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BX 7260 .J272 A3 1861b
James, John Angell, 1785-
1859.

The life and letters of John

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LIFE AND LETTERS

JOHN ANGELL JAMES

INCLUDINQ

AN UNFINISHED AUTOBIOGKAPHY.

R. W. DALE, M.A.

HIS COLLEAGUE AND SUCCESSOE.

Srronl) Coition.

LONDON:

JAMES NISBET AND CO., 21 BERNEES STREET.

HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO., PATERNOSTER ROW.
BIRMINGHAM : HUDSON & SON.
M.DCCC.LXI.

PRINTED BY EALLANTYNE AND COMJ-ANY,
PAUL'S WORK.

PREFATORY NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

Having left England before the first edition of this " Life " left
the printers, the second edition appears without the corrections
and improvements which would probably have been suggested
both by public and by private criticisms. Many slight inaccu-
racies have caught my eye in a hasty revision ; many others, I
fear, have escaped my notice.

MoNTAUBAN, May 18, 1861.

T. S. JAMES, ESQ.

My deae Sir,

It was at your earnest request that I undertook to
prepare tliis Memoir ; allow me to present it to the public through you.

That these pages should exhibit a perfect image of your father's
excellence is impossible. The impression his goodness produced on his
chUdren, and on the friends who knew his daUy life, no language can
adequately represent. I shall be satisfied if you think that strangers
will find here a faint outUue of his true character.

The gratitude I feel to your father's friends, who have aided me in
various ways, will be shared by yourself. To the Rev. Dr King of
Glasgow, whose communication on the early history of the Evangelical
Alliance has been of great service to me ; to the Rev. William Guest,
who has written an interesting paper on your father's influence on the
Spring-HiU Students ; to the Rev. Dr Patton and the Rev. Dr Sprague,
who have sent me a large number of valuable letters, — my thanks are
especially due. The judgment of my friend and neighbour, the Rev.
G. B. Johnson of Edgbaston, has saved me from many mistakes, and
would have saved me from many more had his health and engagements
permitted me to consult him more frequently.

The interest in my work which has been manifested by yourself and
Mrs James, and by your sister, who has often forgotten her sufferings
while recalling pleasant passages in her father's history, has greatly en-

DEDICATION.

couraged me. From the Kev. Thomas James of London, and from other
members of your father's family, I have received important information.
For the Supplementary Chapter, written by yourself, I know not how
to thank you.

For permission to insert the Photograph prefixed to this volume, I
am indebted to Mrs Whitlock.

Conscious of how impei'fectly I have fulfilled even my own idea of
what this Life ought to be, I rejoice that your father's reputation
cannot suffer from my inefiiciency. His usefulness has won him the
noblest and most enduring fame. The brightest creations of art
must perish, and the glory of literature must become dim; but the
tens of thousands whom he taught to trust in the mercy of Christ and
to keep His commandments, wiU regard him with immortal love and
reverence.

With very sincere affection and respect,

I am, yours faithfully,

E. W. DALE.

Edgbaston, April 1861.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTEODUCTION, 1

BOOK 1.
CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH.

CHAP. I. BIETH AND PAEENTAGE, 11

11. SCHOOL LIFE, 18

„ III. APPRENTICESHIP, 24

IV. CONVERSION TO GOD, 29

„ V. CALL TO THE AVORK OF THE MINISTRY, . . 40

„ VI. STUDENT LIFE AT GOSPORT, 44

BOOK 11.

SETTLEMENT IN BIEMINGHAM-EMLY STEUGGLES.

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF THE CARR'S LANE CHURCH, . . 61
„ II. FIRST VISIT TO BIRMINGHAM, .... 66
in. ORDINATION, 83

vi CONTENTS.

PAOE

CHAP. IV. DOMESTIC HISTORY, 89

„ V. DISCOURAGEMENT, 94

LETTERS, 101

BOOK III.
STJCCESS.

CHAP. I. INCREASING POPULARITY, 121

II. SICICNESS AND BEREAVEMENT, .... 131

in. MISSIONARY SERMON, MAY 12, 1819. ... 137

IV. A NEW CHAPEL, 158

V. SECOND MARRIAGE, 161

VL CONTROVERSY, 163

„ VIL FORMATION OF THE CONGREGATIONAL UNION, 197

„ VIIL AUTHORSHIP, 210

„ IX. RELIGIOUS WORK AND RELIGIOUS LIFE, 1813-

1833, 215

LETTERS, 221

BOOK IV.
DISCirUNE.

CHAP. L NERVOUS DEPRESSION, 275

n. "THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER," 236

III. BEREAVEMENT, 318

IV. AUTHORSHIP— RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORK, . 328
LETTERS, 338

CONTENTS. vii

BOOK Y.

THE PEACEABLE FRFITS OF EIGHTEOUSNESS.

CHAP. I. CONNEXION WITH SPRING-HILL COLLEGE, . 365

II. THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE, .... 396

in. "MY DIPLOMAS OF DOCTOR OF DIVINITY," . 424

IV. CHINA, 427

V. THE CO-PASTORATE, 449

VL THE JUBILEE, 492

VII. PUBLIC SPIRIT— AUTHORSHIP, .... 511
„ VIII. " READY TO BE OFFERED "— " ABSENT FROM THE

BODY, PRESENT WITH THE LORD," . . 516

LETTERS, 531

BOOK VI.
SUPPLEMENTARY.

CHAP. L HOME LIFE. BY T. S. JAMES, ESQ., ... 569

11. PREACHING, 606

„ III. PASTORATE, 620

INTRODUCTION.

The Antobiograpliical Fragment found among the papers of the
late JoKN" AyoF.T.L James was commenced in the autumn of 1858,
and laid aside before the end of the year.

Let the reader imagine himself in a square room of moderate
dimensions, comfortably furnished but without ostentation, a
blazing fire on the hearth, the dark heavy curtains drawn, and
candles lit for an evening's work The wall on your left is covered
with engravings of well-knowoi ministers : you will recognise at
once the majestic form and the ardent gaze of Dr M'All, the most
brUliant of modern preachers; the quaint, kindly countenance of
William Jay ; the rugged face of Chalmers ; and the robust form
and ample brow of Eobert Hall, who in genius and scholarship,
vigour of judgment and splendour of imagination, surpassed them
all. Facing you are two large oil-paintings, one on each side of
the fire-place ; that on the right is an early portrait of Mr James,
the other, of his second wife, who has been dead now for seventeen
years. Two or three other faces which are dear to the old man
writing at the table, look down upon him from above the mantel-
piece ; and on a bracket fastened to the opposite wall stands the
bust of his tutor, Dr Bogue.

There is a couch on one side of the fire, and on it there lies one
whose sufferings, protracted through many weary years, have had
much to do with her father's sanctity. Now and then, as he looks
up from his writing to speak a kind word to his child, you see in
his countenance a massive strength and a winning gentleness, the
simplicity of childhood blended with manly shrewdness and no-

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

bility. The mouth was made for eloquence ; the broad and amj^le
chest below is what you like to see in a popular orator. His eyes
are of the light blue so uncommon now in England, and brighten
as he speaks till they shed a positive illumination over his face.
But the light passes away, and he turns again to the page before
him, writing swiftly and yet surely, hardly ever pausing for a word
or turning back to cancel or correct. He writes like one who has
written much, and who has small anxiety about the refinements of
literary art. If he can make his meaning clear, if his sentences
run smoothly, and are tolerably accurate and vigorous, he is satis-
fied. And now, having shewn you the writer, I leave you for a
time to the manuscript which is growing rajoidly under his hand.
It is the record of his long and laborious life.

Autobio- I have been many times solicited to prepare for posthumous
giaphicai. p^ij^ga^^jQj^ j^jj autobiography. To this I have many, and, as they
appear to myself, strong and well-grounded objections. I am quite
aware that on some accounts, most men are their best and most
competent memoriahsts, provided they have preserved, as life went
on, the matter of which such a history should be composed, and
have suflScient courage and honesty, and freedom both from false
shame and self-love, to write the truth, the whole truth, and no-
thing but the truth concerning themselves and others ; and at the
same time enough of candour, perspicacity, and discrimination in
judging of events and characters with which they have been mixed
up. Nor ought I to omit as another qualification for an interest-
ing and instructive autobiography, a consciousness on the part of
the writer that his life is of sufficient importance to be committed
to record.

Of many of these pre-requisites I am deficient.

1. I have never kept a diary. I now regret this, for although
I should not have had many things partaking of the marvellous,
or strikingly novel and interesting to relate, yet in a public life of
fifty-three years, and carried on in a rather public situation, some
occurrences must have happened which would have furnished
subjects of information and reflection which would, had they been

IXTEODrCTIOX

recorded at the time, have been worth notice. I was led to this Autobio-
neglect partly by a constitutional indolence; partly by what j^p*"*^*^
considered, incorrectly, want of time ; but perhaps still more by a
fear of being tempted to write imder the influence of self-love what
was hardly a faithful transcript of the events that occurred, I
thought I could hardly trust myself as a narrator of what belonged
to myself. I feared that I should be tempted to write for the eyes
of others, and thus give features and a colouring to the portrait
which were not in the original

Xow, in default of a diary, I do not think recollections, called
up at perhaps a late period of life, can be a fuU and faithful
narration. Many things necessary to give completeness to the
account must be wanting ; the links of events were so delicate that
they were hardly perceived at the time, and must be altogether
invisible when looked for at a subsequent period. Impressions
made at the time are evanescent, and cannot be recalled ; opinions
then entertained are forgotten. A traveller should, and usually
does, note down scenes and opinions as he goes along. So it
should be with him who woidd write a history of himself, a nar-
ration of his travels through life. This I have never done, and
therefore cannot pretend to prepare what deserves to be called an
autobiography.

2. My life has had little variety of incident. I have had few
changes of situation, and a limited range of adventure. I have
lived fifty-three years in the same town, have been all the time
connected with the same church, and have resided all this while,
with the exception of one year, in the same house. True, had I
kept a diary, and been purposely observant of passing events, I
might have found material enough to suggest much profitable
remark, although I have not been called out to strange adventures,
to only one or two controversies, and to no picturesque situations,
^line has been a life of great uniformity, with the exception of
domestic troubles. My ministerial life has been singularly monot-
onous ; happily the monotone was a joyful one. I have had no
quarrels with my flock, no divisions in my church, no change
from one town or chuich to another. No pastor ever had less of

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- all this. As in general history, so in a more private life, war and
gidphical. g^^jjg rather than peace furnish the stirring, startling, engrossmg
themes of a narrative. Moreover, though I have had a good share
of publicity, and of what is called popularity, I have not been
summoned as by a trumpet-call to occupy posts of difficulty, im-
portance, or danger.

I have been an author as well as a pastor and preacher, and
have met with more acceptance in my works than I had any reason
to expect, and in one instance have been granted a degree of suc-
cess, I mean in reference to the " Anxious Enquirer," which is as
marvellous as it was unlocked for, a more extended notice of
which may be expected further on, when I come to speak of my
books. Still these works are all practical, and contain no pro-
found theology — nothing to give me a high place among divines,
commentators, or critics.

3. I never indulged a taste nor possessed a faculty for epistolary
correspondence. My letters have been mostly on ecclesiastical
business, and brought back only letters of the same kind. My
portfolio contains no affluence of this sort. I cannot furnish ori-
ginal communications from illustrious men. I have had little to
do with such. I never was ambitious or solicitous to get intro-
duced to such. I was conscious of the limited nature of my edu-
cation, and my want of conversational powers, and the narrow
range of my reading. I knew that I was a practical rather than
a speculative or imaginative man, and I remained pretty much in
my own sphere. I have, of course, known nearly all the great men
of the various bodies of Nonconformists of ray day, and have had
occasional intercourse with them ; but the only one with whom I
kept up constant correspondence was the late Dr Fletcher of
Stepney, who was my particular friend. I was too busy, or
thought myself so, to enter largely on this mode of communication
between man and man.

4. The character of ray mind being eminently and unalterably
practical, I have never had either the taste or the ability for meta-
physical speculation or theological profundities, and therefore I
have nothing to record in this way. I am neither philosopher nor

IXTEODUCTION.

critic, and can give no emendations of difficult or doubtful pas- Autohio-

. graphicaL

sages, and no new theories of particular texts on general doctrines.
I cannot add to the stock of sacred literature, or enlarge the
stores of any who are well read in divinity, and, in default of
fact and incident, supply suggestive thoughts and impulsive re-
flection. I feel as if I could start no mind upon a new track of
investigation or career of discovery. No glimpses of previously
undiscovered truth have visited my mind. I lack the powers of
invention, and have no originality.

What have I therefore to record which would interest other
minds in reading ? I have been a mere plodding, working hus-
bandman, using old implements with some industry and following
old methods with a kind of dogged perseverance and considerable
success. I set out in my ministry, even when a student, with the
idea of usefulness so deeply imprinted on my heart, and so con-
stantly present to my thoughts, that I could never lose sight of
it long together : and I mean usefulness of one kind — that is,
the direct conversion of souls. I have perhaps been in danger,
and I now feel it, of restricting that idea within too narrow a
circle. There are various kinds of usefulness. He is eminently
useful who writes a defence of our holy religion against the cavils of
infidelity, or a commentary upon a portion of Scripture, or a clear
statement of Christian doctrine, or a valuable criticism on some
disputed passage, or a religious tract, or anything else connected
with divine truth. The priesthood of letters are eminently useful.
The press is one of the two main pillars of the temple of truth.
So in the conversion of souls, though the pulpit is the main in-
strument in effecting this, yet the tract distributor, the Sunday-
school teacher, the Bible reader, are all useful and every person
should study his talents, his means, and his opportunities for use-
fulness. In reference to myself, however, I meant usefulness in
the way of direct conversion of souls.

In consequence partly of this, partly of a want of hterary ambi-
tion, and partly also of a want of vigorous application to study, by
which to build on the very slender foundation laid in my very defi-
cient college education, I never reached to such eminence of attain-

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autoi>io- ment as would enable me to do anything beyond my own line of
^ ^ practical teaching. On all these accounts, therefore, I have ever
felt that there could be little done by me in the decline of life in
the way of autobiography, that would interest and instruct the
public ; yet I have thoiight I might do something in this way, that
would be valuable to my'children. What I have here written
respecting ai(iobiography, will in some measure apply also to a
biography written by another hand. My own opinion is, that we
have too much of this species of literature. Too much I mean of
an ordinary kind. Even of the most distinguished men, bio-
graphical memorials are often too diffuse. It is too commonly
thought, that a great man's history must necessarily have a very
great book.

Of the lesser lights, even of the sanctuary, many might be per-
mitted to pass away without any more permanent memorial than
the stone which is placed over their tomb, and the love and vene-
ration of those who have profited by their labours. How few bio-
graphies of any kind live in the use of those for whom they are
intended ! Some few attain to the honour of a kind of sacred
classic; the rest are read, perhaps — and then are quietly en-
tombed on the shelf. Now, there is nothing in my life that could
exempt a memorial of me from this lot, and therefore I do not at
all desire, what probably no one will think of writing, a published
biography. I believe, without vanity I may say it, that my life
has been in some measure a useful one, but even that has been in
a very common method of procedure. I have been no comet in
the solar system of Christianity, but one of the planets revolving
in the attraction, and reflecting a little of the light of the Sun of
righteousness. No one could say more about me than that for
fifty years I was the pastor of one church, preached the gospel,
wrote some bocks, and was honoured of God to save many souls,
and all this with a very slender stock of secular learning. Most
thankful do I feel that this can be said of me. And now, in the
review of my life, and the anticipation of eternity, I feel more
pleasure and more gratitude for this, than if I had attained to the
highest niche in the temple of literary or scientific fame.

BOOK I.

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH.

CHAP. I. BIRTH AND PARENTAGE.
„ II. SCHOOL LIFE.
„ in. APPRENTICESHIP.
„ IV. CONVERSION TO GOD.
„ V. CALL TO THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY.
„ VI. STUDENT LIFE AT GOSPORT.

CHAPTER I.

BIRTH AND PARENTAGE.

John Angell James, fourth child but eldest son of Joseph and
Sarah James, was born at Blandford Forum in Dorsetshire, on the
6th of June 1785. Blandford Forum lies pleasantly in the valley
of the Stour, and in the heart of a beautiful country. Its name
suggests the antiquity of its origin, but the whole town was twice
burnt to the ground during the eighteenth century, and there is
not an old-looking building in the place. There is no cathedral
or castle to fill the hearts of the children with romance ; no
market-cross, with stories about reformers or martyrs ; not even
an ancient street, with quaint windows and carved doors, and
wonderful legends about the Tudors or the Commonwealth. It is
one of those quiet respectable boroughs, with a population of four
or five thousand people, common enough iu the south and west of
England, which appear to persons accustomed to the hurry and
weariness of the great centres of manufacturing and commercial
activity to lie in perpetual slumber. At one time large quantities
of wire buttons were made at Blandford, and Mr James's father,
who was a draper, was engaged in the manufacture. Old-fashioned
Dorsetshire folk still think that Blandford buttons are the only
buttons that a gentleman should wear on his linen, — Mr James
was faithful to tliis superstition to the last, — but Birmingham has
long ago almost extinguished the trade.

LITE OF JOHN AXGELL JAilES.

The inhabitants of Blandford have time for reading and reflec-
tion and pleasant social intercourse ; they are intelligent and culti-
vated. The more aflluent people have not won their wealth by
shrewdness and hard work, but inherit the occupations and posi-
tion of their fathers. If this stationary condition gives less stimu-
lus and excitement to life, it gives more tranquillity ; if it pro-
duces less vigour, it secures more simplicity and refinement. From
the quiet country towns of England come some of the highest and
best elements of our national character.

Mr James was born in Sahsbury Street, four doors from the
BeU Inn, in the house now occupied by ^Mr Frampton. Within
two years his parents removed to the house in the same street
adjoining the Bell, and there remained to the end of their days.
The exterior of this second residence, with which, of course, all Mr
James's recollections of his early life were connected, remains very
much as it was in the days of his childhood ; the interior has been
considerably altered. He says : —

AiitoWo- I have nothing to boast of as regards the distinctions of earthly
graphical, j^g^.^^^jpy^ none of titled rank and fame can be found in the line of
my ancestry ; but, what to a Christian is of far greater honour,
some of God's nobility were among them. I am descended from an
old Dorsetshire family, and once had in my possession, but have
unfortunately lost it, a bst of my pious progenitors on my father's
side for two hundred years back. They were not men of wealth,
but belonged to the yeomanry of the country, and lived principally
in the neighbourhood of Dorchester. One of them was upon the
jury at " the bloody assizes " of the ferocious and sanguinary Judge
Jefferies,* and, with his feUow-jurors, received the menaces of that
ermined tiger if they did not do their duty; by which he meant,
consi.gn by wholesale to the gallows the objects of his fury. My
grandfather was a native of Swauage, a man of simple, earnest,
and consistent piety. He endured the persecution of ridicule and

• There is a tradition in the family that at the very time he was sitting on
the jury at Dorchester he had some of the unfortunate fugitives concealed in his
ovm house. — Edit.

BIRTH AND PARENTAGE.

opposition for las religion. A young clergyman, who took delight AutoWo-
in annoying him while engaged in his family devotions, afterwards
was brought to see the folly and wickedness of his conduct, and
called on the aged saint with his confession and humiliation. At
one period of his life he was bailiff for a gentleman in Berkshire,
and not unfrequently fell in with George the Third during his
residence at Windsor, who familiarly addressed him as " Farmer
James." I never saw him but once, and that was across the
street, for his last visit to Blandford was when we had the small-
pox, and as he had never gone through the disease, he durst not
venture into the house.

Before the young clergyman just referred to had an opportunity Editorial,
of making a personal apology to the good man whose devotions
he had interrupted, he wrote a letter to a lady at Swanage,
in which he expresses his sorrow for his fault. The letter was
written from Loxley, near Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire. An
extract from it may be interesting.

" I have head the unspeakable happiness to have my views entirely
changed with, regard to the religious sentiments I preached when at
Swanage town.

" I can say, — I am happy to publish it, — I, who was once a persecutor
of the truth as it is in Jesus, now preach it ; and I ever will, till my
last dying breath. I have already met with much opposition in boldly
declarmg the truth as it is in Jesus ; believe me, I don't deceive you
with a lie. Jesus has wonderfully revealed Himself to my soul ; and I
know in whom I do believe. It is too long to enter into particulars.
I am a brand plucked out of the fire — I am a monument of Divine
love. Though a gazing-stock to my relations and all my neighbours,
suffice it to say, that I now in this manner abjure and reject the doc-
trine of heathen morahty I preached in Swanage church, and in various
parts of England. I preach nothing now but the gospel of Jesus Christ,
the eternal Son of God, who is wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption to every soul of man that has the transport and glory
to believe in Him. I am as yet in the Church Establishment, but do
not know how long I shall remain in it. I have the interest of
my Saviour warm in my heart. I have the love of God abun-
dantly shed abroad in me. I care not, I fear not, any change of time
or fortune. . . .

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JASIES.

" I have done an injury to the cause of Clurist in Swanage. I now
■write this to you and them. I entreat your and their pardon. I did
it in ignorance and unbelief. My conscience won't be easy till I have
confessed the whole to you. Oh, I am not ashamed to confess it to
all the world. I persecuted the cause of Christ at Swanage, but God
has wonderfully stopped me in the midst of my blmd and mad career,
and wonderfully revealed Himself to my soul. Oh, the heights, depths,
and riches of God's grace ! I beg pardon also of an old gentleman
whose door I violently assaulted when he was in family prayer. I
entreat that gentleman's pardon in this letter. I tell the people of
Swanage that I have been building them up in their own righteousness,
but now I declare unto them, that will not do, nor make satisfaction to
the justice, the unchangeable justice, of God, and there is no hope but
in a Saviour alone. I once more confess my faults to you, to them, to
all the world, and to Heaven, without prevarication or reserve. I beg
your and the people of God's forgiveness. I entreat your and their
prayers for me, as you and all the people and children of God have
mine."

Autoliio- My father was quite an ordinary man, somewhat handsome in
gi.it>aoa. pgj,gQj, j[j^j; not of strong intellect. He had very little influence,
and took comparatively little pains, in the formation of his chil-
dren's characters. Yet he was kind to us, and concerned for our
happiness, and generally sought our welfare. He was of a peace-
able disposition, and fond of my mother. He was a regular
attendant at public worship, but till the close of life made no pro-
fession of religion ; and, I regret to say, did not, beyond attend-
ance at meeting, give much evidence of a spiritual and renewed
mind. In the evening-tide we hope it was light, and he joined
the Independent church at Blandford. He died of diabetes in the
fifty-ninth year of his age, about five years after my mother.

Of her I have a happy recollection. I knew very little of her
ancestors. Her father was a builder in Blandford, and I was
shewn one large building which he erected. She was brought up
under the care of a Mr and Mrs Angell, from whom I derived my
cognomen. Mrs Angell was her aunt. Mr Angell was a respect-
able tradesman, a hatter, in Blandford, and retired from busi-
ness with what at that time was a competency for a small genteel
family. Of the religious character of this couple I know nothing :

BIRTH AND PARENTAGE.

but I believe they were General Baptists, as my mother was of this Auiobio.

. giaphical.

denomination.

From some of the books which formed their library, I think
they must have been Arians. I never knew Mr AngelL He died
before I was born. But I have a recollection of his vrife, or, at
any rate, of some scenes connected with her residence, her life,
and death. One of the first things that I remember very vividly,
was my being taken by my mother to the window to see her
funeral as it passed our house. My sister Harriet, Mrs Keynes,
was adopted by her when a child, and lived with her till her death.
At her decease she bequeathed her whole fortune, amounting to
about four thousand poimds, to my mother.

My mother was a woman of sweet, loving, peaceable, and gentle
disposition, a general favourite, and deservedly so, but not pos-
sessed of an enlarged mind. She was a woman of sincere piety,
without much theoretical knowledge. Her heart was beyond her
head, as is the case, I believe, with many of God's children. She
was a woman of prayer, and so fervent in her private devotions,
that she could be heard far beyond the precincts of her closet.
This was injudicious, but it was not confined to her, for I fell into
the same fault in the early part of my religious history, and occa-
sioned some remarks, if not ridicule, by it. This is hardly " shut-
ting the door " and praying to our Father in secret. I remember
her taking me into her chamber, and pouring her fervent and
pious breathings over my infant head. And who can tell how
much of aU that foUows in my history is to be traced up to a
mother's prayers ? How important a part in the working out of
the great scheme of human redemption and the salvation of a lost
world wiU, when the Divine scheme shall be revealed, appear to
have been borne by pious mothers !

His father's letters, a considerable number of which I have had Editorial
the opportunity of reading, (of his mother's none are preserved,)
and all the traditions which linger about Blandfo'rd, strongly con-
firm the accuracy of Mr James's account of his parents. The old
man was a Nonconformist of the type of the last century, rather

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

stiff and narrow, and cherishing small respect for the rites and
customs of the Episcopal Church. Being up in London one spring
to sell his buttons, he was greatly annoyed because "yesterday
being called Good Friday, of course no business was done, so that
I may reckon a day lost."

The pursuits of a draper seemed to him much more real and
substantial than the work of a preacher. When one of his younger
sons wished to become a minister, his father earnestly reminded
him that it was possible to serve God as a tradesman, that a man
may be as much in the path of duty while attending to secular
concerns as while preaching the gospel, that perhaps the lad's
anxiety to be a minister had been caught from the zeal of a friend,
and would soon cool, that there were sisters not yet settled in life
whose interests must be thought of, that old age was coming upon
himself, that " the business here at Blandford or that at Komsey "
would have to be given up if this desire to become a minister were
not abandoned. And thus he argued down the passion of his son
to do the noblest work in which God can employ the noblest of
His servants. When John Angell James first longed to leave
business and devote his ardent nature to the preaching of the
love of Christ, his father urged similar objections. Suppose they
had been successful !

Towards the end of the old man's days many troubles came
npon him ; and so his heart was softened. His children rejoiced
to see that the close of their father s life was enriched with a grace
which its earlier years had not known.

Of his mother, who was perhaps descended from one of the
younger brothers of the great Admiral Blake, it was always a
delight to him to speak. Mrs Angell, under whose care she was
brought up, was a most excellent and pious person, and her
adopted child inherited her goodness. Between the Angells and
the Jameses there was an alliance of old standing. In the church-
yard of the little village of Ower Moigne, there are many tomb-
stones on which the names stand together ; and when not long ago
an heir was wanted for large estates at Brixton and elsewhere, be-

BIETH AND PAKEXTAGE.

longing to the Angells, the connexion between the two lines excited
a good deal of curiosity and interest.

Mrs James, as the autobiography has already indicated, was a
Baptist, but there has never been a Baptist congregation at Bland-
ford, and she worshipped with her husband in the Independent
meeting-house in Salisbury Street ; and there they both lie buried.
She died in 1807, aged fifty-nine, and he, at the same age, in 1812.
There is a stone to their memory on the outer wall of the chapel,
and filial love has inscribed upon it the afiectionate and reveren-
tial words — " Their childken shall kise up and call them

BLESSED."

CHAPTER II.

SCHOOL LIFE.

Autobio- My education for this world commenced at a day school in Bland-

gi'aphical,

ford, and through my whole career my training has always been
imperfect. My mind has had but little proper culture, so that I
am a wonder to myself, when I consider what God has done by
me. Having in boyhood contracted some improper associations, I
was sent off to boarding-school at the age of eight years. But
my father, not himself aware of the benefit of a good education
and but little acquainted with schools, made a most unwise selec-
tion. It was a village school for the sons of the neighbouring
farmers, kept by a man whose qualifications extended literally no
further than to teach writing and common arithmetic*

Here I lost two precious years in learning nothing. Nothing
was taught but writing and ciphering. All the religion of this
school consisted in our going to church on Sundays, and hearing
prayers read in the morning. It is not to be wondered at that I
never had a religious thought or feeling here, and by bad asso-
ciates became wicked, even to swearing. The whole ambition of
the master seemed to consist in making us good penmen, in which
with me he never succeeded. My next school was at Wareham,

* At this school I have heard him say that the boys had to take their towels in
their hands every morning and run off to a neighbouring brook to wash — an
arrangement rather more bracing than pleasant. — Edit.

SCHOOL LITE.

kept by !Mr Kell, an Arian minister. This was a classical school, Autobio-
and in eveiy way incomparably superior to the other. There I ^P*"*^
remauied rather more than two years, during which I learned
Latin, and had some general instruction ; after which I was sent
back for a short time to the former school to get up my penman-
ship. But my mother, and perhaps my father, seemed to be so
impressed with the want of all religious instruction, that I was
allowed to go home every other Sabbath. My whole boyhood and
school days passed by without any decided reUgious thought or
feeling.

In looking back at the system of education which in those days
generally prevailed, and comparing it with what is now supplied,
I am profoundly astonished at the vast improvement which in this
respect has since then taken place. With the exception of Latin
and Greek, more general knowledge is now communicated in our
common day schools for the labouring classes than was at that
time imparted in ordinary boarding-schools.

Thus finished my childhood in vanity and folly. I was yet
"without God and vrithout hope in the world"

All the stories of Mr James's school days that he himself was EditoriaL
accustomed to tell, and all that I have been able to collect from
his old schoolfellows and playmates, shew that he was a bright,
merry boy, with exulting animal spirits, and a kindly, generous
temper. He was not very clever in class, but was a good hand
at trap-ball and rounder ; and in the rough fun of the play-
ground, and in the practical jokes so dear to thorough English
lads, he was always forward. Some boyish sins he fell into, but he
was always brave and generous, and was never suspected of a lie.

He often used to tell with great glee how, on one Guy Fawkes'
night, he had the audacity to let oflP a squib at a soldier, which
singed the warrior's whiskers, and greatly provoked his fury ; and
how, on another, having filled his pockets with fireworks, all his
thunder prematurely exploded, and began to blaze away so fiercely
that he had to be put under the spout of the pump in order to
save him from as tragic and fiery a fate as that to which the

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

immortal conspirator had doomed the rulers of the English nation.
To convict all unbelievers, the pump is still at the back of the old
house, with his father's and mother's initials upon it.

While preparing this biography, a kind note reached me from

Mr James C of Bingham, an old schoolfellow of IMr James's,

with whom he once had a "battle-royal, which lasted half-an-

hour ; " but, writes Mr 0 , " after the battle was over we soon

forgot our encounter, and were afterwards very good friends."
Thirty years passed before the combatants met again ; and, having
talked over the heroic deeds of their boyhood, Mr James looked
his old foe and old friend in the face, and said with genuine and
affecting earnestness, " My dear friend, I hope we are one in
Christ."

It was not unnatural that even his mother should acknowledge
to a neighbour that her " son John was her chief trouble," and
deplore that he made no progress at school ; or that she derived
little comfort from her friend's assurance that as the boy was
clever at his play, she need not trouble her heart about him, " he'll
do well enough by and by."

Perhaps with individuals as with nations, their military glory is
remembered and sung when their more peaceful though greater
achievements are forgotten ; but whatever the cause, most of the
recollections of those who knew Mr James in early days cele-
brate his pugilistic prowess rather than his learning. Once he is
said to have thrashed a lad for calling him a " pug-nosed Presby-
terian," an insult flung at his religion as well as his person, which
an ardent, impetuous, broad-chested boy could hardly be expected
to endure. Old Mr Fisher, father of the two gentlemen of that
name now living at Blandford, was travelling once in the west of
the county, and put up at an inn kept by a Blandford man-
Naturally enough the innkeeper began to inquire about the towns-
people, and as the conversation ran on, he exclaimed, " There were
two boys of the name of James that went to school with me — what
has become of them ? "

" One of them," was the reply, " has become an eminent Non-
conformist minister."

SCHOOL LIFE.

" Ay, which is that ? "
"John Angell."

" What ! thik [Dorsetshire for that] thick-headed fool — why,
he was fit for nothing but fighting ! "

The general religious influences under which he lived during
his boyhood were very feeble. He had to thank God for his
mother's piety, but for little besides.

The IndejDendent congregation of which his parents were ad-
herents, like most of the Presbyterian, and many of the Indepen-
dent churches of the last century, was paralysed by respectability
and dulness. The effeminate refinement which had nearly proved
the death of our literature, had invaded the pulpit and destroyed
its authority and power. As the warmth and vigour of Dryden
had given place to the cold timidity of Pope, as the sinewy direct-
ness of Locke had given place to the gliding gracefulness of
Addison ; so in the pulpit. Barrow and South, to say nothing of
earlier and perhaps greater names, were forgotten, and Tillotson
with his imitators reigned in their stead. Even when the tide
had turned, and the French Eevolution had made men impatient
of mere finished correctness in general literature, preachers were
still expected to be elegant and cold ; and in good society Dr
Blair was the model preacher.

This enfeebling fastidiousness was at once a cause and an efiect
of spiritual declension. In Doddridge and Watts, the spiritual
energy which wrought mightily in the Puritans of the age of
Elizabeth, and afterwards in many of the great Churchmen who
ofiered a blind homage to the first two Stuarts, as well as in the
illustrious divines of the Commonwealth and the confessors of
1662, had exhausted itself. At the close of the seventeenth
century, Burnet, who was generous enough to applaud religious
earnestness wherever he discovered it, said that the strictness of
piety for which Dissenters had been distinguished was rapidly
disappearing. The few eminent Nonconformists who were living
immediately before the great revival under Whitfield and Wesley,
mourn over the decay of spiritual earnestness among the members
of their churches, and the prevalent latitudiuarianism in matters

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

of doctrine. Doddridge confesses and deplores that for churches
holding a moderate Calvinistic creed, It was hard to find ministers.
The whole country was under a blight. In the Church of England
evangelical orthodoxy had scarcely a refuge except in her Articles,
and devoutness was to be found only in her Liturgy. Nearly aU
the Presbyterian pulpits, once occupied by the relentless but
fervent Calvinists of the Commonwealth, were now fiUed with men
who began by evading all definite statements on the chief articles
of the Evangelical Confession, the divinity of the Lord Jesus, and
the expiatory character of His death, and ended by distinctly
denying them. Occupied in constructing endless demonstrations
of the existence of God, and in weary controversies with a heartless
scepticism, the divines of that age neglected and forgot the central
and vital truths of the Christian faith. To pass from the theology
of Puritanism to the folios which ensure the Boyle Lecturers a
torpid immortality, is to exchange the tropics for an Arctic
winter.

The churches of the Independent order suffered less severely
during that age of darkness than their neighbours ; but they were
not wholly uninjured. Some became Arian. Others retained
through a protracted period of spiritual slumber their old creed,
and were at last re-awakened by the dawn of the great Evangeli-
cal Revival. The Independent church at Blandford belonged to
the latter class, but in Mr James's boyhood the slumber had been
but slightly disturbed. The minister, Mr Pield, was a man whose
personal religious habits and ideal of ministerial responsibilities
had been formed when the rehgious temperature of the country
was at its lowest point ; his ministry commenced in the year 1753.*

He was a man of excellent character, a tolerably good scholar,
and a gentleman, but a drowsy preacher. He is suspected to have
held, though ha never frankly avowed, Arian doctrines ; when

* It is worth recording, and may serve to correct the mistake of those who
suppose that Independent churches are such hotbeds of faction and restlessness
that no minister can continue long in any one pastorate, that the Blandford church
bad only three ministers during a period of more than one hundred and fifty years.
The Rev. Malachi Blake was minister for more than fifty years, the Rev. Henry
Field for sixty-seven, and the Rev. Richard Keynes for fifty-three.

SCHOOL LIFE.

•23

away from home his pulpit was often supplied by ministers who
openly professed the Arian creed. His congregation included
many of the most respectable inhabitants of Blandford, and he
was held in veiy general affection and respect.

Good Mrs James, however, was often weary of the coldness and
formality of the services at the Independent meeting. Many a
time on a winter evening she called one of her boys to light
the lantern and walk with her to the homely room where the
Methodist preachers were stirring the blood and firing the devotion
of their simple-hearted hearers. She found there less polish but
more power, and believed that the dignified discourses of her own
minister were well exchanged for the rude eloquence of less cul-
tivated but more fervent men.

Although for a time she had no reason to suppose that her
eldest son was at all affected by what he heard, who can venture
to afiirm that the stirring sermons he listened to at his mother's
side in the Methodist conventicle produced no impression on his
boyish heart ? At least they must have helped to teach him that
lesson which he often and solemnly endeavoured to teach others,
that the gospel, though preached by unlearned men, is always and
everywhere " the power of God unto salvation."

CHAPTER III.

APPRENTICESHIP.
Autobio- ]My father, in common with many others of like standing at that

gra^jliicaL

time, not being personally aware from experience of the advantages
of a good education, took me away from school at the early age of
thirteen. In determining for me my future avocation, he selected
his own trade, as linen-draper, with the design perhaps that I
should one day carry on his own business. It is a little remark-
able that he should have decided in the same way successively for
his three sons, and that neither of them should, after having
learnt the trade, continue in it ; though both my brothers, Thomas
and James, entered upon it, — Thomas at Eomsey, and James
at Blandford. Thomas, as is well known, relinquished it, and
entered the ministry, and James, after a few years, relinquished it
too, and came to reside in Birmingham. The lot is cast in the
lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. As my
father's business was small, he wisely determined to look out for

me a situation away from home, and selected Mr B of

Poole as my future master, to whom, after the trial of a month,
I was bound for seven years. This was, I think, in the year
3798.

EditoriaL Sixty years ago, the town of Poole, now a very quiet and
somnolent place, was full of energy and wealth. Its little harbour

APPRENTICESHIP.

was crowded with ships, and the Newfoundland trade, which at
that time was a far more important element of British commerce
than it is now, was largely in the hands of the Poole merchants,
and they carried it on with great spirit. How the trade was lost,
it does not concern this narrative to inquire ; it is only necessary
to remind the reader, who in his summer tour may happen to have
passed through this somewhat decayed town on his way to Bourne-
mouth, or some other point on the south-western coast, that when
Angell James began his apprenticeship, Poole was not an unfavour-
able place for acquiring commercial knowledge, shrewdness, and
habits of industry.

I well remember the legal formality of my indentures, andAutobio-

graphical,

receiving a short admonition from the attorney as to my conduct.
I was at first upon the whole pleased with my situation, and happy
in it. Besides myself there was a relation of the nmae of Cull,
who was in the last year of his apprenticeship. He was a clever,
agreeable man, and kind to me, but of no decided personal godli-
ness. He afterwards married a lady of considerable fortune,
settled in business for a short time in Wareham, and then went to
Newport, Isle of Wight, and became the intimate friend of Dr
Winter, who was then the pastor of the church in that town. Mr
Cull became unfortunate, lost his property, removed to Canada,
where he was employed in some public situation, and soon after

died. Besides him there was another apprentice in Mr B 's

employ, a godless youth, from whom, however, I know not that I

received any moral injury. Mr and Mrs B were upon the

whole kind to me at first. He was a professor of religion, she not.
I believe he was a good man, though in some things a somewhat
inconsistent professor. He maintained family prayer, somewhat
formally and irregularly. I suppose he was about as serious and
spiritual in this as many others. I am afraid family religion is
very poorly maintained by many professing tradesmen of the

present day. Mrs B had no religion, and made no profession

of any. They were singularly tried in their children. The eldest
girl was an idiot, another was blind, and another was burnt to

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- death. Two or three of their sons attained to considerable respect-
graphioaJ. ^^ji^^j^^y. station in society.

Mr B was not successful in business. He failed while I

was with him, and I was the witness of much distress, and some
things which were not very consistent with the " whatsoever things
are of good report." Oh, to what temptations are men exposed in
business, and especially in times of difficulty and declension ! It
is a terrible conflict, and a man who would follow the apostle's
rule of trade, and maintain a conscience void of offence, must have
the spirit of a martyr, and be willing to suffer loss for Christ. I
pity the professing tradesmen of the present day when competition
is so fierce, and it is so difficult to get on without what may be

called the tricks of trade. To follow out the history of Mr B .

In the latter part of his life he joined the Primitive Methodists,
became a local preacher among them, and died at the age of ninety-
three or ninety-four. I became tolerably proficient in the busi-
ness, and was put forward by my employer. During the first two
years I was a careless youth, except at intervals, when a serious
thought would cross my mind, and a remonstrance of conscience
would disturb my tranquillity. I never despised or ridiculed reli-
gion, but always had a respect for it. My mother's example and
prayers did, I daresay, occasionally come to my recollection. As

Mr B was a member of the Independent church at Poole, I

regiilarly attended the Dissenting place of worship in that town.
The ministry was not of a kind much to interest a youth of my
frivolous turn of mind. Mr Ashbumer, the pastor of the church,
was of the Whitfield school, and a regular annual supply at the
Tabernacle in London. His doctrine was, of course, Calvinistic,
and rather high. He was fond of anecdotes, some of which were
homely enough and facetious. This tickled my fancy, but made
no impression on my heart. His manner was peculiar, and some-
what calculated to provoke a smile in those who were not accus-
tomed to it. He occasionally strolled into our shop, but never said
a syllable to me on the subject of religion. There was little spiritu-
ality of conversation maintained by him. Yet he was useful, and
there was a tone of devotional piety pervading a large portion of

APPRENTICESHIP.

the congregation. He was an old man when I first heard him, and Autobio-
as I was so young, and it is so long gone by, I cannot give a more ^^P^'*^
particular account of him.

Under Mr A 's preaching I do not remember to have re-
ceived any religious impressions whatever. Nor were our domestic
habits and the companions I had in the house likely to foster them
if I had. After shop hours we had no place to retire to but the
kitchen, and therefore no companions to associate with in the
house but the servants. Yet, as an apprentice who had paid a
high premium, I ought to have been called into the parlour, or we
should have had a room provided for us.

I now tremble to think to what temptations we were here
exposed, but from which, through God's goodness, I was preserved,
A most solemn obligation rests on masters to take care of the
young men whom they receive to their houses, either as apprentices
or shopmen. This is too little thought of by many who make a
profession of religion. They are to shelter them from moral evil
as far as their efforts can go, and give them good advice. But
tlien, this must be sustained by the honest and honourable manner
in which their trade concerns are conducted. I know, for I have
been informed by the young men themselves, to what moral perils
they are exposed by the very questionable principles on which
trade is conducted. Some have come to me for advice in cases
where they were required to tell downright falsehoods and do
dishonest acts. And some professing tradesmen and deacons of
churches are not, to my knowledge, so scrupulous in this respect
as they should be. I am sometimes told by tradesmen that if
they do not do as others do, they cannot live. But what says
Christ, " What do ye more than others ? " that is, in the way of
self-denial. Evidently implying, we ought to do more than others.
I saw something of this in my own case while an apprentice. I
remember that during the difficulties of my employer, the stock
was taken, and this was carried on diiring the Sabbath, under the
direction of a person put in charge of the business by the creditors.
I was requested to join in this desecration, but I respectfully but
firmly declined, and was not compelled nor blamed. This occurred,

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autoi)io- however, after my mind had become engaged on the subject of

graphical. . .

religion.

About a year after I had been in Poole, I began to be a little
more thoughtful occasionally about religion, which I knew I did
not possess, and after which I felt a vague kind of desire. Some-
times on a Sunday I would go by myself and pray. In my
ignorance, I felt the difficulty of entering on a religious life. I
wanted to be pious, but knew not how. I believe God the Spirit
was then striving with me. I made no effort to quench His
motions in my soul, but at the same time I took no pains to
nourish and strengthen them, and it was rich grace in Him that
He did not leave me. He had purposes of mercy towards me,
such as then, of course, it never entered into my heart to conceive
of. Peeling the difficulties of my situation, I prayed that the
Lord would raise up some one in the house to be my guide. I
am sure I was sincere in this. And now comes a turning-point in
my history. But this must be left for the next chapter.

CHAPTER IV.

CONVERSION TO GOD.

The time was now near wlieu God would draw me to Himself. AutoWo-

Mr B , with whom I lived, being in want of money, took^'^^^^"^

another apprentice for the sake of the premium. A youth was
engaged who had been religiously educated, and who maintained
an external respect for the forms of godliness. The apprentices
all slept in the same room. The first night of this youth's lodg-
ing with us, he knelt down by his bedside and prayed, in silence
of course. The thought instantly occurred to me, as I looked
with surprise upon the youth bending before God, " See there the
answer of your prayers — there is somebody to lead you into the
way of rehgion." This made me thoughtful and somewhat uneasy.
I do not recollect that I said anything to my feUow-apprentice,
nor can I now remember whether I immediately commenced the
practice of prayer daily. I think it probable I did, and that,
emboldened by this example, I prayed too. I mention this fact,
not merely because of its influence upon my future history, but as
shewing the importance of letting our light so shine before others,
tliat they, seeing our good works, may " glorify our Father who is
in heaven." We should never be ashamed of our religion, nor of
the performance of its duties. It is a very great disadvantage to
young men going out into the world to be lodged in the same
chamber with others. It requires much moral courage, more than

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- most possess, to pray amidst the gazing eyes and scornful looks of

graphical.

irreligious companions. I shall ever have reason to bless God for

this act of Charles B .

After a while I observed that Charles, as soon as the shop was
shut, used frequently to go out for an hour. I had no reason to
suppose that he went into any bad company, and at length dis-
covered that his visits were paid to a pious shoemaker, or rather
cobbler, who by hard labour earned just enough to live in the most
frugal manner. I prevailed upon my fellow-apprentice to allow
me to accompany him to his pious friend. He could not very
well deny me, and yet was not perhaps overjoyed at the proposal.
With a mixture of curiosity, trembling, and vague expectation of
religious benefit, I went with Charles to the pious cobbler's. The
liouse was small, mean, ill-furnished, and in a low situation. The
shoemaker was unprepossessing in his appearance, having bad
eyes, and being rather dirty : but both he and his wife received
me kindly, and yet with some suspicion. I found that it was what
1 wanted ; both the man and his wife were eminently pious and
communicative. There was a gentleness and softness in their
manners which were above their rank. The shoemaker was a rigid
Calvinist, yet he had none of the dogmatism and pride and cap-
tiousness of the Antinomian school. The first book to which he
introduced his young neophyte was that farrago of spiritual pride
and presumption, Huntington's " Bank of Faith." To the pure all
things are pure, and good John Poole, for such was the cobbler's
name, fed upon it as a feast of fat things, and considered it the
very marrow of the gospel. I did not enter very deeply into the
subject, but thought it very wonderful. The good man used to
pray with us, and at length got us to attempt the exercise of
prayer with him. In order to take ofi" all fear from my mind, he
requested me, the first time I prayed, to go and stand in a small
place that was boarded off, in which coals and other matters were
kept. Here in this dark corner I stood to pour out an audible
prayer for the first time with a fellow-creature. Just about the
time of my going first to John Poole's, Mr Sibree of Frome-came
to Poole, and preached from tliese words, " Therefore will the

CONVEESION TO GOD.

Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you/' (Isa. xxx. 18.)Autobio-
The sermon produced a very deep effect upon my mind, and brought ^^^^"^
my impressions and Hoating convictions to a point, which the good
shoemaker's instructions served to confirm. My views of religion
were still very dim and indistinct, and my progress slow ; yet I
had a decided taste and relish for spiritual things, and my visits
to my good AquUa and Priscilla were constant and delightful
Just about this period Mr Ashburner, the old minister, was laid
aside, and Mr Keynes, afterwards my brother-in-law, came and
preached at Poole for several months. His sermons were impres-
sive, and were blessed of God to keep up my attention to eternal
realities. Mr Kejnies was succeeded by Mr Durant, whose min-
istry often and deeply affected me.

The cobbler's house, when I saw it last spring, had hardly Editorial.

been altered since the time that Mr B 's apprentices used to

make it their daily resort. It is on the left hand of Fish Street,
at the end near the quay. The street is narrow and dirty, and the
house deserves the description given of it in the Autobiography ; it
is " small, mean, and in a low situation." " In this room on the
right," said John Poole's son, who took me to see the place, " my

father used to work, and Mr James, and Charles B , and one

or two others, would come in two or three times a-day to talk with
liim ; sometimes several of them together, and sometimes one
would come alone ; and while my father went on with his work,
the young men and he used to talk together about religion." The
shoemaker's chairs being probably somewhat scanty, and perhaps
not very strong, the j'oung men bought a bench for their own use.
"And this is the wall, sir," said ray guide, "that they put it
against, and there they used to sit." The room is not more than
eight or ten feet square.

The little circle at the shoemaker's was enlarged by two more Autohio-
young men, who were permitted to join us. We usually all met ^''^^'^'^
on a Sabbath evening after sermon at his house for prayer and
praise, and very sweet and sacred were the seasons we there spent.

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- It was the vernal season of my religious life, when all was lively

graphical,

and budding. I now attended an early prayer-meeting on a Sun-
day morning at the vestry before breakfast, and occasionally en-
gaged in prayer, though I believe with more fervour than correct-
ness. The sermons seemed very solemn and interesting to me,
and religious exercises in general very delightful. My religious
affections were very strong, but my knowledge limited. 1, of course,
understood that I was to be saved from my sins by Christ, yet I
had very crude notions of justification and other great doctrines
of the New Testament. I was now thoroughly engaged to the
subject of religion, and had given myself up to the company of the
Lord's people.

Editorial. An old gentleman, still living in Poole, gave me a very charac-
teristic illustration of Mr James's earnestness during the early
period of his religious life. One Saturday evening Mr James had
gone over to Blandford to see his friends, and, of course, was not
expected at the seven o'clock prayer- meeting the next morning,
" But, sir," said the old gentleman, " I happened to be a few min-
utes late that morning, and when I came to the door of the vestry,
I found the meeting had begun, and I thought that from the voice
it was John James who was praying, but could not believe that he
had got back from Blandford so early. However, when I got in,
I found that there he was. After the meeting was over, he came
up to me with his smiling face, and said, ' Oh, why could you not
come in time ? I have walked over from Blandford this morning,
and got here before you.' As Blandford is about twelve or four-
teen miles from Poole, he must have started soon after three
o'clock."

AutoTiio- But all this while great imperfections attached to me. Mr and
giap ca . ^^^^ g ^^^^ excessively annoying in their conduct ; they

treated their apprentices like menial servants, and required of them
services which respectable young men ought not to be expected to
perform. I did not stand this test of my temper so weU as I
ought. I now see that I should have remonstrated with more

CONVERSION TO GOD.

meekness, and submitted with more gentleness. I gave too much AufoWo-
reason to them to reproach me, and did not display proper meek- ^''^'^'^^^
ness. The situation became irksome and disagreeable to me. Ha I
I sought more grace to be humble and contented, I should have
been more consistent, and have grown more in grace. I was not-
withstanding much valued by them I believe, and considered both
trustworthy and clever in business.

I one time gave occasion to my good friend the shoemaker
to grieve over me, by going to an election ball; not that I
danced, for I was never taught, but merely went for an hour
or two to see what was going on. It was more a matter of
curiosity, and of petty vanity at having an opportunity of going
to a ball, than any particular taste for such things ; but I ought
not to have been there. My then present feelings were incom-
patible with such amusements. ]\Iy pious friend, who watched
over me with a jealous eye, wisely reproved me, and with such
delicate gentleness as endeared him to my heart. I was also
betrayed by curiosity into another inconsistency, and that was to
go and see a mimic play, got up by a few young men of the town.
WhUe in the room, my conscience so severely reproved me, that
its accusations were like scorpion stings. I was situated under a
large beam, and I trembled through my whole frame lest it should
fall and crush me to death : as soon as I could,- 1 left the place,
and jumped for joy when I found myself safe on the outside of the
house. I mention these things to prove that there may be a work
of grace going on in the soul when some appearances in yoxmg
converts would lead us to suspect the reaUty of the change. Even
after the soul is converted to God, it does not see all at once the
full extent of its duty. Corruption gets for a little while the upper
hand in the struggle.

During all this time I never had exchanged a word with
Mr Durant, though I greatly desired to converse with him, and
have stood at the corner of a street watching him to his lodg-
ings, with a bursting heart, and longing to speak to him, but
•without courage to accomplish my wish. This has shewn me the
propriety of the modern practice of ministers of setting apart
c

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- times to converse with inquirers, and inviting them to come for

graphical. ... .

instruction and encouragement. In all congregations there must
be many persons in such a state of mind as I was then in, and who
require the kind care and attention of the pastor, who, like his
Divine Pattern, should gather the lambs in his arms and carry them
in his bosom. In consequence of having no experienced spiritual
guide beyond the good shoemaker, I had no one to direct my read-
ing, and indeed, if books had been recommended to me, I had no
opportunity to read them, being engaged in the shop from the
moment I left my chamber till nine or ten o'clock at night.
Among the books which I did read, and which greatly impressed
my mind, were the sermons of President Davies of America, than
which, even to this day, I know of no finer specimens of the
hortatory, evening style of preaching.* He made Baxter his
model, and in intense earnestness he well imitated his master.

I wish our young ministers would drink into the spirit of these
pungent discourses, from the effect of which, upon my own
youthful heart, I learnt much of the kind of preaching likely to
interest the popular mind. I was also much interested and
affected by Maurice's " Social Religion Exemplified," as abridged
by Dr Williams, a book which should be read by all who would
wish to see how beautiful are the principles of the Congregational
mode of church- government, when carried out in a scriptural
manner and to their proper extent. When retiring from the shop
wearied with the business of the day, this book had charm enough
to keep me awake, and to draw many tears from my eyes.

It wUl be seen by what I have related that my religious character
was a gradual, and not a sudden formation : there was no pungent
conviction of sin, no poignancy of godly sorrow, no great and rapid
transition of feeling, nor any very clear illumination of knowledge ;
but there were many evidences of a real change. My delight in

* " The composition of Davies's sermons of New England is too equable and
elaborate, and wants reUef and shade ; but I must confess, no discourses ever ap-
peared to me so adapted to awaken the conscience and impress the heart. In
reading them, one seems always to feel that they were written by a man who
never looked off from the value of a soul and the importance of eternity, or sought
for anything but to bring his hearers under the power of the world to come." —
Jay's Autobiography. ~'&mi.

CCVKVEESIOX TO GOD.

prayer was very great ; when alone in the shop, when riding in Autobio-
the country on my employer's business, I could not help pouring s™?^^'*^
out my heart to God In one thing, as I have already said, I was
extremely injudicious, and that was, I allowed my feelings so far
to get the upper hand of my judgment as to pray so loud, that
though I was in the attic I was heard in the lower parts of the
house, and exposed both myself and the exercise I was engaged in
to no small degxee of ridicule. Young converts in the ardour of
their first love oftentimes want judgment. Still I did not intend
to be ostentatious, and really enjoyed the exercise of prayer as an
act of communion with God.

My joy in the company of the Lord's people was very great ;
they were my chosen companions, their conversation was my
delight, and a happy circle, as they then appeared to me, I had.
Through the medium of my good friend the shoemaker, I became
acquainted with several of the members of the church, of great
worth and much esteemed. There were also several young people
who, like myself, met at the house of this good man for conversa-
tion and prayer. One of these, WUUam L , was a respectable

young man, engaged as an apprentice to an ironmonger, whose
mind appeared to be in some measure under religious influence
for awhile, and yet there were acts of his, of which I was aware,
that ought to have made me suspect the sincerity of his reUgion,
and deliver to him the language of faithful warning. After a while
he strangely apostatised from his religious conduct, and went into
downright infidelity, upon the principles of Thomas Paine. Tlie
town of Poole was at that time deplorably infected with the dis-
ciples of that reviler and blasphemer of God's Holy "Word. A
band of them used to meet at the house of an apostate Quaker, to
strengthen the bands of each other's iniquity, and to pour contempt

upon the Sacred Scriptures. Poor William L fell into the

snare, and became so ardent a proselyte that he copied out the
whole of Paine's " Age of Eeason," and sat up at night for that
purpose. This did not occur tiU after I left Poole. His
iafidehty, however, was soon shaken for a while, in consequence
of a dangerous illness which brought him within sight of the
grave ; his alarm and agony of mind were extreme. He sent

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES,

Autobio- for our common friend, beneath whose roof we had so often
giaphical. ^^^^ poured out the confessions of his guilt in abandoning the
Bible, cried for mercy to his offended and insulted Saviour, and
ordering his infidel manuscript to be brought, made his deeply
affected visitor burn the whole before his eyes. He found infidelity
a wretched companion on a bed of sickness, a miserable comforter
in prospect of death. He recovered, and for a season returned to
the good old paths which he had forsaken. But as a washed sow
returns to the mire, and the dog to his vomit, he relapsed again, I be-
lieve, to infidelity, and became a callous, practical rejecter of religion,
though I am not sure that he continued a speculative blasphemer.
Of his end, or whether he has come to his end, I know nothing.

Another of niy companions became, I believe, a drunken pro-
fligate ; and as for poor B , who was in some sense the

occasion of my conversion, his history was a melancholy one.
He inherited considerable property, which, having no knowledge
of business nor any business habits, he gradually frittered away,
and then went to America, where he wandered about from place
to place, reduced, I believe, in some periods of his history to the
lowest straits. A letter of his to a friend in Poole, the last, I
believe, he ever wrote to this country, now lies before me, and a
sad detail it is ; speaking of his poverty, he says, " I have not a
solitary dollar." He died I hope safely; though long after he
reached America he confessed in a letter I received from him, that
at the time we used to meet at the good shoemaker's he was a
stranger to the power of true rehgion. I can never think of his
name but with a pang of remorse ; in his distress he applied to
me for assistance, and not being at the time very well able to
afford substantial relief, and not being satisfied as to his character,
I was dilatory in replying to his application, till when I would
have helped him he was beyond the reach, and I hope the need,
of sympathy or succour.

Such, then, were the three friends with whom I used to meet
at the house of John Poole, and with whom I took sweet counsel
and walked to the house of God in company. Precious and
hallowed were the seasons we spent there, when on a Sabbath

CONVEKSION TO GOD.

evening, after the public services of the day were over, we united Autobio-
in prayer and praise, and still prolonged the Sabbath for the exer-
cises of sacred friendship.

But there was another of my Poole friends, with whom, at a
later period of my residence in that town, I became acquainted,
and who still continues a consistent follower of the Lamb, a
preacher of the gospel, and a pastor of a Christian church, — I
mean a Mr Tilley, then a tailor ; a truly humble, pious, devoted
sei-vant of the Lord. Sweet indeed and profitable was my inter-
course with him. He changed his views on the subject of baptism,
and became an immersionist. I was at that time nearly persuaded
to embrace the same sentiments. As there was no Baptist con-
gregation in Poole, my friend went to Wimbourne, a distance of
six miles, to be baptized. I remember the time well, as I accom-
panied him on his way on the Sabbath morning selected for the
ceremony, and see myself now shaking him by the hand at the
stile when we parted, and wishing that I was going with him.
Little events determine the future destination of men. Had I
been at that time my own master in all respects, it is every way
probable I should have become a Baptist, and thus the whole
course of my life would have been naturally changed. I consider
it a mercy, of com-se, that I was not then led away by my friend,
but continued in the sentiments which subsequent reflection con-
vinced me were true.

My religion during its earlier stages at Poole was strangely
imperfect. I now see that it partook of an error very common, I
mean an error of defect in the range and sphere of its operation :
it was too much a rehgion of the imagination and the feelings.
I courted, and not unfrequently enjoyed, the luxury of weeping
under sermons. The mellifluous tones of Mr Durant's musical
voice, like the breath of heaven passing over the strings of an
..Slolian harp, swept over the chords of my excitable heart, and set
them all in motion ; but I was not sufficiently aware of the
functions of conscience, that religion is a universal thing,
dictating how everything is to be done, and following us with
its commands, constraints, and warnings into every department of

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- action. My judgment was not sufficiently enlightened as to the

grApLicill. . . rr. • T 1

motives and extent of duty, nor my conscience sufficiently tender as
to its performance. I did many things which I now see to be wrong,
and left undone many things which I now see to be right.

It was not to be looked for that my dear relations could long be
ignorant of the change which had taken place, or indifferent about
it. I could not at first gain courage to inform them of it ; and,
indeed, it came on so slowly and imperceptibly that it was difficult
for me to decide when and how to make the first communication.
It is matter of notoriety that there is a strange, perhaps sinful,
reserve between near relatives on the subject of personal and
experimental religion. There is scarcely any subject on which it
is so difficult to converse as this. Probably this is partly instinc-
tive, the soul being thus taken olF from man, and led more directly
to God ; but like other instincts it may be carried too far, and
become criminally excessive; and were religious education con-
ducted as it should be, and religion in that high state to which
it should attain, there would be less of this religious bashfulness
than there is between religious parents and their children.

The first disclosure to my dear and anxious mother that her son
John, of whom she had already become somewhat proud, was
concerned about his soul, was the discovery in his greatcoat pocket
on one of his visits to his father's house of a Bible. Overjoyed at
the incident, and rejoicing in the discovery more than if it had
been of a bank-note of large amount given to her, she made some
inquiries, though I now forget how far I was communicative on
the momentous topic ; nor am I quite certain whether even this
incident was not preceded by a disclosure to my sister Jane, to
whom for a few minutes I will advert. From some cause or other,
though younger than my sister Harriet, afterwards Mrs Kejnies,
she became a kind of second mistress, a deputy-mother in the
family, and almost usurped maternal control ; yet I do not think
it was assumed out of the least disrespect to our dear mother,
who, being of a kind, easy, gentle, and consenting disposition,
gave up the reins pretty much into the hands of this her second
daughter. Harriet had neither taste nor disposition for this ; she
was a lively, thoughtless, sprightly girl, a good singer, and fond of

COXVEESIOX TO GOD.

company ; but Jane was sedate, thoughtful, and fond of manag- Autobio-
graphical.

ing. She superintended our meals, clothes, and in fact governed
us the younger ones. Her reign was not altogether impartial, —
she favoured Thomas, and persecuted, in a little way, James. Jane
was our instructress on the Sabbath ; to her we said our catechism
and hymns, though I believe my father heard us read the Scrip-
tiu-es. Alas ! this was all he did for our religious instruction.
Jane's mind was the first in our family which was impressed with
the subject of religion ; and to her, but by what means I do not
now recollect, I opened my mind on this sacred and momentous
theme. It is probable, that knowing the state of her mind I
disclosed to her my own, and it is not unlikely that the Bible
which my mother found in my pocket had been given me by my
sister. A correspondence on the subject of religion was imme-
diately commenced, which was maintained for some years, and
from which I learn more of my religious history at that time than
I can gather from my memory.

The future state of our famUy, considering the remissness of
my father, for he never had family prayer during the earlier part
of our history, and at the same time the very unattractive and
unimpressive nature of the public means of grace we were under,
is a subject of adoring wonder, gratitude, and praise.

To return now to my residence at Poole. I never became a
professor of religion there, for I was never invited to join in the
communion of the church. It was not then so customary as it
now is to call out persons from the congregation that may be
pious or anxious, and to invite them into fellowship. If the
ministers and churches and parents were too backward in those
days, I believe we in these days are too much in haste to press
persons into communion.

I never engaged in any other way of usefulness at Poole than
as a Sunday-school teacher. I was solicited to go to a neigh-
bouring village and address the people, and had some intention
to do so. I fixed upon this passage as the subject of my in-
tended discourse, — " The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
and we are not saved." I had begun to pen down some thoughts ;
but by some cause or other my intention was not fulfilled.

CHAPTER V.

CALL TO THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY.

In the office of the English Established Church for the ordination
of deacons, the candidate is asked, "Do you trust that you are
inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon you this office
and ministration, to serve God for the promoting of His glory, and
the edifying of His people?" and he is required to answer, "I
trust so." At the ordination of an Independent minister, it is not
usual for any such profession to be formally demanded, but still
it is our profound and solemn conviction, that if any man assume
the office without an inward and divine call to its responsibilities
and glories, he involves himself in awful guilt, and wiU be a curse
instead of a blessing to his people.

How this call is to be ascertained, is a question which has filled
the hearts of thousands with perplexity and anguish. Most of our
graver and wiser ministers would determine it in words something
like those which occur in the admirable Addresses of the Bishop
of Oxford to Candidates for Ordination : — " Some desire, at least,
to live nearer to Christ in employment and pursuit than worldly
callings render possible ; some personal sense of the dehverance
brought to the soul by His gospel ; some desire to speak His
precious name to others ; some love for souls ; some aptness for
ministering to them ; some of the desires and qualities of the
watchman, the steward, the shepherd, the physician, the good

CALL TO THE WOEK OF THE MIXISTEY.

master-builder must be certainly within us, and attest the working
of the Spirit of the Lord, if we would assert safely that we act
beneath His guidance. And these may, and in not a few instances,
thank God, do mount up to an earnest, self-devoting love to the
Lord our Eedeemer ; to a supreme desire and labour to live in all
things for His glory ; to a spirit burdened with a ' Woe is me,' and
strugghng like a pent-up fire until it can witness unto others of
the love of God our Father, of the power of Christ's cross, of the
healing, ennobling presence of the Lord the Holy Ghost." Change
the "may" of this last sentence into "should," and most evangelical
Nonconformist ministers would adopt the language as their own.

This " call " came to Angell James while still a youth. He
" kept no account iu writing of the workings of his mind at the
time," and was not able sixty years afterwards to recall them.
But it is not difficult to imagine the fervent and impetuous passion
with which he longed to be a preacher of the gTeat salvation.
Unlearned in ecclesiastical history, and unfamiliar with the tradi-
tions of saints and martyrs which stir the hearts of the ardent and
devout youth of some churches, his imagination was not fired with
the poetry and romance of a mystic and heroic piety ; neither St
Bernard nor Thomas a Kempis, neither Fenelon nor Ignatius,
suggested the type of spiritual perfection and ministerial service
to which he aspired. Nor is it probable that he coveted the
honour of being enrolled in the glorious company of the doctors of
the Church; to his eyes, Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas, the
scholars, and bishops that gave form to the theology of the Eng-
lish Church, even the illustrious theologians of the Reformed and
Calvinistic communions, seemed crowned with a meaner diadem
than Whitfield and Wesley, whose apostolic labours had regener-
ated the religious life of England. To catch their inspiration, to
be surrounded in this world by eager crowds crying, " What must
we do to be saved ? " and to be welcomed into immortal glory by the
songs and gratulations of thousands, who through his labours had
escaped eternal destruction, would seem to him the highest honour
and blessedness possible to man. His own narrative rims thus : —

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

AutoWo- During the latter part of my residence at Poole, the Sunday
grdpiucai. gpjjQ^i^ ^j^g instrumentality of gratuitous teachers, came into
pretty general use, and was taken up by Mr Durant and his con-
gregation. An application was made to many of the young
people, and to me among the rest, to come forward and to assist
in this good work. I accepted the invitation, and took my place
at the head of a class. The work was exceedingly agreeable to
me, and I became much attached to my children, and much inter-
ested in their welfare. I needed no stimulating addresses from
time to time, to make me regular and punctual in my attendance ;
for the occupation was my delight. The other teachers were also
devoted and in earnest. There was at that time less system in
tlie methods of teaching, and none of the modern excitement of
tea-parties, Sunday-school unions, and teachers' meetings: we
loved the employment, and found stimulus and reward enough in
the work itself to keep us going on with it. I do not condemn
the modern practices, but I wish we could do without some of
them ; and it is much to be feared that many engage in the work
more for the love of the excitement that is connected with it, than
for the work itself.

It was while working as a Sunday-school teacher that I first
felt a desire to be employed in a field of usefulness more ex-
tensive than that of my weekly class of boys, and to engage in
the work of the Christian ministry. As I kept no account in
writing of the workings of my mind at the time, I have not
a very distinct recollection of the progress of my views of this
great undertaking. My religious friends encouraged my desires ;
but as I was not then received as a member of the church, there
was no small degree of irregularity in the proceeding. I opened
my mind I believe to Mr Durant, but forget whether he mcouraged
or cZiscouraged me ; but my present impression is, that he did not
think very highly of my qualifications, and left me to follow pretty
much the bent of my own inclinations. My father was no sooner
apprised of my intentions, than he opposed them. Having given
a handsome sum as a premium at the time of my apprenticeship,
and being now required to advance stUl more money to procure

CALL TO THE WOEK OF THE MIXLSTEY.

my liberation, he felt much objection to the scheme on this ground, AutoiHo-
and also from a consideration that all my time had been thrown ^''^'^
away as well as the money, and that he should have to support me
a longer period than he would have been called to do had I pro-
ceeded to complete my apprenticeship and enter into business. I
wiU not say that he attached no importance to the views I had
taken up of the ministry, but he might justly be doubtful of my
success if I prosecuted them. In this stage of the affair it was
made known to Mr (since Br) Bennett, then settled at Eomsey in
Hampshire, who was one of our friends. I remember I took a
journey to Eomsey while my sister Jane was visiting at Mr Blake's,
our maternal uncle, and had an interview with ^Ir Bennett. On
this journey I had a narrow escape from a broken limb or a still
more serious injury by the fall of the horse on which I rode, in
consequence of which I was thrown with considerable violence over
his head. However, through the good providence of God, I re-
ceived not the slightest harm. By the mediation of !Mr Bennett
with my father, his consent was obtained, and an arrangement was
made for leaving my employment and going to Gosport to study
under Dr Bogue. Just before I was to quit Poole, I was seized
with a fever of the form of mild typhus, which, though not of a
malignant or dangerous character, brought me very low.

As soon as I recovered from this, which was in two months, I
left Blandford, at the close of 1802, for the scene of my studies.
This was an eventful era of ray Ufe, and excited most grave and
solemn reflectiona

CHAPTEK VI.

STUDENT LIFE AT QOSPOET.

DUEING the last forty years the system of ministerial education
among English CongregationaUsts has undergone a complete trans-
formation ; and Mr James's account of his life at Gosport, under
the care of Dr Bogue, has all the interest which belongs to a trust-
worthy narrative of customs now almost obsolete. Just here and
there a few candidates for the ministry are.stiU gathered under
the roof of a laborious man, who occupies at the same time the
pulpit and the professor's chair, and superintends the reading of
his students in the most dissimilar and remote departments of
learning ; lectures to-day on Original Sin, and to-morrow on Jupi-
ter's Satellites ; passes from Xenophon to Homiletics, and from
Tacitus to the principles of Church Polity; and the earnestness and
ability with which these numerous and conflicting duties are dis-
charged, and the ministerial success of some of the students from
these unambitious seminaries, awaken astonishment and admira-
tion. But a new epoch, which Mr James himself helped to inau-
gurate, has now begun. Nonconformist colleges are attempting
to secure for the ministry a more liberal and learned education
than the private academies were able to impart.

It may, however, be necessary to remind some who read these
pages, that the desire for a thoroughly accomplished as well as
a devout ministry is not a passion which Dissenters have only

STUDENT LIFE AT GOSPOET.

recently acquired. The meagre professional education received by
the subject of this memoir, and by very many of the Congregational
ministers of his age, was the result of necessity, not of choice.

The illustrious confessors who were driven out on Bartholomew's
•Day, 1662, were the flower and glory of the Church from which
they were expeUed. They were the most learned as well as the
most religious of the clergy. But their descendants were excluded
from the national universities, and were forbidden to establish
private academies for the education of their ministry. Nearly
sixty years after the great secession of 1662, a prosecution was
commenced in the ecclesiastical courts against Dr Doddridge, by
some clergymen of the English Church, for setting up an academy
in Northampton, and the prosecution was only terminated by the
express order of the King, who declared that "during his reign
there should be no persecution for conscience' sake." *

When the growing strength of the principles of religious free-
dom rendered hopeless the malignant attempts to ruin the cause
of the Nonconformists, by making a learned ministry impossible,
other difficulties arose which delayed among them the restoration
of the scholarship, both general and professional, of earlier days.
" It had been seen with bitter regret that the elegant classic, the
profound metaphysician, often lost the spirit of the man of God
in the taste of the man of letters, and studied to recommend
himself to the great by his literature, rather than to the good by
his usefulness ; whUe not a few of those who had ascended the
pulpit uneducated, had, by the purity of their aim, and the ardour
of their zeal, won from the finished scholar the palm of wisdom
which Heaven awards to him that ' winneth souls.' Many liberal
friends of true religion were induced, therefore, to project the
formation of seminaries, in which the time of education should
be shorter, and the objects "of attention should be only those
which were essential to the formation of the plain, useful pastor.
As the modern efibrts for the propagation of the gospel increased
the number of congregations in villages and smaller country
towns, the slighter species of education given by Calvinistic

* Orton's Life of Doddridge. Doddridge's Works, vol. i., p. 148.

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Methodists, and by some of the evangelical Dissenters, became
absolutely necessary to supply the demands of the churches. It
lowered, indeed, the standard of general knowledge among Dis-
senters, so that to the superior information of the old Dissenting
congregations, which were often assemblies of divines, succeeded
the comparative ignorance of the Methodistic societies. In too
many instances the student never contracted enough of the habit
to acquire the love of study, nor gained sufficient information to
spend his future time to advantage. Where this was the case, the
churches were injured, and they not only soon grew weary of the
sameness of ignorance, but were sometimes wounded by the dis-
covery that the natural effect of an incapacity for study was
indolence, which exposed ministers to dangerous temptations.

" Serious as was this deduction from the benefit, the less
finished species of education was productive of immense good.
Many came out of the new academies with so much attachment
to divine truth, and such solicitude for the salvation of men, that
they proved far greater blessings to the Church than the arianised
or latitudinarian divines who issued from some of the seats of
learning. Though truth was worth the sacrifice, it was stUl an
evU to be obliged to forego the advantages of learning. The
first race of Dissenting ministers who, to the erudition of the
universities, added the piety of minds purified from its dross in
the fire of persecution, were as far beyond many of the preachers
of modern days, as these are superior to the mere philosophic
divines who had just learning enough ' to corrupt them from the
simplicity that is in Christ.'" *

Dr Bogue, from whose " History of Dissenters " this long
extract is taken, was himself at the head of one of these private
and unostentatious educational institutions. George Welch, a
wealthy London banker, having determined to bear the expense
of educating a considerable number of young men for the work of
the ministry, three were sent by him to Dr Bogue towards the
end of 1789, and the number gradually increased. Just before

* History of Dissenters. By David Bogue and James Bennett, (London 1812.)
Vol. iv., pp. 299, sej.

STUDENT LIFE AT GOSPOKT.

Mr James's student-life began, Mr Eobert Haldane having met
Mr (now Dr) Bennett, a pupil of Dr Bogue's, expressed his regret
that Dr Bogue's time and talents were being spent for the benefit
of such a small number of students. As the result of that con-
versation, writes Mr James —

Mr Haldane offered a hundred a-year, for three years, towards Autobio-
the education of ten young men, if the friends of religion j^si-'piiicai,
Hampshire and other places would raise two hundred a-year
more, so as to allow each student thirty pounds a-year towards
his maintenance. Upon this foundation I was placed. My tutor
was a man of great public spirit in religious matters, and of great
weight of character. He had originated the Missionary Society
by a letter which appeared in the Evangelical Magazine, and he
did much to rouse and direct the public feeling in this noble
enterjjrise. Perhaps there were very few of the illustrious band
of fathers and founders of that institution to whom so much is
due as to Dr Bogue for its existence and success. Soon after the
society was formed, he was appointed to be the tutor of such
young men as were accepted as missionaries, and who needed the
advantages of education. He had before this acted as tutor to
young men for home service.

At the time of my entrance upon my studies there were six or
eight missionaries going through their preparatory studies, so that
I was led from the beginning, by my intercourse with them, to take
a deep interest in missionary affairs. All of them, and others who
came afterwards, have ceased from their labours and entered upon
their eternal rest and reward. Among these was Dr Morrison, the
distinguished missionary to China. He was a remarkable man while
at college. Studious beyond most others ; grave almost to gloom ;
abstracted ; somewhat morose, but evidently absorbed in the con-
templation of the great object which seemed to be ever swelling
into more awful magnitude and grandeur the nearer he approached
it. I remember his coming to me at one time when his mind seemed
much depressed, and saying, "James, let us go and pray together
we retired to his chamber, where he poured out his burdened
spirit to the Lord, and, to use a scriptural expression, which was

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- aptly illustrated in this case, " tliis poor man cried, and the Lord

graphical.

deUvered him out of all his troubles : he looked unto the Lord,
and his face was lightened." I cannot help thinking that there is
too httle of this occasional united prayer among Christians, and
especially among ministers — this saying to each other, " Let us pray
together." How would it lighten our cares and troubles thus to
commend each other to God, while it would give a strong and
sacred cement to our friendship, and prove to us in the fullest sense
of the expression, the blessedness of the communion of saints !

In looking back upon the time I spent at Gosport, I often feel
much astonishment and deep regret. In whatever things the
moderns are inferior to their progenitors, they certainly are beyond
them in the management of coUegiate matters. When I went to
Gosport, I passed through no examination either as to piety,
talents, or acqukements from any one. Mr Bennett wrote to Dr
Bogue to say I was coming ; and when I arrived, I called upon
my future tutor, who received me courteously, but said little to
me, and what little he did say was of a vague charactei', and
ended with a request that I would attend at the vestry with the
other students ; leaving me, of course, to find out lodgings for my-
self. There were no college buUdings.

Editorial. Dr Bogue's chapel and the adjoining vestry are stiU standing.

The chapel wiU hold a thousand people, and is a plain red brick
building ; a slight alteration, which was begun before Dr Bogue's
death, is the only change which it has undergone for sixty or
seventy years. In front, on either side of the path to the centre
door, used to stand several cottages, which were rented by members
of the chm'ch, and in these most of the students used to lodge. But
in Mr James's time there were more than these cottages would
accommodate ; and he, with another, lodged in a house at the end of
Roberts's Lane. Dr Bogue's vestry — the theological hall of the
Gosport students — is a room of about thirty feet in length and
eighteen in breadth. The table, the professor's chair, the worm-
eaten benches which the students occupied, are there stUl. A
capital bust of Dr Bogue stands in a recess over the fireplace. A

STUDENT LIFE AT GOSPORT.

library, whicli was commenced in the Doctor's time, but has since
been much enlarged, occupies part of one side of the room ; many
of his books, volumes of old Puritan theology for the most part,
are stUl on the shelves.

It was not to be expected that when Mv James went to Gos-
port, his friends at Poole would forget him, and accordingly he
had not been there long before he received a letter, an extract from
which will indicate the simple earnestness of his humble friends.
It is written in an odd fashion, every line commencing Avith a
capital letter as if it were blank verse.

" The length of time has been so great since your letter was received,
that we suppose you are almost ready to conclude that your Poole
friends have forgotten both you and their engagements. This, in fact,
has not been the case, as you are often the subject-matter of our con-
versations. At the present time we with pleasure behold you engaged
in a work which we hope in time will be for the glory of Christ and
the consolation of deathless souls. The promises of God are full of
encouragement to the faithfid servants of Jesus Chiist who have
embarked m His cause vdth prayer and jiraise. How strong that
language we have in the prophet Daniel, 'They that turn many to
righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever and ever ! ' Yes, brother,
the ministers of Christ will shine ; and what -nlU cause them to sparkle
will be the precious souls that will flock aroimd them to whom they have
been made instrumental of good.

" How will the faithful minister of his dear spiritual children rejoice
before Jesus the glorious Saviour ! In this the Eedeemer will see the
travail of His soul But, dear brother, we must remember, that while
we are inhabitants below, we are exposed to many snares and tempta-
tions ; therefore our Lord's exhortations should be alwaj's our practice,
' Watch and pray.' Prayer tends to support the weak soul, strengthen
the tempted soul, comfort the comfortless soul.

" We hope you wiU excuse a little plain, honest advice ; for it is
probable you may be called soon to go out into some of the villages
round you, to speak to poor dark souls that are sitting in the region
of the shadow of death. To such, be very faithfid, tender, and com-
passionate ; be sure you don't shoot over their heads, but be concerned
that the pkun word of truth shoidd get into the hearts of the people.

" Tell them of the glories, the beauty, the excellencies of the love of
Christ — the freeness, the completeness of His salvation, that it is a
salvation for all that beheve, without exceptioiL 0 brother, the
love of Christ is a subject that tends in its very natiure to warm cold
D

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

hearts, soften hard hearts ; the love of Chi'ist is of a dramng nature, it
draws from misery, and leads to happiness.

" There is a happiness in the enjoyment of the presence of Christ
below; but how much greater will it be above, where our enjoyment wiU
be all eternal ! That we may meet there together, and while below may
we enjoy every divine blessing, is the prayer of your real friends,

" L. Phippaed.

" John Poole.

" Thos. Tillet.

" Thos. Silby."

But to return to the autobiography.

Axitobio- At this time, I had never entered into the fellowship of a church ;

^'^^ ' and, indeed, bad never been baptized, as nay mother was a general
Baptist, and my father, like too many others, yielded to her wishes
in not having the children baptized. This ceremony was per-
formed before a large company in the vestry, after which I was
admitted a full member of the church under Dr Bogue. I have
no particular recollection of the state of my mind during this ser-
vice, except that the publicity of it rather diverted my thoughts
from that solemn sense of self-surrender which ought to accom-
pany such an observance. *
During the early part of my studies, I often had much spiri-
tual enjoyment and many seasons of solemn communion with
God. It is a mistake, however, to suppose that a college life
is eminently favourable to godliness. It requires a degree of
watchfulness and determination such as few possess, to keep up
the life and power of religion amidst studies which, from their
very nature, have such a tendency to depress the spiritual state of
the soul.* Lessons must be prepared, lectures attended, and all

* " So again, all excitements, not only of a worldly and corrupting sort, — as
pleasure, gaming, ambition, and the like, — but even the purer kinds, are adverse to
devotion. A higjly intellectual habit of thought, such as students or professional
men usually live in, has a very subtle eifeet on the mind; it makes it over-active,
so that the stillness and fixedness of prayer are irksome and peculiarly difficult.
Also, it tends to dry up and deaden the affections, in which devotion is chiefly
engrafted. This is true even of pastors, in the study of divine truth, and in the
exercise of their spiritual ministry." — Archdeacon Blanning's Sei-mons, vol. ii.,
p. 349.— Edit.

STUDENT LIFE AT GOSPOllT.

the demands of the tutor met ; and too often this is done at the Autohio-
sacrifice of time required by the closet. Subjects hitherto treated ^'"^^^"^''^
only as the elements of devotion, are now made matters of criticism
and discussion. Besides this, any assemblage of young men will
usually contain some of more than usual vivacity, not to say levity,
the buoyancy of whose spirits will be perpetually rising into bois-
terous, and not unfrequently unseemly mirth. It is difficult to
repress this, and almost as difficult to resist its ensnaring influence.
Many are carried away, and not a few are injured by it. Spiritu-
ality is damped, the tone of devotion is lowered, and the fine edge
of conscience somewhat blunted. I never saw or heard anything
approaching to immorality of any kind, and I believe such things
are extremely rare in any of our colleges. Still, I am quite sure
personal piety, without great care, is flattened, and learning is some-
times gained at the expense of godliness. I do not think I suffered
materially in this way, though I am not quite sure that my religion
was not below its former level when I left college.

My literary advantages at Gosport were of a most slender kind.
The fact is, Dr Bogue, though possessing a great mind and noble
heart, was not a great scholar. His forte was theology, — that is,
th^e systematic theology of the Puritan school — the theology of
Owen, Bates, Charnock, Howe, and Baxter, together with the foreign
divines, Turretin, Witsiiis, Pictet, and Jonathan Edwards.

Here he was at home. His library was extensive ; he had read
much and was well acquainted with books. But his theology was
almost exclusively dogmatic. Of Hermeneutics we heard little, of
Exegesis, nothing. His lectures were drawn up in the form of a
syllabus, somewhat resembling Doddridge's, but far less system-
atic and philosophical. They resembled the skeletons of sermons,
with heads and particulars, divisions and subdivisions, with re-
ferences to books, which we were required to read ; and when the
lecture was " given in," as we called it, we read in turn the par-
ticulars as they occurred, and the Doctor would ask us as he
thought proper what we had to say on each. By this method we
certainly acquired a great deal of acquaintance with old divinity,
and a relish for the writers and their works of bygone times. We

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- were also obliged to work hard. The labour of copvins; out the

graphical ° LJ o

lectures was a drudgery, which we were compelled to do before we
could read upon them.

I remember that when I entered the college the class were in the
middle of the system of divinity, and the first lectures I had to copy,
to read upon, and to study, were on " The Freedom of the Will ; "
and one of the first books I had to read was Jonathan Edwards'
celebrated treatise on this profound question. To those who are
acquainted with that extraordinary piece of theological logic, it will
be no surprise that to a youth just leaving the counter, with no pre-
vious habits of study, who had gone through no process of mental
training, such a volume should prove a most vexatious and dis-
couraging commencement : it was indeed a pons asinorum to my
nntutored brain, which, to tell the truth, I did not, and could not
pass over, so I tumbled over the side of the bridge into the water,
and, narrowly escaping drowning, scrambled up the bank and got
into the road again, with the rest of the train, a little further on.

With such a course, which lasted with me only two years and
a half, it will be matter of little surprise that I never became a
classic, mathematician, or metaphysician.

Editorial. This estimate of the inefficiency of the course of education at
Gosport was not the judgment of the moment, but a deliberate
conviction to which he gave frequent expression. In a letter,
dated September 6, 1811, to his brother James, who at that time
was intending to become a minister, he says, —

" I must enter my protest at once against Gosport. I have various
objections to yoiir goiqg there. The plan of education is, and must be,
from the shortness of the time and the important engagements of the
tutors, exceedingly defective — this, therefore, I set entirely out of tha
question."

He goes on to say, —

" The clioice must lie between Hoxton and Homerton ; on most ac-
counts I prefer the latter. It forms no objection to it in my opinion, at
least not a sufficient one to deter a pious young man from going there,

STUDENT LIFE AT GOSrOKT.

tliat there have been several of the students who have proved Socinians.
From what I know of some of them, and from what I hear of others,
they would have become Socinians anywhere. When yovmg men enter
an academy without the grace of God in their hearts, it is not a matter
of wonder if they come out without the truth of God in their judg-
ments. There is one objection to Homerton, which is, that the period
of study is rather too long for you. Less than five years, with your
ignorance of classical literature, you cannot be admitted for ; this at
your age is rather too long. Everything else meets with my approba-
tion. The qualifications of the tutors I believe are undoubted ; Dr
Smith is a man of great literature and biblical knowledge, and Mr
Hill, I am informed, is quite equal to his department. I should prefer
Homerton on every account but the time, which, as I said before, for
your age and circumstances is rather too long.

" The system at Hoxton is far more superficial in every point of view,
though perhaps more popular. Most of the young men that I have
known from there are exceedingly scanty in their ministerial qualifica-
tions. In many cases their [ * ], and in some their emptiness,
has been their recommendation to the injudicious, who, I am sorry to
say, form nine-tenths of the rehgious public of the present day. I know
there are exceptions to this general character, and I know also that very
much depends on the vigorous application of the young man himself.
Since I began this letter, I have recollected that Hoxton has the pri\-i-
lege of sending four young men to the Glasgow University, after they
have studied there ; and if you could by diligence procure one of these
scholarships, you would, by going to Hoxton, imite the advantages of
both the seminaries in question. Of this I wiU make further inquiries
by writing to Mr WUson of London."

