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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/42716-0.txt b/42716-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..363c1c3 --- /dev/null +++ b/42716-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8383 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Recollections of a Long Life, by John +Stoughton + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Recollections of a Long Life + + +Author: John Stoughton + + + +Release Date: May 16, 2013 [eBook #42716] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RECOLLECTIONS OF A LONG LIFE*** + + +Transcribed from the 1894 Hodder and Stoughton edition by David Price, +email ccx074@pglaf.org. + + + + + + RECOLLECTIONS OF A + LONG LIFE + + + * * * * * + + BY + JOHN STOUGHTON, D.D + + AUTHOR OF “ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND,” “STARS OF THE EAST,” + ETC., ETC. + + * * * * * + + London + HODDER AND STOUGHTON + 27, PATERNOSTER ROW + + * * * * * + + MDCCCXCIV + + * * * * * + + * * * * * + + Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury. + + * * * * * + + THIS VOLUME OF RECOLLECTIONS + IS DEDICATED + TO MY LIFE-LONG FRIEND + THE REV. JOSHUA CLARKSON HARRISON, + WHOSE WISDOM HAS AIDED ME IN PERPLEXITY, + WHOSE SYMPATHY HAS CHEERED MY SORROWS + AND ENHANCED MY JOYS, + AND WHOSE CONSTANT FRIENDSHIP HAS BEEN + THE PRIVILEGE OF MY FAMILY + AS WELL AS MYSELF. + + J. S. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT + + +MORE than forty years ago I edited the autobiography of the Rev. W. +Walford. This book, which fully answers to its name, is a remarkable +production, entering into the secrets of the author’s soul, unveiling the +struggles and sorrows of a mysterious experience. + +The work now published is of a very different kind. It really relates to +others more than to myself, and brings within view some incidents of +religious history and aspects of personal character more interesting than +any confined to my own experience. It presents associations during a +long period spent in various work, in distant journeys, and in friendly +intercourse with many distinguished persons. + +I enter into no theological discussion, or any relation of spiritual +conflicts, the results of such introspection, as the autobiography of my +departed friend describes. I only give recollections of what I have seen +and heard, especially in relation to those whom it has been my privilege +to regard as more or less intimate friends. + +It was just after retirement from Kensington that I began to gather up +the following reminiscences, with a permission that my family might +publish them after my decease. They were then put aside, and not looked +at for years. + +Within the last few months it has struck me that so many likely to feel +an interest in my Recollections have passed away, and others are so far +advanced in life, that if the publication be longer delayed, few indeed +will be left likely to feel any interest in my narrative. + +Conscious of failures in memory at my advanced age, I have availed myself +of memoranda made when travelling, long before any book of this kind was +contemplated. + +I have been greatly helped in this volume by my dear daughter, with whom +I reside, who has frequently accompanied me in my travels, and been my +valued secretary at home. Without her aid I could not have brought these +Recollections through the press. + +TUNBRIDGE WELLS, + _January_, 1894. + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER I + 1807–1828 + PAGE +Birth and boyhood in Norwich—Education—My mother—Early 1–18 +tastes—First sight of the sea—Public events—Early +studies—Roman Catholicism—Friendships—Religious +change—The Christian ministry—College days + CHAPTER II + 1828–1832 +Fellow-students—Public excitements—Old House of 19–38 +Commons—William IV.—Popular preachers in London: Daniel +Wilson, Rowland Hill, James Parsons, Irving, Dr. +Chalmers—Monthly lectures—Work amongst the poor—Political +excitement + CHAPTER III + 1832–1837 +First sight of Windsor—Anecdotes of George III.—Rev. A. 39–58 +Redford—New chapel and ordination—Bishop Selwyn—Funeral +of William IV.—Queen Victoria’s coronation and +wedding—Chaplainship to a Highland regiment—Eton +Montem—Windsor Auxiliary to Bible Society—Queen’s +patronage—Windsor a century ago—Eton Institute—Early +friendships + CHAPTER IV + 1837–1843 +Sir Culling Eardley and tent preaching—Case of 59–75 +conscience—Public questions—Missionary tours—Newstead +Abbey—Byron and Scott—Royal visit to Edinburgh—Up the +Rhine—The Rev. W. Walford—Bagster, the publisher—Radicals +a century, ago—John Bergne, of the Foreign +Office—Tractarian controversy, and No. 90 + CHAPTER V + 1843–1850 +Removal to Kensington—Life of Dr. Arnold—Ladies’ schools 76–100 +at Kensington—Kensington friends—Archdeacon +Sinclair—British Schools and Duchess of Inverness—British +and Foreign Bible Society; London Missionary +Society—Young Men’s Christian Association—Evangelical +Alliance—Sub Rosâ—Tractarianism and Dr. Pusey—Political +excitement—Visit to Geneva—Cæsar Malan—Notting Hill +Chapel—Father of Rev. F. D. Maurice—Visit to Newport +Pagnell and the haunts of the poet Cowper + CHAPTER VI + 1850–1854 +The papal aggression—Discourses on the Romanist 101–119 +controversy—Palace of glass—Evangelical lectures in +Exeter Hall—Memorial of Dr. Doddridge—Visit to Germany +and Switzerland; thence to Milan, Verona, and +Venice—Intercourse at Kensington with remarkable people + CHAPTER VII + 1854–1862 +Visit to Rome: Holy Week, Pio Nono and the feet-washing, 120–137 +Catacombs—Naples—Vesuvius—New chapel at +Kensington—Commencement of the Congregational +Union—Algernon Wells—The “Rivulet” controversy—Visit to +Berlin, Dresden, Schandau, and Prague—Affecting sudden +death at Kensington—Family bereavements—Tour in the +Pyrenees—St. Sauveur, the Emperor Napoleon, and Empress +Eugenie + CHAPTER VIII + 1862–1865 +Bicentenary of Bartholomew ejectment—Family 138–161 +bereavements—Commencement of friendship with Dean +Stanley—His sermon on “The Feast of the Dedication”—His +sermon when the American President was present—My Eastern +tour: Alexandria, Cairo, the Desert, Approach to the Holy +City, Communion in the Episcopal Church, Dr. Rosen, Story +about the Sinaitic MS., Hebron, Eshcol, Solomon’s Pools, +Monastery of St. Saba, the Dead Sea, Jordan, Across +Olivet to Jerusalem, Journey to Bethel and onwards to +Damascus, Reflections crossing the Mediterranean, Rhodes, +Storm, Smyrna, Ephesus, Constantinople—Home by the +Danube, Germany, and Belgium—Reflections + CHAPTER IX + 1865–1872 +Church history—Visit to Dr. Hook, Dean of 162–200 +Chichester—Anecdotes of Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford—The +Dean’s life at Leeds—Extracts from his +letters—Acquaintance with Dr. Swainson—At Cambridge when +the announcement of wranglers occurred—Disraeli’s +school-boy days—Social gatherings to promote union—The +Archbishop of Syra at Westminster—Acquaintance with +Matthew Arnold—Publication of “Ecclesia”—Friendly +intercourse with Bible Revisionists—The Right Honourable +Cowper Temple’s bill for opening Church pulpits to +Nonconformists—Extension of Oxford University—Debate in +the House of Lords—Dinners at Mr. George Moore’s house +after the annual Bible meetings in Exeter Hall—Death of +Dean Alford and of Sir Donald Macleod—Party at Lambeth +Palace—Bishop Wilberforce’s extemporary power—Dr. +Guthrie’s social habits—The education question—Athenæum +Club—Academy Dinner—“Ecce Homo,” and Lord Shaftesbury + CHAPTER X + 1873 +Voyage to America for the General Meeting of the 201–229 +Evangelical Alliance—Hospitality of the President, the +Honourable Mr. Dodge—Visit to Sunnyside, where Washington +Irving lived, and to the Mountain House overlooking the +Hudson—The Niagara Falls—Four days spent on the +banks—Description of scenery—Montreal, Boston, Andover, +New Haven, and New Plymouth—New York—Proceedings at the +Conference—Reception of 600 guests by Mr. Dodge—Meetings +at Princeton, Philadelphia, and Washington—Note from the +poet Longfellow—Letter of Abraham Lincoln to Mr. Gurney + CHAPTER XI + 1874–1875 +Death of Dr. Binney—His opinion respecting the exclusion 230–250 +of liturgical worship—Unveiling of Bunyan’s statue at +Bedford—Unveiling of Baxter’s statue at +Kidderminster—Anecdote of Fletcher’s preaching at +Madeley—Meeting at Kensington on my retirement—Dr. +Stanley’s speech—Kensington friendships—Results of visits +to the poor—Methods of preaching + CHAPTER XII + 1875–1879 +Luther celebrations—Death of Lady Augusta Stanley—Her “At 251–284 +Homes”—Anecdotes of Lamartine, Guizot, and Lord +Russell—Touching words—Funeral in Westminster Abbey—The +three benedictions—The Dean’s account of the Royal +Marriage at St. Petersburg—Breakfast at Lambeth with +Archbishop Tait, and conversation relative to a +conference between Conformists and Nonconformists: The +plan, The meeting, Subject discussed—Character of the +Primate—Visit of the Queen to Mrs. Bagster, who was +nearly 100 years old—My pilgrimages to Ban de la Roche +and Broad Oak—Days at the Deanery with Dr. Stanley—My +lectures at Edinburgh—Scottish society—Singular discovery +of lost MSS.—Conference at Basle—Addresses of President +M. D. Sarasin—Death of Mrs. Stoughton + CHAPTER XIII + 1879–1883 +Conversation with a distinguished nobleman upon ideas of 285–313 +religion amongst the upper classes—Days at Spezzia, Pisa, +and Florence—Introduction to Cardinal Howard, who sent an +invitation to visit him—Conversation with a friend of +his—The Cardinal’s reception very cordial—Offers of a +special introduction to the Vatican Library +authorities—Successful day in consequence—Protestant +brethren in Rome—Christian antiquities—Dr. Somerville’s +mission—Drive to Subiaco—Home through Venice—Revisit to +Italy in 1881—Special work in library at Florence amongst +memorials of Savonarola—Death of Dr. Stanley—Character +and habits—Cromwell’s skull—Tour in Germany—Sir William +McArthur’s mayoralty—Death of Archbishop Tait—Excursion +to the Grande Chartreuse + CHAPTER XIV + 1883–1885 +Journey to Spain in preparation of book on Spanish 314–337 +Reformers: Through France to Figueras, Barcelona, +Tarragona, Poblet, Valencia, Cordova, Granada, Seville, +Madrid, Escorial, Toledo, Valladolid, Burgos + CHAPTER XV + 1885 +Third and last visit to Rome—Changes in the city and its 338–360 +surroundings—Where did Paul live during his +captivity?—Evangelical Alliance meetings at Edinburgh and +Glasgow—Death of Lord Chichester—Mr. Cheetham, +M.P.—Visits to Dr. Magee, Bishop of Peterborough—Lord +Ebury and Moor Park—Friends in Norfolk—Increase of Roman +Catholics in Kensington—Chapel openings at +Hastings—Autumnal meeting in 1886 at Norwich—Bishop’s +palace + CHAPTER XVI +I. Church of England—II. Presbyterians—III. 361–391 +Baptists—IV. The Friends—V. Methodists—VI. +Congregationalists + + + +CHAPTER I +1807–1828 + + +I WAS born in the parish of St. Michaels-at-Plea, Norwich, November 18th, +1807. My father was in some respects a remarkable man. For his great +integrity, he won the name of “the honest lawyer”; he would undertake no +cause, if unconvinced of its justice, and declined the office of coroner +because its duties would have shocked his feelings. Of strong +understanding, and fond of reading, after living a thoughtless life, he +became an earnest Christian, and worshipped with Methodists, chiefly from +circumstances—still regarding himself as a member of the Established +Church. Two elder sisters and an elder brother of mine were baptised by +the parish clergyman; so was I, the Archdeacon of London being my +godfather. I have been told that I “was intended for the Church,” and +some Episcopalian friends have amused themselves with speculations as to +what might have been the result. + +My mother before she married was a Quakeress, and used to tell of eminent +“Friends” she knew in her girlhood, especially Edmund Gurney, who +preached “with great power” in the Gildencroft Meeting House. She was +brought up a Quakeress by her mother, but her father was, at least in +later life, a staunch Methodist. She remembered John Wesley, and used to +tell how he took her up as a child and kissed her. + +My father died in my fifth year. Of him I have but a faint recollection. +My grandfather, at a distance now of seventy-five years, visibly stands +before me—a tall old gentleman with flaxen wig, large spectacles, a long, +blue, bright-buttoned coat, and big buckled shoes. He was Master of +Bethel Hospital, an institution for the insane, in my native city; and, +as I spent much time with him for a year before his death, I saw and +heard a good deal of the patients under his care. “Master,” said one of +them, “I want to propose a toast—may the devil never go abroad or receive +visitors at home.” “What brought you here?” somebody asked an inmate. +“The loss of what you never had, or you would not ask such a question,” +was the prompt reply. A man who fancied himself King of England drew on +his cell wall pictures of ships which he called his fleet, and would +never speak unless he was addressed as “Your Majesty.” I once narrowly +escaped severe injury from a woman, who seized me as her child and +squeezed me so hard, that no violence could induce her to relax her +grasp; but gentle words, and a promise that I should be taken care of, +secured my release. Alternate severity and indulgence, at that time, in +the treatment of patients led to a sad tragedy in the case of my +grandfather, who was killed by a man employed as gardener. He was +thought to be harmless, and used to mow the lawn. One morning he drew +the scythe across his master’s body and nearly cut him in two. + +My mother had a dream the night before, and saw in it her father lying on +a bed, pale as ashes, which she interpreted as meaning something terrible +would happen to him. When, at breakfast time, she was told by a +gentleman of what had occurred, she coupled it with what she had seen in +her sleep. + +We were living at the time in a very old house with diamond-paned +windows, a brick-paved entrance hall, and some rambling passages. I well +remember the little bedroom in which I slept. There resided with us an +old lady, widow of a Norwich gentleman, who had been a friend of the +famous George Whitefield. She used to tell anecdotes of the popular +preacher—how he called himself Dr. Squintum, and, when supping off +cowheel, a dish he liked, would say, he wondered what people would think +of his being so employed. + +My mother had a strong verbal memory which her son has not inherited; and +it enabled her to instruct and entertain me by reciting long extracts in +prose and poetry. She was a great reader and did much to instruct and +cultivate my mind by her frequent recitations. My education owes more to +this, and other circumstances, than to schoolmasters under whom I was +placed. However, of course, rudiments of knowledge fell to my lot in the +usual way; but my culture in chief resulted from devouring books, from +instructive conversation, and from the delight I felt in observing +nature, and looking on what was ancient. When other boys were at play, I +liked to get by myself and read; biography and history having for me +pre-eminent charms. Lord Nelson had been dead only a few years at the +time I speak of, and what I learnt about him as a Norfolk man immensely +gratified my curiosity. His aunt was a friend of my grandmother, and +great was my delight to see and hear such a distinguished lady; the +gratification being enhanced by a bright shilling she slipped into my +hand. The river Wensum, old trees by the water-side, the picturesque +village of Thorpe, Whitlingham White House and woods, the uplands of +Mousehold, walled-in gardens all over the city, wild hedgerows, sheltered +nooks and corners under weeping willows, cattle feeding in green meadows, +and swans swimming on the river—these objects afforded me an æsthetic +education. + +From a child I took an interest in historical tales, and felt delight in +listening to my mother’s memories of early days. She recollected the +American war, and spoke of a family dispute amongst her elders, which +lasted just as long—ten years. Excitement in William Pitt’s day she +brought vividly before me; and she told how Thelwall, the orator, +delivered revolutionary harangues, and being attacked by a mob, he was +glad to escape by clambering over the roofs of houses. The trials of +Horne Tooke, Hardy, and others, and Erskine’s famous speeches in their +defence, were in my boyhood modern incidents. Objects in the city +excited archæological tastes. The Norman keep, Herbert de Lozinga’s +Cathedral, Erpingham Gate, the Grammar School, the Bishop’s palace, with +ruins in the garden, dilapidated towers on the edge of the river, Guild +Hall, St. Andrew’s Hall, and the Old Men’s Hospital—these had for me a +mighty charm, creating fancies by day and dreams by night. The East +Anglian city had not old houses such as Prout found on the Continent, but +it contained picturesque, tumble-down tenements, and other “bits,” +sketched in “Highways and Byeways of Old Norwich.” The sight of these +created a habit of looking after ancient quaint remains, which has never +forsaken me. + +Guild day, with its triumphal arches, carpets and flags hung out of +windows, Darby and Joan sitting in a green arbour, the Mayor’s coach +attended by “Snap,” and the “whifflers”; the rush-strewn cathedral +pavement, as the Corporation marched up the nave—all this gave birth to +boyish enthusiasm for the picturesque. Every Guild day, on a green baize +platform near the west door of the cathedral, the head boy of the Grammar +School delivered a Latin oration before his Worship. What envy that boy +aroused in my bosom! Elections, too, were objects of intense interest to +me as a childish politician, when Whig candidates were carried in +blue-and-white satin chairs, on the shoulders of men who tossed them up, +as the Goths did their heroes upon battle shields. + +As to another part of my education, I loved to read the lives of eminent +people, and devoured a good many memoirs of men and women in religious +magazines. Norwich was at that time distinguished for literary, +artistic, and benevolent celebrities; and I felt proud as a boy to think +of them as pertaining to my own birthplace. The appearance of several +amongst them I have still, after the lapse of seventy years, vividly +before me—Mrs. Opie, the Taylors, the Martineaus, Joseph John Gurney, and +Bishop Bathurst, with several beside. + +May I add, the first sight of the sea at Yarmouth I can never forget. It +was a November morning in my ninth year. The sky looked angry; the +wind-swept waters and tall billows broke furiously on the beach; the hulk +of a stranded vessel lay on the sands—emblem of life’s shattered hopes. + +Public excitements prevailed in my boyish days beyond what the present +generation has witnessed. After the battle of Waterloo, and the +consequent peace, which was coupled with an idea of plenty, large loaves +were paraded on poles as symbols of abundant food, mistakenly supposed to +come as a natural consequence now that Buonaparte was conquered. There +arose, instead of this, much distress amongst the lower class, greatly +owing to corn-laws enacted for the protection of agricultural interests. +Bread riots followed, and I now catch glimpses of a mob in 1816 marching +to the New Mills to sack a granary, and shoot into the flushes of the +river Wensum, loads of grain and flour. Such tumults were surpassed in +breadth and depth of feeling, amongst the upper class, by the excitement +attending the return to England of Queen Caroline after the accession of +George IV. in 1820. Never have I known such agitation in private +circles, as when society split from top to bottom on the question of her +Majesty’s character and wrongs. For months there were almost incessant +processions from London to Hammersmith in honour of the lady, who was +sojourning at Brandenburgh House. Unnumbered addresses were presented to +her, and whenever her carriage appeared, it evoked rapturous shouts. +During her trial things were done and said startling beyond parallel. +Documents full of abominable details were deposited in a “green bag,” +which called to mind the words in Job xiv. 17; and when filthy evidence +was furnished on the king’s side against his wife, counsel on her side +attacked him as a second Nero, and compared him to the infernal shadow in +Milton, which “the likeness of a kingly crown had on.” Round the +hearthstone families and friends were divided on this absorbing subject; +and such word battles as Home Rule now occasions were then far surpassed. + +My school days over, I entered a lawyer’s office. He put into my hands +“Blackstone’s Commentaries,” which interested me less in what was said +about real and personal property, the rights of things and the rights of +persons, with the law of descent and entail, than in what appeared +touching legislation, and the principles of government. De Lolme on “The +Constitution,” I read with avidity. Having to attend the Law Courts at +times, I listened to forensic eloquence with great interest; a love for +oratory being further gratified by hearing speeches at public meetings +when Lord Suffield and Joseph John Gurney advocated negro emancipation +and other reforms. + +Theological discussions interested me immensely. The lawyer in whose +office I was became a Roman Catholic, and, finding me an inquisitive +youngster, talked on the subject, explaining the doctrines and ceremonies +of his Church. Whilst the information he gave me was worth having, I +determined to read Milner’s “End of Religious Controversy,” and other +Catholic books; and beyond my interest respecting matters of an +antiquarian flavour, I felt the importance of ascertaining true grounds +for Protestant beliefs. My master took me once a week to North Walsham, +and in cold winter nights, as the moon shone on the snow-sprinkled +hedges, plied me with arguments for transubstantiation, purgatory, and +the like. I ventured humbly to dispute his positions, and to contend for +truths on the opposite side; though the match was unequal between a boy +of fifteen and a man of forty, primed by the priest to whom he owed his +conversion. Those night drives were useful, and led me to see some of +the better aspects of Roman Catholic faith and character, whilst they +aroused inquiry, and led to clearer convictions than I might otherwise +have reached respecting principles in debate. Here let me observe that +early intercourse with friends of different denominations has in the best +sense broadened my habit of looking at questions, and inspired a +tolerance, not of error itself, but of persons holding error, because +they are often better than their creeds, and have in them a great deal +that is good, as well as something of another quality. Quiet intercourse +in early life with members of various denominations I find to have been a +school for the culture of Christian charity. + +Removed when about sixteen to another office, with the idea of entering +the legal profession, I met with fellow-clerks of education and taste, +who proved very helpful; one in particular became an intimate friend. He +had been a favourite pupil of an eminent classical schoolmaster, and was +well up in Horace. We had much talk on subjects of common interest. His +temperament had a melancholy tinge, owing to his state of health, for he +was in a slow consumption, but behind dark clouds there lay a sky full of +humour, and his conversation often sparkled with unaffected wit. He +could be a little satirical at the expense of juvenile follies, in which +he did not share; whilst amiability kept him from giving pain to the most +sensitive. Our friendship continued until his early death, when he +passed away “in the faith and hope of the Gospel.” + +Amongst early educational influences which I enjoyed may be reckoned the +opportunities I had of listening to public speakers of different +kinds—lawyers at the bar, preachers in the pulpit, orators on the +platform, and candidates during elections; for Norwich was contested most +earnestly in my boyhood. Moreover, the city was remarkable for musical +culture. It had weekly concerts. Festivals also occurred; these I +attended again and again with much enjoyment. My friends who know my +ignorance of music will smile at this. + +It might be when I was about seventeen that on a Sunday morning I took a +walk into the country with a volume of Chalmers’ sermons under my arm. I +read one of them on Rom. v. 10. The perusal deeply affected me, and on +the evening of the same day, I heard a Methodist minister preach upon +John iii. 16. These two impressions commenced a lifelong change in my +experience and character—a change so great, that it led to the +abandonment of my former occupation, and issued in the consecration of my +after-days to the Gospel ministry. + +About that time a journey to London on legal business gave me an +opportunity of hearing distinguished preachers, Dr. Adam Clarke and Dr. +Collyer amongst the rest—a privilege which deepened my religious +convictions. I may observe in passing, as regards my visit to London, +that the first sight of it, on a dull morning after a night in the +Norwich mail, I have never forgotten—Bishopsgate-street, the Old Post +Office, and all round the Mansion House—how different the neighbourhood +appeared in 1826 from what it does now! In Waterloo-place, Pall Mall, I +spent more than a month, and I can now see George IV. descending the +steps of Carlton House (where the Duke of York’s column stands), leaning +on a page’s shoulder on the way to his carriage. + +On returning to Norwich, my thoughts fixed on the subject which had +previously engaged my attention. A few years ago, when conversing with a +friend in the coffee-room of the House of Commons, a report was mentioned +of a certain Dissenting minister’s intention to enter Parliament, if a +seat could be obtained. My friend remarked emphatically, “That would be +a come-down.” He himself at that time held office, and was on the way to +become a Right Honourable; and when I expressed my surprise to hear him +talk so, he rejoined that he considered the Gospel ministry as the +highest employment on earth when a man really “_was called to it_.” I +felt, sixty years ago, exactly in that way, and only wished to know that +such a call awaited me. I spent some months in coming to a conclusion, +and at length felt convinced that it was my duty and privilege to spend +life in Christian preaching and pastoral work. + +Then arose the question, In what ecclesiastical connexion? My relation +to Methodism had arisen from circumstances, but now some study of +ecclesiastical principles was necessary. I began to read what I could on +the subject, acquainting myself with different sides, and being open to +conviction one way or another. I had no predilections, and was ready to +be either a clergyman or a Dissenting minister. I arrived at the +conclusion that Congregationalism, _on the whole_, as far as I understood +it, came nearest to New Testament teaching; but that probably no existing +connexion corresponded exactly with Churches of the first century. What +I thought then has been confirmed by studies in after-years, devoted +largely to the New Testament and the history of Christendom. I have +learned to distinguish between principles lying at the basis of religious +beliefs and existing organisations through which they are worked out. +The former may be true and sound, whilst the latter are defective, and in +some points mistaken. + +It is curious that at the time I first made up my mind I knew socially +next to nothing of Congregationalists as a body; my chief associations +having been with Methodists, Quakers, Church-people, and a few Roman +Catholics. I joined the venerable society of Christians assembling in +the Old Meeting House, Norwich; its fathers and founders having been +gathered into Church fellowship, during the seventeenth century, under +the teaching and influence of William Bridge, who resided in Yarmouth; +some of the members being Norwich folk. When I expressed my desire for +the ministry to two Dissenting ministers—the pastor of the Old Meeting +House and his friend who occupied Princes-street pulpit—I met with +different opinions, the former advising me to pursue the study of law, +the latter encouraging my desire for the ministry. In the end these two +friends concurred in advice, the consequence being my introduction to +Highbury College, London. + +I had from the beginning cautions against forsaking in after-life the +pulpit for any other post. William Godwin, the famous author of +“Political Justice” and other works, also W. J. Fox, the Anti-Corn-law +lecturer, a distinguished public character at that time, had been +intended for the Dissenting ministry, and, indeed, entered it. By a +remarkable coincidence, both these distinguished men were connected with +the Old Meeting House, where I then was accustomed to worship. Their +abandonment of an early faith and a sacred calling for the sake of +literature and politics, was held up to me as a beacon, to warn me off +dangerous rocks. + +Before noticing my entrance into college, I may be allowed to mention +that the congregation which I joined contained some noteworthy people. +Mr. William Youngman was a hard-headed, intelligent, and inquisitive man, +much given to theological argument and incisive criticism of current +opinions. He tried the patience of orthodox religionists, and was the +terror of neophytes. Once, when I dined with him, he commenced talking +about original sin as I was hanging up my hat, and went on in the same +strain to the end of my visit. He found his match at book meetings in +Mr. Thomas Brightwell, F.R.S., an eminent naturalist, whose name is +perpetuated in a memoir of a plant called after him, to be found, if I +correctly remember, in the Transactions of the Royal Society. He was a +diligent student of the Bible, and published notes on the Old Testament, +drawn chiefly from the Scholia of Rosenmuller and Michaelis. + +In 1828 I entered Highbury College, afterwards merged in New College, St. +John’s Wood; the professors—or tutors as they were called in my +time—being Dr. Henderson, Dr. Burder, and Dr. Halley. Dr. Henderson had +been engaged in foreign missionary and Bible work, spending much time in +St. Petersburg, Copenhagen, and Stockholm, where he became acquainted +with the languages of Northern Europe. He drilled us in the languages of +the Old Testament, initiated some small study in Syriac, and delivered +elaborate lectures on the evidences and doctrines of Christianity. He +suggested essays to be written during the vacation on subjects demanding +research, and he regularly required the careful preparation of comments +on the original Scriptures, to be delivered _viva voce_ in class. Dr. +Burder was son of George Burder, once well known as the author of +“Village Sermons.” He lectured on mental and moral philosophy, and +employed as text-books the works of Reid, Stewart, and Brown having +himself graduated in a Scotch university. Exceedingly careful, +conscientious, and precise, he opposed all bold speculations, and was +incapable of sympathy with mystical thinkers. He had a clear +apprehension of whatever he taught, and used to lay down as a canon of +composition. “Express yourselves, not so that you _may_, but so that you +_must_ be understood.” Dr. Halley was a good classical scholar, +impulsive, unsystematic, and by no means a severe disciplinarian. He +enthusiastically admired Demosthenes and Cicero, and to hear him give +extempore versions of these orators was an immense treat. We read with +him some Greek tragedians and Latin poets, and he delivered lectures on +history and antiquities. Mathematics came within his department; but, +certainly in my time, he never turned out a wrangler. His influence, +however, was very stimulative, and he inspired when he did not instruct. + +Defects in the Nonconformist educational system were apparent to me at +that time, much more so have they become to me ever since; but, to a +considerable extent, they arose from uncontrollable circumstances, so +many students having had few advantages in their boyhood. I have lived +to witness a great improvement in Nonconformist college methods. + +It should not be omitted that during the latter part of our term a few of +us attended the mental and moral philosophy class of Professor Hoppus in +the London University College, Gower Street, that institution having been +established by friends of unsectarian education, and numbering on its +councils, and amongst its officers, several Nonconformists. + + + + +CHAPTER II +1828–1832 + + +MY most distinguished fellow-student for intellectual power and literary +attainment was Henry Rogers, afterwards a large contributor to the +_Edinburgh Review_. Some of the articles he wrote for that periodical +have been published as essays in three volumes. His feeble voice stood +in the way of his being an effective preacher; but his learning and +ability eminently fitted him for the duties of a professor. In that +capacity he rendered high service at Spring Hill, Birmingham, and next, +at Lancashire College, Manchester. He was highly esteemed by Lord +Macaulay, and Archbishop Whately; excessive modesty alone prevented his +introduction to the highest literary circles. + +He was a clear-headed, acute thinker and reasoner, delighting in Socratic +talk, trotting out an unsuspicious conversationalist, until he entangled +him in inconsistency and contradictions, the remembrance of which might +be afterwards useful. Rogers, to the end of life, was a humble and +devout Christian. Our intercourse in after-days was pleasant, and to me +most encouraging. + +William Drew, who became a devoted Indian missionary, was another of my +contemporaries, and, from sympathy with him, I caught a portion of his +spirit; had I possessed the needful qualifications, I could have devoted +myself to a similar enterprise. + +Samuel Bergne, for many years an able and much-appreciated secretary of +the British and Foreign Bible Society, was another of my fellow-students. +With him I became extremely intimate, owing, in part, to an extraordinary +family affair, which I have been requested to relate. My father, before +he married, had living with him a sister, to whom he was strongly +attached. After their separation, she went to reside in London, and +dropped all correspondence with him; to the day of his death he could +never ascertain what had become of her. Methods were adopted to find out +her residence, but all in vain. More than thirty years had elapsed since +she disappeared, when one day I met Bergne, who had been visiting his +mother at Brompton. “Have not you a relative there?” he asked. “Not +that I know of,” was my reply. Then he told me that an evening or two +before, as he was sitting by the fire, it flashed upon him how he had +heard that an old friend of his mother’s, before her marriage, bore the +same name as mine; that she came from Norwich, and that her brother was a +lawyer. I was taken aback by what my friend said, and then related what +I had heard in childhood respecting my father’s long-lost sister. +“Depend upon it,” he exclaimed, “I have found for you the lady your +family have been seeking in vain.” I soon received a request to meet the +stranger at Mrs. Bergne’s house, when something like a scene occurred, as +the separated relatives stood face to face. Yet neither then nor +afterwards did she shed any light upon the mystery. She had a husband +who proved to be no less a mystery. We never could learn anything about +his connections; but, at the time of my introduction to him he was +engaged on _The Morning Post_. We afterwards learned from himself, as +well as others, that he had been employed in this country as an agent of +the Imperial French Court; certainly he had in his possession a key to +the cipher-writing, used by the first Napoleon. He showed me relics of +that extraordinary man, and had much to say of several notabilities at +home and abroad. What of fact mingled with fiction in his strange +disclosures I cannot say; but, after his death, I saw some of his papers, +including an unintelligible correspondence between Mr. Canning and +himself; also letters relating to private scandals of great people, only +fit to be thrown into the fire. He lived in an imaginary world, and used +to say that Napoleon Buonaparte was still living. To his influence, I +suppose, the mystery which shrouded my aunt’s life after her marriage, +might be ascribed. + +The four years I spent at Highbury were marked by much political +excitement. In 1828 the Corporation and Test Acts were repealed. The +Catholic Relief Bill was carried in 1829. In 1830 William IV. succeeded +his brother. The “three days of July” the same year occurred in Paris: +the abdication of Charles X., and the accession of Louis Philippe, +swiftly followed each other; and a fresh impetus was thus given to the +cause of English liberalism. The Duke of Wellington’s protest against +reform, the defeat of the Ministry on the Civil List, and the +introduction of the Reform Bill the next year, produced an excitement +which I do not think has been equalled since, though for passionate +discussion in the homes of England, it has been surpassed by what +occurred during the trial of Queen Caroline. Earl Grey, Lord Brougham, +and Lord John Russell were popular idols, their names in everybody’s +mouth, their portraits looking down from innumerable shop windows, their +busts set up in house after house, their likenesses printed on +handkerchiefs and stamped on pipes and jugs, and all sorts of ware. They +were mobbed and hurrahed wherever they went, and their carriages were +dragged by the populace through streams knee-deep. + +At that period the old House of Commons was standing, and went by the +name of St. Stephen’s Chapel. Within its walls the Reform battle was +fought; and there still lingered round it memories of Pitt and Fox, Burke +and Sheridan. I had a great curiosity to see this English forum, and +when I obtained admission, with my tutor, Dr. Halley, who explained the +building and what was going on, I seemed to be in an old Presbyterian +meeting-house, with galleries on three sides, the Speaker’s chair, with +its wooden canopy, resembling a pulpit, at the farther end. Members were +“cribbed, cabined, and confined.” The forms of the House were +interesting to me, and afforded a framework in which to insert images of +men in the reign of George II. I had but to put Court dresses and cocked +hats on the members, and forthwith the age of Walpole came back to view. +A messenger from the Lords, the bowing of an officer as he approached the +table, with its wigged clerks, and other matters of ceremony illustrated +my readings of Parliament business in olden times. + +One figure especially I now recall—that of Sir Charles Wetherall, a +fierce opponent of reform. Up he rose, violently gesticulating, his +shirt very visible between his black waistcoat and dark nether garment. + +The coronation of William IV. and Queen Adelaide indicated a change in +that august ceremonial, which showed how reform touched royal pageantry. +Though an instance of a double coronation, it came short of the elaborate +display when the previous monarch sat alone in Edward’s chair. I saw the +procession going down to Westminster, along a narrow street at Charing +Cross—old-fashioned shabby shops standing where now you catch sight of +palatial hotels—old Northumberland House, with its gardens, occupying the +space now become a broad avenue. The beefeaters, the trumpeters, and the +footmen in attendance upon the gaudy state-coach, with its royal +occupants, were very picturesque. And what a crush there was to avoid +the mob streaming down from the Haymarket! + +All sorts of reports were afloat, tending to make the new king popular. +It was said, that immediately after his accession, he came to town in the +dickey of his carriage, and invited, after an unceremonious manner, his +old naval friends to come and dine with him. A story went the round with +rare applause that, after the defeat of the Reform Bill, when he wanted +to dissolve Parliament, he said if the royal carriages could not be got +ready, he would go in a hackney coach. How far such tales were true I do +not know; but a nobleman, present at one of His Majesty’s dinner-parties +at the Brighton Pavilion, told me that, on that occasion, the king +toasted some of his guests in sailor fashion, and remarked that his +seafaring pursuits had scarcely fitted him for a throne. Then, pointing +to the queen, he added that for any improvement in his ways he was +indebted to that good lady. The story raised him in my estimation and +that of many others. + +I must now turn from politics and royalty to what was more in my own way. + +The Rev. Daniel Wilson, afterwards Bishop of Calcutta, stood high amongst +London Evangelicals as Vicar of Islington, and I sometimes heard him in +his crowded church; but my great delight was to walk down to Camberwell +to listen to Henry Melvill, then in the zenith of his popularity. His +manner was peculiar—he had a curious shake of the head, and a strange +inflection of voice at the end of a sentence, which kept up attention. +As to style, he was artificial in the extreme; every paragraph seeming to +be planned on the same model, ending with the words of his text as a +well-turned climax. The preacher swept his auditors along with the force +of a torrent from point to point. I heard him at Barnes, when he was +advanced in life, deliver one of his old discourses, I should judge +little, if at all, altered; but it lacked the fire of early days, and the +congregation evinced little of the sympathy which seemed to quiver in +London churches at the sound of his voice twenty or thirty years before. + +Rowland Hill, though a very old man in 1830, continued to fill Surrey +Chapel with a crowded audience. I listened to a sermon in which he +recommended young people when they set up house-keeping to secure one +piece of furniture especially—_i.e._, the looking-glass of a good +conscience, so that husband and wife, keeping it clean, might see +themselves in it, with joy and thankfulness; “for a good man is satisfied +from himself,” and, he added, “so is a good woman.” John Angell James, +of Birmingham, was one of the most popular preachers at that time, and he +occasionally occupied Surrey Chapel pulpit; but William Jay, of Bath, was +a more regular “supply,” and echoes of his sonorous voice I still catch +as I read his pithy and impressive sermons. When he came to preach +Rowland Hill’s funeral sermon I had left college, and he honoured me with +an invitation to preach for him at Bath the Sunday following. In 1886, +when I occupied the same pulpit in my old age, a lady told me that she +remembered my being there more than fifty years before, when the people +wondered at their pastor’s sending “such a boy to take his place.” A +similar occurrence had happened when Jay first preached for Rowland Hill. + +James Parsons, of York, was a frequent visitor to London, and used to +occupy for several Sundays in the year the pulpit of Moorfields +Tabernacle, and that of Tottenham Court Chapel. Congregations gathered +an hour before service to listen to this youthful preacher. He had been +educated for the law, and, with a strong taste for rhetorical efforts, +had cultivated, by the study of English authors, his own extraordinary +gift for public speaking. Almost inaudible at first, his voice would +gradually rise into tones shrill and penetrating; and after repeated +pauses, when people relieved themselves by bursts of coughing, he would, +during his peroration, wind them up to such a pitch of excitement as I +have never witnessed since. He was thoroughly evangelical and devout, +and did an immense deal of spiritual good. I became intimately +acquainted with him in after-years, and found in his friendship a source +of much enjoyment. His conversations in the parlour were as full of +anecdote and humour as his sermons in the pulpit were of pathos and +power. I have heard a member of Parliament, one of his deacons at York, +say that Mr. Parsons’ eloquence in early days was perfectly electrifying, +and that, as he listened to him at that time, he felt as if he must lay +hold on the top of his pew to prevent being swept away by the force of +the preacher’s appeals. + +Edward Irving occupied the Caledonian Church in Hatton Garden, a retired +and ugly-looking Presbyterian meeting-house; but the nobility flocked +round him, and it was picturesque to see Scotch schoolboys in Highland +kilts placed in front of the pulpit. As I was trying to get in at a side +door, up walked the gigantic orator, with his black locks and +broad-brimmed beaver, as if an old Covenanter had risen from the dead. +An infant lying in the arms of that strong man added to the effect of the +picture. His manner at that period was grand. His sermons were +carefully prepared and read, every word, but with a blended majesty and +pathos which no extempore utterance could exceed; and his reading of the +twenty-third Psalm, Scotch version, was inimitable. His favourite word, +“_Fatherhood_,” quoted by Mr. Canning with admiration, and now so +hackneyed, impressed religious people wonderfully by its freshness. A +fellow-student took me some time afterwards to call on him at his house +in the then New Road. He was unwell and sat by the fireside wrapped in a +blue gown. He talked to me for some time on the subject of baptism, the +right understanding of which, he said, was a key to many theological +questions. I could not assent to all he said, nor indeed understand it, +but did not dare, at my age, to make any reply. When he had ended he +slowly rose from his chair. It seemed as if he would never finish +rising, he was so tall. When erect, he waved his hand to a nursemaid, +who was walking across the room with a babe in her arms, and then, +placing his hand on my head, he offered a solemn intercession, suggesting +the idea of a Hebrew prophet blessing a young Israelite. + +At a later period he took up peculiar views on prophecy, and on some +ecclesiastical points. Then he became wild and incoherent. I heard him +preach outside Coldbath Prison to a few bystanders, very differently from +what he had done in Hatton Garden. He seemed to have lost unction as +well as thoughtfulness and eloquence. On a cold winter morning, before +breakfast, several students and myself walked down to his new church in +Regent Square to witness “the gift of tongues,” which, amongst other +imaginations, he believed had been miraculously bestowed. The building +was dark, for the sun had not risen, and the mysterious gloom heightened +the effect of the exhibition which followed. First arose inarticulate +screams, then exclamations of “He is coming!” “He is co-m-i-ng!” drawn +out in marvellous quavers. What appeared to me inarticulate and +incomprehensible sounds, were regarded by him and many people as Divine +utterances. They deemed them the return of Pentecost—a gift of tongues. +At London Wall Church I saw him afterwards arraigned before the +presbytery for heretical opinions touching the Lord’s humanity. He +fought his battle manfully; and whatever people might think of his +sentiments, they could scarcely fail to be impressed with the sincerity +and earnestness of the man. The trial issued in his expulsion from +Regent Square—poor fellow! It is touching to think of his history; +popularity was his snare. It turned his head; yet, after all, he +sacrificed that very popularity to sincere convictions. His latest life +was an instance of martyrdom for conscience’ sake. Those who condemn his +opinions must honour the man. + +Dr. Chalmers came to preach at Regent Square. After the benefit derived +from his printed sermons, I might well desire to hear his voice. The +pitch of excitement to which he wrought himself up surpassed everything +of the kind I ever witnessed. His vehemence was terrific, yet all seemed +natural. He was John Knox over again—John Knox in manner, more than John +Knox in thought and eloquence of expression. He moved on “hinges,” as +Robert Hall said, or rather, “like a cloud, that moveth altogether, if it +move at all.” The fact is, he felt what he was saying. It went down to +the depths of his own soul, and hence it reached the souls of others. +The crowd in the church was immense, numbers standing all the time; yet +it was curious to learn that the sermon was already in print—in print, I +believe, years before. He often redelivered his discourses, even after +publication; and Dr. Wardlaw of Glasgow told me his distinguished +neighbour informed him, that he tried to lessen the crowds at church by +announcing that next time he meant to deliver what they had heard +already. “Yet,” with a childlike simplicity the old man added, “they +come in still larger numbers than before!” Not many preachers are +troubled in that way. + +At the time now referred to, religious services were not multiplied as at +present; hence great interest was taken amongst London Congregationalists +in what were called “Monthly Lectures,” given by ministers who carefully +prepared what they delivered. Three come back to my recollection now. +The first, in Jewin Street, was delivered by Dr. Collyer, a popular +divine, who attracted the notice of royalty, and had the Dukes of Kent +and of Sussex to hear him. I knew him well in after-days, when he spoke +of friendly intercourse with him, vouchsafed on the part of Queen +Victoria’s father. The subject of the doctor’s lecture was “Our Colonial +Empire,” and a felicitous text was selected from Ezek. xxviii. 14–16. He +urged on his audience the claims of distant colonies, then much +neglected; and he painted vivid pictures of England’s commercial wealth +and vast possessions, insisting strongly on our national +responsibilities. The second I remember was in Claremont Chapel, from +the lips of my tutor, Dr. Halley, on the importance of intercessory +prayer, showing its place in Church history, as a pivot on which turned +events of unutterable importance. A third, at Bermondsey, was delivered +by a minister of great pulpit gifts, named Dobson, who discoursed on the +topic of the final resurrection. I am not in the habit of saying the +former days were better than these, yet I may be permitted to express my +opinion that those three lectures would bear favourable comparison with +the best productions in Nonconformist homiletics at the present day. +Among venerable forms present at these lectures, to officiate or listen, +were Dr. Winter, of New Court, now covered by buildings sacred to the +law, a man of high repute, stout in figure, and strong in opinion; and +Dr. Pye Smith, spare, attenuated, ethereal in presence, Melancthon-like +in spirit, and as full of learning as Melancthon, with scientific +knowledge which entitled him to the place he held by the side of +accomplished geologists. I may also mention James Stratten, of +Paddington, who had an eagle’s eye, and a combination of face, voice, +thought, and style which rendered him unique amongst preachers,—like +Rembrandt amongst artists—rich in lights and shadows. Nor should Dr. +Fletcher, of Stepney, be forgotten, whose purity of thought, felicity of +diction, and depth of evangelical sentiment attracted large audiences. +The Claytons were well-known members of this goodly fellowship. How +these and other names are passing out of remembrance! + +Looking back to “sixty years since,” I am struck with the difference +between certain aspects of Metropolitan Nonconformity presented then, and +others familiar now. Indeed, a similar state of things is obvious when +we turn to the religious history of other great cities. Citizens then +for the most part _lived_ in London. Westminster and the opposite side +of the Thames saw, on Sundays and week days, in the same neighbourhood +both the poor and rich. Thus pious families exerted an immediate and +constant influence where they lived, and my remembrance of Metropolitan +domestic life then is intensely gratifying. There were happy homes in +London where now want and misery abound. Organised district work goes +on, but it is a poor substitute for the presence of godly and +philanthropic people in their own homesteads, coming in constant contact +with those who needed sympathy and help. + +Efforts were not wanting for the benefit of London on the part of +Christian people in general. The City Mission had then been recently +founded, and students in Highbury College lent a hand in work amongst the +poor. I remember a district in existence, called Saffron Hill, full of +old tenements now swept away. Some fellow-students went with me to the +spot on a Sunday afternoon, and we preached from a doorstep, while women +looked down from their windows, and perhaps men below were smoking their +pipes. Drury Lane was a dirty, neglected neighbourhood; and, in a room +hired there, we conducted a service on Sunday nights. Sometimes +disturbances arose, but the work went on. Nor were certain districts in +the country round London neglected. There we preached and visited the +aged sick, praying by the bedside, and ministering such instruction and +comfort as we were able. + +Public religious meetings in those days were comparatively rare, and the +style of speaking was different from what it is now—more ornate, with +apostrophes and appeals of a kind which has vanished away. The annual +Bible gathering was held in Freemasons’ Hall, the floor covered with a +closely-packed audience. A passage was partitioned off on the left hand +side for the access of speakers to the platform, who were eagerly +watched, and loudly applauded, as they approached, their heads amusingly +bobbing up and down as they quickened their pace. The diminutive William +Wilberforce, eye-glass in hand, his head on one side, came skipping +along; Dr. Ryder, Bishop of Gloucester, with big wig, and smooth apron, +followed at a more dignified pace; Cunningham, Noel, and other +evangelical celebrities were sure to be present. Rowland Hill, by his +quizzical look, and humorous tongue, could not fail to make a mark; and +Burnet of Cork, who afterwards became pastor of the Independent +Congregation, Camberwell, was a vast favourite, his rising to speak being +a signal for loud cheers. There he would stand, calmly extemporising +sentences which exactly hit the occasion, and the audience—all eyes +turned towards him—upturned faces seeming, as he said, to resemble “a +tesselated pavement.” He liked to compare North and South Ireland with +one another, as showing the contrast between a Bible-reading and a +Bible-ignoring population. + +After Exeter Hall had been opened there arose a tremendous controversy +about Unitarians and the Bible Society. Some well-known speakers could +not get a hearing, and the scene on the platform was terribly confused, +until Rowland Hill rose and put the assembly in good humour, by remarking +that he “would accept the Bible from the hands of the devil; only he +would keep him at a distance, and take his gift with a pair of tongs.” + +In the same place anti-slavery meetings were held. I remember one in +particular when, besides Buxton and Mackintosh, O’Connell and Sheil were +present. Mackintosh spoke with philosophical calmness. O’Connell was +full of invective, satire, and pathos; one moment terrific in +denunciation, then heart-melting in tones of sympathy; now stamping with +his foot, and laying hold of his scratch wig, as if he would tear it in +pieces; next, with gentle whispers, drawing tears, or creating laughter. +Sheil, in a torrent of declamation, was carried off his legs, borne along +by his own impetuosity, completely overmastered by himself; whilst his +Irish friend never lost self-control amidst most violent storms of +passion. + +Some time afterwards, I listened to Lord Brougham in the same hall on the +same subject. He was then past his best days, but flashes of oratory, +full of satire and invective against the party he had left, burst forth +in a long speech, which, as chairman, he delivered in the middle of the +proceedings, to the interruption of previous arrangements. It was, I +suppose, by no means equal to his earlier efforts, but enough remained of +thunder and lightning to remind one of his eulogised resemblance to +Demosthenes. + + + + +CHAPTER III +1832–1837 + + +WHEN I first saw Windsor in the winter of 1830–31 how different the town +appeared from what it did afterwards! All about Thames Street and Castle +Hill was crowded with old houses and shops on both sides of the way, and +the walls bounding Lower Ward were hidden from view, except where the +Clock Tower, which stood in advance, looked down upon the passers-by. A +large plain brick mansion, called the Queen’s Lodge, long since removed, +occupied the right hand of the road leading to York and Lancaster Gate, +while old-fashioned tenements lined the approach to the royal precincts. +On the night of my first arrival patches of snow covered the roofs, and +dotted the pediments of doors and windows; over Henry VIII.’s gateway +hung a gorgeous hatchment in memory of George IV., who had not long +before left this life. It was slow travelling from London to Windsor in +those days, especially when the waters were out, and the roads were +heavy, and thick fogs rendered the leaders invisible to the coachman; +whilst deep ruts clogged the wheels and now and then an icy flood came up +to the axles. In the town I heard a great deal about “Windsor of the +olden time,” when highway robbers were rife, and gentlemen who took to +the road would lie in wait under cover of a plantation, and, galloping +over a field, stop the traveller and lighten him of his purse. According +to one informant, a tradesman in High Street, at the latter part of the +eighteenth century, kept a swift-trotting nag, which he mounted after +dark to do a little business on the road, and then returned richer than +he went. People at that time, as I heard some of them say, did not think +of riding or driving over Hounslow Heath alone; but, when approaching +that ill-famed spot where gibbets lingered by the roadside, were careful +to wait till a number was formed able to defend themselves against the +attack of thieves. The sobriety of many inhabitants in the royal borough +did not stand high, and at mayors’ feasts the guests did not think they +sufficiently honoured the hospitalities of the evening, unless they drank +so much as made it difficult for them to find their way home. + +Anecdotes of George III. were rife. I heard that he used to rise early, +take a walk before breakfast, and sit down in a certain bookseller’s +shop, looking at publications on the counter. But one morning he saw a +book by Tom Paine lying there; after that he paid no more visits. +Sometimes he said very shrewd things. A Bow-street runner, named +Townsend, liked to attend early prayers when His Majesty was present, and +to make himself heard in loud responses. One day he was running about +after service looking for something he could not find. “Townsend, +Townsend, what are you after?” “I have lost my hat, please your +Majesty.” “You prayed well,” was the monarch’s rejoinder; “but you did +not watch.” The king had a wonderful memory; and once, as a troop of +yeomanry rode past in review, he pointed out a man amongst them of whom +he had bought a horse twenty years before, and whom he had not seen +afterwards. + +An old inhabitant, who became my father-in-law, vouched for the truth of +some of these stories; and bore testimony, not only to the condescension +and familiarity of George III., but to the kindness and consideration of +George IV. One remark which my friend and relative used to make as he +was walking through the apartments of the castle, produced a startling +effect. Stopping before the picture of Charles I., he would say: “He +looks just as he did when I last saw him.” The fact was that my relative +was present when Sir Henry Halford superintended the exhumation of the +beheaded king; and he first caught a glimpse of the royal face, because +he assisted in cutting open the coffin lid. The face was perfect, and +exactly resembled Vandyke’s famous portrait of Charles I. When exposed +to the air the dust crumbled away. + +After preaching at Windsor, as a student, several times, I received an +invitation to become co-pastor of the Congregational church. The Rev. A. +Redford, a man of singular consistency of character, who by his conduct +as a Christian minister won the respect and confidence of the town +generally, as well as of his own little flock, had been in office for +many years, and needed assistance in his sacred calling. He won my +heart; and as a son with a father I laboured with him in the gospel. +George III., who had a domestic or two in his household attending on this +good man’s preaching, was heard to say: “The clergy are paid by the +country to pray for me, but Mr. Redford’s praying is without pay.” + +In the prospect of my becoming co-pastor, the congregation in 1832 +determined to build a new chapel, the one in existence being not +sufficiently large; and as a sign of the honour in which the senior +minister was held, I may mention, that Church-people, as well as +Dissenters, contributed to the fund. The late Earl of Derby, then Mr. +Stanley, who represented the borough, subscribed £50. The other member +gave a like sum. The vicar and almost all the leading inhabitants were +found on the list. The fact is now mentioned to indicate the good +understanding between different classes of religionists which then +existed in Windsor. + +I was ordained the day after the new chapel was opened, at the beginning +of May 1833. It was a service long to be remembered. Such services were +thought more of in those days than they are now. Ministers and friends +came from a great distance, and a large congregation was sure to +assemble. Generally the spirit was devout. An introductory discourse +illustrated the grounds of Nonconformity. After this several questions +were answered by the candidate, as to his Christian experience, doctrinal +sentiments, and reasons for believing he had a call to the ministry. A +deacon of the Church related the steps which had led to the present +choice, and, afterwards, the ordination prayer was offered with a solemn +laying on of hands. In my case, my venerated co-pastor fulfilled this +duty; and it was interesting to me that, in like manner, he had been +ordained by Rowland Hill. A charge to the inducted minister followed; +then came a sermon to the people, pointing out their duties. The holy +influence of that day rests on me to this hour, after the lapse of more +than fifty years. + +The fresh impetus now given to our religious work served to stimulate +friends in the Establishment, who had so helped us in our department of +the one great cause. A Sunday evening service was commenced in the +parish church, and a new Episcopal place of worship was erected in Eton, +where it was much needed. In addition to the vicar of Windsor and his +curates, some of the masters at Eton College came forward in parish work, +rendering help by sermons at a third Sunday service then recently +commenced. The Rev. T. Chapman, afterwards a Colonial bishop, took the +lead, and did much to revive religion in the town. But the most +distinguished labourer at the time was the Rev. G. A. Selwyn, then +connected with Eton, who was afterwards one of the most heroic missionary +bishops of modern times; with him it was my privilege to co-operate in +the establishment of the Windsor Infants’ School. + +lie would fain have induced me to enter the Establishment, but though he +did not succeed in that respect, he ever treated me with a brotherly +regard, which I sincerely reciprocated. Before he embarked for his +distant field of labour he wrote a farewell note in which he said: “On +the few points in which we differ, I thank God we have been enabled to +dwell, often at some length, without one particle of that acrimony which +often discredits controversy, and proves it to proceed rather from human +passions than from zeal for the truth of God. I cannot recollect, +throughout all our intercourse, one single word which can be considered +as a breach of charity between us. For this I am especially thankful, +that when I go to offer up my gift upon far distant altars, I shall have +left no brother at home, with whom I ought first to have been +reconciled.” + +I had a ticket for St. George’s Chapel when William IV. was interred. +The interior of the building was dark, except as illumined by torches in +the hands of soldiers who lined the nave, and by numerous lights within +the choir. When the procession drew up about nine o’clock, at the south +entrance, the blaze of outside torches was seen through the stained +windows; then the appearance of heralds in their tabards followed: next +the slow march of mourners close to the coffin, the Duke of Sussex being +most conspicuous; afterwards a funeral dirge echoed from the fretted +roof. The silence was further broken by the Burial Service and the +repetition of royal titles. “Sic transit gloria mundi” came last, and +left an ineffaceable impression. + +I was further favoured with a ticket to see the coronation in Westminster +Abbey. When the procession entered the nave, officers of state and +foreign ambassadors appeared in rich costume. Diamond-decked coats and +rich mantles made a grand show, yet they chiefly served to set off the +simple dignity of the queen in her early girlhood, whilst a spell of +loyalty touched spectators looking down from lofty galleries. The +coronation shout of “God save the Queen” needed to be heard that it might +be fully understood. Afterwards, a stream of dignified personages, with +mantles and coronets, issued from the choir and covered the nave with a +tesselated pattern of rich colours. + +To the coronation succeeded the royal marriage, honoured at Windsor by +extraordinary festivities; and at night the cortége of the bride and +bridegroom, on their way to the castle through decorated and illuminated +streets, evoked a rapturous welcome from assembled thousands. But what +above all other incidents of that occasion lives in my memory at the +present moment is the sudden view which I caught a day or two afterwards +of the wedded pair in a pony carriage, driven by the bridegroom as his +bride nestled beside him, under his wing, with simplicity which gave +exquisite finish to the chief pictures which passed before me that +summer. + +Another incident may be mentioned. At a town meeting it was proposed +that an address of congratulation should be presented to Her Majesty by +the mayor and others. The presentation followed at a levée. It was +interesting to see notabilities assembled in St. James’s Palace at the +first public reception by Her Majesty after the royal marriage. Amongst +a crowd of noblemen in the ante-room were pointed out, in particular, Dr. +Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter, with an eagle eye indicative of his +intellect, and Joseph Hume, the sturdy economist; both of them much +talked of at that period. Others I have forgotten. After waiting we +were ushered into the presence, the Queen, with Prince Albert at her +side, occupying a place near a window not far from the entrance door. +Since that I have knelt before Her Majesty more than once, but how great +the difference between the first and last occasions—the girl become a +matron, the sparkling bride a sorrowful widow, and the newly-married wife +a mother with sons and daughters standing round in reverence and +affection. + +If I may here anticipate a Windsor ceremonial of later date, let me +mention the royal presentation of colours to a regiment of Highlanders to +which I acted as chaplain. The colours were bestowed in the quadrangle +of the castle on the day when the christening of the Prince of Wales took +place. The Prince Consort, the King of Prussia, and the Duke of +Wellington, with several other grandees, formed a group under the shadow +of the castle porch. As chaplain to the regiment I was allowed to stand +near, and was struck with the Prince’s German accent, which he seemed to +conquer in later life, when he spoke almost like a born Englishman. The +Duke addressed the soldiers in his accustomed plain style, giving them +very good advice. Preparations for the banquet in St. George’s Hall, +which a number of people were allowed to see, were very magnificent, +tables being covered with gold and silver plate. Some antique pieces +brought from the Tower were of special interest. In the evening I joined +the non-commissioned officers, to whom a dinner was given, and I was glad +of an opportunity to recall to their minds the Duke’s address. This +Highland regiment while in Windsor attended worship in our chapel, when +the band accompanied the singing, and Highland bonnets hung round, +outside the galleries. I visited the barracks, conversed and prayed with +the sick, and baptised the children. My relations with the colonel and +the officers were pleasant during the whole time that the Scotch remained +in Windsor. + +Going back a few years, let me notice “Eton Montem,” then witnessed in +all its splendour. Approaches to the college were guarded by boys in +fancy costumes: coloured velvet coats, yellow boots, caps decorated with +graceful plumes, appeared on the scene. The youngsters levied a tax on +all comers, calling it “_salt_,” which they deposited in bags suspended +from their necks. As royal carriages swept across Windsor bridge, +picturesque sentinels received handsome donations from royal hands. The +gifts, together with a large number of others, formed a fund for the +captain of the school to defray his expenses at Cambridge, whither he was +sent in prospect of a fellowship. The procession of boys to Salt Hill, +where the captain waved a flag after a prescribed fashion, excited +immense interest, and was witnessed by multitudes. The sight in the +college gardens as the day closed, afforded perhaps the best of the +pageant, for these lads, attired in Turkish, Greek, Italian, and other +showy garbs, mixed with their friends so as to form a picture of animated +life, with old trees and old buildings for a background. + +I had not been long in the town before I became intimately connected with +the British and Foreign Bible Society, which laid a strong hold on my +affections as a boy, and to which I firmly adhered, after I became a man. +Our auxiliary was a flourishing one. Some relatives of Lord Bexley, +president of the parent society, lived in our neighbourhood, and used to +come over to our annual gatherings in the Town Hall. One of them, the +Rev. Mr. Neal, of Taplow, was a constant visitor. He typified a class of +men now almost extinct. They loved the Establishment, and, judging of it +by its formularies, identified it with the cause of evangelical religion. +They knew much less of Anglo-Catholic theology than of Puritanical works. +Owen and Baxter occupied a conspicuous place on their literary shelves, +by the side of Latimer and Calvin. The Evangelicals were nevertheless +faithful to their own ecclesiastical order, preferring episcopacy to any +other form of government. Not on social or literary grounds had they +sympathy with Dissenters, or from what is now recognised as “breadth of +opinion,” but they cultivated union, on purely evangelical grounds. + +At our Bible Meeting, with good old Mr. Neale, other evangelical +clergymen were present, also one of our borough members, Mr. Ramsbottom, +M.P. (who always took the chair), and Sir John Chapman, a strong +conservative Churchman, was sure to be on the platform. I cannot say +that the speeches were brilliant, though the deputation from London +interested us much. First came Mr. Dudley, who had been a Quaker, but +was then an Episcopalian; and, to the facts he detailed, there were added +peculiarities of utterance, which gave a flavour to what he said. He +slightly stuttered; and once, as he described how the blind were taught +to read with their fingers the pages of embossed Bibles, he said it +reminded him of the words, “That they should seek the Lord, if haply, +they might _feel after __Him and find Him_.” Hesitation of speech made +the quotation increasingly effective. After him came Mr. Bourne, who +had, I believe, been formerly a stipendiary magistrate in the West +Indies; and he had a singular _click_ in his voice. He told a story of +some ladies who had coloured their maps so as to distinguish, by a pink +colour, the countries where the Bible was circulated—thus “_pinking_ the +world for Christ.” The good man’s click told curiously on his +pronunciation of words; and I used, sometimes, to make my Bible Society +friends smile, by inquiring whether they offered a premium for agents +with a “_diversity of tongues_.” The Rev. Sydney Godolphin Osborne—the +famous “S. G. O.” of _The Times_ newspaper—had at that period a living +near Windsor, and took great interest in our auxiliary. He was a fine, +tall, aristocratic young man, of straightforward character, strong common +sense, and a racy style of utterance. He made capital speeches, and in +many ways helped on our work; in one way especially, which deserves +distinct mention. He thought it would be a good thing to obtain royal +patronage for our auxiliary, though Her Majesty’s name was not identified +with the parent society. He wrote to Lord John Russell, then a Cabinet +Minister (whose brother, Lord Wriothesley Russell, after he became Canon +of Windsor, lovingly supported our cause). When Lord John laid the +request before Her Majesty, she graciously gave her name as local +patroness, and sent a donation of twenty guineas. It is worth mentioning +that this occurred at a time when party politics were running high. Two +letters communicating the Queen’s kindness may be here inserted. + +The first was addressed to the Honourable Godolphin Osborne. + + “SIR, + + “I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter + respecting ‘The Windsor Auxiliary Bible Society,’ on which the Queen + was last year pleased to bestow her patronage, which I have submitted + to the Queen, and though Her Majesty does not usually grant a + donation to those institutions to which Her Majesty’s patronage only + has been given, yet, the Queen, taking into her consideration that + the establishment in question is in the immediate neighbourhood of + Windsor Castle, has been pleased to direct me to forward twenty + guineas as a donation. I beg to enclose a draft for that sum, and + request you will have the goodness to acknowledge its receipt. + + “I have the honour to be, + “Your most obedient servant, + “H. WHEATLEY.” + +This letter was conveyed to me by the person addressed, who added the +following note:— + + “I wrote to Sir H. Wheatley about a donation from the Queen to the + Bible Society. I have received a satisfactory answer, and a draft + for twenty guineas. If it meets your approbation, I would wish that + the fact should not be known to any but ourselves just now. At the + present moment the country is so _party-mad_, and there is such a + determination to catch at anything for party purposes, that I am + anxious to avoid giving a handle of any sort to either side in a + matter which has no real reference to politics. I only wrote last + week from Wales, and got an immediate answer, which I have + acknowledged, saying, at the same time, that at the anniversary + meeting a more official acknowledgment will be sent. + + “I remain, + “Yours truly, + “GODOLPHIN OSBORNE.” + +This letter sheds light on the state of public feeling existing at that +day. + +In connection with the town of Windsor, let me mention two or three +traditions I received from the lips of my beloved wife, who became the +light of my dwelling on May 12th, 1835. Her good old father, Mr. George +Cooper, had long been a sort of Christian Gaius, receiving as guests +under his hospitable roof several men and women of renown. Often would +she speak of Rowland Hill, who repeatedly visited her home on his way to +Wotton-under-Edge, where he spent the summer months. He delighted to +preach in our little chapel in High Street, where the Eton boys would +attend to see and hear the eccentric old clergyman, who in his youth had +been one of their predecessors as a schoolboy. He would tell Mr. Cooper +how he used sometimes to steal at eventide beyond Eton bounds, to attend +a prayer-meeting in a cottage, which he could reach only by leaping over +a ditch with the help of a long pole. He allowed the good woman who +lived there an annuity, which Mr. Cooper used to convey as long as she +lived. Rowland Hill liked to hear at High Street Chapel the Hundredth +Psalm in Watts’s Hymn-book, and the youngsters who came used to alter the +last verse, shouting: “When _Rowland Hill_ shall cease to move.” + +I remember hearing how Charles Wesley, the son of the great hymn-writer, +visited the town, accompanied by his sister, and spent an evening in Mr. +Cooper’s house, greatly to the joy of my wife as a girl. They arrived in +a sedan chair, dressed in Court costume. His execution on the piano was +surprising; and those who watched his thick, short fingers, as they swept +over the keys, said it was miraculous how he played. + +Before I conclude what I have to say of my life in Windsor, let me advert +to attempts I made to promote intellectual and literary improvement, +according to methods then beginning to be popular. There was an +Institute formed in the adjoining town of Eton for the encouragement of +reading amongst such as had not enjoyed the advantages of early +education. A room was opened, furnished with a few books, where +inducements to what is termed mutual improvement were provided, and there +the famous astronomer Sir J. F. W. Herschell delivered an inaugural +lecture, which gave it at once a character of distinguished +respectability. I was invited to join in the infant enterprise, which I +did with pleasure and satisfaction, and felt it an honour to become one +of its lecturers. The effort made at Eton was followed at Windsor. I +threw myself into the enterprise, and worked on its behalf as long as I +remained in the town. The committee honoured me with an invitation to +lecture in the Town Hall, where my effort was kindly accepted by a large +audience; a short course on the History of the Castle and Town followed. +This, by request, was published in a volume dedicated, by permission, to +the Prince Consort. In its preparation assistance had been furnished +through books, documents, and advice, by residents in the town, and by +officials in the castle. + +In concluding this chapter, I am constrained to notice some friendships +which were enjoyed by me during my Windsor residence. Poyle is a small +hamlet on the Great Western road not far from Windsor, near Colnbrook. +Sixty years ago a long line of mail coaches passed every night the +turnpike-gate, as cottagers heard the blast of the guard’s horn, and +stepped out to see the coachmen, in like livery, handling the reins which +guided their teams. Hard by the spot there was a paper mill, spanning a +pretty little river, the Coln, which kept the machinery in motion. The +whole formed a picture common in the early part of this century, not so +common now. Close to the mill were two goodly residences, occupied by +two brothers named Ibotson, of an old Nonconformist stock, who could +trace back religious ancestors to Puritan days. What pleasant gatherings +of congenial friends I met with at Poyle!—neighbouring pastors, and the +Rev. Joshua Clarkson Harrison, born not far off, and at the time building +up a goodly reputation in London and its environs, were of the number. + +In contrast with these bright circumstances, I must notice incidents of a +far different kind. My dear wife lost about that time two brothers in +early life by what we call accidents; but, worse still, while I was from +home one summer, my beloved mother, who lived with me, set fire to her +muslin dress, while the servant was absent, and immediately became +enveloped in flames. Some one passing by endeavoured to render +assistance, but it was too late, and the next morning she expired. +Bright summer weather was for a long time after that, to my eyes, covered +with a pall of darkness; and to look on the blue sky and the gay summer +flowers only made me more sad. + + + + +CHAPTER IV +1837–1843 + + +BEING disposed beyond immediate pastoral duties to help in religious work +outside, I found ample opportunities for doing it. Sir Culling Eardley +was at that time zealous in the furtherance of village preaching. Coming +to Windsor, he offered to help us in purchasing a tent for services in +the neighbourhood. It was procured and employed, but with less success +than had attended his enterprise of the same kind in Hertfordshire. I +undertook, at his request, a fortnight’s tour in that county, and one +evening preached near a wood, where John Bunyan, in days of persecution, +addressed the neglected peasantry. + +Revivalism at the period now referred to, attracted attention in England, +in part owing to the circulation of American books, and the preaching of +American divines. A great awakening occurred at Reading, Henley, +Maidenhead, and Windsor. Streams of people might be seen on dark winter +mornings, lantern in hand, on their way to the place of prayer. Chapels +were thronged, ministers were in full sympathy with each other; all +worked with a will. Looking back on the whole, I believe genuine good +was done; yet in some instances the effect was transient. Conversion was +insisted upon, and peace with God through Jesus Christ was offered; but +whether moral improvement in the details of human life was proportionally +emphasised, and practically carried out, I am not prepared to say. +Certainly, appeals respecting holiness in general were not wanting. +Rightly to adjust the balance, so as to guard against self-righteousness +on one hand, and the neglect of personal responsibility on the other, +requires vast wisdom. To induce people to look at themselves and to +Christ also, cannot be accomplished without thought and discrimination in +promiscuous gatherings. Whatever might be defects in the movement, +assuredly they did not come from artificial arrangements. No one can be +said to have “got up the thing.” + +At all times in the course of our ministry “cases of conscience” occur. +One in particular I may mention. I was once sent for to visit a dying +person. The home, the people, the surroundings, excited revulsion, as +well as a determination to improve a strange opportunity. I found a +young woman on her deathbed, and another sitting by, who used phraseology +indicative of evangelical sentiment. She offered to leave the room that +the patient might unburthen her mind to me. It was obvious some secret +of guilt lay on the sufferer’s conscience. I had no wish to be a father +confessor, and pointed her to the _only One_ who can pardon sin. At last +the dying creature uttered a piercing exclamation, which seemed to me an +acknowledgment of sin. What the secret was she did not disclose. +Presently she entered “the silent land.” When I called again, I +intimated to her attendant my surprise at what she had said, for I could +not doubt that she was leading an immoral life. She frankly confessed +she had fallen into vice, after expressing a belief that she had been +converted, and _had_ been a “child of God.” The incident was affecting, +instructive, and admonitory. + +Public questions interested me much, and I took part in those which +belonged to philanthropy and religion. Amongst them at the time I speak +of, negro emancipation stood foremost. From boyhood it laid hold on me. +Speeches at Norwich, by Joseph John Gurney and others, had left an +abiding impression; and when the great controversy became ripe for +settlement, I threw myself into the struggle. The excitement throughout +the nation was intense, and it laid hold chiefly of the religious section +of the British public. Missionaries had been at work amongst negroes, +and had seen the horrors of the system. The persecution of Smith, a +missionary in Demerara, who died in prison, evoked passionate sympathy; +and the appeal of Knibb, another missionary, who came over as an advocate +of emancipation, struck the nail on the head, and drove it into the +centre of this colossal wrong. Nothing is more manifest, to those who +witnessed what went on in England half a century ago for slave +emancipation, than that, however manifold the arguments employed, however +numerous the methods and agencies in motion, it was Christianity which +lay at the heart of the movement. Quakers were amongst the most zealous +co-operators in this advocacy for freedom, and I much enjoyed the +fellowship into which I was brought with followers of George Fox, early +family associations strengthening bonds of friendship between us. +Deputations went up to London to wait upon Mr. Stanley, Colonial +Secretary, afterwards Earl of Derby, and I well remember the crowd +gathered in a large room in Downing Street, to strengthen the hands of +that gentleman in his chivalrous enterprise. The history of steps which +led to the final victory it is not for me to tell in these pages, but I +may mention the third reading by the Lords of the Emancipation Bill in +August 1833. It filled multitudes with joy; and on August 1st, 1834, the +Act took effect, when a solemn celebration of the event occurred in +England, as well as the West India Islands. That day I preached at +Windsor from Jer. xl. 4:—“And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the +chains which were upon thine hand.” + +In 1839 the Anti-Corn Law League took shape. I distinctly recollect the +scene presented at a great bazaar in Covent Garden Theatre, in aid of +Free Trade, when there was a wonderful gathering of notabilities and +other folks. Stalls, articles, and ornaments, were varied and imposing; +and as that exhibition appeared before the present age of bazaars was +fully inaugurated, it had a more dazzling and bewildering effect than +efforts of the kind can have now that they have become so common. + +Dissenters’ grievances, too, were exciting subjects in those days. +Certain disabilities had an irritating effect on those who felt them, and +legislation was sought for their removal. No doubt, in the heat of the +conflict things were said on both sides which, on calm review, cannot be +justified; and I am in my old age more than ever convinced that union of +the _suaviter in modo_ with the _fortiter in re_, is the best method of +conducting controversy. + +My holidays, whilst I was a Windsor pastor, were spent in preaching; but +there were two exceptions, when I broke ground as a tourist. Travelling +in Nottinghamshire and the neighbouring counties, I visited Newstead +Abbey with a fresh remembrance of Washington Irving’s description of the +place. I had a gossip with an old domestic, who told me stories of Lord +Byron, whom she knew as a boy, and used to carry on her back on account +of his lameness. He pricked and otherwise tormented the patient +creature, so as, on one occasion, to provoke her so much, that she boldly +ventured on a rather amusing act of retaliation. Leaning over her +shoulders to look into an old chest full of feathers, she, to use her own +words, “copped him over, and he came out for all the world just like a +young owlet.” What I then heard of his early days gave me an +unfavourable idea of that child of genius, so caressed and tormented, so +flattered and persecuted, so early thrown into unfortunate circumstances, +and altogether so badly brought up. What a contrast between two poets, +whose memories came vividly before me during this tour!—Byron and Scott, +both of them lame for life; one a stranger to the other’s purity. Years +afterwards I heard Dean Stanley preach a sermon to children, in which, +with his characteristic felicity of thought, he spoke of the contrasted +influences of physical deformity in these two instances—how the club foot +of the first was an occasion of mortified pride and ill-nature, and the +club foot of the second was borne with patience and contentment. The +story of Byron’s club foot is now treated by some I hear as a popular +delusion; but, at all events, he had something the matter with his foot +which irritated his temper and made him disagreeable. Therefore the +Dean’s moral lesson remains untouched. In connection with good humour +and kindness, a physical defect may be only a foil to set off moral +excellence. + +After passing through Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumberland in company +with my dear friend Harrison, we reached Edinburgh by coach at midnight +to find ourselves in the morning amidst grand preparations for the +Queen’s first arrival in the Scottish capital. The view at noon from +Calton Hill, as the arrangements for receiving royalty had reached their +acme, was most magnificent. Princes Street, from end to end, presented +multitudes of people in holiday attire, military uniforms, tartan, kilts +and feathered bonnets, gave rich plays of colour. The crowd waited and +waited, but no Queen appeared. Night fell, and the expectants went to +bed disappointed. Next morning every one was taken by surprise, for Her +Majesty, having been detained at sea, landed at Leith, whilst the Lord +Provost was still asleep. My friend and I afterwards went to Stirling, +and identified historic points which dot the field of Bannockburn—then to +Perth, Dunkeld, Killiecrankie, and Blair Atholl. + +In the course of numerous journeys I had opportunities of seeing the real +state of Nonconformity in rural districts. It was then much better than +some people suppose. There were then families of influence identified +with country places of worship, who have not left behind them sympathetic +representatives. The revival of religion in the National Church has +produced a considerable change in the relative position of ecclesiastical +parties. Sunday evening services in cathedral and parish church, and the +pastoral activity of incumbents and curates, with numerous missionary and +other organisations, have produced effects very visible in the eyes of +old people, who can look back on the religious condition of England +during the first quarter of the present century. + +My first Continental tour occurred before I left Windsor. I visited a +family at Rotterdam into which a fellow-student had married, and had +pleasant insights into Dutch life. After peeps at the Hague, Leyden, and +Amsterdam, abounding in a gratification of antiquarian and historical +taste, slowly proceeding up the Rhine, I felt all the enthusiasm incident +to a young traveller as he first gazes on castle-crowned hills which line +the river. Many and many a ramble since on those romantic banks have +increased rather than diminished my admiration of the Rhine. + +Friendships have through life been essential to my enjoyment, I might +almost say to my existence. Intimate acquaintance with people of +remarkable character in my Windsor days was a source of intense +gratification. + +The Rev. W. Walford, for some years minister of a Congregational Church +at Yarmouth, then classical tutor at Homerton College, and finally pastor +of the old Meeting House, Uxbridge, was one of the most remarkable men I +ever knew. I see him now, with his handsome face, bald head, well-knit +form, keen eyes, compressed lips, rather tottering in gait, and brusque +in manner. What walks and talks we had! In conversation he expressed +himself with singular accuracy on theological and metaphysical subjects. +He had Butler and Jonathan Edwards at his fingers’ ends, and could pack +into a few words some of their most abstruse definitions and arguments. +He had a habit of turning round when you walked with him, and standing +face to face, when he would, in a most luminous style, state his +propositions and adduce his proofs. He read Sir William Hamilton with +immense admiration, though he did not in all respects adopt his views; +and, at a period when looseness of religious thought was becoming +prevalent, it was a treat to see him make a stand, figuratively as well +as literally, for a distinct utterance of what people believe. From no +man’s conversation have I derived more instruction and advantage. I can +never forget his reading to me, with tears in his eyes, a translation he +had made of Plato’s “Phaedo.” + +One day an old gentleman called to say he was about to reside at Old +Windsor, and intended joining our worship at William Street Chapel. He +had a cheerful, lively expression of countenance, with a few short grey +locks on each side of his bald head, and showed in his gait signs of +paralytic seizure. Full of humour and kindness, he made a pleasant +impression. Thus began my friendship with Mr. Samuel Bagster of famous +Polyglot memory. Notwithstanding his lameness, he could at that time +walk from Old Windsor to our house with the aid of a stick, only asking a +helping hand at the commencement of his pedestrian attempts. Thus +started off he would steadily pursue his journey dressed in a short cloak +and wearing a very broad-brimmed hat. He was one of the chattiest, most +amusing friends I ever had. He possessed a large fund of anecdotes, +which he knew I liked; and from time to time, as I visited his house, he +doled them out with no niggard hand. He had lived on books, and books +were his delight. Many choice editions in handsome bindings lined the +walls in his rambling, quaint sort of residence, where also flowers, +gathered in his little garden, formed conspicuous ornaments. There he +would sit nursing his foot, complaining of pain in his great toe, and +would launch out for a pleasant sail over the lake of memory, and take me +from one point to another. The old books he had bought and sold, the +circumstances connected with the origin of his Polyglot and Hexapla, the +fire which occurred on his premises in Paternoster Row—these he would +narrate in a characteristic way. + +He often talked about the French Revolution and events connected with it +in our own country. Clubs of a more than questionable description were +established, and he told me that, invited by a person of his own age to +attend a meeting held in an obscure street, he was surprised, on his +entrance, to find a number of men ranged on either side of a room, +sitting by long tables, with a cross one at the upper end. There sat the +president for the evening. Several foaming tankards were brought in, +when the president calling on the company to rise, took up one of the +pots, and striking off the foam which crested the porter, gave as a +toast: “So let all . . . perish.” The blank was left to be filled up as +each drinker pleased. The avowed dislike to kings entertained by these +boon companions suggested to Mr. Bagster the word “kings” or “tyrants”; +and at once he gladly left the place, not a little alarmed, lest he +should be suspected of treasonable designs. With characteristic caution, +he took care not to observe the thoroughfare through which he passed on +his way back, that he might be able conscientiously to declare he did not +know the situation of the place. He also related that his father had a +workman in his employ, whom he knew to be a disaffected subject. He +expostulated with him on the horrors of a revolution as illustrated in +France, and dwelt upon the confusion which would ensue upon outbreaks on +established order. The man lifted up the skirt of his threadbare coat +against the window, and significantly asked: “Pray, sir, what have I to +lose?” My friend was no Radical, no Whig, but a Tory of the +old-fashioned type, who approved of things as they were, without, +however, any consciousness of wishing to tyrannise over other people. He +was a great admirer of Izaak Walton, and had made a collection of +drawings illustrative of his “Compleat Angler,” of which he intended to +publish a new edition, with a life of the author. When he had completed +his “Comprehensive Bible,” which, by permission, he dedicated to George +IV., he was allowed personally to present it to His Majesty; and I have +heard him say that on that occasion he was introduced to the royal +presence by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The publisher was already +paralysed, and could walk only with a tottering step; but the Primate +gave him his arm, and led him up to the so-called first gentleman of +Europe, who received him very graciously, and accepted at his hands the +handsomely-bound volume. + +There were other people I met with at Windsor whom I may mention. At the +house of Dr. Ferguson, a Scotch physician of good birth and high culture, +I met with his son-in-law, the Rev. Mr. Moultrie, Incumbent at Rugby, and +friend of Dr. Arnold. He was a man of genius and piety, and gave a +conviction of personal goodness, which made me value his volume of poems +even more than I had done before. I like to look at authors through +their books, and then again at books through their authors. In some +cases the personal damages the literary judgment; but in many cases I +have enjoyed works much more after knowing the worker. + +Mr. Jesse, the naturalist, was another of my acquaintances. He held an +office in connection with royal parks and palaces, and I spent pleasant +hours as he drove me in his little pony gig from Windsor to Hampton +Court, in the restoration of which he felt great delight. An amiable +disposition, gentlemanly manners, and large information, made him an +excellent companion. From the account he gave of his early life I found +his father was a clergyman, a friend of Lady Huntingdon’s, and an +occasional preacher at Spafields Chapel. Mr. Stark, the eminent +landscape artist, was one of my hearers, a man of decided religious +convictions, and conscientious in art as in other things. He and Mr. +Bristow, the animal painter, were amongst my friends; and in Windsor +Forest they found subjects for their united skill, Stark putting in the +trees, Bristow dogs and horses. + +Amongst London friends at that time, and long afterwards was John Bergne, +brother to my fellow-student Samuel Bergne, already mentioned. Clerk in +the Foreign Office, he rose to the superintendence of the Treaty +Department. Full of knowledge respecting European affairs, he often +amused me by his taciturnity whenever they came on the carpet,—abstinence +from communication of office secrets having become to him second nature. +His mind was rich with information on various subjects; and in the +science of numismatics he was well skilled. His collection of coins was +of great value, including examples of English money from the earliest +time, and valuable portions of “great finds” in Greek states. His +affluent conversation, overflowing with humour, his rapid utterance and +command of language surpassed what I have heard from many good talkers, +whom it has been my fortune to meet with during a long life. + +With other remarkable persons, I became intimately acquainted after my +removal to Kensington. These I shall notice in their proper place. + +In 1833 arose the Puseyite or Tractarian controversy as it was called. +Of this a full account is given by Dr. Newman, in his “Apologia”—an +account, of course, proceeding from his own point of view. The strife +both inside and outside the University of Oxford, where the masters of +the Tractarian movement lived and worked, was of the hottest kind; and +those engaged in it on both sides, under the influence of party feeling, +failed to appreciate each other’s position, and to estimate correctly the +tendencies involved. The Anglo-Catholics did not believe they were so +near Rome; the staunch Protestants did not calculate on the wonderful +effect which the controversy would have in stirring up the latent +energies of the Church, and in modifying forms of worship, even amongst +Evangelical parties. An amusing story I remember hearing when the famous +Tract, “No. 90,” was published. The then Bishop of Winchester (I think) +wished to see it, and wrote to his bookseller to forward a copy, but from +illegibility of penmanship “_No_ 90” was mistaken for “_No go_”; and the +poor bookseller, after inquiring in the Row for a pamphlet with that +title, wrote to inform his Lordship, that there was no such tract in the +market. The story ran its round, and the Evangelicals pronounced “_No._ +90” “_No go_.” + +Dr. Newman condensed within the space of a few years the Romeward +tendencies of Christendom during successive ages: starting with +Tractarian doctrines, it was consistent for him to become a Roman +Catholic in the sequel; and Dr. Pusey, in pausing where he did, never +explained the grounds of his practical inconsistency. I felt it my duty +to point out the unscriptural character of the Tractarian movement in a +course of lectures, afterwards published under the title of “Tractarian +Theology.” + + + + +CHAPTER V +1843–1850 + + +I WAS quite satisfied with my position at Windsor and had no thoughts of +leaving it, when Dr. Vaughan of Kensington accepted the principalship of +Lancashire College, and at the same time overtures were made by his +Church to me that I should succeed him in the vacant pastorate. I can +truly say that my desires were on the side of remaining where I was. I +only wished to know the Divine Master’s will. I felt unwilling to accept +what looked like preferment; but after visiting Kensington and preaching +there, the path before me appeared pretty plain. I accepted the call I +received. “It seems like a dream,” I wrote to my predecessor. “Yes,” he +replied; “but it is like Joseph’s—a dream from the Lord.” + +It was a curious coincidence that the Church at Windsor and the Church at +Kensington were both in their origin connected with a coachman in the +service of George III. His name was Saunders, and he enjoyed his royal +master’s confidence. They used to talk together about religion, and, +encouraged by the King’s good opinion, the servant put tracts in the +carriage pocket; and when His Majesty had read them he asked for more. +As the royal residence was sometimes in town, and sometimes at Windsor, +the home of Saunders varied accordingly, and he felt an interest in both +neighbourhoods, especially as it regarded the humbler class. He probably +caught the revivalist spirit prevalent a hundred years ago, and did what +he could to gather people together for religious impression. In this way +a room called “The Hole in the Wall” came to be the cradle of Windsor +Congregationalism; and a “humble dwelling,” mentioned by the Kensington +historian, was birthplace to the congregation which afterwards assembled +in Hornton Street. “When the faithful servant begged permission, on +account of age, to retire from His Majesty’s service, that he might +reside at Kensington, it was not without an expression of regret on the +part of the monarch; but the request was granted, and as often as the +King afterwards passed through the place he took the most kind and +condescending notice of his coachman.” {77} + +In “Poems by John Moultrie,” there occur these lines— + + “I have a son, a third sweet son, his age I cannot tell, + For they reckon not by years and months where he is gone to dwell.” + +During the first three years of my Kensington residence, there were three +little children taken from us, and translated to that mysterious world, +where our time reckonings are lost in an incomprehensible eternity. +Altogether six children were brought with us from Windsor; and to these +were added five more in the first few years after our removal—making the +domestic flock at the time I speak of eleven. Of that number only four +remain on earth at this time, {78}—a fact which tells of joy, and of much +sorrow, at the hands of our Heavenly Father. Three were taken from us +between 1843 and 1849. + +During my Windsor life I began to take a deep interest in the writings of +Dr. Arnold, and afterwards, when his Life appeared, written by his +admiring pupil, Dr. Stanley, that interest increased. As I read these +memoirs I little thought that I should share in the Biographer’s +friendship; and my admiration of the two men was so deep that I attribute +any improvement in my mind and character since, greatly to their combined +influence. Through life I have been more than ordinarily benefited by +their works, and as to the Master of Rugby School, I have always been +eager to learn what I could from any Rugby pupils I happened to know. At +this moment there comes to my recollection an anecdote related by a +friend who had been a Rugby boy. He told me that some accident happened +at chapel in the upsetting of Bibles or prayer-books, and their fall from +the gallery created much disturbance. Boys who were suspected of having +a share in causing what happened were called up by the Master, and my +informant was of the number. He told me that Dr. Arnold _trusted_ a boy +who denied any offence of which he was accused until clear proof appeared +to the contrary. This was designed to keep up mutual confidence. In the +instance under notice the boy accused felt sure that Dr. Arnold was not +satisfied with the denial; yet he allowed the matter to pass, because he +would promote confidence between master and pupil. The anecdote confirms +what I have since read. He was never on the watch for boys, and he so +encouraged straightforward and manly action, in trivial as in great +things, that there grew up a general feeling, that “It was a shame to +tell Arnold a lie, for he always believed one.” {80} + +Kensington, at the time of which I speak, was famous for its number of +ladies’ schools, and in them several daughters of Nonconformist parents +were receiving their education. They formed an interesting part of my +congregation, and my pastoral relation to them prepared for lifelong +friendships. Of this group of families were the Dawsons of Lancaster, +the Rawsons of Leeds, the Cheethams of Staleybridge, and the Sharmans of +Wellingborough. With all of them I became intimate, and their +friendships have proved no small comfort to me in later life. Parents of +these families were distinguished by usefulness in many ways. Mr. Rawson +was the well-known gifted hymn-writer; and Mr. Cheetham was M.P., and +took an active part in the repeal of the Corn Laws. Daughters of these +gentlemen were under my ministerial care while pupils at Kensington, and +afterwards became earnest Christian workers in different ways, and their +continued affection is a comfort to me in my old age. A son of Mr. +Dawson married a daughter of Mr. Rawson, and immediately they went to +China for mission work; but the broken-down health of the husband +compelled his speedy return to England. He is now doing good work as one +of the London City Mission secretaries. + +In connection with Kensington, I would further mention other helpers: Mr. +and Mrs. Coombs of Clapham were so. Mr. Coombs helped me especially by a +large donation to the fund for building my new chapel. In other ways I +was brought into relation with him. He was Treasurer of New College, and +an active member of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Religious +Tract Society, and the London Missionary Society. His intelligence, +aptitude for conversation, and kind-hearted intercourse made his +friendship a privilege of more than ordinary value. It was intensified +by his family relationship to some of my Kensington flock, the Salters +and the Talfourds, whom I shall mention elsewhere in these reminiscences. +Amidst preaching and pastoral work, it was a relief to spend a short +holiday under Mr. Coombs’ hospitable roof at Clapham, where I found a +large collection of books. He died before I left Kensington, but my +friendship with his wife and daughter continued till they died. + +Archdeacon Sinclair, who had accepted the vicarage just before I removed +to Kensington, paid me a visit of welcome, and thus laid a foundation for +subsequent intercourse. He was son of the well-known Sir John Sinclair, +and brother of the authoress, Catherine Sinclair. All the family were +remarkably tall. The Archdeacon was a man of eminent culture, and of +extensive aristocratic connections. His great-grandmother, though a +loyalist, was the noted lady who aided in the escape of Prince Charlie, +after the battle of Culloden. This same ancestress lay buried in +Kensington Church, in front of the pulpit. Archdeacon Sinclair was well +read in theology, widely acquainted with the controversies of the day, +and a thoroughly orthodox Churchman; also rich in family and Scotch +traditions. He told me the MSS. of David Hume came into his hands, and +from perusal of them he was confirmed in his suspicion, that the +celebrated historian and philosopher had no deep convictions of any kind, +but only played with subjects he handled, doubtful about his own doubts. + +Returning to the notice of my ministerial life, it comes in chronological +order to mention that we had at Kensington, in 1843, British schools, +which, being undenominational, received help from Church-people and +Dissenters. They had long been patronised by distinguished personages, +and not long after I had become resident in the neighbourhood application +was made by the committee to the Duchess of Inverness, widow of the Duke +of Sussex, to become patroness of the schools. This circumstance led her +Grace to invite me to call on her, which I did. I was shown into an +old-fashioned drawing-room, furnished in the style of the last century, +the walls being decorated with portraits of George III. and members of +his family. Entering the apartment was stepping back, as it were, to +“sixty years since.” An old lady of diminutive stature, in black silk +and a small cap, presently appeared, who entered into pleasant +conversation about her late husband, and Mr. Ramsbottom, M.P. for +Windsor, whom I knew very well. Both of them were zealous Freemasons. +Her Grace had caught their spirit, as far as a lady could do it, and +inquired of me whether I was a Mason. No doubt, could I have answered in +the affirmative, I should have risen in her estimation. My visit was +fruitful in reference to our schools, for she sent a donation of £20, +apologising for not doing more at that time. Kensington Palace was then +inhabited by other distinguished persons; and one of the secretaries of +the Propagation Society, I think, at that time performed the duties of a +chaplain to those resident within the walls. + +It is appropriate in connection with the early part of my Kensington life +to mention religious societies with which I closely associated myself. +There is no doubt some truth in the lines that, + + “Distance lends enchantment to the view, + And clothes the mountain with an azure hue.” + +In looking at benevolent work, remote in time or place, we are apt to +paint it in fairest colours; but of the great importance of the religious +work going on fifty years ago in London and the neighbourhood, there can +be no question whatever. + +The _British and Foreign Bible Society_ I always regarded as lying at the +very foundation of our religious activity. It had a comprehensive +Auxiliary in the West End from the commencement of the society’s +operations, and annual meetings were held in the Haymarket, under the +presidency of royal dukes. This Auxiliary was broken into parts, and +Kensington had a leading place amongst them. Traditions of earlier days +were cherished when I began to live in the royal suburb, and they +invested our local gatherings with some dignity, as families when divided +derive honours from their common ancestry. + +The Missionary Society, as it was originally called—the _London +Missionary Society_, as it was afterwards named—had from the beginning +been supported by our Church; indeed, fathers and founders of the one +appear amongst early workers in the other, and through the ministry of +Mr. Clayton, Dr. Leifchild, and Dr. Vaughan, foreign missions found +zealous supporters at Kensington. The London City Mission, then in its +early age, had engaged my sympathies at Windsor. There we had a town +missionary, who brought us into connection with work going on in the +Metropolis. Consequently, when I came to Kensington, I took much +interest in the annual meetings of the society, and was brought into +intimate relations with its officers and supporters. Annual gatherings +were held in Freemasons’ Hall, Queen Street, where signs of the Zodiac, +and portraits of Grand Masters, adorned the ceiling and walls, suggesting +to speakers allusions, obvious or far-fetched, till they became rather +threadbare and wearisome; but, from the beginning, narratives by the +missionaries formed a chief source of interest. + +The Young Men’s Christian Association was formed soon after I came to my +new charge, and with it I had connection from the beginning, being first +on the list of lecturers in the City, before the annual courses at Exeter +Hall commenced. + +The Evangelical Alliance was founded in 1843, and as a desire for union +has ever been with me a “passion,” I joined the Alliance from the +beginning. There was great simplicity in the earliest gatherings, and an +air of novelty gave additional charms. However, some members professing +catholic sympathies on the platform pursued an exclusive line of conduct +on other occasions, and this circumstance provoked unfavourable comments. +Plausible objections, moreover, were made to the society’s +constitution—the platform, too wide for some, being too narrow for +others. I could have desired a wider basis and the furtherance of +Christian unity apart from all controversy with those who differed from +us. On the whole, however, it was a move in the right direction, and the +gatherings of its early friends in town and in other parts of the country +were of an eminently joyous description. Sir Culling Eardley and others, +in private as well as public, promoted the interests of the Alliance. At +that time several influential clergymen and leading Dissenters used to +meet, not only on the platform, but in the homes of distinguished lay +members, who threw themselves very heartily into the movement. + +Brought into the neighbourhood of London, and already known by some +brethren there, I soon found myself surrounded by many friends. For more +than a century there had been in existence an association of Dissenting +ministers, who took the title of _Sub Rosa_, from the confidential +character of their intercourse. There were some of the most +distinguished London Congregational ministers in the brotherhood at the +time now referred to; and they discussed points of importance, and for +the most part, as to denominational matters, acted in harmony. Some of +the departed were men of great ability, conspicuous in the pulpit and on +the platform; but the remembrance of them by the public is being +gradually crowded out by new names and new questions of religious +interest. + +To turn to a very different subject, which synchronises with the period +under review; let me notice that the month of October 1845 witnessed the +stirring event of Newman’s secession to the Church of Rome. It was an +event of singular importance. I have noticed on a previous page that the +Tractarian Movement was regarded by many as distinctly tending in the +direction of Romanism. For a considerable time such a tendency was +denied on the part of its abettors generally; yet, even as early as +November, 1835, Dr. Pusey, who had such confidence in Newman, wrote to +his wife: “I almost see elements of disunion, in that John Newman will +scare people”; {88a} and, in 1836, Newman himself incidentally wrote: “As +to the sacrificial view of the Eucharist, I do not see that you can find +fault with the formal wording of the Tridentine decree. Does not the +Article on the sacrifice of the Mass supply the doctrine, or notion, to +be opposed? What that is, is to be learnt historically, I suppose.” +Besides the question of Eucharistic doctrine, Pusey’s correspondence at +this time gives clear evidence of other questions, more or less +difficult, in respect to doctrine, practice, or terminology, arising out +of a more general appreciation of Church principles and order. {88b} +That which was called Puseyism prepared for Popery; and this was obvious +to most people, though Pusey himself could not see it. Inconsistently, +as I think, he remained where he was; and, now that he declined to follow +his friend, it is surprising he took no steps to satisfy the public as to +grounds on which he himself remained in the Church of England. His +attachment to what he deemed the Church of his fathers, however, was very +strong, and he thought well of those who remained in that Church, though +holding opinions different from his own. For instance, he wrote: “Ever +since I knew them, which was not in my earliest years,” “I have loved +those who are called _Evangelicals_. I loved them because they loved our +Lord. I loved them for their zeal for souls. I often thought them +narrow, yet I was often drawn to individuals among them, more than to +others who held truths in common with myself, which the Evangelicals did +not hold, at least not explicitly.” {89} There is a ring in these words +which shows the sympathy which Pusey retained for those who loved the +Saviour, though, in ecclesiastical matters, widely differing from High +Churchmen. It appears to me that, if Pusey had been as _consistent_ with +his Tractarian principles as Newman was, Pusey would have followed Newman +to Rome, but, happily, his loving spirit for Christian _goodness_ kept +him in communion with a Church where he saw piety beautifully manifested +by some who differed from him in ecclesiastical opinion. I cannot make +this reference to Dr. Pusey without saying that, with all my repugnance +to his ecclesiastical opinions, and the conviction I have, that while he +never became a Romanist, he greatly helped on the movement which carried +many in the popish direction, the perusal of his memoirs has given me a +high estimate of his personal piety. His devoutness, his love to Christ, +his unworldly habits, his affectionate disposition, and his self-denial +in the ordering of his domestic affairs, so as to enlarge his pecuniary +contributions to religious purposes, are worthy of their imitation who +regard with sorrow his High-Church peculiarities. Might not domestic and +social ties, as well as strong attachment to the Church of England from +his childhood, have had something to do with his final course? + +The Revolutions of 1848 brought with them an immense amount of excitement +in this country, as in others. The month of April in that year can never +be forgotten. An outbreak was feared in London. Special constables were +sworn in. On the Sunday before the 10th of the month my friend, Mr. +Walford, preached a remarkable sermon in Kensington Chapel. His text was +Isa. xii. 2—“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be +afraid.” Having unfolded the sentiment of the passage, he applied the +principle to passing events, and spoke of the political excitement in +this country at the time of the French Revolution, which he well +remembered. He assured us that the excitement then surpassed anything +which existed at the time when he spoke, and expressed his confidence in +the rectitude and love of the Almighty, who maketh the wrath of man to +praise Him. The preacher’s age, and his vivid recollection of what he +had witnessed, gave force to his exhortations, as tears were falling from +his eyes. + +Trust in Providence, touchingly enforced by personal recollections, was +honoured by what occurred on the following day. The meeting on +Kensington Common, so much dreaded, broke up in confusion. Ringleaders +were alarmed, the mob was scattered without the interference of soldiers +who had been provided against an outbreak, but were concealed in public +buildings, through the Duke of Wellington’s wisdom. A day which opened +in fear was spent in peace and confidence. + +During a visit abroad in that year, 1848, I reached Geneva, with letters +of introduction to Cæsar Malan, Gaussen, and M. St. George. Merle +D’Aubigne was from home. In company with friends, on the Sunday +afternoon, I attended at Cæsar Malan’s little chapel. We had mistaken +the hour, and, on our entering, he recapitulated the early portions of +his sermon. Then, in his own pleasant parlour, he engaged in fervent +discourse on his favourite tenet of Christian assurance. On parting he +singled me out for the privilege of a double French kiss, and on my +expressing a hope that we should meet in the Father’s House, he rebuked +me for using the word _hope_. With him it was a matter of assurance. +Then I reminded him of the difference between present and future, and +quoted St. Paul: “For we are saved _by hope_: but hope that is seen is +not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope +for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” + +I parted from relatives, who had been my fellow-travellers, and made my +way next morning alone by boat to Vevay, thence travelling to Basle and +Strasburg. Traffic was interrupted, and relics of revolution were seen +in marching troops and handcuffed prisoners. + +In 1849 a movement occurred for meeting religious needs in Kensington. A +chapel was much needed on Notting Hill, and one of my deacons, who lived +there, promised a large donation for the purpose. A few friends met in +Hornton Street vestry, and opened a subscription list, which at once +secured £1500. With that we went to work. + +At first, there was some notion of incorporating members of the two +congregations in one Church, with a copastorate; and Dr. Vaughan, I +think, indicated willingness to become my colleague. I should not have +objected to such union, but feared lest the moral effect of our movement +should be thereby impaired. The scheme might have been looked upon as +one of self-aggrandisement, while it was meant as an act of +self-sacrifice. The latter it proved to be, for we drafted off about +fifty members, as the nucleus of a new Church. Also we missed about two +hundred seat-holders, who took pews in the new edifice, and, of course, +there arose a certain _éclat_ around Notting Hill which left Hornton +Street a little in the shade. But soon things revived; our chapel became +as full as ever. Funds recovered, liberal things were devised, and one +morning I found a handsome cheque on my library table. Everybody seemed +to be growing in kindness, and Hornton Street rose to more than its +previous prosperity. It was an illustration of the principle—true of +communities as well as of individuals—“There is that scattereth and yet +increaseth.” + +In connection with my early residence at Kensington I may mention a +circumstance which interested me. I observed several times, sitting near +my pulpit, an old gentleman. Upon inquiry, I found it was the Rev. +Michael Maurice, father to the Rev. F. D. Maurice, then at the height of +his influence as author and preacher. I never had the pleasure of +conversing with my venerable hearer, but I learned from different sources +much relative to his character and career. Though descended from a +thoroughly orthodox family, he was educated for the ministry under Dr. +Abraham Rees, Dr. Kippis and Dr. Savage—the first two being Arian +divines, and the last a moderate Calvinist. He became afternoon preacher +at Dr. Priestley’s Meeting House; and after officiating in other +Unitarian places of worship, retired from pulpit work altogether. But he +habitually associated with orthodox Nonconformists during the time he +lived at Southampton. He also joined the British and Foreign Bible +Society, and spoke for it on the platform. I wondered he should worship +in Hornton Street, but information subsequently obtained served to +explain the circumstance. He appears to have been a devout man with a +large measure of Evangelical feeling. I mention him as a type of no +inconsiderable class of sincerely religious people. + +I knew but little of his distinguished son, only having met him a few +times at Dean Stanley’s, and at Baldwin Brown’s. I used sometimes, on a +Sunday afternoon, to hear Mr. Maurice preach at Lincoln’s Inn, and was +much struck with the earnestness with which he repeated the Lord’s +Prayer. The difficulty he felt in making himself understood is amusing. +Some of the principles, he said, which his friends attacked, were those +he strongly objected to himself, and those which they held as against +him, were just those on which he rested his own faith and hope. “I could +not make them the least understand what I meant,” he went on to say; “and +if I did they would only dislike me for it.” It was not obscurity of +style, as many thought, which made him unintelligible; but obscurity or +confusion of thought arising from complexity of perception. He saw so +much that it puzzled him how to express it. I respected him greatly as +an honest thinker, more anxious to commend himself to the Searcher of +hearts than to his fellow-men. + +It must have been, I think, in 1846 or 1847 that I received an invitation +to preach the annual sermon on behalf of Newport Pagnell College, and +thither I went in the month of June. The Rev. Thos. Palmer Bull, +president, and his son, the Rev. Josiah Bull, were living under the same +roof, their house and garden full of comfort and convenience, beauty and +fragrance. The old gentleman had a good library, and in nooks and +corners were MSS. and relics of Cowper and Newton, friends of his father, +the Rev. William Bull. The father was the “Taurus,” and his son the +“Tommy,” immortalised in Newton and Cowper’s letters. When I had +fulfilled my public duty I intensely enjoyed conversation with my elder +host, as he showed me letters written, and relics possessed by the two +celebrities so closely connected with his father’s name. He told me how +he used, when a boy, to accompany his father to Olney, where he dined +with the poet; that when grace was said, Cowper would play with his knife +and fork, to indicate he had no share in acts of worship; that he would +cheerfully converse on a variety of topics, but shunned all reference to +religion. Notwithstanding, he would sometimes join in an Olney hymn; and +then check himself as one who had neither part nor lot in the matter. He +would kindly talk with little Tom, who accompanied his father on those +visits, and they, on their way to and from the now world-known town, +would join in singing a psalm or hymn, to a familiar tune. The old +gentleman, I was informed, sometimes indulged in the use of a pipe, as he +drove along the accustomed road. Full of such memories, I made an +excursion to Olney, stopped at the house near the park of the +Throgmortons, saw the room in which the poet slept, traced his writing on +a pane of glass, and thought of the despair to which, in that chamber, he +was so pitiable a victim. Then I was taken to the unpretentious abode in +the main street of Olney, where he cultivated a close intimacy with John +Newton, and kept