scholastic subtleties, but that knowledge of 
 God, and of the mysteries of his will, which 
 shone in the face of Jesus Christ. By the 
 incessant study of the Scriptures, he became 
 " a scribe well instructed for the kingdom of 
 God, anl like a wise householder, tvas enabled 
 to bring forth out of his treasure things new 
 and old." The system of divinity to which he 
 adhered was moderate Calvinism, as modelled 
 and explained by that prodigy of metaphysical 
 genius, the celebrated Jonathan Edwards. 
 For the writings of this great man, and those 
 of his followers, he formed a warm predilection 
 very early, which continued ever after to exert 
 a powerful influence on his public ministry, 
 as well as on his theological inquiries and pur- 
 suits. It inspired him with the most elevated 
 conceptions of the moral character of the 
 Deity, to the display of which it taught him 
 to refer the whole economy of providence and 
 of grace, while he inculcated the indispensable 
 duty of loving God, not merely for the benefits 
 he bestows, but for what he is in himself, as 
 essential to true religion. Hence, he held in 
 abhorrence those pretended religious afifections 
 which have their origin and termination in 
 self. Whether or no he attached an undue 
 importance to these speculations, and rendered 
 
JOHN RYLAND, D. D. 345 
 
 them occasionally too prominent in his public 
 ministry, it is certain that they effectually 
 secured him from the slightest tendency to 
 Antinomianism, and contributed not a little to 
 give purity and elevation to his religious views. 
 The two extremes against which he was most 
 solicitous to guard \n^ hearers, were Pelafian 
 pride and Antinomian licentiousness ; the first 
 of which he detested as an insult on the grace 
 of the gospel ; the last, on the majesty and 
 authority of the law *." 
 
 This venerable man, after experiencing a very 
 gradual decline of strength for several years 
 preceding, closed his course on Wednesday, 
 May 25, 1825 ; when the petition he had often 
 uttered during his sickness — " that the Lord 
 would grant him an easy and gentle dismission 
 into his heavenly kingdom" — was mercifully 
 answered, and he fell asleep in Jesus with a 
 serenity that no language can adequately 
 describe. 
 
 The frame of his mind, throughout his last 
 illness, was eminently that of lowly and penitent 
 devotion. The expressions that fell from his 
 lips, in reference to his own character and 
 prospects, strongly exhibited his habitual mo- 
 desty and self-dilKdence : but he was employed 
 far more frequently in offering brief and em- 
 
 • See Mr. Hall's admirable Sermon for the Doctor. 
 Q 3 
 
34'6 JOHN RYLAND, D. D. 
 
 phatic petitions to the throne of the heavenly 
 Majesty. The verse, " My flesh and my heart 
 faileth, but God," &c. was often on his lips 
 vrhen alone, and repeated, as was customary 
 with him, generally in the Hebrew original. 
 One of his affectionate daughters remarked, 
 "You have no doubts or fears, papa!" to 
 which he replied, '* I cannot say I have, but 
 great cause for self-abasement." The Scrip- 
 tures, which had long dwelt richly in him, 
 furnished him with the materials for devotion, 
 as well as grounds for support. — " Holy Spirit, 
 take of the things of Christ, and shew them 
 to my soul." " Lord, direct my heart into the 
 love of God," &;c. " Lord, pity me, and lay 
 me low in the dust at thy feet, for Jesus' sake." 
 These, and similar expressions, attested the 
 humble, holy reverence with which he waited 
 for the coming of his Lord ; proving, before he 
 mingled in their society, how much in spirit 
 he resembled those exalted beings who veil 
 their faces while standing around the throne 
 of God. 
 
THE 
 
 REV. DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 
 
 David Bogue was born on the 1st of March, 
 17o0. He was the fourth son of John Bogue, 
 Esq. laird of Halydown, Berwickshu*e, a little 
 to the north of the boundary line which divides 
 Scotland from England, and of Margaret 
 Swanston, his wife. These exemplary indi- 
 viduals were the parents of twelve children, 
 ami possessed at once of eminent piety and 
 great respectability, they were solicitous to give 
 them a religious and classical education, which 
 prepared their sons for those learned pro- 
 fessions, to which they afterwards devoted 
 themselves. David was instructed in classical 
 learning at the grammar-school of Eyemouth, 
 from whence he removed to Edinburgh, where 
 it is believed he studied first at the High 
 School, and subsequently at the University, 
 nine or ten years, with a view to the Christian 
 ministry, and took the degree of M. A. which 
 well became him. During his residence in 
 
348 DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 
 
 this city, the laborious diligence, and the pious 
 deportment he displayed, attracted the notice, 
 and secured the regard of many respectable 
 individuals. Having been licensed to preach 
 in connexion with the Presbyterian Church, 
 he delivered his first sermon in 1772; but 
 was not ordained by its ministers, as some 
 difficulties arose in his mind, which led him 
 to prefer the Independent mode of church 
 government. This circumstance, it is pre- 
 sumed, brought Mr. Bogue to England, and 
 conducted him towards those spheres of use- 
 fidness, which he subsequently filled with such 
 eminent advantage to this kingdom and the 
 world. It appears, that in 1774, he became 
 associated with his countryman, the Rev. 
 William Smith, who was pastor of an Indepen- 
 dent church, which then assembled in Silver 
 Street, London, and the head of a large and 
 respectable boarding-school, at the Mansion 
 House, Camberwell. Mr. Bogue became the 
 assistant of this gentleman, both in his aca- 
 demical and pastoral labours, and preached 
 at Silver Street every Sabbath morning for 
 three years, when an event transpired at Gos- 
 port, which led to that connexion he so long 
 retained with honour to himself and usefulness 
 to the church. The Rev. James Watson had 
 been ordained the pastor of the ancient church 
 at Gosport, after the decease of the Rev. T. 
 
DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 349 
 
 Williams in ITTl; but having been devoted 
 to the profession of the Christian ministry 
 by the partiahty of his father, the Rev. Dr. 
 Watson, as was too frequently the case at that 
 period, there is reason to fear, that he entered 
 upon its sacred duties simply to fulfil the 
 requirements of the profession in which he 
 was engaged, and destitute of that devout pre- 
 ference for his work, and that elevation of soul 
 in it, which are indispensable to a successful 
 discharge of the ministry amongst Protestant 
 Dissenters. The congregation very naturally, 
 therefore, became dissatisfied with his services, 
 and a large number of the members separated 
 from his charge, and invited Mr. English, 
 afterwards of Wooburn, Bucks, to minister to 
 them. In a short time Mr. Watson became 
 altogether dissatisfied with his own ministerial 
 character, and resigned it to prosecute the 
 study of the law, in which profession he at 
 length arose to the judicial bench. 
 