Thus early had he formed his opinions on the importance of a
thorough education for the work of the ministry. And these
are corroborated by what follows in the autobiography.

When I think of the advantages enjoyed by the students of our Autoi-io-
own times, in the present improved system of education in our^"^^"^''^
colleges, and recollect that they have in some cases six years to
pursue their studies, I could almost weep to think of my own dis-
advantages. Wlien I see what men are now presiding over the
studies of our colleges, it seems to me as if now I could gladly
go and sit down at theii* feet, to repair, at the approaching end of
* Unintelligible.

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- my course, the disadvantages I suflered at its commencement. 0

graphical. , , ,

favoured students, know, value, improve your privileges ! No man
has ever been more conscious of his defects than I am of mine.
No man ought to have more excuse made for him than myself.
It is not surprising that I cannot write in such a pure classic style
of elegance as they can who have had a more perfect education.
How should I ? Yet, through God's most abounding goodness, I
have not been idle, or useless, or unknown. I have become an
author of works, neither few, nor neglected, nor unblessed, written
in good plain idiomatic Saxon language : and most of them written
but once. To me my career is more wonderful than anything I
have ever known ; I mean, that one so partially educated, so
limited in his attainments, so confined in his knowledge, should
have acquired a standing such as has been assigned me in this ex-
traordinary age. Instead of lifting me up with pride, it humbles
me in the dust — for in addition to my original defective educa-
tion, I have had the disadvantage, as in one respect I may call
it, of having been placed in a situation so public, and requiring
such constant demands upon me, that I have had little time for
reading and study, and for thus making up my original defects.

Editorial. A few ycars ago, the Rev. Joseph Samuel C. F. Frey, one of
Mr James's fellow-students, published Dr Bogue's Lectures, in
two octavo volumes.* Whether the fault lies with the editor or
the printer, cannot be determined, but the book is full of blunders ;
some of the names of the authors cited are perseveringly and con-
sistently misspelt throughout, others are spelt in a new fashion
almost every time they occur. There are eight distinct courses of
Lectures. The first, which is on Dogmatic Theology, is not very
logically arranged; the Divine Decrees are the subject of Lecture
XXVIII, and seventy Lectures on the Creation, Angels, Original
Sin, the Person of Christ, the Covenant of Grace, the Freedom of
the Will, Regeneration, Justification, the General Judgment, Hell,
Heaven, and many other subjects, intervene before the Professor

* The Theological Lectures of the late Rev. David Bogue, D.l>. Edited by the
Rev. Joseph Samuel C. F. Frey. New York, published by Lewis Colley, 1849.

♦

STUDEKT LIFE AT GOSPOET.

discusses the doctrine of Election. The form and character of the
Lectures are sufficiently described in the autobiography.

The lectures on what may be called " Introduction," or as it is
here denominated " Divine Revelation," have the merit, and this is
no small one, of not plunging into difficulties and controversies for
which the student is wholly unprepared, and from the discussion
of which he could derive no profit. The other courses are on
Divine Dispensations, Church History from the Creation to the
Eighteenth Century, Jewish Antiquities, Sacred Geography, the
Composition of Sermons, or rather Rhetoric, and the Pastoral
Office, including eighteen lectures on HomUetics.

Of these the best are the lectures on Rhetoric ; the most curious
and interesting, those on the Pastoral Office.

In the latter course, the Professor entered very minutely into
questions of ministerial ethics ; inquired, " What proportion as to
expense ought a minister's library to bear to his furniture ? "
— described what the minister's domestic economy ought to be, —
"1. Plain; 2. Frugal; 3. Decent; 4. Hospitable;" — what amuse-
ments he may indulge in, and what amusements he should shun ;
— gave very sensible advice, very racily expressed, on what kind
of a wife to choose, and when to marry ; suggesting, for instance,
tjiat in addition to piety there should be good temper, for "God
can dwell in the heart, when men cannot dwell in the same house.
See, therefore," adds the sagacious old Scotchman, " how she be-
haves herself in the famUy, to parents, connexions, servants ; " —
he recommends his students " not to seek for great riches," not to
" marry for money's sake, but if possible not without money ; " and
finally, "as to the time of thinking on the subject, — first be mar-
ried to a church, then to a wife."

The authors most frequently referred to are Owen, Baxter, Howe,
Charnock, Bates, Barrow, Ridgley, and GUI ; Edwards, Limborch,
Witsius, Carpzovius, and Michaelis.

Singularly enough, neither Calvin nor Turretin is, so far as I
have noticed, once referred to, and their names do not appear in
the index of authors cited. Mr James thus continues his account
of his life at Gosport : —

LIFE OF JOHN AKGELL JAMES.

Aiitfiijio-^ My early efforts at preaching were of a very humble character.

^ ^ ' The first piilpit I entered was at Ryde, then an inconsiderable
village compared with its present extent, beauty, and populousuess.
A small chapel had been erected, which was supplied by the students
from Gosj)ort. I went over with one of them who was to preach,
and he requested me to take the devotional services. Soon after
this, I delivered an address in the vestry at a Sunday morning
prayer-meeting, and was taken to task by the students for having
delivered some unsound theology. The unsoundness was, however,
more in the confusion of my thoughts than in any false views
entertained by me. Near the chapel was a bed-ridden old Chris-
tian, called Eachel Butcher, for whose comfort a weekly service
was held in her chamber. My next effort was to conduct a religious
service in this abode of piety and poverty. Dr Bogue used to say
her room was a cradle which had rocked many an infant minister,
and some who became great men. Not long after, I was walking
to Stobbington, a village whei'e Mr Hunt, late of Brixton, who
was a student of Dr Bogue' s, resided. He was going to preach
in a house that was licensed for worship. He said to me, "I
wish you would preach this morning." Nothing loath or back-
ward, I consented, and as far as I can recollect, got pretty well
through.

Within two months after I went to Gosport, — that is, when I was
little more than seventeen years and a half old, — I was placed upon
the preaching list, and was sent out to preach — it is true, in country
places and to village congregations. This was injudicious in my
good tutor. There are two extremes to be avoided, — too early
and too much preaching by the students of our colleges, on the
one hand ; and too little, on the other. To set a young man upon
preparing sermons before he has entered the theological class, and
to have that time thus engaged which is demanded for his classi-
cal, logical, and mathematical studies — all a necessary part of his
college curriculum — is certainly wrong ; and yet, to take him from
scenes of usefulness of an humble character, in which he has been
engaged, and to put an entire arrest upon his efforts to do good,
and thus allow all the fervoxir of his first love to cool down amidst

STUDENT LIFE AT GOSPOET.

the dry subjects of secular learning, cannot be riglit, on the other Autobio-
hand. Surely a medium might be found. To keep up his reli- ^^p^*^
gious zeal to a due pitch, let a student, from the time of his enter-
ing college, be stimulated to become a Sunday-school teacher, a
tract distributor, or a Bible reader. Let him be sent out into poor-
houses, hospitals, and any other places where human beings con-
gregate, to read the Scriptures and address the people. Let him
deliver cottage lectures, which require no such previous thought
and preparation as would interfere with his studies. And before he
is allowed to go to town congregations, let him be sent to address
village audiences. All this would keep up the divine life, and
increase his fervour for saving souls, whUe it would give a habit
and facility for free speech, and render him, when he becomes
a preacher, independent of his notes. It will also beget a habit
of right preaching, both as to matter and manner, and produce
that kind of direct address, instead of essay-like stiffness and for-
mality, which is desirable for popular and useful preaching. At
the same time, great care should be taken in college that this do
not degenerate into a loose way of speaking and a bad style of
composition. I have ever felt this to have been, in some measure,
my own case. The weakness of the logical faculty in my mind
required another kind of intellectual training than it was ever my
privilege to enjoy. In public, I always spoke rather interestingly
and impressively, but not very accurately. Still, as God has
blessed my ministry, and given me great acceptance, both in the
pulpit and on the platform, I have cause to be thankful, and per-
haps if I had been trained to logic and metaphysics, I should have
been spoiled as an effective speaker.

To return to the narrative of my early efforts. When I had been
at Gos2:)ort a year, I was sent out to preach in some of the principal
places in the county, such as Southampton, Lymington, Komsey.
In the latter place I was guilty of an indiscretion, which excited
some prejudice against me among the serious people. One of the
deacons or principal people gave an entertainment on the majority
of his only son and child. A dance was got up, in which I joined
and manifested a degree of levity in other ways. Some of the con-

LIFE OF JOHN AXGELL JAMES.

Autobio- gregation would not come again to hear me preach. I did v»'rong,
clearly wrong ; that is to say, the act was a thoughtless folly, and
shews upon what slender threads hang our reputation and useful-
ness. Yet some excuse might have been made for a youth only
between eighteen and nineteen years of age. Stiidents for the
ministry should be careful when they go out to preach, how they
act in the families which receive them. They are watched, and
not always with friendly or candid eyes.

BOOK 11.

SETTLEMENT IN BIEMINGHAM.
EAELY STEUGGLES.

CHAP. I. HISTORY OF THE CARR'S LANE CHURCH.
„ II. FIRST VISIT TO BIRMINGHAM.
„ III. ORDINATION.
„ IV. DOMESTIC HISTORY.
„ V. DISCOURAGEMENT.
LETTERS.

CHAPTER I.

HISTORY OF THE CAER'S LANE CHURCH.

The facts contained in the following chapter from the autobio-
graphy are given with much greater fulness and vigour in Mr
James's " Protestant Nonconformity." But as it seemed necessary
to prefix to the narrative of his settlement in Bii'mingham some
account of the church over which he became minister, I have
concluded that it will be best to let the chapter stand just as he
wrote it, without abridgment or addition.

How true it is that God bringeth the blind in a way they know Autoijjo-
not ! Little did it enter my mind in the most sanguine moments "^^
of my college- life that I should ever occupy so important a sphere
as that to which Providence conducted me in this town. I had
received a deputation from Alton, in Hampshii-e, to invite me to
settle there. I had preached several times in that place ; Mr
Spicer, who was deacon of the Independent church there, (father
of the Messrs Spicer of London,) was sent to request me to become
its pastor. This I declined, no doubt under the direction of God.
It may not be amiss here to give a short history of the church
over which God has called me to take the oversight. There is
little doubt that Nonconformity existed in Birmingham from the
time of the ejectment of the two thousand ministers in 1G62, for
a Mr Wills, who was illegally dispossessed of the living, and who

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- afterwards preached at St John's Chapel, Deritend, was an

giaphical. , . . it-.,

evangehcal minister, and was persecuted for not reading the Book
of Common Prayer; and by his preaching prepared a goodly
number of his hearers to seek that truth out of the Church which
they could no longer have within it. We find from Palmer's
"Nonconformist Memorial," that a Mr Turton, who was ejected
from Eowley Eegis, was minister of one of the Dissenting congre-
gations in Birmingham, and died there in 1716. So that before
the close of the seventeenth century there were more Dissenting
congregations in this town than one. There is a place in Digbeth
called Meeting-House Yard, now filled with low houses and occu-
pied by very poor peoj^le, which was, I think, the local habitation
of Dissent in its infancy in this town, and I am not quite sure that
the remains of the primitive meeting-house do not exist there still.
If so, it soon removed to a more public and respectable situation.

I have endeavoured in my work on the " History of Nonconfor-
mity in Birmingham " to trace the origin of the two Unitarian places,
and it is clear they were at one time both occupied by orthodox
ministers and congregations. It is matter of notoriety, and not
disputed by any one, that the old meeting-house certainly was, and
I believe the new meeting-house was also. And among other
ministers who there preached the evangelical system, was Mr
Broadhurst, whom Dr Watts has celebrated by a Latin epitaph to
his memory, inserted in his "Miscellaneous Thoughts," in prose
and verse. In process of time, however, through a relaxation of
discipline in the admission of members to the Church, vital piety
declined, and lukewarmness in religious affections prepared the
way for errors of the judgment, and Mr HoweU, an Arian minister,
was invited by a majority of the people to occupy the pulpit.
Those, and they formed a very respectable minority, who still
loved the truth, resisted and protested, but in vain, and they then
quietly withdrew to found a new church upon the basis of Trini-
tarian views of the Word of God. They purchased land in a little,
narrow street, called Carr's Lane. This name is an alteration
from Cart Lane, or, as it was once called, God's Cart Lane, from
the circumstance of its having contained a small building which

HISTORY OF THE CAER'S LA^TE CHURCH. Co

was an appurtenance to St Martin's Chui'ch, and in wliich the car- AutoWo-
riage or cart was kept that was employed in Popish times fQ^sraP^"^-
carrj^ing the sacred vessels employed in religious processions of
the Host.

This fact I had from the Eev. J. Garbett, who gathered it from
some of the muniments connected with King Edward's School
The separation from the old meeting took place in the year 1746.
A small chapel, or, as it was then caUed, meeting-house, was im-
mediately erected, to which the entrance was imder a gate-way, with
houses in front, and doors one side of the place.

As this last sentence is rather obscure, I extract the following Editorial
passage from Mr James's " Protestant Nonconformity," which will
explain its meaning : — " In the front of the land purchased for
the site of the intended meeting-house, and for many years in
front of the place of worship itself, was a row of small tenements,
through a gate- way in the middle of which the house of God was
approached, whUe another row of tenements ran along the whole
west side of the building ; so that the congregation were put to
much inconvenience by various noises and other annoyances. A
member of the Society of Friends once remarked in reference to
the poor people who inhabited these tenements, 'That if the
Carr's Lane congregation were addicted to works of mercy, they
need not go far to find objects for their boimty ; ' while Hutton,
in his own style of levity and low wit, remarks, ' The residence of
Divine light was totally eclipsed by being surrounded with about
forty families of paupers crowded almost within the compass of a
giant's span, which amply furnished the congregation with noise,
smoke, dirt, and dispute. If the place itself is the road to heaven,
the stranger would imagine that the road to the place led to some-
thing worse.'"*

It is a curious illustration of the contrast between the po-
sition of Dissenters in those times and the present, that in
the original trust-deed for the Carr's Lane meeting provision
is made for the appropriation of the property, should it ever

• Protestant Nonconformitj-, p. 109.

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

become illegal for the Independents to use it for the purpose of
their worship.

Autobio- The meeting-house was opened in 1747, when Mr Sloss of
icd . j^Q^^jj^gi^j^jjj^ g^^^ author of a book on the " Trinity," preached.
Soon afterwards Mr Gervas Wilde, who had been assistant to Mr
Sloss, was chosen to be the first pastor. His ordination took place
in the new meeting-house, which was lent for the occasion, being
more commodious than the one recently built in Carr's Lane, for
and by the congregation. Mr WUde was a very lively preacher,
and was very successful in his ministry. He died after about six-
teen years' labour, and was interred on the premises ; a neat and
respectable marble monument was erected to his memory in the
meeting-house. He was succeeded by Mr Punfield, a dull, heavy
preacher, who, during the three-and-twenty years of his ministry,
reduced the congregation to a very low ebb. Next to him came
Mr (afterwards, and while in Birmingham, made Dr) William.s, a
profound divine, and the author of some able works on theological
subjects, which however are now almost forgotten. After three
years and a-half he removed to preside as divinity tutor over the
Divinity College at Kotherham, in Yorkshire. Dr Williams was
a most lovely character, much esteemed by his flock, and held in
deserved affection by all who knew him. When I say his works
are forgotten, I mean that they are not much read ; though the
effects of them remain in a clearer, sounder view of the theological
system, than prevailed when he began his ministry. To Dr
Williams, among the Independents, and Andrew Fuller, among
the Baptists, we owe the prevalence of the moderate Calvinism of
modern times, and the present generally received opinion of the
universal aspect of the atonement. Dr Williams was succeeded
by the Rev. Jehoiada Brewer, who came from Sheffield, to take
charge of the church in Carr's Lane. Mr Brewer was a man of
popular pulpit talents, commanding in his person, with an eye and
face that gave him great power over his audience ; a good voice,
much self-possession, dogmatic in manner, terse in style, and
resolute in tone; he was formed to be an orator; and was both at

HISTORY OF THE CAER'S LANE CHURCH.

Sheffield and in Birmingham, but especially in the former place, Autobio-
very useful, particularly in the conversion of young men who after-
wards entered into the ministry, among whom was Dr Pye Smith
of Homerton, one of the brightest ornaments of our body. Mr
Brewer's usefulness in his best days was lessened by a most
imperious temper, and a proud, lofty spirit, wh'le at the same time
his political tendencies, which were of a republican tenor, lowered
the spirituality of his mind, and damped the ardour of his piety.
After about seven )'ears he fell into temptation, and resigning his
charge at Carr's Lane, went off with nearly half the church and a
large proportion of the congregation to occupy a building in Livery
Street, which had been formerly used as a riding- school. There
he attracted, by his talents, and by the popular sympathy excited
by his friends towards him as a persecuted man, a considerable
congregation.

For a few months the pulpit was then occupied by Mr Joseph
Berry, the grandson of one of the deacons of the church. It is
a little remarkable that I entered upon my studies at Gosport,
almost to a day, at the very time that Mr Brewer retired from
CaiTs Lane. Little did the afflicted church imagine, when they
found themselves as sheep without a shepherd, that they would
have to wait for a pastor, till a youth who had just then gone
to college should finish what few studies he would engage in,
and which he had then scarcely commenced. And how much
would they have wondered, and revolted at the idea, could they
have seen that boy who had just left the counter of a linen-
draper's shop, and have been told. There is the individual who
within two years will be invited to be your minister, to whom you
will offer to commit the care of your souls.

CHAPTER II.

VISIT TO BIRMINGHAJM

Autobio- At the close of the year 1803, the Rev. James Bennett of Romsey
gidphical Birmingham, on his wedding tour, having been invited at

the request of Mr Phipson, one of our members, who had often
heard him preach, and much admired him. He remained here, I
think, three Sabbaths, and produced so deep an impression by his
preaching as to awaken an earnest desire to obtain him as the
pastor of the church. A unanimous and most cordial invitation
was sent to him, to which, after much deliberation, he returned a
negative. On being asked if he knew any one who would suit the
people, he mentioned me, in whom, for reasons formerly stated, he
might be supposed to take some interest. As the midsummer
vacation in the year 1804) drew on, my venerable tutor, who had
been written to by the Birmingham friends about me, proposed
that I should spend three or four Sabbaths at Birmingham during
the approaching recess. I am a little surprised on many accoxmts
that I should have consented. I had been at college only a year
and a half ; my stock of sermons was really very scanty, — and such
sermons too ! my age was only nineteen ; my general knowledge
most limited ; so that I am now ready to exclaim, " Rash youth —
bold, forward young man." But it was of God. I had acquired
from the beginning of my ministerial efforts a somewhat earnest
manner, which covered a multitude of defects.

VISIT TO birmikgha:m.

My entrance to Birmingham was in a state of much mental per- Autobio-
torbation; for, on leaving Gosport, I had forgotten to ask, and j)j^.^p^'-'^
Bogue to give me, any direction where I was to go when I arrived
in this then large town. I knew nobody, and nobody knew me.
It was most strange that this had not occurred to me, but it had
not till the morning I left Bristol. However, my solicitude was
soon relieved, for, on reaching the town, I was accosted by an
individual who proved to be my first and one of my dearest friends
through all my ministry, I mean Mr Phipsou. The people not
ha-ving heard of or from me, knew not whenc.3 I was to come, or
when, and had been in great perplexity, and through the whole
of Saturday had sent to the various coach inns of the town. I
should here remark that the thought, as far as I can now recol-
lect, scarcely entered my head that I was going to Birmingham
as a candidate. Consequences such as have resulted never rose
before my mind. I was going to preach, and that was all. I
was but little troubled then, as I have sadly been since, with
nervous disorder. I thought less on Saturday night, and slept
sounder than I do now when going to preach a Sabbath in a
neighbouring town. I am afraid it was not so much the fervour
of my piety and the simplicity of my confidence in God, as the
thoughtlessness of youth.

My lodging was at the house of Mr Sargeant Taylor, in Great
Charles Street, a kind, friendly, fatherly man of about sixty, with
a wife earnestly devoted to acts of kindness to the sick ; with two
daughters at home, another at school, and a son, then either ap-
prenticed or a shopman away from home. The habits of the
family were plain and simple, but all the members of it were kind
to me, and much devoted to my comfort. The good man was
somewhat proud of his guest, and, as he was not very closely
confined to business, devoted no small portion of time to shew
me the town, and to introduce me to the various members of the
congregation.

At the time of my arrival, the Baptist congregation in Cannon
Street, to which the seraphic Samuel Pearce had ministered, was
being rebuilt for his successor the Ptev. Thomas Morgan, and

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAJfES.

Autnbio- during the time of carrying the work forward, the congregation
was accommodated with the use of Carr's Lane Chapel at nine in
the morning, so that we went in almost as soon as they left the
place, and usually met them as we went down the Lane. We
worshipped again in the afternoon, and they had the place again
in the evenipg.

I cannot forget the impression produced on my mind by the first
view I had of my futare flock. The way to the pulpit was from the
vestry through a door in the wall, so that I came at once upon the
congregation without any preparation. There was no crowd to
appal me, for in a place that with one gallery would seat about eight
hundred persons, there were probably not more than a hundred and
fifty, so that, in this respect, the sight was anything but encour-
aging ; but what impressed me was the unusual number, in propor-
tion, of venerable persons. There were nine or ten as respectable
elderly gentlemen as are usually collected in a congregation several
times the size. It looked like an assembly of the ancients. This
a little appalled me, but I do not recollect that it discomposed me.

My first text was 1 John iii. 1, 2, " Beloved, now are we the sons
of God," &c. First impressions are important to success, and those,
I believe, were decidely in my favour. The subject was interest-
ing, and as it was a sermon I had, of course, often preached before,
I had it pretty much at command, and being self-possessed to an
unusual degree for so young a man, I gained a lodgment in the
hearts of the people from that morning. If I mistake not, my
text in the afternoon was John i. 14, " The Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us," &c. A bold and adventurous flight for so
young a preacher ! However, it proved me at once to be sound on
the subject of Christ's divinity, a truth dear to the minds and
hearts of the pious. It is of great importance to young preachers
to be thoroughly evangelical in their first essays at preaching.
Philosophy will not be accepted as a substitute for theology by
the people, and ought not to be offered by the preacher, especially
if he be a young one.

Sabbath after Sabbath my congregation increased, for which I
believe we were mainly indebted to our Baptist friends, who began

VISIT TO BIKMIXGHAJr.

to hear it rumoured that the young student from Gosport was con- Autobio

graphical

sidered in the light of a candidate for the vacant pulpit. I do not
distinctly recollect my first introduction to my friend Mr Morgan,
the Baptist minister, or whether he was at home during my first visit. .

It was impossible for me to be ignorant that my preaching had
produced a very favourable impression, and I was requested to
prolong my stay another Sabbath, which I consented to do. By
this time I was, by my good host, who squeezed my hand, screwed
up his mouth, and looked smilingly upon me, let into the secret
that the people wished me to become their minister. As far as
I can recall my feelings and views, I was not much elated, though
perhaps somewhat surprised.

I was to leave Birmingham on the Monday after my last Sab-
bath, and a chm-ch-meeting was therefore called after the after-
noon service, to consider the propriety of inviting me to become
their pastor, when a resolution was unanimously and cordially
carried to that efiect, and a deputation, consisting of the four
deacons and three other persons, was appointed to convey to me,
at Mr Taylor's, the call of the church.

It was a rather peculiar and striking scene, and a trial of his
humility, to see the youth of nineteen surrounded by seven vener-
able men, who were tendering to him the oversight of their own
souls and that of the church which they represented. It was a
moment in my existence of greater solemnity and responsibility
than, I fear, I then felt it to be ; a moment on which were sus-
pended issues that will affect multitudes of immortal souls through
eternal ages. It was an impressive interview. I expressed my
favourable disposition to accede to their wishes ; in short, my ac-
ceptance of this verbal invitation, subject to the approval of my
tutor, as to the time when I should be allowed to leave Gosport
and settle in Birmingham. With this understanding, I parted
from the friends at Carr's Lane, and returned into Dorsetshire for
a few days, before I went again to college. AU this was enough to
corrupt the mind of a youth who had been only a year and a half
at his studies : but I believe, as far as I can recollect, I was kept
by Divine grace from being unduly lifted up by the new situation

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Aiitobio- in which I was placed. I consider it a proof of God's special
^ ' grace to me, that I was not allowed to become elated, vain, con-
ceited and self-confident. I was mercifully preserved from moral
injury.

Editorial. Those who are unacquainted with the principles and usages of
Independent churches will have inferred from the autobiographical
narrative, that every church, by which is meant the society of
communicants, appoints its own pastor. No minister of state, no
patron, no external ecclesiastical power, is permitted to interfere.
Neither the trustees in whom the church buildings are vested,
nor those seat-holders who are not communicants, have any right
either to nominate a minister, or to place a veto on his appoint-
ment. It is a fundamental principle of the Independent polity,
that since every church, if devout and humble, may rely on the
presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in all its meetings, and the
guidance of the Holy Spirit in all its ecclesiastical afi"airs, it does
not require, and should firmly decline control from without.
Friendly suggestion and fraternal counsel are gratefully listened
to, but authoritative interference is resolutely resisted.

Mr James's settlement in Birmingham will be further illustrated
by the following extracts from the Carr's Lane " Church Book."
Under the year 1804; there are the following very interesting
entries : —

"September 16. — At a church-meeting held this day, it was re-
solved, ' That the Rev. J. A- James having preached to this society four
Lord's days with very great acceptance, Messrs Rogers, Tutin, Cocks,
Taylor, and Frears be appointed a deputation to inform Mm that it is
the unanimous wish of this meeting that he would come as soon a.5
opportunity would allow, and exercise his ministry among us."

"September 23. — At a church-meeting, the deputation appointed at
the last meeting to wait upon Mr James reported that his answer was
favourable, and that he expressed great affection for the people.

" Resolved unanimously. That the request made to Mr James, con-
formably to the resolution of the last church-meeting, be transmitted to
him in writing, as being more orderly and more respectful. A letter
being laid before the meeting, it was approved."

VISIT TO BIKMINGHAM.

CHUKCH OF CHRIST MEETING IN CAEB's LANE, BIRMINGHAM, TO
THE BEV. J. A. JAMES, WISH EVEEY BLESSING, TEMPORAL AND
SPIRITUAL.

" Dear Sib, — After the conversation you liad witli our deputies in
this place it may seem almost unnecessaiy to address you by letter,
but we feel ourselves urged thereto by a regard to order in our
proceedings, and by that respect which, we trust, it will ever be our
study to shew you.

" We bless the Great Head of the Church, to whom all events are
known, and who sees the end from the beginning, that He has designed
to favour you with such abilities for the ministry, and we hope with a
view that you should exercise that ministry in Birmingham. We have
been long praying, and we hope sincerely, that God would in His
providence direct us to such a man as He would own and bless among
us, for the conversion of sinners, the edification of His saints, and the
buUding up of the Church in this place in particular ; and we cannot
help thinking that your being sent among us was in answer to our
prayers.

" If the utmost unanimity on our part, and a favourable regard to us
on yours, be evidences that the work is of God, we must consider them
as indications of His will that you should labour in this part of His
vineyard. There is here much to be done. The field is large and
white for the harvest.

"While here, you must have observed a spirit of hearing in many
who are not of our congregation, and we hope and trust that if God
shall settle you in this place it will be followed by the conviction and
sound conversion of many. Yet we would bear on our minds the
important truth that ministers are only instruments, and that the
success of a Paul or an Apollos depends entirely upon God. For His
influence we shall daily supplicate the throne of grace, and if our
prayers be heard, we have no doubt but that you and we shall rejoice
together, and see the work of the Lord prospering in your hands.

" We do, therefore, most cordially and unanimously request that yon
will come as soon as you can with propriety, and exercise your ministry
among us ; and we sincerely hope a connexion wiU be established
between us which vsdll never be broken till your great Master shall
call you from all your labours to receive your gracious reward.

" Signed at the unanimous request of the church-meeting by

S. TUTIN,

"BiRMiNaHAM, September 23, 1804."

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAIVIES.

Mr James addressed a letter, dated October 13, to the church,
requesting a little longer time for his final answer to their invi-
tation.

Early in 1 805 another church-meeting was held, and the follow-
ing minute was recorded : —

" Mr James addressed a letter to the church, of which the following
is a copy, giving his acceptance of their invitation : —

" TO THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, MEETING IN CARR'S LANE, BIRMINGHAM,
J. A. JAMES WISHES EVERY BLESSING, BOTH TEMPORAL AND
SPIRITUAL.

" j\Iy DEAR Brethren, — ^When I look back upon the past, and for-
ward to the future years of my life, I contemplate or imagine a variety
of events truly interesting and important. But neither a review of past
occurrences, nor the anticipation of future things, exhibits events of my
Ufe attended with more important circumstances than my visit to Bir-
mingham. When the proposal was made to me to preach to you for
three Sabbaths, I acceded to it without the most distant idea of -s-isiting
you as a candidate to fill your vacant pulpit ; and after having finished
the time at first proposed, I should have crushed that idea as vain and
presumptuous, which would have led me to think of Birmingham as the
destined field of my labours, had not your o^to intimations led me to
view it as possible, if not probable.

" From the many distinguished marks of esteem and alfection which I
received from you as a church and as hidividuals, from the cordiahty
which prevailed among you during my stay, and from the many intima-
1 ions I received that my labours were not altogether unacceptable, I be-
gan to suspect that the eyes of the church were fixed on me as a person
to whom you could commit the care of your immortal souls. This was
put beyond a matter of doubt in my mind, by the personal interview
which I had with your deputies the night previous to my departure from
Birmingham, who expressed a unanimous invitation to me from the church
to settle among you as your minister. In addition to this, you thought
it advisable, from a respect to order, to send me a written invitation,
directed to Gosport : this I consider another among the many tokens of
regard which you have already shewn me. I should have felt happy if
I had left you praying for my welfare. I should have esteemed myself
honoured, if, on parting from you, a desire had been expressed to see me
at any future period when I should be called in providence that way.
It would have increased my happiness, and conferred an honour upon

VISIT TO BIEMlXGHAAr.

me if J'our nffoctiou and esteem had gone thus far only : but you have
proceeded to greater lengths.

"After the most mature deUberation, the most ardent prayer for direc-
tion, you have seen fit to call me as the minister under whom you could
AviUingly and readily sit to hear the everlasting gospel preached. I
trust, brethren, that I am not insensible to the distinguished honour
you confer upon mc in judging me to be quahfied to act in that capa-
city ; but may I not consider it also as a mark of the approbation of
the Great Head of the Church 1 ]\Iay I not listen to your call as the
medium through which He speaks, ' Son, go work in my vineyard ]'
You have ah-eady received one reply to your invitation. In that letter,
though I begged to postpone my final answer till some future time, I
gave a specimen of my sentiments : I made you acquamted with my
feelings and views, that your minds might not be ignorant of the state
of mine. I now once more address you, to give you my decided answer
to yom- important question, and be assured that it is not given till after
the most serious examination of my heart, the minutest investigation of
my jJrinciples, and the most earnest pi'ayer to Infinite Wisdom for guid-
ance and direction. Conscious, therefore, of my own weakness, yet
depending upon Him who is omnipotent, sensible of my own inabihty
and insufficiency, yet relying upon the promise of Him who hath said,
' ]\Iy grace shall be sufficient for thee,' I venture to express my accept-
ance of your unanimous call, and now declare my compliance with
your coi-dial invitation to settle among you as your minister, as soon as
cu-cumstances will allow me to depart from the academy.

" I left it entirely to you whether you chose to fix on a limited time
as a further time of probation. This you have seen proper to decline.
Prudence wiU therefore direct us as to the future proceedings, and shew
us when the proper time is come which should complete our connexion
— a connexion which I now consider as really established. On which
may the Great Head of the Church smile vdth. approbation ! In which
may both minister and people enjoy solid, lasting, and increasing de-
light ! To the commencement of which may hundreds look back with
unutterable joy, through the revolution of eternal ages !

" Suffer me now to rejoice with you, my dear brethren, in the prospect
of a speedy close to your trials and distresses as a Chi-istian society.
The storm has spent its force, and I trust will be succeeded by a lasting
calm. With the strongest faith let us believe that these tilings will ulti-
mately prove for the furtherance of the gospel. Place them among
the 'all things' which 'work together for your good.' Let us rejoice that
though in the present state of imperfection we are unable to explore
the mysteries of Providence, yet what we know not now we shall know
hereafter ; and under all our affiictions let us bear this thought in our

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

minds, that whether God thunder in a storm by His providence, or
speak by the still small voice of His Spirit, He is the same immutable
Jehovah, the Head of the Church, the Father of His people, the Friend
of the distressed, and the Hearer of prayer.

" Pardon me, my brethren, if I suggest a hint, or rather express a
•wish, that the past unhappy circumstances of the church be so forgotten
as not to be the frequent topic of discourse ; this would be a stumbUng-
block in the way of your minister's happiness, and would much inter-
rupt that composure of mind which the affairs of the church, the good
of your souls, and his own comfort so much reqiiire. Let us lose the
past in the prospect of the future. Let us pray for success to attend the
gospel, by whomsoever or wheresoever preached, so that in all God may
be glorified.

" Let me now ask for your ardent, constant prayers at a throne of
grace. Pray for me in the church, pray for me when around your family
altars, wrestle with God for me in secret. Without much prayer to
God I can expect but little pleasure in my work — ^you but little edifica-
tion or comfort from it. Be assured I cease not to make mention of
you when I bend my knees before the throne of God, praying that God
would bless you with His presence as a society, pour His blessings on
your families, and His blessings on your own souls. May God meet
vnth you when you meet for worship, and your daily intercoiu-se with
each other. Such, my dear brethren, are the constant prayers of your
devoted servant in the Lord Jesus,

"J. A. James.

" GosroRT, January 11, 1805."

The following letter to his friend Mr Samuel Cocks bears the
same date, and was accompanied by one to the young people of
the congregation.

" TO MR SAMUEL COCKS, JUNIOK.

"GOSPOET, January 11, 1805.
" My deae Friend, — How do you account for my long sUence 1 Do
you imagine that the articles of letter- writing are scarce? that an
embargo is laid on the post-office ? or that I have forgotten you 1 Do
you ever thus conjecture? If you do, your conjectures, I assure you,
are unfounded. But I 'U tell you the reason I have been so long sUent.
So many friends have been teazing me on all sides — their demands
have been so large for letters — that I have been nearly a bankrupt ; and
in fact, I have played the rogue with some of them, and cheated them

VISIT TO BIRMINGHAM.

of their due : but witli you I shall be honest ; you shall be paid your
debt; to defraud you of a letter, would be dishonest and ungrateful
indeed. Pardon me, my friend, for thus giving loose to nonsense — I
assure you, it is friendly nonsense — cover it with the veil of love.

" With what regret do I exchange a fiersonal interview with my dear
friends at Birmingham, for epistolary converse ! The prospect of seeing
you at Christmas had cheered many a gloomy hour. When present
scenes were barren of joy, and jdelded no delight, this future prospect
was always a resource ; the prospect of conversing and praying with
you, of exhorting you from the pulpit, never failed to give me pleasure.
But that God who does all things well, who giiideth all the affairs of
men, had determined otherwise. What a blessing to man is ignorance
of futurity ! How would the foresight of future sorrows increase their
weight — the foresight of future pleasures, in the prospect of their close,
decrease their joy ! Little was it in my mind, when I parted from you,
that I Avas shortly to have the bitter cup of affliction put into my hand
to drink to its very dregs. So sure is it that we know not what a day
or an hour may bring forth. How necessary then, by an interest in
Christ, to prepare for all that we may be called to meet vnth ! How
soon may we from the highest pinnacle of earthly comfort be plimged
into the lowest extremity of woe and distress. But the Christian, with
revelation in his hand, and the grace of God in his heart, can smile at
affliction. "When he has least of earth, he often has most of heaven.
"While storms and clouds may hover and beat upon his clay tabernacle,
his soul, like some tall cliff stretching its head above these clouds, has
sunshine on its top. O my friend, it is sweet to be afflicted when
J esus is with us ; it is pleasant to endure pain when supported by His
arms, when the angel of His presence is with us, when we consider that
these Hght afflictions, which are but for a moment, work out for us a
far more exceeding and eternal weight of gloiy.

" I now begin to look forward to the period when I shall come
among you ; the time hastens on. Oh, could you read the feelings of
my heart, and there see the confusion of various passions ; the mixture
of joy, hope, dread, fear, and comfort, what a scene would you discover !
Could I persuade myself that I was fit for such a situation ; could I en-
tertain the idea that I could feed sucn a flock, and lead them to green
pastures, where they might lie down beside the stUl waters, — with what
delightful anticipation should I look forward to the period ! Still I com-
fort myself with the consideration that God is all-sufficient. Here is aU
my comfort, — here is comfort enough for one, whose difficulties are a
thousand times more than mine, — ' Why then art thou cast down, O
my soul 1 Hope thou in God ; /or I shall yet praise him, who is the
health of my countenance.'

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

" You mentioned in your letter that you do not promise me that I
am going to a land flowing with milk and honey. I expect no such
land this side Jordan ; but I rejoice that I have the prospect of settUng
where the power of religion appears to be felt. On you, my dear
friend, with the other young people, I look with the most heai'tfelt joy,
— you are to support me in future Ufe. Did I not perceive the young
inclined to remember their Creator in the days of their youth, how
should I fear lest the church would expire with its aged members ! But,
blessed be God, ye are rising to call the Redeemer blessed.

" I seem to rejoice with you in the prospect that your distresses as a
church are nearly at an end ; that the wounds are nearly healed ; that
the disadvantages which you the young people, especiaU}^, have laboured
under, are nearly closed ; and should a union betwixt us take place, and
should that union meet with the approbation of the Head of the Church,
what happiness may we not expect, what blessings may we not antici-
pate, mutually striving for each other's happiness and comfort, the min-
ister for the people, the people for the minister ! God will not, cannot
withhold His blessing.

" I trust, my dear friend, that reUgion is flourishing in your soul, that
you are growing in grace. Go on, and may the Lord prosper you. May
you feel Christ increasingly precious in aU His offices, in aU His relations,
and at all times. May you be blessed in your soul, yoiir family, your
worldly concerns. May God smile upon you, and then you must be
happy.

" Do not forget me, when retired from the world, when you pour
out your heart in secret, and He wiU reward you openly. My time
and paper admonish me to conclude."

" TO THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF THE CONGEEGATION WORSHIPPING AT
CAER's lane, BIRMINGHAM.

" My DEAR Young Friends, — Impressed with the tenderest concern
for your spiritual and eternal welfare, a concern which language cannot
express, I am induced to intmde a few Lines upon your attention,
which, should they not convey all the instruction and advice which
might be given by one older in years, wisdom, and experience than
myself, -wall express the afi'ection of a heart whoUy devoted to your
best interest.

" You are aware that it was my intention to have visited you at this
season of the year ; but that God, who draws the line of our habita-
tion, had otherwise determined ; and now, instead of the pulpit, I
address you from my study.

" With a pleasure I cannot express, I reflect upon that moment when

VISIT TO BIRMINGHAM.

r>ar acquaintance first commenced — an acquaintance wliicli I trust the
Lapse of time ■nill ripen into the purest and closest friendship. But I
do not consider you merely in the Ught of friends, but also as fellow-
Christians. Many of you I trust have passed from death unto life,
and are directing your faces Zion-ward, choosing rather to suffer afflic-
tion with the people of God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Happy, glorious choice !

" The advantages of such a choice, in the early part of life, are im-
mensely great and numerous. To cite them all would be a trespass on
your patience, a reflection on your judgment ; for ye must be sensible
that the morning of life is productive of a thousand advantages to a
religious course, which are ended by the shadows of evening. It was
the saying of a good old man, that if it were lawful to envy any, he
should be incUned to envy those who remembered their Creator in the
days of their youth.

" Most of you are the children of pious parents ; for you ten thou-
sand prayers have ascended before the throne of God, prayers as
constant as the morning and evening. How does your father wish for
David's blessing ! — a son growing up like a plant in his youth, to whom
he might say when he is called to close his eyes on earth and earthly
things, ' I go the way of all flesh, but I know that thou art a wise man,
and knowest the things that thou oughtest to do.' How does a tender
mother wrestle with God for your salvation ! Refresh the bowels of
your parents by an attention to divine tilings now, while their instruc-
tions drop down upon you like the eai-ly dew. How will it refresh
their hearts to behold you growing in grace as you grow in days and
j'ears ! What an additional relish will it give to all their exercises of
devotion, if they behold you giving yourselves up to the Lord in youth !
With what comfort will they go up to the house of the Lord in com-
pany with a child who is saying, ' I was glad when they said unto me,
Let us go up to the courts of the house of God !' Their family altar will
acquii-e a fresh delight when they behold you engaged in pouring out
your soul in unison -^ith them ; they will enter their closets with
fresh joy when they carry with them this reflection, that their son,
their daughter, is prajdng, ' My Father, be Thou the guide of my youth.'
Shall not these considerations, my dear young friends, operate upon
our minds 1 Shall we not be induced to seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness'? Shall we not remember our Creator in the
days of our youth 1 Where shall we seek for happiness equal to that
residting from joy and peace in believing in Christ ? Does the world,
does Satan, do your own hearts say that religion is melancholy, gloomy ?
Deny the charge ; for if the Word of God be true, if there be anything
in the experience of ten millions of saints, Wisdom's ways are ways of

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

ijleasaiitness, and all her paths, paths of peace. Do you feel Satan
suggesting the idea, that by becoming serious you will become the
objects of ridicule 1 and are you inclined sometimes to give way to the
temptation 1 What ! shaU a sneer — a cavil — the charge of hypocrisy,
Methodism, or enthusiasm, keep you from God 1 affright you from
the cross of Christ 1 Where is the reason, the magnanimity of that
mind which wiU sufler its conviction to be either sacrificed or shaken
by a jest ? ShaU the broad laugh of a fool be a stumbling-block in your
way i Hear the words of Christ — ' Whosoever is ashamed of me
before men, of him will I be ashamed before my Father and his holy
angels.' But I hope better things of you — things accompanying
salvation. I trust you are taking up the cross. Go on, and may the
Lord bless you. Turn your back on the vanities of the world. ' Come
out from among them, and be ye separate. Touch not the unclean
thing, saith tlie Lord.' Be constant in your attendance on the means
of grace. Be much in prayer, meditation, and reading the Scriptures,
which are able to make you wise to salvation. Be constantly looking
by faith to Christ as the Saviour of sinners. Pray for the Spirit of
grace to work in you the good pleasure of God. With what comfort
■wiU your venerable parents and elders look upon you rising to fill their
jilaces ! and, oh, with what joy will your minister behold his infant church !
When standing over the grave of your parents, he will not sorrow as
one without hope, he v/ill not think that he has buried the church in
the tomb of its aged members, he will not despair ; you will cheer his
mind, you are coming forward to hold up his hands, to be his friends,
to assist him in the affairs of the church. My brothers, my sisters,
God is my record how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of the
Lord Jesus : my heart's desire and prayer for you is, that you may be
saved. For you I bend my knees at a throne of grace, — for you my
warmest prayers ascend, that God would confirm you in the faith,
preserve you from all the snares to which your age peculiarly exposes
you. May you rise respectable, valuable, and experienced members
of the Church of God ! May you grow up as the cedars of Lebanon,
when your parents shall be laid in the silent tomb; and when ripe
for glory, may you be transplanted to the paradise of God as trees
of immortal life, and flourish in everlasting verdure through a thousand
generations.

" May I beg an interest in your prayers. Bear me on your minds at
a throne of grace; there wrestle with God for me in secret, that I
may be prepared for the proper discharge of the work which is before
me, whether I labour among you or in any other part of Chiist's vine-
yard. Be assured you lie very near my heart. You have a large share

VISIT TO BIRMIXGHAM.

of the prayei-3 of him who with joy subscribes himself, your most
aftectionate friend and devoted servant in Christ,

"J. A. James.

" GOSPORT, January 1805."

There was some thought about the desirableness of Mr James's
attendino; the classes at the University of Glasgow during the
winter of 1805-6 ; but the circumstances of the congregation
rendered it, on the whole, inexpedient; and accordingly, having
paid his people another visit in the early summer of 1805, and
finished his short course at Gosport a few weeks later, the young
minister finally settled in Birmingham, at the beginning of Sep-
tember.

The strong affection which, from the very first, he felt for his
church, is strikingly shewn, though with some juvenUe peculiarities
of expression, in a letter he wrote to his friend Mr Samuel Cocks,
immediately after the summer visit just referred to, and before he
finally left Gosport.

" Did you not think me the verj' essence of weakness when I parted
from you ? A thousand times before the same dagger had pierced my
soul. Farewell has ever been Like an an-ow shot through my heart ; but
that morning fresh barbs seemed given it. I have parted from my
jjareuts, my friends, but that day I parted from mij people, if I may
yet call them so. I had taken sweet counsel with them as Christians,
we had walked to the house of God in company ; I felt my affections
riveted to that society in which I had laboured, and to which I was
looking forward as the persons who were about to commit the charge
of their immortal souls to me. The frailty of human life seemed to
whisper in my ear, 'You wiU never be permitted to return to them
again.' The imcertainty of all things here made it possible that I shoiild
find some of you missing when I returned. These and a thousand other
things pressed -with all their weight on my mind."

In the same letter he speaks of the apprehension with which
he anticipated the duties of the ministry. It was not with
mere boyish ardour that he was looking forward to his escape
from the restraints of college and the commencement of his
ministry. " Ah ! my dear friend," he exclaims, " could you tell

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

what are my feelings in the prospect of this important undertaking,
you would be almost inclined to pity me." Yet he knows that
God will be his wisdom and strength. God has given His people
the promise of His support, and not only so, but has confirmed it
with an oath, giving us, as he quaintly puts it, " a rock for each
foot to stand upon, a holdfast for both hands to cleave to."

The following letter was written to his father at the same
time ; —

" GosPORT, June 15, 1805.

" Dear Father, — I have been loaded, I doubt not, with a thousand
censures by every branch of the family, for not wi-iting to you before.
Indeed, it was my intention to have sent you a letter immediately on
my return from Birmingham, but .... not a spare moment has
passed which could have been occupied in writing to Blandf ord. Never
since I came to Gosport have I been so busy as the last fortnight.
Things are now come nearly to a close at Gosport, and, I assure you,
work increases with me as fast as time diminishes, I need not inform
you that I returned safe from the North. I left my friends at Bir-
mingham quite well, with the promise of returning to them the latter
end of August, so that my time in this part of the country -nill be
exceedingly short. Our vacation commences the beginning, I think
about the first week in August. A fortnight, therefore, at most, is all
I shall be able to be with you at Blandford, as I shall be under the
necessity of being a week in London to purchase books.

" Nothing was fixed respecting my journey to the North, that is Scot-
land. The most respectable, at least some of them, of the congregation
were of opinion that I should go, and spoke decidedly in favour of it ;
others said it could not be determined at present, till we see how the
Baptists will be situated this -winter, or rather next. All circumstances
taken into consideration, great as the advantages would be to me, I
think I shall be obhged to rehnquish them, as it is likely the Baptists
will be in their new place before Christmas.

" Nothing was said concerning my salary by Mr Frears, at whose house
I was visiting. The evening before we parted, he expressed liis surprise
that notliing had been said by the church relative to that subject. He
was speaking of the sum they gave Mr Berry, which was one hundred
pounds per annum ; but he said that would be no criterion for their con-
duct towards me ; and he frankly acknowledged that was not enough,
nor did they intend to confine themselves to such a sum. I told him
freely, that I thought from such a congregation the sum was too little,
considering the present state, or rather price, of provisions, books, <fec.

VISIT TO BIESnXGHA^r.

I expect to receive a letter with proposals, either from Mm individually
or from the church, very shortly, which I shall not answer myself, as
Mr Bogue has engaged to settle that with them. I think my letter
from Birmingham was written before our church-meeting for the
addition of members. I think it was the most solemn, yet most
delightful occasion I ever witnessed in my hfe. We received fourteen
members, which raises the number of our members to about fifty-five
— no inconsiderable church. The last evening I preached, I addressed
the young ; and as I gave notice of it the Sabbath before, we had a
most crowded auditory. The meeting and aisles were quite crammed
by half-past six o'clock"

In reviewing the matter from this distance, and even with the Autobio-
knowledge of the blessed issues that have resulted from that^*^^"*^"
visit, and the invitation and acceptance to which it led, I cannot
justify, but must condemn the precipitancy of the church. The
impoi'tance of the station in the midst of a town that is the metro-
polis of a mighty district — the delicate relation of the church to
the large and powerful body that had seceded from it — the
smallness of the congregation, which required something extraor-
dinary in the pulpit to re\ive it — the youthfulness of the preacher
— the shortness of the time he had been at college — the immatimty
of his mind and studies, — all rendered it a hasty and injudicious
procedure, to invite him at once to be their pastor. The utmost
that prudence would have justified, was to have invited him upon
another probationary term. There is no doubt, however, that the
finger of God directed, and blessed be His holy name for the great
and glorious results that have followed.

;My first labours in Birmingham were comparatively light, in
consequence of their being shared with and by ]\Ir Morgan, the
Baptist minister, whose congregation was united with ours ; and
yet the necessity, even in this mitigated service, of composing two
sermons a week, with other duties in such a public situation, kept
up a pressure upon my time, and left me comparatively little for
improving my mind and adding to my stock of knowledge. I
now deeply regret much misspent time, and greatly deplore that
I did not, from the commencement of ministerial Life, acquire the
habit of early rising. Oh, what time I have slept away and for

lIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- ever lost ! Not that I was a late riser ; my time through life has
graphical. ^^^^ nominally seven o'clock, and has ranged from that to eight ;

but this is too late for one who would attain to excellence and
eminence ; and I therefore most earnestly enjoin all young persons
to form the habit of quitting their chambers not later than six.

I cannot say that I was a very diligent student on my entrance
upon the ministry. I was not, 'tis true, a loiterer or saunterer, but
my reading was desultory, for want of a wise and settled plan. I am
persuaded that young ministers need a guide through the first two
or three years of their ministry, as much as they do at college ;
and it should be an object with their tutors before they finish
their curriculum to give them some directions as to the manner of
carrying on their mental improvement when they have entered
upon their pastoral occupation.

CHAPTER III.

OKDINATION.

Among Mr James's papers I found a rather curious document
It has ah-eady been seen how he was " called of God " to the work
of the ministry, and qualified by Divine gifts for its duties ; and
in this chapter will presently be given an account of his being
solemnly ordained to the pastorate of a Christian church by
prayer and the imposition of hands. But in those days His
Majesty George the Third was graciously pleased to exercise a very
watchful care over the spiritual interests of his subjects ; and soon
after the young draper had become a student at Gosport, he had
to appear at the "Winchester Quarter Sessions, and invoke His
Majesty's protection, by taking some very loyal oaths, and solemnly
renouncing some very abominable errors. Here is the docu-
ment : —

"CERTIFICATE FOR DISSENTING MINISTERS.

^ I do hereby certify, that at the General Quarter Ses-

"Scntljampton, g.^^^g p^^^^ Sovereign Lord the King,

fcoit . holden hy adjournment at the Castle of Wixchester,

in and for the said county, on Monday the eighteenth day of July, in
the forty-third Year of the Eeign of our Sovereign Lord Geobge the
Third, and in the Year of our Lord, 1803,
John James,

ft Dissenting Teacher, did in open Court, between the Houi-s of Nina

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAJIES.

and Twelve of the Clock in the t"orenoon, take and subscribe the
Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjuration, and did also make
and subscribe the Declaration against Transubstantiation, and against
the Invocation and Adoration of the Virgin Mary, and the Sacrament
of the Mass, and all other Idolatry, and also did subscribe the Declara-
tion mentioned in the Act passed in the nineteenth year of his present
Majesty George the Third.

" Witness my Hand, this eighteenth Day of July 1803.

" Peter Kerby,
" Clerk of the Peaces

Among Congregationalists the ministerial office is divested of
much of the mystery and awe which surround it in many other
ecclesiastical communities. As a matter of expediency and order,
the administration of Baptism and the Lord's Supper is commonly
restricted to those who have been ordained to the ministry, but
ordination is not supposed to confer any mystic spiritual Character
necessary to give the sacraments validity. What is generally
understood by the doctrine of Apostolical Succession is universally
repudiated. Perhaps as a consequence of having been called
through many generations to protest against the assumption by the
Christian ministry of priestly prerogatives, the Independents have
too much forgotten that it was by Christ himself that an order of
men was established in the Church, separated to spiritual work,
and clothed with official authority.

The rite of Ordination, however, is almost universally observed,
and, though simple and severe in its outward and visible form,
is mighty in all those elements of power by which the spiritual
nature of a devout man is most profoundly stirred. After reading
the Scriptures and prayer, an "Introductory Discourse" is com-
monly delivered, in which the Independent polity is developed and
vindicated, and the true significance of the day explained. And
the preacher seldom forgets to recall the troublous times when
imprisonment and banishment and death were the penalty of
bold and courageous Nonconformity. The church is then asked,
most usually by some grave and venerable pastor, who for many

ORDINATION.

years has "fed the flock of God," whether by its own free choice
the minister to be ordained has been selected. And the newly-
chosen minister is required to answer in his own words, a series
01 questions, relating to his personal Christian life, his reasons for
supi^osing himself called of God to the ministry, his doctrinal faith,
his opinions on ecclesiastical polity, and the manner in which he
hopes to fulfil the duties of his oflSce. If these replies are deemed
satisfactory, he kneels down in the presence of his church; his
ministerial brethren gather round him ; one commends him to
the Divine keeping, and invokes upon him the richest benedictions
of Heaven, the baj^tism of fire, the spirit of wisdom, of power,
of holiness, and joy ; aU lay their hands upon his head, and
silently join in the invocation. A " Charge " is then delivered to
the ordained minister; and, either before the congregation separates
or at a service held a few hours later, a sermon is delivered to the
people, upon the duties they owe to their minister.

This is the usual form of the service. Mr James's ordination
was rather longer. He says : —

This solemn and public event took place May 8, 1806, after AutoWo-
I had been eight months with the church. This was an unne- ^"'^^'^^
cessaiy, and I must say injudicious and unscriptural delay, and
occasioned some inconvenience to the church as regards the cele-
bration of the Lord's Supper. As the time drew near it became
a grave and serious question, what ministers should be invited to
conduct the service. The pastors of the churches in the vicinity
had nearly all become the friends of ^Ir Brewer, who had been
rejected by the church for immorality of conduct, and therefore
my friends would not have them invited. It is probable that in
this they carried their opposition to Mr Brewer a little too far.
Still I can scarcely wonder at their decision. My mind was, of
course, somewhat solemn in prospect of such a service, and
through it. Yet I had not then the deep impressions I have
acquired since, of the tremendous responsibility of the ministerial
office.

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

itorial. The ordiiiation certificate was signed by

James Moody, Warwick.
Edward Williajvis, Rotherham.
David Bogue, Gosport.
Thomas Bijkkitt, Kenilworth.
George Osboen, Worcester.
Alexander Steill, Kidderminster.
James Bennett, Eomsey.
John Styles, Cowes.
Ingram Cobbin, Banbury.
William Jay, Bath.

With one exception, these all have finished their course, and
have entered into rest.

On the day after his ordination, as he often told his friends
with great delight, he attended the first meeting held in Birming-
ham on behalf of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

The following extract from a letter to Mr Joseph Phipson gives
a full account of the proceedings of the day : —

"May 15, 1806.

" The meeting-house began filling about half-past nine o'clock, and by
half-past ten was so crowded as to be unable to contain another person
— the place was Hterally crammed, the seats seemed ready to burst.
The moment the pulpit door opened, a solemn stillness and silence took
place ; every countenance seemed already serious, and eveiy mind
solemn and devout. ]\Ir Cobbin of Banbury began the ser%dce by
prayer and reading the Scriptures. Mr Moody then preached an intro-
ductory discourse, explaining the nature and constitution of a Christian
church ; his sermon was founded on 1 Peter ii. 5, ' A spiritual house : '
a very judicious, clever discourse. Mr SteiU then asked the usual
questions. The first, which was addressed to the church, to repeat their
caU, was answered by your uncle. This being ended, I dehvered my
answers to the several questions proposed, which were as foUows : — to
repeat my acceptance of the invitation ; to give an account of God's
dealings mth my soul, and my rehgious experience ; to give my \dew3
•of the nature and obligations of the pastoral office, with the motives
which induced me to take upon me this office ; to give the reasons
which induced me to dissent from the Church of England, and to deUver

ORDI^^ATION.

a confession of my faitL I stood on the seat in the table pew
with my face towards the congregation, that I might be the more
distinctly heard Dr "WiUiams then presented the ordination prayer,
which was accompanied with the imposition of hands. This being
done, and the right hand of fellowship being given me by the min-
isters present, Mr Bogiie delivered a charge from 1 Tim. vi. 11,
* O man of God.' He shewed, 1st, what the appellation implied ;
2dly, gave some directions for the performance of the duties which it
enjoined ; and 3dly, advanced some encouragements to animate me.
Mr Osborn of Worcester presented the intercessoiy prayer, and Mr
Bennett preached from Rev. iii. 23, an ingenious and good discourse.
He shewed, 1st, the duties which devolved upon a church to those who
are without its limits ; 2dly, the duties the members of it owe to each
other ; 3dly, their duty to their minister. Mr Bm-kitt then concluded
the whole with prayer.

" The service, though it began precisely at half-pa-st ten o'clock,
did not end tUl haK-past three. The people, however, discovered
no mark of inattention even to the last. When Mr Bennett began
his discourse their minds seemed as eager and as fresh as at the
beginning of the service. We then adjourned to the Castle Inn to
dine. About sixty persons, including ministers, sat down at the table,
which was very well furnished with the good things of this life. In
the evening, the service commenced at seven o'clock. ^Ir Styles prayed,
Mr Jay preached ; his discourse was founded on Exodus xxxiii. 14—16.
He was clever, but not quite so much so as I expected ; — allowance
though is to be made for illness ; he was very much indisposed indeed
two or three weeks before he came to Birmingham. Mr Edmonds of
Bond Street closed the whole service with a very solemn, serious, and
earnest prayer. Never was an ordination service from beginning to
end conducted with less confusion. Crowded as was our meeting, and
sultry as was the day, we had no fainting amongst the female part of
the audience.

" The ministers had their parts all arranged, so that there was no
disputing about engaging ; everj-thing was done decently and in order.
Never did I witness an auditory more apparently interested. Oh, how
it would have melted your heart to have seen the aged members of the
church meeting each other, unable to address each other but by an ex-
change of sobs and tears ! Joy ghstened in every eye, and every tongue
that coiild speak declared the satisfaction of the heart. It was like the
beginning of a new age. We seemed meeting together like the ancient
Jews to welcome the return of jubilee.

" To describe to you my feelings on that solemn occasion would be
quite beyond my power. I had scarcely a moment's sound sleep all the

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

preceding night — I could eat no breakfest the morning of the ordination.
However, when I had answered one question, my feelings became less
painful. I found God to be as good as His word, — for, as my day was,
so I found my strength to be ; His grace was sufficient for me. Oh,
what a difference was there in the state of my mind Tuesday morning
and Tuesday evening ! It seemed like a mountain removed from my
spirits.

" We have lately made very great exertions in this toTO on be-
half of the British and Foreign Bible Society There was a

meeting held at the committee-room of the Blue-Coat School, for the
purpose of taking into consideration the best means of aiding this insti-
tution. Persons of all descriptions were present, — Quakers, Socinians,
Churchmen, Baptists, Independents ; and when it was resolved that the
town should be divided into twelve districts, and three persons appointed
to each to go round and call on aU the inhabitants to aid and assist in
so good an undertaking, it was so ordered that the three persons to each
district should be of different denominations. On Monday week we
delivered in our collection, and what would you imagine we collected
in Birming'iam ? — upwards of £500 ! This is no bad beginning of the
generosity of the people of this town."

CHAPTER IV.

DOJVIESTIC HISTORY.

It is said of God that He setteth the solitary in families. I have Autobio-
abundant cause for thankfulness for the manner in which God^''^^^^'"^

ai:)peared for me in this momentous matter He chose

better for me than I should have chosen for myself. There is a
great fault in our students in forming hasty and often injudicious
attachments. Those generally do best who hold their affections
in control till they have finished their studies and have entered
upon their ministry. The cause of failure to many of oiu' minis-
ters may be found in their hasty and ill-formed matches.

When I first settled in Birmingham I came on a visit to a
Mr Frears, one of the leading members of the church, an
American merchant, and a man of nmch real worth. His wife
was a Scotch lady, of great strength of mind and real piety.
I was received as one of the family, and treated as a son. As
no suitable place was found for my lodgings, I remained in
that family month after month, and acquired an attachment to
them of no ordinary strength. My feelings for Mrs Frears were
truly filial, and I think I never loved any man at that time out of
the circle of my own friends as I loved Mr Frears. When a situation
was at length found for me, and the lodgings were actually engaged,
we all felt so much when the time for separation arrived, that my
dear friends invited me to remain where I was till I should remove

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Antobio- to a house of my own, of which there was then some prospect at

graphical. ,

no very remote period.

Among my congregation were two sisters of the name of Smith,
— Mary and Frances Charlotte. They were the daughters of Dr
Smith, a respectable physician of the town, lately deceased. Their
father, before his death, had furnished for them, in prospect of his
departure, a house, only two doors below that in which Mr Frears
lived. I was thus thrown into the company of these ladies, espe-
cially by meeting them at Mrs Walford's, an aged, pious, and most
intelligent woman, and an intimate friend fii-st of Dr Smith, — who
wished to marry her, — and then of his daughters. Mrs Walford
lived exactly opposite the house occupied by the ladies. My at-
tention was soon directed to Fanny, the youngest. I had been one
day most earnestly praying for Divine direction in this important
step, and during prayer Frances Smith occurred with such force to
my mind, that I considered it an indication of Providence that my
attention should be directed to her — to which I was encouraged
by Mrs Walford, her intimate friend ; and on December 2, 1 805,
I made known to her my attachment, and my wishes to obtain her
hand and heart. I was accepted. As she was living in her own
house, there was no need of long delay, and on the 7th of July the
following year we were married at the parish church of Edgbaston.
So that I had only to remove from my kind friend, Mr Frears', to
the next door but one, where was everything made ready to my
hand.

An incident occurred on the day of our marriage which might
have terminated our connexion as soon as it was formed. On the
road to Worcester, through which we had to pass on our way into
Dorsetshire, we were overtaken by a tremendous thunderstorm
accompanied with hail. The postilion drove us under a high elm
tree for shelter. Aware of our danger in such a situation, I
ordered him to proceed, but as the storm increased he again took
shelter under another tree, and, upon being remonstrated with, he
declared tliat the hail was so heavy, that neither he nor the
horses could stand under it, and that be the consequences what
they might, he must have the covering of the boughs for a protec-

DOMESTIC HISTOEY.

tion. It was an awful moment ; the thunder was rolling, the light- Autobio-
ning flashing, and the hail, notwithstanding the protection Qf^^P^"^
the tree, fell so heavy that it seemed as if the roof of the chaise
would be beaten in. We had scarcely courage to utter a word,
but sat in sUence, not knowing but the next flash might sever the
knot which only a few hours before had been tied. However, by
God's good providence we were presei-ved from all harm, and pro-
ceeded on our way very glad and grateful for the deliverance
we had experienced

My marriage gave great satisfaction to all parties : to my
congregation, by whom my wife was held in the highest esti-
mation ; to my parents, and to my friends generally. But
here I must except many of my dear wife's own personal con-
nexions. These lay in the circle of the Church of England, from
which she had lately come out, and were persons of the highest
respectability in the town and neighbourhood. They were mor-
tified to see her giving herself, her fortune, and her house to a
Dissenting minister: and it required no small share of moral
courage and decision of character on her part to act in opposition
to the views and wishes of so many of her former acquaintances
and companions. However, she cared little for all this, believing
that she was under the guidance of Providence in this gTcat and
important matter.

This dear and eminent woman had few personal charms, but
her countenance was intelligent and thoughtful, with a cast of
mild and reserved benevolence. Her character, spirit, and temper
were a combination of matured female excellence. She had little
sprightliness or vivacity ; was not obtrusive in conversation, yet
was not taciturn, but ever ready with invariable good sense to
bear her part in the ordinary subjects of discourse. Her demeanour
was grave, but by no means gloomy. Profoundly humble, and
beautifully meek, she could never ofi'end, and was rarely offended ;
though I have known her roused to dignified displeasure on some
occasions, both before and after our marriage. Her prudence,
sound good sense, sobriety of mind, and correctness of judgment
were exemplary. All this was veiled by a delicate and invariable

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- modesty, and sanctified by eminent piety. After our marriage, when
^''^^ ' she became better known to the congregation, she was hailed as an
angel of God, and I believe that there was not an individual in
either the church or the congregation to whom she was not an
object of love, interest, and esteem. Never had there existed in
our world a more devoted and affectionate daughter. Such wa.s
her attachment to her widowed father in his last Ulness, that had
he lived much longer, her own life would have fallen a sacrifice to
lier attempts to prolong his ; and it was some time after his death
before her constitution recovered the damage it had sustained by
her incessant ministrations by night and by day. Her mind was
as much tried as her body, in consequence of her father's want of
religion. Unhappily, Dr Smith had imbibed very light views of
Divine revelation, and was, I believe, an infidel, or at any rate a
sceptic. It was to this dear devoted chUd the very bitterness of
death to see her father, on whom she doated and for whose salva-
tion she would have laid down her life, sinking into the grave
with no faith or hope of a glorious immortality. How she prayed,
and watched for one glimpse of light from Heaven to beam upon
his mind, and irradiate the darkness of his dying chamber, she
only knew ! but, alas, he died " and made no sign and all that
was left her, as in other such cases, was to turn away her thoughts
from the gloomy subject and leave the decisivn in the hands of a
just and merciful God. Such was the blessed woman the Lord
gave me, and of whom I feel that I was utterly unworthy; and to
whom, under God, to her gentleness and prudence, to her meek-
ness and good sense, to her sobriety of judgment and instinctive
propriety, I owe in great measure the formation of my own char-
acter and my fair and good start in my ministerial career. And
now, at the distance of fifty years from the date of my union with
her, and of nearly forty from her death, I record my gratitude to
God for this inestimable gift.

In the latter end of March 1807, my wife was prematurely
confined ; but the child was dead. This same year I lost my
kind, good mother. She had lived long enough to see me mar-
ried, and setting forth in life respectable and respected, and was

DOlVrESTIC HISTORY.

extremely anxious I should not be lifted up by my possessions and Autobio-
prospects. Often, during my wedding visit, which was paid to s^api^ic'ii'
2)arents, she would say, " Remember, my son, there is nothing so
beautiful as an humble Christian." Honour to her memory ! She
was a good, though not a great woman.

In November 1809, my son Tliomas was born, and was soon
after publicly baptized by myself in Carr's Lane Chapel. I know
it is usual for ministers to employ some ministerial brother to per-
form this office for them, but I see no reason for this, except that
they lose the benefit of exhortation ; yet it might be supposed
that they are sufficiently acquainted with their duty, if not to
render this imnecessary, yet to dispense with it for the sake of the
solemn interest which accompanies the act of a father's dedicating
his own child to God.

It was then I commenced my career as an author, by printing
for the use of my congregation, but not publishing, the sermon
I preached on the occasion, entitled, "Parental Desire, Duty, and
Encouragement." I was not, certainly, actuated by much vanity
in this first efibrt of my pen, as is evident by my not ofiering the
sermon to the public ; though I am not quite sure that it was not
as worthy of publication as some other things which, with greater
boldness, I have sent out since. • I little thought at that time
that I should ever be encouraged as I have been to pursue the
career of an author.

Another child was bom to us in the year 1810; this was a
little girl, but she lived only six weeks. In 1814, my daughter
Sarah Ann was born, who took joint names after my mother and
my wife's friend, iirs Walford.

CHAPTER V.

DISCOURAGEMENT.

AutoLio- Affairs in the congregation went on quietly, but comfortably,
giaphical. several years, without any very great increase of numbers, till
at length I began to be somewhat discouraged. My dear wife
was always a comforter when I was a little cast down. A little
occurrence took place at a church-meeting, which might have
occasioned some uneasiness. One of the deacons interfered in
the course of the proceedings of the evening, with what I con-
sidered the prerogative and authority of the pastor, when some-
what petulantly I resisted and rebuked him. Considering his
age and my comparative youth, I did not act with all the
meekness I should have done. It ought to have been passed
over more gracefully on my part, and should have been men-
tioned to him in private, instead of being resented in public.
The old gentleman, however, took it very quietly, and it made
not the slightest difference in his conduct towards me. But he
did not attend the church-meetings afterwards, though this
might be attributed, perhaps, rather to the infirmities of age
than to the circumstance just mentioned. It might have gene-
rated iU-will towards me. Young ministers sometimes are too
sensitive in matters relating to what they consider official dignity

and authority

I at last became exceedingly disheartened by the state of

DISCOURAGEMENT.

the congregation. Oiir place of worship was uncomfortable ; Autobio-
the street in which it stood, though central as to the popula-
tion, was narrow and shabby, and great odium was raised,
ungenerously and unjustly, against it by the congregation which
had retired with Mr Brewer. Yet, after all, the chief cause
of its not being better attended was perhaps a want of care
on my part in the preparation of my sermons. I have ever felt,
and do feel to this day, the want of a more complete education.
My composition was loose and unfinished. I was always ener-
getic in manner, and have owed, under God, my success to this.
I believe that had any offer of another situation been made at
that time, I should have been strongly tempted to accept it.
Against this, however, my wife, who knew the bias of my mind,
firmly set herself, and used to say to me, " Never leave Birming-
ham tiU you see your way out of it as clearly as you did into
it." Her advice was sound and good, and shews the vast
importance of a minister's having for a wife one who can be a
counseller as well as a comforter.

I am persuaded that ministers are too apt soon to get discouraged,
and to quit a situation because their first success is not equal to
their expectations. They should recollect that a man does much
by his character as well as by his talents ; and that confidence is
the growth of years. There seems to be, of late, a most extraordi-
nary and painful mobility come over our ministers. This arises, I
know, from various causes, — the fastidiousness of the people is
become excessive, through the circumstances of the age, and it
really does require extraordinary effort on the part of our pastors
to satisfy their flocks. This ought to stimulate the ministers, who,
instead of endeavouring to meet these demands upon their talents
and their diligence, lie down in despondency, and spend that
time in reproaching their congregation which ought to be spent
in coming up to their wishes.

My congregation perceiving that something needed to be done,
determined upon improving their place of worship, and rendering
it more comfortable. During the alteration we were accommodated
with the old ]\Ieeting-house, where Mr Kell, my old schoolmaster

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- at Wareham, was then minister. This gave us publicity, and the

graphical.

result was, that on our return to Carr's Lane, our chapel was
crowded, so that the very table pew was let. From that time we
date our prosperity ; and it shews what a public-spirited people can,
and will do, to promote the usefulness of their minister; while
others, through covetousness, carelessness, or a kind of here-
ditary attachment to the place in which their fathers worshipped
God, will keep their minister's talents and usefulness confined
within a much narrower compass than he ought to be allowed to
occupy.

Editorial. jjq^ -^y^s that Mr James's ministeral life commenced with
seven years of apparent failure, is a question worth examining
with the utmost care. The Church Book confirms what he has
said of his want of success. At the end of 1805, when he had
been in Birmingham four months, the church numbered sixty-two ;
at the end of 1806, sixty-nine ; at the end of 1807, seventy-seven ;
at the end of 1808 the number had increased to a hundred ; but
fell again next year to ninety-eight. For several years after this
the church record was very imperfectly kept, till for a time it
ceases altogether. Although the official record fads us, tradition
confirms Mr James's own testimony, that till 1812 his congrega-
tion continued to be very small. Carr's Lane did not remain
empty through want of people in the neighbourhood to fill it, for
even then the population of the town was upwards of eighty
thousand. Nor was Mr James's failure occasioned by the number
and eminence of the other evangelical ministers in Birmingham ;
with the exception of Mr Burns at St Mary's Church, there was
no evangelical clergyman in the Establishment, having any pulpit
power; and there were only two congregations of importance
among the evangelical Dissenters, that in Livery Street (Indepen-
dent) under Mr Brewer, and that in Cannon Street (Baptist) under
Mr Morgan.

That Mr James preached in a mean chapel situated in a dirty
street, that the popular sympathy was with his vigorous and

DISCOUKAGEMEM.

eloquent, though guilty, predecessor, and that the young minister
himself was too confident in. his own power, and too careless in
his preparations for the pulpit, were, as he has said, among the
principal causes of his disappointment. But there are some other
circumstances which deserve consideration.

For some time his health appears to have been very feeble.
Through month after month in 1806, Dr Bogue expresses his
regret to hear that his young friend continues so unwell ; in 1807
he writes, — " I am sorry to hear of your being ill and obliged for a
season to abstain from preaching ;" and for several years his work
was continually being interrupted by physical weakness.

It should also be remembered that he had come from Gosport
with a mind untrained to protracted and strenuous exertion, and
unenriched with either sacred or secular learning. There could
have been at that time but little depth or variety of thought in
his sermons, and he must have often violated the laws of good
taste. At first he was scarcely conscious that hard work was the
indispensable condition of great success. With an ardent, im-
petuous, glowing heart — a mind full of life and activity, though as
yet altogether undisciplined — with a very free command of sonor-
ous, if not accurate English — with a voice which for sweetness,
richness, and pathos has been rarely equalled, never surpassed,
and which even then was as absolutely under his control as in his
later years, he could easily interest and excite a popular audience,
and the necessity of diligent self-culture and laborious prepara-
tion for the pulpit was not forced upon him. But more metal
was wanted, if he was to produce any deep and permanent impres-
sion on a vigorous and intelligent commimity.

From the first, he had some idea that his study was a place for
reading and thought, and not merely for sermon writing ; and here
is an old book-bill which indicates, perhaps, the direction of his
reading at the very comencement of his ministry : —

"Manton's Works, . . £3 13 6

Bennett's Christian Oratory, 0 6 0

Pirie on Baptism, . . 0 13
G

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Owen's Gospel Cliurcli,

£0

Sermons and Tracts,

Meikle's Solitude,

Edwards' Eedemption,

Eemarks,

Leigtton, ....

Edwards' Affections, .

Newman's Baptism, .

These books lie bought in London in 1805, on his way to Birming-
ham ; and he seems to have ordered from the same bookseller,
Owen on the Hebrews, and Howe. But for a time there was not
much vigorous application, and he paid the penalty in a protracted
period of disappointment.

He felt his failure very keenly. He wrote desponding letters to
his friends, who did their best to encourage him, knowing that he
must ultimately succeed. Dr Bogue tells him in February 1806,
that his " anxieties and fears about continuing in Birmingham are
vain, and should be driven away without delay." In March, Mr
Bennett implores him to lay aside his " paralysing anxieties ; " and
in April, to "bear up against discouragements, and not to run
away from his post." His energy was at last stung into activity.
His iateUectual habits rapidly acquired manly vigour. Mr Bennett
and he began to correspond on questions of Biblical criticism and
theological scholarship, which could not be discussed without con-
siderable reading and reflection. The mental discipUne he should
have received at Gosport under the direction of his tutor, he
now acquired by his private studies. Before he gained accidental
publicity by preaching in the Unitarian chapel, his resources were
greatly increased, and his whole intellectual nature had become
more robust. The temporary occupation of the Unitarian pulpit
was the occasion, not the cause, of the sudden increase of his
popularity.

About a year before the enlargement of the Carr's Lane meet-
ing, he was invited to preach at Liverpool to the congregation
which had been gathered by the earnestness and eloquence of
Spencer, and which had been suddenly plunged into the greatest
distress by his premature death. Some of his Birmingham friends

DISC0UKAGE3IENT.

were apprehensive that the visit might eud in his removal from
Birmhighara to Liverpool, and perhaps their fears were not
altogether without foundation. That his removal would have
occasioned them the greatest sorrow is evident from the warm
affection they had expressed to him in a letter which he received
at Bristol just before his Liverpool visit, and which may help to
illustrate the kind of attachment which existed between himself
and his flock. After acknowledging and thanking him for a pas-
toral letter he had written to them during his absence, and making
some general observations on the uncertainties and vicissitudes of
human hfe, they go on to say —

" Yet amidst all these proofs of mutation and imperfection one
thing remains to comfort us, and that is, that our connexion as
pastor and people stUl subsists. We rejoice that you are spared
to us as our pastor. We rejoice that, although we can look around
us and see vacant pews, which but lately were occupied with valu-
able and active members, — although Providence is removing some,
the hand of death arresting others, and disease and suffermg, too
generally its precursors, depriving us of the service and society of
more, yet that many are from time to time coming forward to fiU
up the ranks, and are thus ' baptized for the dead,' — so that, not-
withstanding all these losses, you are not left to preach to empty
pews, nor even suffered to preach to a declining congregation.
But that which contributes most to our happiness is the confidence
we feel that there is no decay of affection either on the part of
pastor or people. We most sincerely thank you for the gTatifying
assurance that the lapse of nearly seven years has made no change
in your affection for us, — that notwithstanding the experience you
have had of our inaptitude to profit as we ought under your min-
istry, notwithstanding the many imperfections wliich, during so
long a residence among us, you cannot fail to have discovered, —
notwithstanding any wounds which you may have occasionally re-
ceived from any quarter, — your attachment is yet unabated. We
read -with unfeigned pleasure the declaration that no change of
scene, no variety of character, nor even the endearments of your
father's house, have divided your kind regards from the people of

100

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

your pastoral charge. We hope, nay, we are confident, the affec-
tion is mutual. We have no wish to see your pulpit filled by a
stranger, but we acquiesce in your occasional absence, because we
think it needful that you should relax your labours for a short
space durmg the revolution of a year ; but we anxiously anticipate
your return again among us."

LETTERS.

There are a few of his letters belonging to this period which
seem to deserve a place in this volume. The first was written to
his sister Jane ; the second to his brother Thomas, now the Rev.
Thomas James of the Colonial ]\Iissionary Society, when about to
make a pubHc profession of his faith in Christ ; the third was
addressed to Mr Phipson, who was afraid that the church at Liver-
pool was about to rob him of his minister ; the fourth and fifth
were written to the Rev. Thomas James, when about to commence
his studies for the Christian ministry.

TO MISS J. JAMES.

" BiRMiNGHAir, November 22, 1805.
" JIy dear Sistee, — Were you acquainted with my engagements at
Birmingham, it would be matter of little surprise to you that I had
omitted writing to you at Romsey. The commencement of a minis-
terial career in any part of the vineyard of Christ, but especially in that
part of it which is the destined lot of my labours, is attended with so
many new scenes to try, and so many others to perplex the mind, as
leave it no liberty to think of anything but its present engagements.
Do not let the silence which has so long subsisted be the criterion of
my love ; do not imagine that because I have not written so often, or
said so much as in past times, that I love you less. To none woidd it
give me gi-eater pleasure to -write than to yourself ; and I assure you,
that you are not the only respected friend who complains of my remiss-
ness ; to all, therefore, I am constrained to make the same excuse, — my
numerous and important engagements. Did you, my dear Jane, know

102

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

how I was situated, you would almost pity me. I have not, like your-
self, only one soul to look after, but many ; not only my own vine to
prune and dress, but a whole vineyard to watch and manage ; not only
one plant to nourish and take under my fostering care, but a whole
garden to keep free from weeds, and to till. You know, by experience,
that even the care of your own soul calls for the most vigilant atten-
tion, the most dihgent watchfulness ; and oh, do but imagine what it
requires in me to look after so many.

" Our silence, when together at Blandford, is not only lamentable,
but criminal. I confess it with shame, but I find it more easy to la-
ment it, than to mend it. I find it a matter of extreme difficulty with
near friends, to give loose to the feeUngs of my heart, and to engage
freely in spiritual conversation. There is a kind of timidity, criminal,
because injurious to Christian communion, which I cannot overcome ;
with a stranger I can be free, but with near, and even dear friends, I
cannot be so famUiar as I could wish.

" I trust that my dear sister is growing in grace ; that this divine
plant, which the hand of God has set in your heart, is stUl thriving.
It seems as if God had so ordered it, that you should water this plant
with your own tears, that it should take deep root downward, as well
as grow upward. By many expressions in your letter, you seem yet a
child of hght walking in darkness. Pray, did you ever meditate on that
passage of God's holy Word, which is in Isaiah 1. 10 ? I have often
thought it, and do stiU think it, peculiarly appHcable to yourself. I
trust your character is described in that passage ; that you fear God, I
have little doubt, and that you are as willing to obey His voice. The
fear which is there spoken of, is not that slavish dread of God's wrath,
which leads the soul to view Him only as a revengeful being fuU of
wrath, and determined to punish all that disobey or break in any
measure His commandments ; but that fear which arises from a sense
of His love and mercy, a fear originating in faith, and excited by grati-
tude, that leads the soul to fear offending Him, because of His great
goodness and love. The state which is there described also seems to
suit you exactly, walking in darkness and without hght. This is not
the darkness of a state of nature, but that which is occasioned by the
hiding of God's countenance. Now, though you are in this darkness,
yet attend to the exhortation in this text. ' Trust' upon, or in ' the name
of the Lord,' also His word. His promises, His covenant, and make these
things the foundation of your hope ; again, ' stay' upon the name of the'
Lord. This seems to allude to one who is struggling in deep waters
among the billows ; just ready to sink, he grasps hold upon something,
but is stiU timorous whether he may venture his weight upon it. In
such a situation, he is assured by one that it is quite able to bear him

LETTERS.

103

up, — no unfit resemblance of the state of a soul tossed with strong tempta-
tions and anxious fears. I hold fast the promise, the Immutable Cove-
nant of Jehovah to you — stay yourself upon this ; it never yet gave way
beneath the feet of any that ever trod upon it. Even were you driven
to such an extremity, imitate Abraham, who, against hope, beheved in
hope. ' Stay upon his God ; ' this seems the most comfortable word of
all ; this shews you, however you may suspect your sincerity and your
interest in the covenant, God is still your God — is not unmindful of
you. How amazing His love ! Yes, my dear sister, though you form
such hard thoughts of yourseK, His thoughts are not as your thoughts.
He reverses the sentence which you pass upon yourself. He is now say-
ing to you, I am thy God. "VVhy will you disbelieve Him 1 why discredit
His immutable word ? Do not, then, delight to dwell so much in the
regions of despondency. Perhaps you wish for more rapturous enjoy-
ments, more sensible manifestations of the light of His countenance,
than it is His wiU to give ; — bow wdth submission to the dispensation.

" You wish, also, for a crown which it is not the privilege of all
Christians to wear — I mean that of assurance ; but you would do
well to consider, that assurance is not of the essence of faith. A man,
a Christian, may have sincere and justifying faith, without being
firmly assured that his sins are pardoned — that Christ died for him in
particular. Do not, then, let this so much distress you. The vision is
for an appointed time, and though it tarry, it will come. In the even-
ing time it shall be light.

" I am going on tolerably comfortable and happy in my new and im-
portant situation ; fresh cares and fresh pleasures seem to keep the
matter pretty nearly on an equilibrium; our congregation increases,
our church flourishes, our prayer-meetings are well attended. I am
stiU with Mr Frears, and I expect to be with him tUl February, when
I am to enter my lodgings. O my dear sister, if you ever, which I
hope you will ere it is long, see Mr and Mrs Frears, thank them a
thousand times for their kindness to me. In them, I find a second
father and mother. Upon the whole, I am tolerably well. I had, for
about a month, a very ugly cough, which is mercifully removed. Your
account of my brother Thomas has given me fresh cause for gratitude
and praise. I do not despair of seeing all my brothers and sisters in
the way to glory. Farewell. May the Lord give you every needful
blessing ; so prays your affectionate brother,

"J. A. James."

TO MR THOMAS JAMES.

"Birmingham, January 24, 1807.
" Self-dedication is included in baptism when received by an adult.

104

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Remember, tlien, tliat on such grounds you solemnly declare your faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ, — you renounce every other dependence for
salvation, — you swear allegiance to Him as your rightful sovereign,
and declare in the presence of -witnesses, of heaven, earth, and hell,
that you wiU now depart from iniquity, — that you now give up your-
self, your body, j'our soul, your time, your talents, your all to be
devoted to His glorj^. Sucli a solemn surrender should not be made
without much serious meditation and much earnest prayer. Eemember,
I do not say that this is the principal design of baptism, but it must
surely be a reflection wliich ought very much to impress the mind of
one who at adult age passes under this solemn seal of the new cove-
nant. With respect to the Lord's Supper, while I would be extremely
cautious to guard it from the intrusion of those who, being like Juda.s,
enemies to it, have, like him, no just right to the privilege, yet I would
encourage every Christian, though he were a babe, to join in the com-
memoration of the sufferings and death of Christ. You express a fear
as to your fitness to participate in this privilege ; perhaps, if this were
sifted to the bottom, it might be found to be a weed springing from a
seed of self-righteousness. You do not express any fear about any
other duty ; you do not say. Am I worthy to go to prayer 1 am I holy
enough to go to the house of God 1 To wish for more holiness is a
veiy natural, and very justifiable wish ; but to wish for it as giving you
a stronger claim, or better right to any of the privileges of the New
Testament, is self-righteousncss, and arises from indistinct views of the
truth. I am not now speaking against sanctification — God forbid ! —
but I am speaking against the idea of meriting any one privilege of
the gospel by any real or supposed excellency of our own. You are
ever to go to the table of the Lord as a sinner hoping for salvation
through the perfect atonement of Chiist, which is beautifully set forth
by the bread and wine which you receive. The Divine promise of
salvation to those who believe, and the gracious invitation of aU such
to the table of the Lord, and not your own personal hohness, is the
foundation of your title to a seat with the righteous.*

* There appears to be some confusion of thought in this passage. Although
the increase of personal sanctification does not confer " a stronger claim or better
right to any of the privileges of the New Testament," there can be no fitness at
all for communion apart from the existence of sanctification. If a man ask on
what ground he may venture to trust in the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of his sins and the regeneration of his spiritual natiu-e, it is clear that
Scripture replies, that the only ground required for faith is the grace and promise
and work of the Lord Jesus. It is not saints that are invited to trust in Him for
salvation, but sinners. Not holiness, but sin, constitutes the personal qualification
for trusting in the compassion of Him who came not to call the righteous but
sinners to repentance. But we are invited to the Lord's Supper, not that we may

LETTERS.

105

" Do not think, my dear brother, that there is any spiritual magic,
if I may so speak, in the bread or the wine, which will make you a
perfect Christian all of a sudden ; this, like every other religious ordinance,
depends on God for a blessing. Don't expect either, any wonderful
elevation of mind, any ecstatic feelings, any rapturous sensations in
the performance of this duty; such 'experience,' as it is called, is
often to be doubted. Many have felt at the table of the Lord what
they would have felt anywhere else, if there had been anything to strike
the senses — anything novel or extraordinary — and have thought aU
this the very summit of religious perfection and enjoyment ; whereas,
perhaps, there was very little religion in it. If it strengthen your
faith in the Lord Jesus — if it increase your love to Him — if it enflame
your love to the brethren — if it wean you from the world — if it send
you away humbler in your own estimation than when you came — if it
give you more exalted and extended views of the person, the work,
the office of Christ — if it lead you to adore more the Divine char-
acter as displayed in the plan of your redemption, it has effected that
for which it was designed ; and if you feel nothing of that rapture
and ecstacy which some profess to feel and enjoy, be neither disap-
pointed nor distressed about it.