rabbits in his little garden,—which garden, at the time +I think of, remained much in its former state. The summer-house, +described by the bard, was still in existence. Here, pausing for a +moment to gather up another memento of Cowper, I may mention, that a +relative of mine pointed out a house in East Dereham, which was Cowper’s +residence; and told me that he remembered when a boy peeping through the +keyhole of a door, and seeing him sitting in his chair. Cowper died at +the residence of his kinsman, the Rev. Mr. Johnson. A friend of his gave +me a leaf, in the poet’s handwriting, from the translation of Homer. + +Soon after my return from this excursion I was chosen to fill up a +vacancy in the important Nonconformist Trust of William Coward, a London +merchant, who appointed Dr. Watts, Dr. Guyse, and Mr. Neal, author of the +“History of the Puritans,”—with another person who was a +layman,—administrators of property which he bequeathed for charitable +purposes. Much of it consisted of Bank stock; that having risen, the +revenue had become very considerable. + +Dr. Doddridge was a special friend of Mr. Coward’s, and had under his +care several ministerial candidates, supported by that gentleman. +According to tradition, the merchant was very punctual, the minister less +so; and when the former invited the latter to dinner, if he did not come +exactly at the hour, the footman was ordered not to admit him. A +gentleman who lived opposite was aware of this peculiarity, and his +footman arranged with Mr. Coward’s footman, that when Dr. Doddridge had +been invited to dinner, mention should be made of it to the servant on +the other side the road, that a dinner might be prepared for his +reverence there. Other curious stories were told of our founder, which I +have forgotten. The perpetuation of Dr. Doddridge’s academy in different +places, and under different forms, led to a transfer of the institution +from Wymondley in Hertfordshire to Torrington Square, London, where, in +association with London University College, it existed at the time of my +accession to the trusteeship. For about two years I assisted in +conducting the business of Coward College, as a separate institution. +Then came a change. There were at the time three independent academies, +as they were then called, in London and the neighbourhood—Homerton, +Highbury and Coward. There were three sets of tutors, three boards of +administration, three distinct buildings, and three distinct sources of +expense. Previous attempts to accomplish the union of these institutions +had failed; but at the time to which I now refer, an opportunity arrived +for accomplishing the union. After conferences between “Heads of Houses” +for some months, it was determined to sell the three buildings, then +occupied by the students, and to erect one large new edifice, where they +might be instructed together. The erection of New College St. John’s +Wood, was the result. In the negotiations connected with this change, +Dr., afterwards Sir William, Smith zealously co-operated with the Coward +trustees. My dear old friend, the Rev. William Walford, took a great +interest in the accomplishment of this business, but he died before it +was completely effected. + +He spent his last days in writing an autobiography, and after his death I +found it was written in letters addressed to myself, with a request that +I would edit the publication. This I did with a melancholy satisfaction. +He had suffered acutely from mental depression, and the malady returned +with violence shortly before his death. My last visits were most +painful. He refused all consolation, and passed away under a cloud, like +that which attended the sunset of Cowper. There were gleams of light, +followed by dense darkness. Then he sank into silence, if not torpor. +Days and nights rolled on, so different from their “tranquil gliding” +which he described in his letters; but it was the happy confidence of his +friends, notwithstanding his own fears, that the angry billow, no less +than the gentle wave, was bearing the weather-beaten barque to the +celestial shore. He died on June 22nd, 1850. The poor body looked like +a wreck, but faith could see at rest the soul which had such hard work to +pilot the vessel beyond reach of storms. A post-mortem examination +proved that his depression arose from the condition of the brain. He was +a good Greek scholar, and delighted in reading Plato. + + + + +CHAPTER VI +1850–1854 + + +THE year 1850 opened with a storm of religious excitement, owing to a +division of England by Papal authority into Roman dioceses, at the +suggestion of Dr. Wiseman. It came to be called “The Papal Aggression.” +Some thought more was made of it, at the time, than circumstances +warranted; but, looked at through the medium of history, it seemed to aim +at a territorial authority over England, inconsistent with our +repudiation of Papal supremacy. The way in which it was taken up by some +good people was not wise, and there was an anti-popish commotion amongst +some of my friends—a few only. The commotion was unreasonable, but was +overruled for good, as the incident led some Protestants to look into +their professed principles, which doubtless, in our country, lie at the +basis of civil and religious liberty. + +From one end of the island to the other, Nonconformists as well as +Churchmen took an opportunity for expressing attachment to the +Reformation. In two ways I became connected with what went on. The +Presbyterian, Congregational, and Baptist ministers of London, +representing the three denominations, resolved, in common with other +ecclesiastical bodies, to approach Her Majesty with a protest against +“Papal Aggression.” The three denominations—like Convocation and certain +English corporations—have a right of presenting addresses to the +Sovereign; and on this occasion, the audience for accepting the +addresses, was appointed to be at Windsor Castle. When the ceremony in +the Royal Closet for receiving representatives of the three denominations +was over, we were invited to lunch in the equerry’s apartment. Covers +were laid for two or three gentlemen, in addition to our party. “Pray, +can you tell me their names?” I whispered to one of the servants, who, +from my previous residence in the town, happened to know me. He could +not say, and at the same moment the strangers, who proved to be Roman +Catholic noblemen, felt a like curiosity to know who we were. I +proceeded to explain the origin of the three denominations, which was +quite a revelation to the gentlemen; who informed us that they had just +presented a loyal address from 250,000 Catholics. They proceeded to say, +that English Protestants had quite misapprehended the meaning of recent +arrangements; and, after receiving a courteous explanation, we sat down +with them, and had a pleasant chat. + +At that time I delivered at Kensington a short series of discourses on +the Roman Catholic controversy. I went over some of the main points in +that controversy, avoiding misrepresentation and uncharitableness. I was +not violent enough to please some ultra-Protestants, but I had the +gratification of hearing, that two young Catholics ultimately became +Protestants, and were helped by the lectures. I have met in the course +of my life with several members of the Romish Church, who have appeared +to me estimable characters. I had in my congregation a young lady, one +of a family which ranked a Cardinal amongst its members, and whose mother +remained a Catholic; in her dying illness she clung to Christ as her +Saviour, saying, in the words of Solomon’s Song: “I held Him, and would +not let Him go.” + +In the same year, as I have said, the Palace of Glass was opened; and, +being a Kensington resident, I had opportunities of watching the edifice +rising out of the earth as a beautiful exhalation. On moonlight nights, +in the previous winter, how often, on my way home, it revealed itself, +amidst floating mists, as a kind of ethereal structure! + +There was a moral atmosphere created by the enterprise, which those who +do not recollect it are unable to appreciate. It inspired thousands of +people with expressions of charity and goodwill. The opening day can +never be forgotten by those who witnessed it. The _Times_ newspaper had +a leader, which made one feel that a new era in history had arrived; that +war and strife were approaching an end, and a millennial age of goodwill +had dawned upon mankind. When, that day, we saw crowds, not jostling and +pushing against each other; for almost every unit of the mass seemed +willing to make way for a neighbour; when we witnessed the opening +service, and beheld the royal procession moving through the stupendous +aisles,—representatives of “all people that on earth do dwell,”—those +present seemed to feel as they never did before. As the poet Montgomery +conversed with me on the subject, he remarked that, looking down from the +galleries upon the throng which passed before his eyes, it “reminded him +of flowing waters gently gurgling through some broad channel.” The +people, thronging here and there round corners, seemed like eddies in a +river with lofty banks. + +In the Exhibition year efforts were made for the religious improvement of +the people. The Press was in different ways employed for this purpose; +and amongst other methods there appeared, as distinctively +characteristic, a series of evangelical discourses in Exeter Hall. They +attracted crowded audiences. The sermons were carefully reported and +widely circulated. About the same time several similar methods were +employed for the promotion of religion; services were held in theatres +and other places of amusement. Having been engaged in these efforts, I +can testify to the crowds gathered together, and the general decorum of +their behaviour. Some to whom these buildings belonged took an interest +in the proceedings, as I knew from conversation with dramatic managers, +who expressed interest in the addresses delivered. Afterwards, services +were planned to be conducted by Episcopal clergymen in Exeter Hall, but +the plan was frustrated by opposition of parochial authority. After +this, Dissenters undertook to supply the lack of service, and the first +Sunday night, an Independent minister officiated, reading parts of the +Liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer, and an English nobleman acted as +clerk, leading the responses. + +The same year (1851) it fell to my lot at the autumnal meeting of the +Congregational Union to read a memorial paper on Dr. Doddridge, who had +died just a hundred years before, and had been pastor and Divinity +Professor in Northampton, where the assembly met. We occupied the old +meeting-house in which he preached; there in the vestry stood the chair +in which he sat. From the pulpit which had been his, the centenary +tribute to his memory was delivered. Mr. Bull, of Newport Pagnell, +presented the original MS. of a funeral sermon which the doctor preached +for his little daughter, partly written upon her coffin. A common +sympathy, amidst deathlike silence, pervaded the audience, as if the +divine who was commemorated had only just left the world, and we had +assembled to honour his remains. The _genius loci_ of the place, and +traditions of the good man, passed away so long before, contributed to +the occasion more impressiveness than it derived from other +circumstances. + +In 1852 my beloved wife travelled with me to Elberfeld to see our eldest +daughter. We had, from an early period, formed the plan of sending our +children abroad for part of their education, in order that they might +learn a foreign language and see other forms of society besides our own. +Therefore we placed our firstborn under the care of Pastor and Madame +Schröder,—two very excellent persons, whose character and influence +answered the high expectations we had been led to form. Pastor Schröder +succeeded Dr. Krummacher as one of the pastors of the Evangelical +communion. We enjoyed his society and that of his excellent wife, and +saw something of German habits, which interested me much; they presented +aspects unfamiliar to us. For instance, one Sunday afternoon we took a +walk in the woods with our friend the pastor, and, on the way, he +gathered into a large company one after another of his people, until it +formed quite a procession; and, finally, we rested in a pleasant nook +encompassed by trees, where the people drank coffee, and sang hymns. + +After we had spent some days at Elberfeld we started for Switzerland, +where I planned my wife and daughter should spend two or three weeks, +whilst accompanied by a Kensington friend, I proceeded on a journey to +Italy. We started from Zurich, crossed the lake, reached Coire and the +Via Mala, and over the Alps, came down to the Lake of Como; thence we +reached Milan, where we stayed three days. I then became acquainted for +the first time with the Duomo and other churches. We spent a Sunday in +the city, and felt deeply interested in schools founded by Cardinal +Borromeo, carried on at the time with exemplary care; and we found at +eventide, in a church, groups of worshippers, led by a layman, who knelt +in front as they chanted responses. I was struck then, and have been +oftentimes since, with the adaptation of Scripture passages on church +walls, pointing to salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. One thought, +too, of Ambrose, who forbade the approach of Theodosius, wet with the +blood he had shed at Thessalonica. Speaking of the adaptation of +Scripture in foreign churches, I may mention other passages inscribed on +their walls in other places, for example, at Treves, where under a +picture of “The Nativity” we read “Verily Thou art a God that hidest +Thyself,” as applied to the Incarnation. Again, at Nismes, if I +recollect aright, under the fresco of a captive rejoicing in his freedom, +the words “Thou hast loosed my bonds”; and under another, representing +martyrs and virgins at the portals of heaven, “With joy and rejoicing +shall they be brought: they shall enter into the King’s palace.” After +all, the kernel of the Gospel continues in Roman Catholic Christendom, +though too often concealed under manifold innovations. Still there it +is, if you look for it. + +My reference to Milan brings before me other recollections of that +wonderful city, as revisited again and again since 1852. Amidst manifold +associations of art, archæology, history, and religion, one image, +indelibly impressed on my mind, is that of Augustine under the fig tree +in a garden, listening to a voice which cried, “Tolle lege”; at the +hearing of which he sat down, took the Testament in his hand, and read +Rom. xiii., and thus became a new creature in Christ Jesus. Wandering in +quiet old streets, I have paused near some fig tree in a little enclosure +of grass and flowers, to think of him who became the grandest father of +the Latin Church. + +From Milan we proceeded to Verona, and thence to Venice, where I felt +“one of the greatest emotions of life.” I have seen it again and again, +but the first charm was greatest of all. Then Titian’s “Peter Martyr” +adorned the walls of SS. Giovanni e Paulo. Wonderful picture that! but +it does not, to my mind, eclipse his S. Jerome in the Brera at Milan. + +Let me return to Kensington. Perhaps this is as good a place as any, for +saying a few words about people there, and others with whom I was brought +into contact, during my pastorate. + +Under the ministry of my predecessor, Dr. Leifchild, there lived in one +of the stately houses in the neighbourhood, a gentleman—commanding in +person and polished in manners—who was drawn towards the Dissenting +pastor, though he had no affection for Dissent; if he smiled at the +system, he liked some of the people. He lost largely on the Stock +Exchange, but he bore it with much magnanimity. I was acquainted with +some of the family, who were in prosperous circumstances, and who became +my kind friends. I once met at their house with an old general—uncle to +the Duchess of Gordon—who related a singular anecdote. He had been at +the Eglinton Tournament, and, as the castle was crowded with guests, he +and another person shared the same bedroom. That person was no other +than the future Napoleon II. He kept his companion awake with talk about +the French Empire and his uncle, declaring, that he was sure one day of +sitting on his uncle’s throne. The ambitious dream filled his mind, and +overflowed in his abundant chat; though then it seemed a most improbable +imagination. The incident was related some time after the tournament, +and before the Republic was established; and when I afterwards heard of +Napoleon’s election to the presidentship, I saw it was by no means +unlikely that the daring prophecy he had ventured, would come to pass. I +have heard from other people that he often, when residing in London, +talked in society of his coming elevation, as imperial ruler of the +French. The uncle had seen beforehand the dazzling star of his destiny. +His nephew did the same. There were people who fancied something +supernatural in this, but it may be accounted for on natural principles. + +Another story, of an amusing kind, I heard at a Chiswick garden party, to +which I was taken by the kind friends at whose house I met the old Scotch +soldier. Amongst personages of rank present at Chiswick were certain +bishops, who had not dropped the old episcopal costume of a big wig, a +most decidedly broad-brimmed clerical hat, and a conspicuous apron. +Right Reverend brethren are still somewhat distinguished from other +people, though some of them reduce the distinction within very restricted +limits; forty or fifty years ago it was quite otherwise. They appeared +then commonly—to use an undignified expression—in _full jig_, and as some +occupants of the Bench passed by, in unmistakable array of the kind just +noticed, a clergyman at the garden party now mentioned, told me of a +prime minister, who used to remark, he thought, “Bishops well deserved +all they got” (and it was much more then than it is now), “for allowing +themselves to be dressed up, as such regular guys.” + +Literature and art were pretty well represented in Kensington, at the +period I speak of. Contributors to _Punch_—Mark Lemon, Gilbert a Becket, +and others—were my neighbours, and with one of them I spent a pleasant +evening. Gilbert a Becket during a few weeks, when the parish church +underwent repairs, used pretty regularly to attend our chapel, and I was +struck by his attentiveness and devotion. He expressed his readiness to +spend a few hours with me, at a friend’s residence, only he stipulated +that it should not be on an opera night; and when it was proposed to me I +stipulated that it should not be on one of my service nights. +Preliminaries being settled we accordingly met, and got on exceedingly +well. What amuses me, as I think of it, is that, though I am not at all +given to pun-making, the presence of a brilliant punster so inspired me, +that I perpetrated one or two hits, which Becket pronounced very fair. +Perhaps I may be forgiven by those who achieve pleasant things in that +way, if I remark that there is something contagious in the practice; and +it is difficult not to catch it, when in company with those who are +imbued with the habit. + +With another celebrity I came in contact through intimacy with his +family, and his early connection with our place of worship. I allude to +Justice Talfourd. When a young man he used to attend on Dr. Leifchild’s +ministry, his father and mother being members of the Congregational +Church at Kensington. His mother, whom I knew well, related anecdotes of +his early days at home, and at Mill Hill School, where he had +schoolfellows who afterwards distinguished themselves in the walks of +Dissent. He wrote home about his companions and told his mother of +prayer-meetings amongst the boys; and of one boy in particular, very +imaginative, and florid on such occasions. This schoolfellow became +afterwards an eloquent minister, well known as Dr. Hamilton of Leeds. +The Judge told me of his early attachment to that gentleman, and how, +during the doctor’s last visit to London, he went to hear him preach, and +stepped into the vestry afterwards, to talk of old times; but the +preacher had left, which was a great disappointment. + +There was a strong religious side to Judge Talfourd’s character, and he +used to speak with much enthusiasm of my predecessor, Dr. Leifchild, +whose preaching he said came up to his idea of the Apostle Paul’s +ministry. + +Amongst artists living in Kensington were two Academicians, Uwins and +Philip, who both belonged to our congregation—the first a regular, the +second an occasional, attendant. Philip’s wife—a beautiful woman, whom +he introduced into some of his pictures—was a communicant with us at the +Lord’s table. I often visited the artist’s studio, and listened to his +picturesque description of Spain, and also to his accounts of family +afflictions which elicited my sympathy. + +From my boyhood I had taken an interest in art, and the friendship of +several men distinguished in its cultivation was exceedingly instructive +and pleasant. My travels on the Continent, which enabled me to visit +most of the principal picture galleries,—rich in specimens by great +masters,—educated and purified what little taste I had; and prompted me +to somewhat extensive studies in artistic literature. These, blended +with other habits of reading, I find an immense enjoyment in the leisure +of my old age. + +Mr. Theed, the sculptor, and his family, who attended Kensington Chapel, +were our intimate friends; and he told me much about Gibson, his +companion in art, and intimate acquaintance for many years, when they +resided at Rome. With the latter gentleman I became acquainted slightly +when I was in Italy, and had a long talk with him once about tinting +sculpture,—which he advocated with zeal, and practised with skill. I +felt there was force in what he said. Another Kensington name,—that of +Edward Corbould, the water-colourist,—may be coupled with my friend +Theed’s. Each was connected with the other in artistic service to Her +Majesty and family. I remember on the Sunday morning after the Prince +Consort’s lamented death, missing both these gentlemen at Divine worship, +in consequence of their being summoned to Windsor—one to take a cast, and +the other to make a drawing of the good Prince’s face. + +There was another group of hearers during the latter part of my +Kensington ministry, to whom I was much attached. One of them, Cozens +Hardy, M.P., who has won eminence in the legal profession, is son to the +oldest friend I have. All now referred to are distinguished, not only by +professional position, but by continued study in classical learning. + +I must not pass by “annals of the poor.” When I first went to +Kensington, I was requested to visit an old shoemaker, crippled, and in +humble circumstances, but with a good deal of natural politeness, the +more striking from its surroundings. He had been a wild young fellow, +daring to the last degree, and this was the cause of his incurable +lameness. He was converted under the ministry of Dr. Leifchild. The +preacher, in the course of a sermon, related an anecdote of Mr. Cecil, +who previous to his becoming decidedly religious narrowly escaped with +life, when thrown by his horse across the track of a waggon, which in +passing only crushed his hat. The incident struck the listener. It +resembled his own experience, and riveted his attention, preparing him to +listen to the preacher’s appeals. He became an exemplary Christian; and +I often sat by his bedside to hear him describe the wondrous change +wrought in his character, by Divine grace. “I am a wonder unto many,” he +used to say; and then, with faltering voice, would sing the old hymn— + + “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, + That saved a wretch like me! + I once was lost, but now am found; + Was blind, but now I see.” + +This was not the only case in which the humbler members of the Church +were a comfort to me. Often my heart was cheered by communications made +by them, touching spiritual life. Such communications were perfectly +artless, and arose from the absence of that reserve which, in the upper +class, is the result of educational refinement. This circumstance often +prevents a free revelation of what cultured people think and feel on the +subject of religion. I have frequently noticed it, and never inferred, +from delicacy touching soul secrets, any want of that which rises to the +surface, and overflows in ready words, when uneducated people speak of +their Christian experience. + +I cannot omit a reference to the Gurney family, with some of whom I came +into pleasant connection during my Kensington residence. As a boy, I had +some knowledge of their ancestral relatives; and now I came into close +friendship with Mr. Bell, brother to Mrs. John Gurney, who was mother to +Samuel Gurney, the renowned London Quaker, and also to Joseph John +Gurney, of Earlham, near Norwich—an equally renowned banker, and also a +_Public Friend_, as preachers of that denomination then were wont to be +called. Mr. Bell had become one of my hearers and a communicant, much to +his spiritual benefit, as he and his family informed me. He was a chatty +old gentleman, and used to talk of his sister, Priscilla Wakefield, of +Miss Schemmelpenninck, and of Samuel Taylor Coleridge—whom he met at the +house of his friend Gilman, resident in Highgate. Through frequent vivid +references to these celebrities, whom I knew by their writings and by +report, I came to have a sort of personal acquaintance with them. Thus +they became, more than ever, living realities. Besides this, I came to +have a slight personal knowledge of Mr. Samuel Gurney, just mentioned, +the well-known bill-broker, and also of Mrs. Fry, his sister, who did so +much good as a prison visitor. Mr. Gurney was a stately person, with a +benign countenance, and a musical voice rich in persuasive tones. The +mental anxiety he felt during money panics, not only on his own account, +but also from sympathy with others, was such, that he was known to spend +sleepless nights pacing his chamber. Mrs. Fry was as dignified as her +brother, and I now in imagination see her in her becoming Quaker garb, as +she talked to me about her nephew Bell, and spoke gratefully of the +benefit he had derived from my ministry. The younger Mr. Samuel Gurney +came to live at Prince’s Gate, Kensington, and used to worship with us +occasionally. At his table I met with the Bunsens, and other remarkable +friends and relatives of his. He told me that at any time when I needed, +in Christian work, pecuniary help, I might apply to him without +hesitation. The crash on “Black Friday” was a terrible trial, as it made +him, after being one of the richest of London citizens, dependent on his +relatives. I wrote to him words of condolence, to which he beautifully +replied, saying that he trusted the tribulation which had befallen him +would be for his spiritual welfare. His excellent wife bore up nobly, +and the two afforded admirable instances of Christian patience and +resignation. + + + + +CHAPTER VII +1854–1862 + + +ON April 4th, 1854, I started the first time for Rome, provided with +letters of introduction to Gibson, the sculptor, Penry Williams, the +landscape painter, and two Roman Catholic dignitaries, one a Monseignor, +the other president of the English College. All these gentlemen were +polite and helpful to me. + +My companions were Dr. Raffles, Dr. Halley, the Rev. Spencer Edwards, and +another friend. The first of them was wonderful for relating stories, +which he always told _secundum artem_. He kept us awake one whole night +with his amusing anecdotes; but, as we were travelling through France at +a time when espionage was prevalent, he would not allow us to make any +political allusions. I was surprised at the retentiveness of his verbal +memory; whilst he repeated long pieces, in which the amusement consisted +of odd words, connected with no rational meaning, when put together. + +It was Holy Week when we reached Rome. On Thursday there was the +feet-washing at St. Peter’s, and the supper afterwards: the Pope, as +“servant of servants,” ministering to the poor, but with great pomp on +both occasions. We arranged to see the former, and found a transept on +the right hand, fitted up for the occasion. Rank, fashion, beauty, +arrayed in mourning, found accommodation in galleries commanding a good +view. Ladies were veiled, gentlemen wore evening dress. Admission to +that part of the edifice could be obtained on no other conditions. Pio +Nono, a pleasant, genial-looking old man, who won a good opinion as soon +as you looked at him, did his part well. He read the Gospel (John xiii.) +in tones wonderfully musical and distinct, and then washed the pilgrims’ +feet with grace and reverence. The whole was artistically and solemnly +done. “One can laugh at these things, as described in books,” said Dr. +Raffles—a staunch Nonconformist—“but _not_ when witnessed, as now, in +this magnificent place.” Still, on a calm review, nothing like _worship_ +appears in any part of the ceremony. Then the _Miserere_ in the +afternoon! Those who did not witness it years ago can have no idea of it +now; or of the gorgeous procession, amidst a blaze of light, to the altar +of S. Paulo, and the prostration of the Pontiff and his Cardinals on the +floor, in the midst of darkness, candles having been extinguished, one by +one. The scene on the grand staircase was striking as the dignitaries +returned, varying in appearance and character—an ascetic monk, a man of +the world, another looking studious and reflective, a fourth keen and +statesmanlike. Nobody could deny the Italian scenic skill in such +matters. I have been at Rome in Easter, since then, much struck with +subsequent changes. When all was over on my first Easter in Rome, I went +to the English Episcopal Church, where the Lord’s Supper was administered +according to Protestant rites, and I could not but be impressed by the +contrast between the two services. It illustrated the change effected by +the Reformation. I mentioned this once to the Rev. Frederic Denison +Maurice, who, of course, agreed with me; and, talking of Rome, he +happened to relate an anecdote which I do not remember having seen in +print. Pio Nono, after the suppression of Latin nunneries in Poland, +received a visit from the Emperor of Russia. “You are a great king,” +said the former to the latter, “one of the mightiest in the world. I am +a poor feeble man, servant of servants; but I cite you to meet me before +the Judge of all, and to answer for your treatment of helpless women.” +There was the old assumption of authority; but there was a touch of +grandeur in the words. + +I saw the catacombs, following my guide, taper in hand; and in one of the +strange passages was accosted by name. “Who could have expected to be +recognised in this dark underworld?” I exclaimed. It turned out to be a +person who had lived at Eton, and been a hearer of mine at Windsor. +Other recognitions have occurred to me of an odd kind, when visiting +several places. + +I became so attracted by what I saw in Rome, and drank so deeply into the +spirit of Arnold’s letters, written there, that my last day was spent in +pensive leave-takings of ruin after ruin, church after church. I have +been there twice since, each for a longer time than the first; but not +with quite the impression which I felt in the first instance. + +We proceeded to Naples, stopped at Cisterna, at Terracinia, at Gaeta, and +at S. Agata. Whoever has travelled the same road must long remember the +fragrance of the orange-groves and the coloured dresses of the peasantry. + +We had no trouble at custom-houses on the way, for my two companions and +myself travelled in humble fashion. Otherwise did the two doctors, +already mentioned, fare. Large sums were demanded of them on the +Neapolitan frontier; and when they refused to pay, their luggage was +searched, and a coloured pen-wiper being found, the officials declared it +was a _revolutionary cockade_, and that books in their portmanteaus were +no doubt full of treason and heresy. There was no alternative but to +stay where they were, or to allow a soldier to accompany them in charge +of the suspected articles. All this trouble was followed by apologies on +reaching Naples, after an appeal had been made to the English Consul. + +We saw the picture galleries and museums in Naples, and explored the city +as well as we could during our short stay. Religious services of a +special kind were being held in one of the churches; and I remember +entering it on an evening when it was crowded with people, listening to a +friar, who was earnestly preaching. Next morning, on revisiting the +place, it was crowded as the night before, and the same priest occupied +the pulpit. We drove along the old coast road, by the so-called Tomb of +Virgil to Castellamare, Sorrento, Posilipo and Pozzuoli (the Puteoli of +the Acts), and had dreams of the luxurious life once spent on these +shores, and of Paul’s disembarkation on his way to Rome. We also spent a +day at Vesuvius, where clouds of vapour were rolling upward; and I, with +one of our party, crawled down to the crater, as near as we could, much +to the dismay of our senior companions. On our way back to Naples we +tarried as long as possible at Pompeii, looking at the wonders of that +memorable spot. + +An important step was taken at Kensington on my return from Italy. The +“swarm” sent to Notting Hill did not permanently reduce the numbers of +our congregation. On the contrary, they considerably advanced. The old +chapel became more than ever inconvenient, and we resolved to build a new +and much larger one. + +I must now pass from local and personal affairs to notice a movement in +Congregationalism at large. Independency leads to isolated action on the +part of local Churches. It is unfriendly to cohesion and co-operation. +It provides for freedom, and nothing else. Old Independents saw this, +and checked the evil by maintaining local fellowships between Church and +Church, by the employment of “messengers” one to another. {126} + +About 1830 the wiser heads amongst us had clearly seen the evil, and +endeavoured to overcome it. They concluded that centrifugal tendencies +should be met by a centripetal force. Mr. Binney used to say, we were a +collection of limbs—legs, arms, feet, and hands—all in motion, but not an +organised body. To frame a body out of so many members, was the design +of the Congregational Union. Algernon Wells may be regarded as its +founder. He was one of the most beautiful characters I have ever +known—intelligent, well read, sagacious, with extensive knowledge of men +and things, and a profound attachment to evangelical truth. He had a +rare order of eloquence, and wove pleasant tissues of thought in his +sermons and speeches. If his speeches were not always sermons, his +sermons were almost always speeches. There was a great charm in his +conversation, and it often overflowed with wit. Though a decided +Congregationalist, he was full of charity, and cultivated harmonious +intercourse with other denominations. His policy as to the newly-formed +organisation, was to make the meetings fraternal rather than +controversial—a brotherly society to promote edification rather than an +ecclesiastical army to fight with soldiers outside, or a council to +settle disputes inside. The early meetings were held in the +Congregational Library, and did not muster more than a hundred members. +“Business” received at times a look askance: spiritual edification +excited desire, and stimulated expression. Now and then came touches of +humour, as when after talking about the state of the denomination till we +were hungry, one brother rose and gravely asked “whether any intelligence +had arrived from the Sandwich Islands.” + +Good Algernon Wells died in 1851, and soon afterwards I was requested by +a sub-committee to meet them in conference on an important matter. It +was to propose my election as Mr. Wells’ successor. Now, secretaryships +have always been my aversion—from an instinct, I suppose, such as guides +inferior animals to shun what they were never made for. The +secretaryship of the City Mission had been pressed upon me soon after my +arrival in London, but I steadily refused it, from a conviction of utter +incompetence; and, for the same reason, I declined to entertain the +proposal just mentioned. He who proposed the office for me accepted it +for himself, and we worked together pleasantly through several years. I +was elected chairman of the Union in May 1856, amidst much excitement. +There have been strains on its strength more than once, but this first +was the greatest. + +Dr. Campbell had been for some time a prominent member. Hard-headed and +hard-handed, of a bold, open countenance, and with a habit of planting +his foot pretty firmly on the ground,—the outer man well indicated the +inner; kind-hearted and affectionate at home, but not the same on a +platform, or with an editorial pen in hand. He then gave no quarter to +anybody who opposed him. “You are a good fellow,” it was once said to +him by a loving spirit; “but I don’t like that great club you carry.” +That great club he swung about, much to the terror of many, and +consequently he exercised a despotic sway, to which they were indisposed +to submit. He held the doctrines of Calvinistic theology with a firm +grasp, and looked with alarm upon certain opinions springing up amongst +his brethren. He considered that there was looseness of sentiment, and a +range of thought too free, existing amongst younger men, which imperilled +the evangelical soundness of the Churches. He gave it the name of +_Negative Theology_. The name took, and was bandied about to the +annoyance of persons to whom it was applied, many of them holding +positive truths as firmly as Dr. Campbell himself. It happened that in +1856 Mr. Lynch, a man of genius and sensibility, with a mind cast in a +mould the opposite of Dr. Campbell’s, published a small volume of poetry +entitled “The Rivulet.” Some of the hymns it contained excited +admiration, and are now extensively used; but the book, as a whole, +aroused Dr. Campbell’s wrath beyond measure. He wrote a criticism upon +it, which awakened indignation in those who had read “The Rivulet” with +approval. Fifteen brethren drew up and signed a protest against this +style of review. + +There existed, no doubt, a tendency on the part of a few brethren to give +up certain theological expressions long held sacred, and also to throw +into the background, if not to question, points of doctrine deemed +perfectly Congregational. In the opposite quarter there appeared a +tenacity of diction and an emphasis of opinion on old lines, accompanied +by ungenerous reflections respecting those whom they deemed innovators. +Very naturally, personal feeling was thus stirred up, and the Union +seemed threatened with disaster. + +“We men are a mysterious sort of creatures,” said John Howe to Richard +Baxter. No doubt we are, and that in more ways than one: in this +especially, that whilst discussing theories of God, Christ, and the Holy +Spirit—all fountains of love—we are apt to be found drawing water from +the wells of Marah. + +The controversy, now spoken of, related to old and new aspects of +theological thought. Looking back, I can but say, the balance sheet of +past and present, in respect to what is now noticed, shows both gain and +loss. All the gain, it strikes me, might have been secured without +incurring loss at all; and, in making up the whole account, there should +have been more charity in judging individuals, and more justice in +discussing principles. + +I wished, in my address, to combine the two, and so render the whole a +sort of Irenicon. + +A personal correspondence followed between two good men, which is now, I +hope, buried in oblivion; but no secession of members from the Union took +place, that I know of. The two tendencies still exist, but they call for +no criticism in these pages. My views on the subject I have often +expressed. + +Before the close of my Windsor ministry I had begun to indulge in foreign +travel, and in 1854, when I had spent some time in my Kensington +pastorate, I ventured on a trip to Rome, which I have described already. +After that, visits abroad were numerous, and from amongst them I select +one paid in 1856, when I spent a few weeks with my two sons, who were +then being educated in Berlin. My dear wife accompanied me through the +greater part of the tour, as she was anxious to see how the lads were +getting on. We made our way to the Prussian capital through Hanover, +and, on reaching our destination, found all well. After spending a +little while in Berlin, seeing the sights and becoming acquainted with +some excellent people, we made an excursion to the South, and spent a few +days at Dresden, where antiquities, pictures, and drives in the +neighbourhood greatly delighted us. We proceeded to Schandau, a pretty +little village, and there took lodgings, initiating ourselves into +amusing details of German life. We attended the parish church on Sunday, +taking interest in the clergyman, who was expounding to his people the +history of David. We witnessed some of life’s joys and sorrows, +especially a funeral, which was very picturesque—bright flowers, red +roses and green leaves, relieving the darkness of death, the hope of +Heaven shedding light on the sorrow of bereavement. Excursions in the +neighbourhood added to our family enjoyments of this sojourn, and one day +we came in contact with royalty. The King of Saxony, the Queen, and a +few of the Court, climbed up a hill which we had selected as a +resting-place, commanding views of the Elbe. Their Majesties’ servants +in livery (who, by the way, were very civil to us) paid the royal +reckoning to a humble châlet-keeper, as any of his subjects might do. We +watched the King and attendants as they embarked in a boat for their +Dresden home. My boys and I pushed on to Prague, where the bridge and +St. John Nepomuk, the Hradschin, and the thirty years’ war, John Huss and +his house in the Bethlehem platz, the Jews’ town on the banks of the +Moldau, the Jewish burial ground, and the old synagogue, inspired +historical memories of deep interest. We joined mamma and returned to +Dresden the way we came; and there, after long gazings on the picture +gallery, especially at Raphael’s “Madonna and Child”—opposite to which +people sat reverently, as if engaged in devotion—father and mother parted +from the dear boys, and we wended our way homewards; not without +lingering in Lutherland to look at homes and haunts of the great +Reformer. + +To return to my Kensington flock. In the year 1857, one Sunday night, +after I had retired to rest, I heard a loud ringing at the door-bell, and +immediately rose. On opening the window, there stood a carriage; and the +coachman, as soon as by gaslight he saw my face, cried out, “Oh, sir, my +mistress is dead!” His mistress was Mrs. Jacomb, residing with her +husband and family at Notting Hill. They had all been at Divine worship +that morning in their usual health. The carriage had been sent to take +me back to the mourners. I immediately rose and went. On reaching the +house I witnessed a scene of domestic distress such as I never witnessed +before. My deceased friend had in the morning worshipped with us, in her +usual delicate health, and, as I learned, in more than her usual +cheerfulness. She was preparing for evening service, when she was +suddenly seized with illness, and in a short time expired. The husband +and family were in deep distress, but they had a blessed knowledge of Him +who brought life and immortality to light. She was a woman rich in +spiritual sympathy, and had been no ordinary friend to me and mine, in +our early married life. We had a large family, and, though favoured +above many, had our domestic trials. How often I thought of what Paul +said of “Phœbe, our sister”: “She has been a succourer of many, and of +myself also.” I never knew any one who had more tender sympathy in +trouble than Mrs. Jacomb, or was more swift in expressing it. Her +husband was worthy of her, and her children “rise up to call her +blessed.” Those who survive are cherished friends. He was of an old +Puritan stock, descendant of Dr. Jacomb, a renowned ejected clergyman +after the Commonwealth; and the family genealogy is rich in noted names +and memories. + +In this chapter I cannot refrain from recording my own domestic sorrows. +In 1853 a sweet child had died—little Catherine, born shortly after we +left Windsor; and in 1858 another, more advanced in life, a boy named +Arnold, full of energy and promise, was taken from us by our Heavenly +Father. His illness was brief; but beforehand my dear wife had been +anxious for his spiritual welfare, and her conversations were followed by +the Divine blessing. His joyous, winning ways had won the hearts of +visitors, and his death widely affected my congregation, awakening +sympathy to a degree which inspired my liveliest gratitude. Our friend +Joshua Harrison preached a funeral sermon for the dear boy, full of +pathos and power. + +In 1859 a friend accompanied me to the Pyrenees. Travelling by French +railways, we reached Bayonne at the end of August, and then crossed the +Spanish frontier in a Spanish diligence, which had all the lumber and +shabby trappings of French ones. We reached San Sebastian at night, and +next morning took a walk on the promenade, where the ladies in mantillas +and veils flourished their fans with grace and dignity; and if there be +something gay in French solemnity, there is something grave in the gaiety +of Spaniards. We again climbed up a diligence, and travelled through the +Lower Pyrenees to Pau, where, from the Grand Terrace, we saw peering out +from the haze of a hot summer sky the mountain range—not near, as many +imagine, but many miles off. Of course we saw the old palace where Henri +IV. was born and wrapped up in his shell cradle. Along roads bordered by +woods and hills, reminding one of Wharfedale, we reached an elevation at +Sevignac, overlooking the valley of the Gave, with magnificent mountains +in front, Pic du Midi coming into full view. Eaux Bonnes, with all the +luxuries of a French watering-place, was then reached, whence we +proceeded to Eaux Chaudes, where the mountains become awfully +precipitous. We looked down from zigzag roads, cut out of declivities +buttressed by rocks and embankments, with boiling torrents at the foot, +roaring like thunder. The Pic du Midi, streaked with snow, rises up so +as to remind one of an Egyptian pyramid. + +We determined to visit Pantacosa, and passed through a romantic defile, +crossed the Spanish frontier again, and halted at a village, where the +houses seemed walls without windows, the outlook being altogether from +the back. Glimpses of Aragon’s broad plain were caught, as we looked +south, and crowds of Spanish muleteers passed us, laden with merchandise. +The baths of Pantacosa occupy a gloomy region, shut in by rocks, and +there I spent the Sunday as an invalid, my strength being overtaxed; but +next day I rose in the enjoyment of health and vigour. Then we made our +way to Luz. The church of the Templars built there is half fortress and +half sanctuary. You enter through a machicolated gateway, into a church, +the gloomiest I ever saw. Through a little door, the _Cagots_, a +proverbial race weak both in body and mind, used to enter for worship. + +Near to Luz is St. Sauveur, a narrow valley, richly wooded, with a tiny +village jammed in among the rocks. At the time of our visit, the Emperor +Napoleon and the Empress Eugenie were staying there. The house they +occupied was small and plain; nothing distinguished it but the two +sentinels at the door. All was silent and solitary, and nobody seemed to +notice the royal residence, besides ourselves. In the afternoon, we saw +their Majesties returning from a drive in open carriages with outriders. +Napoleon sat on the box, Eugenie was chatting with her lady attendants. +On alighting she remained at the door of the house, playing with her +walking stick, and receiving a letter-bag. The Emperor came out, lighted +a cigar, smoked and then walked on to inspect some men at work on a new +road. + +We made an excursion to Gavarnie—a shady defile with precipitous rocks, +overhanging woods, and a river foaming and roaring four hundred feet +below. Beyond is the Cirque, a basin-shaped valley of semicircular +rocks, with steps and stages, whilst a drapery of water fringes them all +round. We ascended the Pic de Bergons, tarried a day at Bagnères de +Bigorre, a central spot for tourists, with the usual appurtenances of +such places. We proceeded to Bagnères de Luchon, by a romantic drive, +commanding a view of the Maladetta with its snows and glaciers. + +In the course of our rambles in the Pyrenees we were struck with Eastern +customs. An unmuzzled ox went round a heap of corn. Sheep were not +driven but led, and wine was kept in leathern bottles. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII +1862–1865 + + +THE year 1862, being the Bicentenary of the Bartholomew ejectment, was +largely given by English Nonconformists to a remembrance of the +confessorship and heroism which marked the ejectment of ministers in +1662. A meeting was held in the spring at St. James’s Hall, Piccadilly, +when papers were read, bearing on the commemoration. The preparation of +one of them fell to my lot; but I was taken ill at the time for its +delivery, and it had to be read by my friend, the Rev. Joshua Clarkson +Harrison. A story is told of Garrick’s reading a poem of Hannah More’s, +before a party of friends, when the effect produced was by Garrick +attributed to the lady’s composition, and by the lady to the reader’s +elocution. Whatever might be the impression made at St. James’s Hall on +the reading of the paper, it was divided between my friend and me, after +the same fashion. In this address I advocated a Bartholomew celebration, +on the ground, that it was good to remember sacrifices made for +conscience’ sake, and therefore professed my readiness to honour Jeremy +Taylor as well as Richard Baxter. This brought a letter from the Bishop +of Down and Connor testing my sincerity by an appeal on behalf of an +Irish cathedral restoration in memory of Jeremy Taylor. I sent a small +contribution, which brought back a pleasant response, such as I highly +valued. Afterwards I met him at the Athenæum, when he invited me to +visit him, with a view to Christian union in Ireland. I should add that +the Bishop’s scheme for the cathedral restoration failed, and he politely +returned my small contribution. + +In the autumn of 1862, I read a paper to the Congregational Assembly, in +which I advocated certain methods of improvement. This subject I took up +afterwards, with no result, however, that I could discover. The faults +of other systems are always more welcome than the reformation of our own. + +In 1863 we were visited by a family bereavement which was one of the +heaviest sorrows of my life. John Howard Stoughton, born at Windsor in +1842, was a lad of extraordinary character, witty and artistic beyond his +brothers and sisters, who loved him with no ordinary love. His love of +art led us to place the youth under Mr. Thomas, a distinguished sculptor +and decorator, largely employed in works at Windsor Castle. Our boy +devoted himself to his pursuits with an assiduity which created much +anxiety in his mother and in me, for it evidently injured his health. In +the spring of 1861 we took him to Hastings, and Dr. Moore, an eminent +physician there, carefully studied his case, and, as the result, advised +that his artistic pursuits should be for awhile suspended, and that he +should travel abroad, where he would see and learn much, without tasking +his physical power. Accordingly, in the summer of 1861, he visited the +Continent with his elder brother and me, went up and down the Rhine, and +saw pictures, statues, and decorations, which interested his mind without +overtasking his bodily strength. In the following autumn he was better, +and under medical advice we arranged that, in company with one of his +sisters, he should spend the winter in Rome. They did so accordingly, +and our hopes were raised; but in the spring he had an attack, which +rendered it advisable that he should remove from Rome to some other part +of Italy. He did so, and paid a visit to friends in Leghorn. I left +home with another of my daughters and two nieces, joining my children +where they were staying; thence I accompanied them, on a pleasant tour +through Florence, over the Apennines, and, by way of Bologna, Milan, and +the Alps, to Geneva. Thence we came home through France. We returned in +good spirits; but, as winter approached, fears reawakened. Gradually the +invalid became weaker; but faith in the Invisible and Divine Father grew +stronger and stronger. The youth spent with us a cheerful Christmas; but +in spring it was obvious he was not long for this world. As the end +approached he talked calmly on the subject with his beloved brother, the +two being united in bonds of Christian faith, as well as natural +affection. I can never forget the Holy Communion we—mother, father, +brother, and sisters—enjoyed in a room overlooking our garden, when +bursting buds told of nature’s returning life, and the dear sufferer bore +unmistakable signs of approaching death. But he was calm and cheerful, +and took deep interest in the gracious ordinance. It was administered +with solemnity by our dear friend Harrison, who loved Howard as though he +had been his own son. He expired on March 31st, 1863, and on the +following Sunday evening my brother just named preached a memorable +funeral sermon in Kensington Chapel. + +In 1864 Dr. Stanley became Dean of Westminster, and on his expressing a +wish to be introduced to some Nonconformist brethren, Dr. William +Smith—editor of so many valuable dictionaries, and with whom I was then +associated in the business of New College—kindly gave a dinner party to +which he invited me. The Dean afterwards finding there was between us +some similarity of taste in literature, and sympathy in desires for +union, invited me to the Deanery; and so began a friendship with him and +Lady Augusta, which lasted as long as they lived, and proved one of the +most precious privileges vouchsafed to me, by the providence of our +Heavenly Father. On December 28th, 1865, “the Feast of the Holy +Innocents”—the Dean preached a sermon in Westminster Abbey. The sermon +was in commemoration of the Abbey’s foundation by Edward the Confessor +eight hundred years before. The text was felicitously chosen from John +x. 22, 23,—“It was the feast of the _Dedication_, and it was _winter_, +and Jesus walked in the temple in _Solomon’s porch_.” “Feast of the +Dedication” corresponded with the character of the service; “winter” was +the season of both celebrations; the northern porch—a main entrance to +the Abbey—is called “Solomon’s porch.” The sermon was not less +appropriate than the text. It sketched the history of the venerable +edifice, and contained marked allusions to Nonconformist ministrations +within its walls during the Commonwealth. Being present on the occasion, +I wrote to the Dean afterwards in reference to his allusions, when, in +reply, he said, “It gave me additional pleasure to deliver them, from the +reflection that there was at least one person present capable of entering +into them.” In the sermon, as delivered, he spoke of the Westminster +Confession as the only one ever _imposed_ in the _whole Island_, and on +my calling his attention to this statement, and pointing out the +distinction between the _doctrinal_ and ecclesiastical part of the +Confession, he answered, “I was not ignorant of the distinction, nor did +I mean to say it was _imposed_ in any offensive sense. For I was anxious +not to say a word that could be offensive to any of my brethren, and +merely wished to call attention to the fact, that a document, which had +received in part a wider legal recognition than any other since the +Reformation, came from Westminster Abbey.” In the sermon, as _printed_, +are the words “_sanctioned by law_ for the whole Island,” and in a note, +“The doctrinal Articles of the Westminster Confession of Faith (were) +sanctioned by the English Parliament in 1647, and the whole Confession by +the Scottish Parliament in 1648.” + +In further illustration of the Dean’s ingenuity when turning Scripture to +account in the improvement of events, I may here repeat what he once +related to me. He happened on a Saturday to be preparing a sermon for +the Abbey, on some occasion when he was to plead for _two_ objects, and +had chosen for his text Gen. xxvii. 38—“And Esau said unto his father, +hast thou but one blessing my father? Bless me, even me also, O my +father.” As the Dean was writing his discourse, some one stepped in and +told him, the American President, General Grant, intended to be at the +Abbey the next day, and suggested that it would be gratifying to +Americans if some allusion was made to the incident. Immediately it was +turned to account by the Dean in this way—that God had many blessings +which He distributed amongst his children; that bounty to one did not +mean denial to another; that Great Britain, for instance, had been +blessed, but God had rich benefactions for America as well. + +For years I felt an earnest desire to visit the East, and thus to become +personally acquainted with Bible lands. A meeting was held in 1865 to +present me with a purse of £400, and a pledge that expenses incurred +through my absence from Kensington should be met, without any pecuniary +responsibilities on my part. The friends who accompanied me were Dr. +Allon, of Union Chapel, Islington, Dr. Spence, of the Poultry Chapel, +London, Dr. Bright, minister of the Independent Chapel, Dorking, and two +young lay friends—Stanley Kemp-Welch and Thomas Wilson. The Dean of +Westminster gave me introductions to people he knew in Palestine, and +afforded valuable assistance in other ways. + +We started in February 1865. I kept a journal and sent home long +letters. We visited Alexandria and Cairo, and then proceeded through the +desert of Sinai to the monastery at the foot of Jebel Mousa. Turning +north, we made our way to Gaza, thence to Ramleh, and so onwards to +Jerusalem. The members of our little party, as we approached the city on +horseback, rode at a considerable distance from each other. I knew that +we should cross some ridges, before we caught sight of the city, and I +happened to be in the rear of my fellow-travellers. I watched the +foremost of them till I saw him pull up his horse, pause awhile, then +take off his hat. I knew what that meant, and the feelings awakened I +can never forget while I live. I eagerly, and I may say reverently, +followed the foremost horseman, and as soon as I caught sight of the +walls and the gate, I am not ashamed to say, my eyes were full of tears. + +As we entered the Holy City the bustle was very great. Bedouins with +yellow scarves round their heads, and striped robes on their shoulders; +Syrians with snowy turbans, short jackets, and flowing trousers; Turks +wearing the crimson fez; a rich man “clothed in purple and fine linen,” +mounted on a smartly caparisoned white ass, and a poor man on foot, +ragged and tattered; camels and donkeys carrying loads of timber and +brushwood, to the peril of wayfarers; Egyptian, Copt, Armenian, Greek, +the black Nubian, the white Circassian, with groups of veiled women, +shuffling over the stones in gay slippers—all these made a motley +picture, which dazzled the attention of pilgrims from England. At length +we reached our hotel, and had to make ladder-like ascents, and mount on +roofs, story after story, before we could get to our apartments, whence +we caught our first view of Mount Olivet. + +We met with Christian friends in the Holy City, and were kindly invited +by Dr. Gobat, Bishop of Jerusalem, to spend an evening at his house, when +he gathered together a party consisting of the principal foreign visitors +at the time, most of whom were English. For two Sunday mornings we +worshipped at the church on Mount Zion, near the Episcopal residence, and +were glad of an opportunity to partake of the Communion. I have always +delighted in fellowship at the Lord’s table with Christian brethren of +different churches, who, under different forms of administration, worship +and adore the same Lord. Not only when travelling on the Continent have +I received the Lord’s Supper at the hands of Episcopalian brethren, but +in England, on a few occasions I have availed myself of a similar +catholic privilege. + +Before proceeding further, let me relate a story I heard from Dr. Rosen, +the German consul, respecting the famous Sinaitic MS. Tischendorf had +reason to believe a precious treasure was hid in the monastery at Sinai. +He obtained letters which he thought would assist him, but, on further +consideration, declined to employ them. He found in the library part of +his coveted prize; and, it happened at that moment, the office of +Okonomos was vacant, and a keen contest for it was going on between two +monks. He joined one party, and promised to use influence with the +Russian Emperor in favour of their candidate, hinting that the present of +a valuable MS. would promote their object. After a good deal of +diplomacy this plan prospered. The MS. coveted by the scholar was +secured, and the once hopeless candidate was installed in office. This +was not all. The MS. was incomplete, and the missing part was found by +Tischendorf in the possession of a Greek merchant. The promise of a +Russian title proved more effectual than gold, and Tischendorf carried +off his prize to St. Petersburg in triumph. I jotted down the story the +evening Dr. Rosen related it, and here in a few words have I given the +substance. + +Of course we explored Jerusalem as far as our limited time allowed; and, +under the guidance of Dr. Rosen, I had the privilege of visiting certain +spots where recent discoveries had been made. I remember seeing what +looked like indications of a well, from which, it was easy to imagine, +people, in our Lord’s time, used to draw water. Nor can I forget rambles +on the line of walls commanding views of the city and neighbourhood. I +can now distinctly recall my visit to a sepulchre outside the city, where +a stone, like a large millstone, was lying at the door, as if recently +“rolled away.” I studied (as well as time, and what I had read on the +subject, would allow), the question as to the place of crucifixion, and +where our blessed Lord rose from the dead. Points still remain to be +settled, as to the direction in which the city wall ran in the time of +Christ. I cannot adopt any modern theories on the whole subject, which +have made way in America and in England. It appears to me after long +study, that grounds can still be maintained in support of the old +tradition in favour of the spot where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre +stands. We made a memorable excursion to Bethlehem, by way of Rachel’s +sepulchre, and descended the cave where, it is said, our Lord was born. +We next proceeded to Hebron, where I stood by a flight of steps leading +to the tombs within, longing to ascend and explore those hallowed resting +places. Returning northwards, we stopped at the traditional oak, by +which Abraham sat in the heat of the day—and at the vineyards of Eschol +where old stocks are thriving still—and at Solomon’s pool and gardens, +not far from David’s hiding-places. Then, after a long and exciting day, +we found rest in the old monastery of S. Saba, from the terrace of which, +we caught a view of the Dead Sea. We rambled on its melancholy shores, +dipped in the Jordan, and then spent a night by the ruins of Jericho. + +The order of our journey followed Dr. Stanley’s directions, that we might +have the advantage of crossing Olivet, so as to come suddenly on the +point where our Lord “beheld the city and wept over it.” From Jerusalem +we proceeded northwards by Bethel, Sychar, Samaria, Esdraelon, and +Nazareth, to Tiberias and the Lake. Thence by Safed we travelled over +the hills of Galilee to Banias (“the Syrian Tivoli”), Damascus, and +Beyrout. Banias is a charming spot. With the scenery from a hill +overlooking Damascus I was charmed beyond measure, and was intensely +interested in the antiquities of that grand old city. Dr. Allon, Dr. +Bright and Mr. Wilson visited the ruins at Baalbec, but Mr. Kemp-Welch +remained with me in Damascus to take care of Dr. Spence, who was very +ill. He had to be leisurely taken over the mountains to Beyrout, +approaching which we had never-to-be-forgotten views of the beautiful +Mediterranean. + +After leaving Palestine I wrote in my notes the following impression as +to the Bible, which had been a constant companion and guide in our +travels:—It is the Book of the Holy Land—the gospel of Palestine. It is +Oriental; it is Syrian; it is Samaritan; it is Galilean; it is Jewish. +It paints the scenery of the Land of Promise from end to end, and the +wilderness too. It echoes the voices of the people. We hear in it the +murmur of towns and villages, we pass through; it breathes the pure, +fresh, bracing air of the desert; everywhere as I opened the Divine pages +I found them reflecting surrounding scenes. Even the brilliant +Frenchman, who has tasked his genius to demolish the authentic life of +Jesus and to build out of the ruins an imagination of his own, virtually +admits the truth of what I have now advanced, for he points out the +minute accuracy of the Volume; which shows how true in detail are the +Gospels, how faithful to rock and stream, river and lake, tree and wild +flower, is the entire narrative. Thus, after all he says to the +contrary, he really raises in the reader’s mind a fair presumption of its +fidelity in higher matters. + +One circumstance struck me as very noticeable—that is, the compression, +within a small compass, of a number of stirring incidents related in Holy +Writ. Dothan, where Joseph sought his brethren and their flocks; the +plain of Megiddo, the battle-field of Israel; the river Kishon, “that +ancient river,” so fatal to Sisera’s army; the valley of Jezreel, with +its wide panorama, where Ahab had a palace; the heights of Gilboa, where +fell Saul and his sons, with the well of Harod at the foot, where +Gideon’s three hundred men stooped and lapped the water; the garden of +the Shunamite, opposite to Mount Carmel; the city of Nain and the cave of +Endor; Tabor and Nazareth—all these spots come within a few hours’ ride. +Well might Issachar think “that rest was good, and the land that it was +pleasant.” + +Our party began to separate at Beyrout. Dr. Spence, accompanied by Mr. +Wilson, returned direct to England; the rest of us came home through +Europe. + +In crossing the Mediterranean with Dr. Allon and Kemp-Welch we touched at +Cyprus. The coast looked flat and uninteresting, but the bright morning, +the sparkling sea, and the manifold associations attaching to the islands +inspired great curiosity and deep interest, though I felt by no means +well. I began to be conscious that my appetite for travelling had +somewhat palled, if not become almost dead. We landed at Larnaca, and +found it a very poor place. The Greek churches were somewhat curious, +from the circumstance of old columns with characteristic capitals being +built into the walls. I noticed Greek priests sitting in wine shops, and +some of them occupying places of traffic, selling different articles in +huckster-like hovels. These men indicated the social degradation of +inferior orders in the Eastern Church. However it may be with the +dignified clergy in Russia, certainly priests in Palestine, Syria and the +Mediterranean Isles afford low types of civilisation. After dwelling on +what is related about Cyprus in the Acts of the Apostles, the conversion +of Sergius Paulus, and the conduct of Elymas the sorcerer, became very +real narratives; and with these memories in our minds we re-embarked and +had a pleasant evening as we sat on deck. I fell asleep with the +prospect of reaching Rhodes the next day. + +The harbour, with its well-known mole and adjuncts, is very picturesque. +We climbed up narrow streets, full of houses once occupied by the +knights, and from the fortification, had an extensive view of the island +and the Mediterranean. The Church of St. John, blown up by gunpowder, +and shattered to fragments, seized on my imagination for a good while, as +I wandered, and sat down on a spot, so rich in romantic story. We then +returned to the interior of the town, and at the harbour watched the +boatmen, busy at the seaside. As we were doing so, one of my companions +exclaimed, “Stoughton, you’ve got the jaundice!” and, sure enough, when +we reached our steamer, the looking-glass proved this was true. When I +rose next morning my limbs were of a saffron colour. + +The weather changed. The sky was dark, and the views we caught of Asia +were by no means inviting. At night there came a storm; and a storm in +the Mediterranean is no trifling matter. Wind roared through the +rigging; the vessel lurched and laboured, groaning as if the timbers +would burst. Lying in my berth I could feel the dashing billows. Tables +and stools were sliding about. The suspended lamps swayed to and fro, +like the pendulum of a clock. Overhead confusion was terrible. Horses +were kicking, and the sailors were swearing. We had a pasha with his +harem on board, and, as might be expected, they were exceedingly +terrified. Crowds of pilgrims returning from the Eastern celebration at +Jerusalem, were lying on deck resembling herrings in a barrel, and the +noise they made was terrific. Waves beat over our boat, till the poor +creatures were almost drowned. Beside we had horses, bears and monkeys +on board, and, of course, they added to the inharmonious concert. I rose +from my hammock early, and with my companion, Mr. Welch, sought comfort +from a cup of tea. Reaching the deck, I talked with one of the +engineers, an Englishman, and asked what he thought of the storm. “Is +there any danger?” I asked. He replied, “This has been a very queer +night, and we have made no way. If it had lasted, that would have been +serious.” We safely reached Smyrna harbour in the afternoon. + +Of course, I thought as we approached land:—There, on one of the hills +yonder, the martyr, Polycarp, by death sealed the truths which he had +proclaimed in life. As we landed, I thought myself in an Italian port, +so European at a glance everything looked—houses, shops, and people—but, +entering the town, the scene changed, for there the streets, bazaars, and +costumes told of Oriental manners and customs. The next day a party was +organised to visit the ruins of Ephesus. It can be reached by railway, +and when we entered the station, we might have fancied ourselves at home; +for there we met with English guards, and railway porters, like our own. +We had a special train to convey us to the far-famed ruins. We visited +what is left of the forum, the theatre, and the stadium, but it is +difficult to identify anything; and it seemed to me, a definite idea of +what Ephesus was in its glory is impossible. The view from the loftiest +eminence is magnificent, including the vast plain, the winding river +Cayster, and what, in Paul’s day was the harbour of Miletus. At the time +of our visit, Greek Christians were celebrating the Festival of St. John, +on a lofty hill, the church there being a rude-looking structure. The +cave of the seven sleepers was pointed out, on our way back to the +railway station, and by the cave is a beautiful mosque of the fifteenth +century. + +On Saturday morning we embarked at Smyrna for Constantinople. We faintly +discerned in the far distance, as we crossed those classic waters, point +after point closely connected with ancient story. Of course, all the +way, amidst Homeric scenes and associations, we called them to mind by +Homer’s help; but the thought of St. John’s labours, his epistles, to the +seven churches in the Apocalypse, more prominently occupied one’s mind on +the Lord’s day, when we had worship in the saloon, and I preached, as +well as I could, to a few sympathetic fellow-passengers. + +On Monday morning early, we reached the Golden Horn, filled with +shipping. Caiques were quietly gliding over still waters; but we were +troubled at the Custom House by an ignorant soldier, who laid hold upon +my “Homer” and detained it for two or three days. + +Kemp-Welch was the only member of our party left, the rest proceeding +homeward by another route. I made the most of what was possible during +the four days spent at Constantinople. My friend and I followed the +circuit of the city on horseback; through Stamboul, which appeared very +Oriental, ruinous and dirty—through lines of cypresses, near cemeteries +with turbaned headstones; and so, all round, till we reached the sweet +waters. There we tarried a while, looking at the gardens, and their +summer houses, called kiosks. The place is a resort like Hampton Court. +Thence we returned to the city. Next day we crossed the Golden Horn, and +saw the Sultan’s seraglio, attached to which are more gardens and more +kiosks. The place contains a library full of Arabic MSS., and a throne +room, with the Sultan’s divan, surmounted with a baldacchino. There His +Majesty used to hold his court, attended by janissaries, and was screened +from the view of subjects, except that his hands were visible. The +Sublime Porte is the grand entrance to the room of audience for +ambassadors from other courts. + +We visited the arsenal with its ammunition, muskets, and swords. The +building, it is said, was in the fourth century a church—the Church of S. +Irene, where Chrysostom preached some of his wonderful sermons—and it has +still in the apse an antique cross. But the grand ecclesiastical edifice +of Constantinople is S. Sophia, with columns brought from Ephesus, and +representations of four cherubim with their faces obliterated. A legend +is preserved to this effect, that when Constantinople was taken by the +Turks, a priest was saying mass—immediately a chasm opened in the wall +and received him. There he still remains, chalice in hand, waiting to +finish the service, when Christians recover the ancient edifice. + +But I must not enter into further details of what I saw and heard during +my short stay at Constantinople. I was now left alone, as my only +remaining companion was obliged to return home by a different route. + +Let me add in closing this part of my story, that the banks of the +Bosphorus on which I gazed, as I left Constantinople, surpassed previous +imagination. The gardens and kiosks by the waterside, looked +paradisaical; and as we steamed along I was enchanted, one instant after +another, by objects on the shore. All the way to the Black Sea was +delightful. Then surroundings changed. Travellers, landed to find +themselves amidst indescribable confusion. Thence we proceeded by rail +across a dreary district, without trees, and abounding in shallow sheets +of stagnant water, with plenty of storks, Egyptian geese, and other wild +birds. Still, within the region crossed, there were fields of grain. We +reached our steamer on the Danube, between six and seven o’clock on +Friday evening. + +We found the great river improve as we ascended it. At first we had low +banks dotted with mosques and minarets, showing we were still in Turkey. +On board the boat I was treated as an invalid, and the attention shown by +captain, crew, and servants, was such as to inspire the warmest gratitude +on my part. + +The scenery on the banks of the Danube, in the earlier part of our voyage +up the river, was very magnificent—rocks rising loftily from the water’s +edge on one bank, but low on the other. We passed richly wooded scenery, +and caught glimpses of pleasant glens, with running streams and +picturesque bridges. Further on were comfortable farm-houses and smiling +villages. We reached Pesth on Tuesday, travelling by rail, and then +proceeded, in the same way, to Vienna, where I tarried for a couple of +days—seeing the magnificent cathedral, the vaults of the Capuchin Church, +the Prater, the Royal Palace, and the Picture Galleries. Travelling +across Germany by rail I reached the Rhine, thence to Brussels, where I +was entertained by my nieces then on a visit there. At last I found two +dear daughters waiting at the Victoria Station, and at Fairlawn House, +Hammersmith, there was a loving welcome. + +At the conclusion of my narrative of Eastern travel, let me remark. What +one sees in travelling through Palestine gives vividness to the +narrative—makes what before were pale outlines, pictures of glowing +colour and dazzling light. I do not forget the danger there is of being +too much engaged with what is outward in Biblical studies—tarrying in the +porch instead of worshipping in the temple—lingering by the hedge to +gather flowers instead of pressing into the field to cut down +corn—playing the geologist, instead of working as spiritual +miners—finding out what is curious as to literature, instead of +appropriating “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” But still, what I +gathered in the East is precious, and may minister to spiritual +edification, as well as to mental enjoyment. How marvellous it is that +whilst the Bible is so Eastern—while Oriental manners, customs, and +scenery are photographed there, it is nevertheless an universal book! +The Koran is not so Eastern as the Bible; at least, so it struck me, as I +read it in the East; yet the Bible is the Englishman’s book as the Koran +could not be, even if we were all Mussulmans. + +Specially forcible and beautiful were the impressions we derived touching +the life of Christ; we felt how toilsome were his journeys as He _walked_ +along the rough and rugged pathways from Jericho to Jerusalem, over which +we _rode_. How humiliating must have been his intercourse with the poor, +who, no doubt, then lived in wretched mud hovels, such as we saw, not +only in Palestine, but in Egypt; types of domestic habitation for the +lower classes in ages past! We thought: Through such collections of +“houses of clay” did He pass! Here did He tarry, and within such abodes! +Not one of them was His own; He had not where to lay His head. + + + + +CHAPTER IX +1865–1872 + + +IN the year 1867 I published the first volumes of my “Ecclesiastical +History of England”; this calls for explanation of what preceded and +prepared for it. + +Immediately after I left college, and settled at Windsor, I commenced the +study of Church history with much earnestness; and the first fruit was a +course of lectures on the subject to my congregation, delivered on week +evenings. When I had completed them they were sent by me to my revered +tutor, Dr. Henderson, for criticism and advice. He encouraged me to +pursue my studies in that direction, with the hope and intention of +making use of them in after life. I followed his advice, and during the +remainder of my Windsor ministry devoted all the time I could spare from +pulpit and pastoral duties to researches into early annals of +Christendom. In my investigations I was kindly allowed to use the Dean +and Chapter’s library. After I left Windsor, I turned attention to +ecclesiastical affairs during the Puritan period. This happened just as +I was about to pay a visit to my native county—Norfolk—where I commenced +studying original records in Norwich. Proceedings _against +Nonconformity_ and other records there came within my reach, that part of +England being somewhat rich in this department of history. “Spiritual +Heroes” was the title of my first volume, which not long after was +revised and enlarged in a second edition. The Congregational lecture on +“The Ages of Christendom,” was delivered and published in 1856. This +led, in 1867, to the “Ecclesiastical History of England, from the Opening +of the Long Parliament to the Death of Oliver Cromwell.” “The Church of +the Restoration,” forming two volumes, appeared in 1870, and “The Church +of the Revolution” in 1874. To complete the list of works on English +Ecclesiasticism, there followed other volumes on the reigns of Queen Anne +and the Three Georges. Afterwards came “Religion in England from 1800 to +1851.” I state all this, because some confusion has arisen from a +fragmentary publication of the original works and of successive editions. + +In 1867 correspondence and personal intercourse commenced between a +distinguished Episcopalian and myself, of an interesting character. In +that year I received an invitation to Chichester from Dean Hook. He was +much talked of, on account of his High Churchmanship, and his pre-eminent +activity as Vicar of Leeds. Dissenters counted him amongst their bitter +foes; and I should have been much surprised, years earlier, had I been +told I was to be a guest at his house. Yet so it was. Historical +sympathies brought us together, and each found that the other wished to +be fair in dealing with men who held opposite opinions. Both believed in +a spiritual brotherhood reaching beyond denominational bounds. Soon +after my arrival at Chichester he asked: “What shall we talk about? If I +thought I could make you a Churchman, I would try to do so; and if you +thought you could make a Dissenter of me, you would make the attempt.” I +replied: “Nothing of the kind; let us leave out ecclesiastical +controversy, and talk of literary and religious matters, on which we are +pretty well agreed; and when we have exhausted them we will take up +points of difference.” He went on to say, that his great friend Lord +Hatherley, then High Chancellor, differed from him politically, and yet +they had walked up together to the polling booth to record opposite +votes, without any breach of friendship. “And so,” he said, “you and I +can unite to a certain extent; and when we come to the parting of the +way, we can each take our own course, with mutual good will.” I entered +into the compact. On historical and social subjects, and as to religion +in its spiritual and experimental aspects, we were of one accord, and +felt no inclination to unsheath swords. + +We had pleasant drives in the country and cheerful chat at the +dinner-table, when he included within his party members of the cathedral +body. Plenty of anecdotes were related, some about Dr. Wilberforce, when +Bishop of Oxford. The Bishop, I heard, used to tell a story, which +showed how a man might, unconsciously, make a good pun. He had engaged +to dine with somebody whose name was _Hunter_, a cattle grazier, and on +his way, as was his wont, the Bishop bethought himself: “What topic of +talk can we have together?” At the railway-station his eye caught an +advertisement of “Thorley’s Food for Cattle.” That would suit very well. +So the bishop asked the grazier his opinion of such provision for beasts +of the field. The host replied: “It might do very well for _Oxen_, but +not for a _Hunter_.” He did not know he was quoting the diocesan name of +his right-reverend guest (Oxon.), and forgot at the moment he was also +repeating his own. The Dean gave a conundrum, invented by the Bishop, +for the amusement of a young lady:— + +“What part of your dress resembles two popular preachers in the Church of +England?” + +“Give it up?” + +“Hook and I.” + +The Chancellor of the Cathedral, I think it was, spoke of Wilberforce’s +power of adapting himself to people whom he met. He liked to know +beforehand who he was to see. Introduced to a Yorkshire-man, he began to +talk in the county dialect. Visiting a screw manufactory, he won the +confidence of workmen by showing some knowledge of their business. Once +at the Earl of Derby’s (grandfather of the present Lord) he met gentlemen +of the turf, and surprised them by giving the pedigree of a celebrated +racehorse. On being asked how he came to be “well up” on such a subject, +he said he had gleaned knowledge of that kind as a boy, in the stables of +a trainer, near his father’s house. He scarcely ever forgot anything he +had heard. + +The Dean was an early riser; and retired early to bed. We had family +prayer in the library about nine o’clock, the family and the guests +standing and kneeling together. He read the Psalms for the day, and used +parts of the Morning and Evening Service. Once, about half-past ten in +the evening, I said to Mrs. Hook—a charming woman, “light of the +dwelling”—“I must bid the Dean good-night. Where is he?” + +“In bed and asleep the last hour,” she gently answered. + +He told me that early rising had been his habit during his residence at +Leeds, and was so still; that demands on his time, from forenoon to +night, were such at Leeds as would have prevented all literary work, had +he not secured hours for study before breakfast. Then it was he wrote +his books. He worked hard all day when vicar, and adopted unusual +methods of usefulness, holding something like Methodist class-meetings, +which took strong hold on his Yorkshire parishioners. Familiar +devotional gatherings he kept up at Chichester; and a poor old woman was +so delighted with them, that, by an odd association of ideas, she +compared them to feasting on “lamb and salad.” These meetings he would +humorously call by that name. I had a good deal of talk with my kind +hostess about clerical incomes, and the demands made on them; and so I +became disabused of false notions common amongst outsiders. From what I +heard of large outgoings, payments on promotion, and so on, I am able to +form a more correct estimate of pecuniary affairs in the Establishment, +than I could before. + +Considerable correspondence passed between us. A friendly intercourse +was also maintained by subsequent visits. In a letter dated June 4th, +1867, he says:— + + “I like a companion who will look out for points of agreement, and + then coze upon them. I never court the society of those who love an + argument, and look out for topics on which we disagree. You will, + perhaps, infer from this, that I want vigour of mind; but I really + believe that many minds are drawn out and strengthened by cozing + instead of arguing, and I am sure that this conduces to brotherly + affection. My wife and I after many years of hard work—and what is + worse than work, worry—came here to retire from the world. We see + little of general society, and confine ourselves to pleasant cozy + intercourse, with our large and united family, and old friends. We + cannot, therefore, offer you any gaiety when you come amongst us, but + if you take us as we are, we shall hope to have some pleasant cozes.” + +In a letter, dated March 1868, he remarks: + + “In the Peninsular War the pickets of the two armies were accustomed + often to meet on the most friendly terms, and enjoy each other’s + conversation. But when the trumpet sounded each man was at his post, + ready to do his duty. So it is with us. I have always acted on this + principle of refusing to admit the assertion, that our differences + are on nonessentials—and of offering, nevertheless, the right hand of + friendship in private to those whom in public I might oppose, or + rather by whom I was myself opposed. I was freely censured at one + time for this; but when I left Leeds my Nonconformist friends rallied + round me to bid me farewell, and several of them saw I had pursued + the right course.” + + “The great thing which you and I have to do is to guard against the + deadly sin of too many of our contemporaries—imputing motives. If we + can discover a good motive, we may rejoice, even though we condemn + the action to which it may have led. But no words can express, or + thought conceive, the indignation I experience, when men seek to + attribute good actions to bad motives.” + +The Dean was not one of your modern correspondents. The last of these +extracts is from a letter on quarto sheets, which covers _sixteen_ +closely written pages. + +Dr. Hook was a delightful talker, English to the backbone—“a thorough +John Bull,” as an Oxford don once said to me. There was a strong dash of +humour in his constitution, and he was ready to tell amusing anecdotes of +himself. He was no ritualist, no Puritan, certainly no Erastian; but a +godly, warm-hearted, Christian man, whom it was a privilege to know. + +During visits to Chichester I became acquainted with one of the canons, +Dr. Swainson, then Norrisian Professor at Cambridge, afterwards Master of +Christ’s College in that University. He rendered me essential service +whilst I was writing my volumes on “The Church of the Restoration.” Some +of the books and MSS. in the library of the cathedral were of great use; +and when I visited him afterwards at Cambridge he rendered me further +valuable aid. I had the pleasure of meeting some Cambridge dons at his +dinner table, and I remember being interested and instructed by a long +conversation on the rendering of names given in our version of the Bible +to ancient instruments of music. In 1869 I was present at the +announcement of wranglers for that year. I stood side by side with my +friend in the gallery, close to the gentleman who held in his hand a +paper big with the fates of university competitors. It was a dark +morning, and at eight o’clock, amidst breathless silence, the personal +secrets so many waited to learn, were publicly proclaimed. It was a +grand piece of living mosaic which lay before me, as upturned eager +countenances were fixed on the spot where I was standing; and the +announcement of the new senior wrangler raised applause which seemed +enough to lift the roof. + +My friendly relations with Dr. Swainson continued through after-years; +and his laborious investigations into Church creeds were frequent topics +in our conversation. His inquiries into the date of the Utrecht MS. +containing the “Quicunque vult,” etc., were extraordinarily extensive, +minute, and careful, as I can bear testimony from repeated accounts he +gave of Continental journeys and inquiries. I apprehend that nobody ever +spent so much time and labour on the inquiry, as he did; therefore his +conclusions ought to carry much weight in the settlement of a controversy +touching historical theology, as well as an archæological question. + +On the occasion of my visit to Cambridge I went to see my friend, Mr. +Fordham of Melbourne, who possessed a valuable collection of paintings; +and I mention him here, for the sake of what he related respecting Lord +Beaconsfield, who had been a schoolfellow with Mr. Fordham’s +brother-in-law, the Right Honourable Russell Gurney, Recorder of London. + +They were educated at an academy in Walthamstow, kept by Mr. Cogan, a +Presbyterian minister, whose son I knew well. Young Dizzy, as people +called the politician, was famous at school for two things. He delighted +in forming parties and getting up cabals—there was an embryo politician; +next he excelled in telling stories, and would keep the boys awake at +night by his romantic inventions—there was an embryo novelist. He had +early dreams of future greatness, I think; and my friend informed me that +he had talked to his schoolmates of being one day Prime Minister of +England. + +In the winter of 1867–68, Dr. Alford, Dean of Canterbury, delivered and +printed a lecture on “The Christian Conscience,” which was followed up, +in _The Contemporary_ by an article expressive of kindly feelings towards +Nonconformists, and a desire for more friendly intercourse with them. I +felt it a duty to respond to this overture, and did so, both privately +and publicly. This prepared for a friendship which I highly valued. +About the same time, Archdeacon Sandford, father of the Bishop of +Gibraltar, made a move in the same direction. I spoke to brethren in +sympathy with myself, as regards union, and we thought of inviting a few +clergymen to meet us—when, on my acquainting Dean Stanley with what we +had in our minds, he expressed a wish to take the lead by getting several +friends on both sides to dine with him at Westminster. Accordingly Dean +Alford, Archdeacon Sandford, Prebendary Humphreys, and other clergymen, +met my friends Binney, Allon, and others, at our good friend’s hospitable +board; and the party proved most agreeable. Other gatherings of the same +kind followed, and at Fairlawn, where I lived, a long conversation took +place, when, in addition to those just mentioned, Lord Ebury, Henry +Winterbotham, M.P., Dr. Angus, Dr. Rigg, Dr. Roberts, and my intimate +friend, Joshua Harrison, interchanged views in reference to Catholic +intercourse. Dr. Alford, the Dean of Canterbury, afterwards invited Mr. +Binney and myself to one of his garden parties, and soon afterwards he +presided at the Cheshunt College Anniversary, when he uttered sentiments +which were followed by a pleasant response from ministers of different +denominations. On another occasion he met the Professors of New College, +by invitation from the Coward Trustees; thus, and in other and similar +ways, brotherly intercourse was considerably advanced. + +If I may be permitted to trespass a little on what was at the time in +futurity, I will, for the sake of preserving connection between incidents +at that period, mention other circumstances which brought together, in a +friendly way, members of different religious bodies. The first was of no +great importance. I think it was in 1870, the Archbishop of Syra visited +England, and made some little stir. Dr. Stanley entertained him in the +Jerusalem Chamber, and invited a larger party to meet him afterwards. +The host was not likely to lose such an opportunity for bringing together +people of different opinions. Several were introduced to this stranger, +who occupied during his visit, perhaps, a position above his usual one. +The simple fact of this introduction was magnified, by newspapers, even +the _Times_, into a sort of submission to Greek Archiepiscopal +superiority; for the few whose names were mentioned were represented as +receiving his formal benediction, and I wrote to explain the nature of +the interview, which really amounted to nothing more than a respectful +bow on the part of an Englishman to a foreigner, and the return on the +foreigner’s part of an accustomed Greek salutation. The intended effect +of private civil reciprocities is often spoiled, by attributing to them +meanings never intended and utterly absurd. Reports of them in quite a +ridiculous way get into newspapers. + +It was owing to the circumstance of my being “capped” in Edinburgh at the +same time with Matthew Arnold, that I became acquainted with that +remarkable man. He was by no means popular with Dissenters, owing to +what, in some of his books, he said with reference to them. They +appreciated his ability, but censured the spirit which appeared in some +of his criticisms. My acquaintance with him convinced me that in some +respects he was misjudged. When I came to know him pretty well, I +playfully referred to some things he had written, which stung people whom +I knew. “But I am not such a bad fellow,” he rejoined, “as Dissenters +think.” “No,” I replied, “but Dissenters look at you through your books; +I look at your books through you—and that makes a great difference.” I +always found him kind, gentle, tender-hearted. He sympathised with me in +domestic sorrows, and was pleased with some things I had written. + +The publication of “Ecclesia,” a volume by Dissenters, about the same +time that another volume appeared written by Churchmen, was the means of +bringing the editors and writers of the two works together at the house +of a common friend, the Rev. H. S. Toms of Enfield. The Rev. W. D. +Maclagan, editor of “The Church and the Age”—incumbent of a neighbouring +parish (afterwards Vicar of Kensington, then Bishop of Lichfield +{176a})—and Dr. Reynolds, of Cheshunt College, were present. Each editor +proposed success to his brother editor on the other side. + +This was an instance of mutual recognition and charity, worthy of being +known; standing out, as it does, in pleasant contrast with bitter ways in +which ecclesiastical controversies have been too often waged. Nor did +that single interview end the intercourse thus begun, as I have had a few +opportunities since of kindly intercourse with Dr. Maclagan, both as +Kensington Vicar, and as a distinguished Bishop, earnestly doing his +Episcopal work. + +Another event occurred about the same time, in favour of union. The +question of Bible Revision ripened to a practical issue in 1870. {176b} +A committee was formed by Convocation to carry out the project, and I had +the privilege of being present during a part of the discussion. I heard +the Dean of Canterbury, Dr. Alford, make an eloquent speech in favour of +the design he had done so much to initiate, and for the accomplishment of +which he laboured to the last. That speech was pronounced by some +members as the most effective he ever delivered. In the evening of the +same day, I came across Archdeacon Denison, at a clerical meeting, to +which I was invited by an old Kensington neighbour, the Rev. J. E. Kempe, +Rector of St. James’, Piccadilly. There is nothing like private chat +with men of pronounced opinions, who in public are accustomed to speak +with vehemence. Judging from newspapers, one regards them as repulsive, +whereas a little _tête-à-tête_ in a quiet corner, makes a marvellously +different impression. It was so in this instance, and the fiery +Archdeacon, as I had thought him, proved a genial, humorous old +clergyman, joking me on misconceptions of character formed by reading +outside critics. + +I must say, after all his antecedents, I found him a thoroughly hearty +and kindly disposed Englishman and Christian. “The Revision,” had a +powerful and permanent effect in the relations of several distinguished +Churchmen and Nonconformists. Some of my scholarly brethren, I need +scarcely say, were chosen on the committee, and nothing could be more +harmonious than their co-operation on both sides. Having enjoyed the +friendship of some, and the acquaintance of more, I can testify to their +mutual regard and affection. Some High Churchmen—as I know from having +seen notes in their handwriting—expressed thankfulness to Almighty God +for having brought them into this new relationship. It evidently removed +prejudices, and inspired a feeling of religious oneness, where there had +been before estrangement, if not alienation. At the same time Dissenting +scholarship rose in estimation; and I found from conversation, that +Churchmen held their fellow-revisers in high respect as critical students +of the sacred volume. Some betrayed their possession of an idea, that +Nonconformist learning in our day had risen far above what it was of old; +an idea I endeavoured to correct, by maintaining that, whilst there has +been a wider _diffusion_ of knowledge amongst our ministers, it may be +questioned whether the attainments of living men amongst us have not been +exceeded by those of a past generation. Distinguished Hebrew scholars, +such as Drs. Boothroyd, Pye-Smith, and Henderson, famous in the early +years of the century, are dropping out of notice in the present day. + +Social intercourse went on between the revisers and their friends. +Reunions were held at New College, and Regent’s Park College, and also in +private residences. + +An attempt on a bolder line to promote Christian union, came into +prominence about the time now under review. I allude to a proposal for +what has been called an “interchange of pulpits,”—more properly an +interchange of preaching officers. A hundred years ago it was not +altogether uncommon for Incumbents of the Establishment to preach in +Dissenting chapels, especially those of the Countess of Huntingdon’s +Connexion; in a few instances a Nonconformist occupied a parish church +pulpit. Such irregularities died out early in this century. But twenty +years since there appeared a willingness on the part of several clergymen +to revive the practice. Conferences were held with reference to the +subject, and discussions occurred as to what measures should be taken to +secure legally, what seemed desirable to many. The Right Honourable +Cowper Temple, afterwards Lord Mount Temple (now deceased), took an +interest in the matter, and prepared a Bill to remove legal impediments +out of the way. He sent me the following note:— + + “My desire is to give power to the Bishop and Incumbent to allow any + minister of any denomination, or any layman, to preach occasional + sermons without requiring the person who preaches to do any of the + things required of a Priest or Deacon. + + “I shall not touch the Act of Uniformity, but provide for a case + which is not included in its provisions—that of preaching sermons + which are not part of the daily Church Service, though they may be + delivered at the same time. All that is wanted is the admission that + preaching in a church belonging to the Establishment is not + exclusively a function of the Established Church.” + +I insert a copy of the Bill which he sent me. + + “A BILL + + “To enable Incumbents of Parishes, with the approval and consent of + the Archbishop or Bishop of the Diocese, to admit to the Pulpits of + their Parish Churches persons not in Holy Orders of the Church of + England, for the purpose of delivering occasional Sermons or + Lectures. + + “Whereas it is expedient that facilities should be given for the + occasional delivery of Sermons in Churches of the Church of England + by persons not in Holy Orders of the Church of England. + + “May it therefore please Your Majesty, + + “That it may be enacted, by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by + and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, + and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the + authority of the same, as follows (that is to say):— + + “1. It shall be lawful for the Bishop of any Diocese in England, on + the application of the Incumbent or Officiating Minister of any + Church or Chapel belonging to the Church of England within his + Diocese, or for the Ordinary of any Collegiate Church or Chapel, to + grant, if he shall think fit, permission under his hand to any + person, although he is not in Holy Orders and has not made or + subscribed a Declaration of Assent in the terms set forth in ‘The + Clerical Subscription Act, 1865,’ to preach occasional Sermons or + Lectures in such Church or Chapel; and thereupon it shall be lawful + for the person mentioned in such permission, on the invitation of the + Incumbent or Officiating Minister, to preach an occasional Sermon or + Lecture in such Church or Chapel without making any subscription or + declaration before preaching. + + “2. The preaching of an occasional Sermon or Lecture, in pursuance + of this Act, may take place in any Church or Chapel either, after any + of the Services in the Book of Common Prayer, or at a time when no + Service is used, as may seem best to the Incumbent or Officiating + Minister of such Church or Chapel.” + +This Bill did not propose liberty for an Episcopalian incumbent to preach +in a Nonconformist edifice—that object could be sought afterwards—and the +limited freedom contemplated by the proposed measure failed to receive +parliamentary support. The fact was, Members of Parliament, who were +Dissenters, did not take up the question with any zeal, and some were +decidedly against the proposal. They felt no more desire to see +Nonconformists in Church pulpits than the Established clergy and laity +did; though, of course, they took a different ground of objection. Lines +of division remained strongly marked, and those who aimed at +Disestablishment were bent on a more sweeping change. The time had not +become ripe even for so small an alteration, and as there seemed no great +willingness in any party to promote the proposal, it came to an +unfortunate end. All kinds of means for promoting union have been +suggested, and I have supported some very earnestly; but, in my old age, +I am persuaded there is truth in the remark: “The more we grow in +knowledge and advance in love, the more we should strive to preserve that +simplicity, which is so peculiarly the characteristic of the Gospel, and +the more we should guard against _the uncharitableness of supposing that +every other view_, _except our own_, _must be useless or erroneous_.” +{183} + +The year 1871 was marked by an educational measure, opening Oxford to all +denominations more fully than it had been. The Bill met with opposition +from the Marquis of Salisbury and his friends. Some time before I had +been requested by Lord Ebury to draw up for the Ritual Commission an +account of Nonconformist modes of communion. The account is printed in +the Report for 1870 (p. 139). Now I received a note from the Marquis, +who had obtained a committee for collecting information, asking me to +give evidence with regard to matters referred to them. Accordingly I +attended. After listening to what Dr. Jowett, Master of Balliol, had to +say, I took my seat, to answer their Lordships’ queries. {184} I had +looked forward to examination as somewhat formidable, but found it far +otherwise. It turned out to be a pleasant conversation. + +When the Bill came under discussion in the House of Lords, I felt an +interest in the debate, and consequently attended as a listener. After +Lord Carnarvon had spoken, he stepped over to the spot where I stood, +saying that his desire had been not to say anything discourteous to +Dissenters. I received from him afterwards a note, written in the same +spirit, and expressing a desire for the maintenance of friendly +relations. About the same time it happened that a course of lectures was +given on “Christian Evidences,” in which bishops and other clergymen took +part with Dissenting ministers. + +The British and Foreign Bible Society is a bond of social, as well as +religious, union. A dinner at Mr. George Moore’s house, Palace Gardens, +was, at that time, an annual institution, and after the Exeter Hall +meeting in May, the committee, speakers, and other friends, met under his +hospitable roof. The host appeared at his very best, frank, generous, +and kind—no affectation, no assumption; only a rich vein of English +geniality. On his right hand at such occasions, usually sat Lord +Shaftesbury, on the left perhaps the Archbishop of Canterbury. Without +flattery, but in homely ways of recognising service, the master of the +table would call up one after another of his guests, and after we left +the dining-room, we had family prayer together, a bishop and a Dissenter +taking part in conducting the worship. + +In 1871 the Dean of Canterbury was suddenly taken to his rest. The +tidings gave great sorrow; and I felt it was due to his memory that some +Dissenting brethren should attend the funeral. Harrison, Baldwin Brown, +Newman Hall, and others did so; I was invited by the family to be one of +the pall bearers. Dr. Stanley, Dr. Merivale, Dean of Ely, and others, +met in the good man’s library, where his picture of St. Michael’s +Mount,—on which he had spent some of his last hours—stood upon the easel, +and Walton’s Polyglot lay open at the Book of Exodus, where Dr. Alford +had been reading just before his death. Slowly and sadly we walked into +the cloisters, where places were assigned us, and the procession moved +into the cathedral. There Mrs. Alford, with wonderful composure, joined +in the solemn service. Shops were shut, and the streets lined with +people, as we were conveyed to St. Martin’s Churchyard, where we joined +in singing one of his hymns, “Ten thousand times ten thousand,” etc. He +had expressed a wish to be interred there, and wrote the following +memorandum: “When I am gone, and a tomb is to be put up, let there be, +besides any indication of who is sleeping below, these words only: +_Deversorium viatoris Hierosolymam proficiscentis_—_i.e._, the inn of a +traveller who is on his way to Jerusalem.” + +In a letter which I received from Canon Robertson, he said, in reference +to this inscription: “Perhaps Mr. Bullock may be able to tell you, that +some one has discovered the source of the words engraved at the bottom of +the tombstone. My own inquiries have been fruitless.” I have not been +able to ascertain their origin. + +A committee was formed to raise some testimonial to the Dean’s worth, and +they invited me to join them. They acted in correspondence with the +Chapter, and it was determined that a painted window should be placed in +the cathedral, and that it should contain symbols of the evangelists, and +the scenes of our Lord’s Temptation, in the larger circles; whilst the +four smaller ones around, were to contain subjects showing that He +exercised miraculous power of the same kinds, in which He refused to +exert it, at the Tempter’s suggestion. + +In the following year I lost a valued friend, member of our Kensington +church, Sir Donald F. Macleod, C.B., K.C.S.I. He had occupied the +position of Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjaub, and met his death from a +railway accident in December, 1872. He possessed a rare gift for putting +himself into kindly fellowship with those he ruled, whether rich or poor, +entering into their feelings and cultivating their regard so that he +acquired a widespread influence in the Indian province, which might be +called the country of his adoption. All the people loved him as a friend +and father; hence it was said, that if the natives had to choose a +prince, he would be their choice. In a leading journal, the remark of an +Indian gentleman was preserved to the effect, that, “If all Christians +were like Sir Donald, there would be no Mahomedans or Hindoos.” His +private life was of a piece with his public career. He had the power of +making numerous friendships through the happy blending of religion with +an affectionate disposition. “Wherever he went,” said a relative, “his +presence was like sunshine, and the sunshine was the reflection of +another presence, even of Him of whom it is said, ‘In Thy presence is +fulness of joy.’” As he communed with us at Kensington, and was a +personal friend, I can bear testimony to his cheerful manners in company. +His tall, commanding figure attracted attention, and his calm, pleasant +utterances won all hearts, especially those of the young, who would +gather round him, attracted by the magic of his sympathy. This Indian +gentleman visited the Cripples’ Home; this Oriental scholar addressed a +class in the East of London; this ruler, who might have died a rich +nabob, gave away the surplus of his income in acts of charity. + +In 1872 an incident occurred of an amusing description, which, as it has +some significancy, is worthy of notice. A paragraph appeared in a +religious newspaper to the following effect: “The Revs. Dr. Binney, Dr. +Allon, and Dr. Stoughton have been, it seems, presented to His Grace the +Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace, by that consistent advocate +of comprehension, Dr. Stanley, Dean of Westminster. It remains to be +seen whether the Archbishop will invite either of the Doctors to preach +in any of the Metropolitan churches, if not in the Abbey, or in the +Cathedral. The Act of Uniformity will have to be repealed.” If anybody +who read this announcement had been acquainted with the circumstances, he +would have seen its absurdity. The visit arose from an informal +invitation to a party at Lambeth—from Dr. Tait, who was well acquainted +with all the three persons. They needed no “presentation,” such as the +newspaper imagined. It is a curious fact, that, while some people +complain of Dissenters being ignored or repulsed by the upper classes, +when, instead of it, there is friendly recognition, the complainants +imagine that, if the two classes do meet, there must be obsequiousness on +the one side, and patronage on the other. It is supposed an impossible +thing, for a Dignitary and a Dissenter to meet as gentlemen, without any +professional design; on the occasion referred to, ecclesiastical objects +no more entered the head of the host, as he welcomed us with cordiality, +than it entered the heads of his guests. It was an affair of social +courtesy, in which politeness on the one side, I hope, was returned on +the other. By the way, at a Lambeth reception, after mingling with +friends whom I had known for some years, I heard Mr. Binney say to Bishop +Wilberforce: “Are you not surprised to see us here?” + +“Surprised! Why, if you were not here, who should be here?” + +This rejoinder puzzled my friend, when I ventured to add, “I understand +your compliment, my lord, but at least you will acknowledge, it is +something new.” + +“No, not new,” he rejoined, and laying his hand on my shoulder, proceeded +to say, “What is right is not new: is not righteousness as old as the +creation?” + +“Then you consider it is right for us to be here,” I ventured to remark. + +“Certainly; delighted to see you.” + +Some one overhearing this colloquy, observed in a whisper, “He will talk +in a different way in different company.” Possibly; but I believe there +is force in what I have heard his friends say—he was a man of many-sided +sympathy, thoroughly good-natured, fond of approbation, wishing to stand +well with everybody, and for the moment _sincerely_ meaning what he said. +But he was changeful and inconsistent, saying one day, under an amiable +impulse, what it was difficult to reconcile with his conversation another +day in different company. I knew little of him personally as a man; but +as a preacher, and author, I must say I have derived no small advantage +from his sermons and addresses. + +Further, in reference to Bishop Wilberforce, remarkable stories were +current showing what a marvellous gift of extemporary eloquence he +possessed. Archdeacon Sinclair told me that once the Bishop came to a +meeting of the National School Society, totally unprepared, and whispered +to him: “What points had I better take up?” The Archdeacon mentioned two +or three. Wilberforce a few minutes afterwards rose, and delivered a +speech on those very points, as if he had spent the morning in +preparation. Dean Stanley told me that when the Bishop held a +confirmation in the Abbey, he asked, as they walked together up the nave, +whether there was any particular subject he would like to have +introduced. One was mentioned. Forthwith the Bishop took it up in his +address to the confirmed, in a way which led his hearers to suppose he +had carefully prepared what he said. + +Dr. Guthrie was one of the most genial men I ever knew; full of anecdote +up to the brim. Indeed his conversation almost entirely took that form, +and his racy way of telling a story gave what he said an irresistible +charm. He was far more catholic than many of his brethren, and though he +had respect for his ecclesiastical party, his sympathies went far beyond +his own circle; and with reference to the Established Church of Scotland, +though himself a _Free_ Churchman, he cherished no animosity, and was not +_indisposed_ to preach occasionally in the old parish pulpits. His +attachment to Evangelical truth was very strong, and for any deviations +from it he would listen to no excuse. He visited some of my people at +Kensington, and that brought me frequently into his society. How he used +to talk of his visits to Mr. Disraeli and the Countess of Beaconsfield, +of the wedding of the Marquis of Lorne, when he escorted the children of +the family to Windsor Castle, and was especially noticed by Her Majesty, +and was addressed as “My Lord” by somebody who thought him a bishop; and +of a dinner-party at Argyle Lodge, when he met Mr. Bright, and could +hardly get in a word himself, because the great orator would talk so +much! The last time I saw him was at breakfast with me at my house, when +I think he was more brilliant and merry than usual. He knew I was +entertaining thoughts of retirement, and he strongly urged me to +relinquish pastoral duties and become an occasional preacher. Moreover +he said, “It is better to be too early than too late in this respect. +‘Why do you give up so soon?’ one of Her Majesty’s Ministers once asked +me; ‘you have all your wits about you.’ ‘Yes,’ I replied, ‘and if I were +to wait, as some do, till my wits are gone, I should never give up at +all.’” + +An important crisis in the summer of 1872, had occurred in the history of +New College. Dr. Halley from age and infirmities, retired from the +principalship. Dr. Newth was chosen successor, and to fill up the chair, +left vacant by my old friend and tutor, the services of three London +ministers were called into requisition. Mr. Binney undertook the +Homiletic Class, Dr. Kennedy became Theological Professor in the +department of Apologetics, and I was invited to conduct instruction in +Historical Theology. My hands were pretty full, but this was an +engagement congenial to my taste, and for which I felt I was better +qualified than I had been at the time when an invitation was given me to +accept the office of principal. {193} + +The question of my retirement from the pastorate occupied my thoughts at +a later period, and I indicated this in a communication to the Church +through my deacons. That communication was met by a warm and earnest +request that I would continue at Kensington Chapel a little while longer. +I consented to tarry till the end of two years. + +About the time just noticed, education in reference to public schools +assisted by Government grants was keenly discussed. Those amongst +Nonconformists who were disposed to accept State aid in support of +schools in which religion was taught were regarded as acting +inconsistently with their principles in opposition to State endowment of +Christianity. Into that question it is unnecessary to enter here, but I +repeat what I urged at the time referred to, that Government aid and +Government inspection were co-extensive; that if Government assisted a +school, and inquired _exclusively_ into the _secular_ instruction of +pupils, the aid bestowed was to be regarded as in aid of that alone. The +separation in a school of religious from secular instruction, appeared to +me inconsistent with our duty _as Christians_. In guiding the intellect +of the young, an infusion of Gospel truth is, I believe, of essential +importance. A declaration to the effect that the Bible should be used in +public schools was signed by several hundred Christian ministers, and in +that declaration I most cordially joined. The severance of revelation +from other fundamental grounds of youthful knowledge was, in my +estimation, very mischievous. + +Mr. Forster was condemned severely by a large number of Dissenters as +being opposed to the interests of Nonconformity. I have good reason for +believing that he wished to deal fairly between Church and Dissent. The +opinions of all parties had to be consulted, and it was no easy thing for +any man in his place to give universal satisfaction. I conversed with +him at the time on the subject of his measure, and am persuaded he was +honest throughout the whole business. When the strongest feeling against +him existed, I know, from what he said to me, that he gave full credit to +his opponents for good intentions. Of some friends we both knew, who +differed from him widely, he spoke in the kindest terms. When he was +regarded as an enemy by some Nonconformists, I was informed he attended a +Nonconformist chapel in the country during a summer holiday; and I know +he helped the pastor by pecuniary assistance,—that very pastor being my +informant. Mr. Forster never lost sympathy with Quakerism. Our common +friend, Mr. Braithwaite, a well-known member of that denomination, spoke +at his funeral; and an eminent Baptist minister told me of his pleasant +visits to Mr. Forster’s residence. + +Matthew Arnold proposed my name for election to the Athenæum Club. The +usual mode is vote by ballot, which, on account of the number of +candidates, occasions delay for many years. But the committee have power +to choose annually nine members by special vote. I did not know fully +until the secretary wrote to me, that I had been so elected—an honour to +which I felt myself by no means entitled. The influence of Dr. Stanley, +Mr. Matthew Arnold, and other kind friends, secured for me this great +privilege, which has been a source of literary advantage and pleasure to +me ever since. And I may here mention, from what occurred in the +proceedings of the committee, as I was told, Nonconformity was, in my +case, rather a help than hindrance; as the club, in a catholic spirit, +desires to have representatives of different classes and opinions +included on its rolls. On the same principle not long afterwards Dr. +Martineau was introduced to the Athenæum. + +I was surprised a few weeks after my election to receive an invitation to +the Academy dinner, and was pleased to learn from one of the Academicians +that this compliment, as well as the preceding, arose from the same +spirit of catholic sociality. Nothing but presence at one of these +banquets can give an adequate idea of their remarkable magnificence. A +sudden burst of light, just before speeches commence, has a magical +effect. Mr. Disraeli, then Prime Minister, delivered a highly finished +oration, after sitting silent and sphinx-like for an hour before. + +At an early part of the period to which this chapter belongs, the famous +volume entitled “Ecce Homo” was published. It excited much controversy. +I read it with interest and attention. It has long been my habit, in +perusing works unfavourable to orthodoxy, to search in them for admitted +principles which, by a fair application, may be employed in support of +truths to which the author is regarded as being opposed. In the work +just mentioned there is a chapter on what is called “Christ’s Royalty!” +{197} Christ is represented as having established in the world a new +theocracy in describing Himself as King of the kingdom of God; in other +words, as a King representing the Majesty of the Invisible Ruler of a +theocracy. He claimed the character of Founder, of Legislator, and, in a +certain high and peculiar sense, “of Judge of a new and Divine society.” +Whatever might be the views of the writer with regard to the nature of +Jesus Christ, such a position as he reached, seems to me to involve +Christ’s true and proper Divinity. In other words, it is tantamount to +saying that “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” + +I remember that at the time, whatever might be the tendency of the work +on the whole, I thought there were in it admissions of such a nature as +to afford a basis for convincing arguments in favour of Evangelical +Christianity. + +One evening, at that time, I met Lord Shaftesbury at a friend’s house, +and had a conversation with him on the subject of the book. It is well +known that, with the impetuosity which was so natural to that great and +good man, he was swept along by a hurricane of indignation, which led him +to pronounce “Ecce Homo” a work of most pernicious tendency. Of Lord +Shaftesbury it might be said that he was like a cloud which moveth +altogether, if it move at all. He could do or say nothing by halves; and +however minds of a different order might judge of his acts and +utterances, there can be no doubt that by the enthusiasm of his advocacy +he carried beneficial measures which otherwise might not have succeeded. +When I was talking with him after the manner just indicated and pointing +out arguments which I conceived might be constructed out of some of the +writer’s admissions, he was evidently very restless, and expressed his +strong conviction, that the book deserved to be strongly reprehended, in +order to warn people against being led away by its contents. In the +course of conversation he manifested, that he had not read what he so +severely condemned. This habit of condemning books without reading them, +it is to be feared, is too common in the present day. + +Here let me add Lord Shaftesbury’s manner was not always the same. At +times he was gentle and exceedingly affable, of which I remember an +amusing instance. We were travelling together from Peterborough, after a +jubilee meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society in that city. +He was speaking of the profound ignorance of the upper classes respecting +the character and habits of Nonconformists; and I ventured to relate to +him, in illustration of what he had said himself, a story which I had +heard respecting his father, who was Chairman of the Committee of the +House of Lords. A solicitor waited upon him to confer respecting a Bill, +which was coming before the Upper House, in reference to matters which +affected the rights of Dissenters. The old Earl said to this gentleman, +“I hear a good deal about these Dissenters, and some things very strange. +I have been told they are people _who go about without clothes_.” The +Earl laughed, and said, such a thing as I related was just like him. + + + + +CHAPTER X +1873 + + +THE sixth General Meeting of the Evangelical Alliance had been fixed for +the year 1870, in New York; but, owing to the war between France and +Germany, it was postponed to the autumn of 1873. Canon Leathes, Mr. +Harrison, and myself, received invitations from the American committee, +to attend the assembly; and, accordingly, we started for our destination +in one of the Cunard steamers at the close of the month of August. With +the exception of rough weather in the earlier part, we had a fine +passage. Going out we touched on the Irish coast, and, it being Sunday, +we landed and spent the day on shore. We were on the coast of Waterford, +and found the country very pleasant. We attended church in the forenoon, +and afterwards took walks in the neighbourhood. I had spent a week or +more in Ireland some few years previously, and had then seen spots in the +Green Isle, which created a desire to see more. The city of Limerick on +the Shannon had given me delight. Dublin is a magnificent city, and the +object of my visit there had been to preach on a special occasion in Dr. +Urwick’s church. I saw at that time something of Irish society, and +found controversy rife between Protestants and Papists. I took an +opportunity of visiting the Killarney lakes, and found them all, and more +than, I had imagined. Nor could I fail to be amused with the humour of +carriage-drivers and other Irish people. Returning to our steamer on +Sunday afternoon, we started for New York, and had, in the course of our +voyage, rough weather and smooth. For some-time it was +unfavourable—“four-fifths of a gale” somebody said; but in the latter +part of our trip we had charming weather. Where the whistle at night had +sounded like a wail of distress, it was now felt to be means of safety. +Flag signals and rockets now and then relieved the tedium; so did the +gambols of porpoises. Moonbeams in a mottled sky, were pleasant +variations, as we steamed along at a rapid rate. The night before we +landed in New York harbour, the sun went down like a ball of fire, the +sea was intensely blue, whilst alive with little billows, like children +at their sports; the bow of the steamer was crowded by passengers looking +out for the pilot–a capital subject, I thought, for some clever pencil. +The next morning when we reached Sandy Hook, I could not help comparing +the coast scenery near us with some views I had seen on the Bosphorus. + +“For the _first_ time I am in America,” I said to a Yankee +fellow-passenger. + +“Yes,” he replied; “you are now, sir, in the land of the brave, the home +of the free.” + +Mr. Harrison and myself were guests of the Hon. Mr. Dodge, President of +the American Evangelical Alliance. On our arrival he conducted us to his +country seat on the banks of the Hudson, near Tarryton. + +We were in the midst of charming scenery, immortalised by Washington +Irving; near the glen of “Sleepy Hollow,” and the haunts of Ichabod +Crane. By the little Dutch church in the neighbourhood lies a cemetery, +where “the American Goldsmith” is buried. + +We were driven to Sunnyside, where he lived and died, in an old-fashioned +Dutch-looking house, with picturesque gables, bearing a +seventeenth-century date. It is embosomed amidst trees which so +overshadow the lawn and walks, that “Sunnyside,” even when unclouded, can +suffer nothing from the blaze of day. Miss Irving, niece of the author, +and a friend of our host, welcomed us to this sylvan abode, and showed us +her uncle’s library, writing table, and shelves of books, just as he left +them. + +We should have been glad to remain longer at Mr. Dodge’s villa, but were +anxious to reach Niagara, as soon as possible; therefore, on the second +morning after our arrival, Mr. Harrison, with Newman Hall, who had +accompanied us to America, embarked on a steamer for the Catskills, on +our way to the Falls. We arrived at the Mountain House in the evening, +having, in our river voyage, been struck with the Hudson, as resembling +in some parts, a succession of lakes full of Italian-like beauty. We +spent a Sunday at our capacious resting-place, which could accommodate +four or five hundred visitors, and engaged in united worship with Bishop +Bedell, successor to Bishop McIlvaine, of Ohio. He preached in the +morning, and at his request, I occupied the desk at night. + +We did not reach Niagara till late on Monday, and heard the roar of the +cataract some time before our arrival. + +Niagara is a grand study, and we spent the greater part of four days over +it—the first in taking general views, the other three in gathering up +details. I sat down on the rocks, and wrote my impressions from point to +point. From the suspension bridge, below the Falls, you have an inclined +plane of troubled waters. From the south side of Goat Island, you have a +still more striking view of the rapids, like an arm of the sea, two miles +in width, and in front it dashes down the Horse Shoe Fall. Just at the +edge it is a ridge of emerald, tinged, or rather lined, with white. Then +it goes on in rows of streaks, white, white, white; at the bottom, the +flood vanishes in vapour. In the forenoon under sunshine the picture is +crossed by a rainbow. Beyond the mist the river is a shifting floor of +variegated marble. At a right angle with the Horse Shoe, the American +Fall is seen in profile, from what is called, I think, “Prospect Park.” +The rapids below are finer than those above the Falls. Those below are +hemmed in by rocks; those above are bordered by open country on both +sides. Further on, below the Falls, there is an enormous whirlpool. + +Instead of a unity, I found Niagara manifold, varying as one wanders +about the banks. The channel here is worthy of the stream. It is cut +into precipitous cliffs, picturesque rocks, forests of trees, bridges, +hotels and other houses. In photographs and engravings, there is often +but a tame outline, with which the reality does not correspond. Of the +upper and lower Rapids, I prefer the former in one respect; it gives good +views of the foliage which fringes the water. Emphatically, one may use +the word _beauty_ in reference to the landscape as distinguished from the +Rapids. Colours are charming—greens of all tints; at sunset streaks of +pink, violet, lavender, lilac, along the edge of the Falls; azure tints +in the river; sky with crimson and purple flushes at eventide. + +At the expense of repetition, I will quote the words I find in my +notebook written on a rocky bank:—“Opposite, looking west, is the Canada +side, skirted by thick trees, forming a continuous border—the Horse Shoe +form of a rocky ledge, crossed by the sweep of water, would measure the +third of a mile. It still resembles a ridge of emerald, tinged, or +rather lined, with white. Then the flood plunges down, to rise again +from the bottom in columns of vapour. In sunshine the whole is crossed +by a wonderful rainbow. Then, afterwards, it appeared to me like an +altar of frosted silver, spanning the end of a temple choir, sending up +incense for ever and ever! Looking down into the precipitous gulf, +formed by the Canadian and American shores, one sees the river flowing on +steadily like a shifting floor of variegated marble,—green, streaked with +white. I shift my position, walking under the trees of Goat Island, +about a quarter of a mile from the Horse Shoe, and sit upon a bit of +tableland, forming what is called Lunar Island,—dividing into two unequal +limbs the watery flood. At the bottom appears another rainbow. I shift +again, walking up the Goat Island, and cross a bridge over Rapids, and +then enter the grounds called (as just said) Prospect Park; and there one +faces both cataracts—the American in profile, the Horse Shoe full face.” + +A suspension bridge crosses the whirling waters on which it makes one +giddy to look down. Then occurs a turn, where a whirlpool is formed, and +pieces of timber are swept round and round by enormous eddies. Four days +I spent at these never-to-be-forgotten spots filled with marvels of +Divine creation. + +My visit to Montreal was very short, but we saw enough to indicate the +city’s prosperity; it underwent great reverses afterwards. We were +invited to the handsome dwellings of several wealthy citizens, and +witnessed much zeal in the cause of religion. + +On our journey from Montreal to Boston we passed through glorious +scenery, some of it Swiss-like. There were many tempting nooks furnished +with hotels, winding roads leading up to forests on the hills, groups of +white houses with green shutters, and a pretty church amidst them with a +lofty spire. There is a wonderful charm about New England villages. + +At Boston a cordial welcome was afforded by Dr. Dexter, who hospitably +entertained us. My first impression, derived from what I saw of the +city’s less modern part, was that it had an English look; but on further +acquaintance, after seeing its modern edifices, one receives the idea of +a Continental capital. I was delighted with what delights everybody—the +broad green common, adorned by goodly trees and goodly mansions. Some of +the public buildings in Boston are very imposing: a Gothic church, built +by Congregationalists, cost, I was told, £50,000; but since I was there I +understand a much nobler Episcopalian edifice has been erected. On the +Sunday morning I preached in a large Congregational church, where the +music and singing were of a very superior kind, and the choir, I was +told, cost a large annual sum. On the Sunday evening I went to a Baptist +chapel, and, after sermon and prayers, a large number of the congregation +adjourned to a schoolroom, where something like a Methodist love-feast +was held. I met in the town with a nephew of Thomas Carlyle, who related +to me that, while on a visit to England, he called on his uncle, and was +told it was impossible to see him; Mrs. C. resisted as long as she could, +but submitted at last. The nephew was admitted to his uncle’s study, and +the two relatives had a long talk to their mutual satisfaction. + +Dr. Dexter planned an excursion to Andover, where we were received by the +Principal of the College, the Venerable Dr. Park, a celebrated scholar +and divine, who took me a drive round the neighbourhood, and pointed out +the house of Harriet Beecher Stowe, and the homes of people described in +her books. We had a delightful visit to a ladies’ school, where Mr. +Harrison and I received a cordial welcome. Our kind host took us to his +residence several miles off, at New Bedford, and the next day conducted +us to Harvard University, on the other side the Boston river. There we +were entertained by Professor Abbot, who took care to show us a hall, +built by a namesake of mine. Best of all my associations with Dr. Dexter +and the neighbourhood was a most memorable day spent at New Plymouth +where he pointed out the localities of the Pilgrim Fathers. + +We proceeded to New Haven, where we found at the station, Dr. Porter, +Principal of Yale University, waiting for us; we were conducted through +leafy avenues to the college buildings, and there introduced to the +famous American theologian, Dr. Bushnell, with other celebrities. The +students then assembled, and listened to an elaborate speech by Dr. +Dorner, the German scholar and divine, who happened to be there on a +visit, having come as a delegate to the Alliance meetings. Yale College +is a venerable institution, standing among the foremost Universities of +the New World. The neighbourhood is interesting, and we should have been +delighted, had time allowed, to explore the region where two of the +regicides, Walley and Gough, concealed themselves for two or three years +in a cave, to which they gave the name of Providence. One of them, +Gough, suddenly appeared, when a Puritan congregation was attacked by +Philip of Pokanoket, and delivered them out of his hands. He then +disappeared like the twin brothers at the battle of Regillus. + +Having had our glimpse of New England, we hastened to Philadelphia, to +spend a quiet Sunday with a kind English friend, Mr. Yarnell. +Philadelphia is magnificent, redolent of William Penn’s memory, who +amongst colonial founders, stands unique as a man of peace. He did not +sweep away aboriginal savages with sword and shot, but entered into +treaty with them, under the shadow of a spreading elm, which came to be +held in great veneration. Views in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, +vie with noble monuments, visible on every side, of commercial +civilisation and prosperity. The grand Masonic Temple had, when we were +there, been recently opened; and it is amongst the finest structures in +the city. But the Hall of Independence, architecturally unpretentious, +has greater attractions for historic travellers. We were entertained in +German Town, a charming suburb, by the Wissahickon—“fit haunt” for +Shakespeare’s fairies, Peas-blossom and the rest, flowing through tangled +brakes, wealthy in wild flowers. Drives by the “wedded rivers” as +Whittier calls them, the Schuylkill, and the Delaware—are enjoyments for +high days and holidays. One view of the city I caught from a hill +embosomed in trees. A long line of foliage from the tops of which rise +cupolas and steeples, reminded me of Damascus, with its groves and +gardens, mosques and minarets. + +We saw something of private social life in German Town. Several families +in the neighbourhood were invited to spend an evening with us. It +resembled a party on the Continent, where eating and drinking are not of +much interest. The marked feature of the whole gathering was extreme yet +tasteful simplicity. Some ladies were sumptuously dressed, and there, as +in other places, appeared an eye for harmony of colours—a special +American endowment, which struck me pleasantly. Manners were agreeable, +and there was ease in conversation—a rare enjoyment. The ladies were +self-possessed, and could hold their own, yet not rudely; and their +kindliness indicated personal interest, which made their visitors feel at +home. + +We arrived at New York at the beginning of October, and were entertained +by Mr. Dodge at his princely residence in Madison Avenue. Sir Charles +Reed was guest there at the same time, and the arrangements for our +reception betokened a cordial welcome. + +In a “History of New York,” it is stated that “when Henry Hudson +discovered the river, now bearing his name, and Hendrick Christiansen, +and Adam Block, followed up the discovery, the island of Manhattan was +made the chief depôt of the trade, and Christiansen received the +appointment of agent for the traffic in furs during the passage of the +vessels to and from Holland. He immediately set about the construction +of a small fort, with a few rude buildings, on the southern extremity of +the island, thus laying the foundation of the future city.” + +“In May 1626, Peter Minuet arrived at New Netherlands, as +Director-General, and immediately effected the purchase of the island of +Manhattan, from the Indians for goods and trinkets to the value of sixty +guilders or about twenty-four dollars.” “In 1628 a church was organised +with fifty communicants under the auspices of James Michaelius, a +clergyman from Holland.” From these feeble beginnings sprang the wharfs, +the quays, the avenues, the squares, the warehouses, the stores, the +halls, the libraries, the museums, the hospitals of New York. When shall +we stop in the enumeration of riches belonging to this Queen of the West? +Hence, too, we may say came the churches, the congregations, the +colleges, the schools, the reformatories and the religious institutions, +without number, which form the glory of that Western Metropolis. The +first meeting of the Alliance Congress—for the expenses of which twenty +thousand dollars had been subscribed—was held in the hall of the Young +Men’s Christian Association. The hall contains fifteen hundred sittings, +and was decorated with flags, flowers, and mottoes. It was crowded in +every corner, and the spectacle from the platform was imposing, the +audience being composed, to a large extent, of representatives from the +States, and the principal nations of our Eastern Hemisphere. + +Dr. Adams of New York, an eminent Presbyterian pastor, delivered an +address of welcome. Elaborate yet unaffected, scholarly yet not +scholastic, fervent yet not rhapsodical, fluent yet perfectly finished, +pious without a particle of fanaticism,—it laid hold on people present, +and made an impression talked of to this day. I have heard many a +courteous speech at the opening of large assemblies, but never any thing +like that, before or since. + +The address of welcome was acknowledged in a hearty, but inferior style, +by English, French, Dutch, and German delegates. “I am glad,” said +Professor Christlieb, the German, grasping the hand of Pastor Fisch, the +Frenchman, “I am glad to see as the firstfruits of this gathering, that +we Germans can clasp the hands of our French brethren.” + +The next morning we assembled in Steinway Hall. After prayer by Dr. +Hodge of Princeton, Dr. Woolsey, Ex-President of Yale College, a +distinguished student of International Law, took the chair. The Dean of +Canterbury, Dr. Payne Smith, read a sympathetic letter from the English +Primate, and immediately after prayer, he solemnly repeated the Apostles’ +Creed, in which the whole assembly followed in audible tones. + +The Conference then began with the reading of papers, which, with +addresses, were continued morning and evening at sectional meetings. The +interest was kept up, attention never seeming to flag. When Sunday came, +large churches were crowded to excess. The Holy Communion was +administered in the afternoon, when Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist, +Moravian, and Indian brethren took part in the service. + +Besides the sectional conventions, an enormous general meeting was held +in Brooklyn, when extempore addresses were delivered in free and easy +style. But perhaps the most deeply affected audience was a crowded one +in the Academy of Music the last Sunday night, for prayers and short +addresses. A prima donna, I heard, was present: certainly there was one +voice of pre-eminent sweetness and power in that vast congregation. + +All the newspapers gave reports of the proceedings as fully as _The +Times_ does of our parliamentary debates. One afternoon two gentlemen, +who had been clergymen, spent some time beforehand in preparing a report +of what I meant to say in the evening. There was no other way, _they +said_, of getting the report ready for the next morning. The interest +taken in our proceedings by all classes greatly surprised me. +Newspapers, representative of churches out of sympathy with our +proceedings, noticed and criticised what went on: the secular press also +took up the matter, and conveyed abundant information. What appeared in +New York papers was transferred to others all over the States, and thus +religious news of that week spread far and wide. + +The whole report, published afterwards, was a curiosity for size and +cheapness; but such voluminous accounts of a conference must not be taken +to mean more than this—that Americans like to know whatever is going on, +in every circle. It appeared to me that our transatlantic brethren are +so fond of hearing public speakers, and of reading what they say, that +they do not confine their thoughts to such discussions as are germane to +their own convictions and tastes. They are curious to hear what anybody +has to utter, if he speaks to the purpose, no matter what the topic may +be. We should be mistaken, if we measured religious belief in New York +by popular attention given to the Alliance. + +The President, Dr. Woolsey, was a distinguished constitutional lawyer, +consulted at times about international claims by European authorities; +numerous professors of erudition and power, authors, orators, +politicians, merchants, gathered round him in 1873; the European +continent contributed such men as Dorner, Christlieb, and Krafft from +Germany, Prochet from Genoa, Carrasco from Madrid, Bovet from Neuchatel, +Stuart from Holland. Some of our own distinguished countrymen have been +already mentioned. Ward Beecher delivered a wonderful oration in Dr. +Adams’ church on the subject of preaching. He was like a man stopping +you in the street, and getting “hold of your button” so as to compel +attention. I met him several times in America, and received acts of +kindness, when his face was lighted up with an expression of rare beauty. + +Nor were churches and halls the only “pleasant places.” One evening Mr. +Dodge had a reception to which eight hundred persons were invited, and at +one moment, he told me six hundred were actually present. Introductions, +handshakings, recognitions, questions, answers, observations and stories +were incessant; whilst a band of musicians played at one end of a suite +of apartments, it could not be heard at the other. + +On Monday, all the delegates were conveyed by special train to +Philadelphia. On the way we stopped at Princeton. Students of colleges +assembled at the station, and uttered their characteristic cheers—in +imitation of ascending and descending rockets—followed by such huzzahs as +we do not hear in England. We marched in procession through the streets +to the church, where a crowded congregation awaited our arrival. + +We reached Philadelphia about three o’clock. There a long train of +carriages awaited our arrival to convey delegates to the Hall of +Independence. The city authorities represented by one of the judges, +expressed a welcome, after which we were escorted to the Continental +Hotel capable of containing the whole party. We all started next morning +for Washington. + +On the way we were delighted with surrounding scenery, especially when we +came to Chesapeake Bay, into which the Susquehanna pours its waters. +Woods were clothed with autumnal tints, crimson maples flashed their +fires amidst manifold hues of decaying foliage; and the sunny prospect, +as we skirted the bay, was beautiful beyond description. At the +Baltimore station brethren from Washington invested us each with a white +ribbon badge; then on we swept past homesteads, recently the abodes of +slaves, many a hut serving as an original illustration for “Uncle Tom’s +Cabin.” + +We talked in the train with a black bishop, who entertained us with +descriptions of negro excitability. He said coloured congregations would +exclaim in church, as the preacher proceeded with his discourse, “That’s +true, Massa”; and a man once shouted, under the influence of what he +heard, “Massa, that’s like going up Jacob’s ladder.” + +A distant view of the Capitol is not unlike that of St. Peter’s at Rome, +as seen from the Campagna. We saw a few city lions—the Capitol and +Smithsonian Institute being chief; and we found this metropolis, not +without form, for it is artistically laid out in thoroughfares radiating +from the Capitol; but it is certainly “void,” for nominal streets were +there, but at that time without houses. We drove a long distance, across +an open country, suggesting the idea of a city which _is not_, but only +_about to be_. How it looks now, I do not know. Yellow dust was blowing +in clouds, and lying in thick drifts on the steps of the Hall of +Assembly. + +General Grant carried in his face the signs of an indomitable will, and +without any personal assumption behaved as one conscious of +representative power. After my return home, Dr. Adams, who was then in +England, told me that he acted as chaplain to the forces at the time of +the great war, and rode by the General’s side, when he reviewed the +troops. As illustrative of his memory for little things, I may refer to +the General’s conversation with his old chaplain, when they met in +England, and he alluded to the colour of the horse, the latter used to +ride, informing him of the animal’s death, which had just occurred. The +General seems to have possessed the royal gift of not forgetting those to +whom he had been once introduced. Let me add, he was proud of having +commanded such an immense army as he did, and said to the Duke of +Wellington—who repeated this to Dr. Stanley, my informant—“Your father +was general in chief of only forty thousand men; I led as many as _half a +million_.” + +We visited a great number of institutions in New York—colleges, schools, +hospitals, and reformatories. Colleges, architecturally, were not +imposing; but the libraries and scientific apparatus possessed by some of +them, were of a choice and costly kind. I was told of one gentleman who +had contributed £100,000 to educational objects. Schools are immense +buildings; and at New York and Philadelphia it was a sight indeed, to +behold pupils, gliding to their appointed places, and then upturning some +eight hundred happy countenances towards the visitors come to see them. +The examination of classes was most satisfactory, and the resources and +adroitness of the teachers most admirable. Hospitals in the city are +abundant, beyond what the necessities of the population seemed to +require, and the reformatories afforded encouraging examples of +discipline and improvement. + +Parks and cemeteries are on a scale of such magnitude, and are so +picturesquely laid out, that English visitors surveyed them with +surprise. As to American scenery in general, justice had never been done +to it. + +We felt gulpy in taking leave of friends, and ending a visit so +memorable. + +The sea was calm, and the weather bright, as we steamed out on our voyage +home, but a gale followed, and we had violent storms during several days. +Serious accidents occurred in consequence, which gave a maimed appearance +to some of the passengers. My dear friend Harrison had a serious fall. +Waves rose many feet high, and they supplied a key to some of Turner’s +sea pictures, and also to Ruskin’s eloquent language in describing the +“truth of water”—the power, majesty, and deathfulness of the open, deep, +illimitable sea. + +A friendship I formed in America deserves a notice here, on account of +the person’s eminence and the obligations under which he laid me by his +subsequent handsome gifts. Dr. Sprague had the largest collection of +autographs in the world. The number was immense, amounting, I am told, +to about 100,000. He was living at Flushing at the time I was in New +York, and I had charge from a friend in England to call upon him. Though +having never met him before, yet from previous knowledge of each other, +we were at home, immediately after I had crossed his threshold. It is an +American characteristic to treat as friend any one who has been known by +kindly report beforehand, or who can present credentials of character. +Dr. Sprague’s wife and daughter received us at once as if we had belonged +to the family. We crowded an immense deal of talk into a short space, +and before we parted he made reference to his huge collection of +autographs. As we had little time to spare, I had covenanted with my +companion, Mr. Harrison, that I would avoid that tempting topic, as it +would detain us too long; but the ice being suddenly broken, there was no +help, and I found myself plunged—I must say not unwillingly—into a +subject which prudence had decidedly proscribed. Dr. Sprague found that +I was one of the craft, but a minor member; and forthwith he profusely +offered assistance, asking whether there were any letters of his +countrymen I particularly desired to possess. What an overture! I +modestly replied, I should be glad of a few lines written by Washington +Irving. Before I left America there came a most interesting letter from +Irving to his publisher, respecting a new edition of his works; and after +my return to England, post after post brought most valuable contributions +to my store of autographs. The very first included a letter signed by +General Washington of historical value. It relates to the close of the +War of Independence, and gives direction for cessation of hostilities +immediately after the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, in 1781. Letters in +the handwriting of Franklin, Jonathan Edwards, and a number of other +celebrities, came to England from time to time, enriching my stores, +almost to the period of Dr. Sprague’s death. He was a popular preacher, +a distinguished divine, a prolific author, and a man of widespread +influence in the States. + +In closing this account of American friends, I must say a few words about +members of Harvard University. I had met with the Greek Professor at the +Mountain House, on the Catskills, who spoke much of the principal, Dr. +Peabody, for whom I felt a high respect. My friend, Mr. Harrison, and I +were most courteously received by the Doctor at his residence, and were +shown over the University buildings, especially that bearing the name of +Stoughton, a Governor of Massachusetts. I was anxious to see the poet +Longfellow, who resided in an old-fashioned house not far from the +college. Unfortunately he was not at home, and I could not refrain from +dropping him a line. I received the following reply:— + + CAMBRIDGE, _October_ 7_th_, 1873. + + “MY DEAR SIR, + + “I have this morning had the pleasure of receiving your friendly + note, and hasten to say how much I regret that absence prevented me + from seeing you when you were in Cambridge. + + “We should have lived over again that bright summer afternoon at Mrs. + Fuller Maitland’s, which I so well remember, and you would have told + me of many friends whom I should like to hear of again. + + “Perhaps I may still have the pleasure of seeing you before you + return to England. If not, I beg you to present to Mr. and Mrs. + Maitland my best regards and most cordial remembrance of their + kindness and hospitality. + + “With greatest esteem, + “I am, my dear sir, + “Yours truly, + “HENRY W. LONGFELLOW.” + +Mr. and Mrs. Fuller Maitland, members of a well-known old Nonconformist +family, were members of my church at Kensington; and at their house I +used to meet distinguished and interesting people. The occasion referred +to in the foregoing letter made upon me a most pleasant impression. A +large company had assembled to greet the American poet, and there was +plenty of handshaking, which I feared would rather weary him, especially +as so many of us were total strangers; but he assured me that I was quite +mistaken, and that it gratified him much to be surrounded by so large a +party, composed of those whom he regarded as English friends. Americans +are in some respects more cosmopolitan and genial in new society, than +Englishmen, and I was struck with this repeatedly in my transatlantic +trip. I was quite affected with the kindness met with everywhere. Among +those who showed special courtesy were some of the well-known Abbot +family, and other professors at Yale, Andover, and Princeton, as well as +at Harvard, and Mr. Winthrop, of Boston fame. Before I conclude this +account of my American tour, one more incident remains to be mentioned. +At some of the meetings in New York, I met with an intelligent and +interesting Quaker. I found he was acquainted with Friends in England, +and in the course of conversation mention was made of the Gurneys, when +he informed me that Mrs. Gurney, widow of Joseph John Gurney, of Earlham, +was residing in the vicinity of Burlington, in New Jersey. She was an +American lady who became the wife of the Norwich philanthropist, and +retired to her own country after her husband’s death. Finding that I +knew Mr. Gurney, his widow was informed of the circumstance, and +presently I received a kind invitation to visit her at her own residence. +My friend and I, after a pleasant journey, reached the outskirts of +Burlington, and were welcomed by our hostess at a handsome house with +picturesque surroundings. We had much conversation about Earlham, and I +was shown into a comfortable library stocked with books, brought from the +Hall which I had seen in my boyhood. She told me about a visit which Mr. +Forster, father of the distinguished politician, had paid her, not very +long before,—a visit speedily followed by his death, and interment in the +neighbourhood. On the walls of the drawing-room I noticed a facsimile of +the famous letter written to Mrs. Gurney, by President Lincoln, +respecting the great war going on, in which the question of negro slavery +was so inextricably involved. She and some other ladies had been +favoured with a special interview on the subject of emancipation, and it +was to this interview, and its associations that the facsimile referred. +She asked, if I should like to have a copy of it, and then not being able +at the moment to find what she sought, she took down the framed copy and +presented it to me as a memorial of my visit. I carefully brought it to +England, and as it is not known here, as it is in America, I subjoin the +contents, showing the importance which Abraham Lincoln attached to the +conversation of the zealous Quaker on the occasion mentioned. + + “WASHINGTON, _Sept._ 4_th_, 1864. + + “ELIZA P. GURNEY. + + “MY ESTEEMED FRIEND,—I have not forgotten, probably never shall + forget, the very impressive occasion when yourself and friends + visited me on a Sabbath forenoon two years ago. Nor has your kind + letter, written nearly a year later, ever been forgotten. In all, it + has been your purpose to strengthen my reliance on God. I am much + indebted to the good Christian people of the country for their + constant prayers and consolations; and to no one of them more than to + yourself. The purposes of the Almighty are perfect and must prevail, + though we erring mortals may fail to accurately perceive them in + advance. We hoped for a happy termination of this terrible war long + before this, but God knows best and has ruled otherwise. We shall + yet acknowledge His wisdom and our own error therein. Meanwhile we + must work earnestly in the best light He gives us, trusting that so + working, still conduces to the great end He ordains. Surely He + intends some great good to follow this mighty convulsion, which no + mortal could make, and no mortal could stay. + + “Your people—the Friends—have had, and are having, a very great + trial. On principle and faith, opposed to both war and oppression, + they can only practically oppose oppression by war. In this hard + dilemma some have chosen one horn, and some the other. For those + appealing to me on conscientious grounds, I have done, and shall do, + the best I could, and can, in my own conscience under my oath to the + laws. That you believe this I doubt not, and believing it, I shall + still receive, for our country and myself, your earnest prayers to + our Father in Heaven. + + “Your sincere Friend, + “A. LINCOLN.” + + + + +CHAPTER XI +1874–1875 + + +IN the year 1874 I lost my old friend, Thomas Binney. His pre-eminent +position amongst Dissenters was attested by copious notices in +newspapers, and, by the scene at his funeral. That position arose from +several causes—his character, abilities, pulpit popularity, and personal +appearance, manifold and far-reaching sympathies, and a genial nature, +characteristic of the best Englishmen. His influence in the +Congregational denomination throughout the country was aided by the +central position of the Weigh-House when London was different from what +it is now; {230} by strangers from the provinces who flocked there as to +a centre; by visits to various parts of the country at Nonconformist +festivals; and by the transfer of so many members of his Church to other +congregations throughout the land. Nor do I forget how his name came to +be known, beyond that of any other of our ministers, throughout the +British colonies, owing to his being the father and founder of the +Colonial Missionary Society, and the guide and counsellor of many youths +going to seek their fortune in America or the South Seas. Still further +was his popularity owing to a visit he paid some years ago to Australia. +Also, when I was in Canada, I often heard of a less public visit paid to +that country at an earlier period. + +Amongst the many subjects in which my friend felt interested, was that of +improvement in conducting Nonconformist worship; he gave his views +respecting it in an appendix to a work on Liturgies, by the Rev. E. H. +Baird of New York. I refer to this subject particularly, because to a +considerable extent I sympathised with him; not, however, in consequence +of his arguments, but from previous convictions, which, during late +years, have become stronger than ever. The authority for excluding all +liturgical worship from our places of assembly, neither he nor I could +ever understand. I see nothing in Scripture which ties a Christian down +to this perverse one-sidedness. On the contrary, both methods are +sanctioned in the Old and New Testaments. My experience since retiring +from the pastorate has strongly confirmed my previous impressions. When +leading public worship, as I did for so many years, my utterances of +devotion were spontaneous, and I am sure imperfect; but what was obvious +enough before, though sometimes overlooked, came home to my feelings when +listening to words in public devotion, often unadapted to inspire or +guide supplication and praise. Further, extempore words, though _free_ +to the speaker, are, to all intents and purposes, _a form_ to the +hearers; and if a form in extempore speech, when thoroughly suitable, be +proper, why is not a form in written language? Since I have become deaf, +and often cannot catch a brother’s supplications, a form which I can +_read_ must obviously be preferable to one which I am unable to +understand. Extempore public devotion, under many circumstances is of +priceless value; but under some circumstances so is liturgical service. +Attempts amongst Dissenters in the latter direction, I am aware, have in +some instances failed, owing largely to prejudices handed down through +past generations; until those prejudices melt away—some day perhaps they +will—an alteration, such as to others like myself, seems quite hopeless. +{233} + +In the years 1874 and 1875, I took part in commemoration of two +world-known Nonconformist celebrations. + +The first was the unveiling of Bunyan’s statue at Bedford. I went down +with the Dean of Westminster, Lady Augusta Stanley, and Dr. Allon, who +all did wisely and well the parts allotted them. Her Ladyship gracefully +unveiled the bronze figure of the wonderful dreamer; and her husband +uttered immediately afterwards the following effective words:—“The Mayor +has called upon me to say a few words, and I shall obey him. The Mayor +has done _his_ work, the Duke of Bedford has done his,” (he gave the +statue,) “and now I ask you to do yours, in commemorating John Bunyan. +Every one who has not read the ‘Pilgrim’s Progress,’ if there be any such +person, read it without delay; those who have read it a hundred times, +read it for the hundred and first time. Follow out in your lives the +lessons which the ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ teaches; and then you will all of +you be even better monuments of John Bunyan, than the magnificent statue +which the Duke of Bedford has given you.” + +The Dean and Dr. Allon delivered elaborate addresses at the Corn +Exchange, and it was allotted to me, to propose, after a public dinner, +“The Memory of John Bunyan.” The thought struck me, that his genius was +equally imaginative and realistic. People rise from reading his dream, +with impressions of character, as lively as those derived from perusing +Shakespeare or Scott. They see in his delineations just such folks as +walked the streets of Bedford, and plodded through Midland country lanes, +two hundred years ago. I heard gentlemen at table say they thought +Bunyan took his conceptions of scenery from neighbouring places. But I +said I did not think so. He had never beheld hills like “the Delectable +Mountain,” nor a vale or plain like that of “Beulah.” In fact, he took +his scenery from Scripture, and gave it reality by allusions such as we +employ, when touching on objects of every-day life. He was “Christian,” +“Evangelist,” “Greatheart,” all in one—a pilgrim to the Heavenly City and +a preacher of the Gospel. + +I may here add that two years afterwards brazen doors were given to +Bunyan meeting by the Duke, and were opened with due solemnities, the +Mayor and Corporation attending on the occasion. + +The unveiling of Baxter’s statue at Kidderminster occurred in July 1875, +when Dr. Stanley represented the Church of England at the request of the +town authorities; and, at the same time, they requested me to speak on +behalf of Nonconformity. It was a gala day; shops were shut, flags were +hung out, people wore holiday clothes, and a procession of the +Corporation, the Bishop, and the speakers marched to the spot where the +statue was placed. + +Soon after the Kidderminster celebration I visited a worthy friend of +mine at Bridgenorth, the Rev. Daniel Evans. Whilst there I received a +letter from Dr. Stanley saying that he had heard me mention a design I +had of visiting Madeley. He said he found in his interleaved Bible, +opposite Dan. iii. 19–27, the words “Fletcher of Madeley,” and asked if I +could discover at Madeley a key to this enigma, as it seemed to him. Mr. +Evans and I had visited Madeley together, and in conversation recalled to +mind an anecdote in Benson’s “Life of Fletcher.” A man threatened to +burn his wife if she went to hear the vicar again. She went +notwithstanding, and the preacher chose for his sermon one of the lessons +for the day, instead of the text he had thought of previously. The +lesson was in Daniel on the deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and +Abednego from the fiery furnace. The man followed his wife at a distance +to find out what it was in Fletcher’s preaching that so attracted her. +When the poor woman returned she found her husband on his knees praying +by the side of the fire he had prepared for her martyrdom. I wrote to +the Dean and told him the story, as recalled to my mind by my friend +Daniel Evans. The Dean sent back his kind regards and thanks to +_Daniel_, “who had discovered his dream and the interpretation thereof.” + +I have brought the Bunyan and Baxter celebrations together because of +their similarity; and the Madeley incident because it became connected +with the last of them. + +In 1874, the year between the two celebrations, I resigned my charge at +Kensington, when a meeting was held to present a testimonial, to which +Archdeacon Sinclair contributed, and the Dean of Westminster, with other +Churchmen, besides Nonconformist friends in large numbers, uttered loving +words I can never forget. + +The following report appeared in _The Times_:— + + “DEAN STANLEY AND THE NONCONFORMISTS. + + “On Thursday evening, April 15th, 1874, the Rev. J. Stoughton, D.D., + an eminent Dissenting minister at Kensington, retired from the + pastorate of his congregation there, after a connection with them + extending over the long period of thirty-three years, during which he + has had the reputation, while upholding the principles of + Nonconformity, of maintaining the most kindly relations with the + neighbouring clergy, and is understood to have enjoyed the respect of + the whole community of Churchmen as well as Dissenters. The ceremony + of last evening was held in Kensington Chapel, a handsome building in + Allen Street, Kensington, where Dr. Stoughton has long ministered, + and his congregation attended in great numbers on the occasion. Mr. + Samuel Morley, M.P., acted as chairman, and there were present, among + others, the Dean of Westminster, Sir Charles Reed, Sir Thomas + Chambers, M.P., Mr. James Spicer, the Revs. W. H. Fremantle, M.A., J. + Angus, D.D., W. M. Punshon, D.D., Donald Fraser, D.D.; F. J. Jobson, + D.D., Henry Allon, D.D., Samuel Martin, and J. C. Harrison, the + last-named of whom, on being called to address the meeting, took + occasion to say that their reverend friend, Dr. Stoughton, though + acquainted with every form of religious thought, had ever held fast + to the Gospel; that, as a minister of religion, it had been quite a + passion with him to be thoroughly fair and impartial; and that he had + all along panted for union among all religious denominations. Later + in the ceremony, the Dean of Westminster, having been called upon to + speak, presented himself to the meeting, and was much cheered. He + said there might perhaps be several reasons why he had been asked to + address them. He could not plead the same long acquaintance as the + previous speakers had claimed with their venerable pastor; but still, + during the last few years of his acquaintance with him, he could + truly say that there had been no occasion of joy or sorrow in his + life on which he had not received some kind sympathy from him. There + was another reason for his addressing the meeting. As a Churchman, + and as a minister of the Church of England, he felt called on to + express his gratitude towards one, not exactly of his communion, who + had never once let fall from his lips a word of bitterness against + the community to which the Dean belonged, and through whose heart he + verily believed the destruction of Westminster Abbey would send a + pang. He only trusted that when the twenty-first century arrived, + and some future pastor of the chapel should write the history of + Queen Victoria’s reign, he would treat his communion with the same + courtesy and appreciation as their present pastor had treated, alike, + divergent ministers and pastors of the Church of the Commonwealth. + He felt he had come there that evening not so much as a personal + friend or as a minister of the Established Church, but rather as her + representative of common friends through the writings of Dr. + Stoughton and himself. He came there to express obligations which + dear old friends of them both, who lived two hundred years ago, would + have wished to express on an occasion such as that—Chillingworth, + Jeremy Taylor, Sir Matthew Hale, and many more whom his friend had + brought to one common platform. They had had before his time + histories of the Puritans, where they heard of nothing but Puritans; + they had also histories of the Church of England; but the work of Dr. + Stoughton was the first that had brought those famous men together. + There was, he knew, a charge brought against his friend and himself + that they were not sufficiently good haters. However that might be, + he was sure that Dr. Stoughton hated, as he did, party spirit, the + want of candour, all untruthfulness, and insolent vulgarity, whether + in Church or Nonconformity. All these the Dean hated with a + detestation so complete that, if it were possible, he would be + willing to curse them thirteen times a year. He could not part from + that assembly or from that occasion without saying one word on the + peculiar aspect of the farewell on which the previous speakers had so + touchingly dwelt. Surely it was a transition of life which all of + them might envy as they approached the term of their allotted + existence, to be able to secure for themselves a margin of life and + of comparative quiet before the great end came at last. There was a + custom in old monasteries—he trusted it would not be altogether + inappropriate to mention it at a meeting of Congregationalists—that + when any of the ancient monks had served a term of thirty or forty + years—he forgot which—they were then to be relieved altogether from + their arduous labours; they were to be called by a gentle name which + meant ‘playfellow’; and one condition of their existence was that + nothing that was disagreeable should ever be named in their company. + Such to their friend Dr. Stoughton was the tranquil period through + which he was now passing; and although they might still anticipate + for him long years of active usefulness, whether by pen or by voice, + there must be a delightful sense on his part in looking forward, + having accomplished one period of his existence, to a more + undisturbed time in which he might look back on what had been, and + forward to what was to be to him and all alike. The Dean’s speech, + of which this is necessarily a summary, was repeatedly cheered during + its delivery. A valedictory address, expressed in flattering terms, + and reviewing the long connection between their pastor and the + congregation, was afterwards presented to Dr. Stoughton by Mr. R. + Freeman, on behalf of the Church and congregation, accompanied by the + spontaneous gift of a purse containing £3000.” + +Besides others who were present on the occasion, as noticed in _The +Times_, let me mention my excellent friend and neighbour the Rev. J. +Philip Gell, formerly Vicar of St. John’s, Notting Hill. He referred to +the well-knit efforts of pastor and people, which had constituted the +strength of the Church at Kensington, and remarked that it was little +known how the force of public opinion acts and reacts on the life of a +large permanent congregation. “The love which was thrilling that night +was the Church’s strength, and so long as that lived and flowed on the +part of the people, and was sustained by the pastor’s wisdom, so long +would the Church live and prosper.” + +Dr. Morley Punshon, President of the Wesleyan Connexion, travelled from +Leeds, where he had preached that morning. He trusted that the Church +would be Divinely guided in choosing a successor. It was encouraging to +witness such a presentation as that just made, the like of which many +present had never seen before. + +The years I spent at Kensington were very happy. I can say from +experience that the life of a Congregational minister, in connection with +a large and liberal Church—when full play is given to the social +affections, elevated and purified by culture as well as religion—is an +enviable lot, and calls for the devout gratitude of any one who has +enjoyed it. + +The friendships formed with many of my flock, a very few of whom are +still living, have been amongst the choicest privileges afforded me by +Divine Providence. Loving memories of them linger in my heart, amidst +sweeping obliterations of names and faces incident to an age of fourscore +and more, and those who survive me will, I trust, accept an +acknowledgment of obligations deeply felt as these lines are written. I +took special interest in some, now goodly matrons, who were school girls +at Kensington in my time, and whose happy fortunes I have sympathetically +followed through life. If they read these lines, they will understand +the fatherly feeling with which they are written. Their parents, now at +rest in the eternal home, were no small joy to me, and as they passed +away, one after another, they left blanks not to be filled up in this +world. + +Two deceased friends I may here notice. At an early period in my +Kensington pastorate, a gentleman called upon me in the vestry with a +transfer to our Church from a communion he had joined in Manchester. At +the time he was a rising engineer, and afterwards took part in the +construction of railways over the Alps and in South America. He was a +botanist, and came to possess a large garden and conservatory where he +lived. He received the honour of knighthood, and as Sir James Brunlees +became well known. He took a deep interest in our Congregational +affairs, and after his change of residence from Addison Road, Kensington, +still continued, with his family, to worship with us on Sundays. He was +an intimate friend of John Bright, both of them being anglers; and I was +entertained by stories of their success, as brethren of the rod. I often +spent a few restful days at Argyle Lodge, where he and his kind-hearted +lady made me as much at home as I felt at my own fireside. She died +suddenly, after my retirement, when she was visiting a friend. I was +immediately summoned to meet and comfort the mourning family. Another +friend—George Rawson, of Bristol, the gifted hymn-writer—also died after +my retirement, leaving memories of intelligence, humour, and affection, +which I shall fondly cherish as long as I live. His beloved wife, +daughter of the Rev. John Clayton, one of my predecessors in the +Kensington pastorate, died some years before at Bristol. The touching +memory of her funeral, and of the company then present, passes before me +as I write these lines. + +When I wrote this chapter, I asked my dear daughter Georgie to give me +some results of her own experience whilst visiting the poor. She +returned the following notes:— + + “Instances of unselfishness are sometimes very touching. I knew a + Christian woman who suffered for years with weak sight, and had + several operations on both eyes, so that she could only distinguish + outlines of different objects. She heard of two little children, + distant relations of her husband, being left orphans, and as she had + no children of her own, she suggested that they should adopt these + little girls, and lead them in early years to a knowledge of Christ. + The husband was so touched at his wife’s readiness, with failing + sight, to take this burden upon herself that, though a common + labourer, he was willing to incur the extra expense, and ever since + that home has been one of the brightest I know. + + “A poor woman expressed a strong desire that some one would speak to + her sailor boy, who was wild and unmanageable. An opportunity + occurred not long after, but the lad manifested great disgust at + being talked to, and afterwards whenever I called he left the room. + When about to start upon a voyage, I went to bid him ‘Good-bye.’ On + leaving I said, ‘The time may come when you will feel the need of a + true friend; remember that Christ is ready to receive you, for He has + said, “Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.” These + words may fill your heart with gladness some day.’ I did not hear + anything of him for a long time, but one evening I received a note + saying he was lying ill in a hospital, and would I go and see him. I + complied, and found he had never forgotten the Saviour’s words which + I had quoted. He resisted, he said, the voice calling him to forsake + his sins and cleave to Christ till he could bear it no longer. At + last he yielded, and the change produced in him was remarkable. + During a long illness he manifested patience, unlike his old self, + and the lad’s cheerfulness and readiness to help his mother were very + beautiful. He died in her arms, singing ‘Safe in the arms of Jesus.’ + + “Many of the poor have seen days of prosperity, and have forgotten + God; but, when adversity comes, like frightened children, they rush + to the Father’s arms. One man, possessing at one time over £20,000, + with a hundred men under him, lost all. Then, when reduced to the + greatest distress, he listened to the Divine voice. + + “I remember that on Lord Chichester’s library table there always + stood a large card, with the words: + + ‘Lord Jesus, make Thyself to me + A living, bright reality.’ + + “And such words unite the rich and the poor. One of the poorest + women I ever met, had a strong realisation of Christ’s constant + presence; and it so beautified her life, that all who entered her + humble home felt such a prayer had been answered in her experience. + I never talk to her but my mind is carried back to the Stanmer + library.” + +At the end of this chapter, which closes my Kensington ministry, I +venture to speak of my methods of preaching. + +The main object of my ministrations was the illustration of God’s Holy +Word. Archbishop Whately preferred “to set his watch by the sun”; and, +therefore, tested the results of his own thinking, and other teachers, by +a comparison of them with the decisions of Scripture. When Scripture was +plain, the subject on which it pronounced a distinct judgment was +regarded as fixed for ever. That method it was my desire habitually to +pursue. I made it my aim, not only to interpret the meaning of a +particular verse taken by itself, but to catch, and fix in my mind, the +_drift_ of Apostolic thought in particular instances. It has been said, +irreverently, that some expositors, when persecuted in one verse, flee to +another, and the connection between the several parts of a paragraph is +overlooked and lost. + +It was my desire to look at long _trains of thought_ in the writings of +St. Paul as a sacred landscape, in which here and there a verse occurs as +a lofty hill, which serves as a commanding point for surveying a +landscape of thought round about. A single verse is often a key to an +entire paragraph. + +It was my habit to go over now and then a large extent of +Scripture—doctrinal, biographical, historical. “Stars of the East, or +Prophets and Apostles,” formed a series of personal sketches in the Old +and New Testaments, afterwards published by the Religious Tract Society. +Another course, called “Lights of the World,” were illustrations of +character, drawn from records of Christian experience and action, such as +“William Tyndale, or Labour and Patience”; “Richard Hooker, or a Soul in +Love with God’s Law and Holy Order”; and “Robert Leighton, or the +Peacefulness of Faith.” + +Besides such methods I did not scruple to lay under contribution to the +pulpit, condensed summaries of Puritan works, such as Baxter’s “Now or +Never”; also I may mention that a course of Sermons on “Pilgrim’s +Progress” excited much interest, and three or four of these I repeated at +the close of my pastorate. + +As to the real value of a sermon, form must never be confounded with +substance. It is vain to vote the mantle into majesty. A royal robe +depends for effect on the richness of the material, not on the adjustment +of its folds. Toller’s “Sermons” {248} so eulogised by Robert Hall, +depend for their impressiveness, not on a careful selection of words—in +this respect they are open to criticism—but upon the intrinsic majesty of +such thoughts as they express. + +There is an obvious contrast between French and English preachers in this +respect. They are more attentive to form than we are. I have witnessed +effects in Parisian, and in Italian churches as well, produced by modes +of delivery, such as I never saw in our own country. Young preachers in +England might make their sermons more effective than they are, by greater +attention paid to a mode of delivery. + +Let me add a word or two as to preparation from week to week. At the +beginning of a week I chose subjects for the following Sunday; and then +gathered up from day to day, in reading and talking, arguments and +illustrations suggested by books, scenery and conversation. One’s mind +may be brought to such a state as to gather together what is valuable and +useful from time to time, as the magnet attracts to itself grains of +precious metal over which it sweeps. And, let it not be forgotten, we +may sometimes _build_ up a sermon by adding one thought to another; and +at other times _plant_ a sermon through an idea which takes root and +grows into a goodly tree. My method then was, on a Saturday evening, to +_review_ and revise what I had prepared, to criticise its substance and +arrangement, and alter it in matter and form, so that on Sunday morning +it could be poured out to the people in freshness and force. + +On week-night services, I sometimes took up Church history, or +archæological illustrations of the Bible. Bible-classes, of course, were +held; but in the latter part of my Kensington pastorate, I was greatly +helped in this, as in other respects by my worthy friend, the Rev. J. +Alden Davies, who was for a few years my assistant minister. {250} + + + + +CHAPTER XII +1875–1879 + + +IN my last chapter I brought together two celebrations—one in honour of +John Bunyan, the other in honour of Richard Baxter. Another celebration +now claims attention, not of an English Nonconformist, but of a +Protestant Reformer, whose fame covers the world—Martin Luther. English +commemorations of his character and work were held late in 1875 and early +in 1876. + +Before I mention any particulars respecting the Luther celebration, I +repeat what I have said elsewhere: + + “There is no other man of a similar order whose fame touches so many + topographical points, and sweeps over so wide a surface. The local + reminiscences of Shakespeare and Milton, even taken together, are + few, and cluster round a metropolis, a provincial town, and two or + three villages. But how many cities, castles, and houses there are + in Germany scattered far and wide which may be said to have Martin + Luther for their presiding genius! Guide-books call attention to + some spot where he went, some fortress or tenement which gave him + shelter, some church in which he preached, some locality which his + name has made famous; and there are scenes and houses unmentioned in + guide-books, over which lingers the spell of his memory. One comes + across mementoes of Charles V. in divers directions; but even they + are fewer, less interesting, and less honoured than those of the monk + who gave the emperor so much anxiety, and who by his devotion, and + energy accomplished the reformation of the Teutonic Church. + Certainly no king, no kaiser, can vie with him as to the place he + occupies in the thoughts of his own people, and indeed of the whole + Christian world.” {252} + +Washington Irving concludes his essay on “Shakespeare and +Stratford-on-Avon,” by remarking it would have cheered “the spirit of the +youthful bard that his name should become the glory of his birthplace, +that his ashes should be guarded as a most precious treasure, and that +its lessening spire, on which his eyes were fixed in tearful +contemplation, should one day become the beacon towering amidst the +gentle landscape to guide the literary pilgrim of every nation to his +tomb.” + +It is no depreciation of Shakespeare’s genius to say that above his +aspirations after fame, whatever they might be, rose the aims and desires +of Luther—a man absorbed in zeal for the salvation of souls, and for the +glory of his Saviour; but it would have filled him with wonder, could he +have foreseen the place he was to occupy in the history of the world, and +how the double tower of the Stadt Kirche, in which he preached, would +become a beacon to guide tens of thousands from both hemispheres to the +Augustinian monastery, where he lived, and to the Schloss Kirche, where +he lies buried. + +The Luther Commemoration in England was enthusiastic. + +Soon after I left Kensington an immense assembly gathered in Exeter Hall, +to take up points in Luther’s character and work. If I remember rightly, +I dwelt on that occasion at some length on his domestic life, often +assailed by his opponents, but held in admiration by Protestants all over +the world. In lectures and addresses, delivered at Norwich, +Peterborough, Bedford, and elsewhere, I dwelt on his manifold excellences +and achievements, at Leipzig, at Worms, in the Wartburg, and his +Wittenberg home. My remarks accorded with those I have now introduced. + +After the close of my pastorate in Kensington, Ealing became my home. +The professorships at New College were continued. Sundays were spent in +preaching the Gospel. Literary studies were pursued to a larger extent +than they had been when pastoral duty claimed chief attention. + +In 1876 I was grieved by the death of Lady Augusta Stanley, for she +manifested towards me kindness which could not fail to inspire my warmest +gratitude. I never knew any other person who had so much dignity and +sweetness of demeanour, one who, with many-sided sympathy, could make her +numerous guests feel how sincere were her friendly demonstrations. It +often surprised me, as it did others, how she paid marked attention to +all her guests, however numerous they might be. Her tact was admirable. +Nobody could leave the Deanery with the idea of having been neglected. + +Her “At Homes” were extraordinarily popular, for every one was sure of +meeting with notabilities of Church and State, literature and science. +Her husband was in full sympathy with her in all these respects. + +She was intimately acquainted with foreign celebrities, and her +conversation about them was of much interest. She and her mother, Lady +Elgin, spent some days in Lamartine’s house at Paris, when violent mobs, +during the Revolution, assembled in front of the residence. The +President behaved bravely, but expressed fear lest any insult should be +offered to English ladies under his roof. Mother and daughter, if I +remember right, had been offered refuge by the President when the utmost +peril filled the French capital. Lady Augusta related interesting +anecdotes of Lamartine; and I gathered that he habitually indicated no +small confidence in himself, feeling that he was the greatest man in +France, as no doubt, at the time, he really was. + +Her Ladyship and the Dean were well acquainted with M. Guizot, and gave +interesting accounts of that distinguished statesman, and of his habits +and studies after retirement from public life. I happened once, when +talking of Earl Russell, to make the remark, that I had heard of his cold +manner to political acquaintances. Her countenance lighted up, and she +spoke with enthusiasm of what he was in the bosom of his family, and the +circle of intimate friends. Bishop Thirlwall was a great favourite with +her, and she related interesting anecdotes of that distinguished man, +indicating a warm heart, in union with a keen intellect. + +Lady Augusta’s visit to St. Petersburg with the Dean, at the marriage of +the Duke of Edinburgh, proved too much for her strength, and at Paris in +the following autumn serious illness set in. From time to time amendment +and relapse excited hope and fear, until all prospect of recovery +vanished. She spoke of friends, sent kind messages, and talked calmly +and with humble confidence of the other world, saying, “Think of me as +near, only in another room. ‘In my Father’s house are many mansions.’” +I had a touching note from the Dean asking me to be a pall-bearer at the +funeral. All chosen for that office indicated causes, classes, and +places in which she felt an interest. Religion, literature, and +philanthropy, the neighbourhood in which she lived, and Scotland—each had +a representative. + +The assembly of mourners in the Jerusalem Chamber; the spectacle in the +Abbey; the procession up the nave whilst the Queen occupied a little +gallery not far from the western door; the calm submission of the +bereaved husband, as he sat by the coffin; the solemn entrance into Henry +VII.’s Chapel; the ray of sunlight falling on the coffin as it sank into +the vault; and especially the words, “I heard a voice from Heaven,” sung +by choristers invisible at the moment, as if music came from the Upper +Temple—these incidents can never be forgotten. + +It was by royal command that this lady, descended from the royal Bruce, +was buried in a chapel reserved for royal persons; and immediately after +the interment wreaths from the Queen and her children were strewn over +the grave. The three benedictions—the Mosaic, the Pauline, and the +Ecclesiastical—which the deceased loved to hear were pronounced, at the +close of the service, by the Dean from a desk in the nave. She had said +to him, “Think of me as you repeat the holy words.” He did, when she was +gone as when she was living. + +The Dean sometimes referred to his visit to St. Petersburg in company +with her ladyship, and spoke of his having before him, as he tied the +nuptial knot on that memorable occasion, no less than four princes, each +of whom was expectant of a crown—the Prince of Wales, the Crown Prince of +Prussia, the Crown Prince of the Netherlands, and the Czarevitch; and he +also mentioned this circumstance—that after the wedding party had passed +in state through a magnificent hall, where no provision for a banquet +could be seen, within an hour and a half they sat down to a feast of +sumptuous splendour, reminding him of Belshazzar’s, not in point of +excess, but in point of regal display. The fact was, the side-tables had +been concealed behind screens and drapery. The middle one had in that +space of time been fixed and adorned. + +I may here mention that one day, during a visit to the Deanery, I had +much conversation with Miss Stanley, the Dean’s sister, an agreeable +companion, who freely indulged in some common recollections of dear old +Norwich, and some friends whom we had both known. She told me a great +deal about her good father, the Bishop, dwelling with admiration upon his +exceedingly simple habits, and his determination never to give at the +Palace _grand dinners_, but only such as combined hospitality with +Christian unostentation. + +Two or three days previous to Lady Augusta’s funeral, I breakfasted at +Lambeth, when Archbishop Tait, amongst other things, spoke of his desire +for some union with Protestant Dissenters as far as it was possible; and +this led to proceedings which, as they have not been reported in any +fulness, may be recorded here. + +It was a delicate question who should first move in the matter. The +Archbishop wished to invite brethren to Lambeth, but what reason was to +be assigned for taking such a step? At length it was arranged that some +communication should be made to him, indicative of a disposition on the +part of Nonconformists to confer with Episcopalian brethren. On such a +ground the Archbishop considered he might bring together bishops, ready +to join in a conference. I undertook to prepare a letter and get it +signed, so that Dr. Tait might feel he had sure footing for what might +follow. It was based on a recognition of pleasure felt by +Nonconformists, in consequence of passages in his recent charges touching +religious union. The letter went on to express willingness to meet +brethren for consultation respecting co-operation in religious service so +far as it might be possible and wise. It was signed by well-known +ministers, and was acknowledged by the Archbishop under the term of +“memorial,” an expression which, if I remember rightly, had not been +employed by us. + +Four Nonconformist ministers accordingly went down to Lambeth to converse +on the subject. Previous to this interview, it was my conviction that to +discuss the subject of _union_ by itself was by no means desirable, as it +might raise questions which would defeat the end in view. In harmony +with this, the following opinion was expressed by a friendly +prelate:—“Such a neutral subject as the progress of irreligious thought, +would do well as a basis for a friendly meeting.” + +In a note received from the Archbishop before we met, he said, “I beg +leave to assure you that all the bishops whom I have consulted agree in +the extreme importance of this movement, and in an earnest desire that by +proper preliminary arrangements your proposal for a conference may be +brought to a satisfactory result.” The proposal for a conference, I +think, did not _originate_ with me, though I quite approved of it, and +was glad the Archbishop had kindly arranged for its being held. + +I subjoin the following record, received from Lambeth, respecting a +conference which the ministers named held with the Archbishop +beforehand:— + + “May 24th, 1876: The Archbishop of Canterbury saw the Rev. Dr. + Stoughton, the Rev. Dr. Angus, the Rev. Newman Hall, and the Rev. Dr. + Aveling. + + “The gentlemen present having heard from the Archbishop what had + passed with the bishops who met at the Ecclesiastical Commission, it + was the opinion of those present that there was ample room for united + efforts to stem growing infidelity and ungodliness. + + “1. Therefore that a united conference as to the best means of + attempting to spread the knowledge of the answers to materialistic + and atheistic sophistries might be attended with very beneficial + results. + + “2. That such a conference might with great advantage consider the + lamentable ignorance and indifference as to religion which prevails + amongst masses of the community, and the best modes of meeting these + evils. + + “3. That such a conference might also with advantage consider what + efforts are needed to rouse the classes above the artisan class to a + greater appreciation of the realities of religion. + + “4. That it would be desirable that at such a conference those + present should come prepared to state their experience as to the + difficulties to be met, and the proposed remedies. It was agreed + that a day after the first week in July would be suitable for such a + conference. + + “The result of this was reported by the Archbishop to an informal + meeting of certain bishops at the Room of the House of Lords: + present, the Archbishop of York, the Bishops of London, Winchester, + St. Asaph, Llandaff, Gloucester and Bristol, and Carlisle; and + Monday, July 4th, at twelve noon, was fixed for our gathering.” + +We assembled accordingly on July 4th, and there were present besides the +Primate, the Bishops of London, Winchester, Peterborough, Gloucester, +Bath and Wells, Drs. Allon, Raleigh, Punshon, Rigg, Aveling, Angus, +Cumming, Robertson of Edinburgh (an old schoolmate of Dr. Tait); the +Revs. J. C. Harrison, Newman Hall, Josiah Viney, and several others whom +I cannot call to mind as, unfortunately, I have not kept a list. + +The Archbishop presided, read the Scriptures, and offered prayer. He +opened the proceedings by an appropriate address, and then requested me +to give some account of the steps which had led to our meeting together. +I could not help referring to some remarkable gatherings in the Jerusalem +Chamber, March 1640–1, convened by Dr. Williams, at that time Bishop of +Lincoln, and also Dean of Westminster, when several other dignitaries met +certain Presbyterian divines. “This,” I remarked, “was done by order of +the House of Lords, with a view to settling points of difference between +ecclesiastical parties of that day. A scheme of comprehension was +contemplated. It came to nothing, though the intercourse seems to have +been pleasant, and they were hospitably entertained by the convener.” +“This was the last course of all public Episcopal treatments,” said the +witty Thomas Fuller, who added: “The guests may now soon put up their +knives, seeing, soon after, the voider was called for, which took away +all bishops’ lands.” I emphasised the fact that we had assembled for a +very different purpose, not to discuss any plan of comprehension, but to +see how parties, remaining ecclesiastically as we were, could, +notwithstanding, _unite_ in defence of our common faith against those who +opposed it. + +“We have a common cause,” it was added; “and let us aim at extending the +influence of our common Christianity—this would bring us into spiritual +and practical fellowship, the most enduring of all bonds.” The Bishop of +Bath and Wells followed and spoke on the specific point—how we should +meet doubts and difficulties in reference to religion. The Bishop of +Peterborough discussed the subject generally, with great eloquence and +force. The Bishops of London and Winchester made practical suggestions +as to guarding Christians against scepticism, and rousing people at large +from indifference and neglect. Drs. Rigg, Angus, and others, combatted +infidel objections and enforced attention to the subject before us. A +spirit of harmony pervaded the meeting. + +We broke up the morning conference at two o’clock, and then lunched +together; reassembling at three o’clock, when the Bishop of Gloucester, +Dr. Punshon, and several besides, resumed the conversation. No +representatives of the press were present, and no report, that I am aware +of, was taken and preserved. We wished to prevent the controversial +treatment of what took place. Two of those who were there, together with +myself, received and complied with a request to prepare some brief +statement for _The Times_, on the character and purpose of our meeting. +Of course, the whole matter was criticised afterwards, chiefly however in +private. I do not remember that it was taken up controversially in +religious periodicals. To correct some misapprehensions—expressed in a +Dissenting newspaper—I, at the request of an esteemed brother, wrote a +short letter of explanation. + +When we separated, gratification was expressed by those who were present. +Some Nonconformists did not enter into the movement; others did, and that +most heartily. From several Episcopalian friends we received assurances +of approval and sympathy. It issued in no united action; no fresh +organisation had, as far as I know, ever been intended. The purpose +designed was accomplished by interchanging thought, collecting +information, and encouraging one another in ministerial work. + +For Archbishop Tait I had great respect and affection. He was singularly +kind and conversable, without affecting any official superiority. Under +his grave countenance, and habitually serious demeanour, as one who lived +ever “in his Great Taskmaster’s eye,” there were veins of cheerfulness +and humour in his familiar intercourse—I felt deeply, his gentle +sympathy, expressed in a letter of condolence, on my dear wife’s death; +and the last time we talked together, being interrupted by another +person, he broke off in the opening of what seemed an amusing tale. He +appreciated the relative position of Church and Dissent, better than any +other dignitary I have met with. He would say that Nonconformists had +their traditions, organisations, endowments, and influence, which gave +them a status they were not likely to surrender by bringing over what +belonged to them, into an Episcopalian organisation. A fraternal _modus +vivendi_, he regarded as the object to be aimed at, not an absorption of +Dissenting bodies into the Establishment. He, no doubt, would have +preferred to see _One Great Church_ in England, under a moderate +Episcopacy; but he seemed to cherish little hope of any such object being +accomplished. + +On a former page allusion was made to Mr. Bagster, of Polyglot fame. In +the year (1877) his venerable wife, at the age of 100 _within a few +hours_, died at Old Windsor; and her accumulated years attracted the +notice of Her Majesty, who honoured her with a visit just before her +decease. I called at the cottage in which she expired, after the royal +visitor had been there, and there heard the particulars of the interview. +Her Majesty I was informed, brought with her the Princess Beatrice; and, +on their entrance into the bedroom, where the old lady was lying, she at +once expressed her gratitude for the signal favour bestowed by her +Sovereign, saying that “she was looking forward to her own speedy +dismissal to the immediate presence of the Saviour, where she hoped +hereafter to meet Her Majesty.” Pleasant conversation followed, in which +Mrs. B., at the Queen’s request, related her memories of George III., +Queen Charlotte, and the Royal Family, as they used to walk on the Castle +terrace, in the presence of a large number of loyal spectators. The +Queen manifested interest in particulars respecting the good old lady, +related by her daughter; and in consequence of the report she gave on her +return home, Prince Leopold, as I was told soon afterwards, paid a visit +to Old Windsor, and wished for a rehearsal of what had been communicated +by his Royal Mother. Repeated gracious inquiries from the Castle +followed. At the funeral service a note was put into my hands, written +by the Duchess of Roxburgh to Miss Bagster, tenderly touching on that +lady’s sorrow, for her late bereavement; and concluding with the words: +“The Queen begs you to convey to all the members of your venerable +mother’s family, the assurance of Her Majesty’s condolence.” This note +was read to the mourners. + +In 1877 I made two pilgrimages which left memorable impressions. All my +life I have been an enthusiastic shrine-seeker, loving to trace out spots +sanctified by footsteps of heroic and holy men. I heartily adopt the +words of Dr. Martineau, “No material interests, no common welfare, can so +bind a community together, and make it strong of heart, as a history of +rights maintained and virtues uncorrupted and freedom won; and one legend +of conscience is worth more to a country than hidden gold and fertile +plains.” + +At different periods I have visited the birthplaces of Shakespeare and of +Raleigh, of Cromwell and of Wesley; the homes of Knox, Hampden, Milton, +Baxter, and Howard; the haunts of Johnson, Goldsmith, Watts, and Cowper; +the graves of Bunyan, Burns, Scott, and Chalmers have all had attractions +for me. + +The pilgrimages I made in 1877 were the following:— + +The first to the Vosges district in France, searching for Ban de la +Roche, the scene of Oberlin’s labours, and the resting place of his +remains. {268} From Strassburg my daughter and I went to Mutzig, +situated amidst a theatre of red sandstone hills mantled with woods and +vineyards. Then from Mutzig we proceeded to Fouday, through valley after +valley, if not exactly picturesque, yet really pictorial, and finally +approached the parish of the model pastor. In the heart of the village +of Ban de la Roche, are the church hallowed by his preaching, and the +grave where he sleeps. Three broad slabs lie on the green turf, side by +side, the middle one inscribed with the words, “Il fut 60 ans père de ce +canton.—‘La Mémoire du juste sera en benediction.’” An iron cross bears +the name “Papa Oberlin.” We were surprised to find the spot, though +highly situated, so rich in beauty as summer waned; an afternoon sun +warming the crisp air, and lighting up objects with varied tints. At +Walderbach, a Swiss-like village, full of cottages and fruit trees, we +found the parsonage house in which the good man lived and died. We were +welcomed by the present clergyman’s wife, whom we had met before, without +knowing her. The good lady took us over the rooms associated with her +husband’s predecessor. There was the study where he worked, and the +bedroom in which he slept. Some of his furniture is preserved, with a +collection of toys he made for children, and a large jar full of still +fragrant rose leaves, a few of which were gratefully accepted as a +memento of the visit. + +The other pilgrimage was in England to Broad Oak, Shropshire, where +Philip Henry resided and where his son Matthew was born. It stands where +the Wrexham Road is intersected by a lane leading to Whitwell Church. It +is a small farmhouse, part of a larger one, with heavy beams, and a broad +chimney corner, like what one sees in Anne Hathaway’s cottage near +Stratford-on-Avon. When in its primitive state, it must have been +spacious, for, says the famous Puritan, “I have room for twelve friends +in my beds, a hundred in my barn, and a thousand in my heart.” Here he +resembled “Abraham sitting at his tent door, in quest of opportunities to +do good. If he met with any poor near his house, and gave them alms in +money, he would, besides, bid them go to his door for relief. He was +very tender and compassionate towards poor strangers, and travellers, +though his candour and charity were often imposed upon by cheats and +pretenders.” + +The mention of Broad Oak occurs repeatedly in the Life of the father, +written by his affectionate son. The latter tells of his father’s +removal to Broad Oak, and the providences concerning him there, of “the +rebukes he lay under at Broad Oak,” and of the last nine years of his +life, in “liberty and enlargement at Broad Oak.” At a time when +ministerial engagements were by no means so numerous and diversified as +they are at present; when habits of home study, quiet visitation of the +flock, and catechising the children, rather than preaching on public +occasions, attending large meetings, and travelling to and fro along the +length and breadth of the land, distinguished both town and country +clergymen; when those who were connected with the Established Church, and +had no restraints put upon their activity, spent what would be now +considered very retired and monotonous lives; what must have been the +secluded and stationary position of an ejected minister between the +Restoration and the Revolution! No wonder, then, that almost every +incident and effort belonging to Philip Henry’s career belonged to the +farm at Broad Oak, where he lived and died, and wrote and suffered, and +walked and taught, bringing up his children, and receiving his friends, +and paying visits to his neighbours, under the shadow of the umbrageous +trees which gave a name to his pleasant homestead. + +I drove over to the house, or rather that part of it which still remains, +a part of the kitchen, as I suppose, in which the good man used to +preach. The people of the house showed me some relics—the pulpit +cushion, and, I think, the pulpit itself, or some portion of it; also +some buttons which belonged to Philip Henry’s coat. + +At Whitwell is a chapel containing Philip Henry’s monument, which once +stood in the parish edifice of Whitchurch. + +At the end of the Whitwell epitaph are the words, “In dormitorium hic +juxta positum demisit June 24, Anno Dom. MDCXCVI, Ætatis LXV.” Was it in +imitation of this, that the words were introduced in Matthew Henry’s +monument in Holy Trinity Church, Chester, “Confectum corpus huic +dormitorio commisit 22 die Junii, 1714, Anno ætat 52”? + +Dr. Howson, Dean of Chester, who was staying with me at Crewe Hall when +this visit was arranged, intended to be my companion, for he was a great +admirer of the Henrys; but illness prevented him. + +In 1877 I was invited by Dr. Stanley to deliver a missionary lecture in +Westminster Abbey, one of a series he had arranged, in which some friends +of his, not clergymen in the Establishment, took part. + +In 1877 I gave a lecture in the room of the Society of Arts on the +prospects and perils of modern civilisation. One of the audience was a +native gentleman attached to the Chinese Embassy—a very intelligent +person, speaking English well, and showing by his conversation how +clearly he grasped points of the address he had just heard. It was a +singular circumstance that a representative of the largest empire of the +world—which not long ago counted all other nations as barbarous—should +listen to a barbarian as he represented the good and _evil_ of European +civilisation. + +Just before Christmas (1877) two or three days were spent at the Deanery +of Westminster, and on the Sunday afternoon Dr. Stanley walked with me on +the terrace of the Parliamentary Houses, where we had some interesting +talk. He pointed to the palatial edifice at our back as we looked across +the river, and said, “This is the palace of the nation”; turning +attention to St. Thomas’ Hospital, he remarked, “That is the palace of +the poor”; and next, looking towards Lambeth, he added, “There is the +palace of the Church.” We discussed the state and prospects of the +Establishment, and he, as a staunch advocate for its continuance, +propounded schemes of reform, which, looking at the state of parties, +seemed to me quite impracticable. He was filled with an idea of +comprehension, if not within wide Episcopalian limits, then by a State +union of different denominations—for example, thus: He would have been +glad to see a Presbyterian Moderator, a Congregational Chairman, and a +Wesleyan President sitting in the House of Lords on a bench with the +bishops. He further thought that, as Charles II. was willing to have +Nonconformist chaplains, after the Restoration, so an English sovereign +might now, without any impropriety, do the same; and if the Uniformity +Act were modified so as to allow a Dissenting minister to enter a pulpit +of the Establishment, there would be no legal bar in the way. My friend +had the widest sympathies possible, and union, with him, was a passion. + +In some respects I have a feeling like the Dean’s, but I hold theological +and ecclesiastical principles such as he did not adopt. One fundamental +difference between us was that he overlooked the exercise of Church +_discipline_, to which I attach great importance. The study of State +organisations has convinced me that the “union of Church and State” +creates insuperable barriers in the way of ecclesiastical discipline. If +the Church be linked to the State, so that a subject of the State becomes +thereby legally entitled to membership and communion,—that forms a strong +bar to a faithful correction of moral misconduct and fundamental +disbeliefs. It was a great difficulty under the Commonwealth. The +devoted and holy Thomas Wilson, Bishop of Sodor and Man, found it so in +carrying on his diocese. He said in his famous “Ecclesiastical +Constitutions” that his desire was “We may not stand charged with the +scandals which wicked men bring upon religion, when they are admitted to, +and reputed members of, Christ’s Church; and that we may, by all laudable +means, promote the conversion of sinners, and oblige men to submit to the +discipline of the Gospel.” But for myself, let me say I have not found +any difficulty in the maintenance of discipline in Congregational +Churches. Whatever might be the basis of Dr. Stanley’s far-reaching +comprehension, it appears to me there might be a much broader range of +religious sympathy and co-operation between distinct religious bodies +connected with the maintenance of well-accentuated beliefs, and the +exercise of ecclesiastical discipline. + +In the early part of the following year I visited Edinburgh to lecture +for the Philosophical Society of that city. My subject was “The Great +Rebellion”; and I made a double attempt, first, to vindicate the +Parliament policy as against the despotic unconstitutionalism of the +infatuated monarch; and secondly, to criticise the proceedings of some +eminent men on the Puritan and popular side. The society invited me to +lecture again, when different historical ground was taken, and a sketch +was presented of English and Scotch life in the days of Queen Anne. + +My old friend, and large-hearted host, the Rev. George D. Cullen, +favoured me with the company at dinner, of Dr. Goold, Moderator of the +Free Church; Dr. Hanna, son-in-law to Dr. Chalmers; Dr. Alexander, and +others—and we had earnest talk about topics of the day. Scotch and +English elements of thought, blended so as to bring diversities into +view, without any portion of the acrimony common to polemical debate. +True blue Presbyterianism rose in contrast with milder colours of +Ecclesiasticism. There was no want of thrust or repartee, but we kept +the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Edinburgh society is of +the choicest kind. Some of the best talkers may be found on the other +side the border; and memories of celebrities in Auld Reekie, are amongst +the most pleasant of my life. On the occasion just noticed, my friend +Mr. Cullen took me over to St. Andrews; and there Principal Tulloch did +the honours of ciceroneship to perfection. In the evening we dined at +the house of Professor Swann, where further social enjoyments of a high +university order were found to be in store. + +During this visit to Scotland a curious fact was related to me by the +librarian of the University. Drummond of Hawthornden bequeathed books to +the library of that institution, and in the catalogue appeared an item of +“MSS. respecting Mary Queen of Scots.” + +These MSS. were long missing, and inquiries about them were made in vain. +Not very long before my visit, the librarian received a communication +from some one who said he had, in his possession, papers belonging to the +University; and on receiving a reply to his letter, he forwarded them. +They turned out to be the missing treasure. How came this about? As +well as I can remember it appeared that a librarian of the last century +put one day into his coat pocket these very MSS., and took them home for +examination. He suddenly died. His clothes were sent to a relative, and +amongst them, the coat containing the documents now mentioned. For a +century afterwards they remained forgotten, and then came to light. The +possessor, finding they belonged to Edinburgh University, wrote to the +librarian as stated above, and restored them to their proper place. The +recovered property was shown to me. It included original papers +published some time ago, and others not previously known; but, if I may +venture to say so, after a brief inspection, they did not promise to be +of so much service as was hoped, in throwing fresh light on the mysteries +of poor Mary’s career. + +The seventh General Conference of the Evangelical Alliance was held in +Basle, September 1st 1879. + +There was a large gathering of delegates from Germany, France, Austria, +Italy, Spain, Holland, America and England. The president was M. C. +Sarasin, Councillor of State, who is said to have descended from a +Moorish ancestor settled in the canton. He showed himself to be +acquainted with English literature. + +“Let me remind our English friends,” he said, “of the words their great +poet puts in the mouth of Richard II.: + + ‘Look not to the ground + Ye favourites of a king! Are we not high? + High be our thoughts.’ + +“Let us cherish high thoughts, my friends! Are we not the servants of a +King, of the King of kings, and Lord of lords? And is it not His work we +are carrying on? + + ‘Die sach’ ist dein, Herr Jesu Christ, + Die sach’ an der wir stehen.’ + (The cause is Thine, Lord Jesus Christ, + The cause for which we stand.) + +“Thus let our work be done, our testimony be given, our efforts be +united, in the same joyful steadfast spirit, with the same buoyancy, with +which the Apostle, with chained hands, appealed to his flock at Philippi, +‘Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice.’” + +These were animating words, and awakened an enthusiastic response, when +uttered in the old church of St. Martin, where Æcolampadius first +preached the doctrines of the Reformation. + +I give the following _resumé_ of some remarks I made at the Basle +Alliance meeting. + +_The Times_ reported: + +“Dr. Stoughton contrasted the gathering of peoples in that assembly, +representative of all nations, with a meeting held in Basle four hundred +and fifty years ago. Christendom was then in a very divided state, for +the spirit of religious inquiry was breaking out, and the great +moot-point was, in all theological controversy, ‘Where lies the ultimate +authority for religious beliefs—in Popes, in Councils, or in the Word of +God?’ They met that day in times of a somewhat differentcharacter, but +of still deeper and wider agitation, for the question now was, not only +whether the Church or the Bible was the final test of truth, but also +whether reason or revelation should be our guide as to the highest of all +subjects which could affect the present and future interests of the human +family. But how vast the difference between that famous Council at Basle +and the Evangelical Alliance Conference of this day! Under what +different aspects was union regarded by the two assemblies! The one +aimed at uniformity, at a precise and definitely-expressed agreement of +opinion, in relation to theological and ecclesiastical points, which +might be enforced on all Christendom by pains and penalties,—even death, +to a recreant brother. The other seeks to promote unity, holding, after +the experience of ages, that uniformity was impossible, and that true +unity could not only be attained, but was compatible with a hearty, +loving, sympathetic Christian fellowship throughout the family of the +redeemed. He then contrasted the appearance of the two meetings, traced +out the history of the followers of John Huss, and, in a long and +exceedingly able and interesting historical review of the history of the +Reformation, showed that Protestant England was not only indebted to +Basle for men but for principles; and, identifying the two with the work +of Calvin at Geneva and John Knox in Scotland, he contended that the +outcome of those early struggles was not only religious freedom in +Europe, but, mainly through the Puritans of England, the religious life +and progress of America. Their simple reliance now, as then, was the +Gospel of Christ, and freedom to preach and practise its heaven-born +truths.” + +I have a great delight in all genuine Christian union, but my conception +of it is by no means confined to the cultivation of love and sympathy +with those, who in all, or in most, respects concur with me. There is an +admirable passage in Julius Hare’s preface to the third volume of +Arnold’s “Rome.” “We are so bound and shackled, by all manner of +prejudices, national, party, ecclesiastical, individual, that we can +hardly move a limb freely; and we are so fenced and penned in, that few +can look over their neighbour’s land, or up to any piece of sky, except +to _that which is just over their heads_.” I took an active part in the +early history of the Evangelical Alliance, and I rejoice in those points +of agreement which are expressed in its Evangelical faith; but I have +never liked its exclusion of some good people from its fellowship, on the +ground of differences in relation to ecclesiastical ordinances. I would +look kindly over “my neighbour’s land,” and towards “pieces of sky” which +are not “just over my head.” + +I can scarcely bring myself to speak of the sorrow which befell me in +November 1879. My beloved wife then died, and was interred in Hanwell +Cemetery, which pertains to the parish of Kensington. The beautiful +words in Proverbs are inscribed on her gravestone: “Her children arise +up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.” Some +time ago I read in the Life of my American friend, Dr. Hodge, the +following passage respecting the deceased companion of _his_ life. I can +truly appropriate it to my departed loved one. “A humble worshipper of +Christ, she lived in love and died in faith. Trustful woman, delightful +companion, ardent friend, devoted wife, self-sacrificing mother, we lay +you gently here, our best beloved, to gather strength and beauty for the +coming of the Lord.” + +My dearest friend Joshua Harrison, who was to her as a brother, preached +a funeral sermon, in which he said, “The strength of her life was her +faith in the Son of God. Her path, though the sun shone brightly upon +it, was often a thorny one. Her own health was liable to frequent +interruptions, and her heart was pierced again and again by the loss of +children, whom she loved better than herself. Oh, the unmurmuring +resignation with which seven several times, she saw her dear ones carried +to the grave! Oh, the courage with which she bore the shock! She never +wavered in the conviction, ‘He loved me and gave Himself for me,’ but +felt that these sad sorrows must be only the obscurer manifestations of +His love. And hence she could write, ‘Here we shall never be exempt from +trial and sorrow, but when we reach that changeless home above, there +will be no need of sanctifying us there. All that is needful to make us +meet for that holy place must be done here; and oh, how much pruning and +purging, how much of grace and strength we need to help us to walk more +closely with Him.’ + +“She has reached that changeless abode now, and has left all sorrow +behind. Long, long had she been waiting, but the message came so +suddenly at last, that, without knowing she was dying, she found herself +at home. The words discovered in her desk, which by copying she had made +her own, received sweet and exact fulfilment: + + ‘The way is long, my Father, and my soul + Longs for the rest and quiet of the goal; + While yet I journey through this weary land, + Keep me from wandering; Father, take my hand, + Quickly and straight, + Lead to Heaven’s gate + Thy child. + + ‘The way is long, my child, but it shall be + Not one step longer than is best for thee, + And thou shalt know, at last, when thou shalt stand + Close by the gate, how I did take thy hand, + And quick and straight, + Lead to Heaven’s gate + My child.’” + + + + +CHAPTER XIII +1879–1883 + + +NEED was felt for some change after my sad bereavement; so in March, +1880, my daughter and I started for Italy. We tarried on our way a week +at Cannes with my friend, Mr. Prust, of Northampton, an old +fellow-student, who had a villa in the Riviera. I greatly enjoyed the +climate and scenery, and felt soothed by walks and drives on the shores, +through the cork groves, and round about to more distant places of +interest. Old affections sprang up anew between my friend and myself as +we talked of auld lang syne. Nothing could exceed the kindness shown by +him and his two interesting nieces. + +I met with some old acquaintances at Mentone; amongst the rest, with a +gentleman well known in the political and religious world and closely +connected with Lord Palmerston. He gave me much information as to what +he apprehended was the state of thought and feeling amongst the upper +class in reference to Christianity. There seemed to be a large amount of +light-hearted, thoughtless scepticism on the part of young people; girls +catching from their brothers doubts as to God and Christ and +eternity—doubts circulated in conversation and in periodicals. The facts +indicated did not strike me as deep and earnest, but as froth on the +surface of common talk; not, however, to be passed over as a trifling +phenomenon, for if those who occupy superior stations in the world have +their faith shaken as to natural and revealed religion, it forebodes +mischief to wider circles round them. My informant was inclined to +believe that outspoken doubt and disbelief was less to be dreaded than +concealed enmity. Moreover, that whilst there was much to excite concern +in literature and social intercourse of the present day, there was also +an increase in the higher as well as lower walks of thorough-going +Christian experience and practice. In my own limited acquaintance I have +been cheered to find instances of what appeared genuine piety where I +little expected them; works of benevolence going on nowadays amongst all +classes are surely tokens for good, which ought to fill us with +thankfulness. We are all tempted to confine ourselves to one side of the +world and Church picture before us; but we shall not get at the whole +truth by shutting one eye and keeping the other wide open. + +Leaving Cannes, we travelled by the Cornice Railway to Genoa, and there +renewed acquaintance with churches, palaces, and picture galleries, seen +years before. Then tarrying at Spezzia, we saw some new specimens of +Italian scenery and life. Pisa and Florence were again visited, cities +in which I loved to linger; and at the end of about ten days we reached +Rome. + +I had an introduction to Cardinal Howard, who sent me an invitation to +visit him. I was met by a Monseignor friend of his, with whom I had a +good deal of conversation. We discussed several topics, and then touched +upon the relations in which Catholics and Protestants stood to one +another. He considered there was improvement in this respect, more +social intercourse existing between them than was once the case. + +Pio Nono had a Jewish friend, who became a convert. Seeing him one day +depressed, “the holy father,” as this Monseignor called him, asked what +was the cause. + +“I have just lost my father, who died a Jew, and I am greatly concerned +about the state of his soul.” + +“But was he a good Jew, devout and acting up to the light he had?” + +“Yes,” was the reply. + +Then came the Pope’s rejoinder, “I will pray for him; and do you pray for +him, and I doubt not that God will have mercy on him.” + +These were his words as well as I can remember. The drift of the story +and its application were intended to show that the deceased pontiff did +not despair of a Jew’s salvation. He did not look upon those outside the +Roman pale as beyond the reach of God’s mercy, though needing +purification in a future state. + +Whilst we were talking the Cardinal came in. The reception he gave me +was singularly cordial, and we had a good deal of friendly chat relative +to the Stanley family. The favours I asked he granted at once; one was a +special introduction to the chief librarian at the Vatican, and the +seeing more of its treasures than I had done when I visited the library +many years before. He took me into his library, well furnished with +books, in handsome bindings, and we had some talk about Thomas Aquinas, +in whose writings I took an interest. He recommended to me some little +books of analysis and comment. He also procured a papal permission for +my daughter to see St. Peter’s Crypt, which is closed to ladies +generally, on all days of the year except one. The Cardinal arranged +with one of the Vatican librarians that I should have special facilities +for seeing historical documents; and afterwards, on my reaching the +Vatican by appointment, I was received by an officer, who accompanied me +into one of the magnificent galleries, which I had seen years before, to +find then all book-cases closed. Now some of them were opened, and I was +permitted to take down any volumes I liked; and I at once luxuriated in +the inspection of charming Aldine editions of patristic and other +authors—the paper as white, and the printing as fresh, as when they were +produced four centuries ago. + +I was surprised to find that provision was made for the use of printed +books, and certain MSS., by readers, admitted after the fashion in our +British Museum. There are catalogues, giving titles and press-marks; +and, by writing for what you want upon slips of paper, and handing them +to an attendant, as in the British Museum, you attain the volumes +desired, which you can use at desks provided for the purpose. A +catalogue of much greater compass than exists at present, I was informed, +is in progress; but the Cardinal told me, it might be a long time before +it was finished, adding, that Rome is the Eternal City in more senses +than one. He encouraged me to believe that even the archives of the Holy +See might be accessible; but, far short of that, MSS. which I wrote for, +and examined, were sufficient to convince me that there is abundant +materials for extensive research, beyond what was formerly possible. +Besides, in the vast Library of the Dominicans—who once had their +monastery at Sopra Minerva—a library which is now open to the public, +under certain regulations, there are the archives of the Roman +Inquisition; the historical use which now can be made of them, appears in +many numbers of _La Rivista Christiana_, in which I found many valuable +extracts. Much interesting information respecting early Italian +confessors may be found in those Inquisitionary records. + +I saw several Protestant brethren in Rome; and, besides preaching in the +Presbyterian Church twice, was invited to address a large meeting of +Italians, through the medium of the Rev. Mr. Piggott, who was my kind +interpreter. I took occasion to lament that Italian Protestants, whilst +not by any means numerous, were broken up into so many parties; said that +it would be far better if they would work together; and if that were +impossible, it was at least desirable and easy, not to interfere with +each other’s proceedings, by opposition or uncivil criticism. Judging +from a response on the part of an Italian, I was glad to find my remarks +were not deemed offensive; but I am afraid they did no real good. + +Whilst in Rome at this time I tried to turn my visit to some account by +restudying its Christian antiquities. Christian art in its early state +is a subject illustrated by the Catacombs. The rude paintings and +sculptures familiar to every Roman visitor, familiar by means of books to +thousands who have never seen the originals, are historical and symbolic. +Noah and the Ark, Abraham offering up Isaac, Moses receiving the law, +Jonah and the whale, Daniel and the lions, the three Hebrews in the +furnace—these have a Christian meaning, and point typically to truths +respecting Christ’s redemption. Subterranean Rome, it has been well said +by a French author, is “_a living book_, palpable, everlasting,” and +there are written on its pages, in hieroglyphic ways, truths which are +held by all true Christians, whether Protestant or Catholic. The Agape +or love-feast, a ship emblematic of the Church, the cross, the fish, the +dove, and other well-known signs of Christ and His salvation, occur over +and over again. Also there are historical pictures of the Nativity, and +of Peter denying his Master. Portraits also are found of Christ, of +Peter, of Paul. The Virgin Mary is seen by the side of her husband, +whilst the Holy Child, like an Italian bambino, lies in His cradle, an ox +licking His feet; close by, the Magi are watching stars in the east. No +picture or image of the Virgin, in solitary magnificence, at all +resembling the Madonnas of a later period, so far as I can make out, has +been discovered in the Catacombs. The contrast between the early +attempts and the later achievements of Roman Christian art in doctrinal +significance, as well as in imaginative conception and technical skill, +is obvious and striking. To pass from the former to the latter requires +an immense stride; to go from examining early representations of gospel +facts and principles, to look round churches and galleries rich in the +works of modern Catholic artists, is to exchange worlds. The difference +in religious meaning is as great as the difference in artistic merit. + +During this visit to Rome some remarkable religious meetings were +conducted by Dr. A. N. Somerville, of Glasgow, who in other parts of +Italy the same spring, held revivalistic Protestant services. Those at +Rome occurred on a spot, to reach which many citizens had to cross a +bridge with a toll bar on it. Notwithstanding, on the evening when we +attended, I should think about eight hundred people were present. The +preacher could not speak Italian, and what he said was translated into +that language, by a native Protestant. Everything was skilfully managed, +and the effect appeared on the whole, solemn and impressive. +Congregations after the same methods had been previously gathered in +Florence, where the addresses, according to report, had produced +considerable impression. Sankey’s hymns, translated into Italian, were +sung at Rome, with Sankey’s tunes; how far solid evangelical results +followed I could not ascertain. + +We made, at this time, two excursions which I must notice. One was very +short: only as far as Ostia, where there are still some Roman remains. +The present town is not worth notice, but the ancient city, Hare says in +his “Days near Rome,” is like Pompeii. I cannot quite agree with him. +The deep ruts of Roman chariot wheels; fragments here and there of Roman +pottery, human bones, coloured marbles, and a few architectural relics, +are of interest; but what attracted me to the spot was the memory of +Augustine, who, in his “Confessions,” paints such a touching picture of +his mother Monica’s illness and death. Thoughts of that interview, as +related by the converted son, were the only charm of our visit, and the +hour or two we were compelled to spend in the place, for the refreshment +of our coachman and his horse, were most dreary. The long, long gossip +going on between a priest and the mistress of the little farm, betokened +the intense idleness and vulgarity of both,—typical, I fear, of the whole +neighbourhood. + +Another expedition we made was of a very different kind. We engaged a +carriage to the charming haunts of Tivoli, where picturesque objects in +the town and its vicinity, and the stupendous waterfall with manifold +associations, clustering round the immediate neighbourhood, created +memorable delight. Next day we drove to Subiaco, along an interesting +road rich in memories of old Roman rural life. My daughter wrote in her +journal:— + + “It was a glorious morning, the sun was shining brightly, and in the + cool spring air, our three pretty little black horses dashed along + the road at a good pace, so that we soon found ourselves winding in + and out amongst the Sabine Hills. We climbed up a steep ascent, only + to go dashing down on the other side. The retreating hills, rising + here and there to a great height, were clothed with trees, some of a + sombre colour, some fresh with the bright hue of early spring, with + here and there a cluster of silver olives, making a delightful + variety of colour; whilst, at our feet, the roadside was beautiful + with anemones, cyclamen, honeysuckle, and saxifrage; and, lower + still, ran the refreshing river Arno.” + +Not far from Subiaco there is a deep gorge with sloping sides of rock and +foliage, reaching down to the river Arno, bordered by chestnut trees, +amidst which, here and there, rises a tall cypress. The brow of the hill +on the side nearest Subiaco, is crowned by a far-famed monastery in +which, very different from what it is now, the great St. Benedict, +founder of a monastery which bears his name, spent his early days and +prepared for his great life work, which began at Monte Cassino, on the +road from Rome to Naples. + +We left Subiaco for Olevano, and were benighted on our way, as the horses +toiled up hill after hill. We reached Olevano late at night, and caused +quite a commotion in the narrow street, by our inquiries after the hotel, +where we were to pass the night, and which, ignorantly, we had passed by, +at the hill-top which overlooks the town. There, to our delight, we met +with a most enjoyable reception, as the house is a favourite resort for +artists; and though we blundered into a room, already occupied by guests, +we were permitted to remain, and listen to charming stories of the place +and its surroundings. After tarrying a few hours next morning, we had to +hasten our departure, that we might catch a train on the railway from +Naples to Rome. + +After leaving Rome on our way to England, we halted some days at Venice, +and revived old recollections. I went over points of interest in a visit +years before, and new pictorial and architectural pleasures were enjoyed. +We proceeded to Bologna, and crossed the beautiful Lago di Garda, spent a +day or two at Trent, where special services were being held for young +people, and hosts of “shining ones” in white, crowded the churches. + +In 1881 I visited Italy again, especially for the purpose of carrying on +researches commenced just before. The journey was rapid. Reaching +Turin, accompanied by my dear daughter, I began my work by searching out +localities which I could easily identify. In other places I picked up +illustrations I desired; for, when the mind is bent on a particular +inquiry, it is wonderful how it draws cognate matters to itself. We made +an excursion to Pavia, and, on the way, stopped at the beautiful +monastery of Certosa. Pavia, situated on the river Ticino, with a +covered bridge, is interesting, from its antiquities and history. The +churches are specimens of Lombardic architecture, and in the Duomo one +was startled to find the tomb of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, whose +remains were transferred from Africa to this city. They were there at +the time of our visit, his monument being full of magnificence and +beauty, in general form and particular details. Since I was at Pavia, +the body has been restored to its original resting-place. Pavia connects +itself with the philosopher, Boetius, by a popular tradition that he was +imprisoned in a tower belonging to the city. Piacenza and Bologna during +this journey afforded gleanings which helped me to realise important +events occurring there at the time of the Reformation; but it was in +Florence that I did most work, and spent more than a week from day to day +tracking Savonarola’s footsteps through the streets, from San Marco to +the Palazzo Vecchio, and back again, not forgetting his visit to Lorenzo +di Medici at his villa in Careggi, with views of rich woodlands and +grassy fields. But my chief employment was in the public library, +searching out and deciphering original documents, connected with his +trial. According to one account Savonarola underwent an examination, +first by words, then by threats, then by torture; and on the second day +of his imprisonment was put on the rack. The account of the trial which +I gathered from original sources, was in harmony with that of Villari in +his life of the martyr. There are two letters appended, one addressed to +the Pope respecting _la vita buono_ of the sufferer, and another by a +large number of Florentine citizens. I was especially interested in +Savonarola’s Bible, which he used to carry under his arm. It is entitled +“Biblia integra,” the type beautifully clear, the date 1491. It contains +some of his prophecies in MS. Signor Guicciardini has contributed a +large collection of Savonarola’s works to this Magliabecchian Library, as +it is called, and the catalogue of them runs over sixty pages. + +After leaving Florence, we visited the Waldensian valleys, of which I +have given some account in my “Footprints of Italian Reformers,” and I +may here add, that I agree fully with Professor Comba in his opinion, +that the Waldenses, properly speaking, do not appear in history earlier +than the twelfth century, and then they are seen scattered over the South +of France at Metz, and in the Netherlands—their origin being ascribed by +their enemies to Peter Waldo of Lyons, who does not appear to have +visited the valleys. I found the good people in the valleys opposed to +the results of Professor Comba’s researches. An intelligent daughter of +a Waldensian minister said, “We do not believe in them at all here.” +After studying the subject, let me add, I do. + +In 1881 my dear friend Dr. Stanley died, after so short an illness that I +had no opportunity of seeing him in his last hours. His funeral was an +event of national interest. + +He had much of the mind which distinguished “that disciple whom Jesus +loved.” His singular sweetness of disposition was partly natural, for he +was a gentle, quiet boy, winning many hearts; but it was gracious and +spiritual also, a result of sincere discipleship to the Divine Master. I +often felt surprised at his extraordinary amount of forbearance under +most unjust and cruel attacks. I once alluded to the need of patience +amidst such trials, instancing Archbishop Tillotson, who left behind him +a bundle of scurrilous letters, labelled with the words, “May God forgive +the writers as I do.” I learned from my friend that once he was accused +of infidelity by an anonymous correspondent; and on another occasion, +after the figures of Moses, David, Paul, and Peter had been placed in the +choir of the Abbey, he received a note beginning with a charge of +idolatry. Our Broad Church Dean, and the prelate of the Revolution were +ecclesiastically and socially much alike. As to theology the former told +me there is much in the teaching of Scripture which transcends human +conception, much which, running along lines of mystery, he felt himself +unable to follow; but, at the same time, he would remark, there is much +more that is plain, which “a wayfaring man, though a fool,” may receive +and “not err therein.” To these plain things, he said, he desired to +cleave; these plain things he endeavoured to preach. The main difference +between others and himself was that certain Evangelical principles were +plainer to them than to him. + +His interest in Bible study was intense, especially with regard to +historical and biographical subjects; and it was well said, that whilst +some critics seemed to delight in destroying certain parts, his delight +was to build them up into a grand whole. His habit was to maintain +truth, so far as he saw it, rather than to attack and overthrow error; +and his gift of felicitously adapting events and passages of Holy Writ to +passing incidents and characters, was truly wonderful; especially when an +opportunity occurred for weaving sacred associations round the walls of +his beloved Abbey. Nor did he fail to turn his skill in this respect to +admirable account, when preaching in America. + +Dr. Stanley’s amiableness never betrayed a suspicion of weakness in his +character. Indeed he had a side almost stern in some of its appearances; +and he fought against what he deemed evil, with great vehemence; and +stood up very boldly, I know, against unprincipled people, declaring that +he would not meet them, except in the presence of witnesses. + +To see him at his best was to be with him alone, when he gave full sway +to his thoughts and feelings, expressing them with greater freedom than I +ever heard him do in company. The most enjoyable time was late in the +evening, after guests had retired; especially when he conducted me to my +bedroom, candlestick in hand, and tarried for a good while chatting about +subjects and persons of interest to us both. + +Not long before his death, I spent a night at Westminster, when we talked +about Oliver Cromwell. With much pathos he read aloud Carlyle’s +description of the Lord Protector’s last hours; and, some time before +this, he told me that he had been engaged in endeavouring to ascertain +what became of the hero’s remains after indignities done to them at the +Restoration. + +Soon after the Dean’s death, I received from Mrs. Drummond, his +executrix, a note accompanied by the picture it referred to. “In a +memorandum left by our dear Dean, he desired a photograph of him, which +used to stand in the drawing-room, should be sent to you, in remembrance +of a sincere friendship.” + +With regard to the composition of historical works he was in the habit of +employing such information as he could gather from friends. + +Oxford men have told me, that he used to lay under contribution whatever +he could learn from other people’s researches. For these, however, he +was always ready to make ample returns. + +Dr. Stanley told me that he was in the habit of looking at some +historical characters through the medium of living people, who appeared +to him, in one way or other, to resemble them. Excellencies and +frailties on the part of deceased individuals, thus came out more vividly +before him. It struck me as a considerable help to a realisation of what +departed persons _might_ be; but it requires to be carefully employed, +lest from resemblances which are real, we infer other things which are +imaginary. + +His taste was comprehensive. He loved everything which related to +English history, especially where it touched his own dear Abbey. +Conformity and Nonconformity he sometimes sought to harmonise in +surprising ways. + +I may add here that there was in the Abbey a monument to Dr. Watts in a +dilapidated condition, when I suggested a plan for its restoration. The +plan was adopted, and in consequence the monument was for a time removed. +During its absence I received a note containing a playful allusion to the +circumstance:— + + “If some strong Nonconformist should wander through the Abbey this + week, he may go away with the impression that in a fit of sudden + intolerance the Dean had torn down the monument of Isaac Watts. I + assure you that the gaping and vacant chasm in the wall might well + suggest such an interpretation. I hope, however, in a few days the + restored angel and the mended harp of your sweet psalmist will dispel + any hopes that may be awakened in High Churchmen or suspicions in + Nonconformists.” + +I was informed not long after the Dean’s death, that a gentleman in Kent +had in his possession what was said to be Oliver Cromwell’s skull. A +friend of mine procured from that gentleman an invitation to see the +relic. A large, handsome box was placed on a table, and out of it was +taken, wrapped up in silk, a man’s skull. The lower part of the face was +gone, leaving the upper jawbone entire, or nearly so; and within the +mouth we saw the shrivelled remains of a tongue, while some of the skin +on the upper part of the face was still preserved. What astonished me +was the quantity of hair adhering to the scalp; and also the following +circumstances pertaining to the relic. The inside, carefully examined by +a medical companion, plainly appeared to have been embalmed; signs of +this were attached to the surface. Moreover, part of a spike penetrated +the upper bone, showing that once the skull must have been exposed in a +way common enough, when men, put to death for political crimes, had their +heads set up in conspicuous places. Finally the head had been severed +from the body, not by a sharp axe, but by a knife which had hacked and +torn the skin. These peculiarities pointed to one who, having received +honourable burial, was afterwards beheaded with a blunt instrument, and +then treated as a traitor, by having his head exhibited like those fixed +on the top of Temple Bar. These peculiarities pertained to Oliver +Cromwell; and to no one else. Documents are preserved together with the +relic. They state that the relic remained publicly exposed for a long +time, till one night a gale of wind blew it down; that a soldier on +sentry picked it up and took it home, and then became alarmed at finding +there was search made after it by public authorities. He concealed it +down to the time of his death; and when danger was over, the secret was +divulged. The skull was afterwards exhibited as a source of profit, and +an account of the exhibition appears among papers preserved in the box. +After being withdrawn from public view, it was privately sold to an +ancestor of the gentleman possessing it at the time of my visit. There +is a story afloat, that Cromwell was not buried in Westminster, another +corpse being substituted for public interment, and, therefore, that the +body hanged at Tyburn was not his! This story is not to be trusted. + +In the August following Dean Stanley’s death, I made, with my friend +Harrison and some of my family, a tour in Germany. We were delighted +with the Bavarian Highlands and the Bader See. + +We visited Oberammergau, and heard much about the Passion Play, and were +conducted to the place of performance, by persons who had taken part in +it. They gave us interesting information. The priest of the place is no +bigot. He insisted that a Protestant, who had died in the village, +should be interred in consecrated ground, for which, we are told, he +received a rebuke from Rome. The drive we had from Partenkirchen to +Mittenwald called forth exclamations of great delight. + +In the following winter I mixed with members of various denominations, +some widely separated from others. This led me to think a good deal +about consistency. I noted down at the time considerations of this kind. +Everybody admits the palpable truism, “Truth is true, and falsehood is +false,” and some deduce from that the corollary: “Then stick to the true, +and eschew the false altogether. Countenance what you believe, by +consorting exclusively with such as believe as you do.” + +But, it must be remembered, systems are complex, and cannot be fairly +dealt with in the fashion recommended by some. In many cases, what is +condemned as a whole, contains seeds of another sort. There are +estimable people who are not accustomed to analyse what they condemn, and +cannot see what of truth may be found in the midst of error. To look +alone at one side of a system, which, after all, has much of truth, may +involve us in error. Thinking of Divine sovereignty, if not connected +with human responsibility, may land us in Antinomianism; to dwell upon +responsibility by itself, may make us Pelagians. + +In the summer of 1882, I went down to Rodborough, in Gloucestershire, to +visit my friend, Sir S. Marling, just made baronet, and to preach, I +think, for the seventh time, on behalf of the Sunday Schools. The +Countess of Huntingdon, George Whitefield, and Rowland Hill had all been +in some way connected with the chapel. + +On the occasion now mentioned, there was a large gathering of day and +Sunday scholars, a picture worthy of Wilkie’s pencil. Sir Samuel and his +lady were encircled by guests old and young, receiving from them +demonstrations of affection in loud huzzas. + +Soon after my return from Italy I attended meetings connected with +Wesleyan Methodism, when my friend Mr. McArthur, (afterwards knighted), +was Lord Mayor of London. He invited me at different times to meet a +large number of ministers of his own and other communions, and at such +times he manifested the catholic spirit by which he was eminently +distinguished. I think it was once in his mayoralty that the archbishops +and bishops dined at the Mansion House table, when toasts were proposed, +to which the Archbishop of Canterbury had to respond. Afterwards +Nonconformists were honoured in the common way, and it fell to my lot to +reply in a few words. The Archbishop had, in a good-natured style, +referred to the cares and troubles of his right reverend brethren, and +himself. Alluding to what he had said, I ventured to remark I was quite +content with my humbler position, and had no aspirations after a seat on +the Episcopal Bench. Further, I pleaded, as I always do, for catholic +union, and remarked that I strove to be a Christian first; next, a +patriotic religious Englishman; and thirdly, a devout Dissenter, adding +that I should be ashamed of my Nonconformity, if that were so +obstreperous, as to quarrel with the subordinate place I assigned to it. + +At the close of the year 1882 Dr. Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury, died. +With him I had the pleasure of being acquainted soon after his +appointment to the See of London. Our relations afterwards were very +friendly. I was kindly invited to share in the pleasure of his Lambeth +hospitality; and at a time of deep domestic sorrow he was one of the very +first to express affectionate sympathy in a letter of condolence. I +found him always very kind, and he impressed me with the conviction that +in his judgment of Conformity and Nonconformity, and of the relative +duties of Churchmen and Dissenters, he took much more sensible views than +most of his brethren. He did not seem to anticipate, as at all probable, +the comprehension of all, or most, English Christians within the pale of +one community; since each denomination has its principles, its +traditions, and its trust property, and is not likely to merge its +peculiarities in the adoption of others. A wise, liberal, Christian +_modus vivendi_ was the object of his desire. I attended his funeral, +and met in his residence at Addiscombe, a large number of clergymen, and +men of different opinions, drawn together by a common regard for his +eminent moral and religious worth. The trees were bare, the ground was +covered with snow, and the long procession walked through the park, the +winter sun brightening the scene. The whole struck me as very solemn, +and in harmony with the occasion that had brought us together. + +My journeys abroad were approaching an end when in 1882 my daughter and I +spent a few weeks in Switzerland, on the shores of the Genevan lake, and +in its neighbourhood. One memorable expedition we made was to Grenoble +and the Grande Chartreuse. The monastery was difficult of access early +in this century, but now there are well-appointed vehicles for conveying +tourists from the railway to the gates of this romantic retreat. The +ascent as far as Laurent du Pont is up a road lined with acacias, +bordering barley fields, commanding glimpses of a magnificent valley, +with bosky dells, cut in twain by the river Isere. The gorge to the +right increases in grandeur as one ascends. Purple rocks rise from +depths of massy verdure, sublimity succeeds beauty, and, after reaching a +broad mountain-girdled plain, one arrives at a halting place called +Laurent du Pont. Thence the road becomes more steep, winding along +ledges of rock, whence, through openings, one looks down on pine woods, +and sees the stream fighting its way, like our contested passage through +this troublesome world. We reached a thick forest at the top of the +pass, and came to the monastery—a pile, of buildings sheltered on green +uplands. There were before us long walls, square towers, and steep +roofs, dappled with dormer windows; here and there was a slender spire. +The buildings stand 4268 feet above the level of the sea, and one of the +corridors is 660 feet long. The original foundation dates far back; but +little of what one now sees is older than the seventeenth century. The +founder was the famous Bruno, who, with six companions, retreated to this +spot so secluded and desolate. _Chartre_ signifies a prison, but it also +expresses what we mean by the word _charter_. The buildings have been +seven times destroyed, but in the seventeenth century the convent reached +its meridian glory. + +No sooner had we entered the penetralia of the building, than we saw +notices requesting visitors not to smoke, nor loiter, nor speak loudly; +and in the distance were monks with white cloaks and cowls, gliding about +like ghosts from the other world. Pictures of Carthusian convents were +hanging on the corridor walls; and the Chapter House exhibited badly +painted portraits of past generals. Following our guide, we entered a +vaulted cloister, with windows on one side and doors on the other, +bearing texts of Scripture, such as “Narrow is the way which leadeth unto +life,” and “Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath +cannot be My disciple.” Stations of the Cross are hung upon the walls; +through a window are caught glimpses of a green garden, bright and cheery +amidst sombre appearances all round. The dormitories have each a +cupboard-like bed, a little reading desk, a stove, directions for +novices, a statuette of the Virgin, and a crucifix. There are workshops +fitted up with lathes, and a small chapel with an altar cloth, covered +with skulls and cross-bones. Inscriptions such as “Vanity of vanities, +all is vanity,” expressed the characteristic feeling of the inmates. The +library is handsome, well fitted up, with beautifully bound books. + +Visitors are not admitted to the monastic chapel; but from a tribune they +are permitted to look down on the ante-chapel, and witness matins at the +appointed hour. The brotherhood are remarkable for industry, being +graziers of cattle, and manufacturers of liqueurs. + +The clock struck six just after we left the monastery, and a calm summer +evening shone on the old walls, the green pastures, and the climbing +woods. The pass, as we descended, struck us as almost equal to the Via +Mala in grandeur, united with beauties which the other scene can scarcely +boast. Road-making, tree-felling, saw-mills, iron works, distilleries, +cement manufactories, told of widespread industry. The old monastery lay +behind; modern enterprise stood out before. + +We were rapidly driven through Laurent du Pont, as the star-studded sky, +streaked by the Milky Way, overarched the region. We noticed glow-worms +in the hedges, brought out by advancing night, and presently the wide +vale at the foot of the descending road seemed dusted with bright-looking +objects like glow-worms; but they turned out to be the lamps of Voirons, +where we took the train for Grenoble, and finished a day of remarkable +interest. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV +1883–1885 + + +AT this period I was engaged in the preparation of “The Spanish +Reformers,” and to give vividness to the work, with regard to local +scenery and circumstances, I resolved in March 1883 to visit the +Peninsula, where I might gather what was possible for the accomplishment +of my purpose. + +My daughter was my companion, and had been studying Spanish to render me +assistance. We travelled through France on our way to the north-east of +Spain. + +We halted at Lyons: in the neighbourhood of it persecution occurred in +the second century; but unlike what obtained in Spain three hundred years +ago, it was not the persecution of one class of Christians by another, +but the persecution of the Church by a heathen world. We find embedded +in the Ecclesiastical History by Eusebius a document giving an account of +sufferings by believers at that time who were in the neighbourhood of +Lyons. Vienne, with its glass houses and metal foundries, coalpits and +smoke, is now passed by travellers, without any interest; but in the +second century it took precedence of Lyons, and had a flourishing Church, +a member of which—Blandina, a maiden slave—suffered death as the penalty +of her faith. {315} + +We tarried a night at Lyons, drove round the city, saw the cathedral and +other buildings, and ascended a hill on which stands the church of Notre +Dame de Fourvières, covered and crowded with ex-votive offerings, in +return for miraculous cures by the Virgin. From the elevation views are +caught of extensive scenery. Thence we proceeded to Arles, rich in Roman +remains, including a magnificent amphitheatre. The cathedral of St. +Trophimus said to have been one of St. Paul’s disciples, is an +interesting specimen of twelfth or thirteenth century architecture. +Thence we proceeded to Narbonne, a quaint old town, of importance in +Roman times, with ramparts still of some interest, and quaint streets, +through which we had an evening’s ramble. The cathedral of St. Just is +an unfinished edifice of the thirteenth century, with some good tracery +in the windows. The city is distant from the sea only about eight miles. +Thence we proceeded to Perpignan, and, entering Spain, reached our +destination at Figueras, where we were kindly welcomed by our friends, +{316} who are engaged in evangelistic work amongst Roman Catholic +Spaniards. + +Figueras is a considerable town, which greatly interested us. It was the +day before Good Friday that we arrived, and we were much amused by a +number of boys with wooden mallets vehemently beating the pavement, which +was explained to us as a custom indicative of hatred to the Jews for +having crucified our Lord; what the Jews had to do with Figueras I could +not make out. In the evening there was a procession through the streets +of a truly magnificent description. It consisted of the gentry in the +town, attired in antique Spanish costumes, and presented an imposing +spectacle. Ladies personated the Virgin Mary and other Scripture +characters, and numerous candles carried by attendants made a splendid +illumination. On the following day, Good Friday, we had a drive into the +country, where we saw and heard of what went on in the way of missionary +work conducted by our zealous friends. In the evening we visited a +neighbouring church which was illuminated, and crowded with people +engaged in religious service. After this, we saw in the streets a long +procession, including penitents, who were fettered with chains. + +From Figueras we travelled to Barcelona, a city rich in commercial +enterprise and wealth, the streets crowded with people and enlivened by +carriages of grandees and wealthy merchants, as well as by vehicles +employed in humble traffic. The cathedral is a noble edifice, in which +we attended Divine worship on Easter Sunday. A priest with difficulty +made his way through a densely-crowded congregation to the altar steps, +where he knelt and prayed, and then mounted a temporary pulpit. As soon +as he opened his lips, all eyes were turned towards him. His voice was +marvellous and his attitudes were graceful; sometimes he was persuasive, +then indignant, always earnest; women wept, tears ran down men’s cheeks. +The sermon was on our Lord’s resurrection. He insisted on our duty to +remember Christ—“the Way, the Truth, and the Life”; and he showed the +effect of this on the hearts and lives of believers. He dwelt on the +duty of repentance, and urged people to come to Christ. In a touching +manner he referred to his own experience, and exhorted the congregation +to believe, pray, and obey the Gospel; saying over and over again, +“_Haber fè_, _fè_, _fè_”—“Have faith, faith, faith.” + +I met with signs of Protestant work going on in Barcelona, and a +gentleman residing there at the time, told me of what the British and +Foreign Bible Society was doing in Spain. He gave it, as his opinion, +that it exceeded other instrumentalities in the efficiency of its +service. I find it stated by a Spanish author, that Barcelona abounds in +mendicancy, and I have, as I write, a woodcut before me representing a +pitiable crowd of beggars at one of the cathedral doors. {318} + +Next to Barcelona, we visited Tarragona, travelling there by rail. +Tarragona is situated on an eminence commanding a fine view of the +Mediterranean, and I was much interested in the architecture of the +cathedral, a building of the eleventh century, fully described by Street +in his work on “The Gothic Architecture of Spain.” + +Whilst tarrying at Tarragona, I made an excursion to Poblet, rarely +visited by English, though frequented by French and German travellers. +This place is distinguished by monastic remains of extraordinary +magnificence. You wander amongst courts, cloisters, and dormitories, +through stately halls, which once boasted of a magnificent library rich +in MSS.; through a palace appropriated for the use of royal and noble +visitants; and through a stately church with a nave of seven bays. The +architectural grandeur of the whole is amazing; I was surprised to learn +that it is so rarely seen by our countrymen. Kings and nobles were +brought there for interment, and in that respect it vies with our +Westminster Abbey. At Poblet shattered tombs may still be seen; and few, +if any, but Spaniards of purest blood, were permitted to sleep within the +monastic walls. A marble slab may be seen covering the remains of an +Englishman, described in the Spanish guide book as “Felipe de, Marquése +de Malbursi y de Cacharloch,” etc. Wharton was the English name of this +well-known personage, who was made Knight of the Garter by James II. He +had become a Roman Catholic, but his father was a distinguished English +Nonconformist. + +Our next destination was Valencia, to which city we travelled by rail, +enchanted as we approached it, by beautiful scenery which one does not +find abundant in Spain. Augustus Hare breaks out rather rapturously +respecting his approach: “Day broke in time to show us the first vision +of tall palms, with their feathery foliage, rising black against one of +Tennyson’s ‘daffodil skies,’ which above, still deep blue, was filled +with stars.” The groves and gardens appeared to me very beautiful; and +the soil is so fertile, that lucerne is sown fifteen times in the course +of a year. Valencia has battlemented walls; and its arched gate, the +Puerta de Sarranos, reminds one of old English barbicans. It is an +Oriental kind of place, and has charmingly arched entrances for +light—_agimes_,—_i.e._, openings by which the sun enters. The city is +full of memories, connected with the Cid, which I have not space to +introduce; but I may mention that precursors of the Reformation entered +the city in 1350,—under the name of Beghards, who figure rather +prominently in the religious history of that period. + +The Cathedral of Valencia is a noble edifice, and has one magnificent +entrance of richly decorated Gothic. There is, in the Colegio del +Patriarca, a ceremony every week on Friday, which attracts a number of +people. It consists in letting down an altar piece by concealed +machinery; and then, by withdrawing a curtain, there is disclosed a large +picture of our Saviour on the Cross. Those who assemble to witness this +ceremony, are required to appear in mourning. I explored the city from +end to end, and found it by no means so uninteresting as some represent +it. + +We started in the evening for Cordova, a long distance; but as it was +accomplished in darkness, I noticed nothing by the way, except stoppages +at stations and a change of trains. We crossed the Sierra Morena, which, +in some places, at least, must be very magnificent, if one may judge from +an engraving of tall rocks facing each other, leaving scarcely room for +muleteers to pass between. The approach to Cordova is inviting, and the +Moorish city is beheld amidst a fertile region, across which runs the +Guadalquivir. + +We had been invited to take up our abode with an exemplary Scotch +missionary in the city. The sojourn was in a quiet street at a +comfortable dwelling, with an open space in the middle of the residence, +planted with shrubs. Upon this we looked down from windows in our +apartments. One room on the ground floor is sufficiently large to +receive a congregation of about fifty people. We were there on a Sunday +and attended worship in the evening. + +The Mosque of Cordova, now a cathedral, is one of the most wonderful +buildings in the world. The surrounding walls are from thirty to +sixty-feet high. The courtyard measures 430 feet by 210. Once there +were nineteen entrance gates, now there is but one. Formerly there were +inside the mosque 1200 monolithic columns, now there are only 850. What +is the _coro_, or choir, of the cathedral, was erected in the sixteenth +century, after the Mohammedan mosque had become a Catholic church. We +had pleasant walks and drives in the neighbourhood. + +The next celebrated place in our route was the far-famed Granada, of +which expectations were highly raised, without any disappointment. We +wandered about the Alhambra for several days. The Hall of the Lions, the +Hall of the Ambassadors, and the Hall of the Abencerrages,—with their +arches and columns, courts and colonnades, fountains and flowers,—kept us +spel-bound day by day. We read Washington Irving on the fascinating +spots which he describes so vividly. We could but bow to his relentless +fidelity, where he assures us that, after examining Arabic authorities +and letters, written by Boabdil’s contemporaries, he was convinced, that +the whole collection is fictitious with a few grains of truth at the +bottom. + +The fame of the Alhambra swallows up all which is wonderful in Granada, +but, the city retains much besides worthy of a traveller’s attention. +The prospect you have of the place, the plain, and the surrounding hills, +is magnificent; and the cathedral, commenced in 1529, after the defeat +and banishment of the Moors, is a building of architectural interest. It +contains the Capella Real, with the tomb of Ferdinand and Isabella; also +of Philip the Handsome, and his wife Juana, “Crazy Jane,” as she was +called, mother of the famous Charles V. The granddaughter tells us: “She +committed her soul to God and gave thanks to Him, that, at length, He +delivered her from all her sorrows.” In connection with the cathedral, +we meet with Fernando de Talavera, better known by Spaniards than by +Englishmen. Though he remained a Roman Catholic, he deviated from the +common opinions and usages of his age. The Carthusians have a monastery +outside the city, and on visiting it, I found pictures of English +priests, reported to have been martyrs at the period of the Reformation. +No doubt their sufferings are exaggerated on the monastic walls, but it +is a fact, beyond reasonable doubt, that there were Roman Catholics put +to death by English Protestants. + +We started one morning from Granada for Seville, and, on crossing the +Vega by the railway, we saw a good barley crop in the month of April. At +Bobadillo, we got on the Seville line, and found the country improve as +we came near to the city on the banks of the Guadalquivir. There, +instead of antique and uncomfortable _fondas_, travellers meet with +spacious and well-furnished hotels. We tarried several days in the city. + +The cathedral, of course, was the first object of interest; and, as soon +as possible, we repaired to it, and received an overpowering impression, +as we looked above, beneath, around. Above there is the magnificent +roof, spanning the breadth of the temple; beneath there lies a large slab +covering the remains, not, as sometimes supposed, of Columbus, who +discovered America, but of Fernando, his son. In Holy Week an immense +Greek cross, carved in wood, is raised over the spot, and lighted up so +as to produce an indescribable effect. The _coro_, or choir, is as +grand, though in another way, as the nave which leads up to it. In an +upper part of the edifice there are preserved MSS. and other memorials of +unrivalled Spanish discoveries, and they were freely shown to us. We +went to the Museum, and feasted on Murillo’s pictures. We were also +taken by a friend to see another work of the same artist, since +presented, I am told, to the Pope. + +Seville was headquarters of the Protestant cause. The Reformation did +not penetrate much below the hidalgo class. It left the masses almost +untouched. In Seville stood the Inquisition prison, till it was removed +to a palace in the Calle san Mario. “Here,” says Mr. Wiffen in 1842, +“while gazing on the edifice with feelings of awe, I recalled to +remembrance those martyrs for the truth, and, at the same time, I +listened with painful interest to the narration made to me by a Spanish +gentleman, of an attack on those very premises at a recent period by an +infuriated populace, who suffered but few of the friars confined there +for political offences, to escape with life. The building having taken +fire some perished in the flames, while others fell by the hands of the +assassins.” The tables were turned just then, priests were in prison for +political crimes, as heretics had been incarcerated in the sixteenth +century. + +Old Venetian political policy was carried out against Protestantism, and +the Inquisition office, with opened ears, listened for whisperings of +heresy. Horrors went on in secret places. I cannot relate them, but +they may be found in what is written by Limborch and Llorente. A few +miles from Seville is the monastery of San Isidore—the cradle of the +Spanish Reformation—and I visited the building with deep interest. The +chapel remains in tolerable repair, and is used as a parish church. The +chapter-house, sacristy and cloisters are preserved. Ancient pictures +hang on the walls, and old embroidered vestments are shown to visitors. +Bibles and Protestant books were of old secretly brought within the +walls, and monks began to read them. + +I have described Seville Cathedral and its treasures at some length in my +volume on “Spanish Reformers, their Memories and Dwelling Places.” I +cannot repeat here what has been said there. But let me say, the city is +full of interest to travellers, hotels are comfortable, shops are well +stocked with curiosities, manufactories are hives of industry, and +pictures by great masters are found in churches and private houses. I +was enchanted with some of the Murillos, and would advise every traveller +to visit the Sala de Murillo in Seville. + +I should have been glad to have prolonged my stay, and to have revisited +spots full of historic interest. But I had much before me to see and +study in the interior and north of Spain; therefore, though unwillingly, +we took the train one night for Madrid, making that a starting point for +other explorations. + +I may mention that during our stay at Madrid we were entertained in a +curious straggling house, occupied by Dr. Fliedner, a minister, who acted +as chaplain to the German Embassy. The house, it is said, was occupied +by the famous Escovedo, secretary to the still more famous Don Juan of +Austria; and one night as he was returning home six ruffians waylaid him, +between eight and nine o’clock, and inflicted on him wounds, of which he +died in half an hour. Peres, a great villain who hated Don Juan, is said +to have obtained the sanction of Philip II. for this abominable deed, +prompted by the discovery of an amour between Escovedo and the Princess +of Eboli. It is a horrible story of crime and vice, common in the secret +annals of Spain. + +In Madrid I had the privilege of using the public library, and found +there a large collection of English and French, as well as Spanish, +literature. I am sorry to say, that on the shelves, many volumes in our +language appeared, written by “advanced thinkers,” tending to the +diffusion of anti-Christian principles. And, in the windows of +booksellers I noticed works for sale of the same description. The Bible +Society I found at work within limits marked by law, and I attended one +evening a Spanish congregation gathered by Protestant agency, and had the +privilege of addressing those present, through the medium of an +interpreter. I met with specimens of Spanish superstition which were +very degrading. In one case I saw papers, with a figure of the Virgin’s +shoe printed upon them, sold to ignorant people as a sacred charm. + +The Plaza at Madrid is a magnificent square, encompassed by a line of +handsome buildings with a garden, fountains, and an equestrian statue of +Philip III. in the middle. Here some of the _autos_ were held in the +seventeenth century, and in 1869 excavations were made, where +incontestable proofs of burnings appeared in bones, charred wood, chain +links, nails and rivets discovered in the soil. Dr. Manning, in his +“Spanish Pictures,” wrote soon after the discovery: “I visited the spot, +and much as I had heard of the horrors of the Quemadore, I was not +prepared for the sight I beheld; layer above layer, like the strata of a +geological model, were these silent, but most eloquent witnesses of the +murderous cruelty of Rome.” + +I may here add that I saw other mementoes of the Spanish Inquisition in +underground vaults connected with a house occupied by the Rev. Mr. +Jameson, a Presbyterian clergyman at work in Madrid. I found recesses +walled up, which it was said had been cells in the days of persecution. + +Of course, I visited the immense picture-gallery in Madrid; but the size +and number of rooms with multitudes of paintings on the walls, were so +bewildering, as to make only a confused impression on my mind. Spanish +art has not the charm for me which it has for many. Velasquez and +Murillo, of course, are pre-eminent. The latter stands first of all in +my estimation. No one, who has seen only the dirty beggar boys at +Dulwich, can have any conception of Murillo’s merits. It is in Seville, +however, that he must be studied, if any one would see him at his best. +I found no Murillo in Madrid which charmed me like those it was my +privilege to enjoy in the Capital of the South. There is a good chapter +on Velasquez and Murillo in Sir E. Head’s “Handbook of Painting—Spanish +School.” + +“Velasquez and Murillo are preferred, and preferred with reason, to all +the others, as the most original and characteristic of their school. +These two great painters are remarkable for having lived in the same +time, in the same school, painted for the same people and of the same +age, and yet to have formed two styles so different and opposite that the +most unlearned can scarcely mistake them, Murillo being all softness, +while Velasquez is all sparkle and vivacity.” {329} + +A curious story is told of a picture by Velasquez—the portrait of Adrian +Pulido Pareja. Philip IV. coming, as usual, to see the artist at work, +started when he saw this portrait, and addressing himself to it, +exclaimed: “What, art thou still here? Did I not send thee off? How is +it thou art not gone?” But seeing the figure did not salute him, the +King discovered his mistake, and, turning to Velasquez, said: “I assure +you I was deceived.” + +We visited the Escorial some distance from Madrid. Philip II. is buried +there. Its situation is wild and desolate—a vast expanse of undulations, +scarcely to be called mountainous, except in the distance, where +snow-streaked sierras send cutting blasts over the slate roofs and +against the grey stone walls. The building itself looks like a +manufactory, at best like spacious barracks; one may think it something +between a prison and a convent, or rather a combination of the two; at +any rate its cold, stern, repulsive exterior is a fair type of the +builder’s character and influence. The only objects of much interest, +and they are in truth most melancholy, one finds in the monkish +apartments, the monastic chapel, and the costly sepulchre of the founder +and his family. A long and narrow room is shown with brick floor and +leathern chairs, where he dined. Next to it is another, only separated +by folding doors, from which, when open, the despot borrowed the light by +which he wrote his despatches. In this room is a plain oak table, with +three brass ink bottles on one side, and a velvet writing-case in the +middle; these, with the leather-bottomed chair on which he sat, are +carefully preserved. From this room you pass into a third, low and dark, +a mere cell, whence through an opening in the wall, the altar of the +monastery chapel may be seen; there he spent his last hours, after being, +like his prototype Herod, smitten by an angel of the Lord, and eaten up +of worms; no death could be more horrible. That chapel is an enormous +marble building, most costly, most dreary, and into one corner of the +_coro_ he would sometimes steal, to perform his devotions with the +Jeronymite brotherhood. The sepulchre under the high altar is reached by +a slippery marble staircase; and round the sides of the vault are placed +sarcophagi, one above another; Charles V. occupies the topmost position, +Philip being placed under his father. The dismalness of the spot is +unrelieved by any emblem or suggestion of Christian hope: not even such a +ray falls over it as that which lighted up the mind of the heathen +Cicero, when he spoke of meeting in the future life an assembly of noble +souls. + +Toledo is about forty miles from Madrid, and is easily reached by rail. +Scenery on the way is uninteresting till you get near the city, when, +crossing the bridge over the Tagus, you are reminded of the rocky seat on +which sits Durham Cathedral. Winding through narrow streets of the city +and past Moorish-looking entrances into courts, called _patios_, I +thought Toledo was a sort of album, with ornamented leaves on one side, +and romantic legends on the other. At the foot of St. Martin’s bridge +lies a cave, where Roderic, the last of the Goths, saw the lady whose +seduction caused the Moorish invasion; which invasion robbed the monarch +of his crown. The cathedral is grand indeed. The cloisters are full of +rich tracery, elegant pilasters crowned with statuettes, and open windows +adorned by elaborate tracery. The interior is worthy of its surroundings +and its approach; and I was deeply interested in the Mozarabic chapel. +There is preserved a thin folio, bearing the name of the chapel, and +containing a Latin service, used there every day. With it is connected +an absurd tradition, the story and meaning of which are disputed by +archæologists. With the cathedral you have connected the name of +Bartolomo Carranza, called the Black Friar, whose long story is entwined +round the Council of Trent, and with Philip of Spain, who married the +English Queen Mary. He attended Charles V. on his deathbed, and was +accused of heresy; and yet the Pope raised for him a monument in +commemoration of his virtues. It is said Carranza believed in the +doctrine of Justification by Faith; and his history from beginning to end +appears to me a hopeless puzzle. {333} + +In Toledo is the “Square Market,” as it is called; and here occurred +bullfights and burnings,—one of the latter in 1560, when Philip II. was +present. + +We returned from Toledo to Madrid and leaving the capital, a week or so +afterwards, travelled to Valladolid. The chief, indeed the only, +architectural monument in Valladolid is found in the combined edifices of +San Pablo’s Church, and San Gregorio’s College. The facade of the former +is an elaborate example of Gothic flamboyant; but the gateway of the +latter with its heraldic ornaments, coats of arms, statues in niches, and +numerous figures, has a bewildering effect. Columbus and Cervantes both +resided in this city; the former died in the Calle de Colon, the latter +wrote the first part of “Don Quixote” in the Calle de Rastro. + +Ford, in his voluminous “Guide to Spain,” at the beginning of a notice +respecting Valladolid, says: “In the first street, above the bridge, is +the site of the old Inquisition, the Court of Chancery, and the prison”; +adding the remark: “The great Chancery or Court of Appeal for the north +of Spain was moved to the present building by Ferdinand and Isabella. +The inscribed motto, ‘_Jura fidem ac pænam reddit sua munera +cunctus_’—seems rather strong, to all who know what Spanish _justitia_ +is, let alone Chancery in general.” + +Incipient stages of reformation come before us in this city. One sees in +imagination “The Calle del Doctor Cazalla,” of Jewish extraction, a man +of renown for his Protestant work, born in 1510; he had been Court +preacher and champion of orthodoxy, until he came under the influence of +German reformers. But he seems by no means to have been a Martin Luther, +for, when he was accused of dogmatising in a Valladolid conventicle, he +solemnly denied the fact, and said he had not _indoctrinated_ other +people with his own views. His end was not heroic. After being +dislocated on the rack, he recanted with a hope of life, but he found no +escape. The night before his execution, when acquainted with the final +sentence, the poor man said, “I must prepare to die in the grace of God, +for it is impossible for me to add to what I have said, without +falsehood.” We learn that, after all, he did not break with Rome, but +received absolution; and then, instead of being burnt, he was strangled. +His house was pulled down, the spot strewn with salt, and a column placed +where the building had stood. An inscription upon it stated: “Lutheran +heretics assembled here in conventicle against the Catholic faith and the +Roman Church.” A namesake, Francesco de Vibero Cazalla, more valiant for +the truth, remained constant to the last. Another martyr behaved +heroically, only lamenting that his wife abjured, and he saw her dressed +as a penitent. But we are told the husband’s look never departed from +her eyes. In my “Spanish Reformers” I have given a detailed account of +several sufferers for the truth at Valladolid. + +Of the cathedral, Street, in his work on “Spanish Architecture,” says: +“Nothing could ever cure the hideous unsightliness of the exterior”; and +he adds: “The side elevation remains as Herrera, the architect, designed +it, and is really valuable as _a warning_.” The author describes Sta. +Maria l’Antigua, close to the cathedral, as the most attractive church in +Valladolid. He says of the city: “It was too rich and prosperous, during +an age of much work, and little taste, to have left mediæval architecture +of any real value; yet as a modern city it is, in parts, gay and +attractive; being, after Madrid, the most important city of the north of +Spain.” From what I saw of the place, I can endorse this opinion. + +We reached Burgos, after a short journey, and found the town much less +interesting and agreeable than Valladolid, but the cathedral is +incomparably superior. The picture of its facade, doors, windows, and +towers, is vividly imprinted on my memory. + +We were now approaching the border of France, and I had memories revived +of a first dip into Spain, years before. Though the land be still the +same and the skies the same, different feelings arise from departure out +of a country, compared with one’s entrance into it. We reached a new and +very comfortable hotel at San Sebastian, and there I revived +recollections of curiosity and interest, felt years before, when I first +crossed the border and became acquainted with the costumes, the manners +and customs of Spanish life. + + + + +CHAPTER XV +1885 + + +THIS year I paid my third and last visit to Rome. A comparison of the +city and neighbourhood as they were during my first visit with what now +appeared, was very striking. Formerly it retained much of the appearance +it had in the previous century. There were narrow streets, bad +pavements, old-fashioned houses; monks and friars of different orders, +white, black, grey, thronging thoroughfares; cardinals’ coaches with +liveried servants, in gay coats and cocked hats; the Pope, driving down +the Corso, whilst the whole population watched him with reverence on +bended knees: now these old sights had vanished; comparatively few +ecclesiastics could be recognised by their costumes; only companies of +boys, in red or blue collegiate garb, attracted attention by contrast +with other people. At Easter in the olden time the ceremonies at St. +Peter’s were gorgeous, the illumination of the dome brilliant, the +fireworks in the Piazza del Popolo unrivalled: now Mass on Easter Sunday +was far from imposing, there was no feet washing, no dinner to poor +pilgrims, no _Miserere_ in the Sistine chapel, no blaze of candles in the +Pauline. The Forum had formerly lines of trees, groups of cattle, +peasants in rural costume; now marble sculptures had been brought to +light. The neighbourhood of St. John Lateran had been waste and void; +now it was covered with modern houses. What a change in the Fontana, +outside Rome, the traditional site of St. Paul’s martyrdom. The +monastery, when I had seen it before was desolate, now it was surrounded +by abundant vegetation; the culture of the eucalyptus plant being the +secret of this transformation. + +Hare laments, in the following strain, changes which had occurred in the +city and were to be regretted:— + + “The baths of Caracalla, stripped of all their verdure and shrubs, + and deprived alike of the tufted foliage amid which Shelley wrote, + and of the flowery carpet which so greatly enhanced their lonely + solemnity, are now a series of bare featureless walls standing in a + gravelly waste, and possess no more attraction than the ruins of a + London warehouse. The Coliseum, no longer ‘a garlanded ring,’ is + bereaved of everything which made it so lovely and so picturesque; + while botanists must for ever deplore the incomparable and strangely + unique ‘Flora of the Coliseum,’ which Signor Rosa has caused to be + carefully annihilated; even the roots of the shrubs having been + extracted by the firemen, though, in pulling them out, more of the + building has come down than five hundred years of time would have + injured. In the Basilica of Constantine, the whole of the beautiful + covering of shrubs with which nature had protected the vast arches, + has been removed, and the rain soaking into the unprotected upper + surface, will soon bring them down. Nor has the work of the + destroyer been confined to the Pagan antiquities, the early Christian + porches of S. Prassede and S. Pudenziana, with their valuable + terra-cotta ornaments, have been so smeared with paint and + yellow-wash as to be irrecognisable; many smaller but precious + Christian antiquities, such as the lion of the Santi Apostoli, have + disappeared altogether. And in return for these destructions and + abductions Rome has been given—what? Quantities of hideous false + rock-work painted brown in all the public gardens; a Swiss cottage + and a clock which goes by water forced in amidst the statues and + sarcophagi of the Pincio; and the having the passages of the Capitol + painted all over with the most flaring scarlet and blue, so as + utterly to destroy the repose and splendour of its ancient statues.” + +We visited a very old house in the Ghetto, where at the time services +were held by a company of Jewish converts. Rude, uncomfortable and mean, +the place looked to any one accustomed to modern churches; yet that +dreary apartment, up a flight of stairs, was typical of places for +Christian worship in the imperial city of the second century. Few +fashionable people know the existence of the room I mention, and +attendants shyly ascend the dirty steps, wishing to be unobserved; just +so, no doubt, it was with some of the companies in the second century who +in Rome “sang praises to Jesus as to God.” In the reigns of Trajan, +Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius, little was known about the +Gospel by the higher ranks. Emperors, consuls, magistrates, marched +along the streets in haughty indifference, or with contemptuous hate +towards the new superstition. + +Much inquiry has arisen as to where Paul lived during his captivity in +Rome. A local tradition affirms that in a subterranean church dedicated +to the Virgin Mary, which you pass going down the Corso, you have the +very “hired house,” where for two years the Apostle lived. In the +crypt-like place, there is nothing which looks like a human dwelling; and +the tradition itself, in a city where such traditions abound, is of +little if any value. A house in the Ghetto, extremely ancient, was +pointed out to me by Dr. Philip, a Jewish missionary, as the probable +spot; but his idea seems to have had nothing to rest upon, except that +this old building is in the Jews’ quarter. What is fatal to the +identification of the “hired house” in either of these spots is that the +New Testament indicates it as connected with lodgings occupied by the +Pretorian guard. The “soldier that kept him” would not be far away from +comrades; and soldiers in general would be accommodated in the Pretorian +camp, of which traces exist near the Porta Pia—a long distance from the +Corso and the Ghetto. + +My third visit to Rome was the close of my foreign travels. A word more +in reference to them. Most frequently on my way to other countries, I +passed through France to Paris, either by Calais and Amiens, or by Havre +and Rouen. Let me refer for a moment to the cathedral at Amiens, one of +the wonders of the world—the largest place of worship I know, except +Cologne Cathedral, St. Peter’s at Rome, and St. Sophia at Constantinople. +It takes away one’s breath to look up at its rich clerestory, and its +roof, 140 feet high, half as high again as that of Westminster Abbey. +Rouen has architectural beauty, and an historical interest beyond other +French cities. The Church of St. Ouen surpasses the cathedral, and the +Palais de Justice is a beautiful specimen of Civic Gothic. But +associations of what happened in that city, during the fifteenth century, +surpass its material monuments. Poor Joan of Arc—most touching example +of self-delusion and self-sacrifice the world ever saw—how she absorbs +interest as one stands in the Place de Pucelle, where she was burnt, the +victim of French ingratitude and English revenge! Paris is so well known +by everybody that no notice need be taken of it here. + +We now return to Great Britain. + +In the autumn of 1885 the Evangelical Alliance met at Edinburgh and +Glasgow, and in the latter city I was entertained by the Lord Provost, +Sir William and Lady Collins, and met there, Admiral Sir W. King Hall and +his lady, with whom a pleasant friendship sprang up, and I accepted an +invitation to visit them at their home, but his death soon afterwards +deprived me of the anticipated pleasure. They appeared to me spiritually +minded people; their society with that of our excellent host and hostess +filled me with great pleasure. At the meeting I lamented, as I am +accustomed to do, our numerous ecclesiastical divisions. “Here we are as +Christians connected with denominational churches, and we may be compared +to persons living in an island city, where we have our own municipal +regulations, where some are in what may be called Episcopalian Square, +some occupying Methodist Terrace, some residing in Congregational Road, +and some liking to live by the waterside. Whilst these differences exist +amongst us in this world, surely it sometimes crosses our minds that they +are distinctions of a very temporary nature. The things which are seen +are temporal, but the things not seen are eternal. We are looking away +from what is familiar to what is now rare indeed—perfect unity.” + +I have long found it to be one of the sorrows incident to old age to +lament the loss of attached friends. In this respect I was much tried in +the year 1886, for I had then to deplore the death of Lord Chichester, +who became acquainted with me through the medium of the Evangelical +Alliance about twenty years before. Of late he was unable to attend +meetings, but our intercourse in private continued and increased as years +rolled on. Descendant of Sir John Pelham, who figured in the French +wars, described by Froissart, and an immediate relative of a well-known +political family of the same name in the last century,—the Earl became an +earnest Christian and an active philanthropist for more than half a +century. Possessed of wide and varied information respecting men and +things, and being eminently genial and altogether free from ostentation, +his society could not but be agreeable and instructive. It was a treat +to hear him recount incidents and conversations of former days. At +different times he brought within view George IV., William IV., the Duke +of Wellington, leaders of the Whig party, and other magnates. He told me +that when approaching his majority his father proposed that he should +enter the House of Commons, and the Duke of Newcastle promised him a seat +for Newark. Before an election arrived the father of young Lord Pelham +died, and the son became a peer. It is remarkable that the seat intended +for him in the Lower House was next occupied by the now famous William +Ewart Gladstone. “The Grand Old Man,” in conversation with my friend not +long before his death, speculated, in his characteristic way, upon +possible consequences to each, had the seat been accepted by young Lord +Pelham. With the Hare family, the Osbornes of the ducal house of Leeds, +the Rev. F. D. Maurice, and other distinguished persons, the Earl had +been intimate, and could tell many a story about them. Though a thorough +Evangelical, and zealous for all the great truths of Christianity, he was +singularly free from prejudice against people of different views. He +could appreciate goodness wherever it was to be found. + +The Prince Regent, with old Queen Charlotte, paid a visit to Stanmer, the +family seat, near Brighton, when the Earl was a boy, and an amusing +picture in one of the rooms exhibits his Royal Highness in dandy +fashion—his diminutive mother wearing a wonderful bonnet, the former earl +acting as cicerone, and his eldest boy riding on a smart pony. The +Stanmer Pelhams are descended, on the female side, from Oliver Cromwell, +and have in their possession the Lord Protector’s Bible in four volumes, +a miniature of him, which, I think, belonged to Lady Falconbridge, and a +portrait of His Highness’s mother. It is curious to find these +Commonwealth relics associated with mementoes in the family arms,—I refer +to the buckle and strap of Sir John Pelham, who assisted in taking King +John of France prisoner at the battle of Poitiers. In addition to these +memorials, mention may be made of a fine copy in the library of Walton’s +“Polyglot,” with the rare preface containing a reference to Oliver +Cromwell. + +Soon after the death of Lord Chichester I lost another friend, Mr. +Cheetham, M.P. His daughters were educated at Kensington, and hence an +intimacy sprang up between us, cultivated by visits to Eastwood, near +Staleybridge, where he resided. He was a shrewd, energetic man, and +figured conspicuously in the Anti-Corn Law League. His command of the +Lancashire dialect, and his knowledge of Lancashire life, made him an +amusing companion, and Lord John Russell would sometimes engage him in +characteristic recitals, greatly to his lordship’s diversion. Mr. +Cheetham had in early life known much of the Moravians, and ever retained +a deep interest in that remarkable community, though to the end of life +he remained a constant member of the Congregational communion. I have +long been of Dr. Johnson’s mind: “If a man does not make new +acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left +alone. A man, sir, should keep _his friendships in constant repair_.” +On that principle I have habitually sought to make up for losses from +bereavement. + +Here let me add a few lines respecting the Archbishop of York, Dr. Magee, +previously Bishop of Peterborough. + +I first met him at Norwich where we took part in a Bible Meeting, and in +the course of my remarks I spoke of “sinking ecclesiastical differences” +on such an occasion. Dr. Magee, then Dean of Cork, made an amusing +reference to this, and repeated it with kindness and humour the next day, +as we travelled together by rail to London. We talked incessantly and at +the end he pressed me to visit him at Cork. Several years passed without +our meeting, and then at a funeral service in Westminster Abbey, he +kindly accosted me, saying, that as I had not been to see him at Cork, I +must go and see him at Peterborough, where, not long before, he had been +appointed bishop. Several visits followed, which I greatly enjoyed. My +impression of him as a brilliant talker, which I received on our journey +from Norwich to London, was now increased, and nothing could exceed his +hospitality and that of his amiable wife and daughters. We had several +drives; and one day we sat down together in a picturesque churchyard to +discuss ecclesiastical questions, where, as he said, the associations and +“_genius loci_” were on his side. I forget altogether what passed +between us, beyond a series of _pros_ and _cons_, and can only say that +we finished as we began—he a Churchman, I a Nonconformist, but both good +friends. Once when I was at Peterborough I heard him preach in the +Cathedral for the Bible Society, on the jubilee of the auxiliary, when he +took for his text two passages: “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” “The +Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the +glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” +He admirably brought out the Divine and human sides of our blessed Lord’s +personality and then presented this as being in harmony with the Divine +and human elements in Holy Writ. As is well known, he did not use a MS. +in the pulpit; nor, as he told me, was he in the habit of _writing_ his +sermons beforehand. He seems to have had the gift of mental composition, +and also of expressing himself extemporaneously in felicitous diction and +with quiet ease. Nor was he at all verbose, as many fluent speakers are. + +He could tell a story as few people can, sparkling with humour, and +distinct in point. I remember two he told of Dean Mansel. Taking a lady +round St. Paul’s, she paused to look at a figure of Neptune with his +_trident_, remarking that she was shocked at seeing in a church such +heathen mythology. “Why,” rejoined the Dean, “that looks more like +_Tridentine_ theology.” At a public dinner, after a toast to Reform—the +word on the paper had an _e_ at the end—“Reform,” the Dean remarked, +“often ended in an _émeute_.” + +As I was preparing for my journey in Spain I met the Bishop at the +Athenæum, when he told me he was doing the same, and proposed we should +go together, adding that he could help me with his knowledge of Spanish. +I had heard him speak of his residence in Spain when he was a boy, and I +should have been delighted to fall in with his plan, but found it quite +impossible beforehand with regard to time. However, we agreed to inquire +after each other at consular offices, as we passed from place to place; +but I found I was always too late, or too soon. When I called at an +hotel in Madrid, where he had been staying, I learned he had just left +for the railway; and after our return, he told me his daughter saw me in +the street as they were hurrying to catch a train. + +How many remarkable facts have been related within the last few years +respecting old English houses and estates! + +During a visit to Lord Ebury, at Moor Park, he told me the mansion he +occupied had been in the hands of many distinguished families; and that +reminds one of what is said in the Eastern tale: “Call it not a palace +but a caravanserai.” It belonged to the Abbot of St. Albans; to Neville, +Archbishop of York; to Henry VII.; to De Vere, Earl of Oxford; to +Cardinal Wolsey; to Lucy, Countess of Bedford; to Sir John Franklin; to +the Earl of Ossory, who sold it to the Duke of Monmouth, whose Duchess +sold it to Mr. Styles, of South Sea Bubble notoriety, to be afterwards +purchased by Lord Anson. After changing owners again and again, it was +secured by the Marquis of Westminster for his son. Lord Ebury informed +me it had never remained in the same family more than two generations. +There runs a curious story of the Lady of the Earl of Monmouth, who +possessed the estate in the seventeenth century,—that her ladyship +protested against the intention of James I., to put his son Prince +Charles “into iron boots, to strengthen his joints and sinews”; for he +seemed to have been physically as a boy what he was, in some respects, +morally as a man—very _weak-kneed_. + +In the course of my recollections, I have had much to say of foreign +tours, and also of journeys in different parts of England for various +religious purposes; but, in drawing my personal narrative to a close, I +am constrained to add a few lines, respecting visits to friends in my own +county, where I have enjoyed welcome rests amidst ministerial toils. + +One spot, long years ago, where I was wont to seek recreation was +Letheringsett Hall, near Holt, in my native county, Norfolk. There still +lives Mr. Cozens-Hardy, whom I knew as a boy, about five years old, in +days when we worshipped in Calvert Street Chapel, Norwich. He married a +lady whom I recollect as a girl, and who was long the light of his +dwelling, well known to numerous guests. They hospitably entertained me +in many of my summer holidays, and drove me round the neighbourhood +called “The Garden of Norfolk.” Respecting his beloved wife, let me +quote words which I wrote for a short family memorial of her: “My last +two or three visits found her weak and frail, but yet a good deal of her +old buoyancy would come back as we sat chatting round the fire. She +seemed to have a quiet faith in the blessed Gospel, but with some shadows +of doubt and fear respecting herself. No bold, self-asserting +professions, as is the case with some, but a genuine sympathy in +reference to the fundamental truths of the Gospel, which form the +resting-place of all true believers. She seemed to know more of the +Valley of Humiliation than of the Land of Beulah; not often climbing the +Delectable Mountains, but by no means a prisoner in Doubting Castle.” +Her good husband has for many years been the main supporter of the +Methodist Society in Holt, and his son, the eminent Q.C., has been for +many years a member of the Congregational Church at Kensington. The +large-hearted Mr. Colman, M.P. for Norwich, married Mr. Cozens-Hardy’s +eldest daughter, and in their hospitable homes at Carrow and Corton I +have spent many a happy day. + +I may add here that amongst delightful sojourns in English homes, I +gratefully reckon Stanley Park, the residence of Sir Samuel Marling; a +marine villa at Dawlish, belonging to Sir Thomas Lea, Bart., also his +home at Kidderminster; the beautiful Quinta on the Welsh border, +belonging to Colonel Barnes; and the marine residence of Miss Cheetham, +one of my interesting school-girls at Kensington. + +During the later portion of my residence in Kensington, there was a +considerable increase of Roman Catholics residing in the neighbourhood. +When I first went to it, a small place of worship sufficed to meet their +wants, but before I left, a large church was built near the Vicarage, and +another in the high road, partly hidden by buildings in front. After the +formation of a Westminster Archiepiscopal see, the last-named edifice +became a pro-cathedral, where Cardinal Manning sometimes officiated. As +I did not hear of numerous conversions, in the neighbourhood, to the +Romish faith, I was curious to know whence the increase arose, and one +day I had a long conversation on the subject with Monsignor Capel. He +informed me that it was owing largely to an increase in the number of +priests who had come to reside in the place, and who attracted many +retired people who were desirous of opportunities for confession and +spiritual advice. + +Hence, I gathered that the increase of Catholics in the neighbourhood did +not arise from local conversions; this explained what had been a matter +of wonder. The Monsignor was very sociable and communicative, and gave +much information about Romanism, its usages and dignitaries. He had a +great deal to say about the political relations of distinguished +Catholics at that time. How far all his reports were to be trusted I +cannot say. + +Certainly there was much activity amongst Hammersmith Catholics. Within +a few doors of my house there was a sisterhood active in collecting +whatever they could of money, garments, and other benefits for the poor, +and on the edge of Brook Green rose a handsome church, in which special +revival services were held. I attended one of these, and heard a priest +make earnest religious appeals to careless sinners. + +There was a nunnery not far off, and from the abbess, through the medium +of a relative, I received an invitation to witness the ceremony of taking +the veil. As a spectacle, there was something about it pathetic and +touching, but as an act of worship the whole struck me as altogether out +of harmony with primitive Christianity. The relative who conveyed to me +the invitation was the daughter of a Dissenting minister, a girl highly +imaginative and poetical, who made some little stir in earlier life by a +book entitled “From Oxford to Rome,” by “One that made the Journey.” She +told me of a complimentary note on the subject from a High Church +politician; and I found that she had been thrown a good deal in the way +of Oxford “perverts,” as they were called. She became a decided convert, +and related to me much of what she saw amongst her new friends. By her +severe penances she broke down her health until she died, but not in the +religion she had recently embraced. The faith of her childhood, in its +simplicity, returned in her last days. I do not know that she made a +formal renunciation of what she had lately embraced, but she desired no +priestly ministrations, and fell back upon her Bible, and the truths she +had accepted in former days. She joined in her father’s prayers by her +bedside, and so went home to rest for ever with her Saviour, whom she +loved amidst all her aberrations of controversial thought. + +Soon after my resignation I paid a summer visit to my friend Mr. George +Moore, of Whitehall, Cumberland, the well-known merchant prince. There I +met Lord Justice Lush, his lady and daughter, Dr. Moffat, Canon +Battersby, and Mr. Smithies, the “Workman’s Friend.” One day we had +Bible readings in a baronial-looking hall; another day we had outdoor +recreations for the villagers, when a select party dined at the mansion. +In the evenings we were taken to places in the neighbourhood to attend +Bible meetings. On Sunday we went to church in the morning and to chapel +in the evening. Our host was in all his glory. + +With the good judge I had much conversation, and heard something of his +early life story. He had been on the point of settling in America when +he was young, and went there more than once before he finally made a home +in his own country. He was a beautiful character, an example of +Christian politeness, general intelligence, and professional learning. + +In closing notices of towns to which I have paid ministerial visits, let +me mention Hastings, in which, from circumstances to be mentioned, I feel +more than ordinary interest. I do not speak of the decisive battle on +the field of Senlac, which ended the line of Saxon sovereigns and gave to +England a Norman king, but of personal memories, somewhat unique in their +connection. There was, many years ago, a venerable Dissenting minister +in the town whose congregation was small, and it was thought by London +friends and others, that a new and larger chapel should be built, and +efforts made to revive the cause. I was invited to preach at the +dedication of that building, and at the close of the sermon found my old +fellow-student, the Rev. James Griffin, was present. He had just before, +owing to impaired health, resigned an important pastorate at Manchester, +and, as he seemed to be recovering strength, I suggested that this new +chapel at Hastings might be a suitable sphere for resuming his ministry. +The congregation invited him to become pastor, and he faithfully and +successfully for many years discharged the duties of that office. It +became after a time necessary to erect a still larger edifice, and, in +connection with the opening services, I was for a second time invited to +preach to the people. Mr. Griffin soon afterwards engaged in the +erection of another chapel outside the town, and when the time for +opening it approached he invited me to undertake that service. Thus a +threefold cord of interest attached me to Nonconformist friends at +Hastings. Moreover, repeated visits on the part of my dear wife and +children increased my interest in the town, and the hospitality of my +friends I remember with gratitude. My dear friend James Griffin still +lives, adorning the doctrine he has successfully preached for more than +half a century. + +The autumnal meeting of the Congregational Union was in 1886 held at +Norwich. My friend, the Rev. Edward White, was chairman, and I was +invited to read in the old Meeting House, where I worshipped in my youth, +a paper on the early history of Norfolk Congregationalism. There was a +large gathering of ministers and other friends in the city, and, as in +other cities and towns, Episcopalians received Nonconformists as their +guests. It was my privilege to be entertained by the Bishop, with whom I +had become acquainted while sojourning under the roof of his brother, +Lord Chichester, at Stanmer Park. I was received and treated with the +greatest kindness and comfort, and found this Episcopal home a beautiful +example of Christian simplicity and devotion. + +The Mayor of the city received members of the Union and other friends in +St. Andrew’s Hall on the Monday evening; and one afternoon Mr. Colman, +M.P. for Norwich, had a large garden-party in his pleasure grounds. + +I availed myself of opportunities during the week for rambling about +scenes of my boyhood, amidst many changes in architecture, manners and +customs, including habits of religious life. The trade of the city had +flowed into new channels; old families such as I knew in my boyhood were +no more. New faces I saw everywhere, and pensive thoughts were naturally +suggested when one traversed memories of seventy years. How different +had been my lot from what it might have been! Church and Dissent did not +stand in the same relations to each other as they had done once. There +was more mutual charity, more, I believe and trust, of real religion. +Certainly, Evangelicalism had made way in the Establishment, and was not +regarded as it had been in days gone by. + +I took a ramble outside the old city, and called on young friends; and so +caught glimpses touching borders of auld lang syne. + +It fell to my lot to occupy a bedroom in the palace exactly to my taste. +It is described by Blomefield in his “History of Norwich.” Lined with +carved wainscot brought from the demolished abbey of St. Bennet in the +Holm, retaining still the arms of that abbey—of the Veres, and others, +particularly those of Sir John Fastolff, their great benefactor. There +were also busts of heroes and remarkable men and women, “brought hither +by Bishop Rugg.” The place recalled images of old, and stories which had +interested me in youth; if they did not people my dreams, they coloured +my meditations. + +My “Recollections of a Long Life” began with a notice of being born in +Norwich; and as the last visit to my birthplace was at the time now +indicated, I think it is a fitting point for terminating my narrative. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +IN completing this volume I propose to take a survey of what I have seen +and noticed, amongst distinct religious denominations, during seventy +years. + +I. To begin with the Church of England. I remember hearing a sermon by +the late Bishop of Manchester, at the reopening of Chester Cathedral, +when, in no measured terms, he dwelt upon ecclesiastical abuses, as they +existed during the last century, and the earliest part of the present. +He exposed the nepotism of bishops, the worldliness of clergymen, and the +indifference of Church-people to religion in general. About the same +time another prelate privately told me that things in his diocese, when +he was first consecrated, had reached such a point as made it wonderful +how the Establishment had survived. He complained of the limited power +diocesans had at command, to repress existing evils, and gave an +instance, how in his own case he had spent a large sum without any effect +for the removal of a clergyman who had dishonoured his profession. About +the facts charged against the delinquent there could be no doubt, but +proceedings failed through technical objections. I remember when I was a +youth there were scandals in the diocese of Norwich, publicly known, yet +legally unassailable. Plurality and non-residence were notorious. +Preaching was neglected to a shameful degree; in one case fifteen +churches were served by three incumbents. Livings had to be sequestered +through clerical insolvency or scandalous misconduct. Bishop Stanley +wrought a great reformation in these respects, much to the dismay of +delinquents, much to the satisfaction of parishioners. I remember him +perfectly well. Of slight figure, with white hair, he tripped along the +streets of Norwich on a Sunday, to one church after another without +giving beforehand notice of his movements, but surprising rector or +curate at the close of the service by rising to pronounce the +benediction. He was as unremitting and efficient in his clerical +position, as he had before been in his naval duties. The magistrates’ +seat prepared Ambrose for his episcopate at Milan: the deck of a ship +prepared Edward Stanley to rule the diocese of Norwich. + +The typical High Church clergyman of my early days was a person +perfunctorily discharging his duties, living on civil terms with his +parishioners, known in the parish by clerical costume, reading prayers in +a surplice, and preaching in a black gown, visiting the best society in +the neighbourhood, kind to the poor, and looking upon Dissenters as a +rather suspicious class. + +But a great change took place in 1832. Earnest men, as we have seen, +arose at Oxford, who devoted themselves to the study of certain +Anglo-Catholic divines and Greek and Latin fathers. Some of them +introduced ritualistic practices, older than the Reformation. The change +under Henry VIII. and Elizabeth was approved by them no further than as +it wiped away stains from the face of popery. I recollect a High Church +layman telling me he liked an ornate service, but that he was left far +behind by the newly advanced party. I have myself witnessed ceremonies +in Anglican churches so nearly approaching the Romanistic that only a +practised eye could discern the difference. There were, however, men of +another order, who had a liking for Anglo-Catholic theology, but eschewed +revived ceremonialism; and I have heard a High Churchman in Westminster +Abbey preach such a sermon on the necessity of the Holy Spirit for the +salvation of souls as, with a few expressions, a Methodist might have +delivered. He pronounced a glowing eulogium on John Wesley. On one side +this clergyman appeared a warm-hearted Evangelical, on the other, he was +a staunch High Churchman. + +When I think of Evangelicals early in this century, they present a +different class from men of the type just described. As a boy in Norwich +I heard Simeon of Cambridge, and Legh Richmond of Turvey; and I remember +them at this moment as they appeared in the autumn of that year to +advocate the British and Foreign Bible Society. The former of the two +does not come to my recollection so vividly as the latter; him I can now +see, with his pleasant face, and large spectacles, mounting, with a lame +foot, the pulpit stairs of St. Lawrence’s Church—attired, not in a white +surplice, but in a black gown: nothing priestly in his appearance and +manner. His sermon was on behalf of the Society for Promoting +Christianity among Jews. He took for his text, “For thy servants take +pleasure in her stones and favour the dust thereof.” With a soft, +winning voice, and “a sweet reasonableness” he discoursed on the +interest, which all Christians should feel in building up the Church of +God, especially with stones gathered from ruins of the House of Israel. +In St Andrew’s Hall he spoke on behalf of the Bible Society, and related +a conversation he had on the subject with the Emperor Alexander of +Russia, when he visited England after the Napoleonic wars. He also told +touching stories of what the Word of God could do for people amidst sins +and sorrows. As to Charles Simeon, whom I heard, he did not penetrate +like dew, but came down with hailstones and coals of fire. + +At a later period Episcopalians bestirred themselves in many parts of the +country, and from end to end, in building and other efforts for church +extension, and I recollect Dean Alford told me how surprised the Church +Commissioners were at the liberal response given to challenges for aiding +ecclesiastical objects. + +In 1865 the old Act of Uniformity was modified so as to relieve the +consciences of such as scrupled to declare unfeigned consent to +everything contained in the Prayer-Book. _Now_ the requirement was an +assent to the Articles, the Common Prayer, and the Ordering of Bishops, +Priests, and Deacons, and a declaration that the doctrine of the +Establishment was agreeable to the Word of God. In 1867 a commission was +appointed to regulate public worship, the result of which was +unsatisfactory. + +In former pages of this volume I have noticed devoted and exemplary +Churchmen through whom my own soul has been nourished and stimulated. It +would be ungrateful not to recognise, on these pages, spiritual benefit I +have derived from sermons preached and books written by living Churchmen. + +Before I close this section of reminiscences touching the Church of +England it will be interesting to notice an accession to it of a +remarkable person who had previously been a Dissenter. Her name, now so +extensively known, was Sarah Martin. My old friend Mr. Walford often +alluded to her in his conversations, and in his Autobiography, written in +a series of letters published by his direction, he gives the following +narrative:— + + “This young woman, during my residence in Yarmouth, supported by her + needle both herself and, I think, also an aged grandmother, with whom + she lived at Caister, near Yarmouth. When I first knew her she was, + I imagine, about twenty years of age. She introduced herself to me + as one who had been as inconsiderate and negligent of religion, as + she was ignorant of the nature of genuine Christianity. By some + means, which I do not now remember, she was induced to come to the + New Meeting, where she heard one or more discourses from me, which, + she assured me, had produced very deep impressions upon her, and + entirely changed the character of her mind and conduct. She + subsequently became a member of the Church of which I was the pastor, + and was most diligent and attentive to the public and private + meetings of the Church. I found her to possess great energy of mind, + by the exercise of which she very soon became well informed in the + truths and duties of Christianity, and ardently disposed to do any + good that was compatible with her station in life. Her affection for + me was such that it is not too much to say of her, as St. Paul did of + his converts among the Galatians, that, if it had been possible, they + would have plucked out their own eyes and have given them to him + (Gal. iv. 15). Her regard for me, and the ministry I exercised, + continued unalterable through the several years in which I resided in + Yarmouth, after my acquaintance with her commenced. I afterwards saw + her several times during occasional visits which I made to that + place, when I found that she still retained an affectionate + remembrance of me.” + +She was in humble circumstances, and earned a scanty income by the use of +her needle; but she coupled with it extraordinary efforts for the good of +others, and this disposed some ladies, members of the Established Church, +to contribute to her support. This enabled her to devote more time to +her charitable work, and at length she was so absorbed in it that she +became a kind of missionary to the inmates of the workhouse and the +prisoners in Yarmouth gaol. She read and explained the Scriptures to +them, and in devotional service, she carried on for their spiritual +welfare, she employed parts of the Church Prayer-Book. Gradually, I +infer, she became attached to those who helped her, and this association +led to her becoming a member of the Establishment. After her death a +commemorative window was placed in Yarmouth parish church, and at its +reopening, after a costly restoration, Bishop Wilberforce pronounced an +eloquent eulogium on Sarah Martin’s character. Some intimate +Nonconformist friends of mine remained attached to her, and showed me +numerous MSS. in her handwriting. + +I now return to the ranks of Dissent and proceed to notice— + +II. English Presbyterianism. A word on its earlier history will here be +appropriate. The Presbyterians of the sixteenth and seventeenth +centuries were orthodox. After the Restoration many of them adhered to +the Westminster Confession, but a departure from it, in some instances, +appeared in the century after. Arian and Socinian opinions began to +obtain, but those who held them claimed connection with the Presbyterians +of the Commonwealth, on the ground that they followed such worthies in +the exercise of religious freedom and the rights of conscience. Their +forefathers had repudiated the Prayer-Book, and now they, their sons in +the cause of religious freedom, renounced the Westminster Confession. +For the most part they remained steadfast in believing New Testament +miracles. The Rev. Mr. Madge, a noted English Presbyterian, sixty or +seventy years ago, said to me once, he could not understand how a man +could be called a Christian who did not believe in our Lord’s +resurrection. + +During the reign of William IV. the two most prominent English +Presbyterians of the old school were the Rev. Mr. Aspland and Mr. Madge. +The latter I knew well. Mr. Aspland was an eloquent speaker, and exerted +himself conspicuously in the cause of Unitarianism, with which he +identified the interests of religious freedom. His son, in writing his +father’s life, pourtrays that gentleman’s religious connections, social +virtues, and decision of character; but does not conceal his warmth of +temper, and dislike to certain eminent Trinitarians. Mr. Madge, before +he became minister of Essex Street, London, was for some years settled in +my native city, and presided over a wealthy congregation, in which were +several distinguished literary and artistic people. The Martineaus, the +Aldersons, the Starks, and other distinguished families, were of the +number. They worshipped in the Octagon Chapel, as it was called from its +architecture, and for a number of years the building was the most +distinguished Nonconformist place of worship in the eastern capital. It +was rather sumptuously fitted up in my boyish days, and the attendants +were not wont to mix much with other Dissenters. If there were any fault +in this, I dare say it was shared on both sides. + +Returning to the English Presbyterians at large, but especially as they +existed in London, I must speak of a trust established by Dr. Williams, +of the last century. He was orthodox, but the administration of funds +bequeathed by him came into the hands of those Presbyterians who deviated +from his doctrinal views, but still retained the Presbyterian name by +which he was known. Though Unitarians in opinion, they by no means +confined their charity to Unitarian ministers and chapels; and still the +“Williams’ Scholarships” are enjoyed by students preparing for orthodox +ministrations amongst Independents. Dr. Martineau was for some time an +administrator of the trust, but strongly objected to the exclusion of +orthodox ministers from its administration. + +During the last century there were Presbyterians in England holding +decidedly Evangelical views, and of late there have been numerous +congregations gathered, which, in their unity, form what is called “The +Presbyterian Church in England.” Scotch brethren of great renown—Dr. +James Hamilton, Dr. Young, and Dr. Archer—I had the privilege of +numbering amongst personal friends, and they were held in honour by all +Evangelical Churchmen and Nonconformists. + +III. Another large section of brethren were Baptists, distinguished by +certain _doctrinal_ and _disciplinary_ views;—the former as Particular or +Calvinistic, on the one hand, and General or Arminian on the other;—the +latter as Open communionists and Strict communionists. Open +communionists admit to the Lord’s table those who have not been baptised +by immersion; Strict communionists confine the Lord’s Supper to those who +have been immersed. Such distinctions are now fading away. Calvinists +and Arminians are comprehended in the same union, and Strict +communionists are comparatively few. + +Robert Hall, the advocate of Open communion, I never saw: he died when I +was young. Joseph Kinghorn, his opponent, a distinguished Hebrew +scholar, I knew well, as he lived in Norwich during my boyhood. William +Brock, who succeeded him, and afterwards became minister of Bloomsbury +Chapel, London, entered the ministry about the same time as I did, and we +regarded each other with warm affection. Dr. Cox and Dr. Steane were +widely known in the religious world, and with both of them I entered into +a fellowship of work and worship at the opening of chapels and on other +public occasions. John Howard Hinton was another Baptist brother, of +whom I saw much when he was at Reading and I was at Windsor. He was more +original, more metaphysical, more scientific, and more excitable than +others whom I have mentioned, perhaps of a higher intellectual order, and +still greater depth of religious emotion. Mr. Spurgeon, who has so +recently left the world, and whose influence and fame extended further +than any other Nonconformist in modern times, I greatly respected and +admired; and though I did not share his intimacy, I saw something of him +in my own home, and a little more in his, where he had a magnificent +library, and received his numerous friends with cordiality. His +popularity amongst aristocratic people was, for a little time, much +greater than is generally supposed, for I was informed by a lady of +distinction that for some weeks in his early career he was a leading +topic of conversation in upper circles. + +IV. I now turn to the Quaker community. Well do I remember meetings at +the Goldencroft, Norwich, where, at the upper end, sat men and women +called Public Friends. My mother, born in 1770, told me of yearly +meetings held in our old city, when sometimes Friends from America +attended: and so great was the number of visitors that it raised the +market price of provisions. Some ladies who came from the other side of +the Atlantic wore dresses with open skirts and green aprons. No bows of +ribbon were seen, while bonnets of black and of lead-coloured silk +crowned the heads of young and old. What Charles Lamb says in his “Elia” +corresponds with what I recollect, and what my mother used to tell me, +how “troops of the shining ones” were seen walking the streets, on their +way to the house of worship, where their silence was more eloquent than +speech. I have read with sympathy “The Life of John Woolman,” written by +himself, and so warmly recommended by the essayist. “Get,” says Charles +Lamb, “the writings of John Woolman by heart, and love the early +Quakers.” + +A very serious diversion in theological opinion existed among American +Friends early in this century, and it is because an effect of it appeared +in England that it is noticed here. A French Friend—the well-known +Stephen Grellet—travelling in the States, makes this entry in his +journal, under date 1822:—“We proceeded to Long Island, where I attended +all the meetings, but here my soul’s distress exceeded all I had known +during the preceding months, though my baptism had been deep. I found +that the greatest part of the members of our Society and many of the +ministers and elders, are carried away by the principle which Elias Hicks +has so assiduously propagated among them. He now speaks out boldly, +disguising his sentiments no longer; he seeks to invalidate the Holy +Scriptures, and sets up man’s reason as his only guide, openly denying +the divinity of Christ. I have had many expostulations with him in which +I have most tenderly pleaded with him, but all has been in vain.” {374} +From what I have read in American literature touching what is known as +the Hicksite controversy, it appears to me plainly indicative of a denial +among many American Friends, that Jesus Christ, in the orthodox sense of +the term, was Divine, and that He did not make any atonement for sin. +Hicks appears to have been a thorough mystic, unintelligible to +common-sense people. At all events he converted many to his views; and +these views were caught up by some Friends in this country. To what +extent exactly they were adopted in England I cannot say: but they +created alarm amongst many Friends on this side the Atlantic. Great +sorrow at the abandonment of Evangelical doctrines led to secessions from +Quakerism on the part of excellent people who had been born and bred in +the community. Some of them resided, at the time I speak of, on the +borders of Wales, others in the county of York. They became +Congregationalists, and in tours on behalf of the London Missionary +Society, I was received hospitably in their homes, and had gratifying +opportunities of witnessing their beautiful Christian life. + +Joseph John Gurney, of Earlham, felt seriously concerned respecting the +American defection, in a community to which he had been attached from +childhood. He had studied in the University of Oxford, had cultivated +friendships in other denominations, was a good classic and Biblical +scholar, and also an author of theological works. Mr. Gurney was +“concerned” about the effect of Hicksite opinion on American and English +Friends, and therefore took up his pen and wrote in reply to the leader +who had done so much mischief. + +Mr. Gurney, like his sister Mrs. Fry, undertook journeys for preaching +the Gospel, and once he visited Windsor for that purpose. I was unwell +at the time, but he called and talked by my bedside, and commended me to +God in prayer. Several Quaker families at that period were living at +Staines and Uxbridge; with them I had much intercourse, especially when +we were joined in the advocacy of Slave Emancipation. The community, in +both towns now named, was considerable for numbers and for wealth. + +Friends now dress, speak and act much like other people. Conforming to +common custom, they still eschew all extravagances of fashion. They no +longer forfeit membership by “marrying out of Society.” “The Right +Honourable John Bright” (how shocked George Fox would have been at the +title!) told me once, that relaxation in strictness as to unimportant +points, had checked a decline in numbers going on before. + +V. Methodism, of course, brings to my mind a long train of early +associations. Not merely names, but living forms, of noted preachers +belonging to the second decade of this century come back to my +recollection. + +Calvert Street Chapel was opened about 1812, and Dr. Coke preached. + +I cannot say that I remember his sermon; but, as noticed already, I +distinctly recollect seeing the odd-looking, diminutive man, standing on +a table talking in the committee room of Bethel Hospital {377} adorned by +paintings of foundress and governors. Dr. Coke energetically addressed +on the occasion a number of people, who had been invited by my +grandfather, to hear the noted advocate of Methodist missions. Many +years afterwards I mentioned the circumstance to a gentleman, who at the +time took care of the patients, when he fetched an old committee book, in +which this gathering was noticed, with a minute expressing the +displeasure of the Governors at such a liberty being taken, and +forbidding anything of the kind in future. The Wesleyan congregations in +Norwich were then very large, and _local_ preachers—uncultivated men in +humble life—frequently occupied the pulpit in the afternoon service at +Calvert Street, and, remember, delivered animated discourses likely to do +their hearers good. + +Dr. Jabez Bunting was a very influential man among the Methodists when I +was young. For many years he was regarded as ruler of the +Connexion,—exerting a despotic sway over the whole body. Such general +conclusions oftentimes are not fairly drawn from existing facts, and how +far widely extended opinion in the case now noticed, is justifiable I +cannot undertake to say. To me he was very agreeable, and for him I had +great respect. William Bunting, his son, was of a different stamp from +his father, and though a skilful critic, he had not his father’s gift of +authority and rule. + +Before the middle of the century came Dr. Newton, to open a second +chapel, in the upper part of Norwich; his magnificent voice and careful +diction produced a powerful effect. I met him in after-life at Windsor, +when he told me that he was accustomed to leave his home on Monday +morning in the Manchester circuit, and travel by coach to the other end +of England,—perhaps cross over to Ireland,—and then get back, at the end +of the week, ready for preaching the next day. He said he weekly +delivered five or six sermons, making them “on the wheels” as he went +along. He seemed a stranger to physical fatigue. + +During my Windsor ministry I became acquainted with a noted Wesleyan, who +was not an itinerant, but a local, preacher. He went by the name of +“Billy Dawson,” and was eminently gifted with humour and pathos. I heard +him preach, and listened to his platform speeches. He was not only +naturally eloquent, but histrionic too; in speeches and sermons he acted +while he spoke. He made you realise what he described. It is said that +George Whitefield, when preaching to sailors, described a storm at sea so +vividly that some of them shouted, “Take to the long boat.” Dawson had a +like power of realising what he described. He would, at a missionary +meeting, make a telescope of his resolution, and putting it to one of his +eyes, describe what he saw in imagination,—perhaps a picture of the +millennium drawn from Isaiah’s prophecies. I was young, just come from +college, at the time I speak of, and made a speech in which I used some +words which were not so plain as they might have been. After the meeting +he spoke to me kindly, suggesting equivalent terms in plain Saxon. It +was a good lesson for an unfledged bird. + +When I was a member of the Wesleyan Society, I attended class according +to rule, and I found the practice beneficial, inasmuch as it was a +constant spur to self-examination. The primitive agape, revived amongst +the Methodists, exists under the name of love-feast, at which, together +with eating bread and drinking water as an expression of fellowship, men +and women are accustomed voluntarily to rise, and give some account of +their religious experience for edification to others. These addresses I +found often interesting and useful. By such means, a habit of spiritual +intercommunication amongst Methodists is kept alive; beneficial in some +cases no doubt, but liable to abuse in others, as most good things are. +I am constrained to relate how this habit on the bright side manifested +itself on a private occasion during a meeting of Conference in London. +Dr. Jobson, an eminent Wesleyan, invited a party of friends to his house. +He kindly included me in the number, and I found at his hospitable board +the President for the year, and some ex-presidents. Together with them, +Drs. Binney, Raleigh, Allon, and Donald Fraser were present. Our host +was a thorough Methodist, and very comprehensive in his sympathies, for +he had mixed with different denominations. He had many friends in the +Establishment, and in early life had studied under an eminent Roman +Catholic architect, at whose house he met bishops and priests of that +communion. On the occasion I refer to, he in an easy way initiated a +conversation which I can never forget. He appealed to his guests, one by +one, for some account of their religious life. All readily responded; +and this is most remarkable,—all who spoke attributed to Methodism +spiritual influence of a decisive kind. To use Wesleyan phraseology, +most of them had been “brought to God” through Methodist instrumentality. +Dr. Osborne was present, and made some remarks, at the close of which, +with choked utterance, he repeated the verse— + + “And if our fellowship below, + In Jesus be so sweet, + What heights of rapture shall we know, + When round the throne we meet?” + +The Norwich Methodists were chiefly humble folks with a sprinkling of +some in better circumstances; their habits were very simple and they +looked upon some who made money as becoming “worldly,” or at least, as +exposed to temptation. At that time, however, such as possessed social +comforts could not be justly charged with conformity to the course of +this world; and over their little gatherings in one another’s houses +there was shed a religious atmosphere such as was breathed in class and +love-feast. Early in the century on a Sunday, between afternoon and +evening service, there might be a large tea-party, where the preacher, a +class-leader, and other members of Society would talk and pray and sing, +till it was time to go to evening service at chapel. This communion +seems to me now as I think of it such as is described in Malachi: “Then +they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord +hearkened and heard it; and a book of remembrance was written before Him +for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon His name; and they +shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My +jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth +him.” + +Worldly prosperity has since fallen to the lot of not a few Methodists, +and the usual temptations surrounding wealth have tested their character; +but I am thankful to say, amongst those whom I have visited, I have found +beautiful instances of adherence to religious principles. I may mention +a friend already noticed, Sir William McArthur, K.C.M.G. When Lord Mayor +of London he continued his previous Wesleyan duties; and whilst bountiful +in his hospitality eschewed usages of a fashionable kind. In his year of +office the Œcumenical Conference was held, and during its meetings +repeated Mansion House invitations were given to friends in sympathy with +Evangelical religion. I attended his funeral, and in his residence on +Notting Hill a large number of mourners assembled, and we had a short +devotional service together, very touching, tender, and beautiful. + +My personal recollections of Methodism, which roll back more than seventy +years ago, linger round Yarmouth and Norwich. At Yarmouth I used to +worship on a Sunday in a curious old-fashioned square chapel, with +galleries on the four sides. There was a deep one opposite the two +entrance doors, and attached to the front of that gallery was a pulpit—by +what means, as a boy, I never could make out. The preacher ascended from +behind by a staircase, invisible to the congregation, and then from the +top of the staircase descended by two or three steps into a curiously +shaped pulpit. I distinctly recollect the venerable Joseph Benson, then +a patriarch, who had been associated with Methodists in John Wesley’s +time. I think I see him now, of slender frame, venerable aspect, and +wearing a coat of dark purple. Of course I have no recollection of what +he said, but he was regarded as a saintly man in those days. In the +autumn Yarmouth was frequented by a number of mariners from the +north—coblemen they were called—who had come to fish for herrings off the +Yarmouth coast. They were staunch Methodists, and used to hold a +prayer-meeting after the general service. How those men used to pray +with stentorian voice, which called forth loud “Amens” from voices all +over the chapel! + +In Calvert Street, Norwich, there used to be special services on +Christmas-day. After a prayer-meeting at six o’clock in the morning +there was preaching at seven o’clock, when hymns appropriate to the +season were sung, accompanied by violins and wind instruments of +different kinds. I did not fail, between five and six o’clock, to rise +and cross the city in order to be in good time for these services. They +usually commenced with the hymn— + + “Christians, awake, salute the happy morn + Whereon the Saviour of mankind was born; + Rise to adore the mystery of love, + Which hosts of angels chanted from above; + With them the joyful tidings first begun + Of God incarnate and the Virgin’s son. + + “Then to the watchful shepherds it was told, + Who heard the angelic herald’s voice: ‘Behold, + I bring good tidings of a Saviour’s birth, + To you and all the nations upon earth: + This day hath God fulfilled His promised word, + This day is born a Saviour, Christ the Lord.’” + +With the Methodist chapel in Calvert Street my earliest religious +thoughts are connected. Watch-nights and love-feasts, are sacred in my +recollection. + +VI. Respecting the Congregationalist denomination, of which I have +spoken already, let me add that in 1877 I was requested by Dr. Schaff, of +New York, to give my impression of prevalent beliefs amongst us. I +replied as follows: “Looking at the principles of Congregationalism, +which involve the repudiation of all human authority in matters of +religion, it is impossible to believe that persons holding those +principles can consistently regard any ecclesiastical creed or symbol in +the same way as Catholics, whether Roman or Anglican, regard the creeds +of the ancient Church. There is a strong feeling against the use of such +documents for the purpose of defining limits of religious communion, or +for the purpose of checking the exercise of free inquiry; and there is +also a widespread conviction that it is impossible to reduce the +expression of Christian belief to a series of logical propositions, so as +to preserve and represent the full spirit of Gospel truth.” (See +Schaff’s “Creeds of Christendom,” p. 833.) + +No doubt there may be heard in some circles loose conversation, seeming +to indicate such a repugnance to creeds as would imply a dislike to all +formal definitions of Christian doctrine; but I apprehend the prevailing +sentiment relative to this subject among our ministers and churches does +not go beyond the point just indicated. Many of them consider that while +creeds are objectionable as tests, and imperfect as confessions, they may +have a certain value as manifestoes of conviction, on the part of +different communities. + +Some people write and talk on the subject of present opinion, with a +positiveness which only omniscience could warrant. No mortal can know +what is going on in the minds of thousands, touching momentous subjects; +yet such knowledge is requisite for the confident conclusions of certain +critics. We may speak decidedly of what is commonly taught in a +community, yet this should be done with qualifications and no farther. + +Silence on momentous points may prove a loss as to the full wealth of +theology; but I am thankful for gain at the present day in richer views +than formerly of our Lord’s character, and the bearing of it upon life +and conduct. Let me add, however, if _Redemption_ in all its fulness be +not prominent in pulpit ministrations, power will be gone. Some suppose +we are making theological advance, and that discoveries are opening akin +to those in physical science; but people who have more carefully surveyed +the wide field, and more observantly studied the history of religious +thought, discover that much as seen at first sight, is chiefly a falling +back upon what was old and forgotten. + +In closing what I have to say of modern Congregationalists, I venture to +notice deceased ministers whom it has been a privilege to number amongst +my friends. + +I knew but slightly the Rev. William Jay of Bath. He has been +incidentally noticed in these pages already, for he was old when I was +young. He rose from a lowly rank in life to be regarded as teacher and +companion by the intellectual and noble. Mrs. Hannah More valued his +ministrations and cultivated his society. Wilberforce used to attend his +chapel when staying at Bath; and an Indian ruler, when in England, went +to hear him at Surrey Chapel, and expressed great admiration of the +sermon. + +The next to be mentioned is John Angell James of Birmingham. I remember +perfectly well the first sermon I heard him preach when I was a student. +The text was: “Our conversation (or citizenship) is in heaven.” His +voice was richly toned—a genuine birth gift improved by culture. He +introduced the following illustration: A pilgrim in the Middle Ages, on +his way to Jerusalem, passed through Constantinople. A friend took him +from street to street, pausing to point out attractions, in magnificent +buildings, and the rich scenery of the Golden Horn. He wondered the +traveller was not enchanted. The latter replied: “Yes, all very fine, +_but it is not the Holy City_.” The application was obvious and well +enforced. + +Dr. Raffles of Liverpool—noticed already as one of my companions to +Rome—and Dr. Hamilton of Leeds, well known throughout England, won the +affections of their people by sympathetic intercourse, and interested +them by eloquent instructions and appeals. The former enunciated his +carefully prepared periods with a voice naturally musical, the latter +delivered his thoughts in condensed sentences, which reminded one of a +person taking very short steps. There was an intellectual power in the +sermons of the last-named, not indicated in those of the former. + +John Alexander of Norwich I cannot pass by without notice. Like David, +he was a youth with ruddy countenance. His speech throughout a sermon +fell gentle as a snowflake, without any coldness of touch. He read much, +and made good use of what he read. The charm of his private life and +conversation exceeded the effect of his public ministry, though that was +great. + +I must mention another name. John Harris was for some years a secluded +pastor at Epsom, little known. He wrote “The Great Teacher,” but though +far above the common level of such literature, it made little impression, +compared with its merits. A prize was offered for an essay on +Covetousness and Christian Liberality. Harris won the prize, and printed +the essay. The effect was instantaneous. + +The book sold edition after edition, and the author’s name became +generally familiar. Requests for his services were universal. He was +everywhere talked about, and when he preached places were crowded. His +popularity lasted as long as he lived, but he died when he was +fifty-four. He was unassuming, kind-hearted, generous to poor ministers, +genial in conversation, and beloved by all who knew him. + +Another brother must be mentioned—Baldwin Brown—of superior intellectual +type, well educated, an extensive reader, and one who delighted in a +large circle of sympathetic friends. He gathered round him a good +congregation, composed chiefly of thoughtful people, who became +assimilated to his characteristic teachings. He wore himself out by +incessant study and pulpit service. + +I must not pass by David Thomas of Bristol, my fellow-student and friend +through life, whose elevated and genial character won from a wide circle +warm attachment, and whose unique pulpit power captivated all capable of +sympathising with one so thoughtful and so good. + +Nor can I omit Alexander Raleigh, my successor for a short period at +Kensington, who fulfilled a ministry dear to many who listened with +delight to his characteristic teaching. + +The last name I mention is that of Samuel Martin, minister at Westminster +Chapel. He had gifts of a peculiar description, which marked him off, +and made him stand by himself, both as minister and man. His appearance, +voice, manner, habits, were all his own. He _lived_ for his Church, in +whose interests he was thoroughly absorbed. No one not intimately +acquainted with him could have an adequate idea how he loved his flock, +and lived for their welfare week by week. I had reverent affection for +him as a saintly man, and I witnessed evidence amongst his large circle, +in town and country, how he watched for souls as one that must give an +account. His congregation during Parliament months included several +M.P.’s, whom he gathered together for patriotic prayer. + +His neighbour, Dr. Stanley, had a reverent regard for Mr. Martin, and I +know that the Dean and Lady Augusta went to Westminster Chapel to hear +his voice and worship with his people. He spoke to me of him in terms of +strong affection, also telling me of a brother clergyman who, after a +visit to his sick chamber, pronounced him one of the most saintly men he +had ever seen. + + * * * * * + + Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury. + + + + +FOOTNOTES + + +{77} Faulkener’s “History and Antiquities of Kensington,” p. 317. + +{78} 1893. + +{80} “Christian Workers of the Nineteenth Century,” S.P.C.K., p. 216. + +{88a} “Life of E. B. Pusey,” i. 336. + +{88b} _Ibid._, ii. 33. + +{89} “Life of Pusey,” ii. 8. + +{126} Early Independent Churches had been particular in their relations +to one another; and they would not recognise new communities without +satisfactory evidence of character, principles, and conduct. They became +more isolated afterwards. + +{176a} Now Archbishop of York. + +{176b} A very good account of this under the title of “Lectures on Bible +Revision,” has been published by my excellent friend and late colleague +at New College, Principal Newth, D.D. + +{183} “Memorials of a Quiet Life,” i. 237. + +{184} Dr. Raleigh, Sir Charles Reed, and others, were examined. + +{193} That was whilst I was in full work at Kensington, and not very +long after our new chapel was built, while a debt of £1000 rested on it. +I said I could not leave my charge whilst that debt remained. As soon as +I had declined the New College principalship, my congregation swept off +the debt as expressive of gratitude for my remaining amongst them. + +{197} “Ecce Homo,” chap. iv. + +{230} Written about 1883. + +{233} I am glad that at Kensington, a liturgical element has been +introduced, such as I should have approved, but could not accomplish, +because I knew it would then be disapproved by many. + +{248} With a short Memoir by Robert Hall. + +{250} In what I have ventured to say about pulpit preparation I have +hoped to help my younger ministerial brethren. + +{252} “Homes and Haunts of Martin Luther,” p. 4. + +{268} Since my visit to Ban de la Roche I discovered that, in a part of +the country not far off, an Irish missionary, Columbanus, in the sixth +century laboured for the temporal, as well as the spiritual, welfare of +the people. See Wolf’s “Country of the Vosges,” p. 214. + +{315} Eusebius, “Eccl. Hist.,” V. I, 2. + +{316} Pastor and Madame Rodriguez. + +{318} De Aniccio, “L’Espagne traduit de Italien.” + +{329} “Life of Wilkie,” p. 472. + +{333} I have gone into this story in my “Spanish Reformers,” p. 185. + +{374} “Memoirs of Stephen Grellet,” vol. ii., 130. + +{377} See page 2. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RECOLLECTIONS OF A LONG LIFE*** + + +******* This file should be named 42716-0.txt or 42716-0.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/2/7/1/42716 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Recollections of a Long Life + + +Author: John Stoughton + + + +Release Date: May 16, 2013 [eBook #42716] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RECOLLECTIONS OF A LONG LIFE*** +</pre> +<p>Transcribed from the 1894 Hodder and Stoughton edition by +David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org.</p> +<h1>RECOLLECTIONS OF A<br /> +LONG LIFE</h1> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">BY</span><br +/> +JOHN STOUGHTON, D.D</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">AUTHOR OF +“ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND,” “STARS OF +THE EAST,”</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">ETC., ETC.</span></p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">London<br /> +HODDER AND STOUGHTON<br /> +27, PATERNOSTER ROW</p> + +<div class="gapshortline"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span +class="GutSmall">MDCCCXCIV</span></p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><a name="pageiv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. iv</span></p> +<div class="gapmediumline"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">Printed by Hazell, Watson, & +Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><a name="pagev"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. v</span><span class="GutSmall">THIS VOLUME OF +RECOLLECTIONS</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">IS DEDICATED</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">TO MY LIFE-LONG FRIEND</span><br /> +THE REV. JOSHUA CLARKSON HARRISON,<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">WHOSE WISDOM HAS AIDED ME IN +PERPLEXITY,</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">WHOSE SYMPATHY HAS CHEERED MY +SORROWS</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">AND ENHANCED MY JOYS,</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">AND WHOSE CONSTANT FRIENDSHIP HAS +BEEN</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE PRIVILEGE OF MY FAMILY</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">AS WELL AS MYSELF.</span></p> +<p style="text-align: right">J. S.</p> +<h2><a name="pagevii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +vii</span>ADVERTISEMENT</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">More</span> than forty years ago I edited +the autobiography of the Rev. W. Walford. This book, which +fully answers to its name, is a remarkable production, entering +into the secrets of the author’s soul, unveiling the +struggles and sorrows of a mysterious experience.</p> +<p>The work now published is of a very different kind. It +really relates to others more than to myself, and brings within +view some incidents of religious history and aspects of personal +character more interesting than any confined to my own +experience. It presents associations during a long period +spent in various work, in distant journeys, and in friendly +intercourse with many distinguished persons.</p> +<p><a name="pageviii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. viii</span>I +enter into no theological discussion, or any relation of +spiritual conflicts, the results of such introspection, as the +autobiography of my departed friend describes. I only give +recollections of what I have seen and heard, especially in +relation to those whom it has been my privilege to regard as more +or less intimate friends.</p> +<p>It was just after retirement from Kensington that I began to +gather up the following reminiscences, with a permission that my +family might publish them after my decease. They were then +put aside, and not looked at for years.</p> +<p>Within the last few months it has struck me that so many +likely to feel an interest in my Recollections have passed away, +and others are so far advanced in life, that if the publication +be longer delayed, few indeed will be left likely to feel any +interest in my narrative.</p> +<p>Conscious of failures in memory at my advanced age, I have +availed myself of memoranda made when travelling, long before any +book of this kind was contemplated.</p> +<p><a name="pageix"></a><span class="pagenum">p. ix</span>I have +been greatly helped in this volume by my dear daughter, with whom +I reside, who has frequently accompanied me in my travels, and +been my valued secretary at home. Without her aid I could +not have brought these Recollections through the press.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Tunbridge Wells</span>,<br /> + <i>January</i>, +1894.</p> +<h2><a name="pagexi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xi</span>CONTENTS</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER I<br /> +1807–1828</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span +class="GutSmall">PAGE</span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Birth and boyhood in Norwich—Education—My +mother—Early tastes—First sight of the +sea—Public events—Early studies—Roman +Catholicism—Friendships—Religious change—The +Christian ministry—College days</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page1">1</a></span>–18</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER II<br /> +1828–1832</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Fellow-students—Public excitements—Old House +of Commons—William IV.—Popular preachers in London: +Daniel Wilson, Rowland Hill, James Parsons, Irving, Dr. +Chalmers—Monthly lectures—Work amongst the +poor—Political excitement</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page19">19</a></span>–38</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER III<br /> +1832–1837</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>First sight of Windsor—Anecdotes of George +III.—Rev. A. Redford—New chapel and +ordination—Bishop Selwyn—Funeral of William +IV.—Queen Victoria’s coronation and +wedding—Chaplainship to a Highland regiment—Eton +Montem—Windsor Auxiliary to Bible +Society—Queen’s patronage—Windsor a century +ago—Eton Institute—Early friendships</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page39">39</a></span>–58</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><a +name="pagexii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xii</span>CHAPTER +IV<br /> +1837–1843</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sir Culling Eardley and tent preaching—Case of +conscience—Public questions—Missionary +tours—Newstead Abbey—Byron and Scott—Royal +visit to Edinburgh—Up the Rhine—The Rev. W. +Walford—Bagster, the publisher—Radicals a century, +ago—John Bergne, of the Foreign Office—Tractarian +controversy, and No. 90</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page59">59</a></span>–75</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER V<br /> +1843–1850</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Removal to Kensington—Life of Dr. +Arnold—Ladies’ schools at Kensington—Kensington +friends—Archdeacon Sinclair—British Schools and +Duchess of Inverness—British and Foreign Bible Society; +London Missionary Society—Young Men’s Christian +Association—Evangelical Alliance—Sub +Rosâ—Tractarianism and Dr. Pusey—Political +excitement—Visit to Geneva—Cæsar +Malan—Notting Hill Chapel—Father of Rev. F. D. +Maurice—Visit to Newport Pagnell and the haunts of the poet +Cowper</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page76">76</a></span>–100</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VI<br /> +1850–1854</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The papal aggression—Discourses on the Romanist +controversy—Palace of glass—Evangelical lectures in +Exeter Hall—Memorial of Dr. Doddridge—Visit to +Germany and Switzerland; thence to Milan, Verona, and +Venice—Intercourse at Kensington with remarkable people</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page101">101</a></span>–119</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VII<br /> +1854–1862</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Visit to Rome: Holy Week, Pio Nono and the feet-washing, +Catacombs—Naples—Vesuvius—New chapel at +Kensington<a name="pagexiii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xiii</span>—Commencement of the Congregational +Union—Algernon Wells—The “Rivulet” +controversy—Visit to Berlin, Dresden, Schandau, and +Prague—Affecting sudden death at Kensington—Family +bereavements—Tour in the Pyrenees—St. Sauveur, the +Emperor Napoleon, and Empress Eugenie</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page120">120</a></span>–137</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VIII<br /> +1862–1865</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Bicentenary of Bartholomew ejectment—Family +bereavements—Commencement of friendship with Dean +Stanley—His sermon on “The Feast of the +Dedication”—His sermon when the American President +was present—My Eastern tour: Alexandria, Cairo, the Desert, +Approach to the Holy City, Communion in the Episcopal Church, Dr. +Rosen, Story about the Sinaitic MS., Hebron, Eshcol, +Solomon’s Pools, Monastery of St. Saba, the Dead Sea, +Jordan, Across Olivet to Jerusalem, Journey to Bethel and onwards +to Damascus, Reflections crossing the Mediterranean, Rhodes, +Storm, Smyrna, Ephesus, Constantinople—Home by the Danube, +Germany, and Belgium—Reflections</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page138">138</a></span>–161</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IX<br /> +1865–1872</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Church history—Visit to Dr. Hook, Dean of +Chichester—Anecdotes of Wilberforce, Bishop of +Oxford—The Dean’s life at Leeds—Extracts from +his letters—Acquaintance with Dr. Swainson—At +Cambridge when the announcement of wranglers +occurred—Disraeli’s school-boy days—Social +gatherings to promote union—The Archbishop of Syra at +Westminster—Acquaintance with Matthew +Arnold—Publication of “Ecclesia”—Friendly +intercourse with Bible Revisionists—The Right Honourable +Cowper Temple’s bill for opening Church pulpits to +Nonconformists—Extension <a name="pagexiv"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xiv</span>of Oxford University—Debate in +the House of Lords—Dinners at Mr. George Moore’s +house after the annual Bible meetings in Exeter Hall—Death +of Dean Alford and of Sir Donald Macleod—Party at Lambeth +Palace—Bishop Wilberforce’s extemporary +power—Dr. Guthrie’s social habits—The education +question—Athenæum Club—Academy +Dinner—“Ecce Homo,” and Lord Shaftesbury</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page162">162</a></span>–200</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER X<br /> +1873</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Voyage to America for the General Meeting of the +Evangelical Alliance—Hospitality of the President, the +Honourable Mr. Dodge—Visit to Sunnyside, where Washington +Irving lived, and to the Mountain House overlooking the +Hudson—The Niagara Falls—Four days spent on the +banks—Description of scenery—Montreal, Boston, +Andover, New Haven, and New Plymouth—New +York—Proceedings at the Conference—Reception of 600 +guests by Mr. Dodge—Meetings at Princeton, Philadelphia, +and Washington—Note from the poet Longfellow—Letter +of Abraham Lincoln to Mr. Gurney</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page201">201</a></span>–229</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XI<br /> +1874–1875</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Death of Dr. Binney—His opinion respecting the +exclusion of liturgical worship—Unveiling of Bunyan’s +statue at Bedford—Unveiling of Baxter’s statue at +Kidderminster—Anecdote of Fletcher’s preaching at +Madeley—Meeting at Kensington on my retirement—Dr. +Stanley’s speech—Kensington friendships—Results +of visits to the poor—Methods of preaching</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page230">230</a></span>–250</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><a +name="pagexv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xv</span>CHAPTER +XII<br /> +1875–1879</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Luther celebrations—Death of Lady Augusta +Stanley—Her “At Homes”—Anecdotes of +Lamartine, Guizot, and Lord Russell—Touching +words—Funeral in Westminster Abbey—The three +benedictions—The Dean’s account of the Royal Marriage +at St. Petersburg—Breakfast at Lambeth with Archbishop +Tait, and conversation relative to a conference between +Conformists and Nonconformists: The plan, The meeting, Subject +discussed—Character of the Primate—Visit of the Queen +to Mrs. Bagster, who was nearly 100 years old—My +pilgrimages to Ban de la Roche and Broad Oak—Days at the +Deanery with Dr. Stanley—My lectures at +Edinburgh—Scottish society—Singular discovery of lost +MSS.—Conference at Basle—Addresses of President M. D. +Sarasin—Death of Mrs. Stoughton</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page251">251</a></span>–284</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XIII<br /> +1879–1883</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Conversation with a distinguished nobleman upon ideas of +religion amongst the upper classes—Days at Spezzia, Pisa, +and Florence—Introduction to Cardinal Howard, who sent an +invitation to visit him—Conversation with a friend of +his—The Cardinal’s reception very +cordial—Offers of a special introduction to the Vatican +Library authorities—Successful day in +consequence—Protestant brethren in Rome—Christian +antiquities—Dr. Somerville’s mission—Drive to +Subiaco—Home through Venice—Revisit to Italy in +1881—Special work in library at Florence amongst memorials +of Savonarola—Death of Dr. Stanley—Character and +habits—Cromwell’s skull—Tour in +Germany—Sir William McArthur’s mayoralty—Death +of Archbishop Tait—Excursion to the Grande Chartreuse</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page285">285</a></span>–313</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><a +name="pagexvi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xvi</span>CHAPTER +XIV<br /> +1883–1885</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Journey to Spain in preparation of book on Spanish +Reformers: Through France to Figueras, Barcelona, Tarragona, +Poblet, Valencia, Cordova, Granada, Seville, Madrid, Escorial, +Toledo, Valladolid, Burgos</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page314">314</a></span>–337</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XV<br /> +1885</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Third and last visit to Rome—Changes in the city and +its surroundings—Where did Paul live during his +captivity?—Evangelical Alliance meetings at Edinburgh and +Glasgow—Death of Lord Chichester—Mr. Cheetham, +M.P.—Visits to Dr. Magee, Bishop of Peterborough—Lord +Ebury and Moor Park—Friends in Norfolk—Increase of +Roman Catholics in Kensington—Chapel openings at +Hastings—Autumnal meeting in 1886 at +Norwich—Bishop’s palace</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page338">338</a></span>–360</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XVI</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>I. Church of England—II. +Presbyterians—III. Baptists—IV. The +Friends—V. Methodists—VI. +Congregationalists</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page361">361</a></span>–391</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><a name="page1"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 1</span>CHAPTER +I<br /> +1807–1828</h2> +<p>I <span class="smcap">was</span> born in the parish of St. +Michaels-at-Plea, Norwich, November 18th, 1807. My father +was in some respects a remarkable man. For his great +integrity, he won the name of “the honest lawyer”; he +would undertake no cause, if unconvinced of its justice, and +declined the office of coroner because its duties would have +shocked his feelings. Of strong understanding, and fond of +reading, after living a thoughtless life, he became an earnest +Christian, and worshipped with Methodists, chiefly from +circumstances—still regarding himself as a member of the +Established Church. Two elder sisters and an elder brother +of mine were baptised by the parish clergyman; so was I, the +Archdeacon of London being my godfather. I have been told +that I “was intended for the Church,” and some +Episcopalian friends have amused themselves with <a +name="page2"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 2</span>speculations as +to what might have been the result.</p> +<p>My mother before she married was a Quakeress, and used to tell +of eminent “Friends” she knew in her girlhood, +especially Edmund Gurney, who preached “with great +power” in the Gildencroft Meeting House. She was +brought up a Quakeress by her mother, but her father was, at +least in later life, a staunch Methodist. She remembered +John Wesley, and used to tell how he took her up as a child and +kissed her.</p> +<p>My father died in my fifth year. Of him I have but a +faint recollection. My grandfather, at a distance now of +seventy-five years, visibly stands before me—a tall old +gentleman with flaxen wig, large spectacles, a long, blue, +bright-buttoned coat, and big buckled shoes. He was Master +of Bethel Hospital, an institution for the insane, in my native +city; and, as I spent much time with him for a year before his +death, I saw and heard a good deal of the patients under his +care. “Master,” said one of them, “I want +to propose a toast—may the devil never go abroad or receive +visitors at home.” “What brought you +here?” somebody asked an inmate. “The loss of +what you never had, or you would not ask such a question,” +was <a name="page3"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 3</span>the +prompt reply. A man who fancied himself King of England +drew on his cell wall pictures of ships which he called his +fleet, and would never speak unless he was addressed as +“Your Majesty.” I once narrowly escaped severe +injury from a woman, who seized me as her child and squeezed me +so hard, that no violence could induce her to relax her grasp; +but gentle words, and a promise that I should be taken care of, +secured my release. Alternate severity and indulgence, at +that time, in the treatment of patients led to a sad tragedy in +the case of my grandfather, who was killed by a man employed as +gardener. He was thought to be harmless, and used to mow +the lawn. One morning he drew the scythe across his +master’s body and nearly cut him in two.</p> +<p>My mother had a dream the night before, and saw in it her +father lying on a bed, pale as ashes, which she interpreted as +meaning something terrible would happen to him. When, at +breakfast time, she was told by a gentleman of what had occurred, +she coupled it with what she had seen in her sleep.</p> +<p>We were living at the time in a very old house with +diamond-paned windows, a brick-paved entrance hall, and some +rambling passages. I well remember the little bedroom in +which I slept. <a name="page4"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +4</span>There resided with us an old lady, widow of a Norwich +gentleman, who had been a friend of the famous George +Whitefield. She used to tell anecdotes of the popular +preacher—how he called himself Dr. Squintum, and, when +supping off cowheel, a dish he liked, would say, he wondered what +people would think of his being so employed.</p> +<p>My mother had a strong verbal memory which her son has not +inherited; and it enabled her to instruct and entertain me by +reciting long extracts in prose and poetry. She was a great +reader and did much to instruct and cultivate my mind by her +frequent recitations. My education owes more to this, and +other circumstances, than to schoolmasters under whom I was +placed. However, of course, rudiments of knowledge fell to +my lot in the usual way; but my culture in chief resulted from +devouring books, from instructive conversation, and from the +delight I felt in observing nature, and looking on what was +ancient. When other boys were at play, I liked to get by +myself and read; biography and history having for me pre-eminent +charms. Lord Nelson had been dead only a few years at the +time I speak of, and what I learnt about him as a Norfolk man +immensely gratified my curiosity. His aunt was a friend of +<a name="page5"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 5</span>my +grandmother, and great was my delight to see and hear such a +distinguished lady; the gratification being enhanced by a bright +shilling she slipped into my hand. The river Wensum, old +trees by the water-side, the picturesque village of Thorpe, +Whitlingham White House and woods, the uplands of Mousehold, +walled-in gardens all over the city, wild hedgerows, sheltered +nooks and corners under weeping willows, cattle feeding in green +meadows, and swans swimming on the river—these objects +afforded me an æsthetic education.</p> +<p>From a child I took an interest in historical tales, and felt +delight in listening to my mother’s memories of early +days. She recollected the American war, and spoke of a +family dispute amongst her elders, which lasted just as +long—ten years. Excitement in William Pitt’s +day she brought vividly before me; and she told how Thelwall, the +orator, delivered revolutionary harangues, and being attacked by +a mob, he was glad to escape by clambering over the roofs of +houses. The trials of Horne Tooke, Hardy, and others, and +Erskine’s famous speeches in their defence, were in my +boyhood modern incidents. Objects in the city excited +archæological tastes. The Norman keep, Herbert de +Lozinga’s Cathedral, Erpingham Gate, the Grammar School, +the Bishop’s palace, with ruins in <a +name="page6"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 6</span>the garden, +dilapidated towers on the edge of the river, Guild Hall, St. +Andrew’s Hall, and the Old Men’s Hospital—these +had for me a mighty charm, creating fancies by day and dreams by +night. The East Anglian city had not old houses such as +Prout found on the Continent, but it contained picturesque, +tumble-down tenements, and other “bits,” sketched in +“Highways and Byeways of Old Norwich.” The +sight of these created a habit of looking after ancient quaint +remains, which has never forsaken me.</p> +<p>Guild day, with its triumphal arches, carpets and flags hung +out of windows, Darby and Joan sitting in a green arbour, the +Mayor’s coach attended by “Snap,” and the +“whifflers”; the rush-strewn cathedral pavement, as +the Corporation marched up the nave—all this gave birth to +boyish enthusiasm for the picturesque. Every Guild day, on +a green baize platform near the west door of the cathedral, the +head boy of the Grammar School delivered a Latin oration before +his Worship. What envy that boy aroused in my bosom! +Elections, too, were objects of intense interest to me as a +childish politician, when Whig candidates were carried in +blue-and-white satin chairs, on the shoulders of men who tossed +them up, as the Goths did their heroes upon battle shields.</p> +<p><a name="page7"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 7</span>As to +another part of my education, I loved to read the lives of +eminent people, and devoured a good many memoirs of men and women +in religious magazines. Norwich was at that time +distinguished for literary, artistic, and benevolent celebrities; +and I felt proud as a boy to think of them as pertaining to my +own birthplace. The appearance of several amongst them I +have still, after the lapse of seventy years, vividly before +me—Mrs. Opie, the Taylors, the Martineaus, Joseph John +Gurney, and Bishop Bathurst, with several beside.</p> +<p>May I add, the first sight of the sea at Yarmouth I can never +forget. It was a November morning in my ninth year. +The sky looked angry; the wind-swept waters and tall billows +broke furiously on the beach; the hulk of a stranded vessel lay +on the sands—emblem of life’s shattered hopes.