 Upon his relinquishment of the pastoral 
 charge, Mr. Bogue was recommended to the 
 church, and a deputation was prudently sent 
 to London to hear him, who having enjoyed 
 several opportunities of judging of his pulpit 
 talents, reported so favourably to their bre- 
 thren, that he was invited to supply there, and 
 his services being highly acceptable, he was 
 chosen to the pastoral office, and was ordained 
 
350 DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 
 
 at Gosport, June 18, 1777. When Mr. Bogue 
 came to Gosport, the congregation was very 
 small; but he had laboured there only for a 
 short tmie, ere he gained the esteem of those 
 who had separated from his church whilst 
 under Mr. Watson's care ; and Mr. English, 
 therefore, with eminent disinterestedness, called 
 his flock together, and suggested to them, that 
 as a pastor was now chosen by the society to 
 which they originally belonged, in whom they 
 might all unite, the cause of their separation 
 ceased to exist, and he therefore felt it his duty 
 to resign the pastoral charge over them. The 
 intention of Mr. English being known to Mr. 
 Bogue, he advised his flock to address a kind 
 letter to their former brethren, at the same 
 juncture, inviting them to return. They accepted 
 the invitation, which terminated their separa- 
 tion, in a manner most honourable to all the 
 parties concerned. 
 
 Mr. Bogue had not long been settled at 
 Gosport, when a very powerful inducement 
 was held out to him, to quit the Independent 
 denomination, and become a Presbyterian mini- 
 ster in his native country. An ofter was made 
 him through the influence of Mr. Dundas, 
 afterwards Lord Melville, of one of the prin- 
 cipal churches in the city of Edinburgh, which 
 he, in course, declined ; for after Mr. Bogue 
 had formed a deliberate judgment of the course 
 
DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 351 
 
 of duty which he ought to pursue, he was 
 not the man to swerve from it, though flattered 
 by statesmen, or tempted by weakh. The 
 meeting-house at Gosport was old, and in an 
 obscure situation; but in a few years, Mr. 
 Bogue's ministry proved so generally accept- 
 able and useful, that a new and commodious 
 chapel was erected for him, which was at that 
 time one of the largest in the county. It 
 was the happiness of his valued parents to 
 enjoy the satisfaction of hearing, that his mini- 
 sterial course was prosperous and effective. 
 His father died in 1786; but his mother con- 
 tinued till 1805, cheered by his filial piety and 
 his advancing usefulness. 
 
 In 1789, George Welsh, Esq. of London, 
 banker, who had been long associated with liis 
 munificent friend, Mr. Thornton, of Clapham, 
 in the support of Mr. Cornelius Winter's pri- 
 vate academy for young ministers at Painswick, 
 Gloucestershire, resolved to make a similar 
 attempt in the South of England, and he was 
 directed to Gosport, by the attractive force of 
 the wisdom and the worth of the pastor of the 
 church there, who was pointed out by the 
 finger of Providence, as the fit person to direct 
 the studies of those who, desiring the office of 
 a bishop, desire a good work. He therefore 
 proposed to Mr. Bogue, that he should under- 
 take the education of three young men for the 
 
352 
 
 DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 
 
 ministry, at his expense. With this request 
 he complied, and thus Mr. Welsh became the 
 founder of an academy, which, though its term 
 of study was limited, and its apparatus of edu- 
 cation incomplete, yet, under the presidency 
 of a master mind, like that of its tutor, has 
 been for nearly forty years eminently suc- 
 cessful in producing some of the ablest mini- 
 sters with which our churches are at present 
 blessed. 
 
 About this time the mind of Mr. Bogue 
 became powerfully affected with the conviction, 
 that it was the duty of Protestant dissenting 
 churches to attempt something for the con- 
 version of the heathen to Christianity, and he 
 embraced every opportunity in the pulpit, and 
 in private conference, to mourn over their 
 neglect, and to urge all around him to prayer 
 and labour in this great cause. Whilst it would 
 be folly to attribute to Mr. Bogue the discovery 
 of a principle, which burned in the bosoms 
 of several nonconformist ministers, which was 
 subsequently proposed to the churches by Dr. 
 Doddridge, and which, in our own days, ani- 
 mated at the same moment the minds of Wil- 
 liams, Carey, and Home, yet Mr. Bogue was 
 providentially placed in circumstances peculiarly 
 favourable to its exhibition, and thus has the 
 honour of being amongst the very first, in 
 modern times, to advocate this great but long 
 
DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 353 
 
 neglected duty. It is usually supposed, that 
 our brethren of the Baptist denomination were 
 instrumental in exciting public attention to 
 this momentous subject, and to them indeed 
 must be awarded the honour of precedence in 
 direct and practical effort — for their Society 
 was formed at Kettering, in October 1792; 
 but on the oOth of March, in that year, Mr. 
 Bogue preached at Salters' Hall, in London, 
 the anniversary sermon before " the Corre- 
 spondent Board of the Society in Scotland for 
 Propagating Christian Knowledge in the High- 
 lands and Islands," and he availed himself of 
 this favourable opportunity to press the topic 
 on his hearers, and afterwards, for the sermon 
 was published, on his readers. This excellent 
 and animated discourse made a deep and wide 
 impression, and, together with other co-ope- 
 rating circumstances, tended to produce a general 
 conviction, that little had been done for the 
 conversion of the heathen world, and that it 
 was the duty of every Christian to aim at the 
 cultivation of this highly important field. The 
 subject continued to occupy his mind till 1794, 
 when he visited the Tabernacle at Bristol, and 
 was associated with the Rev. J. Steven, then 
 minister of Crown Court Chapel, London, as 
 his colleague ; and to him, in company with 
 Mr. Hey, then minister of Castle Green Meet- 
 ing, Bristol, he disclosed his plans, and it was 
 
354 DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 
 
 agreed he should write a paper recommending 
 missions to the heathen, and obtain its inser- 
 tion in the Evangehcal Magazine ; it therefore 
 appeared in the number of that work for Sep- 
 tember 1794, addressed " To the Evangelical 
 Dissenters who practise Infant Baptism.'' 
 