"I stiU recommend to you a diligent perusal of the Word of God,
accompanied with much earnest prayer to God for the enlightening
influence of the Holy Ghost. Continue constant in prayer. I rejoice
to hear of your religious society ; I hope it wiU prove a lasting benefit.
You arc not to be surprised, if out of such a number some should not
continue to run as well as they appear to have started. If this should
be the case, don't think the worse of the gospel. Even among Christ's
little society, which consisted of twelve, there was a Judas — a devH. Take
heed that it be not yourself. Send me their names who they are. We go
on very well at Birmingham — our congregation and church both increase.

" Mr Keynes has been here preaching for me three Sabbaths during
my illness, which has been pretty severe. To-morrow I preach three

be reconciled to God, but to celebrate the fe.stival of our reconciliation, and as the
friends of Christ, to rejoice in His love. If this be true, some proof that we have
really been renewed by the Spirit of power and holiness is indispensable to fellow-
ship with the saints.

The fallacy which underlies the sentence, " You do not say, Am I worthy to go
to prayer? am I holy enough to go to the house of God ?" may easily be exposed.
The drunkard and the adulterer should, it is universally acknowledged, pray to
God; their very sins are a reason for praying: and "go to the house of God," —
the more guilty, the more need for them to seek His mercy ; but none would say
that such persons should approach the table of the Lord. It is not their duty to
profess love to Christ until they actually love Him, or to place themselves among
the number of His servants until they are really serving Him.— Edit.

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

times, wliicli I have not done for eight weeks past. Tlirougli Di^dne
goodness I am now tolerably well"

TO MR JOSEPH PHIPSOIT.

" Octoler 29, 1811.

" My dear Friend, — Before I relieve the anxiety which my visit to
Liverpool excited in your affectionate heart, I will first thank you for
it, as a proof and pledge of undissembled regard, that you feel so pecu-
liarly solicitous for my longer continuance as your pastor and friend.
You are yourself answerable for the error, if I have reposed more confi-
dence in your friendship than your feelings towards me either sanction
or desire. I consider and esteem you as one of my best friends. Yours
was the first voice and hand and heart that welcomed me to Birming-
ham, and would be, I hope, the last that would rejoice at my departing
from it. Valuing, then, as I do, your attachment, I could not but feel
in some degree gratified by the solicitude you manifested concerning
the result of my Lancashire journey ; it endeared you to my heart, and
had your fears been realised, would have rendered the separation
which you dreaded still more painfid to me. But those fears are not
likely to be realised. I teU you now, as I told you then, that they are
gi-oundless. I went down to Liverpool merely as a supply, and as far
as I can judge, was considered by the people in no other light.
Indeed, how could it be otherwise 1 I should be iU qualified to fill the
place that had been occupied by Spencer. He was a most excellent
youth, and, as far as I can judge by the glowing twilight which still
survives his departed day, he was a burning and a shining light.

" Short was the season which to his friends was allowed to rejoice in
that light. As a preacher, he was possessed of extraordinary qualifica-
tions ; it was not energy of thought, it was not a bold genius, it was
not a sparkling imagination that rendered him popular, but an elegant,
fervid animation of manner, coupled with the youthfid beauty of his
appearance. The attention excited by his preaching was indeed re-
markable ; from what I have seen, I do believe that he could have
commanded a congregation of five thousand people, if a place had been
built large enough to contain them, and if his voice could have been
distinctly heard in it.

"It is a most happy circumstance, that the impulse given to the
public by his labours is not likely again to subside. The attendance
at the chapel in which he preached is astonishing. If I say that a hun-
dred people went away unable to gain standing room within the walls
the last two Sunday evenings of my visit, I shoidd speak within
compass ; and though it was on a week-day when I preached my last

LETTERS.

107

sermon, tlie place was crowdod even to the aisles. One circumstance
peculiarly favourable to the future prospects of the church there is, that
a spirit of prayer seems to be poured out upon the people. There
were not, perhaps, fewer than three hundred people at the prayer-
meeting. A great and effectual door is opened for the entrance of the
gospel into that large and wicked town. As far as I could judge, and
have a right to speak on such a subject, my services were tolerably ac-
ceptable, but beyoud expressions of satisfaction and gratitude, nothing
was communicated to me. You may, therefore, so far as your comfort
is concerned in this matter, set your mind at rest. 'Tis true, it would
be highly gratifj-ing to the most anxious feelings of my heart, to see a
larger congregation surroimding my pulpit ; but I shall never quit my
post till I am convinced, and others are convinced too, that it is my
duty to do it for some more extended sphere of ministerial usefulness.
We had a very pleasant excursion upon the whole, and were introduced
to a number of very excellent people."

TO HIS BEOTHER ME THOilAS JAMES.

"December 19, 1811.

" Were my ability equal to my wishes, with what hallowed delight
should I expatiate on the scenery of that prospect, which, to the eye of
your imagination, is seen stretching over the interminable compass of
futurity. How readily would I trace, and how plaiuly, the path from
which your feet must never deviate. I would mark the spots where
you may naturally expect to meet with danger — where with difficulty
— where with delight. I would tell you when to open your heart to
the most delicious pleasures — when to close it against the most insidious
poison. I would caution and encourage, stimulate and restrain, as
circumstances required. But because I cannot do what I would, shall
I not do what I can, and thus obtain Marj-'s memorial ? I will

" It was my intention, my dear brother, to have written one long
letter, containing merely such heads of advice as I thought adapted
to your present situation, but finding upon reflection that I should
wish to say more than could be well contained in a single epistle, I
determined to change my plan, and tax your patience by a series of
letters addressed to you at dififerent times, each containing the dis-
cussion of some particular topic.

" The plan which at present I propose is : —

"1. To state with what particular end and design you should enter
on academical pursuits, and the great importance of keeping that precise
end continually in view.

" 2. To consider the great moment of preserving in the midst of your
studies, the power and life of personal religion.

108

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMKS.

" 3. To mention wliat branclics of study should most closely engage
your attention during your residence at Hoxton.

"4. The means of i^rosccuting those studies with advantage to
yourseK, and in subordination to the great end of all your academical
pursuits.

"The subject of the present letter is to state the chief end and
design with wliich you should enter on your preparatory studies, and
the great importance of ever keeping that end in view.

" It is tlie part of folly to act before the end is chosen or the means
of exertion properly arranged.

" Eight reason suggests to every one entering on a new career this
natural inquiry, For what precise object are you about to start 1 It is
to a neglect of this question that we are to attribute that profligate
misuse of time and talent which in this world of activity we are so
frequently grieved to witness.

" How many active minds, capable of great service to the world, do
we see driven at random over the stage of existence, answering no other
end but to teach mankind how much exertion may be wasted for want
of a precise and proper end to guide its progress. Their whole Ufe
resembles the evening flight of the bat, — a useless flutter amidst dark-
ness and vanity. What wisdom, to say nothing of religion, dictates to
you, my dear brother, at the present moment is, to fix with yourself,
after serious deliberation, the precise design of your academical career,
to di\ide between many claimants which has the rightful autliority to
your supreme reverence and regard. By your preparatory studies you
propose to become possessed of learning, — you mean to be a minister
of some literature, — you wish to preacli with acceptance, — you propose
to yourself great pleasure in the attainment of knowledge. These are
all ends which you may lawfully set before your mind in your
present prospect; but woe be to your ill-judgiug mind if either of these
be the chief end. If this be the case, you carry a curse with you
to the study, and from there to the pulpit, from thence to the grave,
from thence to the bar of Christ, and from thence, by a last remove, to
the bottomless pit. I am, however, persuaded better things of you,
though I tlius s})cak. Your religion has, ere now, fixed this on your
heart as the cliief design of preparatory studies, 'that you might be
quahfled in the use of appointed means more fuUy to glorify God in
the salvation of immortal souls.' It is not merely to be prepared to
preach, nor merely to preach well, nor to preach acceptably, but to
preach successfully. And what is successful preaching short of the con-
version of immortal souls ?

" But what I Avish to impress upon your mind is the infinite import-
ance of keeping tliis gi-eat object in view through all, even the most

LETTERS.

109

minute of your academical pursuits. Everything is to be viewed by
you in connexion with this end ; and only as it promotes this is any-
thing absolutely momentous. This must remain in the midst of aU
your feelings and opinions, all your pursuits and exertions, the
conmion centre to which everji:hiQg by an undeviating law of attrac-
tion gravitates.

" If you pore over the clifBculties of language, if you read the sys-
tems of moral philosophy, Lf you study the accuracies of logic, if you
examine the flowers of rhetoric, or demonstrate the problems of mathe-
matics, it must not be idtimately for the purpose of becoming a classic,
a philosopher, a logician, an orator, or a mathematician, but that
by these means you may, in one way or other, be prepared to demon-
strate, explain, and enforce to the conviction of sinners, the truths on
the belief of which their salvation depends. All are to be viewed as
giving you in the order of means a readier access to their minds, a
greater power over their hearts.

" A man who is systematically trained to the terrible art of war is
taught some of the modern languages, he is instructed in mathematics,
mechanics, geography, history, fortification; not, however, merely for
the sake of being a learned soldier — no — but a successful general in
the defence of his country and the destruction of its enemies. He is
taught to study, as it were, at the foot of a bastion, in the middle of
a trench, pointing a cannon, storming a breach, or heading an army,
and drives on his scholastic pursuits amidst imaginary shouts of war,
the glories of conquest, or the shame of defeat. Fields covered with
the slain, cities reduced to ruin, and prisons crowded with captives, are
the objects on which he is taught that all his learning must terminate.
Similar must be the manner in which your preparation for the work
of the ministry is carried forward,

" You will not mistake me, and suppose that I am upholding the
barbarous idea which many seem to entertain, that learning for a min-
ister of the gospel is unnecessary. Such a sentiment can spring only
from ignorance and envy. No, my brother, I attach the greatest im-
portance to general knowledge, considered as a means subordinate to
the great end which I have already specified. Learning is lilcely to
procure respect for its possessor, is calculated not only to screen him
from neglect or contempt, but to engage the attention of many who
would otherwise treat him with indignant scorn. It has, in innumer-
able instances, abated the violence of prejudice, and concOiated esteem,
where excellence the most sterUug, imattended by the polish of educa-
tion, would have been totally destitute of attraction.

" How often have men of taste and intellect been led to hear from
the lips of some able preacher the glorious gospel of the blessed God,

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

not from any desire of spiritual edification, but merely to be pleased
with the talents of the speaker, and who, when they intended only to
admire the abilities of the servant, have returned adoring the grace of
his Lord ! In this respect, learning is useful to a minister, as it extends
the probability of his success. For this end it ought to be pursued,
and as this is the best motive to stimulate your mind in its academical
engagements, so it is unquestionably the strongest. Who is likely to
search for knowledge with the greatest ardour, — the man that seeks
it merely as its own reward, or he that desires it as a probable means
of enlarging his qualifications as a messenger of peace 1

"The former has Httle to urge him but the prospect of personal
gratification ; the latter, in addition to this, has the hope of making his
knowledge subservient to the best interests of his feUow-creatures.
One is urged forward by selfishness somewhat refined ; the other, by a
benevolence which knows no limit to the extent of its desires, short of
the everlasting happiness of its objects. Such a view as this of the
great design of academical pursuits, would not only excite the mind to
exertion, but help it to bear with patience the rigour of intellectual
toil. By having determined to arrive at the pulpit only in the regular
way of preparatory study, you have undertaken what will often be found
a weariness to the flesh.

" Your way xis a student must necessarily lead you through much
which at first will present on every hand little but alpine hills of diffi-
culty and desert plains of barren sterility. If you mean to apply closely
to study, which I most fervently hope is your determination, there are
hastening on to meet you hours and weeks and months of dry and
tedious labour. And can your imagination frame one motive so en-
couraging, so strengthening to the mind as the recollection that all this
toil is to enable you to discharge with ability and success the arduous
and important duties of the ministerial oflSce ?

" If you keep in view as you ought, and as I pray God you may, the
proper design of your academical pursuits, — if your soul glow with burn-
ing zeal for the glory of God, and is penetrated with tender pity for
the soiils of mankind, you wiU with the greatest cheerfulness make any
sacrifice, however costly, endure any fatigue, however oppressive. I do
most earnestly entreat you, my dear brother, to consider well this great
design of your residence at Hoxton. There the model of your future
character will be framed, the path for your future steps will be indi-
cated. In short, there wUl your whole future life in all its important
results, both to yourself and others, be epitomised.

" I can assure you from evidence, that without great watchfulness
you will be often in danger of forgetting the precise end for which you
study. If you make proficiency in learning, vanity wiU suggest how

LETTEKS.

Ill

pleasing it is to be esteemed a literary cliaracter. If you should feel a
deficiency compared with some of your fellow-students, envy wiE some-
times spur you on to diligence, with the hope of equalling or excelling
these where precedence is so mortifying.

" If you take the lead of many of the others, pride wiU induce a kind
of idolatry of your own talents. Hearing of the applause with which
the attainments of some popular favourite are received, you will feel a
temptation to give such a turn to your studies as shall be hkely to pre-
pare you for a share of public admiration. These and a variety of other
feelings will frequently send up a mist that wiU hide from distinct
observation the great object which revelation has already erected for
your way-mark, and which I have endeavoiired to point out to your
vigilant attention.

Again, before I close this letter, I remind you that the chief design
of your academical pursuits is to prepare you more extensively to glo-
rify God in the salvation of sinners. Let this thought be the constant
inmate of your soul. Let it rise up with you in the morning and lie
down with you at night. "Wherever you go, whatever you do, let it
attend and direct you

" Eeckon the duties of that day but half performed on which you
have never seriously reflected on this vast subject, and impress it upon
your spirit, by making it the subject in part of almost every prayer that
you present to God. As a means of fastening it more securely on your
own heart, talk of it to others. Let it be the matter of conversation
with those to whom it is a subject of equal interest and obligation.
And be assured, my dear brother, that it will be my fervent and never-
ceasing prayer to the God of aU grace that He would grant you that
assistance which is necessary to keep this great object ever before your
eye, surrounded with all its tremendous importance, and ever impressed
upon your conscience with all its beneficial influence. — Believe me, my
dear brother, yours afi"ectionately,

" J. A. James."

TO ME THOMAS JAMES.

"Five Wats, February 27, 1812.
" My deae Brother, — Few days have passed during the last month
from which I have not parted with regret that they afforded me no
opportunity of renewing the subject of my last letter. If it be a fact
worth knowing, I can assure you that my prayers are not so imfrequent
as my epistles. Having prescribed a path for my thoughts by what I
said in my last, it will become me now to walk in my own road.
What I intend at present is, not to prove the self-e-vident truth, that to

112

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

teach religion we must first know it ourselves, but to insist on tlie infi-
nite moment of endeavouring to maintain tie vigour and life of godli-
ness in the midst of academic pursuits. Whatever be the cause of such
a circumstance, it is a fact which innumerable instances villi verify, tliat
many candidates for the ministerial office lose in personal religion wMle
at a seminary, more than they gain in mental improvement. What I
have seen and heard and felt on this subject, induces on your behalf,
my dear brother, a degree of trembhng sohcitude in my mind which
the Searcher of hearts only can estimate. What I design, therefore, in
this letter is,

" First, To state the vast importance of your vigilant endeavours to
maintain a spiritual and holy frame of nund during the pursuit of your
preparatory studies. To see this in its true light, and feel it in its fuU
force, consider, 1st, That except you cultivate such a disposition while
a student, you are not likely to excel in it as a minister. I have no
need to shew you how necessary it is that a Christian teacher should
be a spiritually-minded Chiistian. Much more than knowledge is surely
requisite for one whose busmess it is to proclaim incessantly, ' though
we have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all
knowledge, and have not love, we are nothing.' Talents may make us
shine, but piety alone can make us glow. Without the unction which
spirituahty of mind alone can impart, our most elaborate sermons wiU
be hke the cold beams of a wintry moon, falling upon the icy bosom of
the frozen lake. If, then, such a frame of mind be of any moment to
you in future, the importance of cultivating it now exceeds aU expres-
sion. Such as you are in the academy, such you will be hereafter found
within the circle of pastoral engagements. I speak now not only from
the dictates of abstract reasoning, but also from observation and expe-
rience. In looking round upon those who were the companions of my
studies, I observe that they are the most spiritual ministers who were
the most devotional academics.

" 2d, Without enainent spirituality of mind your studies will be
in great danger of acquiring a wrong bias. This is the only channel
through which your mind will or can voluntarily propel the stream of
its own vigour to the ocean of Jehovah's glory. Without this frame
of heart it is impossible either to understand the nature, perceive the
design, or feel the importance of your present engagements. The
object I endeavoured to hold up to your view in my last letter can be
distinctly seen through no other medium than a spiritual mind. In
the absence of this you vnll sink into a mere self-seeking orator, or
into a dull, uninteresting, philosophic lecturer, or, what is stUl worse,
into a teacher of damnable heresies. Perhaps it would be the first of
these, for when the fervour of religion is gone from the soul, what other

LETTERS.

113

object can you propose to yourself in your preparatory studies but as
a qualification to enable you to become a successful candidate for
popular applause 1 That zeal for the Divine glory and compassion for
immortal spirits wMch should be the very soul of every minister's
exertions, are the offspring of glowing piety, and must cease with the
cause that produced them. The power of God and the spiritual wel-
fare of man will be present to the eye, and objects of pursidt only so
long as they are present with the heart as subjects of experience.
Lose from the mind the spirituality which it ought to possess, and
which, I hope, yours does possess, and that moment your study is con-
verted into the temple of a false deity. Self is the idol, vanity the
priest, and all the attainments which your vigUance enables you to make,
so many sacrifices and acts of worship, while piety, like Jeremiah antici-
pating the desolation of the Jewish temple, stands weeping at a distance,
exclaiming, How is the gold changed, the fine gold become dim !

"Perhaps yon would siuk, without spirituality, into a cold, duU,
uninteresting stiffness. "WTiatever attainments you might make, if
during the process of acquiring them devotion shotild evaporate, they
\vill remain behind a mere useless sediment. Science and literature,
to be useful to a minister of Jesus Christ, must be held in solution by
eminent religion. Without this they wiU be very likely to lead us
beyond dulness, and conduct us to the regions where dwell the most
pernicious errors. This brings me to the third probable result of a
decay of spiritual rebgion in a theological student, i.e., an apostasy
from scriptural trutL You wiU soon learn, my dear brother, if you
have not already discovered, that during the revolution excited
in the human mind by the influence of sin, its faculties were dis-
placed, and the will and the affections, formerly the servants of the
understanding, became to a very considerable extent its governors.
Hence many of the intellectual errors of mankind have resulted from
the depraved state of their hearts. In ten thousand instances a luke-
warm state of the affections has been the cause of the most pernicious
errors of the judgment. The truth of God is given to us as the
instrument of sanctity, and when we become indifferent to the end, it
is no matter of surprise that we become regardless about the means.
Truth is the food of spiritual rehgion, which, when the appetite is lost,
is first disrelished, and then loathed. Were it possible for us to trace
the history of their apostasy, we should certainly find that of those
who have wandered into the darkest religious errors, by far the greater
part commenced their dreadfid career from a lukewarm heart.

" 3d, Spirituality of mind would be likely to ensure the blessing of
God upon your studies, by urging you to constant and earnest prayer.
Let it be remembered that intellectual as well as moral improvement
H

114.

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

is dependent on Divine assistance. He is the creator, the preserver,
and the benefactor of the human faculties. It is in Him they live, and
move, and have their being. It is God alone that can expand the
judgment, invigorate the imagination, strengthen the memory, sharpen
the penetration. He could enervate the soul, and render the closest
apphcation useless. One very considerable cause that produced the
vast superiority of mind in the [early] Nonconformist divines above
their successors, was the vast proficiency they made in personal religion.

"These ideas, and many others which your own judgment wlU
readUy suggest, wiU tend to unfold and enforce the importance of
eminent piety to a candidate for ministerial employment.

"Secondly, I will now, my dear brother, point out those circum-
stances in your present situation in which the vigour of personal religion
is in danger of being relaxed. It is certainly a melancholy reflection
that there should be any circumstance likely to be injurious to piety in
that very situation where it sojourns for a while for the purpose of
being better qualified to teach its own nature and enforce its own
practice. Yet so it is. Not, however, that there is anything in academic
institutions naturally and essentially unfavourable to it ; if there were,
the prejudices which many have imbibed against them would be too
well founded to be easily overthrown. StUl there are circumstances
which, through the imperfections of the best men, are likely, unless
constantly watched, to issue in this baneful consequence. What these
are I will now specify, that being apprised of the source from whence
danger may be expected, you may be incited to incessant watchfulness.

" 1st, The first source of danger I shall notice is in the nature of
your studies. These wiH of course be multiform, and by examination
it will be found that each, without great watchfulness, may become

injurious to religion Let it be remembered that in an academy

divinity is studied as a science — a hallowed one, it is true, but still a
science. Its evidences are canvassed, its terms are criticised, its parts
are analysed, its doctrines are classed. What tUl now has been treated
as a system of facts and maxims, wiU be treated as a theory of doctrines
and sentiments. Instead of listening to the holy converse of Christian
friends comparing their experience with the Scriptures of truth, and
mutually helping each other forward through all the difficulties of the
path to Zion, you will frequently think and speak and read of religion
as merely an intellectual study. The Bible, which you had never read
but as a Christian, you wOl peruse as a student. You will pray, to
learn to conduct public prayer with decorum and edification.* You

* The practice of praying in order " to learn to conduct public prayer with de-
corum and edification," is adopted in no Nonconformist college with which I am
acquainted. Morning and evening prayers are often conducted by the resident

LETTEKS.

113

will compose sermons, and listen to the composition of others, that
you may learn to preach. You will hear the most awful, the most
melting truths of the Word of God mentioned and conversed on without
any of that feeling or that reverence with which you had ever been
accustomed to listen to them. You will hear sermons in the academy
for the sake of exercising your critical talents, till you find it difficult
to lay aside the criticism in the most solemn and serious engagements.
"\Miither, without some exceedingly strong counteracting force, all this
tends, you have perhaps, my dear brother, felt ere now, to your no
small distress and humiliation. Whither, without incessant vigilance,
win such a state of things lead us, but to the most frigid, barren*
deathlike regions of lukewarmness itseK 1

2d, The close appHcation which it will be found necessary to pay to
your studies wiU frequently endanger the prospects of your personal

religion Goaded by the reproofs of your tutors, or impelled by

the rivalry of the students, you will carry on your piirsuits with a close-
ness of attention that wiU sometimes render you deaf to the call of that
hour that summons you to the closet of devotion and the mercy-seat of
God. In this particular, my dear brother, your danger will be found
peculiarly imminent ; indeed, still greater by the suggestions of a deceit-
ful heart, that the neglect is excused by the cause of it.

" 3d, The novelty of a great part of your studies wiU also open a
source of danger. Your mind is travelling through a coimtry almost
new to you ; objects before unseen will be perpetually starting up before
you, not only solicitmg your attention, but highly deserving of it ; and
as new situations are always a trial of religion, you wiU need all the
care which it is possible your soiil can exercise to prevent your mind
being so occupied with the novelties of your present situation as to
neglect those important concerns which nothing should be so bright as
to eclipse or so great as to obscure.

" 4th, The companions of your studies will render great caution
absolutely necessary. Those who ought to be helpmates, will not
unfrequently be snares. Some of them, it may be feared, entered the
academy with but little personal religion, and have been gradually losing
what little they had since they have been there. Others, with dispo-
sitions far more jocular and volatile than is consistent with much

tutor and the students in turn; and I can suppose that if a student committed any-
very egregious impropriety, the tutor might tell him of it in private ; but the pur-
pose of the service is strictly devotional, not that the student may " learn how " to
conduct prayer. It is, however, a very general thing in Nonconformist colleges
for every student to read a sermon in class three or four times every session, and
for the students and the Homiletical Professor freely to criticise what is read.
This criticism, though sometimes offered in a captious spirit, may, I know, be
characterised by habitual gravity and fraternal kindness.— Edit.

116

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

seriousness and spirituality, are apt, in unbending the mind after tlie
rigour of a close application to study, to run into an excess of levity
and unsanctified hilarity. Amidst such circumstances, it is easy to per-
ceive that fervent piety is endangered. The student, I acknowledge,
must have occasional relaxation from intellectual labour. His health,
his spirits, require it ; but then even his recreations ought to be those
of a man of God — such as fit him for his future work, and not such as
disqualify him. Incessant joking, laughter, sarcasm, — which I lament to
say form the substance of that conversation which is generally main-
tained within the walls of a seminary, — totally unfit the mind of the

students for spiritual intercourse with God or each other I

beseech you, my dear brother, be upon your guard. There is something
bewitching in the character of a merry feUow, even though it be united
with that of a candidate for the pulpit. We love too much to be
diverted, to be sufficiently alarmed at the danger arising to rehgion from
a jocular and cUverting disposition.

" Thirdly, I will now proceed to give you a few directions to guard
you against the danger which your experience will testify I have not
exaggerated.

"1st, Endeavour to acquire a deep conviction of the necessity of
spiritual religion as an important part of your present and future char-
acter. Do, my dear brother, survey the subject on every side ; consider
it in every point of view ; trace it in all its bearings, all its connexions ;
let no suggestion of Satan, no insinuation of your own depravity, lessen
in your estimation the importance of this ministerial quaUfication.
Look at the ministers who most excel, and those who are the most
deficient. Think of the glowing ministrations of that great man whose
pubUc and private services you found so profitable and dehghtfid during
your abode at Komsey. What unction attends all his labours, and oh,
what success ! I can assure you there is much truth in Abraham Booth's
remark, that it is from a pastor's defects in the light of a disciple
that his principal deficiencies and his chief dangers arise. For there is
no reason to fear, that if tolerably furnished with gifts, he will be
remarkably deficient or negligent in any known branch of pastoral obli-
gation, while liis heart is alive to the enjoyments and duties of the
Christian cliaracter.

" 2d, Impress your mind Avith the danger arising to personal religion
from the causes I have already specified. Of this object never for a
moment lose sight ; never think yourself beyond the necessity of
caution and watchfulness. Let a holy trembhng take possession of
your soul. Consider that you have a treasure to preserve among
thieves. Exercise an incessant jealousy over your own heart.

LETTEES.

117

" 3d, Consider the guilt of such a defect — yes, the guilt, the guilt !
For if it be sinful in a Christian to be lukewarm, how much criminality
attaches to such a frame of soul when found in a student or a pastor !
The deceitfulness of your own heart wiU frequently suggest, by way of
apology, that it is impossible in such a situation to avoid it, that the
rigour of your studies requires relaxation.

" My dear brother, nothing can justify the decay of real religion in
the soul of any one, least of aU in a student or minister. I do assure
you I can never look back without pain upon my academic years ; for
though I then endeavoured to justify myself under a too considerable
declension of piety, now I exclaim ' O Lord, thou makest me to possess
the sins of my youtL' It is impossible for us to say how many of the
trials of our future ministry are retributive visitations for our sins at
the seminary.

" 4th, Be exceedingly strict and conscientious in observing the times
and maintaining the spirit of direct devotion. In whatever danger a
Christian is placed, I have no great apprehension of his safety when he
continues instant in secret prayer. In having separate studies, you
possess every advantage for the performance of this momentous duty.
Let nothing ever induce you to give up the time, whatever it be that
solicits it, which is allotted to this sacred exercise. Be exceedingly
careful so to arrange your studies as to have sufficient leisure for your
visits to a throne of grace. Eather than part with the opportunity for
this, and thus incur the frown of God, carry an imperfect lesson to your
tutor, though it may bring upon you his censure and the laughter of
your feUow-students. And let your prayers ever embrace the subject
which I now am endeavouring to impress upon your heart. Your
petitions will bind you to fresh watchfulness, your watchfulness impel
you to fresh prayer.

" 5th, It will greatly assist you to set apart occasional extraordinary
seasons of devotion — say one afternoon every montL There is no one
circumstance which I find so adapted to check the progress of luke-
warmness, and to promote an opposite frame, as this very edifying
practice. During the common routine of stated duties, the soul is apt
to be lidled into a lethargy from which nothing is so likely to rouse it
as a season of extraordinary devotion. On such occasions call your
spirit to a reckoning, examine its accounts, reprove it for neghgence,
and stimulate it to greater diligence. Not one direction which I have
yet given deserves so well your serious regard as this. I speak from
experience, and do therefore urge it upon you with the utmost impor-
tunity.

118

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

" 6th, Occasionally select the most holy of your feUow-students for
half an hour's spiritual conversation and prayer. Never mind what
their talents are, so that they have much piety. Choose such a one
for a bosom friend. Converse and pray over your difficulties and
dangers.

"7th, And it would be sometimes beneficial to enjoy a few minutes'
pious converse with some private experienced Christians.

" I must now, my dear brother, leave to your devout attention these
few hints. If you needed an admonition to attend to the subject of this
letter, I could upon my bended knees beseech you at your very feet, as
you valued your own comfort and usefulness, the salvation of sinners,
the glory and favour of God, to take most earnest heed to the piety of
your own heart. Happy indeed will your unworthy brother feel if this
effort of his affection, weak as it is, shoidd contribute to a purpose so
important and so desirable.

" Commending you to God and the word of His grace, I remain your
affectionate brother,

" J. A. James."

BOOK III.

SUCCESS.

CHAP. I. INCREASING POPULARITY.

II. SICKNESS AND BEREAVEMENT.

III. MISSIONARY SERMON, MAY 12, 1819.

IV. A NEW CHAPEL.

„ V. SECOND MARRIAGE.
VL CONTROVERSY.

VIL FORMATION OF THE CONGREGATIONAL UNION,
„ VIIL AUTHORSHIP.

IX. RELIGIOUS LIFE, AND RELIGIOUS WORK, 1813-1833.
LETTERS,

CHAPTER I.

INCREASING POPULARITY.

Mr James always referred to the temporary occupation of the old
Meeting by the Carr's Lane congregation, at the end of 1812
and the beginning of 1813, as signalising the termination of his
early years of disappointment and comparative failure. But a little
before that time there had been some very unequivocal indications
that he was about to become a very successful public speaker.
His friend the late Mr Thomas Wilson, the treasurer of Highbury
College, invited him to take his turn among the regular preachers
at Hoxton Chapel, which in those days was filled Sunday after
Sunday with crowded congregations, attracted by the most effec-
tive preachers that Mr Wilson could find in the provinces. " I
believe," writes IMr James, " that my services were acceptable there,
as I could not be ignorant that they were favourably received by
the public." Soon after he first preached in London, and before
his services at Hoxton had won him any great reputation, an inci-
dent occurred, over the telUng of which he often laughed himself,
and, the humour of his manner heightening the absurdity of the
story, never faUed to make his friends laugh too. This is how he
tells it in his autobiography : —

" One of the congregation at Hoxton Chapel being much taken
with my preaching, and supposing that everybody was as much
struck as himself, persuaded me to preach a sermon in some chapel

122

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JMIES.

in the city, which he would procure, for the benefit of the Mis-
sionary Society. Whether this arose from a deep interest on
behalf of that institution, or a wish to bring into public notice a
young preacher whom he admired, I cannot say. In both ends,
however, he failed ; for to my good friend's inexpressible mortifica-
tion, much more than to my own, he waited a considerable while
for a congregation, which at no time during the evening amounted
to more than fifty people. When the plates were brought in, they
contained a few shillings, and the promoter of the scheme comforted
me with the inteUigence that there had been deposited a bank note,
which, however, as the wind was rather high, had been blown away
and could not be found. I hope the good man did not soothe my
mind by a sacrifice of truth. My popularity was then all to
come."

Soon after this he made his first speech in London on behalf
of the London Missionary Society. The annual meeting that year
was held in Silver Street Chapel. He was in " prodigious trepida-
tion " after he had consented to speak, and says, — " I was about
to throw up my brief, when my friend Mr (now Dr) Bennett, who
was sitting next to me, endeavoured to calm my perturbation, and
suggested some topics on which I might enlarge. It so happened
that I was rather happy in my speech, which elicited some very
encouraging terms of approbation, at which I was as much sur-
prised as gratified. From that time I commenced my career as a
speech-maker — a business of which, tiiough I have not been un-
successful in it, I was never very fond."

It was his impression that he had spoken at the annual meet-
ings of the London Missionary Society more frequently than any
other man, having taken part in them not fewer than a dozen times ;
" more shame both for them and for me, — they ought not to have
asked me, and I ought not to have consented."

In April 1812, he had delivered a very effective speech at the
annual meeting of the Birmingham Auxiliary to the British and
roreigTi Bible Society, which was afterwards printed by the Lon-
don Committee and circulated by thousands, in order to explain
the objects and enforce the claims of the society. He refers to it

INCEEASING POPULAEITY.

123

in his autobiography as being the " best oration which on any occa-
sion " he ever delivered. In this judgment no one who ever heard
any of the vigorous speeches of his maturer years will concur.
The impression it produced on the audience, of which I have often
heard old men speak with something of the enthusiasm they felt
whUe listening to it, its publication by the London Committee of
the Bible Society, and his own kindly liking for it six-and-forty
years later, are curious illustrations of the prevailing taste of that
day.

The public mind had been corrupted by the inflated style of a
race of speakers, preachers, and writers, who had been dazzled by
the stately and splendid diction of Burke, Gibbon, and Johnson,
and aspired to the same regal grandeur. No speech coidd be
overladen with elaborate antithesis, sonorous climax, and glittering
metaphor. It seemed to be supposed that ambitious bombast
was the truest and highest type of eloquence. In the violent
reaction of the last twenty or thirty years perhaps simplicity has
degenerated into rudeness, ease into vulgarity, and speakers in
trying to avoid pompous pretension have sacrificed refinement
and dignity. How greatly the general taste has changed since
1812, the following extracts from this admired speech will suffi-
ciently indicate. The sound sense only makes the false rhetoric
the more surprising.

" Sm, — When I recollect that the Bible Society, like the Bible itself,
has no more to fear from the weakness of its friends than it has from
the power of its foes, I am emboldened to give utterance to feelings
which it would be impossible to resist, and difficult to conceal The
Bible, sir, is on its march to the seat of universal empire, led in
triumphal pomp by this excellent society ; and I esteem it one of the
greatest honours, as well as one of the highest fehcities of my life, to
join the splendid procession, if it be only with the surrounding throng
to cry, HosannaL If, sir, we would befriend our species by exercising
towards them the most enlarged and efficient benevolence, we must
bestow upon them that volume, which, while it soothes the sorrows
and removes the imperfections of the present world, opens to the eager
and exploring eye of instinctive expectation the bright visions of im-
mortal bliss. This blessed book, while it pours a flood of heavenly
radiance on every subject that views man in his connexion with

124

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

eternity, recognises his relation to time, and prescribes its necessary
duties ; its absence, therefore, must be a negative cause of misery to
man. Who without a weeping eye can survey the various forms of
wretchedness which infect the vale of tears in which man for a season
is destined to dwell 1 The body of human society lies prostrate in the
dust, bleeding at every vein, convulsed in every limb, thi'ough the
wounds inflicted by its own hand during the frenzy of its depravity ;
and though general philanthropy may do much to stanch its blood and
bind up its wounds, it is Christianity alone which can restore that
moral sanity, without which man must be still the suicide of his own
peace. Wretchedness is but the shadow of wickedness, and to dispel
the shadow, we must remove the substance with which he intercepts
the rays of infinite benignity. Imagine, sir, what would be the results
if the Bible were circulated through the whole earth, its dictates every-
where obeyed, and its spirit generally imbibed. There would neither
be tyranny in the prince nor rebellion in the subject — there would be
neither fraud nor violence, neither injustice nor oppression, neither war
nor bloodshed — nation would no longer rise against nation, and the
art of war being no longer practised, the dreadful artUlery of human
destruction would be no more seen, excei)t among the antiquities of a
museum ; or, rather, men, ashamed of these memorials of their violence,
would convert their swords into ploughshares and their spears into
pruning-hooks. Human legislation would universally proceed on the
principles of Eevelation, and whatever were the size or the shape of its
legal body, equity tempered vidth mercy would be its living soul ; for
to what can it be attributed that the British jurisprudence is, on the
whole, so richly impregnated with justice and wisdom, but because it
has flowed over the bed of inspired truth? Then, also, would the
fetters of bondage, melted by the warmth of Chiistian piety, dissolve
from the limbs of the wretched slave, and the captive, lifted from his
degraded prostration, would be taught that he carries in his bosom a soul
that 25 human in this world, and may be angelic in the world that is to
come. In short, were the Bible universally circulated, believed, and
obeyed, every ill that renders man a foe to others and himself would
be removed, and the whole fanuly upon earth harmonised into order
and happiness.

" Such, sir, is the benevolent object of the British and Foreign Bible
Society. It desires and attempts to transplant to every clime that
tree whose leaves are for the heaUng of the nations.

" To accomplish this godlike object, it has associated the love and
zeal of aU denominations of professed Christians, that by such a union
of their strength a mightier shock might be given to the throne of
darkness, and that their scattered rays of light and love, converging

• INCREASING POPULARITY.

125

in this focus, might be dispersed vdih greater energy over the thick
gloom of a benighted world. It is wisely determined, that -when the
object of their exertions is to bestow upon mankind that book whose
design it is to vmite men to each other and to God, to enforce the
acceptance of the gift by exhibiting one of the grandest instances of
its harmonising tendency that men or angels ever witnessed. We all
know that there is a method of conferring a benefit which will draw
towards it a greater degree of attention and regard than it would
otherwise receive; and, in my humble judgment, if anything can
procure for the Bible a readier reception, or insure to it a more serious
attention from those on whom it is bestowed, it is the circumstance of
all denominations uniting to confer the precious boon. Our diversity
of opinion, in such a case, so far from obstructing our desire to draw
the eyes of the human race to revealed truth, wiU tend rather to
promote its success, by teaching that, however we may differ in opinion
concerning the meaning of particular parts, we are united in the great
importance which we attach to the general whole. By this association
we are also furnishing to the nations a lesson, which, if we may judge
from the concurrent testimony of all history, is small neither in value
nor necessity, that men, without any danger to the community, may
be left to form their OAvn reHgious opinions, unawed by the tortures of
intolerance, since diversity of opinion has no necessary connexion with
alienation of heart.

" It is time for me now to glance at what the society has accom-
plished. Although it has existed but eight years, it has done, what, for
extent, must excite the surprise of every reflecting mind, and, for utility,
the gratitude of every pious heart. Its operations and their success can
be compared only to the events which transpired in the first ages of
Christianity, when so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed,
that the most formidable opposition served but to form a cataract in its
coiirse, over which the torrent, impeded for a moment, dashed with
greater violence, and roUed forward with more resistless impetuosity.

" The grandest effort of this noble institution is, however, to be seen
in those vast regions of pagan idolatry, where, overwhelmed with the
blackness of moral darkness, ar^ more millions of immortal beings than
there are individuals in this large assembly. Over those frightful
scenes, shocking alike to humanity for their cruelty, to reason for their
absurdity, and to religion for their impiety, the Bible Society, this
chariot of the moral sun, is directing its bright and benevolent career.
That man's heart must have certainly been petrified to stone, under the
perpetual droppings of selfishness and irreUgion, who can hear without
rapture that this institution is promoting the translation of the Scrip-

126

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAME^

tiires into five-and-twenty languages, which never yet contained the
glorious gospel of the blessed God. And let it be remembered that
these are the exertions of its comparative infancy. What, then, may not
be expected from the maturer age to which it is advancing, with the
mighty purpose of never considering its object entirely accomplished
while one language of all that prevail on the globe shall not be the
vehicle of inspired truth, or one individual of aU the countless millions
that inhabit the earth shall be unblessed with a smooth access to the
water of life issuing from the fountain of Kevelation ! Noble resolu-
tion ! whether it be ultimately followed by failure or success. Failure,
did I say? The very mention of the word, in connexion with the
British and Foreign Bible Society, is a species even of impiety; com-
pounded of such a disbelief in Divine prophecy, such a misrepresentation
of providential smiles, combined with such a miscalculation of the
tendencies of human events as seldom occurs in the annals of scepticism
itself. If Eeligion desponds of its success. Infidelity does of its failure,
and must be ready, in the madness inspired by desperation, to flee from
the only refuge she has long enjoyed, — a miserable ruin of demolished
argument.

" It must not be omitted, that the exertions of this society derive
an additional degree of interest and importance from the general circum-
stances of the age in which they are carried forward.

" We must, sir, be possessed of minds in no common measure be-
clouded by ignorance or benumbed by stupidity, not to discern that
we live in one of the most astonishing eras which has ever yet tran-
spired. Providence seems to be disclosing some of the grandest scenes
of its sublime and universal drama. Jehovah, arrayed in the garments
of vengeance, has come forth to shake the nations and punish the in-
habitants of the earth. The storm which had been long collecting its
forces in the dark clouds of corrupted Christianity and the most daring
infidelity, has discharged its yet unexhausted stores of fury upon the
continent of Europe. Nor has the tempest roUed at such a distance that
we could but just discover upon our political horizon the faiat reflection
of its destructive flashes. No, sir ; we stand at this moment amidst
the wrecks of nations shivered at our side. We ourselves have entered
the cloud ; and though we are yet spared, who wiU pretend that we have
been without the most appalling apprehensions ? One spectre of national
calamity has scarcely vanished from the pubKc eye, before another has
risen from the terrifying gloom. At such a period, when the safety of
our much-loved country seemed to place under just and necessary re-
quisition the whole stock of pubhc feeling and property, the British and
Foreign Bible Society was born. It appeared an inauspicious moment
for it to commence its existence, for if not blasted by the Hghtnings

INCKEASING POPULARITY.

127

that played around its infant head, one should have thought it must
soon have perished through neglect ; for where shall be found the
leisure, the prbperty, the anxiety necessary to cherish its life and pro-
mote its growth? But amidst the loudest thunders of war, its infant
cries were heard. British liberality and British piety flew to its assist-
ance, adopted the babe, increasing in generosity as they have increased
in poverty. The child grew in -^visdom and in stature, and has been
seen sitting among the doctors in the temple, asking them questions,
refuting their objections, and confounding their most ingenious argu-
ments. What, sir, can be inferred from this singular conjimction
of national calamity and national benevolence ? May we not hope
that while the offended Governor of the world is passing through the
kingdoms pouring out from one hand the vials of His wrath, He is
preparing in the other for their consolation the cup of salvation, and
that the shaking of the nations is but preparatory to His coming, in
whom the desire of aU nations shall ultimately centre. Of that spiritual
and glorious event, I think we behold in this institution the forerunner,
who already begins to exclaim, ' Prepare ye the way of the Lord, that
his glory may be revealed, and aU flesh see it together.' May we not
also hope that Jehovah, by making Britain the ahnoner of His boimty,
intends to make her the object of His care? Far be it from me to
minister fuel for national vanity, or to prefer claims of merit upon the
goodness of God ; yet, arguing both from the testimony of revelation
and the analogy of the Divine government, I think it may be regarded
as an auspicious omen for any people, when, according to the declara-
tions in the Apocalypse, they carry their glory and their honour within
the walls of the holy city, and consecrate upon its altar the fruits of
their bravery, their commerce, and their learning. If pagan Babylon,
under the reign of the proud and impious Nebuchadnezzar, was rewarded
with the spoil of Egypt for service unintentionally done for the cau.se
of God, (being the instrument of His vengeance in the destruction of
Tyre,) we may humbly hope that when He marks the nations for ruin,
and gives to the destroying angel His commission. He will mcrcifidly
regard this and similar institutions as our national passover.

" And thou, Britannia, whose real gloiy we delight to uphold, go on
to transmit, from thy rocky seat of majesty in the middle of the ocean,
that sound to the kingdoms of the earth, ' Behold your God 1 ' till every
nation shall respond, ' Lo ! this is our God ; we have waited for him ;
we wiU rejoice and be glad in his salvation !' Then shall commence, led
by our beloved coimtry, the grand hallelujah chorus of aU kindreds,
people, and tongues ; when the multitude of isles shall unite with the
continents ; when the Nile and the Ganges, the Niger and the Euphrates,

128

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES,

shall join in concert with the Thames, the Ehine, the Danube, and the
Mississippi; when the Pacific, the Indian, and the Frozen Oceans shall
swell the thunder of the Atlantic ; and heaven, resoundifig the strains
of earth, shall exclaim. Hallelujah! Salvation! The Lord God Omni-
potent reigneth ; King of kings, and Lord of lords ; and He must reign
for ever and ever."

That he was capable even then, of far better things than this,
appears from the sermon he preached before the StaflFordshire
Association of Churches and Ministers in 1814, reprinted in the
first volume of his Collected Works. This sermon, though not
altogether free from the blemishes of the speech, has excellencies
of a very high order. It contains a large amount of just and
admirable thought ; the illustrations, which for the most part are
apt and beautiful, are kept in their proper place ; there is fervour
in the style, but no rant ; and though occasionally the worthless
rhetorical spangles which had dazzled the meeting of the Bible
Society offend a cultivated taste, there is far less of artificial glitter,
and the brilliancy is generally tempered and subdued. The follow-
ing extract wOl justify these observations : —

" Let no one, however, imagine that he can do anything acceptable
unto the Lord in the way of zeal, except his zeal be the offspring of
true faith. Our first duty is our own salvation. We must first ' give
our own selves to the Lord.' To attempt to do His work tiU we are
reconciled to God by the blood of His cross, is but to thmst ourselves
among His servants while we are yet His enemies. The exertions of
an unconverted man in the cause of Christ, with whatever benefit they
may be attended to others — for we deny not that in some instances
God employs the instrumentality of the wicked — will to himself be
profitless and vain. There is just ground of apprehension, that in an
age happily characterised by an enlightened and vigorous activity, not
a few win be found guilty of the ruinous inconsistency of contributing
to send the gospel to others, while their own hearts are strangers to its
influence, and thus resemble the workmen of Noah, who helped to bmld
an ark for others, but perished in the flood themselves. No hberahty,
however difinsive, no zeal, however ardent, can be a substitute for ' re-
pentance towards God, faith in Jesus Christ, and that holiness without
which no man shall see the Lord.' Should we ultimately peri.sh for
want of these great and necessary prerequisites for heaven, wiU it
assuage the agony of the deathless worm, or aUay the fury of the

IXCEEASIKG POPULARITY.

129

quencMess fire, or render the bottomless pit more tolerable, to remember
that we had been the means of plucking others from the place of tor-
ment? Oh no! even in the presence of Satan we shall blush for the
hypociisy, and curse the foUy of choosing heaven for others and hell for
ourselves. A personal and experimental acquaintance with the gospel
must be the starting-point in the career of religious benevolence."

It will be remembered that when Mr James came to Birmingham,
there was the strongest antagonism between the Carr's Lane congre-
gation and the seceders who had adhered to Mr Brewer and founded
a new church in Livery Street. For eleven years after the seces-
sion, the mutual hostility continued, and no attempt was made to
remove it. How friendly relations were at last restored, is thus
explained : —

From the time of the disturbances and separation of the church AutoWo-
upon Ml- Brewer's misconduct, there had been no intercourse"
between the two congregations or their ministers till about the
year 1814, when a deputation from the London Missionary
Society, consisting of Messrs Bogue, Burder, and John Townsend —
I think these were the gentlemen who composed it — came to Bii'-
mingham, on their way to some other place, to see if the alienated
churches could be so far harmonised as to unite in missionary
operations. The two ministers and some of the influential mem-
bers of each congregation met the deputation in the vestry of King
Street Chapel, and there agreed, without entering into any explana-
tion of past affairs, to form an Auxiliary INIissionary Society, the
rules of which were moved by Mr Brewer, and seconded by myself.
The chasm between us was thus bridged over, and it ought to have
been done before, and might have been, had some such party medi-
ated. My friends, I am bound to say, were a little too unrelenting.
Mr Brewer had acted very badly ; but he had professed repentance,
and had made no second slip. But how difficult it is to heal an
old sore, that has been long opened and neglected !

All parties were happier for the reconciliation, as is always the
case. In the spring of next year a Sunday-school Union was
formed in Birmingham, and / was appointed to preach the first
I

130

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- sermon to the assembled body of cliildren and teachers. The
grapiiicaL j^gg^^j^g j^^j^ LiverjT Street Chapel, the place of Mr Brewer's
ministrations. It was, of course, the first time I had ever appeared
in that pulpit. Mr Brewer was now breaking down under a heavy
load of domestic affliction, and this union of the two congregations,
so far, was a source of consolation to him in his rapidly accumu-
lating infirmities. Being asked on the Sabbath following how he
was, " Oh," said he, " I have had neither pain nor ache since last
Tuesday ; " alluding to the service which had been held in his
chapel when I occupied his pulpit.

The address delivered on that occasion to the Sunday-school
teachers was printed ; the first edition was soon sold, and a second
called for. Upon reviewing it for the press, I perceived that it
admitted of great amjilification, and I therefore expanded it into
a little volume, entitled " The Sunday-school Teacher's Guide."
This work has had a very considerable circulation, being now I
think in the twentieth edition.

Early in 1815, an attempt was made to remove Mr James from
Birmingham to London. Mr Thomas Wilson, who had just built
Paddington Chapel, was very anxious that he should be the first
minister. His friend Dr Bennett advised him to accept the invita-
tion. The London Missionary Society, in which he was deeply
interested, and to whose affairs he would be able to give more
personal attention if he removed to the metropolis, was a strong
reason for yielding. Although by this time Carr's Lane was full, |
the chapel was stUl comparatively small, and London has always
had strong attractions to a young and effective preacher. By what
considerations he was induced to remain in Birmingham, does not
appear. However wise his choice may have been, I am inclined to
think it was the lieart rather than the judgment which detcrmuicd
it; for in 1815 he could hardly have foreseen the great and pro-
longed success which lay before him at Carr's Lane.

CHAPTER II.

SICKNESS AND BEKEAYE3IENT.

The popularity Tvliich Mr James now achieved was too sudden
and too triumphant to be without its perils. His genial, gene-
rous heart, which had not been soured by adversity, was likely
to be too much elated by the noisy excitement and indiscriminat-
ing admiration which his eloquence had at last awakened. I shall
not anticipate in this place the analysis and review of his personal
religious history, which will come later in this book; but it is
important just to say, that the severe physical suflfering which laid
him prostrate in 1817, and the loss of his wife early in 1819,
derive their chief significance from the crowded congregations
which now filled his chapel, and the vehemence and delight with
which he was flinging himself into the religious activities of the
country. His nature was too ardent for him not to be in danger
of mistaking the emotion of the orator for the spiritual afiections
of the Christian, and the ardour of genius for apostolic consecra-
tion and zeal. His was a temperament in which enthusiasm was
easily excited, but in which enthusiasm was only slowly trans-
formed into a profound and settled passion. Suffering was
necessary to discipline and mature the higher elements of his
nature, and to prevent him becoming a mere rhetorician, with an
insatiable craving for popular applause. And suffering came.
In what form and with what severity he himself narrates : —

132

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- In the year 1817, it pleased God to visit me with a most
giap ca g^^g^j.j^jjjg bodily illness, in the form of a low fever, which deprived
me of the use of my limbs for a considerable time, and left me so
enfeebled that I was nine months out of my pulpit. The affec-
tionate sympathies of my beloved flock were called forth in a very
delightful manner, and in the best manner too. Prayer-meetings
were held during the time of my danger to intercede with God for
my recovery, and much wrestling supplication went up to God on
my behalf. In looking back upon that time of trial, I feel much
cause for deep humiliation that I had not a livelier enjoyment of
true religion. Generally speaking, I was at peace ; but my feel-
ings were not quite so happy as might have been expected. There
was great danger, and I had no very painful anxieties about my
spiritual safety, but I had not those exalted joys which many
experience. I was always of a nervous temperament. It has
through life been the besetting fault of my constitution. I have
ever been prone to look on the dark side of events, and to prog-
nosticate by my fears, rather than my hopes. Nor did it produce
" afterwards " in such abundance as it should " the peaceable fruits
of righteousness." I have learned from that time the melancholy
fact, that nothing promises more in the way of spiritual improve-
ment, and pays less, than bodily sickness. The recovery to health
furnishes such a source of delight, that we are very apt to be
wholly taken up with that. Existence was never such a joy to
me as when I was recovering. I went to Malvern for change of
air — it was a fortnight before midsummer — the weather was very
fine, and amidst the beauties of that lovely spot, health in a con-
tinuous stream flowed back into my exhausted frame. Every day
I could walk further than the day before ; so that I had a vivid
.idea of a resurrection, though, of course, not of the resurrec-
tion. I was, I confess, too much taken up with the delight of
animal and rational existence, and far too little mth my spiritual
life. I see the need of watchfulness and prayer, lest the religious
benefit of bodily affliction be lost on recovery in the pleasures of
restored health. It is now most deeply humbling to me to
think how little I have been benefited by the judgments of God.

SICKNESS AND BEREAVEMENT.

133

" 0 my heavenly Father, I am astonished that Thou hast not Autobio-
either inflicted upon me still heavier strokes, or ceased to smite at ^^P'"*^'^*
all." I have a thousand times feared lest I should not honour
God as I ought in affliction. I am greatly affected by pain, a
poor, timid, cowardly creature. I can never cease to wonder at
God's infinite forbearance towards me. I believe my life was
spared in answer to prayer. The earnestness of the people in
supplication was remarkable. The chief part of my usefulness,
both as a preacher and an author, has been since that illness.

Before finally returning to Bii-mingham he stayed some time at Editorial.
Teignmouth, whence he wi'ote with exuberant gratitude and joy to
his friend the Kev. Joseph Fletcher of Blackbm-n, afterwards Dr
Fletcher of Stepney. He also wrote from Blandford to the
deacons of his church immediately before his return to work.
These letters are inserted here as illustrating the immediate effects
of his severe illness on his own heart.

" Teignmouth, Devon, A ugust 2, 1817.

" And am I again addressing my dear friend, my very friend Fletcher,
whom I love with an afifection which I cannot exjjress, and whom I
expected no more to greet till I welcomed him to his eternal home,
whither I lately thought myself so rapidly hastening 1 ' What shall I
render unto the Lord for all his benefits ? Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits : who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who
healeth all thy diseases, and redeemeth thy life from destruction!'

" Indeed he has redeemed my life from destruction, for I was at one
time on the very borders of the grave. Eternity seemed just at hand,
and the Judge waiting at the door. It was an awful, but not a terrible
season. The gloom was thick, but not impervious. Flesh and heart
appeared to be failing ; but God was near, and then the broad, black
shadow of death lost its power to alarm and terrify. My brother made
you acquainted with the particulars of my disorder, so that I have no
need to enter into detail now. Your first letter reached Bu-mingham
at a season when the fervent strains of your friendship would have
been too much for my weak frame. I should have almost dissolved
beneath their ardour. It was very long before I was permitted to
read the expressions of your regard. How shall I repay you for your
afi"ection ! When I assure you of the strength of mi/ friendship, I do
not seem to have returned anything equivalent to the value received,

134

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES,

because my soul, with all its love, weighs light on many accounts to
yours. Well, I can only give what I am, except it be the assurance,
that, if my heart were a thousand times more worth acceptance than it
is, it should be yours in the bonds of purest friendship.

"It was a great disappointment that you could not preach our
charity sermon ; but I could as little bear the thought of your being at
Birmingham in my absence as you could. Do not multiply beyond
absolute necessity your engagements. I am often filled with anxiety
on your account, lest a life so valuable should be prematurely shortened
by the intensencss of its labours. Do, my dear friend, spare yourself
aU you can. Learn to say, No. I am aware of the difficulty of this
in your case, but it is a duty you owe your wife, your children, your
church, your God. In your present situation, uidess you are very
careful, your strength wiU consume away like a candle lighted at both
ends. I do not wish you to be less in earnest in what you do ; oh no !
Can we be too earnest in the cause of immortal souls and the eternal
God? Never, never did the Christian ministry appear to me so dread a
thing as now. To stand between the living and the dead is indeed no
light matter. We aU want more of the spirit of our office, more of
that temper which dropped from the eyes of our great Master in tears
of grief upon the lost souls which crowded the miserable city below
Him. Let us be more spiritual, more heavenly. This is what I want ;
what more than ever I wiU seek.

" I have removed to this place nearly three weeks, and think I am
somewhat better for the breezes and the baths of Teignmouth ; but I
am stiU much enfeebled. Some remains of my disorder yet hang
about my frame. When I shall again become the echo of mercy's life-
giving accents, I know not. I have read the Scriptures and prayed in
public, and probably, should my strength in any measure increase, may
attempt to preach in a week or two. I expect, however, that it will be
long before I shall be able to fill the measure of my ministerial duties.

" You know how much pleasure a letter from you gives me, and
therefore I hope it will not be long before you gratify me. This is the
third I have written since my illness. The first was to a beloved
brother, and the second to my church. Mrs James unites with me in
affectionate regards to Mrs Fletcher ; and beHeve me most truly yours,

"J. A. James."

TO THE DEACONS OP THE CHT7RCH ASSEMBLING IN CAKR's LANE,
BIEIUNGHAM.

"Blandford, November 6, 1817.
" My dear Brethrkn, — Although you were addressed in common

SICKNESS AND BEIIEAVE^[ENT.

135

with the church in the pastoral letter I transmitted from Teigiimouth,*
stUl I think it due both to yoxir office and the persevering fidelity
with which you have discharged its duties, especially during my late
affliction, to forward an epistle exclusively directed to yourselves. The
alarming illness with which it pleased God to visit me, and the long
relaxation from all pastoral care with which it has been followed, neces-
sarily threw the whole weight of our church atfaiis upon you ; and I am
induced, no less by justice to your excellent conduct, than to my own
gratefiil feelings, to take this opportunity of ex^jressing the deep sense
which I shall ever cherish of the value of your services. Could I have
anticipated an absence of nearly eight months from my beloved flock, I
should unquestionably have felt some degree of solicitude for their
harmony and satisfaction ; through the blessing of God, however, upon
your dihgence, prudence, and foresight, the peace of the society has
never been interrupted, nor its prosperity at all impaired. This, my
dear friends, in a church of such magnitude as ours, is not a little to ac-
complish. During the absence of the shepherd, either the sheep are
apt to stray, or wolves to creep in. Neither of these evils, and princi-
pally through your vigilance, has troubled the church in Carr's Lane.
Eeceive, then, my best and warmest thanks for a course of judicious
conduct, which both the church and its pastor know how to appreciate.
If I had room, I would also exj^ress at more length than I have it in
my power to do at present, the approbation with which I have ^iewcd
the whole tenor of your official behaviour. I am sorry to say, from an
extensive survey of our independent churches, that deacons have not
unfrequently been the torment of the minister, and the bane of the
congregation. A mean and unworthy lust of power, a busy and med-
dhng disposition, which loves to intrude into things beyond the line of
its appropriate sphere, have multiplied in modern times the character
of the Diotrephes of antiquity. It has ever been the happy lot of the
church in Carr's Lane, and of its present minister, to be lilest ^\ith
deacons who know how to support their office with dignity, without
pride — with authority, without usurpation — vaih activity, without
officiousness.

" One end I had in view in addressing you, is to announce, what I
am confident will be no unpleasant intelligence, the time of my return.
I expect, if nothing unforeseen prevent, to be at home on Wednesday
evening or Thursday by dinner time. I have been in some doubt
whether to preach on the first Sabbatli, but, on the whole, I am in-
clined to think I may as well attempt it, as it will be attended with
little more agitation than appearing even as a hearer in my ovm. pew.
I wish no notice to be given, nor, indeed, miich to be said about the
* This letter I have not found.

136

LITE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

matter. I must now conclude with most fervent wishes for your in-
dividual comfort, and earnest prayers for our collective prosperity as a
church, and that by any means I might have a prosperous journey
by the will of God, to come unto you, for I long to see you, to the end
ye may be established, that I may be comforted together with you by
the mutual faith both of you and me. — I remain, dear brethren, your
affectionate pastor,

"J. A. James."

A still heavier trouble soon followed. Mrs James, who had
nearly sacrificed her life by her loving attentions to her father in
his last illness, now, by her devotion to her husband, sank into an
illness which terminated in her death. " I had one proof," writes Mr
James in the autobiography, " that however little I had improved
my own personal affliction, God did not say, ' Why should you be
stricken any more^' The drain upon my wife's strength, never'
very robust, which that long illness of mine occasioned, enfeebled
her constitution, and she fell into a consumption. During a period
of four months she wasted away, and departed to be with Christ
on the 27th January 1819. After what I have said of her merits
when speaking of my marriage, I need not enlarge here. A more
pure-minded, disinterested, gentle, and noble-minded woman rarely
dwelt in our world. Oh, how much I owe to her ! "

The Carr's Lane Church Book has the following touching minute
in reference to Mrs James's death : —

" The church, and more especially the pastor, sustaiaed a heavy and
afflictive loss on January 27, 1819, in the decease of Mrs James, than
whom a more estimable or a more esteemed minister's wife has rarely
been granted for a blessing to a Christian society. Earnest for piety,
and alike exemplary for prudence, meek, gentle, conciliatory, she
raised the highest admiration in all who knew her ; and it was admira-
tion founded on the basis of affection. Few are the names of departed
saints over which more tears have been shed than on that of Frances
Charlotte James ; and rarely has the tribute of affection been more
fully deserved or more promptly paid. ' The remembrance of the just
is blessed."'

CHAPTER III.

MISSIONARY SERMOX, MAY 12, 1819.

On Wednesday morning, May 12, 1819, Jlr James preached the
annual sermon on behalf of the London ^Missionary Society, in
Surrey Chapel. This discourse produced such an extraordinary
impression, and so greatly heightened his fame as a preacher,
that it claims a prominent place in this narrative of his life.
From the commencement of his ministry, he had manifested
the strongest interest iu Foreign Missions. "With Dr Bogue for
his tutor and friend, with Monison for his feUow-student, whose
passion for evangelising China had an almost supernatural inten-
sity, it was impossible for him to be indifferent to the condi-
tion of the heathen. It has been already stated, that when Mr
Wilson proposed that he should remove from Birmingham to
London in 1815, he felt it to be one considerable reason for
accepting the invitation, that he should be able to attend regularly
the meetings of the ^Missionary Directors, and to exert some influ-
ence on their operations. This reason had the greater weight,
because he was not qiute satisfied with the manner in which the
aSairs of the society were at that time conducted.

Early in 1816, Mr James had occasion to criticise with some seve-
rity the general proceedings of the Board. Among Dr Bogue's
students in that year was a young man named John Smith, who
had been a member of the Carr's Lane church, and who had been

138

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

received by the Missionary Society on Mr James's recommendation.
He had only just commenced his studies when the directors deter-
mined to send him out, at once, to Demerara. In the judgment
both of his former minister and of his tutor, he was altogether
unprepared to go ; and Dr Bogue, having protested without eflFect,
wrote a long and most earnest letter to Mr James, invoking his
interference, not only to avert mischief in this particular case,
but in order to check the very erroneous and pernicious policy
which, it was alleged, the directors had been pursuing for se-
veral years. In this letter it is affirmed, that "a few laymen
wish to rule the society with a rod of iron ; " they are " well mean-
ing men, but they have neither the knowledge, the comprehension
of mind, nor the temper necessary for the management of a mis-
sionary society. The missionary students and the missionaries
they look upon as menial servants, whom they are to govern ac-
cording to their sovereign pleasure, — as men who are to have no
will of their own, but to yield implicit obedience to the London
directors." He goes on to say, that " they were sending out men
to the heathen who, although truly religious, had not even such a
knowledge of the gosjiel of Christ as to be able to teach it with

propriety These things I have endeavoured to oppose,

sometimes with success, and at other times without ; and as the
severe system is increasing in violence, it will be with less and
less effect I have also endeavoured to oppose what I con-
ceive an unreasonable fondness for the South Sea Islands and
South Africa. In the former, I suppose there are not thirty thou-
sand inhabitants. They have eight or ten missionaries [there
already], and the directors are sending out four more, only one of
whom has received any theological instruction. In the whole of
South Africa, including the inhabitants of every colour in the
colony, and all the various tribes which Mr Campbell heard of as
probably accessible in time, the population does not amount to
two hundred and fifty thousand, and there are already nearly forty
missionaries there of one kind or another. I have earnestly
pleaded that these might suflSce for the present, and that the vast,
populous regions in the East might receive more of our attention ;

MISSIONARY SERMON, IMAY 12, 1819.

139

but my remonstrances are in vain What will the intelligent

■part of mankind think of a great society, more than one-half of
whose missionaries are employed about three hundred thousand
people, when there are, perhaps, more than seven hundred millions
perishing for lack of knowledge, and calling on them to come over
and help them ? " Dr Bogue then states at great length the prin-
ciples which ought to guide the society in reference to these import-
ant matters, and earnestly requests Mr James to do his best to
insist on their practical recognition. His old tutor s appeal was
immediately responded to ; and the second * of Mr James's letters
to the society on this subject bears date February 23, 1816.
It is addressed to the secretary : —

" My dear Sie, — Perhaps I ought to crave the pardon of the direc-
tors for troubling them with any further remarks upon the appointment
of Mr John Smith as their missionary to Demerara ; but as your letter has
not removed in the least degree my objections, nor furnished me with
any Hght upon the subject of which I was not previously possessed, so
far as his quahfications are concerned, I am compelled, both by a regard
to the welfare of my yoimg friend, who has entrusted his affairs to my
hands, and by a still higher regard to the success of the missionary
cause, to persist in my endeavours to obtain an alteration in the
appointment. I am not pertinaciously contending for my own opmion
as mine ; — this, in opposition to the wisdom, and the will of the directors,
woidd entitle me to their just contempt but I am now writing with a
zealous and mo.st sincere regard to their honour and success, which, if
I err, must be my apology. You mistake in supposiug that I thought
Mr John Smith was to laboiu: principally amongst the whites ; what I
insisted upon was, that he must be necessarily known by them, and,
imless he was respected for his abiUtics as a teacher, was not very
likely to secure their patronage. In my humble opinion, your own
letter increases the evidence of his ineligibihty. Whoever goes out to
Demerara should go out as a repairer of the breach — a restorer of paths
to dwell in. To do this, it is necessary he should not only be a man
of peace, but a man of personal influence. No other is likely to be
respected by the missionaries whom you have already there. No other
is likely to repair the mischief which imprudence and imbecility have
already occasioned in that quarter of the world. The missionary cause
stands at this moment on the edge of a precipice at Demerara, and you

* The first I have not been able to find.

140

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

want a man of great wisdom as well as gentleness to take it off. Mr
Smith, as it respects men and things, is entirely a novice. His
timidity, the necessary result of a deficient education and a modest

temper, renders him unfit to cope with and . Besides, sir, I

rest my objection on the broad basis of the right which every student
has, to claim an education for missionary work. It was under this
idea Mr Smith offered himself as a missionary. It was with this
irapHed stipulation he gave himself up to the society. Eather than
have decided to go out to the heathen in the present unprepared state
of his mind, he would have gone back to his former employment. I
submit it to the consideration of the directors, whether it wiU not
operate as a serious check upon young men disposed to devote them-
selves to the interests of the heathen, if they find that they are liable
to be called away almost before their education has commenced. What
pastor will recommend a young man under such circumstances 1 If
Mr Smith is sent out to Demerara, I beg most explicitly to be under-
stood as withdrawing my recommendation of him to the society.
Instead, therefore, of writing to him in a different strain to my first
letter, I am compelled, by my convictions, to follow up the advice
which I therein gave, and endeavour to go on stih further, by entreating
him to relinquish the object altogether, rather than to go out in his
pi-esent uneducated state. Are there no other missionaiy students at
the seminary, who have enjoyed more advantages than he has, who can
be sent to the station 1

" The directors, sir, must pardon me if I suggest a few more remarks,
occasioned by a paragraph in your letter, viewed in connexion with the
existing circumstances of the society's affairs.

" You say, ' The directors have of late met with several instances of
opposition to their wishes from some of the young men now at Gosport,
whom they intended for African missions after a short course of educa-
tion, sufficient in their judgment for such situations, by the young men
writing to their pastors to get them to interpose on their behaK.' From
this most comprehensive paragraph I infer the following things : —

" 1. That the young men are not to be consulted as to the field in
which they are to spend their future lives, and discharge the duties of
their arduous and important office. As a society, sir, we are loudly com-
plained of for our conduct towards our missionaries. We are accused
of exercising a system of stern tyranny over these devoted young men,
and of viewing them more in the light of menial servants than as
honourable co-workers in the same great cause. This is not only the
charge preferred against us by enemies, but it is an opinion entertained
by a large proportion of our most zealous and enHghtened friends.
Having spent nearly three years in the Go.sport academy, I can speak

MISSIONARY SERMON, MAY 12, 1819. 1 11

from experience ; and I assure you, that, times without number, I have
heard the students bewaU this very circumstance. I have been
informed that the sentiment has been uttered in the directors'-room
without contradiction, that a missionary is to have no will of his own,
no view, no preference as to the station he is to occupy, but to follow
implicitly the wiU of the directors. AU this looks very like evidence
in support of the charge mentioned above, of our treating the mission-
aries more like servants than brethren.

" 2. I infer from your remarks that it is not pleasant to the directors
to be troubled with the ad-vice and opinions of country ministers. I
speak, sir, from the most pure and tender regard to the welfare of the
society, when I assure you that the neglect of the country directors is
a subject of very loud and increasing complaint. An opinion prevails
very widely, that in affairs of consequence the views of country friends
ought to be consulted. I cannot be supposed to be writkig now from
any considerations of a selfish nature, for I am not a director, though a
warm and active friend to the cause.

" 3. I cannot help inferring from your letter, especially if it bo
viewed in connexion with several circumstances which have lately
transpired, that the directors are not quite agreed with many of their
brethren in the country as to the necessity in every case of a good
education for the missionaries. Many of us have seen with inexpress-
ible regret, that some have lately been sent out, and more are intended
to be, with very little or no instruction. All the country ministers
■with whom I have ever conversed unite in opinion that every man
who goes to the heathen in the character of an ordained minister
shoidd have a good previous education, even though savages or negroes
are to be the object of his labours. Our standard of education is
already too low; it had not need be lowered. Our cause depends
upon the qualifications of our missionaries.

" 4. Many of the country friends of the society are of opinion that
suflBcicnt attention has not yet been paid to the civilisation of Africa
nor to the evangelisation of Asia. With the exception of what Morrison
and Milne have done for China, how little has yet been done for the
populous regions of the East ! In Hindostan we are doing comparatively
nothing. By your letters I conclude that Asia is not yet coming
forward as prominently to notice as it should.

" These, sir, are a few amongst other remarks which might be made
in reply to your letter, and upon the general affairs of our society. I
know not if any of my countiy brethren have ex],)ressed similar state-
ments to the directors, but I know that they hold such.

" It is a pretty general opinion, that if we were to copy the conduct
of the Baptist mission we should not do amiss. Like them, we should

142

LIFE OF JOHN ANCELL JAMES.

have some important station in the East, occupied by a body of able
men, whose united exertions would be the means of causing the rays of
Divine truth to diverge from the spot they occupy as a centre. I
again beg the indulgence of the directors for obtruding these remarks
upon their attention, and once more to express my hope that another
appointment may be made for Demerara. — I remain, my dear sir,
yours truly,

" J. A. James.

"BiEMiNGHAM, Fehvuary 23, 181G."

This letter greatly delighted Dr Bogue, and he entreated Mr
James not to abandon the good work he had taken up. " Allow
me," writes Dr Bogue, in April 1816, "again to recall your atten-
tion to the subject of our late correspondence. I wish you to con-
tinue the champion for that princijile which you so ably advocated
in your letter to the directors. It is one of the highest import-
ance, and I have no doubt but your perseverance will fully estab-
lish [it], so as to deliver us from the guilt and dishonom- of send-
ing to the heathen men unqualified to discharge the duties of a
good missionary of Christ." The doctor adds, with something like
a chuckle, "Your letter prodigiously galled some of the London
gentlemen." But so far as Mr Smith was concerned, both his
tutor and pastor interfered in vain, — he was sent out to Demerara
immediately. A few years afterwards, his sufferings and death
roused the fierce and righteous indignation of the Anti-slavery
party in this country ; and Henry Brougham's speech on the
"martyr, John Smith," is one of the noblest which the great
orator ever delivered.

Although the policy of the London directors, in neglecting the
education of their missionaries, and concentrating their strength
on the scattered and degraded populations of Southern Africa,
and the remote and insignificant islands of the South Pacific, whUe
India and China were almost forgotten, appeared to Mr James
exceedingly erroneous, and although he frankly and vigorously
condemned their treatment of their agents, which he thought in
suiting and tyrannical, he was happily not among the number of
those who abandon a great enterprise because the men who happen
for a time to be at its head are mistaken in their plans, or arbitrary

MISSIONARY SEKMON, MAV 12, 1S19.

143

in their temper. He continued to be the hearty friend of the society,
and whUe he censured, he endeavoured to remove its defects.

The directors, whatever may have been their faults, knew how
to discriminate between mere carping censoriousness and the dis-
satisfaction of a friend whose very love prompted his complaints ;
and in 1819 they gave him the highest proof of their esteem and
confidence, by requesting him to preach their annual sermon.
Forty years ago this sermon was the most important and exciting
service connected with the missionary anniversaries. There was
no Exeter HaU meeting, and the "business" was transacted by three
or four hundi-ed persons, who met to "hear the Eeport" in one
of the city chapels, where the oratory was quite subordinate to the
narration of facts and the statement of accounts. It was in the
Wednesday morning sermon, in Surrey Chapel, that the eloquent
advocates of the society exerted their strength ; and this was the
great centre of attraction both to those whose missionary zeal
was nothing more than a morbid hunger for religious excitement,
and to those who felt deeply the grandeur of the missionary
enterprise.

Mr James's reputation as a preacher attracted an immense con-
gregation ; the place was nearly full two or three hours before the
service began. In the front seat of the gallery which runs
round the place, were seated aU the principal ministers connected
with the society, both in London and the provinces, — many whose
names are now forgotten, and many whose memory we still vene-
rate,— Bogue, and Winter, and Waugh, and Haweis, and Wilkes,
— men held in reverence for their age, their wisdom, their personal
sanctity, their ministerial power, their arduous and successful
labours in the service of Christ and His Church.

The sermon, which occupies fifty pages of the Collected Works,
and lasted two hours, was not read, but delivered viemoriter. The
preacher's brother sat in the pulpit with the manuscript in his
hand, prepared, if there was a moment's hesitation, to suggest
the forgotten word ; but, from first to last, the discourse was de-
livered exactly as it stood on the paper — not an epithet or a prepo-
sition was changed. At the close of the fii'st hour, the preacher

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

requested permission to jjause for a few minutes, and the people
sung a hymn. Such was the excitement of the congregation, that
during this temporary interruption of the discourse, oranges were
thrown into the pulpit to refresh the exhausted orator. The hymn
finished, he rose again, and recovermg his strength, thundered on
for another hour, and closed at last with a peroration anticipating
the homage of all created things to God and Christ : — " The ten
thousand times ten thousand angels round about the throne shall
respond to the shouts of the redeemed on earth, ' Saying, with a
loud voice. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power,
and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and
blessing ; ' and still the chorus shall swell, and still the strain
shall wax louder, and louder, 'till every creature which is in
heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in
the sea, and all that are in them, shall cry. Blessing, honour, glory,
and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the
Lamb for ever and ever.' Amen and amen."

The congregation listened with enthusiastic admiration; and old
men in the front of the gallery were heard at the close of some
of the more thrilling passages to murmur their applause.

That the sermon has serious faults, few modern readers would
deny. Like the Bible Society speech of 1812, the thought is some-
times crushed by a mass of glittering ornament. In eighteen lines,
Satan falls "like lightning from heaven;" the apostles and their
immediate successors are " ministers of light, who rose with the
number, the order, and the brilliancy of the stars ; " persecution,
" like the wind of heaven blowing upon a conflagration," serves " to
spread the flame;" — Rome is " the Imperial eagle " which, " collect-
ing all her strength, and rousing all her fury, attacked the Lamb
of God, till she too, subdued and captivated by the cross, cowered
beneath its emblem as it floated from the towers of the Capitol ; " —
and Christianity, "with the purple waving from her shoulders,
and the diadem sparkling upon her brow," is " proclaimed to be
the Truth of God and the empress of the world, on that throne of
the Caesars before which she had been so often arraigned as a
criminal, and condemned as an impostor." A few pages further on,

MISSIOXAKY SERMON, 5IAY 12, 1819.

in order to introduce a rapid review of tlie religious condition of
the world, we are required, " for the sake of Ulustration," to sup-
pose that we occupied the station of the angel represented in the
Apocalypse as standing in the sun, and that, with eyes piercing as
the beams of day, " we were looking down on the revolutions of
this low, diurnal sphere/' These are only illustrations of the pro-
fuse excess of metaphor by which the sermon is enfeebled. John
EUas, the gTeat Welsh preacher, — no foe to the wise and moderate
employment of the imagination in the pulpit, — heard the sermon,
and is said to have exclaimed when it was over, " I believe the
cross was there, but it was so heaped up with flowers I could not
see it." And another critical hearer delivered his judgment in a
form even more terse and epigrammatic — " I don't care to dine at a
pastry-cook's."

The faults which forty years ago were recognised by compara-
tively few, are likely now to make most readers overlook the real
worth of the sermon. If the diamond turns out to be paste, it is
natural to infer that the gold is a lacquered fraud. But in this
case good solid metal is discredited by the shining tinsel. As
this discourse presents all the excellencies and all the defects of
Mr James's early style of preaching, I shall make no apology for
entering very fully into a discussion of its merits.

The first two or three sentences of the Introduction are wanting
in ease, but are immediately followed by a passage admirably cal-
culated to rivet attention, since it repels by a vigorous practical
argument what was a very common objection to attempts to con-
vert the heathen. It was alleged that without miracles these at-
tempts must be altogether inefi'ectual ; he replies —

"This objection, however, is best answered by an appeal to facts.
However difficult it may be to ascertain with precision the exact time
when the testimony of miracles ceased, nothing is more certain than
that these witnesses had finished their evidence long before the conver-
sion of the northern and western parts of Europe ; and the demand of
supernatural interposition as necessary to the propagation of Chris-
tianity is urged with an ill grace by a Protestant, when it is remembered
that there is not a single Protestant country which did not receive the
gospel unaccompanied -with signs and wonders ; and with stni greater
K

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

inconsistency is it made by an Englishman, wlien it is considered that
this happy country, the glory of Christendom, the joy of the whole
earth, and the evangelist of the world, was recovered from the thral-
dom of Saxon idolatry without one miraculous operation."

By a felicitous transition the subject is introduced : —

" ^Vliat, then, are the means with wMch we set out on this high and
holy enterprise of converting the world 1 I answer, The doctiine of the
cross : for saith Chiist, ' If I be lifted up,' or, ' when I am lifted up, I
will draw all men unto me.' "

The next paragraph indicates the line of tliouglit the preaclier
proposed to follow, and closes by a reference, introduced without
abruptness or violence, to his recent and " irreparable loss." He
knew, and determined to possess, the power which a preacher de-
rives from being master of the sympathies of his congregation.

" In these words, our Lord announces the nature of His approaching
death ; He was about to be Ufted up, or crucified : He predicts the
consequences with which His crucifixion woidd be followed ; aU men
would be gathered to Him : He specifies the means, and the manner of
their conversion ; they would be drawn or attracted by an exhibition of
His death. In other words, the text presents us with the great object
of missionary zeal, the grand instrament of missionary exertion, and
the final consummation of missionary success. It will be instantly per-
ceived that I have not sought after novelty of subject, and it will soon
be discovered that I have not attained ingenuity or profundity of dis-
cussion. The state of my mind and f eehngs since I received the apphca-
tion of the directors, would alone have precluded these. Their request
for my services on this occasion found me at the tomb of all that was
dearest to me on earth, — a situation not very favourable for penetrating
into the depth of any other subject than my own irreparable loss. One
thing which induced me to comply with their soHcitation, was a hope
that my mind would be drawn away in some degree from the heart-
withering recollection of departed bUss : nor has that hope been alto-
gether disappointed ; for the subject of my sermon has often presented
such visions of spiritual glory, as have made the tear forget to fall, and
hushed the sorrows of a bursting heart, and taught the preacher, that
while the missionary cause goes as the messenger of mercy to pagan
realms abroad, it is one of the best comforters in the house of mourn-
ing at home."

But he was too wise to permit the Introduction to consume

mSSIOKARY SERMON, BIAY 12, 1819. 14.7

much time ; it occupies scarcely two pa^-es out of the fifty. He
has awakened attention ; stated his subject and the manner in
which he intends to treat it ; above all, he has disarmed unfriendly
criticism, and secured a kindly hearing ; and he is now ready for
the great work of the morning.

According to the outline of the discourse he has just sketched,
he has first to present " The great object of missionary zeal,''
which, he says, is "to bring men to Christ." Nothing can be
simpler or more obvious than this thought, which is the real
starting-point of the sermon ; both in conception and expression,
it is absolutely free from all pretension to what is startling or
original. He knew, what some preachers seem never to have
discovered, that a very striking statement of a division, though
sometimes useful to stimulate and excite careless listeners, is apt
to make the subsequent filling up and development appear
commonplace. The quaint, the grotesque, the fanciful, Mr James
habitually shunned in the heads of his sermons ; partly, no doubt,
because he felt it Avas dangerous to awaken expectations it might
be difficult to fulfil, and partly for other reasons of a more serious
nature. Nor is this quiet description of the object of missionary
zeal followed by a sudden effort to rouse the imagination or fire
tlie passions. He goes on to say —

" There are at the present moment more than six hundred millions
of the human race in the appalling situation of the men "whom the
apostle describes as ' without Christ in the world ; ' and the question
is, with what feehngs and what purj^oses a Christian should survey this
vast and wi-etched portion of the family of man. To ascertain this,
you have only to contemplate the scene which at your last anniversary
was brought before you with such force of reason, pathos, and eloquence.
Behold St Paul at Athens."

Then follows a passage of brilliant declamation on the scenery,
the historical associations, the genius and the intellectual culture
by which the apostle was surrounded. " The glorious prospect of
mountains, islands, sea and sky," and the plain of Marathon,
" where the conquests of the old Greek heroes had saved, not their
country only, but the mental liberty and energy of man " — " the

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAIMES.

Acrojwlis, crowned with the i^ride of Grecian architecture" — -
" those peerless temples, the very fragments of which are viewed
by modern travellers with an idolatry almost equal to that which
reared them," are gathered into a magnificent picture, only to
heighten and strengthen the representations of that profound
passion of the apostle for the Divine glory, and that zeal for the
salvation of men, which made him insensible to all this beauty
and grandeur, his spirit being " stirred in him," because " he saw
the city wholly given to idolatry."

" ^\Tiiit must have been his indignant grief at the dishonour done by
idolatry to God — ^what his amazement at the weakness and folly of the
human mind — wliat his abhorrence of human impiety — and what liis
compassion for human wretchedness, when such stately monuments had
not the smallest possible effect in turning away his view from the
guilt which raised them, and the misery endured amidst them !

" Here, then," he exclaims, " is the object of our zeal, to bring to
Christ those who are afar off."

The paragraph which follows, and in which he weaves into
one long sentence some seven or eight of the Old Testament
proj^hecies of Messiah's glory, is far too artificial. It could add
nothing to the clearness of his meaning, nothing to the impressive-
ness of his appeal, to say that in sending the gospel to heathen
nations tlie Church was endeavouring

"to scatter the fruits of Isaiah's rod, and diffuse the fragrance of
Jeremiah's branch, over all the famishing and fainting cluldi-en of the
fall ; to open new channels through which the cleansing streams of
Zechariah's fountain and the vivifying waters of Ezekiel's river may
flow ; to prepare for the coming of Haggai's desire of aU nations, and
to bring fortli the people sitting in darkness and in the valley of the
shadow of death, to feel the enlivening beams of the moral sun, the
dawn of which ]\Ialachi foresaw, and to catch the healing virtues
which he shakes from the golden 2)lumage of his wings."

This passage bears no trace of being inspired by a sudden
and irresistible rapture at discovering in the modern missionary
enterprise the issue, fulfilment, and consummation of what had
been revealed to prophets and psalmists in the ancient days. It
is a manufacture, not a creation — it is ingenuity, not eloquence.

MISSIONARY SEEMON, MAY 12, 1819.

149

Having stated his object, the preacher resolves to magnify and
exalt it before he passes on. And lie does this by shewing " tliat
such an object associates our cause, first, with the design of tlie
Son of God in redemption ; " secondly, " with the ultimate end of
all providential arrangements ; " thiixUy, " with the best interests of
the human race : " and he illustrates and insists upon every one
of these points with vehement energy. The following passage
forms the first of these subdivisions : —

" The object of the Redeemer's visit to our world was not to teach
men the arts and the sciences — not to instruct them in letters — not to
introduce the reign of philosophy — not to break the yoke of civil tyranny,
nor to promulgate the best theory of human government ; valuable as
are these objects to the present interests of mankind, thoy are infinitely
too low to be the end of the incarnation and death of the Son of God.
For such pui-poses He would not have deigned to approach the horizon
of our globe. No, my brethren, the one object of the humiUation of the
tSon of God was the salvation of the human soul. And what must
be the value of the salvation which was worthy of that humiliation 1
When Jesus Christ rose from the throne of His glory, it was to avert
the curse which threatened to sink a guilty world to perdition, to roll
back the torrent of damnation, and pour through its deserted channels
the streams of salvation ; to rescue innumerable millions of immortal
spirits from the consequences of the fall, and lift them by tlie power of
His grace from the borders of the flaming pit to the heavens of the
great God. This was the favourite object on which His nund reposed
from eternity — which He seemed in haste to disclose, as soon as the
apostasy of man presented an opportunity — which He loved to announce
to the world by the messages of the j^rophets, and to exliibit in shadow
by the sacrifices of the priests for four thousand years before its accom-
phshment. In seeking to save the souls of tlie heathen by bringing
them to Christ, we raise ourselves into the dignity of a partnership with
the Son of God in these His mighty designs ; we enter into the fellow-
sliip of that cross which is destined to occupy eternity with the develop-
ment of its wonders, and to fiU the universe with the brightness of its
glory."

The second principal division of the sermon is devoted to
" the grand instrument of missionary exertions" — the doctrine
of the cross : " And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto
me."

150

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

" It was evidently our Lord's intention to represent the conversion of
the nations, not merely as a circumstance that would foUow His death
in the mere order of time, but as a consequence connected with it in
the order of cause and effect."