</p> +<p>Public excitements prevailed in my boyish days beyond what the +present generation has witnessed. After the battle of +Waterloo, and the consequent peace, which was coupled with an +idea of plenty, large loaves were paraded on poles as symbols of +abundant food, mistakenly supposed to come as a natural +consequence now that Buonaparte was conquered. There arose, +instead of this, much distress amongst the lower class, greatly +owing to corn-laws <a name="page8"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +8</span>enacted for the protection of agricultural +interests. Bread riots followed, and I now catch glimpses +of a mob in 1816 marching to the New Mills to sack a granary, and +shoot into the flushes of the river Wensum, loads of grain and +flour. Such tumults were surpassed in breadth and depth of +feeling, amongst the upper class, by the excitement attending the +return to England of Queen Caroline after the accession of George +IV. in 1820. Never have I known such agitation in private +circles, as when society split from top to bottom on the question +of her Majesty’s character and wrongs. For months +there were almost incessant processions from London to +Hammersmith in honour of the lady, who was sojourning at +Brandenburgh House. Unnumbered addresses were presented to +her, and whenever her carriage appeared, it evoked rapturous +shouts. During her trial things were done and said +startling beyond parallel. Documents full of abominable +details were deposited in a “green bag,” which called +to mind the words in Job xiv. 17; and when filthy evidence was +furnished on the king’s side against his wife, counsel on +her side attacked him as a second Nero, and compared him to the +infernal shadow in Milton, which “the likeness of a kingly +crown had on.” Round the hearthstone families <a +name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 9</span>and friends +were divided on this absorbing subject; and such word battles as +Home Rule now occasions were then far surpassed.</p> +<p>My school days over, I entered a lawyer’s office. +He put into my hands “Blackstone’s +Commentaries,” which interested me less in what was said +about real and personal property, the rights of things and the +rights of persons, with the law of descent and entail, than in +what appeared touching legislation, and the principles of +government. De Lolme on “The Constitution,” I +read with avidity. Having to attend the Law Courts at +times, I listened to forensic eloquence with great interest; a +love for oratory being further gratified by hearing speeches at +public meetings when Lord Suffield and Joseph John Gurney +advocated negro emancipation and other reforms.</p> +<p>Theological discussions interested me immensely. The +lawyer in whose office I was became a Roman Catholic, and, +finding me an inquisitive youngster, talked on the subject, +explaining the doctrines and ceremonies of his Church. +Whilst the information he gave me was worth having, I determined +to read Milner’s “End of Religious +Controversy,” and other Catholic books; and beyond my +interest respecting matters of an antiquarian flavour, I felt <a +name="page10"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 10</span>the +importance of ascertaining true grounds for Protestant +beliefs. My master took me once a week to North Walsham, +and in cold winter nights, as the moon shone on the +snow-sprinkled hedges, plied me with arguments for +transubstantiation, purgatory, and the like. I ventured +humbly to dispute his positions, and to contend for truths on the +opposite side; though the match was unequal between a boy of +fifteen and a man of forty, primed by the priest to whom he owed +his conversion. Those night drives were useful, and led me +to see some of the better aspects of Roman Catholic faith and +character, whilst they aroused inquiry, and led to clearer +convictions than I might otherwise have reached respecting +principles in debate. Here let me observe that early +intercourse with friends of different denominations has in the +best sense broadened my habit of looking at questions, and +inspired a tolerance, not of error itself, but of persons holding +error, because they are often better than their creeds, and have +in them a great deal that is good, as well as something of +another quality. Quiet intercourse in early life with +members of various denominations I find to have been a school for +the culture of Christian charity.</p> +<p><a name="page11"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 11</span>Removed +when about sixteen to another office, with the idea of entering +the legal profession, I met with fellow-clerks of education and +taste, who proved very helpful; one in particular became an +intimate friend. He had been a favourite pupil of an +eminent classical schoolmaster, and was well up in Horace. +We had much talk on subjects of common interest. His +temperament had a melancholy tinge, owing to his state of health, +for he was in a slow consumption, but behind dark clouds there +lay a sky full of humour, and his conversation often sparkled +with unaffected wit. He could be a little satirical at the +expense of juvenile follies, in which he did not share; whilst +amiability kept him from giving pain to the most sensitive. +Our friendship continued until his early death, when he passed +away “in the faith and hope of the Gospel.”</p> +<p>Amongst early educational influences which I enjoyed may be +reckoned the opportunities I had of listening to public speakers +of different kinds—lawyers at the bar, preachers in the +pulpit, orators on the platform, and candidates during elections; +for Norwich was contested most earnestly in my boyhood. +Moreover, the city was remarkable for musical culture. It +had weekly concerts. Festivals also occurred; these I +attended again and again <a name="page12"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 12</span>with much enjoyment. My friends +who know my ignorance of music will smile at this.</p> +<p>It might be when I was about seventeen that on a Sunday +morning I took a walk into the country with a volume of +Chalmers’ sermons under my arm. I read one of them on +Rom. v. 10. The perusal deeply affected me, and on the +evening of the same day, I heard a Methodist minister preach upon +John iii. 16. These two impressions commenced a lifelong +change in my experience and character—a change so great, +that it led to the abandonment of my former occupation, and +issued in the consecration of my after-days to the Gospel +ministry.</p> +<p>About that time a journey to London on legal business gave me +an opportunity of hearing distinguished preachers, Dr. Adam +Clarke and Dr. Collyer amongst the rest—a privilege which +deepened my religious convictions. I may observe in +passing, as regards my visit to London, that the first sight of +it, on a dull morning after a night in the Norwich mail, I have +never forgotten—Bishopsgate-street, the Old Post Office, +and all round the Mansion House—how different the +neighbourhood appeared in 1826 from what it does now! In +Waterloo-place, Pall Mall, I spent more than a month, and I can +now see George IV. descending <a name="page13"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 13</span>the steps of Carlton House (where the +Duke of York’s column stands), leaning on a page’s +shoulder on the way to his carriage.</p> +<p>On returning to Norwich, my thoughts fixed on the subject +which had previously engaged my attention. A few years ago, +when conversing with a friend in the coffee-room of the House of +Commons, a report was mentioned of a certain Dissenting +minister’s intention to enter Parliament, if a seat could +be obtained. My friend remarked emphatically, “That +would be a come-down.” He himself at that time held +office, and was on the way to become a Right Honourable; and when +I expressed my surprise to hear him talk so, he rejoined that he +considered the Gospel ministry as the highest employment on earth +when a man really “<i>was called to it</i>.” I +felt, sixty years ago, exactly in that way, and only wished to +know that such a call awaited me. I spent some months in +coming to a conclusion, and at length felt convinced that it was +my duty and privilege to spend life in Christian preaching and +pastoral work.</p> +<p>Then arose the question, In what ecclesiastical +connexion? My relation to Methodism had arisen from +circumstances, but now some study of ecclesiastical principles +was necessary. I began to read <a name="page14"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 14</span>what I could on the subject, +acquainting myself with different sides, and being open to +conviction one way or another. I had no predilections, and +was ready to be either a clergyman or a Dissenting +minister. I arrived at the conclusion that +Congregationalism, <i>on the whole</i>, as far as I understood +it, came nearest to New Testament teaching; but that probably no +existing connexion corresponded exactly with Churches of the +first century. What I thought then has been confirmed by +studies in after-years, devoted largely to the New Testament and +the history of Christendom. I have learned to distinguish +between principles lying at the basis of religious beliefs and +existing organisations through which they are worked out. +The former may be true and sound, whilst the latter are +defective, and in some points mistaken.</p> +<p>It is curious that at the time I first made up my mind I knew +socially next to nothing of Congregationalists as a body; my +chief associations having been with Methodists, Quakers, +Church-people, and a few Roman Catholics. I joined the +venerable society of Christians assembling in the Old Meeting +House, Norwich; its fathers and founders having been gathered +into Church fellowship, during the seventeenth century, under the +<a name="page15"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 15</span>teaching +and influence of William Bridge, who resided in Yarmouth; some of +the members being Norwich folk. When I expressed my desire +for the ministry to two Dissenting ministers—the pastor of +the Old Meeting House and his friend who occupied Princes-street +pulpit—I met with different opinions, the former advising +me to pursue the study of law, the latter encouraging my desire +for the ministry. In the end these two friends concurred in +advice, the consequence being my introduction to Highbury +College, London.</p> +<p>I had from the beginning cautions against forsaking in +after-life the pulpit for any other post. William Godwin, +the famous author of “Political Justice” and other +works, also W. J. Fox, the Anti-Corn-law lecturer, a +distinguished public character at that time, had been intended +for the Dissenting ministry, and, indeed, entered it. By a +remarkable coincidence, both these distinguished men were +connected with the Old Meeting House, where I then was accustomed +to worship. Their abandonment of an early faith and a +sacred calling for the sake of literature and politics, was held +up to me as a beacon, to warn me off dangerous rocks.</p> +<p>Before noticing my entrance into college, I may <a +name="page16"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 16</span>be allowed to +mention that the congregation which I joined contained some +noteworthy people. Mr. William Youngman was a hard-headed, +intelligent, and inquisitive man, much given to theological +argument and incisive criticism of current opinions. He +tried the patience of orthodox religionists, and was the terror +of neophytes. Once, when I dined with him, he commenced +talking about original sin as I was hanging up my hat, and went +on in the same strain to the end of my visit. He found his +match at book meetings in Mr. Thomas Brightwell, F.R.S., an +eminent naturalist, whose name is perpetuated in a memoir of a +plant called after him, to be found, if I correctly remember, in +the Transactions of the Royal Society. He was a diligent +student of the Bible, and published notes on the Old Testament, +drawn chiefly from the Scholia of Rosenmuller and Michaelis.</p> +<p>In 1828 I entered Highbury College, afterwards merged in New +College, St. John’s Wood; the professors—or tutors as +they were called in my time—being Dr. Henderson, Dr. +Burder, and Dr. Halley. Dr. Henderson had been engaged in +foreign missionary and Bible work, spending much time in St. +Petersburg, Copenhagen, and Stockholm, where he became acquainted +with the languages of <a name="page17"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 17</span>Northern Europe. He drilled us +in the languages of the Old Testament, initiated some small study +in Syriac, and delivered elaborate lectures on the evidences and +doctrines of Christianity. He suggested essays to be +written during the vacation on subjects demanding research, and +he regularly required the careful preparation of comments on the +original Scriptures, to be delivered <i>viva voce</i> in +class. Dr. Burder was son of George Burder, once well known +as the author of “Village Sermons.” He lectured +on mental and moral philosophy, and employed as text-books the +works of Reid, Stewart, and Brown having himself graduated in a +Scotch university. Exceedingly careful, conscientious, and +precise, he opposed all bold speculations, and was incapable of +sympathy with mystical thinkers. He had a clear +apprehension of whatever he taught, and used to lay down as a +canon of composition. “Express yourselves, not so +that you <i>may</i>, but so that you <i>must</i> be +understood.” Dr. Halley was a good classical scholar, +impulsive, unsystematic, and by no means a severe +disciplinarian. He enthusiastically admired Demosthenes and +Cicero, and to hear him give extempore versions of these orators +was an immense treat. We read with him some Greek +tragedians and Latin poets, and he <a name="page18"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 18</span>delivered lectures on history and +antiquities. Mathematics came within his department; but, +certainly in my time, he never turned out a wrangler. His +influence, however, was very stimulative, and he inspired when he +did not instruct.</p> +<p>Defects in the Nonconformist educational system were apparent +to me at that time, much more so have they become to me ever +since; but, to a considerable extent, they arose from +uncontrollable circumstances, so many students having had few +advantages in their boyhood. I have lived to witness a +great improvement in Nonconformist college methods.</p> +<p>It should not be omitted that during the latter part of our +term a few of us attended the mental and moral philosophy class +of Professor Hoppus in the London University College, Gower +Street, that institution having been established by friends of +unsectarian education, and numbering on its councils, and amongst +its officers, several Nonconformists.</p> +<h2><a name="page19"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +19</span>CHAPTER II<br /> +1828–1832</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">My</span> most distinguished +fellow-student for intellectual power and literary attainment was +Henry Rogers, afterwards a large contributor to the <i>Edinburgh +Review</i>. Some of the articles he wrote for that +periodical have been published as essays in three volumes. +His feeble voice stood in the way of his being an effective +preacher; but his learning and ability eminently fitted him for +the duties of a professor. In that capacity he rendered +high service at Spring Hill, Birmingham, and next, at Lancashire +College, Manchester. He was highly esteemed by Lord +Macaulay, and Archbishop Whately; excessive modesty alone +prevented his introduction to the highest literary circles.</p> +<p>He was a clear-headed, acute thinker and reasoner, delighting +in Socratic talk, trotting out <a name="page20"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 20</span>an unsuspicious conversationalist, +until he entangled him in inconsistency and contradictions, the +remembrance of which might be afterwards useful. Rogers, to +the end of life, was a humble and devout Christian. Our +intercourse in after-days was pleasant, and to me most +encouraging.</p> +<p>William Drew, who became a devoted Indian missionary, was +another of my contemporaries, and, from sympathy with him, I +caught a portion of his spirit; had I possessed the needful +qualifications, I could have devoted myself to a similar +enterprise.</p> +<p>Samuel Bergne, for many years an able and much-appreciated +secretary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, was another +of my fellow-students. With him I became extremely +intimate, owing, in part, to an extraordinary family affair, +which I have been requested to relate. My father, before he +married, had living with him a sister, to whom he was strongly +attached. After their separation, she went to reside in +London, and dropped all correspondence with him; to the day of +his death he could never ascertain what had become of her. +Methods were adopted to find out her residence, but all in +vain. More than <a name="page21"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 21</span>thirty years had elapsed since she +disappeared, when one day I met Bergne, who had been visiting his +mother at Brompton. “Have not you a relative +there?” he asked. “Not that I know of,” +was my reply. Then he told me that an evening or two +before, as he was sitting by the fire, it flashed upon him how he +had heard that an old friend of his mother’s, before her +marriage, bore the same name as mine; that she came from Norwich, +and that her brother was a lawyer. I was taken aback by +what my friend said, and then related what I had heard in +childhood respecting my father’s long-lost sister. +“Depend upon it,” he exclaimed, “I have found +for you the lady your family have been seeking in +vain.” I soon received a request to meet the stranger +at Mrs. Bergne’s house, when something like a scene +occurred, as the separated relatives stood face to face. +Yet neither then nor afterwards did she shed any light upon the +mystery. She had a husband who proved to be no less a +mystery. We never could learn anything about his +connections; but, at the time of my introduction to him he was +engaged on <i>The Morning Post</i>. We afterwards learned +from himself, as well as others, that he had been employed in +this country as an agent of the Imperial French Court; certainly +he <a name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 22</span>had in +his possession a key to the cipher-writing, used by the first +Napoleon. He showed me relics of that extraordinary man, +and had much to say of several notabilities at home and +abroad. What of fact mingled with fiction in his strange +disclosures I cannot say; but, after his death, I saw some of his +papers, including an unintelligible correspondence between Mr. +Canning and himself; also letters relating to private scandals of +great people, only fit to be thrown into the fire. He lived +in an imaginary world, and used to say that Napoleon Buonaparte +was still living. To his influence, I suppose, the mystery +which shrouded my aunt’s life after her marriage, might be +ascribed.</p> +<p>The four years I spent at Highbury were marked by much +political excitement. In 1828 the Corporation and Test Acts +were repealed. The Catholic Relief Bill was carried in +1829. In 1830 William IV. succeeded his brother. The +“three days of July” the same year occurred in Paris: +the abdication of Charles X., and the accession of Louis +Philippe, swiftly followed each other; and a fresh impetus was +thus given to the cause of English liberalism. The Duke of +Wellington’s protest against reform, the defeat of the +Ministry on the Civil List, and the introduction of the Reform +Bill the next year, <a name="page23"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +23</span>produced an excitement which I do not think has been +equalled since, though for passionate discussion in the homes of +England, it has been surpassed by what occurred during the trial +of Queen Caroline. Earl Grey, Lord Brougham, and Lord John +Russell were popular idols, their names in everybody’s +mouth, their portraits looking down from innumerable shop +windows, their busts set up in house after house, their +likenesses printed on handkerchiefs and stamped on pipes and +jugs, and all sorts of ware. They were mobbed and hurrahed +wherever they went, and their carriages were dragged by the +populace through streams knee-deep.</p> +<p>At that period the old House of Commons was standing, and went +by the name of St. Stephen’s Chapel. Within its walls +the Reform battle was fought; and there still lingered round it +memories of Pitt and Fox, Burke and Sheridan. I had a great +curiosity to see this English forum, and when I obtained +admission, with my tutor, Dr. Halley, who explained the building +and what was going on, I seemed to be in an old Presbyterian +meeting-house, with galleries on three sides, the Speaker’s +chair, with its wooden canopy, resembling a pulpit, at the +farther end. Members were “cribbed, cabined, and +confined.” The forms of the House were interesting <a +name="page24"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 24</span>to me, and +afforded a framework in which to insert images of men in the +reign of George II. I had but to put Court dresses and +cocked hats on the members, and forthwith the age of Walpole came +back to view. A messenger from the Lords, the bowing of an +officer as he approached the table, with its wigged clerks, and +other matters of ceremony illustrated my readings of Parliament +business in olden times.</p> +<p>One figure especially I now recall—that of Sir Charles +Wetherall, a fierce opponent of reform. Up he rose, +violently gesticulating, his shirt very visible between his black +waistcoat and dark nether garment.</p> +<p>The coronation of William IV. and Queen Adelaide indicated a +change in that august ceremonial, which showed how reform touched +royal pageantry. Though an instance of a double coronation, +it came short of the elaborate display when the previous monarch +sat alone in Edward’s chair. I saw the procession +going down to Westminster, along a narrow street at Charing +Cross—old-fashioned shabby shops standing where now you +catch sight of palatial hotels—old Northumberland House, +with its gardens, occupying the space now become a broad +avenue. The beefeaters, the trumpeters, <a +name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 25</span>and the +footmen in attendance upon the gaudy state-coach, with its royal +occupants, were very picturesque. And what a crush there +was to avoid the mob streaming down from the Haymarket!</p> +<p>All sorts of reports were afloat, tending to make the new king +popular. It was said, that immediately after his accession, +he came to town in the dickey of his carriage, and invited, after +an unceremonious manner, his old naval friends to come and dine +with him. A story went the round with rare applause that, +after the defeat of the Reform Bill, when he wanted to dissolve +Parliament, he said if the royal carriages could not be got +ready, he would go in a hackney coach. How far such tales +were true I do not know; but a nobleman, present at one of His +Majesty’s dinner-parties at the Brighton Pavilion, told me +that, on that occasion, the king toasted some of his guests in +sailor fashion, and remarked that his seafaring pursuits had +scarcely fitted him for a throne. Then, pointing to the +queen, he added that for any improvement in his ways he was +indebted to that good lady. The story raised him in my +estimation and that of many others.</p> +<p>I must now turn from politics and royalty to what was more in +my own way.</p> +<p><a name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 26</span>The +Rev. Daniel Wilson, afterwards Bishop of Calcutta, stood high +amongst London Evangelicals as Vicar of Islington, and I +sometimes heard him in his crowded church; but my great delight +was to walk down to Camberwell to listen to Henry Melvill, then +in the zenith of his popularity. His manner was +peculiar—he had a curious shake of the head, and a strange +inflection of voice at the end of a sentence, which kept up +attention. As to style, he was artificial in the extreme; +every paragraph seeming to be planned on the same model, ending +with the words of his text as a well-turned climax. The +preacher swept his auditors along with the force of a torrent +from point to point. I heard him at Barnes, when he was +advanced in life, deliver one of his old discourses, I should +judge little, if at all, altered; but it lacked the fire of early +days, and the congregation evinced little of the sympathy which +seemed to quiver in London churches at the sound of his voice +twenty or thirty years before.</p> +<p>Rowland Hill, though a very old man in 1830, continued to fill +Surrey Chapel with a crowded audience. I listened to a +sermon in which he recommended young people when they set up +house-keeping to secure one piece of furniture <a +name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +27</span>especially—<i>i.e.</i>, the looking-glass of a +good conscience, so that husband and wife, keeping it clean, +might see themselves in it, with joy and thankfulness; “for +a good man is satisfied from himself,” and, he added, +“so is a good woman.” John Angell James, of +Birmingham, was one of the most popular preachers at that time, +and he occasionally occupied Surrey Chapel pulpit; but William +Jay, of Bath, was a more regular “supply,” and echoes +of his sonorous voice I still catch as I read his pithy and +impressive sermons. When he came to preach Rowland +Hill’s funeral sermon I had left college, and he honoured +me with an invitation to preach for him at Bath the Sunday +following. In 1886, when I occupied the same pulpit in my +old age, a lady told me that she remembered my being there more +than fifty years before, when the people wondered at their +pastor’s sending “such a boy to take his +place.” A similar occurrence had happened when Jay +first preached for Rowland Hill.</p> +<p>James Parsons, of York, was a frequent visitor to London, and +used to occupy for several Sundays in the year the pulpit of +Moorfields Tabernacle, and that of Tottenham Court Chapel. +Congregations gathered an hour before service to listen to this +youthful preacher. He had been educated for the <a +name="page28"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 28</span>law, and, +with a strong taste for rhetorical efforts, had cultivated, by +the study of English authors, his own extraordinary gift for +public speaking. Almost inaudible at first, his voice would +gradually rise into tones shrill and penetrating; and after +repeated pauses, when people relieved themselves by bursts of +coughing, he would, during his peroration, wind them up to such a +pitch of excitement as I have never witnessed since. He was +thoroughly evangelical and devout, and did an immense deal of +spiritual good. I became intimately acquainted with him in +after-years, and found in his friendship a source of much +enjoyment. His conversations in the parlour were as full of +anecdote and humour as his sermons in the pulpit were of pathos +and power. I have heard a member of Parliament, one of his +deacons at York, say that Mr. Parsons’ eloquence in early +days was perfectly electrifying, and that, as he listened to him +at that time, he felt as if he must lay hold on the top of his +pew to prevent being swept away by the force of the +preacher’s appeals.</p> +<p>Edward Irving occupied the Caledonian Church in Hatton Garden, +a retired and ugly-looking Presbyterian meeting-house; but the +nobility flocked round him, and it was picturesque to see Scotch +<a name="page29"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 29</span>schoolboys +in Highland kilts placed in front of the pulpit. As I was +trying to get in at a side door, up walked the gigantic orator, +with his black locks and broad-brimmed beaver, as if an old +Covenanter had risen from the dead. An infant lying in the +arms of that strong man added to the effect of the picture. +His manner at that period was grand. His sermons were +carefully prepared and read, every word, but with a blended +majesty and pathos which no extempore utterance could exceed; and +his reading of the twenty-third Psalm, Scotch version, was +inimitable. His favourite word, +“<i>Fatherhood</i>,” quoted by Mr. Canning with +admiration, and now so hackneyed, impressed religious people +wonderfully by its freshness. A fellow-student took me some +time afterwards to call on him at his house in the then New +Road. He was unwell and sat by the fireside wrapped in a +blue gown. He talked to me for some time on the subject of +baptism, the right understanding of which, he said, was a key to +many theological questions. I could not assent to all he +said, nor indeed understand it, but did not dare, at my age, to +make any reply. When he had ended he slowly rose from his +chair. It seemed as if he would never finish rising, he was +so tall. When erect, <a name="page30"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 30</span>he waved his hand to a nursemaid, who +was walking across the room with a babe in her arms, and then, +placing his hand on my head, he offered a solemn intercession, +suggesting the idea of a Hebrew prophet blessing a young +Israelite.</p> +<p>At a later period he took up peculiar views on prophecy, and +on some ecclesiastical points. Then he became wild and +incoherent. I heard him preach outside Coldbath Prison to a +few bystanders, very differently from what he had done in Hatton +Garden. He seemed to have lost unction as well as +thoughtfulness and eloquence. On a cold winter morning, +before breakfast, several students and myself walked down to his +new church in Regent Square to witness “the gift of +tongues,” which, amongst other imaginations, he believed +had been miraculously bestowed. The building was dark, for +the sun had not risen, and the mysterious gloom heightened the +effect of the exhibition which followed. First arose +inarticulate screams, then exclamations of “He is +coming!” “He is co-m-i-ng!” drawn out in +marvellous quavers. What appeared to me inarticulate and +incomprehensible sounds, were regarded by him and many people as +Divine utterances. They deemed them the return of +Pentecost—a gift of tongues. At London Wall Church I +saw him afterwards arraigned <a name="page31"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 31</span>before the presbytery for heretical +opinions touching the Lord’s humanity. He fought his +battle manfully; and whatever people might think of his +sentiments, they could scarcely fail to be impressed with the +sincerity and earnestness of the man. The trial issued in +his expulsion from Regent Square—poor fellow! It is +touching to think of his history; popularity was his snare. +It turned his head; yet, after all, he sacrificed that very +popularity to sincere convictions. His latest life was an +instance of martyrdom for conscience’ sake. Those who +condemn his opinions must honour the man.</p> +<p>Dr. Chalmers came to preach at Regent Square. After the +benefit derived from his printed sermons, I might well desire to +hear his voice. The pitch of excitement to which he wrought +himself up surpassed everything of the kind I ever +witnessed. His vehemence was terrific, yet all seemed +natural. He was John Knox over again—John Knox in +manner, more than John Knox in thought and eloquence of +expression. He moved on “hinges,” as Robert +Hall said, or rather, “like a cloud, that moveth +altogether, if it move at all.” The fact is, he felt +what he was saying. It went down to the depths of his own +soul, and hence it reached the <a name="page32"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 32</span>souls of others. The crowd in +the church was immense, numbers standing all the time; yet it was +curious to learn that the sermon was already in print—in +print, I believe, years before. He often redelivered his +discourses, even after publication; and Dr. Wardlaw of Glasgow +told me his distinguished neighbour informed him, that he tried +to lessen the crowds at church by announcing that next time he +meant to deliver what they had heard already. +“Yet,” with a childlike simplicity the old man added, +“they come in still larger numbers than +before!” Not many preachers are troubled in that +way.</p> +<p>At the time now referred to, religious services were not +multiplied as at present; hence great interest was taken amongst +London Congregationalists in what were called “Monthly +Lectures,” given by ministers who carefully prepared what +they delivered. Three come back to my recollection +now. The first, in Jewin Street, was delivered by Dr. +Collyer, a popular divine, who attracted the notice of royalty, +and had the Dukes of Kent and of Sussex to hear him. I knew +him well in after-days, when he spoke of friendly intercourse +with him, vouchsafed on the part of Queen Victoria’s +father. The subject of the doctor’s lecture was <a +name="page33"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 33</span>“Our +Colonial Empire,” and a felicitous text was selected from +Ezek. xxviii. 14–16. He urged on his audience the +claims of distant colonies, then much neglected; and he painted +vivid pictures of England’s commercial wealth and vast +possessions, insisting strongly on our national +responsibilities. The second I remember was in Claremont +Chapel, from the lips of my tutor, Dr. Halley, on the importance +of intercessory prayer, showing its place in Church history, as a +pivot on which turned events of unutterable importance. A +third, at Bermondsey, was delivered by a minister of great pulpit +gifts, named Dobson, who discoursed on the topic of the final +resurrection. I am not in the habit of saying the former +days were better than these, yet I may be permitted to express my +opinion that those three lectures would bear favourable +comparison with the best productions in Nonconformist homiletics +at the present day. Among venerable forms present at these +lectures, to officiate or listen, were Dr. Winter, of New Court, +now covered by buildings sacred to the law, a man of high repute, +stout in figure, and strong in opinion; and Dr. Pye Smith, spare, +attenuated, ethereal in presence, Melancthon-like in spirit, and +as full of learning as Melancthon, with scientific knowledge <a +name="page34"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 34</span>which +entitled him to the place he held by the side of accomplished +geologists. I may also mention James Stratten, of +Paddington, who had an eagle’s eye, and a combination of +face, voice, thought, and style which rendered him unique amongst +preachers,—like Rembrandt amongst artists—rich in +lights and shadows. Nor should Dr. Fletcher, of Stepney, be +forgotten, whose purity of thought, felicity of diction, and +depth of evangelical sentiment attracted large audiences. +The Claytons were well-known members of this goodly +fellowship. How these and other names are passing out of +remembrance!</p> +<p>Looking back to “sixty years since,” I am struck +with the difference between certain aspects of Metropolitan +Nonconformity presented then, and others familiar now. +Indeed, a similar state of things is obvious when we turn to the +religious history of other great cities. Citizens then for +the most part <i>lived</i> in London. Westminster and the +opposite side of the Thames saw, on Sundays and week days, in the +same neighbourhood both the poor and rich. Thus pious +families exerted an immediate and constant influence where they +lived, and my remembrance of Metropolitan domestic life then is +intensely gratifying. There were happy homes in London +where now want and misery abound. Organised district <a +name="page35"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 35</span>work goes on, +but it is a poor substitute for the presence of godly and +philanthropic people in their own homesteads, coming in constant +contact with those who needed sympathy and help.</p> +<p>Efforts were not wanting for the benefit of London on the part +of Christian people in general. The City Mission had then +been recently founded, and students in Highbury College lent a +hand in work amongst the poor. I remember a district in +existence, called Saffron Hill, full of old tenements now swept +away. Some fellow-students went with me to the spot on a +Sunday afternoon, and we preached from a doorstep, while women +looked down from their windows, and perhaps men below were +smoking their pipes. Drury Lane was a dirty, neglected +neighbourhood; and, in a room hired there, we conducted a service +on Sunday nights. Sometimes disturbances arose, but the +work went on. Nor were certain districts in the country +round London neglected. There we preached and visited the +aged sick, praying by the bedside, and ministering such +instruction and comfort as we were able.</p> +<p>Public religious meetings in those days were comparatively +rare, and the style of speaking was different from what it is +now—more ornate, with apostrophes and appeals of a kind +which has <a name="page36"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +36</span>vanished away. The annual Bible gathering was held +in Freemasons’ Hall, the floor covered with a +closely-packed audience. A passage was partitioned off on +the left hand side for the access of speakers to the platform, +who were eagerly watched, and loudly applauded, as they +approached, their heads amusingly bobbing up and down as they +quickened their pace. The diminutive William Wilberforce, +eye-glass in hand, his head on one side, came skipping along; Dr. +Ryder, Bishop of Gloucester, with big wig, and smooth apron, +followed at a more dignified pace; Cunningham, Noel, and other +evangelical celebrities were sure to be present. Rowland +Hill, by his quizzical look, and humorous tongue, could not fail +to make a mark; and Burnet of Cork, who afterwards became pastor +of the Independent Congregation, Camberwell, was a vast +favourite, his rising to speak being a signal for loud +cheers. There he would stand, calmly extemporising +sentences which exactly hit the occasion, and the +audience—all eyes turned towards him—upturned faces +seeming, as he said, to resemble “a tesselated +pavement.” He liked to compare North and South +Ireland with one another, as showing the contrast between a +Bible-reading and a Bible-ignoring population.</p> +<p><a name="page37"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 37</span>After +Exeter Hall had been opened there arose a tremendous controversy +about Unitarians and the Bible Society. Some well-known +speakers could not get a hearing, and the scene on the platform +was terribly confused, until Rowland Hill rose and put the +assembly in good humour, by remarking that he “would accept +the Bible from the hands of the devil; only he would keep him at +a distance, and take his gift with a pair of tongs.”</p> +<p>In the same place anti-slavery meetings were held. I +remember one in particular when, besides Buxton and Mackintosh, +O’Connell and Sheil were present. Mackintosh spoke +with philosophical calmness. O’Connell was full of +invective, satire, and pathos; one moment terrific in +denunciation, then heart-melting in tones of sympathy; now +stamping with his foot, and laying hold of his scratch wig, as if +he would tear it in pieces; next, with gentle whispers, drawing +tears, or creating laughter. Sheil, in a torrent of +declamation, was carried off his legs, borne along by his own +impetuosity, completely overmastered by himself; whilst his Irish +friend never lost self-control amidst most violent storms of +passion.</p> +<p>Some time afterwards, I listened to Lord Brougham in the same +hall on the same subject. He was <a name="page38"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 38</span>then past his best days, but flashes +of oratory, full of satire and invective against the party he had +left, burst forth in a long speech, which, as chairman, he +delivered in the middle of the proceedings, to the interruption +of previous arrangements. It was, I suppose, by no means +equal to his earlier efforts, but enough remained of thunder and +lightning to remind one of his eulogised resemblance to +Demosthenes.</p> +<h2><a name="page39"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +39</span>CHAPTER III<br /> +1832–1837</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">When</span> I first saw Windsor in the +winter of 1830–31 how different the town appeared from what +it did afterwards! All about Thames Street and Castle Hill +was crowded with old houses and shops on both sides of the way, +and the walls bounding Lower Ward were hidden from view, except +where the Clock Tower, which stood in advance, looked down upon +the passers-by. A large plain brick mansion, called the +Queen’s Lodge, long since removed, occupied the right hand +of the road leading to York and Lancaster Gate, while +old-fashioned tenements lined the approach to the royal +precincts. On the night of my first arrival patches of snow +covered the roofs, and dotted the pediments of doors and windows; +over Henry VIII.’s gateway hung a gorgeous hatchment in +memory of George IV., who had not long before left this +life. <a name="page40"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +40</span>It was slow travelling from London to Windsor in those +days, especially when the waters were out, and the roads were +heavy, and thick fogs rendered the leaders invisible to the +coachman; whilst deep ruts clogged the wheels and now and then an +icy flood came up to the axles. In the town I heard a great +deal about “Windsor of the olden time,” when highway +robbers were rife, and gentlemen who took to the road would lie +in wait under cover of a plantation, and, galloping over a field, +stop the traveller and lighten him of his purse. According +to one informant, a tradesman in High Street, at the latter part +of the eighteenth century, kept a swift-trotting nag, which he +mounted after dark to do a little business on the road, and then +returned richer than he went. People at that time, as I +heard some of them say, did not think of riding or driving over +Hounslow Heath alone; but, when approaching that ill-famed spot +where gibbets lingered by the roadside, were careful to wait till +a number was formed able to defend themselves against the attack +of thieves. The sobriety of many inhabitants in the royal +borough did not stand high, and at mayors’ feasts the +guests did not think they sufficiently honoured the hospitalities +of the evening, unless they drank so much <a +name="page41"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 41</span>as made it +difficult for them to find their way home.</p> +<p>Anecdotes of George III. were rife. I heard that he used +to rise early, take a walk before breakfast, and sit down in a +certain bookseller’s shop, looking at publications on the +counter. But one morning he saw a book by Tom Paine lying +there; after that he paid no more visits. Sometimes he said +very shrewd things. A Bow-street runner, named Townsend, +liked to attend early prayers when His Majesty was present, and +to make himself heard in loud responses. One day he was +running about after service looking for something he could not +find. “Townsend, Townsend, what are you +after?” “I have lost my hat, please your +Majesty.” “You prayed well,” was the +monarch’s rejoinder; “but you did not +watch.” The king had a wonderful memory; and once, as +a troop of yeomanry rode past in review, he pointed out a man +amongst them of whom he had bought a horse twenty years before, +and whom he had not seen afterwards.</p> +<p>An old inhabitant, who became my father-in-law, vouched for +the truth of some of these stories; and bore testimony, not only +to the condescension and familiarity of George III., but to the +kindness <a name="page42"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +42</span>and consideration of George IV. One remark which +my friend and relative used to make as he was walking through the +apartments of the castle, produced a startling effect. +Stopping before the picture of Charles I., he would say: +“He looks just as he did when I last saw him.” +The fact was that my relative was present when Sir Henry Halford +superintended the exhumation of the beheaded king; and he first +caught a glimpse of the royal face, because he assisted in +cutting open the coffin lid. The face was perfect, and +exactly resembled Vandyke’s famous portrait of Charles +I. When exposed to the air the dust crumbled away.</p> +<p>After preaching at Windsor, as a student, several times, I +received an invitation to become co-pastor of the Congregational +church. The Rev. A. Redford, a man of singular consistency +of character, who by his conduct as a Christian minister won the +respect and confidence of the town generally, as well as of his +own little flock, had been in office for many years, and needed +assistance in his sacred calling. He won my heart; and as a +son with a father I laboured with him in the gospel. George +III., who had a domestic or two in his household attending on +this good man’s preaching, was heard to say: “The +clergy are paid by the country to pray <a name="page43"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 43</span>for me, but Mr. Redford’s +praying is without pay.”</p> +<p>In the prospect of my becoming co-pastor, the congregation in +1832 determined to build a new chapel, the one in existence being +not sufficiently large; and as a sign of the honour in which the +senior minister was held, I may mention, that Church-people, as +well as Dissenters, contributed to the fund. The late Earl +of Derby, then Mr. Stanley, who represented the borough, +subscribed £50. The other member gave a like +sum. The vicar and almost all the leading inhabitants were +found on the list. The fact is now mentioned to indicate +the good understanding between different classes of religionists +which then existed in Windsor.</p> +<p>I was ordained the day after the new chapel was opened, at the +beginning of May 1833. It was a service long to be +remembered. Such services were thought more of in those +days than they are now. Ministers and friends came from a +great distance, and a large congregation was sure to +assemble. Generally the spirit was devout. An +introductory discourse illustrated the grounds of +Nonconformity. After this several questions were answered +by the candidate, as to his Christian experience, doctrinal +sentiments, and reasons for <a name="page44"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 44</span>believing he had a call to the +ministry. A deacon of the Church related the steps which +had led to the present choice, and, afterwards, the ordination +prayer was offered with a solemn laying on of hands. In my +case, my venerated co-pastor fulfilled this duty; and it was +interesting to me that, in like manner, he had been ordained by +Rowland Hill. A charge to the inducted minister followed; +then came a sermon to the people, pointing out their +duties. The holy influence of that day rests on me to this +hour, after the lapse of more than fifty years.</p> +<p>The fresh impetus now given to our religious work served to +stimulate friends in the Establishment, who had so helped us in +our department of the one great cause. A Sunday evening +service was commenced in the parish church, and a new Episcopal +place of worship was erected in Eton, where it was much +needed. In addition to the vicar of Windsor and his +curates, some of the masters at Eton College came forward in +parish work, rendering help by sermons at a third Sunday service +then recently commenced. The Rev. T. Chapman, afterwards a +Colonial bishop, took the lead, and did much to revive religion +in the town. But the most distinguished labourer at the +time was the Rev. G. A. Selwyn, then connected with <a +name="page45"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 45</span>Eton, who was +afterwards one of the most heroic missionary bishops of modern +times; with him it was my privilege to co-operate in the +establishment of the Windsor Infants’ School.</p> +<p>lie would fain have induced me to enter the Establishment, but +though he did not succeed in that respect, he ever treated me +with a brotherly regard, which I sincerely reciprocated. +Before he embarked for his distant field of labour he wrote a +farewell note in which he said: “On the few points in which +we differ, I thank God we have been enabled to dwell, often at +some length, without one particle of that acrimony which often +discredits controversy, and proves it to proceed rather from +human passions than from zeal for the truth of God. I +cannot recollect, throughout all our intercourse, one single word +which can be considered as a breach of charity between us. +For this I am especially thankful, that when I go to offer up my +gift upon far distant altars, I shall have left no brother at +home, with whom I ought first to have been reconciled.”</p> +<p>I had a ticket for St. George’s Chapel when William IV. +was interred. The interior of the building was dark, except +as illumined by torches in the hands of soldiers who lined the +nave, and <a name="page46"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +46</span>by numerous lights within the choir. When the +procession drew up about nine o’clock, at the south +entrance, the blaze of outside torches was seen through the +stained windows; then the appearance of heralds in their tabards +followed: next the slow march of mourners close to the coffin, +the Duke of Sussex being most conspicuous; afterwards a funeral +dirge echoed from the fretted roof. The silence was further +broken by the Burial Service and the repetition of royal +titles. “Sic transit gloria mundi” came last, +and left an ineffaceable impression.</p> +<p>I was further favoured with a ticket to see the coronation in +Westminster Abbey. When the procession entered the nave, +officers of state and foreign ambassadors appeared in rich +costume. Diamond-decked coats and rich mantles made a grand +show, yet they chiefly served to set off the simple dignity of +the queen in her early girlhood, whilst a spell of loyalty +touched spectators looking down from lofty galleries. The +coronation shout of “God save the Queen” needed to be +heard that it might be fully understood. Afterwards, a +stream of dignified personages, with mantles and coronets, issued +from the choir and covered the nave with a tesselated pattern of +rich colours.</p> +<p>To the coronation succeeded the royal marriage, <a +name="page47"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 47</span>honoured at +Windsor by extraordinary festivities; and at night the +cortége of the bride and bridegroom, on their way to the +castle through decorated and illuminated streets, evoked a +rapturous welcome from assembled thousands. But what above +all other incidents of that occasion lives in my memory at the +present moment is the sudden view which I caught a day or two +afterwards of the wedded pair in a pony carriage, driven by the +bridegroom as his bride nestled beside him, under his wing, with +simplicity which gave exquisite finish to the chief pictures +which passed before me that summer.</p> +<p>Another incident may be mentioned. At a town meeting it +was proposed that an address of congratulation should be +presented to Her Majesty by the mayor and others. The +presentation followed at a levée. It was interesting +to see notabilities assembled in St. James’s Palace at the +first public reception by Her Majesty after the royal +marriage. Amongst a crowd of noblemen in the ante-room were +pointed out, in particular, Dr. Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter, +with an eagle eye indicative of his intellect, and Joseph Hume, +the sturdy economist; both of them much talked of at that +period. Others I have forgotten. After waiting we +were ushered <a name="page48"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +48</span>into the presence, the Queen, with Prince Albert at her +side, occupying a place near a window not far from the entrance +door. Since that I have knelt before Her Majesty more than +once, but how great the difference between the first and last +occasions—the girl become a matron, the sparkling bride a +sorrowful widow, and the newly-married wife a mother with sons +and daughters standing round in reverence and affection.</p> +<p>If I may here anticipate a Windsor ceremonial of later date, +let me mention the royal presentation of colours to a regiment of +Highlanders to which I acted as chaplain. The colours were +bestowed in the quadrangle of the castle on the day when the +christening of the Prince of Wales took place. The Prince +Consort, the King of Prussia, and the Duke of Wellington, with +several other grandees, formed a group under the shadow of the +castle porch. As chaplain to the regiment I was allowed to +stand near, and was struck with the Prince’s German accent, +which he seemed to conquer in later life, when he spoke almost +like a born Englishman. The Duke addressed the soldiers in +his accustomed plain style, giving them very good advice. +Preparations for the banquet in St. George’s Hall, which a +number of people were allowed to <a name="page49"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 49</span>see, were very magnificent, tables +being covered with gold and silver plate. Some antique +pieces brought from the Tower were of special interest. In +the evening I joined the non-commissioned officers, to whom a +dinner was given, and I was glad of an opportunity to recall to +their minds the Duke’s address. This Highland +regiment while in Windsor attended worship in our chapel, when +the band accompanied the singing, and Highland bonnets hung +round, outside the galleries. I visited the barracks, +conversed and prayed with the sick, and baptised the +children. My relations with the colonel and the officers +were pleasant during the whole time that the Scotch remained in +Windsor.</p> +<p>Going back a few years, let me notice “Eton +Montem,” then witnessed in all its splendour. +Approaches to the college were guarded by boys in fancy costumes: +coloured velvet coats, yellow boots, caps decorated with graceful +plumes, appeared on the scene. The youngsters levied a tax +on all comers, calling it “<i>salt</i>,” which they +deposited in bags suspended from their necks. As royal +carriages swept across Windsor bridge, picturesque sentinels +received handsome donations from royal hands. The gifts, +together with a large number of others, <a +name="page50"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 50</span>formed a fund +for the captain of the school to defray his expenses at +Cambridge, whither he was sent in prospect of a fellowship. +The procession of boys to Salt Hill, where the captain waved a +flag after a prescribed fashion, excited immense interest, and +was witnessed by multitudes. The sight in the college +gardens as the day closed, afforded perhaps the best of the +pageant, for these lads, attired in Turkish, Greek, Italian, and +other showy garbs, mixed with their friends so as to form a +picture of animated life, with old trees and old buildings for a +background.</p> +<p>I had not been long in the town before I became intimately +connected with the British and Foreign Bible Society, which laid +a strong hold on my affections as a boy, and to which I firmly +adhered, after I became a man. Our auxiliary was a +flourishing one. Some relatives of Lord Bexley, president +of the parent society, lived in our neighbourhood, and used to +come over to our annual gatherings in the Town Hall. One of +them, the Rev. Mr. Neal, of Taplow, was a constant visitor. +He typified a class of men now almost extinct. They loved +the Establishment, and, judging of it by its formularies, +identified it with the cause of evangelical religion. They +knew much less of <a name="page51"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +51</span>Anglo-Catholic theology than of Puritanical works. +Owen and Baxter occupied a conspicuous place on their literary +shelves, by the side of Latimer and Calvin. The +Evangelicals were nevertheless faithful to their own +ecclesiastical order, preferring episcopacy to any other form of +government. Not on social or literary grounds had they +sympathy with Dissenters, or from what is now recognised as +“breadth of opinion,” but they cultivated union, on +purely evangelical grounds.</p> +<p>At our Bible Meeting, with good old Mr. Neale, other +evangelical clergymen were present, also one of our borough +members, Mr. Ramsbottom, M.P. (who always took the chair), and +Sir John Chapman, a strong conservative Churchman, was sure to be +on the platform. I cannot say that the speeches were +brilliant, though the deputation from London interested us +much. First came Mr. Dudley, who had been a Quaker, but was +then an Episcopalian; and, to the facts he detailed, there were +added peculiarities of utterance, which gave a flavour to what he +said. He slightly stuttered; and once, as he described how +the blind were taught to read with their fingers the pages of +embossed Bibles, he said it reminded him of the words, +“That they should seek the Lord, if haply, they might +<i>feel after </i><a name="page52"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +52</span><i>Him and find Him</i>.” Hesitation of +speech made the quotation increasingly effective. After him +came Mr. Bourne, who had, I believe, been formerly a stipendiary +magistrate in the West Indies; and he had a singular <i>click</i> +in his voice. He told a story of some ladies who had +coloured their maps so as to distinguish, by a pink colour, the +countries where the Bible was circulated—thus +“<i>pinking</i> the world for Christ.” The good +man’s click told curiously on his pronunciation of words; +and I used, sometimes, to make my Bible Society friends smile, by +inquiring whether they offered a premium for agents with a +“<i>diversity of tongues</i>.” The Rev. Sydney +Godolphin Osborne—the famous “S. G. O.” of +<i>The Times</i> newspaper—had at that period a living near +Windsor, and took great interest in our auxiliary. He was a +fine, tall, aristocratic young man, of straightforward character, +strong common sense, and a racy style of utterance. He made +capital speeches, and in many ways helped on our work; in one way +especially, which deserves distinct mention. He thought it +would be a good thing to obtain royal patronage for our +auxiliary, though Her Majesty’s name was not identified +with the parent society. He wrote to Lord John Russell, +then a Cabinet Minister (whose brother, <a +name="page53"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 53</span>Lord +Wriothesley Russell, after he became Canon of Windsor, lovingly +supported our cause). When Lord John laid the request +before Her Majesty, she graciously gave her name as local +patroness, and sent a donation of twenty guineas. It is +worth mentioning that this occurred at a time when party politics +were running high. Two letters communicating the +Queen’s kindness may be here inserted.</p> +<p>The first was addressed to the Honourable Godolphin +Osborne.</p> +<blockquote><p>“<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</p> +<p>“I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your +letter respecting ‘The Windsor Auxiliary Bible +Society,’ on which the Queen was last year pleased to +bestow her patronage, which I have submitted to the Queen, and +though Her Majesty does not usually grant a donation to those +institutions to which Her Majesty’s patronage only has been +given, yet, the Queen, taking into her consideration that the +establishment in question is in the immediate neighbourhood of +Windsor Castle, has been pleased to direct me to forward twenty +guineas as a donation. I beg to enclose a draft for that +sum, and request <a name="page54"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +54</span>you will have the goodness to acknowledge its +receipt.</p> +</blockquote> +<p style="text-align: right">“I have the honour to be,<br +/> +“Your most obedient servant,<br /> +“H. <span class="smcap">Wheatley</span>.”</p> +<p>This letter was conveyed to me by the person addressed, who +added the following note:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“I wrote to Sir H. Wheatley about a donation +from the Queen to the Bible Society. I have received a +satisfactory answer, and a draft for twenty guineas. If it +meets your approbation, I would wish that the fact should not be +known to any but ourselves just now. At the present moment +the country is so <i>party-mad</i>, and there is such a +determination to catch at anything for party purposes, that I am +anxious to avoid giving a handle of any sort to either side in a +matter which has no real reference to politics. I only +wrote last week from Wales, and got an immediate answer, which I +have acknowledged, saying, at the same time, that at the +anniversary meeting a more official acknowledgment will be +sent.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">“I remain,<br /> +“Yours truly,<br /> +“<span class="smcap">Godolphin Osborne</span>.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p><a name="page55"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 55</span>This +letter sheds light on the state of public feeling existing at +that day.</p> +<p>In connection with the town of Windsor, let me mention two or +three traditions I received from the lips of my beloved wife, who +became the light of my dwelling on May 12th, 1835. Her good +old father, Mr. George Cooper, had long been a sort of Christian +Gaius, receiving as guests under his hospitable roof several men +and women of renown. Often would she speak of Rowland Hill, +who repeatedly visited her home on his way to Wotton-under-Edge, +where he spent the summer months. He delighted to preach in +our little chapel in High Street, where the Eton boys would +attend to see and hear the eccentric old clergyman, who in his +youth had been one of their predecessors as a schoolboy. He +would tell Mr. Cooper how he used sometimes to steal at eventide +beyond Eton bounds, to attend a prayer-meeting in a cottage, +which he could reach only by leaping over a ditch with the help +of a long pole. He allowed the good woman who lived there +an annuity, which Mr. Cooper used to convey as long as she +lived. Rowland Hill liked to hear at High Street Chapel the +Hundredth Psalm in Watts’s Hymn-book, and the youngsters +who came used to alter the last <a name="page56"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 56</span>verse, shouting: “When +<i>Rowland Hill</i> shall cease to move.”</p> +<p>I remember hearing how Charles Wesley, the son of the great +hymn-writer, visited the town, accompanied by his sister, and +spent an evening in Mr. Cooper’s house, greatly to the joy +of my wife as a girl. They arrived in a sedan chair, +dressed in Court costume. His execution on the piano was +surprising; and those who watched his thick, short fingers, as +they swept over the keys, said it was miraculous how he +played.</p> +<p>Before I conclude what I have to say of my life in Windsor, +let me advert to attempts I made to promote intellectual and +literary improvement, according to methods then beginning to be +popular. There was an Institute formed in the adjoining +town of Eton for the encouragement of reading amongst such as had +not enjoyed the advantages of early education. A room was +opened, furnished with a few books, where inducements to what is +termed mutual improvement were provided, and there the famous +astronomer Sir J. F. W. Herschell delivered an inaugural lecture, +which gave it at once a character of distinguished +respectability. I was invited to join in the infant +enterprise, which I did with pleasure and satisfaction, and felt +it an honour to <a name="page57"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +57</span>become one of its lecturers. The effort made at +Eton was followed at Windsor. I threw myself into the +enterprise, and worked on its behalf as long as I remained in the +town. The committee honoured me with an invitation to +lecture in the Town Hall, where my effort was kindly accepted by +a large audience; a short course on the History of the Castle and +Town followed. This, by request, was published in a volume +dedicated, by permission, to the Prince Consort. In its +preparation assistance had been furnished through books, +documents, and advice, by residents in the town, and by officials +in the castle.</p> +<p>In concluding this chapter, I am constrained to notice some +friendships which were enjoyed by me during my Windsor +residence. Poyle is a small hamlet on the Great Western +road not far from Windsor, near Colnbrook. Sixty years ago +a long line of mail coaches passed every night the turnpike-gate, +as cottagers heard the blast of the guard’s horn, and +stepped out to see the coachmen, in like livery, handling the +reins which guided their teams. Hard by the spot there was +a paper mill, spanning a pretty little river, the Coln, which +kept the machinery in motion. The whole formed a picture +common in the early part of this century, <a +name="page58"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 58</span>not so common +now. Close to the mill were two goodly residences, occupied +by two brothers named Ibotson, of an old Nonconformist stock, who +could trace back religious ancestors to Puritan days. What +pleasant gatherings of congenial friends I met with at +Poyle!—neighbouring pastors, and the Rev. Joshua Clarkson +Harrison, born not far off, and at the time building up a goodly +reputation in London and its environs, were of the number.</p> +<p>In contrast with these bright circumstances, I must notice +incidents of a far different kind. My dear wife lost about +that time two brothers in early life by what we call accidents; +but, worse still, while I was from home one summer, my beloved +mother, who lived with me, set fire to her muslin dress, while +the servant was absent, and immediately became enveloped in +flames. Some one passing by endeavoured to render +assistance, but it was too late, and the next morning she +expired. Bright summer weather was for a long time after +that, to my eyes, covered with a pall of darkness; and to look on +the blue sky and the gay summer flowers only made me more +sad.</p> +<h2><a name="page59"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +59</span>CHAPTER IV<br /> +1837–1843</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">Being</span> disposed beyond immediate +pastoral duties to help in religious work outside, I found ample +opportunities for doing it. Sir Culling Eardley was at that +time zealous in the furtherance of village preaching. +Coming to Windsor, he offered to help us in purchasing a tent for +services in the neighbourhood. It was procured and +employed, but with less success than had attended his enterprise +of the same kind in Hertfordshire. I undertook, at his +request, a fortnight’s tour in that county, and one evening +preached near a wood, where John Bunyan, in days of persecution, +addressed the neglected peasantry.</p> +<p>Revivalism at the period now referred to, attracted attention +in England, in part owing to the circulation of American books, +and the preaching of American divines. A great awakening +occurred at <a name="page60"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +60</span>Reading, Henley, Maidenhead, and Windsor. Streams +of people might be seen on dark winter mornings, lantern in hand, +on their way to the place of prayer. Chapels were thronged, +ministers were in full sympathy with each other; all worked with +a will. Looking back on the whole, I believe genuine good +was done; yet in some instances the effect was transient. +Conversion was insisted upon, and peace with God through Jesus +Christ was offered; but whether moral improvement in the details +of human life was proportionally emphasised, and practically +carried out, I am not prepared to say. Certainly, appeals +respecting holiness in general were not wanting. Rightly to +adjust the balance, so as to guard against self-righteousness on +one hand, and the neglect of personal responsibility on the +other, requires vast wisdom. To induce people to look at +themselves and to Christ also, cannot be accomplished without +thought and discrimination in promiscuous gatherings. +Whatever might be defects in the movement, assuredly they did not +come from artificial arrangements. No one can be said to +have “got up the thing.”</p> +<p>At all times in the course of our ministry “cases of +conscience” occur. One in particular I may +mention. I was once sent for to visit a dying <a +name="page61"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 61</span>person. +The home, the people, the surroundings, excited revulsion, as +well as a determination to improve a strange opportunity. I +found a young woman on her deathbed, and another sitting by, who +used phraseology indicative of evangelical sentiment. She +offered to leave the room that the patient might unburthen her +mind to me. It was obvious some secret of guilt lay on the +sufferer’s conscience. I had no wish to be a father +confessor, and pointed her to the <i>only One</i> who can pardon +sin. At last the dying creature uttered a piercing +exclamation, which seemed to me an acknowledgment of sin. +What the secret was she did not disclose. Presently she +entered “the silent land.” When I called again, +I intimated to her attendant my surprise at what she had said, +for I could not doubt that she was leading an immoral life. +She frankly confessed she had fallen into vice, after expressing +a belief that she had been converted, and <i>had</i> been a +“child of God.” The incident was affecting, +instructive, and admonitory.</p> +<p>Public questions interested me much, and I took part in those +which belonged to philanthropy and religion. Amongst them +at the time I speak of, negro emancipation stood foremost. +From boyhood it laid hold on me. Speeches at <a +name="page62"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 62</span>Norwich, by +Joseph John Gurney and others, had left an abiding impression; +and when the great controversy became ripe for settlement, I +threw myself into the struggle. The excitement throughout +the nation was intense, and it laid hold chiefly of the religious +section of the British public. Missionaries had been at +work amongst negroes, and had seen the horrors of the +system. The persecution of Smith, a missionary in Demerara, +who died in prison, evoked passionate sympathy; and the appeal of +Knibb, another missionary, who came over as an advocate of +emancipation, struck the nail on the head, and drove it into the +centre of this colossal wrong. Nothing is more manifest, to +those who witnessed what went on in England half a century ago +for slave emancipation, than that, however manifold the arguments +employed, however numerous the methods and agencies in motion, it +was Christianity which lay at the heart of the movement. +Quakers were amongst the most zealous co-operators in this +advocacy for freedom, and I much enjoyed the fellowship into +which I was brought with followers of George Fox, early family +associations strengthening bonds of friendship between us. +Deputations went up to London to wait upon Mr. Stanley, Colonial +Secretary, afterwards <a name="page63"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 63</span>Earl of Derby, and I well remember +the crowd gathered in a large room in Downing Street, to +strengthen the hands of that gentleman in his chivalrous +enterprise. The history of steps which led to the final +victory it is not for me to tell in these pages, but I may +mention the third reading by the Lords of the Emancipation Bill +in August 1833. It filled multitudes with joy; and on +August 1st, 1834, the Act took effect, when a solemn celebration +of the event occurred in England, as well as the West India +Islands. That day I preached at Windsor from Jer. xl. +4:—“And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the +chains which were upon thine hand.”</p> +<p>In 1839 the Anti-Corn Law League took shape. I +distinctly recollect the scene presented at a great bazaar in +Covent Garden Theatre, in aid of Free Trade, when there was a +wonderful gathering of notabilities and other folks. +Stalls, articles, and ornaments, were varied and imposing; and as +that exhibition appeared before the present age of bazaars was +fully inaugurated, it had a more dazzling and bewildering effect +than efforts of the kind can have now that they have become so +common.</p> +<p>Dissenters’ grievances, too, were exciting subjects in +those days. Certain disabilities had an irritating <a +name="page64"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 64</span>effect on +those who felt them, and legislation was sought for their +removal. No doubt, in the heat of the conflict things were +said on both sides which, on calm review, cannot be justified; +and I am in my old age more than ever convinced that union of the +<i>suaviter in modo</i> with the <i>fortiter in re</i>, is the +best method of conducting controversy.</p> +<p>My holidays, whilst I was a Windsor pastor, were spent in +preaching; but there were two exceptions, when I broke ground as +a tourist. Travelling in Nottinghamshire and the +neighbouring counties, I visited Newstead Abbey with a fresh +remembrance of Washington Irving’s description of the +place. I had a gossip with an old domestic, who told me +stories of Lord Byron, whom she knew as a boy, and used to carry +on her back on account of his lameness. He pricked and +otherwise tormented the patient creature, so as, on one occasion, +to provoke her so much, that she boldly ventured on a rather +amusing act of retaliation. Leaning over her shoulders to +look into an old chest full of feathers, she, to use her own +words, “copped him over, and he came out for all the world +just like a young owlet.” What I then heard of his +early days gave me an unfavourable idea of that child of genius, +so caressed and tormented, so flattered and persecuted, <a +name="page65"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 65</span>so early +thrown into unfortunate circumstances, and altogether so badly +brought up. What a contrast between two poets, whose +memories came vividly before me during this tour!—Byron and +Scott, both of them lame for life; one a stranger to the +other’s purity. Years afterwards I heard Dean Stanley +preach a sermon to children, in which, with his characteristic +felicity of thought, he spoke of the contrasted influences of +physical deformity in these two instances—how the club foot +of the first was an occasion of mortified pride and ill-nature, +and the club foot of the second was borne with patience and +contentment. The story of Byron’s club foot is now +treated by some I hear as a popular delusion; but, at all events, +he had something the matter with his foot which irritated his +temper and made him disagreeable. Therefore the +Dean’s moral lesson remains untouched. In connection +with good humour and kindness, a physical defect may be only a +foil to set off moral excellence.</p> +<p>After passing through Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumberland in +company with my dear friend Harrison, we reached Edinburgh by +coach at midnight to find ourselves in the morning amidst grand +preparations for the Queen’s first arrival in the Scottish +capital. The view at noon from Calton <a +name="page66"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 66</span>Hill, as the +arrangements for receiving royalty had reached their acme, was +most magnificent. Princes Street, from end to end, +presented multitudes of people in holiday attire, military +uniforms, tartan, kilts and feathered bonnets, gave rich plays of +colour. The crowd waited and waited, but no Queen +appeared. Night fell, and the expectants went to bed +disappointed. Next morning every one was taken by surprise, +for Her Majesty, having been detained at sea, landed at Leith, +whilst the Lord Provost was still asleep. My friend and I +afterwards went to Stirling, and identified historic points which +dot the field of Bannockburn—then to Perth, Dunkeld, +Killiecrankie, and Blair Atholl.</p> +<p>In the course of numerous journeys I had opportunities of +seeing the real state of Nonconformity in rural districts. +It was then much better than some people suppose. There +were then families of influence identified with country places of +worship, who have not left behind them sympathetic +representatives. The revival of religion in the National +Church has produced a considerable change in the relative +position of ecclesiastical parties. Sunday evening services +in cathedral and parish church, and the pastoral activity of +incumbents and curates, with numerous missionary and other +organisations, <a name="page67"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +67</span>have produced effects very visible in the eyes of old +people, who can look back on the religious condition of England +during the first quarter of the present century.</p> +<p>My first Continental tour occurred before I left +Windsor. I visited a family at Rotterdam into which a +fellow-student had married, and had pleasant insights into Dutch +life. After peeps at the Hague, Leyden, and Amsterdam, +abounding in a gratification of antiquarian and historical taste, +slowly proceeding up the Rhine, I felt all the enthusiasm +incident to a young traveller as he first gazes on castle-crowned +hills which line the river. Many and many a ramble since on +those romantic banks have increased rather than diminished my +admiration of the Rhine.</p> +<p>Friendships have through life been essential to my enjoyment, +I might almost say to my existence. Intimate acquaintance +with people of remarkable character in my Windsor days was a +source of intense gratification.</p> +<p>The Rev. W. Walford, for some years minister of a +Congregational Church at Yarmouth, then classical tutor at +Homerton College, and finally pastor of the old Meeting House, +Uxbridge, was one of the most remarkable men I ever knew. I +<a name="page68"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 68</span>see him +now, with his handsome face, bald head, well-knit form, keen +eyes, compressed lips, rather tottering in gait, and brusque in +manner. What walks and talks we had! In conversation +he expressed himself with singular accuracy on theological and +metaphysical subjects. He had Butler and Jonathan Edwards +at his fingers’ ends, and could pack into a few words some +of their most abstruse definitions and arguments. He had a +habit of turning round when you walked with him, and standing +face to face, when he would, in a most luminous style, state his +propositions and adduce his proofs. He read Sir William +Hamilton with immense admiration, though he did not in all +respects adopt his views; and, at a period when looseness of +religious thought was becoming prevalent, it was a treat to see +him make a stand, figuratively as well as literally, for a +distinct utterance of what people believe. From no +man’s conversation have I derived more instruction and +advantage. I can never forget his reading to me, with tears +in his eyes, a translation he had made of Plato’s +“Phaedo.”</p> +<p>One day an old gentleman called to say he was about to reside +at Old Windsor, and intended joining our worship at William +Street Chapel. He had a <a name="page69"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 69</span>cheerful, lively expression of +countenance, with a few short grey locks on each side of his bald +head, and showed in his gait signs of paralytic seizure. +Full of humour and kindness, he made a pleasant impression. +Thus began my friendship with Mr. Samuel Bagster of famous +Polyglot memory. Notwithstanding his lameness, he could at +that time walk from Old Windsor to our house with the aid of a +stick, only asking a helping hand at the commencement of his +pedestrian attempts. Thus started off he would steadily +pursue his journey dressed in a short cloak and wearing a very +broad-brimmed hat. He was one of the chattiest, most +amusing friends I ever had. He possessed a large fund of +anecdotes, which he knew I liked; and from time to time, as I +visited his house, he doled them out with no niggard hand. +He had lived on books, and books were his delight. Many +choice editions in handsome bindings lined the walls in his +rambling, quaint sort of residence, where also flowers, gathered +in his little garden, formed conspicuous ornaments. There +he would sit nursing his foot, complaining of pain in his great +toe, and would launch out for a pleasant sail over the lake of +memory, and take me from one point to another. The old +books he had bought and sold, the <a name="page70"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 70</span>circumstances connected with the +origin of his Polyglot and Hexapla, the fire which occurred on +his premises in Paternoster Row—these he would narrate in a +characteristic way.</p> +<p>He often talked about the French Revolution and events +connected with it in our own country. Clubs of a more than +questionable description were established, and he told me that, +invited by a person of his own age to attend a meeting held in an +obscure street, he was surprised, on his entrance, to find a +number of men ranged on either side of a room, sitting by long +tables, with a cross one at the upper end. There sat the +president for the evening. Several foaming tankards were +brought in, when the president calling on the company to rise, +took up one of the pots, and striking off the foam which crested +the porter, gave as a toast: “So let all . . . +perish.” The blank was left to be filled up as each +drinker pleased. The avowed dislike to kings entertained by +these boon companions suggested to Mr. Bagster the word +“kings” or “tyrants”; and at once he +gladly left the place, not a little alarmed, lest he should be +suspected of treasonable designs. With characteristic +caution, he took care not to observe the thoroughfare through +which he passed on his way back, that he might be able +conscientiously <a name="page71"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +71</span>to declare he did not know the situation of the +place. He also related that his father had a workman in his +employ, whom he knew to be a disaffected subject. He +expostulated with him on the horrors of a revolution as +illustrated in France, and dwelt upon the confusion which would +ensue upon outbreaks on established order. The man lifted +up the skirt of his threadbare coat against the window, and +significantly asked: “Pray, sir, what have I to +lose?” My friend was no Radical, no Whig, but a Tory +of the old-fashioned type, who approved of things as they were, +without, however, any consciousness of wishing to tyrannise over +other people. He was a great admirer of Izaak Walton, and +had made a collection of drawings illustrative of his +“Compleat Angler,” of which he intended to publish a +new edition, with a life of the author. When he had +completed his “Comprehensive Bible,” which, by +permission, he dedicated to George IV., he was allowed personally +to present it to His Majesty; and I have heard him say that on +that occasion he was introduced to the royal presence by the +Archbishop of Canterbury. The publisher was already +paralysed, and could walk only with a tottering step; but the +Primate gave him his arm, and led him up to the so-called first +<a name="page72"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 72</span>gentleman +of Europe, who received him very graciously, and accepted at his +hands the handsomely-bound volume.</p> +<p>There were other people I met with at Windsor whom I may +mention. At the house of Dr. Ferguson, a Scotch physician +of good birth and high culture, I met with his son-in-law, the +Rev. Mr. Moultrie, Incumbent at Rugby, and friend of Dr. +Arnold. He was a man of genius and piety, and gave a +conviction of personal goodness, which made me value his volume +of poems even more than I had done before. I like to look +at authors through their books, and then again at books through +their authors. In some cases the personal damages the +literary judgment; but in many cases I have enjoyed works much +more after knowing the worker.</p> +<p>Mr. Jesse, the naturalist, was another of my +acquaintances. He held an office in connection with royal +parks and palaces, and I spent pleasant hours as he drove me in +his little pony gig from Windsor to Hampton Court, in the +restoration of which he felt great delight. An amiable +disposition, gentlemanly manners, and large information, made him +an excellent companion. From the account he gave of his +early life I found his father was a <a name="page73"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 73</span>clergyman, a friend of Lady +Huntingdon’s, and an occasional preacher at Spafields +Chapel. Mr. Stark, the eminent landscape artist, was one of +my hearers, a man of decided religious convictions, and +conscientious in art as in other things. He and Mr. +Bristow, the animal painter, were amongst my friends; and in +Windsor Forest they found subjects for their united skill, Stark +putting in the trees, Bristow dogs and horses.</p> +<p>Amongst London friends at that time, and long afterwards was +John Bergne, brother to my fellow-student Samuel Bergne, already +mentioned. Clerk in the Foreign Office, he rose to the +superintendence of the Treaty Department. Full of knowledge +respecting European affairs, he often amused me by his +taciturnity whenever they came on the carpet,—abstinence +from communication of office secrets having become to him second +nature. His mind was rich with information on various +subjects; and in the science of numismatics he was well +skilled. His collection of coins was of great value, +including examples of English money from the earliest time, and +valuable portions of “great finds” in Greek +states. His affluent conversation, overflowing with humour, +his rapid utterance and command of language surpassed what I have +<a name="page74"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 74</span>heard from +many good talkers, whom it has been my fortune to meet with +during a long life.</p> +<p>With other remarkable persons, I became intimately acquainted +after my removal to Kensington. These I shall notice in +their proper place.</p> +<p>In 1833 arose the Puseyite or Tractarian controversy as it was +called. Of this a full account is given by Dr. Newman, in +his “Apologia”—an account, of course, +proceeding from his own point of view. The strife both +inside and outside the University of Oxford, where the masters of +the Tractarian movement lived and worked, was of the hottest +kind; and those engaged in it on both sides, under the influence +of party feeling, failed to appreciate each other’s +position, and to estimate correctly the tendencies +involved. The Anglo-Catholics did not believe they were so +near Rome; the staunch Protestants did not calculate on the +wonderful effect which the controversy would have in stirring up +the latent energies of the Church, and in modifying forms of +worship, even amongst Evangelical parties. An amusing story +I remember hearing when the famous Tract, “No. 90,” +was published. The then Bishop of Winchester (I think) +wished to see it, and wrote to his bookseller to forward a copy, +but from illegibility of penmanship <a name="page75"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 75</span>“<i>No</i> 90” was +mistaken for “<i>No go</i>”; and the poor bookseller, +after inquiring in the Row for a pamphlet with that title, wrote +to inform his Lordship, that there was no such tract in the +market. The story ran its round, and the Evangelicals +pronounced “<i>No.</i> 90” “<i>No +go</i>.”</p> +<p>Dr. Newman condensed within the space of a few years the +Romeward tendencies of Christendom during successive ages: +starting with Tractarian doctrines, it was consistent for him to +become a Roman Catholic in the sequel; and Dr. Pusey, in pausing +where he did, never explained the grounds of his practical +inconsistency. I felt it my duty to point out the +unscriptural character of the Tractarian movement in a course of +lectures, afterwards published under the title of +“Tractarian Theology.”</p> +<h2><a name="page76"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +76</span>CHAPTER V<br /> +1843–1850</h2> +<p>I <span class="smcap">was</span> quite satisfied with my +position at Windsor and had no thoughts of leaving it, when Dr. +Vaughan of Kensington accepted the principalship of Lancashire +College, and at the same time overtures were made by his Church +to me that I should succeed him in the vacant pastorate. I +can truly say that my desires were on the side of remaining where +I was. I only wished to know the Divine Master’s +will. I felt unwilling to accept what looked like +preferment; but after visiting Kensington and preaching there, +the path before me appeared pretty plain. I accepted the +call I received. “It seems like a dream,” I +wrote to my predecessor. “Yes,” he replied; +“but it is like Joseph’s—a dream from the +Lord.”</p> +<p>It was a curious coincidence that the Church at Windsor and +the Church at Kensington were both in their origin connected with +a coachman in the <a name="page77"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +77</span>service of George III. His name was Saunders, and +he enjoyed his royal master’s confidence. They used +to talk together about religion, and, encouraged by the +King’s good opinion, the servant put tracts in the carriage +pocket; and when His Majesty had read them he asked for +more. As the royal residence was sometimes in town, and +sometimes at Windsor, the home of Saunders varied accordingly, +and he felt an interest in both neighbourhoods, especially as it +regarded the humbler class. He probably caught the +revivalist spirit prevalent a hundred years ago, and did what he +could to gather people together for religious impression. +In this way a room called “The Hole in the Wall” came +to be the cradle of Windsor Congregationalism; and a +“humble dwelling,” mentioned by the Kensington +historian, was birthplace to the congregation which afterwards +assembled in Hornton Street. “When the faithful +servant begged permission, on account of age, to retire from His +Majesty’s service, that he might reside at Kensington, it +was not without an expression of regret on the part of the +monarch; but the request was granted, and as often as the King +afterwards passed through the place he took the most kind and +condescending notice of his coachman.” <a +name="citation77"></a><a href="#footnote77" +class="citation">[77]</a></p> +<p><a name="page78"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 78</span>In +“Poems by John Moultrie,” there occur these +lines—</p> +<blockquote><p>“I have a son, a third sweet son, his age I +cannot tell,<br /> +For they reckon not by years and months where he is gone to +dwell.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>During the first three years of my Kensington residence, there +were three little children taken from us, and translated to that +mysterious world, where our time reckonings are lost in an +incomprehensible eternity. Altogether six children were +brought with us from Windsor; and to these were added five more +in the first few years after our removal—making the +domestic flock at the time I speak of eleven. Of that +number only four remain on earth at this time, <a +name="citation78"></a><a href="#footnote78" +class="citation">[78]</a>—a fact which tells of joy, and of +much sorrow, at the hands of our Heavenly Father. Three +were taken from us between 1843 and 1849.</p> +<p>During my Windsor life I began to take a deep interest in the +writings of Dr. Arnold, and afterwards, when his Life appeared, +written by his admiring pupil, Dr. Stanley, that interest +increased. As I read these memoirs I little thought that I +should share in the Biographer’s friendship; and my +admiration of the two men was so deep that I attribute any +improvement <a name="page79"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +79</span>in my mind and character since, greatly to their +combined influence. Through life I have been more than +ordinarily benefited by their works, and as to the Master of +Rugby School, I have always been eager to learn what I could from +any Rugby pupils I happened to know. At this moment there +comes to my recollection an anecdote related by a friend who had +been a Rugby boy. He told me that some accident happened at +chapel in the upsetting of Bibles or prayer-books, and their fall +from the gallery created much disturbance. Boys who were +suspected of having a share in causing what happened were called +up by the Master, and my informant was of the number. He +told me that Dr. Arnold <i>trusted</i> a boy who denied any +offence of which he was accused until clear proof appeared to the +contrary. This was designed to keep up mutual +confidence. In the instance under notice the boy accused +felt sure that Dr. Arnold was not satisfied with the denial; yet +he allowed the matter to pass, because he would promote +confidence between master and pupil. The anecdote confirms +what I have since read. He was never on the watch for boys, +and he so encouraged straightforward and manly action, in trivial +as in great things, that there grew up a general feeling, that +“It <a name="page80"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +80</span>was a shame to tell Arnold a lie, for he always believed +one.” <a name="citation80"></a><a href="#footnote80" +class="citation">[80]</a></p> +<p>Kensington, at the time of which I speak, was famous for its +number of ladies’ schools, and in them several daughters of +Nonconformist parents were receiving their education. They +formed an interesting part of my congregation, and my pastoral +relation to them prepared for lifelong friendships. Of this +group of families were the Dawsons of Lancaster, the Rawsons of +Leeds, the Cheethams of Staleybridge, and the Sharmans of +Wellingborough. With all of them I became intimate, and +their friendships have proved no small comfort to me in later +life. Parents of these families were distinguished by +usefulness in many ways. Mr. Rawson was the well-known +gifted hymn-writer; and Mr. Cheetham was M.P., and took an active +part in the repeal of the Corn Laws. Daughters of these +gentlemen were under my ministerial care while pupils at +Kensington, and afterwards became earnest Christian workers in +different ways, and their continued affection is a comfort to me +in my old age. A son of Mr. Dawson married a daughter of +Mr. Rawson, and immediately they went to China for mission work; +but the broken-down <a name="page81"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +81</span>health of the husband compelled his speedy return to +England. He is now doing good work as one of the London +City Mission secretaries.</p> +<p>In connection with Kensington, I would further mention other +helpers: Mr. and Mrs. Coombs of Clapham were so. Mr. Coombs +helped me especially by a large donation to the fund for building +my new chapel. In other ways I was brought into relation +with him. He was Treasurer of New College, and an active +member of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Religious +Tract Society, and the London Missionary Society. His +intelligence, aptitude for conversation, and kind-hearted +intercourse made his friendship a privilege of more than ordinary +value. It was intensified by his family relationship to +some of my Kensington flock, the Salters and the Talfourds, whom +I shall mention elsewhere in these reminiscences. Amidst +preaching and pastoral work, it was a relief to spend a short +holiday under Mr. Coombs’ hospitable roof at Clapham, where +I found a large collection of books. He died before I left +Kensington, but my friendship with his wife and daughter +continued till they died.</p> +<p>Archdeacon Sinclair, who had accepted the vicarage just before +I removed to Kensington, paid me a <a name="page82"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 82</span>visit of welcome, and thus laid a +foundation for subsequent intercourse. He was son of the +well-known Sir John Sinclair, and brother of the authoress, +Catherine Sinclair. All the family were remarkably +tall. The Archdeacon was a man of eminent culture, and of +extensive aristocratic connections. His great-grandmother, +though a loyalist, was the noted lady who aided in the escape of +Prince Charlie, after the battle of Culloden. This same +ancestress lay buried in Kensington Church, in front of the +pulpit. Archdeacon Sinclair was well read in theology, +widely acquainted with the controversies of the day, and a +thoroughly orthodox Churchman; also rich in family and Scotch +traditions. He told me the MSS. of David Hume came into his +hands, and from perusal of them he was confirmed in his +suspicion, that the celebrated historian and philosopher had no +deep convictions of any kind, but only played with subjects he +handled, doubtful about his own doubts.</p> +<p>Returning to the notice of my ministerial life, it comes in +chronological order to mention that we had at Kensington, in +1843, British schools, which, being undenominational, received +help from Church-people and Dissenters. They had long been +patronised by distinguished personages, and not <a +name="page83"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 83</span>long after I +had become resident in the neighbourhood application was made by +the committee to the Duchess of Inverness, widow of the Duke of +Sussex, to become patroness of the schools. This +circumstance led her Grace to invite me to call on her, which I +did. I was shown into an old-fashioned drawing-room, +furnished in the style of the last century, the walls being +decorated with portraits of George III. and members of his +family. Entering the apartment was stepping back, as it +were, to “sixty years since.” An old lady of +diminutive stature, in black silk and a small cap, presently +appeared, who entered into pleasant conversation about her late +husband, and Mr. Ramsbottom, M.P. for Windsor, whom I knew very +well. Both of them were zealous Freemasons. Her Grace +had caught their spirit, as far as a lady could do it, and +inquired of me whether I was a Mason. No doubt, could I +have answered in the affirmative, I should have risen in her +estimation. My visit was fruitful in reference to our +schools, for she sent a donation of £20, apologising for +not doing more at that time. Kensington Palace was then +inhabited by other distinguished persons; and one of the +secretaries of the Propagation Society, I think, at that time +performed <a name="page84"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +84</span>the duties of a chaplain to those resident within the +walls.</p> +<p>It is appropriate in connection with the early part of my +Kensington life to mention religious societies with which I +closely associated myself. There is no doubt some truth in +the lines that,</p> +<blockquote><p>“Distance lends enchantment to the view,<br +/> +And clothes the mountain with an azure hue.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In looking at benevolent work, remote in time or place, we are +apt to paint it in fairest colours; but of the great importance +of the religious work going on fifty years ago in London and the +neighbourhood, there can be no question whatever.</p> +<p>The <i>British and Foreign Bible Society</i> I always regarded +as lying at the very foundation of our religious activity. +It had a comprehensive Auxiliary in the West End from the +commencement of the society’s operations, and annual +meetings were held in the Haymarket, under the presidency of +royal dukes. This Auxiliary was broken into parts, and +Kensington had a leading place amongst them. Traditions of +earlier days were cherished when I began to live in the royal +suburb, and they invested our local gatherings with some dignity, +as families when divided derive honours from their common +ancestry.</p> +<p><a name="page85"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 85</span>The +Missionary Society, as it was originally called—the +<i>London Missionary Society</i>, as it was afterwards +named—had from the beginning been supported by our Church; +indeed, fathers and founders of the one appear amongst early +workers in the other, and through the ministry of Mr. Clayton, +Dr. Leifchild, and Dr. Vaughan, foreign missions found zealous +supporters at Kensington. The London City Mission, then in +its early age, had engaged my sympathies at Windsor. There +we had a town missionary, who brought us into connection with +work going on in the Metropolis. Consequently, when I came +to Kensington, I took much interest in the annual meetings of the +society, and was brought into intimate relations with its +officers and supporters. Annual gatherings were held in +Freemasons’ Hall, Queen Street, where signs of the Zodiac, +and portraits of Grand Masters, adorned the ceiling and walls, +suggesting to speakers allusions, obvious or far-fetched, till +they became rather threadbare and wearisome; but, from the +beginning, narratives by the missionaries formed a chief source +of interest.</p> +<p>The Young Men’s Christian Association was formed soon +after I came to my new charge, and with it I had connection from +the beginning, being first on <a name="page86"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 86</span>the list of lecturers in the City, +before the annual courses at Exeter Hall commenced.</p> +<p>The Evangelical Alliance was founded in 1843, and as a desire +for union has ever been with me a “passion,” I joined +the Alliance from the beginning. There was great simplicity +in the earliest gatherings, and an air of novelty gave additional +charms. However, some members professing catholic +sympathies on the platform pursued an exclusive line of conduct +on other occasions, and this circumstance provoked unfavourable +comments. Plausible objections, moreover, were made to the +society’s constitution—the platform, too wide for +some, being too narrow for others. I could have desired a +wider basis and the furtherance of Christian unity apart from all +controversy with those who differed from us. On the whole, +however, it was a move in the right direction, and the gatherings +of its early friends in town and in other parts of the country +were of an eminently joyous description. Sir Culling +Eardley and others, in private as well as public, promoted the +interests of the Alliance. At that time several influential +clergymen and leading Dissenters used to meet, not only on the +platform, but in the homes of distinguished lay members, who +threw themselves very heartily into the movement.</p> +<p><a name="page87"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 87</span>Brought +into the neighbourhood of London, and already known by some +brethren there, I soon found myself surrounded by many +friends. For more than a century there had been in +existence an association of Dissenting ministers, who took the +title of <i>Sub Rosa</i>, from the confidential character of +their intercourse. There were some of the most +distinguished London Congregational ministers in the brotherhood +at the time now referred to; and they discussed points of +importance, and for the most part, as to denominational matters, +acted in harmony. Some of the departed were men of great +ability, conspicuous in the pulpit and on the platform; but the +remembrance of them by the public is being gradually crowded out +by new names and new questions of religious interest.</p> +<p>To turn to a very different subject, which synchronises with +the period under review; let me notice that the month of October +1845 witnessed the stirring event of Newman’s secession to +the Church of Rome. It was an event of singular +importance. I have noticed on a previous page that the +Tractarian Movement was regarded by many as distinctly tending in +the direction of Romanism. For a considerable time such a +tendency was denied on the part of its abettors generally; yet, +even as early <a name="page88"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +88</span>as November, 1835, Dr. Pusey, who had such confidence in +Newman, wrote to his wife: “I almost see elements of +disunion, in that John Newman will scare people”; <a +name="citation88a"></a><a href="#footnote88a" +class="citation">[88a]</a> and, in 1836, Newman himself +incidentally wrote: “As to the sacrificial view of the +Eucharist, I do not see that you can find fault with the formal +wording of the Tridentine decree. Does not the Article on +the sacrifice of the Mass supply the doctrine, or notion, to be +opposed? What that is, is to be learnt historically, I +suppose.” Besides the question of Eucharistic +doctrine, Pusey’s correspondence at this time gives clear +evidence of other questions, more or less difficult, in respect +to doctrine, practice, or terminology, arising out of a more +general appreciation of Church principles and order. <a +name="citation88b"></a><a href="#footnote88b" +class="citation">[88b]</a> That which was called Puseyism +prepared for Popery; and this was obvious to most people, though +Pusey himself could not see it. Inconsistently, as I think, +he remained where he was; and, now that he declined to follow his +friend, it is surprising he took no steps to satisfy the public +as to grounds on which he himself remained in the Church of +England. His attachment to what he deemed the Church of his +fathers, however, was <a name="page89"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 89</span>very strong, and he thought well of +those who remained in that Church, though holding opinions +different from his own. For instance, he wrote: “Ever +since I knew them, which was not in my earliest years,” +“I have loved those who are called +<i>Evangelicals</i>. I loved them because they loved our +Lord. I loved them for their zeal for souls. I often +thought them narrow, yet I was often drawn to individuals among +them, more than to others who held truths in common with myself, +which the Evangelicals did not hold, at least not +explicitly.” <a name="citation89"></a><a href="#footnote89" +class="citation">[89]</a> There is a ring in these words +which shows the sympathy which Pusey retained for those who loved +the Saviour, though, in ecclesiastical matters, widely differing +from High Churchmen. It appears to me that, if Pusey had +been as <i>consistent</i> with his Tractarian principles as +Newman was, Pusey would have followed Newman to Rome, but, +happily, his loving spirit for Christian <i>goodness</i> kept him +in communion with a Church where he saw piety beautifully +manifested by some who differed from him in ecclesiastical +opinion. I cannot make this reference to Dr. Pusey without +saying that, with all my repugnance to his <a +name="page90"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +90</span>ecclesiastical opinions, and the conviction I have, that +while he never became a Romanist, he greatly helped on the +movement which carried many in the popish direction, the perusal +of his memoirs has given me a high estimate of his personal +piety. His devoutness, his love to Christ, his unworldly +habits, his affectionate disposition, and his self-denial in the +ordering of his domestic affairs, so as to enlarge his pecuniary +contributions to religious purposes, are worthy of their +imitation who regard with sorrow his High-Church +peculiarities. Might not domestic and social ties, as well +as strong attachment to the Church of England from his childhood, +have had something to do with his final course?</p> +<p>The Revolutions of 1848 brought with them an immense amount of +excitement in this country, as in others. The month of +April in that year can never be forgotten. An outbreak was +feared in London. Special constables were sworn in. +On the Sunday before the 10th of the month my friend, Mr. +Walford, preached a remarkable sermon in Kensington Chapel. +His text was Isa. xii. 2—“Behold, God is my +salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid.” Having +unfolded the sentiment of the passage, he applied the principle +to passing events, <a name="page91"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +91</span>and spoke of the political excitement in this country at +the time of the French Revolution, which he well +remembered. He assured us that the excitement then +surpassed anything which existed at the time when he spoke, and +expressed his confidence in the rectitude and love of the +Almighty, who maketh the wrath of man to praise Him. The +preacher’s age, and his vivid recollection of what he had +witnessed, gave force to his exhortations, as tears were falling +from his eyes.</p> +<p>Trust in Providence, touchingly enforced by personal +recollections, was honoured by what occurred on the following +day. The meeting on Kensington Common, so much dreaded, +broke up in confusion. Ringleaders were alarmed, the mob +was scattered without the interference of soldiers who had been +provided against an outbreak, but were concealed in public +buildings, through the Duke of Wellington’s wisdom. A +day which opened in fear was spent in peace and confidence.</p> +<p>During a visit abroad in that year, 1848, I reached Geneva, +with letters of introduction to Cæsar Malan, Gaussen, and +M. St. George. Merle D’Aubigne was from home. +In company with friends, on the Sunday afternoon, I attended at +Cæsar Malan’s little chapel. We had mistaken +the <a name="page92"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 92</span>hour, +and, on our entering, he recapitulated the early portions of his +sermon. Then, in his own pleasant parlour, he engaged in +fervent discourse on his favourite tenet of Christian +assurance. On parting he singled me out for the privilege +of a double French kiss, and on my expressing a hope that we +should meet in the Father’s House, he rebuked me for using +the word <i>hope</i>. With him it was a matter of +assurance. Then I reminded him of the difference between +present and future, and quoted St. Paul: “For we are saved +<i>by hope</i>: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man +seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we +see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”</p> +<p>I parted from relatives, who had been my fellow-travellers, +and made my way next morning alone by boat to Vevay, thence +travelling to Basle and Strasburg. Traffic was interrupted, +and relics of revolution were seen in marching troops and +handcuffed prisoners.</p> +<p>In 1849 a movement occurred for meeting religious needs in +Kensington. A chapel was much needed on Notting Hill, and +one of my deacons, who lived there, promised a large donation for +the purpose. A few friends met in Hornton Street vestry, +and <a name="page93"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 93</span>opened +a subscription list, which at once secured £1500. +With that we went to work.</p> +<p>At first, there was some notion of incorporating members of +the two congregations in one Church, with a copastorate; and Dr. +Vaughan, I think, indicated willingness to become my +colleague. I should not have objected to such union, but +feared lest the moral effect of our movement should be thereby +impaired. The scheme might have been looked upon as one of +self-aggrandisement, while it was meant as an act of +self-sacrifice. The latter it proved to be, for we drafted +off about fifty members, as the nucleus of a new Church. +Also we missed about two hundred seat-holders, who took pews in +the new edifice, and, of course, there arose a certain +<i>éclat</i> around Notting Hill which left Hornton Street +a little in the shade. But soon things revived; our chapel +became as full as ever. Funds recovered, liberal things +were devised, and one morning I found a handsome cheque on my +library table. Everybody seemed to be growing in kindness, +and Hornton Street rose to more than its previous +prosperity. It was an illustration of the +principle—true of communities as well as of +individuals—“There is that scattereth and yet +increaseth.”</p> +<p><a name="page94"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 94</span>In +connection with my early residence at Kensington I may mention a +circumstance which interested me. I observed several times, +sitting near my pulpit, an old gentleman. Upon inquiry, I +found it was the Rev. Michael Maurice, father to the Rev. F. D. +Maurice, then at the height of his influence as author and +preacher. I never had the pleasure of conversing with my +venerable hearer, but I learned from different sources much +relative to his character and career. Though descended from +a thoroughly orthodox family, he was educated for the ministry +under Dr. Abraham Rees, Dr. Kippis and Dr. Savage—the first +two being Arian divines, and the last a moderate Calvinist. +He became afternoon preacher at Dr. Priestley’s Meeting +House; and after officiating in other Unitarian places of +worship, retired from pulpit work altogether. But he +habitually associated with orthodox Nonconformists during the +time he lived at Southampton. He also joined the British +and Foreign Bible Society, and spoke for it on the +platform. I wondered he should worship in Hornton Street, +but information subsequently obtained served to explain the +circumstance. He appears to have been a devout man with a +large measure of Evangelical feeling. <a +name="page95"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 95</span>I mention him +as a type of no inconsiderable class of sincerely religious +people.</p> +<p>I knew but little of his distinguished son, only having met +him a few times at Dean Stanley’s, and at Baldwin +Brown’s. I used sometimes, on a Sunday afternoon, to +hear Mr. Maurice preach at Lincoln’s Inn, and was much +struck with the earnestness with which he repeated the +Lord’s Prayer. The difficulty he felt in making +himself understood is amusing. Some of the principles, he +said, which his friends attacked, were those he strongly objected +to himself, and those which they held as against him, were just +those on which he rested his own faith and hope. “I +could not make them the least understand what I meant,” he +went on to say; “and if I did they would only dislike me +for it.” It was not obscurity of style, as many +thought, which made him unintelligible; but obscurity or +confusion of thought arising from complexity of perception. +He saw so much that it puzzled him how to express it. I +respected him greatly as an honest thinker, more anxious to +commend himself to the Searcher of hearts than to his +fellow-men.</p> +<p>It must have been, I think, in 1846 or 1847 that I received an +invitation to preach the annual sermon <a name="page96"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 96</span>on behalf of Newport Pagnell College, +and thither I went in the month of June. The Rev. Thos. +Palmer Bull, president, and his son, the Rev. Josiah Bull, were +living under the same roof, their house and garden full of +comfort and convenience, beauty and fragrance. The old +gentleman had a good library, and in nooks and corners were MSS. +and relics of Cowper and Newton, friends of his father, the Rev. +William Bull. The father was the “Taurus,” and +his son the “Tommy,” immortalised in Newton and +Cowper’s letters. When I had fulfilled my public duty +I intensely enjoyed conversation with my elder host, as he showed +me letters written, and relics possessed by the two celebrities +so closely connected with his father’s name. He told +me how he used, when a boy, to accompany his father to Olney, +where he dined with the poet; that when grace was said, Cowper +would play with his knife and fork, to indicate he had no share +in acts of worship; that he would cheerfully converse on a +variety of topics, but shunned all reference to religion. +Notwithstanding, he would sometimes join in an Olney hymn; and +then check himself as one who had neither part nor lot in the +matter. He would kindly talk with little Tom, who +accompanied his <a name="page97"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +97</span>father on those visits, and they, on their way to and +from the now world-known town, would join in singing a psalm or +hymn, to a familiar tune. The old gentleman, I was +informed, sometimes indulged in the use of a pipe, as he drove +along the accustomed road. Full of such memories, I made an +excursion to Olney, stopped at the house near the park of the +Throgmortons, saw the room in which the poet slept, traced his +writing on a pane of glass, and thought of the despair to which, +in that chamber, he was so pitiable a victim. Then I was +taken to the unpretentious abode in the main street of Olney, +where he cultivated a close intimacy with John Newton, and kept +rabbits in his little garden,—which garden, at the time I +think of, remained much in its former state. The +summer-house, described by the bard, was still in +existence. Here, pausing for a moment to gather up another +memento of Cowper, I may mention, that a relative of mine pointed +out a house in East Dereham, which was Cowper’s residence; +and told me that he remembered when a boy peeping through the +keyhole of a door, and seeing him sitting in his chair. +Cowper died at the residence of his kinsman, the Rev. Mr. +Johnson. A friend of his gave me a leaf, in the +poet’s handwriting, from the translation of Homer.</p> +<p><a name="page98"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 98</span>Soon +after my return from this excursion I was chosen to fill up a +vacancy in the important Nonconformist Trust of William Coward, a +London merchant, who appointed Dr. Watts, Dr. Guyse, and Mr. +Neal, author of the “History of the +Puritans,”—with another person who was a +layman,—administrators of property which he bequeathed for +charitable purposes. Much of it consisted of Bank stock; +that having risen, the revenue had become very considerable.</p> +<p>Dr. Doddridge was a special friend of Mr. Coward’s, and +had under his care several ministerial candidates, supported by +that gentleman. According to tradition, the merchant was +very punctual, the minister less so; and when the former invited +the latter to dinner, if he did not come exactly at the hour, the +footman was ordered not to admit him. A gentleman who lived +opposite was aware of this peculiarity, and his footman arranged +with Mr. Coward’s footman, that when Dr. Doddridge had been +invited to dinner, mention should be made of it to the servant on +the other side the road, that a dinner might be prepared for his +reverence there. Other curious stories were told of our +founder, which I have forgotten. The perpetuation of Dr. +Doddridge’s academy in different places, <a +name="page99"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 99</span>and under +different forms, led to a transfer of the institution from +Wymondley in Hertfordshire to Torrington Square, London, where, +in association with London University College, it existed at the +time of my accession to the trusteeship. For about two +years I assisted in conducting the business of Coward College, as +a separate institution. Then came a change. There +were at the time three independent academies, as they were then +called, in London and the neighbourhood—Homerton, Highbury +and Coward. There were three sets of tutors, three boards +of administration, three distinct buildings, and three distinct +sources of expense. Previous attempts to accomplish the +union of these institutions had failed; but at the time to which +I now refer, an opportunity arrived for accomplishing the +union. After conferences between “Heads of +Houses” for some months, it was determined to sell the +three buildings, then occupied by the students, and to erect one +large new edifice, where they might be instructed together. +The erection of New College St. John’s Wood, was the +result. In the negotiations connected with this change, +Dr., afterwards Sir William, Smith zealously co-operated with the +Coward trustees. My dear old friend, the Rev. William +Walford, took a great interest in the <a name="page100"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 100</span>accomplishment of this business, but +he died before it was completely effected.</p> +<p>He spent his last days in writing an autobiography, and after +his death I found it was written in letters addressed to myself, +with a request that I would edit the publication. This I +did with a melancholy satisfaction. He had suffered acutely +from mental depression, and the malady returned with violence +shortly before his death. My last visits were most +painful. He refused all consolation, and passed away under +a cloud, like that which attended the sunset of Cowper. +There were gleams of light, followed by dense darkness. +Then he sank into silence, if not torpor. Days and nights +rolled on, so different from their “tranquil gliding” +which he described in his letters; but it was the happy +confidence of his friends, notwithstanding his own fears, that +the angry billow, no less than the gentle wave, was bearing the +weather-beaten barque to the celestial shore. He died on +June 22nd, 1850. The poor body looked like a wreck, but +faith could see at rest the soul which had such hard work to +pilot the vessel beyond reach of storms. A post-mortem +examination proved that his depression arose from the condition +of the brain. He was a good Greek scholar, and delighted in +reading Plato.</p> +<h2><a name="page101"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +101</span>CHAPTER VI<br /> +1850–1854</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> year 1850 opened with a storm +of religious excitement, owing to a division of England by Papal +authority into Roman dioceses, at the suggestion of Dr. +Wiseman. It came to be called “The Papal +Aggression.” Some thought more was made of it, at the +time, than circumstances warranted; but, looked at through the +medium of history, it seemed to aim at a territorial authority +over England, inconsistent with our repudiation of Papal +supremacy. The way in which it was taken up by some good +people was not wise, and there was an anti-popish commotion +amongst some of my friends—a few only. The commotion +was unreasonable, but was overruled for good, as the incident led +some Protestants to look into their professed principles, which +doubtless, in our country, lie at the basis of civil and +religious liberty.</p> +<p><a name="page102"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 102</span>From +one end of the island to the other, Nonconformists as well as +Churchmen took an opportunity for expressing attachment to the +Reformation. In two ways I became connected with what went +on. The Presbyterian, Congregational, and Baptist ministers +of London, representing the three denominations, resolved, in +common with other ecclesiastical bodies, to approach Her Majesty +with a protest against “Papal Aggression.” The +three denominations—like Convocation and certain English +corporations—have a right of presenting addresses to the +Sovereign; and on this occasion, the audience for accepting the +addresses, was appointed to be at Windsor Castle. When the +ceremony in the Royal Closet for receiving representatives of the +three denominations was over, we were invited to lunch in the +equerry’s apartment. Covers were laid for two or +three gentlemen, in addition to our party. “Pray, can +you tell me their names?” I whispered to one of the +servants, who, from my previous residence in the town, happened +to know me. He could not say, and at the same moment the +strangers, who proved to be Roman Catholic noblemen, felt a like +curiosity to know who we were. I proceeded to explain the +origin of the three denominations, which was quite a revelation +<a name="page103"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 103</span>to the +gentlemen; who informed us that they had just presented a loyal +address from 250,000 Catholics. They proceeded to say, that +English Protestants had quite misapprehended the meaning of +recent arrangements; and, after receiving a courteous +explanation, we sat down with them, and had a pleasant chat.</p> +<p>At that time I delivered at Kensington a short series of +discourses on the Roman Catholic controversy. I went over +some of the main points in that controversy, avoiding +misrepresentation and uncharitableness. I was not violent +enough to please some ultra-Protestants, but I had the +gratification of hearing, that two young Catholics ultimately +became Protestants, and were helped by the lectures. I have +met in the course of my life with several members of the Romish +Church, who have appeared to me estimable characters. I had +in my congregation a young lady, one of a family which ranked a +Cardinal amongst its members, and whose mother remained a +Catholic; in her dying illness she clung to Christ as her +Saviour, saying, in the words of Solomon’s Song: “I +held Him, and would not let Him go.”</p> +<p>In the same year, as I have said, the Palace of Glass was +opened; and, being a Kensington resident, <a +name="page104"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 104</span>I had +opportunities of watching the edifice rising out of the earth as +a beautiful exhalation. On moonlight nights, in the +previous winter, how often, on my way home, it revealed itself, +amidst floating mists, as a kind of ethereal structure!</p> +<p>There was a moral atmosphere created by the enterprise, which +those who do not recollect it are unable to appreciate. It +inspired thousands of people with expressions of charity and +goodwill. The opening day can never be forgotten by those +who witnessed it. The <i>Times</i> newspaper had a leader, +which made one feel that a new era in history had arrived; that +war and strife were approaching an end, and a millennial age of +goodwill had dawned upon mankind. When, that day, we saw +crowds, not jostling and pushing against each other; for almost +every unit of the mass seemed willing to make way for a +neighbour; when we witnessed the opening service, and beheld the +royal procession moving through the stupendous +aisles,—representatives of “all people that on earth +do dwell,”—those present seemed to feel as they never +did before. As the poet Montgomery conversed with me on the +subject, he remarked that, looking down from the galleries upon +the throng which passed before his eyes, it “reminded him +of flowing waters gently <a name="page105"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 105</span>gurgling through some broad +channel.” The people, thronging here and there round +corners, seemed like eddies in a river with lofty banks.