 The scriptural argument, the forcible appeals, 
 and Christian benevolence of this letter, ex- 
 cited a sacred ardour in the minds of thousands. 
 Dr. Edward Williams, then of Birmingham, 
 replied to this address in the Evangelical 
 Magazine, stating, that missionary objects had 
 been recommended by the Warwickshire Asso- 
 ciated Ministers to their people, in a circular 
 letter, dated June 1793. At length, on the 
 memorable 4th of November, the first con- 
 certed meeting was held ; it was a small, but 
 glowing circle of ministers of various connex- 
 ions and denominations, who resolved, on the 
 most liberal principles, to embark in this holy 
 enterprize. The opening of the year 1795 
 was occupied in preparing and circulating 
 several interesting letters to ministers and 
 churches, which are happily preserved in *' The 
 introductory Memorial respecting the Formation 
 of the Missionary Society." On Tuesday, the 
 22d of September, 1795, at Spa-Fields Chapel, 
 in the midst of a multitude, powerfully excited 
 by the novelty and benevolence of the object, 
 the Society was formed ; meetings for worship 
 
DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 355 
 
 and business occupied the two following days, 
 and on the Thursday evening, Mr. Bogue 
 preached at Tottenham Court Chapel, an able 
 sermon, entitled, " Objections against a Mission 
 to the Heathen Stated and Considered," in 
 which his manly sense, sanctified benevolence, 
 and vigorous faith in the promises of God, are 
 conspicuously displayed. In his closing sen- 
 tence, his faith seems to have attained an 
 elevation, which led him to anticipate the ver- 
 dict of coming generations, respecting the 
 transactions in which he was then engaged — 
 anticipations which it is only necessary to 
 transcribe, to convince every reader how hap- 
 pily they have been realized. 
 
 " This year will, 1 hope, form an epoch in 
 the history of man ; and from this day, by our 
 exertions, and by the exertions of others whom 
 we shall provoke to zeal, the kingdom of Jesus 
 Christ shall be considerably enlarged, both at 
 home and abroad, and continue to mcrease 
 * till the knowlege of God cover the earth as 
 the waters cover the sea.' When we left our 
 homes, we expected to see a day of small 
 thuigs, Avhich it was our design not to despise, 
 but to cherish with fond solicitude. But God 
 has beyond measure exceeded our expectations : 
 he has made a little one a thousand, and has 
 inspired us with the most exalted hopes. Now 
 we do not think ourselves in danger of being 
 
S56 DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 
 
 mistaken when we say, that we shall account 
 it through eternity a distinguished favour, and 
 the highest honour conferred on us during our 
 pilgrimage on earth, that we appeared here, 
 and gave in our names among the Founders of 
 the Missionary Society, and the time will be 
 ever remembered by us, and may it be cele- 
 brated by future ages, as the ^ra of chris- 
 tian BENEVOLENCE." 
 
 Amongst other calumnies which were circu- 
 lated against the founders of the Missionary 
 Society, was the ungenerous imputation, that 
 they were ready to transport their brethren to 
 ungenial climates, to labour amongst savage 
 and heathen nations, while they continued to 
 enjoy the delights of home. This reproach 
 was as untrue as it was unkind, for Dr. Bojiue 
 joined with his friends, the Rev. Greville 
 Ewing, and the Rev. William Innes, about 
 the year 1796, in several memorials and pe- 
 titions to the Directors of the East -India 
 Company, requesting permission that they and 
 their families might go to Bengal, and devote 
 their future years to the propagation of the 
 gospel in our Hindoo empire. These re- 
 peated requests were most peremptorily re- 
 fused, though made in language of earnest 
 expostulation and Christian eloquence : one of 
 these memorials was printed in their joint 
 names, and circulated amongst leading and 
 
DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 357 
 
 influential persons: and though no immediate 
 effect resulted from it, yet it abides a monu- 
 ment of the personal devotion of its authors 
 to the missionary work, and doubtless contri- 
 buted to diffuse opinions, which have since so 
 happily clianged the policy of the Honourable 
 Court. Though shut out from foreign labours, 
 his assiduous application to study, especially in 
 foreign theology and biblical criticism, was 
 continually enlarging his capacity for useful- 
 ness at home, and this literary diligence could 
 not be concealed. On the death of Mr. 
 Welsh, the patron of Gosport Academy, it was 
 found that he had made no provision for its 
 continuance by bequest; and therefore that 
 useful institution would have ceased, but for 
 the reputation of its tutor, which commanded 
 the hberal support of several friends till 1800, 
 when Robert Haldane, Esq. of Edinburgh, a 
 gentleman of distinguished intelligence and 
 Christian philanthropy, proposed to subscribe 
 100/. aniuuilly, one fourth of the expense, 
 towards the support of ten additional students, 
 if the churches in Hampshire would supply the 
 remaining sum requisite for their education and 
 support. This was accepted ; and the County 
 Association of Hamj)sliire has continued to 
 patronize the institution to the present time. 
 Amongst other schemes of usefulness, which 
 arose out of the religious excitement produced 
 
358 DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 
 
 by the establishment of the Missionary Society, 
 was the admirable plan of a Religious Tract 
 Society, " to print and distribute small pieces 
 on subjects purely religious." This valuable 
 institution was founded in May, 1799, and the 
 subject of this memoir took a prominent part 
 in describing its character, and asserting its 
 claims. He penned the first Tract in the 
 Series, An Address to Christians^ recommend- 
 ing the distribution of cheap Religious Tracts, 
 in which he proclaims, that " Pure Truth" 
 is to be the exclusive subject of its publica- 
 tions ; and adds, " nor should any worldly 
 scheme be interwoven with the truth, nor at- 
 tempted to be concealed under its folds. Here 
 should not be seen the slightest vestige of any 
 carnal end, in any form, or for any purpose, 
 however laudable some may think it ; nothing 
 but divine truth, unmingled, unadulterated, and 
 pure, as it came from heaven, fit for the 
 whole human race to imbibe." Such wise 
 principles naturally commended their author 
 to the managers of this catholic society, and 
 they requested him to advocate its cause from 
 the pulpit of Dr. Hunter, where he preached 
 an able sermon, in May, 1800, from Psalm 
 xliii. 30, and M'hich discourse he afterwards 
 gave to the public, entitled, " The Diffusion 
 of Divine Truth " in which he re-asserts those 
 principles which cannot be too much enforced 
 
DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 359 
 
 on the attention of the religious public at the 
 present moment. 
 