It could scarcely have been without consideration and design
that the solid matter both of the first and second divisions was
introduced by an attempt to stir the heart and excite the imagina-
tion. The description of the glories of Athens, and of the apostle
Avho " bewailed a city of philosophers, with more intense and pierc-
ing grief than any of us ever did a horde of idolatrous savages,"
precedes the three subordinate divisions under the first head ; and
before stating, under the second head, what is essentially in-
cluded in the doctrine of the cross, illustrating the various
powers of attraction which the doctrine of the cross exerts, and
reviewing its past successes, he recalls "the splendid fable told of
Coustantine's conversion," and exhorts "the hosts of our British
Israel marshalled around this pulpit, and confederated in the
mighty enterprise of wresting the empire of the world from the
prince of darkness," to " behold the cross suspended in the firma-
ment of revelation, radiant with its own brightness, and inscribed
with the ausiDicious motto, ' By this, conquer.' " And lie contrasts
Christian missions with the bloody Crusades of the middle ages,
whicli, " in the midnight of superstition, disturbed the slumber of
tlie globe, and, like a volcano, precipitated all Europe in a state of
fusion upon the valleys of Judea."

He includes in the doctrine of the cross, "the manner of
Christ's death ;" " the design of Christ's death, as an atonement for
sin "the divinity of Christ's person, as constituting the value of
His satisfaction ; " " the gratuitous manner in which its blessings
are bestowed ; " and "its moral tendency and design, as respects
the heart and conduct of those by whom it is received :" giving to
each of these particulars a separate paragraph ; and finally con-,
centrating all that he had said in the following passage : —

" It is not one of these, but all of them combined, which form the
doctrine of the cross. Take either of them away, and the arch is de-
stroyed,— all the rest sink together to the dust, a mass of splendid ruins,

MISSIONARY SEKMON, MAY 12, 1810.

151

a heap of crumbling fragments. Without the atonement, the fact of
the crucifixion appears to me a dark, unintelligible, inexplicable spot
upon the page of revelation, connecting notlung, supporting nothing,
explaining nothing : the atonement, xsithout the deity of Chiist, wants
both the impress and the value to secure for it confidence ; and accept-
ance of the atonement and the deity of Christ, TOthout the justification
of the soul by faith, leaves the system without any link which can con-
nect it -^v-ith the experience of the- sinner ; while all together would be
of no avail in his salvation, unless they secured his sanctification."

He then passes to the second part of the same division, and
illustrates the various powers of attraction which the doctrine of
the cross exerts. His first point is, that the " stupendous fact
arrests, and fixes the attention. '

" The human mind, especially in its ruder states, where there is such
a preponderance of imagination over reason, is much more easily and
powerfully wrought upon by a narration of facts than a statement of
principles ; and the whole fabric of Christianity, both as to doctrines
and duties, is founded upon a fact, and that fact ch-awn out into details
more touching and tender than can be found in any history or in any
romance. The life and the death of the ' ^lan of sorrows,' to all the
sobriety and power of truth, unite the fascination of fiction. The veiled
splendour of His deity, occasionally bursting through its thin disguise,
and irradiating the gloom of His poverty — the extremity of His suflFer-
ings, and the heart-affecting meekness ynth. which He bore them — the
perfection of His virtues, together vdth. the unrelenting cruelty of His
enemies — the mysterious combination of glory and meanness in His
person and life — the garden of Gethsemane — the scenes of Pilate's hall
and the Mount of Calvary; — give a magic power to the story of the
cross. But when we thus know that this was the incarnation and cru-
cifixion of the Sou of God for a Avorld of sinners, we arrive at the acme
of aU that is marvellous and interesting and sublime. History in its
most extraordinary narrations, and imagination in its loftiest flights, are
both left infinitely behind."

Secondly, The doctrine of the cross, " as an exhibition of un-
paralleled love, melts and captivates the heart." Thirdly, " As a
system of mediation, it allays the fears of a guilty conscience."
Fourthly,

" By admitting an individual appropriation of its benefits, it appeals
to all the feeUngs of self-regard and personal interest. It is the glory

152

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

of tlie gospel, that wMle it makes an ample provision for the world,
and invites the whole family of man to the feast, it lays all its blessings
at the feet of every individual to whom it comes, and tells him that
they are all for him, if he will accept them. It does not appraise the
value of the human race by a method of calculation founded only on
the mass of mankind, but represents every individual as an object of
infinite importance, and of distinct and separate consideration in the
view of Infinite Mercy.

" Think of the effect of this upon the mind of an obscure pagan, who,
amidst the millions around him and above him, has no idea of his own
individual importance ; who, by a long series of cruel oppressions, has
begun to lose all self-respect; who, under the debasing influence of
tyranny, has reconciled himself to the thought of having no separate
destiny or accountability, and of being a mere appendage to the estab-
lishment of some lordly master ; — I say, conceive the effect of the gos-
pel upon this man's mind, when led forth by a missionary to Mount
Calvary, and told that if he believe the truth, the Son of God died
upon the cross for him, for no child of Adam rather than for him, as
much for him as if he stood alone in need of a Saviour, and that all the
blessings of salvation shall centre and settle in him. Do you think
there is no attraction here 1 "

Fifthly, " By the suitableness and certainty of its blessings, it
awakens hope, and establishes faith."

He then considers " the effects which the doctrine of the cross
has already produced," and rapidly, yet without hurry or confu-
sion, tells the history of its triumphs in the apostolic age, first in
Jerusalem, the very scene of the crucifixion, then in some of the
great centres of paganism. A few vivid details are given to illus-
trate the depravity in which the apostles found their Gentile con-
verts— Antioch and Corinth being taken as "instances selected
from a general course of exertion and success." And then the
preacher shews that it was by " Jesus Christ, and Him crucified,"
that these degraded people were delivered from the dark supersti-
tions and darker vices of heathenism. The great religious revival
at the time of the Eeformation, and the success of modern missions,
are traced to the same Divine and irresistible power.

The third principal division anticipates the filial consummation
of missionary success. After somewhat limiting, with character-
istic caution, the comprehensive declaration, that "all men shall

MISSIONARY SEK5I0X, yiXY 12, 1810.

153

be brought to Christ," he invites his liearers to "contemplate for
a few moments the state of the earth, together with the means
which are employed for its improvement," affirming that there is
very much in the present " exertions of the Christian world " to
confirm and strengthen the highest anticipations. Then follows
that view of the religious condition of mankind which it is sup-
posed a pex'son might have who " occupied the station of the angel
represented in the Apocalypse as standing in the sun." There is,
however, scarcely any attempt to exhibit what had been principally
promised, " the glories of the final consummation of missionary suc-
cess." It is plain that the preacher gave scarcely any pains to this
part of the discourse. Perhaps he was sensible that after the rich
and brilliant colouring of the first two divisions, the attempt to
place vividly before the congregation the vision of the world filled
with the holiness and joy of heaven would produce weariness
rather than delight.

Let me pause here for a moment, to call attention to the fulness
and strength of the tide of thought by whicli the congregation has
been swept along. By shewing the identity between the object of
the missionary enterprise, on the one hand, and the great design of
Christ as the Saviour of men, the ultimate end of all the complex
movements of the Divine Providence, and the highest interest of
the human race, on the other, — the preacher has ennobled his
theme, and given it an air of impressive grandeur. By presenting
a brief yet comprehensive summary of the most important truths
of the Christian faith, and affirming that these constitute the in-
strument of missionary success, he has pressed into his service the
fervent attachment of his audience to the evangelical confession, —
an attachment which would have been unshaken by imprisonment
and by the prospect of death. By illustrating the various powers
of attraction which these truths possess, he has built up a moral
argument on their behalf, in which all who heard him would
greatly exult, and at the same time recalled the most sacred and
solemn passages of their own spiritual history ; for the heart of
every Christian there, had been won from sin and wretchedness to
God by the very charm and constraining power that he described.

151

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAJIES.

And although both the argument and declamation under the
third division, on " the final consummation of missionary success,"
are deficient in vigour, they probably derived from the ardent
manner of the preacher and the enthusiasm of his audience a
poAver not properly their own.

Among those passages Avhich I have quoted, there are several
in which tlie tliought is not only just and sound, — the two most
important characteristics of all thought, — but also striking and
impressive. The purpose, however, for which I have given this
analysis is chiefly to shew how much of truth was naturally and
without any show of eflbrt introduced into the discussion and
development of the preacher's principal idea ; and it is the truth
whicli a sermon contains which gives it power. Is there not some
reason to fear that this has been too much forgotten ? There is
often in modern sermons a great deal of thought about the truth,
sometimes very fresh and beautiful, and sometimes very ludicrous
in its pretensions to freshness and beauty ; but there is too little of
the actual statement of the truth itself. It may be doubted whether
some of those who most firmly and affectionately adhere to the
doctrines commonly described as evangelical, have obtained a
sufficient mastery of theological science to be able to wield the
doctrines they believe with much effect. The decline of the study
of systematic theology has greatly enfeebled the English pulpit.

It should be remembered that it requires far higher intellectual
power, and more strenuous intellectual effort, to present Sunday
after Sunday the very truth of God clearly and impressively, with-
out wearisome iteration of the same forms of thought, the same
illustrations and the same language, than to interest a congregation
with our own thoughts and reflections on spiritual topics. But, I
repeat, it is the truth itself, and not our striking thoughts about it,
in which spiritual power lies.

What would a minister try to say to the troubled heart of his
dying child who was longing for rest in God, and seemed to long in
vain ; or to his aged parent, on whom the sorrows of sixty or seventy
years had been wasted ? He would try to reproiluce as vividly as
he could the very substance of what God had taught him on those

MISSIOXAKY SERMOX, 12, 1819.

155

awful questions that startle and oppress us when our thoughts
" wander through eternity." And, if I mistake not, he would soon
discover that to do this again and again, without indolent and re-
pelling repetition, would tax his powers far more severely than
those discourses of his which were most rich in "striking" and
" original " ideas.

To return to the sermon. In the successive appeals with which
it closes to the directors, the missionaries, the ministers, and the
general congregation, the preacher exerts all liis strength. He
does not forget that Dr BogTie is in the gallery, and that now is
the time for reasserting the necessity of giving to the missionaries
'■ every opportimity of acquiring those qualifications which are pre-
eminently important in their situation."

"I speak," he says, "the sentiments of all my brethren in the
ministry with whom I have conversed on the subject, when I respect-
fully but urgently advise a lengthened term of education for such of
our missionaries as are destined to the East. It is our opinion that
four years are quite little enough for the literary and theological educa-
tion of men who are to preach the doctrines of the gospel in a strange
language, and to present them pure as they were revealed from heaven,
in a faithful translation of the sacred volume. In this country, valuable
as are hterary attainments, — and highly valuable they are everywhere, —
a minister may discharge the duties of his office vdth. considerable suc-
cess, although he be ignorant of eveiy language but his ovra ; and even
should he unhappily swei-ve from the truth, there are many on eveiy
hand to pluck up the weeds of error as fast as they arise in the garden
of the Lord- But what is a missionary to do without a hterary
education, who cannot hold a conversation vdth a pagan tiU he has
acquired a foreign tongue — ^who cannot distribute a tract tiU he is able
to translate it into a language, the gemus and stmcture of which are
totally chssimilar to any with which he is acquamted ? The work of
translating the Scriptures is of immen.se importance, and of no small
cUfficulty, and should not be entrusted to unskilful hands. One imper-
fect version of the Bible may poUute the crystal stream of revelation
for ages, and one error in theology planted amongst the heathen may
luxuriate amidst almost boundless space. First versions and first
systems of doctrine deUvered to the converts from idolatry should be
as perfect as possible, since these are the models of others which
succeed, and in addition to the circumsti\nce of propagatmg their own
imperfections, if any such attach to them, they soon acquire the venera-
tion which is paid to antiquity, and cover tlieir errors with the defence

156

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

of this sacred shield. I can assure the directors that any increase of
expense incurred by renewed attention to civilisation in barbarous
countries, and by an extended literary education being given to their
missionaries going to the East, wiU be most cheerfully defrayed by
increased liberality on the part of their constituents."

The appeal to the congregation, responded to on the spot by the
largest collection ever made after the Surrey Chapel sermon, is
marked by great impetuosity and vehemence : —

"If anything can be needed to excite your benevolence, I bring
forward this morning five petitions, each soHciting your assistance, and
each sufficient of itseK to merit the greatest liberaHty.

" The first is littered in the groans of six hundred millions of human
beings, Avho, as they pass before you on their way to eternity, repeat
that imploring language, ' Come over and help us.' The second is from
several hundred missionaries, who, looking around upon the immeasur-
able scene of their labours, urge the admonition of their Master, ' The
harvest is great, but the labourers are few ; pray ye therefore the
Lord of the harvest, that he would send more labourers into his har-
vest.' The third is from the directors, ' stating that their expenditure
this year has exceeded their receipts above five thousand poimds, and
entreating that they may not be forced to slacken their exertions for
want of funds to support them, which must inevitably be the case
unless they are encouraged to go forward by increased liberality on the
part of their constituents.' The fourth is from heaven, borne to us by
the spirits of departed missionaries, who hover over our assembly this
morning, ' beseeching us to carry on with renewed vigour that cause in
which they sacrificed their lives, and the magnitude and importance of
which, amidst all their zeal for its interests, they never perfectly knew
tiU they were surrounded with the scenes of the eternal world.' The
fifth is — will you believe it? — from heU. Yes, directed to your hearts
in the shriek of despair, comes the solicitation of many a lost soul in
prison, ' Oh, send a missionary to my father's house, where I have
yet five brethren, that he may testify to them, that they come not to
this place of torment !' You cannot reply to this, 'They have Moses
and the prophets ; let them hear them.' What hearts you must possess
if you can be deaf to such pleas, and can turn away such petitions
unrelieved ! Have you arrived at the very limit of your ability, and is
every private resource exhausted ? Then let us go to the treasury of
the sanctuary, let us melt down the church plate, and convert even
that into a means of sending the gospel to the heathen, assured that if
we have nothing else to give, it will be more acceptable to our divine
Lord to see it so employed, than to behold it gUttering upon His

MISSIOXAEY SEEMOX, MAY 12, 1819.

157

sacramental board But do not plead such a necessity till you have
surrendered the luxuries of your own houses, till the gorgeous display
upon your own tables is given up. The mere tithe of extravagance
would support aU the missionary and Bible societies in existence mag-
nified to ten times their present extent. A showy and lavish profusion
in our habits is not only injurious to our own spiritual interests, but
also to the interests of others. It is a felony upon the fund of mercj'.
Frugality is the best financier of philanthi-opy, and one of the most
important auxiliaries of the missionary cause."

The impression produced by the sermon on most of those who
heard it, and on thousands in eveiy part of the country by whom
it was eagerly read on its publication, it is scarcely possible to de-
scribe without appearing to be guilty of the wildest exaggeration.
During the forty years which have passed since it was delivered,
the popular type of excellence has been so completely altered, that
those passages whicli once excited the greatest admiration are now
regarded as its greatest blemishes. Excitement, no matter how
tumultuous, was the universal craving, and the stimulants by which
it was produced were of the most violent description. Every one
who has read Sheridan's speeches knows that, only a few years be-
fore, the House of Commons itself was willing to be intoxicated by
what seems to us the muddiest and most fiery rhetorical wine ; —
how soon the taste will change again we cannot predict ; — but the
slightest acquaintance with the history of literature should teach
us, that while the really great and original thinkers of every age,
men who have extended the boundaries of human thought, or
have been able by speech or song profoundly to aflPect the hearts
of men, are sure of immortality, the mere literary costume of to-
day, which is the solitary claim of many writers and many preach-
ers to an imaginary superiority over their predecessors, will seem
as antiquated forty years hence as the shoebuckles and wigs of
our grandfathers are now, and can confer no lasting fame.

Let this missionary sermon be judged by those elements of
power which it contains over the permanent principles and pas-
sions of human nature, not by the conformity of its style with that
of the preaching or the literature which happens just now to be
most popular, and the secret of its success will be discovered.

CHAPTER IV.

A NEW CHAPEL.

It was Mr James's invincible conviction that the present Carr's
Lane Chapel is the perfection of chapel architecture. Those who
are familiar with the place Avill remember that behind the pulpit
there is a row of columns, on which it would not be safe to
invite Mr Ruskin's criticism. These columns were Mr James's
delight ; and he seldom passed out of the front entrance, after the
Sunday-evening service, without turning round, just as he reached
the door, to look at them with fond admiration, often exclaiming
with characteristic vigour, " Well, there 's no place in the denomi-
nation like it ! " Although it has neitlier graceful spire, nor ma-
jestic arches, nor windows glowing with sacred legends, its real
merits are considerable. It holds seventeen hundred and fifty or
eighteen hundred persons, every one of whom may see the minis-
ter, and a voice of very moderate power may be heard in every
corner. The exterior is heavy and sombre, but the interior filled
with a crowded congregation is impressive and even grand.
Mr James gives the following account of its erection : —

.Autobio- After much private conversation and deliberation among the
giaiihicai. jgg^^jQjjg ^jjj trustees, and much cordial feeling in reference to the
project, it Avas resolved to call the congregation together and
ascertain their determination on the subject. Some few friends

A NEW CHAPEL.

159

had promised to give specified suras of considerable amouut. I Autobio-
took the lead. I was possessed of a tolerably good income, though
not above half what I was supposed to have, for the whole, arising
both from my wife's property and my own salary at that time,
did not exceed £600 a-year. I have ever considered it a very
solemn obligation upon ministers of any wealth, to be patterns to
their people in liberality as well as everything else. I am at the
present time grieved and astonished at the want of this grace in
many of our ministers who abound in wealth ; some of them with
none or few children, yet doling out their gifts with a grudging
and niggardly hand, as if the official function of preaching on
liberality dispensed theiu from the personal performance of the
duty. My people have been generous almost to profusion ; and I
account for this, though it maj^^ savour of boasting to affirm it, on
the great principle on which I have acted. My admonition has
ever been, "Only follow, / am willing to lead;" and they have
nobly acted upon this dii-ection. On Christmas day, [1818,] we
met in the schoolroom to consider and determine upon the
project of building a new ])lace. We had previously resolved,
that unless a sum of '£3.>00 was promised at that meeting,
the scheme must be abandoned. To our great joy, more than
£4000 were entered upon the lists. It was a good Christ-
mas day's work, though my domestic affairs were then very
gloomy, as my dear wife was drawing near her end. There is
a great deal in the circumstances of time and place, as well as
principle, that has to do with the exercise of liberality. You
must, if you wish to succeed, in some measure consult these, and
seize the opportunity when the benevolent and kindly feelings are
likely to have full and fair play. On Christmas day people are
usually in good temper, families are about to enjoy a season of
affectionate intercourse, and it is therefore a very good time to
appeal to them for money, and to draw forth their benevolent sym-
pathies. Since that Christmas meeting to determine on the erec-
tion of the chapel was so successful, we have considered Christmas
day sacred to the cause of Christian charity.

The chapel was opened in August 1820, and it was immediately

160

LIFE OF JOHN ANGEIX JAMES.

Aiitobio- evident we had not too soon erected it, nor had built too large a

graphical,

place, for though it seated eighteen hundred persons, it was soon
filled.

Not long after it was opened, an incident occurred which might
have been attended with very appalling circumstances, and which
placed me for several hours in a very painful situation. At the
annual meeting of the Missionary Society, the abandoned idols
which had lately been imported from the islands of the South Seas
were exhibited on the platform in front of the pulpit. As the
clock gallery was the most favourable place to gain a view of them,
this was crowded to excess. After the business had proceeded for
about an hour and a half, I received a pencil note to this eflfect : —
" By all means, stop the clapping of hands and stamjiing of feet.
The gallery shakes under us. I have already heard two distinct
cracks." This was signed by a young architect. Upon the
receipt of this note, I was thrown into a most dreadful dilemma.
If I gave the alarm, the mischief by the sudden rising and rush
of the people would in all probability be done ; and if I said
nothing and the gallery should fall, I should be blamed for know-
ing the state of the case and not giving notice of it. We did stop
the clapping, and the business went on. For two hours was I
kept in this agony of suspense and dread. Happily, the meeting
ended without any accident. Upon examination, it was found
that we had been preserved from an appalling catastrophe by an
interposition of Providence, little less than miraculous ; for the
two middle beams that support the gallery were found cracked
quite through. And we had the mortification to see the gallery of
our new place of worship shored \ip by a row of props ; the morti-
fication, however, was lost in the joy and gratitude we felt for our
deliverance — for had the gallery fallen, scores, if not hundreds,
must certainly have been killed.

After the opening of the new place, things went on for many
years in an even kind of prosperity. The chapel was filled, the
church increased, and the sun of prosperity shone upon us with
cloudless splendour.

CHAPTER V.

SECOND MARRIAGE.

Three years after the death of his first wife, Mr James married
again. In his narrative of his second marriage, after a few intro-
ductory observations, he says, —

By God's good providence I was directed to one in every way AutoWo-
worthy to be the successor of my first wife, and this is saying much, s^'^p^'"'^'
The widow of Mr Benjamin Neale, of St Paul's Churchyard, had been
sought by many, but she was reserved for me. Her first husband
was a man of distinguished worth ; intelligent, yet modest and rather
reserved ; public spirited, yet meek and gentle. He was just emerg-
ing into public notice, and was likely to prove one of those to Avhom
the present and future ages, and all the nations of the earth, will
be indebted for those invaluable institutions which are doing so
much for the conversion of the world to God. By one of the mys-
teries of Divine Providence, he was cut off by consumption at the
age of thirty. His widow was left without family, and in the
possession of property to the amount of about £20,000. This was
placed at her own disposal, with an understanding that so much of
it as was mentioned by him, amounting to £5000 or £6000, should
at her death be devoted to religious institutions. Half of this sum
she immediately paid over to various societies, reserving the other
half to come after her decease. Instead of continuing housekeep-
ing, Mrs Neale, at the death of her husband's mother, with whom
she for a while resided, went into lodgings, that she might have a
L

1G2

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAJMES.

Autobio- larger sum to dispense in works of general and religious charity.

oiapiiical. ^ short memoir of this eminent Christian is in print, together
with a funeral sermon preached by Dr Eedford of Worcester, and
entitled "Faith Triumphant," I shall not enlarge here upon her
early history nor her closing scenes. We were married by Row-
land Hill, her particular friend, at Christ Church, Blackfriars, in
London, February 19, 1822. She proved in every respect a help-
meet. Possessed of a masculine understanding, great public spirit,
equal liberality, and eminently prudent, she was well fitted for the
station into wliich Providence had now brought her. She had her
failings ; but they were very light and small compared with her
many and eminent virtues.

I account both my marriages among the signal mercies of my life.
Under God's blessing, I owe not only much of the happiness of my
life to them, but no small share of my usefulness. The counsel of my
wives guided me, their prudence controlled me, and their sympathies
comforted me. It has long been my opinion that the comparative
failure of many of our ministers in their pubHc career is owing to
unsuitable marriages. They are in haste to be married, and fre-
quently make most unwise selections. Unhappily some of them had
formed juvenile engagements before they entered upon their studies,
which they could not very honourably dissolve, though very much
below them ; while others have most incautiously allowed themselves
to be entangled while at college. It is but rarely that a student
makes a wise choice. The result is, a frivolous, weak, moneyless,
thriftless woman becomes his wife — a young family comes on — diffi-
culties increase — a small stipend, hardly sufficient to obtain neces-
saries, is all they have to depend upon — the spirit of the husband
and the pastor is broken, and he wears out life in moving from
church to church, without being useful anywhere. He has had
little leisure, and less disposition, surrounded as he has been with
pecuniary embarrassments and domestic perplexities, to improve
his mind and add to his stock of knowledge. What is the preven-
tive of all this ? Celibacy ? By no means ; but great care, deli-
beration, caution, and patience in the selection of a wife, united
with much and earnest prayer to be guided aright.

CHAPTER VI.

COXJROVERSY.

Soon after my second marriage, I believe in the year 1822, lAutoLio-

gi-.ipliicaL

published my volume entitled " Christian Fellowship ; or, the Church
Member's Guide." This work immediately took with our churches,
and edition after edition, in rather rapid succession, was called for,
till it has reached by this time a tenth. It is like aU the rest of
my books, practical — not entering much into the controversy on
church-government, but laying down rules for the conduct of
church members. This work, some years afterwards, involved me
iu a controversy. It was reviewed in a periodical, since defunct,
sustained whUe it lasted by the evangelical clergy, entitled " The
British Review." I had made very liberal concessions of some
practical evils incidental to the working of the Congregational
system of church-polity. I now see that I was incautious in much
that I said, forgetting how many were ever upon the watch to
catch up anything unfavourable to Dissent, especially the admis-
sion by its friends of anything faulty in the application of its prin-
ciples. AU my concessions were carefuUy selected, though many
of them wex'e infirmities common to humanity, and by no means
peculiar to Dissenters, and classified under diSerent heads, and
then held up to public notice with this comment, " See what Dis-
sent is, by the admission of one of its ministers !" At the time I
took no notice of the critique ; but it was at length printed as a

164

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- tract, entitled "The Church of England and Dissent," and cir-

graphical.

culated by thousands through the length and breadth of the land.
I found that it was incumbent upon me to reply to it, and in the
year 1830 I published a pamphlet entitled "Dissent and the
Church of England." This pamphlet went through three editions
in a very short time, and gained me some credit both for its ar-
gument and its spirit. The author of the critique had his own
weapons turned upon himself, for just about that time a consider-
able number of books on Church-reform had made their appear-
ance, containing the most appalling admissions of evils in the
Church of England. Of these I made good use. No reply was
made by the author of the critiqiie to my pamphlet.

Editorial. If those who fear and shun ecclesiastical controversy need any
additional reasons to justify the publication of this pamphlet, they
may find them in the following extracts from the preface : —

" Last year a reprint of this critique [in the British Beview] appeared,
designed, as the title-page informs us, for gratuitous distribution ; and
which I find has been industrioiisly pushed into circulation in various
directions, and especially in this town and neighbourhood. Still I was
unwilling to continue a discussion which might in any degree endanger
that good feeling and friendly intercourse which are happily increasing
between Churchmen and Dissenters in this town. Moreover, as certain
Avorks of a very extraordinary character have lately been published by
clerical members of the Estabhshmeut, I felt myself relieved from the
necessity of a reply to my anonymous opponent, who, in much that he
has advanced, is answered by tlie works of the Rev. IMessrs Acaster,
Nihill, Cox, and Eiland. At length, however, this Protean critique
has assumed a tJm-d shape, and is now in the arena, corrected and en-
larged, in the form of a two-shilhng pamphlet. Here, then, my silence
must be broken. Quiescence would now be construed into defeat or
cowardice.

" It is the inf ehcity of Dissenters, if such it may be called, that they
cannot state or defend their own principles without unpugning those
of the Church of England. The terms ' Dissent ' and ' Nonconformity,'
by which, as separatists from the National EstabUshment, we are desig-
nated, do not express our theological opinions and our relation to the
New Testament, but our views of church-government and our position
in reference to the diocesan episcopacy set up by law. Hence the very

CONTROVERSY.

165

explanation of our identifying names, much more the defence of our
principles, necessarily places us in opposition to the EstabUshment as
such, invests the most candid of our statements with the semblance of
controversy, and imparts to the mildest defence the appearance of
aggression. It is knpossible not to observe, on the part of many
Chiu-chmen, a kind of morbid sensitiveness on this siibject. In their
ardent, tender, and sincere zeal for their church-polity, they lose all for-
bearance for those who dissent from it, and become irritable, petulant,
and intolerable towards them, if they have the insolence, almost the
irreligion, to justify their conduct. The privilege of defence, much
more of attack, must be all on one side. Is this quite fair t "

There is no reason to believe that Mr James ever regretted this
fearless and somewhat vehement defence of Nonconformity ; his
autobiographical reference to it seems rather to indicate that to the
last he remembered his prowess with pride and satisfaction, and
saw nothing to condemn in the spirit with which he had written.

The pamphlet was not thrown off before the ardour and impetu-
osity of youth had had time to cool, for he was forty-five when he
wrote it, and had been twenty-five years a minister ; nor was he
insensible at that time to the claims of Christian Charity, for his
volume on that very subject was WTitten ten years before.

It is true that during the last twenty years of his life he seldom
spoke in public, except in his own pulpit, in explanation or defence
of Dissent, or of his own principles of church-polity, and that
during that period he stood very distinctly aloof from organised
hostility to the Established Church. It must not be inferred, how-
ever, that his convictions of the magnitude of the evils inseparable
from the alliance of the ecclesiastical and civil powers, of the irre-
concilable antagonism between some of the services of the Church
of England and the Holy Scriptures, of the entire absence of
primitive precedent, to say nothing of Divine sanction for the
Episcopal form of church-government, were at all enfeebled. He
doubted the wisdom of the leaders of the Anti-State-Church move-
ment, but he did not differ from them in reference to their object;
he wished for the separation of Church and State, as heartily as
any of them. Nor did he ever imagine that it was either possible
or desirable to silence the controversy, though he did believe it

166

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

both possible and desirable for Christians to contend for truth
without forgetting that charity which is the bond of perfectness.
In 1849 he thus wrote : —

"The question between the advocates and opponents of rehgious
estabhshments is not among the mere nugce of controversy ; on the
contrary, it is a serious and momentous subject. One party views
estabhshments as the will of God, and essential in the present state of
things to the maintenance of national rehgion ; the other considers
them as opposed to the New Testament, and essentially corruptive of the
nature and obstructive of the progress of true rehgion. There cannot,
therefore, with these opposing sentiments, be any cessation of the con-
flict between the two parties, or any truce between them. Allegiance
to truth, to God, and to conscience forbids it. The advocate of each
is contending according to his own view for truth, and against error.
Each ought to contend. But, then, as truth is important, so is love. If
truth ought not to be sacrificed for charity, so neither ought charity to
be sacrificed for truth. The man who would never oppose error, but
allow it to run its mischievous career for fear of violating charity, is
wrong in one extreme ; while the man who would do nothing to assist
charity in its peaceful and tranquiUising efforts for fear of compro-
mising truth, is wrong in the opposite extreme. He only is right who
fears to be silent in the cause of truth, but equahy fears to be unchar-
itable in the cause of love."*

His views on the policy of Dissenters remained, I beheve, to the
close of life what they were in 1834, in which year he published a
Pastoral Address to his people, from which the following extract is
taken : —

" It wiU be thought perhaps by some, that as aU the deprivations
under which we labour are but the shoots of a pohtical alliance between
the Church and State, I ought, in order to be consistent, to urge you
to lay the axe to the root of the tree, and caU upon you to make the
dissolution of that union the main subject of appeal to the Government
and the Senate. I need scarcely teU you that this point has been
much agitated and discussed, both in the different committees of the
Dissenting body, and in their periodical journals ; and that the general
feeling is, that while all our memorials to Government, and all our peti-
tions to Parhament, should contain a strong protest against the alliance,
coupled with a declaration that the Dissenters consider every reform to
be incomplete as long as this remains, yet that it is not expedient to

• Protestant Nonconfonnity, pp. 271, 272.

CONTROYEESY.

167

make its removal the great object of confederated effort. It may not
be improper to introduce here an extract from a letter which lately-
appeared in the Patriot newspaper from John Wilks, Esq., who, as you
are aware, is an Evangelical Dissenter, and a member of the House of
Comjnons. It was written in reply to an application from the Dissenters
at Bristol, for his advice as to the measures now expedient to be
adopted : —

" ' They (the United Committee) have repeatedly met, and intend
next week to address the Dissenters of England and Wales, and to invite
their co-operation for the redress of the grievances of which Dissenters
may yet justly complain. They will, in their address, assuredly state
their conscientious disapproval of aU religious establishments, and of an
unhallowed aUiance betn een the Church and the State ; and they will
recapitulate all the grievances heretofore announced by them, and stated
at Leeds ; — and which mauily consist of the want of an improved and
ci-vil parochial registration ; of compulsory payments for the support of
the Church ; of the exclusion of Dissenters from an equal participation
•«ith Churchmen in the benefit and honours of the universities ; and of
the degradation of Dissenting ministers, by preventing them from cele-
brating marriages and from officiating in churchyards on the interment
of their friends.

" ' Until this address shall appear, yourself and enlightened colleagues
will probably defer any public proceeding and final resolves ; and when
it is received, I sincerely hope that prudence, and not passion, wiU dic-
tate the course they pur.sue. The opinion of the Government, and oi
many parliamentary friends to liberty of conscience and the cause of
Dissent, I believe to be, that any immediate and urgent attempt at the
severance of the Church and the State would utterly fail — would injure
the administration — would delight and strengthen the Tories, still numer-
ous, affluent, and strong — would delay the ecclesiastical reforms intended
and desired — would retard an abolition or commiitation of tithes — and
would prevent the Dissenters from progressively procuring that redress
of practical evils by which they are afflicted, and which, if they be tem-
perate, united, \dgilant, and judicious, they will gradually acquire, and
at last completely obtain.

" * In these views I am much disposed to concur ; and at least I
urgently recommend them to devout and deliberate thouglit.'

" I approve of the sentiments of this able and eloquent advocate of
religious Kberty, and have reason to believe they will be adopted as the
rule by which our body will be guided. Until the union can be dis-
solved by the diffusion of sound scriptural sentiments, both among the
people and the legi.slature, both within the Church and without it, most
of the sober and reflecting members of our different denominations are

168

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

quite averse from making the attempt by the force of political agita-
tion. Let our efforts be directed to the extension and consolidation of
our o-vvn liberties, leaving the Church, if it is to be pulled down, to pull
down itself, or the Church and the State to do it between them.

" In our endeavours to gain the relief which we have an equitable
right to expect, I prefer that we in this town, for reasons which wiU
readily occur to you, should act as separate congregations, and that we
shoidd have no recourse to agitation and clamour. The best way to
disprove the calumnious assertion — for calumnious it is — that Dissenters
are in league with infidels and radicals, is to act by ourselves. I hope
that we shall never give colour by any part of our conduct to the slander
which has been so industriously circulated, and so greedily received,
that we are after all far more of a political than a religious body. It
appears to me that if we ever aim to carry a question by the power of
numbers rather than by that of truth, by clamour and not by cool, dispas-
sionate reason, by the influence of political strength rather than by the pro-
gress of conviction, and by secular confederation rather than by ecclesias-
tical association, we shall by so doing be setting up, though in a modified
form, the alliance between Church and State among ourselves. I again
quote from the beautiful speech of Sir George SaviUe, and address to
you, and would address to our whole body, the nation at large, to the
Government and the Legislature, were I writing for them, the forcible
and sacred motives mth which he appealed to a British House of
Commons : — '/ therefore heseech you; I become an humble and earnest
supplicant to you, by the benevolent spirit of the gospel, by all that is
serious, I beseech you by the bowels of Christ, that this affair be treated,
not as a matter of policy, not as a matter of levity, not as a matter of
censoriousness, but as a matter of religion.' "

It is impossible for a Nonconformist who is too young to re-
member the ecclesiastical conflicts which preceded and followed
the Eeform Bill, to glance through a collection of the pamphlets of
that stormy time without astonishment. Since then the Church
of England must have freed herself of many practical abuses, if
either her friends or her enemies described her truly. There has
been a change not less remarkable in the spirit with which Dis-
senters vindicate their own principles and criticise the evils of the
Establishment. The controversial vehemence of our fathers may
be explained without supposing that our charity is much greater
than theirs. Those Nonconformist ministers who began their
work early in this century had to struggle against hostility and

CONTROVERSY.

1G9

persecutions of -vvhicli we know nothing. When they went out
into country villages to preach the gospel, they were not unfre-
quently assaulted by brutal mobs, who knew that the clergy and
the magistrates were looking on with scarcely concealed delight,
and that the Methodist would appeal for protection in vain to the
local preservers of the peace. From the very tower of the church,
btones and rotten eggs were sometimes hurled on the itinerant
evangelist as he passed beneath it to the village chapel. Among
the clergy there were many whose immoralities made the church
an object of disgust and abhorrence to their parishioners ; and the
earnest and devout, instead of being numbered by thousands as
now, were bright and rare exceptions to a prevailing indolence and
worldliness.

The ecclesiastical strife was embittered by habitual political an-
tagonism. Durmg that long struggle for the extension of political
freedom which triumphed in 1832, the vast majority of the Dis-
senters were the eager friends of reform, while the clergy were its
most uncompromising and formidable opponents.

These were among the causes which gave to the permanent con-
troversy between Church and Dissent an unusual and temporary
severity. Since then, many events have assisted to produce a
kindlier feeling, though the convictions of the two parties, on the
theological and ecclesiastical questions by which they are divided,
remain unchanged. Our civil disabilities have been removed.
Mobs and magistrates have learned that there are penalties sharp
and sure for the grosser forms of rehgious persecution. The pul-
pits of the Church of England in the large towns are generally
occupied by evangelical ministers, many of whom exhibit a most
noble and exemplary earnestness. Even in the rural districts,
though there are vast numbers of churches which are the homes
of mere religious routine, or of jmictices and teaching which fill a
Protestant and Englishman with contempt, indignation, and alarm,
we are not often scandalised by seeing men of profligate and dis-
solute lives pronouncing in God's name the absolution of sins and
consecrating the bread and wine of the sacred Supper.

The friendly relations between Church and Dissent were also

170

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAJIES.

greatly strengthened by the terror excited throughout the Evan-
gelical party in the English Church, by the ability, the boldness,
and the success of the leaders of the Anglo-Catholic movement of
1833. In that controversy, the commencement of which is popu-
larly identified with the publication of the "Tracts for the Times"
in that year, — though, perhaps, it might be more accurately fixed
seven years before, when Hugh James Kose preached his sermon
on the Clergy before the University of Cambridge, — and which
virtually terminated with Dr Newman's Essay on Development and
secession to Rome, the evangelical clergy sorely needed the help,
and it was generously and heartily given, of the learning and the
genius of the Nonconformists.

And it would be most uncandid not to acknowledge that, with
whatever amazement and antagonism Evangelical Dissenters cannot
but regard the creed and the ecclesiastical practices of the Anglo-
Catholic clergy, their purity of life and the simple and unobtrusive
devotion of many of them to parochial duty, have attracted our
affection and respect. With the old high-and-dry, fox-hunting
clergyman, who loved port wine, and yet was willing to leave it to
see a Dissenter mobbed, our controversy was almost of necessity
bitter and angry. With the really devout and learned Anglican —
I do not refer to that silliest and most solemn of idiots, the clergy-
man who professes to admire Fathers he has never read, and who
utters, with an unction positively ludicrous, the battle-cries of a
party, with the real genius and principles of which he has not the
slightest acquaintance, and which he has only joined to avoid being
vulgar and low, or for the sake of the candles and millinery; —
with the devout and learned Anglican, I say, the most earnest
controversy need not be envenomed by any personal enmity.

Twenty years ago, the perilous errors of Anglo-Catholicism drove
us into kindly alliance with the Evangelicals ; and now, though our
hostility to those errors has not become less decided, the bright excel-
lencies by which many of the adherents of the Anglo-Catholic party
are graced and ennobled have won our admiration and esteem.

Finally, the startling revelations of the ignorance and ungodli-
ness of millions of our population, and the manifest need of

CONTnOVERSY.

171

instant and unsparing labour to deliver large masses of the English
peoi:)le from heathenism, have made us forget questions less
urgent, clamorous, and imperative. Whenever the Establishment
controversy shall again be the subject of general public debate,
the remembrance of the kindly intercourse of the last twenty
years should dispose the combatants on both sides to that Christian
generosity which has seldom had any place in ecclesiastical con-
flicts.

Mr James's pamphlet, though free from virulence, is a fearless
and unsparing assault on the English Church, and a manly defence
of Nonconformity. As it has not yet appeared in his Collected
Works, it may be well to give a full account of it, both to illustrate
his power as a controversialist, and to inform those members of
the English Church who loved and admired him, on what grounds
he was accustomed to vindicate his dissent.

Having stated in his " Church Fellowship " that " the following
are the first three principles of Protestant Nonconformity : First,
The all-sufficiency and exclusive authority of the Scriptures, as a
rule of faith and practice : Secondly, The consequent denial of the
right of legislature and ecclesiastical conventions to impose any
rites, ceremonies, observances, or interpretations of the Word of
God upon our belief and practice : Thirdly, The unlimited and
inalienable right of every man to expound the Word of God for
himself, and to worship God according to the dictates of his own
conscience ;" — his reviewer objected, that if the Church of England
cannot quote for all her institutions and usages the letter of Scrip-
ture, Dissenters are equally destitute of inspired authority for
many of their practices.

Mr James answers, —

" I now go on to reply to the charge of inconsistency brought against
Dissenters, of acting in numerous instances in opposition to their own
principles. Suppose that this charge were well sustained, what does it
prove 1 Nothing more than that they need to be called back from their
wanderings, and to be admonished to cleave more closely to then- guide.
But the charge is not well founded, and rests only on a misconception,
perversion, or forgetfulness of our avowed sentiments. Our views are
these : the New Testament contains, in its recorded facts, such general

172

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

principles on the subject of cliurch-government and discipline as are
sufficiently explicit for tlie guidance of all wlio are willing to take
God's Word for their rule ; principles wliicli need no addition, allow of
no alteration, and demand universal submission. With these, such of
our usages as cannot plead express command or example ought to be
in accordance, and to the application of these all our customs must be
directed. Whatever we do must be an act of obedience to the authority
of Christ, as the only King and Head of the Church, and designed to
carry into effect some law which as the supreme and exclusive legis-
lator He has enjoined. We disclaim any right to decree, any power to
impose ; and feel that we have only one Master, who is the Lord that
bought us, and only one rule to guide us, which is the Word of God.

" The general principles for which we contend are as follows :
Christian churches are congregations of faithful men, united by vo-
luntary consent, and for the purpose of mutual edification ; the only
officers of such churches are bishops and deacons, — the former being,
not the overseers of many ministers, but each the pastor of one church —
and the latter being appointed to take care of the poor ; these officers
are to be chosen by the people among whom they are to serve ; the
pastors are to be supported by the free-will offerings of the people who
enjoy the benefit of their labours ; the government and discipline of a
church are entirely witliin itself ; the reception and exclusion of
members belong to the church, and not exclusively to the pastor.
These are our principles, which we think are to be found in the Word
of God, and may be defended by the practices of the earliest Christian
churches. To the application of these principles we wish all our
customs and usages to be directed.

" In carrying these principles into effect, it must be expected that a
considerable diversity of opinion in minor things will exist. And here
the Keviewer has confounded two things so essentially distinct, as a
diverse mode of executing the same general law, and the rejection of it.
We contend for the right of private judgment, which in many cases
leads to a difi"erent result ; the general law is acknowledged, although
there is a contrariety of opinion as to the best mode of carrying it into
effect. One or two instances may serve for the sake of illustration. It
is our general pi-inciple that the people should choose their own min-
ister : but we differ as to the best mode of appljdng this to practice ;
some thinking that the whole body, subscribers as weU as communi-
cants, should have the right of choice ; others, that only the communi-
cants should have this privilege. Again, it is our general principle
that the church should receive members on satisfactory evidence of
their personal reUgion ; but we differ as to the manner in which that
evidence should come before us. This wiU be a sufficient answer to all

COKTROVEBSy.

173

that lias been advanced by uiy opponent, and will defend us from the
charge of inconsistency, which he supposes he had deduced from my
pages. We have essential agreement, combined vnih circumstantial
difference. As to what is said about ' lord deacons,' ' chairmen,' ' presi-
dents,' ' influential members,' »fec., &c., constituting other officers than
those we admit to be scriptural, it was unworthy of his candour ti)
write it, and would be only a waste of my time and labour to reply
to it.

" Dissenters do not pretend to find Scripture precedent or precept for
all their usages, any further than as those usages are involved in and
deduced from general principles, or are necessary to carry them into effect.
Some things, such, for instance, as the frequency and order of our pub-
lic services on the Sabbath, are admitted by them to be truly indifferent ;
but then they are matters not considered essential to religious actions,
nor imposed upon others as terms of communion. ' The proposition
that everything relating to the worship of God which is not com-
manded or implied in a command is forbidden, presents, when rightly
understood, the only satisfactory conclusion on which we can rest. As
those co-necessary, natural cii-cumstances which adhere to every action
are virtually comprehended in the precept which is the basis of the
instituted duty ; so whatever circumstances, considered strictly as means
of discharging what is positively enjoined, conduce to the more decent
and impressive performance of the duty, are strictly consonant with the
Divine command, are permissively, although not specifically, involved in
it. On the contrary, whatever does not partake of the strictly subordi-
nate character of means, or if the term may be allow-ed, does not come
under the description of modal circumstances of obedience — whatever is
added as a moral or religious circumstance, with a view of constituting
the action more efiicient or more acceptable to the Lord of worship, is
to be condemned as superstition.' Thus far do Dissenters go in
admitting things indifferent ; but then it must be ever kept in view, that
matters of acknowledged indifference are not terms of communion, nor
considered to be essential to rehgious actions : for, to use the words of
Stillingfleet, ' what charter hath Christ given the Church, to bind up
men more than Himself hath done 1 ' And we may carry the question still
further, and add, to bind up itself ? From what has been said, it may
be seen what is intended by the great fundamental principle of Dissent ;
I mean, the sufficiency and exclusive authority of the Scripture. Tliis
is so far suflacient, that nothing is gssential to the performance of mdi-
vidual or of social worship, which is not enjoined by express command,
or implied in some precept, or set before us by example ; and it is ex-
clusively authoritative, inasmuch as nothing but what is so enjoined or
implied can be lawfully taught by any human authority whatever. ' It

174.

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

is our only rule, both in the sense of a law, and standard ; a rule suffi-
cient as opposed to all deficiency ; exclusive as relates to the Divine
authority from which it emanates : universal, as embracing aU the
principles of human actions, and ultimate, as admitting of no appeal.
For all religious purposes it is literally the only rule, because the
Divine command constitutes the only reason, as well as the only law of
religious actions ; and there can therefore be no scope for other rules,
except -ttdth regard to the mere outward circumstantials of religious
duties, which do not come within the obligations of any law.' "

The Eeviewer had also demurred to Mr James's definition of
the word " church." In his " Church Fellowship " he had affirmed
that in the New Testament this word has only two senses : " In
some passages of Scripture it signifies the aggregate of the people of
God of every age and nation, the whole company of the redeemed;
and in others it means a single congregation, associated in the
bonds of Christian fellowship, and accustomed to assemble for
religious worship in one place."*

" The Eeviewer thinks that he has found no less than five different
meanings of this term, and having enumerated them remarks, — ' Our

* It is ouly right to add, that Independents would not unanimously accept the
argument of this passage ; many would agree with the following paragraph from
Dr Davidson's " Congregational Lectures : " —

" The usage of Congregational Independents is also exceptionable in regard to
this point ; but our business is to elucidate principles, not to defend prevailing
practices. They are right in maintaining that all the believers in Jerusalem, the
(KKKrjaia, met together habitually under the government and instruction of various
elders ; but are wrong in splitting up what ought to be one church, the company
of believers in modern towns, into several churches, each with its own pastor,
which ill their independent individuality are patches and shreds, often incapable
of a right self-government, because they have lost sight of the unity and kind of
government existing in the earliest churches.

" By so doing they have thrown away much of their strength, and what is
more, their views have been narrowed.

" Every man thinking, moving, and acting in the midst of his little society
becomes contracted in his ideas of men and things. It is very difficult for him
to avoid being sectarian, selfish, unsocial in spirit, because his sphere is so narrow.
Comprehensive and liberal views of Chi istianity are not readdy nurtm-ed in the
smaU canton which the preacher looks on as peculiarly his own.

" All Christians in a town or city shouftl be one church, having several teachers
and rulers in common, as vi-as the case in Jerusalem. There are no peculiar
circumstances sufficient to justify their separate, self-governing association in the
present day, except the absolute impossibility of obtaining a place sufficiently large
to accommodate all, and capable of being filled with the human voice. The entire

CONTEOVERSY.

17.5

readers may now decide whether the word has never more than two
significations, and whether Mr James be a fit person to quote and inter-
pret Scripture.' A few paragraphs will indeed decide this matter. I
shaU consider my opponent's five meanings of the word, though not
exactly in the order in which he has arranged them.

"1. ' The word signifies aU the people of God, of aU climes and ages,
from the beginning to the end of the world.'

" In this view of the term we are agreed.

" 2. ' It signifies the faithfvd Christians of some one district or pro-
\dnce.' 'The church of the Thessalonians,' (2 Thess. i. 1.) 'Ye
PhiUppians, know also that no church communicated with me but ye
only,' (Phil. iv. 15.) I am surprised that it should have escaped the
Reviewer's recollection, for he certauily could not be ignorant of the
fact, that Thessalonica and PhiHppi were cities, and neither districts nor
provinces. His second meaning of the term, then, as signifying a dis-
trict or provincial church, must be given up, as contrary to the passages
he quotes.

" 3. ' The governors of the church.' ' TeU it to the church,' (Matt,
xviii. 17.) But this is an obvious begging of the question. By what
argument can it be proved that the church means the governors of the
church 1 He has yet to prove his assertion from Scripture. We might
as weU contend that a nation means the governors of the nation ; that
when the English nation, for instance, is spoken of, it means the parlia-
ment. This signification must therefore be abandoned.

" 4. ' The Christians of one family, who with a few other Christians
were wont to meet with God in a house.' ' The church in their house,'
(Rom. xvi. 5.) There are other instances of a church in a house,
(1 Cor. xvi. 19, &c.)

"Mr Scott, in his Commentary, has given a very probable meaning of
the expression, ' a church in a house.' ' The family of Aixhippus was
so pious and well regulated, that it was in some sense a Christian
church.' The term in these cases is used figuratively, and not to be
taken in its literal import. Or if, as the Reviewer observes, other
Christians were united with the family, although this is assumed with-
out being proved, then the company thus associated celebrated all
Divine ordinances in a stated and regular manner in the house where
they met ; and these are instances directly and powerfully in support

church should always meet in one place for worship and ordinances, while congre-
gations, for the purpose of bringing sinners under the power of the gospel and
adding them to the church, might, at the same time, be regularly gathered. The
preaching of the AVord might be conducted in many places ; but the peculiar
privileges of Christian assemblies composed of believers should be enjoyed
together."— Pp. 96, 97.

176

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

of my view of the term, as meamiig a company of beKevers assembling
in one place. But, then, it is contended, that if this be correct, it over-
throws my position that the word is never employed to comprehend
more congregations than one. PriscUla and Aquila, it is said, dwelt at
Eome, and had a church in their house. Now, unless all the Christians
of Eome met in the house of this pious couple, there must have been
at least two congregations in that city. Well, admitting that there
were, which probably there might have been, how does this prove the
point, unless it can be shewn, which I defy the Keviewer to do, that all
the Christians at Home are ever called a church ? No, they are called
' saints,' * beloved of God,' &c., but not a church. Aquila and Priscilla
had also, says my opponent, a church in their house at Ephesus, (1 Cor.
xvi. 19;) and as we cannot suppose that the whole body of the Ephe-
sians were assembled under their roof, and yet the believers in that
city are addressed in the book of the Eevelation as one church, the
term means sometimes more congregations than one. This by no means
follows, since the Apocalypse was written forty years after the first
Epistle to the Corinthians — in all probability, long after the church had
ceased to exist in the house of Aquila and Priscilla, who appear to
have spent a very migratoiy kind of life. The church in their house
may have been tlie embryo of that larger one which forty years after
ceased to assemble under their roof, either because they were dead or
had removed, or because their house was too small. This supposition
is surely more consistent than to suppose that the comparatively little
company still met at Aquila's house. My opponent is visibly hard
driven, when he assumes the continued existence of this independent
society in a private habitation, after the establishment of the much
larger society to which the Apocalypse alludes. He must be fond of
schism, indeed, and suppose the early believers so too, to make two
separate communities at Ephesus, and the one so inconsiderable that its
numbers can scarcely be supposed to have incommoded the other. But
perhaps it will be said, that from the account furnished by the Acts
of the Apostles, of Paul's extraordinary success at Ephesus, it cannot be
thought that the whole body of believers could assemble in a private
house, and hence there must have been two or more churches simulta-
neously existing in that city. What then 1 Suppose there were j
though this cannot be proved, inasmuch as we know not the dimen-
sions of Aquila's house, which, for aught we can tell, might have had an
outbuilding large enough to contain all that really embraced Cliristi-
anity and held it fast ; but admitting that there were two churches in
Ephesus at the time the apostle speaks of the church in Aquila's house,
this does not prove the point that the word is used in this case to
signify more congregations than one, as the expression ' The church at

COKTROVEESY.

177

Epliesus,' is used nowliere else in tlie New Testament besides tlie
Apocalj-pse. The point to be proved is the simultaneous existence of
two or more separate societies of Christians, which are addressed in the
singular number, as the Church ; tUl this is done, the argument of the
Reviewer is obviously invalid. The other instances advanced by my
opponent may be disposed of no less easily and satisfactorily.

" 5. ' The word means a number of believers called by Divine gi-ace
out of the world, and worshipping God in one place.' ' The church at
Jerusalem,' (Acts viiL 1.) Now, this -^-iew of the term would seem to
accord with that which is taken by myself and all Protestant Dissenters
of the Independent denomination ; and if by the word 'place' in this
sentence were meant the building in which the believers assembled,
and not the city in which they dwelt, the accordance would be real ;
but the subsequent reasoning of the Reviewer, in reference to the
church at Jerusalem, plainly shews that he applies the word ' place ' in
the latter sense. We are asked, ' Was there only one congregation of
Christians at Jerusalem? — what ! when three thousand were added to the
church at one time ; and when it is said in another place, " Thou see.st,
brother, how many myriads" (for so I admit the word signifies) " of Jews
there are which believe 1 " (Acts xxi. 20.) ' I will first give Doddridge's
comment on this last passage, and then make some general remarks on
the case of the church at Jerusalem. ' I do not apprehend,' says that
erpositor, ' that it can be certainly argued from hence, that there were
more than thirty, or even twenty thousand Je-nish believers now
present at Jerusalem — for the word (mjTiads) may only in general de-
note a great number ; but it is certain that the greater part of them
were not stated inhabitants of Jerusalem, but only ^a.sited it on occa-
sion of the great festival, (compare ver. 27 ;) so that no certam argu-
ment can be deduced from hence, as to the plurality of congxegatious
supposed to have been now under the care of the bishop of Jerusalem.'
Besides, I remark, it matters not what the numbers were, since it is
said in the next verse but one, 'What is it therefore? The multitude
must needs come together, for they wUl hear that thou art come.' Here
it is necessarily implied, that notwithstanding their great number, they
did congregate, did meet together for conference and instruction. If
it be asked, where ? I reply, in the court and precincts of the temple,
for we are informed this was their practice from the beginning ; ' They,
continuing daily with one accord in the temple ; ' ' and they were all
with one accord in Solomon's porch ; ' ' and daily in the temple they
ceased not to teach ; ' ' then the twelve called the multitude of the dis-
ciples unto them ; ' ' and when they were come to Jerusalem, they were
received of the church ; — then aU the multitude kept sUence.' We may
not know how such a multitude could conveniently assemble and con-
M

178

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

duct worsMp, nor is it our business to explain the matter ; we have
only to prove the fact that they did assemble, and this fact is repeated
in the Acts of the Apostles with a frequency which puts the case be-
yond all doubt. The church of Jerusalem was one church, and as such
they were in the habit of assembling in one place.

" Where now are the Reviewer's^iie significations of the word church]
Not, I think in the New Testament. But had he even proved his
point, it may be asked if among these five significations he can find the
prototy]3e of his own church. He has given us a church in a house — a
church in a city — a church of governors — a church in a district —
a church in heaven and earth ; but has he found a church established
by, and united with, the secular governments of this world 1 Even had
he overthrown my position, he has not proved the scriptural authority
of his own system. He has not contributed one other sense of the
word church. We cannot yet find a national church — nor a provincial
church — nor a church extending beyond a single convenable society."

In the chapter on Church Officers, he tluis replies to the argu-
ment of Lis Reviewer founded on Scripture for the superiority of
a bishop to a presbyter : —

" But in what part of the Scriptures is this superiority discovered ? In
the following : ' For this cause I left thee in Crete, that thou should
set in order things that are wanting, [ra Xs/Voi/ra, things left undone,]
and OEDAiN ELDEES in every city as I had appointed thee,'

(Titus i. 5.) ' I besought thee still to abide at Ephesus, (where were
many presbyters,) that thou charge some that they preach no other doc-
trine 'rraeayyuXrii riai fj-ri iTi^o5i5aa>iaX(iii : admonere quosdam ne doc-
trinam alienam a vera et pura rehgione Christiana ab apostohs tradita
invcherent. Schleusner. (1 Tim. i. 3, andvi. 3.) ' Against a presbyter
receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses,' (1 Tim.
V. 19.) 'If then to order things left undone; if to ordain presbyters in
every citij ; if to charge presbyters to preach sound doctrine; if to receive
accusations against presbyters ; — if all this does not prove that a bishop
is superior to presbyters, we know not by what facts superiority can be
proved, nor in what language superiority can be expressed.'

" Can the Reviewer be in earnest when he talks of this as most clearly
proving from the Scriptures the superiority of the Episcopal to the
Presbyterian office 1 We may be sure that this is all that he can find
to support his position ; but whether it most clearly proves his point, let
any candid reader judge. How does it prove the point ? This is not
stated, but I presume the force of proof Mes in this : Timothy was a
bishop, and ordained elders, and as the ordainer is superior to the

CONTEOVEESY.

179

ordainec/, therefore a bisliop is superior to a presbyter. But tliis is as-
sumption— assumption all, and not most clear proof. It is assumed, but
not proved, that Timothy and Titus were bishops, in tlie usual scriptural
sense of tlie term ; tlieir mission was clearly of an extraordinary nature,
and bad little in common witli the pastoral and episcopal office. Again,
it is assumed, that ordination necessarily infers superiority of office in
him who performs it. Is this the case in the Church of England ?
Virtually/ the king ordains aU the bishops and archbishops, — nominally
the dean and chapter elect, — and ceremonially bishops ordain bishops.
If the two archbishops deceased together, who would consecrate their
successors \ Let my friend's argument be resorted to for a solution of
the difficulty, or rather the circle of difficulties, with which he is now*
encompassed. Will he stiU maintain that the ordainer is necessarily
superior to the ordained % ' A\Tiy,' says Milton, ' should the performance
of ordination, which is a lower office, exalt a prelate % Yerily neither
the nature nor example of ordination doth any way reqiure an imparity
of character between the ordainer and the ordained ; for what more
natural than every Like to produce his like, man to beget man, fire to
propagate fire ; and in example of highest opinion, the ordauier is
inferior to the ordained ; for the pope is not made by the precedent
pope, but by cardinals, who ordain and consecrate to a higher and
greater office than their own.' But I refer to better authority than the
practice of the Vatican, I mean the practice of the apostles. If Timothy
was a bishop, then he was ordained by inferiors, for he was ' set apart
by the laying on of the hands of the presbyteiy.' Paul an apostle, and
Barnabas, were ordained to a special mission, by the prophets and
teachers of the church at Antioch. * And when they had fasted and
prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away,' (Acts xdii 3.)"

His special objections (Chap. IV.) to the Church of England are,
that she teaches that chUdren are regenerated by baptism ; that her
bishops have the power of conferring the Holy Ghost in the ordi-
nation of her ministers; that her priests have power to forgive
sins ; that all who die go to heaven, whatever their previous character.
Moreover, " the Church of England uses liturgical forms, which
we deem less edifying than extempore prayer ; and her Liturgy
abounds with vain repetitious." In his " Church Fellowship " he
had said, that "the Church teaches that her bishops have the
power of conferring the Holy Ghost in the confirmation of tlie
young this he retracts as an inadvertence.

The objection to the Burial Service is thus developed : —

180

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

" The question to be settled is this : — Is the burial service so framed
as to pronounce upon the eternal state of all who are interred, and does
it pronounce that they all go to heaven ? This can be decided by a
reference to the Prayer-book. We find there the following expressions :
— ' Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of His great mercy to
take unto Himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we com-
mit his body to the ground, in sure and certain hope of the resurrec-
tion to eternal life.' It is said by those who defend the Prayer-book,
that the words are not in sure and certain hope of Ids resurrection to
life eternal, Avho has been buried, but of the resurrection generally.
But let any man of candour say whether the latter part of the para-
graph is not connected with the former, and whether it is not intended
to apply to the individual whose body has been committed to the grave.
Why should it not 1 If God has in great mercy taken his soul to Him-
self, it is a matter of inevitable consequence that his body wiU obtain a
resurrection to eternal life. We find also the following expressions : —
" We give Thee hearty thanks that it hath pleased Tliee to deliver this OVR
BROTHER out of the miseries of this sinful world; we meekly beseech Thee,
0 Father, to raise us from a death of sin to a life of righteousness, that
when we shall depart this life we may rest in Ilim, as our hope is this our
brother doth.' Now, in all this there is a mode of speaking which leads,
so far as this service goes, to the conclusion, that all who die go to
heaven, whatever their previous character might have been. I do not
say the Church of England teaches this anywhere else, or teaches it
here in so many words ; but that the service is so framed as naturally
to lead to this conclusion. I speak of the impression in toto, of the
construction which every hearer naturally puts ; not of the absence of a
pronoun, but of the sentiment of the whole service respecting the buried
person. Do not the relatives of the deceased feel persuaded that the
clergyman has pronounced their departed friend to be a Christian ; and
consoled them with the assurance that he has gone to heaven, and that
they will meet him at the resurrection of the just 1 I again say, make
the experiment, ask the people whether this is not their view of the
meaning of the service. There are but three cases in which the church
refuses this solemn service of burial; viz., to those who die unbaptized,
to seK-murderers, and to those who are under the sentence of the
greater excommunication. To all others, let them die in what circum-
stances they may, the sixty-eighth canon commands the clergyman,
under pain of suspension, to grant the right of sepidture and the office
of burial. They may have died in a duel, or a pugilistic contest, or in
a brothel, or in a drunken fit at an alehouse ; — over every one of these
the Church orders the clergyman to say, that 'Almighty God of His
great mercy has taken to Himself the soul of this his brother,' and ' to give

COXTEOVEESY.

181

God hearty thanks, that it hath pleased Him to deliver him out of the
miseries of this sinful world ; ' and to pray, ' that the spectators of the
funeral, when they shall depart, may rest in Christ, as their hope is their
deceased brother doth.' And what is still more strange, the same man
on whom the church pronounces eternal damnation while h^ing for not
believing the Athanasian creed, she declares to be safe when he dies,
although his last breath should have been a declaration of Arian or
Socinian sentiments. Now, does not all this, in effect, teach the unre-
flecting multitude- that all men go to heaven, whatever may have been
their previous character 1 To what conclusion will the great mass come
who attend such a service 1 They know the life of the individual who
has been interred, if the clergyman does not ; they in many instances
know his dark and vicious career, and have seen him go out of life
without a single mark of piety ; and yet they have heard the Church,
through the medium of her minister, pronounce him to be safe in
heaven. ^Multitudes of the spectators of funerals, in consequence of
their neglect of public worship, hear no other office of the Church but
the matiimonial and the burial services ; and therefore are out of the
way of those wholesome instructions and checks to delusion which other
offices of the Church supply."

He thus concludes his indictment against the Prayer-book : —

" Such are some of the grounds on which, in reference to the Prayer-
book, Dissenters secede from the Estabhshed Church. — It is weU kno%vn
that every clergj-man is required, before he is admitted to a benefice, to
declare, exanimo, his behef ' that the Book of Common Prayer containeth
in it nothing contrary to the Word of God ; and at the same time to
declare his unfeigned assent and consent to everything contained therein.'
Some have argued that this unfeigned assent and consent which the Act
of Uniformity requires, relate only to the use of the things prescribed,
and not to the inward and entire approbation of them. That this,
however, is incorrect, is shewn not only from the language of the Act,
' unfeigned assent and consent,' but also from the decision of the legisla-
ture itself ; for on the final settlement, the year after the Act passed,
an attempt was made to give this latitudinarian intei-pretation of the
clause, but the effort faded, and the sense of the legislature was de-
clared to be that unfeigned assent and consent relates not only to the
use, but to the inward and entire approbation of whatever is contained
and prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer.

" The objectionable parts of this book, and its imposition by human
authority, formed originaUy almost the exclusive ground of Nonconfor-
mity. The great body of the two thousand holy men who were then
thrust out of the Church of England had no objection to an alliance of

182

LIFE OF JODN ANGELL JAMES.

the Churcli with the State, provided they were allowed to exercise their
own choice in the mode of conducting public worship. But so objec-
tionable did the Book of Common-prayer appear to them, at least to
those of them who had an opportunity of reading it before the time
prescribed for their signing, that rather than forswear themselves by
subscribing to that which they could not approve, they resigned their
livings, and cast themselves upon Providence for their support. That
which with some Dissenters constitutes the weakest ground of secession,
was with them almost the exclusive one. They became outcasts, exiles,
and prisoners ; and exposed themselves to all kinds of sufl'eiings, and
mockeries, and losses, rather than give their assent to that which they
did not believe. They consulted not with flesh and blood ; they
hearkened to no such reasoning as that in quitting the Established
Church they were putting a stop to their own usefulness, and extin-
guishing so many lamps of the sanctuary which were throwing their
light upon the moral darkness of the land. They were mighty men,
whose talents, equalled by their piety, would have adorned any com-
munion ; and wliile the Dissenters can mention the names of Owen,
Baxter, Howe, and Bates, with many others, they need not fear the
reproaches which may be cast on them by ignorance or prejudice."

The fifth chapter is on the present condition of the Church of
England as described in the recently published w^orks of several
of her pious clergy. Its severity is tempered by genuine sorrow
that such great evils should exist in a Christian community, but
will probably startle those who are unfamiliar with the literature
of the Dissenting controversy ; and it should be remembered that,
while some of the evils are inseparable from the system, a remark-
able change has taken place in the internal condition of the Church
of England since 1830 — a change to be traced to the rapid growth
of the Evangelical party, on the one hand, and to the religious
earnestness of the Anglo-Catholic party, on the other ; their com-
bined power has almost cleared the Church of those ministers whose
negligence and vices were so manifest a disgrace. The terrible
exposure in pamphlets, reviews, and speeches in Parliament of
ecclesiastical abuses, must also have contributed to the happy
change.

The chapter is principally composed of extracts from publica-
tions by clergymen of the English Church. It commences thus : —

COXTEOVERSY.

183

" I come now to that portion of the Reviewer's remarks which is
designed to give, from my own concessions, a frightful and revolting
picture of the evils of Dissent. These evUs are classed under seven
divisions, and are intended to produce an impression to the disadvan-
tage of Nonconformity. I shall not stop now to inquire into the fair-
ness of so representing exceptions as to convey the idea that they form
the general rule, but go on to lay before my readers an expose of the
state of the Establishment, which has been drawn up b}' some of its
most devoted supporters, and which therefore is furnished by men of
whose competency and motives there can exist no doubt. The)/ at least
cannot be suspected of bearing false witness against the Church ; their
testimony AviU be read without the suspicion usually awakened by the
deposition of an interested or irritated foe. To this part of my pam-
phlet I feel pecuUarly anxious to draw the attention of my readers,
whether they are Churchmen or Dissenters ; that the latter may learn
fi'om the writings of Episcopalians how strong are the reasons of Non-
conformity ; and the former be stirred up to seek with unwearied,
imdiscouraged zeal, the removal of evils so flagrant and afflictive. As
it regards my own feelings on this melancholy subject, I can truly aver,
that although no degree of reformation could reconcile me to a Church
which leans for support on the arm of secular power ; although in aU
probability such a reformation would remove the objections of many
Dissenters, and draw them back into the communion of the Church, and
thus weaken the cause of Nonconformity ; yet I should most truly
rejoice m the removal of those abuses, which not only strengthen the
grounds of Dissent, but are a grief to many pious and zealous Church-
men. I should haU the day when the Episcopacy would shine forth
with a radiance as pure and bright as such a system admits of ; when
these impediments to its usefidness would be taken out of its path, and
its career rendered as illustrious and successful in the spread of true
religion as the most devoted of its friends could desire. I trust that
without hy[)ocrisy or ostentation I may lay claim to that charity
which ' rejoiceth not in iniquity,' but rejoiceth in the truth ; and though
I cannot coniform to the Church, I feel that it woidd be no inconsist-
ency to say that I should at all times feel willing to join in efforts to
j-rform it."

The evidence is summed up in the following paragraphs : —

" Such is the picture of the Church of England as it now exists,
dra^vn by the faithfid pens of some of her own clergy ; for who else
could or would have drawn it so accurately ? They surpass all that
has ever proceeded from the Dissenters, and more than justify our
secession. Deeply must it be deplored by every friend of pure and

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

undefiled religion, whatever be his denomination, that so much evil
should be allowed to exist under the sanction of the Christian name.
Eecoiling with disgust and horror as Dissenters do from all association
with infidels in their attacks upon the institutions of the country,
whether civil or sacred, and refusing the most distant help from such
auxiliaries in their contest with the Church, they cannot but bewail
the occasion of boasting which these things afford to their common
enemy. Yet what an inference in their own favour may Dissenters
di'aw from such statements and confessions !

" If there be vestiges of Popery in the Church of England, — if there
be a want of due administration of the supreme presiding power, — if
the legislatorial jurisdiction be exercised by men whose want of reflec-
tion renders them incompetent for the task, — if the appointment of the
bishops be generally a matter of mere secular policy and cabinet
influence, without regard to spiritual qualifications, — if the revenues of
tlie cathedrals be lavished to aggrandise the pride and pamper the
luxury of the richest and best-provided members of the clerical profes-
sion,— if the archdeacons cannot dischai'ge their duties -without expos-
ing themselves to derision, — if the greater portion of the clergy are
ignorant, or worldly-minded, or profligate, or incompetent, and this be
the result of the easy access to holy orders, — if pluralities and non-
residence be so common that a large portion of the clergy perform their
duties by proxy, and thus occasion a mass of perjury to be committed,
— if churchwardens also are continually guilty of this a^vful crime, — if
there be this malignant and rancorous hostility carried on against the
evangelical portion of the clergy, and such hindrances thrown in the
way of their usefulness, — if the system of tithes be productive of so
much altercation, — if the patronage of the Church be so incurably
corrupt, — if the creeds, catechisms, and articles be all declared defec-
tive, and in some things obscure and seemingly contradictory,— if the
Apocrypha be read as the lessons of the Church, and ' nauseous gabble '
be substituted for Holy Scripture, — if the absolution in the visitation of
the sick have fallen in many cases into desuetude, because it claims a
power whicli the clergy tremble to use, — if the oflice for the burial of
the dead is a burden to the conscience of a great portion of the clergy,
— if the rubrics are vagme, defective, and contradictory, — if the arts of
evasion and sophistry have never been more notoriously developed
than in attempts to explain away the strictness of subscription to the
articles, liturgy, and homilies, — and if there be no hope of such evils
beiitg removed, — and if these evils and the hopelessness of any remedy
being applied to remove them be acknowledged by the clergy and
laity of the Church of England themselves, — then let them not wonder
that there are men whose minds are too enh'ghtened and their con-

COXTROVEESy.

science too tender to subscribe, as every beneficed clergyman must, and
every unbeneficed one does in efi'ect, in the face of such things, their
unfeigned assent and consent to everything contained in the Book of
Common-prayer ; nor let them wonder that such men should secede
from a communion in which the members and friends of it themselves
profess to see so many corruptions : and especially let them abstain
from reproaching them as restless, discontented, and factious schis-
matics, who have neither ground nor defence for their separation. We
find many of our reasons of dissent stated in the works from which I
have made such large extracts ; and we find them stated there ^\"ith a
force and boldness of language which we ourselves should certainly
have scrupled to employ. We measure not other men's judgments and
consciences by om* own ; which, however, cannot certainly be condemned
as remarkably squeamish or fastidious, merely because they cannot be
reconciled to a system which some of its most pious supporters confess
is disfigured by so many blemishes and tainted with so much cormp-
Mon. But even were these blemishes removed, and this inherent
corruption expurgated, which we have the authority of EpiscopaUau
writers for believing never will be done ; were the Church of England
as much reformed as its most holy and zealous friends could wish ;
were its Liturgy revised, and the defects of its creeds and catechisms
supplied, and all that is objectionable in its offices taken away ; — still
the intelligent and consistent Dissenter could not be conciliated and
drawn back to its communion : for his objection lies not merely against
the contents of its Prayer-book, but against its verj- constitution a-s a
Church established by law, allied to and supported by the secular power.
Of union there is therefore no hope. The Church must alter its fonn
as weU as its formularies, or we must abandon our convictions. One
party must yield not merely its prejudices but its principles, before a
coalition can be formed : this is not to be looked for, and therefore
instead of seeking after uniformity, which neither legal restraint nor
angry controversies can ever be expected to produce, let us now endea-
vour to obtain that unity of spirit, which is a thousand times more to
be coveted than a mere outward and heartless agreement, and which
will throw a brighter lustre over the Christian cause, by the very con-
sideration that it has force enough to resist the damping influence of
different sentiments and separate communions."

In reference to the evils which are to be foxmd in the Church of
England, and among Dissenters, as acknowledged by both parties,
he says : —

" First. — The evils which I have confessed are to be found in Dissenting

186

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES,

Churches, are exceptions from tlie rule by which their general state is to he
judged of, and not the rule itself.

" Instances are to be found — and taking them in the aggregate, not a
few — which answer to the portraiture in my volume; but no one
acquainted with our condition will believe that this is the usual posture
of our affairs, or the general aspect of Nonconformity. To select from
my book everything that was said in the frankness of candour, to tear
such passages from their context, to detach them from their scope and
design, and then to hold up this collation of facts as a fair specimen of
the general state of the whole body to which they refer, is not very
1 lir in the way of argument, nor very honourable in the way of charity.
Would it be fair to estimate the moral character of Ireland by the
scenes of St Giles's in our metropolis, or that of England by the assize
calendar and the state of our prisons, or the morals of our nobility or
gentry by the instances of profligacy which are admitted to exist, and
that not unfrequently, in the higher circles ; or the state of health in
our towns by the casualties and diseases which are to be found in our
hospitals ? Yet this may be done as fairly as to represent the practical
abuses of Dissenting principles as the usual condition of JSTonconformity.
Perhaps we could not find half-a-dozen congregations of my own de-
nomination in the three midland counties at this moment, but what
are in a state of profound tranquillity ; the ministers living in harmony
with their flocks, and their flocks hving in harmony among themselves.
Yet if half-a-dozen could be found, these would constitute a number
suflflciently large to justify the use of the language of lamentation,
rebuke, and strong representation on the part of a writer who was
laying the sins and duties of church members before them.

" Can these same remarks be apphed to the evils admitted to exist
in the Church of England 1 The evils, for example, of patronage,
pluralities, non-residence ; the secular influence of the crown or cabinet
in the appointment of the prelates, or the spiritual quahfications of
the clergy. I ask, if, according to the statements of Episcopalian
Avriters, the evil is not the rule, and the good the exception 1 I
appeal to the pages of the authors whose language I have quoted for an
answer to this question. What can be meant by such an ominous title
as ' The Church of England in Danger from ItseK,' but an admission
that the practical abuses are predominating above the practical benefits?
And is not the title borne out by the allegations of the volume ? Will
the Reviewer deny that there is a much smaller number of bishops
elevated to the bench for their spuitual fitness and truly apostoUcal
quahfications, than by mere cabinet or aristocratic influence, without
any regard to distinguished personal holiness, or even hterature 1 And
as to the inferior clergy, are the rehgious motives by which they are

CONTKOVEKST,

187

led to select their profession tlie rule, or the exception 1 Is eminent
piety, as a ground of presentation to a benefice and a means of prefer-
ment, the rule, or the exception 1 Are pluralities for the higher classes
of the clergy the rule, or the exception 1 The Church writers alluded
to so frequently boldly admit that evil is in these things the usual
practice, and good the deviation. And as to the Prayer-book itself, it
would be almost difBcult to decide, Mr Eiland himself being judge,
whether its excellencies or its blemishes predominate.

" Secondly. — T/ie evils wldch I have admitted as exiating amongst Dis-
senters are in ourselves, and not in our ecclesiastical opinions; ivhile the
evils existing in the Church of England are inherent in the system.

" So variously constituted are men's mental optics, and in such dif-
ferent hghts do they contemplate the same objects, that my opponent
contends for the very opposite of this proposition, and saj^s that the
evils of our system are inherent, whUe those of his own Church are
extraneous to it. Let us examine tliis point. One class of evils which
he charges upon us — or to put it with all possible fairness, which he
says I admit — is composed of those ordinary frailties of our nature and
sins of human conduct which are utterly irrespective of all systems of
church-government whatever ; such, for instance, as pride, irascibility,
tattling, backbiting, mischief-making, violations of the Sabbath by
travelling, feasting, vain conversation, &c. &c. That such things
really do exist among us it were idle and untrue to deny ; for in what
community do they not exist ? And to rebuke them was very proper
in one who, hke myself, was pointing out the duties and exposing the
misconduct of professing Christians. But what will be said of the
candour of a writer who would glean all such passages, put them
together, and hold them up as a part of a picture of Dissent — as, in
fact, its personification 1 Did he not blush over his own sentences, or
write them with a faltering hand 1 Such efforts may serve the pur-
poses of a party, but not the cause of trutk And, then, as to the evils
which more immediately connect themselves iciih the operations of Dissent-
ing principles, we may affirm that they are more, far more, in ourselves
than in our system. What are these evils 1 Collision of opinion on
important matters, and that conflict of feeling which is its too frequent
and its somewhat natural result ; a desire after pre-eminence ; a love
of dictation ; a want of just subordination ; — these are the causes, i. e.,
the operations of the depravity of our nature which agitate our
churches and bring in di%dsions amongst us, while our principles and
practices as Dissenters are but the occasions of such abuses. The same
evils exist in every association of human counsel and energy and
operation. They are to be seen in every society, in every committee
of a civil and secular nature. It is in human nature to be proud,

1S8

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

selfish, domineering ; and as tlie members of a Christian church are
still imperfect, it is not to be wondered at that these signs and opera-
tions of imperfection should be exhibited by them in their ecclesiastical
capacity and relation to each other. But it would be as fair to trace
up the bribery and corruption practised at our elections to the repre-
sentative system, or all the jobs and tricks and unconstitutional
influence sometimes practised by a corrupt administration to the
sj'stera of monarchy and royal prerogative, as the evils of Dissenters
to Nonconformist principles. That our principles give occasion to
such things, in consequence of our imperfect nature, is very true. But
they are not the cause of them. The gospel itself is exposed in all its
great doctrines to a similar abuse. It is especially worthy of remark, as
strikingly confirmatory of the scriptural support of our system, that
the churches planted by the apostles, and addressed by them in their
inspired letters, are supposed to be saints, — men acknowledging the
authority of Christ and professedly governed by His laws, men with
whom humility and love and meekness are cardinal virtues. For such
men the system of union, upon the ground of voluntary consent, seems
eminently adapted ; it gives an opportunity for the operation and
exhibition of their appropriate graces, and under the influence of these
graces would be productive of notliing but good. The election of our
pastors and deacons by the people, and the admission of the people by
each other, seem to be things so rational in themselves, and so easily
managed upon the acknowledged principles of the Christian character,
that they are not to be surrendered because of the abuses to which
they are incident by the imperfection of our nature. And as the evil
is in us, but not in our system, our great business is to improve our
own hearts; which, were it done more perfectly than it is in the
management of our church afifairs, would immediately deprive Dissent
of that which invests it with so much deformity in the eyes of its
enemies. Wc do not pretend that our system is absolutely perfect ; but
we contend that most of the obloquy with wliich it has been loaded
belongs to human nature, and is to be added to the melancholy proofs
of human depravity.

" Examine now the evils of the Church of England. And what, hy
the confession of its candid, pious, and enhghtened friends, are these
evils 1 Patronage is admitted by them all to be the great corruption :
that which extends its polluting influence from the head to the remotest
extremity ; which corrupts it in mass and in detail. It is the caput
mortuum of the ecclesiastical body into which all subsides. But will
any one contend that this is extraneous ? I ask if a State Church ca-r
ever be separate and secure from State influence 1 Supported by tb
power and fostered by the bounties of the State, it will ever, and natu

CONTROVERSY.

189

rally enougli, both from principles of policy and feelings of gratitude,
jdeld itself, more or less, to tliat v?liicli creates and sustains it. As
long as the king is the head of the Church — and this must be as long as
the Church alliance remains — the whole hierarchy must be a ' compact
and united form, composing a chain of various links which hang sus-
pended from the throne.' How much, then, depends, in this view of
the case, upon the moral and spiritual qualities of that royal mind with
which rests the appointment of the primate and all the prelates ! But,
in fact, it does not depend on him ; for the mainspring of the EngUsh
Church is in the cabinet, and the disposal of the higher offices is as
much, and as certainly, the result of cabinet discussion, or the effect of
ministerial influence, as the disposal of offices in the army and navy. If
half the bench were to be desolated by death the next year, who would
deny that the hero of Waterloo, were he still premier, would have the
destinies, for the time being, of the Church of England in his hand ?
Nothing less than a divorce of the Church from the State could alter
this state of things, or prevent the ecclesiastical system from being an
engine of the secular power. The weaker party must ever be subservient
to the stronger. The Church has lost the only shadow of independence
it ever had, by the reduction of its convocation to a mere name and a
mockery. And then go to the inferior clergy. Is not the patronage of
almost all the livings in the kingdom in hands which nothing less than
a miracle can render fit to employ it wdth spiritual advantage to the
Church 1 About five thousand of these, as I have already remarked — that
is, about half — are in the gift of the nobihty and gentry of the country,
who, of course, look to them as a means of providing for their younger
sons, rewarding their friends and favourites, or impro\dng their own
means by the sale of advowsons. Thus, full half of the livings of the
Church are at this moment interwoven with the private property of the
country ; and together with the congregations and cure of souls with
which they are connected, may be put up at any time to auction, and
sold, with the immortal interests involved in them, to the highest
bidder. Is this, or is it not an evil ? If so, is it inherent, or extrane-
ous ? It is so inherent, I will affirm, that by nothing short of a revolu-
tion, which no Churchman could contemplate without horror, could it
be removed. It -^Cill not do to say, in reply to all this, that the Church
could exist, even if these things were altered ; for we are not now
speaking of such a church establishment as we could frame for Utopia,
but of such an one as does now exist in this country, and we are
speaking of that as it is, with all the abuses which its best friends must
know to be remediless. The alliance with the State is the great evil,
and the proHfic source of many others, and which, as long as it remains,
must inevitably corrupt it as a system of religious instruction, and

190

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAJIES.

render it to a considerable extent an engine of secular policy. In spite
of aU these evils so justly complained of, its pious clergy, holier and
more efficient than their system, may do immense good, as is eminently
the case in the present day : but the evils themselves must remain, for
they are inherent and inseparable ; they are a disease in the ecclesiasti-
cal body, which no medicaments can reach, no skiU can eradicate ; which
must continue to fester and burn thi-ough the frame, impairing its
health, and enervating its strength ; and in reference to which, its
more enlightened and candid friends must admit that the only hope
they have is, that the stimulus supplied by the present accession of
evangelical ministers will invigorate its constitution, form a moral anti-
septic to resist the progress of decay, and still enable it to continue a
little longer a blessing to the land. But in the meantime let them
turn their attention to the diseased system they are prolonging, the
immense good they are preventing, and the boundless evils which they
are upholding and promoting."

He also maintains that while the evils connected with Dissent
are extraneous, its benefits are inherent ; and that the very opposite
is the case in the Church of England, as admitted by her own
writers : that the abuses of Dissent are strikingly analogous to the
irregularities and disorders which existed in the apostolical
churches, and which are mentioned so frequently and with such
minuteness of detail in the epistles of St Paul : that the abuses
connected with the principles and practice of Nonconformity admit
of easy correction, reformation, and removal ; but that the abuses
of the Church of England are almost beyond the reach of reform.

" As our evils are manifestly those of our nature, rather than of our
system, we have only to begin a work of personal reformation, which is
always within our reach, and by the aid of Divine grace is always
attainable by our .efforts. We need tarry for no decrees of ecclesias-
tical courts, for no acts of parliament, for no orders of the king in
council The gospel method and ours is a self-adjusting apparatus;
easily reparable, because so simple — fitted to all cu-cumstances, aU times,
and aU places. It never becomes absolute or powerless. We have in
the New Testament an infaUible rule, very near at hand, by which to
conduct the business of improvement ; and in the authority of Jesus
Christ we have a tribunal which is final and decisive. Here is bahn for
our wounded churches, and a Physician to apply it. We need no foreign
power, which in all cases is itself tardy, faUible, and corrupt ; we have
only to ask, 'What saith the Lord?' and then, after receiving the

COXTROVEESY.

191

response of the oracle, to apply the remedy. Our general system may
not be so absolutely perfect, but the fault lies more in the irregular
action or flaws of particular parts, than in any derangement or bad con-
struction of the whole machine. AVhen evils do arise and operate for
a wlule, they are generally removed in the end. In most instances, as
is known to those who are at all conversant with Dissenting afl'airs,
the caiises which for a season have interrupted the harmony of particu-
lar churches, and produced collision of feeUng, have given way to the
influence of time and Christian charity, and weeks or montks of agita-
tion and discord have been succeeded by many years of the most de-
lightful tranquillity and prosperity. Christian principle has recovered
its elasticity ; Ihe depressing and resisting force has been removed ; and
the church, taiight by sad and humiliating experience -to be cautious,
has remained both harmonious and happy.

" But are the abuses connected with the Establishment thus easily
removed ? The clergj-men who admit their existence are caUing loudly
for their removal Reform in the Church has become a topic of dis-
cussion, if not as extensive, yet as earnest, in the circle in which it
is mooted, as reform in Parliament ; and that circle is, of course, within
the Church itself. It is from within the Establishment that these
ominous sounds are heard, not from without. The books on Chiu-ch-
reform have been published by clergymen themselves ; who, while they
admit the existence of evils so numerous and so flagrant, look round,
after aU, with a kind of hopeless though imploring cry for help : they
know not to whom to apply for assistance, or in what way it is to be
granted. Various remedies are suggested, and different plans of heal-
ing laid down : but their adoption is utterly hopeless ; and if not, they
would not meet the case."