</p> +<p>In the Exhibition year efforts were made for the religious +improvement of the people. The Press was in different ways +employed for this purpose; and amongst other methods there +appeared, as distinctively characteristic, a series of +evangelical discourses in Exeter Hall. They attracted +crowded audiences. The sermons were carefully reported and +widely circulated. About the same time several similar +methods were employed for the promotion of religion; services +were held in theatres and other places of amusement. Having +been engaged in these efforts, I can testify to the crowds +gathered together, and the general decorum of their +behaviour. Some to whom these buildings belonged took an +interest in the proceedings, as I knew from conversation with +dramatic managers, who expressed interest in the addresses +delivered. Afterwards, services were planned to be +conducted by Episcopal clergymen in Exeter Hall, but the plan was +frustrated by opposition of parochial authority. After +this, Dissenters undertook to supply the lack of service, and the +first Sunday night, an Independent minister officiated, reading +parts of the Liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer, and an <a +name="page106"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 106</span>English +nobleman acted as clerk, leading the responses.</p> +<p>The same year (1851) it fell to my lot at the autumnal meeting +of the Congregational Union to read a memorial paper on Dr. +Doddridge, who had died just a hundred years before, and had been +pastor and Divinity Professor in Northampton, where the assembly +met. We occupied the old meeting-house in which he +preached; there in the vestry stood the chair in which he +sat. From the pulpit which had been his, the centenary +tribute to his memory was delivered. Mr. Bull, of Newport +Pagnell, presented the original MS. of a funeral sermon which the +doctor preached for his little daughter, partly written upon her +coffin. A common sympathy, amidst deathlike silence, +pervaded the audience, as if the divine who was commemorated had +only just left the world, and we had assembled to honour his +remains. The <i>genius loci</i> of the place, and +traditions of the good man, passed away so long before, +contributed to the occasion more impressiveness than it derived +from other circumstances.</p> +<p>In 1852 my beloved wife travelled with me to Elberfeld to see +our eldest daughter. We had, from an early period, formed +the plan of sending our children abroad for part of their +education, in order <a name="page107"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 107</span>that they might learn a foreign +language and see other forms of society besides our own. +Therefore we placed our firstborn under the care of Pastor and +Madame Schröder,—two very excellent persons, whose +character and influence answered the high expectations we had +been led to form. Pastor Schröder succeeded Dr. +Krummacher as one of the pastors of the Evangelical +communion. We enjoyed his society and that of his excellent +wife, and saw something of German habits, which interested me +much; they presented aspects unfamiliar to us. For +instance, one Sunday afternoon we took a walk in the woods with +our friend the pastor, and, on the way, he gathered into a large +company one after another of his people, until it formed quite a +procession; and, finally, we rested in a pleasant nook +encompassed by trees, where the people drank coffee, and sang +hymns.</p> +<p>After we had spent some days at Elberfeld we started for +Switzerland, where I planned my wife and daughter should spend +two or three weeks, whilst accompanied by a Kensington friend, I +proceeded on a journey to Italy. We started from Zurich, +crossed the lake, reached Coire and the Via Mala, and over the +Alps, came down to the Lake of Como; thence we reached Milan, +where we stayed three <a name="page108"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 108</span>days. I then became acquainted +for the first time with the Duomo and other churches. We +spent a Sunday in the city, and felt deeply interested in schools +founded by Cardinal Borromeo, carried on at the time with +exemplary care; and we found at eventide, in a church, groups of +worshippers, led by a layman, who knelt in front as they chanted +responses. I was struck then, and have been oftentimes +since, with the adaptation of Scripture passages on church walls, +pointing to salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. One +thought, too, of Ambrose, who forbade the approach of Theodosius, +wet with the blood he had shed at Thessalonica. Speaking of +the adaptation of Scripture in foreign churches, I may mention +other passages inscribed on their walls in other places, for +example, at Treves, where under a picture of “The +Nativity” we read “Verily Thou art a God that hidest +Thyself,” as applied to the Incarnation. Again, at +Nismes, if I recollect aright, under the fresco of a captive +rejoicing in his freedom, the words “Thou hast loosed my +bonds”; and under another, representing martyrs and virgins +at the portals of heaven, “With joy and rejoicing shall +they be brought: they shall enter into the King’s +palace.” After all, the kernel of the Gospel +continues in Roman Catholic Christendom, though too often <a +name="page109"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 109</span>concealed +under manifold innovations. Still there it is, if you look +for it.</p> +<p>My reference to Milan brings before me other recollections of +that wonderful city, as revisited again and again since +1852. Amidst manifold associations of art, +archæology, history, and religion, one image, indelibly +impressed on my mind, is that of Augustine under the fig tree in +a garden, listening to a voice which cried, “Tolle +lege”; at the hearing of which he sat down, took the +Testament in his hand, and read Rom. xiii., and thus became a new +creature in Christ Jesus. Wandering in quiet old streets, I +have paused near some fig tree in a little enclosure of grass and +flowers, to think of him who became the grandest father of the +Latin Church.</p> +<p>From Milan we proceeded to Verona, and thence to Venice, where +I felt “one of the greatest emotions of life.” +I have seen it again and again, but the first charm was greatest +of all. Then Titian’s “Peter Martyr” +adorned the walls of SS. Giovanni e Paulo. Wonderful +picture that! but it does not, to my mind, eclipse his S. Jerome +in the Brera at Milan.</p> +<p>Let me return to Kensington. Perhaps this is as good a +place as any, for saying a few words about people there, and +others with whom I was brought into contact, during my +pastorate.</p> +<p><a name="page110"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 110</span>Under +the ministry of my predecessor, Dr. Leifchild, there lived in one +of the stately houses in the neighbourhood, a +gentleman—commanding in person and polished in +manners—who was drawn towards the Dissenting pastor, though +he had no affection for Dissent; if he smiled at the system, he +liked some of the people. He lost largely on the Stock +Exchange, but he bore it with much magnanimity. I was +acquainted with some of the family, who were in prosperous +circumstances, and who became my kind friends. I once met +at their house with an old general—uncle to the Duchess of +Gordon—who related a singular anecdote. He had been +at the Eglinton Tournament, and, as the castle was crowded with +guests, he and another person shared the same bedroom. That +person was no other than the future Napoleon II. He kept +his companion awake with talk about the French Empire and his +uncle, declaring, that he was sure one day of sitting on his +uncle’s throne. The ambitious dream filled his mind, +and overflowed in his abundant chat; though then it seemed a most +improbable imagination. The incident was related some time +after the tournament, and before the Republic was established; +and when I afterwards heard of Napoleon’s election to the +presidentship, I <a name="page111"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +111</span>saw it was by no means unlikely that the daring +prophecy he had ventured, would come to pass. I have heard +from other people that he often, when residing in London, talked +in society of his coming elevation, as imperial ruler of the +French. The uncle had seen beforehand the dazzling star of +his destiny. His nephew did the same. There were +people who fancied something supernatural in this, but it may be +accounted for on natural principles.</p> +<p>Another story, of an amusing kind, I heard at a Chiswick +garden party, to which I was taken by the kind friends at whose +house I met the old Scotch soldier. Amongst personages of +rank present at Chiswick were certain bishops, who had not +dropped the old episcopal costume of a big wig, a most decidedly +broad-brimmed clerical hat, and a conspicuous apron. Right +Reverend brethren are still somewhat distinguished from other +people, though some of them reduce the distinction within very +restricted limits; forty or fifty years ago it was quite +otherwise. They appeared then commonly—to use an +undignified expression—in <i>full jig</i>, and as some +occupants of the Bench passed by, in unmistakable array of the +kind just noticed, a clergyman at the garden <a +name="page112"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 112</span>party now +mentioned, told me of a prime minister, who used to remark, he +thought, “Bishops well deserved all they got” (and it +was much more then than it is now), “for allowing +themselves to be dressed up, as such regular guys.”</p> +<p>Literature and art were pretty well represented in Kensington, +at the period I speak of. Contributors to +<i>Punch</i>—Mark Lemon, Gilbert a Becket, and +others—were my neighbours, and with one of them I spent a +pleasant evening. Gilbert a Becket during a few weeks, when +the parish church underwent repairs, used pretty regularly to +attend our chapel, and I was struck by his attentiveness and +devotion. He expressed his readiness to spend a few hours +with me, at a friend’s residence, only he stipulated that +it should not be on an opera night; and when it was proposed to +me I stipulated that it should not be on one of my service +nights. Preliminaries being settled we accordingly met, and +got on exceedingly well. What amuses me, as I think of it, +is that, though I am not at all given to pun-making, the presence +of a brilliant punster so inspired me, that I perpetrated one or +two hits, which Becket pronounced very fair. Perhaps I may +be forgiven by those who achieve pleasant things in that way, if +I <a name="page113"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 113</span>remark +that there is something contagious in the practice; and it is +difficult not to catch it, when in company with those who are +imbued with the habit.</p> +<p>With another celebrity I came in contact through intimacy with +his family, and his early connection with our place of +worship. I allude to Justice Talfourd. When a young +man he used to attend on Dr. Leifchild’s ministry, his +father and mother being members of the Congregational Church at +Kensington. His mother, whom I knew well, related anecdotes +of his early days at home, and at Mill Hill School, where he had +schoolfellows who afterwards distinguished themselves in the +walks of Dissent. He wrote home about his companions and +told his mother of prayer-meetings amongst the boys; and of one +boy in particular, very imaginative, and florid on such +occasions. This schoolfellow became afterwards an eloquent +minister, well known as Dr. Hamilton of Leeds. The Judge +told me of his early attachment to that gentleman, and how, +during the doctor’s last visit to London, he went to hear +him preach, and stepped into the vestry afterwards, to talk of +old times; but the preacher had left, which was a great +disappointment.</p> +<p><a name="page114"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 114</span>There +was a strong religious side to Judge Talfourd’s character, +and he used to speak with much enthusiasm of my predecessor, Dr. +Leifchild, whose preaching he said came up to his idea of the +Apostle Paul’s ministry.</p> +<p>Amongst artists living in Kensington were two Academicians, +Uwins and Philip, who both belonged to our congregation—the +first a regular, the second an occasional, attendant. +Philip’s wife—a beautiful woman, whom he introduced +into some of his pictures—was a communicant with us at the +Lord’s table. I often visited the artist’s +studio, and listened to his picturesque description of Spain, and +also to his accounts of family afflictions which elicited my +sympathy.</p> +<p>From my boyhood I had taken an interest in art, and the +friendship of several men distinguished in its cultivation was +exceedingly instructive and pleasant. My travels on the +Continent, which enabled me to visit most of the principal +picture galleries,—rich in specimens by great +masters,—educated and purified what little taste I had; and +prompted me to somewhat extensive studies in artistic +literature. These, blended with other habits of reading, I +find an immense enjoyment in the leisure of my old age.</p> +<p><a name="page115"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 115</span>Mr. +Theed, the sculptor, and his family, who attended Kensington +Chapel, were our intimate friends; and he told me much about +Gibson, his companion in art, and intimate acquaintance for many +years, when they resided at Rome. With the latter gentleman +I became acquainted slightly when I was in Italy, and had a long +talk with him once about tinting sculpture,—which he +advocated with zeal, and practised with skill. I felt there +was force in what he said. Another Kensington +name,—that of Edward Corbould, the +water-colourist,—may be coupled with my friend +Theed’s. Each was connected with the other in +artistic service to Her Majesty and family. I remember on +the Sunday morning after the Prince Consort’s lamented +death, missing both these gentlemen at Divine worship, in +consequence of their being summoned to Windsor—one to take +a cast, and the other to make a drawing of the good +Prince’s face.</p> +<p>There was another group of hearers during the latter part of +my Kensington ministry, to whom I was much attached. One of +them, Cozens Hardy, M.P., who has won eminence in the legal +profession, is son to the oldest friend I have. All now +referred to are distinguished, not only by professional position, +but by continued study in classical learning.</p> +<p><a name="page116"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 116</span>I +must not pass by “annals of the poor.” When I +first went to Kensington, I was requested to visit an old +shoemaker, crippled, and in humble circumstances, but with a good +deal of natural politeness, the more striking from its +surroundings. He had been a wild young fellow, daring to +the last degree, and this was the cause of his incurable +lameness. He was converted under the ministry of Dr. +Leifchild. The preacher, in the course of a sermon, related +an anecdote of Mr. Cecil, who previous to his becoming decidedly +religious narrowly escaped with life, when thrown by his horse +across the track of a waggon, which in passing only crushed his +hat. The incident struck the listener. It resembled +his own experience, and riveted his attention, preparing him to +listen to the preacher’s appeals. He became an +exemplary Christian; and I often sat by his bedside to hear him +describe the wondrous change wrought in his character, by Divine +grace. “I am a wonder unto many,” he used to +say; and then, with faltering voice, would sing the old +hymn—</p> +<blockquote><p>“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,<br /> + That saved a wretch like me!<br /> +I once was lost, but now am found;<br /> + Was blind, but now I see.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>This was not the only case in which the humbler <a +name="page117"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 117</span>members of +the Church were a comfort to me. Often my heart was cheered +by communications made by them, touching spiritual life. +Such communications were perfectly artless, and arose from the +absence of that reserve which, in the upper class, is the result +of educational refinement. This circumstance often prevents +a free revelation of what cultured people think and feel on the +subject of religion. I have frequently noticed it, and +never inferred, from delicacy touching soul secrets, any want of +that which rises to the surface, and overflows in ready words, +when uneducated people speak of their Christian experience.</p> +<p>I cannot omit a reference to the Gurney family, with some of +whom I came into pleasant connection during my Kensington +residence. As a boy, I had some knowledge of their +ancestral relatives; and now I came into close friendship with +Mr. Bell, brother to Mrs. John Gurney, who was mother to Samuel +Gurney, the renowned London Quaker, and also to Joseph John +Gurney, of Earlham, near Norwich—an equally renowned +banker, and also a <i>Public Friend</i>, as preachers of that +denomination then were wont to be called. Mr. Bell had +become one of my hearers and a communicant, much to his spiritual +benefit, as he <a name="page118"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +118</span>and his family informed me. He was a chatty old +gentleman, and used to talk of his sister, Priscilla Wakefield, +of Miss Schemmelpenninck, and of Samuel Taylor +Coleridge—whom he met at the house of his friend Gilman, +resident in Highgate. Through frequent vivid references to +these celebrities, whom I knew by their writings and by report, I +came to have a sort of personal acquaintance with them. +Thus they became, more than ever, living realities. Besides +this, I came to have a slight personal knowledge of Mr. Samuel +Gurney, just mentioned, the well-known bill-broker, and also of +Mrs. Fry, his sister, who did so much good as a prison +visitor. Mr. Gurney was a stately person, with a benign +countenance, and a musical voice rich in persuasive tones. +The mental anxiety he felt during money panics, not only on his +own account, but also from sympathy with others, was such, that +he was known to spend sleepless nights pacing his chamber. +Mrs. Fry was as dignified as her brother, and I now in +imagination see her in her becoming Quaker garb, as she talked to +me about her nephew Bell, and spoke gratefully of the benefit he +had derived from my ministry. The younger Mr. Samuel Gurney +came to live at Prince’s Gate, Kensington, and used to +worship with <a name="page119"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +119</span>us occasionally. At his table I met with the +Bunsens, and other remarkable friends and relatives of his. +He told me that at any time when I needed, in Christian work, +pecuniary help, I might apply to him without hesitation. +The crash on “Black Friday” was a terrible trial, as +it made him, after being one of the richest of London citizens, +dependent on his relatives. I wrote to him words of +condolence, to which he beautifully replied, saying that he +trusted the tribulation which had befallen him would be for his +spiritual welfare. His excellent wife bore up nobly, and +the two afforded admirable instances of Christian patience and +resignation.</p> +<h2><a name="page120"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +120</span>CHAPTER VII<br /> +1854–1862</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">On</span> April 4th, 1854, I started the +first time for Rome, provided with letters of introduction to +Gibson, the sculptor, Penry Williams, the landscape painter, and +two Roman Catholic dignitaries, one a Monseignor, the other +president of the English College. All these gentlemen were +polite and helpful to me.</p> +<p>My companions were Dr. Raffles, Dr. Halley, the Rev. Spencer +Edwards, and another friend. The first of them was +wonderful for relating stories, which he always told <i>secundum +artem</i>. He kept us awake one whole night with his +amusing anecdotes; but, as we were travelling through France at a +time when espionage was prevalent, he would not allow us to make +any political allusions. I was surprised at the +retentiveness of his verbal memory; whilst he repeated long +pieces, in which <a name="page121"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +121</span>the amusement consisted of odd words, connected with no +rational meaning, when put together.</p> +<p>It was Holy Week when we reached Rome. On Thursday there +was the feet-washing at St. Peter’s, and the supper +afterwards: the Pope, as “servant of servants,” +ministering to the poor, but with great pomp on both +occasions. We arranged to see the former, and found a +transept on the right hand, fitted up for the occasion. +Rank, fashion, beauty, arrayed in mourning, found accommodation +in galleries commanding a good view. Ladies were veiled, +gentlemen wore evening dress. Admission to that part of the +edifice could be obtained on no other conditions. Pio Nono, +a pleasant, genial-looking old man, who won a good opinion as +soon as you looked at him, did his part well. He read the +Gospel (John xiii.) in tones wonderfully musical and distinct, +and then washed the pilgrims’ feet with grace and +reverence. The whole was artistically and solemnly +done. “One can laugh at these things, as described in +books,” said Dr. Raffles—a staunch +Nonconformist—“but <i>not</i> when witnessed, as now, +in this magnificent place.” Still, on a calm review, +nothing like <i>worship</i> appears in any part of the +ceremony. Then the <i>Miserere</i> in the afternoon! +Those who did not witness it years ago <a +name="page122"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 122</span>can have no +idea of it now; or of the gorgeous procession, amidst a blaze of +light, to the altar of S. Paulo, and the prostration of the +Pontiff and his Cardinals on the floor, in the midst of darkness, +candles having been extinguished, one by one. The scene on +the grand staircase was striking as the dignitaries returned, +varying in appearance and character—an ascetic monk, a man +of the world, another looking studious and reflective, a fourth +keen and statesmanlike. Nobody could deny the Italian +scenic skill in such matters. I have been at Rome in +Easter, since then, much struck with subsequent changes. +When all was over on my first Easter in Rome, I went to the +English Episcopal Church, where the Lord’s Supper was +administered according to Protestant rites, and I could not but +be impressed by the contrast between the two services. It +illustrated the change effected by the Reformation. I +mentioned this once to the Rev. Frederic Denison Maurice, who, of +course, agreed with me; and, talking of Rome, he happened to +relate an anecdote which I do not remember having seen in +print. Pio Nono, after the suppression of Latin nunneries +in Poland, received a visit from the Emperor of Russia. +“You are a great king,” said the former to the +latter, “one of the <a name="page123"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 123</span>mightiest in the world. I am a +poor feeble man, servant of servants; but I cite you to meet me +before the Judge of all, and to answer for your treatment of +helpless women.” There was the old assumption of +authority; but there was a touch of grandeur in the words.</p> +<p>I saw the catacombs, following my guide, taper in hand; and in +one of the strange passages was accosted by name. +“Who could have expected to be recognised in this dark +underworld?” I exclaimed. It turned out to be a +person who had lived at Eton, and been a hearer of mine at +Windsor. Other recognitions have occurred to me of an odd +kind, when visiting several places.</p> +<p>I became so attracted by what I saw in Rome, and drank so +deeply into the spirit of Arnold’s letters, written there, +that my last day was spent in pensive leave-takings of ruin after +ruin, church after church. I have been there twice since, +each for a longer time than the first; but not with quite the +impression which I felt in the first instance.</p> +<p>We proceeded to Naples, stopped at Cisterna, at Terracinia, at +Gaeta, and at S. Agata. Whoever has travelled the same road +must long remember the fragrance of the orange-groves and the +coloured dresses of the peasantry.</p> +<p><a name="page124"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 124</span>We +had no trouble at custom-houses on the way, for my two companions +and myself travelled in humble fashion. Otherwise did the +two doctors, already mentioned, fare. Large sums were +demanded of them on the Neapolitan frontier; and when they +refused to pay, their luggage was searched, and a coloured +pen-wiper being found, the officials declared it was a +<i>revolutionary cockade</i>, and that books in their +portmanteaus were no doubt full of treason and heresy. +There was no alternative but to stay where they were, or to allow +a soldier to accompany them in charge of the suspected +articles. All this trouble was followed by apologies on +reaching Naples, after an appeal had been made to the English +Consul.</p> +<p>We saw the picture galleries and museums in Naples, and +explored the city as well as we could during our short +stay. Religious services of a special kind were being held +in one of the churches; and I remember entering it on an evening +when it was crowded with people, listening to a friar, who was +earnestly preaching. Next morning, on revisiting the place, +it was crowded as the night before, and the same priest occupied +the pulpit. We drove along the old coast road, by the +so-called Tomb of Virgil to Castellamare, Sorrento, <a +name="page125"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 125</span>Posilipo +and Pozzuoli (the Puteoli of the Acts), and had dreams of the +luxurious life once spent on these shores, and of Paul’s +disembarkation on his way to Rome. We also spent a day at +Vesuvius, where clouds of vapour were rolling upward; and I, with +one of our party, crawled down to the crater, as near as we +could, much to the dismay of our senior companions. On our +way back to Naples we tarried as long as possible at Pompeii, +looking at the wonders of that memorable spot.</p> +<p>An important step was taken at Kensington on my return from +Italy. The “swarm” sent to Notting Hill did not +permanently reduce the numbers of our congregation. On the +contrary, they considerably advanced. The old chapel became +more than ever inconvenient, and we resolved to build a new and +much larger one.</p> +<p>I must now pass from local and personal affairs to notice a +movement in Congregationalism at large. Independency leads +to isolated action on the part of local Churches. It is +unfriendly to cohesion and co-operation. It provides for +freedom, and nothing else. Old Independents saw this, and +checked the evil by maintaining local fellowships between Church +<a name="page126"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 126</span>and +Church, by the employment of “messengers” one to +another. <a name="citation126"></a><a href="#footnote126" +class="citation">[126]</a></p> +<p>About 1830 the wiser heads amongst us had clearly seen the +evil, and endeavoured to overcome it. They concluded that +centrifugal tendencies should be met by a centripetal +force. Mr. Binney used to say, we were a collection of +limbs—legs, arms, feet, and hands—all in motion, but +not an organised body. To frame a body out of so many +members, was the design of the Congregational Union. +Algernon Wells may be regarded as its founder. He was one +of the most beautiful characters I have ever +known—intelligent, well read, sagacious, with extensive +knowledge of men and things, and a profound attachment to +evangelical truth. He had a rare order of eloquence, and +wove pleasant tissues of thought in his sermons and +speeches. If his speeches were not always sermons, his +sermons were almost always speeches. There was a great +charm in his conversation, and it often overflowed with +wit. Though a decided Congregationalist, he was full of +charity, and cultivated harmonious intercourse with other +denominations. His policy <a name="page127"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 127</span>as to the newly-formed organisation, +was to make the meetings fraternal rather than +controversial—a brotherly society to promote edification +rather than an ecclesiastical army to fight with soldiers +outside, or a council to settle disputes inside. The early +meetings were held in the Congregational Library, and did not +muster more than a hundred members. “Business” +received at times a look askance: spiritual edification excited +desire, and stimulated expression. Now and then came +touches of humour, as when after talking about the state of the +denomination till we were hungry, one brother rose and gravely +asked “whether any intelligence had arrived from the +Sandwich Islands.”</p> +<p>Good Algernon Wells died in 1851, and soon afterwards I was +requested by a sub-committee to meet them in conference on an +important matter. It was to propose my election as Mr. +Wells’ successor. Now, secretaryships have always +been my aversion—from an instinct, I suppose, such as +guides inferior animals to shun what they were never made +for. The secretaryship of the City Mission had been pressed +upon me soon after my arrival in London, but I steadily refused +it, from a conviction of utter incompetence; and, for the same +reason, I declined to entertain the proposal just +mentioned. He who <a name="page128"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 128</span>proposed the office for me accepted +it for himself, and we worked together pleasantly through several +years. I was elected chairman of the Union in May 1856, +amidst much excitement. There have been strains on its +strength more than once, but this first was the greatest.</p> +<p>Dr. Campbell had been for some time a prominent member. +Hard-headed and hard-handed, of a bold, open countenance, and +with a habit of planting his foot pretty firmly on the +ground,—the outer man well indicated the inner; +kind-hearted and affectionate at home, but not the same on a +platform, or with an editorial pen in hand. He then gave no +quarter to anybody who opposed him. “You are a good +fellow,” it was once said to him by a loving spirit; +“but I don’t like that great club you +carry.” That great club he swung about, much to the +terror of many, and consequently he exercised a despotic sway, to +which they were indisposed to submit. He held the doctrines +of Calvinistic theology with a firm grasp, and looked with alarm +upon certain opinions springing up amongst his brethren. He +considered that there was looseness of sentiment, and a range of +thought too free, existing amongst younger men, which imperilled +the evangelical soundness of the Churches. He gave it the +name of <a name="page129"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +129</span><i>Negative Theology</i>. The name took, and was +bandied about to the annoyance of persons to whom it was applied, +many of them holding positive truths as firmly as Dr. Campbell +himself. It happened that in 1856 Mr. Lynch, a man of +genius and sensibility, with a mind cast in a mould the opposite +of Dr. Campbell’s, published a small volume of poetry +entitled “The Rivulet.” Some of the hymns it +contained excited admiration, and are now extensively used; but +the book, as a whole, aroused Dr. Campbell’s wrath beyond +measure. He wrote a criticism upon it, which awakened +indignation in those who had read “The Rivulet” with +approval. Fifteen brethren drew up and signed a protest +against this style of review.</p> +<p>There existed, no doubt, a tendency on the part of a few +brethren to give up certain theological expressions long held +sacred, and also to throw into the background, if not to +question, points of doctrine deemed perfectly +Congregational. In the opposite quarter there appeared a +tenacity of diction and an emphasis of opinion on old lines, +accompanied by ungenerous reflections respecting those whom they +deemed innovators. Very naturally, personal feeling was +thus stirred up, and the Union seemed threatened with +disaster.</p> +<p>“We men are a mysterious sort of creatures,” said +<a name="page130"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 130</span>John +Howe to Richard Baxter. No doubt we are, and that in more +ways than one: in this especially, that whilst discussing +theories of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit—all fountains +of love—we are apt to be found drawing water from the wells +of Marah.</p> +<p>The controversy, now spoken of, related to old and new aspects +of theological thought. Looking back, I can but say, the +balance sheet of past and present, in respect to what is now +noticed, shows both gain and loss. All the gain, it strikes +me, might have been secured without incurring loss at all; and, +in making up the whole account, there should have been more +charity in judging individuals, and more justice in discussing +principles.</p> +<p>I wished, in my address, to combine the two, and so render the +whole a sort of Irenicon.</p> +<p>A personal correspondence followed between two good men, which +is now, I hope, buried in oblivion; but no secession of members +from the Union took place, that I know of. The two +tendencies still exist, but they call for no criticism in these +pages. My views on the subject I have often expressed.</p> +<p>Before the close of my Windsor ministry I had begun to indulge +in foreign travel, and in 1854, when I had spent some time in my +Kensington pastorate, I ventured on a trip to Rome, which I <a +name="page131"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 131</span>have +described already. After that, visits abroad were numerous, +and from amongst them I select one paid in 1856, when I spent a +few weeks with my two sons, who were then being educated in +Berlin. My dear wife accompanied me through the greater +part of the tour, as she was anxious to see how the lads were +getting on. We made our way to the Prussian capital through +Hanover, and, on reaching our destination, found all well. +After spending a little while in Berlin, seeing the sights and +becoming acquainted with some excellent people, we made an +excursion to the South, and spent a few days at Dresden, where +antiquities, pictures, and drives in the neighbourhood greatly +delighted us. We proceeded to Schandau, a pretty little +village, and there took lodgings, initiating ourselves into +amusing details of German life. We attended the parish +church on Sunday, taking interest in the clergyman, who was +expounding to his people the history of David. We witnessed +some of life’s joys and sorrows, especially a funeral, +which was very picturesque—bright flowers, red roses and +green leaves, relieving the darkness of death, the hope of Heaven +shedding light on the sorrow of bereavement. Excursions in +the neighbourhood added to our family enjoyments <a +name="page132"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 132</span>of this +sojourn, and one day we came in contact with royalty. The +King of Saxony, the Queen, and a few of the Court, climbed up a +hill which we had selected as a resting-place, commanding views +of the Elbe. Their Majesties’ servants in livery +(who, by the way, were very civil to us) paid the royal reckoning +to a humble châlet-keeper, as any of his subjects might +do. We watched the King and attendants as they embarked in +a boat for their Dresden home. My boys and I pushed on to +Prague, where the bridge and St. John Nepomuk, the Hradschin, and +the thirty years’ war, John Huss and his house in the +Bethlehem platz, the Jews’ town on the banks of the Moldau, +the Jewish burial ground, and the old synagogue, inspired +historical memories of deep interest. We joined mamma and +returned to Dresden the way we came; and there, after long +gazings on the picture gallery, especially at Raphael’s +“Madonna and Child”—opposite to which people +sat reverently, as if engaged in devotion—father and mother +parted from the dear boys, and we wended our way homewards; not +without lingering in Lutherland to look at homes and haunts of +the great Reformer.</p> +<p>To return to my Kensington flock. In the year 1857, one +Sunday night, after I had retired to rest, <a +name="page133"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 133</span>I heard a +loud ringing at the door-bell, and immediately rose. On +opening the window, there stood a carriage; and the coachman, as +soon as by gaslight he saw my face, cried out, “Oh, sir, my +mistress is dead!” His mistress was Mrs. Jacomb, +residing with her husband and family at Notting Hill. They +had all been at Divine worship that morning in their usual +health. The carriage had been sent to take me back to the +mourners. I immediately rose and went. On reaching +the house I witnessed a scene of domestic distress such as I +never witnessed before. My deceased friend had in the +morning worshipped with us, in her usual delicate health, and, as +I learned, in more than her usual cheerfulness. She was +preparing for evening service, when she was suddenly seized with +illness, and in a short time expired. The husband and +family were in deep distress, but they had a blessed knowledge of +Him who brought life and immortality to light. She was a +woman rich in spiritual sympathy, and had been no ordinary friend +to me and mine, in our early married life. We had a large +family, and, though favoured above many, had our domestic +trials. How often I thought of what Paul said of +“Phœbe, our sister”: “She has been a +succourer of many, and of myself <a name="page134"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 134</span>also.” I never knew any +one who had more tender sympathy in trouble than Mrs. Jacomb, or +was more swift in expressing it. Her husband was worthy of +her, and her children “rise up to call her +blessed.” Those who survive are cherished +friends. He was of an old Puritan stock, descendant of Dr. +Jacomb, a renowned ejected clergyman after the Commonwealth; and +the family genealogy is rich in noted names and memories.</p> +<p>In this chapter I cannot refrain from recording my own +domestic sorrows. In 1853 a sweet child had +died—little Catherine, born shortly after we left Windsor; +and in 1858 another, more advanced in life, a boy named Arnold, +full of energy and promise, was taken from us by our Heavenly +Father. His illness was brief; but beforehand my dear wife +had been anxious for his spiritual welfare, and her conversations +were followed by the Divine blessing. His joyous, winning +ways had won the hearts of visitors, and his death widely +affected my congregation, awakening sympathy to a degree which +inspired my liveliest gratitude. Our friend Joshua Harrison +preached a funeral sermon for the dear boy, full of pathos and +power.</p> +<p>In 1859 a friend accompanied me to the Pyrenees. +Travelling by French railways, we reached Bayonne <a +name="page135"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 135</span>at the end +of August, and then crossed the Spanish frontier in a Spanish +diligence, which had all the lumber and shabby trappings of +French ones. We reached San Sebastian at night, and next +morning took a walk on the promenade, where the ladies in +mantillas and veils flourished their fans with grace and dignity; +and if there be something gay in French solemnity, there is +something grave in the gaiety of Spaniards. We again +climbed up a diligence, and travelled through the Lower Pyrenees +to Pau, where, from the Grand Terrace, we saw peering out from +the haze of a hot summer sky the mountain range—not near, +as many imagine, but many miles off. Of course we saw the +old palace where Henri IV. was born and wrapped up in his shell +cradle. Along roads bordered by woods and hills, reminding +one of Wharfedale, we reached an elevation at Sevignac, +overlooking the valley of the Gave, with magnificent mountains in +front, Pic du Midi coming into full view. Eaux Bonnes, with +all the luxuries of a French watering-place, was then reached, +whence we proceeded to Eaux Chaudes, where the mountains become +awfully precipitous. We looked down from zigzag roads, cut +out of declivities buttressed by rocks and embankments, with +boiling torrents at the foot, roaring like thunder. <a +name="page136"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 136</span>The Pic du +Midi, streaked with snow, rises up so as to remind one of an +Egyptian pyramid.</p> +<p>We determined to visit Pantacosa, and passed through a +romantic defile, crossed the Spanish frontier again, and halted +at a village, where the houses seemed walls without windows, the +outlook being altogether from the back. Glimpses of +Aragon’s broad plain were caught, as we looked south, and +crowds of Spanish muleteers passed us, laden with +merchandise. The baths of Pantacosa occupy a gloomy region, +shut in by rocks, and there I spent the Sunday as an invalid, my +strength being overtaxed; but next day I rose in the enjoyment of +health and vigour. Then we made our way to Luz. The +church of the Templars built there is half fortress and half +sanctuary. You enter through a machicolated gateway, into a +church, the gloomiest I ever saw. Through a little door, +the <i>Cagots</i>, a proverbial race weak both in body and mind, +used to enter for worship.</p> +<p>Near to Luz is St. Sauveur, a narrow valley, richly wooded, +with a tiny village jammed in among the rocks. At the time +of our visit, the Emperor Napoleon and the Empress Eugenie were +staying there. The house they occupied was small and plain; +nothing distinguished it but the two <a name="page137"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 137</span>sentinels at the door. All was +silent and solitary, and nobody seemed to notice the royal +residence, besides ourselves. In the afternoon, we saw +their Majesties returning from a drive in open carriages with +outriders. Napoleon sat on the box, Eugenie was chatting +with her lady attendants. On alighting she remained at the +door of the house, playing with her walking stick, and receiving +a letter-bag. The Emperor came out, lighted a cigar, smoked +and then walked on to inspect some men at work on a new road.</p> +<p>We made an excursion to Gavarnie—a shady defile with +precipitous rocks, overhanging woods, and a river foaming and +roaring four hundred feet below. Beyond is the Cirque, a +basin-shaped valley of semicircular rocks, with steps and stages, +whilst a drapery of water fringes them all round. We +ascended the Pic de Bergons, tarried a day at Bagnères de +Bigorre, a central spot for tourists, with the usual +appurtenances of such places. We proceeded to +Bagnères de Luchon, by a romantic drive, commanding a view +of the Maladetta with its snows and glaciers.</p> +<p>In the course of our rambles in the Pyrenees we were struck +with Eastern customs. An unmuzzled ox went round a heap of +corn. Sheep were not driven but led, and wine was kept in +leathern bottles.</p> +<h2><a name="page138"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +138</span>CHAPTER VIII<br /> +1862–1865</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> year 1862, being the +Bicentenary of the Bartholomew ejectment, was largely given by +English Nonconformists to a remembrance of the confessorship and +heroism which marked the ejectment of ministers in 1662. A +meeting was held in the spring at St. James’s Hall, +Piccadilly, when papers were read, bearing on the +commemoration. The preparation of one of them fell to my +lot; but I was taken ill at the time for its delivery, and it had +to be read by my friend, the Rev. Joshua Clarkson Harrison. +A story is told of Garrick’s reading a poem of Hannah +More’s, before a party of friends, when the effect produced +was by Garrick attributed to the lady’s composition, and by +the lady to the reader’s elocution. Whatever might be +the impression made at St. James’s Hall on the reading of +the paper, it was divided between my <a name="page139"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 139</span>friend and me, after the same +fashion. In this address I advocated a Bartholomew +celebration, on the ground, that it was good to remember +sacrifices made for conscience’ sake, and therefore +professed my readiness to honour Jeremy Taylor as well as Richard +Baxter. This brought a letter from the Bishop of Down and +Connor testing my sincerity by an appeal on behalf of an Irish +cathedral restoration in memory of Jeremy Taylor. I sent a +small contribution, which brought back a pleasant response, such +as I highly valued. Afterwards I met him at the +Athenæum, when he invited me to visit him, with a view to +Christian union in Ireland. I should add that the +Bishop’s scheme for the cathedral restoration failed, and +he politely returned my small contribution.</p> +<p>In the autumn of 1862, I read a paper to the Congregational +Assembly, in which I advocated certain methods of +improvement. This subject I took up afterwards, with no +result, however, that I could discover. The faults of other +systems are always more welcome than the reformation of our +own.</p> +<p>In 1863 we were visited by a family bereavement which was one +of the heaviest sorrows of my life. John Howard Stoughton, +born at Windsor in 1842, <a name="page140"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 140</span>was a lad of extraordinary +character, witty and artistic beyond his brothers and sisters, +who loved him with no ordinary love. His love of art led us +to place the youth under Mr. Thomas, a distinguished sculptor and +decorator, largely employed in works at Windsor Castle. Our +boy devoted himself to his pursuits with an assiduity which +created much anxiety in his mother and in me, for it evidently +injured his health. In the spring of 1861 we took him to +Hastings, and Dr. Moore, an eminent physician there, carefully +studied his case, and, as the result, advised that his artistic +pursuits should be for awhile suspended, and that he should +travel abroad, where he would see and learn much, without tasking +his physical power. Accordingly, in the summer of 1861, he +visited the Continent with his elder brother and me, went up and +down the Rhine, and saw pictures, statues, and decorations, which +interested his mind without overtasking his bodily +strength. In the following autumn he was better, and under +medical advice we arranged that, in company with one of his +sisters, he should spend the winter in Rome. They did so +accordingly, and our hopes were raised; but in the spring he had +an attack, which rendered it advisable that he should remove from +Rome to some other part of Italy. He did <a +name="page141"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 141</span>so, and +paid a visit to friends in Leghorn. I left home with +another of my daughters and two nieces, joining my children where +they were staying; thence I accompanied them, on a pleasant tour +through Florence, over the Apennines, and, by way of Bologna, +Milan, and the Alps, to Geneva. Thence we came home through +France. We returned in good spirits; but, as winter +approached, fears reawakened. Gradually the invalid became +weaker; but faith in the Invisible and Divine Father grew +stronger and stronger. The youth spent with us a cheerful +Christmas; but in spring it was obvious he was not long for this +world. As the end approached he talked calmly on the +subject with his beloved brother, the two being united in bonds +of Christian faith, as well as natural affection. I can +never forget the Holy Communion we—mother, father, brother, +and sisters—enjoyed in a room overlooking our garden, when +bursting buds told of nature’s returning life, and the dear +sufferer bore unmistakable signs of approaching death. But +he was calm and cheerful, and took deep interest in the gracious +ordinance. It was administered with solemnity by our dear +friend Harrison, who loved Howard as though he had been his own +son. He expired on March 31st, 1863, and on the following +<a name="page142"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 142</span>Sunday +evening my brother just named preached a memorable funeral sermon +in Kensington Chapel.</p> +<p>In 1864 Dr. Stanley became Dean of Westminster, and on his +expressing a wish to be introduced to some Nonconformist +brethren, Dr. William Smith—editor of so many valuable +dictionaries, and with whom I was then associated in the business +of New College—kindly gave a dinner party to which he +invited me. The Dean afterwards finding there was between +us some similarity of taste in literature, and sympathy in +desires for union, invited me to the Deanery; and so began a +friendship with him and Lady Augusta, which lasted as long as +they lived, and proved one of the most precious privileges +vouchsafed to me, by the providence of our Heavenly Father. +On December 28th, 1865, “the Feast of the Holy +Innocents”—the Dean preached a sermon in Westminster +Abbey. The sermon was in commemoration of the Abbey’s +foundation by Edward the Confessor eight hundred years +before. The text was felicitously chosen from John x. 22, +23,—“It was the feast of the <i>Dedication</i>, and +it was <i>winter</i>, and Jesus walked in the temple in +<i>Solomon’s porch</i>.” “Feast of the +Dedication” corresponded with the character of the service; +“winter” was the season of both celebrations; the <a +name="page143"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 143</span>northern +porch—a main entrance to the Abbey—is called +“Solomon’s porch.” The sermon was not +less appropriate than the text. It sketched the history of +the venerable edifice, and contained marked allusions to +Nonconformist ministrations within its walls during the +Commonwealth. Being present on the occasion, I wrote to the +Dean afterwards in reference to his allusions, when, in reply, he +said, “It gave me additional pleasure to deliver them, from +the reflection that there was at least one person present capable +of entering into them.” In the sermon, as delivered, +he spoke of the Westminster Confession as the only one ever +<i>imposed</i> in the <i>whole Island</i>, and on my calling his +attention to this statement, and pointing out the distinction +between the <i>doctrinal</i> and ecclesiastical part of the +Confession, he answered, “I was not ignorant of the +distinction, nor did I mean to say it was <i>imposed</i> in any +offensive sense. For I was anxious not to say a word that +could be offensive to any of my brethren, and merely wished to +call attention to the fact, that a document, which had received +in part a wider legal recognition than any other since the +Reformation, came from Westminster Abbey.” In the +sermon, as <i>printed</i>, are the words “<i>sanctioned by +law</i> for the whole Island,” and in <a +name="page144"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 144</span>a note, +“The doctrinal Articles of the Westminster Confession of +Faith (were) sanctioned by the English Parliament in 1647, and +the whole Confession by the Scottish Parliament in +1648.”</p> +<p>In further illustration of the Dean’s ingenuity when +turning Scripture to account in the improvement of events, I may +here repeat what he once related to me. He happened on a +Saturday to be preparing a sermon for the Abbey, on some occasion +when he was to plead for <i>two</i> objects, and had chosen for +his text Gen. xxvii. 38—“And Esau said unto his +father, hast thou but one blessing my father? Bless me, +even me also, O my father.” As the Dean was writing +his discourse, some one stepped in and told him, the American +President, General Grant, intended to be at the Abbey the next +day, and suggested that it would be gratifying to Americans if +some allusion was made to the incident. Immediately it was +turned to account by the Dean in this way—that God had many +blessings which He distributed amongst his children; that bounty +to one did not mean denial to another; that Great Britain, for +instance, had been blessed, but God had rich benefactions for +America as well.</p> +<p>For years I felt an earnest desire to visit the East, and thus +to become personally acquainted with Bible <a +name="page145"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +145</span>lands. A meeting was held in 1865 to present me +with a purse of £400, and a pledge that expenses incurred +through my absence from Kensington should be met, without any +pecuniary responsibilities on my part. The friends who +accompanied me were Dr. Allon, of Union Chapel, Islington, Dr. +Spence, of the Poultry Chapel, London, Dr. Bright, minister of +the Independent Chapel, Dorking, and two young lay +friends—Stanley Kemp-Welch and Thomas Wilson. The +Dean of Westminster gave me introductions to people he knew in +Palestine, and afforded valuable assistance in other ways.</p> +<p>We started in February 1865. I kept a journal and sent +home long letters. We visited Alexandria and Cairo, and +then proceeded through the desert of Sinai to the monastery at +the foot of Jebel Mousa. Turning north, we made our way to +Gaza, thence to Ramleh, and so onwards to Jerusalem. The +members of our little party, as we approached the city on +horseback, rode at a considerable distance from each other. +I knew that we should cross some ridges, before we caught sight +of the city, and I happened to be in the rear of my +fellow-travellers. I watched the foremost of them till I +saw him pull up his horse, pause awhile, then take off his +hat. I knew what that meant, and the <a +name="page146"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 146</span>feelings +awakened I can never forget while I live. I eagerly, and I +may say reverently, followed the foremost horseman, and as soon +as I caught sight of the walls and the gate, I am not ashamed to +say, my eyes were full of tears.</p> +<p>As we entered the Holy City the bustle was very great. +Bedouins with yellow scarves round their heads, and striped robes +on their shoulders; Syrians with snowy turbans, short jackets, +and flowing trousers; Turks wearing the crimson fez; a rich man +“clothed in purple and fine linen,” mounted on a +smartly caparisoned white ass, and a poor man on foot, ragged and +tattered; camels and donkeys carrying loads of timber and +brushwood, to the peril of wayfarers; Egyptian, Copt, Armenian, +Greek, the black Nubian, the white Circassian, with groups of +veiled women, shuffling over the stones in gay slippers—all +these made a motley picture, which dazzled the attention of +pilgrims from England. At length we reached our hotel, and +had to make ladder-like ascents, and mount on roofs, story after +story, before we could get to our apartments, whence we caught +our first view of Mount Olivet.</p> +<p>We met with Christian friends in the Holy City, and were +kindly invited by Dr. Gobat, Bishop of <a +name="page147"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 147</span>Jerusalem, +to spend an evening at his house, when he gathered together a +party consisting of the principal foreign visitors at the time, +most of whom were English. For two Sunday mornings we +worshipped at the church on Mount Zion, near the Episcopal +residence, and were glad of an opportunity to partake of the +Communion. I have always delighted in fellowship at the +Lord’s table with Christian brethren of different churches, +who, under different forms of administration, worship and adore +the same Lord. Not only when travelling on the Continent +have I received the Lord’s Supper at the hands of +Episcopalian brethren, but in England, on a few occasions I have +availed myself of a similar catholic privilege.</p> +<p>Before proceeding further, let me relate a story I heard from +Dr. Rosen, the German consul, respecting the famous Sinaitic +MS. Tischendorf had reason to believe a precious treasure +was hid in the monastery at Sinai. He obtained letters +which he thought would assist him, but, on further consideration, +declined to employ them. He found in the library part of +his coveted prize; and, it happened at that moment, the office of +Okonomos was vacant, and a keen contest for it was going on +between two monks. He joined one party, <a +name="page148"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 148</span>and +promised to use influence with the Russian Emperor in favour of +their candidate, hinting that the present of a valuable MS. would +promote their object. After a good deal of diplomacy this +plan prospered. The MS. coveted by the scholar was secured, +and the once hopeless candidate was installed in office. +This was not all. The MS. was incomplete, and the missing +part was found by Tischendorf in the possession of a Greek +merchant. The promise of a Russian title proved more +effectual than gold, and Tischendorf carried off his prize to St. +Petersburg in triumph. I jotted down the story the evening +Dr. Rosen related it, and here in a few words have I given the +substance.</p> +<p>Of course we explored Jerusalem as far as our limited time +allowed; and, under the guidance of Dr. Rosen, I had the +privilege of visiting certain spots where recent discoveries had +been made. I remember seeing what looked like indications +of a well, from which, it was easy to imagine, people, in our +Lord’s time, used to draw water. Nor can I forget +rambles on the line of walls commanding views of the city and +neighbourhood. I can now distinctly recall my visit to a +sepulchre outside the city, where a stone, like a large +millstone, was <a name="page149"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +149</span>lying at the door, as if recently “rolled +away.” I studied (as well as time, and what I had +read on the subject, would allow), the question as to the place +of crucifixion, and where our blessed Lord rose from the +dead. Points still remain to be settled, as to the +direction in which the city wall ran in the time of Christ. +I cannot adopt any modern theories on the whole subject, which +have made way in America and in England. It appears to me +after long study, that grounds can still be maintained in support +of the old tradition in favour of the spot where the Church of +the Holy Sepulchre stands. We made a memorable excursion to +Bethlehem, by way of Rachel’s sepulchre, and descended the +cave where, it is said, our Lord was born. We next +proceeded to Hebron, where I stood by a flight of steps leading +to the tombs within, longing to ascend and explore those hallowed +resting places. Returning northwards, we stopped at the +traditional oak, by which Abraham sat in the heat of the +day—and at the vineyards of Eschol where old stocks are +thriving still—and at Solomon’s pool and gardens, not +far from David’s hiding-places. Then, after a long +and exciting day, we found rest in the old monastery of S. Saba, +from the terrace of which, we <a name="page150"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 150</span>caught a view of the Dead Sea. +We rambled on its melancholy shores, dipped in the Jordan, and +then spent a night by the ruins of Jericho.</p> +<p>The order of our journey followed Dr. Stanley’s +directions, that we might have the advantage of crossing Olivet, +so as to come suddenly on the point where our Lord “beheld +the city and wept over it.” From Jerusalem we +proceeded northwards by Bethel, Sychar, Samaria, Esdraelon, and +Nazareth, to Tiberias and the Lake. Thence by Safed we +travelled over the hills of Galilee to Banias (“the Syrian +Tivoli”), Damascus, and Beyrout. Banias is a charming +spot. With the scenery from a hill overlooking Damascus I +was charmed beyond measure, and was intensely interested in the +antiquities of that grand old city. Dr. Allon, Dr. Bright +and Mr. Wilson visited the ruins at Baalbec, but Mr. Kemp-Welch +remained with me in Damascus to take care of Dr. Spence, who was +very ill. He had to be leisurely taken over the mountains +to Beyrout, approaching which we had never-to-be-forgotten views +of the beautiful Mediterranean.</p> +<p>After leaving Palestine I wrote in my notes the following +impression as to the Bible, which had been a constant companion +and guide in our travels:—It is the Book of the Holy +Land—the gospel of Palestine. <a +name="page151"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 151</span>It is +Oriental; it is Syrian; it is Samaritan; it is Galilean; it is +Jewish. It paints the scenery of the Land of Promise from +end to end, and the wilderness too. It echoes the voices of +the people. We hear in it the murmur of towns and villages, +we pass through; it breathes the pure, fresh, bracing air of the +desert; everywhere as I opened the Divine pages I found them +reflecting surrounding scenes. Even the brilliant +Frenchman, who has tasked his genius to demolish the authentic +life of Jesus and to build out of the ruins an imagination of his +own, virtually admits the truth of what I have now advanced, for +he points out the minute accuracy of the Volume; which shows how +true in detail are the Gospels, how faithful to rock and stream, +river and lake, tree and wild flower, is the entire +narrative. Thus, after all he says to the contrary, he +really raises in the reader’s mind a fair presumption of +its fidelity in higher matters.</p> +<p>One circumstance struck me as very noticeable—that is, +the compression, within a small compass, of a number of stirring +incidents related in Holy Writ. Dothan, where Joseph sought +his brethren and their flocks; the plain of Megiddo, the +battle-field of Israel; the river Kishon, “that ancient +river,” so fatal to Sisera’s army; the valley of +Jezreel, with its wide <a name="page152"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 152</span>panorama, where Ahab had a palace; +the heights of Gilboa, where fell Saul and his sons, with the +well of Harod at the foot, where Gideon’s three hundred men +stooped and lapped the water; the garden of the Shunamite, +opposite to Mount Carmel; the city of Nain and the cave of Endor; +Tabor and Nazareth—all these spots come within a few +hours’ ride. Well might Issachar think “that +rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant.”</p> +<p>Our party began to separate at Beyrout. Dr. Spence, +accompanied by Mr. Wilson, returned direct to England; the rest +of us came home through Europe.</p> +<p>In crossing the Mediterranean with Dr. Allon and Kemp-Welch we +touched at Cyprus. The coast looked flat and uninteresting, +but the bright morning, the sparkling sea, and the manifold +associations attaching to the islands inspired great curiosity +and deep interest, though I felt by no means well. I began +to be conscious that my appetite for travelling had somewhat +palled, if not become almost dead. We landed at Larnaca, +and found it a very poor place. The Greek churches were +somewhat curious, from the circumstance of old columns with +characteristic capitals being built into the walls. I +noticed Greek priests sitting in wine shops, and some of them <a +name="page153"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 153</span>occupying +places of traffic, selling different articles in huckster-like +hovels. These men indicated the social degradation of +inferior orders in the Eastern Church. However it may be +with the dignified clergy in Russia, certainly priests in +Palestine, Syria and the Mediterranean Isles afford low types of +civilisation. After dwelling on what is related about +Cyprus in the Acts of the Apostles, the conversion of Sergius +Paulus, and the conduct of Elymas the sorcerer, became very real +narratives; and with these memories in our minds we re-embarked +and had a pleasant evening as we sat on deck. I fell asleep +with the prospect of reaching Rhodes the next day.</p> +<p>The harbour, with its well-known mole and adjuncts, is very +picturesque. We climbed up narrow streets, full of houses +once occupied by the knights, and from the fortification, had an +extensive view of the island and the Mediterranean. The +Church of St. John, blown up by gunpowder, and shattered to +fragments, seized on my imagination for a good while, as I +wandered, and sat down on a spot, so rich in romantic +story. We then returned to the interior of the town, and at +the harbour watched the boatmen, busy at the seaside. As we +were doing so, one of my companions exclaimed, “Stoughton, +you’ve got the jaundice!” <a name="page154"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 154</span>and, sure enough, when we reached +our steamer, the looking-glass proved this was true. When I +rose next morning my limbs were of a saffron colour.</p> +<p>The weather changed. The sky was dark, and the views we +caught of Asia were by no means inviting. At night there +came a storm; and a storm in the Mediterranean is no trifling +matter. Wind roared through the rigging; the vessel lurched +and laboured, groaning as if the timbers would burst. Lying +in my berth I could feel the dashing billows. Tables and +stools were sliding about. The suspended lamps swayed to +and fro, like the pendulum of a clock. Overhead confusion +was terrible. Horses were kicking, and the sailors were +swearing. We had a pasha with his harem on board, and, as +might be expected, they were exceedingly terrified. Crowds +of pilgrims returning from the Eastern celebration at Jerusalem, +were lying on deck resembling herrings in a barrel, and the noise +they made was terrific. Waves beat over our boat, till the +poor creatures were almost drowned. Beside we had horses, +bears and monkeys on board, and, of course, they added to the +inharmonious concert. I rose from my hammock early, and +with my companion, Mr. Welch, sought comfort <a +name="page155"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 155</span>from a cup +of tea. Reaching the deck, I talked with one of the +engineers, an Englishman, and asked what he thought of the +storm. “Is there any danger?” I asked. He +replied, “This has been a very queer night, and we have +made no way. If it had lasted, that would have been +serious.” We safely reached Smyrna harbour in the +afternoon.</p> +<p>Of course, I thought as we approached land:—There, on +one of the hills yonder, the martyr, Polycarp, by death sealed +the truths which he had proclaimed in life. As we landed, I +thought myself in an Italian port, so European at a glance +everything looked—houses, shops, and people—but, +entering the town, the scene changed, for there the streets, +bazaars, and costumes told of Oriental manners and customs. +The next day a party was organised to visit the ruins of +Ephesus. It can be reached by railway, and when we entered +the station, we might have fancied ourselves at home; for there +we met with English guards, and railway porters, like our +own. We had a special train to convey us to the far-famed +ruins. We visited what is left of the forum, the theatre, +and the stadium, but it is difficult to identify anything; and it +seemed to me, a definite idea of what Ephesus was in its <a +name="page156"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 156</span>glory is +impossible. The view from the loftiest eminence is +magnificent, including the vast plain, the winding river Cayster, +and what, in Paul’s day was the harbour of Miletus. +At the time of our visit, Greek Christians were celebrating the +Festival of St. John, on a lofty hill, the church there being a +rude-looking structure. The cave of the seven sleepers was +pointed out, on our way back to the railway station, and by the +cave is a beautiful mosque of the fifteenth century.</p> +<p>On Saturday morning we embarked at Smyrna for +Constantinople. We faintly discerned in the far distance, +as we crossed those classic waters, point after point closely +connected with ancient story. Of course, all the way, +amidst Homeric scenes and associations, we called them to mind by +Homer’s help; but the thought of St. John’s labours, +his epistles, to the seven churches in the Apocalypse, more +prominently occupied one’s mind on the Lord’s day, +when we had worship in the saloon, and I preached, as well as I +could, to a few sympathetic fellow-passengers.</p> +<p>On Monday morning early, we reached the Golden Horn, filled +with shipping. Caiques were quietly gliding over still +waters; but we were troubled at the Custom House by an ignorant +soldier, who laid <a name="page157"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +157</span>hold upon my “Homer” and detained it for +two or three days.</p> +<p>Kemp-Welch was the only member of our party left, the rest +proceeding homeward by another route. I made the most of +what was possible during the four days spent at +Constantinople. My friend and I followed the circuit of the +city on horseback; through Stamboul, which appeared very +Oriental, ruinous and dirty—through lines of cypresses, +near cemeteries with turbaned headstones; and so, all round, till +we reached the sweet waters. There we tarried a while, +looking at the gardens, and their summer houses, called +kiosks. The place is a resort like Hampton Court. +Thence we returned to the city. Next day we crossed the +Golden Horn, and saw the Sultan’s seraglio, attached to +which are more gardens and more kiosks. The place contains +a library full of Arabic MSS., and a throne room, with the +Sultan’s divan, surmounted with a baldacchino. There +His Majesty used to hold his court, attended by janissaries, and +was screened from the view of subjects, except that his hands +were visible. The Sublime Porte is the grand entrance to +the room of audience for ambassadors from other courts.</p> +<p>We visited the arsenal with its ammunition, muskets, and +swords. The building, it is said, was <a +name="page158"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 158</span>in the +fourth century a church—the Church of S. Irene, where +Chrysostom preached some of his wonderful sermons—and it +has still in the apse an antique cross. But the grand +ecclesiastical edifice of Constantinople is S. Sophia, with +columns brought from Ephesus, and representations of four +cherubim with their faces obliterated. A legend is +preserved to this effect, that when Constantinople was taken by +the Turks, a priest was saying mass—immediately a chasm +opened in the wall and received him. There he still +remains, chalice in hand, waiting to finish the service, when +Christians recover the ancient edifice.</p> +<p>But I must not enter into further details of what I saw and +heard during my short stay at Constantinople. I was now +left alone, as my only remaining companion was obliged to return +home by a different route.</p> +<p>Let me add in closing this part of my story, that the banks of +the Bosphorus on which I gazed, as I left Constantinople, +surpassed previous imagination. The gardens and kiosks by +the waterside, looked paradisaical; and as we steamed along I was +enchanted, one instant after another, by objects on the +shore. All the way to the Black Sea was delightful. +Then surroundings changed. Travellers, <a +name="page159"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 159</span>landed to +find themselves amidst indescribable confusion. Thence we +proceeded by rail across a dreary district, without trees, and +abounding in shallow sheets of stagnant water, with plenty of +storks, Egyptian geese, and other wild birds. Still, within +the region crossed, there were fields of grain. We reached +our steamer on the Danube, between six and seven o’clock on +Friday evening.</p> +<p>We found the great river improve as we ascended it. At +first we had low banks dotted with mosques and minarets, showing +we were still in Turkey. On board the boat I was treated as +an invalid, and the attention shown by captain, crew, and +servants, was such as to inspire the warmest gratitude on my +part.</p> +<p>The scenery on the banks of the Danube, in the earlier part of +our voyage up the river, was very magnificent—rocks rising +loftily from the water’s edge on one bank, but low on the +other. We passed richly wooded scenery, and caught glimpses +of pleasant glens, with running streams and picturesque +bridges. Further on were comfortable farm-houses and +smiling villages. We reached Pesth on Tuesday, travelling +by rail, and then proceeded, in the same way, to Vienna, where I +tarried for a couple of days—seeing the magnificent +cathedral, the vaults of the <a name="page160"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 160</span>Capuchin Church, the Prater, the +Royal Palace, and the Picture Galleries. Travelling across +Germany by rail I reached the Rhine, thence to Brussels, where I +was entertained by my nieces then on a visit there. At last +I found two dear daughters waiting at the Victoria Station, and +at Fairlawn House, Hammersmith, there was a loving welcome.</p> +<p>At the conclusion of my narrative of Eastern travel, let me +remark. What one sees in travelling through Palestine gives +vividness to the narrative—makes what before were pale +outlines, pictures of glowing colour and dazzling light. I +do not forget the danger there is of being too much engaged with +what is outward in Biblical studies—tarrying in the porch +instead of worshipping in the temple—lingering by the hedge +to gather flowers instead of pressing into the field to cut down +corn—playing the geologist, instead of working as spiritual +miners—finding out what is curious as to literature, +instead of appropriating “the unsearchable riches of +Christ.” But still, what I gathered in the East is +precious, and may minister to spiritual edification, as well as +to mental enjoyment. How marvellous it is that whilst the +Bible is so Eastern—while Oriental manners, customs, and +scenery are photographed there, it is nevertheless an universal +<a name="page161"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +161</span>book! The Koran is not so Eastern as the Bible; +at least, so it struck me, as I read it in the East; yet the +Bible is the Englishman’s book as the Koran could not be, +even if we were all Mussulmans.</p> +<p>Specially forcible and beautiful were the impressions we +derived touching the life of Christ; we felt how toilsome were +his journeys as He <i>walked</i> along the rough and rugged +pathways from Jericho to Jerusalem, over which we +<i>rode</i>. How humiliating must have been his intercourse +with the poor, who, no doubt, then lived in wretched mud hovels, +such as we saw, not only in Palestine, but in Egypt; types of +domestic habitation for the lower classes in ages past! We +thought: Through such collections of “houses of clay” +did He pass! Here did He tarry, and within such +abodes! Not one of them was His own; He had not where to +lay His head.</p> +<h2><a name="page162"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +162</span>CHAPTER IX<br /> +1865–1872</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the year 1867 I published the +first volumes of my “Ecclesiastical History of +England”; this calls for explanation of what preceded and +prepared for it.</p> +<p>Immediately after I left college, and settled at Windsor, I +commenced the study of Church history with much earnestness; and +the first fruit was a course of lectures on the subject to my +congregation, delivered on week evenings. When I had +completed them they were sent by me to my revered tutor, Dr. +Henderson, for criticism and advice. He encouraged me to +pursue my studies in that direction, with the hope and intention +of making use of them in after life. I followed his advice, +and during the remainder of my Windsor ministry devoted all the +time I could spare from pulpit and pastoral duties to researches +into early annals of Christendom. In my investigations I +was <a name="page163"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +163</span>kindly allowed to use the Dean and Chapter’s +library. After I left Windsor, I turned attention to +ecclesiastical affairs during the Puritan period. This +happened just as I was about to pay a visit to my native +county—Norfolk—where I commenced studying original +records in Norwich. Proceedings <i>against +Nonconformity</i> and other records there came within my reach, +that part of England being somewhat rich in this department of +history. “Spiritual Heroes” was the title of my +first volume, which not long after was revised and enlarged in a +second edition. The Congregational lecture on “The +Ages of Christendom,” was delivered and published in +1856. This led, in 1867, to the “Ecclesiastical +History of England, from the Opening of the Long Parliament to +the Death of Oliver Cromwell.” “The Church of +the Restoration,” forming two volumes, appeared in 1870, +and “The Church of the Revolution” in 1874. To +complete the list of works on English Ecclesiasticism, there +followed other volumes on the reigns of Queen Anne and the Three +Georges. Afterwards came “Religion in England from +1800 to 1851.” I state all this, because some +confusion has arisen from a fragmentary publication of the +original works and of successive editions.</p> +<p>In 1867 correspondence and personal intercourse <a +name="page164"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 164</span>commenced +between a distinguished Episcopalian and myself, of an +interesting character. In that year I received an +invitation to Chichester from Dean Hook. He was much talked +of, on account of his High Churchmanship, and his pre-eminent +activity as Vicar of Leeds. Dissenters counted him amongst +their bitter foes; and I should have been much surprised, years +earlier, had I been told I was to be a guest at his house. +Yet so it was. Historical sympathies brought us together, +and each found that the other wished to be fair in dealing with +men who held opposite opinions. Both believed in a +spiritual brotherhood reaching beyond denominational +bounds. Soon after my arrival at Chichester he asked: +“What shall we talk about? If I thought I could make +you a Churchman, I would try to do so; and if you thought you +could make a Dissenter of me, you would make the +attempt.” I replied: “Nothing of the kind; let +us leave out ecclesiastical controversy, and talk of literary and +religious matters, on which we are pretty well agreed; and when +we have exhausted them we will take up points of +difference.” He went on to say, that his great friend +Lord Hatherley, then High Chancellor, differed from him +politically, and yet they had walked up together to the polling +<a name="page165"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 165</span>booth to +record opposite votes, without any breach of friendship. +“And so,” he said, “you and I can unite to a +certain extent; and when we come to the parting of the way, we +can each take our own course, with mutual good will.” +I entered into the compact. On historical and social +subjects, and as to religion in its spiritual and experimental +aspects, we were of one accord, and felt no inclination to +unsheath swords.</p> +<p>We had pleasant drives in the country and cheerful chat at the +dinner-table, when he included within his party members of the +cathedral body. Plenty of anecdotes were related, some +about Dr. Wilberforce, when Bishop of Oxford. The Bishop, I +heard, used to tell a story, which showed how a man might, +unconsciously, make a good pun. He had engaged to dine with +somebody whose name was <i>Hunter</i>, a cattle grazier, and on +his way, as was his wont, the Bishop bethought himself: +“What topic of talk can we have together?” At +the railway-station his eye caught an advertisement of +“Thorley’s Food for Cattle.” That would +suit very well. So the bishop asked the grazier his opinion +of such provision for beasts of the field. The host +replied: “It might do very well for <i>Oxen</i>, but not +for a <i>Hunter</i>.” He did not know he was quoting +<a name="page166"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 166</span>the +diocesan name of his right-reverend guest (Oxon.), and forgot at +the moment he was also repeating his own. The Dean gave a +conundrum, invented by the Bishop, for the amusement of a young +lady:—</p> +<p>“What part of your dress resembles two popular preachers +in the Church of England?”</p> +<p>“Give it up?”</p> +<p>“Hook and I.”</p> +<p>The Chancellor of the Cathedral, I think it was, spoke of +Wilberforce’s power of adapting himself to people whom he +met. He liked to know beforehand who he was to see. +Introduced to a Yorkshire-man, he began to talk in the county +dialect. Visiting a screw manufactory, he won the +confidence of workmen by showing some knowledge of their +business. Once at the Earl of Derby’s (grandfather of +the present Lord) he met gentlemen of the turf, and surprised +them by giving the pedigree of a celebrated racehorse. On +being asked how he came to be “well up” on such a +subject, he said he had gleaned knowledge of that kind as a boy, +in the stables of a trainer, near his father’s house. +He scarcely ever forgot anything he had heard.</p> +<p>The Dean was an early riser; and retired early to bed. +We had family prayer in the library about <a +name="page167"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 167</span>nine +o’clock, the family and the guests standing and kneeling +together. He read the Psalms for the day, and used parts of +the Morning and Evening Service. Once, about half-past ten +in the evening, I said to Mrs. Hook—a charming woman, +“light of the dwelling”—“I must bid the +Dean good-night. Where is he?”</p> +<p>“In bed and asleep the last hour,” she gently +answered.</p> +<p>He told me that early rising had been his habit during his +residence at Leeds, and was so still; that demands on his time, +from forenoon to night, were such at Leeds as would have +prevented all literary work, had he not secured hours for study +before breakfast. Then it was he wrote his books. He +worked hard all day when vicar, and adopted unusual methods of +usefulness, holding something like Methodist class-meetings, +which took strong hold on his Yorkshire parishioners. +Familiar devotional gatherings he kept up at Chichester; and a +poor old woman was so delighted with them, that, by an odd +association of ideas, she compared them to feasting on +“lamb and salad.” These meetings he would +humorously call by that name. I had a good deal of talk +with my kind hostess about clerical incomes, and the <a +name="page168"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 168</span>demands +made on them; and so I became disabused of false notions common +amongst outsiders. From what I heard of large outgoings, +payments on promotion, and so on, I am able to form a more +correct estimate of pecuniary affairs in the Establishment, than +I could before.</p> +<p>Considerable correspondence passed between us. A +friendly intercourse was also maintained by subsequent +visits. In a letter dated June 4th, 1867, he +says:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“I like a companion who will look out for +points of agreement, and then coze upon them. I never court +the society of those who love an argument, and look out for +topics on which we disagree. You will, perhaps, infer from +this, that I want vigour of mind; but I really believe that many +minds are drawn out and strengthened by cozing instead of +arguing, and I am sure that this conduces to brotherly +affection. My wife and I after many years of hard +work—and what is worse than work, worry—came here to +retire from the world. We see little of general society, +and confine ourselves to pleasant cozy intercourse, with our +large and united family, and old friends. We cannot, +therefore, offer you any gaiety when you come amongst us, but if +you take us as we are, we shall hope to have some pleasant +cozes.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p><a name="page169"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 169</span>In a +letter, dated March 1868, he remarks:</p> +<blockquote><p>“In the Peninsular War the pickets of the +two armies were accustomed often to meet on the most friendly +terms, and enjoy each other’s conversation. But when +the trumpet sounded each man was at his post, ready to do his +duty. So it is with us. I have always acted on this +principle of refusing to admit the assertion, that our +differences are on nonessentials—and of offering, +nevertheless, the right hand of friendship in private to those +whom in public I might oppose, or rather by whom I was myself +opposed. I was freely censured at one time for this; but +when I left Leeds my Nonconformist friends rallied round me to +bid me farewell, and several of them saw I had pursued the right +course.”</p> +<p>“The great thing which you and I have to do is to guard +against the deadly sin of too many of our +contemporaries—imputing motives. If we can discover a +good motive, we may rejoice, even though we condemn the action to +which it may have led. But no words can express, or thought +conceive, the indignation I experience, when men seek to +attribute good actions to bad motives.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The Dean was not one of your modern correspondents. The +last of these extracts is from a <a name="page170"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 170</span>letter on quarto sheets, which +covers <i>sixteen</i> closely written pages.</p> +<p>Dr. Hook was a delightful talker, English to the +backbone—“a thorough John Bull,” as an Oxford +don once said to me. There was a strong dash of humour in +his constitution, and he was ready to tell amusing anecdotes of +himself. He was no ritualist, no Puritan, certainly no +Erastian; but a godly, warm-hearted, Christian man, whom it was a +privilege to know.</p> +<p>During visits to Chichester I became acquainted with one of +the canons, Dr. Swainson, then Norrisian Professor at Cambridge, +afterwards Master of Christ’s College in that +University. He rendered me essential service whilst I was +writing my volumes on “The Church of the +Restoration.” Some of the books and MSS. in the +library of the cathedral were of great use; and when I visited +him afterwards at Cambridge he rendered me further valuable +aid. I had the pleasure of meeting some Cambridge dons at +his dinner table, and I remember being interested and instructed +by a long conversation on the rendering of names given in our +version of the Bible to ancient instruments of music. In +1869 I was present at the announcement of wranglers for that +year. I stood side by side with my friend <a +name="page171"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 171</span>in the +gallery, close to the gentleman who held in his hand a paper big +with the fates of university competitors. It was a dark +morning, and at eight o’clock, amidst breathless silence, +the personal secrets so many waited to learn, were publicly +proclaimed. It was a grand piece of living mosaic which lay +before me, as upturned eager countenances were fixed on the spot +where I was standing; and the announcement of the new senior +wrangler raised applause which seemed enough to lift the +roof.</p> +<p>My friendly relations with Dr. Swainson continued through +after-years; and his laborious investigations into Church creeds +were frequent topics in our conversation. His inquiries +into the date of the Utrecht MS. containing the “Quicunque +vult,” etc., were extraordinarily extensive, minute, and +careful, as I can bear testimony from repeated accounts he gave +of Continental journeys and inquiries. I apprehend that +nobody ever spent so much time and labour on the inquiry, as he +did; therefore his conclusions ought to carry much weight in the +settlement of a controversy touching historical theology, as well +as an archæological question.</p> +<p>On the occasion of my visit to Cambridge I went to see my +friend, Mr. Fordham of Melbourne, who possessed a valuable +collection of paintings; and I <a name="page172"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 172</span>mention him here, for the sake of +what he related respecting Lord Beaconsfield, who had been a +schoolfellow with Mr. Fordham’s brother-in-law, the Right +Honourable Russell Gurney, Recorder of London.</p> +<p>They were educated at an academy in Walthamstow, kept by Mr. +Cogan, a Presbyterian minister, whose son I knew well. +Young Dizzy, as people called the politician, was famous at +school for two things. He delighted in forming parties and +getting up cabals—there was an embryo politician; next he +excelled in telling stories, and would keep the boys awake at +night by his romantic inventions—there was an embryo +novelist. He had early dreams of future greatness, I think; +and my friend informed me that he had talked to his schoolmates +of being one day Prime Minister of England.</p> +<p>In the winter of 1867–68, Dr. Alford, Dean of +Canterbury, delivered and printed a lecture on “The +Christian Conscience,” which was followed up, in <i>The +Contemporary</i> by an article expressive of kindly feelings +towards Nonconformists, and a desire for more friendly +intercourse with them. I felt it a duty to respond to this +overture, and did so, both privately and publicly. This +prepared for a friendship which <a name="page173"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 173</span>I highly valued. About the +same time, Archdeacon Sandford, father of the Bishop of +Gibraltar, made a move in the same direction. I spoke to +brethren in sympathy with myself, as regards union, and we +thought of inviting a few clergymen to meet us—when, on my +acquainting Dean Stanley with what we had in our minds, he +expressed a wish to take the lead by getting several friends on +both sides to dine with him at Westminster. Accordingly +Dean Alford, Archdeacon Sandford, Prebendary Humphreys, and other +clergymen, met my friends Binney, Allon, and others, at our good +friend’s hospitable board; and the party proved most +agreeable. Other gatherings of the same kind followed, and +at Fairlawn, where I lived, a long conversation took place, when, +in addition to those just mentioned, Lord Ebury, Henry +Winterbotham, M.P., Dr. Angus, Dr. Rigg, Dr. Roberts, and my +intimate friend, Joshua Harrison, interchanged views in reference +to Catholic intercourse. Dr. Alford, the Dean of +Canterbury, afterwards invited Mr. Binney and myself to one of +his garden parties, and soon afterwards he presided at the +Cheshunt College Anniversary, when he uttered sentiments which +were followed by a pleasant response from ministers of different +denominations. On another <a name="page174"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 174</span>occasion he met the Professors of +New College, by invitation from the Coward Trustees; thus, and in +other and similar ways, brotherly intercourse was considerably +advanced.</p> +<p>If I may be permitted to trespass a little on what was at the +time in futurity, I will, for the sake of preserving connection +between incidents at that period, mention other circumstances +which brought together, in a friendly way, members of different +religious bodies. The first was of no great +importance. I think it was in 1870, the Archbishop of Syra +visited England, and made some little stir. Dr. Stanley +entertained him in the Jerusalem Chamber, and invited a larger +party to meet him afterwards. The host was not likely to +lose such an opportunity for bringing together people of +different opinions. Several were introduced to this +stranger, who occupied during his visit, perhaps, a position +above his usual one. The simple fact of this introduction +was magnified, by newspapers, even the <i>Times</i>, into a sort +of submission to Greek Archiepiscopal superiority; for the few +whose names were mentioned were represented as receiving his +formal benediction, and I wrote to explain the nature of the +interview, which really amounted to nothing more than a +respectful bow on the <a name="page175"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 175</span>part of an Englishman to a +foreigner, and the return on the foreigner’s part of an +accustomed Greek salutation. The intended effect of private +civil reciprocities is often spoiled, by attributing to them +meanings never intended and utterly absurd. Reports of them +in quite a ridiculous way get into newspapers.</p> +<p>It was owing to the circumstance of my being +“capped” in Edinburgh at the same time with Matthew +Arnold, that I became acquainted with that remarkable man. +He was by no means popular with Dissenters, owing to what, in +some of his books, he said with reference to them. They +appreciated his ability, but censured the spirit which appeared +in some of his criticisms. My acquaintance with him +convinced me that in some respects he was misjudged. When I +came to know him pretty well, I playfully referred to some things +he had written, which stung people whom I knew. “But +I am not such a bad fellow,” he rejoined, “as +Dissenters think.” “No,” I replied, +“but Dissenters look at you through your books; I look at +your books through you—and that makes a great +difference.” I always found him kind, gentle, +tender-hearted. He sympathised with me in domestic sorrows, +and was pleased with some things I had written.</p> +<p><a name="page176"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 176</span>The +publication of “Ecclesia,” a volume by Dissenters, +about the same time that another volume appeared written by +Churchmen, was the means of bringing the editors and writers of +the two works together at the house of a common friend, the Rev. +H. S. Toms of Enfield. The Rev. W. D. Maclagan, editor of +“The Church and the Age”—incumbent of a +neighbouring parish (afterwards Vicar of Kensington, then Bishop +of Lichfield <a name="citation176a"></a><a href="#footnote176a" +class="citation">[176a]</a>)—and Dr. Reynolds, of Cheshunt +College, were present. Each editor proposed success to his +brother editor on the other side.</p> +<p>This was an instance of mutual recognition and charity, worthy +of being known; standing out, as it does, in pleasant contrast +with bitter ways in which ecclesiastical controversies have been +too often waged. Nor did that single interview end the +intercourse thus begun, as I have had a few opportunities since +of kindly intercourse with Dr. Maclagan, both as Kensington +Vicar, and as a distinguished Bishop, earnestly doing his +Episcopal work.</p> +<p>Another event occurred about the same time, in favour of +union. The question of Bible Revision ripened to a +practical issue in 1870. <a name="citation176b"></a><a +href="#footnote176b" class="citation">[176b]</a> A +committee <a name="page177"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +177</span>was formed by Convocation to carry out the project, and +I had the privilege of being present during a part of the +discussion. I heard the Dean of Canterbury, Dr. Alford, +make an eloquent speech in favour of the design he had done so +much to initiate, and for the accomplishment of which he laboured +to the last. That speech was pronounced by some members as +the most effective he ever delivered. In the evening of the +same day, I came across Archdeacon Denison, at a clerical +meeting, to which I was invited by an old Kensington neighbour, +the Rev. J. E. Kempe, Rector of St. James’, +Piccadilly. There is nothing like private chat with men of +pronounced opinions, who in public are accustomed to speak with +vehemence. Judging from newspapers, one regards them as +repulsive, whereas a little <i>tête-à-tête</i> +in a quiet corner, makes a marvellously different +impression. It was so in this instance, and the fiery +Archdeacon, as I had thought him, proved a genial, humorous old +clergyman, joking me on misconceptions of character formed by +reading outside critics.</p> +<p>I must say, after all his antecedents, I found him a +thoroughly hearty and kindly disposed Englishman and +Christian. “The Revision,” had <a +name="page178"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 178</span>a powerful +and permanent effect in the relations of several distinguished +Churchmen and Nonconformists. Some of my scholarly +brethren, I need scarcely say, were chosen on the committee, and +nothing could be more harmonious than their co-operation on both +sides. Having enjoyed the friendship of some, and the +acquaintance of more, I can testify to their mutual regard and +affection. Some High Churchmen—as I know from having +seen notes in their handwriting—expressed thankfulness to +Almighty God for having brought them into this new +relationship. It evidently removed prejudices, and inspired +a feeling of religious oneness, where there had been before +estrangement, if not alienation. At the same time +Dissenting scholarship rose in estimation; and I found from +conversation, that Churchmen held their fellow-revisers in high +respect as critical students of the sacred volume. Some +betrayed their possession of an idea, that Nonconformist learning +in our day had risen far above what it was of old; an idea I +endeavoured to correct, by maintaining that, whilst there has +been a wider <i>diffusion</i> of knowledge amongst our ministers, +it may be questioned whether the attainments of living men +amongst us have not been exceeded <a name="page179"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 179</span>by those of a past generation. +Distinguished Hebrew scholars, such as Drs. Boothroyd, Pye-Smith, +and Henderson, famous in the early years of the century, are +dropping out of notice in the present day.</p> +<p>Social intercourse went on between the revisers and their +friends. Reunions were held at New College, and +Regent’s Park College, and also in private residences.</p> +<p>An attempt on a bolder line to promote Christian union, came +into prominence about the time now under review. I allude +to a proposal for what has been called an “interchange of +pulpits,”—more properly an interchange of preaching +officers. A hundred years ago it was not altogether +uncommon for Incumbents of the Establishment to preach in +Dissenting chapels, especially those of the Countess of +Huntingdon’s Connexion; in a few instances a Nonconformist +occupied a parish church pulpit. Such irregularities died +out early in this century. But twenty years since there +appeared a willingness on the part of several clergymen to revive +the practice. Conferences were held with reference to the +subject, and discussions occurred as to what measures should be +taken to secure legally, what seemed <a name="page180"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 180</span>desirable to many. The Right +Honourable Cowper Temple, afterwards Lord Mount Temple (now +deceased), took an interest in the matter, and prepared a Bill to +remove legal impediments out of the way. He sent me the +following note:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“My desire is to give power to the Bishop +and Incumbent to allow any minister of any denomination, or any +layman, to preach occasional sermons without requiring the person +who preaches to do any of the things required of a Priest or +Deacon.</p> +<p>“I shall not touch the Act of Uniformity, but provide +for a case which is not included in its provisions—that of +preaching sermons which are not part of the daily Church Service, +though they may be delivered at the same time. All that is +wanted is the admission that preaching in a church belonging to +the Establishment is not exclusively a function of the +Established Church.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I insert a copy of the Bill which he sent me.</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">“A <span +class="smcap">Bill</span></p> +<p>“To enable Incumbents of Parishes, with the approval and +consent of the Archbishop or Bishop of the Diocese, to admit to +the Pulpits of their Parish Churches persons not in Holy Orders +of the <a name="page181"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +181</span>Church of England, for the purpose of delivering +occasional Sermons or Lectures.</p> +<p>“Whereas it is expedient that facilities should be given +for the occasional delivery of Sermons in Churches of the Church +of England by persons not in Holy Orders of the Church of +England.</p> +<p>“May it therefore please Your Majesty,</p> +<p>“That it may be enacted, by the Queen’s Most +Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the +Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present +Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as +follows (that is to say):—</p> +<p>“1. It shall be lawful for the Bishop of any +Diocese in England, on the application of the Incumbent or +Officiating Minister of any Church or Chapel belonging to the +Church of England within his Diocese, or for the Ordinary of any +Collegiate Church or Chapel, to grant, if he shall think fit, +permission under his hand to any person, although he is not in +Holy Orders and has not made or subscribed a Declaration of +Assent in the terms set forth in ‘The Clerical Subscription +Act, 1865,’ to preach occasional Sermons or Lectures in +such Church or Chapel; and thereupon it shall be lawful for the +person mentioned in such permission, on the <a +name="page182"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 182</span>invitation +of the Incumbent or Officiating Minister, to preach an occasional +Sermon or Lecture in such Church or Chapel without making any +subscription or declaration before preaching.</p> +<p>“2. The preaching of an occasional Sermon or +Lecture, in pursuance of this Act, may take place in any Church +or Chapel either, after any of the Services in the Book of Common +Prayer, or at a time when no Service is used, as may seem best to +the Incumbent or Officiating Minister of such Church or +Chapel.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>This Bill did not propose liberty for an Episcopalian +incumbent to preach in a Nonconformist edifice—that object +could be sought afterwards—and the limited freedom +contemplated by the proposed measure failed to receive +parliamentary support. The fact was, Members of Parliament, +who were Dissenters, did not take up the question with any zeal, +and some were decidedly against the proposal. They felt no +more desire to see Nonconformists in Church pulpits than the +Established clergy and laity did; though, of course, they took a +different ground of objection. Lines of division remained +strongly marked, and those who aimed at Disestablishment were +bent on a more sweeping change. The time had not become +ripe even for so small <a name="page183"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 183</span>an alteration, and as there seemed +no great willingness in any party to promote the proposal, it +came to an unfortunate end. All kinds of means for +promoting union have been suggested, and I have supported some +very earnestly; but, in my old age, I am persuaded there is truth +in the remark: “The more we grow in knowledge and advance +in love, the more we should strive to preserve that simplicity, +which is so peculiarly the characteristic of the Gospel, and the +more we should guard against <i>the uncharitableness of supposing +that every other view</i>, <i>except our own</i>, <i>must be +useless or erroneous</i>.” <a name="citation183"></a><a +href="#footnote183" class="citation">[183]</a></p> +<p>The year 1871 was marked by an educational measure, opening +Oxford to all denominations more fully than it had been. +The Bill met with opposition from the Marquis of Salisbury and +his friends. Some time before I had been requested by Lord +Ebury to draw up for the Ritual Commission an account of +Nonconformist modes of communion. The account is printed in +the Report for 1870 (p. 139). Now I received a note from +the Marquis, who had obtained a committee for collecting +information, asking me to give evidence with regard to matters +referred to them. Accordingly I attended. After +listening to what Dr. Jowett, Master of Balliol, <a +name="page184"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 184</span>had to say, +I took my seat, to answer their Lordships’ queries. <a +name="citation184"></a><a href="#footnote184" +class="citation">[184]</a> I had looked forward to +examination as somewhat formidable, but found it far +otherwise. It turned out to be a pleasant conversation.</p> +<p>When the Bill came under discussion in the House of Lords, I +felt an interest in the debate, and consequently attended as a +listener. After Lord Carnarvon had spoken, he stepped over +to the spot where I stood, saying that his desire had been not to +say anything discourteous to Dissenters. I received from +him afterwards a note, written in the same spirit, and expressing +a desire for the maintenance of friendly relations. About +the same time it happened that a course of lectures was given on +“Christian Evidences,” in which bishops and other +clergymen took part with Dissenting ministers.</p> +<p>The British and Foreign Bible Society is a bond of social, as +well as religious, union. A dinner at Mr. George +Moore’s house, Palace Gardens, was, at that time, an annual +institution, and after the Exeter Hall meeting in May, the +committee, speakers, and other friends, met under his hospitable +roof. The host appeared at his very best, frank, generous, +and kind—no affectation, no assumption; only a rich vein of +English geniality. <a name="page185"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 185</span>On his right hand at such occasions, +usually sat Lord Shaftesbury, on the left perhaps the Archbishop +of Canterbury. Without flattery, but in homely ways of +recognising service, the master of the table would call up one +after another of his guests, and after we left the dining-room, +we had family prayer together, a bishop and a Dissenter taking +part in conducting the worship.</p> +<p>In 1871 the Dean of Canterbury was suddenly taken to his +rest. The tidings gave great sorrow; and I felt it was due +to his memory that some Dissenting brethren should attend the +funeral. Harrison, Baldwin Brown, Newman Hall, and others +did so; I was invited by the family to be one of the pall +bearers. Dr. Stanley, Dr. Merivale, Dean of Ely, and +others, met in the good man’s library, where his picture of +St. Michael’s Mount,—on which he had spent some of +his last hours—stood upon the easel, and Walton’s +Polyglot lay open at the Book of Exodus, where Dr. Alford had +been reading just before his death. Slowly and sadly we +walked into the cloisters, where places were assigned us, and the +procession moved into the cathedral. There Mrs. Alford, +with wonderful composure, joined in the solemn service. +Shops were shut, and the streets lined with people, as we were <a +name="page186"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 186</span>conveyed to +St. Martin’s Churchyard, where we joined in singing one of +his hymns, “Ten thousand times ten thousand,” +etc. He had expressed a wish to be interred there, and +wrote the following memorandum: “When I am gone, and a tomb +is to be put up, let there be, besides any indication of who is +sleeping below, these words only: <i>Deversorium viatoris +Hierosolymam proficiscentis</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, the inn of a +traveller who is on his way to Jerusalem.”</p> +<p>In a letter which I received from Canon Robertson, he said, in +reference to this inscription: “Perhaps Mr. Bullock may be +able to tell you, that some one has discovered the source of the +words engraved at the bottom of the tombstone. My own +inquiries have been fruitless.” I have not been able +to ascertain their origin.</p> +<p>A committee was formed to raise some testimonial to the +Dean’s worth, and they invited me to join them. They +acted in correspondence with the Chapter, and it was determined +that a painted window should be placed in the cathedral, and that +it should contain symbols of the evangelists, and the scenes of +our Lord’s Temptation, in the larger circles; whilst the +four smaller ones around, were to contain subjects showing that +He exercised miraculous power of the <a name="page187"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 187</span>same kinds, in which He refused to +exert it, at the Tempter’s suggestion.</p> +<p>In the following year I lost a valued friend, member of our +Kensington church, Sir Donald F. Macleod, C.B., K.C.S.I. He +had occupied the position of Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjaub, +and met his death from a railway accident in December, +1872. He possessed a rare gift for putting himself into +kindly fellowship with those he ruled, whether rich or poor, +entering into their feelings and cultivating their regard so that +he acquired a widespread influence in the Indian province, which +might be called the country of his adoption. All the people +loved him as a friend and father; hence it was said, that if the +natives had to choose a prince, he would be their choice. +In a leading journal, the remark of an Indian gentleman was +preserved to the effect, that, “If all Christians were like +Sir Donald, there would be no Mahomedans or Hindoos.” +His private life was of a piece with his public career. He +had the power of making numerous friendships through the happy +blending of religion with an affectionate disposition. +“Wherever he went,” said a relative, “his +presence was like sunshine, and the sunshine was the reflection +of another presence, even of Him of whom it is <a +name="page188"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 188</span>said, +‘In Thy presence is fulness of joy.’” As +he communed with us at Kensington, and was a personal friend, I +can bear testimony to his cheerful manners in company. His +tall, commanding figure attracted attention, and his calm, +pleasant utterances won all hearts, especially those of the +young, who would gather round him, attracted by the magic of his +sympathy. This Indian gentleman visited the Cripples’ +Home; this Oriental scholar addressed a class in the East of +London; this ruler, who might have died a rich nabob, gave away +the surplus of his income in acts of charity.</p> +<p>In 1872 an incident occurred of an amusing description, which, +as it has some significancy, is worthy of notice. A +paragraph appeared in a religious newspaper to the following +effect: “The Revs. Dr. Binney, Dr. Allon, and Dr. Stoughton +have been, it seems, presented to His Grace the Archbishop of +Canterbury at Lambeth Palace, by that consistent advocate of +comprehension, Dr. Stanley, Dean of Westminster. It remains +to be seen whether the Archbishop will invite either of the +Doctors to preach in any of the Metropolitan churches, if not in +the Abbey, or in the Cathedral. The Act of Uniformity will +have to be repealed.” If anybody who read this +announcement had been <a name="page189"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 189</span>acquainted with the circumstances, +he would have seen its absurdity. The visit arose from an +informal invitation to a party at Lambeth—from Dr. Tait, +who was well acquainted with all the three persons. They +needed no “presentation,” such as the newspaper +imagined. It is a curious fact, that, while some people +complain of Dissenters being ignored or repulsed by the upper +classes, when, instead of it, there is friendly recognition, the +complainants imagine that, if the two classes do meet, there must +be obsequiousness on the one side, and patronage on the +other. It is supposed an impossible thing, for a Dignitary +and a Dissenter to meet as gentlemen, without any professional +design; on the occasion referred to, ecclesiastical objects no +more entered the head of the host, as he welcomed us with +cordiality, than it entered the heads of his guests. It was +an affair of social courtesy, in which politeness on the one +side, I hope, was returned on the other. By the way, at a +Lambeth reception, after mingling with friends whom I had known +for some years, I heard Mr. Binney say to Bishop Wilberforce: +“Are you not surprised to see us here?”</p> +<p>“Surprised! Why, if you were not here, who should +be here?”</p> +<p><a name="page190"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 190</span>This +rejoinder puzzled my friend, when I ventured to add, “I +understand your compliment, my lord, but at least you will +acknowledge, it is something new.”</p> +<p>“No, not new,” he rejoined, and laying his hand on +my shoulder, proceeded to say, “What is right is not new: +is not righteousness as old as the creation?”</p> +<p>“Then you consider it is right for us to be here,” +I ventured to remark.</p> +<p>“Certainly; delighted to see you.”</p> +<p>Some one overhearing this colloquy, observed in a whisper, +“He will talk in a different way in different +company.” Possibly; but I believe there is force in +what I have heard his friends say—he was a man of +many-sided sympathy, thoroughly good-natured, fond of +approbation, wishing to stand well with everybody, and for the +moment <i>sincerely</i> meaning what he said. But he was +changeful and inconsistent, saying one day, under an amiable +impulse, what it was difficult to reconcile with his conversation +another day in different company. I knew little of him +personally as a man; but as a preacher, and author, I must say I +have derived no small advantage from his sermons and +addresses.</p> +<p><a name="page191"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +191</span>Further, in reference to Bishop Wilberforce, remarkable +stories were current showing what a marvellous gift of +extemporary eloquence he possessed. Archdeacon Sinclair +told me that once the Bishop came to a meeting of the National +School Society, totally unprepared, and whispered to him: +“What points had I better take up?” The +Archdeacon mentioned two or three. Wilberforce a few +minutes afterwards rose, and delivered a speech on those very +points, as if he had spent the morning in preparation. Dean +Stanley told me that when the Bishop held a confirmation in the +Abbey, he asked, as they walked together up the nave, whether +there was any particular subject he would like to have +introduced. One was mentioned. Forthwith the Bishop +took it up in his address to the confirmed, in a way which led +his hearers to suppose he had carefully prepared what he +said.</p> +<p>Dr. Guthrie was one of the most genial men I ever knew; full +of anecdote up to the brim. Indeed his conversation almost +entirely took that form, and his racy way of telling a story gave +what he said an irresistible charm. He was far more +catholic than many of his brethren, and though he had respect for +his ecclesiastical party, his sympathies went far beyond his own +circle; and with reference <a name="page192"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 192</span>to the Established Church of +Scotland, though himself a <i>Free</i> Churchman, he cherished no +animosity, and was not <i>indisposed</i> to preach occasionally +in the old parish pulpits. His attachment to Evangelical +truth was very strong, and for any deviations from it he would +listen to no excuse. He visited some of my people at +Kensington, and that brought me frequently into his +society. How he used to talk of his visits to Mr. Disraeli +and the Countess of Beaconsfield, of the wedding of the Marquis +of Lorne, when he escorted the children of the family to Windsor +Castle, and was especially noticed by Her Majesty, and was +addressed as “My Lord” by somebody who thought him a +bishop; and of a dinner-party at Argyle Lodge, when he met Mr. +Bright, and could hardly get in a word himself, because the great +orator would talk so much! The last time I saw him was at +breakfast with me at my house, when I think he was more brilliant +and merry than usual. He knew I was entertaining thoughts +of retirement, and he strongly urged me to relinquish pastoral +duties and become an occasional preacher. Moreover he said, +“It is better to be too early than too late in this +respect. ‘Why do you give up so soon?’ one of +Her Majesty’s Ministers once asked me; ‘you have all +your wits about you.’ ‘Yes,’ I <a +name="page193"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 193</span>replied, +‘and if I were to wait, as some do, till my wits are gone, +I should never give up at all.’”</p> +<p>An important crisis in the summer of 1872, had occurred in the +history of New College. Dr. Halley from age and +infirmities, retired from the principalship. Dr. Newth was +chosen successor, and to fill up the chair, left vacant by my old +friend and tutor, the services of three London ministers were +called into requisition. Mr. Binney undertook the Homiletic +Class, Dr. Kennedy became Theological Professor in the department +of Apologetics, and I was invited to conduct instruction in +Historical Theology. My hands were pretty full, but this +was an engagement congenial to my taste, and for which I felt I +was better qualified than I had been at the time when an +invitation was given me to accept the office of principal. <a +name="citation193"></a><a href="#footnote193" +class="citation">[193]</a></p> +<p>The question of my retirement from the pastorate occupied my +thoughts at a later period, and I indicated this in a +communication to the Church through my deacons. That +communication was <a name="page194"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +194</span>met by a warm and earnest request that I would continue +at Kensington Chapel a little while longer. I consented to +tarry till the end of two years.</p> +<p>About the time just noticed, education in reference to public +schools assisted by Government grants was keenly discussed. +Those amongst Nonconformists who were disposed to accept State +aid in support of schools in which religion was taught were +regarded as acting inconsistently with their principles in +opposition to State endowment of Christianity. Into that +question it is unnecessary to enter here, but I repeat what I +urged at the time referred to, that Government aid and Government +inspection were co-extensive; that if Government assisted a +school, and inquired <i>exclusively</i> into the <i>secular</i> +instruction of pupils, the aid bestowed was to be regarded as in +aid of that alone. The separation in a school of religious +from secular instruction, appeared to me inconsistent with our +duty <i>as Christians</i>. In guiding the intellect of the +young, an infusion of Gospel truth is, I believe, of essential +importance. A declaration to the effect that the Bible +should be used in public schools was signed by several hundred +Christian ministers, and in that declaration I most cordially +joined. The severance of <a name="page195"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 195</span>revelation from other fundamental +grounds of youthful knowledge was, in my estimation, very +mischievous.</p> +<p>Mr. Forster was condemned severely by a large number of +Dissenters as being opposed to the interests of +Nonconformity. I have good reason for believing that he +wished to deal fairly between Church and Dissent. The +opinions of all parties had to be consulted, and it was no easy +thing for any man in his place to give universal +satisfaction. I conversed with him at the time on the +subject of his measure, and am persuaded he was honest throughout +the whole business. When the strongest feeling against him +existed, I know, from what he said to me, that he gave full +credit to his opponents for good intentions. Of some +friends we both knew, who differed from him widely, he spoke in +the kindest terms. When he was regarded as an enemy by some +Nonconformists, I was informed he attended a Nonconformist chapel +in the country during a summer holiday; and I know he helped the +pastor by pecuniary assistance,—that very pastor being my +informant. Mr. Forster never lost sympathy with +Quakerism. Our common friend, Mr. Braithwaite, a well-known +member of that denomination, spoke at his funeral; and an eminent +Baptist <a name="page196"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +196</span>minister told me of his pleasant visits to Mr. +Forster’s residence.</p> +<p>Matthew Arnold proposed my name for election to the +Athenæum Club. The usual mode is vote by ballot, +which, on account of the number of candidates, occasions delay +for many years. But the committee have power to choose +annually nine members by special vote. I did not know fully +until the secretary wrote to me, that I had been so +elected—an honour to which I felt myself by no means +entitled. The influence of Dr. Stanley, Mr. Matthew Arnold, +and other kind friends, secured for me this great privilege, +which has been a source of literary advantage and pleasure to me +ever since. And I may here mention, from what occurred in +the proceedings of the committee, as I was told, Nonconformity +was, in my case, rather a help than hindrance; as the club, in a +catholic spirit, desires to have representatives of different +classes and opinions included on its rolls. On the same +principle not long afterwards Dr. Martineau was introduced to the +Athenæum.</p> +<p>I was surprised a few weeks after my election to receive an +invitation to the Academy dinner, and was pleased to learn from +one of the Academicians that this compliment, as well as the +preceding, <a name="page197"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +197</span>arose from the same spirit of catholic sociality. +Nothing but presence at one of these banquets can give an +adequate idea of their remarkable magnificence. A sudden +burst of light, just before speeches commence, has a magical +effect. Mr. Disraeli, then Prime Minister, delivered a +highly finished oration, after sitting silent and sphinx-like for +an hour before.</p> +<p>At an early part of the period to which this chapter belongs, +the famous volume entitled “Ecce Homo” was +published. It excited much controversy. I read it +with interest and attention. It has long been my habit, in +perusing works unfavourable to orthodoxy, to search in them for +admitted principles which, by a fair application, may be employed +in support of truths to which the author is regarded as being +opposed. In the work just mentioned there is a chapter on +what is called “Christ’s Royalty!” <a +name="citation197"></a><a href="#footnote197" +class="citation">[197]</a> Christ is represented as having +established in the world a new theocracy in describing Himself as +King of the kingdom of God; in other words, as a King +representing the Majesty of the Invisible Ruler of a +theocracy. He claimed the character of Founder, of +Legislator, and, in a certain high and peculiar sense, “of +Judge of a new and <a name="page198"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +198</span>Divine society.” Whatever might be the +views of the writer with regard to the nature of Jesus Christ, +such a position as he reached, seems to me to involve +Christ’s true and proper Divinity. In other words, it +is tantamount to saying that “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the +glory of God the Father.”</p> +<p>I remember that at the time, whatever might be the tendency of +the work on the whole, I thought there were in it admissions of +such a nature as to afford a basis for convincing arguments in +favour of Evangelical Christianity.</p> +<p>One evening, at that time, I met Lord Shaftesbury at a +friend’s house, and had a conversation with him on the +subject of the book. It is well known that, with the +impetuosity which was so natural to that great and good man, he +was swept along by a hurricane of indignation, which led him to +pronounce “Ecce Homo” a work of most pernicious +tendency. Of Lord Shaftesbury it might be said that he was +like a cloud which moveth altogether, if it move at all. He +could do or say nothing by halves; and however minds of a +different order might judge of his acts and utterances, there can +be no doubt that by the enthusiasm of his advocacy he carried +beneficial measures which otherwise might not have +succeeded. When I was talking with <a +name="page199"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 199</span>him after +the manner just indicated and pointing out arguments which I +conceived might be constructed out of some of the writer’s +admissions, he was evidently very restless, and expressed his +strong conviction, that the book deserved to be strongly +reprehended, in order to warn people against being led away by +its contents. In the course of conversation he manifested, +that he had not read what he so severely condemned. This +habit of condemning books without reading them, it is to be +feared, is too common in the present day.</p> +<p>Here let me add Lord Shaftesbury’s manner was not always +the same. At times he was gentle and exceedingly affable, +of which I remember an amusing instance. We were travelling +together from Peterborough, after a jubilee meeting of the +British and Foreign Bible Society in that city. He was +speaking of the profound ignorance of the upper classes +respecting the character and habits of Nonconformists; and I +ventured to relate to him, in illustration of what he had said +himself, a story which I had heard respecting his father, who was +Chairman of the Committee of the House of Lords. A +solicitor waited upon him to confer respecting a Bill, which was +coming before the Upper House, in reference to matters which +affected <a name="page200"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +200</span>the rights of Dissenters. The old Earl said to +this gentleman, “I hear a good deal about these Dissenters, +and some things very strange. I have been told they are +people <i>who go about without clothes</i>.” The Earl +laughed, and said, such a thing as I related was just like +him.