 About the same time, the Missionary So- 
 ciety's Directors wisely resolved to place their 
 future missionaries under a course of prepara- 
 tory studies ; and in deliberating on the best 
 means of establishing the proposed seminary, 
 they observe, in their report for 1801, *'The 
 superintendence of a person of eminent abilities, 
 of exemplary piety, and of a true missionary 
 spirit, seemed to be an acquisition, first in order 
 and importance in this business. With these 
 views, they were directed to their reverend 
 brother. Dr. Bogue, whose laudable zeal and 
 efficient labours they have before acknowledged 
 and recorded, and whose disposition to promote 
 the designs of the Society, and his devotedness 
 to the cause of God, were again manifested by 
 his consenting to accept the office of Tutor to 
 the Missionary Society." He therefore added 
 to his other lectures a course suited to form 
 ministers for foreign missions, and three stu- 
 dents were, for this purpose, immediately placed 
 under his care. 
 
 The public mind had been powerfully ex- 
 cited by the entire abolition of papal autho- 
 rity in France, and the Directors of the 
 Missionary Society felt, in common with all 
 pious minds, that if the fabric of superstition 
 had been demolished in that country by the 
 
360 DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 
 
 hand of infidelity, it could never be the design 
 of Divine Providence, that infidelity should 
 acquire a permanent influence over the popular 
 mind ; and they were, therefore, called to de- 
 liberate what was their duty, as Christians, 
 towards their unhappy neighbours. The state 
 of political hostility which subsisted between 
 the two countries, prevented, at that time, all 
 personal intercourse : it was therefore suggested, 
 we believe, by Dr. Bogue himself, that it was 
 most important to circulate, in France and 
 Belgium, a large edition of the French New 
 Testament, with a suitable prehminary disser- 
 tation on the evidences of its divine inspiration. 
 This proposal was deemed important, and its 
 projector was naturally requested to prepare 
 the intended introduction. This led to the 
 publication of his " Essay on the Authority of 
 the New Testament ," a work which condenses 
 a great mass of evidence into a small volume, 
 and places it in a most perspicuous and con- 
 vincing light, and which claims the attentive 
 perusal of every intelligent Christian. 
 
 The providence of God having, however, 
 by the cessation of a destructive war between 
 this country and France, in October, 1801, 
 unexpectedly opened that country to the agents 
 of the Missionary Society, it was resolved to 
 send a deputation to Paris and the depart- 
 ments, to promote the intended publication. 
 
DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 361 
 
 Dr. Bogue had travelled, when young, in 
 France and the Netherlands, and having ac- 
 quired a command of the French language, 
 was too well qualified and too deeply interested 
 to be overlooked ; he therefore was appointed, 
 vnth other gentlemen, to this difficult mission. 
 They, however, succeeded beyond their best 
 hopes ; a respectable member of the Legislative 
 Assembly engaged to translate the Essay into 
 French ; and an Italian Bishop, disgusted with 
 the absurdities of papacy, was willing to engage 
 with his Protestant fellow Christians, by trans- 
 lating it into his own language. Many other 
 plans of extensive promise were suggested by 
 the Deputation on its return, but the short 
 duration of peace closed again those fields of 
 usefulness which had been opened before 
 them. 
 
 The neglected and deplorable state of our 
 sister country, Ireland, justly attracted the 
 attention of English Protestants at the close of 
 the year 1806, and led to the formation of the 
 Hibernian Society, for the difiusion of religious 
 knowledge in Ireland. The committee were 
 intreated, by their Irish correspondents, to send 
 to that country a Deputation to obtain the re- 
 quired information on the spot ; and in the 
 summer of 1807, Dr. Bogue was associated 
 with the Rev. Messrs. Charles and Hughes, 
 and S. Mills, Esq. in visiting it. The tour 
 
 VOL. I. R 
 
362 
 
 DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 
 
 occupied the party about a month, and it de- 
 signedly lay through some of the most miserable 
 and unfrequented districts. In the cities, they 
 obtained that class of information, which the 
 cabins of wild Connaught could not furnish ; 
 and the result of the whole was presented to 
 the public under the title of " Report of a 
 Deputation from the Hibernian Society, re- 
 specting the Religious State of Ireland,'' and 
 produced an impression upon the public mind, 
 powerful enough to place that Society amongst 
 the most effective for the reformation of the 
 popish inhabitants of that country. 
 
 In 1808, appeared the first volume of an ex- 
 tensive work. The History of Dissenters from 
 the Revolutiou in 1688, to the year 1808, exe- 
 cuted jointly by Dr. Bogue, and his friend and 
 early pupil Dr. Bennett, which was followed, 
 in the course of the four succeeding years, by 
 three other volumes, which completed the 
 design. — "I cannot," says Mr. Griffin, "refrain 
 from expressing an opinion, that there are 
 more important general principles connected 
 with the welfare of the State, the prospe- 
 rity of the kingdom of Christ, and the good of 
 the world, in those four volumes, than are to 
 be found in any work of a similar extent." 
 
 Dr. Bogue accompanied his fnend and 
 fellow-labourer, Dr. Bennett, in the summer of 
 1816, in a journey through the kingdom of the 
 
DAVID BOGUE, D. D. SG'S 
 
 Netherlands, in the service of the Missionary 
 Society; and his presence every where inspired 
 that veneration and esteem which his character 
 justly claimed. 
 
 A valuable and characteristic volume of 
 Discourses on the Millennium was given to the 
 public, by Dr. Bogue, in the close of 1818. 
 They were first delivered, at various intervals, 
 to his own people, as one of those many 
 valuable courses of sermons with which they 
 were favoured, and which must have been 
 especially interesting to those candidates for 
 missionary labours who were privileged to hear 
 them. 
 
 Dr. Bogue's mind was ever engaged with 
 some important plan of usefuhiess. In May, 
 1820, he favoured several religious miscellanies, 
 with an important Proposal for establishing a 
 University for Dissenters, which excited much 
 discussion and which, doubtless, contributed 
 much to prepare the minds of opulent Dis- 
 senters to unite in the establishment of that 
 University which, we hope, will ere long grace 
 the metropolis. These extensive and varied 
 engagements did not, however, abstract his 
 mind from local duties. 
 