He is not, however, blind to the glories of the English ChurcL
In his closing advice to Dissenters, he says : —

" In our conduct towards the Estallishment from icldch ive separate,
let us cherish the influence and display the fruits of Christian charity.
Let us not look at it with the jaundiced eye of prejudice, and profess
to find in it nothing but one great mass of unmixed and unchecked
corruption, which, diu-ing the progress of decay, is filling the atmosphere
of religion with pestilential exhalations. That its constitution is un-
scriptural we believe ; or why are we Dissenters ? But with miich to
condemn in this ^'iew of it, we may in others find something to admire.
Although its basis is unsound, its superstructure is magnificent. Its
scriptural doctrines are the themes with which Luther and Cranmer
and Cabin and Knox assailed the Papacy and efl'ected the Reformation ;
its di\ines have covered its altars with works more precious than the

192

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JABIES.

finest gold of tlie ancient sanctuary of Israel ; its literature is the boast
and glory of the civilised world ; its armoury is filled with the weapons
of ethereal temper which its hosts have wielded, and with the spoils
they have won in the conflict with iufideHty, Popery, and heresy ; its
niartyrology is emblazoned with names dear and sacred to every Pro-
testant ; and at the present moment are to be heard from many hun-
dreds of its pulpits truths, at the sound of wliich, accompanied as they
are by the hfe-giving power of the quickening Spirit, the dead in tres-
l^asses and sins are starting into Hfe, and exhibiting a people made
wOhng in the day of His power, which shall be as the dew of the
morning. All this I for one most wiUingly concede, and only regret
that so much excellence should be united with what I must be allowed
to call, and Churchmen themselves have taught us to caU, so much cor-
ruption. And should the Church be destined to fall, may its humilia-
tion never be effected by the rude hands of the sons of anarchy, nor by
the violence of pohtical convulsion, nor by the confederacies of scheming
speculators ; but by the diffusion of those mild and holy principles of
Christian truth, meekness, and love which shaU conduct its members
back to the simphcity of pentecostal times, when beUevers were united
upon the ground of voluntary consent, and were of one mind and one
heart ; and may its requiem be sung, not by the voices and amidst the
orgies of a -n-ide-spread and triumphant infideHty, but by a Christian
nation, enhglitened to perceive by correct reasoning, and so far sancti-
fied as to feel by satisfactory experience that the Bible, and the Bible
alone, ■nithout the aid of the civil magistrate or the support of the
secular arm, is sufficient to sustain the Church of Christ amidst all its
difficulties, and to conduct it to final victory over all its foes. As Dis-
senters, we must be candid as weU as conscientious. Let us avoid
that bigotry in ourselves which we condemn in others ; especially let
us delight and bless God for the increasing piety of the Church of
England, and feel it our duty as weU as our happiness to enter into all
those religious associations which the public institutions of the present
day afford us for co-operation with those who differ from us on these
minor points. Let us dissent only where we must, and unite where
we can. Let us recognise piety wherever we find it, nor allow our
principles as Dissenters to cliiU the ardour of our emotions as Christians.
If we cannot have uniformity of order, let us have unity of spirit ; and
recollect tliat it is better to be of one heart, than even in aU things to
be of one mind."

Finally, he appeals to the candour and good-will of Episco-
palians : —

" As it respects the conduct of EpiscoiJidians towards Dissenters, we

CONTEOVEESY.

]93

ask notliing but candour and good wilL We liave suffered contumely, and
hatred, and misrepresentation enough to provoke any degree of hosti-
lity, and exhaust any measure of charity, and these, not unfrequently,
from individuals in whom such conduct was most imseemly, and least
to have been expected. If we are occasionally betrayed into expres-
sions of warmth and irritation, which will hardly bear the test of the
high-toned morality of a religion that requires us to bless those that
curse us, perhaps our excuse, if anything could excuse the least viola-
tion of Christian meekness, may easily be found in the pages of many
wTiters, both clergymen and laymen, poetical and prosaic, who seem to
regard it a proof of good churclunanship to insult and abuse the Dis-
senters. We sometimes smile at the harmless fulminations of ex
cathedrd or ex rostro scorn and displeasure with which we are assailed ;
but they do not hurt us : amidst aU we go on, and go on our way re-
joicuig. Om- numbers ought to be sulEcient to protect us from con-
tempt ; and though excluded from the universities, and denied access
to the national fountains of literature, by a bigoted and narrow-minded
policy, and thus left to pro\'ide as we can for the education of our ovax
ministry, we have among us some, who, in the departments of BibUcal
criticism, the Greek and Hebrew languages, systematic theology, and
English literature, would be referred to as splendid ornaments of any
church. At any rate there is one thing which entitles us to the grati-
tude and respect of all who prefer constitutional freedom to despotic
authority : for David Hume himself, ' a competent witness, if there
ever was one, of political principles, and who was far from being par-
tial to Dissenters, candidly confesses, that to them we are indebted for
the preservation of hberty.'

" Desirous of living in the good-will of our neighbours, we ask for
just so much esteem as our conduct entitles us to, and no more : and
as to our principles, ihei/ are matters between God and our souls, which
we have placed in the sanctuary of o\ir heart, under the guardianship
of our conscience, and allow no man to meddle with : which we love
and value, notwithstanding the incidental evils with which it is our
unhappiness to see them sometimes associated ; which inspire us with
no iU-will to those who differ from us, and disqualify us for none of the
duties of social life, none of the operations that are carried on for the
temporal or eternal welfare of mankind ; which we pubhcly profess,
and unblushingly avow, amidst the wonder of the ignorant, the suspi-
cion of the crediilous, and the sneer of the scornful : which we have
inherited from martyrs, and for which, shoidd God call us to the trial,
we hope we should find grace to accept and wear the crown of martyr-
dom ourselves : but which we are ready, notwithstanding our present
convictions and attachment, to surrender to any one who wiU prove
N

194.

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

tliem to be contrary to the Word of God. In ceasing to be Dissenters
we should have no sacrifices to make, no persecution to endure, no
cross to take up ; these things lie all on the other side. Dissent, if it
be a sin, is neither a courtly nor a gainful one. So far its motives are
beyond suspicion. Our principles cost us much money and much
respect, wliich we should save by entering within the pale of the Esta-
bUshment : and at the same time we should lose the ungracious charac-
ter of separatists, and get rid of the unmerited name of schismatics.
We shoiild, at any rate, try our fortune in the ' lottery of ecclesiastical
prizes,' and the career of Church preferment. We are neither stoics
nor ascetics ; we do not profess to be in love with poverty and reproach,
though quite willing to endure both for conscience' sake. We are open
to conviction, and wiU hearken to reason : but are never likely to be
converted by the hectoring and contempt, the dogmatism and arrogance
of either the evangelical or auti-evangelical members of any hierarchy
upon earth. Although we contend for Dissent, our desire is to be van-
quished by the truth ; and if these two can be shewn to be at variance,
we are quite prepared to surrender the former. But the man who
wo\ild lead us back to the Church of England, must not meet us with
the words of Hooker, but with the New Testament ; he must not con-
fide in that measure of dialectic skill or critical refinement, which may
suffice to convict of many errors in style and logic so humble an advo-
cate of Nonconformity as myself, but let him direct the weight of his
artillery against our great position, that the Woed of God is the

SOLE AND SUFFICIENT AUTHORITY IN MATTERS OF RELIGION ; let llim

impeach our argirment, and not our style of writing, lest we should ask
the question, so little to the credit of Episcopalian charity, who is it
that excludes us from the seats of learning, and then mocks our igno-
rance— and lest the world should shrewdly infer that our adversaries
find our rhetoric more vulnerable than our reasoning: he must not
only prove, if prove he could from my concessions, that Dissenters are
guilty of many things inconsistent with their own principles, but he
must demonstrate, and nothing less than this will give him the victory,

THAT AN ALLIANCE OF THE ChUECH OF ChEIST WITH THE SECULAR
POWER IS SANCTIONED BY THE AUTHORITY AND ACCORDS WITH THE

GENIUS OP Christianity ; that diocesan Episcopacy, founded on

THE SUPERIORITY OF BISHOPS TO ELDEES, IS OF APOSTOLIC ORIGIN AND
APPOINTMENT ; AND THAT THE BoOK OF COMMON-PEAYER CONTAINETH
NOTHING CONTRARY TO THE WoRD OF GoD. UntU this is prOVcd,

nothing is done ; and when this is demonstrated, the grounds of Dissent
are taken away, and Dissent itself wiU in all probability be abolished
for ever."

CONTROVEESy.

195

I repeat, that there is no reason to suppose that any of these
opinions were ever abandoned by Mr James. That his heart
yearned for close and affectionate communion with the spiritual
members of the Church of England — that he earnestly promoted
every scheme for fraternal intercourse — that he was lavish in his
expressions of love and honour for those clergymen in whose
devoutness and generosity of spirit and ministerial labours he
rejoiced to recognise the very presence of the Holy Ghost, and that
he shrank more and more from public antagonism to the Churcli
of England as the Establishment controversy gave place to conflicts
for the central principles of evangelical religion, is true.

Indeed, antagonism of every kind was a terror to him during
his later years ; it was his fixed resolve to live peaceably with all
men. But his autobiographical account of this pamphlet is a
virtual expression of his opinion, that it is no breach of Christian
charity to speak and write strongly in defence of Dissent, and
against tliose evils of the Establishment which render Dissent a
duty.

The discussion cannot cease. If Churchmen and Dissenters no
longer wrote or spoke about the great questions by which they are
separated, their silence would only prove, either that they were in-
diflFerent to their ecclesiastical principles, or that, desiring to cherish
fraternal affection, they had not sufficient confidence in each other's
charity to believe that it could withstand the wind and storm of
controversy.

But that charity is very spurious and contemptible which would
be destroyed by frankness and honesty. The peace which some
good men have tried to secure is a truce between foes — not the
cordial confidence of friends. If a Dissenter cannot cordially love
a Churchman, who is clothed in the integrity, gentleness, and
devoutness of Christ, and yet desires to perpetuate the political
relations of the Established Church, approves her polity, regards her
services with veneration, almost with awe, and openly and vigorously
maintains his convictions, the Dissenter has no right to speak of
his charity ; and if a Churchman cannot cordially love a Dissenter,
who manifestly loves Christ and keeps His commandments, though

19G

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAI^IES.

he desires to terminate the alliance between the civil and ecclesi-
astical powers, objects to the constitution of the Church, objects to
her services, and without apology or concealment, employs all his
energies to translate his convictions into facts, the Churchman has
no right to speak of his charity.

Christians of different churches must have forgotten the gran-
deur of the objects of their common faith and love, to fear that
frankness in debating their ecclesiastical differences will separate
their hearts. Is it true that myriads of Churchmen and
myriads of Nonconformists have prostrated themselves before
the same merciful God, uttering the same bitter confessions of
wrongdoing, pleading the same promises of free forgiveness and
eternal life for Christ's sake, and have aU testified that their fears
and misgivings fled when they learnt that the same mysterious
and awful death was the atonement for their sia ? Is it true that
not a day passes without every one of them looking up with joy
into the same glorious face, clinging with confidence to the same
mighty Hand — that in sorrow they are all consoled by the same
Comforter, and that in death they hope to be upheld by bright
visions of the same immortal home? If so, their ecclesiastical
differences, however earnestly they are debated, need not, and
ought not, to chill their nmtual affection, or interfere with their
fellowship in Christian work and worship. It is a calumny on
that love of the brethren, by which we know that we are the sons
of God, to say that differences like these must be concealed, or
our mutual affection must perish. A compromise founded on
silence, is a fraudulent imitation of that charity which is the gift
of the Holy Ghost.

CHAPTER VII.

F0R5IATI0N OF THE CONGREGATIONAL UNION.

" Whatever importance," writes IMr James, in " an account of a
few of the more remarkable incidents of my ministerial life," at
the close of his Autobiography, "whatever importance attaches to
the Congregational Union, I was one of its original projectors.
When some of my seniors felt grave objections to this confedera-
tion, as containing a germ of mischief in the way of an organised
controlling body, I thought their fears groiuidless, and went into
the association with my whole heart. I well remember that excel-
lent and wise man, Mr Griffin, of Portsea, taking me aside at one
of its first meetings to discuss the project, and saying to me, 'I
see you wiU have much influence in the formation and guidance of
this Union, I hope you will be very careful what you do.' By
this he evidently thought there was some danger ' looming in the
distance.' "

Mr Griffin's apprehensions were shared by very many ; and it is
rather curious, now that a quarter of a century has gone by, to
look upon the exaggerated alarms and the exaggerated hopes with
which the Union was originally regarded. The battle was fought
in the columns of the World newspaper, and of the Congregational
Magazine, both of which have been extinct for many years. It
was alleged that the scheme threatened the equality of pastors and
the independence of churches. " It is for us to profit by the past.

198

LITE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Episcopacy arose out of the presidency of the more influential
men in the assemblies of presbyters holding equal rank ; and the
churches lost their internal rights by appealing to the wisdom of
such assemblies. Metropolitans next claimed priority of provincial
bishops. Patriarchates were at length erected, and the pastoral
chair of a single church became, in the end, a throne lifted high in
supremacy over all the churches. Hierarchies have sprung from
the most inconsiderable beginnings."*

An objection hardly less grave was, that the project would
constitute the Independents an organised community, that all the
afBliated churches would become responsible for the purity of
discipline and doctrine of every individual church belonging to
the Union, and for the orthodoxy and Christian character of every
minister and every delegate. It was declared that although the
promoters of the Union might disclaim the authority and power
of a court of appeal, it would inevitably assume and exercise the
prerogatives it repudiated.

" On what principle," writes one, " are the churches to be admitted into
union 1 Shall every separate society bearing the designation of an inde-
pendent church be entitled to admission t Then how many communities,
from which, in our separate state, we have been compelled by conscience
to withhold fellowship, will be incorporated 1 This is too starthng a
proposition to be entertained. But what, I ask, shall be the rule of
admission 1 What symbol of orthodoxy shall be proposed 1 And
what tribunal shall be erected to decide the question of Christian
purity t And supposing the Union happily organised, and every diffi-
culty overcome, is the Church, once united, to be considered as bearing
an indehble character 1 Is the seal of incorporation never to be broken 1
Should error insinuate itself, or should an unholy ministry be tolerated,
what steps shaU the national union take 1 Unless we are to give the
sanction of the incorporated body to every such case of error or immor-
ahty, an investigation must be instituted, and a court of inquiry must
be erected ; evidence must be received on the one side, and appeal
cannot be refused on the other. In cases also of division, although
your correspondent can scarcely conceive of the ignorance that would
appeal to the Union, I cannot conceive how appeal is to be avoided :
should division of feehng issue in the formation of a separate church,
such an investigation must take place as shall determine whether the

* Congregational Marjazine, 1831, p. 95.

FORMATION OF THE CONGREGATIONAL UNION.

199

separating community is to be recognised or rejected ; that is to say,
■whether it shall be authoritatively pronounced a true church, or visited
with sentence of excommunication."

On the other hand, it was urged that the isolation of the Inde-
pendent churches of England had enfeebled their evangelistic
eflPorts, and seriously hindered the full and public assertion of
their ecclesiastical principles ; that the ministers and churches
were ignorant of each other, and that mutual acquaintance would
promote mutual sympathy and help ; that only by a " Union "
could fraternal intercourse be maintained with Congregational
churches and other bodies of Christians throughout the world ;
that the Union would procure accurate statistical information
relative to the Congregational churches of England and of other
countries ; might assist in the extension of Congregationalism
through the colonies of the British Crown ; miglit not only
"inquire into the present method of collecting funds for the
erection of places of worship," but might "consider the practi-
cability of introducing some improved plan ; " might assist in
maintaining and enlarging the civil rights of Protestant Dissenters.
The fears of those who predicted evil, were answered by appealing
to Scotland, in which for eighteen years a Congregational Union
had existed without interfering with the independence of the
churches ; and to New England, where CongregationaUsts had
been very completely organised from the earliest years of their
history, and had even found that independency was practically
maintained, although the associations had apparently ^'iolated the
essential principles of the Independent polity, by entertaining and
determining appeals from the confederated churches.

Mr James was among those who believed that the Union might
be productive of great good, and that the evils apprehended would
prove altogether imaginary. In the autumn of 1830, a meeting
of the ministers of Stafford, Worcester, and Warwick, who were
attending the anniversary services of the London Missionary
Society in Birmingham, was held in Carr's Lane vestry, and they
formally expressed their approval of the project. In May 1831,
at a meeting of delegates, ministers, and officers of churches, in

200

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

the Congregational Library, Finsbury Circus, London, " to con-
sider the subject of a General Congregational Union," Mr James
moved, " That it is highly desirable and important to estabKsh a
Union of Congregational churches throughout England and Wales,
founded on the broadest recognition of their own distinctive prin-
ciples, namely, the scriptural right of every separate church to
maintain perfect independence in the government and adminis-
tration of its own particular affairs."

At the adjourned meeting, the resolution, having been revised
and expanded, was finally passed in the following form : — " That
it is highly desirable and important to establish a Union of Con-
gregational churches and ministers throughout England and
Wales, founded on a full recognition of their own distinctive
principles, namely, the scriptural right of every separate church
to maintain perfect independence in the government and adminis-
tration of its own particular affairs ; and therefore, that the Union
shall not in any case assume legislative authority, or become a
court of appeal." A provisional committee, in compliance with
the instructions of the meeting, drew up a report of the proceed-
ings, and transmitted it, with a circular letter, to the officers of the
county associations throughout England. The documents were
also addressed to the secretaries of the Congregational Union of
Scotland and Ireland ; to the Board of Congregational Ministers
in London and its vicinity; to the officers of the Congregational
Unions and Associations in New England ; to the missionaries
professing Congregationalism at Calcutta, Madras, in South Africa,
and certain islands in the South Seas ; and to the editors of the Con-
gregational and Evangelical magazines. Criticism on the plan was
invited, and information likely to be interesting to its promoters.

In May 1832, upwards of eighty ministers and twenty-five
lay delegates met in the same place to consider the letters
which had been received in rej)ly to their communications, and
it appeared that out of thirty-four English county associations
twenty-six were most fervently disposed to the Union, "four
declined for the present," from the remaining four no answer had
been received. Mr James moved the adoption of the report of

FOEMATION OF THE CONGREGATIONAL UNION.

201

the provisional committee, and its ado2:ition was immediately
followed by a resolution declaring that a "General Union of
Congregational churches and ministers throughout England and
Wales ' BE NOW FORMED.' " Later in the morning he introduced
a paper containing a declaration of the Principles of Faith and
Order of the Congregational body, "drawn up by an individual
at the request of several brethren in town and country." * The
paper was read, and at the adjourned meeting it was resolved —

" That this meeting respectfully invite the opinion of the associ-
ated ministers and churches on the following questions : — Whether,
in accordance with the example of our Nonconformist ancestors, it
be desirable to present to the public a declaration of the leading
articles of our faith and discipline ? and whether, if it be deemed
desirable, that declaration should be made by such a statement as
the following, which has been read, but not discussed, in the
meeting of the Union, subject to such modifications as may be sug-
gested and generally agreed on at the next annual meeting?"

Also — " That the committee be instructed to prepare a letter to
accompany the proposed declaration, carefully stating its object
to be the communicating of information to the public, on the
doctrines generally held and maintained by the Congregational
denomination, at a period when so much ignorance and misre-
presentation prevail upon those subjects."

There was reason for apprehending that by this " Declaration "
the whole scheme might be wrecked. Independents had been so
long struggling against enforced subscription to articles and creeds
as the condition of enjoying civil rights and church communion,
that the very name of a Confession of Faith excited the gravest fears.
And yet in earlier times it was no uncommon thing for our fathers
to repel the slanders and correct the misapprehensions of enemies
by " declaring " their faith. " Independents have never held the
unlawfulness of publishing declarations, or expositions of their ex-
isting sentiments and practices ; and if this be all that is meant
by Confession of Faith, it is wrong to represent them as enemies
to them. But these public formularies are generally viewed in a

* Conr/rcQational Magazine, 1832, p. 381.

202

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

very different light. They are used as standards and tests by
which the faith and orthodoxy of the present and future genera-
tions are to be tried, and to which a solemn subscription on oath
is required, binding the subscriber to abide all his life in the
principles thus professed. This, when extending to a large book
of human composition, when made a test of character, a qualifi-
cation for office, and an evidence of unity, is what Independents
object to ; as what the law of Christ does not enjoin, what has
never promoted the peace, purity, or unity of the Church, and
what has powerfully retarded the progress of truth." *

Mr Orme, from whose life of Ovv^en this extract is taken,
enumerates several Confessions of Faith which were issued by
both sections of the Independents, Baptists and Paedobaptists, from
1596 to 104)8. But the most important document of this kind
was that which was adopted by the Savoy Conference in 1658.

Cromwell, shortly before his death, reluctantly granted permis-
sion for the holding of an assembly of "elders and messengers
from the Congregational (Pcedobaptist) churches of England and
Wales," and on the 29th of September about two hundred, repre-
senting one hundred churches, met at the Savoy, and their deliber-
ations lasted a whole fortnight. Owen and Goodwin, Nye, Caryl,
and Greenhill were prominent in the discussions. In the preface
to their Declaration, said to have been written by Owen, it is
said : — " We confess that from the very first all, or at least the
generality, of our churches have been in a manner like so many
ships — though holding forth the same general colours — launched
singly, and sailing apart and alone on the vast oceans of these
tumultuous times, and exposed to every wind of doctrine, under
no other conduct than that of the Word and Spirit, and their
particular elders and principal brethren, without associations
among themselves, or so much as holding out common lights to
others whereby to know where they were. But yet, while we
thus confess to our shame and neglect, let all acknowledge that
God has ordered it for His greater glory, in that His singular
care and power should have so watched over each of these as that

* Orme's Life of Owen, p. 228.

FORMATION OP THE CONGREGATIONAL UNION. 203

all should be found to have steered their course by the same chart,
and to have been bound for one and the same port ; and that, ui^on
the general search now made, the same holy and blessed truths
of all sorts, which are current and warrantable among the other
churches of Christ in the world, should be found to be our
lading." *

Nearly one hundred and eighty years after this, the ministers
and delegates of the Congregational churches of England and
Wales rejoiced in the same general concurrence of belief among
the churches they represented ; and the Declaration of Faith
and Order, prepared by Dr Eedford, of Worcester, and presented
to the meeting in the Congregational Library by Mr James, is
believed still to represent the convictions of the churches and
ministers adhering to the Union. This document is of sufficient
importance, as illustrating Mr James's theological and ecclesiastical
opinions, to require a place in this volume. I give the original
paper presented by him to the Union in 1832 ; some of its details
have since been slightly altered. The prehminary notes were
prefixed by the secretaries on issuing the Declaration to obtain
on it the judgment of the churches : —

" DECLARATION.

" The Congregational Psedobaptists of England and Wales hold the
following doctrines as of Divine authority, and as the foundation of
Christian faith and practice. They also form and govern their churches
accorduig to the principles hereinafter stated: —

" PRELIMINARY NOTES.

" 1. It is not designed, in the foUowdng summary, to do more than
state the leading doctrines of faith and order maintained by the denomi-
nation of Christians in question.

" 2. It is not proposed to offer any proofs, reasons, or arguments, in sup-
port of the doctrines herein stated, but simply to declare what the
denomination at large beheves to be taught by the pen of inspiration.

" 3. It is not intended to present a scholastic or a-itical confession of
faith, but merely such a statement as any intelligent member of the
body might offer as containing the leading principles of the denomina-
tion.

* Orme's Life of Owen, p. 231.

20i

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES,

" 4. It is not intended that the following statement should be put
forth with any authority, or as the result of a general and critical dis-
cussion of the doctrines professed.

" 5. It is not to be understood that the particular wording of the
following statement has been approved by the whole body, but that
it is merely the language of an individual, and approved in the main
by those who submit it as a declaration of what is beheved and prac-
tised throughout the Congregational denomination.

" 6. Disallowing, as they do, the utility of creeds and articles of
religion as a bond of union, and protesting against subscription to
any human formularies as a term of communion, they are yet wiUing to
declare, for general information, what all beUeve in common ; reserving
to every one a right of explanation, and the most perfect liberty of con-
science.

" 7. They deprecate the use of the following statement as a stan-
dard to which assent should be required, though they have no doubt
as to the general prevalence of these principles throughout their
churches.

" 8. Upon some minor points of doctrine and practice they charit-
ably differ among themselves, allowing to each other what each claims
from the whole — the right to form an unbiassed judgment of the Word
of God ; but yet, agreeing most cordially and generally in maintaining
the great doctrines herein declared.

" 9. They wish it to be observed, that notwithstanding their jeal-
ousy of subscription to creeds and articles, and their general disapproval
of the imposition of any human standard, they are far more agreed in
their doctrines and practices than any church which enjoins subscription,
and enforces a human standard of orthodoxy ; and they believe it may
be confidently affirmed, that there is no minister and no church among
them that would deny the matter of any one of the following doctrines
of religion : each might prefer to state his sentiments in his own way
and in his own words, but the statement of each, if taken separately,
would be found in substance to contain the following fundamental
truths : —

" PRINCIPLES OF EELIGION.

" 1. The Scriptures of the Old Testament, as received by the Jews, and
the books of the New Testament, as received by the primitive Christians
from the evangelists and ajiostles, they beheve to be Divinely inspired, and
of supreme authority. These writings, in the languages in which they
were originally composed, are to be consulted, by the aids of sound
criticism, as a final appeal in all controversies ; but the ordinary ver-
sion of them into the English language, pubUshcd under civU authority,

FORMATION OF THE CONGEEGATIONAL UNION.

205

they consider to be adequate for tlie ordinary purposes of Christian
instruction and edification.

" 2. They believe in one God, essentially holy, just, and good ;
infinite, eternal, and immutable in all natiural and moral perfections ;
the Creator, Supporter, and Governor of all beings and of aU things.

" 3. They believe that God has revealed HimseK to man in the
Scriptures under the threefold distinction of Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost ; to each of which Divine Persons are attributed the same
infinite and immutable properties, perfections, and prerogatives. The
mode of the Divine existence, as a Trinity in unity, they profess
not to understand : the fact they cordially believe, but the mystery
of the Godhead they are content, in this life, to reverence and
adore.

"4. They believe that Jehovah created man in His own image, pure
from evil bias, sinless, and, in his kind, perfect.

" 5. They believe that the first man disobeyed the Divine command,
feU from his state of innocence, and involved himself and all his pos-
terity in a state of guilt and depravity.

" 6. They believe that all mankind are born in sin, and that a fatal
inclination to moral evil, utterly incurable by finite means, is inherent
in every human being.

" 7. They believe that God designed before the foundation of the
world to redeem fallen man, and that He made very early disclosures of
His mercy toward this sinfid race, which were the grounds of faith and
hope to many among the antediluvian world.

" 8. They believe that God revealed more fuUy to Abraham the
covenant of His grace, and, having promised that out of his descendants
should arise the Deliverer and Eedeemer of mankind. He set him and
liis posterity apart as a race specially favoured of God, and devoted
to His service ; and that hence a Church was formed and carefully
preserved in the world, under the Divine sanction and govenmient,
untU the birth of the promised ^Messiah.

" 9. They believe that, in the fuhiess of the time, the Son of God
was manifested in the flesh, being bom of the Virgin Mary, but
conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, and that our Lord Jesus
Christ was both the Son of man, as partaking fully and truly of sinless
human nature, and the Son of God, as being in every sense equal with
the Father and ' the exjjress image of His person.'

" 10. They believe that Jesus Christ the Son of God revealed,
either personally in His own ministry, or by the Holy Spirit in the
ministry of His apostles, the whole mind of God for our salvation, and
that by His obedience to the Divine law while He lived, and by His
sufferings unto death. He meritoriously ' obtained eternal redemption

206

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

for us;' having tliereby satisfied Divine justice, 'magnified the law,'
and ' brought in everlasting righteousness.'

"11. They believe that after His death and resurrection He ascended
up into heaven as a Mediator for us, and that He ' ever liveth to make
intercession for all that come unto God by Him.'

" 1 2. They believe that the Holy Spirit is given in consequence of
Christ's mediation to quicken and renew the hearts of men, and that
His influence upon the human soul is indispensably necessary to bring
a sinner to true repentance, to produce saving faith, to regenerate the
heart, and to perfect our sauctification.

."13. They maintain that we are justified through faith in Christ ;
and that not of ourselves, ' it is the gift of God.'

" 1 4. They believe that aU who will be finally saved were the
objects of God's eternal and electing love, and were given by an act of
Divine sovereignty to the Son of God, but that this act of sovereignty
in no way interferes with the system of means nor with the grounds of
human responsibihty, being whoUy unrevealed as to its objects, and
therefore incapable of becoming a rule of human duty.

" 15. They believe that the Scriptures teach the final perseverance
of all true beUevers to a state of eternal blessedness ; though not irre-
spective of a constant faith in Christ, and uniform obedience to His
commands.

" 1 G. They believe that a virtuous life will be the necessary eS"ect of
a true faith, and that good works are the indispensable fruits of a vital
union to Christ.

" 17. They believe that the sauctification of true Christians, or their
growth in the graces of the Spu-it, and meetness for heaven, is gradually
carried on through the whole period during which it pleases God to
keep them in the present Ufe, and that at death their souls are perfectly
freed from all remains of evU, and are immediately received into the
presence of Christ.

" 1 8. They believe in the perpetual obligation of baptism and the Lord's
Supper : the former to be administered to all converts to Christianity
and their children by the appUcation of water to the subject; and the
latter to be pubhcly celebrated by Christians as a token of faith in the
Saviour, and of love to each other.

" 19. They believe that Christ will finally come to jiidge the whole
human race, that the bodies of all men vnU be raised again, and that,
as the Supreme Judge, He will divide the righteous from the wicked,
will receive the righteous into Hfe eternal, but send away the wicked
into everlasting punishment.

" 20. They beheve that Jesus Christ designed and directed His fol-
lowers to live together in Christian fellowship, and to maintain the

FORMATION OF THE CONGREGATIONAL UNION.

207

communion of saints ; and that for this purpose they are jointly to ob-
serve all Di\ine ordinances, and maintain that church order and disci-
pline which is either expressly enjoined by inspired institution, or sanc-
tioned by the undoubted example of the apostles and apostolic churches.

" PEINCIPLES OF CHURCH OEDEE AND DISCIPLIXE.

" 1. They hold it to be the will of Christ that true believers should
voluntarily assemble together to observe religious ordinances, to pro-
mote mutual edification and holiness, to perpetuate and propagate the
gospel in the world, and to advance the glory and worship of God
through Jesus Christ ; and that each society having these objects in
view in its formation is properly a Christian chui'ch.

" 2. They beheve that the Xew Testament alone contains, either in
the form of express statute or in the example and practice of apostolic
men and churches, all the articles of faith necessary to be believed by
a Christian, and all the order and discipline requisite for constituting
and governing Christian societies ; and that human traditions, fathers,
and coimcils possess no authority over the faith and practice of Chris-
tians.

" 3. They acknowledge Chiist as the only Head of the Church, and
the officers of each church, under Him, as ordained to administer His
laws impartially to all ; and their only appeal, in all questions touching
their rehgious faith and practice, is to the Sacred Scriptures.

" 4. They believe that the New Testament authorises every Christian
church to elect its o^\^l officers, to manage all its own affairs, and to stand
independent of, and irresponsible to, all authority saving that only of the
Supreme and Di\'ine Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ.

" 5. They believe that the only officers placed by the apostles over
individual churches are the bishops or pastors, and the deacons, the
number of these being dependent upon the numbers of the church;
and that to these, as the officers of the church, are committed respec-
tively the administration of its social worship, its discipUne, and its
temporal concerns — subject, however, to the approbation of the church.

"fi. They believe that no persons should be received as members of
Christian churches but such as make a credible profession of Chi-is-
tianity, are living accoixling to its precepts, and attest a willingness to
be subject to its discipline ; and that none should be excluded from the
fellowship of the church but such as deny the faith of Christ, violate
His laws, or refuse to submit themselves to the discipline which the
Word of God enforces.

" 7. The power of admission into, and rejection from, any Christian
church they beUeve to be vested in the church itself, and to be exer-
cised oidy through the medium of its officers.

208

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

" 8. They believe that Christian churches should statedly meet for
the celebration of public worship, for the observance of the Lord's
Supper, and for the sanctification of the first day of the week.

"9. They believe that the power of a Christian church is purely
spiritual, and should in no way be corrupted by union with temporal
or civil power.

" 10. They believe that it is the duty of Christian churches to hold
communion "with each other, to entertain an enlarged affection for each
other as members of the same body, and to co-operate for the promo-
tion of the Christian cause ; but that no church, nor union of churches,
has any right or power to interfere with the faith or discipline of any
other church, further than to disown and separate from such as, in faith
or practice, depart from the gospel of Christ.

"11. They believe it is the privilege and duty of the church to call
forth such of its members as may appear to be qualified, and indicated
by the Holy Spirit, as suitable persons to sustain the office of the
ministry ; and that Christian churches unitedly ought to consider the
maintenance of the Christian ministry, in an adequate degree of learn-
ing, as one of its especial cares, that the cause of the gospel may be
both honourably sustained and constantly promoted.

" 1 2. They behove that church officers, whether bishops or deacons,
should be chosen by the free voice of the church, but that their dedi-
cation to the duties of their office should take place with especial prayer,
and by solemn designation, in the act of imposition of hands, by those
already in office.

" 13. They beheve that the fellowship of every Christian church
should be so liberal as to admit to communion in the Lord's Supper
all whose faith and godhness are, on the whole, undoubted, though
conscientiously differing in points of minor importance; and that this
outward sign of fraternity in Christ should be coextensive with the
fraternity itself, though without involving any compliances which con-
science would deem to be sinful."

Had Mr James been a member of a Convocation, Conference, or
General Assembly, he would have become a powerful ecclesiastical
chief. He possessed all the qualities by which men acquire autho-
rity. When business had to be done, his eloquence was charac-
terised by remarkable vigour, directness, and practical sagacity.
He inspired his friends with confidence and courage, and concili-
ated the respect of his opponents. He was free from "crotchets."
He had none of the self-will which disposes some men to give their
bitterest enemies a comjjlete victory, rather than win a triumph by

FOr>MATIO>- OF THE COXGKEGATIOXAL UXIOX.

209

slight and unimportant concessions to theii- allies. His character
was a power among his brethren.

In the Congregational Union, which claims neither legislative
nor executive prerogatives, there was comparatively little scope for
the operation of these gi-eat qualities; but his counsel, and the
influence of his temper and spirit, were eminentl)'^ beneficial. He
was chairman of the Union in 1838, preached the autumnal
sermon at Bradford in 1852, and again at Cheltenham in 1857.
He was a regular attendant at the meetings, and took his full
share in all the more important discussions, and at last he reviewed
his connexion with the origin and history of this important orga-
nisation with satisfaction. A quotation from his Autobiography
introduced this chapter, another may very properly close it.

The Union, if it has not accomplished all the good its friends Autobio-
predicted and expected, has not produced any of the evils which ^^^'''^
its opponents foretold. It is a question, however, which ought to
be seriously considered, whether it is doing all for the denomina-
tion which it is capable of doing. Considering how large a por-
tion of the missionary week is occupied by the meetings of the
Union in London, and nearly a whole week at the autumnal meet-
ing in the provinces, the work done hardly pays for the time spent
in doing it Much gratification, I know, is furnished by the
meetings to the brethren who attend them; but ten days or a
fortnight in these busy times forms a long period to be so em-
ployed. Had it done nothing more than call forth the Lectures
which have been delivered and published under its auspices, it
would have achieved a good work. The Christian Witness and
the Church Member's Penny Magazine are also among its fruits,
which have not only given out much useful religious knowledge
and edification, but have raised a fund for the relief of our aged
ministers. I claim to have been the proposer of these works, or
rather of one of them, for it was intended originally to have been
but one. I shall ever consider it an honour to ha%^e done what I
did in common with others, for thus gathering together into a
body the disjecta membra of our denomination.

CHAPTER VIII.

AUTHOKSHIP.

The pressure and variety of Mr James's labours, when his popu-
larity as a preacher was at its highest point,, cannot be appreciate 1
without an account of the books, pamphlets, and sermons, which
were published during the same period. The list is a long one.
His Address to the Teachers connected with the Birmingham Sun-
day-school Union, published in 1815, and expanded afterwards
into " The Sunday-school Teacher's Guide," has already been men-
tioned. In 1815, he also published his sermon on "Christian
Activity," preached before the Staffordshire Association; in 1816,
his charge,* at the ordination of his brother, the Eev. Thomas
James ; in 1819, the Surrey Chapel Missionary sermon,-f- on "The
Attraction of the Cross ; a sermon,J entitled " The Crisis," on
the commercial distress and political troubles of the country ; a
short memoir of his first wife, appended to the funeral sermon
by Dr Fletcher ; and a controversial pamphlet on Religious Liberty ;
in 1820, two sermons, one on Christian Mercy,§ preached in the
Poultry Chapel for the City of London Lying-in Institution*; the
other, " Small Beghmings not to be Despised," || preached for the
Port of London Society on board the Floating Chapel, moored off
Wapping Stairs; in 1821, a sermon,^ occasioned by the death of

* Collected Works, vol. i. f Ibid. J Ibid.

§ Ibid. II Ibid. t Ibid.

AUTHORSHIP.

211

the Egv. John Berry; in 1822, "The Church Member's Guide;"
and in 1824, "The Christian Father's Present to his Children."
He says, in his Autobiography, " that the design of this work was
to form, develop, and guide the religious character of young people.
It met with great acceptance, and ran through fifteen or sixteen
editions. I have reason to believe that it was useful in many
families of God's people, and afforded considerable help to those
parents, alas ! how few, who were really anxious to bring up their
children in the fear of the Lord. It has been often mentioned to
me by those who have derived benefit from it."

In the same year he published a sermon,* " Youth Warned," in
which he vigorously assaulted theatrical amusements, and another
on " The Siu of Scofiing at Eeligion." The promoters and sup-
porters of the Bu-mingham theatre were greatly provoked by his
attack, and several pamphlets appeared in reply. The ablest of
these, written by a clever Birmingham solicitor, has for its princi-
pal object to damage Mr James, by charging him with plagiarising
in his " Youth Warned " from Dr Styles, and in his " Sin of Scoff-
ing " from Tillotson. Eef erring to this controversy, the Editor of
the Collected Works, in the introductory note to the first of these
sermons, says, " The author was grieved at the ill-will which he
thus contracted, as tending to weaken his hold on his feUow-towns-
men ; and it was clear, from what he from time to time said on
the subject, that he had become convinced that the best method of
opposing any popular amusement which may appear wrong, is
rather by inculcating counteracting principles than by a dii-ect
attack upon it."

In 1825, he printed his funeral .sermon f for Dr Bogue ; in
1826 his sermon at the opening of Hoxton College as a mission-
ary academy; in 1827, his sermon | to the church assembling in
Livery Street, Birmingham, at the settlement of the Rev. J. Mather;
in 1820, his sermon to the members of the Juvenile Auxiliary Mis-
sionary Societies, preached in the Poultry Chapel. In the same
year he also issued his " Christian Charity ; or. The Influence of
Religion upon Temper." " This volume," he says, in the Autobio-
♦ CoUected Works, vol. i. f Ibid., vol. ii. t Ibid., vol. L

212

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

graphy, " was first preached in a series of sermons on the chapter
which it proposes to expound. It had been for a long time my deep
and settled conviction that no part of Christianity is less understood
and exemplified than that which is thus characterised by Mr Hall :
' Love is the very essence of the Christian religion : all else but its
earthly attire, which it will throw off as it steps across the threshold
of eternity.' Oh, how different would be the condition of the world
now — how little would have been left for us to do in the way of its
conversion to Christ, had all the i>rofessed followers of Christ from
the beginning been so many living examples of love! Would
there have been found an infidel who would believe himself that
such a religion was a mere imposture or enthusiasm, or who
would have attempted to persuade the world that it was so ? Who
could have become antagonistic to pure, practical Christian love ?
But what of love is found on the pages of ecclesiastical history ?
Alas, alas ! how little of it is seen in the conduct of professing
Christians of every age, church, or country ! As a proof how
strangely this subject is neglected, even by preachers and authors,
I mention the fact, that an American author of considerable
ability and extensive reading says, he had never met but with one
treatise on this subject, and that was my own. Is not this an
astounding and melancholy fact, that while thousands and thou-
sands of volumes on all other parts of Christianity, on all subjects
of faith, controversy, and practice, should be from time to time
issuing from the press, only one volume, and that of no great merit,
should have come forth wholly devoted to the exposition and en-
forcement of this cardinal virtue of our holy religion ! My work
is now in its sixth edition, — a circulation far above its own intrinsic
merits, but far below the importance of the subject. If love be
religion in its very essence, we shall, in looking abroad upon the
Christian world, be led to conclude there, is yet but little of genuine
Christianity in the world, or even in the church."

The Editor of the Collected Works, in an introductory note to
" Christian Charity," has this very pertinent and interesting para-
graph : —

"The author often expressed his surprise that no other book had

AUTHOESHIP.

213

been exclusively devoted to tlie praise and inculcation of Chiistian
love, and he derived much pleasure from his having in any degree sup-
plied the deficiency. The subject has always had this disadvantage,
that the practice of any one writing upon it must be consistent with
this book, or it would, as far as he was known, have little other effect
than that of a satire on himself. Those who really knew our author,
have ever testified that his life exemplified and enforced his precepts.
The Editor recollects the volume being once quoted against him, but it
was by a man towards whom he had ever practised forbearance and
forgiveness. The author was much delighted that his work was
approved by two readers more than ordinarily qualified to judge of it :
one of thera well acquainted with life, as ha\-ing sustained a high part
in it, and the other as having keenly mused in solitude on the ways
and feelings of men ; they were the Chief-Justice Bushe, and the poet
Wordsworth. The latter introduced himself to the author after a
service at Carr's Lane, saying, that for a long time it had been one
of his cherished wishes to see and speak to the author of * Christian
Charity' "

To this followed "The Family Monitor ; or, A Help to Domestic
Happiness," which had also been preached in a series of discourses.
In his Autobiography, he says —

" When I had finished the course, I received a numerously signed
petition from the married women of my congregation soliciting the
publication of the sermons to husbands and wives. But I chose
rather to publish the whole.

" Here, again, I believe the pulpit is deficient in the minute incul-
cation of specific domestic duties. How much the well-being of
the community and the prosperity of the' church depend upon the
order, good government, love, and harmony of families ! I have
heard of preachers, who dwelt almost exclusively upon the doc-
trinal parts of Divine truth, and who, having expounded in course
the earlier parts of the Epistle to the Ephesians, said, on coming
to the practical parts, in which the domestic duties are so beauti-
fully set forth, ' We have no need to dwell on such matters, for
the people know their duty on these things.' What a reflec-
tion on the apostle dwelling upon them ; or rather upon the Divine
Spirit by whom he wrote ! "

In 1829, he issued a series of pastoral letters on Kevivals ; in

21-1 LIFE OF JOHN ANUELL JAMES.

1830 his pamphlet, " Dissent and the Church of England in

1831, a sermon* on "DisUke to Ministerial Fidehty;" and in

1832, a tract on "The Importance of Doing Good."

In this chapter I have relied on a list of Mr James's works, with
the dates of their publication, drawn up by the late Thomas Beilby,
Esq., who for many years was a most efficient deacon of the Carr's
Lane church, and one of Mr James's dearest friends. Mr Beilby 's
accuracy makes it quite unnecessary that I should hunt up first
editions in order to verify his record. Of Mr Beilby Mr James once
said to me, with an emphasis that has stamped the words for ever
on my memory, " That, sir, is the most perfect man I ever knew ; "
the justice of this remarkable testimony everything that I know of
Mr Beilby, or have ever heard of him, confirms.

* Collected Works, voL iL

CHAPTER IX.

RELIGIOUS WOEK AXD RELIGIOUS LIFE, 1813-1833.

ly the preceding chapters of this Book I have attempted to trace
the rise of !Mr James's fame as a preacher, and have narrated the
prominent events of his history from 1S13 to 1833, — his long and
dangeroiis illness, the death of his first wife, his second marriage,
the erection of a larger meeting-house, the part he took in the
ecclesiastical movements and controversies of his time. The most
important pro\-inces of his history, the vicissitudes of his personal
religious life, and his quiet work among his own people, can re-
ceive no adequate illustration. To record definite proofs of a
minister's spiritual earnestness and fidelity, to illustrate his candour
and boldness in privately reproving sin, his patience and gentleness
with the wayward and self-willed, the tenderness of his sympathy
with the bereaved, the sick, the poor, his kindly advice given to
the young, his persevering endeavours to reclaim the profligate,
his unwearying vigUance in assisting and giiiding persons whose
religious troubles required special and personal attention, is be-
yond the power of a biographer. But I have formed a conception
of what kind of a person Mv James was during these twenty years,
and instead of attempting to string together a number of illustra-
tive facts, I will state what that conception is. The significance of
a man's life is not declared by exhibiting any number of isolated
instances of well-doing or ill-doing. His life consists, not in par-

21G

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAIIES.

ticular actions -wliicli often live in the memory, because they are
exceptional, but in settled habits which can hardly be crystallised
into anecdotes.

In these twenty years Mr James's congregation increased from
four or five hundred to nearly two thousand ; and the church
from about one hundred and fifty to about five hundred. The
reverence and affection he inspired in the hearts of his people
preserved them in unbroken peace, preventing many causes of
disquiet, and enabling him, when trouble and perplexity arose,
so to guide the action of the church as to secure, if not perfect
unanimity, general consent and confidence.

It was during this period that he became known in all parts of
the country as a stimulating and impressive religious orator. The
restless, dissipating life of a popular preacher, travelling incessantly
from county to county, occupying a new pulpit or a new platform
every successive evening for a month together, reaching home
weary and jaded at the end of the week, and starting on a new
journey early on Monday morning, was the life which Mr James
was at this time in some danger of living. He never permitted
himself to be quite hurried away by the strong and deceptive cur-
rent of entreaty, flattery, and excitement, which might have swept
him from the anchorage of a devout retirement and unostentatious
pastoral work ; but for a time he must have been in serious
peril.

The injurious influences against which a popular preacher has
to struggle are not sufficiently considered, either by the silly idola-
ters of his power or by the harsh critics of his imperfections, and
they are grave enough to make those who may be disposed to sigh
over the obscurity of their ministerial work content and grateful ;
and grave enough to alarm any man who, instead of attempting
to make his ministry efi'ective in producing the noblest results, is
so foolish as to covet tumultuous admiration.

It is no inconsiderable evil that the popular preacher loses the
moral and religious benefit of order and regularity in his personal
habits. The monastic rule appointing to every hour its proper
functions, though likely to produce stagnation in a sluggish nature,

r.ELlGIOUS WORK AND RELIGIOUS LIFE, 1813-1833. 217

protects the active and the vigorous from many evils ; external order
is an assistance to calm self-control, and to what the mystical
•writers call " recollection." The minister whose work lies round
about his own home may secure to a considerable extent the
advantages of this discipline. He has his time for study, his time
for work among the people outside, his time for rest, and above
all his time for prayer ; and though he will not attempt to enforce
the systematic division of his hours with rigid exactness, the
approach to method in his life is healthful and invigorating.

But if once a minister chances to achieve a noisy reputation for
the oddity, or the beauty, or the brilliance of his sermons, he will
find it very difiicult to resist the temptation to desert his home,
and his more private and noiseless work, that he may dazzle,
amaze, or impress congregations that are eager to hear him all
over the country ; if he yield, his inward life is likely to be-
come as restless and unquiet as his outward life, and his piety,
instead of being calm and profound, will probably become vague,
desultory, and fitful.

The irregularity of a popular preacher's life, though a serious
e\nl, is perhaps less obviously injurious than some of its other
characteristics. While constantly travelling from town to town,
he is likely to find that necessities he can scarcely evade, often
allow him no time or opportunity for protracted meditation and
prayer. Nor is it spiritually healthy for him to be incessantly
engaged in authoritative teaching and exhortation.

Preaching does not exercise and strengthen the gentleness, the
patience, the perseverance, which are developed by the more
private functions of the ministry ; the visitation of the sick and
the troubled and the poor, seems an almost indispensable protection
against the self-exaltation into which an attractive preacher is in
danger of being betrayed. Even that kind of humility which is
produced in a true-hearted student by the perplexities of many of
his studies, and by the transcendent greatness of the illustrious
teachers of the human race, the famous preacher whose days and
nights are spent in liaranguing crowded congregations has no
chance of acquiring. The excitement he creates he must largely

218

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

feel himself, and to be agitated day after day with violent emo-
tions wiU not promote the depth of his religious affections.

Moreover, he is exposed to terrible and constant temptations to
utter more than his heart feels, to exaggerate and intensify the
expression of his spiritual fervour and zeal for human salvation.
Sometimes the preacher must be weary, and long to be with
Christ " in a desert place," for quietness and rest, but the throngs
that fill the pews and aisles demand his thrUling climaxes and
his passionate appeals ; they exj)ect to catch the contagion of his
enthusiasm ; and if he shrink, as he probably wUl, from disappoint-
ing them, he wiU use, vfith a vehemence and solemnity which imply
present earnestness, language which was natural and true when
first he wrote it, for it was the unstrained expression of his inward
ardour, but which is now most false, for the ardour has quite gone
down. If he speak extemporaneously, his danger will be greater
still, for he will perhaps lash himself into a rhetorical excitement,
and utter words and thoughts which imply the most solemn
and awful vision of the eternal world, rapturous fellowship with
God, Christ-like agony for the conversion or sanctifi cation of his
hearers, while the great currents of his religious nature are stag-
nant or frozen.

To all these dangers Mr James was exposed during a con-
siderable part of the period between 1813 and 1833, and his
natural temperament and the complexion of his youthful piety
made him peculiarly susceptible to their influence. At Poole and
Gosport, and during the early years of his ministry in Birming-
ham, although he acknowledged and enforced the authority of the
Lord Jesus Christ over every faculty and energy of human nature,
the ideal of Christian holiness by which his life was practically
influenced gave a very exaggerated value to excited religious affec-
tions. He was fascinated by the conception of a fervid and enthu-
siastic devotion, and resolved to attain it. Tears produced by the
contemplation of the more pathetic passages of Christ's history, or
of the awful destiny of the finally impenitent, appeared to him an
important evidence of advancing piety. It is probable that in
prayer his chief concern was to raise his own nature into intense

EELIGIOUS WOEK AND EELIGIOrS LIFE, 1S13-1S33. 219

and ardent activity, as tliough it were the strength of our human
feeling which achieves spiritual victories; almost forgetting the
responsive grace and power of God in the endeavour to imitate and
reproduce the agonising earnestness which has characterised tlie
devotions of illustrious saints. In preaching, vehement passion,
which, whether exliibited by an actor, or by a political orator, or
by a preacher, produces immediate and violent agitation, was
more eagerly sought for than those penetrating elements of spiritual
power which, whUe they permanently affect the lowest depths of
man's religious nature, often leave the surface unmoved.

The disappointments and discouragements of the earlier years
of his ministry, the admii'able practical goodness of his first wife,
his serious and prolonged iUness, prepared him in some measure
to meet the perils of his popularity. Whether he escaped alto-
gether unharmed, cannot now be easUy determined, but it is
natural to suppose that as the immediate results of his troubles
gradually wore off, he would need some other corrective Influences
to save him from the vanity and religious shallowness which are
the besetting sins of the popular preacher.

These were supplied. A few years after his marriage to his
second wife her influence over his whole character became very
powerful She was a woman of unusual moral vigour. Her
conceptions of duty inclined her rather to asceticism than to
laxity ; and her piety was fervent and elevated. The life of INIrs
Fletcher of Madeley was one of her favourite books. When
she came to Birmingham, she resolved to do her utmost to
discourage " worldliness " among the more wealthy people in her
husband's congregation, to relieve the loneliness and hardships of
the poor, and to endeavour with all her energy to increase the
efficiency of the various institutions connected with the church.
Her earnest devotion to the people could not have been without:
its effect in maintaining and strengthening in her husband's mind
a conviction of the worthlessness of mere transient excitement and
popular applause, and of the transcendent spiritual value of his
quiet labours among his own congregation.

About the year 1827 he began to form an intimate friendship

220 LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

with several American ministers, and it is my conviction that he
owed very much of the religious earnestness of the last thirty
years of his ministry to his intercourse with them. Selections
from his correspondence with Dr Patton and Dr Sprague are
appended to this Book. He had many other friends in the States
with whom he corresponded, though less frequently.

Of still greater importance in relation to Mr James's religious
life was his partial retirement from general public work in con-
sequence of a severe nervous aflfection, which gradually increased
towards the close of the period of which I am now writing, and at
last became so distressing that the prospect of any public engage-
ment away from home became a source of terror to him. Of this
it will be necessary to speak more fully in the next Book ; but
before 1883 it had compelled him greatly to diminish his general
activity. The quietness thus enforced upon him did much to
develop the maturity and depth of Christian life, which won for
him the affectionate reverence of devout men of all churches and
all creeds.

LETTERS.

TO HIS SISTER SARAH.

"Aberystwyth, August 1, 1818.
" My dear Sister, — It has been said that nothing great was ever
accomplished without enthusiasm ; not that we are to infer from hence
that enthusiasm is invariably the indication of something noble going
on ; if it were, then indeed is a mighty work at this time doing in
Wales. In my last letter to James, I told him that in my next, which
I should address to you, I should give an account of what I witnessed
at Bala last Sabbath-day. You have often heard of the Welsh Jumpers.
I will, to the best of my power, describe to you the apparently frantic
excesses of their zeaL Mr and iirs Davies did everything to prepare
us for an extraordinary scene ; but not aU they said, nor all I had read
before, nor anything I had ever conceived, came near to the reahty.
As Vronhanlog is four miles from Bala, and as the family in which we
were visiting is not remarkable for punctuaUt}', we did not get to
meeting till the minister (who, by the way, was the same good man on
whom we called on Friday) had just taken his text. During the early
part of his discourse, which was of course aU in Welsh, he was quite
cool and sober. Considerable attention from the beginning was paid
by the greater part of the congregation. As he proceeded he became
more and more animated, and in proportion, the people became more
and more interested and affected. Great numbers were at length
dissolved in tears, and a loud groan attended by some fervent exclama-
tion burst from all parts of the place. Being seated in the gallery, I
could command an entire view of the congregation, and could discern
many very interesting cases of deep and silent emotion. Some of
them interested and affected me greatly. I understood not a syllable
that was uttered ; but to see hundi-eds of people melted down to tears

222 LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAJIE3.

and groans by the simple yet impassioned tones of a rustic, whom I
had seen but two days before in the character of a ploughman, was
indeed a novel and impressive sight. Thus far aU was interesting, and
I could not help weeping abundantly. The preacher now grew more
warm than before, and at length proceeded to what in refined EngUsh
congregations would be accounted a species of pulpit raving. StiU,
however, he was not ungraceful. His eyes seemed ready to start from
their sockets. His every muscle seemed strained and quivering. This
drew forth fresh bursts of feeling from his audience. Many screamed
out at once, and some writhed as if in agony or in fits. This returned
just as often as the preacher ascended into his altitudes. When the
sermon was closed and the people rose to prayer, you might see them
in dilferent parts of the meeting, six or eight in a group, with their
arms round each other's necks and waists, all hanging together. The
sacrament was now to be administered, which is conducted something
after the plan of the Church of England. The communicants come
and kneel round the railing of the chancel, and receive the elements
from the hands of the ministers. Among these were many boys and
girls, not more than twelve or thirteen years of age. The men ap-
proached the table first, and during their approach all was silent and
solemn, but no sooner did the women draw near than a scene com-
menced which balfles all power of language to describe. One woman
directly after receiving the bread and wine, began to vociferate as loud
as her lungs would permit, at the same time throwing her arms about
and clapping her hands, more like a man playing the cymbals in a
military band of music than anything else I can compare it to. This
never ceased for a single moment during the space of twenty minutes,
tiU pale and foaming she seemed ready to drop. Her shriU cry was
the signal for many others to commence. The whole place was now
fiUed with a howling I cannot describe. I saw a crowd of women,
perhaps thirty in number, come together and literally throw themselves
down before the railing, all bathed in tears, and filling the place with
loud lamentation. One of them beat against the railing with her fist
as if she was determined to demolish it, tiU her hands must have been
bruised. Another, directly she rose from off her knees, plucked off her
bonnet and thi-ew it violently across the meeting. As they retired
from the table, they seemed to form into groups, and commence jump-
ing with aU their might, as if they were trying to leap from the area
into the gallery. I saw five or six women jump with their bonnets ofi",
I suppose fifty times without stopping, nearly a yard high, at the same
time uttering loud cries. They were chiefly occupied in saying, ' Bruised
for me,' ' Died for me.' In another part of the place were groups of
men waving their hands over their heads, clapping them together, and

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223

filling the pLace •with their cries. All this time fresh groups were
coming up to the table to receive the elements, and in the midst of the
surrounding noise and confusion, the ministers at the table were per-
fectly composed, and actually sometimes engaged in prayer with others
of the communicants. I was quite alarmed for Fanny, lest she should
become hysterical, and often advised her to go out. To say all in a
word, conceive of fifty mad people turned loose into one place, and
giving vent to their feelings in wild gestures and incoherent ravings,
and you have the best idea that can be entertained of the interior of
Bala chapel the day that we were there. I shall never, never, never
forget the scene, if everything else that memory ever received were
to be effaced."

TO THE CONGREGATION ASSEMBLING IN CAER's LANE MEETING-HOUSE,
BIRinNGHAM.

"Aberystwyth, August 11, 1818.
" My dear Friends, — It has been customary with me, when I have
been called by Divine Providence to be long absent from my beloved
and affectionate flock, to address a letter to the church, in which I have
stirred up their pure minds by way of remembrance. On the present
occasion, however, I have determined to enlarge the sphere of my
epistolary concern, and include my hearers in general in the object of
this letter.

" I flatter myself that this effort of ministerial solicitude, attended as
it is with the warmest assurances of my sincere regard, and containing
the most fervent desires for your spiritual welfare, will be neither coldly
received nor inattentively heard. It is but a feeble expression of the
feelings of my heart towards you, to say that no change of time, or
place, or circumstances, or society, produces the smallest variation of
sentiment towards the people amongst whom I have now laboured for
thirteen years, and whom I can truly say, I have loved the more the
more I have known them ; and amongst whom it is in my heart, if it
be the will of the Great Head of the Church, to close the ministry
which I have received of the Lord. God is my witness, my dear
friends, ' how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ
earnestly desiring that ' by warning every man, and teaching every man
in aU wisdom, I may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus, where-
imto I also labour, striving according to his working wliicli worketh in
me mightily.' I trust that it was not in a thoughtless maimer, or
ignorant of its tremendous import, that I received the solemn and
weighty trust of your spiritual concerns. It is a trust which I assure
you I can never totally forget — a care of which my mind is never
entirely divested. Whether I am at my usual post of labour, or enjoy-

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LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JA.AIES.

ing a season of innocent relaxation, I cannot forget that tlie interests
of your immortal souls are in a measure confided to my hands. Oh,
■what a deposit ! Lord, who is sufiicient for these things ? If, through
my neglecting to instruct you in sound doctrine, or to admonish you
with seriousness and fidelity, you should be lost, indescribably dreadful
^vi^ be the consequences, both to you and to me. You will die in
your sins, and your blood wiU God require at iny hands. Let us both
tremble at a catastrophe so shocking : you at the thought of losing
your soxils, and / at being the guilty occasion of such an incalculable
loss. As it respects my own part, amidst all the imperfections of
which I am humbly conscious in reviewing my past labours, I cannot
help hoping that I may adopt the apostolic appeal to the elders of the
Ephesian church — ' I take you to record this day, that I am pure from
the blood of all men' who have sat under my ministry. "\\Tiat I
believed to be truth I have never shunned to declare, nor have I, out
of respect to any man's person, failed to rebuke, to exhort, or to con-
vince ; but have endeavoured to commend myself to every man's
conscience ia the sight of God. I cast myself upon your impartial
judgments. Have I prophesied smooth things ] Have I cried peace
when there was no peace ? Have I attempted to purchase your smiles
by flattering your imperfections? Have I endeavoured to lull you
into the slumber of carnal security upon the lap of ministerial careless-
ness ? No. I am confident none of you will accuse me of these
things. God is my witness how often I have studied by what new
modes of representing truth I could instruct your minds, interest your
attention, and alarm your consciences ; how often, as I entered upon
my weekly task of preparing for the pulpit, it has been my prayer,
* Lord, teach me the way to the human heart.' Yet after all, of some
of you I must say with the apostle to the Galatians, ' I stand in doubt
of you.' I doubt if yet my ministry has been successful in persuading
you to seek the favour of God with your whole heart, through the
mediation of His divine and equal Sou. Some of you, I fear, are still
living witkout God and without hope in the world. Are there not some
living in known and open sin, which their o\m consciences in loud and
faithful echo to the Word of God assure them will end in death ? Are
there not some living in secret sin, who as yet have not entered the
high-road of immorality, but are stealing along the by-paths of more
private iniquity, who are not become hardened in their sin? Are
there not many Avho are halting between two opinions, sometimes
impressed under the word and troubled with occasional convictions,
whose religious feehngs are like ' the morning cloud and early dew ? '
Are there not many young persons, gay, volatile, worldly, who are not
remembering their ' Creator in the days of their youth,' but are for-

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225

getting, turning a deaf ear to His righteous demand, ' ^ly son, give me
thine heart V Are there not even some of the children of the righteous,
the ofispring of the godly, over whom prayers and tears and admonitions
without number have been poured, even these, who are disappointing
all the hopes that had been entertained concerning them, and instead
of preparing to occupy their parents' seats when they shaU have risen
to the Church triumphant, are foolishly and sinfully ambitious of
becoming the votaries of fashion and the people of the world 1

" I put it to your consciences, are there not stiU in the congregation
to whom I preach the word of God some of aU these classes? Yoit can
teU, your consciences can reply. Oh, my dear friends, if any who may
hear this letter should stand self-reproached, self-condemned, do not, I
beseech you do not, treat the matter with indifference. Your souls
are too precious and valuable to be abandoned to that destruction which
unbelief and impenitence must inevitably bring upon aU by whom they
are indulged to the end of life. The thought is very dreadful to me
that any should go from beneath my ministry to the worm that never
dies, to the fire that is never quenched. I can scarcely bear to dwell
upon the reflection that my sermons should be forgotten upon earth
only to be remembered in heU. Gospel sermons indeed be most
tormenting companions in those dismal regions, which are never to be
gladdened by the tidings of salvation. There they will haunt the
memory of the lost, only as the ghosts of slighted, murdered friends.

" Suffer, my beloved hearers, suffer the word of admonition. My
heart in this seclusion is as full towards you, as when I have been sui--
roimded by you in the place of our accustomed resort. I woidd try
every means for your salvation, and earnestly pray that this letter may
effect what a thousand sermons have tried in vain, to rouse your atten-
tion, in a saving manner, to the things that belong to your peace.
Consider your situation as placed under a dispensation of mercy, and
' give a more earnest heed to the things you have heard, for if the word
spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompense of reward, how wiU you escape who neglect
so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord,
and was confirmed imto us by them that heard him'?'

" Tuung -people, let me enforce the claim of God. Give to God your
hearts. Nothing short of this will be accepted. Your tongues to talk
of Him, your feet to carry you to His sanctuary, your knees to bow to
Him in prayer, your whole bodies to be employed in the mere forms of
godliness, will be refused as an unworthy sacrifice without the heart, —
yea, aU the faculties of the mind, the judgment to imderstand His
nature, the memory to remember His truths, — all -wiU be disdained till
you give Him your hearts to love Him, to delight in Him, to be sancti-
P

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LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

fied and satisfied by Him : give Him tlien your hearts, — who so worthy
of them as God, who besides Him can keep them, or who else can fill
them?

"Aged persons, let me admonish you to turn unto God while yet your
life continues. Your sun is just about to set ; it already as it were
touches the mountains, and your shadows lengthen on the plains. It
is dreadful to think that night is approaching and your work not even
begun. But salvation is of gi-ace, and even you, at the eleventh hour,
are invited to believe and be saved. Do not, as you value your souls,
do not delay to cry for mercy, no not an hour.

" You that are poor, I would earnestly exhort to be rich in faith, and
heirs of the kingdom. Denied by a wise but inscrutable pro\-idence
many of the comforts of this life, seek to have the deficiency infinitely
more than supplied by aU spiritual blessings in heavenly things in
Christ Jesus. With this ' pearl of gi-eat price ' to enrich you, with
a title to ' an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not
away,' to animate and comfort you, all the privations of earthly poverty
might be borne, not only with patience, but with cheerfulness. The
grace of God in the heart, the promise of God in the hand, and the
glory of God in the eye, are enough to reconcile us to the longest hfe
of severest poverty. But poverty without religion, is to be poor indeed.
To be poor and to be wicked, is to have a double heU, — a heU here, and
a worse heU hereafter.

" Some of you are comparatively rich. Trust not in uncertain riches,
but in tlie living God, who giveth us all things richly to enjoy; be not
high-minded, do good. ' Be rich in good works, ready to distribute,
wiUing to communicate, laying up in store for yourselves a good foun-
dation against the time to come, laying hold on eternal life.' Think
how dreadful would it be to sink from all the comforts and luxuries of
this life, to that state of forlorn wretchedness in the world to come,
which admits not the alleviation of a single drop of cold water.

" Many of you, of all ranks and descriptions, I know are partakers of
the grace of God. Happy, most happy do I feel when my mind turns
to you. Of not a few I can say. What is my hope, or joy, or crown of
rejoicing? are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at
His coming? For ye are my gloiy and joy. My beloved children in
the Lord, whom I have begotten in the gospel of Jesus, as the humble
instrument of Divine power and grace, with feehngs of pecuhar afi"ec-
tion and interest, I address myself to you. Let us rejoice together in
the grace of our God, — I in the honour of being employed to introduce
you to the pri\ileges of the spiritual life, and you in the bhss of being
called to such a distinction. You may have ten thousand instructors,
far abler than I, yet have ye not many fathers. Kemember I have no

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227

greater joy tban to hear of my children walking in the truth. Look to
yourselves, that / lose not the things that I have wrought, but that I
receive a fuU reward. Be faithful unto death, and then, what mutual
joy shall we experience in that great day, when I shall attend you to
the throne of Almighty God, saying, * Behold, I and the children whom
Thou hast given me ! '

" Some of those who have been enlightened in the knowledge of
Jesus Christ, have not yet joined themselves to His disciples, and are
Uving in a state of separation from the church. Is this right? Can
you justify it to yourselves ? Can you excuse it to Jesus Christ your
Lord and Master ? Have you a dispensation from Him to be exempted
from the obhgation of that command, ' Do this in remembrance of me?'
Would you wish it? Do you desire to be excused from the table of
the Lord? Suppose your neglect were turned into a punishment —
suppose Jesus Christ were to say of you — ' Never let him sit down at
my table amongst my disciples. I will admit him at last to heaven, for
his heart is right with God, but never let him be united to the church
on earth.' Would you not feel this a dreadful privatipn? Yet you
inflict it upon yom-selves. Where should a child be, but with the
family ? 'Where should a lamb be, but with the flock ? Where should
a disciple be, but with the master? Where should a loyal subject be,
but with his prince ? Let me hear, upon my return, that your names
are given in as candidates for fellowship.

" Professing Christians, you who are walking in church-feUowship,
bear the word of admonition. ' Walk worthy of the vocation where-
with ye are called.' ' Ye are the salt of the earth ; ' let not ' the salt
lose its savour.' ' Ye are the light of the world ; ' let not your light be
darkness. ' Ye are a city set on a hiU ; ' do not occupy that high station,
only to be a pubUc reproach. Adorn the doctrine of God your Saviour
in all things. There is such a thing as disfiguring, deforming this
doctrine. You had better be Christians than angels, if you are con-
sistent Christians, but you had better be infidels — I was going to add,
devils — than inconsistent Christians. Satan has not a more successful
agent upon earth, nor God a more triumphant enemy, than an unworthy
member of a Christian church. Such a man might be called ApoUyon,
for he is indeed a destroyer, and ' goeth about seeking whom he may
devour.' Brethren, foUow after peace and ' holiness, without which no
man shall see the Lord.' Fly not only from what would be vice in a
•wicked or worldly man, but what would be a spot upon the character
of a Christian. Remember you are consistent only just so far as you
are like Christ. You wear His name, and His name imports His like-
ness. Be diUgent in all the means of grace, private as well as public,
week-day as well as the SabbatL Seek the spirit of prayer, for this is

228

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

the spirit of true godliness. You that are in business, carry your reli-
gion into your worldly transactions, and let those that are without be
constrained to say, ' I can trust that man, for he is a Christian.' If
you are servants, let your religion make you faithful, diligent, obedient,
and humble; if you are masters, let it render you kind, gentle, and
watchful ; if you are poor, let it exhibit you contented and cheerful ; if
rich, spiritual, humble, and liberal. If you are parents, let your pro-
fession lead you to instruct your children in the fear of God, especially
by the impressive admonition of a good example. If you are children,
adorn your character by a dutifid and affectionate line of conduct
towards those whom you are commanded to love and honour. May
those of you into whose hands the inscrutable will of Providence has
put the bitter cup of alSiction, drink it with submission, remembering
that ' the time is short,' that ' the sufferings of the present life are not
worthy to be compared with the glory to be revealed,' and that our
' present light afflictions work out for us,' if sanctified to us, a ' far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.'

"And now, my dear hearers, after having wi-itten much more at
length than it was my intention when I commenced, and I almost fear
too long for your patience, I must ' commend you to God and the word
of His grace, who is able to build you up and give you an inheritance
among them that are sanctified.' I entreat an interest in your prayers,
that in due time I may be restored to you again, in renewed health
and vigour, and above all, ' in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel
of Christ.'— I remain, your unworthy but affectionate and faithful
minister,

" J. A. James."

TO THE CHTJECH OF CHRIST ASSEMBLING IN CAER's LANE, BIRMINGHAM,
THEIR FAITHFUL PASTOR SENDETH GREETING.

" West Cowes, Isle of Wight, August 27, 1819.

" My dear Friends, — Although absent in the flesh, yet am I with
you in the spirit ; joying and beholding your order and the steadfast-
ness of your faith in Christ, and making constant mention of you in
my prayers before our heavenly Father, that ye might be filled -with
the knowledge of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding ;
that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful
in every good work, and increasing in the knoAvledge of God. If the
tenderest interest in aU your concerns, united with the most affectionate
soUcitude for your spiritual and eternal welfare, be among the qualifica-
tions which are required in your pastor, I do at least possess these.

" In the exercise of these feelings I admonish you by epistle, as I
have done being present with you, to give aU diligence to make your

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229

calling and election sure. You have lately had very striking proofs of
the vanity of the world, and the power and excellence of reHgion, in
the removal of some of our friends from this low diurnal sphere, and in
the sacred composure with which they sustained the approach of the
last enemy. I would fain hope that the hving virtues and dying sup-
ports of that dear saint who, a few months since, ascended from my
side to the right hand of Him who redeemed her by His blood, are not
yet forgotten. Oh, they were far too precious to be deserving of a
speedy oblivion. Think how holily and unblameably she behaved
herself among you for nearly fourteen years ; how meekly and affec-
tionately she ever behaved. Often look at the bright picture which
her innumerable and ineffable excellences have left suspended upon
your recollection, and remember that the richest honour you can
bestow upon her memory is to be like her. I have sometimes been
afraid lest this costly sacrifice should have been made in vain. I had
need gain some spiritual improvement from it ; for, as it respects this
world, it has in a measure created a wilderness before me, go where I
wi\l, and opened springs of sorrow at almost every step of the journey
of life. To you, however, next to God, I look for consolation, and in
your holiness, spirituaUty, and Christian consistency find a balm for
every wound, a cordial for every fear. Other breaches, I find, have
been lately made upon us by the king of terrors. Not only has the
aged disciple, in the full maturity of years and graces, been gathered
home hke a shock of corn fully ripe, but also the father of a rising
family has been cut off, while his sun had scarcely attained to its
meiidian. Pity and pray for the widow, that she may not be swal-
lowed up of over-much sorrow, and commend the dear children to Him
with whom the fatherless findeth mercy.

" In the removal of our dear friend Elmore, the church has lost a
very valuable member, and I a most affectionate friend. Cut off in the
midst of his days, his death speaks loudly to us all. "What now is the
world or any of its concerns to him 1 What aU those objects for which
men toil, and contrive, and consume their strength? Brethren, I
beseech you, dwell more upon the topics which revelation brings before
tlie mind. Think more of the soul, and its vast concerns. Look at
things unseen and eternal. Realise the thought that every moment
you are verging to an everlasting state. Resist the undue anxiety
which many feel about this vain transitory world ; and nothing will so
much enable you to do this, under the blessing of God, as to have the
mind much occupied with the prospect of the world to come. Let us
set up eternal glory as the back-ground of all our earthly prospects, and
while moving forward amidst the pleasurable or painful varieties of the
latter, keep our eye steadily fixed upon the former. How little then

230

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

shall we think of those sorrows which are irradiated by beams of splen-
dour fetched from heaven ! how little of those comforts which are lost
in the radiance which spreads its glow over the whole compass of the
distant horizon ! My dear brethren, let our conversation be more in
heaven. We are too earthly and sensual. We are too much elated by
the comforts and too much depressed by the sorrows of life, forgetting
how close at hand is the event which will render them both alike
indifferent to us and us to them. Eternity, eternity is before us, and
what should materially affect those who are moving to eternity 1 If a
monarch were going to take possession of a kingdom, or a person were
going to take possession of a large estate, neither of them would think
much or care much whether the road were smooth or rough — the
weather fair or foul — the carriage elegant or homely. Christians, you
are kings travelling through this world to a kingdom — heirs journeying
to be vested with an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that
fadeth not away. Why, then, should you think so much about the
road, and the weather, and the mode of travelling ? The very next
point beyond death renders aU that you pass through on this side of it
a matter of no consequence. Let these thoughts be present with you
amidst the perplexities and embarrassments of the times. Most deeply
and tenderly do I feel for those of you on whom embarrassments press
with pecuHar weight. There is not a care which wrinkles your brow
that does not reach my heart. I have prayed for you in this respect
that God would appear for you. The resources of the universe are at
His disposal. The sUver and the gold are His, and if He do not give
them to you, it is not that He does not love you, but because He sec;
that these things would not be good for you. WTiat ! has He given
His Son for you, and would He withhold wealth from you if it were
for your benefit? Look at the cross, and ask what God would be
likely to deny you that is for your benefit. Cast aU your care upon
God. Do not appear dejected and at your wits' end like the men of th
world. Let them see that your principles have a tendency to keep th
mind cahn and serene amidst external changes and agitations. L'
them clearly discover the soothing and supporting operations of tha
hope which anchors upon the promise of a better and more endu"'-
substance. Kemember the Lord God ommpotent reigneth, and t
the times and the seasons are in His hands. Be it your earnest pray
and constant endeavour that in this season of difficulty and trial yo
may be kept from every dereliction of Christian principle in the tra
actions of worldly business. A season of worldly embarrassment is
test of Christian principle. Happy is the man who endureth temp
tions, for when he is tried he shall receive a crown of glory that fade
not away. Rather sufi"er the greatest losses by trade than commit t

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2.31

least siu to avoid them. Hold fast your integrity. How sweet will
be the reflection when the time of trial is over, to reflect that you passed
through it with an unsullied reputation !

" You cannot be indifferent to the dark cloud of a political nature
with which God has permitted the internal concerns of our country for
a season to be veiled. ' Unreasonable and wicked men, aiming ahke at
the destruction of all that is venerable in our civil constitution and all
that is sacred in religion, have arisen, who, imder specious pretexts
about liberty, are covering designs of a most mischievous and dreadful
nature.'

" I should indeed blush and be ashamed if any of you were seen, in the
smallest degree, to give countenance to their seditious conduct. I again
repeat that loyalty is one of the fruits of piety aud the injunctions of
revelation. Depend upon it, that the most malignant infidelity is
closely connected with that seditious spirit which has unhappily gone
forth to corrupt the popular mind. As the recent transactions which
have taken place are likely to agitate and divide the public mind, and
as political animosities and even strong political feelings are very
unfriendly to the meek and gentle spirit of true religion, I most seri-
ously aud affectionately admonish you to be upon your guard against
suffering your minds to be too deeply engaged in the subject, or your
tongues from being too busily employed in the discussions which, in
every house and every company, are sure to be carried on. Avoid aU
excess of feeling and dissension. Say but little, and speak mildly. If
you feel strongly, you will need to be still more upon your guard.
Nothing can compensate for an injury inflicted upon your own personal
religion, and religion is never more in danger than when enveloped in
the mist of political feeling. If it be possible, as much as in you lieth,
live peaceably with all men.

" It gives me great pleasure to hear that everything continues to go
on with regularity and harmony in my absence. I trust this wiU con-
tinue. The unanimity which has subsisted in relation to the great
work wliich is upon our hands, if not absolutely pei-fect, is more than
could have been expected considering the magnitude of the under-
taking. It is, indeed, a mighty work ; and glorious, I hope, wiU be the
results. Who does not feel a glow of sacred delight at the thought of
helping to build a place where, for ages, two thousand immortal souls
win hear the glorious gospel of the blessed God ? What an unspeakable
honour ! Compared with the good to be expected, what are the sacri-
fices which must be made for its completion ? I admit, that a cloud
has arisen since the work commenced, which many regard with peculiar
dread, and I admit, that had the present difiiculties existed before the
work was begun, it would have been prudent to suspend it for a

232

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

season ; but, as the national embarrassments have come on since we
began, we have only to continue with firmness, looking up to Him who
has the silver and gold at His command. 'Tis true, we are not to
expect miracles even for the support of the cause of God ; but, I think,
we may humbly hope, that for a work so obviously connected with His
glory. He wiU provide us with the means. We must, however, every
one of us determine to exert himself to the uttermost. We must stand
prepared to deny ourselves some of the usual luxuries of life, rejoicing
that God hath put it into our heart to do this thing for His name's sake.
Bearing in mind your affectionate solicitude for my health, I have given
every degree of attention to the subject ; having, on no Sabbath,
preached more than once, nor ever more than once in the week. I am
thankful to say that my strength continues to increase, and that, for
the ordinary duties of my office, I feel as equal as at any period of my
ministry.

" I commend to your affection my dear friend and fellow-labourer
Mr Adams, whose name in Hampshire, but more especially in this
island, is a precious perfume. Love him for his work and his piety's
sake.

" I beg you to accept, individually, my warmest and most grateful
love. This letter is but little worth your attention, in consequence of
its being written amidst many interruptions.

" Commending you to God and the word of His gi-ace, I remain,
your devoted and faithful pastor,

"J. A. James."

TO THE CHURCH OP CHRIST ASSEMBLING IN CARR's LANE.

" London, February 15, 1822.
" My BELOVED Flock, — If it were necessary, after the sixteen years
that I have spent amongst you, to speak of my affection for you, I
would rather refer you to my conduct during all that period, than
abound in expressions of the strongest regard. I may, however, with
propriety, because I can with sincerity, adopt, in reference to you, the
language which St Paul appUed to his beloved Phihppian converts, and
call you ' My brethren, dearly beloved, and longed for, my joy and
crown.' All of you are the subjects of my pastoral care, many of you
the fniits of my ministerial labours, — considerations these which, in
addition to the usual grounds of brotherly love, give you a high place
in my heart.

" Most truly can I aver, that, to promote your best interests is the
anxious wish of my soul ; and the consciousness of having in any mea-
sure attained this object, is one of the sublimest gratifications of my
life. The bond which unites a faithful pastor to an affectionate flock.

LETTEES,

233

is no common tie, but gives rise to feelings, and motion to energies of
a most elevated nature. Through whatever part of the religious world
I journey, and amidst whatever scenes I sojourn, I turn to you with
the fond feehngs of a heart that considers your society as its religious
home ; and, at the same time, I rejoice in the assurance, that I have
not to say with the apostle, the more I love, the less am I beloved.
Every demonstration that you could give of your attachment, you have
given. You have approved my labours, you have ministered to me in
sickness, you have provided for my comfort, you have made me the
subject of your prayers, and have left nothing undone by which you
could manifest your esteem and regard. If other ministers have had
to complain of a cold, neglectful line of conduct from their people, /
have never for a moment had any ground for such an accusation. Such
a state of things between us has led on my part to that decided, un-
wavering, unhesitating, preference for the people of my charge, which
nothing for a moment could change or diminish. Other churches have
offered me inducements to leave you, when your prosperity was far less
than it now is ; but they were presented to a mind too fixed in its
choice to be attracted by the prospect of a larger salary, or a richer
congregation. I received you as the people not only of my charge, but
my preference : as such you have continued, and as such you remain
to this day.

" With such feehngs, absence from you, though it has been frequent,
has never been pleasant to me. Some ministers are put more in requi-
sition for the public than others. It has been the lot of your pastor to
have many demands of this nature urged upon him — demands which it
has been impossible for him wholly to resist. He can, however, assure
you, that it has been the subject of much reproach upon him from
abroad, that he confined himself so much at home.

" My present absence, at least for the greater part of the time, was
by no means a voluntary one, and has, on your account, from the
length of it, been a source of the most acute distress to my mind. My
labours on the first Sabbath in January, at a time when I was suffering
under a severe bihous attack, brought on a state of feverish languor and
debility, for the consequences of which I was certainly a little alarmed.
I suffered far more illness than I was willing my people should know ;
and hence, I charged the few friends who visited me, not to circulate
alarms, which I hoped a little time would remove. I was certainly
very ill, and my skilful and attentive physician ordered an immediate
joiurney. Thanks to the Father of mercies, my visit to my native air,
with constant exercise on horseback, has been of great service to my
health ; and, I am sure, I do not miscalculate your affection, when I ex-
press my confidence, that you will rejoice in my gradual return to

234

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAilES.

health. When I say return to health, I must of course be understood
in a comparative sense ; for, after the dangerous illness which I experi-
enced five years since, I must never look for that robustness of consti-
tution which I enjoyed before the attack. Experience has proved to
me that I must not be surprised at frequent returns of indisposition.
On this ground I may probably have need of your patience.

" It has aggravated the distress of my absence greatly, to know that
my supplies have not altogether met with your approbation. Most
grieved have I been to learn that considerable dissatisfaction has pre-
vailed on this ground through a large portion of the congregation.
It should be recollected, that my attack being sudden gave no time

for previous arrangement and extended application. Mr had been

engaged to preach in the afternoon, for a few Sabbaths, as probationer
for the office of assistant-minister, and it was thought advisable, in the
existing state of things, that he should preach morning and evening
for two Lord's days. Efforts more than you can conceive of were
made by myself to procure acceptable assistance ; and by a most sin-
gular concurrence of circumstances, these efforts in almost every case
were followed by disappointment. I have written an incredible num-
ber of letters on the subject, and I regret with so Little success. I am
happy, however, to express my hope, that I shall trespass very little
longer on your patience. After two more Sabbaths I expect to be at
my post, and for these two I have provided supplies, whom nothing
but a sinfully fastidious taste can render unwelcome in my pulpit.
And having mentioned the subject of fastidious taste, I cannot but ex-
press my fears that there is rather more of this in our church, and
more looking to the messenger, and less to the message, than there
ought to be. I have often been grieved at that restlessness and dissa-
tisfaction which have discovered themselves, if even for a single Sab-
bath the supply had not some of the features of a popular preacher.
You will readily believe me when I say, that I wish to give place to no
one in your estimation as a preachsr ; yet, still I could desire to see a
little more MiUingness to hear others when I am occasionally absent.
I am not to be understood as pleading for more frequent leave of retire-
ment from my home duties, or as giving any intimation of being more
abroad for the future ; on the contrary, it is my fixed and deliberate
resolution — a resolution to which I am brought no less by a sense of
duty than by inclination — to give up all public engagements whatever,
besides those which are already made, and to confine my exertions
almost exclasively to my own congregation. All that I have of physical
or mental strength shall be in future almost undividedly yours. It is
your due, and you shall have it. The public are nothing to me in com-

LETTERS.

235

parison witli you. I am your shepherd, and the flock have a just right
to the attention of their pastor.

" In the new relationship to which I am looking forward, I have
consulted your comfort no less than my own, as I believe the result
will prove.

" You will not be displeased to hear that I have preached once every
Sabbath since I have left home ; and last Sabbath-day morning war;
very unexpectedly called to preach in Surrey Chapel, and am thankful
to say did not feel the worse for the exertion.

" ' Commending you to God, and the word of His grace, who is able
to build you up, and give you an inheritance amongst them that are
sanctified,' I remain, your affectionate pastor,

"J. A- James."

The answer of the church to the foregoing letter, written after
his second marriage : —

TO THE PASTOR OF THE CHURCH OF CHEIST ASSEMBLING IN CAEE's
LANE CHAPEL.

" Dear Sie, — As through the superintendence and guidance of an
all-wise Providence, you have entered into a most interesting and
honourable connexion ; and as it hath pleased the Great Head of the
Church to remove the severe indisposition under which you have so
recently laboured, and to restore you to comparative health and strength ;
permit us, as the flock over which you are the endeared and beloved
pastor, to offer our sincere and heartfelt congratulations. Accept, as a
pledge and a proof of continued affection and esteem, our desire to
participate in your joys as well as your sorrows; to rejoice when you
rejoice, as well as to weep when you weep. It is our ardent -wish that
the scenes through which we are called to pass, whether they be pros-
perous or adverse, may have the tendency of exciting those reciprocal
sympathies and good wishes which shall bind us still closer to each
other, and strengthen that union which, through the blessing of God,
has been crowned with the most glorious and auspicious consequences.
The anxiety which you manifest for our welfare during your absence ;
your earnest sohcitude to promote our immortal interests when present ;
your disinterestedness in refusing to accept of the more splendid offers
of other churches ; your avowal of the decided preference which you
entertain for the people of your charge, induce us to believe that, on
your part, the bond of connexion is daily acquiring strength and firm-
ness. We trust, also, that we shall not incur the charge of insincerity
when we afiBrm, that your anxious care, your unwearied and persevering
labours of love on our behalf, your fixed determination to continue

23G

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

with us, notwithstanding the change which has taken place in your
circumstances, have produced corresponding feelings of love and esteem,
and cemented more strongly on our part the haUowed union.

" If, during your absence, we appeared to be fastidious, it was not
because we despised the servants of Christ, (for we desire to ' esteem
all of them very higlily in love for their work's sake,') but because we
were convinced that the shepherd who was best acquainted with our
wants and our circumstances, was best able to apportion to us that food
which we required, and to break to us the bread of everlasting life. It
resulted from a firm conviction that your ministry was more adapted to
promote our benefit and advantage, than the ministry of any other
person.

" With such views and such feelings, we hail with unmingled dehght
and pleasure your resolution to confine your labours more exclusively
to your own flock ; and more especially so, as we are convinced that it
was a resolution prompted as well by a sense of inclination as of duty ;
and that it originated in an increasing afi"ection for your people, and a
more ardent desire to promote their eternal as well as temporal felicity.

" We humbly hope, that through the influence of the Spirit of God,
our profiting and growth in grace, and every other Christian virtue, may
render us more worthy to receive, and you more ready to bestow, your
undivided labours.

" May the wise Disposer of all events consecrate with His rich
blessings and -inestimable favours, the endeared relationship into which
you have entered; may He render the union more permanent and
durable than that, the transient and fleeting nature of which we saw
and deeply deplored !

" May the happiness derived from it soothe your mind in seasons of
domestic sorrow, and alleviate the burden and anxiety of public duties ;
may it sweeten those cares, and soften those woes, from which no sta-
tion in life can possibly exempt us ; but above aU, may it be the means
of promoting the honour and glory of God, and the welfare of immortal
souls !

" May you and the partner of your life enjoy continually the smiles
of Heaven ; may a long life of health, of happiness, and peace be granted
to you ; may your paths, like the path of ' the just, shine brighter and
brighter unto a perfect day,' and at last, after having spent your days ,
in the service of your Maker, may you descend to the grave laden with I
the fruits and honours of those who have ' turned many to righteoiis-
ness,' and like them shine as stars of the first magnitude, and in the
celestial city wear a bright diadem, and an unfading crown, is the
earnest wish, and sincere desire, and fervent prayer, of your afi'ectiouate
flock,"

LETTERS.