</p> +<h2><a name="page201"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +201</span>CHAPTER X<br /> +1873</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> sixth General Meeting of the +Evangelical Alliance had been fixed for the year 1870, in New +York; but, owing to the war between France and Germany, it was +postponed to the autumn of 1873. Canon Leathes, Mr. +Harrison, and myself, received invitations from the American +committee, to attend the assembly; and, accordingly, we started +for our destination in one of the Cunard steamers at the close of +the month of August. With the exception of rough weather in +the earlier part, we had a fine passage. Going out we +touched on the Irish coast, and, it being Sunday, we landed and +spent the day on shore. We were on the coast of Waterford, +and found the country very pleasant. We attended church in +the forenoon, and afterwards took walks in the +neighbourhood. I had spent a week or more in Ireland <a +name="page202"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 202</span>some few +years previously, and had then seen spots in the Green Isle, +which created a desire to see more. The city of Limerick on +the Shannon had given me delight. Dublin is a magnificent +city, and the object of my visit there had been to preach on a +special occasion in Dr. Urwick’s church. I saw at +that time something of Irish society, and found controversy rife +between Protestants and Papists. I took an opportunity of +visiting the Killarney lakes, and found them all, and more than, +I had imagined. Nor could I fail to be amused with the +humour of carriage-drivers and other Irish people. +Returning to our steamer on Sunday afternoon, we started for New +York, and had, in the course of our voyage, rough weather and +smooth. For some-time it was +unfavourable—“four-fifths of a gale” somebody +said; but in the latter part of our trip we had charming +weather. Where the whistle at night had sounded like a wail +of distress, it was now felt to be means of safety. Flag +signals and rockets now and then relieved the tedium; so did the +gambols of porpoises. Moonbeams in a mottled sky, were +pleasant variations, as we steamed along at a rapid rate. +The night before we landed in New York harbour, the sun went down +like a ball of fire, the sea was intensely blue, whilst alive +with <a name="page203"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +203</span>little billows, like children at their sports; the bow +of the steamer was crowded by passengers looking out for the +pilot–a capital subject, I thought, for some clever +pencil. The next morning when we reached Sandy Hook, I +could not help comparing the coast scenery near us with some +views I had seen on the Bosphorus.</p> +<p>“For the <i>first</i> time I am in America,” I +said to a Yankee fellow-passenger.</p> +<p>“Yes,” he replied; “you are now, sir, in the +land of the brave, the home of the free.”</p> +<p>Mr. Harrison and myself were guests of the Hon. Mr. Dodge, +President of the American Evangelical Alliance. On our +arrival he conducted us to his country seat on the banks of the +Hudson, near Tarryton.</p> +<p>We were in the midst of charming scenery, immortalised by +Washington Irving; near the glen of “Sleepy Hollow,” +and the haunts of Ichabod Crane. By the little Dutch church +in the neighbourhood lies a cemetery, where “the American +Goldsmith” is buried.</p> +<p>We were driven to Sunnyside, where he lived and died, in an +old-fashioned Dutch-looking house, with picturesque gables, +bearing a seventeenth-century date. It is embosomed amidst +trees which so <a name="page204"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +204</span>overshadow the lawn and walks, that +“Sunnyside,” even when unclouded, can suffer nothing +from the blaze of day. Miss Irving, niece of the author, +and a friend of our host, welcomed us to this sylvan abode, and +showed us her uncle’s library, writing table, and shelves +of books, just as he left them.</p> +<p>We should have been glad to remain longer at Mr. Dodge’s +villa, but were anxious to reach Niagara, as soon as possible; +therefore, on the second morning after our arrival, Mr. Harrison, +with Newman Hall, who had accompanied us to America, embarked on +a steamer for the Catskills, on our way to the Falls. We +arrived at the Mountain House in the evening, having, in our +river voyage, been struck with the Hudson, as resembling in some +parts, a succession of lakes full of Italian-like beauty. +We spent a Sunday at our capacious resting-place, which could +accommodate four or five hundred visitors, and engaged in united +worship with Bishop Bedell, successor to Bishop McIlvaine, of +Ohio. He preached in the morning, and at his request, I +occupied the desk at night.</p> +<p>We did not reach Niagara till late on Monday, and heard the +roar of the cataract some time before our arrival.</p> +<p><a name="page205"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +205</span>Niagara is a grand study, and we spent the greater part +of four days over it—the first in taking general views, the +other three in gathering up details. I sat down on the +rocks, and wrote my impressions from point to point. From +the suspension bridge, below the Falls, you have an inclined +plane of troubled waters. From the south side of Goat +Island, you have a still more striking view of the rapids, like +an arm of the sea, two miles in width, and in front it dashes +down the Horse Shoe Fall. Just at the edge it is a ridge of +emerald, tinged, or rather lined, with white. Then it goes +on in rows of streaks, white, white, white; at the bottom, the +flood vanishes in vapour. In the forenoon under sunshine +the picture is crossed by a rainbow. Beyond the mist the +river is a shifting floor of variegated marble. At a right +angle with the Horse Shoe, the American Fall is seen in profile, +from what is called, I think, “Prospect Park.” +The rapids below are finer than those above the Falls. +Those below are hemmed in by rocks; those above are bordered by +open country on both sides. Further on, below the Falls, +there is an enormous whirlpool.</p> +<p>Instead of a unity, I found Niagara manifold, varying as one +wanders about the banks. The channel here is worthy of the +stream. It is cut <a name="page206"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 206</span>into precipitous cliffs, picturesque +rocks, forests of trees, bridges, hotels and other houses. +In photographs and engravings, there is often but a tame outline, +with which the reality does not correspond. Of the upper +and lower Rapids, I prefer the former in one respect; it gives +good views of the foliage which fringes the water. +Emphatically, one may use the word <i>beauty</i> in reference to +the landscape as distinguished from the Rapids. Colours are +charming—greens of all tints; at sunset streaks of pink, +violet, lavender, lilac, along the edge of the Falls; azure tints +in the river; sky with crimson and purple flushes at +eventide.</p> +<p>At the expense of repetition, I will quote the words I find in +my notebook written on a rocky bank:—“Opposite, +looking west, is the Canada side, skirted by thick trees, forming +a continuous border—the Horse Shoe form of a rocky ledge, +crossed by the sweep of water, would measure the third of a +mile. It still resembles a ridge of emerald, tinged, or +rather lined, with white. Then the flood plunges down, to +rise again from the bottom in columns of vapour. In +sunshine the whole is crossed by a wonderful rainbow. Then, +afterwards, it appeared to me like an altar of frosted silver, +spanning the end of a temple choir, sending up incense for ever +and ever! <a name="page207"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +207</span>Looking down into the precipitous gulf, formed by the +Canadian and American shores, one sees the river flowing on +steadily like a shifting floor of variegated marble,—green, +streaked with white. I shift my position, walking under the +trees of Goat Island, about a quarter of a mile from the Horse +Shoe, and sit upon a bit of tableland, forming what is called +Lunar Island,—dividing into two unequal limbs the watery +flood. At the bottom appears another rainbow. I shift +again, walking up the Goat Island, and cross a bridge over +Rapids, and then enter the grounds called (as just said) Prospect +Park; and there one faces both cataracts—the American in +profile, the Horse Shoe full face.”</p> +<p>A suspension bridge crosses the whirling waters on which it +makes one giddy to look down. Then occurs a turn, where a +whirlpool is formed, and pieces of timber are swept round and +round by enormous eddies. Four days I spent at these +never-to-be-forgotten spots filled with marvels of Divine +creation.</p> +<p>My visit to Montreal was very short, but we saw enough to +indicate the city’s prosperity; it underwent great reverses +afterwards. We were invited to the handsome dwellings of +several wealthy citizens, and witnessed much zeal in the cause of +religion.</p> +<p>On our journey from Montreal to Boston we <a +name="page208"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 208</span>passed +through glorious scenery, some of it Swiss-like. There were +many tempting nooks furnished with hotels, winding roads leading +up to forests on the hills, groups of white houses with green +shutters, and a pretty church amidst them with a lofty +spire. There is a wonderful charm about New England +villages.</p> +<p>At Boston a cordial welcome was afforded by Dr. Dexter, who +hospitably entertained us. My first impression, derived +from what I saw of the city’s less modern part, was that it +had an English look; but on further acquaintance, after seeing +its modern edifices, one receives the idea of a Continental +capital. I was delighted with what delights +everybody—the broad green common, adorned by goodly trees +and goodly mansions. Some of the public buildings in Boston +are very imposing: a Gothic church, built by Congregationalists, +cost, I was told, £50,000; but since I was there I +understand a much nobler Episcopalian edifice has been +erected. On the Sunday morning I preached in a large +Congregational church, where the music and singing were of a very +superior kind, and the choir, I was told, cost a large annual +sum. On the Sunday evening I went to a Baptist chapel, and, +after sermon and prayers, a large number of the congregation +adjourned to a schoolroom, where something <a +name="page209"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 209</span>like a +Methodist love-feast was held. I met in the town with a +nephew of Thomas Carlyle, who related to me that, while on a +visit to England, he called on his uncle, and was told it was +impossible to see him; Mrs. C. resisted as long as she could, but +submitted at last. The nephew was admitted to his +uncle’s study, and the two relatives had a long talk to +their mutual satisfaction.</p> +<p>Dr. Dexter planned an excursion to Andover, where we were +received by the Principal of the College, the Venerable Dr. Park, +a celebrated scholar and divine, who took me a drive round the +neighbourhood, and pointed out the house of Harriet Beecher +Stowe, and the homes of people described in her books. We +had a delightful visit to a ladies’ school, where Mr. +Harrison and I received a cordial welcome. Our kind host +took us to his residence several miles off, at New Bedford, and +the next day conducted us to Harvard University, on the other +side the Boston river. There we were entertained by +Professor Abbot, who took care to show us a hall, built by a +namesake of mine. Best of all my associations with Dr. +Dexter and the neighbourhood was a most memorable day spent at +New Plymouth where he pointed out the localities of the Pilgrim +Fathers.</p> +<p><a name="page210"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 210</span>We +proceeded to New Haven, where we found at the station, Dr. +Porter, Principal of Yale University, waiting for us; we were +conducted through leafy avenues to the college buildings, and +there introduced to the famous American theologian, Dr. Bushnell, +with other celebrities. The students then assembled, and +listened to an elaborate speech by Dr. Dorner, the German scholar +and divine, who happened to be there on a visit, having come as a +delegate to the Alliance meetings. Yale College is a +venerable institution, standing among the foremost Universities +of the New World. The neighbourhood is interesting, and we +should have been delighted, had time allowed, to explore the +region where two of the regicides, Walley and Gough, concealed +themselves for two or three years in a cave, to which they gave +the name of Providence. One of them, Gough, suddenly +appeared, when a Puritan congregation was attacked by Philip of +Pokanoket, and delivered them out of his hands. He then +disappeared like the twin brothers at the battle of Regillus.</p> +<p>Having had our glimpse of New England, we hastened to +Philadelphia, to spend a quiet Sunday with a kind English friend, +Mr. Yarnell. Philadelphia <a name="page211"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 211</span>is magnificent, redolent of William +Penn’s memory, who amongst colonial founders, stands unique +as a man of peace. He did not sweep away aboriginal savages +with sword and shot, but entered into treaty with them, under the +shadow of a spreading elm, which came to be held in great +veneration. Views in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, vie +with noble monuments, visible on every side, of commercial +civilisation and prosperity. The grand Masonic Temple had, +when we were there, been recently opened; and it is amongst the +finest structures in the city. But the Hall of +Independence, architecturally unpretentious, has greater +attractions for historic travellers. We were entertained in +German Town, a charming suburb, by the +Wissahickon—“fit haunt” for Shakespeare’s +fairies, Peas-blossom and the rest, flowing through tangled +brakes, wealthy in wild flowers. Drives by the +“wedded rivers” as Whittier calls them, the +Schuylkill, and the Delaware—are enjoyments for high days +and holidays. One view of the city I caught from a hill +embosomed in trees. A long line of foliage from the tops of +which rise cupolas and steeples, reminded me of Damascus, with +its groves and gardens, mosques and minarets.</p> +<p>We saw something of private social life in German <a +name="page212"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 212</span>Town. +Several families in the neighbourhood were invited to spend an +evening with us. It resembled a party on the Continent, +where eating and drinking are not of much interest. The +marked feature of the whole gathering was extreme yet tasteful +simplicity. Some ladies were sumptuously dressed, and +there, as in other places, appeared an eye for harmony of +colours—a special American endowment, which struck me +pleasantly. Manners were agreeable, and there was ease in +conversation—a rare enjoyment. The ladies were +self-possessed, and could hold their own, yet not rudely; and +their kindliness indicated personal interest, which made their +visitors feel at home.</p> +<p>We arrived at New York at the beginning of October, and were +entertained by Mr. Dodge at his princely residence in Madison +Avenue. Sir Charles Reed was guest there at the same time, +and the arrangements for our reception betokened a cordial +welcome.</p> +<p>In a “History of New York,” it is stated that +“when Henry Hudson discovered the river, now bearing his +name, and Hendrick Christiansen, and Adam Block, followed up the +discovery, the island of Manhattan was made the chief depôt +of the trade, and Christiansen received the appointment of agent +<a name="page213"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 213</span>for the +traffic in furs during the passage of the vessels to and from +Holland. He immediately set about the construction of a +small fort, with a few rude buildings, on the southern extremity +of the island, thus laying the foundation of the future +city.”</p> +<p>“In May 1626, Peter Minuet arrived at New Netherlands, +as Director-General, and immediately effected the purchase of the +island of Manhattan, from the Indians for goods and trinkets to +the value of sixty guilders or about twenty-four +dollars.” “In 1628 a church was organised with +fifty communicants under the auspices of James Michaelius, a +clergyman from Holland.” From these feeble beginnings +sprang the wharfs, the quays, the avenues, the squares, the +warehouses, the stores, the halls, the libraries, the museums, +the hospitals of New York. When shall we stop in the +enumeration of riches belonging to this Queen of the West? +Hence, too, we may say came the churches, the congregations, the +colleges, the schools, the reformatories and the religious +institutions, without number, which form the glory of that +Western Metropolis. The first meeting of the Alliance +Congress—for the expenses of which twenty thousand dollars +had been subscribed—was held in the hall of the Young +Men’s Christian <a name="page214"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 214</span>Association. The hall contains +fifteen hundred sittings, and was decorated with flags, flowers, +and mottoes. It was crowded in every corner, and the +spectacle from the platform was imposing, the audience being +composed, to a large extent, of representatives from the States, +and the principal nations of our Eastern Hemisphere.</p> +<p>Dr. Adams of New York, an eminent Presbyterian pastor, +delivered an address of welcome. Elaborate yet unaffected, +scholarly yet not scholastic, fervent yet not rhapsodical, fluent +yet perfectly finished, pious without a particle of +fanaticism,—it laid hold on people present, and made an +impression talked of to this day. I have heard many a +courteous speech at the opening of large assemblies, but never +any thing like that, before or since.</p> +<p>The address of welcome was acknowledged in a hearty, but +inferior style, by English, French, Dutch, and German +delegates. “I am glad,” said Professor +Christlieb, the German, grasping the hand of Pastor Fisch, the +Frenchman, “I am glad to see as the firstfruits of this +gathering, that we Germans can clasp the hands of our French +brethren.”</p> +<p>The next morning we assembled in Steinway Hall. After +prayer by Dr. Hodge of Princeton, Dr. Woolsey, Ex-President of +Yale College, a <a name="page215"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +215</span>distinguished student of International Law, took the +chair. The Dean of Canterbury, Dr. Payne Smith, read a +sympathetic letter from the English Primate, and immediately +after prayer, he solemnly repeated the Apostles’ Creed, in +which the whole assembly followed in audible tones.</p> +<p>The Conference then began with the reading of papers, which, +with addresses, were continued morning and evening at sectional +meetings. The interest was kept up, attention never seeming +to flag. When Sunday came, large churches were crowded to +excess. The Holy Communion was administered in the +afternoon, when Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist, Moravian, and +Indian brethren took part in the service.</p> +<p>Besides the sectional conventions, an enormous general meeting +was held in Brooklyn, when extempore addresses were delivered in +free and easy style. But perhaps the most deeply affected +audience was a crowded one in the Academy of Music the last +Sunday night, for prayers and short addresses. A prima +donna, I heard, was present: certainly there was one voice of +pre-eminent sweetness and power in that vast congregation.</p> +<p>All the newspapers gave reports of the proceedings as fully as +<i>The Times</i> does of our parliamentary <a +name="page216"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +216</span>debates. One afternoon two gentlemen, who had +been clergymen, spent some time beforehand in preparing a report +of what I meant to say in the evening. There was no other +way, <i>they said</i>, of getting the report ready for the next +morning. The interest taken in our proceedings by all +classes greatly surprised me. Newspapers, representative of +churches out of sympathy with our proceedings, noticed and +criticised what went on: the secular press also took up the +matter, and conveyed abundant information. What appeared in +New York papers was transferred to others all over the States, +and thus religious news of that week spread far and wide.</p> +<p>The whole report, published afterwards, was a curiosity for +size and cheapness; but such voluminous accounts of a conference +must not be taken to mean more than this—that Americans +like to know whatever is going on, in every circle. It +appeared to me that our transatlantic brethren are so fond of +hearing public speakers, and of reading what they say, that they +do not confine their thoughts to such discussions as are germane +to their own convictions and tastes. They are curious to +hear what anybody has to utter, if he speaks to the purpose, no +matter what the topic may be. We should <a +name="page217"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 217</span>be +mistaken, if we measured religious belief in New York by popular +attention given to the Alliance.</p> +<p>The President, Dr. Woolsey, was a distinguished constitutional +lawyer, consulted at times about international claims by European +authorities; numerous professors of erudition and power, authors, +orators, politicians, merchants, gathered round him in 1873; the +European continent contributed such men as Dorner, Christlieb, +and Krafft from Germany, Prochet from Genoa, Carrasco from +Madrid, Bovet from Neuchatel, Stuart from Holland. Some of +our own distinguished countrymen have been already +mentioned. Ward Beecher delivered a wonderful oration in +Dr. Adams’ church on the subject of preaching. He was +like a man stopping you in the street, and getting “hold of +your button” so as to compel attention. I met him +several times in America, and received acts of kindness, when his +face was lighted up with an expression of rare beauty.</p> +<p>Nor were churches and halls the only “pleasant +places.” One evening Mr. Dodge had a reception to +which eight hundred persons were invited, and at one moment, he +told me six hundred were actually present. Introductions, +handshakings, recognitions, questions, answers, observations and +<a name="page218"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 218</span>stories +were incessant; whilst a band of musicians played at one end of a +suite of apartments, it could not be heard at the other.</p> +<p>On Monday, all the delegates were conveyed by special train to +Philadelphia. On the way we stopped at Princeton. +Students of colleges assembled at the station, and uttered their +characteristic cheers—in imitation of ascending and +descending rockets—followed by such huzzahs as we do not +hear in England. We marched in procession through the +streets to the church, where a crowded congregation awaited our +arrival.</p> +<p>We reached Philadelphia about three o’clock. There +a long train of carriages awaited our arrival to convey delegates +to the Hall of Independence. The city authorities +represented by one of the judges, expressed a welcome, after +which we were escorted to the Continental Hotel capable of +containing the whole party. We all started next morning for +Washington.</p> +<p>On the way we were delighted with surrounding scenery, +especially when we came to Chesapeake Bay, into which the +Susquehanna pours its waters. Woods were clothed with +autumnal tints, crimson maples flashed their fires amidst +manifold hues of decaying foliage; and the sunny prospect, as we +<a name="page219"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 219</span>skirted +the bay, was beautiful beyond description. At the Baltimore +station brethren from Washington invested us each with a white +ribbon badge; then on we swept past homesteads, recently the +abodes of slaves, many a hut serving as an original illustration +for “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”</p> +<p>We talked in the train with a black bishop, who entertained us +with descriptions of negro excitability. He said coloured +congregations would exclaim in church, as the preacher proceeded +with his discourse, “That’s true, Massa”; and a +man once shouted, under the influence of what he heard, +“Massa, that’s like going up Jacob’s +ladder.”</p> +<p>A distant view of the Capitol is not unlike that of St. +Peter’s at Rome, as seen from the Campagna. We saw a +few city lions—the Capitol and Smithsonian Institute being +chief; and we found this metropolis, not without form, for it is +artistically laid out in thoroughfares radiating from the +Capitol; but it is certainly “void,” for nominal +streets were there, but at that time without houses. We +drove a long distance, across an open country, suggesting the +idea of a city which <i>is not</i>, but only <i>about to +be</i>. How it looks now, I do not know. Yellow dust +was blowing in clouds, and lying in thick drifts on the steps of +the Hall of Assembly.</p> +<p><a name="page220"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +220</span>General Grant carried in his face the signs of an +indomitable will, and without any personal assumption behaved as +one conscious of representative power. After my return +home, Dr. Adams, who was then in England, told me that he acted +as chaplain to the forces at the time of the great war, and rode +by the General’s side, when he reviewed the troops. +As illustrative of his memory for little things, I may refer to +the General’s conversation with his old chaplain, when they +met in England, and he alluded to the colour of the horse, the +latter used to ride, informing him of the animal’s death, +which had just occurred. The General seems to have +possessed the royal gift of not forgetting those to whom he had +been once introduced. Let me add, he was proud of having +commanded such an immense army as he did, and said to the Duke of +Wellington—who repeated this to Dr. Stanley, my +informant—“Your father was general in chief of only +forty thousand men; I led as many as <i>half a +million</i>.”</p> +<p>We visited a great number of institutions in New +York—colleges, schools, hospitals, and reformatories. +Colleges, architecturally, were not imposing; but the libraries +and scientific apparatus possessed by some of them, were of a +choice and costly kind. <a name="page221"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 221</span>I was told of one gentleman who had +contributed £100,000 to educational objects. Schools +are immense buildings; and at New York and Philadelphia it was a +sight indeed, to behold pupils, gliding to their appointed +places, and then upturning some eight hundred happy countenances +towards the visitors come to see them. The examination of +classes was most satisfactory, and the resources and adroitness +of the teachers most admirable. Hospitals in the city are +abundant, beyond what the necessities of the population seemed to +require, and the reformatories afforded encouraging examples of +discipline and improvement.</p> +<p>Parks and cemeteries are on a scale of such magnitude, and are +so picturesquely laid out, that English visitors surveyed them +with surprise. As to American scenery in general, justice +had never been done to it.</p> +<p>We felt gulpy in taking leave of friends, and ending a visit +so memorable.</p> +<p>The sea was calm, and the weather bright, as we steamed out on +our voyage home, but a gale followed, and we had violent storms +during several days. Serious accidents occurred in +consequence, which gave a maimed appearance to some of the +passengers. My dear friend Harrison had a serious +fall. Waves <a name="page222"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +222</span>rose many feet high, and they supplied a key to some of +Turner’s sea pictures, and also to Ruskin’s eloquent +language in describing the “truth of water”—the +power, majesty, and deathfulness of the open, deep, illimitable +sea.</p> +<p>A friendship I formed in America deserves a notice here, on +account of the person’s eminence and the obligations under +which he laid me by his subsequent handsome gifts. Dr. +Sprague had the largest collection of autographs in the +world. The number was immense, amounting, I am told, to +about 100,000. He was living at Flushing at the time I was +in New York, and I had charge from a friend in England to call +upon him. Though having never met him before, yet from +previous knowledge of each other, we were at home, immediately +after I had crossed his threshold. It is an American +characteristic to treat as friend any one who has been known by +kindly report beforehand, or who can present credentials of +character. Dr. Sprague’s wife and daughter received +us at once as if we had belonged to the family. We crowded +an immense deal of talk into a short space, and before we parted +he made reference to his huge collection of autographs. As +we had little time to spare, I had covenanted with my companion, +Mr. <a name="page223"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +223</span>Harrison, that I would avoid that tempting topic, as it +would detain us too long; but the ice being suddenly broken, +there was no help, and I found myself plunged—I must say +not unwillingly—into a subject which prudence had decidedly +proscribed. Dr. Sprague found that I was one of the craft, +but a minor member; and forthwith he profusely offered +assistance, asking whether there were any letters of his +countrymen I particularly desired to possess. What an +overture! I modestly replied, I should be glad of a few +lines written by Washington Irving. Before I left America +there came a most interesting letter from Irving to his +publisher, respecting a new edition of his works; and after my +return to England, post after post brought most valuable +contributions to my store of autographs. The very first +included a letter signed by General Washington of historical +value. It relates to the close of the War of Independence, +and gives direction for cessation of hostilities immediately +after the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, in 1781. Letters in +the handwriting of Franklin, Jonathan Edwards, and a number of +other celebrities, came to England from time to time, enriching +my stores, almost to the period of Dr. Sprague’s +death. He was a popular preacher, a distinguished divine, a +prolific <a name="page224"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +224</span>author, and a man of widespread influence in the +States.</p> +<p>In closing this account of American friends, I must say a few +words about members of Harvard University. I had met with +the Greek Professor at the Mountain House, on the Catskills, who +spoke much of the principal, Dr. Peabody, for whom I felt a high +respect. My friend, Mr. Harrison, and I were most +courteously received by the Doctor at his residence, and were +shown over the University buildings, especially that bearing the +name of Stoughton, a Governor of Massachusetts. I was +anxious to see the poet Longfellow, who resided in an +old-fashioned house not far from the college. Unfortunately +he was not at home, and I could not refrain from dropping him a +line. I received the following reply:—</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: right"><span +class="smcap">Cambridge</span>, <i>October</i> 7<i>th</i>, +1873.</p> +<p>“<span class="smcap">My dear Sir</span>,</p> +<p>“I have this morning had the pleasure of receiving your +friendly note, and hasten to say how much I regret that absence +prevented me from seeing you when you were in Cambridge.</p> +<p>“We should have lived over again that bright summer +afternoon at Mrs. Fuller Maitland’s, which <a +name="page225"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 225</span>I so well +remember, and you would have told me of many friends whom I +should like to hear of again.</p> +<p>“Perhaps I may still have the pleasure of seeing you +before you return to England. If not, I beg you to present +to Mr. and Mrs. Maitland my best regards and most cordial +remembrance of their kindness and hospitality.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">“With greatest esteem,<br /> +“I am, my dear sir,<br /> +“Yours truly,<br /> +“<span class="smcap">Henry W. Longfellow</span>.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Fuller Maitland, members of a well-known old +Nonconformist family, were members of my church at Kensington; +and at their house I used to meet distinguished and interesting +people. The occasion referred to in the foregoing letter +made upon me a most pleasant impression. A large company +had assembled to greet the American poet, and there was plenty of +handshaking, which I feared would rather weary him, especially as +so many of us were total strangers; but he assured me that I was +quite mistaken, and that it gratified him much to be surrounded +by so large a party, composed of those whom he regarded as +English <a name="page226"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +226</span>friends. Americans are in some respects more +cosmopolitan and genial in new society, than Englishmen, and I +was struck with this repeatedly in my transatlantic trip. I +was quite affected with the kindness met with everywhere. +Among those who showed special courtesy were some of the +well-known Abbot family, and other professors at Yale, Andover, +and Princeton, as well as at Harvard, and Mr. Winthrop, of Boston +fame. Before I conclude this account of my American tour, +one more incident remains to be mentioned. At some of the +meetings in New York, I met with an intelligent and interesting +Quaker. I found he was acquainted with Friends in England, +and in the course of conversation mention was made of the +Gurneys, when he informed me that Mrs. Gurney, widow of Joseph +John Gurney, of Earlham, was residing in the vicinity of +Burlington, in New Jersey. She was an American lady who +became the wife of the Norwich philanthropist, and retired to her +own country after her husband’s death. Finding that I +knew Mr. Gurney, his widow was informed of the circumstance, and +presently I received a kind invitation to visit her at her own +residence. My friend and I, after a pleasant journey, +reached the outskirts of Burlington, and were welcomed by <a +name="page227"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 227</span>our hostess +at a handsome house with picturesque surroundings. We had +much conversation about Earlham, and I was shown into a +comfortable library stocked with books, brought from the Hall +which I had seen in my boyhood. She told me about a visit +which Mr. Forster, father of the distinguished politician, had +paid her, not very long before,—a visit speedily followed +by his death, and interment in the neighbourhood. On the +walls of the drawing-room I noticed a facsimile of the famous +letter written to Mrs. Gurney, by President Lincoln, respecting +the great war going on, in which the question of negro slavery +was so inextricably involved. She and some other ladies had +been favoured with a special interview on the subject of +emancipation, and it was to this interview, and its associations +that the facsimile referred. She asked, if I should like to +have a copy of it, and then not being able at the moment to find +what she sought, she took down the framed copy and presented it +to me as a memorial of my visit. I carefully brought it to +England, and as it is not known here, as it is in America, I +subjoin the contents, showing the importance which Abraham +Lincoln attached to the conversation of the zealous Quaker on the +occasion mentioned.</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: right"><a +name="page228"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +228</span>“<span class="smcap">Washington</span>, +<i>Sept.</i> 4<i>th</i>, 1864.</p> + +<p> “<span +class="smcap">Eliza P. Gurney</span>.</p> +<p>“<span class="smcap">My Esteemed Friend</span>,—I +have not forgotten, probably never shall forget, the very +impressive occasion when yourself and friends visited me on a +Sabbath forenoon two years ago. Nor has your kind letter, +written nearly a year later, ever been forgotten. In all, +it has been your purpose to strengthen my reliance on God. +I am much indebted to the good Christian people of the country +for their constant prayers and consolations; and to no one of +them more than to yourself. The purposes of the Almighty +are perfect and must prevail, though we erring mortals may fail +to accurately perceive them in advance. We hoped for a +happy termination of this terrible war long before this, but God +knows best and has ruled otherwise. We shall yet +acknowledge His wisdom and our own error therein. Meanwhile +we must work earnestly in the best light He gives us, trusting +that so working, still conduces to the great end He +ordains. Surely He intends some great good to follow this +mighty convulsion, which no mortal could make, and no mortal +could stay.</p> +<p>“Your people—the Friends—have had, and are +<a name="page229"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 229</span>having, +a very great trial. On principle and faith, opposed to both +war and oppression, they can only practically oppose oppression +by war. In this hard dilemma some have chosen one horn, and +some the other. For those appealing to me on conscientious +grounds, I have done, and shall do, the best I could, and can, in +my own conscience under my oath to the laws. That you +believe this I doubt not, and believing it, I shall still +receive, for our country and myself, your earnest prayers to our +Father in Heaven.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">“Your sincere Friend,<br /> +“A. <span class="smcap">Lincoln</span>.”</p> +</blockquote> +<h2><a name="page230"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +230</span>CHAPTER XI<br /> +1874–1875</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the year 1874 I lost my old +friend, Thomas Binney. His pre-eminent position amongst +Dissenters was attested by copious notices in newspapers, and, by +the scene at his funeral. That position arose from several +causes—his character, abilities, pulpit popularity, and +personal appearance, manifold and far-reaching sympathies, and a +genial nature, characteristic of the best Englishmen. His +influence in the Congregational denomination throughout the +country was aided by the central position of the Weigh-House when +London was different from what it is now; <a +name="citation230"></a><a href="#footnote230" +class="citation">[230]</a> by strangers from the provinces who +flocked there as to a centre; by visits to various parts of the +country at Nonconformist festivals; and by the transfer of so +many members of his Church to other congregations <a +name="page231"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 231</span>throughout +the land. Nor do I forget how his name came to be known, +beyond that of any other of our ministers, throughout the British +colonies, owing to his being the father and founder of the +Colonial Missionary Society, and the guide and counsellor of many +youths going to seek their fortune in America or the South +Seas. Still further was his popularity owing to a visit he +paid some years ago to Australia. Also, when I was in +Canada, I often heard of a less public visit paid to that country +at an earlier period.</p> +<p>Amongst the many subjects in which my friend felt interested, +was that of improvement in conducting Nonconformist worship; he +gave his views respecting it in an appendix to a work on +Liturgies, by the Rev. E. H. Baird of New York. I refer to +this subject particularly, because to a considerable extent I +sympathised with him; not, however, in consequence of his +arguments, but from previous convictions, which, during late +years, have become stronger than ever. The authority for +excluding all liturgical worship from our places of assembly, +neither he nor I could ever understand. I see nothing in +Scripture which ties a Christian down to this perverse +one-sidedness. On the <a name="page232"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 232</span>contrary, both methods are +sanctioned in the Old and New Testaments. My experience +since retiring from the pastorate has strongly confirmed my +previous impressions. When leading public worship, as I did +for so many years, my utterances of devotion were spontaneous, +and I am sure imperfect; but what was obvious enough before, +though sometimes overlooked, came home to my feelings when +listening to words in public devotion, often unadapted to inspire +or guide supplication and praise. Further, extempore words, +though <i>free</i> to the speaker, are, to all intents and +purposes, <i>a form</i> to the hearers; and if a form in +extempore speech, when thoroughly suitable, be proper, why is not +a form in written language? Since I have become deaf, and +often cannot catch a brother’s supplications, a form which +I can <i>read</i> must obviously be preferable to one which I am +unable to understand. Extempore public devotion, under many +circumstances is of priceless value; but under some circumstances +so is liturgical service. Attempts amongst Dissenters in +the latter direction, I am aware, have in some instances failed, +owing largely to prejudices handed down through past generations; +until those prejudices melt away—some day perhaps they +will—an alteration, <a name="page233"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 233</span>such as to others like myself, seems +quite hopeless. <a name="citation233"></a><a href="#footnote233" +class="citation">[233]</a></p> +<p>In the years 1874 and 1875, I took part in commemoration of +two world-known Nonconformist celebrations.</p> +<p>The first was the unveiling of Bunyan’s statue at +Bedford. I went down with the Dean of Westminster, Lady +Augusta Stanley, and Dr. Allon, who all did wisely and well the +parts allotted them. Her Ladyship gracefully unveiled the +bronze figure of the wonderful dreamer; and her husband uttered +immediately afterwards the following effective +words:—“The Mayor has called upon me to say a few +words, and I shall obey him. The Mayor has done <i>his</i> +work, the Duke of Bedford has done his,” (he gave the +statue,) “and now I ask you to do yours, in commemorating +John Bunyan. Every one who has not read the +‘Pilgrim’s Progress,’ if there be any such +person, read it without delay; those who have read it a hundred +times, read it for the hundred and first time. Follow out +in your lives the lessons which the ‘Pilgrim’s +Progress’ teaches; and then you will <a +name="page234"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 234</span>all of you +be even better monuments of John Bunyan, than the magnificent +statue which the Duke of Bedford has given you.”</p> +<p>The Dean and Dr. Allon delivered elaborate addresses at the +Corn Exchange, and it was allotted to me, to propose, after a +public dinner, “The Memory of John Bunyan.” The +thought struck me, that his genius was equally imaginative and +realistic. People rise from reading his dream, with +impressions of character, as lively as those derived from +perusing Shakespeare or Scott. They see in his delineations +just such folks as walked the streets of Bedford, and plodded +through Midland country lanes, two hundred years ago. I +heard gentlemen at table say they thought Bunyan took his +conceptions of scenery from neighbouring places. But I said +I did not think so. He had never beheld hills like +“the Delectable Mountain,” nor a vale or plain like +that of “Beulah.” In fact, he took his scenery +from Scripture, and gave it reality by allusions such as we +employ, when touching on objects of every-day life. He was +“Christian,” “Evangelist,” +“Greatheart,” all in one—a pilgrim to the +Heavenly City and a preacher of the Gospel.</p> +<p>I may here add that two years afterwards brazen <a +name="page235"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 235</span>doors were +given to Bunyan meeting by the Duke, and were opened with due +solemnities, the Mayor and Corporation attending on the +occasion.</p> +<p>The unveiling of Baxter’s statue at Kidderminster +occurred in July 1875, when Dr. Stanley represented the Church of +England at the request of the town authorities; and, at the same +time, they requested me to speak on behalf of +Nonconformity. It was a gala day; shops were shut, flags +were hung out, people wore holiday clothes, and a procession of +the Corporation, the Bishop, and the speakers marched to the spot +where the statue was placed.</p> +<p>Soon after the Kidderminster celebration I visited a worthy +friend of mine at Bridgenorth, the Rev. Daniel Evans. +Whilst there I received a letter from Dr. Stanley saying that he +had heard me mention a design I had of visiting Madeley. He +said he found in his interleaved Bible, opposite Dan. iii. +19–27, the words “Fletcher of Madeley,” and +asked if I could discover at Madeley a key to this enigma, as it +seemed to him. Mr. Evans and I had visited Madeley +together, and in conversation recalled to mind an anecdote in +Benson’s “Life of Fletcher.” A man +threatened to burn his wife if she went to hear the vicar +again. She went notwithstanding, and the preacher chose for +his <a name="page236"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +236</span>sermon one of the lessons for the day, instead of the +text he had thought of previously. The lesson was in Daniel +on the deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the +fiery furnace. The man followed his wife at a distance to +find out what it was in Fletcher’s preaching that so +attracted her. When the poor woman returned she found her +husband on his knees praying by the side of the fire he had +prepared for her martyrdom. I wrote to the Dean and told +him the story, as recalled to my mind by my friend Daniel +Evans. The Dean sent back his kind regards and thanks to +<i>Daniel</i>, “who had discovered his dream and the +interpretation thereof.”</p> +<p>I have brought the Bunyan and Baxter celebrations together +because of their similarity; and the Madeley incident because it +became connected with the last of them.</p> +<p>In 1874, the year between the two celebrations, I resigned my +charge at Kensington, when a meeting was held to present a +testimonial, to which Archdeacon Sinclair contributed, and the +Dean of Westminster, with other Churchmen, besides Nonconformist +friends in large numbers, uttered loving words I can never +forget.</p> +<p>The following report appeared in <i>The Times</i>:—</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><a +name="page237"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +237</span>“<span class="smcap">Dean Stanley and the +Nonconformists</span>.</p> +<p>“On Thursday evening, April 15th, 1874, the Rev. J. +Stoughton, D.D., an eminent Dissenting minister at Kensington, +retired from the pastorate of his congregation there, after a +connection with them extending over the long period of +thirty-three years, during which he has had the reputation, while +upholding the principles of Nonconformity, of maintaining the +most kindly relations with the neighbouring clergy, and is +understood to have enjoyed the respect of the whole community of +Churchmen as well as Dissenters. The ceremony of last +evening was held in Kensington Chapel, a handsome building in +Allen Street, Kensington, where Dr. Stoughton has long +ministered, and his congregation attended in great numbers on the +occasion. Mr. Samuel Morley, M.P., acted as chairman, and +there were present, among others, the Dean of Westminster, Sir +Charles Reed, Sir Thomas Chambers, M.P., Mr. James Spicer, the +Revs. W. H. Fremantle, M.A., J. Angus, D.D., W. M. Punshon, D.D., +Donald Fraser, D.D.; F. J. Jobson, D.D., Henry Allon, D.D., +Samuel Martin, and J. C. Harrison, the last-named of whom, on +being called to address the meeting, took occasion to <a +name="page238"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 238</span>say that +their reverend friend, Dr. Stoughton, though acquainted with +every form of religious thought, had ever held fast to the +Gospel; that, as a minister of religion, it had been quite a +passion with him to be thoroughly fair and impartial; and that he +had all along panted for union among all religious +denominations. Later in the ceremony, the Dean of +Westminster, having been called upon to speak, presented himself +to the meeting, and was much cheered. He said there might +perhaps be several reasons why he had been asked to address +them. He could not plead the same long acquaintance as the +previous speakers had claimed with their venerable pastor; but +still, during the last few years of his acquaintance with him, he +could truly say that there had been no occasion of joy or sorrow +in his life on which he had not received some kind sympathy from +him. There was another reason for his addressing the +meeting. As a Churchman, and as a minister of the Church of +England, he felt called on to express his gratitude towards one, +not exactly of his communion, who had never once let fall from +his lips a word of bitterness against the community to which the +Dean belonged, and through whose heart he verily believed the +destruction of Westminster Abbey would send a pang. He only +<a name="page239"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 239</span>trusted +that when the twenty-first century arrived, and some future +pastor of the chapel should write the history of Queen +Victoria’s reign, he would treat his communion with the +same courtesy and appreciation as their present pastor had +treated, alike, divergent ministers and pastors of the Church of +the Commonwealth. He felt he had come there that evening +not so much as a personal friend or as a minister of the +Established Church, but rather as her representative of common +friends through the writings of Dr. Stoughton and himself. +He came there to express obligations which dear old friends of +them both, who lived two hundred years ago, would have wished to +express on an occasion such as that—Chillingworth, Jeremy +Taylor, Sir Matthew Hale, and many more whom his friend had +brought to one common platform. They had had before his +time histories of the Puritans, where they heard of nothing but +Puritans; they had also histories of the Church of England; but +the work of Dr. Stoughton was the first that had brought those +famous men together. There was, he knew, a charge brought +against his friend and himself that they were not sufficiently +good haters. However that might be, he was sure that Dr. +Stoughton hated, as he did, party spirit, the want of candour, <a +name="page240"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 240</span>all +untruthfulness, and insolent vulgarity, whether in Church or +Nonconformity. All these the Dean hated with a detestation +so complete that, if it were possible, he would be willing to +curse them thirteen times a year. He could not part from +that assembly or from that occasion without saying one word on +the peculiar aspect of the farewell on which the previous +speakers had so touchingly dwelt. Surely it was a +transition of life which all of them might envy as they +approached the term of their allotted existence, to be able to +secure for themselves a margin of life and of comparative quiet +before the great end came at last. There was a custom in +old monasteries—he trusted it would not be altogether +inappropriate to mention it at a meeting of +Congregationalists—that when any of the ancient monks had +served a term of thirty or forty years—he forgot +which—they were then to be relieved altogether from their +arduous labours; they were to be called by a gentle name which +meant ‘playfellow’; and one condition of their +existence was that nothing that was disagreeable should ever be +named in their company. Such to their friend Dr. Stoughton +was the tranquil period through which he was now passing; and +although they might still anticipate for him long years of <a +name="page241"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 241</span>active +usefulness, whether by pen or by voice, there must be a +delightful sense on his part in looking forward, having +accomplished one period of his existence, to a more undisturbed +time in which he might look back on what had been, and forward to +what was to be to him and all alike. The Dean’s +speech, of which this is necessarily a summary, was repeatedly +cheered during its delivery. A valedictory address, +expressed in flattering terms, and reviewing the long connection +between their pastor and the congregation, was afterwards +presented to Dr. Stoughton by Mr. R. Freeman, on behalf of the +Church and congregation, accompanied by the spontaneous gift of a +purse containing £3000.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Besides others who were present on the occasion, as noticed in +<i>The Times</i>, let me mention my excellent friend and +neighbour the Rev. J. Philip Gell, formerly Vicar of St. +John’s, Notting Hill. He referred to the well-knit +efforts of pastor and people, which had constituted the strength +of the Church at Kensington, and remarked that it was little +known how the force of public opinion acts and reacts on the life +of a large permanent congregation. “The love which +was thrilling that night was the Church’s strength, and so +long as that lived and flowed on <a name="page242"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 242</span>the part of the people, and was +sustained by the pastor’s wisdom, so long would the Church +live and prosper.”</p> +<p>Dr. Morley Punshon, President of the Wesleyan Connexion, +travelled from Leeds, where he had preached that morning. +He trusted that the Church would be Divinely guided in choosing a +successor. It was encouraging to witness such a +presentation as that just made, the like of which many present +had never seen before.</p> +<p>The years I spent at Kensington were very happy. I can +say from experience that the life of a Congregational minister, +in connection with a large and liberal Church—when full +play is given to the social affections, elevated and purified by +culture as well as religion—is an enviable lot, and calls +for the devout gratitude of any one who has enjoyed it.</p> +<p>The friendships formed with many of my flock, a very few of +whom are still living, have been amongst the choicest privileges +afforded me by Divine Providence. Loving memories of them +linger in my heart, amidst sweeping obliterations of names and +faces incident to an age of fourscore and more, and those who +survive me will, I trust, accept an acknowledgment of obligations +deeply felt as these lines are written. I took special +interest in some, now goodly <a name="page243"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 243</span>matrons, who were school girls at +Kensington in my time, and whose happy fortunes I have +sympathetically followed through life. If they read these +lines, they will understand the fatherly feeling with which they +are written. Their parents, now at rest in the eternal +home, were no small joy to me, and as they passed away, one after +another, they left blanks not to be filled up in this world.</p> +<p>Two deceased friends I may here notice. At an early +period in my Kensington pastorate, a gentleman called upon me in +the vestry with a transfer to our Church from a communion he had +joined in Manchester. At the time he was a rising engineer, +and afterwards took part in the construction of railways over the +Alps and in South America. He was a botanist, and came to +possess a large garden and conservatory where he lived. He +received the honour of knighthood, and as Sir James Brunlees +became well known. He took a deep interest in our +Congregational affairs, and after his change of residence from +Addison Road, Kensington, still continued, with his family, to +worship with us on Sundays. He was an intimate friend of +John Bright, both of them being anglers; and I was entertained by +stories of their success, as brethren of the rod. I often +spent a few restful days at <a name="page244"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 244</span>Argyle Lodge, where he and his +kind-hearted lady made me as much at home as I felt at my own +fireside. She died suddenly, after my retirement, when she +was visiting a friend. I was immediately summoned to meet +and comfort the mourning family. Another +friend—George Rawson, of Bristol, the gifted +hymn-writer—also died after my retirement, leaving memories +of intelligence, humour, and affection, which I shall fondly +cherish as long as I live. His beloved wife, daughter of +the Rev. John Clayton, one of my predecessors in the Kensington +pastorate, died some years before at Bristol. The touching +memory of her funeral, and of the company then present, passes +before me as I write these lines.</p> +<p>When I wrote this chapter, I asked my dear daughter Georgie to +give me some results of her own experience whilst visiting the +poor. She returned the following notes:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“Instances of unselfishness are sometimes +very touching. I knew a Christian woman who suffered for +years with weak sight, and had several operations on both eyes, +so that she could only distinguish outlines of different +objects. She heard of two little children, distant +relations of her husband, being left orphans, and as she had no +children of her own, she suggested that they should adopt these +little <a name="page245"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +245</span>girls, and lead them in early years to a knowledge of +Christ. The husband was so touched at his wife’s +readiness, with failing sight, to take this burden upon herself +that, though a common labourer, he was willing to incur the extra +expense, and ever since that home has been one of the brightest I +know.</p> +<p>“A poor woman expressed a strong desire that some one +would speak to her sailor boy, who was wild and +unmanageable. An opportunity occurred not long after, but +the lad manifested great disgust at being talked to, and +afterwards whenever I called he left the room. When about +to start upon a voyage, I went to bid him +‘Good-bye.’ On leaving I said, ‘The time +may come when you will feel the need of a true friend; remember +that Christ is ready to receive you, for He has said, “Him +that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.” +These words may fill your heart with gladness some +day.’ I did not hear anything of him for a long time, +but one evening I received a note saying he was lying ill in a +hospital, and would I go and see him. I complied, and found +he had never forgotten the Saviour’s words which I had +quoted. He resisted, he said, the voice calling him to +forsake his sins and cleave to Christ till he could bear it no +longer. At last he yielded, and the change produced in him +was <a name="page246"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +246</span>remarkable. During a long illness he manifested +patience, unlike his old self, and the lad’s cheerfulness +and readiness to help his mother were very beautiful. He +died in her arms, singing ‘Safe in the arms of +Jesus.’</p> +<p>“Many of the poor have seen days of prosperity, and have +forgotten God; but, when adversity comes, like frightened +children, they rush to the Father’s arms. One man, +possessing at one time over £20,000, with a hundred men +under him, lost all. Then, when reduced to the greatest +distress, he listened to the Divine voice.</p> +<p>“I remember that on Lord Chichester’s library +table there always stood a large card, with the words:</p> +<p>‘Lord Jesus, make Thyself to me<br /> +A living, bright reality.’</p> +<p>“And such words unite the rich and the poor. One +of the poorest women I ever met, had a strong realisation of +Christ’s constant presence; and it so beautified her life, +that all who entered her humble home felt such a prayer had been +answered in her experience. I never talk to her but my mind +is carried back to the Stanmer library.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>At the end of this chapter, which closes my Kensington +ministry, I venture to speak of my methods of preaching.</p> +<p><a name="page247"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 247</span>The +main object of my ministrations was the illustration of +God’s Holy Word. Archbishop Whately preferred +“to set his watch by the sun”; and, therefore, tested +the results of his own thinking, and other teachers, by a +comparison of them with the decisions of Scripture. When +Scripture was plain, the subject on which it pronounced a +distinct judgment was regarded as fixed for ever. That +method it was my desire habitually to pursue. I made it my +aim, not only to interpret the meaning of a particular verse +taken by itself, but to catch, and fix in my mind, the +<i>drift</i> of Apostolic thought in particular instances. +It has been said, irreverently, that some expositors, when +persecuted in one verse, flee to another, and the connection +between the several parts of a paragraph is overlooked and +lost.</p> +<p>It was my desire to look at long <i>trains of thought</i> in +the writings of St. Paul as a sacred landscape, in which here and +there a verse occurs as a lofty hill, which serves as a +commanding point for surveying a landscape of thought round +about. A single verse is often a key to an entire +paragraph.</p> +<p>It was my habit to go over now and then a large extent of +Scripture—doctrinal, biographical, historical. +“Stars of the East, or Prophets and Apostles,” formed +a series of personal sketches in the Old and New <a +name="page248"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 248</span>Testaments, +afterwards published by the Religious Tract Society. +Another course, called “Lights of the World,” were +illustrations of character, drawn from records of Christian +experience and action, such as “William Tyndale, or Labour +and Patience”; “Richard Hooker, or a Soul in Love +with God’s Law and Holy Order”; and “Robert +Leighton, or the Peacefulness of Faith.”</p> +<p>Besides such methods I did not scruple to lay under +contribution to the pulpit, condensed summaries of Puritan works, +such as Baxter’s “Now or Never”; also I may +mention that a course of Sermons on “Pilgrim’s +Progress” excited much interest, and three or four of these +I repeated at the close of my pastorate.</p> +<p>As to the real value of a sermon, form must never be +confounded with substance. It is vain to vote the mantle +into majesty. A royal robe depends for effect on the +richness of the material, not on the adjustment of its +folds. Toller’s “Sermons” <a +name="citation248"></a><a href="#footnote248" +class="citation">[248]</a> so eulogised by Robert Hall, depend +for their impressiveness, not on a careful selection of +words—in this respect they are open to criticism—but +upon the intrinsic majesty of such thoughts as they express.</p> +<p>There is an obvious contrast between French and <a +name="page249"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 249</span>English +preachers in this respect. They are more attentive to form +than we are. I have witnessed effects in Parisian, and in +Italian churches as well, produced by modes of delivery, such as +I never saw in our own country. Young preachers in England +might make their sermons more effective than they are, by greater +attention paid to a mode of delivery.</p> +<p>Let me add a word or two as to preparation from week to +week. At the beginning of a week I chose subjects for the +following Sunday; and then gathered up from day to day, in +reading and talking, arguments and illustrations suggested by +books, scenery and conversation. One’s mind may be +brought to such a state as to gather together what is valuable +and useful from time to time, as the magnet attracts to itself +grains of precious metal over which it sweeps. And, let it +not be forgotten, we may sometimes <i>build</i> up a sermon by +adding one thought to another; and at other times <i>plant</i> a +sermon through an idea which takes root and grows into a goodly +tree. My method then was, on a Saturday evening, to +<i>review</i> and revise what I had prepared, to criticise its +substance and arrangement, and alter it in matter and form, so +that on Sunday morning it could be poured out to the people in +freshness and force.</p> +<p>On week-night services, I sometimes took up <a +name="page250"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 250</span>Church +history, or archæological illustrations of the Bible. +Bible-classes, of course, were held; but in the latter part of my +Kensington pastorate, I was greatly helped in this, as in other +respects by my worthy friend, the Rev. J. Alden Davies, who was +for a few years my assistant minister. <a +name="citation250"></a><a href="#footnote250" +class="citation">[250]</a></p> +<h2><a name="page251"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +251</span>CHAPTER XII<br /> +1875–1879</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> my last chapter I brought +together two celebrations—one in honour of John Bunyan, the +other in honour of Richard Baxter. Another celebration now +claims attention, not of an English Nonconformist, but of a +Protestant Reformer, whose fame covers the world—Martin +Luther. English commemorations of his character and work +were held late in 1875 and early in 1876.</p> +<p>Before I mention any particulars respecting the Luther +celebration, I repeat what I have said elsewhere:</p> +<blockquote><p>“There is no other man of a similar order +whose fame touches so many topographical points, and sweeps over +so wide a surface. The local reminiscences of Shakespeare +and Milton, even taken together, are few, and cluster round a +metropolis, a provincial town, and two or three <a +name="page252"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +252</span>villages. But how many cities, castles, and +houses there are in Germany scattered far and wide which may be +said to have Martin Luther for their presiding genius! +Guide-books call attention to some spot where he went, some +fortress or tenement which gave him shelter, some church in which +he preached, some locality which his name has made famous; and +there are scenes and houses unmentioned in guide-books, over +which lingers the spell of his memory. One comes across +mementoes of Charles V. in divers directions; but even they are +fewer, less interesting, and less honoured than those of the monk +who gave the emperor so much anxiety, and who by his devotion, +and energy accomplished the reformation of the Teutonic +Church. Certainly no king, no kaiser, can vie with him as +to the place he occupies in the thoughts of his own people, and +indeed of the whole Christian world.” <a +name="citation252"></a><a href="#footnote252" +class="citation">[252]</a></p> +</blockquote> +<p>Washington Irving concludes his essay on “Shakespeare +and Stratford-on-Avon,” by remarking it would have cheered +“the spirit of the youthful bard that his name should +become the glory of his birthplace, that his ashes should be +guarded as a most precious treasure, and that its lessening <a +name="page253"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 253</span>spire, on +which his eyes were fixed in tearful contemplation, should one +day become the beacon towering amidst the gentle landscape to +guide the literary pilgrim of every nation to his +tomb.”</p> +<p>It is no depreciation of Shakespeare’s genius to say +that above his aspirations after fame, whatever they might be, +rose the aims and desires of Luther—a man absorbed in zeal +for the salvation of souls, and for the glory of his Saviour; but +it would have filled him with wonder, could he have foreseen the +place he was to occupy in the history of the world, and how the +double tower of the Stadt Kirche, in which he preached, would +become a beacon to guide tens of thousands from both hemispheres +to the Augustinian monastery, where he lived, and to the Schloss +Kirche, where he lies buried.</p> +<p>The Luther Commemoration in England was enthusiastic.</p> +<p>Soon after I left Kensington an immense assembly gathered in +Exeter Hall, to take up points in Luther’s character and +work. If I remember rightly, I dwelt on that occasion at +some length on his domestic life, often assailed by his +opponents, but held in admiration by Protestants all over the +world. In lectures and addresses, <a +name="page254"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 254</span>delivered +at Norwich, Peterborough, Bedford, and elsewhere, I dwelt on his +manifold excellences and achievements, at Leipzig, at Worms, in +the Wartburg, and his Wittenberg home. My remarks accorded +with those I have now introduced.</p> +<p>After the close of my pastorate in Kensington, Ealing became +my home. The professorships at New College were +continued. Sundays were spent in preaching the +Gospel. Literary studies were pursued to a larger extent +than they had been when pastoral duty claimed chief +attention.</p> +<p>In 1876 I was grieved by the death of Lady Augusta Stanley, +for she manifested towards me kindness which could not fail to +inspire my warmest gratitude. I never knew any other person +who had so much dignity and sweetness of demeanour, one who, with +many-sided sympathy, could make her numerous guests feel how +sincere were her friendly demonstrations. It often +surprised me, as it did others, how she paid marked attention to +all her guests, however numerous they might be. Her tact +was admirable. Nobody could leave the Deanery with the idea +of having been neglected.</p> +<p>Her “At Homes” were extraordinarily popular, for +every one was sure of meeting with notabilities of Church and +State, literature and science. Her <a +name="page255"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 255</span>husband was +in full sympathy with her in all these respects.</p> +<p>She was intimately acquainted with foreign celebrities, and +her conversation about them was of much interest. She and +her mother, Lady Elgin, spent some days in Lamartine’s +house at Paris, when violent mobs, during the Revolution, +assembled in front of the residence. The President behaved +bravely, but expressed fear lest any insult should be offered to +English ladies under his roof. Mother and daughter, if I +remember right, had been offered refuge by the President when the +utmost peril filled the French capital. Lady Augusta +related interesting anecdotes of Lamartine; and I gathered that +he habitually indicated no small confidence in himself, feeling +that he was the greatest man in France, as no doubt, at the time, +he really was.</p> +<p>Her Ladyship and the Dean were well acquainted with M. Guizot, +and gave interesting accounts of that distinguished statesman, +and of his habits and studies after retirement from public +life. I happened once, when talking of Earl Russell, to +make the remark, that I had heard of his cold manner to political +acquaintances. Her countenance lighted up, and she spoke +with enthusiasm of what he was in the bosom of his family, and +the circle of intimate <a name="page256"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 256</span>friends. Bishop Thirlwall was +a great favourite with her, and she related interesting anecdotes +of that distinguished man, indicating a warm heart, in union with +a keen intellect.</p> +<p>Lady Augusta’s visit to St. Petersburg with the Dean, at +the marriage of the Duke of Edinburgh, proved too much for her +strength, and at Paris in the following autumn serious illness +set in. From time to time amendment and relapse excited +hope and fear, until all prospect of recovery vanished. She +spoke of friends, sent kind messages, and talked calmly and with +humble confidence of the other world, saying, “Think of me +as near, only in another room. ‘In my Father’s +house are many mansions.’” I had a touching +note from the Dean asking me to be a pall-bearer at the +funeral. All chosen for that office indicated causes, +classes, and places in which she felt an interest. +Religion, literature, and philanthropy, the neighbourhood in +which she lived, and Scotland—each had a +representative.</p> +<p>The assembly of mourners in the Jerusalem Chamber; the +spectacle in the Abbey; the procession up the nave whilst the +Queen occupied a little gallery not far from the western door; +the calm submission of the bereaved husband, as he sat by the +coffin; the solemn entrance into Henry VII.’s <a +name="page257"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 257</span>Chapel; the +ray of sunlight falling on the coffin as it sank into the vault; +and especially the words, “I heard a voice from +Heaven,” sung by choristers invisible at the moment, as if +music came from the Upper Temple—these incidents can never +be forgotten.</p> +<p>It was by royal command that this lady, descended from the +royal Bruce, was buried in a chapel reserved for royal persons; +and immediately after the interment wreaths from the Queen and +her children were strewn over the grave. The three +benedictions—the Mosaic, the Pauline, and the +Ecclesiastical—which the deceased loved to hear were +pronounced, at the close of the service, by the Dean from a desk +in the nave. She had said to him, “Think of me as you +repeat the holy words.” He did, when she was gone as +when she was living.</p> +<p>The Dean sometimes referred to his visit to St. Petersburg in +company with her ladyship, and spoke of his having before him, as +he tied the nuptial knot on that memorable occasion, no less than +four princes, each of whom was expectant of a crown—the +Prince of Wales, the Crown Prince of Prussia, the Crown Prince of +the Netherlands, and the Czarevitch; and he also mentioned this +<a name="page258"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +258</span>circumstance—that after the wedding party had +passed in state through a magnificent hall, where no provision +for a banquet could be seen, within an hour and a half they sat +down to a feast of sumptuous splendour, reminding him of +Belshazzar’s, not in point of excess, but in point of regal +display. The fact was, the side-tables had been concealed +behind screens and drapery. The middle one had in that +space of time been fixed and adorned.</p> +<p>I may here mention that one day, during a visit to the +Deanery, I had much conversation with Miss Stanley, the +Dean’s sister, an agreeable companion, who freely indulged +in some common recollections of dear old Norwich, and some +friends whom we had both known. She told me a great deal +about her good father, the Bishop, dwelling with admiration upon +his exceedingly simple habits, and his determination never to +give at the Palace <i>grand dinners</i>, but only such as +combined hospitality with Christian unostentation.</p> +<p>Two or three days previous to Lady Augusta’s funeral, I +breakfasted at Lambeth, when Archbishop Tait, amongst other +things, spoke of his desire for some union with Protestant +Dissenters as far as it was possible; and this led to proceedings +which, as <a name="page259"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +259</span>they have not been reported in any fulness, may be +recorded here.</p> +<p>It was a delicate question who should first move in the +matter. The Archbishop wished to invite brethren to +Lambeth, but what reason was to be assigned for taking such a +step? At length it was arranged that some communication +should be made to him, indicative of a disposition on the part of +Nonconformists to confer with Episcopalian brethren. On +such a ground the Archbishop considered he might bring together +bishops, ready to join in a conference. I undertook to +prepare a letter and get it signed, so that Dr. Tait might feel +he had sure footing for what might follow. It was based on +a recognition of pleasure felt by Nonconformists, in consequence +of passages in his recent charges touching religious union. +The letter went on to express willingness to meet brethren for +consultation respecting co-operation in religious service so far +as it might be possible and wise. It was signed by +well-known ministers, and was acknowledged by the Archbishop +under the term of “memorial,” an expression which, if +I remember rightly, had not been employed by us.</p> +<p>Four Nonconformist ministers accordingly went down to Lambeth +to converse on the subject. <a name="page260"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 260</span>Previous to this interview, it was +my conviction that to discuss the subject of <i>union</i> by +itself was by no means desirable, as it might raise questions +which would defeat the end in view. In harmony with this, +the following opinion was expressed by a friendly +prelate:—“Such a neutral subject as the progress of +irreligious thought, would do well as a basis for a friendly +meeting.”</p> +<p>In a note received from the Archbishop before we met, he said, +“I beg leave to assure you that all the bishops whom I have +consulted agree in the extreme importance of this movement, and +in an earnest desire that by proper preliminary arrangements your +proposal for a conference may be brought to a satisfactory +result.” The proposal for a conference, I think, did +not <i>originate</i> with me, though I quite approved of it, and +was glad the Archbishop had kindly arranged for its being +held.</p> +<p>I subjoin the following record, received from Lambeth, +respecting a conference which the ministers named held with the +Archbishop beforehand:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“May 24th, 1876: The Archbishop of +Canterbury saw the Rev. Dr. Stoughton, the Rev. Dr. Angus, the +Rev. Newman Hall, and the Rev. Dr. Aveling.</p> +<p>“The gentlemen present having heard from the Archbishop +what had passed with the bishops who <a name="page261"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 261</span>met at the Ecclesiastical +Commission, it was the opinion of those present that there was +ample room for united efforts to stem growing infidelity and +ungodliness.</p> +<p>“1. Therefore that a united conference as to the +best means of attempting to spread the knowledge of the answers +to materialistic and atheistic sophistries might be attended with +very beneficial results.</p> +<p>“2. That such a conference might with great +advantage consider the lamentable ignorance and indifference as +to religion which prevails amongst masses of the community, and +the best modes of meeting these evils.</p> +<p>“3. That such a conference might also with +advantage consider what efforts are needed to rouse the classes +above the artisan class to a greater appreciation of the +realities of religion.</p> +<p>“4. That it would be desirable that at such a +conference those present should come prepared to state their +experience as to the difficulties to be met, and the proposed +remedies. It was agreed that a day after the first week in +July would be suitable for such a conference.</p> +<p>“The result of this was reported by the Archbishop to an +informal meeting of certain bishops at the Room of the House of +Lords: present, the <a name="page262"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 262</span>Archbishop of York, the Bishops of +London, Winchester, St. Asaph, Llandaff, Gloucester and Bristol, +and Carlisle; and Monday, July 4th, at twelve noon, was fixed for +our gathering.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>We assembled accordingly on July 4th, and there were present +besides the Primate, the Bishops of London, Winchester, +Peterborough, Gloucester, Bath and Wells, Drs. Allon, Raleigh, +Punshon, Rigg, Aveling, Angus, Cumming, Robertson of Edinburgh +(an old schoolmate of Dr. Tait); the Revs. J. C. Harrison, Newman +Hall, Josiah Viney, and several others whom I cannot call to mind +as, unfortunately, I have not kept a list.</p> +<p>The Archbishop presided, read the Scriptures, and offered +prayer. He opened the proceedings by an appropriate +address, and then requested me to give some account of the steps +which had led to our meeting together. I could not help +referring to some remarkable gatherings in the Jerusalem Chamber, +March 1640–1, convened by Dr. Williams, at that time Bishop +of Lincoln, and also Dean of Westminster, when several other +dignitaries met certain Presbyterian divines. +“This,” I remarked, “was done by order of the +House of Lords, with a view to settling points of difference +between ecclesiastical parties of that day. A scheme of +comprehension <a name="page263"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +263</span>was contemplated. It came to nothing, though the +intercourse seems to have been pleasant, and they were hospitably +entertained by the convener.” “This was the +last course of all public Episcopal treatments,” said the +witty Thomas Fuller, who added: “The guests may now soon +put up their knives, seeing, soon after, the voider was called +for, which took away all bishops’ lands.” I +emphasised the fact that we had assembled for a very different +purpose, not to discuss any plan of comprehension, but to see how +parties, remaining ecclesiastically as we were, could, +notwithstanding, <i>unite</i> in defence of our common faith +against those who opposed it.</p> +<p>“We have a common cause,” it was added; “and +let us aim at extending the influence of our common +Christianity—this would bring us into spiritual and +practical fellowship, the most enduring of all +bonds.” The Bishop of Bath and Wells followed and +spoke on the specific point—how we should meet doubts and +difficulties in reference to religion. The Bishop of +Peterborough discussed the subject generally, with great +eloquence and force. The Bishops of London and Winchester +made practical suggestions as to guarding Christians against +scepticism, and rousing people at large from <a +name="page264"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +264</span>indifference and neglect. Drs. Rigg, Angus, and +others, combatted infidel objections and enforced attention to +the subject before us. A spirit of harmony pervaded the +meeting.</p> +<p>We broke up the morning conference at two o’clock, and +then lunched together; reassembling at three o’clock, when +the Bishop of Gloucester, Dr. Punshon, and several besides, +resumed the conversation. No representatives of the press +were present, and no report, that I am aware of, was taken and +preserved. We wished to prevent the controversial treatment +of what took place. Two of those who were there, together +with myself, received and complied with a request to prepare some +brief statement for <i>The Times</i>, on the character and +purpose of our meeting. Of course, the whole matter was +criticised afterwards, chiefly however in private. I do not +remember that it was taken up controversially in religious +periodicals. To correct some +misapprehensions—expressed in a Dissenting +newspaper—I, at the request of an esteemed brother, wrote a +short letter of explanation.</p> +<p>When we separated, gratification was expressed by those who +were present. Some Nonconformists did not enter into the +movement; others did, and that most heartily. From several +Episcopalian friends <a name="page265"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 265</span>we received assurances of approval +and sympathy. It issued in no united action; no fresh +organisation had, as far as I know, ever been intended. The +purpose designed was accomplished by interchanging thought, +collecting information, and encouraging one another in +ministerial work.</p> +<p>For Archbishop Tait I had great respect and affection. +He was singularly kind and conversable, without affecting any +official superiority. Under his grave countenance, and +habitually serious demeanour, as one who lived ever “in his +Great Taskmaster’s eye,” there were veins of +cheerfulness and humour in his familiar intercourse—I felt +deeply, his gentle sympathy, expressed in a letter of condolence, +on my dear wife’s death; and the last time we talked +together, being interrupted by another person, he broke off in +the opening of what seemed an amusing tale. He appreciated +the relative position of Church and Dissent, better than any +other dignitary I have met with. He would say that +Nonconformists had their traditions, organisations, endowments, +and influence, which gave them a status they were not likely to +surrender by bringing over what belonged to them, into an +Episcopalian organisation. A fraternal <i>modus +vivendi</i>, he regarded as the object to be aimed at, not an +absorption of Dissenting bodies into <a name="page266"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 266</span>the Establishment. He, no +doubt, would have preferred to see <i>One Great Church</i> in +England, under a moderate Episcopacy; but he seemed to cherish +little hope of any such object being accomplished.</p> +<p>On a former page allusion was made to Mr. Bagster, of Polyglot +fame. In the year (1877) his venerable wife, at the age of +100 <i>within a few hours</i>, died at Old Windsor; and her +accumulated years attracted the notice of Her Majesty, who +honoured her with a visit just before her decease. I called +at the cottage in which she expired, after the royal visitor had +been there, and there heard the particulars of the +interview. Her Majesty I was informed, brought with her the +Princess Beatrice; and, on their entrance into the bedroom, where +the old lady was lying, she at once expressed her gratitude for +the signal favour bestowed by her Sovereign, saying that +“she was looking forward to her own speedy dismissal to the +immediate presence of the Saviour, where she hoped hereafter to +meet Her Majesty.” Pleasant conversation followed, in +which Mrs. B., at the Queen’s request, related her memories +of George III., Queen Charlotte, and the Royal Family, as they +used to walk on the Castle terrace, in the presence of a large +number of loyal spectators. The Queen manifested interest +in <a name="page267"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +267</span>particulars respecting the good old lady, related by +her daughter; and in consequence of the report she gave on her +return home, Prince Leopold, as I was told soon afterwards, paid +a visit to Old Windsor, and wished for a rehearsal of what had +been communicated by his Royal Mother. Repeated gracious +inquiries from the Castle followed. At the funeral service +a note was put into my hands, written by the Duchess of Roxburgh +to Miss Bagster, tenderly touching on that lady’s sorrow, +for her late bereavement; and concluding with the words: +“The Queen begs you to convey to all the members of your +venerable mother’s family, the assurance of Her +Majesty’s condolence.” This note was read to +the mourners.</p> +<p>In 1877 I made two pilgrimages which left memorable +impressions. All my life I have been an enthusiastic +shrine-seeker, loving to trace out spots sanctified by footsteps +of heroic and holy men. I heartily adopt the words of Dr. +Martineau, “No material interests, no common welfare, can +so bind a community together, and make it strong of heart, as a +history of rights maintained and virtues uncorrupted and freedom +won; and one legend of conscience is worth more to a country than +hidden gold and fertile plains.”</p> +<p><a name="page268"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 268</span>At +different periods I have visited the birthplaces of Shakespeare +and of Raleigh, of Cromwell and of Wesley; the homes of Knox, +Hampden, Milton, Baxter, and Howard; the haunts of Johnson, +Goldsmith, Watts, and Cowper; the graves of Bunyan, Burns, Scott, +and Chalmers have all had attractions for me.</p> +<p>The pilgrimages I made in 1877 were the following:—</p> +<p>The first to the Vosges district in France, searching for Ban +de la Roche, the scene of Oberlin’s labours, and the +resting place of his remains. <a name="citation268"></a><a +href="#footnote268" class="citation">[268]</a> From +Strassburg my daughter and I went to Mutzig, situated amidst a +theatre of red sandstone hills mantled with woods and +vineyards. Then from Mutzig we proceeded to Fouday, through +valley after valley, if not exactly picturesque, yet really +pictorial, and finally approached the parish of the model +pastor. In the heart of the village of Ban de la Roche, are +the church hallowed by his preaching, and the grave where he +sleeps. Three broad slabs lie on the green turf, side by <a +name="page269"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 269</span>side, the +middle one inscribed with the words, “Il fut 60 ans +père de ce canton.—‘La Mémoire du juste +sera en benediction.’” An iron cross bears the +name “Papa Oberlin.” We were surprised to find +the spot, though highly situated, so rich in beauty as summer +waned; an afternoon sun warming the crisp air, and lighting up +objects with varied tints. At Walderbach, a Swiss-like +village, full of cottages and fruit trees, we found the parsonage +house in which the good man lived and died. We were +welcomed by the present clergyman’s wife, whom we had met +before, without knowing her. The good lady took us over the +rooms associated with her husband’s predecessor. +There was the study where he worked, and the bedroom in which he +slept. Some of his furniture is preserved, with a +collection of toys he made for children, and a large jar full of +still fragrant rose leaves, a few of which were gratefully +accepted as a memento of the visit.</p> +<p>The other pilgrimage was in England to Broad Oak, Shropshire, +where Philip Henry resided and where his son Matthew was +born. It stands where the Wrexham Road is intersected by a +lane leading to Whitwell Church. It is a small farmhouse, +part of a larger one, with heavy beams, and a broad <a +name="page270"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 270</span>chimney +corner, like what one sees in Anne Hathaway’s cottage near +Stratford-on-Avon. When in its primitive state, it must +have been spacious, for, says the famous Puritan, “I have +room for twelve friends in my beds, a hundred in my barn, and a +thousand in my heart.” Here he resembled +“Abraham sitting at his tent door, in quest of +opportunities to do good. If he met with any poor near his +house, and gave them alms in money, he would, besides, bid them +go to his door for relief. He was very tender and +compassionate towards poor strangers, and travellers, though his +candour and charity were often imposed upon by cheats and +pretenders.”</p> +<p>The mention of Broad Oak occurs repeatedly in the Life of the +father, written by his affectionate son. The latter tells +of his father’s removal to Broad Oak, and the providences +concerning him there, of “the rebukes he lay under at Broad +Oak,” and of the last nine years of his life, in +“liberty and enlargement at Broad Oak.” At a +time when ministerial engagements were by no means so numerous +and diversified as they are at present; when habits of home +study, quiet visitation of the flock, and catechising the +children, rather than preaching on public occasions, attending +large <a name="page271"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +271</span>meetings, and travelling to and fro along the length +and breadth of the land, distinguished both town and country +clergymen; when those who were connected with the Established +Church, and had no restraints put upon their activity, spent what +would be now considered very retired and monotonous lives; what +must have been the secluded and stationary position of an ejected +minister between the Restoration and the Revolution! No +wonder, then, that almost every incident and effort belonging to +Philip Henry’s career belonged to the farm at Broad Oak, +where he lived and died, and wrote and suffered, and walked and +taught, bringing up his children, and receiving his friends, and +paying visits to his neighbours, under the shadow of the +umbrageous trees which gave a name to his pleasant homestead.</p> +<p>I drove over to the house, or rather that part of it which +still remains, a part of the kitchen, as I suppose, in which the +good man used to preach. The people of the house showed me +some relics—the pulpit cushion, and, I think, the pulpit +itself, or some portion of it; also some buttons which belonged +to Philip Henry’s coat.</p> +<p>At Whitwell is a chapel containing Philip Henry’s <a +name="page272"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 272</span>monument, +which once stood in the parish edifice of Whitchurch.</p> +<p>At the end of the Whitwell epitaph are the words, “In +dormitorium hic juxta positum demisit June 24, Anno Dom. MDCXCVI, +Ætatis LXV.” Was it in imitation of this, that +the words were introduced in Matthew Henry’s monument in +Holy Trinity Church, Chester, “Confectum corpus huic +dormitorio commisit 22 die Junii, 1714, Anno ætat +52”?</p> +<p>Dr. Howson, Dean of Chester, who was staying with me at Crewe +Hall when this visit was arranged, intended to be my companion, +for he was a great admirer of the Henrys; but illness prevented +him.</p> +<p>In 1877 I was invited by Dr. Stanley to deliver a missionary +lecture in Westminster Abbey, one of a series he had arranged, in +which some friends of his, not clergymen in the Establishment, +took part.</p> +<p>In 1877 I gave a lecture in the room of the Society of Arts on +the prospects and perils of modern civilisation. One of the +audience was a native gentleman attached to the Chinese +Embassy—a very intelligent person, speaking English well, +and showing by his conversation how clearly he grasped points of +the address he had just <a name="page273"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 273</span>heard. It was a singular +circumstance that a representative of the largest empire of the +world—which not long ago counted all other nations as +barbarous—should listen to a barbarian as he represented +the good and <i>evil</i> of European civilisation.</p> +<p>Just before Christmas (1877) two or three days were spent at +the Deanery of Westminster, and on the Sunday afternoon Dr. +Stanley walked with me on the terrace of the Parliamentary +Houses, where we had some interesting talk. He pointed to +the palatial edifice at our back as we looked across the river, +and said, “This is the palace of the nation”; turning +attention to St. Thomas’ Hospital, he remarked, “That +is the palace of the poor”; and next, looking towards +Lambeth, he added, “There is the palace of the +Church.” We discussed the state and prospects of the +Establishment, and he, as a staunch advocate for its continuance, +propounded schemes of reform, which, looking at the state of +parties, seemed to me quite impracticable. He was filled +with an idea of comprehension, if not within wide Episcopalian +limits, then by a State union of different +denominations—for example, thus: He would have been glad to +see a Presbyterian Moderator, a <a name="page274"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 274</span>Congregational Chairman, and a +Wesleyan President sitting in the House of Lords on a bench with +the bishops. He further thought that, as Charles II. was +willing to have Nonconformist chaplains, after the Restoration, +so an English sovereign might now, without any impropriety, do +the same; and if the Uniformity Act were modified so as to allow +a Dissenting minister to enter a pulpit of the Establishment, +there would be no legal bar in the way. My friend had the +widest sympathies possible, and union, with him, was a +passion.</p> +<p>In some respects I have a feeling like the Dean’s, but I +hold theological and ecclesiastical principles such as he did not +adopt. One fundamental difference between us was that he +overlooked the exercise of Church <i>discipline</i>, to which I +attach great importance. The study of State organisations +has convinced me that the “union of Church and State” +creates insuperable barriers in the way of ecclesiastical +discipline. If the Church be linked to the State, so that a +subject of the State becomes thereby legally entitled to +membership and communion,—that forms a strong bar to a +faithful correction of moral misconduct and fundamental +disbeliefs. It was a great difficulty <a +name="page275"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 275</span>under the +Commonwealth. The devoted and holy Thomas Wilson, Bishop of +Sodor and Man, found it so in carrying on his diocese. He +said in his famous “Ecclesiastical Constitutions” +that his desire was “We may not stand charged with the +scandals which wicked men bring upon religion, when they are +admitted to, and reputed members of, Christ’s Church; and +that we may, by all laudable means, promote the conversion of +sinners, and oblige men to submit to the discipline of the +Gospel.” But for myself, let me say I have not found +any difficulty in the maintenance of discipline in Congregational +Churches. Whatever might be the basis of Dr. +Stanley’s far-reaching comprehension, it appears to me +there might be a much broader range of religious sympathy and +co-operation between distinct religious bodies connected with the +maintenance of well-accentuated beliefs, and the exercise of +ecclesiastical discipline.</p> +<p>In the early part of the following year I visited Edinburgh to +lecture for the Philosophical Society of that city. My +subject was “The Great Rebellion”; and I made a +double attempt, first, to vindicate the Parliament policy as +against the despotic unconstitutionalism of the infatuated +monarch; and <a name="page276"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +276</span>secondly, to criticise the proceedings of some eminent +men on the Puritan and popular side. The society invited me +to lecture again, when different historical ground was taken, and +a sketch was presented of English and Scotch life in the days of +Queen Anne.</p> +<p>My old friend, and large-hearted host, the Rev. George D. +Cullen, favoured me with the company at dinner, of Dr. Goold, +Moderator of the Free Church; Dr. Hanna, son-in-law to Dr. +Chalmers; Dr. Alexander, and others—and we had earnest talk +about topics of the day. Scotch and English elements of +thought, blended so as to bring diversities into view, without +any portion of the acrimony common to polemical debate. +True blue Presbyterianism rose in contrast with milder colours of +Ecclesiasticism. There was no want of thrust or repartee, +but we kept the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. +Edinburgh society is of the choicest kind. Some of the best +talkers may be found on the other side the border; and memories +of celebrities in Auld Reekie, are amongst the most pleasant of +my life. On the occasion just noticed, my friend Mr. Cullen +took me over to St. Andrews; and there Principal Tulloch did the +honours of ciceroneship to perfection. In the evening we <a +name="page277"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 277</span>dined at +the house of Professor Swann, where further social enjoyments of +a high university order were found to be in store.</p> +<p>During this visit to Scotland a curious fact was related to me +by the librarian of the University. Drummond of Hawthornden +bequeathed books to the library of that institution, and in the +catalogue appeared an item of “MSS. respecting Mary Queen +of Scots.”</p> +<p>These MSS. were long missing, and inquiries about them were +made in vain. Not very long before my visit, the librarian +received a communication from some one who said he had, in his +possession, papers belonging to the University; and on receiving +a reply to his letter, he forwarded them. They turned out +to be the missing treasure. How came this about? As +well as I can remember it appeared that a librarian of the last +century put one day into his coat pocket these very MSS., and +took them home for examination. He suddenly died. His +clothes were sent to a relative, and amongst them, the coat +containing the documents now mentioned. For a century +afterwards they remained forgotten, and then came to light. +The possessor, finding they belonged to Edinburgh University, +wrote to the librarian as stated above, and restored them to +their <a name="page278"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +278</span>proper place. The recovered property was shown to +me. It included original papers published some time ago, +and others not previously known; but, if I may venture to say so, +after a brief inspection, they did not promise to be of so much +service as was hoped, in throwing fresh light on the mysteries of +poor Mary’s career.</p> +<p>The seventh General Conference of the Evangelical Alliance was +held in Basle, September 1st 1879.</p> +<p>There was a large gathering of delegates from Germany, France, +Austria, Italy, Spain, Holland, America and England. The +president was M. C. Sarasin, Councillor of State, who is said to +have descended from a Moorish ancestor settled in the +canton. He showed himself to be acquainted with English +literature.</p> +<p>“Let me remind our English friends,” he said, +“of the words their great poet puts in the mouth of Richard +II.:</p> + +<blockquote><p> ‘Look +not to the ground<br /> +Ye favourites of a king! Are we not high?<br /> +High be our thoughts.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>“Let us cherish high thoughts, my friends! Are we +not the servants of a King, of the King of kings, and Lord of +lords? And is it not His work we are carrying on?</p> +<blockquote><p><a name="page279"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +279</span>‘Die sach’ ist dein, Herr Jesu Christ,<br +/> +Die sach’ an der wir stehen.’<br /> +(The cause is Thine, Lord Jesus Christ,<br /> +The cause for which we stand.)</p> +</blockquote> +<p>“Thus let our work be done, our testimony be given, our +efforts be united, in the same joyful steadfast spirit, with the +same buoyancy, with which the Apostle, with chained hands, +appealed to his flock at Philippi, ‘Rejoice in the Lord +always, and again I say, rejoice.’”</p> +<p>These were animating words, and awakened an enthusiastic +response, when uttered in the old church of St. Martin, where +Æcolampadius first preached the doctrines of the +Reformation.</p> +<p>I give the following <i>resumé</i> of some remarks I +made at the Basle Alliance meeting.</p> +<p><i>The Times</i> reported:</p> +<p>“Dr. Stoughton contrasted the gathering of peoples in +that assembly, representative of all nations, with a meeting held +in Basle four hundred and fifty years ago. Christendom was +then in a very divided state, for the spirit of religious inquiry +was breaking out, and the great moot-point was, in all +theological controversy, ‘Where lies the ultimate authority +for religious beliefs—in Popes, in Councils, or in the Word +of God?’ They met that day in times of a somewhat +different<a name="page280"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +280</span>character, but of still deeper and wider agitation, for +the question now was, not only whether the Church or the Bible +was the final test of truth, but also whether reason or +revelation should be our guide as to the highest of all subjects +which could affect the present and future interests of the human +family. But how vast the difference between that famous +Council at Basle and the Evangelical Alliance Conference of this +day! Under what different aspects was union regarded by the +two assemblies! The one aimed at uniformity, at a precise +and definitely-expressed agreement of opinion, in relation to +theological and ecclesiastical points, which might be enforced on +all Christendom by pains and penalties,—even death, to a +recreant brother. The other seeks to promote unity, +holding, after the experience of ages, that uniformity was +impossible, and that true unity could not only be attained, but +was compatible with a hearty, loving, sympathetic Christian +fellowship throughout the family of the redeemed. He then +contrasted the appearance of the two meetings, traced out the +history of the followers of John Huss, and, in a long and +exceedingly able and interesting historical review of the history +of the Reformation, showed that Protestant England was not only +indebted to Basle for men <a name="page281"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 281</span>but for principles; and, identifying +the two with the work of Calvin at Geneva and John Knox in +Scotland, he contended that the outcome of those early struggles +was not only religious freedom in Europe, but, mainly through the +Puritans of England, the religious life and progress of +America. Their simple reliance now, as then, was the Gospel +of Christ, and freedom to preach and practise its heaven-born +truths.”</p> +<p>I have a great delight in all genuine Christian union, but my +conception of it is by no means confined to the cultivation of +love and sympathy with those, who in all, or in most, respects +concur with me. There is an admirable passage in Julius +Hare’s preface to the third volume of Arnold’s +“Rome.” “We are so bound and shackled, by +all manner of prejudices, national, party, ecclesiastical, +individual, that we can hardly move a limb freely; and we are so +fenced and penned in, that few can look over their +neighbour’s land, or up to any piece of sky, except to +<i>that which is just over their heads</i>.” I took +an active part in the early history of the Evangelical Alliance, +and I rejoice in those points of agreement which are expressed in +its Evangelical faith; but I have never liked its exclusion of +some good people from its fellowship, on the ground of +differences in relation <a name="page282"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 282</span>to ecclesiastical ordinances. +I would look kindly over “my neighbour’s land,” +and towards “pieces of sky” which are not “just +over my head.”</p> +<p>I can scarcely bring myself to speak of the sorrow which +befell me in November 1879. My beloved wife then died, and +was interred in Hanwell Cemetery, which pertains to the parish of +Kensington. The beautiful words in Proverbs are inscribed +on her gravestone: “Her children arise up, and call her +blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.” Some +time ago I read in the Life of my American friend, Dr. Hodge, the +following passage respecting the deceased companion of <i>his</i> +life. I can truly appropriate it to my departed loved +one. “A humble worshipper of Christ, she lived in +love and died in faith. Trustful woman, delightful +companion, ardent friend, devoted wife, self-sacrificing mother, +we lay you gently here, our best beloved, to gather strength and +beauty for the coming of the Lord.”</p> +<p>My dearest friend Joshua Harrison, who was to her as a +brother, preached a funeral sermon, in which he said, “The +strength of her life was her faith in the Son of God. Her +path, though the sun shone brightly upon it, was often a thorny +one. Her own health was liable to frequent interruptions, +and her <a name="page283"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +283</span>heart was pierced again and again by the loss of +children, whom she loved better than herself. Oh, the +unmurmuring resignation with which seven several times, she saw +her dear ones carried to the grave! Oh, the courage with +which she bore the shock! She never wavered in the +conviction, ‘He loved me and gave Himself for me,’ +but felt that these sad sorrows must be only the obscurer +manifestations of His love. And hence she could write, +‘Here we shall never be exempt from trial and sorrow, but +when we reach that changeless home above, there will be no need +of sanctifying us there. All that is needful to make us +meet for that holy place must be done here; and oh, how much +pruning and purging, how much of grace and strength we need to +help us to walk more closely with Him.’</p> +<p>“She has reached that changeless abode now, and has left +all sorrow behind. Long, long had she been waiting, but the +message came so suddenly at last, that, without knowing she was +dying, she found herself at home. The words discovered in +her desk, which by copying she had made her own, received sweet +and exact fulfilment:</p> +<blockquote><p>‘The way is long, my Father, and my soul<br +/> +Longs for the rest and quiet of the goal;<br /> +<a name="page284"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 284</span>While +yet I journey through this weary land,<br /> +Keep me from wandering; Father, take my hand,<br /> + Quickly and straight,<br /> + Lead to Heaven’s gate<br /> + + +Thy child.</p> +<p>‘The way is long, my child, but it shall be<br /> +Not one step longer than is best for thee,<br /> +And thou shalt know, at last, when thou shalt stand<br /> +Close by the gate, how I did take thy hand,<br /> + And quick and straight,<br /> + Lead to Heaven’s gate<br /> + + +My child.’”</p> +</blockquote> +<h2><a name="page285"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +285</span>CHAPTER XIII<br /> +1879–1883</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">Need</span> was felt for some change after +my sad bereavement; so in March, 1880, my daughter and I started +for Italy. We tarried on our way a week at Cannes with my +friend, Mr. Prust, of Northampton, an old fellow-student, who had +a villa in the Riviera. I greatly enjoyed the climate and +scenery, and felt soothed by walks and drives on the shores, +through the cork groves, and round about to more distant places +of interest. Old affections sprang up anew between my +friend and myself as we talked of auld lang syne. Nothing +could exceed the kindness shown by him and his two interesting +nieces.</p> +<p>I met with some old acquaintances at Mentone; amongst the +rest, with a gentleman well known in the political and religious +world and closely connected with Lord Palmerston. He gave +me much <a name="page286"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +286</span>information as to what he apprehended was the state of +thought and feeling amongst the upper class in reference to +Christianity. There seemed to be a large amount of +light-hearted, thoughtless scepticism on the part of young +people; girls catching from their brothers doubts as to God and +Christ and eternity—doubts circulated in conversation and +in periodicals. The facts indicated did not strike me as +deep and earnest, but as froth on the surface of common talk; +not, however, to be passed over as a trifling phenomenon, for if +those who occupy superior stations in the world have their faith +shaken as to natural and revealed religion, it forebodes mischief +to wider circles round them. My informant was inclined to +believe that outspoken doubt and disbelief was less to be dreaded +than concealed enmity. Moreover, that whilst there was much +to excite concern in literature and social intercourse of the +present day, there was also an increase in the higher as well as +lower walks of thorough-going Christian experience and +practice. In my own limited acquaintance I have been +cheered to find instances of what appeared genuine piety where I +little expected them; works of benevolence going on nowadays +amongst all classes are surely tokens for good, which ought to +fill us with thankfulness. We are all tempted to <a +name="page287"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 287</span>confine +ourselves to one side of the world and Church picture before us; +but we shall not get at the whole truth by shutting one eye and +keeping the other wide open.</p> +<p>Leaving Cannes, we travelled by the Cornice Railway to Genoa, +and there renewed acquaintance with churches, palaces, and +picture galleries, seen years before. Then tarrying at +Spezzia, we saw some new specimens of Italian scenery and +life. Pisa and Florence were again visited, cities in which +I loved to linger; and at the end of about ten days we reached +Rome.</p> +<p>I had an introduction to Cardinal Howard, who sent me an +invitation to visit him. I was met by a Monseignor friend +of his, with whom I had a good deal of conversation. We +discussed several topics, and then touched upon the relations in +which Catholics and Protestants stood to one another. He +considered there was improvement in this respect, more social +intercourse existing between them than was once the case.</p> +<p>Pio Nono had a Jewish friend, who became a convert. +Seeing him one day depressed, “the holy father,” as +this Monseignor called him, asked what was the cause.</p> +<p>“I have just lost my father, who died a Jew, and <a +name="page288"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 288</span>I am +greatly concerned about the state of his soul.”</p> +<p>“But was he a good Jew, devout and acting up to the +light he had?”</p> +<p>“Yes,” was the reply.</p> +<p>Then came the Pope’s rejoinder, “I will pray for +him; and do you pray for him, and I doubt not that God will have +mercy on him.”</p> +<p>These were his words as well as I can remember. The +drift of the story and its application were intended to show that +the deceased pontiff did not despair of a Jew’s +salvation. He did not look upon those outside the Roman +pale as beyond the reach of God’s mercy, though needing +purification in a future state.</p> +<p>Whilst we were talking the Cardinal came in. The +reception he gave me was singularly cordial, and we had a good +deal of friendly chat relative to the Stanley family. The +favours I asked he granted at once; one was a special +introduction to the chief librarian at the Vatican, and the +seeing more of its treasures than I had done when I visited the +library many years before. He took me into his library, +well furnished with books, in handsome bindings, and we had some +talk about Thomas Aquinas, in whose writings I took an +interest. He <a name="page289"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +289</span>recommended to me some little books of analysis and +comment. He also procured a papal permission for my +daughter to see St. Peter’s Crypt, which is closed to +ladies generally, on all days of the year except one. The +Cardinal arranged with one of the Vatican librarians that I +should have special facilities for seeing historical documents; +and afterwards, on my reaching the Vatican by appointment, I was +received by an officer, who accompanied me into one of the +magnificent galleries, which I had seen years before, to find +then all book-cases closed. Now some of them were opened, +and I was permitted to take down any volumes I liked; and I at +once luxuriated in the inspection of charming Aldine editions of +patristic and other authors—the paper as white, and the +printing as fresh, as when they were produced four centuries +ago.</p> +<p>I was surprised to find that provision was made for the use of +printed books, and certain MSS., by readers, admitted after the +fashion in our British Museum. There are catalogues, giving +titles and press-marks; and, by writing for what you want upon +slips of paper, and handing them to an attendant, as in the +British Museum, you attain the volumes desired, which you can use +at desks provided for the purpose. A catalogue of much +greater <a name="page290"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +290</span>compass than exists at present, I was informed, is in +progress; but the Cardinal told me, it might be a long time +before it was finished, adding, that Rome is the Eternal City in +more senses than one. He encouraged me to believe that even +the archives of the Holy See might be accessible; but, far short +of that, MSS. which I wrote for, and examined, were sufficient to +convince me that there is abundant materials for extensive +research, beyond what was formerly possible. Besides, in +the vast Library of the Dominicans—who once had their +monastery at Sopra Minerva—a library which is now open to +the public, under certain regulations, there are the archives of +the Roman Inquisition; the historical use which now can be made +of them, appears in many numbers of <i>La Rivista Christiana</i>, +in which I found many valuable extracts. Much interesting +information respecting early Italian confessors may be found in +those Inquisitionary records.</p> +<p>I saw several Protestant brethren in Rome; and, besides +preaching in the Presbyterian Church twice, was invited to +address a large meeting of Italians, through the medium of the +Rev. Mr. Piggott, who was my kind interpreter. I took +occasion to lament that Italian Protestants, whilst not by any +means <a name="page291"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +291</span>numerous, were broken up into so many parties; said +that it would be far better if they would work together; and if +that were impossible, it was at least desirable and easy, not to +interfere with each other’s proceedings, by opposition or +uncivil criticism. Judging from a response on the part of +an Italian, I was glad to find my remarks were not deemed +offensive; but I am afraid they did no real good.</p> +<p>Whilst in Rome at this time I tried to turn my visit to some +account by restudying its Christian antiquities. Christian +art in its early state is a subject illustrated by the +Catacombs. The rude paintings and sculptures familiar to +every Roman visitor, familiar by means of books to thousands who +have never seen the originals, are historical and symbolic. +Noah and the Ark, Abraham offering up Isaac, Moses receiving the +law, Jonah and the whale, Daniel and the lions, the three Hebrews +in the furnace—these have a Christian meaning, and point +typically to truths respecting Christ’s redemption. +Subterranean Rome, it has been well said by a French author, is +“<i>a living book</i>, palpable, everlasting,” and +there are written on its pages, in hieroglyphic ways, truths +which are held by all true Christians, whether Protestant or +Catholic. The Agape or love-feast, a ship emblematic of the +Church, <a name="page292"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +292</span>the cross, the fish, the dove, and other well-known +signs of Christ and His salvation, occur over and over +again. Also there are historical pictures of the Nativity, +and of Peter denying his Master. Portraits also are found +of Christ, of Peter, of Paul. The Virgin Mary is seen by +the side of her husband, whilst the Holy Child, like an Italian +bambino, lies in His cradle, an ox licking His feet; close by, +the Magi are watching stars in the east. No picture or +image of the Virgin, in solitary magnificence, at all resembling +the Madonnas of a later period, so far as I can make out, has +been discovered in the Catacombs. The contrast between the +early attempts and the later achievements of Roman Christian art +in doctrinal significance, as well as in imaginative conception +and technical skill, is obvious and striking. To pass from +the former to the latter requires an immense stride; to go from +examining early representations of gospel facts and principles, +to look round churches and galleries rich in the works of modern +Catholic artists, is to exchange worlds. The difference in +religious meaning is as great as the difference in artistic +merit.</p> +<p>During this visit to Rome some remarkable religious meetings +were conducted by Dr. A. N. Somerville, of Glasgow, who in other +parts of Italy <a name="page293"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +293</span>the same spring, held revivalistic Protestant +services. Those at Rome occurred on a spot, to reach which +many citizens had to cross a bridge with a toll bar on it. +Notwithstanding, on the evening when we attended, I should think +about eight hundred people were present. The preacher could +not speak Italian, and what he said was translated into that +language, by a native Protestant. Everything was skilfully +managed, and the effect appeared on the whole, solemn and +impressive. Congregations after the same methods had been +previously gathered in Florence, where the addresses, according +to report, had produced considerable impression. +Sankey’s hymns, translated into Italian, were sung at Rome, +with Sankey’s tunes; how far solid evangelical results +followed I could not ascertain.</p> +<p>We made, at this time, two excursions which I must +notice. One was very short: only as far as Ostia, where +there are still some Roman remains. The present town is not +worth notice, but the ancient city, Hare says in his “Days +near Rome,” is like Pompeii. I cannot quite agree +with him. The deep ruts of Roman chariot wheels; fragments +here and there of Roman pottery, human bones, coloured marbles, +and a few architectural relics, are of interest; but what <a +name="page294"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 294</span>attracted +me to the spot was the memory of Augustine, who, in his +“Confessions,” paints such a touching picture of his +mother Monica’s illness and death. Thoughts of that +interview, as related by the converted son, were the only charm +of our visit, and the hour or two we were compelled to spend in +the place, for the refreshment of our coachman and his horse, +were most dreary. The long, long gossip going on between a +priest and the mistress of the little farm, betokened the intense +idleness and vulgarity of both,—typical, I fear, of the +whole neighbourhood.</p> +<p>Another expedition we made was of a very different kind. +We engaged a carriage to the charming haunts of Tivoli, where +picturesque objects in the town and its vicinity, and the +stupendous waterfall with manifold associations, clustering round +the immediate neighbourhood, created memorable delight. +Next day we drove to Subiaco, along an interesting road rich in +memories of old Roman rural life. My daughter wrote in her +journal:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“It was a glorious morning, the sun was +shining brightly, and in the cool spring air, our three pretty +little black horses dashed along the road at a good pace, so that +we soon found ourselves <a name="page295"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 295</span>winding in and out amongst the +Sabine Hills. We climbed up a steep ascent, only to go +dashing down on the other side. The retreating hills, +rising here and there to a great height, were clothed with trees, +some of a sombre colour, some fresh with the bright hue of early +spring, with here and there a cluster of silver olives, making a +delightful variety of colour; whilst, at our feet, the roadside +was beautiful with anemones, cyclamen, honeysuckle, and +saxifrage; and, lower still, ran the refreshing river +Arno.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Not far from Subiaco there is a deep gorge with sloping sides +of rock and foliage, reaching down to the river Arno, bordered by +chestnut trees, amidst which, here and there, rises a tall +cypress. The brow of the hill on the side nearest Subiaco, +is crowned by a far-famed monastery in which, very different from +what it is now, the great St. Benedict, founder of a monastery +which bears his name, spent his early days and prepared for his +great life work, which began at Monte Cassino, on the road from +Rome to Naples.</p> +<p>We left Subiaco for Olevano, and were benighted on our way, as +the horses toiled up hill after hill. We reached Olevano +late at night, and caused quite a commotion in the narrow street, +by our <a name="page296"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +296</span>inquiries after the hotel, where we were to pass the +night, and which, ignorantly, we had passed by, at the hill-top +which overlooks the town. There, to our delight, we met +with a most enjoyable reception, as the house is a favourite +resort for artists; and though we blundered into a room, already +occupied by guests, we were permitted to remain, and listen to +charming stories of the place and its surroundings. After +tarrying a few hours next morning, we had to hasten our +departure, that we might catch a train on the railway from Naples +to Rome.</p> +<p>After leaving Rome on our way to England, we halted some days +at Venice, and revived old recollections. I went over +points of interest in a visit years before, and new pictorial and +architectural pleasures were enjoyed. We proceeded to +Bologna, and crossed the beautiful Lago di Garda, spent a day or +two at Trent, where special services were being held for young +people, and hosts of “shining ones” in white, crowded +the churches.</p> +<p>In 1881 I visited Italy again, especially for the purpose of +carrying on researches commenced just before. The journey +was rapid. Reaching Turin, accompanied by my dear daughter, +I began my work by searching out localities which I could <a +name="page297"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 297</span>easily +identify. In other places I picked up illustrations I +desired; for, when the mind is bent on a particular inquiry, it +is wonderful how it draws cognate matters to itself. We +made an excursion to Pavia, and, on the way, stopped at the +beautiful monastery of Certosa. Pavia, situated on the +river Ticino, with a covered bridge, is interesting, from its +antiquities and history. The churches are specimens of +Lombardic architecture, and in the Duomo one was startled to find +the tomb of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, whose remains were +transferred from Africa to this city. They were there at +the time of our visit, his monument being full of magnificence +and beauty, in general form and particular details. Since I +was at Pavia, the body has been restored to its original +resting-place. Pavia connects itself with the philosopher, +Boetius, by a popular tradition that he was imprisoned in a tower +belonging to the city. Piacenza and Bologna during this +journey afforded gleanings which helped me to realise important +events occurring there at the time of the Reformation; but it was +in Florence that I did most work, and spent more than a week from +day to day tracking Savonarola’s footsteps through the +streets, from San Marco to the Palazzo Vecchio, and back again, +not forgetting his visit <a name="page298"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 298</span>to Lorenzo di Medici at his villa in +Careggi, with views of rich woodlands and grassy fields. +But my chief employment was in the public library, searching out +and deciphering original documents, connected with his +trial. According to one account Savonarola underwent an +examination, first by words, then by threats, then by torture; +and on the second day of his imprisonment was put on the +rack. The account of the trial which I gathered from +original sources, was in harmony with that of Villari in his life +of the martyr. There are two letters appended, one +addressed to the Pope respecting <i>la vita buono</i> of the +sufferer, and another by a large number of Florentine +citizens. I was especially interested in Savonarola’s +Bible, which he used to carry under his arm. It is entitled +“Biblia integra,” the type beautifully clear, the +date 1491. It contains some of his prophecies in MS. +Signor Guicciardini has contributed a large collection of +Savonarola’s works to this Magliabecchian Library, as it is +called, and the catalogue of them runs over sixty pages.