 As a pastor and a neighbour, his labours and 
 
 usefulness were abundant. To employ again 
 
 the language of Mr. Griffin, than whom no 
 
 one is better prepared to give a testimony to 
 
 r2 
 
364 DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 
 
 his labours, " The efficiency of his character 
 was powerfully experienced in the County 
 Association, which he was the mean of form- 
 ing, strengthening, and invigorating. His 
 attendance with the ministers, his advice, 
 prayers, and preaching, were highly beneficial 
 to all the congregations in the county and its 
 vicinities. It is a pleasing and grateful subject 
 of recollection, that within the period of his 
 residence in Gosport, the congregations, in all 
 the large towns within the County Association, 
 have erected new and far more spacious places 
 of worship ; and nearly every chapel in the 
 smaller towns has been considerably enlarged. 
 Since the formation of the Hampshire Society 
 for promoting religion in the county and its 
 vicinity, twenty-one new chapels have been 
 erected, and three buildings fitted for places 
 of worship, within the county, or on its borders, 
 either by the benevolence of indivi4uals, the 
 contributions of congregations, or the direct 
 arrangements of the Society, in towns or villages 
 where the Gospel had not been previously 
 introduced. In eleven of the places alluded 
 to, a church has been formed and regularly 
 constituted ; and in seven of those places there 
 is a resident ordained minister, supported 
 almost solely by the congregation. In all these 
 places there is a Sunday School, conducted 
 by the gratuitous instructions of persons in the 
 
DAVID BOGUE, D.D. S65 
 
 neighbourhood. In the production of these 
 gratifying effects, much must undoubtedly be 
 attributed to the counsel and influence of Dr. 
 Bogue." 
 
 Dr. Bogue was united in marriage to Miss 
 Charlotte Ufiington, in 1788, a lady generally 
 esteemed for her amiable spirit, intelligent 
 mind, agreeable manners, and decided piety. 
 They had a family of four sons and three 
 daughters, who were successively devoted to 
 the Lord in baptism by their friend Dr. 
 Winter; and their parents were faithful to 
 discharge the solemn obligations which that 
 ordinance involves. Amidst abounding labours, 
 Dr. B. did not neglect his household ; and it 
 was his happiness to see them growing up to 
 manhood around him, with accomplished and 
 sanctified minds. These pleasures were, alas! 
 but of short continuance ; for, says Mr. James, 
 " during the latter period of his life, he was 
 severely tried by domestic affliction, and was 
 thus placed in a situation which afforded him 
 an opportunity of uniting the milder beauty of 
 the passive graces with the bold energy of 
 the active virtues. About eleven years ago, 
 he was deprived by death of one of his sons, 
 who sunk to the tomb at the age of twenty- 
 two : about the same time, his eldest daughter, 
 having married a respectable minister, crossed 
 the Atlantic, and settled in America. Three 
 
366 DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 
 
 years since, the destroyer of our family circles 
 entered his habitation a second time, and laid 
 another of his sons in the grave. This ^ene- 
 rable minister, then nearly seventy-three years 
 of age, equally removed from unmanly stoicism 
 and unchristian sorrow, preached a funeral 
 sermon for his own child, in which all the 
 father appeared supported and hallowed by all 
 the saint. Of these two interesting young 
 men, a touching memoir was drawn up by one 
 of the surviving brothers, which, together with 
 the funeral sermon just alluded to, was printed 
 for private circulation. Mr. David Bogue, the 
 author of this beautiful piece of biography, 
 was then the classical tutor in the academy 
 over which his revered father presided ; of 
 which office he discharged the duties with 
 singular abiUty, and will ever be remembered 
 with delight and gratitude, by those who en- 
 joyed his instruction. About a year and a half 
 ago, Mrs. Bogue, whose constitution never re- 
 covered the shock it received by the death of 
 her sons, followed them to the sepulchre, and 
 left her bereaved husband to prove by expe- 
 rience, that there is a woe for mortals, far more 
 bitter than the loss of children. David, who 
 had devoted his fine talents to the legal pro- 
 fession, and bid fair to be a bright ornament 
 of the English bar, was destined to be the 
 next victim. Alas! he too, like a lovely flower, 
 
DAVID BOGUr, D. D. 3G7 
 
 broken on its stem, just when putting forth its 
 full-blown beauty and its richest fragrance, 
 was smitten by the rude hand of death ; and 
 fell, with ali his youthful honours, on the ashes 
 of his mother and his brothers. But how did 
 the father bear this four-fold bereavement? 
 Like one that recognized in every stroke the 
 appointment of a God who, however seemingly 
 severe in his dealings, or really mysterious in 
 his schemes, is always wise, and just, and good : 
 like one who knew that his own approaching 
 dis.solution would soon restore to him those 
 dear friends, torn from him by the ruthless 
 hand of * the last enemy.' His unmarried 
 daughter still remained, like a ministering 
 angel, to comfort him in his old age, to be 
 the companion of his home, and a light in his 
 dreary habitation; but the assiduities of filial 
 love, and the tender offices of sisterly affection, 
 which had been performed at the dying beds 
 of a mother and three brothers, were too much 
 for her strength, and she too sunk on the bed 
 of sickness. Her father, though called to 
 endure the affliction of seeing her suffer, and 
 of anticipating her removal, was spared this 
 last woe. Never were afflictions borne with 
 more dignified grief, or more Christian sub- 
 mission. It seemed as if the clouds of sorrow 
 were permitted to collect around his setting 
 sun , to reflect more brightly, as he was retiring 
 
368 DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 
 
 from earth, the varied effulgence of his Chris- 
 tian character." 
 
 It had long been the devout prayer and 
 earnest wish of Dr. Bogue, that every town in 
 the county of Hants should enjoy a preached 
 gospel; and for several years before his death, 
 this was happily the case, with only one ex- 
 ception. The inhabitants of Alresford, how- 
 ever, had repeatedly repelled, with determined 
 hostility, its introduction. At length prejudice 
 gave way, a meeting-house was built, and with 
 great satisfaction did he sign a recommendation 
 of its case, which accomplished a fond wish of 
 his heart ; and on the day he died, that house 
 of prayer was first occupied for the service of 
 God. 
 
 At the close of the academical session at 
 Gosport, last July, Dr. Bogue engaged, as 
 usual, to spend his vacation in the laborious 
 duties of a missionary tour. 
 