237

THE CHUECH OF CHRIST ASSEMBLING IN CAER's LA^E, BIRMINGHAM,
UNDER THE PASTORAL CAKE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES, TO THE
CHURCHES OF CHRIST, TTITH THEIR BISHOPS AND DEACONS,
ASSEMBLING FOR THE WORSHIP OF ALMIGHTY GOD IN VARIOUS
PARTS OF THE ISLAND OF TAHITI.

" Dearly-beloved Brethren in our Lord Jesus Christ, — Grace
he unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, pray-
ing always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of
the love which ye have to aU the saints, for the hope which is laid up
for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of
the gospel ; which is come unto you, as it is in all the world ; and
bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of
it, and knew the grace of God in trutk As ye also heard of !Mr Nott
and others, our dear fellow-servants, who are for you faithful ministers
of Christ, and who have declared unto us your love in the spirit. The
account of your conversions, dear brethren, from the worship of dumb
idols to serve the living and true God, was a cause of unspeakable de-
Ught to us, and we have innumerable times blessed God our heavenly
Father, and J esus Christ whom He has sent, for this great and glorious
change. God be thanked that though ye were the servants of sin, ye
have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine into which ye were
dehvered. It is the Lord's doing, and is marvellous in our eyes.
"What else but divine grace could have enhghtened your understanding
to see the great -wickedness of idolatry, or have caused your heart to
abhor and forsake if? How justly might God have said concerning
you, ' They are tied to their idols, let them alone !' But blessed be His
glorious name, instead of this He has made you to exclaim, ' What have
we any more to do with idols 1 Other lords have had dominion over us,
but by thee only, Jehovah, wiU we be called. ' How truly, dear bre-
thren, has the apostle John said that ' God is love !' 'In this was mani-
fested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only-be-
gotten Son into the world, that we might hve through him. Herein is
love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to
be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought
also to love one another.' The love of God, in sending Jesus Christ to
die upon the cross for our sins, is the greatest wonder that we shall
ever hear of on earth or in heaven, in time or through eternity. How
constantly should we think of it, how much should we talk of it, how
great should be our gratitude to God, how strong our love to Jcsua
Christ!

" Dearly-beloved brethren, we are quite sure that you have a deep

238

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

sense of your obligation to God for sending missionaries to your islands.
What a change has the gospel produced in your customs, manners, and
feelings ! No infant murder, no human sacrifice, no bloody wars are
practised now. Husbands and wives live, and eat, and dwell together.
Parents, instead of destroying their children, bring them up in the fear,
nurture, and admonition of the Lord. Blessed are the people that
know the jojrful sound ! You have proved, by your happy experience,
' that godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the
life that now is, as well as of that which is to come.'

" Oh, happy, happy Tahitians ! we doubt not that you feel greatly
indebted to those dear men of God who first brought to you the glad
tidings of salvation. We in England love them for what they have
done for you ; and how much more may it be expected that you should
love them ! Do everything in your power to promote their comfort ;
in order to this hearken diligently to their advice, constantly attend
their ministry, and never grieve them by sinning against God. The
sins of the people are the deepest afflictions of a minister's heart.

" We earnestly pray for you, dear brethren, that you may persevere
in faith and holiness to the end of life, for Chiist has said, ' Then are
ye my disciples indeed, if ye continue in my word.' Eemember that it
is only such as continue to the end that shall be saved. We are sur-
rounded by trials, temptations abound in every place, and many by
this means make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience — and if,
after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the know-
ledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled
therein and overcome, the latter end is worse than the beginning. For
it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteous-
ness than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy command-
ment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to
the proverb, ' The dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow
that was washed to her walloAsing in the mire.'

" We would most affectionately warn you, dear brethren, against the
temptations to which we think you wiR be exposed in future. As your
civilisation advances, and your island, -with, others in the Pacific Ocean,
becomes more improved, you will, in all probability, be visited by more
ships from different parts of the world ; the crews of which, often con-
sisting of men that fear not God, will tempt you in various ways to
sin against the Lord. Your wives and your daughters will be tempted
to lewd conduct, and your men to drunkenness, falsehood, deceit, and
injustice. Against these things we most affectionately warn you, and;
entreat you to watch unto prayer. Alas ! alas ! that we should have to ■
caution you against the vices of our own countrymen ! but there are \
great multitudes among us, who, though Christians by name, are not in'

LETTERS.

239

reality. Your dangers will perpetually increase, and it is only by a
deep-rooted fear of God in your hearts that you can escape them. As
British property becomes more and more introduced among you, there
will be more room for envy, jealousy, dishonesty, and covetousness.
All of which, as your honoured teachers, the missionaries, inform you,
or rather as the Word of God tells you, are very wicked in the sight of
God. It is by the fear of the Lord that men depart from evil You
must depend for protection on the grace of God. It is not the strength
of power but of principle that must defend you. How would it dis-
tress us if we should ever be informed that our dear Tahitian brethren
had lost their first love, and had sank into the pollutions of the world !
But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that
accompany salvation, though we thus speak.

" We doubt not, brethren, that you will continue to increase in dili-
gence and industry in reference to your temporal concerns. Eunning
water is sweet and pure, but stagnant water soon becomes foul and
ofifensive. 'Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do,' and our
idle days are his busy days.

" Cultivate your gardens, multiply the useful furniture of your
houses, promote in every possible way the improvement of your island.
We are very anxious that you should aU be able to write, and especially
to read, and therefore hope you will be constant in your attendance at
the school. "NAThat a useful art is writing, and especially printing ! Be
very attentive to the education of your children, let them at home
neither hear nor see anj-thing in you but would recommend religion.
Example is more powerful than precept. It is in vain to teach them
religion by your words unless you shew it to them by your actions.
Teach them to obey you, but provoke them not to wratL Be firm, but
mild. Govern them in love. Subdue them by kindness. Send them
early, punctually, and constantly to school. It wiU be a disgrace if a
single Tahitian cluld should grow up in ignorance.

" We are most happy, dearly beloved brethren, in being informed
that you have a system of wise, just, and humane laws. No state can
be happy or prosperous without good laws, and no laws can be efl"ectual
unless the people determine to support them. iSText to your Bible, your
laws are the greatest benefit you have received from the missionaries.
Our king in England does not nile by his own will, but by the laws
which are made by him and the people, and we hope that you wiU fear
God, honour the king, and respect the laws. It is a cause of great
pleasure and thankfulness to us, brethren, to learn your zeal for the
Lord God of hosts, and your love for mankind, as manifested by your
forming missionary societies, and sending missionaries to other islands
■which have not yet cast away their idols. Every Christian church

240

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

ought, so to speak, to be a missionary society in itself. It was so in
the days of the apostles, and should be so in our days. When a Bible
comes into a man's hand, his first duty is to believe and practise it
himself, his second is to help his neighbour to believe and practise it.
How can we love God if we are not anxious to destroy idolatry, or
how can we love our neighbour as ourselves if we do not endeavour
that he should possess the blessings of the gospel as well as we 1 "Would
you, or should we in Britain, ever have had any knowledge of the true
God, or of Jesus Chi-ist whom He has sent, had it not been for mis-
sionaries ? No ! how much then is it our duty to send missionaries to
others ! We hope that from you will sound out the word of God all
through the islands of the vast Pacific. Look out from among you
the most holy, the most courageous, the most prudent, and the most
learned of your own number, and let them give themselves to reading,
meditation, and prayer, and especially let them be instructed by the
missionaries in all useful knowledge, and go forth to preach the gospel
among the heathen.

" Every country that is converted to Christianity should, in process
of time, find both ministers for itself, and missionaries for its neigh-
bours, amongst its omi converted natives, and not be dependent upon
a foreign country, and this is the way for the word of the Lord to have
free course and be glorified. The visit of your dear minister and our
beloved brother Mr Nott to this kingdom, and especially to this town,
from which he formerly went out, has been a source of great delight to
thousands of the saints in England, and has refreshed the hearts of
many. We all esteem him very highly in love for his work's sake, and
having blessed God for permitting us to see him, we send him back
with many prayers for the safety of his passage, the continuance
of his life and health, and the success of his labours through the future
years of his continuance on earth.

" While we cherish a very strong affection for aU your missionaries
whom we have never seen, we entertain a very peculiar regard for those
whom we personally know. We feel greatly honoured in having sent
out to you a member of our own church, and his wife, to aid those who
already laboured among you in word and doctrine. Mr Pritchard was
among us a brother dearly beloved, whom we would gladly have
retained, had not the Lord inclined his heart to quit his native country
and live and die among you. We commend him and his mfe to your
deserved regards. And now, brethren, in conclusion, we beseech you
to walk worthy of your vocation in aU hohness, meekness, love, and
humUity, and pray that we may do the same ourselves, that when we
meet, (as we shall do at the last day before the judgment-seat of Christ,
and never tiU then,) our meeting may take place at the right hand of

2il

Him ■who sitteth on the tlirone, and that we may hear the voice of our
Divine Lord saying to each of us, ' Well done, good and faithfid ser-
vant; ye have been faithfid in a few things, enter ye into the joy of
your Lord.'

" Passed at a meeting of the church, held September 29, 1826, and
signed on their behalf, by

" JOHJT AkGELL jAitES, PastOT.

" Thomas Cocks,
" Joseph Phipson,
" "William Edwards,
" John Gausby,
" John Beery,
" John Walfoed,
" Thomas Beilby,
" James James,

Deacons.

TO THE REV. W. PATTON, D.D., OF NEW YORK.

" BiBMiifGHAii, February 19, 1827.

" My dear Beothee, — .... I have an invincible dislike of letter-
writing, which has often subjected me to heavy charges and more serious
accusations, than those I have provoked from you.

" You wiU please to accept my best thanks both for your letters and
pamphlets. Dr Griffin's ' Concio ad Cleros,' is exceedingly good, and
' The Moral Grandeur of the Missionarj' Enterprise,' is a very striking
discourse. It is truly delightful to see that talent is peculiar to no
country, and that great powers of mind are everywhere employed in the
cause of our glorious Redeemer. America has yet jiroduced no great
authors, at least with few exceptions ; but in the department of theologj',
and in her Edwards, she stands pre-eminent in the science of sacred
truth. D-night is excellent, and has more of the graces of composition,
but less of profundity, than Edwards. I think the latter will never be
surpassed as a theological reasoner. I have herewith sent you two ser-
mons which I have published since you were here — one on the death of
my venerable tutor, and the other preached on occasion of the opening
of our new Mission College ; they are not worth the transit across the
Atlantic, but if they have no intrinsic worth, you wiU perhaps feel some
little interest in them on account of their author. I have also sent you a
copy of a work which I consider to be an astonishing production. The
author is comparatively a young man, but a man of prodigious reading,
as will be evident to you from a perusal of his book. It is much ad-
mired in this country. I should teU you that Mr Douglas is a Scotch
lajnnan, and -will not be liked the less by you for being a Presbji:erian.
Q

24..2

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

"Well, how goes on the great cause of Truth and Holiness in
America, in New York, and in your own congregation 1 I expect
great things from your country in every point of -sdew. I believe
that the United States are destined to a distinguished place in the
future history of the world. If you do not divide into separate king-
doms, which I think you will do in process of time, you must be the
greatest and most powerful people on earth. And I think that as your
wealth increases, you -will do much more than you have ever yet done
for the spread of Christ's kingdom in the world.

" Your Foreign Missions do not yet bear a proportion to your popula-
tion and your piety. To be sure, you have the Indians to attend to
in your back settlements. Eeligion is, I hope, gaining ground in this
country. It is spreading in the higher walks of life. Several of our
nobles, and many of our gentry, are become truly pious ; our evangeU-
cal Episcopal clergy are stUl increasing, and, I beheve, their labours
are very successfid in turning sinners to God. Our reHgious institu-
tions continue to be well supplied, but the Bible Society controversy
has given some little check to the distinguished career of that noble
organisation of religious zeal. Perhaps this check wUl be salutary, and
was necessary. We were becoming proud and vain-glorious. We were
in danger of almost worshipping the Society as such, and exalting the
Bible, perhaps in a forgetfulness of the God of the Bible. God is a
jealous God, and will not give His glory to another. We must be cau-
tious against doing His work in our ovm strength, and in our own spirit.
The Scotch opponents of the Society's proceedings have been actiiated
by a bad spirit, and have strangely lost sight of that declaration, that
' the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.' I am happy
to say that the ferment is rapidly subsiding, and that I hope nothing
will in a little time remain, but the fruits of a sanctified affliction. The
Society was certainly at one time in peril. God, in mercy to the world,
has presei-ved it. Blessed be His holy name ! Our Missionary Society
is, happily, preserved in peace, but its exi:»enditure is sweUing beyond
its income in so rapid a manner that, unless the pubhc come forward in
an extraordinary manner, we must curtail our Missions.

" My own congregation is much in the same state as when you were
here. Nothing very remarkable in the way of success has lately fol-
lowed my labours." •

TO THE REV. DR PATTON.

"BiKMiNGHAM, February 2, 1828.
"My dear Friend and Brother in Christ, — I must commence
my letter with the language of apology, for having sufi'ered your first
communication to remain unanswered till my neglect was reproached,

LETTERS.

243

and niy recollections quickened, by the arrival of your second epistle.
It is usual to plead in excuse for such omissions, the number and
urgency of engagements, but such attempts at extenuation are usually
but one remove from falsehood. I shall not, therefore, resort to them,
but confess my fault, promise amendment, and ask forgiveness.

" I am indeed your debtor, not only for the letters themselves, and
for the pamphlets, but for the information you have conveyed to me of
the progress of reUgion in the United States ; for although the general
facts to which you allude have obtained considerable publicity in this
country, they are of a nature so truly gratifying to every one who is
concerned for the extension of the Eedeemer's cause, that like a person
listening to the tidings of a victory, we deUght to hear the blissfiil de-
tails repeated, though it be ever so frequently, and especially by those
who helped to fight the battle, and to achieve the conquest. Your
country, my friend, seems selected by the Sovereign Dispenser of all
grace, for the richest commiinications of spiritual blessings. Gladly
wovdd I come, if it were possible, to see the grace of God, and Avith all
gladness to exhort you Avith fuU purpose to cleave unto God. For a
few months' residence in America I woixld forego most willingly the
pleasure of a visit to the classic scenes of Greece and Home : gladly
would I yield to others the associations connected with the mouldering
monuments of ancient greatness, to look upon the rising fabric of
future empire ; and especially would I abandon, Avithout a moment's
hesitation or regret, the opportunity of seeing all that is left of those
splendid ruins, which, while they proclaim the splendour of human
genius, no less truly prove the depravity of the human heart, to gaze
upon the spiiitual temples of the Triune Jehovah, which are rising all
over that land, which, so short a time since, was a moral as well as a
natural wilderness. If I were so much of an Englishman as to forget
that I am a Christian, or permitted what some call patriotism to
smother and extinguish the purer flame of Christian love which burns
in my bosom, I should look on the United States with feelings of alarm,
and of jealousy, and of gloomy anticipation : but this is not the case.
I rejoice with all the full fervour of universal benevolence in what I
see going on in transatlantic regions ; and much I do see going on for
the glory of God, and the good of the human race. All the germs of
human greatness and human happiness are there, vegetating in soil of
uncommon luxuriance, fostered by institutions adapted to their growth,
and nurtured by the choicest influences of Heaven. Go on, my dear
brother, to fan, by the breathings of a Heaven-kindled eloquence, — that
is, the eloquence not of words, but of thoughts — not of the school of
rhetoric, but of religion — not on the model of Cicero, but of Paul, — the
flame of pubUc spirit. Most gratefully do I bless our Lord Jesus

2-14

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Christ, that He has put His own mind and spirit into so many of His
American servants. But how shall we account for your revivals 1 I
now, of course, mean as to second causes and means. One, and perhaps
the first of secondary causes, is that you seek them and expect them.
Then perhaps may be mentioned, that you have not to contend, as we
have, with the prejudices of an Established religion. I do think that
much is to be set down to this. This is one of the fearful and dis-
tressing evils resulting from an Estabhshment ; men are bound by it
to particular persons, and forms, and habits of thought, and feeling,
and action ; anything which does not come from canonical individuals,
and in a prescribed way, instantly arrays all the prejudices of bigotry —
i.e., human depravity, in the form of zeal against innovation — against it.
TVe are hindered, effectually hindered, in our attempts, at least often-
times, especLaUy in small towns and villages, by the intolerance of the
clergy and their flocks. Of Revivals, strictly so-called, I am sorry to
say, we know nothing in this country. It is true tliat religion is, I
think, steadUy advancing, but it is more in the way of silent and un-
marked progress, than in that of conspicuous and noticeable movements.
I am also a little apprehensive, that neither our people nor our ministers
are distinguished for depth and fervour of pious feehng. I am both
delighted and astonished at the liberality disjjlayed by the friends of
missions in New York. Christians seem coming to the con^action, that
all they have, as well as all they are, belongs to God. I am of opinion,
however, that there is in the present day a lironeness to depend rather
upon organised systems of human energy, than upon God's ovm Spirit
and grace. Our societies are to do everything, and we must have large
and impressive combinations of men, and means, and wealth, and wis-
dom, or we do not expect any result. But was this the way in which
the gospel was first spread 1 How is it that we hear nothing of sepa-
rate churches sending out their messengers and missionaries into the
field, supporting them, and supplying them with aU necessary assist-
ance, and looking up to Him who can bless the feeblest means. We
must have great and imposing associations, or our weak faith and self-
dependence are apt to suggest that we can do nothing. And then we
should endeavour to make the cause, so far as means can go, self-pro-
pagating. Every convert from paganism, who has even tolerable quali-
fications, should be a jireacher of righteousness.

" You have much indeed to do for your own country, as well as for
the heathen. Your population increases so rapidly, that unless prodi-
gious exertions are made to train up a very large number of ministers,
your peoj)le will, to a very great extent, be a population of practical
atheists. I do not think that an appeal to the benevolence of this
countiy would be followed with any beneficial results, and that for two

LETTERS.

reasons : Fkst, It must be coufined to tlie Dissenters, for the Church
people -would do nothing ; and, secondly. The hands of the Dissenters
are already so full, that they cannot do all they vrish to do for our own
population, a great part of -which are as destitute of religious instruction
as yours can be in any of the back settlements. You must, therefore,
go on calling out the pecuniary resources of the people, and bringing
them to this great principle, that they have no right to live in houses
ceiled -with cedar, and to feast at tables covered ^vith luxuries, as long
as the Lord's house heth -waste, and the souls of men are famishing for
-ivant of the bread of Mfe. I have read with great pleasure and edifica-
tion your excellent sermon. It is just in all its reasonings, and forcible
in its appeals, and -will, I trust, be followed -with the Di-vine blessing.
We are going to form a society on Wednesday evening, for the purpose
of diffusing Christian instriiction through the myriads of our population,
in this to-wn, -who are li-ving -without God and -without hope in the
world.

" I know not whether the attention of your ministers has been at all
excited to the study of the unfulfilled symbolical prophecies of Daniel
and John. The subject has been taken up pretty extensively in this
country, especially by some ministers in London, at the head of whom
is the celebrated Mr Irving. I am in no degree infected -with the pas-
sion, being persuaded that time is the best expounder of prophecy. I
never could make up my mind on the meaning of the Apocalypse, ex-
cept as to its general design. No expositor that I ever read, and I
have read many, has yet satisfied me : and, as they aU disagree among
themselves, I think it is a presumption that none of them understand
the subject. I am also afraid that e-sdl -will arise from the prevalence
of the study, inasmuch as reUgious people -^^-iIl be taken off from labour-
ing to bring on the millennium, to watch the signs, and calculate the
time of its approach. I have sent you a volume of sermons on the
' E-vidences of Christianity,' preached hy some of the London Indepen-
dent ministers. Some of them are verj^ superior discourses. I have
also put in a little production of my own. I feel gratified by your re-
membrance of me at the Falls of Niagara : it was no small proof of
friendship that my name should occur to your recollection amidst such
scenes of subUme and absorbing grandeur. The cane from Goat Island
has not yet arrived, but \xUl be much valued when it does. My family,
through the goodness of God, are aU well.

" Desiring for you every blessing, as a man, a Christian, and a minis-
ter,— I remain yours, in bonds not severed, and in communion not
interrupted, by an interposing ocean,

"J. A. jAliF..S.

" I shall hope to hear from you again soon."

246

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

TO MES PATTON,
ON THE DEATH OF TWO OP HER CHILDREN DURING HER HUSBAND's
ABSENCE IN ENGLAND.

" Birmingham, August 19, 1828.

" My deak Madam, — An act of pure friendship needs no apology,
althougli performed by an entire stranger; and as I am conscious that
the witing of these few hnes is an effort of Christian affection, and an
effort made at the request of your excellent husband, I shall not ask
your forgiveness for that which, under other circumstances, might be
deemed an obtrusion. It wiU relieve your mind at once from aU soh-
citude as to the purport of this letter, if I assure you that its only
object is, to condole with you as a mother bereaved of her children, and
to inform you that Mr Patton is greatly improved and stiU improving in
health ; and bore the communication, which it was my painful office to
make to him, of the sad intelhgence of his loss, yAth. more than manly
fortitude, with the most Christian resignation. It was indeed both
affecting and instructive to be the witness of his chastened grief and
meek submission, and we glorified God in him. It was a great cordial
to his mind to learn, that you had been so graciously supported in the
hour of your severe trial by ' Him who comforteth those that are cast
down,' and that you had been enabled to keep silence, if not to say,
* The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of
the Lord.' You wiU be pleased to hear, my dear madam, that, to borrow
the words of the excellent Phihp Henry, ' weeping did not hinder
sowing,' and that the next day after Sir Patton received the mournful
news, which was the Sabbath-day, he stood up in my pulpit, and to a
congregation of nearly two thousand people, bore his testimony for the
Lord God our Saviour, and gave us some account of what he had seen
and heard of the work of revival in America. I have reason to believe
his visit was amongst the merciful arrangements of the Great Head of
the Church, and that it ^vill appear at the last day that ' he must needs
pass through ' Birmingham. At our prayer-meeting the next evening,
there was a congregation of twice or three times the usual number,
to which I again dehvered the substance of your good husband's
address, and I do hope that although we may not have what in your
happy and higlily-favoured country is meant by a revival, we shall have
God's great and good work in the souls of men revived amongst its.

" And now, my dear madam, may you be filled with 'all joy and
peace in believing,' that in the full assurance of faith and hope y
may find

' A sovereign balm for every wound,
A cordial for your fears.'

LETTERS.

247

" Your husband, wlieii I broke to Mm the intelligence, in as delicate
and gradual a manner as possible, replied, ' It is right, all right. I
dedicated them to God in baptism, and He has a greater right to them
than we have.' Echo his language, and say, ' It is right ; yes, aU right.'
Ah ! my friend, it -nill all end weU if we do. As sinners we have no
right, and as Christians we have no reason, to complain. We are
within a circle of mercy, and nothing can reach us but what passes
through that reconciling medium. As to your dear babes, they are
in glory, and as to yourself and your husband, you are going thither.
What more would you have, can you have? They have sipped the
cup of human life, and are gone to diink of the river ' clear as crj^stal,
which floweth from the throne of God and the Lamb.'

" Think of the mercy of Mr Patton's recruited strength, and set one
thing over against the other. J>Iay the Lord grant you a happy inter-
view with each other, and many years of mutual comfort and helpful-
ness ! My wife unites with me in kind regards. — I remain, my dear
madam, your friend and brother in Christ,

" J. A. Jajies."

TO TH£ KEV. DK PATTON.

" BiEiuxGHAii, December 13, 1823.

" My deak BfiOTHEK, — The receipt of your letter gave us unfeigned
deUght, and a new occasion of praise to the Father of mercies and God
of aU consolation, on account of your safe arrival in the bosom of your
family and flock. We bless God that He sent you here, and overruled
your personal affliction for the good of many who have been stirred up
by your account of God's dealings with the churches in America, to
seek the same blessings for themselves ; and we now bless Him also that
He has taken you back in renewed health and strength, to be instru-
mental in carrying on the great and glorious work in New York
After you left us, we watched the direction of the clouds with a fresh
interest, hoping that He who appoints the winds from what quarter
they are to blow, would give you the breezes that were necessary to
waft you to your desii-ed haven. Your visit to this country has been,
I believe, the means, in connexion with the printed accounts which
have been forwarded to us, of exciting a very considerable interest in
the subject of revivals, of which I will now give you some account.

" About a week after you left us, I attended the ordination of a mis-
sionary at Worcester ; this solemnity took place in the evening of the
day appointed, the morning of which was employed in a conference on
the subject of revivals, at which were present ministers of several deno-
minations, and many persons of Mr Bedford's congregation, besides
Christians from other churches. As I had been much -nith you, I was

248

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

called upon to state the substance of the communications I liad received
from you in tlie different conversations we had held upon the subject;
with this request I comphed, and a very solemn feeling was produced
by a conference of about two hours and a half. The hint of a deputa-
tion from America was thrown out, and the matter referred to the
ministers, who, in the following week, were to be assembled at the
missionary meeting, to be holdeu in Birmingham. At that meeting,
the subject was taken up in niy vestry, and discussed for the greater
part of three hours. All present were deeply affected ^ith the solemn
importance of the subject, and in conclusion resolutions were agreed to,
recommending a consideration of the subject to the Congregational
Board of our denomination in London. ITie Board was specially con-
vened to take our resolutions into consideration, when two successive
adjournments took place, and at length the resolutions were agreed to,
which you ^Yi^. find in the Congregational Magazine forwarded herewith.
At these meetings of our ministers in London, the most heart-affecting
impressions were produced ; an unusual solemnity prevailed ; aged and
respectable pastors rose and confessed their unprofitableness, others
joined in making the same declarations, tUl all present seemed melted
doAvn under a new and powerful influence. No proposition was made,
as you -noil see, for an exchange of deputations, but merely for opening
a correspondence. This I am sorry for, as I am convinced that the
visits of three or four of your ministers would have been of vast service
to our churches. The subject, however, has got fast hold of the public
mind, both in the metropolis and in the country. Meetings are being
held in many places, and the periodical publications are continually
discussing it. But what I am afraid of is, that the matter will end in
mere public stir and excitement. I have held a season of humiliation
and prayer with my church, which lasted for three hours, and was of a
very solemn character, and have appointed a monthly special season of
prayer to implore the influence of the Holy Spirit upon us ; but I was
much grieved and disappointed to observe our last meeting not so well
attended as I expected. I am afraid the piety of our churches is at a
low ebb, and that the general habits of our people are not friendly to
the revival or cultivation of a devotional spirit. I mean, however, by
God's grace, diligently to persevere, with the hope of seeing something
done. Unhappily I have been somewhat indisposed for the last six
weeks, and have been prevented from being so active as I otherwise
should have been ; but I am considerably better, and intend, by Divine
help, to apply most dOigently to the work, and pray that God would arise
and have mercy upon us, and cause His face to shine upon us. I long
most intensely for the blessing; and entreat a special interest in your
prayers, and in the prayers of as many as you can engage for us, that

LETTERS.

249

God would visit us with one of those fruitful showers which have falleu
upon your countiy.

" I have herewith sent you a complete copy of the ' Family Monitor,'
which I am thankful to say is obtaining the favour of the public here,
and seUing fast. I am not now prepaiing anything for the press, except
a pastoral letter to my people on the subject of revivals. All my time
and aU my strength I intend to devote to the great work of Stirling up
my people's hearts to serve the Lord more fully.

" We have been visited by a Dr of your city, who has come

over to negotiate some sort of connexion between our London Society
for the Conversion of the Jews, and an institution which you have in
the vicinity of New York for employing converted Jews. He seems an
agreeable man, but does not seem an enthusiast in the subject of
revivals." ....

TO THE EEV. DE SPRAGUE.

" BiEMiSGHAM, December 15, 1828.

"My deak See, — You must possess a very extraordinary and un-
usual measure of that charity which ' thinketh no evU,' if you have
not before this often reproached me, and imputed all kinds of bad
motives to me, for my long silence. I can only borrow the language
of Themistocles, and say, ' Strike, but hear me 1' — not indeed that my
explanation will be any farther a justification than to clear me, if my
veracity can be confided in, from all want of real respect and sincere
afifectiou. lu the first place, then, I have been a great part of the year
at intervals from home, and once so long a time as six weeks together ;
at others, I have been engaged in bringing two volumes and a sermon
through the press ; for two months I have been somewhat indisposed,
and though not ill enough to lay me aside from my public labour, yet
so nervous as to be disinclined for everj-thing but that which necessity
compelled me to attend to. Then I have had some Little difiiculty in
procuring two or three of the autographs which attend this letter ; and,
last of all, I have a strong and almost invincible dislike of letter-writ-
ing. I have told you all, and having finished my defence, await your
verdict. I confess, I repent, and I hope I shall reform.

" We were much gratified to hear of your safe arrival at home, and
in improved healtL Yours is one of the pleasant reminiscences which
furnish the more delightful scenes of the mingled and chequered his-
tory of our life. You were with us long enough to produce, but not to
gratify, the feelings of Christian friendship. I suppose you are never
likely, to cross the Atlantic again, except it be on the same errand as
brought you here before — the pursuit of health ; and as this is the
case, I say to you, as Louis XIV. said to our James II., of inftoious

250

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

memory, -vvlien tlie latter was leaving tlie French Court for Ireland,
* The best wish I can express to your Majesty is, that I may never see
your face again/ Much as I could wish to renew our personal inter-
course, I cannot desire it at such an expense as your health. Blessed
be God, Christian friendship, lilce everything else of essential Christi-
anity, has the principle of immortality in its nature ; and is one of the
plants of grace which, having struggled for existence in this poor soil
and this insalubrious climate, wiU be transplanted to the paradise of
God, and there flourish as one of the lovely flowers that bloom outside,
at least, of the palace of the King in His glory. There is an expression
of the apostle, than which I scarcely know any one more beautiful or
comprehensive, or more gratifying to the love of Christ and of our
friends, ' I beseech you by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
by our gathering togdlier unto Him.' Wliat a gathering together ! all
that are saints, and aU to Christ !

"Mr Patton's visit was, I beheve, the means of great and lasting
good to this countiy ; by exciting a stUl deeper interest in the subject
of revivals than had before been felt. Our periodical pubHcations had
already brought the subject before the minds of the rehgious pubUc.
It had been discussed, and much talked of; but as he was several
months here, and had been blessed with a glorious work in his church,
his company was sought by the ministers of the metropolis, conferences
were held with him, and the result at present is a considerable excite-
ment throughout the country at large. Oh that God would indeed
come and bless us, and grant us if it were only the skirts of the shower
which is falling so plentifully in your highly-favoured land ! Our
churches are, in my opinion, far from a state of sound, healthy religion.
We have but little of what constitutes the essence of experimental re-
ligion. Everything is superficial. Our repentance, our faith, our love,
our devotional habits, all superficial. The world has engrossed men's
minds, absorbed their feelings, starved their piety. Conversions, at
least supposed conversions, are not unknown, nor unfrequent in many
congregations, but the work, in most instances, is not of a decisive
and impres.sive character. Attention has been drawn off from the
heart and the closet to public meetings and bustle and activity. Not
that I am against pubUc institutions for the spread of the gospel — far
from it — ^but I am persuaded that Satan has taken advantage of them,
to divert men's minds from the state of their own souls. We need a
revival then ; we feel that we do, and acknowledge that we do, and
we are, I hope, seeking it in earnest. Oh, what a time was it at North
ampton under the ministry of your illustrious Jonathan Edwards.! and
yet there is a problem connected with that revival which I cannot solv
In five years after it took place, the hearts of the people were so turn

LETTERS.

251

against him as to account him their enemy, or at least to treat him as
if he were so. Moreover, he states that, during the revival, his church
had increased to six hundred members, and yet, when the church-meet-
ing was held at which it was to be determined whether he should go
or stay, there appears to have been only about two hundred and fifty
present. "What had become of the rest ? Had they fallen back to the
world ? If so, would it not seem as if the supposed conversions, during
the time of the revival, were but a mere temporary excitement of the
feeUngs 1 I must say, that I feel so deeply interested in the subject of
revivals, that I am anxious to have eveiy objection to them removed.
The existence of our National Establishment is, in this country, a great
impediment in the way of such a state of things here. I am quite con-
vinced that, had not the Church of England been set up again at the
Eestoration, religion would have been in a far better state in the British
empire than it is now. There was piety enough in the land at that
time, had it been left to its own unrestricted energy and influence, to
have filled the country by this time.

" I have sent you a few autographs. The sermon of Philip Henry is
a fine specimen of that eminent saiut. Matthew's is not so good, but
is undoubtedly genuine, as I received it from Mr WiUiams of Shrews-
bury, who has lately published a new life of that admirable commen-
tator. Dr Priestley's autograph I received from his son. I do not
know whether you have autographs of Drs Bennett, Bogue, and WiUiams ;
if not, I have added them to your collection. I have not been able to
procure anything of Samuel Pearce's, but I will stiU go on searching
after something. Pamphlets I have sent you none, not kno^\ing what
to select.

" You A\-ill do me the favour of accepting a copy of a small volume
I have lately published. I would have accompanied it with another
volume on Christian Charity, which I have also published this year, but
the first edition is out of piint, and as the second is about to be pub-
lished, I woidd prefer sending you a copy of that.

" You do not admit of the lawfulness of revenge, therefore I hope
you AviU not retaliate on my long silence.

" We are much indebted for your valuable present of the India-rub-
ber shoes, which came safe to hand, and fit admiiably. They are a
great curiosity, and are much admired.

" May our God and Saviour Jesus Christ continue to bless you with
health, comfort, great grace, and great usefulness. ]My wife unites in
every feehng of regard to yourself and Mrs Sprague vdih, yours most
affectionately,

" J. A. James."

252

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Note. — The following extract from Dr Sprague's reply, in reference to Jonv
than Edwards' treatment at Northampton, is interesting : —

" You suggest, in your letter, a difficulty respecting the revival at Northampton
and Jonathan Edwards. I have not the means, at this moment, of referring to
printed documents on the subject, but my imjjression is, that it admits of easy
explanation. That that part of his congregation who passed through the revival
without becoming Christians, should have been more restless than ever before, and
less patient of his close and pungent dealing with the conscience, you will readily
perceive was a natural consequence of their having been in a greater or less degree
awakened under his preaching, and having resisted the Holy Spirit. I have mj"
self often seen case.s, during a revival, in which persons who have been regarded
as models of everything that is amiable, and among the best specimens of human
nature, have exhibited against the revival, and all who were active in promoting
it, the venom of a viper. And there have been instances not a few, in which this
has laid the foundation, on the part of those who have not been converted, for a
deep and incurable prejudice against the minister; he has been guUty of the sin
of distuibing their consciences, and they cannot forgive it. This would go far to
explain the fact that Edwards' conyreyalion became hostile to hiip. In respect
to the church, you say it had increased to six hundred members during the revival,
whereas only two hundred and fifty appear to have acted relative to his dismission.
The six hundred, I presume, included both males and females ; the two hundred
and fifty only males, as they only are accustomed to vote in church-meetings. It
is probable, moreover, indeed the fact is unquestionable, that a considerable num-
ber of his friends, regarding the case as one of extreme difficulty, on account of
the violent opposition that prevailed against him, did not act at all, and were not
present at the meetings.

" This 1 take to be in general a solution of the difficulty which you suggest ;
though, after all, I am fully prepared to admit that there are dangers connected
with revivals, and that one of the most prominent of them is precisely that to
which you refer, — that of spurious conversions, — of admitting persons to the
church who are nothing better than stony-ground hearers, — who have mistaken
the temporary excitement of natural feeling for the spirit of true piety."

TO THE EKV. DR PATTON.

" BiRMiNOHAM, June 2, 1829.

" My dear Brother in Christ, — My delay in answering j'our
numerous and intei-esting communications, both written and printed,
has afforded you accumulating evidence that I am a tardy correspon-
dent. I have such an aversion to letter-writing, that it requires the
dictate of necessity, the strong sense of duty, or the powerful impulse
of affection, to overcome my reluctance, and to extort from me an
epistle. In addition to this, I have been waiting to give you some
account of several things connected ^\^th the cause of our home and
foreign proceedings in reference to the kingdom of our Divine Lord.

" 1 shall first refer to the account contained in your last letter but
one, of the interest taken by your flock in the spiritual welfare of the
British churches generally, and of mine in particular. The account
most deeply affected me, even to tears. I was touched to the very

LETTEES.

253

centre of my heart -witli the idea of being the object of Christian
sympathy and kindness, and the subject of prayer, by a church on the
other side of the Atlantic. Herein indeed is the communion, not only
of the saints, but of the churches, and a proof and a fruit of that union
of all believers in Christ, -n-hich cannot be dissolved nor altogether
interrupted by the intervention of oceans, or the distinction of separate
nations, or the differences of various denominations. Yes, vre are all
one in Christ. There is, there can be, but one church. You vdll not
be surprised to be informed that your letter ^n-as read to our church
■when assembled on Good-Friday, for humiliation and prayer, to seek
the outpouring of the Spirit for the revival of religion ; and was heard
with deep and solemn emotion by all present. You and your people
were specially and fervently remembered by our brethren who led our
devotions. We thanked God for the abundant gTace bestowed upon
you, and supplicated for stUl larger communications of the heavenly
gift. It was matter of entreaty that the example of earnest, and
vigorous, and fiiutful piety, set us by the American churches, might be
followed by the disciples of oitr Lord in your mother coimtry. No
feelings of envy, no disposition to detract, but a sentiment of gratitude
to God, and a cordial willingness to believe to the uttermost the
accounts we have received of the glorious work which is going on
among you, occupied and influenced every bosom.

" It had been resolved, as you know, by the churches in London, and
recommended by them to their sister churches in the country, to spend
Good-Friday as a season of humiliation and prayer. This resolution
was very generally adopted throughout England, not only by the Inde-
pendents, but by great numbers of Baptists ; and we may hope that
the thousands of prayers which were presented on that day will bring
down upon us showers of blessings in their season. The subject of
revivals stiU continues to occupy the public attention. The greater
number of our ministers have preached upon it, and many have printed
tracts, treatises, or sermons, copies of which I here^vith send you. My
expectations, I confess, are not sanguine as to the results. Our pro-
fessors are so entangled with the world in various ways, that I do not
look at present for any great increase of their spirituality of mind or
their devotional habits. My chief hope rests upon the ministers, who
A\ill, I think, be stirred up to a greater devotedness to the duties of their
office, and a more intense earnestness after the conversion of sinners.
Our churches are, I think, likely to be enlarged by a greater number of
conversions, but I am afraid the tone of individual piety is not likely
to be much raised. I have lately had an opportunity, during a long
journey, to ascertain the fact that the subject has laid hold of the mind
of many of our ministers, who are going more diligently to their work.

254.

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAIiIES.

" As it respects our own cliurcli, you will see by a paper in one of
tlie magazines that I send herewith, that I have begun an anxious-
inquiry meeting, and I am happy to say with considerable success.
Since that paper was written, the meeting continues not only to
answer, but to exceed my expectations — new cases are continually
occurring. I sent the account to the magazine, with the hope of
drawing the attention of my brethren in the ministiy to the subject.
My address to the ministers in the January number excited consider-
able notice. Some cordially thanked me, but others thought me an
accuser of my brethren. Thus it is, that aU who would do good must
pass through evil report and through good report. A great impression
was produced upon our congregation by the addition of twenty-one
members at once in the month of April, and the proposal of nine more
as candidates for fellowship. This may seem to you a small num-
ber to be followed -with any remarkable effect in the way of suqjrise ;
but here it is thought an extraordinary occurrence.

" I can most truly aver that I never felt so a'R'ful a sense of respon-
sibiKty as I do at the present time ; never felt so heavily the weight of
the charge I have undertaken ; never had such desires to be useful in
the conversion of souls ; never had such longings for the coming down
of the Spirit in power and great glory ; never was conscious of such an
entire consecration of myself and all I possess to the work of the
ministry ; never more anxiously looked round for open doors of useful-
ness; never had a more humbbng and afflictive sense of past inactivity
and unf ruitfulness ; and never had larger expectation of success than^
at this moment. Oh that God would bless us indeed !

" I am sorry, however, to add that God is pleased to try me just now,
by considerable bodily indisposition ; and yet, if it pleased God, why
should I say I am sorry 1 He doth all things weU. He can fit me fo
greater success, or do without my exertions. I have no organic disease
of any kind that I knoAV of, but am the subject of frequent attacks of
nervous irritabiUty, which disturb my sleep, and sometimes take it
away whole nights together. My late journey was intended to brace
up my nerves, but I do not think it has altogether accomplished the
end. I desire to be thankful that I have not yet been incapacitated
for my pubUc duties ; but sometimes I seem very unfit for them. In
consequence of my indisposition, I took no part in the public services"
at the missionary meetings, although I was present at some of them.

" Tliese meetings were as numerously attended as ever, and I thi~
that the annual meeting of the London Missionary Society was t
most deeply toucliing in some parts of its procedure that I ever a
tended. The presentation by Mr Mark WiDcs of Paris, of three Fren
missionaries to go out with Dr Philip to South Africa, was m

LETTEES.

255

affecting. I think I never saw so many men in tears at once before
We saw the French Protestant Chiu'ch, in that scene, laying her first-
fruits to the missionary cause on the altar of the Lord. The liberaUty
of our churches, as appeared by the statements, has kept up, but not
much increased during the past year. There yet is lacking in the rich
a disposition to give of their abundance, and in abundance. Now and
then a generous individual gives his hundred pounds, but this is a com-
paratively rare thing. The responsibility attaching to property is
eitlier not yet understood, or not yet believed.

" I suppose you were a little surprised in America at the manner in
which the Catholic question was settled by our Parliament. Is not the
finger of God in this I The men that have for years been trying to do
it were not permitted to do it, and those who have been strenuously
opposed to it have done it. I think the influence of the measure wiU
in several ways be unfriendly to Popery, and therefore rejoice in it.
But what an open insult was it both to the laws of God and man, for
our premier and a semi-religious peer to meet as murderers !

" I shall take into consideration the subject of an epistolary inter-
course between your church and mine. I like the idea, and shall bring
it before my deacons, and if they approve of it, shall prepare a letter
for the adoption of the churcL

" I am much obliged to you for the various books which you have
^nt me. Beecher's sermons are truly eloquent ; and it is legitimate
eloquence, there is no bombast ; but I ^vish they were a little more
interspersed with Scripture. I think this is a defect in most printed
sermons on both sides the Atlantic. I received the American edition
of my books with a pecuhar interest of course. It was Uke sending
my intellectual off"spring to be adopted by America, and receiving them
back in transatlantic clothes. God grant His blessing upon the circu-
lation of them !" . . . .

TO THE EEV. DR SPRAGUE.

" Birmingham, Septemher 14, 1829.
" My dear Brother ijt Christ, — You have much reason to com-
plain again of my long sUence. The date of your last letter makes me
ashamed of my seeming neglect. I wish, however, that He whom we
are both bound to hold in perpetual, and grateful, and adoring remem-
brance, had not stUl more cause to reproach me -with obli\'ion than you
have. Your heart must be in a holier and happier state than mine, if
upon any consciousness of too much forgetfulness of an earthly friend,
it is not forcibly rebuked for its criminal neglect of that dear heavenly
Friend who loved us even to the death. This, however, in reference
to yourself I can say, that I have more frequently thought of you and

256

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

talked of you than you, from my conduct, may be led to suppose.
Enougli of preamble. I liave learnt that I am to congratulate you
upon your academic honours. Well, although I have no pretensions to
a diploma, I have some slight conscientious scruples about the pro-
priety of D.D.'s ; yet if this shall be of the least service to you in the
cause of Christ, by gi'ving you greater weight in society, and thus open-
ing a little wider your door of usefulness, I shall rejoice in the effect.
Doctor of Laws or Master of Arts does not appear to me to be liable
to the same objection as Doctor of Divinity, inasmuch as the former
are civil, and the latter ecclesiastical honours, and therefore not equally
opposed to our Lord's prohibition, ' Be ye not called Doctor.' The
trial of my principles is not, however, likely ever to be made again as
it once was by some injudicious friends, whose attempts I immediately
resisted, and the matter fell to the ground.

" You have seen and read, of course, the correspondence between
our Congregational Board in London and the General Assembly of the
United States. Nothing for a long time has more delighted me. The
American letter is most beautiful ; it is the eloquence of piety. I feel
not a little gratified and honoured in having been, in connexion with
our mutual friend, Bedford, the occasion of this auspicious com-
mencement of our associated intercourse with the American churches.
In his vestry at Worcester, at a meeting called by himself to consider
the subject of revivals, I proposed that a deputation shoiild be invited
from the United States to visit our churches ; the proposal was referred
from that meeting to the ministers of the three midland counties about
to be assembled in this town at their annual missionary meeting.
It was taken up at a meeting held in my vestry, and introduced by
myself. Mr Orme, the Secretary of the London Missionary Society,
was present at the discussion, at the termination of which it was
resolved that it should be recommended to the CongTegational Board
in London to open an intercourse with our brethren on the other side
of the Atlantic. This is the history of the late exchange of communi-
cations, and which, I hope, Avill, as the letter from the General Assembly
expresses it, lead to an exchange of delegates as well as letters.
Delightful will it be to see the two most Christian nations in the world
thus visibly united by the bond of brotherly affection and confidential
intercourse. Had I nerve and health enough, it should not be long
before you saw me in New England ; for although I should feel a deep
interest in treading the classic ground of Greece and Italy, yet woidd I
ten times rather visit America than stand on the Acropolis of Athens,
that scene ' of lost gods and godlike men,' as Byron caUs it ; or pace
the Capitoline Hill, or the solitude of the Coliseum at Bome. Yes, I
would rather look upon the blossoms of American grandeur than upon

LETTERS.

257

tlie mouldering stones and ^vithered leaves of Attic or of Latin beauty.
Greece, or at least those remains of it wliicli give it sucli an interest in
the glowing imaginations of scholars, and the majority of travellers,
was after all the enemy of God, and insulted the one great Jehovah by
a system of mythology which, however adorned by the arts, was still
an act of immorality or impiety. I want to look on the infant nation
which, in the maturity of its years, its wisdom, its wealth, and its piety,
is destined, I think, to do more for the spread of Christianity through
the world than any other country on eartL

" I am sorry to say that I think the stir about reidvals begins to
abate in this kingdom. We have taught, preached, printed, and prayed
about it ; but somehow or other it is, I fear, slipping from the public
mind. I see no signs of an approaching awakening. I hear no rust-
ling in the tops of the mulberry trees indicative of the coming breeze.
We do not seem prepared for the blessing. Our people are brimful of
the world in most directions ; if not of the love of the world, yet of the
care of the world, and there is little room for the subject of re\ivals.
My own church, I thank God, is in a tolerably flom-ishing state ; yet I
cannot speak of an awakening. We shall add to our fellowship this
year perhaps about seventy members, which is certainly with us an
unprecedented number. But the generality of our members appear to
me to be in a state of much lukewarmness. Jily greatest hope arises
from the fervent and united suppHcations that are presented for us by
the American churches. This is a most encouraging and delightful
fact ; and it is so purely and manifestly in accordance with the letter
and spirit of the New Testament, and must be so acceptable in the sight
of God, that I do think if we ever have the blessing it -will be granted
to us in answer to your prayers. This should stimulate you to go on,
and to abound in prayers on our behalf, and I do entreat in a particular
manner that my church and their unworthy pastor may be made the
subject of special intercession. I long for a blessuig ; I am praj-ing for
it ; I am hoping for it. I have had some pecuHar exercises of mind in
reference to this matter, and who can tell but the Lord will come and
bless us ?

" There is one circumstance which I am anxious to mention, and
to gain some information upon. It has been stated in this country
that a large 'proportion of the Congregational churches in the New
England States are Socinian, and that nevertheless the orthodox body
BtUl continues associated ■with them in visible connexion. Is tliis true
in either part of the statement? Are the Socinians so numerous
as this, and are you thus united? I should be obhged to you for
accurate information on this subject, as the statement has occasioned
no small degree of surprise. Accompanying this letter is a MS. ser-
E

258

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

mon of tliat inestimable man, Samuel Pearce. I have found considerable
difficulty in obtaining an autograph of his, and have at length succeeded,
much to my satisfaction, and I hope to yours. I could not obtain a
letter, or even a signature, but you may depend on the sermon as being
a genuine document.

" I must conclude with assuring you of the sincere affection and
tender interest, and pleasant remembrance of your friend and brother
in Christ, " J. A. James.

" My wife joins in affectionate regards to yourself and Mrs Sprague."

Note. — The following is an extract from Dr Sprague's reply, in reference
to tlie passage in the preceding letter on the Socinianism of New England : —

" I will now answer your inquiries in reference to the Socinianism of New
England, and have no doubt that I can do it quite to your satisfaction. Nearly
all the Socinianism in New England is confined to Massachusetts, there being not
more than about half-a-dozen churches in all the other States, and those of but
little importance. In Massachusetts, I should say that from one-fourth to one-
third may be Unitarian. This heresy began to come in as far back as the days of
Doctors Chauncy and Mayhew, a little after the middle of the last century; but
it was in a covert form, and was scarcely ever avowed until about the beginning
of the present century, and not frequently tiU about 1811. Up to this latter
period the Unitarians were not known as a sect, and no instance had occurred in
which any orthodox miui.ster had refused to exchange with them; and very few
instances had occurred in which positive Uuitarianism had ever been heard from
any New England pulpit. Dr Codman of Dorchester was the first who declined
exchanges with them, and he did it well nigh at the expense of martyrdom; his
decision drove all the Unitarians from his church, of which there were many, and
had it not been for his wealth, which enabled him to ■ purchase the church, the
experiment never could have succeeded. As the Unitarians became more open,
other orthodox ministers gradually followed in the steps of Dr Codman, though
as late as 1820 there were a considerable number who still continued occasional
exchanges. And the truth was, that in many cases there was a real difiiculty in
gi\ing them up, fi-om the fact that where heterodoxy existed it was not avowed,
aiid in some instances the departure from the faith was so small that it was not
thought sufficient to warrant a virtual excommunication, such as would seem to
be implied in a refusal to exchange. I am not certain that at this day there is a
single orthodox minister in New England who admits Unitarians into his pulpit,
and yet I am not certain but that there are two or three who do it occasionally,
because they say they must or give up their congregations to Unitarians altogether.
The line between the two parties is perfectly drawn, and has been for three or
four years, thougli there is still one occasion which brings them together; it is in
a general convention for the apj.ropriation of a fund for the widows of clergymen
who are left destitute. They have a sermon on this occasion sometimes by an
orthodox man, sometimes by a Unitarian, though the orthodox being the majority
have now determined to keep the staff in their own hands, and have none but
their own preachers. It is not imjirobable that the efi'ect of this will be ultimately
to divide the convention. Great elioi ts have been made to introduce Unitarianisiu
into other parts of the country, and in most of our principal cities there is a single
congregation, but in nearly every ins^tance it consists of a handful, and is in a
gasping state."

LETTEES.

259

TO THE REV. DR PATTO^-.

"BiEirrxGHAii, June 8, 1830.
" My dear Brother, — As an opportunity presents itself of sending
a letter by the return to America of the gentleman who -wiU. present
this to you, and who has already performed a similar act of kindness,
I avail myself of his oflfer, and transmit these few Unes. Indeed I had
intended to wi-ite before this, in consequence of a piece of information
which I received a few weeks since in London. I was told, that in the
exercise of your kindness, and under the influence of your friendship
for Mr Fletcher of Stepney and myself, you were about to procure for
us from one of the American colleges the honour of a diploma. I am
not sure the report is correct, but it is so reported. If such be your
intention, I beg most cordially to thank you for this fresh proof and
display of yoiir esteem, but at the same time to entreat you, so far as
I am concerned, to lay aside your purpose. In declining this academic
distinction, I would not be supposed to undervalue it; so far from
it, did circumstances permit, I should feel myself much flattered by
becoming a member of any one of your colleges — but in the first place,
I decUne the honour on the ground of disqualification. I am not by
any means entitled to it. My literary, scientific, or even theological
acqiiirements, are not such as authorise me to accept of it. I am
merely a preacher of the gospel, not a scholar, not a philosopher, not a
profound theologian. I should lose my respectability and appear
ridiculous, if I were to assume the title of D.D. But secondly, I have
a conscientious ground of refusiil : ' Be ye not called Eabbi,' said He
who is my Master, and whom I serve. Are not these titles, especially
that of doctor of divinity, a disregard of the injunction of Christ?
Duly then as I appfeciate your too flattering respect, and at the same
time the honour of ha-ving my unworthy name upon the college list of
ny one of your theological institutions, I must beg leave, for the reasons
« Inch I have stated, to decline it. I put a stop to similar efi"orts which
were made a year or two since, by some persons in this town, to procure
for me a degree from one of the Scotch universities. Mr Fletcher is pre-
eminently entitled to it, and has no conscientious scniples on the sub-
ject, and upon him it would be very properly bestowed. But perhaps
what I heard is a mere report ; if so, I shall be glad. .... Our May
meetings this year were as well attended as ever. Our London ^Nlis-
sionary Society has sustained a very great loss by the death of ilr
Urme of Camberwell, our foreign secretary. He was an invaluable
man, in every point of view ; an able ofiicer of our institution, and one
of the brightest ornaments of his denomination. He was only about
forty-thiee years of age. ^Vhat an admonition to us, to ' work while it

2G0

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

is called to-day, for tlie niglit comctli when no man can work' The
finances of our society are this year in a most flourishing condition ;
the receipts amounted to nearly £49,000, being £10,000 above our
expenditure. I wish I could see more spiritual feeling apparent in our
meetings. They appear too much like rehgious amusements. I am
afraid that He whose eye is upon the heart, sees but little pure zeal for
His glory in what is doing in the present day. All the institutions
seem flourishing so far as funds, activity, and a certain kind of interest,
are concerned.

" A strange medley of religious controversy has sprimg up both in
England and Scotland. In the former, among Mr Irving's followers, on
the subject of the peccability of our Lord's human nature ; and in the
latter, on the subject of universal pardon, by Mr Erskine of Dundee, the
author of some little treatises on the internal evidences of Christianity
and Faith. He has lately gone so far in delusion, and led his followers
with him, as to assert the revival of miraculous gifts, which he contends
are possessed by some in the north. Oh what a mercy is it to be kept
sound in the faith, and with sobriety of judgment !"....

TO THE KEV. DE PATTON.

"Edgbaston, April 12, 1831.

" .... I hope you were not hurt at my refusing to wear the
honours which you so kindly procured for me from the college of New
Jersey. I lament that you should have given yourself so much trouble.
If, however, you wished to give me an impressive token of your respect
and regard, your labour was not in vain ; for although such a proof was
not necessaiy to convince me in what light I am happy enough to be
viewed by you, yet it adds to the evidence of a point to which I will
not pretend that I am insensible. I still retain the same views of the
subject as a matter of conscience, and were both our English universities
to award me in full convocation a similar honour, I could not assume
it. I perceive by an American paper forwarded to me by one of your
pious citizens now in this country, that I am not without abettors of
my opinion in the United States. Some Synod, I forget where, has
declared its opinion, that such titles are unscriptural and improper.
You received, I hope, the parcel in which was contained my letters on
this subject addressed to yourself and the President of New Jersey, and
in future wiU address me, I hope, as Mr James and not as Dr- James.
I am anxious to keep the matter secret in this country, that I have
been ofl'ered the distinction.

" I am glad and thankful to perceive by our periodicals, that your
favoured land continues to receive and enjoy the copious showers of
heavenly blessings iu their season, and that the city of New York has

LETTEES.

261

shared largely in the gracious effusion. I shall await with some degree
of impatience a little information of the extent of the revival produced
by the Holy Spirit in your late attempts. As I perceive you have been
much engaged in the vrork, I am a little anxious about your health,
and shall be happy to hear from you that you are not the worse for
your exertions. Shoiild a voyage be again necessary for recruiting your
strength, you know one land, on the shores of which you will be wel-
come, and I think you would not be long in selecting the one family in
that land, which would give a heartier and kinder welcome than all the
rest. I do not want to see you on such an errand; I would not buy
your society at such a loss to yourself, your family, and your flock ; but
if the Divine Lord see fit to permit afHiction to come upon you in His
service, I do covet the happiness and honour, in conjunction with my
wife, of doiiag all we can to repair the wastes of your strength, and the
damages in your constitution,

" Alas ! for England, on the subject of revivals ! No symptoms of
an encouraging natiire appear in our churches; no certain signs of
renewed vigour; no unambiguous tokens of the descending shower are
to be discerned. The little stir that was made about two years ago has
nearly all died away ; and though it has left in some few instances a
happy result in renewed ministerial exertion, it has not been followed
by any visible general residt. Among the great body of evangeKcal
Dissenters things are much as they were, and within the pale of the
Establishment a great deal of the religious feeling that is produced is
running into the wild luxuriance of all sorts of novelties. Not a few
of our evangelical clergymen are pursuing themselves, and leading their
hearers to pursue, such subjects as prophetic interpretation, assurance,
the revival of miracles in the ChurcL Both in Scotland and in
England, the evangelical body is strangely unsettled, and is rambling
away from the ' old paths ' in search of something new, and for more of
the deep sense of eternal realities which seems to be granted in such
numerous instances to America — and yet, even with you, I can see
signs of a metaphysical, scholastic theology springing up, which is wide
of the simplicity that is in Chnst Jesus, and which will be very likely
to corrupt the taste for the sincere milk of the word. The controversy
about Regeneration discovers great dialectic skill, but it appears to me
t >o much like an attempt to settle a doctrine of the Bible without the
I ''ible. I am persuaded that we are but just entering upon the great

•iiflict of opinion. "We know what will be the result, but for a time I
' L-Ueve we shall witness a partial triumph of error. There is a subtle
-nd unavowed infidehty creeping over the public mind here. Our
political horizon is also now presenting a strange aspect. The new
ministry have introduced a scheme of Parliamentary reform so exten-

262

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

sive, as to be generally denominated a revolutionary measure. Tlie
balance is at present in equilibrio j tlie friends and opponents are pre-
paring for the tug and strife next week. On tbe second reading of the
bill, as you wiU have been informed, the measure was carried in a house
of more than six hundred members present by a majority of one. How
it wiU terminate I know not — but God does ; and it will be all for His
glory. This is enough for a Christian."

Note. — Tlie controversy on Regeneration, to which Mr James alludes in this
letter, was one of the numerous points of dispute between ihe Princeton and the
New Haven divines. The Princeton theologians maintained that Regeneration
consists in a change produced by the immediate action of the Holy Ghost on the
disposition or bias of the mind, resulting in a change in its volitions. The theo-
logians of New Haven maintained that the whole change is in the sinner's will
and choice ; that though wrought by the Holy Ghost, it does not " lie back of
voltmtary action," to use the phrase constantly employed in the controversy, but
in volition itself. On the one hand, it was contended that virtuous volitions
imply a virtuous state of mind, and sinful volitions a sinful state of mind ; it was
asked, in reply, whether the state of Adam's mind was sinful before his first sinful
volition ; and it was contended that a sinner when required to repent might, on
the Princeton theory, answer,* " You call me to the exercise of emotions which,
according to your theory, are the results of a previous change of heart or bias,
which change is not within my ability, inasmuch as it respects something which
lies back of voluntary action, and which, therefore, is wholly independent of my
wUl. I must wait for such a change as this ; there is a necessity in the case over
which I have no control."

This question was only part of a much wider controversy which extended over
many years, and ended in the disruption of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States. The most accessible sources of information to English readers, in
reference to this most interesting passage in polemical history, are the Quarterly
Christian Spectatoi; the Biblical Repoisitory, and the "Princeton Essays," selected
from the Princeton Review.

TO THK REV. DE SPEAGUE.

" Edgbaston, April 13, 1831.
" My deae Friend, — You have proved by this time that I am a soriy
kind of correspondent, and that the rarity of my letters is not compen-
sated by their value. The date of your last communication is so remote,
that I confess you have just reason to suspect either that it has never
been received, or is never to be answered. Forgiveness is a Christian
virtue, the exercise of which I crave in the present delinquency, and
which I trust you will not refuse. Your sermons, both the detached
ones and the volume addressed to the young, came safely to hand, for
which I return you my sincere thanks, especially for the latter, which
are exceedingly valuable. I doubt not they have been well received in

* (American) Quarterly Christian Spectator. 1833. P. 6G0.

LETTERS.

2C3

the United States, and that by the blessing of God they will prove
extensively usefuL I have herewith sent you a controversial pamphlet,
which I have been compelled in self-defence to publish. It has met
with favourable acceptance from my own denomination, and has been
admitted by the members of the Establishment at any rate to be written
•VN-ith candour and good feeling. It wUl not interest you a great deal,
as your land is free from the evils of religious establishments, and not
much affected by those of prelacy. The Church of England is in a
very extraordinary situation at the present time, partaking very largely
of the convulsions of the times, or at least manifesting many symptoms
of approaching convidsions. The increase of pious clergy, and of course
pious members, is undoubted and delightful, and yet withal the increase
of indifference and even of hostility on the part of the nation generally
is no less certain or manifest. The whole countrj' is completely dis-
gusted ad nauseam with the tithe-system, and pluralities, and the abuses
of patronage ; while many of the pious clergy are pubUsliing the most
extraordinary books on the abuses of the Church, and, as you will see
by my pamphlet, strengthening the grounds of Dissent in the most (so
far as they are themselves concerned) suicidal manner. I am inclined
to think that things are tending to an unestabKshed episcopacy; that
by and by many of the evangelical clergy will come out and select a
voluntary, unendowed Episcopal Church. Many of the pious clergy in
both the Established Churches of England and Scotland are sunk into
strange, and much-to-be-regretted novelties of opinion. MiUenarianism,
universal pardon, assurance the -essence of faith, the revival of miracid-
ous gifts, the sinfuhiess of the human nature of Christ, are making
considerable way among many, both on the northern and southern side
of the Tweed ; so that the evangelical world is in this country in con-
siderable agitation. It is a Uttlc gratifying to kirow that the great
body of orthodox Dissenters are not infected themselves, nor infecting
others, with these pestilential pei-versions of the doctrines of grace and
the records and evidences of the truth. I do not think that these
errors wtU spread much. Satan has been making a most desperate
effort to avail himself of the opportunity afforded by an age of excite-
ment, to corrupt the faith of the saints. A subtle, covert-kind of
infidelity is creeping over the more enlightened part of our population,
akin to the neology of Germany ; not indeed that neologj' as a system
is much known by them, but they admit the Word of God in gross but
deny it in detail. Knowledge, Knowledge is the god of their idolatry,
and Reason the priest of the mysteries. Infidelity is the enemy which
the Church has now to fear and to fight. Our country is waiting in a
kind of a-K-ful suspense for the decisions of next week on Lord John
Russell's, or rather Lord Grey's, measure on parliamentaiy reform. I

LIFE OF JOHN AXGELL JAMES.

hardly know how it will go. If, however, it should be thrown out, the
popular ferment will be very, very great. "What times we hve in !
Everything is shaking; the scenes of Providence are rapidly shifting,
as if, to use the language of the late Robert HaU, the drama was soon
to close. This leads me to advert to the death of that illustrious man.
Yes, his eloquent tongue is hushed in the silence of deatk How
deeply is it to be regretted that he could not be prevailed upon to
jjubhsh more; and of that which he has published, how much is it
to be lamented that there is not even a single sermon which is devoted
to a full and explicit statement of the peculiar and fundamental doc-
trines of grace ! His works have many allusions to them, so that his
orthodoxy is and ever must be unsuspected, but we should like to have
had his lengthened testimony to such subjects. About two volumes
of new matter will be published, i.e., not entirely new, but gleaned
from sources not well known before. Many abstracts of sermons taken
down in short-hand wUl also probably be pubhshed, but we must have
Hall's own words, or the thing is not his. Dr Thompson's death is
also a great loss. Such events are monitory to us to work while it is
called to-day. And oh, what an idea do they furnish of heaven, that
region of pure and holy intellect, that world of sanctified genius, that
fellowship of pious minds, each reflecting the image of the great God
around whose throne they assemble as the centre of their everlasting
union ! — Beheve me, yours in the fellowship of Christ,

" J. A. James."

TO THE EEV. DR SPRAGTTE.

" Edgbaston, Becember 7, 1 832.
"My DEAR Sir, — I am really concerned that so long an interval
should have elapsed between the receipt of your truly excellent volume
on Revivals, and my acknowledgment of your kindness in sending it ;
but the fact is, that upon perusing it I was unmUing to make such
acknowledgment tiU I could do so m a way that would more emphati-
cally convey my sense of its value, than by a mere complimentary
letter. I now send you this last of your mental offspring, and I may
add, the most promising, in an EngUsh dress — a dress somewhat less
costly and splendid than that in which it crossed the Atlantic, and
disrobed of some of its American habiliments, to make way for some
British appendages. But leaving the metaphor, and coming to matters
of fact, and thus to account for what I am afraid must appear ungrate-
ful neglect, permit me to say, that soon after the book arrived I wrote
to Mr Bedford, suggesting to him the expediency of his publishing it
in England with a preface of his own. This he declined, but offered
to do something in conjunction with myself, if any plan could be

LETTERS.

2G5

devised for bringing it fairly before the public. Just about this time,
or, I beHeve, upon second thoughts, just before Mr Bedford's answer
came, Mr Collins of Glasgow, who has been for several years bringing
out a series of old authors with prefaces written by living writers of
celebrity, called upon me, and upon my shewing him jom book, offered
to print it if Mr Reclford or myself, or both, would write a preface.
Upon conferring with Mr R, it was agreed that he should address the
pastors, and I the churches, on the subject of revivals. It was found
by Collias that to make way for our essays, it would be necessary to
displace that of Dr Wood's, excellent as it is. After much correspon-
dence and much delay, the book is at length placed in the hands of
those who may feel interest enough iu the subject of revivals to pur-
chase it. I Tvish it may obtain that circulation which its importance
and eminently judicious mode of discussing the momentous topic on
which it treats, deserves as well as demands. I doubt not that its value
\s-ill be duly appreciated in the United States. There, where corrections
and safeguards were wanted more than stimidants and excitements, its
influence will be great and most beneficial. You have done yourself
great credit, and the cause of revivals and of religion great service,
both by your own lectures and the letters you have added to them
from so many able and candid men. As it respects the co-operation of
your English brethren, it was thought that the recommendation of
men who are somewhat known to the religious public might procure
for the work more attention than it woidd otheraise receive ; for I am
sure you -will not consider it as a reflection to say that you are less
known in this country than your own. Your name is familiar to many
of our ministers, but, of course, not to the great body of our private
Christians; and on this account it was deemed advisable that you
should be formally introduced by some of your friends here, who know,
esteem, and love you, both for your own sake and also for your work's
sake. You will find ^Ir Eedford no unworthy coadjutor in this your
labour of love, and work of faith, and patience of hope. His fine
logical mind and classical style and vigorous thinking, united with his
ardent piety, render him a hterary associate in whose company you
■will not feel ashamed to come before the public. As for your other
fellow-worker, so truly unworthy did he feel himself of this fellowsliip,
that nothing but Mr Bedford's obstinate resolution not to accompany
you without him would have induced him to appear in the preface of
your book. He was quite aware of the disadvantage under which he
must present himself in such company ; but so impressed was he with
the benefit which might be derived by the ministers and the churches
of this land from your volume, and Mr R.'s introduction, that to secure
80 rich and lasting an advantage, he felt it to be his duty to submit to

26G

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

the self-denyiiig mortification. Already have my earnest supplications
ascended before the throne of grace and the fountain of life, for a great
and effectual blessing to attend the circulation of the work in these
United Kingdoms. I need not ask you to join your supplications with
mine to the same important object, since you have a deep personal
interest in the work. Do, do beseech the Giver of every good and
perfect gift, that in His great mercy, and in His wise and uncontroll-
able sovereignty, He would be pleased to pour upon the dry, parched,
and barren places in this land, some showers of blessings like those
which He has caused to fall on your country. In the moral condition
of America I seem every year to take a deeper interest. You cannot
M'ell imagine with what solicitude the state of your country is watched
by persons of all creeds, both in politics and religion, in this land.
The church party are seizing with avidity upon every fact that proves
the destitution of your raj^idly increasing population of the means of
public religious instruction. And I do give it as my deliberate and
frequently ex])rcssed opinion, that the paramount duty of American
Christians is the evangelisation of their own people. Foreign missions
are not so much your duty as home objects. The valley of the
Mississippi, as to its spiritual condition, should receive the concentrated
attention of all the members of the evangelical denominations ui the
United States. You want two thousand new ministers of religion every
year to supply the demands of your prodigiously advancing population,
and the wants of your churches. If ever, since the days of the apostles,
there were a people who seemed called to the high and holy pui-pose
of throwing all their wealth and- talents into one common stock for
their own religious improvement, that people is the American nation.
You have no prejudices to obstruct you at every step, generated by a
national establishment, as we have. Unless something, and much more
still, be done by your churches, although they are already doing great
things, the Catholics will outstrip you, and take possession of that
portion of your territory which in half-a-century will form the very
heart of your country. You must even yet bestir yourselves stLU more,
or the condition of your population will be such as to prevent our
appealing to your land, as furnishing a proof that the expansive force
of Christian principle in the church when left to itself, will sooner and
better supply a country with religion than legislative enactments.

" We are just entering the bustle of a general election for the reformed
parliament ; a new seal of our national history is aboiit to be broken,
and a new dispensation to open upon us. The Church will be reformed
in its secularities, but I do not think its connexion with the State will
be dissolved at present. We are all in suspense about a continental
war. The obstinacy of the King of Holland in retaining Antwerj) has

LETTERS.

267

led to the commencement of liostilities, Avbicli we hope -will terminate
with the capture of that citadel ; but this cannot yet be depended upon.
One thing, however, is certain, — ' The Lord God omnipotent reigneth,'
and Christ is Head over all things to His Church. We may well say,
Hallelujah. I trust you, your family, and your flock have escaped the
awful visitation of the cholera, — that mysterious scourge, especially of
the intemperate. I know not whether Mr Delavan is a member of
your church; if so, give my kind and Christian respects to him, and
teU him I am sorry to say the Temperance Society does not flourish
much with us.

" J. A. James."

TO THE EEV. DR PATTOX.

"Edgbaston, December 10, 1832.
" My dear FKiE>rD and Beothek, — The volume of Dr Sprague's
Lectures on Kevivals, a copy of a reprint of which I now send you, is
doubtless well known to you. I think that they are well calculated to
do good in the United States, and to serve as a dam to keep and guide
the feeling of your churches within proper bounds, without, at the same
time, stopping up its source. Mr Eedford and myself, who are both
interested in the subject, have written, as you will perceive, a preface
to the book, and have thus introduced it to the attention of the churches
and ministers in this country. May the Divine Spirit accompany it
■with His blessmg, and render it effectual to stir up an interest in the
subject in these kingdoms ! Of this, however, my hopes are at present
rather low, for, in addition to the usual deadness of our religious com-
munity, we have now topics of such irresistible power and absorbing
influence before the minds of our people, that I am afraid revivals of
religion will be almost the last thing they think and talk about. The
Eeform Bill is just coming into operation. The Parliament was dis-
solved last week, the writs are out to elect a new one, and the fury of
election contest is just about to commence, in which our pious people
wiU be more deeply engaged than is perhaps either their duty or for
their comfort. Besides this, the slavery question has taken hold of
their feelings, and is much occup}'ing their minds. The pubKc excite-
ment on the state of the EstabKshed Church is very great. Our min-
isters have, I believe, determined upon a reform, — which means, in their
vocabidary, nothing more than a more equitable equalisation of church
property. I do not think that any dissolution of the alliance wiU at
present take place. The chm-ch is unquestionably rather unpopular,
but stiU its members cleave as closely to it as ever ; and, strange as it
may appear, it is a fact that many wealthy Dissenters are from time to
time going over to it. It is still the religion of the state, of the nobility

2G8

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

and gentry. There is more genteel society among its members tlian
among the Dissenters ; and in this age of extra-refinement, these are
strong attractions for those who wish to find out a genteel way to
heaven. Charles II. said, that the Church of England furnished a very
good religion for a gentleman, and so think some of our worldly-minded
evangelical Dissenters. And as there are now a great body of truly
pious clergymen belonging to the National Church, they think they may
as well unite a regard to the claims of piety and fashion in their
outward profession of reKgion. But oh ! these are sad symptoms
of the state of piety among us. Indeed, my brother, I am afraid
it is but low. Dissenters, as a body, are a little divided on the Kue of
conduct they should pursue in the present juncture, — whether to be
quiescent or aggressive — whether to let things take their own course,
or to make a bold united attack upon the National Church. Our poli-
tical parties are likely to be brought into envenomed conflict ; and, to
add to all other causes of agitation, hostilities have commenced in Bel-
gium, and all the kings of Europe are at this moment standing vdth
their hands upon the hilts of their swords, and watching each other's
movements with suspicion and distrust. Our confidence is, that Jeho-
vah Jesus reigns, and is ' Head over all things to His Churck' My own
ecclesiastical afi"airs are, blessed be God, tolerably prosperous. We shall
have added about fifty members to our church this year, and are likely
to add, I hope, many more soon." ....

TO THE REV. DR PATTON.

"Edgbaston, November 30, 1833.
" My dear Friend and Brother, — I ought to begin this letter
with an apology for not acknowledging before this your last two par-
cels, which, with the communications accompanying them, came safely
to hand, and afforded me much information and gratification. Abbott's
books are indeed most striking. Jacob is a most extraordinary man,
and his brother is quite worthy of him. The ' Young Christian ' is, I
think, more widely circulated, read, admired, and talked of, than any
book I have known in modern times. The ' ]\Iother at Home ' is also
getting into innumerable families, and is the subject of conversation in
almost every religious circle. The wise mothers praise it ; but the
fond and foolish ones, who are condemned by it, reproach it as too
rigid. The ' Teacher ' is of its kind quite equal to the others, and will,
I doubt not, introduce more of the science of education into many
schools than they had ever practised or even thought of before. These
two men are raised up by God to be extensive blessings, not only to

yowr country, but also to ours There is another subject of

immense consequence to the interests and moral reputation of your

LETTERS.

269

country wliicli ought to be deeply studied by all who have her welfare
at heart — I mean, the perplexing question of slavery. The determined
opposition, so long and at length so successfully carried on by Great
Britain against this evil, renders us stUl more alive than ever to the
flagrant and shocking inconsistency of some of your States in retaining
more than two milhons of their subjects in a condition of cruel vassal-
age, and in a land, too, professing the most love of freedom. I am
quite aware that this is a matter of state, and not federal legislation ;
but it does appear to all thinking people in this country that the anti-
slave States have not done all they coxdd and should do in the way of
intelligent and affectionate appeal to their slave-holding neighbours,
and in the way of generous willingness to bear the loss, to induce them
to wipe out this foul blot on your national escutcheon. Your Colonisa-
tion Society is pretty generally considered here as a mere delusion,
tending only to keep up the system of slavery. But that you iii the
north are participating in the crimes of the south, is apparent from
your deeply-rooted prejudices against the free people of colour. The
contempt and obloqiiy to which, however respectable in circumstances
or in character these hapless beings are exposed from their white-skinned
neighbours, shock our feelings in this country. I do not foi-get the
force of habit, and how difficult it is to break through hereditary pre-
judices and the customs of society ; nor do I forget either that it is
only a little more than a quarter of a century since this land was in-
volved in all the atrocity of the same system, and all the violence of
the same prejudices. But I am anxious that the light which has at
length broken in upon us should visit you. The case of Miss Crandall
has produced in this land emotions of disgust and astonishment which
I am not able to describe. I am the more solicitous about the matter in
consequence of the revivals of religion with which your land has been
visited and blessed. It is becoming more and more common for humane
and even religious persons to meet our accounts of these gracious visita-
tions with the taunt, ' Let them learn humanity towards the blacks, and
we shall then perhaps be incUned to think better of their religion.' This
is sufficiently mortifjdng to one who has said so much about America
as myseK. It was proposed at the last meeting of our Congregational
Board in London to address a letter of affectionate and respectful
exjjostulation to the ministers of religion in the United States, ear-
nestly soliciting them to employ all their influence in endeavouring to
soften and subdue the prejudices against the coloured people in the
non-slavery States, and in attempting to induce the southern States to
abohsh slavery. The measure is still under consideration. Do, my
dear brother, as you value the moral reputation of your country, — as
you wish to make the example of your churches effective upon Chris-

270

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

tians in other countries, — as you are anxious to rouse and sustain a
more liberal and zealous spirit of moral enterprise in the Protestant
nations of Europe, both for their own internal improvement and the
extension of religion in the world, do call the attention of your breth-
ren to the vast importance of a more philanthropic and Christian treat-
ment of the slaves and free blacks. Let the ministers of the gospel of
all denominations take up the subject, and employ both the pulpit and
the press in demolishing those prejudices which, as long as they are
suffered to exist, are at once your reproach and your weakness. Par-
don these suggestions, which are thrown out in a spuit of genuine soli-
citude for the moral reputation of your country. With tliis letter I
send a newspapei-, in which you will see how the conduct of the Ame-
ricans in reference to slavery is considered by our journalists. The Even-
ing Mail is in fact the Times, (which you may know, perhaps, is the most
influential of all the English papers,) put in another form and published
three days a-week as an evening paper. Could you convey it, with the
accompanying letter, at small expense, to Dr Hewit, Bridgeport 1

" You refer to a report that I am about to visit the United States.
That I have been requested to do so is very true ; but it is not true
that I am about to comply with the request. I am much indebted to
you for your most friendly and brotherly invitation, which I cannot
help wishing it were in my power to accept. Insurmountable diffi-
culties are in the way of my seeing America, and I must therefore in-
dulge the hope of seeing you and others whom I esteem in that land
Jieye. Come, and you shall be welcome." ....

TO THE PUPILS IN A YOUNG LADIES' SCHOOL.

" Edgbaston, December 4, 1833.

" My dear young Friends, — You will, perhaps, feel some surprise,
and I hope some pleasure, in receiving a few lines from one who,
though tUl lately an entu-e stranger to you all, is not uninterested in
your future, and especially in your eternal welfare.

" The visit I paid to the excellent family under whose kind. Chris-
tian, and truly parental care you are so happily placed, and the conver-
sations I had, not only with those pious and well-informed ladies, to
whom your general education is intrusted, but also with yourselves,
have left a deep and pleasant impression on my mind, and have
induced me thus to address you. The interest you appeared to take in
the advice I gave you, and the many tears you shed, lead me to hope
that many of you begin to ask, and to ask with a seriousness in some
measure commensurate to its importance, that momentous question,
' What shall I do to be saved ? ' And what question, my dear young
friends, can be so appropriate to the condition of a lost sinner as an

LETTEES.

271

inquiry after salvation ? Oh, -wliat a word is salvation ! It is uttered
in a moment, but it will require eternity to comprehend it, and, if lost,
an eternity to deplore it Salvation is our great business in this world ;
and whatever else we gain, yet if we miss this, the end of Hfe is lost,
esdsteuce is thrown away, and, to aU valuable purposes, we have been
made in vain. Begin life, then, my dear young ladies, with a clear
perception, and keep it ever in view, of the great and merciful end of
God in sending you into the world. Eternity, vast eternity, is before
you, and that eternity must be spent in heaven, or hell ! This world
is a great school-house; all its inhabitants are the scholars; religion is
the grand lesson to be learnt ; heaven is the state for which rehgion is
to prepare us, and dying, to a Christian, is but finishing his education,
and going home to his Father. I would not, for a moment, insinuate
that your whole attention is to be taken up with religious matters.
Xo. But you are commanded to seek — first, mark that — \iirst, the king-
dom of God and His righteousness.' You are related to this world as
well as to the next, and therefore you are to prepare for the station you
are to occupy here, as well as for the duties you will have to discharge,
by cultivating your mind with useful and ornamental knowledge,
and by forming your character, so as most securely to give and receive
pleasure. Eeligion is not unfriendly to any study or pursuit to

which your attention will be directed at . Get all the knowledge

of a general nature you can, but ' with all your getting, get understand-
ing,' even that which consists in being made wise unto salvation.
You are now about to separate, and return home to your parents.
Happy and thankful ought you to feel that you have a good home to
go to, and affectionate parents to receive you ; but let me remind you,
that there is a danger lest the joyous and innocent enjoyments of home
should turn away your thoughts from the still more sacred pursuits of
religion. I have known young persons who, though deeply impressed
vnXh. pious subjects at school, have lost all their impressions at home,
even though their parents were pious people. Before, then, you leave
school, I would advise you seriously to reflect upon this, and most
earnestly to pray to God that you may be kept from losing your interest
in spiritual matters, by the agreeable and lawful dehghts in your
father's house. JSTot that you are to be gloomy and unwilling to enter
into the pleasures of home, for there is nothing melancholy in the fear
of God and love of Christ: on the contary, there is 'joy and peace in
believing,' a 'joy unspeakable,' a 'peace that passcth understanding.'
Who has a right to be happy, or a reason for it, but he whose sins are
forgiven, who is adopted into the family of God, and entitled to ever-
lasting glory? But I am a little jealous of school impressions of
religion, and afraid lest they should be left at school, or lost at home.

272

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Some of you have found peace tlirougli faitli in Christ. Strive to keep
it by looking still to Him who first gave it, and by walking in aU weU-
pleasing before God. Remember the loveliest fruits of faith are
humihty and love, and the best ornament of piety a beautiful exempli-
fication of the character of a daughter and a sister. There are others
of you who are seeking the Lord, but have not yet found peace in
beheving. Take care. Delays are dangerous. Impressions and con-
victions that do not soon end in conversion, tei-minate in confusion and
disappointment. Tremble lest yours should leave you unconverted.
Nothing is so dangerous as to tamper or trifle with conviction of sin.

" There is still another class — I mean those who are not yet even
convinced or deeply impressed. What ! where salvation is come so
near as even to some of your school-feUows, AviU you not seek it ? You
may never again be in a situation so favourable to your eternal welfare.
Times of awakening around us are seasons of gracious invitation to
ourselves. WiU you leave your school-fellows to go to heaven by
themselves ? Take hold of their hand, and say, ' We wiU go with
you.' Some few are going from the school to return no more. You
know not into what scenes you may be introduced in future life.
Commit your way unto the Lord ; say unto God from this time, ' My
Father, be Thou the guide of my youth.' I commend you all to God.
May He bless you all with the grace that is unto eternal hfe. — I remain,
your sincere friend,

"J. A. James."

BOOK IV.

DISCIPLINE

. I. NERVOUS DEPRESSION.
II. "THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER."

III. BEREAVEMENT.

IV. AUTHORSHIP— RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORK
LETTERS.

CHAPTER I.

NERVOUS DEPRESSION.

Most persons, I suppose, imagined that Mr James's broad chest,
firmly compacted frame, and powerful voice, indicated a constitu-
tion never troubled by the shado'nT' but terrible sufferings which
arise from a morbid condition of the nervous system. For thirty
or forty years before his death, he had the appearance of a man
accustomed to pure air and constant exercise ; his build was that
of a country gentleman, rather than a Nonconformist divine. In
the pulpit, and on the platform, he appeared to be completely at
his ease ; he never betrayed any agitation, except that which is
occasioned by strong emotion ; no one would ever have suspected
that he could have had any sympathy with that dread of an audi-
ence which often paralyses strong men, and makes wise men talk
very foolishly. There was never any appearance of fear, nor was
there that overstrained audacity, or that unnatural calmness by
which fear is often disguised. And yet for many years he scarcely
ever slept on a Saturday night, so uncontrollable were the appre-
hensions with which he looked forward to the services of the
Sunday. I have myself seen him manifest extraordinary nervous
excitement in the vestry just before entering his own pulpit, —
excitement occasioned by the restlessness and uncertainty of which,
I suppose, many public speakers are conscious when they are in-
tending to make any unusual effort.

276

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

In his later years, all perturbation seemed to subside the mo-
ment he faced his congregation, and it was transformed into that
genial and kindly warmth which was one charm of his eloquence.
Earlier in his ministry, I believe that though his fear ceased as
soon as he began to preach, it left him in a state of great excite-
ment and keen sensibility. He suffered a double loss of energy ;
the anticipation of having to preach deprived him of rest, and
in the preaching itself there was an unnatural consumption of
strength. After a time, this began to tell upon his constitution ;
he became so prostrate, that any special public engagement
haunted and terrified him till it was over. Twice or thrice
his dread became so excessive that he was compelled to leave
important services at the last moment in the hands of his brethren.
His sufferings reached their climax in the prospect of an engage-
ment at Hanley, where he had promised to take part in the
ordination of the son of his old friend Dr Fletcher. As his agony
on that particular occasion is fully described in one of the letters
appended to this chapter, I need only say that I believe his fears
did not exaggerate his danger. It became evident that for a time
it was necessary he should limit himself to his home engagements,
and for several years he preached but seldom away from Birming-
ham. The restless, hurrying life of the popular preacher was
exchanged for the more quiet life of the faithful pastor ; and
during these years of concentrated activity, his growth in all the
highest elements of wisdom and power was both sure and rapid.
His temporary retirement from general public life awakened the
concern of his friend the late Dr Redford of Worcester, whose
intellectual power, learning, and Christian excellence Mr James
regarded with the greatest admiration, and in 1837 Dr Redford
wrote him the following letter of remonstrance : —

" Worcester, Juhj 5, 1837.
" My dear Brother, — Ever since those feelings have come upon
you which have caused you to retire from nearly aU your extra pubHc
engagements, I have felt strongly that it was my duty to remonstrate
with you, and to endeavour to convince you that the enemy has gained,
in this, at least, an advantage over you. I have felt this inchnation

NERVOUS DEPRESSION.