</p> +<p>After leaving Florence, we visited the Waldensian valleys, of +which I have given some account in my “Footprints of +Italian Reformers,” and I may here add, that I agree fully +with Professor Comba <a name="page299"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 299</span>in his opinion, that the Waldenses, +properly speaking, do not appear in history earlier than the +twelfth century, and then they are seen scattered over the South +of France at Metz, and in the Netherlands—their origin +being ascribed by their enemies to Peter Waldo of Lyons, who does +not appear to have visited the valleys. I found the good +people in the valleys opposed to the results of Professor +Comba’s researches. An intelligent daughter of a +Waldensian minister said, “We do not believe in them at all +here.” After studying the subject, let me add, I +do.</p> +<p>In 1881 my dear friend Dr. Stanley died, after so short an +illness that I had no opportunity of seeing him in his last +hours. His funeral was an event of national interest.</p> +<p>He had much of the mind which distinguished “that +disciple whom Jesus loved.” His singular sweetness of +disposition was partly natural, for he was a gentle, quiet boy, +winning many hearts; but it was gracious and spiritual also, a +result of sincere discipleship to the Divine Master. I +often felt surprised at his extraordinary amount of forbearance +under most unjust and cruel attacks. I once alluded to the +need of patience amidst such trials, instancing Archbishop +Tillotson, who <a name="page300"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +300</span>left behind him a bundle of scurrilous letters, +labelled with the words, “May God forgive the writers as I +do.” I learned from my friend that once he was +accused of infidelity by an anonymous correspondent; and on +another occasion, after the figures of Moses, David, Paul, and +Peter had been placed in the choir of the Abbey, he received a +note beginning with a charge of idolatry. Our Broad Church +Dean, and the prelate of the Revolution were ecclesiastically and +socially much alike. As to theology the former told me +there is much in the teaching of Scripture which transcends human +conception, much which, running along lines of mystery, he felt +himself unable to follow; but, at the same time, he would remark, +there is much more that is plain, which “a wayfaring man, +though a fool,” may receive and “not err +therein.” To these plain things, he said, he desired +to cleave; these plain things he endeavoured to preach. The +main difference between others and himself was that certain +Evangelical principles were plainer to them than to him.</p> +<p>His interest in Bible study was intense, especially with +regard to historical and biographical subjects; and it was well +said, that whilst some critics seemed to delight in destroying +certain parts, <a name="page301"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +301</span>his delight was to build them up into a grand +whole. His habit was to maintain truth, so far as he saw +it, rather than to attack and overthrow error; and his gift of +felicitously adapting events and passages of Holy Writ to passing +incidents and characters, was truly wonderful; especially when an +opportunity occurred for weaving sacred associations round the +walls of his beloved Abbey. Nor did he fail to turn his +skill in this respect to admirable account, when preaching in +America.</p> +<p>Dr. Stanley’s amiableness never betrayed a suspicion of +weakness in his character. Indeed he had a side almost +stern in some of its appearances; and he fought against what he +deemed evil, with great vehemence; and stood up very boldly, I +know, against unprincipled people, declaring that he would not +meet them, except in the presence of witnesses.</p> +<p>To see him at his best was to be with him alone, when he gave +full sway to his thoughts and feelings, expressing them with +greater freedom than I ever heard him do in company. The +most enjoyable time was late in the evening, after guests had +retired; especially when he conducted me to my bedroom, +candlestick in hand, and tarried for a good while chatting about +subjects and persons of interest to us both.</p> +<p><a name="page302"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 302</span>Not +long before his death, I spent a night at Westminster, when we +talked about Oliver Cromwell. With much pathos he read +aloud Carlyle’s description of the Lord Protector’s +last hours; and, some time before this, he told me that he had +been engaged in endeavouring to ascertain what became of the +hero’s remains after indignities done to them at the +Restoration.</p> +<p>Soon after the Dean’s death, I received from Mrs. +Drummond, his executrix, a note accompanied by the picture it +referred to. “In a memorandum left by our dear Dean, +he desired a photograph of him, which used to stand in the +drawing-room, should be sent to you, in remembrance of a sincere +friendship.”</p> +<p>With regard to the composition of historical works he was in +the habit of employing such information as he could gather from +friends.</p> +<p>Oxford men have told me, that he used to lay under +contribution whatever he could learn from other people’s +researches. For these, however, he was always ready to make +ample returns.</p> +<p>Dr. Stanley told me that he was in the habit of looking at +some historical characters through the medium of living people, +who appeared to him, in one way or other, to resemble them. +Excellencies and frailties <a name="page303"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 303</span>on the part of deceased individuals, +thus came out more vividly before him. It struck me as a +considerable help to a realisation of what departed persons +<i>might</i> be; but it requires to be carefully employed, lest +from resemblances which are real, we infer other things which are +imaginary.</p> +<p>His taste was comprehensive. He loved everything which +related to English history, especially where it touched his own +dear Abbey. Conformity and Nonconformity he sometimes +sought to harmonise in surprising ways.</p> +<p>I may add here that there was in the Abbey a monument to Dr. +Watts in a dilapidated condition, when I suggested a plan for its +restoration. The plan was adopted, and in consequence the +monument was for a time removed. During its absence I +received a note containing a playful allusion to the +circumstance:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“If some strong Nonconformist should wander +through the Abbey this week, he may go away with the impression +that in a fit of sudden intolerance the Dean had torn down the +monument of Isaac Watts. I assure you that the gaping and +vacant chasm in the wall might well suggest such an +interpretation. I hope, however, in a few days the restored +angel and the mended harp of your sweet psalmist will <a +name="page304"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 304</span>dispel any +hopes that may be awakened in High Churchmen or suspicions in +Nonconformists.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I was informed not long after the Dean’s death, that a +gentleman in Kent had in his possession what was said to be +Oliver Cromwell’s skull. A friend of mine procured +from that gentleman an invitation to see the relic. A +large, handsome box was placed on a table, and out of it was +taken, wrapped up in silk, a man’s skull. The lower +part of the face was gone, leaving the upper jawbone entire, or +nearly so; and within the mouth we saw the shrivelled remains of +a tongue, while some of the skin on the upper part of the face +was still preserved. What astonished me was the quantity of +hair adhering to the scalp; and also the following circumstances +pertaining to the relic. The inside, carefully examined by +a medical companion, plainly appeared to have been embalmed; +signs of this were attached to the surface. Moreover, part +of a spike penetrated the upper bone, showing that once the skull +must have been exposed in a way common enough, when men, put to +death for political crimes, had their heads set up in conspicuous +places. Finally the head had been severed from the body, +not by a sharp axe, but by a knife which had hacked and torn the +skin. These peculiarities pointed to one who, having +received honourable burial, was afterwards <a +name="page305"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 305</span>beheaded +with a blunt instrument, and then treated as a traitor, by having +his head exhibited like those fixed on the top of Temple +Bar. These peculiarities pertained to Oliver Cromwell; and +to no one else. Documents are preserved together with the +relic. They state that the relic remained publicly exposed +for a long time, till one night a gale of wind blew it down; that +a soldier on sentry picked it up and took it home, and then +became alarmed at finding there was search made after it by +public authorities. He concealed it down to the time of his +death; and when danger was over, the secret was divulged. +The skull was afterwards exhibited as a source of profit, and an +account of the exhibition appears among papers preserved in the +box. After being withdrawn from public view, it was +privately sold to an ancestor of the gentleman possessing it at +the time of my visit. There is a story afloat, that +Cromwell was not buried in Westminster, another corpse being +substituted for public interment, and, therefore, that the body +hanged at Tyburn was not his! This story is not to be +trusted.</p> +<p>In the August following Dean Stanley’s death, I made, +with my friend Harrison and some of my family, a tour in +Germany. We were delighted with the Bavarian Highlands and +the Bader See.</p> +<p><a name="page306"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 306</span>We +visited Oberammergau, and heard much about the Passion Play, and +were conducted to the place of performance, by persons who had +taken part in it. They gave us interesting +information. The priest of the place is no bigot. He +insisted that a Protestant, who had died in the village, should +be interred in consecrated ground, for which, we are told, he +received a rebuke from Rome. The drive we had from +Partenkirchen to Mittenwald called forth exclamations of great +delight.</p> +<p>In the following winter I mixed with members of various +denominations, some widely separated from others. This led +me to think a good deal about consistency. I noted down at +the time considerations of this kind. Everybody admits the +palpable truism, “Truth is true, and falsehood is +false,” and some deduce from that the corollary: +“Then stick to the true, and eschew the false +altogether. Countenance what you believe, by consorting +exclusively with such as believe as you do.”</p> +<p>But, it must be remembered, systems are complex, and cannot be +fairly dealt with in the fashion recommended by some. In +many cases, what is condemned as a whole, contains seeds of +another sort. There are estimable people who are not +accustomed to analyse what they condemn, and cannot see what of +truth <a name="page307"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +307</span>may be found in the midst of error. To look alone +at one side of a system, which, after all, has much of truth, may +involve us in error. Thinking of Divine sovereignty, if not +connected with human responsibility, may land us in +Antinomianism; to dwell upon responsibility by itself, may make +us Pelagians.</p> +<p>In the summer of 1882, I went down to Rodborough, in +Gloucestershire, to visit my friend, Sir S. Marling, just made +baronet, and to preach, I think, for the seventh time, on behalf +of the Sunday Schools. The Countess of Huntingdon, George +Whitefield, and Rowland Hill had all been in some way connected +with the chapel.</p> +<p>On the occasion now mentioned, there was a large gathering of +day and Sunday scholars, a picture worthy of Wilkie’s +pencil. Sir Samuel and his lady were encircled by guests +old and young, receiving from them demonstrations of affection in +loud huzzas.</p> +<p>Soon after my return from Italy I attended meetings connected +with Wesleyan Methodism, when my friend Mr. McArthur, (afterwards +knighted), was Lord Mayor of London. He invited me at +different times to meet a large number of ministers of his own +and other communions, and at such times he manifested the +catholic spirit by which he was eminently distinguished. I +think it was once in his <a name="page308"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 308</span>mayoralty that the archbishops and +bishops dined at the Mansion House table, when toasts were +proposed, to which the Archbishop of Canterbury had to +respond. Afterwards Nonconformists were honoured in the +common way, and it fell to my lot to reply in a few words. +The Archbishop had, in a good-natured style, referred to the +cares and troubles of his right reverend brethren, and +himself. Alluding to what he had said, I ventured to remark +I was quite content with my humbler position, and had no +aspirations after a seat on the Episcopal Bench. Further, I +pleaded, as I always do, for catholic union, and remarked that I +strove to be a Christian first; next, a patriotic religious +Englishman; and thirdly, a devout Dissenter, adding that I should +be ashamed of my Nonconformity, if that were so obstreperous, as +to quarrel with the subordinate place I assigned to it.</p> +<p>At the close of the year 1882 Dr. Tait, Archbishop of +Canterbury, died. With him I had the pleasure of being +acquainted soon after his appointment to the See of London. +Our relations afterwards were very friendly. I was kindly +invited to share in the pleasure of his Lambeth hospitality; and +at a time of deep domestic sorrow he was one of the very first to +express affectionate <a name="page309"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 309</span>sympathy in a letter of +condolence. I found him always very kind, and he impressed +me with the conviction that in his judgment of Conformity and +Nonconformity, and of the relative duties of Churchmen and +Dissenters, he took much more sensible views than most of his +brethren. He did not seem to anticipate, as at all +probable, the comprehension of all, or most, English Christians +within the pale of one community; since each denomination has its +principles, its traditions, and its trust property, and is not +likely to merge its peculiarities in the adoption of +others. A wise, liberal, Christian <i>modus vivendi</i> was +the object of his desire. I attended his funeral, and met +in his residence at Addiscombe, a large number of clergymen, and +men of different opinions, drawn together by a common regard for +his eminent moral and religious worth. The trees were bare, +the ground was covered with snow, and the long procession walked +through the park, the winter sun brightening the scene. The +whole struck me as very solemn, and in harmony with the occasion +that had brought us together.</p> +<p>My journeys abroad were approaching an end when in 1882 my +daughter and I spent a few weeks in Switzerland, on the shores of +the Genevan lake, and in its neighbourhood. One <a +name="page310"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 310</span>memorable +expedition we made was to Grenoble and the Grande +Chartreuse. The monastery was difficult of access early in +this century, but now there are well-appointed vehicles for +conveying tourists from the railway to the gates of this romantic +retreat. The ascent as far as Laurent du Pont is up a road +lined with acacias, bordering barley fields, commanding glimpses +of a magnificent valley, with bosky dells, cut in twain by the +river Isere. The gorge to the right increases in grandeur +as one ascends. Purple rocks rise from depths of massy +verdure, sublimity succeeds beauty, and, after reaching a broad +mountain-girdled plain, one arrives at a halting place called +Laurent du Pont. Thence the road becomes more steep, +winding along ledges of rock, whence, through openings, one looks +down on pine woods, and sees the stream fighting its way, like +our contested passage through this troublesome world. We +reached a thick forest at the top of the pass, and came to the +monastery—a pile, of buildings sheltered on green +uplands. There were before us long walls, square towers, +and steep roofs, dappled with dormer windows; here and there was +a slender spire. The buildings stand 4268 feet above the +level of the sea, and <a name="page311"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 311</span>one of the corridors is 660 feet +long. The original foundation dates far back; but little of +what one now sees is older than the seventeenth century. +The founder was the famous Bruno, who, with six companions, +retreated to this spot so secluded and desolate. +<i>Chartre</i> signifies a prison, but it also expresses what we +mean by the word <i>charter</i>. The buildings have been +seven times destroyed, but in the seventeenth century the convent +reached its meridian glory.</p> +<p>No sooner had we entered the penetralia of the building, than +we saw notices requesting visitors not to smoke, nor loiter, nor +speak loudly; and in the distance were monks with white cloaks +and cowls, gliding about like ghosts from the other world. +Pictures of Carthusian convents were hanging on the corridor +walls; and the Chapter House exhibited badly painted portraits of +past generals. Following our guide, we entered a vaulted +cloister, with windows on one side and doors on the other, +bearing texts of Scripture, such as “Narrow is the way +which leadeth unto life,” and “Whosoever he be of you +that forsaketh not all that he hath cannot be My +disciple.” Stations of the Cross are hung upon the +walls; through a window are caught glimpses of a green garden, +bright and cheery <a name="page312"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +312</span>amidst sombre appearances all round. The +dormitories have each a cupboard-like bed, a little reading desk, +a stove, directions for novices, a statuette of the Virgin, and a +crucifix. There are workshops fitted up with lathes, and a +small chapel with an altar cloth, covered with skulls and +cross-bones. Inscriptions such as “Vanity of +vanities, all is vanity,” expressed the characteristic +feeling of the inmates. The library is handsome, well +fitted up, with beautifully bound books.</p> +<p>Visitors are not admitted to the monastic chapel; but from a +tribune they are permitted to look down on the ante-chapel, and +witness matins at the appointed hour. The brotherhood are +remarkable for industry, being graziers of cattle, and +manufacturers of liqueurs.</p> +<p>The clock struck six just after we left the monastery, and a +calm summer evening shone on the old walls, the green pastures, +and the climbing woods. The pass, as we descended, struck +us as almost equal to the Via Mala in grandeur, united with +beauties which the other scene can scarcely boast. +Road-making, tree-felling, saw-mills, iron works, distilleries, +cement manufactories, told of widespread industry. The old +monastery lay behind; modern enterprise stood out before.</p> +<p><a name="page313"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 313</span>We +were rapidly driven through Laurent du Pont, as the star-studded +sky, streaked by the Milky Way, overarched the region. We +noticed glow-worms in the hedges, brought out by advancing night, +and presently the wide vale at the foot of the descending road +seemed dusted with bright-looking objects like glow-worms; but +they turned out to be the lamps of Voirons, where we took the +train for Grenoble, and finished a day of remarkable +interest.</p> +<h2><a name="page314"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +314</span>CHAPTER XIV<br /> +1883–1885</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">At</span> this period I was engaged in the +preparation of “The Spanish Reformers,” and to give +vividness to the work, with regard to local scenery and +circumstances, I resolved in March 1883 to visit the Peninsula, +where I might gather what was possible for the accomplishment of +my purpose.</p> +<p>My daughter was my companion, and had been studying Spanish to +render me assistance. We travelled through France on our +way to the north-east of Spain.</p> +<p>We halted at Lyons: in the neighbourhood of it persecution +occurred in the second century; but unlike what obtained in Spain +three hundred years ago, it was not the persecution of one class +of Christians by another, but the persecution of the Church by a +heathen world. We find embedded in <a +name="page315"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 315</span>the +Ecclesiastical History by Eusebius a document giving an account +of sufferings by believers at that time who were in the +neighbourhood of Lyons. Vienne, with its glass houses and +metal foundries, coalpits and smoke, is now passed by travellers, +without any interest; but in the second century it took +precedence of Lyons, and had a flourishing Church, a member of +which—Blandina, a maiden slave—suffered death as the +penalty of her faith. <a name="citation315"></a><a +href="#footnote315" class="citation">[315]</a></p> +<p>We tarried a night at Lyons, drove round the city, saw the +cathedral and other buildings, and ascended a hill on which +stands the church of Notre Dame de Fourvières, covered and +crowded with ex-votive offerings, in return for miraculous cures +by the Virgin. From the elevation views are caught of +extensive scenery. Thence we proceeded to Arles, rich in +Roman remains, including a magnificent amphitheatre. The +cathedral of St. Trophimus said to have been one of St. +Paul’s disciples, is an interesting specimen of twelfth or +thirteenth century architecture. Thence we proceeded to +Narbonne, a quaint old town, of importance in Roman times, with +ramparts still of some interest, and quaint streets, through +which we had an evening’s ramble. The cathedral of +St. Just is an unfinished edifice of <a name="page316"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 316</span>the thirteenth century, with some +good tracery in the windows. The city is distant from the +sea only about eight miles. Thence we proceeded to +Perpignan, and, entering Spain, reached our destination at +Figueras, where we were kindly welcomed by our friends, <a +name="citation316"></a><a href="#footnote316" +class="citation">[316]</a> who are engaged in evangelistic work +amongst Roman Catholic Spaniards.</p> +<p>Figueras is a considerable town, which greatly interested +us. It was the day before Good Friday that we arrived, and +we were much amused by a number of boys with wooden mallets +vehemently beating the pavement, which was explained to us as a +custom indicative of hatred to the Jews for having crucified our +Lord; what the Jews had to do with Figueras I could not make +out. In the evening there was a procession through the +streets of a truly magnificent description. It consisted of +the gentry in the town, attired in antique Spanish costumes, and +presented an imposing spectacle. Ladies personated the +Virgin Mary and other Scripture characters, and numerous candles +carried by attendants made a splendid illumination. On the +following day, Good Friday, we had a drive into the country, +where we saw and heard of what went on in the way of missionary +work conducted by our zealous <a name="page317"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 317</span>friends. In the evening we +visited a neighbouring church which was illuminated, and crowded +with people engaged in religious service. After this, we +saw in the streets a long procession, including penitents, who +were fettered with chains.</p> +<p>From Figueras we travelled to Barcelona, a city rich in +commercial enterprise and wealth, the streets crowded with people +and enlivened by carriages of grandees and wealthy merchants, as +well as by vehicles employed in humble traffic. The +cathedral is a noble edifice, in which we attended Divine worship +on Easter Sunday. A priest with difficulty made his way +through a densely-crowded congregation to the altar steps, where +he knelt and prayed, and then mounted a temporary pulpit. +As soon as he opened his lips, all eyes were turned towards +him. His voice was marvellous and his attitudes were +graceful; sometimes he was persuasive, then indignant, always +earnest; women wept, tears ran down men’s cheeks. The +sermon was on our Lord’s resurrection. He insisted on +our duty to remember Christ—“the Way, the Truth, and +the Life”; and he showed the effect of this on the hearts +and lives of believers. He dwelt on the duty of repentance, +and urged people to come to Christ. In a touching manner he +referred to his own experience, and exhorted the congregation <a +name="page318"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 318</span>to believe, +pray, and obey the Gospel; saying over and over again, +“<i>Haber fè</i>, <i>fè</i>, +<i>fè</i>”—“Have faith, faith, +faith.”</p> +<p>I met with signs of Protestant work going on in Barcelona, and +a gentleman residing there at the time, told me of what the +British and Foreign Bible Society was doing in Spain. He +gave it, as his opinion, that it exceeded other instrumentalities +in the efficiency of its service. I find it stated by a +Spanish author, that Barcelona abounds in mendicancy, and I have, +as I write, a woodcut before me representing a pitiable crowd of +beggars at one of the cathedral doors. <a +name="citation318"></a><a href="#footnote318" +class="citation">[318]</a></p> +<p>Next to Barcelona, we visited Tarragona, travelling there by +rail. Tarragona is situated on an eminence commanding a +fine view of the Mediterranean, and I was much interested in the +architecture of the cathedral, a building of the eleventh +century, fully described by Street in his work on “The +Gothic Architecture of Spain.”</p> +<p>Whilst tarrying at Tarragona, I made an excursion to Poblet, +rarely visited by English, though frequented by French and German +travellers. This place is distinguished by monastic remains +of extraordinary magnificence. You wander <a +name="page319"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 319</span>amongst +courts, cloisters, and dormitories, through stately halls, which +once boasted of a magnificent library rich in MSS.; through a +palace appropriated for the use of royal and noble visitants; and +through a stately church with a nave of seven bays. The +architectural grandeur of the whole is amazing; I was surprised +to learn that it is so rarely seen by our countrymen. Kings +and nobles were brought there for interment, and in that respect +it vies with our Westminster Abbey. At Poblet shattered +tombs may still be seen; and few, if any, but Spaniards of purest +blood, were permitted to sleep within the monastic walls. A +marble slab may be seen covering the remains of an Englishman, +described in the Spanish guide book as “Felipe de, +Marquése de Malbursi y de Cacharloch,” etc. +Wharton was the English name of this well-known personage, who +was made Knight of the Garter by James II. He had become a +Roman Catholic, but his father was a distinguished English +Nonconformist.</p> +<p>Our next destination was Valencia, to which city we travelled +by rail, enchanted as we approached it, by beautiful scenery +which one does not find abundant in Spain. Augustus Hare +breaks out rather rapturously respecting his approach: “Day +<a name="page320"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 320</span>broke in +time to show us the first vision of tall palms, with their +feathery foliage, rising black against one of Tennyson’s +‘daffodil skies,’ which above, still deep blue, was +filled with stars.” The groves and gardens appeared +to me very beautiful; and the soil is so fertile, that lucerne is +sown fifteen times in the course of a year. Valencia has +battlemented walls; and its arched gate, the Puerta de Sarranos, +reminds one of old English barbicans. It is an Oriental +kind of place, and has charmingly arched entrances for +light—<i>agimes</i>,—<i>i.e.</i>, openings by which +the sun enters. The city is full of memories, connected +with the Cid, which I have not space to introduce; but I may +mention that precursors of the Reformation entered the city in +1350,—under the name of Beghards, who figure rather +prominently in the religious history of that period.</p> +<p>The Cathedral of Valencia is a noble edifice, and has one +magnificent entrance of richly decorated Gothic. There is, +in the Colegio del Patriarca, a ceremony every week on Friday, +which attracts a number of people. It consists in letting +down an altar piece by concealed machinery; and then, by +withdrawing a curtain, there is disclosed a large picture of our +Saviour on the Cross. Those who assemble <a +name="page321"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 321</span>to witness +this ceremony, are required to appear in mourning. I +explored the city from end to end, and found it by no means so +uninteresting as some represent it.</p> +<p>We started in the evening for Cordova, a long distance; but as +it was accomplished in darkness, I noticed nothing by the way, +except stoppages at stations and a change of trains. We +crossed the Sierra Morena, which, in some places, at least, must +be very magnificent, if one may judge from an engraving of tall +rocks facing each other, leaving scarcely room for muleteers to +pass between. The approach to Cordova is inviting, and the +Moorish city is beheld amidst a fertile region, across which runs +the Guadalquivir.</p> +<p>We had been invited to take up our abode with an exemplary +Scotch missionary in the city. The sojourn was in a quiet +street at a comfortable dwelling, with an open space in the +middle of the residence, planted with shrubs. Upon this we +looked down from windows in our apartments. One room on the +ground floor is sufficiently large to receive a congregation of +about fifty people. We were there on a Sunday and attended +worship in the evening.</p> +<p>The Mosque of Cordova, now a cathedral, is one <a +name="page322"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 322</span>of the most +wonderful buildings in the world. The surrounding walls are +from thirty to sixty-feet high. The courtyard measures 430 +feet by 210. Once there were nineteen entrance gates, now +there is but one. Formerly there were inside the mosque +1200 monolithic columns, now there are only 850. What is +the <i>coro</i>, or choir, of the cathedral, was erected in the +sixteenth century, after the Mohammedan mosque had become a +Catholic church. We had pleasant walks and drives in the +neighbourhood.</p> +<p>The next celebrated place in our route was the far-famed +Granada, of which expectations were highly raised, without any +disappointment. We wandered about the Alhambra for several +days. The Hall of the Lions, the Hall of the Ambassadors, +and the Hall of the Abencerrages,—with their arches and +columns, courts and colonnades, fountains and flowers,—kept +us spel-bound day by day. We read Washington Irving on the +fascinating spots which he describes so vividly. We could +but bow to his relentless fidelity, where he assures us that, +after examining Arabic authorities and letters, written by +Boabdil’s contemporaries, he was convinced, that the whole +collection is fictitious with a few grains of truth at the +bottom.</p> +<p><a name="page323"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 323</span>The +fame of the Alhambra swallows up all which is wonderful in +Granada, but, the city retains much besides worthy of a +traveller’s attention. The prospect you have of the +place, the plain, and the surrounding hills, is magnificent; and +the cathedral, commenced in 1529, after the defeat and banishment +of the Moors, is a building of architectural interest. It +contains the Capella Real, with the tomb of Ferdinand and +Isabella; also of Philip the Handsome, and his wife Juana, +“Crazy Jane,” as she was called, mother of the famous +Charles V. The granddaughter tells us: “She committed +her soul to God and gave thanks to Him, that, at length, He +delivered her from all her sorrows.” In connection +with the cathedral, we meet with Fernando de Talavera, better +known by Spaniards than by Englishmen. Though he remained a +Roman Catholic, he deviated from the common opinions and usages +of his age. The Carthusians have a monastery outside the +city, and on visiting it, I found pictures of English priests, +reported to have been martyrs at the period of the +Reformation. No doubt their sufferings are exaggerated on +the monastic walls, but it is a fact, beyond reasonable doubt, +that there were Roman Catholics put to death by English +Protestants.</p> +<p>We started one morning from Granada for Seville, <a +name="page324"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 324</span>and, on +crossing the Vega by the railway, we saw a good barley crop in +the month of April. At Bobadillo, we got on the Seville +line, and found the country improve as we came near to the city +on the banks of the Guadalquivir. There, instead of antique +and uncomfortable <i>fondas</i>, travellers meet with spacious +and well-furnished hotels. We tarried several days in the +city.</p> +<p>The cathedral, of course, was the first object of interest; +and, as soon as possible, we repaired to it, and received an +overpowering impression, as we looked above, beneath, +around. Above there is the magnificent roof, spanning the +breadth of the temple; beneath there lies a large slab covering +the remains, not, as sometimes supposed, of Columbus, who +discovered America, but of Fernando, his son. In Holy Week +an immense Greek cross, carved in wood, is raised over the spot, +and lighted up so as to produce an indescribable effect. +The <i>coro</i>, or choir, is as grand, though in another way, as +the nave which leads up to it. In an upper part of the +edifice there are preserved MSS. and other memorials of +unrivalled Spanish discoveries, and they were freely shown to +us. We went to the Museum, and feasted on Murillo’s +pictures. We were also taken by a friend to see another +work of the same artist, since presented, I am told, to the +Pope.</p> +<p><a name="page325"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +325</span>Seville was headquarters of the Protestant cause. +The Reformation did not penetrate much below the hidalgo +class. It left the masses almost untouched. In +Seville stood the Inquisition prison, till it was removed to a +palace in the Calle san Mario. “Here,” says Mr. +Wiffen in 1842, “while gazing on the edifice with feelings +of awe, I recalled to remembrance those martyrs for the truth, +and, at the same time, I listened with painful interest to the +narration made to me by a Spanish gentleman, of an attack on +those very premises at a recent period by an infuriated populace, +who suffered but few of the friars confined there for political +offences, to escape with life. The building having taken +fire some perished in the flames, while others fell by the hands +of the assassins.” The tables were turned just then, +priests were in prison for political crimes, as heretics had been +incarcerated in the sixteenth century.</p> +<p>Old Venetian political policy was carried out against +Protestantism, and the Inquisition office, with opened ears, +listened for whisperings of heresy. Horrors went on in +secret places. I cannot relate them, but they may be found +in what is written by Limborch and Llorente. A few miles +from Seville is the monastery of San Isidore—the cradle of +the Spanish Reformation—and I visited the building <a +name="page326"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 326</span>with deep +interest. The chapel remains in tolerable repair, and is +used as a parish church. The chapter-house, sacristy and +cloisters are preserved. Ancient pictures hang on the +walls, and old embroidered vestments are shown to visitors. +Bibles and Protestant books were of old secretly brought within +the walls, and monks began to read them.</p> +<p>I have described Seville Cathedral and its treasures at some +length in my volume on “Spanish Reformers, their Memories +and Dwelling Places.” I cannot repeat here what has +been said there. But let me say, the city is full of +interest to travellers, hotels are comfortable, shops are well +stocked with curiosities, manufactories are hives of industry, +and pictures by great masters are found in churches and private +houses. I was enchanted with some of the Murillos, and +would advise every traveller to visit the Sala de Murillo in +Seville.</p> +<p>I should have been glad to have prolonged my stay, and to have +revisited spots full of historic interest. But I had much +before me to see and study in the interior and north of Spain; +therefore, though unwillingly, we took the train one night for +Madrid, making that a starting point for other explorations.</p> +<p>I may mention that during our stay at Madrid we were +entertained in a curious straggling house, <a +name="page327"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 327</span>occupied by +Dr. Fliedner, a minister, who acted as chaplain to the German +Embassy. The house, it is said, was occupied by the famous +Escovedo, secretary to the still more famous Don Juan of Austria; +and one night as he was returning home six ruffians waylaid him, +between eight and nine o’clock, and inflicted on him +wounds, of which he died in half an hour. Peres, a great +villain who hated Don Juan, is said to have obtained the sanction +of Philip II. for this abominable deed, prompted by the discovery +of an amour between Escovedo and the Princess of Eboli. It +is a horrible story of crime and vice, common in the secret +annals of Spain.</p> +<p>In Madrid I had the privilege of using the public library, and +found there a large collection of English and French, as well as +Spanish, literature. I am sorry to say, that on the +shelves, many volumes in our language appeared, written by +“advanced thinkers,” tending to the diffusion of +anti-Christian principles. And, in the windows of +booksellers I noticed works for sale of the same +description. The Bible Society I found at work within +limits marked by law, and I attended one evening a Spanish +congregation gathered by Protestant agency, and had the privilege +of addressing those present, through the medium of an +interpreter. I met with specimens <a +name="page328"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 328</span>of Spanish +superstition which were very degrading. In one case I saw +papers, with a figure of the Virgin’s shoe printed upon +them, sold to ignorant people as a sacred charm.</p> +<p>The Plaza at Madrid is a magnificent square, encompassed by a +line of handsome buildings with a garden, fountains, and an +equestrian statue of Philip III. in the middle. Here some +of the <i>autos</i> were held in the seventeenth century, and in +1869 excavations were made, where incontestable proofs of +burnings appeared in bones, charred wood, chain links, nails and +rivets discovered in the soil. Dr. Manning, in his +“Spanish Pictures,” wrote soon after the discovery: +“I visited the spot, and much as I had heard of the horrors +of the Quemadore, I was not prepared for the sight I beheld; +layer above layer, like the strata of a geological model, were +these silent, but most eloquent witnesses of the murderous +cruelty of Rome.”</p> +<p>I may here add that I saw other mementoes of the Spanish +Inquisition in underground vaults connected with a house occupied +by the Rev. Mr. Jameson, a Presbyterian clergyman at work in +Madrid. I found recesses walled up, which it was said had +been cells in the days of persecution.</p> +<p>Of course, I visited the immense picture-gallery <a +name="page329"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 329</span>in Madrid; +but the size and number of rooms with multitudes of paintings on +the walls, were so bewildering, as to make only a confused +impression on my mind. Spanish art has not the charm for me +which it has for many. Velasquez and Murillo, of course, +are pre-eminent. The latter stands first of all in my +estimation. No one, who has seen only the dirty beggar boys +at Dulwich, can have any conception of Murillo’s +merits. It is in Seville, however, that he must be studied, +if any one would see him at his best. I found no Murillo in +Madrid which charmed me like those it was my privilege to enjoy +in the Capital of the South. There is a good chapter on +Velasquez and Murillo in Sir E. Head’s “Handbook of +Painting—Spanish School.”</p> +<p>“Velasquez and Murillo are preferred, and preferred with +reason, to all the others, as the most original and +characteristic of their school. These two great painters +are remarkable for having lived in the same time, in the same +school, painted for the same people and of the same age, and yet +to have formed two styles so different and opposite that the most +unlearned can scarcely mistake them, Murillo being all softness, +while Velasquez is all sparkle and vivacity.” <a +name="citation329"></a><a href="#footnote329" +class="citation">[329]</a></p> +<p><a name="page330"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 330</span>A +curious story is told of a picture by Velasquez—the +portrait of Adrian Pulido Pareja. Philip IV. coming, as +usual, to see the artist at work, started when he saw this +portrait, and addressing himself to it, exclaimed: “What, +art thou still here? Did I not send thee off? How is +it thou art not gone?” But seeing the figure did not +salute him, the King discovered his mistake, and, turning to +Velasquez, said: “I assure you I was deceived.”</p> +<p>We visited the Escorial some distance from Madrid. +Philip II. is buried there. Its situation is wild and +desolate—a vast expanse of undulations, scarcely to be +called mountainous, except in the distance, where snow-streaked +sierras send cutting blasts over the slate roofs and against the +grey stone walls. The building itself looks like a +manufactory, at best like spacious barracks; one may think it +something between a prison and a convent, or rather a combination +of the two; at any rate its cold, stern, repulsive exterior is a +fair type of the builder’s character and influence. +The only objects of much interest, and they are in truth most +melancholy, one finds in the monkish apartments, the monastic +chapel, and the costly sepulchre of the founder and his +family. A long and narrow room is shown with brick floor +and <a name="page331"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +331</span>leathern chairs, where he dined. Next to it is +another, only separated by folding doors, from which, when open, +the despot borrowed the light by which he wrote his +despatches. In this room is a plain oak table, with three +brass ink bottles on one side, and a velvet writing-case in the +middle; these, with the leather-bottomed chair on which he sat, +are carefully preserved. From this room you pass into a +third, low and dark, a mere cell, whence through an opening in +the wall, the altar of the monastery chapel may be seen; there he +spent his last hours, after being, like his prototype Herod, +smitten by an angel of the Lord, and eaten up of worms; no death +could be more horrible. That chapel is an enormous marble +building, most costly, most dreary, and into one corner of the +<i>coro</i> he would sometimes steal, to perform his devotions +with the Jeronymite brotherhood. The sepulchre under the +high altar is reached by a slippery marble staircase; and round +the sides of the vault are placed sarcophagi, one above another; +Charles V. occupies the topmost position, Philip being placed +under his father. The dismalness of the spot is unrelieved +by any emblem or suggestion of Christian hope: not even such a +ray falls over it as that which <a name="page332"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 332</span>lighted up the mind of the heathen +Cicero, when he spoke of meeting in the future life an assembly +of noble souls.</p> +<p>Toledo is about forty miles from Madrid, and is easily reached +by rail. Scenery on the way is uninteresting till you get +near the city, when, crossing the bridge over the Tagus, you are +reminded of the rocky seat on which sits Durham Cathedral. +Winding through narrow streets of the city and past +Moorish-looking entrances into courts, called <i>patios</i>, I +thought Toledo was a sort of album, with ornamented leaves on one +side, and romantic legends on the other. At the foot of St. +Martin’s bridge lies a cave, where Roderic, the last of the +Goths, saw the lady whose seduction caused the Moorish invasion; +which invasion robbed the monarch of his crown. The +cathedral is grand indeed. The cloisters are full of rich +tracery, elegant pilasters crowned with statuettes, and open +windows adorned by elaborate tracery. The interior is +worthy of its surroundings and its approach; and I was deeply +interested in the Mozarabic chapel. There is preserved a +thin folio, bearing the name of the chapel, and containing a +Latin service, used there every day. With it is connected +an absurd tradition, the story and meaning <a +name="page333"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 333</span>of which +are disputed by archæologists. With the cathedral you +have connected the name of Bartolomo Carranza, called the Black +Friar, whose long story is entwined round the Council of Trent, +and with Philip of Spain, who married the English Queen +Mary. He attended Charles V. on his deathbed, and was +accused of heresy; and yet the Pope raised for him a monument in +commemoration of his virtues. It is said Carranza believed +in the doctrine of Justification by Faith; and his history from +beginning to end appears to me a hopeless puzzle. <a +name="citation333"></a><a href="#footnote333" +class="citation">[333]</a></p> +<p>In Toledo is the “Square Market,” as it is called; +and here occurred bullfights and burnings,—one of the +latter in 1560, when Philip II. was present.</p> +<p>We returned from Toledo to Madrid and leaving the capital, a +week or so afterwards, travelled to Valladolid. The chief, +indeed the only, architectural monument in Valladolid is found in +the combined edifices of San Pablo’s Church, and San +Gregorio’s College. The facade of the former is an +elaborate example of Gothic flamboyant; but the gateway of the +latter with its heraldic ornaments, <a name="page334"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 334</span>coats of arms, statues in niches, +and numerous figures, has a bewildering effect. Columbus +and Cervantes both resided in this city; the former died in the +Calle de Colon, the latter wrote the first part of “Don +Quixote” in the Calle de Rastro.</p> +<p>Ford, in his voluminous “Guide to Spain,” at the +beginning of a notice respecting Valladolid, says: “In the +first street, above the bridge, is the site of the old +Inquisition, the Court of Chancery, and the prison”; adding +the remark: “The great Chancery or Court of Appeal for the +north of Spain was moved to the present building by Ferdinand and +Isabella. The inscribed motto, ‘<i>Jura fidem ac +pænam reddit sua munera cunctus</i>’—seems +rather strong, to all who know what Spanish <i>justitia</i> is, +let alone Chancery in general.”</p> +<p>Incipient stages of reformation come before us in this +city. One sees in imagination “The Calle del Doctor +Cazalla,” of Jewish extraction, a man of renown for his +Protestant work, born in 1510; he had been Court preacher and +champion of orthodoxy, until he came under the influence of +German reformers. But he seems by no means to have been a +Martin Luther, for, when he was accused of dogmatising in a +Valladolid conventicle, <a name="page335"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 335</span>he solemnly denied the fact, and +said he had not <i>indoctrinated</i> other people with his own +views. His end was not heroic. After being dislocated +on the rack, he recanted with a hope of life, but he found no +escape. The night before his execution, when acquainted +with the final sentence, the poor man said, “I must prepare +to die in the grace of God, for it is impossible for me to add to +what I have said, without falsehood.” We learn that, +after all, he did not break with Rome, but received absolution; +and then, instead of being burnt, he was strangled. His +house was pulled down, the spot strewn with salt, and a column +placed where the building had stood. An inscription upon it +stated: “Lutheran heretics assembled here in conventicle +against the Catholic faith and the Roman Church.” A +namesake, Francesco de Vibero Cazalla, more valiant for the +truth, remained constant to the last. Another martyr +behaved heroically, only lamenting that his wife abjured, and he +saw her dressed as a penitent. But we are told the +husband’s look never departed from her eyes. In my +“Spanish Reformers” I have given a detailed account +of several sufferers for the truth at Valladolid.</p> +<p>Of the cathedral, Street, in his work on “Spanish <a +name="page336"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +336</span>Architecture,” says: “Nothing could ever +cure the hideous unsightliness of the exterior”; and he +adds: “The side elevation remains as Herrera, the +architect, designed it, and is really valuable as <i>a +warning</i>.” The author describes Sta. Maria +l’Antigua, close to the cathedral, as the most attractive +church in Valladolid. He says of the city: “It was +too rich and prosperous, during an age of much work, and little +taste, to have left mediæval architecture of any real +value; yet as a modern city it is, in parts, gay and attractive; +being, after Madrid, the most important city of the north of +Spain.” From what I saw of the place, I can endorse +this opinion.</p> +<p>We reached Burgos, after a short journey, and found the town +much less interesting and agreeable than Valladolid, but the +cathedral is incomparably superior. The picture of its +facade, doors, windows, and towers, is vividly imprinted on my +memory.</p> +<p>We were now approaching the border of France, and I had +memories revived of a first dip into Spain, years before. +Though the land be still the same and the skies the same, +different feelings arise from departure out of a country, +compared with one’s entrance into it. We reached a +new and very <a name="page337"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +337</span>comfortable hotel at San Sebastian, and there I revived +recollections of curiosity and interest, felt years before, when +I first crossed the border and became acquainted with the +costumes, the manners and customs of Spanish life.</p> +<h2><a name="page338"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +338</span>CHAPTER XV<br /> +1885</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> year I paid my third and last +visit to Rome. A comparison of the city and neighbourhood +as they were during my first visit with what now appeared, was +very striking. Formerly it retained much of the appearance +it had in the previous century. There were narrow streets, +bad pavements, old-fashioned houses; monks and friars of +different orders, white, black, grey, thronging thoroughfares; +cardinals’ coaches with liveried servants, in gay coats and +cocked hats; the Pope, driving down the Corso, whilst the whole +population watched him with reverence on bended knees: now these +old sights had vanished; comparatively few ecclesiastics could be +recognised by their costumes; only companies of boys, in red or +blue collegiate garb, attracted attention by contrast with other +people. At Easter in the olden time the ceremonies at St. +Peter’s were gorgeous, the illumination <a +name="page339"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 339</span>of the dome +brilliant, the fireworks in the Piazza del Popolo unrivalled: now +Mass on Easter Sunday was far from imposing, there was no feet +washing, no dinner to poor pilgrims, no <i>Miserere</i> in the +Sistine chapel, no blaze of candles in the Pauline. The +Forum had formerly lines of trees, groups of cattle, peasants in +rural costume; now marble sculptures had been brought to +light. The neighbourhood of St. John Lateran had been waste +and void; now it was covered with modern houses. What a +change in the Fontana, outside Rome, the traditional site of St. +Paul’s martyrdom. The monastery, when I had seen it +before was desolate, now it was surrounded by abundant +vegetation; the culture of the eucalyptus plant being the secret +of this transformation.</p> +<p>Hare laments, in the following strain, changes which had +occurred in the city and were to be regretted:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“The baths of Caracalla, stripped of all +their verdure and shrubs, and deprived alike of the tufted +foliage amid which Shelley wrote, and of the flowery carpet which +so greatly enhanced their lonely solemnity, are now a series of +bare featureless walls standing in a gravelly waste, and possess +no more attraction than the ruins of a London <a +name="page340"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +340</span>warehouse. The Coliseum, no longer ‘a +garlanded ring,’ is bereaved of everything which made it so +lovely and so picturesque; while botanists must for ever deplore +the incomparable and strangely unique ‘Flora of the +Coliseum,’ which Signor Rosa has caused to be carefully +annihilated; even the roots of the shrubs having been extracted +by the firemen, though, in pulling them out, more of the building +has come down than five hundred years of time would have +injured. In the Basilica of Constantine, the whole of the +beautiful covering of shrubs with which nature had protected the +vast arches, has been removed, and the rain soaking into the +unprotected upper surface, will soon bring them down. Nor +has the work of the destroyer been confined to the Pagan +antiquities, the early Christian porches of S. Prassede and S. +Pudenziana, with their valuable terra-cotta ornaments, have been +so smeared with paint and yellow-wash as to be irrecognisable; +many smaller but precious Christian antiquities, such as the lion +of the Santi Apostoli, have disappeared altogether. And in +return for these destructions and abductions Rome has been +given—what? Quantities of hideous false rock-work +painted brown in all the public gardens; a Swiss cottage and a +clock which goes by water <a name="page341"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 341</span>forced in amidst the statues and +sarcophagi of the Pincio; and the having the passages of the +Capitol painted all over with the most flaring scarlet and blue, +so as utterly to destroy the repose and splendour of its ancient +statues.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>We visited a very old house in the Ghetto, where at the time +services were held by a company of Jewish converts. Rude, +uncomfortable and mean, the place looked to any one accustomed to +modern churches; yet that dreary apartment, up a flight of +stairs, was typical of places for Christian worship in the +imperial city of the second century. Few fashionable people +know the existence of the room I mention, and attendants shyly +ascend the dirty steps, wishing to be unobserved; just so, no +doubt, it was with some of the companies in the second century +who in Rome “sang praises to Jesus as to God.” +In the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus +Aurelius, little was known about the Gospel by the higher +ranks. Emperors, consuls, magistrates, marched along the +streets in haughty indifference, or with contemptuous hate +towards the new superstition.</p> +<p>Much inquiry has arisen as to where Paul lived during his +captivity in Rome. A local tradition affirms that in a +subterranean church dedicated to <a name="page342"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 342</span>the Virgin Mary, which you pass +going down the Corso, you have the very “hired +house,” where for two years the Apostle lived. In the +crypt-like place, there is nothing which looks like a human +dwelling; and the tradition itself, in a city where such +traditions abound, is of little if any value. A house in +the Ghetto, extremely ancient, was pointed out to me by Dr. +Philip, a Jewish missionary, as the probable spot; but his idea +seems to have had nothing to rest upon, except that this old +building is in the Jews’ quarter. What is fatal to +the identification of the “hired house” in either of +these spots is that the New Testament indicates it as connected +with lodgings occupied by the Pretorian guard. The +“soldier that kept him” would not be far away from +comrades; and soldiers in general would be accommodated in the +Pretorian camp, of which traces exist near the Porta Pia—a +long distance from the Corso and the Ghetto.</p> +<p>My third visit to Rome was the close of my foreign +travels. A word more in reference to them. Most +frequently on my way to other countries, I passed through France +to Paris, either by Calais and Amiens, or by Havre and +Rouen. Let me refer for a moment to the cathedral at +Amiens, one of the wonders of the world—the largest place +<a name="page343"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 343</span>of +worship I know, except Cologne Cathedral, St. Peter’s at +Rome, and St. Sophia at Constantinople. It takes away +one’s breath to look up at its rich clerestory, and its +roof, 140 feet high, half as high again as that of Westminster +Abbey. Rouen has architectural beauty, and an historical +interest beyond other French cities. The Church of St. Ouen +surpasses the cathedral, and the Palais de Justice is a beautiful +specimen of Civic Gothic. But associations of what happened +in that city, during the fifteenth century, surpass its material +monuments. Poor Joan of Arc—most touching example of +self-delusion and self-sacrifice the world ever saw—how she +absorbs interest as one stands in the Place de Pucelle, where she +was burnt, the victim of French ingratitude and English +revenge! Paris is so well known by everybody that no notice +need be taken of it here.</p> +<p>We now return to Great Britain.</p> +<p>In the autumn of 1885 the Evangelical Alliance met at +Edinburgh and Glasgow, and in the latter city I was entertained +by the Lord Provost, Sir William and Lady Collins, and met there, +Admiral Sir W. King Hall and his lady, with whom a pleasant +friendship sprang up, and I accepted an invitation to visit them +at their home, but his death <a name="page344"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 344</span>soon afterwards deprived me of the +anticipated pleasure. They appeared to me spiritually +minded people; their society with that of our excellent host and +hostess filled me with great pleasure. At the meeting I +lamented, as I am accustomed to do, our numerous ecclesiastical +divisions. “Here we are as Christians connected with +denominational churches, and we may be compared to persons living +in an island city, where we have our own municipal regulations, +where some are in what may be called Episcopalian Square, some +occupying Methodist Terrace, some residing in Congregational +Road, and some liking to live by the waterside. Whilst +these differences exist amongst us in this world, surely it +sometimes crosses our minds that they are distinctions of a very +temporary nature. The things which are seen are temporal, +but the things not seen are eternal. We are looking away +from what is familiar to what is now rare indeed—perfect +unity.”</p> +<p>I have long found it to be one of the sorrows incident to old +age to lament the loss of attached friends. In this respect +I was much tried in the year 1886, for I had then to deplore the +death of Lord Chichester, who became acquainted with me through +the medium of the Evangelical <a name="page345"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 345</span>Alliance about twenty years +before. Of late he was unable to attend meetings, but our +intercourse in private continued and increased as years rolled +on. Descendant of Sir John Pelham, who figured in the +French wars, described by Froissart, and an immediate relative of +a well-known political family of the same name in the last +century,—the Earl became an earnest Christian and an active +philanthropist for more than half a century. Possessed of +wide and varied information respecting men and things, and being +eminently genial and altogether free from ostentation, his +society could not but be agreeable and instructive. It was +a treat to hear him recount incidents and conversations of former +days. At different times he brought within view George IV., +William IV., the Duke of Wellington, leaders of the Whig party, +and other magnates. He told me that when approaching his +majority his father proposed that he should enter the House of +Commons, and the Duke of Newcastle promised him a seat for +Newark. Before an election arrived the father of young Lord +Pelham died, and the son became a peer. It is remarkable +that the seat intended for him in the Lower House was next +occupied by the now famous William Ewart Gladstone. +“The Grand Old Man,” in conversation with <a +name="page346"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 346</span>my friend +not long before his death, speculated, in his characteristic way, +upon possible consequences to each, had the seat been accepted by +young Lord Pelham. With the Hare family, the Osbornes of +the ducal house of Leeds, the Rev. F. D. Maurice, and other +distinguished persons, the Earl had been intimate, and could tell +many a story about them. Though a thorough Evangelical, and +zealous for all the great truths of Christianity, he was +singularly free from prejudice against people of different +views. He could appreciate goodness wherever it was to be +found.</p> +<p>The Prince Regent, with old Queen Charlotte, paid a visit to +Stanmer, the family seat, near Brighton, when the Earl was a boy, +and an amusing picture in one of the rooms exhibits his Royal +Highness in dandy fashion—his diminutive mother wearing a +wonderful bonnet, the former earl acting as cicerone, and his +eldest boy riding on a smart pony. The Stanmer Pelhams are +descended, on the female side, from Oliver Cromwell, and have in +their possession the Lord Protector’s Bible in four +volumes, a miniature of him, which, I think, belonged to Lady +Falconbridge, and a portrait of His Highness’s +mother. It is curious to find these Commonwealth relics +associated with mementoes in <a name="page347"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 347</span>the family arms,—I refer to +the buckle and strap of Sir John Pelham, who assisted in taking +King John of France prisoner at the battle of Poitiers. In +addition to these memorials, mention may be made of a fine copy +in the library of Walton’s “Polyglot,” with the +rare preface containing a reference to Oliver Cromwell.</p> +<p>Soon after the death of Lord Chichester I lost another friend, +Mr. Cheetham, M.P. His daughters were educated at +Kensington, and hence an intimacy sprang up between us, +cultivated by visits to Eastwood, near Staleybridge, where he +resided. He was a shrewd, energetic man, and figured +conspicuously in the Anti-Corn Law League. His command of +the Lancashire dialect, and his knowledge of Lancashire life, +made him an amusing companion, and Lord John Russell would +sometimes engage him in characteristic recitals, greatly to his +lordship’s diversion. Mr. Cheetham had in early life +known much of the Moravians, and ever retained a deep interest in +that remarkable community, though to the end of life he remained +a constant member of the Congregational communion. I have +long been of Dr. Johnson’s mind: “If a man does not +make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon +find himself left alone. A man, sir, should <a +name="page348"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 348</span>keep <i>his +friendships in constant repair</i>.” On that +principle I have habitually sought to make up for losses from +bereavement.</p> +<p>Here let me add a few lines respecting the Archbishop of York, +Dr. Magee, previously Bishop of Peterborough.</p> +<p>I first met him at Norwich where we took part in a Bible +Meeting, and in the course of my remarks I spoke of +“sinking ecclesiastical differences” on such an +occasion. Dr. Magee, then Dean of Cork, made an amusing +reference to this, and repeated it with kindness and humour the +next day, as we travelled together by rail to London. We +talked incessantly and at the end he pressed me to visit him at +Cork. Several years passed without our meeting, and then at +a funeral service in Westminster Abbey, he kindly accosted me, +saying, that as I had not been to see him at Cork, I must go and +see him at Peterborough, where, not long before, he had been +appointed bishop. Several visits followed, which I greatly +enjoyed. My impression of him as a brilliant talker, which +I received on our journey from Norwich to London, was now +increased, and nothing could exceed his hospitality and that of +his amiable wife and daughters. We had several drives; and +one day we sat down together in a picturesque churchyard to +discuss ecclesiastical <a name="page349"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 349</span>questions, where, as he said, the +associations and “<i>genius loci</i>” were on his +side. I forget altogether what passed between us, beyond a +series of <i>pros</i> and <i>cons</i>, and can only say that we +finished as we began—he a Churchman, I a Nonconformist, but +both good friends. Once when I was at Peterborough I heard +him preach in the Cathedral for the Bible Society, on the jubilee +of the auxiliary, when he took for his text two passages: +“Is not this the carpenter’s son?” +“The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld +His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full +of grace and truth.” He admirably brought out the +Divine and human sides of our blessed Lord’s personality +and then presented this as being in harmony with the Divine and +human elements in Holy Writ. As is well known, he did not +use a MS. in the pulpit; nor, as he told me, was he in the habit +of <i>writing</i> his sermons beforehand. He seems to have +had the gift of mental composition, and also of expressing +himself extemporaneously in felicitous diction and with quiet +ease. Nor was he at all verbose, as many fluent speakers +are.</p> +<p>He could tell a story as few people can, sparkling with +humour, and distinct in point. I remember two he told of +Dean Mansel. Taking a lady round St. Paul’s, she +paused to look at a figure of Neptune <a name="page350"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 350</span>with his <i>trident</i>, remarking +that she was shocked at seeing in a church such heathen +mythology. “Why,” rejoined the Dean, +“that looks more like <i>Tridentine</i> +theology.” At a public dinner, after a toast to +Reform—the word on the paper had an <i>e</i> at the +end—“Reform,” the Dean remarked, “often +ended in an <i>émeute</i>.”</p> +<p>As I was preparing for my journey in Spain I met the Bishop at +the Athenæum, when he told me he was doing the same, and +proposed we should go together, adding that he could help me with +his knowledge of Spanish. I had heard him speak of his +residence in Spain when he was a boy, and I should have been +delighted to fall in with his plan, but found it quite impossible +beforehand with regard to time. However, we agreed to +inquire after each other at consular offices, as we passed from +place to place; but I found I was always too late, or too +soon. When I called at an hotel in Madrid, where he had +been staying, I learned he had just left for the railway; and +after our return, he told me his daughter saw me in the street as +they were hurrying to catch a train.</p> +<p>How many remarkable facts have been related within the last +few years respecting old English houses and estates!</p> +<p>During a visit to Lord Ebury, at Moor Park, <a +name="page351"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 351</span>he told me +the mansion he occupied had been in the hands of many +distinguished families; and that reminds one of what is said in +the Eastern tale: “Call it not a palace but a +caravanserai.” It belonged to the Abbot of St. +Albans; to Neville, Archbishop of York; to Henry VII.; to De +Vere, Earl of Oxford; to Cardinal Wolsey; to Lucy, Countess of +Bedford; to Sir John Franklin; to the Earl of Ossory, who sold it +to the Duke of Monmouth, whose Duchess sold it to Mr. Styles, of +South Sea Bubble notoriety, to be afterwards purchased by Lord +Anson. After changing owners again and again, it was +secured by the Marquis of Westminster for his son. Lord +Ebury informed me it had never remained in the same family more +than two generations. There runs a curious story of the +Lady of the Earl of Monmouth, who possessed the estate in the +seventeenth century,—that her ladyship protested against +the intention of James I., to put his son Prince Charles +“into iron boots, to strengthen his joints and +sinews”; for he seemed to have been physically as a boy +what he was, in some respects, morally as a man—very +<i>weak-kneed</i>.</p> +<p>In the course of my recollections, I have had much to say of +foreign tours, and also of journeys in different parts of England +for various religious <a name="page352"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 352</span>purposes; but, in drawing my +personal narrative to a close, I am constrained to add a few +lines, respecting visits to friends in my own county, where I +have enjoyed welcome rests amidst ministerial toils.</p> +<p>One spot, long years ago, where I was wont to seek recreation +was Letheringsett Hall, near Holt, in my native county, +Norfolk. There still lives Mr. Cozens-Hardy, whom I knew as +a boy, about five years old, in days when we worshipped in +Calvert Street Chapel, Norwich. He married a lady whom I +recollect as a girl, and who was long the light of his dwelling, +well known to numerous guests. They hospitably entertained +me in many of my summer holidays, and drove me round the +neighbourhood called “The Garden of Norfolk.” +Respecting his beloved wife, let me quote words which I wrote for +a short family memorial of her: “My last two or three +visits found her weak and frail, but yet a good deal of her old +buoyancy would come back as we sat chatting round the fire. +She seemed to have a quiet faith in the blessed Gospel, but with +some shadows of doubt and fear respecting herself. No bold, +self-asserting professions, as is the case with some, but a +genuine sympathy in reference to the <a name="page353"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 353</span>fundamental truths of the Gospel, +which form the resting-place of all true believers. She +seemed to know more of the Valley of Humiliation than of the Land +of Beulah; not often climbing the Delectable Mountains, but by no +means a prisoner in Doubting Castle.” Her good +husband has for many years been the main supporter of the +Methodist Society in Holt, and his son, the eminent Q.C., has +been for many years a member of the Congregational Church at +Kensington. The large-hearted Mr. Colman, M.P. for Norwich, +married Mr. Cozens-Hardy’s eldest daughter, and in their +hospitable homes at Carrow and Corton I have spent many a happy +day.</p> +<p>I may add here that amongst delightful sojourns in English +homes, I gratefully reckon Stanley Park, the residence of Sir +Samuel Marling; a marine villa at Dawlish, belonging to Sir +Thomas Lea, Bart., also his home at Kidderminster; the beautiful +Quinta on the Welsh border, belonging to Colonel Barnes; and the +marine residence of Miss Cheetham, one of my interesting +school-girls at Kensington.</p> +<p>During the later portion of my residence in Kensington, there +was a considerable increase of Roman Catholics residing in the +neighbourhood. When I first went to it, a small place of +worship <a name="page354"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +354</span>sufficed to meet their wants, but before I left, a +large church was built near the Vicarage, and another in the high +road, partly hidden by buildings in front. After the +formation of a Westminster Archiepiscopal see, the last-named +edifice became a pro-cathedral, where Cardinal Manning sometimes +officiated. As I did not hear of numerous conversions, in +the neighbourhood, to the Romish faith, I was curious to know +whence the increase arose, and one day I had a long conversation +on the subject with Monsignor Capel. He informed me that it +was owing largely to an increase in the number of priests who had +come to reside in the place, and who attracted many retired +people who were desirous of opportunities for confession and +spiritual advice.</p> +<p>Hence, I gathered that the increase of Catholics in the +neighbourhood did not arise from local conversions; this +explained what had been a matter of wonder. The Monsignor +was very sociable and communicative, and gave much information +about Romanism, its usages and dignitaries. He had a great +deal to say about the political relations of distinguished +Catholics at that time. How far all his reports were to be +trusted I cannot say.</p> +<p>Certainly there was much activity amongst <a +name="page355"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 355</span>Hammersmith +Catholics. Within a few doors of my house there was a +sisterhood active in collecting whatever they could of money, +garments, and other benefits for the poor, and on the edge of +Brook Green rose a handsome church, in which special revival +services were held. I attended one of these, and heard a +priest make earnest religious appeals to careless sinners.</p> +<p>There was a nunnery not far off, and from the abbess, through +the medium of a relative, I received an invitation to witness the +ceremony of taking the veil. As a spectacle, there was +something about it pathetic and touching, but as an act of +worship the whole struck me as altogether out of harmony with +primitive Christianity. The relative who conveyed to me the +invitation was the daughter of a Dissenting minister, a girl +highly imaginative and poetical, who made some little stir in +earlier life by a book entitled “From Oxford to +Rome,” by “One that made the Journey.” +She told me of a complimentary note on the subject from a High +Church politician; and I found that she had been thrown a good +deal in the way of Oxford “perverts,” as they were +called. She became a decided convert, and related to me +much of what she saw amongst her new friends. By her severe +<a name="page356"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 356</span>penances +she broke down her health until she died, but not in the religion +she had recently embraced. The faith of her childhood, in +its simplicity, returned in her last days. I do not know +that she made a formal renunciation of what she had lately +embraced, but she desired no priestly ministrations, and fell +back upon her Bible, and the truths she had accepted in former +days. She joined in her father’s prayers by her +bedside, and so went home to rest for ever with her Saviour, whom +she loved amidst all her aberrations of controversial +thought.</p> +<p>Soon after my resignation I paid a summer visit to my friend +Mr. George Moore, of Whitehall, Cumberland, the well-known +merchant prince. There I met Lord Justice Lush, his lady +and daughter, Dr. Moffat, Canon Battersby, and Mr. Smithies, the +“Workman’s Friend.” One day we had Bible +readings in a baronial-looking hall; another day we had outdoor +recreations for the villagers, when a select party dined at the +mansion. In the evenings we were taken to places in the +neighbourhood to attend Bible meetings. On Sunday we went +to church in the morning and to chapel in the evening. Our +host was in all his glory.</p> +<p><a name="page357"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 357</span>With +the good judge I had much conversation, and heard something of +his early life story. He had been on the point of settling +in America when he was young, and went there more than once +before he finally made a home in his own country. He was a +beautiful character, an example of Christian politeness, general +intelligence, and professional learning.</p> +<p>In closing notices of towns to which I have paid ministerial +visits, let me mention Hastings, in which, from circumstances to +be mentioned, I feel more than ordinary interest. I do not +speak of the decisive battle on the field of Senlac, which ended +the line of Saxon sovereigns and gave to England a Norman king, +but of personal memories, somewhat unique in their +connection. There was, many years ago, a venerable +Dissenting minister in the town whose congregation was small, and +it was thought by London friends and others, that a new and +larger chapel should be built, and efforts made to revive the +cause. I was invited to preach at the dedication of that +building, and at the close of the sermon found my old +fellow-student, the Rev. James Griffin, was present. He had +just before, owing to impaired health, resigned an important +pastorate at Manchester, and, as he seemed <a +name="page358"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 358</span>to be +recovering strength, I suggested that this new chapel at Hastings +might be a suitable sphere for resuming his ministry. The +congregation invited him to become pastor, and he faithfully and +successfully for many years discharged the duties of that +office. It became after a time necessary to erect a still +larger edifice, and, in connection with the opening services, I +was for a second time invited to preach to the people. Mr. +Griffin soon afterwards engaged in the erection of another chapel +outside the town, and when the time for opening it approached he +invited me to undertake that service. Thus a threefold cord +of interest attached me to Nonconformist friends at +Hastings. Moreover, repeated visits on the part of my dear +wife and children increased my interest in the town, and the +hospitality of my friends I remember with gratitude. My +dear friend James Griffin still lives, adorning the doctrine he +has successfully preached for more than half a century.</p> +<p>The autumnal meeting of the Congregational Union was in 1886 +held at Norwich. My friend, the Rev. Edward White, was +chairman, and I was invited to read in the old Meeting House, +where I worshipped in my youth, a paper on the early history of +Norfolk Congregationalism. There was a large <a +name="page359"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 359</span>gathering +of ministers and other friends in the city, and, as in other +cities and towns, Episcopalians received Nonconformists as their +guests. It was my privilege to be entertained by the +Bishop, with whom I had become acquainted while sojourning under +the roof of his brother, Lord Chichester, at Stanmer Park. +I was received and treated with the greatest kindness and +comfort, and found this Episcopal home a beautiful example of +Christian simplicity and devotion.</p> +<p>The Mayor of the city received members of the Union and other +friends in St. Andrew’s Hall on the Monday evening; and one +afternoon Mr. Colman, M.P. for Norwich, had a large garden-party +in his pleasure grounds.</p> +<p>I availed myself of opportunities during the week for rambling +about scenes of my boyhood, amidst many changes in architecture, +manners and customs, including habits of religious life. +The trade of the city had flowed into new channels; old families +such as I knew in my boyhood were no more. New faces I saw +everywhere, and pensive thoughts were naturally suggested when +one traversed memories of seventy years. How different had +been my lot from what it might have been! Church and +Dissent did not stand in the same relations to each other as they +had done <a name="page360"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +360</span>once. There was more mutual charity, more, I +believe and trust, of real religion. Certainly, +Evangelicalism had made way in the Establishment, and was not +regarded as it had been in days gone by.</p> +<p>I took a ramble outside the old city, and called on young +friends; and so caught glimpses touching borders of auld lang +syne.</p> +<p>It fell to my lot to occupy a bedroom in the palace exactly to +my taste. It is described by Blomefield in his +“History of Norwich.” Lined with carved +wainscot brought from the demolished abbey of St. Bennet in the +Holm, retaining still the arms of that abbey—of the Veres, +and others, particularly those of Sir John Fastolff, their great +benefactor. There were also busts of heroes and remarkable +men and women, “brought hither by Bishop Rugg.” +The place recalled images of old, and stories which had +interested me in youth; if they did not people my dreams, they +coloured my meditations.</p> +<p>My “Recollections of a Long Life” began with a +notice of being born in Norwich; and as the last visit to my +birthplace was at the time now indicated, I think it is a fitting +point for terminating my narrative.</p> +<h2><a name="page361"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +361</span>CHAPTER XVI</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> completing this volume I propose +to take a survey of what I have seen and noticed, amongst +distinct religious denominations, during seventy years.</p> +<p>I. To begin with the Church of England. I remember +hearing a sermon by the late Bishop of Manchester, at the +reopening of Chester Cathedral, when, in no measured terms, he +dwelt upon ecclesiastical abuses, as they existed during the last +century, and the earliest part of the present. He exposed +the nepotism of bishops, the worldliness of clergymen, and the +indifference of Church-people to religion in general. About +the same time another prelate privately told me that things in +his diocese, when he was first consecrated, had reached such a +point as made it wonderful how the Establishment had +survived. He complained of the limited power diocesans had +at command, to repress existing evils, <a +name="page362"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 362</span>and gave an +instance, how in his own case he had spent a large sum without +any effect for the removal of a clergyman who had dishonoured his +profession. About the facts charged against the delinquent +there could be no doubt, but proceedings failed through technical +objections. I remember when I was a youth there were +scandals in the diocese of Norwich, publicly known, yet legally +unassailable. Plurality and non-residence were +notorious. Preaching was neglected to a shameful degree; in +one case fifteen churches were served by three incumbents. +Livings had to be sequestered through clerical insolvency or +scandalous misconduct. Bishop Stanley wrought a great +reformation in these respects, much to the dismay of delinquents, +much to the satisfaction of parishioners. I remember him +perfectly well. Of slight figure, with white hair, he +tripped along the streets of Norwich on a Sunday, to one church +after another without giving beforehand notice of his movements, +but surprising rector or curate at the close of the service by +rising to pronounce the benediction. He was as unremitting +and efficient in his clerical position, as he had before been in +his naval duties. The magistrates’ seat prepared +Ambrose for his episcopate at Milan: the deck of a ship prepared +Edward Stanley to rule the diocese of Norwich.</p> +<p><a name="page363"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 363</span>The +typical High Church clergyman of my early days was a person +perfunctorily discharging his duties, living on civil terms with +his parishioners, known in the parish by clerical costume, +reading prayers in a surplice, and preaching in a black gown, +visiting the best society in the neighbourhood, kind to the poor, +and looking upon Dissenters as a rather suspicious class.</p> +<p>But a great change took place in 1832. Earnest men, as +we have seen, arose at Oxford, who devoted themselves to the +study of certain Anglo-Catholic divines and Greek and Latin +fathers. Some of them introduced ritualistic practices, +older than the Reformation. The change under Henry VIII. +and Elizabeth was approved by them no further than as it wiped +away stains from the face of popery. I recollect a High +Church layman telling me he liked an ornate service, but that he +was left far behind by the newly advanced party. I have +myself witnessed ceremonies in Anglican churches so nearly +approaching the Romanistic that only a practised eye could +discern the difference. There were, however, men of another +order, who had a liking for Anglo-Catholic theology, but eschewed +revived ceremonialism; and I have heard a High Churchman in +Westminster Abbey preach such a sermon on the necessity of the +Holy Spirit <a name="page364"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +364</span>for the salvation of souls as, with a few expressions, +a Methodist might have delivered. He pronounced a glowing +eulogium on John Wesley. On one side this clergyman +appeared a warm-hearted Evangelical, on the other, he was a +staunch High Churchman.</p> +<p>When I think of Evangelicals early in this century, they +present a different class from men of the type just +described. As a boy in Norwich I heard Simeon of Cambridge, +and Legh Richmond of Turvey; and I remember them at this moment +as they appeared in the autumn of that year to advocate the +British and Foreign Bible Society. The former of the two +does not come to my recollection so vividly as the latter; him I +can now see, with his pleasant face, and large spectacles, +mounting, with a lame foot, the pulpit stairs of St. +Lawrence’s Church—attired, not in a white surplice, +but in a black gown: nothing priestly in his appearance and +manner. His sermon was on behalf of the Society for +Promoting Christianity among Jews. He took for his text, +“For thy servants take pleasure in her stones and favour +the dust thereof.” With a soft, winning voice, and +“a sweet reasonableness” he discoursed on the +interest, which all Christians should feel in building up the +Church of God, especially with stones gathered from ruins of the +House of Israel. In St Andrew’s Hall <a +name="page365"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 365</span>he spoke on +behalf of the Bible Society, and related a conversation he had on +the subject with the Emperor Alexander of Russia, when he visited +England after the Napoleonic wars. He also told touching +stories of what the Word of God could do for people amidst sins +and sorrows. As to Charles Simeon, whom I heard, he did not +penetrate like dew, but came down with hailstones and coals of +fire.</p> +<p>At a later period Episcopalians bestirred themselves in many +parts of the country, and from end to end, in building and other +efforts for church extension, and I recollect Dean Alford told me +how surprised the Church Commissioners were at the liberal +response given to challenges for aiding ecclesiastical +objects.</p> +<p>In 1865 the old Act of Uniformity was modified so as to +relieve the consciences of such as scrupled to declare unfeigned +consent to everything contained in the Prayer-Book. +<i>Now</i> the requirement was an assent to the Articles, the +Common Prayer, and the Ordering of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, +and a declaration that the doctrine of the Establishment was +agreeable to the Word of God. In 1867 a commission was +appointed to regulate public worship, the result of which was +unsatisfactory.</p> +<p><a name="page366"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 366</span>In +former pages of this volume I have noticed devoted and exemplary +Churchmen through whom my own soul has been nourished and +stimulated. It would be ungrateful not to recognise, on +these pages, spiritual benefit I have derived from sermons +preached and books written by living Churchmen.</p> +<p>Before I close this section of reminiscences touching the +Church of England it will be interesting to notice an accession +to it of a remarkable person who had previously been a +Dissenter. Her name, now so extensively known, was Sarah +Martin. My old friend Mr. Walford often alluded to her in +his conversations, and in his Autobiography, written in a series +of letters published by his direction, he gives the following +narrative:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“This young woman, during my residence in +Yarmouth, supported by her needle both herself and, I think, also +an aged grandmother, with whom she lived at Caister, near +Yarmouth. When I first knew her she was, I imagine, about +twenty years of age. She introduced herself to me as one +who had been as inconsiderate and negligent of religion, as she +was ignorant of the nature of genuine Christianity. By some +means, which I do not now remember, she was induced to come to +the New Meeting, where she heard one or more discourses <a +name="page367"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 367</span>from me, +which, she assured me, had produced very deep impressions upon +her, and entirely changed the character of her mind and +conduct. She subsequently became a member of the Church of +which I was the pastor, and was most diligent and attentive to +the public and private meetings of the Church. I found her +to possess great energy of mind, by the exercise of which she +very soon became well informed in the truths and duties of +Christianity, and ardently disposed to do any good that was +compatible with her station in life. Her affection for me +was such that it is not too much to say of her, as St. Paul did +of his converts among the Galatians, that, if it had been +possible, they would have plucked out their own eyes and have +given them to him (Gal. iv. 15). Her regard for me, and the +ministry I exercised, continued unalterable through the several +years in which I resided in Yarmouth, after my acquaintance with +her commenced. I afterwards saw her several times during +occasional visits which I made to that place, when I found that +she still retained an affectionate remembrance of me.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>She was in humble circumstances, and earned a scanty income by +the use of her needle; but she coupled with it extraordinary +efforts for <a name="page368"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +368</span>the good of others, and this disposed some ladies, +members of the Established Church, to contribute to her +support. This enabled her to devote more time to her +charitable work, and at length she was so absorbed in it that she +became a kind of missionary to the inmates of the workhouse and +the prisoners in Yarmouth gaol. She read and explained the +Scriptures to them, and in devotional service, she carried on for +their spiritual welfare, she employed parts of the Church +Prayer-Book. Gradually, I infer, she became attached to +those who helped her, and this association led to her becoming a +member of the Establishment. After her death a +commemorative window was placed in Yarmouth parish church, and at +its reopening, after a costly restoration, Bishop Wilberforce +pronounced an eloquent eulogium on Sarah Martin’s +character. Some intimate Nonconformist friends of mine +remained attached to her, and showed me numerous MSS. in her +handwriting.</p> +<p>I now return to the ranks of Dissent and proceed to +notice—</p> +<p>II. English Presbyterianism. A word on its earlier +history will here be appropriate. The Presbyterians of the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were orthodox. After +the Restoration many of <a name="page369"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 369</span>them adhered to the Westminster +Confession, but a departure from it, in some instances, appeared +in the century after. Arian and Socinian opinions began to +obtain, but those who held them claimed connection with the +Presbyterians of the Commonwealth, on the ground that they +followed such worthies in the exercise of religious freedom and +the rights of conscience. Their forefathers had repudiated +the Prayer-Book, and now they, their sons in the cause of +religious freedom, renounced the Westminster Confession. +For the most part they remained steadfast in believing New +Testament miracles. The Rev. Mr. Madge, a noted English +Presbyterian, sixty or seventy years ago, said to me once, he +could not understand how a man could be called a Christian who +did not believe in our Lord’s resurrection.</p> +<p>During the reign of William IV. the two most prominent English +Presbyterians of the old school were the Rev. Mr. Aspland and Mr. +Madge. The latter I knew well. Mr. Aspland was an +eloquent speaker, and exerted himself conspicuously in the cause +of Unitarianism, with which he identified the interests of +religious freedom. His son, in writing his father’s +life, pourtrays that gentleman’s religious connections, +social virtues, and decision of character; <a +name="page370"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 370</span>but does +not conceal his warmth of temper, and dislike to certain eminent +Trinitarians. Mr. Madge, before he became minister of Essex +Street, London, was for some years settled in my native city, and +presided over a wealthy congregation, in which were several +distinguished literary and artistic people. The Martineaus, +the Aldersons, the Starks, and other distinguished families, were +of the number. They worshipped in the Octagon Chapel, as it +was called from its architecture, and for a number of years the +building was the most distinguished Nonconformist place of +worship in the eastern capital. It was rather sumptuously +fitted up in my boyish days, and the attendants were not wont to +mix much with other Dissenters. If there were any fault in +this, I dare say it was shared on both sides.</p> +<p>Returning to the English Presbyterians at large, but +especially as they existed in London, I must speak of a trust +established by Dr. Williams, of the last century. He was +orthodox, but the administration of funds bequeathed by him came +into the hands of those Presbyterians who deviated from his +doctrinal views, but still retained the Presbyterian name by +which he was known. Though Unitarians in opinion, they by +no means confined <a name="page371"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +371</span>their charity to Unitarian ministers and chapels; and +still the “Williams’ Scholarships” are enjoyed +by students preparing for orthodox ministrations amongst +Independents. Dr. Martineau was for some time an +administrator of the trust, but strongly objected to the +exclusion of orthodox ministers from its administration.</p> +<p>During the last century there were Presbyterians in England +holding decidedly Evangelical views, and of late there have been +numerous congregations gathered, which, in their unity, form what +is called “The Presbyterian Church in England.” +Scotch brethren of great renown—Dr. James Hamilton, Dr. +Young, and Dr. Archer—I had the privilege of numbering +amongst personal friends, and they were held in honour by all +Evangelical Churchmen and Nonconformists.</p> +<p>III. Another large section of brethren were Baptists, +distinguished by certain <i>doctrinal</i> and <i>disciplinary</i> +views;—the former as Particular or Calvinistic, on the one +hand, and General or Arminian on the other;—the latter as +Open communionists and Strict communionists. Open +communionists admit to the Lord’s table those who have not +been baptised by immersion; Strict communionists confine the +Lord’s Supper to those <a name="page372"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 372</span>who have been immersed. Such +distinctions are now fading away. Calvinists and Arminians +are comprehended in the same union, and Strict communionists are +comparatively few.</p> +<p>Robert Hall, the advocate of Open communion, I never saw: he +died when I was young. Joseph Kinghorn, his opponent, a +distinguished Hebrew scholar, I knew well, as he lived in Norwich +during my boyhood. William Brock, who succeeded him, and +afterwards became minister of Bloomsbury Chapel, London, entered +the ministry about the same time as I did, and we regarded each +other with warm affection. Dr. Cox and Dr. Steane were +widely known in the religious world, and with both of them I +entered into a fellowship of work and worship at the opening of +chapels and on other public occasions. John Howard Hinton +was another Baptist brother, of whom I saw much when he was at +Reading and I was at Windsor. He was more original, more +metaphysical, more scientific, and more excitable than others +whom I have mentioned, perhaps of a higher intellectual order, +and still greater depth of religious emotion. Mr. Spurgeon, +who has so recently left the world, and whose influence and fame +extended further than any other Nonconformist in modern times, I +greatly respected <a name="page373"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +373</span>and admired; and though I did not share his intimacy, I +saw something of him in my own home, and a little more in his, +where he had a magnificent library, and received his numerous +friends with cordiality. His popularity amongst +aristocratic people was, for a little time, much greater than is +generally supposed, for I was informed by a lady of distinction +that for some weeks in his early career he was a leading topic of +conversation in upper circles.</p> +<p>IV. I now turn to the Quaker community. Well do I +remember meetings at the Goldencroft, Norwich, where, at the +upper end, sat men and women called Public Friends. My +mother, born in 1770, told me of yearly meetings held in our old +city, when sometimes Friends from America attended: and so great +was the number of visitors that it raised the market price of +provisions. Some ladies who came from the other side of the +Atlantic wore dresses with open skirts and green aprons. No +bows of ribbon were seen, while bonnets of black and of +lead-coloured silk crowned the heads of young and old. What +Charles Lamb says in his “Elia” corresponds with what +I recollect, and what my mother used to tell me, how +“troops of the shining ones” were seen walking the +streets, on their way to the house of worship, where their +silence was more eloquent than speech. I have read with <a +name="page374"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 374</span>sympathy +“The Life of John Woolman,” written by himself, and +so warmly recommended by the essayist. “Get,” +says Charles Lamb, “the writings of John Woolman by heart, +and love the early Quakers.”</p> +<p>A very serious diversion in theological opinion existed among +American Friends early in this century, and it is because an +effect of it appeared in England that it is noticed here. A +French Friend—the well-known Stephen +Grellet—travelling in the States, makes this entry in his +journal, under date 1822:—“We proceeded to Long +Island, where I attended all the meetings, but here my +soul’s distress exceeded all I had known during the +preceding months, though my baptism had been deep. I found +that the greatest part of the members of our Society and many of +the ministers and elders, are carried away by the principle which +Elias Hicks has so assiduously propagated among them. He +now speaks out boldly, disguising his sentiments no longer; he +seeks to invalidate the Holy Scriptures, and sets up man’s +reason as his only guide, openly denying the divinity of +Christ. I have had many expostulations with him in which I +have most tenderly pleaded with him, but all has been in +vain.” <a name="citation374"></a><a href="#footnote374" +class="citation">[374]</a> From what I have read in +American literature <a name="page375"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 375</span>touching what is known as the +Hicksite controversy, it appears to me plainly indicative of a +denial among many American Friends, that Jesus Christ, in the +orthodox sense of the term, was Divine, and that He did not make +any atonement for sin. Hicks appears to have been a +thorough mystic, unintelligible to common-sense people. At +all events he converted many to his views; and these views were +caught up by some Friends in this country. To what extent +exactly they were adopted in England I cannot say: but they +created alarm amongst many Friends on this side the +Atlantic. Great sorrow at the abandonment of Evangelical +doctrines led to secessions from Quakerism on the part of +excellent people who had been born and bred in the +community. Some of them resided, at the time I speak of, on +the borders of Wales, others in the county of York. They +became Congregationalists, and in tours on behalf of the London +Missionary Society, I was received hospitably in their homes, and +had gratifying opportunities of witnessing their beautiful +Christian life.</p> +<p>Joseph John Gurney, of Earlham, felt seriously concerned +respecting the American defection, in a community to which he had +been attached from childhood. He had studied in the +University of Oxford, had cultivated friendships in other +denominations, <a name="page376"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +376</span>was a good classic and Biblical scholar, and also an +author of theological works. Mr. Gurney was +“concerned” about the effect of Hicksite opinion on +American and English Friends, and therefore took up his pen and +wrote in reply to the leader who had done so much mischief.</p> +<p>Mr. Gurney, like his sister Mrs. Fry, undertook journeys for +preaching the Gospel, and once he visited Windsor for that +purpose. I was unwell at the time, but he called and talked +by my bedside, and commended me to God in prayer. Several +Quaker families at that period were living at Staines and +Uxbridge; with them I had much intercourse, especially when we +were joined in the advocacy of Slave Emancipation. The +community, in both towns now named, was considerable for numbers +and for wealth.</p> +<p>Friends now dress, speak and act much like other people. +Conforming to common custom, they still eschew all extravagances +of fashion. They no longer forfeit membership by +“marrying out of Society.” “The Right +Honourable John Bright” (how shocked George Fox would have +been at the title!) told me once, that relaxation in strictness +as to unimportant points, had checked a decline in numbers going +on before.</p> +<p><a name="page377"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +377</span>V. Methodism, of course, brings to my mind a long +train of early associations. Not merely names, but living +forms, of noted preachers belonging to the second decade of this +century come back to my recollection.</p> +<p>Calvert Street Chapel was opened about 1812, and Dr. Coke +preached.</p> +<p>I cannot say that I remember his sermon; but, as noticed +already, I distinctly recollect seeing the odd-looking, +diminutive man, standing on a table talking in the committee room +of Bethel Hospital <a name="citation377"></a><a +href="#footnote377" class="citation">[377]</a> adorned by +paintings of foundress and governors. Dr. Coke +energetically addressed on the occasion a number of people, who +had been invited by my grandfather, to hear the noted advocate of +Methodist missions. Many years afterwards I mentioned the +circumstance to a gentleman, who at the time took care of the +patients, when he fetched an old committee book, in which this +gathering was noticed, with a minute expressing the displeasure +of the Governors at such a liberty being taken, and forbidding +anything of the kind in future. The Wesleyan congregations +in Norwich were then very large, and <i>local</i> +preachers—uncultivated men in humble life—<a +name="page378"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 378</span>frequently +occupied the pulpit in the afternoon service at Calvert Street, +and, remember, delivered animated discourses likely to do their +hearers good.</p> +<p>Dr. Jabez Bunting was a very influential man among the +Methodists when I was young. For many years he was regarded +as ruler of the Connexion,—exerting a despotic sway over +the whole body. Such general conclusions oftentimes are not +fairly drawn from existing facts, and how far widely extended +opinion in the case now noticed, is justifiable I cannot +undertake to say. To me he was very agreeable, and for him +I had great respect. William Bunting, his son, was of a +different stamp from his father, and though a skilful critic, he +had not his father’s gift of authority and rule.</p> +<p>Before the middle of the century came Dr. Newton, to open a +second chapel, in the upper part of Norwich; his magnificent +voice and careful diction produced a powerful effect. I met +him in after-life at Windsor, when he told me that he was +accustomed to leave his home on Monday morning in the Manchester +circuit, and travel by coach to the other end of +England,—perhaps cross over to Ireland,—and then get +back, at the end of the week, ready for preaching the next +day. He said he weekly delivered five or six sermons, +making <a name="page379"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +379</span>them “on the wheels” as he went +along. He seemed a stranger to physical fatigue.</p> +<p>During my Windsor ministry I became acquainted with a noted +Wesleyan, who was not an itinerant, but a local, preacher. +He went by the name of “Billy Dawson,” and was +eminently gifted with humour and pathos. I heard him +preach, and listened to his platform speeches. He was not +only naturally eloquent, but histrionic too; in speeches and +sermons he acted while he spoke. He made you realise what +he described. It is said that George Whitefield, when +preaching to sailors, described a storm at sea so vividly that +some of them shouted, “Take to the long boat.” +Dawson had a like power of realising what he described. He +would, at a missionary meeting, make a telescope of his +resolution, and putting it to one of his eyes, describe what he +saw in imagination,—perhaps a picture of the millennium +drawn from Isaiah’s prophecies. I was young, just +come from college, at the time I speak of, and made a speech in +which I used some words which were not so plain as they might +have been. After the meeting he spoke to me kindly, +suggesting equivalent terms in plain Saxon. It was a good +lesson for an unfledged bird.</p> +<p><a name="page380"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 380</span>When +I was a member of the Wesleyan Society, I attended class +according to rule, and I found the practice beneficial, inasmuch +as it was a constant spur to self-examination. The +primitive agape, revived amongst the Methodists, exists under the +name of love-feast, at which, together with eating bread and +drinking water as an expression of fellowship, men and women are +accustomed voluntarily to rise, and give some account of their +religious experience for edification to others. These +addresses I found often interesting and useful. By such +means, a habit of spiritual intercommunication amongst Methodists +is kept alive; beneficial in some cases no doubt, but liable to +abuse in others, as most good things are. I am constrained +to relate how this habit on the bright side manifested itself on +a private occasion during a meeting of Conference in +London. Dr. Jobson, an eminent Wesleyan, invited a party of +friends to his house. He kindly included me in the number, +and I found at his hospitable board the President for the year, +and some ex-presidents. Together with them, Drs. Binney, +Raleigh, Allon, and Donald Fraser were present. Our host +was a thorough Methodist, and very comprehensive in his +sympathies, for he had mixed with different denominations. +He <a name="page381"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 381</span>had +many friends in the Establishment, and in early life had studied +under an eminent Roman Catholic architect, at whose house he met +bishops and priests of that communion. On the occasion I +refer to, he in an easy way initiated a conversation which I can +never forget. He appealed to his guests, one by one, for +some account of their religious life. All readily +responded; and this is most remarkable,—all who spoke +attributed to Methodism spiritual influence of a decisive +kind. To use Wesleyan phraseology, most of them had been +“brought to God” through Methodist +instrumentality. Dr. Osborne was present, and made some +remarks, at the close of which, with choked utterance, he +repeated the verse—</p> +<blockquote><p>“And if our fellowship below,<br /> + In Jesus be so sweet,<br /> +What heights of rapture shall we know,<br /> + When round the throne we meet?”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The Norwich Methodists were chiefly humble folks with a +sprinkling of some in better circumstances; their habits were +very simple and they looked upon some who made money as becoming +“worldly,” or at least, as exposed to +temptation. At that time, however, such as possessed social +comforts could not be justly charged with conformity to the +course of <a name="page382"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +382</span>this world; and over their little gatherings in one +another’s houses there was shed a religious atmosphere such +as was breathed in class and love-feast. Early in the +century on a Sunday, between afternoon and evening service, there +might be a large tea-party, where the preacher, a class-leader, +and other members of Society would talk and pray and sing, till +it was time to go to evening service at chapel. This +communion seems to me now as I think of it such as is described +in Malachi: “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one +to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it; and a book of +remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord +and that thought upon His name; and they shall be Mine, saith the +Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels, and I will +spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth +him.”</p> +<p>Worldly prosperity has since fallen to the lot of not a few +Methodists, and the usual temptations surrounding wealth have +tested their character; but I am thankful to say, amongst those +whom I have visited, I have found beautiful instances of +adherence to religious principles. I may mention a friend +already noticed, Sir William McArthur, K.C.M.G. When Lord +Mayor of London he continued his previous Wesleyan duties; and +whilst bountiful in his hospitality <a name="page383"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 383</span>eschewed usages of a fashionable +kind. In his year of office the Œcumenical Conference +was held, and during its meetings repeated Mansion House +invitations were given to friends in sympathy with Evangelical +religion. I attended his funeral, and in his residence on +Notting Hill a large number of mourners assembled, and we had a +short devotional service together, very touching, tender, and +beautiful.</p> +<p>My personal recollections of Methodism, which roll back more +than seventy years ago, linger round Yarmouth and Norwich. +At Yarmouth I used to worship on a Sunday in a curious +old-fashioned square chapel, with galleries on the four +sides. There was a deep one opposite the two entrance +doors, and attached to the front of that gallery was a +pulpit—by what means, as a boy, I never could make +out. The preacher ascended from behind by a staircase, +invisible to the congregation, and then from the top of the +staircase descended by two or three steps into a curiously shaped +pulpit. I distinctly recollect the venerable Joseph Benson, +then a patriarch, who had been associated with Methodists in John +Wesley’s time. I think I see him now, of slender +frame, venerable aspect, and wearing a coat of dark purple. +Of course I have no recollection of what he said, but he was +regarded as a saintly man in those days. In <a +name="page384"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 384</span>the autumn +Yarmouth was frequented by a number of mariners from the +north—coblemen they were called—who had come to fish +for herrings off the Yarmouth coast. They were staunch +Methodists, and used to hold a prayer-meeting after the general +service. How those men used to pray with stentorian voice, +which called forth loud “Amens” from voices all over +the chapel!</p> +<p>In Calvert Street, Norwich, there used to be special services +on Christmas-day. After a prayer-meeting at six +o’clock in the morning there was preaching at seven +o’clock, when hymns appropriate to the season were sung, +accompanied by violins and wind instruments of different +kinds. I did not fail, between five and six o’clock, +to rise and cross the city in order to be in good time for these +services. They usually commenced with the hymn—</p> +<blockquote><p>“Christians, awake, salute the happy morn<br +/> +Whereon the Saviour of mankind was born;<br /> +Rise to adore the mystery of love,<br /> +Which hosts of angels chanted from above;<br /> +With them the joyful tidings first begun<br /> +Of God incarnate and the Virgin’s son.</p> +<p>“Then to the watchful shepherds it was told,<br /> +Who heard the angelic herald’s voice: ‘Behold,<br /> +I bring good tidings of a Saviour’s birth,<br /> +To you and all the nations upon earth:<br /> +This day hath God fulfilled His promised word,<br /> +This day is born a Saviour, Christ the Lord.’”</p> +</blockquote> +<p><a name="page385"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 385</span>With +the Methodist chapel in Calvert Street my earliest religious +thoughts are connected. Watch-nights and love-feasts, are +sacred in my recollection.</p> +<p>VI. Respecting the Congregationalist denomination, of +which I have spoken already, let me add that in 1877 I was +requested by Dr. Schaff, of New York, to give my impression of +prevalent beliefs amongst us. I replied as follows: +“Looking at the principles of Congregationalism, which +involve the repudiation of all human authority in matters of +religion, it is impossible to believe that persons holding those +principles can consistently regard any ecclesiastical creed or +symbol in the same way as Catholics, whether Roman or Anglican, +regard the creeds of the ancient Church. There is a strong +feeling against the use of such documents for the purpose of +defining limits of religious communion, or for the purpose of +checking the exercise of free inquiry; and there is also a +widespread conviction that it is impossible to reduce the +expression of Christian belief to a series of logical +propositions, so as to preserve and represent the full spirit of +Gospel truth.” (See Schaff’s “Creeds of +Christendom,” p. 833.)</p> +<p>No doubt there may be heard in some circles loose +conversation, seeming to indicate such a repugnance <a +name="page386"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 386</span>to creeds +as would imply a dislike to all formal definitions of Christian +doctrine; but I apprehend the prevailing sentiment relative to +this subject among our ministers and churches does not go beyond +the point just indicated. Many of them consider that while +creeds are objectionable as tests, and imperfect as confessions, +they may have a certain value as manifestoes of conviction, on +the part of different communities.</p> +<p>Some people write and talk on the subject of present opinion, +with a positiveness which only omniscience could warrant. +No mortal can know what is going on in the minds of thousands, +touching momentous subjects; yet such knowledge is requisite for +the confident conclusions of certain critics. We may speak +decidedly of what is commonly taught in a community, yet this +should be done with qualifications and no farther.</p> +<p>Silence on momentous points may prove a loss as to the full +wealth of theology; but I am thankful for gain at the present day +in richer views than formerly of our Lord’s character, and +the bearing of it upon life and conduct. Let me add, +however, if <i>Redemption</i> in all its fulness be not prominent +in pulpit ministrations, power will be gone. Some suppose +we are making theological advance, and that <a +name="page387"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 387</span>discoveries +are opening akin to those in physical science; but people who +have more carefully surveyed the wide field, and more observantly +studied the history of religious thought, discover that much as +seen at first sight, is chiefly a falling back upon what was old +and forgotten.</p> +<p>In closing what I have to say of modern Congregationalists, I +venture to notice deceased ministers whom it has been a privilege +to number amongst my friends.</p> +<p>I knew but slightly the Rev. William Jay of Bath. He has +been incidentally noticed in these pages already, for he was old +when I was young. He rose from a lowly rank in life to be +regarded as teacher and companion by the intellectual and +noble. Mrs. Hannah More valued his ministrations and +cultivated his society. Wilberforce used to attend his +chapel when staying at Bath; and an Indian ruler, when in +England, went to hear him at Surrey Chapel, and expressed great +admiration of the sermon.</p> +<p>The next to be mentioned is John Angell James of +Birmingham. I remember perfectly well the first sermon I +heard him preach when I was a student. The text was: +“Our conversation (or citizenship) is in +heaven.” His voice was richly <a +name="page388"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +388</span>toned—a genuine birth gift improved by +culture. He introduced the following illustration: A +pilgrim in the Middle Ages, on his way to Jerusalem, passed +through Constantinople. A friend took him from street to +street, pausing to point out attractions, in magnificent +buildings, and the rich scenery of the Golden Horn. He +wondered the traveller was not enchanted. The latter +replied: “Yes, all very fine, <i>but it is not the Holy +City</i>.” The application was obvious and well +enforced.</p> +<p>Dr. Raffles of Liverpool—noticed already as one of my +companions to Rome—and Dr. Hamilton of Leeds, well known +throughout England, won the affections of their people by +sympathetic intercourse, and interested them by eloquent +instructions and appeals. The former enunciated his +carefully prepared periods with a voice naturally musical, the +latter delivered his thoughts in condensed sentences, which +reminded one of a person taking very short steps. There was +an intellectual power in the sermons of the last-named, not +indicated in those of the former.</p> +<p>John Alexander of Norwich I cannot pass by without +notice. Like David, he was a youth with ruddy +countenance. His speech throughout a sermon fell gentle as +a snowflake, without any coldness of <a name="page389"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 389</span>touch. He read much, and made +good use of what he read. The charm of his private life and +conversation exceeded the effect of his public ministry, though +that was great.</p> +<p>I must mention another name. John Harris was for some +years a secluded pastor at Epsom, little known. He wrote +“The Great Teacher,” but though far above the common +level of such literature, it made little impression, compared +with its merits. A prize was offered for an essay on +Covetousness and Christian Liberality. Harris won the +prize, and printed the essay. The effect was +instantaneous.</p> +<p>The book sold edition after edition, and the author’s +name became generally familiar. Requests for his services +were universal. He was everywhere talked about, and when he +preached places were crowded. His popularity lasted as long +as he lived, but he died when he was fifty-four. He was +unassuming, kind-hearted, generous to poor ministers, genial in +conversation, and beloved by all who knew him.</p> +<p>Another brother must be mentioned—Baldwin Brown—of +superior intellectual type, well educated, an extensive reader, +and one who delighted in a large circle of sympathetic +friends. He gathered round him a good congregation, +composed chiefly of thoughtful people, who became assimilated to +his <a name="page390"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +390</span>characteristic teachings. He wore himself out by +incessant study and pulpit service.</p> +<p>I must not pass by David Thomas of Bristol, my fellow-student +and friend through life, whose elevated and genial character won +from a wide circle warm attachment, and whose unique pulpit power +captivated all capable of sympathising with one so thoughtful and +so good.</p> +<p>Nor can I omit Alexander Raleigh, my successor for a short +period at Kensington, who fulfilled a ministry dear to many who +listened with delight to his characteristic teaching.</p> +<p>The last name I mention is that of Samuel Martin, minister at +Westminster Chapel. He had gifts of a peculiar description, +which marked him off, and made him stand by himself, both as +minister and man. His appearance, voice, manner, habits, +were all his own. He <i>lived</i> for his Church, in whose +interests he was thoroughly absorbed. No one not intimately +acquainted with him could have an adequate idea how he loved his +flock, and lived for their welfare week by week. I had +reverent affection for him as a saintly man, and I witnessed +evidence amongst his large circle, in town and country, how he +watched for souls as one that must give an account. His +congregation during Parliament months included several <a +name="page391"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +391</span>M.P.’s, whom he gathered together for patriotic +prayer.</p> +<p>His neighbour, Dr. Stanley, had a reverent regard for Mr. +Martin, and I know that the Dean and Lady Augusta went to +Westminster Chapel to hear his voice and worship with his +people. He spoke to me of him in terms of strong affection, +also telling me of a brother clergyman who, after a visit to his +sick chamber, pronounced him one of the most saintly men he had +ever seen.</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">Printed by Hazell, Watson, & +Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.</p> +<h2>FOOTNOTES</h2> +<p><a name="footnote77"></a><a href="#citation77" +class="footnote">[77]</a> Faulkener’s “History +and Antiquities of Kensington,” p. 317.</p> +<p><a name="footnote78"></a><a href="#citation78" +class="footnote">[78]</a> 1893.</p> +<p><a name="footnote80"></a><a href="#citation80" +class="footnote">[80]</a> “Christian Workers of the +Nineteenth Century,” S.P.C.K., p. 216.</p> +<p><a name="footnote88a"></a><a href="#citation88a" +class="footnote">[88a]</a> “Life of E. B. +Pusey,” i. 336.</p> +<p><a name="footnote88b"></a><a href="#citation88b" +class="footnote">[88b]</a> <i>Ibid.</i>, ii. 33.</p> +<p><a name="footnote89"></a><a href="#citation89" +class="footnote">[89]</a> “Life of Pusey,” ii. +8.</p> +<p><a name="footnote126"></a><a href="#citation126" +class="footnote">[126]</a> Early Independent Churches had +been particular in their relations to one another; and they would +not recognise new communities without satisfactory evidence of +character, principles, and conduct. They became more +isolated afterwards.</p> +<p><a name="footnote176a"></a><a href="#citation176a" +class="footnote">[176a]</a> Now Archbishop of York.</p> +<p><a name="footnote176b"></a><a href="#citation176b" +class="footnote">[176b]</a> A very good account of this +under the title of “Lectures on Bible Revision,” has +been published by my excellent friend and late colleague at New +College, Principal Newth, D.D.</p> +<p><a name="footnote183"></a><a href="#citation183" +class="footnote">[183]</a> “Memorials of a Quiet +Life,” i. 237.</p> +<p><a name="footnote184"></a><a href="#citation184" +class="footnote">[184]</a> Dr. Raleigh, Sir Charles Reed, +and others, were examined.</p> +<p><a name="footnote193"></a><a href="#citation193" +class="footnote">[193]</a> That was whilst I was in full +work at Kensington, and not very long after our new chapel was +built, while a debt of £1000 rested on it. I said I +could not leave my charge whilst that debt remained. As +soon as I had declined the New College principalship, my +congregation swept off the debt as expressive of gratitude for my +remaining amongst them.</p> +<p><a name="footnote197"></a><a href="#citation197" +class="footnote">[197]</a> “Ecce Homo,” chap. +iv.</p> +<p><a name="footnote230"></a><a href="#citation230" +class="footnote">[230]</a> Written about 1883.</p> +<p><a name="footnote233"></a><a href="#citation233" +class="footnote">[233]</a> I am glad that at Kensington, a +liturgical element has been introduced, such as I should have +approved, but could not accomplish, because I knew it would then +be disapproved by many.</p> +<p><a name="footnote248"></a><a href="#citation248" +class="footnote">[248]</a> With a short Memoir by Robert +Hall.</p> +<p><a name="footnote250"></a><a href="#citation250" +class="footnote">[250]</a> In what I have ventured to say +about pulpit preparation I have hoped to help my younger +ministerial brethren.</p> +<p><a name="footnote252"></a><a href="#citation252" +class="footnote">[252]</a> “Homes and Haunts of +Martin Luther,” p. 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote268"></a><a href="#citation268" +class="footnote">[268]</a> Since my visit to Ban de la +Roche I discovered that, in a part of the country not far off, an +Irish missionary, Columbanus, in the sixth century laboured for +the temporal, as well as the spiritual, welfare of the +people. See Wolf’s “Country of the +Vosges,” p. 214.</p> +<p><a name="footnote315"></a><a href="#citation315" +class="footnote">[315]</a> Eusebius, “Eccl. +Hist.,” V. <span class="smcap">i</span>, 2.</p> +<p><a name="footnote316"></a><a href="#citation316" +class="footnote">[316]</a> Pastor and Madame Rodriguez.</p> +<p><a name="footnote318"></a><a href="#citation318" +class="footnote">[318]</a> De Aniccio, +“L’Espagne traduit de Italien.”</p> +<p><a name="footnote329"></a><a href="#citation329" +class="footnote">[329]</a> “Life of Wilkie,” p. +472.</p> +<p><a name="footnote333"></a><a href="#citation333" +class="footnote">[333]</a> I have gone into this story in +my “Spanish Reformers,” p. 185.</p> +<p><a name="footnote374"></a><a href="#citation374" +class="footnote">[374]</a> “Memoirs of Stephen +Grellet,” vol. ii., 130.</p> +<p><a name="footnote377"></a><a href="#citation377" +class="footnote">[377]</a> See page 2.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RECOLLECTIONS OF A LONG LIFE***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 42716-h.htm or 42716-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/2/7/1/42716 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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