 " The last time he preached in his own 
 pulpit," says Dr. Winter, *' was on Lord's- 
 day, the 7th of August. On that occasion, 
 the twentieth chapter of the Acts of the 
 Apostles, from which the text of this evening 
 is selected, was read at the beginning of the 
 service. He preached on the apostolical be- 
 nediction, which he had pronounced thousands 
 of times in the course of his ministry : ' The 
 grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love 
 
DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 369 
 
 of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, 
 be with you all. Amen.' And he took leave 
 of his church at the commemorative Supper of 
 his Lord. The following day, he commenced 
 a missionary journey into Warwickshire and 
 Worcestershire. On his return, he spent one 
 Lord's-day in London, when he preached for 
 his two friends, the Rev. John Arundel and 
 the Rev. George Burder, the Secretaries of 
 the London Missionary Society. On returning 
 home, he found that this place of worship, 
 which had been shut up for repairs, was not 
 ready to be re-opened. On the first sabbath 
 he attended the morning worship in the chapel 
 of ease, where he heard, with much pleasure, 
 the excellent young clergyman who officiates 
 there. In the afternoon and evening, he 
 preached in a neighbouring village, which has 
 been for many years supplied by his students. 
 On the following sabbaths, he preached in his 
 vestry, on the transfiguration of Christ ; and 
 on one of them, he administered in the same 
 place the Lord's Supper. 
 
 " On Lord's-day, the 16th of October, he 
 finished his public testimony. His subjects of 
 discourse were very memorable. In the morn- 
 ing he preached, at Portsea, a funei'al sermon, 
 occasioned by the decease of a relative of the 
 Rev. John Griffin. His text was, * And not 
 only they, but ourselves also, who have the 
 
370 DAVID ROGUE, D. D. 
 
 first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves 
 groan within ourselves, waiting for the adop- 
 tion, to wit, the redemption of our body.' In 
 the afternoon and evening, he addressed a part 
 of his own flock in the vestry, on the character 
 and the translation of Enoch : ' And Enoch 
 walked with God, and he was not, for God 
 took him.'" 
 
 The return of the Missionary Meeting for 
 the county of Sussex, in October, induced the 
 friends at Brighton to request his valuable 
 services. 
 
 When he left his home to fulfil this engage- 
 ment on Tuesday morning, 18th of October, 
 his old female servant observed that " her 
 master had not looked and acted so well for a 
 long time." 
 
 " There was," says Mr. Goulty, " a peculiar 
 interest and cheerfulness about him on the day 
 he arrived at Brighton, interrupted occasionally 
 by evident indications of pain. The only part 
 which he was able to take in our Missionary 
 services, was the prayer before the sermon, 
 preached by the Rev. George Clayton, on 
 Tuesday evening, the 18th instant, in this 
 pulpit. Those of us who knew him, observed, 
 with much regret, that he was evidently suf- 
 fering great pain. At the same time it was 
 impossible not to notice a peculiar sweetness 
 and simplicity in his petitions. Oh ! had we 
 
DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 
 
 1 
 
 known tliat these would have been his hist, 
 how would we have hung upon his lips, and 
 desired a personal interest in his supplications 
 at the throne of grace ;— ' the effectual fervent 
 prayer of a righteous man availeth much.' 
 
 " Late in the evening of the same day, calling 
 me out of the room, he expressed his sorrow 
 that he should be come hither to be ill at my 
 house, and requested that I would procure 
 some surgical attendance. This was innnedi- 
 ately done: but the ' sickness was unto death,' 
 and ' the places that once knew liim, were to 
 know hhn no more for ever.' 
 
 " During his affliction. Dr. Bogue said but 
 little ; but what he did say, was that substance, 
 which might have been greatly attenuated. 
 The nature of his disease, the circumstances 
 of our public engagements, and the fear of 
 intruding upon our time, together with an 
 habitual disposition to make light of his ma- 
 ladies, all operated to induce him to say as 
 little as was necessary ; but the strength, and 
 power, and delightful savour of his expressions, 
 and the decision, and calmness, and resignation 
 of his mind, will, I hope, never be forgotten 
 by us. 
 
 " Speaking to him of the disappointment 
 which was felt on account of his absence from 
 the public meeting, he said, that this was, no 
 doubt, wisely ordered ; and that while th.ose 
 
372 DAVID BOGUE, D, D. 
 
 who were getting old in the service must 
 expect to be prevented, it was a great plea- 
 sure to him to see so many young persons, 
 and particularly in the ministry, rising up to 
 succeed them. When, in answer to his in- 
 quiries as to the character and spirit of the 
 meeting, he was told, that it was peculiarly 
 interesting and devout ; and that the accounts 
 from India, and from the Sandwich Islands, 
 were most encouraging, he said, repeatedly, as 
 if impatient to utter his praise, * that — that 
 is remarkable, J am glad to hear that,' — * that 
 is very pleasing, — God is blessing his own 
 work.' 
 
 " Every expression from him was accom- 
 panied with some word of gratitude and praise 
 for his mercies. 
 
 *' On one occasion he said, ' What a blessing 
 it is to be interested in the gospel before such 
 a time as this arrives ! We have much to be 
 thankful for.' 
 
 " His fervent petitions and fatherly blessing 
 on my leaving him last Lord's-day, before the 
 morning service, were peculiarly affecting and 
 impressive. May God, from sabbath to sabbath, 
 answer his prayer for an extensive blessing on 
 a preached gospel. When on several occa- 
 sions he was asked if he was comfortable, he 
 replied invariably — ' quite so, I thank you, 
 quite so.' — * We fear, Sir, that the time appears 
 
DAVID BOGUE, D. D. 373 
 
 heavy to you, being so much alone.' — * No,' he 
 said, ' I thank you, I prefer it, I am not alone, 
 the Father is with me.' 
 
 " When his daughter, Mrs. Parker, com- 
 municated to him the opinion of his medical 
 attendants, that there was now no hope of his 
 recovery, he calmly replied, * Well, my dear, 
 tlie icill of the Lord be done — Read to me the 
 32d Psahn ;' after which he said, ' now shut the 
 door, and I will pray with you.' This was 
 indeed a father's prayer, consisting entirely of 
 suitable and fervent supplications for himself 
 as a dying behever, and for his children, whom 
 he mentioned severally, by name, and com- 
 mended them to his God and Saviour. He 
 seemed in this prayer to have been very soli- 
 citous that his afflicted daughter might recover; 
 and that ' those of the family who should Hve 
 the longest,' might be the subjects of j)erpetual 
 care and blessing. 
 