277

seriously to address you upon the subject, greatly strengthened since
our last interview, and particularly so because we had not then any
opportunity of praying with and for each other, as on former delightful
occasions. I have feared that you might deem it intrusive and pre-
sumptuous in me to interfere in a matter that must necessarily be so
much dependent on your own feelings, and rest almost exclusively
between God and yourseK ; and had I supposed that you could take
what I may say in any other than the kindest and most affectionate
manner, I should certainly have been content to mourn and pray for
you in silence and secresy. But I feel quite satisfied that you wiU at
least attribute what I may say to none but the purest motives, and that
your friendship, which I have so long enjoyed and prized, will ensure
my forgiveness, if I should inadvertently drop a word that may cause
you a moment's pain. The thought of circumscribing those talents to
your own immediate charge, which have hitherto been so serviceable to
the Saviour's cause at large, is exceedingly painful to me. I have no
doubt it is so to you ; and I think I hear you say. It is incomparably
more painful to myself to be obhged so to act, than it can be to my
best friends to witness it. I remember, also, that you attribute it to
physical causes ; and in doing so, the conscience feels, perhaps, that
responsibility is no way imphcated in j-ielding to what is conceived to
be a necessity. Now, I will not take upon me to argue this point,
whether your feelings originate in a physical, or a metaphysical, or a
moral, or a strictly mental cause. But I do most earnestly entreat you
as a brother to examine the cause very seriously ; and unless there are
satisfactory proofs that your nerves are affected, or your physical
strength in some degree impaired, try whether the whole has not origi-
nated either in being worried into a little irritability by pubUc engage-
ments in time past, or whether it does not arise from an excess of
anxiety to acquit yourseK fully to your own idea of excellence and the
expectations of the public, or from a want of simple reliance for assist-
ance on Him who has said He will never leave us. I hint only s</
much for your own consideration, and by no means as my opuiion oi
your case. If I thought it were really a jealousy for your reputation, I
would tell you so. But I feel quite convinced that this is not the case ;
and I confess to you I never was more completely at a loss to name a
cause in any given case. But the fact itself distresses me, because I
see you in the vigour of bodily health — never, I think, better — cer-
tainly in as energetic a state of mind, with a maturity of knowledge, of
piety, and of Christian feeKng, that is, with far gi-eater powers of use-
fidness to the church and the world, yet now falling under a sort of
paralysis of purpose and timidity of effort which -nill cut you off from
a very large measure of usefulness. Let me, then, my dear brother,

278

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

entreat you to wrestle with this infirmity for your own sake — for the
church's sake — and, above all, for the love of that Master, in whose
service I am sure you could suffer far more than you are likely to do
in resisting this feeling. Usefulness to souls is a master-spring in your
heart, and you must not suffer it to be relaxed. When you and I
reflect for a moment upon our period of life, and remember, that should
we live and be continued in health, ten years more service or there-
abouts is all we have to look forward to, — then, or soon after, we must
decrease. While, therefore, our great Lord continues to us almost
unimpaired health, and we may hope somewhat improved grace, let us
not think of limiting our exertions. You, at least, ought not, because
you have achieved already an instrumentality for spiritual good, through
the Divine blessing, which few other men possess. I think I may
assume, moreover, that when called upon and induced to stand forth,
you have felt no diminution of strength or ability for any engagement.
Yoit have not been forsaken of your Master, — His Spirit has not left
you without unction and power. Why, then, should you shrink from
the opportunities of still further usefulness which He affords 1 Oh, it
is, indeed, a delight and privilege to serve Christ ! The richest solace,
next to that of feeling Him our own Saviour, is to be the means of
leading others to experience the same supernal blessedness. You have
in time past put your hand vigorously to the plough, and can you now
relax your grasp before the Lord has weakened your strength in the
way'? You have hitherto Hved and preached, not for Birmmgham alone,
but for England ; and do you think we can now spare you from the
wider sphere? No, my brother; you must think again, and make
another more vigorous effort to conquer this painful feeling. Will you
allow me to suggest, as to the remedy for it, first, to resolve not to
make more than your usual preparation for your own pulpit when you
have an extra service — say, leave it always till the day before— and
then, after moderate preparation, calmly commit the engagement and
yourself to the hands of God, — and since 'tis His honour, and not your
own, you seek, trust in Him to give you at the hour what you ought
to speak. I feel confident He will not forsake you ; and depending
upon such a Master, you have nothing to fear. When did He ever
forsake a right-tliinking, right-aiming, and right-feeUng minister of His
gospel? Might I be allowed to say farther, try speedily to shake off
this shackle. Do not let it gather strength by delay ; it has restrained
you too long. Yet I do not wash to urge you to any excess of pubUc
engagements. There is some probability that this in past times may
have been the cause of your present revulsion of feeling from them.
But a moderate share — just such as might neither interfere with your
home engagements, nor lead to too much excitement and fatigue —

NERVOUS DEPRESSION.

279

would, I conceive, soon restore you to the delightful consciousness that
you were really doing all, or nearly till, that your talents and strength
would admit. Time is short ; work while it is called to-day. You have
nobly and eifectually roused others to exertion. Inferior men have
grown great by your example ; and you shall yet, my brother, see the
hand of the Lord with you, maldng you a blessing unto thousands,
both mediately and mmediately. Trim again the lamji, and seek to
have it replenished with fresh oil. Brace up once more your energies
for the goodly fight. These are no times for retiring within our camps
and our tents. "We must go forth into the high places of the field, and
eye our great Captain and Leader as He appoints us our posts. Our
day of active exertion is at least hastening to its close, and I hear Him
saying, ' Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might ; for
there is no wisdom nor work in the grave whither thou goest.' We
most probably have both thought often of this solemn issue, — we have
felt how near we may be to our last sermon, our last testimony for
Jesus our Master. Probably we have applied to om-selves these words.
Be diligent, that ye may be found of Him in peace. But I am extend-
ing my remarks too far, and troubling you with a long letter, contrary
to my intentions. But I have written currente calamo, and just as my
thoughts have flowed. If I should be the means of drawing your
attention to the duty of endeavouring to regain your former calmness
in anticipation of public engagements, I shall have accomplished some-
thing ; and if I should have done no good, I hope my effort -will do no
harm. You will receive it, I am sure, as it is meant, in brotherly
regard ; and forgive me if I have trespassed upon the bounds of frater-
nal and respectful intercourse. — Believe me, unfeigncdly and affection-
ately, your friend and brother,

" George Bedford."

The unlimited confidence which Mr Jame.s reposed in Dr Red-
ford's judgment — a confidence which led him, even before the
railway made the journey a very short one, to go over to Worcester
for conference with his friend, in the anticipation of all the more im-
portant events in his public life — and their strong mutual aflfection,
gave Dr Bedford the right to speak very freely on what he sup-
posed to be a sinful weakness, or, at least, an unconscious sub-
mission to a crafty and injurious scheme of the devil to diminish
the usefulness of one of Christ's servants. In this instance, the
Doctor was probably mistaken. I am inclined to think that it
was God's wise love, not the cunning of the devil, which tempo-

280

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

rarily interrupted Mr James's public activity. The letters on this
subject cover several years, one of them was written so late as
1845 ; I have brought them together, for the sake of illustrating
a very painful, but very interesting part of Mr James's history : —

TO THE REV. J. PARSONS, YORK.

"Januai-y 17, 1835.

" My dear Sir, — It is at no ordinary expense of feeling that I ever
negative an application from t/ou, but I must do so in the present
instance. I have become of late so exceedingly nervous, especially in
prospect of pubhc services, as to lose my rest, or else have it only very
partially for many successive nights, and to be incapacitated when the
season of exertion comes for doing anything. I was lately obliged to
come away from Oswestry without f ulfiUing my engagement, after losing
three almost whole nights' rest, and about a month since I was almost
in a similar state at Oxford. And, indeed, generally I find my nerves
in such an irritable state that I am ever liable to lose my rest. It is
my purpose, therefore, to avoid aU pubUc engagements except the London
one in May, and spend all the time I can spare from my people in
entire relaxation. Acting on this principle, I have lately negatived a
pressing application from Mr Smith of Sheffield, who wishes me to give
him a Sabbath about the time you wish me to visit York. It would
give me real and great pleasure to come and see you, but I must forego
it. If you were a little more prudent about public engagements, it
would be quite as well for your own health and the good of your family
and flock."

TO THE REV. JAMES PARSONS, YORK.

" Edgbaston, December 24, 1836.

" !My DEAR Sir, — It grieves me to deny you anythhig, much more
the matter of your present request ; but my public services from home,
at least for the present, are suspended. I cannot sleep, as you know,
in prospect of them; and if a man cannot sleep, how can he preach?
I fear I shall never break this spell. The dread is in the ratio of the
distance, and as York is a hundred and fifty miles, or more, from Bir-
mingham, I should be restless for a week, and a great part of the time
sleepless too. Pity me, but do not blame me. I have a letter from
Clunie to come to Manchester, but I must return the same answer.

" Beverley's letters do not surprise me. He is one of the unaccount-
ables. The book is a sharp threshing instrument, having teeth ; all
the mountains come in for a flagellation, but I do not think any of
them will become chafi' under his hand. There is something for all to
oppose, yet something that all may learn from."

NERVOUS DEPRESSION.

281

TO THE REV. DR FLETCHER, STEPXEY, LONDON.

"Edgbaston, March 13, 1840.

" My dear Friend, — I wi-ote to yoiir son a few days ago, with the
expectation that you would see my letter, supposing that you did not
intend to leave Hanley this week. I conclude from what you say in
yours, that you left the day my communication reached the Potteries.

" It is impossible for me to say what measure of disappointment was
felt in consequence of my absence, but I should be ready to suppose,
that put it together, it scarcely amounted to the misery which was
compressed into my one poor tortured mind. I have been suffering
during the winter from occasional attacks of nervous distress, but the
week before the Hanley engagement it had greatly increased. I was
in frequent, almost constant dread of losing my intellect. This was not
produced by the prospect of a public service, but was probably increased
by it. On Sunday I preached -with great debility, having lost much
sleep during the preceding week. Sunday night was dreadful. StUl I
resolved to go, feeUng quite sure that if unable, not only would great
confusion ensue, but that all hope of any further engagement at pubHc
services, except in the smallest congregations, and in my own vicinity,
was gone. At the last hour I failed, and the day was spent in a state
bordering on insanity, if not over the border, ily wife was terrified,
and my daughter, too, into illness. Jily medical attendant says, had I
gone, he does not know what would have been the result either to body or
mind. Last week was distressing, and I am still a poor shattered vessel.
I preached once on Sunday at the recommendation of my medical friend,
being helped in the devotional ser\'ices. He said that I was sinking
into a sad state, and wished a little gentle excitement. He is stiU
attending me, and is anxious to keep down the mental agitation and
terror. Such is my state, a poor bniised reed, out of which I fear
little music will ever be brought again that is worth listening to. My
nervous system is gone. No more public engagements — if I can do a
little for my congregation, it is the utmost I can hope for.

" And now, my good friend, about yourself. Deeply grieved am I
on your account. You can do more for the pubHc than I can if your
strength returns, and therefore your life is far more valuable as a public
man. May God restore you : may good nursing and good doctoring,
by the blessing of God, set you up. I pray for you fervently. Do, do
spare yourself ; and if, like me, you are tried by public services, though
I suppose this is not the case, avoid them. Better live only for your
flock and family than not at alL Recreate in the summer — lie by —
yours is physical disorder; mine is mental, and lying by would be more

282

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

injurious than moderate work. Mine is the effect of a morbid imagina-
tion, whicli must not be left to worry me in idleness.

" Oh, may God sanctify us both by His dealings with us ! I trust I
am a holier man by what I suffer. Unless my heart greatly deceives
me, I can say, without a moment's doubt or hesitation, ' It is good for
me that I am afflicted.' Sometimes a wish arises that it were not this
kind of suffering that I am tried with ; but I dare not question the
skiU of the Physician, nor ask him to change the medicine. My afflic-
tion is relative as well as personal ; my wife vnll never be well again,
and my daughter gets worse. We are, to outward appearance, a gloomy
family. But it is all right. Time is short. We shaU soon see the
reason of all. May God strengthen our faith !

" Let me hear that you are arrived at home, and improving.

" Give my kind regards to Mrs Fletcher and your daughter, and
believe me, as ever, your affectionate friend,

"J. A. James."

TO THE SAME.

"Edgbaston, Novemher 2, 1840.
" My dear Friend, — I am ashamed to look at the date of your last
letter; but really this merciful, oppressive penny-postage is making such
demands on my time, already too little to meet the numerous and heavy
demands upon it, that I am sometimes ready to wish Eowland HUl had
been with his namesake in heaven, before he thought of his plan for
relieving my pocket, at the expense of what, to me, is far more valuable
than money.

" Is it so that you have begun to preach again 1 Has our God so far
had mercy on you, and not on you only, but on many others also, as to
give you strengtli for this ? Prayer in abundance has ascended for you,
and should it please Him, ' who doeth all things well,' to restore you,
the incense of praise A\ill rise from thousands of hearts before His
throne. You need not be admonished to be cautious. Festina lente
must be your motto and your rule. I could have wished a longer re-
spite. A whole year might have been well and profitably spent in
eUence. But oh, how could / have taken such advice ! What a trial is
silence to him who loves to speak of Christ and for Him ! What hum-
bling lessons we learn by being laid aside from labour! How the
world goes on without us ! and when we are silent for ever it ■niU be
the same. I am glad to perceive in your letter such e\ident proofs of
cheerful submission to the \\dll of the Great Master. An over-eagerness
to get to work, as if we would thrust ourselves upon Him, and He
should have us, is not the temper which befits us : to be willing to work
or suffer as He shall please, is the most unequivocal mark of a minis-

NERVOUS DEPKESSION.

283

ter's sanctified afiliction. If, as you say, Christ has been more than
ever endeared, you cannot have suffered so many things in vain, and to
secure that, we might be willing to suffer any thing.

" I was sorry you could not be present at the pleasant and well-timed,
well-intentioned ceremony of the Wilson Memorial. It was due to the
good old man, to whom our denomination stands more indebted, not
only than any other, but to any ten men that could be found in all
England. We have no man like-minded who will forego one fortune
by his early retirement from business, and spend another in promoting
our cause. It must have been peculiarly gratifying to him, and I trust
the vase wiU remain an heir-loom in a long line of descendants that
shaU inherit his name and his spirit. What think you of the state of
our denomination ? There seems to be, notwithstanding the great mul-
tipUcation of our students, a great paucity of young ministers rising up
of talent and power. Our rich people are going over to Mother Church,
and I am afraid that there is more bluster about the Voluntary principle
than intelligent, deep-rooted conviction. Scotland is far a-head of us
in this. With the Dissenters there it has more of the aspect of a reli-
gious question than it has with us. It is better understood and more
deeply felt beyond the Tweed than here ; and there the great battle is
being fought. What will Chahners and his party do, and what will
the civil courts do 1 I am inclined to think the matter will be com-
promised somehow or other, but how I cannot imagine.

" And now to poor Finney. I so far agi-ee with you as clearly to
perceive a tendency in this age to oscUlate from the extreme of Anti-
nomianism on one side of the pendulum to Ai'uiinianism on the other,
and that caution, and in order to this, warning voices are necessary ;
but I am still confident that, with all the palpable faults which attach
to his books, they have done immense good in this country; far more
good than they will ever do harm. Our whole system of theology and
of preaching was, in my judgment, too scholastic, stiff, and cold, to
be either scriptural or efficient, and needed to be untrammelled, warmed,
and made more a thing of the heart, and especially of the conscience,
than it had ever been. Finney, with aU his vulgarity, and, frequently,
rash and hazardous phraseology, is a more perfect exemplification of
that passage than any preacher or wiiter of sermons that I know,
' Commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the si^ht of God.'
This is the grand excellence of his sermons. It is a perpetual grap-
pling with the conscience, and a successful method of making the sinner,
and the believer too, feel and know what they have to do, and when to
do it. I do not think responsibility can be too much dwelt upon and
pressed home, till it has excluded sovereignty, which I do not think
Finney has done. True it is, that the danger to be dreaded is from

28i

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

the men wlio swallow liini whole, and as he is, without discrimination ;
men who become his imitators, and have not judgment enough to avoid
his faults. It was as much for the purpose of caution as recommenda-
tion that I wrote the short preface that you regret. After all, I should
be glad to see a caution sent forth by some able pen — would that you
had health to do it ! — against what I admit to be the tendency of this
day. Our pastors in many parts of the country have been dehghtfully
roused to action, revivals in lukewarm ministers and churches have
followed, and I cannot help hoping that a spirit of healthful, energetic
piety is rising up.

" And now as regards myself and my family. / am tolerably well ;
still troubled with, nerves that are Hke the fibres of the aspen leaf,
so feeble and so dehcate as to make the leaf tremble with every breeze,
and almost without one. ]\Iy dear wife is much the same, gradually
but certainly decUning — ever verging to a point the contemplation of
which makes every husband's heart tremble, who loves his wife and
feels how much his comfort depends on her life. May God prepare me
for all that is before me !

" I shall be glad to hear from you soon, to be informed how you are,
and what you are doing. I beg to be most kindly remembered to your
good and excellent wife, whose health I hope is improved, and to your
daughter. — Yours, as ever, most affectionately,

" J. A. James."

TO THE EEV. JAMES PARSONS, YORK.

"Edgbaston, Feb. 14, 1845.
" My dear Friend, — I must first express my deep and tender sym-
pathy with you under your long-continued, though I rejoice to hear
now mitigated afiliction. God does much bi/ you, and therefore it is
to be expected He will have much to do mi and vnth. you. You know
who said, Study, prayer, and temptation make a good minister of
Christ. I now turn to my own trial, and it is an aggravation of it that
it compels me to return another negative to your application. My
thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, still continues
to wound and lacerate my poor nervous temperament. It has been
supposed by some that it was either extracted, or that my frame had
accommodated itself to tlic intrusive annoyance. Alas ! my feehngs at
this moment are a painful proof to the contrary. I gave a conditional
promise to one of our students to preach at the opening of his chapel
at Shrewsbury the first week in March. More than a week ago, the
recollection occurred to me, when in a nervous state on some other
account, and immediately aU the dark thoughts left the original cause
of disquietude and clustered round tliis Shrewsbury engagement, and

NEEVOUS DEPRESSION.

285

I have not had a comfortable day since, and have had several broken
nights. Nor -vdll my nerves be tranquil again till the engagement is
either dissolved or fulfilled. There ■nlll be a mouth's discomfort and
interrupted pursuits as the consequence of one trifling engagement.
Can you vconder I am compelled to say ' No ' to applications for foreign
service ? I find it difficult to explain the idiosyucracy under which I
labour. It is something like this : I make a promise to preach — after
a while I am somewhat poorly — I wake in the night — the promise
comes up like a spectre before me — it is a trifling concern, no matter,
it is a concern, it is future — I cannot sleep. I rise uncomfortable,
and continue so through the day. I go to bed dreading I shall not
sleep — the prediction verifies itself. Then I calculate there are so many
weeks to intervene, and that I shall not sleep comfortably till it is over
— and how can I endiire broken rest so long 1 By this time the matter
has got hold of me, and neither reason nor religion can throw it oif ;
and where others would find that which they would never think about
for a moment tiU the time comes, I find that which darkens every
moment tiU it is past. It is not, observe, a dread of the service
itself, but a dread that I shall not sleep tiU it is over. I could, if
called to it, get up at Surrey Chapel and preach on a missionary occa-
sion to fiU up an unexpected gap, if I knew it only the day before ; but
a Httle engagement at a month's distance unnei-ves me. It has become
a kind of monomania. The whole, therefore, may be resolved into a
morbid association of ideas, between a future service, and not sleeping
tin it is over. Perhaps you can now understand my trial — and it is a
deep and afilictive one to myself — and it is sometimes annojing to others
to whom I give promises, extorted from me by importunity, and which
I am compelled at length to break. God grant that whatever afiiiction
He may see fit to visit you with, it may not be of a kind to prevent
you from serving the denomination as well as yovir own congregation."

CHAPTER II.

"THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER.'

A VERY interesting and useful book might be written on the
religious manuals, which in different churches and different ages
have most ijowerfully affected the pojDular religious life ; I refer
to such works as the De Iinitatione of Thomas a Kempis, the
"Introduction to a Devout Life" of Francis de Sales, Jeremy Taylor's
" Holy Living and Dying," Law's "Serious Call," Doddridge's " Rise
and Progress." That there are real and very important harmo-
nies between Cathohc and Protestant, Anglican and Puritan,
Arminian and Calvinist, when they lay aside the rigid techni-
calities of controversy, and strive to minister to the spiritual
strength and joy of simple and untaught men, is obvious to every
student of devotional literature ; that there are real and very
important differences, is not less obvious. They differ in their
ideal of spiritual perfection, in the relative importance they assign
to particular " means of grace," to particular elements of spiritual
experience, to particular lines of duty. Although membership of
the same church and profession of the same creed wUl not produce
absolute uniformity of opinion in reference to the directions that
should be given to those who are endeavouring to recover the
image of God, it is impossible that our conceptions of the rehgious
life in its origin, the methods and forces by which it is developed,
and the type of its ultimate perfection, should be iminfluenced by
our theory of Christian doctrine.

" THE ANXIOUS INQUIEER."

287

John Wesley's theology could never have issued iu a religious
experience of fear and sadness like that expressed in " The Chris-
tian Year;" and Mr Keble's theology is wholly incompatible with
the vigour and triumph of the Wesleyan Hymn-book.

Should any competent writer ever attempt such a review of the
most famous devotional books of the great churches of Christen-
dom, Mr James's "Anxious Inquirer" will claim very careful
notice. Its very title declares its vital connexion with that
remarkable movement to which the popular religious life of
England in our own times owes its origin. The necessity of a
conscious, personal application to the Lord Jesus Christ for the
pardon of sin and release from its power, as distinguished from
the theory that forgiveness and the germ of holiness are invariably
imparted to the unconscious infant at the font, and that the adult
who was baptized in childhood has rather to seek the development
of a life already possessed and the confirmation of privileges
already conferred, than a complete change in his relation to God,
and a complete renewal of his spiritual nature ; in other words,
the doctrine of conversion, has been from the beginning one of the
principal articles in the brief confession of the evangelical party.
To arouse the unpardoned and unregenerate to inquiry, and then
to direct them to the Lord Jesus as the Saviour of sinners, has
been the great aim of all who have been animated by the true
spirit of the chiefs of the Evangelical Revival. The great cry of
Whitfield and Wesley and their immediate successors was, " Flee
from the wrath to come a gross, sensual, godless people had to
be stung and startled into religious earnestness, and, God helping
them, they did their work by reiterating the truths which first
alarm the irreligious by the discovery of their guilt and danger,
and then lead the terrified penitent to trust in the Lord Jesus for
salvation. Whether sufficient care and thought have been devoted
to the culture and discipline of moral and spiritual excellence by
the Evangelical ministry, both in and out of the Establishment,
need not be discussed in this place ; Mr James, at least, was alto-
gether free from blame in that direction.

But the characteristic element of theu' preaching has not

288

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

been the inciilcatiou in detail of Christian duty, or the declara-
tion of those aspects of Christian doctrine which cherish a lofty-
devotional life. Their special vocation has been to warn the im-
penitent of coming judgment, and to entreat the guilty to rely on
Christ for the pardon of sin, and the regeneration of their nature
by His Holy Spirit. Mr James's book, "The Anxious Inquirer
after Salvation Directed and Encouraged," is a complete and per-
manent expression of the genius and principles of the whole move-
ment. Its populai'ity is a proof that any future student of the re-
ligious history of the nineteenth century, who wishes to learn by
what religious teachhig vast multitudes of persons in these days
were practically guided, may, with confidence, seek an answer in
its pages. It was published in 1834 ; I have lying before me now
the sixth edition, which was published in 1835. Writing to Dr
Sprague in 1839, Mr James tells him that the Tract Society had
issued 200,000 copies. An account of the languages into which it
has been translated and some extraordinary illu.strations of its
usefulness, will be found later in this chapter.

I have frequently heard good and thoughtful men, whose the-
ology is in perfect accordance with that of the "Anxious In-
quirer," declare their inability to discover the secret of its power.
There are many other books which explain with equal clearness
the evangelical doctrines of repentance, faith, and conversion ;
why should this have achieved its unique success ?

It is my conviction that any intelligent man who has had much
experience in the instruction and guidance of the class of persons
for whom it was written will be able, after a careful study of it,
to solve the difficulty.

Between seventeen and eighteen years have passed by since,
on my knees and in keen distress about my personal salvation,
I first read through the " Anxious Inquirer." Night after night
I waited with eager impatience for the house to become still, that
in undisturbed solitude I might agonise over the book which had
taught so many to trust in God. It is with a feeling approaching
reverence and fear that I now attempt an estimate of the chief

" THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER."

2S9

contents of the little volume wliicli is so intimately associated with
some of the most sacred passages of my personal history.

The opening sentences are instinct with a spirit which has
moved the hearts of thousands and tens of thousands of readers.
In innumerable instances the book has been placed in the hands
of persons already greatly troubled by the conviction of their
guilt and peril, and intensely anxious to escape from their present
wretchedness, and from the penalty of eternal exile from God by
which they are threatened in the world to come : such readers
have found evidence on the very first page tliat the author is as
much in earnest as themselves ; that instead of writing a theolo-
gical treatise for the instruction of their understandings, he sees
very clearly all their danger, and is profoundly concerned for
their salvation. Others have begun to read with sluggish careless-
ness, but have been startled at once by discovering what a very
serious enterprise the wi'iter had undertaken, and have come to
feel that if he wrote with such a solemn impression of the tran-
scendent importance of his subject, it becomes them to read with
devout anxiety. He thinks his book will be remembered in
heaven with joy, or in hell with remorse. The subject is of such
awful moment that it must not be read like other books, and he
gives directions how to read it : —

" It may seem strange to some persons, that I should give directions
for the performance of an act so well understood as the pei-usal of a
book ; and especially the perusal of a book of so simple and elementary
a kind as this. But the fact is, that midtitudes either do not know,
or do not remember at the time, hoiv to read to advantarje; and,
therefore, profit but little by what they read. Besides, simple and
elementary as is this treatise, it is on a subject of infinite and eternal
importance, and is perused in the most critical season of a man's ever-
lasting history ; when, in a very peculiar sense, every means of grace,
and this among the rest, will be either ' a savour of death unto death,
or of Ufe unto Uf e,' to the reader. Tremendous idea ! But strictly true.

" Reader, whosoever thou art, it is no presumptuous thought of the
author, to believe that thou wilt remember the contents of this small
treatise, either with pleasure and gratitude in heaven, or with remorse
and despair in heU. Can it then be an impertinently officious act, to
remind thee how to read with advantage what I have wiitten?"
T

290

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

The directions themselves are admirable, and I doubt not have
guided in innumerable instances the first earnest endeavoiirs of
the soul to enter into real and living communion with the Unseen
and the Eternal.

" Take the book with you," writes the author, " into your closet ;
I mean your place of retirement for prayer; for, of course, you have
such a place. Prayer is the very soul of all religion, and privacy
is the very life of prayer itself. This is a book to be read when you
are alone ; when none is near but God and your conscience ; when you
are not hindered by the presence of a fellow-creature from the utmost
freedom of manner, thought, and feeling; when, unobserved by any
human eye, you could lay down the book, and meditate, or weep, or
fall upon your knees to pray, or give vent to your feelings in short and
sudden petitions to God. I charge you then to reserve the volume for
your private seasons of devotion and thoughtfulness : look not into it
in company, except it be the company of a poor trembling and anxious
inquirer, like yourself."

Nor is it enough that the reader is alone, he must read
"with deep seriousness," being charged to "take it up with
something of the awe that warns you how you touch a holy
thing ; " " with earnest prayer," for " it will convey no experimental
knowledge, relieve no anxiety, dissipate no doubts, afford neither
peace nor sanctification, if God do not give His Holy Spirit ; and
if you would have the Spirit, you must ask for His influence."
Moreover, there is a warning against reading too much at a time,
a recommendation to meditate on what is read, to read regTilarly
through in order, to turn to all the passages of Scripture and
chapters which are quoted, and which for the sake of brevity
the author has only referred to without quoting the words.

In the First Chapter the profound earnestness of the writer
appears even more impressively than in the Introduction. He
evidently feels the terrible magnitude of the sin and of the danger
by which the heart of the reader is troubled ; he is as much
alarmed as though he were still personally exposed to the " wrath
to come :" —

" No wonder you should be anxious ; the wonder is, that you were
not concerned about this matter before, that you are not more deeply

"THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER."

291

solicitous now, and that all who possess the Word of God do not
syaipatliise with you in this anxiety. Everything justifies solicitude
and condemns indifference. Unconcern about the soul, indifference to
salvation, is a most irrational, as well as a most guilty state of mind.
The wildest enthusiasm about these matters is less surprising and un-
reasonable, than absolute carelessness, as will appear from the follow-
ing considerations : —

" .... Every day brings you nearer to everlasting torments or
felicity. You may die any moment ; and you are as near to heaven or
hell as you are to death. No wonder you are asking, ' What shall I do
to be saved ^'

" This solicitude is reasonable if you consider that the eternal loss of
the soul is not a rare, but a very common occurrence. It is so tremen-
dous a catastrophe, that if it happened only once in a year, or once in
a century, so as to render it barely possible that it should happen to
you, it would be unpardonable carelessness not to feel some solicitude
about the matter : how much more, then, when, alas ! it is an everyday
calamity. So far from its being a rare thing for men to go to hell, it
is a much rarer thing for them to go to heaven. Our Lord tells us,
that the road to destruction is thronged, while the way to life is
travelled by few. Hell opens its mouth wide, and swallows up multi-
tudes in perdition. How alarming is the idea, and how probable the
fact, that you may be among this number! Some that read these
pages wiU very likely spend their eternity with lost souls ; it is there-
fore your wisdom, as well as your duty, to cherish the anxiety which
says, ' What shall I do to be saved]'"

His earnestness is not exhausted in the first few pages; it
burns and glows in the heart of the writer tUl the last sentence of
the last chapter is written, and not only animates and fires all he
writes, but becomes in several places uncontrollable, and expresses
itself in renewed and direct appeals and entreaties. This vehe-
ment solicitude commands the confidence of the reader and sustains
his own anxiety ; the teaching is in some places deficient in
clearness, but the fervour never cools ; and increased clearness
would have been bought at too high a price by the sacrifice of
intensity.

Nor was the excitement artificial, for the "Anxious Inquirer"
was not addressed to mere imaginary readers ; chapter after
chapter was written for a number of young men and women

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LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

whom Mr James was meeting every week, and for whose salvation
he felt aU the concern of a faithful minister of Christ. This gave
vigour by giving concentration to his holy passion. It is not
possible for an author to write with the same sustained solicitude
for a thousand unknown persons who may some day read his book,
as for fifty or sixty peoi:)le, every one of whom he knows well, every
one of whom is, at the very time he writes, exciting his deepest sym-
pathies, every one of whom has come to him in sorrow and doubt
asking the questions which his book is intended to answer, and
alarmed at dangers from which the book shews the way of escape.

And the fact that Mr James wrote for living persons, perplexed
and misled by mistakes with which, week after week, he had
practically to deal, enabled him to produce a book having a reality
and truth which no mere theorist could attain. Nearly every direc-
tion, nearly every element of instruction has evidently been sug-
gested by the actual mistakes and dangers of his "Inquirers'
Class."

I greatly doubt whether any mere speculative divine would have
written the chapter on " Eeligious Impressions, and the Unspeak-
able Importance of Retaining and Deepening Them." It would
have seemed the most natural way for an evangelical theologian to
have passed at once from Chapter I. on " The Reasonableness and
Necessity of Deep Solicitude about Salvation," to explain the
nature of Repentance or Faith, or to develop the Divine provision
for removing human guilt, and cleansing the human heart ; but, to
a minister writing his book in his study in the morning, and expect-
ing to meet a large class of persons newly aroused to religious
anxiety, in his vestry in the evening, it was a more natural thing
to postpone full and explicit doctrinal teaching to certain neces-
sary practical directions. This suggested the remarkable chapter
(Chapter II.) in which the reader is solemnly told that he must
" admit the possibility of losing " his convictions of sin and reli-
gious impressions ; that he should " dread the idea of relapsing
into indifference ; " that he should make " it a subject of devout and
earnest prayer, that God would render these impressions per-
manent by the effectual aid of His Holy Spirit,"

" THE ANXIOUS INQUIEEE."

293

" It is of infinite consequence that you sliould, at this stage of your
religious history, deeply ponder the great truth, that all true piety
in the heart of man is the work of God's Spirit. Do not read
another line till you have well weighed that sentiment, and have so
wrought it into your heart, as to make it become a principle of action,
a rule of conduct. Every conviction will be extinguished, every impres-
sion will be effaced, unless God himself, by His own sovereign and
efficacious grace, render them permanent. If God do not put forth His
power, you vnH as certainly lose every pious emotion as you now possess
any. You may as rationally expect light without the sun, as piety
•without God. Not a single really holy feeling Tvill ever come into the
mind, or be kept there, but by God. Hence, the object and the use of
prayer are to obtain this gracious influence. Prayer is the first step in
the divine life, prayer is the second, prayer is the third, and indeed it
is necessary through the whole Christian course. Awakened sinner,
you must pray. You must find opportunity to be alone ; you must cry
mightily unto God ; you must implore His aid ; you must give up a
portion of your sleep, if you can command no time in the day for
prayer."

As the writer had not paused to discuss whether a sinner
should pray before believing in Christ, neither does he stay to
discuss whether he should endeavour to forsake sin before believ-
ing in Christ : for these subtle questions, the consideration of
which is not unimportant, however, to him who has the guidance
of souls, Mr James's vigorous common sense had no inclination ;
anyhow, it must be right and good to pray, and right and good
to avoid sin, and so he proceeds to say —

" If you would retain your impressions, and persevere in the pursuit
of salvation, you must at once determine to give up whatever you know to
he sinful in your conduct, and you must also he very watchful against
gin. Thus runs the direction of the Word of God : ' Seek ye the Lord
■while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near : let the
•wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and
let him return unto the Lord, and he wiU have mercy upon him, and
to our God, for he will abundantly pardon,' (Isaiah Iv. 6, 7.) To the
same effect is the language of one of Job's friends : ' If thou prepare
thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him; if iniqiuty be in
thine hand, put it far away,' (Job xi. 13, 14.) It is right for you at once
to know, that the salvation which is in Christ is a deliverance from sin.
' Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their
sins,' said the angel to Joseph, when he announced the approaching

294

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

nativity of Christ. ' Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous
of good works,' (Titus ii. 1 4.) It is of immense consequence that you
should at once have a distinct idea that the salvation you are beginning
to seek is a holy calling. Whatever is sinful in your temper, such as
maUce, revenge, violent passions ; or whatever is sinful in your words,
in the way of falsehood, railing, backbiting ; or whatever is sinful in
your practice, in the way of Sabbath-breaking, injustice, unkiudness,
undutifulness to parents or masters; — must immediately be given up
without hesitation, reluctance, or reserve. The retaining of one single
sin, which you know to be such, will soon stifle your convictions, and
efface all your impressions. If you are not willing to give up your sins,
it is not salvation you are seeking."

Worldly companions must be forsaken. " All those scriptural
means which are calculated and intended to keep up a due sense
of religion in the mind must be used." And these directions are
admirably closed with a warning against mistakes which half the
number of those who have just begun to think in earnest about
serving God almost invariably commit.

" It is of consequence that you should here distinctly understand,
that the grace of God in your salvation is rich and free. Your exertions
in seeking salvation do not merit or deserve it ; and if you receive it,
you will not have it granted to you as the reward of your own efforts to
obtain it. To imagine that you can claim the grace that is necessary to
your conversion, because you profess to seek it, is to follow the wretched
example of those who, in ancient times, went ' about to estabUsh their
own righteousness, and did not submit themselves unto the righteous-
ness of God.' Your deep convictions, impressions, and sohcitude ; your
many tears ; your earnest prayers ; your dihgent attendance upon ser-
mons ; and your partial reformations, can claim nothing in the way of
reward from Him ; nor is He bound to save you for that which has no
reference to His glory ; till you believe God's pi-omise, He is imder no
obUgation, even to Himself, to save you. Notwithstanding all your con-
cern, you lie at His mercy; and if you are saved, it is of pure favour."

" These are awful instances, and prove by facts, which are unanswer-
able arguments, that it is but too certain that many seek to enter in at
the strait gate, but do not accompKsh their object. And why? Not
because God is unwilling to save, but because they rest in impressions,
without going on to actual conversion. It is dangerous, then, reader,
as well as unwarranted, to conclude that you are sure to be saved, be-

"THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER."

295

cause you now feel anxious to be sayed. It is very true that where God
has begun a good work He ■will carry it on to the day of Christ Jesus ;
but do not conclude too certainly that He has begun it. You may take
encouragement from your present state of mind to hope that you will
be saved ; but that encouragement should rather come from what God
has promised, and what God is, than from what you feeL To regard
your present state of mind, therefore, vdth complacency ; to conceive of
it as preferring any claim upon God to convert you ; to look upon it as
affording a certainty that you will be ultimately converted, a kind of
pledge and earnest of salvation, instead of considering it only as struggles
after salvation, which may or may not be successful, according as they
are continued in a right manner ; is the way to lose the impressions
themselves, and to turn back again to sin or the world. The true
light in which to consider your present solicitude, is that of a
state of mind which, if it terminate in genuine faith, and which it is
probable it may, will end in your salvation : consequently, your object
should be to cherish your anxiety, and seek the grace of Jehovah to
give you sincere repentance towards God, and true faith in our Lord
Jesus Christ."

The chapter on Knowledge will probably be thought by many
very open to adverse criticism. The attempt to illustrate and
enforce in twenty pages such great subjects as the moral character
of God, the nature and requirements of His law, the evil of sin,
the doctrine of original and inherent depravity, the design of
Christ's mediatorial office and work, the evangelical doctrine of
justification, and the nature and necessity of the work of the Holy
Spirit, could hardly be successful. It was in all probability this
chapter to which a young friend of mine particularly referred,
who told me that the " Anxious Inquirer " had suggested more
diflBculties than it had removed. But if the amount of theological
knowledge which was likely to be possessed by most of its readers
is taken into account, it wiU be seen that a fuller and more thorough
discussion of these great truths might have been worse than useless.
Enough is said to afford practical guidance to the untaught ; more
elaborate and exact explanations might in some instances have
puzzled and repelled ; in others they might have stimulated a
purely speculative activity which would have been likely to divert
the soul from its search after God. It is very possible for us to
be so solicitous about making the truth clear to the understand-

29G

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

ing, that the theoretical interest awakened in our discussions of
the way of salvation shall gradually deaden the anxiety of the
heart to secure salvation itself.

A sounder objection may be taken to Mr James's want of
distinctness in his teaching on a subject so important as the
nature of justification. On page 37* he writes — " The justification
of an innocent person is pronouncing him just, on the ground of
his own conduct ; but how can a sinner, who is confessedly guilty
of innumerable transgressions, be justified ? Now, you will see at
once that the term in reference to him is a little different, and
signifies, not that he is righteous in himself, but is treated as if
he had been, throiirjh the righteousness of Christ imputed to him.
' Justification,' says the Assembly's Larger Catechism, ' is an act
of God's free grace unto sinners, in which He pardoneth all their
sins, accejDteth and accounteth their persons righteous in His
sight, not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but only
for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ, by God
imputed to them, and received by faith alone.' "

This is a very unequivocal declaration of agreement with the
doctrine that justification consists in the imputation to the believer
of Christ's obedience and satisfaction. Had he said nothing more,
his teaching would have been jierfectly definite and unambiguous.
Whether true or not, the theory of " imputation " taught in the
Assembly's Catechism is free from all censure on the ground of
indistinctness. Its simplicity is equal to its clearness ; a child
may understand it. But thirty lines below he explains that " this
is what is meant by the imputed righteousness of Christ, that the
sinner is accepted by the Divine favour out of regard to what
Christ did and suffered on his behalf," — a statement which might
not only be accepted by many who are most firmly opposed to the
" imputation " doctrine, but almost suggests a different theory. It
is clearly one thing to say that Lord Raglan's sufferings and achieve-
ments in the Crimea are " imputed " to his son, and that therefore
his son receives a pension ; and another thing to say that " out of
regard " to Lord Raglan's services, his son receives a pension.

* Sixth Edition.

" THE A^'XIOUS IXQriEEK."

207

This, however, might have passe.l unnoticed, but a careful
reader of the paragraphs immediately following the passages I
have quoted wHl see other traces of vacillation on this great sub-
ject. On page 38 it is affirmed that "justification means not
merely pardon, but something more ; " on the next page, pardon
and justification are virtually identified. Indeed, it was Mr James's
habit to teU his congregation that pardon and justification are
substantially the same. His great anxiety was to distinguish jus-
tification as a change of our personal relationship to God, from
sanctification as a change of our personal character ; and the Adrtual
identification of justification Avith pardon enabled him to do this
with great ease. There was an obvious practical benefit to be
gained in making justification and pardon almost identical ; it
enabled him to make the distinction between justification and
sanctification plain to the most ill-informed and undisciplined
minds. To secure this advantage, he seemed almost indifferent
to the two theological difficulties in whicli he manifestly placed
himself. If justification be substantially the same as pardon, it
cannot consist in the imputation to the sinner of Christ's obe-
dience and satisfaction ; and secondly, the attempt to distinguish
between the two blessings, after affirming them to be substantially
the same, must prove a failure.

It would be an error to suppose that this question is one of
merely speculative and theological interest. If justification and
pardon be " substantially " identified, the soul when conscious
of needing a renewal of pardon, will practically suppose that its
justification needs renewal too ; in other words, that it is stand-
ing in precisely the same unsheltered and perilous condition which
preceded its original reconciliation to God. But if such a theory
of justification be held as leaves that great and permanent blessing
imafiected by the infirmities, follies, and sins which are daily
confessed, and need daily forgiveness, the soul will be exempted
from the shock and injury it must receive if thrown back day
after day into the wretchedness and horror of being under the
Divine condemnation. Mr James saw that justification abides
with the soul as long as faith abides ; but through making it sub-

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LIFE UP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

stantially the same as pardon, for which we need to seek God's
mercy every day, he reduced the permanent blessing of justifica-
tion to insignificance and worthlessness.

The following passage from the " Course of Faith," published
in 1852, will further illustrate the point under discussion : —

" Justification, I say at once, is substantially the same as pardon.
The two words convey the same, or nearly the same idea. The apostle
appears to use them couvertibly where he says, ' To him that work-
eth not, but beheveth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is
counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessed-
ness of the man to whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are
covered : blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not sin.'
' In these verses,' says Dr Wardlaw, ' the forgiveness of iniquity, the
covering of transgression, the non-imputation of sin, are evidently con-
sidered as amounting to the same thing with the imputation of righte-
ousness ; and this also is the same as justifying the ungodly : for David
is represented as describing under one set of phrases the blessedness
which the apostle expresses by the others.' Still, as the apostles, in the
language of the New Testament, so generally employ the word justifi-
cation rather than the word pardon, there must be some reason for
this, which I think is to be found in the two foUoMing considerations :
First, The word justification, while it means pardon, is used to convey
the idea of the method by which this pardon is bestowed — that pardon
consistent with justice ; so that the word embraces both the blessing
and the way of its bestowal, according to the demands of the law.
Secondly, It denotes a general and permanent state of pardon, and not
merely a particular act. By justification we are brought into a new
and permanent relation, a state of favour. Justification is our intro-
duction into this abiding condition ; so that though pardon may be
needed, and may be granted to us in this state from day to day, justi-
fication cannot be said to be repeated every day. By justification we
pass from the state of an enemy into that of a chUd. In this view of
it it is equivalent vtdth adoption, and in this condition we may and do
receive the paternal forgiveness day by day, though not the judicial
clearance. Justification is the act of the judge reUeving us from the
sentence of condemnation, and bringing us into a state of favour ; while
subsequent acts of pardon are the expression of the Father in passing
by our transgressions. StiU, I repeat, the two terms are substantially
the same thing, and justification is pardon. They are certainly never
enumerated together as two distinct blessings. We never read of par-

"THE ANXIOUS D^QUIEEE."

299

don and justification. I know it has been common with some of the
old divines to represent them as distinct ; to consider justification as
given to us on the ground of Christ's active obedience, and pardon on
the ground of His passive obedience, or sufferings unto death. No
such distinction, however, is made by the apostles ; and as Dr Wardlaw
says in reference to this subject, there is no need for our being more
minute in our distinctions than these inspired men. Our being intro-
duced into a state of pardon through the atonement of Christ is justifi-
cation."

In the fifth chapter of the " Anxious Inquirer " there is another
illustration of LIr James's want of firmness and clearness in his
statement of Christian doctrine. It was, no doubt, his conviction
that faith is Trust in Christ, based on the belief of certain traths
about Him ; and this is very distinctly taught on page 59. But
on pages 57 and 58, it would appear to an ordinary reader as
though the writer accepted that definition of faith which makes
it nothing more than the intellectual belief of the truths that
relate to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savioui' of mankind. He
says —

" You will probably wish to know a httle more about this transcen-
dently important state of mind ; and I shall, therefore, set before you —

" 1. What you are to beheve. Faith, in general, means a behef of
whatever God has testified in His Word ; but faith in Christ means the
behef of what the Scripture saith of Him ; of His person, offices, and
work. You are to beheve that He is * the Son of God.' ' God mani-
fest in the flesh God-man — Mediator : for how can a mere creature be
your Sa\iour ? In faith you commit your soul to the Lord Jesus. ^\Tiat !
into the hands of a mere creature? The divinity of Christ is thus not
merely an article of faith, but enters also into the foundation of hope.
You are required to beheve in the doctrine of atonement ; that Christ
satisfied Divine justice for human guilt, having been made a propitia-
tion for our sins ; and that now His sacrifice and righteousness are the
only ground or foundation on which a sinner can be accepted and ac-
quitted before God You are to beheve that all, however previously
guilty and unworthy, are welcome to God for salvation, without any
exception, or any difficulty whatever. You are to beheve that God
reaUy loves the world, and is truly willing and waiting to save the chief
of sinners, and that He therefore is benevolent to you : and thus, in-
stead of dweUing in the idea of a mere general or universal love, you
are to bring the matter home to yourself, and to beheve that God has

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LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

good-will towards you, lias given Christ to die for you ; you are a part
of the world which God loved, and for which Christ died, and you are
not to lose yourself in the crowd. You are not to consider the scheme
of redemption for any body, or for every body, but yourself ; but you
are to give the whole an individual bearing upon yourself. You are to
say, ' God is well disposed towards me ; Christ is given for me ; died
for me as well as for others ; I am invited ; I shaU be saved if I trust
in Chi-ist ; and I am as welcome as any one to Clirist.' Faith is not a
belief in your own personal rehgion, this is the assurance of hope ; but
it is a belief that God loves sinners, and that Christ died for sinners,
and for you amongst the rest : it is not a belief that you are a real Chris-
tian, but that Christ is willing to give you all the blessings included in
that term. It is the belief of something out of yourseK, but still of
something concerning yourself. The object of faith is the work of
Christ for you, not the work of the Spirit in you. It is of great conse-
quence you should attend to this, because many are apt to confound
these things. If I promise a man alms, and he really bcheves what I
say, and expects relief, /, in the act of jyromising him, am the object of
his faith, and not the state of his own mind in the act of believing. If,
therefore, you Avould have faith, or, possessing it, would have it strength-
ened, you must fix and keep your eye on the testimony of Christ, which
you find in the gospel."

The sentences that I have italicised obviously imply a different
theory of faith from that which is stated in the rest of the para-
graph.

The paragraph generally describes faith as a belief of Christian
truth ; the italicised passages imply that it is a belief in Christ
himself founded on the belief of Christian truth. This latter,
which is the only sound view, is very clearly enunciated in the
next paragraph, which describes how a sinner is to believe : —

" I will now shew you now you are to believe. But is this neces-
sary ? There is no mystery in faith when we speak of beUeving a fel-
low-creature. When the rebel is required to believe in the proclamation
of mercy sent out by his sovereign, and to come and sue for pardon ; or
Avhen the beggar is required to believe in the promise of a benefactor
who has promised him relief, does it enter into his mind to ask how he
is to believe 1 What, in each of these cases, does faith mean ? A behef
that the promise has been made, and a confidence in the person who
made it that he will fulfil his word. Behold, then, the whole mystery
there is in faith ! It is a behef that Christ really died for sinners j that

" THE A2\XI0rS INQUIKEE."

301

all ■who depend upon Him alone shall be saved ; and a trust in Him for
salvation. Yes, it is, if we may substitute another vrord as exjjlanatory
of faith, TRUST in Christ. Faith, and confidence in Christ, are the same
thing."

In explainiug how a siuncr is to believe, the author had in his
mind a different kind of belief from that which was present to him
when describing what he is to believe.

Let not these observations be thought idle or hypercritical If
I might be pardoned for speaking again of the time when the
'■■ Anxious Inquii-er " was my trusted guide through anguish and
fear to a quiet trust in Christ, I would refer to the difficulties by
which I was personally and for some time beset, through mistake
on this very point. I supposed, in common with many others,
passing through a similar experience, that faith in Christ is a belief
of the doctrines enumerated by Mr James in the chapter on Know-
ledge. That error would naturally be confirmed by very much
that I have quoted from the chapter on Faith, and as the truer
teaching in the same chapter was inconsistent both with my own
ideas and with the previous statements of the author, it was not
unnatural that I should faU to notice, or at any rate to receive it.
Hence I continued to suppose that I was to be saved by believing
the history of the Lord Jesus Christ and the great evangelical doc-
trines concerning His natm-e and death. Conscious that I had not
attained the rest and strength which ought to follow " saving faith,"
I began to think that perhaps my belief was powerless, because it
was the mere result of education, and not of independent inquiry.
Under this impression, I turned in my boyish simplicity to Paley's
" Evidences of Christianity," hoping that, when I had verified for
myself the historical foundations of Christian truth, my belief would
rest on a right basis and exert greater powder.

There is another defect which was perhaps almost inseparable
from the general structure of the book. Notwithstanding the
author's earnest entreaties, that his readers would look to Christ,
and not to anything in themselves for salvation, there is veiy much
that is calculated to confirm the common error of losing sight of
Christ through looking to ourselves to discover whether we are

302

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

looking to Him. The act of faith is so repeatedly discussed, that
the mind is likely to be diverted from the object of faith. There
is a curious slip in the illustration of the difference between faith
and assurance, at the end of the chapter on Mistakes. It is said,
that if the ringleader of a revolt, having read a proclamation of
amnesty, and having satisfied himself that it really came from the
king, laid down his arms, and so fulfilled the conditions of pardon,
he would not be much troubled about " assurance " he is conscious
he has done what the monarch requires, and he feels he has what

the monarch promised Faith and compliance with ike

monarch's demand luould he all that he would concern himself
about." Now, whatever anxiety the supposed rebel might have
to discover adequate proof of the authenticity and unlimited
reference of the proclamation, he would have none at all about
his own faith in it ; and it should be the aim of the Christian
teacher so to represent the power and grace of the Lord Jesus,
and the unconditional freeness of His gospel, that the troubled
and guilty heart, forgetting itself altogether, shall trust every-
thing to Christ. That this was Mr James's own clear and full
opinion, needs no proof or illustration ; but, perhaps, it may fairly
be objected to certain parts of the " Anxious Inquirer," that faith
is discussed in a manner that is likely to detain the mind with
questions about the validity of its own trust in Christ, when, with
simple unconsciousness of self, it should be rejoicing in that in-
finite love which asks for nothing as the condition of conferring
pardon and the new life, but that the soul, without further solici-
tude, should leave all its sins where God has placed them — on the
head of His own Son ; and should begin at once to endeavour to
live a Christian life, expecting God to supply the strength which
alone can make the endeavour successful.

If, in resuming the attempt to point out some of the excellencies
of this remarkable book, I occupy less space than has already been
covered with the discussion of some of its deficiencies, it is not
through any want of appreciation of the elements of its power.
In addition to what has been already said on the writer's manifest
earnestness, which at once commands the confidence and deepens

" THE AKXIOUS KQUIKER."

303

the anxiety of the reader, the practical wisdom of his method and
order, the admirable common sense with which he sets aside dis-
cussions which might have perplexed but could not have aided
those for whom he wrote, there are several other characteristics of
the " Anxious Inquirer " which help to explain its popularity and
usefulness.

From ;Mr James's Autobiography it appears that his own
spiritual life had not passed through the precise chronological
development, which some systematic writers on conversion have
insisted upon. He had known the uncertainties and vicissitudes,
the temporary victories and the subsequent defeats, the vacillation
and inconstancy which most commonly mark the first efforts of
the soul to forsake sin and Uve for God. In the almanac, winter
melts into spring, spring brightens into summer, and summer
ripens into golden autumn, by regular gradations. But the seasons
are too wilful to obey the almanac : far on in spring, sometimes
in the very heart of summer, we have cold winds and wintry
snow ; and often in March or AprU we are gladdened by days of
warmth and sunshine that seem to have missed their way, and to
belong rather to July. It is just so in the rise and progress of
religion in the soul ; and it is one of the great excellencies of the
"Anxious Inquirer," that it prescribes no exactly-defined expe-
riences through which the mind must pass in order to arrive at
rest in God. The reader is not distressed by the apprehension
that perhaps in his case one link in the chain has a flaw in it, and
that aU the links that foUow are therefore worthless. The en-
deavour to manufacture faith in Christ and love toward God, by
an elaborate process of spiritual chemistry, is a most perilous
mistake ; and I repeat, that the " Anxious Inquirer " is free from
the imputation of encouraging this delusion.

Closely connected with this great merit is another : the book
insists with uniform and unhesitating resoluteness on the duty
of immediate trust in Christ. No excuse for deferring this is
recognised as valid ; it is a duty, and must be fulfilled at once.
There is no minister who has had much practical acquaintance
with the difficulties which impede the return of the heart to God,

304

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JA^IES.

who has not been perplexed by the subtlety of the pleas by which
continued unbelief is defended. " I have not sorrow enough for
sin," says one, not remembering that Christ was exalted to give
repentance as well as remission of sin. " My heart is so hard,"
says another, forgetting that it is just because the heart is so hard
that we should give up all our efforts to soften it, and trust in
Christ to soften it for us. " I am not conscious of believing,"
says another, " and therefore cannot trust in Christ to save me,"
not having learned that it is with our sin and weakness and dan-
ger that we are to approach Christ, and that we shall never be
conscious of faith until after we have trusted Him.

It is in the same spirit that Mr James repeatedly reminds his
readers that the ground of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ does not
lie in any personal qualifications or experiences : it is not sorrow
for sin, confession of sin, abandonment of sin, or any irresistible
persuasion of personal and special interest in the mercy of God,
that is the true foundation of faith in Christ ; but His sufferings
and death to atone for the world's transgressions. His infinite
mercy towards our race, and His infinite resources for our sal-
vation.

Most excellent, too, is all that is said on the difference between
faith and assurance ; about which, however, all teaching, even the
clearest, seems almost in vain. The following passage is one of
many in which this distinction is explained : —

" Faith is sucli a cordial belief that Christ died for sinners, as leads
to a dependence upon Him for salvation ; assurance, as the word is usu-
ally understood in religious discourse, means a persuasion that I do so
believe, and am in a state of salvation : faith means a belief that Christ
is willing to receive me ; assurance means conviction that He has re-
ceived me ; that, in short, I am a Christian. Now, it is manifest that
these two are different from each other : one of them, that is, faith, sig-
nifpng the performance of an action, or coming into a certain state ; and
the other, the consciousness that I have come into that state. It is also
equally evident that faith must precede assurance. We must first be-
lieve that Christ died for sinners, before we can know that we have
believed. The first simple act of faith is a belief that Christ died for
all sinners, for the whole world ; the next, as arising out of it, if it be
not indeed included in it, is that He died for us as part of the world.

"THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER."

305

' I believe/ says the sinner, wlio is coming with confidence to Christ,
' that " God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that
whosoever beheveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting Ufe,"
(John iii. 16;) then, as I am a part of the world, I believe He loved me,
and is willing to save me :' tliis is faith. The soul then feels joy and
peace in beUeving, love to God, gratitude to Christ, hatred of sin, sub-
ugation of the world, fellowship with the righteous. ' Now,' says the
person, ' I know I behave, I am conscious both of the act of believing,
and also of its gracious effects : ' this is assurance."

The homely and direct mode in which speculative difficulties
are removed, I will not say solved, the practical wisdom of many
of the "cautions" given in Chapter IX., would repay careful study,
and might greatly assist persons whose children and friends seek
their advice in religious troubles. There is much, too, that deserves
notice in the hopefulness with which the reader is encouraged to
anticipate the happy issue of his anxieties, and in the skill with
which considerations, calculated to repress despondency, are so
stated as not to enfeeble a solitary motive to earnest solicitude.
The profusion of Scripture quotations will not be overlooked by
those who remember with what eagerness their souls clung, in
their early conflicts, to every Divine promise of pardon and to
every inspired explanation of the Christian method of redemption.
The style in which the " Anxious Inqixirer " is written, notwith-
standing the sentence about subjective and objective religion
which occurs in the chapter on " Mistakes," and which has moved
Mr Ruskin's mirth and provoked his criticism — I think that the
eloquent critic would have cancelled his sarcasm, had he known or
remembered that myriads have been consoled by this little book in
the most terrible of human sorrows, and assisted by it to trust
quietly in God, and live a holy life, — its style I say is, on the
whole, clear, unaffected, and vigorous. Finally, it is short enough
to be read through and through, even by persons who have very
little time to consecrate to purposes of devotion.

I am thankful that this imperfect discussion of one of the most
remarkable uninspired books which any section of the Christian
Church possesses is but an introduction to the author's own
U

806

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

account of it. A separate chapter in the Autobiography is devoted
to the " Anxious Inquirer."

Autobio- I come now to a work, compared with the usefulness of which
that of all my other books is but as the small dust of the balance ;
a work, the results of which fill me with adoring wonder, gratitude,
and love. I will first state the circumstances which led to the
writing and publishing of it. About the year 1832, or it may be
a year later or earlier, a series of special religious services was
held in Birmingham. The ministers of the neighbouring towns,
for many miles round, were invited to attend for solemn conference
on subjects connected with their ministry. Three mornings were
thus spent, much, I believe, to the edification of those present.
The utterances of the heart were free and flowing, and an unre-
strained exchange of sentiment took place on the most momentous
of all topics. I wish these meetings were more frequent. The
one held a few years ago at Chester was a season of uncommon
solemnity. They should not be periodical, or they would become
formal. But occasional gatherings of the labourers in the Lord's
vineyard would give a new impulse to zeal, and a new encourage-
ment to hope. The evenings of these three days were devoted
to the congregations, when addresses were delivered on subjects
bearing upon conversion, and the Lord's Supper was administered.
One of the addresses, delivered by Dr Ross, then of Kidderminster,
now of Sydney, to the thoughful but undecided hearer of the
gospel, produced a very deep and general impression, so that many
persons were brought under most serious concern about their souls.
I am persuaded that occasional special religious services, when con-
ducted with judgment, and in which the pastor himself, whatever
auxiliary help he may obtain, takes a leading part, are rational,
scriptm-al, and useful. Churches, like individuals, are in danger of
sinking into a lukewarm state ; formality settles down upon them,
and stagnancy is the result. True, the best state of things is
where the stated ministry is such as to keep up perpetual fresh-
ness, vigour, and vitality in the church. Happy the church, and
happy its pastor, where such ministrations are enjoyed. But even

"THE ANXIOUS INQUIEEK."

307

here some occasional means to bring out the awakened are clesir- Autobio-
graphical.

able. In all our congregations there are many who have been
impressed by the word, and who go on in this state of mind
without coming to any decision. They are concerned ; they do not
totally give up religion nor wholly embrace it. Now, one of the
great benefits of special services is, that they bring such persons to
a point, and lead in very many cases to decision. Such have been
the results in my ovm case.

After the services to which I now aUude as having been held
ui the town, veiy many came to me at the time appointed for
seeing them, deeply anxious about their souls' salvation. I con-
versed with them, of course ; but as one is wont in dealing with
inquirers, I lent them books to read. I made use of Doddridge's
" Rise and Progress," which, notwithstanding its formal divisions
and systematic form, is an admii'able book, and has been greatly
honoured and blessed of God. It is certainly too long, and con-
tains too much for a mere inquirer. Hence, now when I use it,
which I frequently do, I tell the persons into whose hands I place
it, not to read more of it than about the ten or twelve first chapters.
An inquirer that has not yet found peace with God, need not be
led through the whole course of Christian life. I still found the
lack of some little work, suitable for persons inquiring after
salvation, which should be long enough to lay open the scheme
of salvation, with the perplexities and difficulties that beset the
entrance upon the narrow way of life eternal, and the encourage-
ments which should animate the inquirer in his struggle for the
crown of gloiy. As I knew of none that exactly met my desires,
I set to immediately to write something more suited to the object.
I believe I was animated by a pure desire to glorify God in the
salvation of souls. Perhaps there was less admixture of self-
seeking and vain-glory in the writing of this book than in any
other of my works. I wanted to lead the anxious into peace and
joy in believing. Of course, I had no anticipation of the wonderful
success which followed its publication. How could I ? Had the
veil been then lifted up, and had it been shewn me in perspective
what a course that book was to run, I should have regarded it as

308

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- a dream. The first two editions were printed and published by-
graphical.

myself, and sold very rapidly. The Religious Tract Society
caught sight of it, and proposed to purchase the copyright.
Aware of the facilities possessed by that invaluable institution
for getting their works into a mucli wider circulation than any
private author can do, I immediately consented ; and have ever
been thankful to God for this arrangement. I place this society
next in value and importance to the Bible and Missionary Society.
It is a fountain of blessings to the world, and seemed raised up
of God especially for the times in which we live, when the press,
that source of sweet waters and bitter, is sending forth such floods
of demoralising publications. / above many authors have cause
to speak with gratitude of its Avorth and operations. It has
extended my usefulness to the remotest boundaries of the globe,
wherever the English language is known. It has sent out several
of my publications, — my Pastoral Addresses, " The Young Man
from Home," and some other minor things ; but the " Anxious
Inquirer," in the extent of its circulation and amount of its use-
fulness, swallows up all the others. It has procured the transla-
tion of this work into Gaelic, "Welsh, German, French, Swedish,
Malagasy. Besides these languages, it has by other means been
preached in Dutch, Singakse, and one of the East Indian dialects.
The number of copies issued from the society's depot up to the
present time is more than half-a-million. To me it has ever been
a source of joy and thankfulness to consider that, apart from the
direct usefulness of the book, it has been to the Tract Society a
source of considerable profit ; thus enabling that institution to
extend its usefulness in grants and gratuities to all parts of the
world.

It is delightful to me to know that the circulation of this work
has been more extensive in America than it has been even in this
country. If I speak of its usefulness, it is not in a spirit of
boasting and vain-glory, but with a feeling of the profoundest
humility. None but myself can conceive of the degree in which
God has deigned to honour and bless this little unpretending
publication. Eor this He has employed persons of all ranks in

"THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER."

309

society aud all denominations of religion. Cleraymeu of theAutobio-
Established Church have not scrupled to use it, though penned
by a Dissenter. They thought it to be an instrument adapted to
their purpose, and have manifested as much zeal in its distribu-
tion as any of the ministers or members of my own denomination.
Had I preserved all the letters I have received, both from other
countries and my own, of its usefulness, they would have formed
a book. I sometimes regret that I have not done so ; but per-
haps it would have ministered to my vanity. I have often re-
proached myself for insensibility and want of gratitude in not
feeling more when accounts came of its usefulness. The tidings
have become as common things. A fiftieth part of the intelligence
which has reached me would fill some men's breasts with gladness
and gratitude. It has never been ray practice to send instances
of good from the perusal of it to the periodicals of the day. One
instance out of many I may here relate. In one of the back
settlements of America, where a stated ministry had not yet been
fixed, a single copy of the "Anxious Inquirer" had found its
way. It was lent from one person to another, and seven-and-twenty
persons were thus hopefully converted to God by the perusal of
the solitary copy found among them.

While engaged in the preparation of this Memoir, I received a Editorial,
note from a gentleman in the north of England, who informed me
that eight or nine friends who happened to be together were con-
versing about their religious history, and they discovered that
they had all found in the " Anxious Inquirer " the guidance and
stimulus by which they had been led to trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ. In a subsequent part of the Autobiography I find two
other facts illustrating the usefulness of this remarkable book,
and think it best to insert them here : —

A scene once occurred at a meeting of the [Congregational] Union Autobio-
in London which made a deep impression on all who were pre- ^''^p'^^'^"^'
sent. A Dutch minister, by the name of Dr Beets, a poet and a
highly respectable member of the Established Church, sent in word

310

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- to the secretary that if permitted he should wish to be present and
graphical, g^^^j,^,.^ ^-^q meeting. He was introduced and allowed to speak.

He announced his name and position, and declared that he had
come from Holland, not only to be at the meeting, but to meet
me and to present to me two volumes of my works which he had
translated into Dutch, and to inform me of the benefit which had
resulted from my " Anxious Inquirer " in the language of his
country. He knew of twelve students for the ministry who had
been converted by the perusal of that book. He addressed me
and the meeting in terms so impressive and affecting as to call
from myself a response which, together with his own words, melted
the whole audience into tears. Dr Leifchild (I think he was the
person) rose, and said that such was their emotion, it was impos-
sible to go on with mere dry business till their feelings had a little
subsided, and suggested that they should aU unite in prayer, which
they accordingly did. Dr Beets has since translated other of my
books into Dutch.

It is a little remarkable, that at another of the meetings of the
Congregational Union, a Mr De Leifde, from Amsterdam, was
present, who had come over to England to solicit subscriptions
for carrying on an extensive system of home operations in Hol-
land. His address after the dinner at Kadley's Hotel was most
deeply interesting and affecting. Many were weeping, and all
rejoicing. And on relating his conversion, he told us he had been
a Socinian, but that some one lent him a little book with an ear-
nest exhortation to read it. That book was the "Anxious In-
quirer " in Dutch. It was the means of his conversion, and from
that time he had devoted himself to the work of evangehsing his
country, which he stated is overrun with Socinianism and Kation-
alism. He sat next to me at the dinner, and laid his hand upon
my shoulder, when, with much emotion, he owned me as his spi-
ritual father.

The day of judgment alone will disclose what has resulted
from the issue of this little and apparently insignificant pub-
lication.

" THE ANXIOUS INQUIKEE."

311

Now, I am extremely anxious to call attention to the fact of the Autobio-
usefulness of this work, as demonstrating what kind of religious
truth, and what method of presenting it, God blesses for the con-
version of souls. This is a momentous lesson to learn. The sal-
vation of souls is the supreme end of the ministry. He who does
not see this, has mistaken the whole scheme of Christianity. The
ends of the ministry must of course be identical with the ends for
which Christ died upon the cross. If He died to save sinners,
ministers must preach to save sinners. To convince men of sin
and righteousness and judgment, to bring them to repentance
towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, to build them up
in their holy faith and guide them onwards to eternal life, must
be the design of ministerial instruction. It is greatly to be feared
that the orthodox doctrine of conversion — that is, the turning of
the sinner by the regenerating power of the Spirit from sin to
God through Christ, in other words, the necessity of an entire in-
ward change of heart — begins in many of our Dissenting pulpits
to be merged in vague general notions of a religious state, which
implies no quickening from a death of sin to a life of righteousness.
I hold by the nature and necessity of regeneration and conversion,
as set forth in the writings of the Evangelical school, whether
Episcopalian, Dissenter, or Methodist, and I hold that this is the
teaching of the Word of God. This, and only this, is the teaching
which God has blessed in every age, country, and church of the
world. Do we not see in the preaching of those by whom this
doctrine, if not formally denied, is neglected, an obvious want of
spiritual effect ? Where are the sinners turned from the errors of
their ways? What do we see there of broken- heartedness on
account of sin, of joy and peace in believing, of true holiness and
righteousness ? Are the churches of such preachers fields which
the Lord hath blessed ?

We do not mean to deny that conversion is not the only end of
the ministry. The child must not only be born, but fed, nursed,
and educated. Christians are to be edified, as well as sinners
regenerated. The flock of Christ is to be fed with truth and de-
fended from error. There is to be in the ministry both an evan-

312

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- gelising character and an instructive one. It has been thought
graphical. gome that these, though not of course opposed, are so dissimilar
as almost to require distinct and separate instrumentalities. This,
however, is quite erroneous, though a class of itinerant evangelists,
well skilled in dealing with the souls of men and in methods of
awakening them from the slumber of sin, might be useful as an
auxiliary to our stated pastors. Still the pastor must be both the
evangelist and the subsequent instructor. No doubt a great portion
of every faithful minister's labours should be devoted to the conver-
sion of the unconverted classes of his hearers. In most ordinary
congregations, these greatly outnumber the true Christians. Surely,
surely these ought not to be neglected. I have ever taken the
views of holy Baxter on this subject, as enforced in the following
quotation from his " Reformed Pastor : " —

" It is so sad a case to see men in a state of damnation, wherein if
they should die they are remedilessly lost, that methinks we should
not be able to let them alone either in pubUc or private, whatever other
work we have to do. I confess I am forced frequently to neglect that
which should tend to the further increase of knowledge in the godly,
and may be called stronger meat, because of the lamentable necessity
of the unconverted. Who is able to talk of controversies, or nice
unnecessary points, yea, or truths of a lower degree of necessity,
how excellent soever, while he seeth a company of ignorant, carnal,
miserable sinners before his face that must be changed or damned 1
Methinks I even see them entering on their final woe ! Methinks I
even hear them crying out for help, and speediest help ! Their misery
speaks the louder, because they have not hearts to seek or ask for help
for themselves. Many a time have I known that I had some hearers of
higher fancies, that looked for rarities, and were addicted to despise
the ministry, if he told them not somewhat more than ordinary ; and
yet I covdd not find in my heart to turn from the observation of the
necessities of the impenitent for the humouring of these, nor to leave
speaking to the apparently miserable for their salvation to speak to
such novelists ; no, nor so much as otherwise should be done to the
weak for their confirmation and increase in grace. Methinks as Paul's
spirit was stirred within him when he saw the Athenians so addicted
to idolatry, so it should cast us into one of his paroxysms to see so
many men in great probability of being everlastingly undone ; and if
by faith he did indeed look upon them as within a step of hell, it
should more effectually untie our tongues than they teU us that Croesus'

"THE Als-XIOUS i:\QUIEEE."

313

danger did his son's. He tliat -will let a sinner go to hell for vrant of
speaking to him, doth set less by souls than the Eedeemer of souls did,
and less by his neighbour than internal charity vnH allow him to do
by his greatest enemy. Oh, therefore, brethi-en, whomsoever you
neglect, neglect not the most miserable ! "WTioever you pass over, for-
get not poor souls that are under the condemnation and curse of the
law, and may look eveiy hour for the infernal execution, if a speedy
change do not prevent it. Oh, caU after the impenitent, and ply this
great work of converting souls, whatever else you have undone."*

Now, then, assuming the position that conversion should be a Autobio-
graphical

leading object in the ministry of every faithful preacher of the
gospel, we come again to the inquiry, what kind of truths, and
what methods of preaching them, are likely to accomplish this end ?
It might seem almost unnecessary to ask such a question. But if
one may judge from the preaching of many, thei-e is yet some need
of setting this forth.

I now come to the "Anxious Inquirer," and I might have
taken up Doddridge's " Eise and Progress," AUeine's " Alarm,"
Baxter's " CaU," and, among modern publications, " The Sinner's
Friend," "Come to Jesus," with all the innumerable religious
tracts that are being issued by the various societies in this day.
But I dwell upon the " Anxious Inquirer," not from any spirit of
vain-glory, God is witness, but because it is a work widely circu-
lated, well known, and greatly blessed.

Now, let any critic, or other person of sound judgment, examine
the book itself. He will find no literary talent, no philosophical
research, no profound theology, no novelties of sentiment, no pre-
tension to logic, rhetoric, or poetry, — nothing but one of the
simplest and most elementary treatises in the English language ;
— a book which contains nothing that can puff up its author with
pride — a book which any one of the thousand of evangelical
ministers of aU denominations would have written, had he sat
down with such a purpose, — the mere alphabet of the Christian
religion, which, whatever cause its success might occasion to its

* There is a blank left for the quotation in Mr James's MS., and nothing to in-
dicate to what particular passage of the " Reformed Pastor " he alludes ; but there
can be little doubt that he was thinking of the extract given in the test.— Ed.

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- author for adoring gratitude, can certainly yield no materials to
giaphicai. ^^^^ j^.^ pride. Yet this elementary, this simple, this humble, this
comparatively insignificant little book, has been honoured of God
to do a mighty work in the earth in the way of converting souls.
What, then, are its contents ? what the truths it illustrates ? The
spirituality and eternal obligation and unabated requirements of
the moral law — the tremendous evil and awful consequences of sin
— the condemnation of the whole human race by the law they
had violated — the atonement of Christ, by His death on the cros.s,
for the sins of the world — the infinite love and grace of God, in
His willingness to receive the chief of sinners — the nature and
necessity of repentance and of the new birth — the justification of
the sinner in the sight of God by faith without works — the indis-
pensable necessity of the work of the Spirit of God to enlighten,
to renew, and sanctify the soul ; together with some instructions
calculated to remove perplexities, to overcome difficulties, and to
aSbrd encouragement to the soul convinced of sin and inquiring
after salvation. Such are the truths, and the method of presenting
them, contained in this work. There, of course, are not to be
found theological subtleties, or matters of controversy. If, then,
these truths are thus powerful to awaken the conscience, when set
forth in a book, and addressed to the soul through the medium of
the eye, how much more powerful for this end might it be ex-
pected they would prove when addressed to the soul through the
medium of the ear ! Faith more frequently cometh by hearing
than by reading. For one converted by reading, scores, if not
hundreds, are converted by hearing. It is the preaching of the
cross — not, of course, as the results of the "Anxious Inquirer,"
and other similar works prove, to the exclusion of reading — that
is the power of God unto salvation. But, then, it must be the
preaching of the cross. There are certain truths, and these are set
forth in this little treatise, that constitute the converting element of
sermons ; I say, the converting element, i.e., the truths, and manner
of discussing them, that are adapted to convert the soul to God.

And here be it remarked, it is not only the truths themselves,
but the manner of treating them, that constitutes the convert-

"THE ANXIOUS LNQUIKEE."

315

ing element. If the doctrines which are unto salvation be Autobio-
treated iu a mere argumentative form — if they are set forth in an ^p'"'^
abstract or in a cold, heartless manner, or are addressed simply to
the intellect, or are garnished with rhetorics or ornamented with
poetic imagery, so that the imagination shall be appealed to rather
than the heart and conscience, little, even with the gospel, can be
expected in the way of conversion. It is the gospel addressed in
simple earnestness to the soul that will move it. Now, I would
by no means set up the " Anxious Inquirer " as a perfect standard
for the manner of treating gospel truths and commending them
to the heart and conscience. Yet I may, without the least viola-
tion of modesty, affirm that there is some measure of simplicity
iu the work. There is a plain, affectionate earnestness in the
work. And do not these two words, "affection" and "earnest-
ness," include the very essentials of a successful ministration of
the gospel ? They are intimately related ; for can there be affec-
tion without earnestness, or earnestness where there is no affec-
tion ? In listening to some preachers of the gospel, you perceive
a deplorable want of both these. All is didactic, heartless intel-
lectuality. The preacher is a lecturer on the gospel ; and the
sermon is a mere lecture : all true — perhaps clear — but there is
nothing which makes the audience feel that the preacher loves
them, is intensely anxious to save them, and is preaching to them
the gospel for this very purpose. No minister can be a good and
effective preacher of the gospel who does not produce on the minds
of his hearers the conviction — " This man is intent on saving our
souls. He would save us if he could." What can interest us like
the interest manifested for us ! How weighty a motive-power is
the exhibition of a sincere and ardent affection ! To see a man
rousing up all the energies of his soul to do us good — using all
the powers of persuasion, the tear starting iu his eye, the flush
spreading over his face, the very muscles of his countenance work,
till we seem to feel his very hand laying hold with a grasp of our
soul to save us from perdition ! Oh, the force there is in such
preaching ! This gave the charm, the power, and, in subordina-
tion to the Spirit of God, the success to Whitfield's preaching.

316

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autoino- Now, may I not lay claim for something of this in the " Anxious
graphical, j^^j^j^.^j, 2» Must not the reader feel that the author loves him,
and is in earnest for his salvation? Does not the book engage
his attention, as the appeal of one that is concerned for his
welfare? Must he not say, "Well, if no one has before cared
for my soul, this man does. Here I have found a friend who is
concerned for my eternal wellbeing?" May I not ascribe much
of the success of the book to its affectionate earnestness ? And
may I not again and again repeat the inference, that if this is
successful in a book, may it not be expected under God to be
still more successful in a sermon?

TO THE REV. DK PATTON,
ON PUBLISHING THE "ANXIOUS INQUIRER " IN AMERICA.

" Edobaston, Api-il 14, 1834.

" My dear Brother, — You requested me some time since to for-
ward the sheets of any work I might in future send from the press, to
secure the copyright on your side of the Atlantic. I have taken your
advice, and have herewith sent you about half of a little tiling I have
prepared for inquirers. I do not know that it is of sufficient magni-
tude or value to sell for anything in your literary market ; but if it be
ever so small a sum, it will be a drop in the stream of holy liberality,
and may serve by that drop to water the parched places of the earth.
If you can obtain anything for it, you may appropriate it to your
Education Society. The title I propose is this : ' The Anxious In-
quirer after Salvation Directed and Encouraged.' The treatise is after
the plan of Dr Henry's book ; but I have always found that volume
too lengthy, and there is also a want of perspicuity in the style. I
have aimed at great simplicity and conciseness. The other portion
shall follow as soon as it is out. I have forwarded a copy through the
medium of two different houses, lest a single one should fail.

" We are still much in a bustle about our claims as Dissenters. I
think it likely we shall succeed, though perhaps not this session of
Parliament. Religion is stagnant, I fear. There is but httle doing.
Men are almost wholly taken up with ' the things that are seen and
temporal.'

" Before you receive this, you will have seen our brethren Eeid and
Matheson. I hope their visit wiU be productive of benefit to the
churches of both hemispheres.

" I have sent you a copy of a most delightful work not long since

" THE AXXIOUS IJ<-QUIRER."

317

published in this country. Oh, what men were those missionaries !
May God pour out His Spirit upon all living labourers, and make them
more like those who have entered on their rest !

" Kind regards to Mrs Patton, in which my wife unites. — Your
affectionate brother,

"J. A. jAilES.

" F.S. — I wiU send the volumes by the next parcel The remaining
chapters will be : Mistakes — Perplexities — Discouragements — Cautions
— Encouragements."

CHAPTER III.

BEREAVEMENT.

From 1834 to 1841, the period included in this fourth Book,
dark and heavy clouds rested upon Mr James's heart and home.
The sufferings of his daughter, who had been an invahd almost
from childhood, greatly increased, his own mental depression was
aggravated by the appearance, in 1840, of symptoms of a disease
threatening him with protracted physical torture, and at last Mrs
James, whose energy and wisdom had been his strength and sup-
port through these troubles, sickened and died. His admiration
of her intellectual vigour and moral worth has been already re-
corded, and is fully sustained by the testimony of all who knew
her.

She inspired an almost idolatrous affection — an affection so
mingled with respect for the dignity and firmness of her character,
that it deepened into reverence. Having no young children re-
quiring constant attention at home, she was able to devote the
greater part of lier time to the visitation of the sick and the poor.
Nor was she satisfied with offering spiritual consolation to the
distressed, she generously employed her wealth in conferring sub-
stantial relief. A letter, which I insert here, addressed by her, at
the beginning of her fatal illness, to her friend Mrs Wills, of Bris-
tol, will shew that she had tenderness as well as strength.

BEREAVEJilENT.

319

" Edobaston, December 21, 1840.

" My very dear Feiexd, — When I look at the date of your letter,
I am grieved that it has not sooner been acknowledged ; but the truth
is, that my debility has so much increased as to make writing a pain-
fully fatiguing occupation. I have determined, therefore, while I can
write, to assure you of my unabated affection and grateful recollection
of the various instances of your love and kindness in times that are past.
May you and yours, my beloved friend, be long spared to do much
good, and to enjoy much happiness in the favour of God ! Pray for
me, that my afSiction may be greatly sanctified. There is much dross
to be consumed ; hitherto the fire has been gentle, but I must expect to
feel it more ; and if the purpose of the gracious Refiner is accomphshed,
and during the process He shall sit by and say, ' Fear not, I am with
thee,' I hope I could welcome the trial — ^perfect weakness upheld by
omnipotent strength ^\t11 bring glory to my God.

" Until the last month I have been free from paiu, but now the old
pain in my back is returned, and for several hours each day tries me
very much, and leaves a distressing weakness. But I am thankfid
that my mind is generally peaceful ; I dare not say that I have the full
assurance of hope, but I have a clearer view of the evil of sin, a longing
after perfect holiness, and a conviction that none but Christ can save
my soul. I am surrounded by an abundance of temporal mercies, and
the unbounded kindness of my friends humbles me in the dust. Who,
lud what am I, that God's people should thus favour me ! Public,
.social, and domestic prayer is presented from our large church ; may
it be graciously heard, and may I be enabled to leave them a dying
testimony to the power of the gospel and the grace of the Saviour !
Oh, what a prospect there is before us — to be with Jesus, and to be
like Him — to be perfectly holy ourselves, and all around us holy !

" You see, my dear friend, that I write to you with all the freedom
of long-tried friendship. I rejoice in the general welfare of your whole

fanuly, but sympathise with dear ]\lrs in her afHiction ; give my

Christian love to her ; I pray that the Sun of Righteousness may soon
arise on her with healing in liis beams, and restore to her the joy as
well as the reality of His salvation. If it were not too large to send
by the post, I would forward her a work which has much cheered me.
You can easily procure it ; it is ' Scripture Portions for the Afliicted,
especially the Sick,' pubhshed by the Tract Society. Give my Idndcst
love to your dear boy ; may he love and serve the God of his fathers !

"I have written as much as my strength will allow. Affectionate
remembrance to your dear husband, and each member of a family I
highly respect for their works of faith and labours of love. Farewell,
my dear fiiend. — Your tenderly attached, " A. M. James."

320

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

The winter passed, and spring came, and instead of any pro-
mise of returning health, there was an increase of weakness and
disease. For several months before the end, all hope had fled.

The following letter, written by Mr James, February 184;1, to
Mrs Gregory, on the death of her husband Dr Olinthus Gregory,
indicates how his heart was affected by the prospect of his loss : —

" Edobaston, February 16, 1841.

" I am not, my dear madam, so occupied and engaged by my own deep
and still deepening sorrows, as to be insensible to the sorrows of others.
Amidst my own thickening gloom, I have often thought of you. I
have accounted it my privilege to know as a friend the inestimable
man whom it was your richer privilege for so many years to possess as
a husband ; and kno-ning your incalculable loss, I am prepared to express
for you a sympathy which is far more than compliment. I need not
tell you of his rare gifts, and the rare graces with which they were
combined, which made him at once the object of admiration and esteem
to men of science, and of affection and confidence to men of piety.

" Among some of the pleasantest recollections of my life of the same
kind, are those evenings spent with him, and I now anticipate that
glorious communion of spirits made perfect into which he has now
entered. In him we saw an exquisite specimen of sanctified intellect —
loftiness of philosophy combined with the humility of true reUgion.

" I am sure that to some it might seem almost unkind thus to
aggravate your sorrows by setting before you thus such excellence you
have lost. No, my dear friend, it is not unkind. You love to hear
from others now, as you love to repeat to yourself, his greatness and
his goodness. He has a space in your memory around which you are
glad to collect your own thoughts and the expressions of your friends —
not, indeed, to pay him more than may be given to a creature, but to
glorify God in him. He is gone, but who took him 1 His God. To
whom and to what 1 To Himself. How many reasons for submission
are to be found in these two considerations ! Hearken to the language
which the Redeemer addressed to the beloved apostle in the isle of
Patmos, Behold, I am above, far over men, and have the keys of hell
and of death, ' and of the unseen world.' ]\Iark that — which holds the
keys of the grave, never trusts them out of His hands, and therefore
the portals of the tomb are never opened but by Himself. Yes, He has
turned the key, in the present instance, to admit to glory a soul which
He had redeemed, sanctified, and matured for it. As for yourself, my
dear madam, the widow's God is your God — put thy widow's trust in
Me. What more could He have said ? The arm of flesh may fail, but

CEEEAVEMEXT.

221

the arm of the Spirit can never fail. ' He liveth, and blessed be my
rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted/ Oh, dwell upon these
rapturous and comprehensive exultations. He liveth ; die who wUl, God
Uves; and shall we feel all bereft and desolate wMle God lives, and is
our God? Is there not enough in God to supply us, without a husband
or a wife being added to Him ? Do we so reckon of Christ and His
salvation as to imagine that we cannot make ourselves to live vnth
content, during the few fleeting years that we are to spend upon earth,
witli such a portion ? Weep, my good friend, you must, you ought —
God expects it as well as allows it ; but weep not only as a woman and
a widow, but as a Christian. The widow of such a man should be no
ordinary widow. I am expecting the trial whicli you are experiencing.
May God prepare us for the cup which He is preparing for us ! I think
I can trust Him, but oh, the drinking of it is yet to come. Well, there
is grace enough in Him if there is grace enough in me, or us, for this.
My dear and inestimable wife is calm, serene, and hopeful. Her eye
never turns back to life, or scarcely for a moment. She feels, she speak.s,
as a dying woman, and a dying Christian too. I am preparing a book
for widows ; I wisb it was out. In the meantime, may I recommend
to you the perusal of John Howe's letters to Lady Kachel Russel on
the execution of her husband. May He that comfortetb those that are
cast down be your support ! Remember me to you children. May the
want be greatly sanctified to them ! My dear wife sends her sympathy
with that of, my dear madam, your sincere friend,

" John Akgell James."

In the Carr's Lane Church-book there is a very affecting letter
of sympathy addressed by the church to its pastor, on Good-Friday,
AprU 9, 18-il ; how it came to be written, is thus explained by Mr
James in " Faith Triumphant :" —

" In her love and solicitude for the welfare of the church, she
requested me, some months before her decease, to bear from her sick-
chamber to its members a message expressive of her affection for them ;
of her gratitude for the sympathy they had shewn ; and of her ardent
prayers for their increasing holiness. The message was delivered at
one of our sacramental seasons, and produced a state of feeling not
easily to be described through the whole community, then assembled
round the table of the Lord. On the following Good-Friday, which
was but a few days afterwards, when the church was again assembled
for the purpose of solemn humiliation and prayer, they adopted, after
the pastor had retired, the following letter, which was presented to him
by the deacons : —

322

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

"'to otje honoueed and beloved pastor in his affliction.

" 'We, the members of the churcli, placed under your pastoral care by
the Great Shepherd, and now assembled together as one body, desire to
unite in one heart, and with one voice to express our affectionate sym-
pathy with you, now that you are bowed down in submissive suffering
under the hand of your gracious Father. We have long been the anxious
witnesses of your afHiction, and have watched with you, and felt for
you, under all the vicissitudes of hope and fear, which have alternately
flattered or depressed you. We feel, too, that our efforts to mitigate
your sorrows have been but feeble aud ineffectual ; our pity can but
weep where most it loves ; but we have remembered you and yours, in
our approaches to that throne of grace, whereon is seated One that
knows and loves you well; who, in the person of His beloved Son, is
touched with the feeling of your infirmities; who pitieth you as a
father pitieth his children, and who can effectually help you ; and we
A believe that fervent prayer has availed much to the strengthening your
faith, and causing consolation to abound where affliction has so much
abounded.

" ' But it is not our only object at present, dear sir, to express our
sympathy for you, though this were worthy a more full and a more
tender effusion of our hearts.

" ' On the last Sabbath, when we were holding communion with the
Fiiend of sinners, and -with each other, you delivered to us a message
from one whose name is, and ever will be, dear to us. The expressions
of her love overwhelmed our hearts, and the admonitions that accom-
panied them filled our spirits with solemn awe. The scene will never
be forgotten by us, and we pray and hope it may always be practically
remembered.