 *' Soon after this I spent a short tmie with 
 him, which I regarded as peculiarly sacred : — 
 endeavouring to comfort him, I repeated the 
 promise, '/ iiill never leave thee nor forsake 
 thee;' upon which, with an eftbrt of his ex- 
 iiausted strength, but with a delightful energy, 
 he said, 'Ah, remember that stands in the 
 highest character," (alluding to the peculiarity in 
 the original of that passage, in which the force 
 of the expression is so strong, tiiat it might 
 
,:»74< DAVID EOGUE, D. D. 
 
 be rendered, */ wiU never, never — no, never — 
 never forsake thee.' ) To the question, ' Is 
 your mind, my dear Sir, still supported V he 
 replied, 'Yes, I thank you, I am looking to 
 that compassionate Saviour, whose blood 
 cleanseth from all sin.' — ' It is encouraging to 
 us, Sir, to receive the testimony, and to witness 
 the support of the Gospel in those who have 
 long been in the service.' He said, ' Yes, it is 
 valuable, and I am able to say, / know whom I 
 have believed.' His state of exhaustion and 
 disease rendered his subsequent words unintel- 
 ligible ; at length he sunk into a stupor, from 
 which he never recovered till his spirit de- 
 parted, about nine o'clock on Tuesday, 25th 
 October, in the 76th year of his age."* 
 
 The character of this truly great and good 
 man, to which it is impossible to do justice in 
 the limited space of the present inemoir, may 
 be summed up in the expressive outline of 
 Mr. Griffin's funeral sermon for him; — who 
 shews, that he was great by comparison, — great 
 in capacities, such as comprehension, elevation, 
 and condescension ; great in attainments, literary, 
 theological and christian; great in the energy of 
 his character, in the energy of mental application, 
 o{ personal labour , o^pidpit talents, and (jf public 
 spirit ; great in goodness ; and finally, great in 
 
 * See Congregational Magazine for Jan. and Feb. 18'2G. 
 
DAVID DOGUE, D. D. ,37o 
 
 cjf'cct : the effect of his conversation was great, 
 tile effect of his correspondence was great, and 
 the eftect of his writings was great. Tlie 
 causes of this greatness of character, he traces 
 to a good education in early life; to an athletic 
 constitution ; to a concurrence a/favourable cir- 
 cumstances ; and to t/te distinguishing grace of 
 God. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 1{- ('l:i\, PriiiUi, Dvvonshirc-street, Iiisbi>| jgaie. 
 
WORKS PUBLISHED by the SAME AUTHOR, 
 
 AND SOLD BY 
 
 B. J. Holdsworth, 18, St. Paul's Church Yard, London. 
 
 1. THE BELOVED DISCIPLE; a Series of Dis- 
 courses on the Life, Character, and Writings of the Apostle 
 John. 1 vol. 12mo. boards, price 5s. 
 
 " This volume has given us considerable pleasure. It unites 
 a flowing ease of thought and invention, with much that is original 
 and strongly impressive. On the variety of topics which it places 
 before the reader, scriptural statements and solid arguments 
 are urged, with a simplicity and energy of manner which engage 
 and reward attention, and are calculated to be extensively useful. 
 As its plan, so its execution, widely differs from a common-place 
 performance. Old things have the air of freshness, and new 
 tlioughts carry with them the authority of Scripture light and power. 
 We must say for ourselves, and we think every judicious reader 
 will join with us, that nothing but a want of attention, or else a 
 very wrong state of the heart, can prevent the perusal of this 
 work from being the instrument of valuable improvement in the 
 power of religion, and of promoting 'godly edifying in love,' and 
 in all the work of grace and obedience." — Evangelical Magazine. 
 
 " The Volume appears chiefly adapted to family and village 
 reading, for which purpose it recommends itself, as well by the 
 useful information which it conveys, as by the interest that the 
 form, into which the Sermons are thrown, is likely to awaken." — 
 Eclectic Review. 
 
 " Wc feel much pleasure in introducing to the notice of our 
 readers, this excellent little Volume. Mr. Bishop has treated his 
 subject in a judicious and popular manner. We think him, in 
 most places, peculiarly happy in the lessons of moral and religious 
 instruction, which he derives from the facts of John's history. 
 The book is well adapted to family reading, and will assist young 
 persons in forming a connected view of the character anil mini»try 
 of the amiable .\postle John. The style is uniformly plain, and 
 adapted to general usefulness." — Congregational Magazine. 
 
Published by the same Author. 
 
 2. UNITARIANISM, A PEIU ERSION OF THE 
 GOSPEL or CHRIST; a Sermon. Price 9rf. 
 
 " This Discourse being drawn up in an excellent spirit, and in 
 a forcible popular style, we cannot but wish it an extensive circu- 
 lation, and cordially recommend it." — Evmigeliciil Magazine. 
 
 " In the present cheap and seasonable publication, Mr. Bishop 
 has contributed a sensible exposition of the perversion of divine 
 truth, nmintuined by this miserable heresy." — Coiigregalinnal 
 Mug ax hie. 
 
 3. GOD SAVE THE KING; aSermon on the Acces- 
 sion of his present Majesty, Geoi-ge IV. to the throne. 
 Price Is. 
 
 4. PRAYERS for every Day in the Week, designed for 
 the use of Children and Youtli in Sunday Schools. Price 
 Id. each, or 20d. per dozen. 
 
 New 'Wokks Published by B. J. Holdswortii. 
 
 1. THE LIFE of the Rev. PHILIP HENRY, A.M. 
 By the Rev. Matthew Henry, V. D. M. Enlarged with 
 important additions. Notes, &.c. by J. B. Williams, 1 vol. 
 8vo. price \5s. with Portraits. 
 
 •2. ESSAYS, in a series of Letters on DECISION of 
 CHARACTER, &c. By John Foster. A new edition, 
 being the Eighth, revised. 8vo. price 10s. 
 
 The Rev. T. F. Dibdin in pajje 87 of his " Library Companion," 
 has the following remark ; " Mr. Foster's Essays are full of in- 
 genuity and original remark. The style of them is at once terse 
 and elegant." 
 
 3. The TEN COMMANDMENTS illustrated and en- 
 forced on Christian Principles. l!y the Rev. W. H. 
 Stowell. r2mo. Price 4s. 
 
 4. THE CONTRIBUTIONS of (j.Q. to a Periodical 
 Work, with some Pieces vol before published. By the late 
 Jane Taylor. 2 vols. 12rao. price 9s. 
 
 5. IIE\IEWS; by the Rev. Rohfrt Hall, A.M. 
 Now first collected in one vol. Hvo. price 5s. 
 
 6. SER.MONS by the late Rev. T. N. Toller, of Ket- 
 tering, with a memoir of the Author, by the Rev, Robert 
 Hall, A. M. of Leicester. 8vo. Second edition, price 10s. 
 
 vol,. I. s 
 
New Works Published by B. J. Holdsworth. 
 
 7. The CHURCH in CANAAN; or Heirs in Posses- 
 sion receiving the Promises. In which is displayed the 
 Faithfulness of God and the Felicity of his People. By 
 the Rev. W. Seaton. 12mo. price 6s. 
 
 " We recommend this work to the heads of families, and to all 
 who superintend educational establishments, as a book well suited 
 to instruct young people : of course it should occupy a place in 
 our congregational and Sunday School libraries." — Evangelical 
 Mag. Aug. 1823. 
 
 8. SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY to the MESSIAH ; an 
 Inquiry with a view to a Satisfactory Determination of the 
 Doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures concerning the 
 Person of Christ. By J.P.Smith, D. D. 3 vols. 8vo. 
 price 1/. 14s. 
 
 " Unquestionably the most elaborate defence and proof of the 
 deity of Jesus Christ extant in our language." — Home's Intro- 
 d^iction to the Study of the Bible, vol. ii. appen. page 115. 
 
 " This is one of the most important works that has been pub- 
 lished in England for many years. The extensive acquaintance 
 with ancient and modern writers which it discovers, the depth 
 and accuracy of the learning which it displays, place it in the very 
 first rank of critical and polemical performances." — Orme's Biblio- 
 theca, p. 414. 
 
 9. SELECTIONS FROM THE WORKS of ARCH- 
 BISHOP LEIGHTON, with a brief Sketch of his Life, by 
 the Rev. W. Wilson, D.D. Fellow of Queen's College, 
 Oxford. Second edition, revised. With a Portrait, Price 
 3s. 6d. extra boards. 
 
 10. THE TRUE AGE OF REASON; or a fair 
 Challenge to Deists ; being a Candid Examination of the 
 Claims of Modern Deism. By G. Redford, A. M. price Is. 
 
 11. SKETCHES OF (400) SERMONS, on some of 
 the most interesting passages of Holy Writ; preached to 
 Congregations of the United Kingdom, and on the Eu- 
 ropean Continent. Furnislicd by their respective Authors. 
 8 vols. 12mo. With an Index of Texts, &c. Price 1/. 12s. 
 
 12. REMARKS ON FEMALE EDUCATION. One 
 volume, 12mo. 5s. 6d. 
 
 " It is a volume which we would particularly recommend to all 
 persons who are engaged in the arduous work of tuition, in any 
 of its dejiartments ; and we may safely add, that there is no 
 mother of a amily or mistress of a School, who may not derive 
 some useful hints from the perusal." — Eclectic lievicw, Oct. 1S23. 
 
New JVorks published by B. J. Holdsrvorth. 
 
 13. ELEMENTS of THOUGHT, or First Lessons in 
 the Knowledge of the Mind ; including familiar Explana- 
 tions of the Terms employed on Subjects relating to the 
 Intellectual Powers. By Isaac Taylor, Jun. 12mo. Se- 
 cond Edition, revised and enlarged.* Price 4s. 6^/. 
 
 "Considering how necessary it is towards right thiiikinp, to 
 acquire habits of correct expression, we very strongly recommend 
 this ; as an elementary work it is truly valuable, and the variety 
 of infonnation it contains, ought not to be deemed less valuable on 
 account of its unassuming title." — Monthli/ Review, July 1823 
 
 14. SACKED LYRICS. By James Edmeston. l-2mo. 
 2d edition 53. 6d. 
 
 " I cannot dismiss Mr. Edmeston's volume without remarking 
 that it breathes a mingled spirit of pure poetry and devotion." — 
 Dr. Drake's Ercninas in Autumn, vol. ii. 
 
 15 The BIBLE TEACHER'S MANUAL; being the 
 Substance of Holy Scripture, in Questions on every Chap- 
 ter thereof. By a Clergyman. Parts 1 and 2, Genesis 
 and Exodus. Price 8d. each. 
 
 in. An ESSAY ON THE EVILS OF POPULAR 
 IGNORANCE; By John Foster, author of ' Essays on 
 Decision of Character,' &c. 8vo. second edition, price 12s. 
 
 17. THOUGHTS ON THE ANGLICAN AND 
 A NOLO- AMUR I CAN CHURCHES; being a Reply to 
 Mr. Wilks's Work on * Correlative Claims and Duties.' 
 By John Bristed. 8vo. price 10s. Qd. 
 
 For character of this interesting work, see the Eclectic liitnew 
 for January, IS 23. 
 
 IH. OBSF.RVATIONS on PROVIDENCE. By John 
 Leii CHILD, author of the 'Lectures on the Beatitudes.' 
 18mo. 3s. 
 
 19. The CHRISTIAN TEMPF.R, or Lectures on the 
 Beatitudes. By the Rev. John Lehchild. 2nd edition, 
 8vo. price 7s. Qd. 
 
 " ^^ e c.in only add, after an attentive perusal of this excellent 
 volume, as the best expression of our sentiments, that we wish it 
 may but prove as acceptable to others as to ourselves." — London 
 Christ, histr. Novnnber. 
 
 20. SCHLEUSNER'S NE\V TESTAMENT LEXI- 
 CON, compressed into the form of a Manual ; comprising 
 the whole of his explanations and Scripture references, and 
 retaining every thing necessary for the udual purposes of 
 consulting, as well as for academic instruction. By J. 
 Carey, LL.D. One volume 8vo. Price 10s. 
 
Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries 
 
 1 1012 01181 4169 
 
 
 Date Due 
 
 
 Wr 3 3 
 
 h 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 §) 
 
 
 1 
 
*f