" 'We now beg leave to acknowledge through you, Mrs James's tender
and affectionate remembrance of us, and to express our grateful recep-
tion both of that and of her more solemn admonitions. Bat we cannot
be content yn\h this simple acknowledgment : we look back with thank-
fulness to the Givei- of all good through a course of twenty years —
(and in tlie reti'ospect how short it seems !) — ^we feel that you and we
have derived unnumbered benefits from the relationships in which we
respectively stood to the object of our present affection and sympathy —
we rest with mingled emotions of delight and sorrow upon the recollec-
tions of the graces with which the Great Head of the Church has
qualified her for her important and responsible station as the help-meet
of our beloved pastor. To speak particularly of those graces by which
the church has been instructed and comforted, would be grateful to our
hearts, but we feel that the mention of them would disturb those

BEEE^VVEMENT.

323

sacred feelings of humiliation, which would not for a moment relinquish
the position of a penitent before the cross, nor forget the prayer of the
publican. We would therefore magnify the grace of God in her, and
trace up every benefit and blessing to His bounteous hand ; but surely
we maj', we must love the instrument through whom they have been
received.

" ' Many of us in the humblest stations of life, and many others better
known in the world, shall ever cherish the most lively and gi'ateful
recollections of kindness to us in the chamber of sickness, or when
overtaken by the various forms of human calamity and distress ; when
the appearance of our sympathising friend was as though an angel of
mercy had visited our habitations, sent from above to pour consolation
iato our wounded hearts ; and our faith in the gracious retribution and
promises of God is now strengthened, when we see or hear that the
merciful obtaineth mercy — that the consolations which have been dis-
pensed by her to others, now abound richly toward herself. We pray
that the same holy consolations may yet abound more and more in the
experience of our dear and honoiu-ed friend, until, as a li-ving temple of
the Holy Spirit, she is filled -n-ith aU the fulness of God, even of His
hght and love, and joy.

" 'We again unite in one heart and with one voice, in offering our love
and thankfulness to God, and to His suffering yet comforted saint, for
all the various and numerous benefits we have received and enjoyed by
her means ; and we pray that our eternity may be spent together in
ascribing aU glory and praise to Him from whom these and all our other
blessings do continually flow, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.' "

Under the same date, in a diary which he kept during his wife's
illness, he writes : —

" On this day the affectionate and most tender letter of sympathy
from the church to myself, in response to the solemn message which I
had borne to it of her devoted affection, was read to her. It was, per-
haps, almost imprudent to read this epistle to her ; yet, as it was in part
concerning herself, and demonstrated the esteem and affection wliich
were cherished for her by the members, it was scarcely just to her, or
to them, to withhold it ; but the hearing of it almost entirely overcame
her, and it was with some difiiculty she recovered. Her first words
were, ' I am a poor, unprofitable servant. From the time I became the
wife of a minister, it was my effort to be the servant of the church. I
have done but little. But oh, the kindness of my friends in thus
gathering round me now ! When Chiist was betrayed, it is said the
disciples aU forsook Him and fled from Him in His extremity, but all
are trying to shew me kindness in mine.' "

324

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES,

The diary contains many beautiful illustrations of the earnest-
ness of Mrs James's piety — a piety characterised, however, by
great distrust of its own reality and worth. I extract one or two
passages : —

" ' I have lately been thinking much upon Christ's human nature and
sojourn upon earth, and have almost envied the family of Bethany in
their attention to Him — but I shall see Him. Much of heaven is a
mystery — its locahty, and the state of separate spirits, and other things ;
but this is enough — I shall be with Christ. I am lost when I get be-
yond this. I have been repeating that beautiful hymn : —

" ' Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings,
Thy better portion trace,
Rise from transitory things.

Towards heaven, thy native place,

" ' Sun, and moon, and stars decay ;

Time shall soon this earth remove.
Rise, my soul, and haste away,
To seats prepared above.' "

"April 15. — After a night of great suffering, I found her much ex-
hausted, but stiU equally tranqud. 'I do not alter my prayer,' she
said, — " Father, glorify Thy name." I am willing He should do this,
anyhow. I alter not the condition — I do not draw back — it is all
according to His covenant. Heaven will make amends for it all. It
is all right.' On receiving a Httle water, she looked up, and said, —
' " They shall not thirst any more : the Lamb that is in the midst of
the throne shall lead them to living fountains of waters." Oh, it
seems too good to be true for such sinners : but the Lamb shall do it.
If Socinianism be true, I am a poor, helpless idolater. I cannot form
a conception of God apart from Christ. I cannot understand an In-
finite Spirit. I think of God in Christ. I have been repeating Dodd-
ridge's beautiful hymn, " Grace, 'tis a charming sound" " By grace ye
are saved," was the text of the first gospel sermon I ever heard.'

" Evening of the same day. — ' I was at one time of my life much
troubled with that passage, " Thou hast a name that thou livest, and
art dead." I have felt a little of it this evening, and I wdl tell you
how I met it — " Ye wiU not come to me that ye may have life." Now,
I desire to come — I wish to come — I do come. I come to Him as the
way, the truth, and the life. I come to Him for life— life spiritual and
eternal. I want life, and life from Him ; and thus I get rid of my
fears.' "

Ten days after this, Mr James wrote to Mrs Wills, reporting

BEREAVEMENT.

825

the prolongation of his wife's sufferings, but thankfully acknow-
ledging her tranquillity and happiness.

" Edgbaston, April \^th.

" Deah !Mes Wills, — On Saturday, I was requested by my beloved
wife to reply to your kind inquiries directed to herself concerning her
health. She begs me to present her kindest love, and to thank you for
your soHcitude concerning her. I can send you no other news, and, so
far as she is concerned, no better than that she is dra-\ving nearer and
nearer to the kingdom. Yes, t/ou?- long- tried friend, and my dear com-
panion, counsellor, and comforter for nearly twenty years, is about to
leave us, and go to the land of the holy and happy. For the last fort-
night her weakness has so much increased, that it would never have
surprised either us or her medical attendant, if the symptoms of the
last great change had been exhibited any hour. Still, the mortal con-
flict may be long yet, but it seems certainly approaching its termination.
Thus far of the perishing body ; but the calm and happy state of the
imperishable soul I The outer and inner man present a striking con-
trast; for the strength of grace is beautifully, gloriously triumphant
over the feebleness of nature. AH is peace — not a murmur, not a repin-
ing thought ; no, not even a wish it were otherwise than it is. She
feels as well as says, that she is just in the situation in which God would
have her be, and that is enough. She has borne tveahiess with submis-
sion, and is now -filling, if God should appoint her to it, to bear paui.
' Father, glorify Thy name,' is her prayer, without, as she frequently
says, any conditions or qualifications.

" This, my dear madam, is the balm of my poor wounded spirit.
Her state of mind is a help to me. I learn now those lessons from her
bed, to which she has often Hstened from my pulpit. May God sanc-
tify me for life, and labour, and usefiilness, as He seems to be sanctify-
ing her for death and glory !

" With kind regards to Mr WUls and to your son, I remain, my dear
madam, your afflicted friend,

" J. A. James.

"Need I ask your prayers and those of Mr WUls? WiU you also
remember us to all yoiu: circle?"

She lingered a few weeks longer. Under the date June 4, 18il,
I find the following entry in the Church-book : —

" Mrs James having been dismissed from the church below to the
church above on the preceding evening, our pastor was not present, but
the following letter being received from him when we were assembled

82G

LIFE OF JOHN ANQELL JAMES.

together, the hour was spent in earnest supplication to God on his be-
half :—

« i CHXJECH ASSEMBLIKG IN CAEE's LANE.

" ' My deaely-beloved Flock, — Although it is not necessary for me
to say to you, " Pity me, pity me, O my friends, for the hand of God
hath touched me," or to urge upon you the apostolic request, " Brethren,
pray for me," yet I cannot forbear to commend myself to your sincere
and fervent supplications at the throne of grace this evening, that I may
be so strengthened, by Divine grace, to bear this and every other visi-
tation of my heavenly Father as to glorify Him, and be an example of
patient suffering, firm confidence, and peaceful hope in Christ, to my
dear and much-lovcd people. — I remain, my dear flock, your bereaved
and afflicted pastor,

" ' J. A. James.' "

It was his custom to read, at family prayer on Saturday even-
ings, the 103d Psalm. On the Saturday of the week in which Mrs
James died, he hesitated, with the open Bible in his hand, before
he began to read ; but, after a moment's silence, he looked up and
said, "Notwithstanding what has happened this week, I see no
reason for departftig from our usual custom of reading the 103d
Psalm : ' Bless the Lord, 0 my soul : and all that is within me,
bless his holy name.' "

His grief, though profound, was not violent and uncontrolled.
The discipline of the previous six or seven years had prepared him
to bow, with submission, under the mighty hand of God. He
describes, I think, not only what he strove for, but what, in a
great measure, he actually attained, in his pastoral address to his
people, issued immediately afterwards : —

" When a holy and beloved object of our affection is removed by
death, we ought to sorrow ; humanity demands it, and Christianity, in
the person of the weeping Jesus, allows it : and the man without a tear
is a savage or a stoic, but not a Christian. God intends, when He be-
stows His gifts, that they should be received with smiles of gratitude ;
and when He recalls them, that they should be surrendered with ' drops
of sacred grief.' Sorrow is an affection implanted by the Creator in the
soul for wise and beneficent purposes ; and it ought not to be ruthlessly
torn up by the roots, but directed in its exercise by reason and rehgion.
The work of grace, tliough it is above nature, is not against it. The

BKEEAVEMEXT.

327

man wlio tells me not to weep at the grave insults me, mocks me, and
•wishes to degrade me. I do weep; I must weep; I cannot lielp it;
God requires me to do so ; and lias opened a fountain of tears in my
nature for tliat purpose. And it is tlie silent, pm-e, unsopliisticated tes-
timony of my heart to the excellence of the gift He gave in mercy, and
in mercy, no doubt, as well as judgment, has recalled. Without sorrow
we should not improve by His correcting hand ; chastened giief is like
the gentle shower, falling first upon the earth to prepare it for the seed,
and then upon the seed to cause it to germinate ; though wild, clamor-
ous, passionate sorrow is like the thunder-shower of inundation, that
carries away soil and seed together. Can we lose the company of one
whose presence was the light and charm of our dweUing ; whose society
was the source of our most valuable and most highly-valued earthly
comfort ; whose love, ever new and fresh, was presented daily to us in
ftdl cup by her own hand; who cheered us with her conversation;
bore with our infirmities ; solved our doubts ; disclosed to us in diffi-
culty the path of duty ; and quickened us by her example — is it pos-
sible, I say, to lose such a friend and not sorrow?

" But, then, though we mourn, we must not murmur. We may sor-
row, but not with the passionate and uncontrolled grief of the heathen,
who have no hope. Our sorrow must flow, deep as we like, but noise-
less and stni, in the channels of submission. It must be a sorrow so
quiet as to hear all the words of consolation which our heavenly Father
utters amidst the gentle strokes of His rod ; so reverential as to adore
Him for the exercise of His prerogative in taking away what and whom
He pleases ; so composed as to prepare us for doing His will, as well as
healing it; so meek and gentle as to justify Him in His dispen-sations;
so confiding as to be assured that there is as much love in taking the
mercy away as there was in bestowing it ; so grateful as to be thankful
for the mercies left, as well as afiiicted for the mercies lost ; so trustful
as to look forward to the future with hope, as well as back upon the
past with distress ; so patient as to bear all the aggravations that accom-
pany or follow the bereavement \dth. unruffled acquiescence ; so holy as
to lift the prayer of faith for Divine gi-ace to sanctify the stroke ; and so
lasting as to preserve, through all the coming years of life, the benefit
of that event, which, in one awful moment, changed the whole aspect of
our earthly existence."

CHAPTER IV.

AUTHORSHIP— RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORK.

Although the nervous excitement and depression, from which
Mr James suffered from ISSi to 1841, prevented him, during
those years, making many public engagements away from home,
his pen continued active. It was at the commencement of this
period that he wrote the " Anxious Inquirer." In 1 835 appeared
the " Church-member's Manual," and the " Flower Faded ; " in
1837 the "Christian Professor" and a "Pastoral Letter to the
Churches in the "Worcestershire Association."
Of the " Christian Professor," he writes : —

AutoLio- endeavoured to set forth, in various lights, the import,

graphical, obligation, and momentous consequence of a profession of
' Christianity. This was never more necessary than now. A pro-
fession subjects us to no suffering, no loss, no hazard. We seem
to have no cross to take up ; and are rather raised than depressed
by taking up the name of Christ. Honour, and not reproach,
follows us in our Christian career.

Moreover, modern practice tends to throw the door of entrance
into our churches too widely open. I believe that we are too much
in haste to sweU the number of our church-members. Ministerial
importance is increased, and proofs, as they are supposed to be, of
usefulness are accumulated. Multitudes thus find their way into
our churches without the wedding-garment. The admission of

AUTnorvSIIir— RELIGIOUS LIFE A^^D WORK.

329

members to the cliurch lias been, and is to this moment, one of the Autobio-
perplexities of my Jife. I know very well that the Lord's Supper ^'^P'"'^'^'
is milk for babes — I know the apostles admitted persons soon after
conversion, and who could have had but comparatively little know-
ledge of Christianity — I know that it is dangerous to reject a
young and timid Christian. But, on the other hand, admission to
the chiu'ch, after profession, is generally considered by the indi-
vidual as a certificate of personal religion ; and should they be still
in an unconverted state, in that state they will, in all probability,
die; so that a too ready admission of persons to the church is, in
effect, to be accessary to their self-deception, and therefore to their
destruction. Hence I have often felt perplexed ; and though I
have been more strict than many of my brethren, there are many
very many, whom I now wish I had rejected. I have sometimes, on
these grounds, been ready to ask whether a great strictness of ex-
amination, so as to give the impression to the person admitted that
he is a real Christian, is not an evil ; and whether, in such times
as these, it is not desirable to give out the idea, more prominently
and impressively, that the church is not to be considered a body of
truly converted persons, so as to destroy that reliance which is so
general upon profession. These views led to the preaching, and
afterwards to the publication, of the discourses comprehended in
the " Christian Professor."

In 1838 he printed his "Oration " at the grave of his friend Dr Editorial.
;M'A11;* in 1839, "Christian Fellowship," an enlarged edition of
the " Church-member's Guide," and in the same year the " Young
Man from Home ; " in 1810, the first series of the " Pastoral Ad-
dresses," which were published monthly ; in 1841, the second series
of "Pastoral Addresses," f two tracts, "Happiness, its Natural
Sources," and "Believe and Live," also " The Widow Directed to
the Widow's God."

• Collected Works. Vol. iiL

t At the close of 1859, the English Religious Tract Society had issued 1,049,319
copies of the " Pastoral Addresses," 450,800 of " Believe and Live," 88,001 of the
" Young Man from Home."

330

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

In his own conpiregation lie was unusually diligent. In all the
departments of pastoral duty, visitation from house to house, the
conducting of Bible classes and classes for " inquirers," and the
holding of special religious services, he was probably more labori-
ous than during any other period of his history. The members in
fellowship rose from about five hundred in 1834 to eight hundred
and fifty at the end of 18-il.

But the chief interest of these seven years lies in the profound
earnestness of his own religious life. It was not his custom to
keep any record of his spiritual history, but among his papers
were found several loose memoranda, written at various dates, be-
tween the beginning of 1840 and the end of the following year.
These indicate by what painstaking he reached the spiritual power
of his last twenty years.

With scarcely an omission, except where the writing is imintel-
ligible, I ventiire to print these papers in their chronological order.

The first is not dated, but was evidently written immediately
after his failure through illness to fulfil an engagement at Hanley
in the last week of February 1840 : —

" Having been prevented by God, or His permission, from fulfilling
a public engagement abroad, and being prohibited from undertaking
many foreign services for the future, I have examined in what way I
can be more usefid at home, in what is more immediately the sphere
of my labour. And the following appear to me to be subjects to which
more attention should be paid, and in the more devoted regard to which
some compensation will be made for the neglect of pubhc objects : —

" 1. My own congregation.

" In preaching, endeavour to be more evangelical, more of unction
combined with my present practical style ; more of Romaine combined
with Baxter.

" More solemn in manner, and less of rhetorical loudness and
vehemence.

" Be shorter. Three-quarters of an hour or fifty minutes.
" Take up the whole subject more solemnly, more impressively, more
in earnest.

" 2. In the neighbouring congregations, to preach every fortnight at
one or other of the following places : — WalsaU, Bdston, Wolverhamp-
ton, Stafford, Bromsgrove, Stourbridge, Tipton, Brierly Hill, Dudley,
Sohhull, GoniaU.

AUTnor..SHIP — RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORK.

831

" To preach a week-day lecture at the Lozell's Chapel.
" Once a month at Garrison Lane.
" Once in two months at Suethwick.

" Principal defects in preaching — not entering with sufficient fre-
(juency, fulness, and in an experimental manner, &c., &c.

" Pastoral Duties.
" Visit every member at his own house, except servants, during the
present year.

"Meet a class of female servants, and distribute a tract to each.
Duties of servants.

" Visit every one of the districts, and invigorate them. Meet class
leaders.

" Visit a family every Monday.

" A Saturday-evening prayer-meeting.

"A solemn church-meeting for prayer and humiliation on Good-
Friday. Pastor, deacons confess.

" A. solemn meeting with the deacons to deliver to them an address.

" Catechising the children in some way or other.

" To labour much to promote the spiritual welfare of the church-

" Always write a New-Year's Address, at least begin.

"A Mothers' Society.

" Piincipal defect in pastor ( * )

" For the Students.
"To lay myself out much for their spiritual weKare — to consider
myself solemnly bound to this. Never a week without one or more at
my house. To labour for their good.

" Public.

" To write, if possible, six essays on subjects connected with pro-
fessors and young ministers, in Evangelical, Congregational ; f to have
a ckiss of Scripture-readers.

" As to my own Personal Habits.

" Learn to think of death not only with composure, but even some-
thing of desire ; overcome dread of death and love of life.

" Subdue besetting sins, and become indififerent to the objects of
them ( + )

" Rise earlier — more meditation — prayer — devotional reading.

" In family prayer more devout.

• Unintelligible. + I.c , in tLe Evangelical and Congi-egational Magazines.
X Unintelligible.

332

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

" Learning Scripture memoriter.

" Consider the propriety of monthly fast.

" All these things I do solemnly promise to review, and to add such
others as occur to me, with the intention of deliberately adopting as
many of them as I can.

" This paper to be reviewed every Monday morning after breakfast.

" If God will carry me through my present state of mind, all these
things will I solemnly weigh, and practise as many of them as I can ;
and as a thank-offering give £50 to some special object, the best I can
think of."

The second was written a week or two later : —

" Having been lately visited with severe and painful chastening from
God my heavenly Father, I desire with all humility and sincerity, and
with a view to my future benefit, to inquire into the reason and design
of these distressing conflicts. ' Shew me, O God, wherefore thou con-
tendest with me.' It is certain that one end is to humble me, by
shewing my exceeding and alarming weakness in body, mind, and
religion ; and the necessity of constant dependence on the power, grace,
and faithfulness of Christ. I am astonished at myself, and almost
terrified. My mind is even liable to a degree of nervousness which
approaches to insanity. O Lord, uphold me ; I am bowed down with
a sense of my pitiable impotency.

" 2. Perhaps it is designed especially to keep me humble under the
constant and accumulating proofs of my usefulness by the ' Anxious
Inquirer,' which flow to me from all quarters, and the estimation in
which I seem now to be held by my own people and others, as a man
of growing sanctity of character and conduct. Satan might take the
advantage of me to puff me up with pride and vanity. And therefore
this thorn in the flesh is sent to buff'et me.

" 3. Perhaps it is to increase my usefulness in the way of comforting
and edifying God's people, by speaking to them more experimentally of
His power to support and comfort them, and to prepare me more effec-
tually to be a ' son of consolation,' inasmuch as through life I have been
more prevailingly a ' son of thunder.'

" 4. Perhaps it is to prepare me to give up my ministry and go and
dwell with my divine Lord. I have had much converse with death
and eternity of late, and have sometimes thought I was near the end
of my labour. I desire to be stiU more conversant with these awful
and impressive subjects.

" 5. Perhaps it is to abate in me the love of life and dread of death
with which I have been too much afi"ected aU my days, even since I
have been a Christian and a minister. During my awful conflict, the

AUmORSUIP — RELIGIOUS Lli'E A>"D WORK. o33

last two weeks I have longed for death ; not, indeed, always £rom the
best motives, but stUl such has been the state of my mind, that I could
almost have rejoiced at the appearance of a disease which would have
indicated the approach of dissolution. I have learned that there is a
state to be far more dreaded than even death itself. Let me from this
time give up, as I hope I shall, my unworthy dread of my latter end,
and learn to think more of the glory and felicity of being with Christ.

" 6. Perhaps it is to prepare me for the removal of my dear and
beloved wife, whose health has been long decUning. Oh, what a
calamity would this be to me, to my poor shattered frame, and my
dear afflicted daughter ! And yet I believe God could and would
support me under even this desolating stroke. I can look at it with
far greater composure than I could.

" 7. Perhaps it is to prepare me to be still tenderer and more sym-
pathising to that dear object of my heart's affection than ever, and to
enable me by my own increased enjoyment of religious consolation to
minister to her spiritual enjoyment.

" 8. Perhaps it is to settle and increase my confidence in God, my
simple, unhesitating, firm trust in Christ. I have sometimes found it
difficiilt to bring myself into this state of mind, being naturally so
excessively nervous, and painfully disposed to look to the dark side of
things, and to predict evil. Xow I hope to enter more deeply and
practically into the meaning of that important word trust. ' Lord, I
beheve ; help thou mine vmbehef.' I want to be able to dismiss all
fears, before the promise and power of God.

" 9. Perhaps it is to make me more spiritual, inasmuch as I am
sure I need it, and am labouring to bring up my people more and
more to this state of mind.

" 10. Perhaps it is to make me more watchful, circumspect, and
cautious in all things. May I often review this paper m connexion
^vith a recollection of my late, and, indeed, still continued indisposition,
and derive from its perusal and remembrance real spiritual benefit,
Again I pray, ' Shew me, O Lord, wherefore thou contendest with me,'
and let the designs of Thy severe but faithful love in chastening me
be entirely fulfilled. Amen.

" StrsDAT Aftersoon, March 8, 1840."

On June 3, 18il, Mrs James died, and on the 13th he wrote
the following paper : —

" Having been called, in the mysterious arrangements of Divine Pro-
vidence, to part from my dear and invaluable wife, whom, amidst deep
and heartfelt sorrow on my own account, though with sacred joy on

334.

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

hers, I have resigned to the Lord, who bought her with His blood and
has now elevated her to His glory, I desire, through Divine grace, to
turn this painful dispensation to some valuable purpose connected with
my own salvation as a Christian, and my usefulness as a Christian
minister. It is my earnest prayer, and has been, God is witness, that
I may derive good, spiritual, lasting, eternal good, from it. I would
not on any account allow the event to pass by unimproved, unsancti-
ficd. I dread with an intense ( * ) that it should be an unprofit-
able visitation. I beseech and importune almighty God to render it in
every way subservient to my benefit. From what chastening of my
heavenly Father's hand can I ex^Dcct to derive benefit, if not from this?
O God, my God, sanctify me wholly, body, soul, and spirit.

" But in what way shall I improve it ? What special good shall I
get from it 1 First, I desire to renew the consecration of myself —
my body, soul, talents, time, property, influence — everytliing I am,
and have, and can do, to the eternal God, through the mediation of the
Son of His love, and the aid of His blessed Spirit, as His rightful pro-
perty, to be devoted, through the remainder of my pilgrimage on earth,
entirely, always, and everywhere to His glory, as the supreme end and
felicity of my existence ; by which I mean, that in a more true, compre-
hensive, and emphatic manner I will renounce all living for my own
gratification, and consider myself as set apart to serve, honour, and
enjoy God — seeking my happiness in this way, and not in any lower,
though in some respects innocent manner. I now as a Christian wish
to be more eminent for spirituality of mind, heavenhness of aspiration,
and holiness of conduct — and as a minister more devoted to my work,
laying myself out for greater usefulness, both in the pulpit and out of
it. O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, give me grace to make this dedi-
cation, in sincerity, solemnity, and great earnestness, and assistance to
carry it out into execution. Sufi"er me not, on the return of compara-
tive composure and tranquillity, to lose the recollection of the views,
feelings, and jjurposes of the solemn hours and days spent in seclusion
during the continuance of this afl^ction.

" Special Things now to be Remembered.
" I have had some fears awakened during the last days of my
dear wife that I am about to be afilicted with that dire disease, stone
in the kidneys. I confess I am faint-hearted and somewhat distressed
with an apprehension of being called to endure so much torture, espe-
cially now that God has deprived me of my dear and tender nurse.
May God in mercy spare His poor, trembling servant this sore trial!
May He, in pity to my weakness, relieve me from this apprehension,
* Uuintelligible.

AUTIIOKSHIP — KELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORK.

335

and the life wliich He thus spares, and the health which He thus pre-
serves, His grace assisting me, shall be His according to the foregoing
dedication. Here 1 give myself to Him, to serve Him with all the
health He graciously vouchsafes to me. Or should He not be pleased to
grant me my request, may He keep down the complaint so far as to be
bearable, and not to unfit me for my work, but only to make me more
dihgent, devoted, and faithful in it — an example of patient suffering
to my people, and a comforter of the afflicted with the consolations
which God is pleased to vouchsafe unto me. Or if even this is denied
me, and I must endure the vmutterable anguish which some have expe-
rienced, may His consolations abound in proportion to my sufferings.
I desire to yield myself to His disposal A few things I should re-
member—

1. Not to anticipate the evil which may never happen. "Take no
thought for the morrow."

2. Kemember God has carried others through.

3. He can sustain me.

4. If the suffeiing be gi-eat, it wiU soon wear me out and I shall be
at rest, and if not it will be bearable.

5. Endeavour to trust in God and hope for the best. But should
He be pleased to relieve me, this shall remain to remind me of my
dedication, and that health and strength belong to Him, and not to
myscK ; this shall remain my bond to tie me to His service.

" All my recreations, my holidays, my periods of rest, shall be not
exclusively for enjoyment, but to prepare me for service. I will now
give my health to God, considering that I have one and one only object
of existence left — to be useful. Pleasure-taking, even the most rational
and innocent, on its o^vn account, I desire to put out of the question.
As one way of improvement, if God give me health, wiU endeavour to
rise early — six in summer, seven in Minter — and waste no time, con-
sidering time as belonging to God. And as temperance in appetite is
of great influence on the comijlaint, will abstain from all gratifications
of taste likely to foster it, and be rigidly abstemious. O God, here is
my witness, and Thou kuowest it. As I shall be much alone with my
dear afflicted daughter, I avlU endeavour to drive away the idea of soli-
tude by a more realising sense of the presence of God and of Christ.
Will endeavour to enter into Mrs Huntington's idea, 'Felt God near;
felt as if I was somewhere with God.'

" As my dear wife panted so ardently after holiness, I wiU strive to
enter into the same idea for myself, and long to be holy in all its
branches — purity, meekness, benevolence, charity, brotherly love.

" As there is something far more to be dreaded than pain, and that
is sin, will strive to keep my eye more on sin as an object of depreca-

33G

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JXUES.

tion than pain, and consider tliat as long as I am kept lioly by Divine
grace I have still far more cause for comfort than disquiet.

" I will try to subdue a foreboding disposition by ' trust in God.'

" I will labour to the uttermost after a more impressive and heart-
satisfying view of the glory of Christ. I want to see the glory of Christ.
I am anxious to behold by knowledge, faith, the spiritual sense, the
beauty of the Saviour. I wiU lift up my heart to heaven. Heaven
shall be my home.

" Thus win I endeavour to f idfil my consecration, as expressed in the
former part. I wiU honour the memory of my beloved wife by becom-
ing more holy by her death. I do not think I could better please her,
if it were allowed me to hold communication with her now, than by
making known such a purpose. This is the way I choose to honour
her memory. Blessed saint ! thou perhaps art made acquainted with
it, and it vrill increase thy happiness in glory. Here, then, O God, I
devote myself to Thee.

(Signed) " J. A. James.

"Sabbath, June 13, 1841."

These private papers are of great importance, as disclosing
the real character of Mr James's personal religious history. They
are remarkably free from the mystical element. Although he had
been suffering very severely from a morbid condition of the nerv-
ous system, there is scarcely any trace of those peculiar religious
experiences which are very commonly associated with nervous de-
pression. He says nothing about his vision of God becoming dim,
his hope of heaven being quenched, his sense of personal safety
being troubled and destroyed. He is not ambitious of spiritual
raptures and triumphs. In a single paragraph he declares his in-
tention " to labour to the uttermost after a more impressive and
heart-satisfying view of the glory of Christ but the main stress
of his solicitude is to be more patient and trustful in suffering, to
overcome " besetting sins," to preach more effectively, and to be a
better pastor. There is an air of reality about all his regrets, and
about all his plans and hopes for the future. Physical disease had
not made his religious life morbid.. As he himself says, in the in-
troduction to his Autobiography, he never kept a diary. Had he
kept one, I believe that its pages would have recorded, at least
during the last thirty years of his life, very few occasions of ecsta-

AUTHORSHIP— EELIGIOUS LIFE AND WOEK.

337

tic spiritual delight, and very few of deep spiritual despondency.
Greatly as he admiied the Life of Dr Pciyson — it was one of his
Saturday-evening books — there was very little in Mr James's
religious nature and history of that which I suppose constitutes
the great attraction of that very popular biography. In his
mature years, Mr James lived in the temperate zone ; of tropical
heat and tropical storms he knew nothing ; nor had he ever to
lament that he was cursed with the torpidity of an arctic winter.
He loved God and hated iniquity. His religious life derived its
special character from a vigorous conscience and a glowing
heart, and the influence of imagination was very inconsiderable.
He did not indulge in a shallow scepticism about the reality of
those spiritual conflicts and glories which some devout persons have
known, nor trace all their " experiences " to changes in the atmo-
sphere, and their own physical condition ; but he was equally indis-
posed to afl"ect what he never felt. His religious history in his
matarer years was quiet, sober, and practical, and neither to him-
self nor to others did he attempt to give it any other character.

LETTERS.

TO THE REV. DR PATTON

" Edgbaston, MarcTi 14, 1834.
" .... I feel some degree of solicitude about the consequences of
tlieir mission, (Messrs Reed and Matheson.) We folks in this land
have taken up the opinion that you Americans have some portion of
national vanity, and possess a sensitiveness about your country which
it is easier to offend than to satisfy. Moderate and impartial praise, it
is thought, does not satisfy you ; we must praise everything and largely.
Now, I ^m a little solicitous, lest the remarks of our friends while with
you, and their report on their return, shoidd not come quite up to your
expectations, and thus produce something of irritation. We can do
each other no good by shutting our eyes, abjuring discrimination, and
dealing only in unmixed censure or praise ; for this in the one case is
envious detraction, and in the other hollow flattery. I hope that our
deputation will be candid in their disposition, and honest in the expres-
sion of their opinion. I think they go out as free from prejudice, as
can be looked for in the ordinary circumstances of human nature, and j
I believe that you are prepared to receive them with an unsuspicious !
and affectionate confidence. On many accounts I should hke to be with
them, but I am most entirely satisfied I have done right in refusing to
accept the appointment; for though it would be one of the highest |
gratifications I could enjoy out of heaven, to spend a few months with |
you, yet I am quite sure I have taken the path of duty in remaining
at home.

" And now to the state of things in our land. We are come into the
conflict with the EstabUshment of which I spoke to you in my former
letters. The Dissenters, from the north of Scotland to the Land's-End,

LETTERS.

339

are all bestirring tliemsolves in the way of memorialising the Govern-
ment and petitioning the Legislature for the redress of gi-ievances ; -what
these are you -will learn by the accompanjing copy of the petition of
my congregation, which was signed by between six and seven hundred
male persons above the age of fifteen. The Ministry are disposed to
help us, but are so impeded by the High-Church party, that I fear we
shall obtain only partial relief. The accompan}Tjig newspapers will also
convey to you some idea of the state of feeling here. The Patriot, as
you are aware, is the organ of the evangelical Dissenters ; but you will
be astonished to be informed, that although it belongs to both the
Independents and Baptists, it is but very lately that it has supported
itself. Our stamp-duty is a most serious hindrance to the success of a
religious newspaper. The Dissenters are not quite harmonious in their
operations ; as some wish to petition, and do petition, for the dissolution
of the alliance between Church and State, while the great body only
protest against the union, and petition merely for the redress of griev-
ances. I have enclosed a paper containing an account of a meeting at
^Manchester, where you wiU find the speeches of the party who go the
whole length of prajing for the 'dissolution of the union.' The Church
people are exceedingly alarmed and angry. Although I have discussed
the subject very cooUy in the pamphlet which I send you, I am most
cordially disliked by a gi-eat many on account of it. One of the most
extraordinary circumstances connected with the Church of England is,
the vast increase of evangelical clergjnnen, in connexion with a system
so manifestly and notoriously corrupt as is the Church of England. I
cannot interpret this circumstance ; a vast nucleus of piety has been
forming in the midst of surrounding evils of an enormous character.
The mischief of the present state of things is, that aU hopes of a re\ival
of reUgion are at present checked ; the heads, and hearts, and mouths
of oiu- people are full of the secularities of religion ; its more spiritual
matters are in danger of being sadly neglected. However, I am
iucUned, upon the whole, to regard the present situation of things as
the commencement of a great conflict against organised systems of
ecclesiastical corruption. ' The Lord God Omnipotent reignetk' J esus
can take care of His own kingdom, and is faking care of it. Yoiu:
revivals seem for the present stopped. I am still anxious about two
things in the United States — the provision of religious instruction for
the valley of the ilississippi, and the abolition of slavery in the
Southern States. Oh for some Dr Hewit to take up this subject, and
rouse your feehngs in reference to it, as he did on the temperance
cause ! Your exertions in the latter, or rather I should say the glory of
them, is in eclipse by your system of slavery in the south, and your
feelings towards the coloured people all over the L^nited States." ....

340

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAilES.

TO THE REV. DE SPKAGUE.

"Edqbaston, March 28, 1834.
" My dear Friend, — As a member of my congregation is about to
start for America, I avaU myself of the opportunity of sending a letter
to assure you that we still think and talk of you. The arrival of your
last communication was looked for with some degree of solicitude, that
it might announce to us the welcome news of your safe return to your
family and flock. We congratulate you, not merely on that account,
but also that the end of your absence had been so mercifully accom-
plished in the restoration of your health. May your life be long spared
for a blessing to the church and to the world ! I ought to have replied
to your letter before this, but engagements come on in such rapid
succession, and objects that are immediately before you press upon
your attention vath such clamorous urgency, that absent ones do not
always receive their due share of time and notice. We were much dis-
appointed that your stay with us was so short, having confidently
calculated upon one or two weeks at least. Well, there you are then
again in all the business and cares and anxieties of the faithful minis-
ter's life and labours, and indeed these cares and anxieties are neither
few nor small. What a delightful thought it is they are not to last
for ever ! And then, the results — the glorious, the immortal results !
The souls, the immortal souls saved, and reflecting the glories of their
redeeming God ! What a wonder it is we are not more dihgent and
devoted; that we can find time or interest for anything else — even for
autographs! Do you know I became a little jealous over you lest this
passion should engross you too much, and steal any portion of that
interest and leisure which should be given to Christ and His cause?
And yet I might have said his books and sermons give proof that he
does not neglect Ids work ; and as all men need relaxation from the

severer pursuits of duty, this is his. Pardon the hint I am afraid

your country is not in a sound and healthy state. Your church is more
agitated than it should be, considering what are the causes of excite-
ment. I do not see anything very serious in the new doctrines. There
are a few things in Stuart's volume on the Romans, which, perhaps, I
might not choose to subscribe to, but I do not see the mischief in it
which some do. But I find the doctrines are but a part of the cause
of contention : your missions are now added to it. I wish you could
all pay stiU more attention than you even do now, to the state of
your own population. You ought, in my opinion, to relax a little on
the subject of your ministry; not that you ought to have a less number
of well-educated men, but a greater number of men of good sound
sense and piety, to meet the wants of your new settlements, who, if

LETTEES.

341

thev are not learned, might be very useful. The present increase of your
population is, I should think, nearly double that of your ministers.

" To leave the United States and to come here, we are in a state of
the most determined hostility, — I mean, the civil and ecclesiastical
parties. The Tories are struggling to oust the Liberals, and, I think,
■will succeed. And the malignity of the Church party against the Dis-
senters is almost rabid. The Government plan of abolishing church-
rates by appropriating the suq^lus revenues of the cathedral property,
has set the kingdom in a blaze. Oh, for peace ! But this cannot be
looked for, while such things exist as now keep the two bodies separate.
Who could imagine, if the Word of God did not tell us so, that it is
through such storms and breakers that Christ is steering the bark
of His cause. Yet so it is. Fifty years hence many good men who
are now chnging to the corruptions of Christianity, vail appear objects
of astonishment to those who viiR succeed to theii- general principles,
but who will renounce the grosser foUies with which they are now
associated.

" I am in a state of mental gestation with a small volume to be
entitled ' The Christian Professor.' . . . . — Your sincere friend and
affectionate brother,

" J. A. James."

TO THE REV. DR SPRAGUE.

"EcGBASTOif, Augtcst 20, 1834.
" My dear Friend, — .... "What a thunderstorm has gathered
and burst over your country and ours, but more fearfully over yours
than ours, within the last twelve months! What a sudden and tremend-
ous destruction of eartlily confidences and hopes ! And yet, who can
wonder? I put out of consideration the proximate and commercial
causes, such as the grasping ambition, the reckless speculation, and the
selfish monopoly of a few large leviathan-like houses on our side of the
water, and look only at the moral causes, the practical atheism of the
world, and the wicked and shameful worldly-mindedness of the ChurcL
Mammon has been the image of jealousy, causing jealousy Avhich our
two countries have joined to worship, and the vengeance of God has
been awakened, and smitten the object of our idolatry. Professors have
been deep in the mire of earthly-mindedness, and have therefore suf-
fered with their ungodly neighbours. God is now calling them to a
new trial of their faith, and giving them an opportunity of imitating the
Macedonian liberality, and serving Him with a zeal proportioned to
their poverty. May we pass honourably through the probation ! Other
storms, however, besides commercial ones, are passing over your coun-
try. You have earthquakes in the Church. Bj' the New York Observer,

842

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES,

■whicli I constantly receive, I perceive the conflict has come on between
the parties, and terminated, for the present, in the discomfiture and de-
feat of the new-school portion of your religious community. I cannot
be supposed to be intimately acquainted with the merits of the ques-
tion ; but as a bystander, looking from without, I am astonished and
disgusted with the conduct of the majority. I cannot help thinking
that the abrogation of the Act of Union, or rather the annulling of every-
thing which had been done under its provisions, has very much the ap-
pearance of public perfidy and treachery. If for thirty years this act
has been tacitly allowed to be operative, to declare it now, and all that
has been done under it, unconstitutional, has so flagrantly the aspect of
a trick of party, that it will do the Presbyterian Church small honour
in the eyes of the world. I admit that there were jarring elements of
discord in the body, which it would have been difficult by any system
to harmonise ; but so despotic an excision as that of nearlj^ half the com-
munity without a trial, is an act of power of a most astounding character.
May the God of all wisdom, power, and grace overrule it for good ! I am
not quite sure that I do not see the slave question, in some measure,
mixed up -wdth this controversy. I think the vanquished party, if indeed
the vanquished, will carry with them the sympathies of your friends in
this country. It is a deep, if not mortal, wound to Presbyterianism.

" And now to EngUsh afl'airs. We are just in the midst of the rage
of a general election, on the demise of the king. The High-Church and
Tory party are putting forth all their strength and fury, and, to the sur-
prise and dismay of the Liberals, are likely to gain a victory. I should
not be surprised at their gaining a majority, and ousting the Melbourne
^linistry. And then what is to be done I know not, unless the Tories
turn Whigs in their measures, which, to a considerable extent, I am in-
clined to think they will be prepared to do. How dehghtful it is to
reflect, amidst all these struggles, that there is One who is Head over all
things to His Church ! . . . . — I remain, your affectionate friend and
brother,

" J. A. Jajies."

TO THE EEV. DK SPEAGUE.

" Edgbaston, July 10, 1834.
" !My DEAR Fkiend and Beother, — In more respects than the num-
ber of your communications, -with wliich I have been lately so peculiarly
favoured, I am so deeply in your debt that full pajTuent is out of the
question, and I can only offer you a composition of five shillings in the
pound, and by that you will set down the deficiency to the score of
poverty, and not to that of dishonesty. All your letters and parcel.^
have come to hand, and have really oppressed me by the kindness — the

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343

exuberant kindness, wliich they express. There are moments when the
aflfection and esteem of my friends, especially the more excellent and
inteUigeut of them, are almost painful to me, from the perfect conscious-
ness I possess of my utter unworthiness of it. I seem to be guilty
of a fraud upon their friendship in receiving the tokens of their regard ;
and, at any rate, I cannot accept them, -without explicitly assiuing them
that they are entirely a gratuity, upon which, on the groimd of merit, I
have no claim whatever. It is sometimes a matter of surprise to me to
think upon how small a stock of moral excellence and mental wealth I
am keeping up so respectable an appearance, as I perceive, by the testi-
mony of my friends, I make in the world. Of one thing I am certain,
that, if I do any good to my generation, the work is not only to be
ascribed to grace, but will prove, in another world, how much of Divine
agency and how httle of human instrumentality there was in anything
done by me. Do not accuse me of afiFected humility and a mock mo-
desty. I often carry similar sentiments to the footstool of the omni-
scient God, as a plea for His gracious help, that men and angels might

learn in eternity how much is due to Himself

" I was sorry to find by your letter, dated March 20, that you had
been indisposed through the previous winter. I very strongly suspect
you are overworking yourself, especially in the way of authorship. Now,
my dear friend, if this be the case, I would submit it for your serious
consideration, whether you should not relax your exertions. Valuable
as are your productions, and great as the good is you are doing by
means of the press, and reluctant as /, for one, should feel to stop your
pen in its elegant and useful course, yet, if you are imdermining your
strength, and thus shortening your life by a continual taxing of your
physical energies, you are doing a miscliief which even your valuable
writings do not entirely repair. If, however, you are quite sure that
composition is not the worm that feeds upon the root of your strength,
go on, I say, to write, for he who writes so well ought to write up to
the full extent of his ability. This brings me to the subject of your
pubhcations, which I have lately received. The ' Hints for Regulating
the Intercourse of Christians ' is an invaluable book, on a very important
branch of Christian duty, and which no author that I am acquainted
with has discussed at length. You have fairly comprehended the sub-
ject, taking it in all its bearings and relations. Indeed, I think you
have expanded the subject too much, or rather, I should say, too much
for the age. Men are now so busy, either -with theii- own secularities,
or with the active duties they owe to the cause of Christ, that they
have but little time, and therefore little opportunity, to read a large
book. This circumstance renders much good writing less useful than it
ought to be. I trust your important volume -VNiU have a -v^ide circula-

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

tion in America, and I shall confer with our mutual friend, whom I ex-
pect to see in a few days, about bringing out an edition, perhaps some-
what abridged, in this country. It is what we want, and your name
having become known by your admirable volume on revivals, I think
the work wiU have an extensive sale here. Your reviews are accurate,
interesting, and spirited. I think you have managed, with great ability
and impartiahty, the very difficult task of honestly criticising Dr Cox's
book on Quakerism. It is true, I have not seen the volume, except for
a few minutes in the author's hand, but your critique gives me a correct
opinion of its general nature. I was afraid, from what httle I saw of
Dr Cox, and what he said about his production, that he would be hkely
to err on the side of severity, and thus hmit much more than he would
otherwise have done the usefulness of his volume. Your review of
Burder's Life is exceedingly just, and is in entire keeping with the sub-
ject. I was much struck with the truth and propriety of your compa-
rative estimate of the American and English preachers. I seem to think,
that, with some exceptions, elocution is in greater perfection in all de-
partments of public speaking on this side of the Atlantic than on yours.
Nor is this at aU surprising, considering the infancy of your nation, and
consequently of your institutions. As to your preachers in mass, they
are transcendently superior in the composition of their sermons to the
bulk of Independent and Baptist ministers here.

" It has been with a joy that I cannot express that I have read Dr
Cox's letter in the Neiv York Evangelist, which declares his separation
from the Colonisation Society, and his conversion to the cause of the
Antislavery Society, and it will be with equal joy and gratitude to God
that I shaU read, my dear friend, a similar declaration from your pen.
Do, do, my brother, give the subject your serious and prayerful consi-
deration. Oh, if your pen could be enhsted in the cause of abolition,
what an influence might you exercise over the minds of your countrymen
on this question ! I almost envy the fame of those who wiU be foremost
in the ranks that fight the battles of negro freedom. AboUtion will
soon beat colonisation off the field, and weighty and glorious wUl be the
laurels of those who are early in the conflict and the conquest. I fore-
see there will be a tremendous struggle ; but what the result wiU be, I
have no more doubt than I have that my pen is moving across this
page. Your country must be foremost of aU lands in the great moral
renovation of the world, but she has some sins first to put away from
herself. She is purifying herself from intemperance, and her next pur-
gation must be from oppression. You have the chain of caste on the
north and east, and the fetters of slavery in the south : both must be
broken before the spirit of American piety wiU be quite free for the great

LETTERS.

345

■work she has to do. You can scarcely imagine -what a blot these things
are upon your national reputation in the estimation of the multitude in
this country. If the pulpit be once engaged against slavery it will fall,
and engaged the pulpit soon wiU be. Your effort for the Poles is worthy
of you and your pen ; and now let that same tongue and pen, which
pleaded the cause of European exiles, plead the cause of your two mil-
Hons of enslaved fellow-subjects.

" .... I have sent you a letter of Lord Holland to myself on the
subject of his presenting the petition of my congregation against the
union between Church and State, and for redress of grievances. He is
nephew of our greatly celebrated Charles Fox, and one of His Majesty's
ministers, though, by the way, we are within a day or two in all the
anxiety of suspense, in consequence of an apprehension that the Minis-
ters are about to resign. Things are in a most iinsettled state. The
Church question is convulsing the nation to its centre. Our institutions
are aU undergoing a shaking.

" And now, my dear friend, I must bring this long letter, and this
tax upon your patience, to a close, with best wishes and fervent prayers
for your continued life, health, and usefulness. My wife unites with
me in affectionate regards to yourself and iirs Sprague. — Yours, aa
ever,

" J. A. Jajies."

TO THE REV. DE SPRAGUE.

"Edobasto>-, February 25, 1835.

" My dear Friend, — I cannot suffer :Mr Hoby, my fellow-labourer
in this town, who is going as one of the Baptist deputation to the
United States, to leave Birmingham without being the bearer of a
letter to introduce him, and also to make inquiries concerning yourself.
You will find both the gentlemen who are going out, intelligent,
agreeable, and hberal, and will, I am sure, be pleased with thcii- society.
They are of high standing in their own denomination, and are much
esteemed by ours. I wish they may be the means of doing good to
the churches which they are going to visit. I think they would have
done well to wait the resiilt of the visit of our deputation before they
imdertook theirs ; but they were anxious to meet the Triennial Conven-
tion at Richmond, which assembles this year, and for which, therefore,
if it were determined they should be present at its meeting, they
must have waited three years longer.

" Dr Eeed has not yet brought out the report of his visit. We are
waiting for it with some anxiety and impatience. I am inclined to
think it wUl be likely to produce a good impression on both countries.

3^6

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

I trust we are all prepared to liear ourselves blamed without irritation,
and our friends praised without jealousy. Perhaps we have each some-
tliing to learn from the other. I am quite sure there are many things
which we have to learn from you, though I should find it more difficult
to find out wherein we could be your instructors.

" I was much concerned to learn, by your last letter, that you had
been so seriously indisposed ; I hope that you are by this time quite
recovered to your usual health, and that nothing remains of the afflic-
tion but its holy fruits. God must set a high value upon holiness
when, in order to produce it, He puts to so much pain the people
whom He loves. It is a great mercy to grow in grace, and, when
nothing else vdU promote it, we should be thankful even for afflictions.
But, my good friend, ought you not to abstain a little more from
authorship ? I am sure it is impossible for you to publish all you do,
among your numerous engagements as a minister and a pastor, without
taxing your intellectual powers beyond your strength. Remember,
that although your books wiU do good after you are dead, yet the
living labours of a Christian minister, in a public situation like yours,
are too valuable to be compensated by the posthumous efi'ects of his
writings. I think you engage in too many public services. May I
then plead with you to desist a little more than you do from these,
and I am sure I shall have your good wife, your congregation, and
your whole denomination seconding ray appeal. You are awai-e that
Dr Urwick has anticipated my design of reprinting your excellent
volume on ' Christian Intercourse,' with a very good introductory
essay. I wiU send you a copy with some other things soon. I do not
like to make up a parcel for Mr Hoby, as I do not know how far he
wiU be able to find room for it ■ndthout inconvenience. I can more
boldly ask the favour from the house in this town through which your
parcels come to me. I had hoped to be able to send you, by my friend,
an autograph of James Watt, but have not hitherto succeeded. I have
made application directly to his son, who Hves in gi-eat splendour not far
from this town, and was in expectation to have heard from him before
this, but have been disappointed. I have never received any commu-
nications for you from either Miss Porter or Mrs Sherwood.

" We are all in excitement and agitation, in this country, by the con-
flict of parties. Tlie struggle for power and place between them will
be severe. It is a fearful state of things ; the court, the aristocracy,
and the clergy are confederated against the people. The animosity of
the two parties is excessive — the defeat of the Tories in the election of
tlie Speaker has mortified them excessively. The Whigs and Eadicals
will endeavour to give them another blow at the ICing's speech. What
the end will be I do not know. The great bone of contention is the

LETTEKS.

347

Church. Oh, how deeply is it to be regretted, though but little alas I to
be wondered at, that this antichristian establishment should convulse
three kingdoms ! Yet, if it exist, it is no matter of surprise that it
should cost the nation much peace to cast it down. I am a little
anxious about the state of things in America. You have many knotty
points to settle. I am jealous for the continuance of your institutions.

" I will endeavour to write again before it is long, ily wife unites
■with me in affectionate regards to yourself and Mrs Sprague. I hope
my little namesake is well and thriving. May God bless the lad. — I
remain, yours as ever,

"J. A. James."

TO THE EEV. DK SPEAGtJE.

" Edgbaston, September 2, 1S35.
" My dear Beotheb, — Your last letter, bearing date the 28th of
April, came to hand in due time, as did the others to which it refers ;
and my first subject in reply must be to apologise to you for not
writing before, — but reaUy I have such an extreme dislike to letter-
writing as to require the strong impulse of friendship or the stern
dictate of necessity to overcome it ; and a natural propensity to pro-
crastination, falling in with this epistolophobia, is ever seducing me
into delay, against the warnings of my better judgment and my con-
science. UiJiappily, this dislike of the pen extends also to sermon-
writing, so that it proves a temptation to me to put it off too long and
too late in the week, and sometimes to the neglect of it altogether. I
am not quite sure whether I have told you this before, — it is, however,
the fact, and will account to you, as it has done to many of my other
friends, for a neglect which I am anxious should not be attributed to a
•want of affectionate interest in yourself, your friends, and your doings.
I must now thank you, and at the same time blame you, for your too
flattering portrait of me in the Theological Iievieiv. It would have
been well done, if it had been more true and faithful to the original
You are an excellent artist : your drawing is good, and your colouring
admirable ; you paint with ease and grace, and, Uke our late Sir Thomas
Lawrence, you give the air of nobility to your portraits. I wish you
had foimd me, instejrd of endeavouring to make me, worthy of your
skill. I can, without one emotion of affected humility, say I am aston-
ished at the estimate you and others form of my talent : either you or
myself must be under some egregious mistake ; or else, what I do not
suppose to be the case, judge me to be a vain man, and say these
things to please my ruling passion. I am quite sure if the world
thought of me as I think of myself, I should be soon forgotten and
unnoticed. However, whether I have more or less of ability to preach

848

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

or write, I desire to consecrate all to the service of Him who has made
me what I am. And I hope I can look upon the superior talents of
my brethren without envy or discontent. May you, my dear brother,
go on to employ those with which God has enriched you for the good
both of the world and the Church. I think the work in which your
review appeared is greatly improving ; the last two numbers contain
some truly excellent and able papers. I wish it did not advocate and
laud the Colonisation Society, which, I may be prejudiced, but I think
is a great delusion, viewed as a means of mitigating slavery. Having
adverted to your intellectual self, I must now turn to the representation
of the outer man, which I am happy to say came safely to hand, and is
now suspended in my study, close by the side of Brother Fatten, and
looks upon me daily and hourly with aU the benignity which I am
sure is in the heart of the original towards me. My recollection of
your features is not sufficiently vivid to pronounce upon the likeness,
but the execution is very good ; it is really an excellent specimen of
American engraving.

" A few days ago, I received two Ameiican papers, the New York
Observer, containing Dr Beecher's trial by his Presbytery for heresy,
at the prosecution of Dr Winslow Wilson, but am a httle tantahsed
by not having the whole. I conclude, of course, that he was acquitted.
This, I conjecture, is a sort of trial of strength between the parties in
that neighbourhood, and probably will lead on to a much grander strife.
I see very plainly that your General Assembly must divide ; and yet I
do not see why. The difference does not appear to me to be of that
moment to require it ; at least, so far as theological sentiment is con-
cerned. The question on natural and moral inabiUty surely is not new,
and is not of sufficient consequence to divide a church. I admit, how-
ever, that the magnitude of your body almost requires a separation, if
sentiment does not. I feel exceedingly anxious about everything con-
nected with the state of religion in the United States, because of its
influence upon the great questions agitated here on the subject of
ecclesiastical polity. I have lately been much surprised at reading the
writings and statements sent forth by Alexander Campbell, and of the
success of his measures and followers. His name is Apollyon the
Destroyer, for he seems to me to have a greater talent for demohtion
than edification. He is a man of great talent, but is evidently propa-
gating a system of self-deception. His immersion for the remission of
sins will, I think, delude thousands of souls. What errors are broached,
what systems are propagated in our age ! We thought that Irvingism
was dead, or that it had received a mortal wound, when the great

died, but I assure you this is not the case. It stiU Hves in

greater extravagance than ever, and is widely spread. The followers

LETTERS.

349

of it have just bought a place in this town, capable of holding twelve
or fourteen hundred people.

" I must now come to your deputation. Dr Spring made a very
deep impression upon our congregations, both in town and country,
by his sermons. He was exceedingly and deservedly admired as a
preacher, but he faUed as a speaker ; extempore speaking does not suit
him. He wants the vivacity, the energy, the fluency necessary for the
platform. His solemnity, pathos, and dignity in the pulpit are very
commanding ; and in private he is pleasant, gentlemanly, and interest-
ing. He and his daughter were my guests for too short a time. He
spent a Sabbath with us, and preached for me, much to the gratification
of my people. Dr Humphreys is quite a different man : of great worth,
and much unostentatious excellence ; but he produced little impression.
He is a most valuable man, and we were much charmed with him in
private. Of Dr Codman I saw very little. Should another deputation
visit us, I trust you will overcome your nervous terror, and be one of
the brethren that shall come over. I should be delighted to see you
on any errand but that of seeking for health. Let us again see your
face in the flesh. You shall find open houses, open arms, open hearts,
and open pulpits to receive you. No American minister is known
here as your Lectures on Revivals has made you known. Drs Eeed
and ]\Iatheson have published, or rather I ought to say, Dr Reed has
pubUshed, a very interesting book of their travels in America. I think,
upon the whole, you will judge it to be impartial. If I could have
trespassed so far on Dr Humphreys, I would have sent you a copy. I
conclude it will be republished on your side of the world. I am not
quite sure we shall derive all the advantage we anticipated from the
deputation.

" Our political horizon is cloudy, unsettled, and stormy. The court
and the aristocracy have set themselves against the present Ministry
and their measures, and the Commons are trjdng their strength ^\ith
the Lords. How it wiU end I know not. A great deal of inflamma-
tory and seditious matter is continually being poured forth at our
public meetings, and it is the watchword of the Radical party, ' Of
what use is the Lords ? ' The question is seriously mooted, ' Ought
we to have a hereditary, irresponsible branch of the legislature V The
feelings between the Church and the Dissenters are exceedingly bitter,
or I ought at least to say, of the Church towards the Dissenters. I
am afraid that politics are making sad work with religion, both in
preventing conversions and diminishing pious feeling among believers.
But God reigns, and is making all things subserve His schemes.

" I send you a copy of a work on Natural Theology by Lord
Brougham, which is considered valuable here, though containing some

350

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

exceptionable passages. The great celebrity of the man gives an
interest to the work perhaps beyond its merits.

" May God long spare and much bless you. My -wife unites in
love to Mrs Sprague and yourself. — Your affectionate friend and
brother,

"J. A. James.

" I have not succeeded yet in obtaining James Watt's autograph."

TO A YOUTH* WHO HAD DERIVED BENEFIT FKOM THE " ANXIOUS
INQUIRER."

"BiBMiNGHAM, April 26, 1836.
" My dear Sir, — The perusal of your letter put a new song into my
mouth, even praise to my God. I bless Him on your account. The
conversion of a sinner from the error of his ways, and the salvation of
a soul from death, whoever he may be, and by whomsoever the mighty
change may be wrought, is an event so replete with felicity to himself
and glory to God, that no Christian can hear of it without joy and
gratitude ; but in this case I bless Him also on my own account, that
He has made me the honoured instrument of starting your soul in its
everlasting career of holiness and happiness. I sincerely thank you
for making me acquainted with the dehghtful and interesting fact ; it
drew tears into my eyes, and caused my heart to rise in adoring wonder
before God. It is another testimony added to the many I have already
received of the Lord's condescending grace in employing my little book
as an instrument in gathering His elect people to Christ. Give Him
all the praise. Instrumentality is all that I can speak of in reference
to myself — and surely this is honour enough for the creature, without
his attemptmg to rob God of His glory, to invest himself with the
sinful spoils. I consider you now as another of my spiritual offspring,
whom, though I may never see till I meet you in the mansions above,
I regard with something of paternal love, and for whom I shall pour
out a father's prayers. May I, with congi-atulations, mingle a few
words of caution 1 ' Look to yourselves,' said the beloved apostle in
writing to his converts, ' that we lose not those things which we have
wrought, but that we receive a full reward,' (2 John 8.) I do not write
this because I suspect the sincerity of your profession, or stand in doubt
of the reaHty of your conversion ; but because I have had sad experi-
ence, in the course of my ministry, of the deceitfulness of the human
heart, and the disappointment that sometimes follows the most sanguine
hopes. ' Ye did run well,' said Paul to the Galatians, who would once
have plucked out their eyes for him, but ' I now stand in doubt of you.'
* Mr Foster, who is now a respected member of Carr's Lane church.

LETTERS.

351

Begin your religious career in a spirit of holy jealousy over youi'sclf.
Work out, i.e., finish up, your ' salvation -with fear and trembling; for it
is God that worketh in you, to will and to do of His good pleasure.'
That passage should be your motto, and your directory. See what a
combination of duties it presents. ' Work,' i.e., labour, strive. 'Work
out,' i. e., persevere to the end, ' with fear and trembling,' i. e., be jealous
of 3'ourselves, be apprehensive, for it is God that 'worketb in you, to
will and do,' i.e., depend entirely upon His grace, for He is the fomi-
taiu of all sjjiiitual influence. It is a striking exhibition in Scripture
language, of the connexion between the diligence of a rational creature
and the dependence of a needy one. Do not consider that the work is
done, but that it is only just begun. I have sometimes seen cases in
which there has been great solicitude till a profession of religion was
made, and then it ceased, and the mind relapsed into indifference, and
reposed upon its profession in spiritual sloth. Be as anxious as ever.
Never cease to be the anxious inquirer after salvation. Seek after
eminent piety as well as sincere religion. Consider prayer as the life of
religion. Let your religion be of the useful kind. You are converted
not only for yourseK, but for the Church and the world. Study the
Scriptures much. In this day, the multitude of uninspired books that
are published take off the minds of Christians too much from the Word
of God. As a new-born babe, desire the sincere milk of the word that
you may giow thereby. I rejoice with your honoured parents over the
church in their house, which they are favom-ed to possess, that you are
now another member, the last without the pale, added to its fellowship.
I ask, as my reward, your prayers; and especially that God would go
on to bless that book for the conversion of others, which has been
eflfectual for yours. !May your path be that of the just, which shineth
more and more unto the perfect day. !May we meet in heaven, and if
God's win be, on earth. — I remain, your afiectionate friend,

" J. A. James."

TO THE EEV. DR SPEAGUE.

" Edgbasto>', Becemlcr 18, 1837.
"My dear Friend a>T5 Brother, — Some little time ago I was
apprised by an American pastor of the deep affliction into which it has
pleased our heavenly Father to plunge you by the removal of your
excellent and beloved ^^ife. I need not say that j-ou have my sym-
^thy and my prayers. I have passed through the trial before you,
and know by experience what a desolation is occasioned by such a
stroke. It is a sorrow which knows not consolation's name, except as
uttered by Him who comforteth those that are cast do^vn, and healeth
the broken in heart. You, my brother, are now called to sit alone, or

352

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

to see only in your dear cliildren so many memorials of tte loss wliich
they and you have sustained. May God be with you in your solitude,
and give you, by a deeper sense of His presence and a sweeter assur-
ance of His personal love, that which alone compensates for the trea-
sures He has taken from you. To point out to you who know them
so weU, and have dispensed them so long and so judiciously, the com-
forts of the gospel, would be a waste of time. I would therefore only
say, and say in the spirit of prayer, may you be able to appropriate to
yourself all that you have been the honoured instrament of communi-
cating to others in the way of spiritual consolations. May your most
soothing sermons and advice to the tried, the tempted, and bereaved
flow back in full tide to your own soul and widowed heart. May your
people see in you a bright and edifying example of pious submission to
the wUl of God. ]\Iay you be enabled so to demean yourself under
this chastisement of your heavenly Father, as that your conduct shall,
through the whole future course of your ministry, give effect to all you
shall say on the subject of resignation and holy joy. We, as ministers
of Jesus Chiist, are in a peculiar sense not our own. The prophet
Ezekiel was called to surrender his wife and forbidden to mourn, in
order that he might be an example to the people. It may be so with
us. Our Master layeth His afflicting hand upon us, and then comfort-
eth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them
Avhich are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith Ave ourselves are
comforted of God. If He learned obedience by the things which He
suffered ; if He was made perfect through sufferings ; if He was pre-
pared to sympathise by experience ; shall we think it hard to follow
Him in the path of tears 1 Oh, my brother, if this should be a means
of making you a holier, a more experimental, a more useful minister —
if this should prepare you for a career of still greater success in your
high office — if this .should make you a vessel stUl more meet for the
ISIaster's use — how wiU you rejoice when the clouds and sorrows of
time have been all lost amidst the light and joys of eternity ! Your
sainted wife is now perhaps in the secret of her early removal ; she has
probably been told the reason of her death, and is Ufting her heart to
God with adoring wonder over some vast depth of wisdom, affecting
not only her and your eternal interests, but the interest of her Lord
and of His Church. Believe, only believe that it is so, and by faith
have fellowship with her in the bHss of knowledge. Let not your heart
faint when you look round upon your motherless children. Say not,
' Who shall take care of them, who shaU be their instructor and guide?'
God will provide. Trust Him vdih yourself, trust Him with your
children, trust Him for all that is future. He Avill honour and reward
your confidence. ' He lives, and blessed be the rock, and let the God

LETTERS.

353

of our salvation be exalted.' Seek in still greater diligence and devo-
tion a relief from sorrow. Sit not down to brood in musing indolence
over your affliction. Heavy strokes are apt to stun and paralyse us,
and we are prone to throw all up and indulge in melancholy and fruit-
less reverie. Take some new scheme of public usefulness in hand.
Let not M-eeping prevent sowing ; but go forth weeping, bearing pre-
cious seed, and you shall return vnth joy, bearing your sheaves with
you. Select some topic for a course of sermons, with the purpose of
giving another volume to the Church and the world, as able and as in-
teresting as your last on Christianity, for the copy of which I thank
you. I shall be anxious to hear from you. I want to know how you
are, how you bear tliis stroke, how the outer man sustains it, and how
the inner man endures it. "Write soon, and tell me both of your sor-
rows and supports. I shall wait with some impatience for the letter.

" Dr Redford has sent you a copy of his Course of Congregational
Lectures, which, I think you will agree with me in thinking, do him
great credit. Both Ms matter and manner, his arguments and compo-
sition, are admirable. It is a valuable, a standard book. May God
pour His blessings upon it, both in your land and in ours ! "What is to
be the end of your present great schisms ? "Will the parties coalesce ]
Oh, what a world ! to what a Church we are connected and live in !
Yet Jesus reigns ! There is our confidence and comfort.

" My dear wife unites vdth. me in every expression of sjTnpatby and
affection, both to yourself and your children. And now, commending
you to the God of all consolation, I remain, your afiectiouate friend,

" J. A. James."

TO ME HAHT.

'• Edgbaston, December 17, 1838.

" Dear Sir, — Mj numerous engagements prevent me from replying
to my correspondents so soon or at such length as they often deserve.
This must be my apology for both a late and a thort letter.

" If you search the Scriptui-es, you will find that joy and peace are
to come into the soul of the Christian hy faith. What is faith? The
belief of the gospel testimony concerning the person and work of
Christ. The object of faith is Christ, as He is made known in the
Word, not as He is pictured out in the imagination. Faith does not,
so to speak, conceive of Christ as nailed to the cross, crowned with
thorns, streaming with blood, and look at that object, as it is presented
to the imagination, with the design of working up the feehngs. For
do consider how little it is of Christ that can be so conceived of. He
is God as well as man, and faith believes this ; but can you picture out
His diraiity to the imagination. He suffered more in His soiil than
Z

854

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

He did in His body ; and though you might attempt to conceive of His
torn and lacerated body, you cannot conceive of His agonised soul. It
is by believing, then, that we are to be saved, comforted, and edified,
not by endeavouring to conceive of Him by imagination. Suppose
some unknown friend in America, whom you had never seen, had
worked hard and suffered much for you, and had left you in his wiU a
thousand pounds ; would not the belief of this comfort and please you,
without any conception of the man's person, or house, or anything else
about him in the imagination 1 Learn to distinguish between the exer-
cise of faith and imagination. You pray to God, trust in God, dehght
in God, but do you conceive of God in the imagination ? No ; you
believe in the truth concerning Him. And so you are to do with the
truth concerning Christ. Stephen's was a bodily sight of Christ.
Ministers do not, in looking upwards in prayer, intend by that a sight
of Christ or God, but do it merely to raise their minds above surround-
ing objects. It would be better to close their eyes. If you are not
satisfied with what I have written you, you had better consult some
minister upon the spot, or wait tiU you have one of your own, which I
pray God may be soon. I remain, yours truly,

" J. A. James."

TO THE EEV. DR SPEAGUE.

"Edgbaston, July 22, 1839.
" My dear Friend, — I embrace the opportunity of Dr Patton's
return, to send you a few lines to acknowledge the receipt of your
valuable present of a copy of Dr Griffin's Life and Sermons, and to
express my sentiments and sense of the worth of the volumes. You
have had a choice subject committed to your hands in the memoir of
such a man, and you have done it well, — making him chiefly his own
biographer, and only introducing such judicious and connectuig remarks
as may weave the whole into one web of continuous narrative. I had
been long acquainted with Dr Griflin through the Park Street Lectures
— which, by the way, are not his best productions — and his single
sermons, cojiies of which I have received from yourself and other
friends. He was one of your best and most impressive preachers.
His conceptions are original and vivid, and expressed in well-selected
and well-compacted language. I have not had time yet since the
arrival of the book to go through it, but so far as I have gone I think
highly of it, and feel much indebted to you for so valuable an addition
to my library.

"I am glad to find, by your letter accompanying the books, that your
health is tolerably good. May it be long spared ! I am not surprised
you still feel and, as far as in submission to the will of God, deplore the

LETTERS.

355

hiatus made in your domestic comforts. Oh, what a desolation is
made in a man's possessions and prospects in that hour when the seal
of silence is put on the lips, and the stamp of death is fixed on the
countenance of a beloved wife ! But there is One, and but One, who
can ever make up that loss ; and Re is infinite ! May this event be
blessed for your spiritual good, and more efifective ministerial labours !
I have watched the prospect of the collision between the new and old
schools, to which you allude in your letter, with some degree of interest.
My sympathies, as I think I have before told you, have been far more
with the former than with the latter. I like their theology better, and
I Uke their conduct better. The vote of excision was a most violent
and unjustifiable proceeding. Perhaps there may have been some
blame on both sides. The decision of Judge Rogers, I see, has been
impeached, and in a sense overruled, by a subsequent one of his brother
judges. There must either be two bodies, or a reconstruction and
reorganisation of the Assembly. I do not see any ground of separa-
tion, so far as theological sentiment is concerned. The difference of
opinion is not so great as to render separation necessary, and therefore
not to justify it. I see there has been a meeting at Oxford, Ohio, to
consider the propriety of reorganising the whole body, by a number
of ministers who declare they will not unite with either party. Will
this spread ?

" As regards our country, the strife between the two opposing bodies,
Church and Dissent, is almost as fierce as ever ; and yet I think there
is an under-current flowing from many individuals longing for a better
understanding between the good of both parties. There is a determina-
tion on the pai-t of the Church, if not to put us down, of which they
despair, yet to keep us do^^-n. Blessed is your land to be free from
the influence of a State religion. I am happy to say that our churches
are beginning to enter with considerable spirit into the subject of
revivals. Protracted meetings are now becoming very common. Dr
Bedford about two years ago set the example, and has been followed by
many of his brethren, with considerable success. Finney's Lectures
has been very extensively read, and ■wdll be more so by our ministers,
and has helped on the movement. It is a most extraordinary book —
perfectly unique — rough, coarse, full of exceptionable passages, and con-
taining many questionable sentiments; and yet withal, a heart-stir-
ring book. It has certainly given an impulse to many of oiu- pastoi-s.
Your neighbour, Mr Kirk, and Dr Patton of New York, have also been
very useful in assisting at our meetings. Both of them have been in
Birmingham, and have produced considerable impression. They have,
I think, done a great deal of good. Dr Patton preached for me on
Sunday last, and will preach again on Sabbath-day next. He is going

856

LIFE or JOHN ANOELL JAMES.

to publisli an edition of Finney, somewliat revised, with notes, to
which I have given a short introduction, at once cautionary and recom-
mendatory. We have had a protracted meeting in this town, with
blessed results. Mr Kirk was here. I have met vnth some works of
Dr Skinner, who is now in this country, with which I have been much

pleased, and hope to see him before he leaves England

" Our political affairs are gloomy. The lower classes of the people
are sadly discontented and disturbed. We have had rioting in our
town, attended with burning of houses, and are now kept in peace only
by the military. But for them, our land would be filled with confusion
and anarchy in a week. Our position as a nation is rather critical,
certainly very painful. — ^Yours, very truly,

" J. A. James."

TO THE KEV. DR SPEAGUE.

" Edgbaston, December 21, 1839.

" My dear Friend, — Being about to send a parcel to America, I
take the opportunity to forward you a copy of Dr Smith's ' Congrega-
tional Lectures on the Connexion between Geology and Eevelation,'
which perhaps will subject him, on your side of the Atlantic, as well as
on ours, to the imputation of heresy against Moses. The whole subject
is a perplexing one. Astounding difficulties present themselves against
the commonly-received opinions on the subject of creation. Perhaps
geology is yet too much in its infancy to allow of the establishment of
any system; and yet what is known, clearly known, of facts, must, I
think, tend to a modification of hitherto generally-received opinions.
However, the arrival of the book will give you an opportunity of judg-
ing for yourself. Yorn- Professor Hitchcock Avill, I doubt not, be
greatly pleased with it ; for he has already pubhshed the same views
himself. We have no need to be timid for the Bible. Let science do
what it will, that is safe. The God of Nature is the God of the Bible,
and He cannot contradict Himself.

" Do you ever read the JVew York Observer ? If so, you will per-
ceive that I have been called to account by both the editor of that
journal, and also by an anonymous New-England pastor, for some
remarks on slavery I ventured to make in a letter I published in the
Evangelist. I have not till lately had much time to reply, but have
sent back an answer in the parcel which will convey this to you. I
reaUy thought my observations were so cautious and measured as not
likely to give oflence, — not that I mean to say the replies have been in
a tone and spirit of acerbity ; far from it, they are respectful and kind,
but still evidently from some one who feels them. It is impossible for
any one who is not long resident in this country to conceive how much

LETTERS.

357

it detracts, in tlie estimation of the great bullc of our people, from the
excellence and influence of American example, to consider it the land
of slavery. I have often said I do not mean to justify all that has
been said or done by the AboUtionists ; but their object is good and
righteous before God and man, and thankful shall I be when your
land is freed from this load of crime, misery, and curse

" Finney's works are obtaining a wide circulation, and producing
considerable effect among our ministei-s. They should be read with
caution, for there is a strange mixture of good and bad ; but he really
is a most extraordinary writer. There is a great want of unction and
tenderness in his words, but they are moulding the taste of many at
this time, and giving to many of our preachers some of his most
pungent and straightforward method of address. Dr Payne of Exeter,
one of our best theologians, is preparing a volume, in which he intends
to take a review of American theology. ....

" I am sorry to say the health of my dear wife is seriously impaired.
Her constitution is much weakened, and though there is nothing that
affects her life, her health will never be what it has been. My daughter
continues as great an invalid as ever; thus you see the hand of the
Lord is upon us. May our afflictions be sanctified, and aU will be well.
We unite in kind regards to yourself and family, not forgetting my
namesake. — Your affectionate friend and brother,

" J. A. James."

TO THE EEV. WILLIAM JAY,
ON THK OCCASION OF HIS JUBILEE.

" Edgbaston, Febniary 8, 1841.

" My dear Sir, — If you are not satiated, I will not say surfeited,
with congratulations, perhaps you AviU not refuse those of a friend,
who, though he has not had so much. intercourse with you as many
others have been favoured to enjoy, is one amongst the thousands of
Israel who bless God for the preservation of your life ; and for what
is infinitely more a cause of devout gratitude, the continuance of your
Christian integrity and ministerial fidelity to the present time.

" The language of flattery would disgrace me, and disgust you ; and
I shall not employ it : and while I am sure you are uttering the humble
confession of the great apostle, and saying, ' Not I, but the grace of
God which was with me;' I would imitate the conduct of the churches
of Judea towards that eminent servant of our Lord, and ' glorify God
in you.' I bless Him for the grace that called you to the work of the
ministry, qualified you for it,, and that has so long and so signally
prospered you in the discharge of its momentous duties ; and while I
look without a particle of envy on the chaplet which the public have

858

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

woven for your brow, and the honour with which they have delighted
to crown you, I rejoice stUl more in the glory which you have been the
instrument of bringing to the feet of Jesus. If I envied you anything,
it would not be so much a reputation of fifty years' ever-increasing
brightness, and which the breath of slander has never been permitted
to approach, nor that of popular applause, though ever blowing upon
it, to tarnish — it would not be so much the esteem of the world and
the love of the Church — it would not be so much the veneration of
your junior brethren, nor the cordial afi"ection of your coevals, as the
disposition which you now feel, while conscious that you possess all
these, humbly to say, as you turn your own and direct every other eye
to your Divine Master, ' Though I be nothing.' Go on, my venerable
friend, thus to ascribe aU to Him, to whom all is due. Go on to enjoy
the grace bestowed upon you, and which is always most enjoyed when
fuUy felt to he grace. May the long evening of your bright summer
day be longer and, if possible, calmer still ; and not a cloud of any
kind come over your fast-declining sun, the setting of which wiU be
watched with interest and pensive pleasure by many upon earth, and
its i-ising upon another hemisphere be hailed by more with joy and
praise in heaven.

" I am not so ambitious as to expect, or even to seek, as I am sure I
am not so proud as to imagine I deserve, such testimonies of respect
as have been heaped upon you, even though, like you, I should keep a
jubilee among the people of my charge ; but I am ambitious enough
to seek, and through grace I hope to receive, that which, after all, is
the very core of the honour that has been paid you — I mean, the
acknowledgment of consistency as a Christian, and fideUty as a minister.
I have had a share, though a small one as compared with yours, of
popularity ; but oh, how utterly worthless does it now appear to me,
in comparison with the smile of an approving conscience, and the
' WeU done ' of an applauding Judge ! ' Give me poverty, give me the
curses of a wicked world, give me the martyr's stake ; but, O my God,
save me from unfaithfulness to Thee and the souls of men.' So said
an American preacher now in heaven : and so say L

" I am prepared to sympathise with you under your domestic trial ;
for the candle which was the light of my tabernacle is flickering in the
socket. My dear, my invaluable wife is wasting away under the con-
suming power of incurable disease. But shall not the Judge of all the
earth do right ? From her scene of suffering she sends you the Chris-
tian affection of one who is near the kingdom.

" Pardon this tax on your time, and believe me, my dear air, your
affectionate friend and younger brother in Christ,

" J. A. James."

LETTEES.

359

TO THE REV. DR SPRAGUE.

" Edgbastox, July 31, 1841.

" My dear Frie>T), — This is a melanclioly rene^val of our long-sus-
pended correspondence. You will have heard, I beUeve, before this
reaches you, that I am a second time a widower. The grave has closed
over that excellent woman whom you have more than once seen pre-
siding with grace, intelligence, and piety over my household aflfaii-s.
The little memoir, with the fimeral sermon by our mutual friend Dr
Bedford, will teH you all about her ; and it is not necessary that I
should do that in writing which I now place before you in print. It
is a glowing and a glorious narrative. She died as she Uved, to the
glory of the Lord that bought her, and is gone to serve Him in a higher
and holier as well as happier state of existence, for which His grace
had signally matured her. But /, alas ! am left to journey sadly and
wearily along the rugged path of life, weeping and alone. Well ; God
lives — and blessed be my Eock, and let the God of my salvation be
exalted. My mind has been most mercifidly sustained under the
stroke, and in no small measure through the sweet and holy tranquillity
with which my beloved -nife descended to the dark valley. I have found
that occupation is my best relief. Instead of flying in the hour of sor-
row from the scene of my afiiiction, I remained at my post to take
advantage of the softened state of my own mind, and solemn impression
produced by the event in the mind of my people, and thus to endeavour
to do them good. I trust my object has been accomplished, and that
as my preaching has been unusually solemn and tender, my loss will
be the eternal gain of many. As experience is the foundation of sjtb-
pathy, even in the character of our great High Priest, much more in
His people, and as you have passed like myself twice through this trial
of faith and patience, you well know how to feel, for you have felt the
same. If I mistake not, you are again blessed vriXh. a sharer of your
joys and sorrows in the journey of life. May you be spared a repe-
tition of the trials you have known, and the remainder of your days be
spent in the quiet enjoyment of domestic comfort, undisturbed by the
intrusion of the spoiler. I hope your own health continues pretty
good, for it is so long since I heard from you that I really seem to
know little about you.

" Have you done anything lately in the way of publication ? I have
sent out a little work for widows, and if I had a copy in the house I
would enclose it in this parcel Strange that this afilicted class shoiild
be the only object which the sympathy of authors has overlooked, by
providing for them no specific treatise of consolation !

" You have perceived that I have been from time to time appealed

360

LIFK OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

to by some of the bretlii'en on your side of the water on the subject of
slavery, especially by Mr Eddy of Newark, who addressed to me five
letters in the New Yorh Evangelist. They came at a time when I
could not take up the subject, and I have been too unwell and too
painfully occupied since ; but when I can command leisure, it is prob-
able I may reply to them. They are mild, temperate, and gentlemanly.
Oh, how glad shall I be when your country shall efface the foul blot
from her escutcheon !

" I cannot enlarge : to-morrow I set off on a journey to recruit my
healtli, and have a multitude of things to attend to. I send this by
Dr Parker, the medical missionary at Canton, whom I have found to
be a most agreeable and devoted man.

" I beg to be kindly remembered to Mrs Sprague and your family,
and shall be happy to hear from you. — I remain, affectionately yours,

" J. A. James."

TO ME (now the KEV.) AUTHUR HALL.*

"Dover, August 17, 1841.
" My dear young Feiend, — With this note you wiU receive the
book which, when I saw you at Maidstone, I promised you I would

* This letter was forwarded to the Editor, with a very interesting note, which
I am glad to be able to insert : —

" The Parsonage, Luddenden Foot, near Halifax,
November 7, 1859.

"My dear Sir, — I perceive, by advertisement, that you are bringing out a
Life of Mr James. I doubt not you have abundance of materials for the work ;
but thinking the enclosed letter of Mr James's might be useful, I send it you, with
the special request that I may have it again, as to me it is invaluable. It gives a
good illustration of a great, good, and popular man not overlooking individual
cases. In the summer of 1841, Mr James was on a visit to my father, who then
lived near Maidstone. I was then living in sin— hating the restraints of religion.
My parents requested Mr James to speak to me on my danger. He did so. I was
excessively angry with what I considered then to be an impertinent interference
in my private affairs. ' Whose business was it, if I chose to be lost ? ' Such were
my feelings (boiling over with passion) when dear Mr James talked and prayed
with me. The ' feeling ' to which he refers was simply anger ; and the copy of
the ' Anxious Inquirer ' he sent, I regret to say, I tore in pieces, and threw it on
the dm<jhiU.

" Some years after, I went to Birmingham (1851) and saw Mr James, told him
the fate of his first present, and begged another. Only a few days since I found
the enclosed letter. How or why I kept the letter and destroyed the book, I can-
not tell. God, I believe, has answered those prayers which dear Mr James offered
on my behaK ; and if the publication of the letter, or these facts, will be of any
use, you are perfectly welcome to use them.

" Your task is no easy one. May the Great Head of the Church aid you in your
work, that His glory may be promoted, is the sincere prayer of, yours, very truly,

" Arthur Hall.

"Kev. K. W. Dale, M.A."

LETTERS.

801

procure and send from this place. May tlie perusal of it be followed
with a blessing upon your immortal soul ! Ton are one of those who.se
case it describes, for many, many prayers have been presented on your
behalf by your excellent parents, and also by your brothers and sisters ;
and, I can truly add, by the writer of these few lines. Shall all these
prayers be in vain through your unbelief? I hope not. Recollect,
that aU the saints on earth cannot pray a person into heaven, if he con-
tinue unbelieving and prayerless himself. I was much engaged for
your spiritual welfare when I saw you, and as soon as I saw you; and
was pleased to witness the feeling you manifested when I spake to you.
May I indiilge a hope that I was directed by God to Maidstone, to be
the instrument of your salvation? If so, both you and I shall dwell
with gratitude upon that visit, miUicns of ages hence.

" The object of the little volume I have sent is to engage you and
all its readers to immediate decision — that is, to immediate surrender
of the heart to God by penitence and faith. At once believe there is
mercy for you through Christ, and under the influence of that faith,
lead a holy life. Let there be no waiting, but a prompt and full
surrender to God.

" Decide for God, for heaven, for eternity. Eepent, believe, and be
saved ; and thus remember your Creator in the days of your youth.

" I shall follow the gift of the book with my prayers. May you be
saved eternally ! Our kind regards to your father and mother, and to
your brother and his lady. — Yom- sincere friend,

" J. A. James."

BOOK T.

THE PEACEABLE FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

I. CONNEXION WITH SPRING-HILL COLLEGE.
II. THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCK

III. "MY DIPLOMAS OF D.D."

IV. CHINA.

V. THE CO-PASTORATE.
VL THE JUBILEE.
VIL AUTHORSHIP.

VIIL "READY TO BE OFFERED " — " ABSENT FROM THE
BODY "— " PRESENT WITH THE LORD."
LETTERS.

CHAPTER I.

CONNEXION WITH SPEING-HILL COLLEGE.

Feom the weakness and depression described in the previous
Book, IMr James only gradually recovered. Although he began
about ]8-i2 to resume his general public labours, the distressing
apprehensions which had made him for several years almost in-
vincibly reluctant either to preach or to speak away from home,
had not wholly disappeared. So late as 184:9, his engagement to
preach at Surrey Chapel, in connexion with the jubilee of the
London Missionary Society, greatly agitated him. One Saturday
afternoon, about ten days before the sermon was to be delivered,
two or three of the Spring-Hill students were at his table, and he
happened to say that he intended to read his discourse. "Isn't
that a pity, sir ? " said one of the students. " Your sermons are a
great deal more impressive when you speak freely than when you
read." "Well, sir," was the reply, "there's something in that,
but I '11 tell you how it is ; if I read I shall be uncomfortable for
the hour and a half that I shall be preaching, but I shall be toler-
ably comfortable till I am in the pulpit; if I don't read, I shall be
quite comfortable while I am preaching, but I shall have no sleep
from now till it is all over."

But there was one invitation that he could scarcely ever resist ;
till within the last year or two of his life, when he found that tra-
velling was attended not only with inconvenience but with danger,

366

LTFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

any minister in the Midland counties could almost infallibly obtain
a sermon from Mr James by asking him to preach on behalf of
Spring-Hill College.

It was no uncommon thing, indeed, for his crafty admirers to
make the offer of a collection for the college the bribe to induce
him to pay them two visits. " Come and preach for my schools
in February, and then you shall come and preach for the college
in May ; " or, " Come and preach at the opening of my chapel next
summer, and you shall come and preach for the college within six
months after," was the substance of dozens of letters, and the bait
was a very killing one.

He did not wait, however, to be asked to visit a congregation on
behalf of Spring-HiU ; I suppose there are few ministers in any
of the larger towns of Warwick, Worcester, Gloucester, North-
ampto)!, Shropshire, Stafford, Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, who
have not received from him letter after letter begging to be per-
mitted to come and preach for it. Nor was he satisfied with
pleading in public for a large collection. It was his custom, when
ever it was practicable, to arrange for a meeting of some of the
wealthier members of the congregation in the vestry before he
preached, or at breakfast the next morning, and to press upon
them individually the claims of the institution. Even this was
not enough ; notwithstanding his infirmities, he would call at
house after house, and with remarkable tact and unflagging perse-
verance, though never with the brigand-like violence of some of
the representatives of philanthropic and religious societies, beg for
money. Sometimes, though not often, he begged in vain ; some-
times he was confounded by his success. On one occasion, he
called on a gentleman of great wealth and equal eccentricity, from
whom he was very doubtful whether he should obtain a single
guinea. Mr James's friends had told him that it was certain his
visit would be a failure ; however he was not quite hopeless. The
gentleman received him quietly, listened to his pleading without
manifesting much interest^ and then rose and said, " Well, I will
give you a cheque for £5000." "Did I understand you rightly,
sir?" was the reply. " Yes, £5000," was the rejoinder.

CONNEXION WITH SPBING-HILL COLLEGE. 367

In the internal management of the college, Mr James's services
were stiU more important. He was an unfailing attendant at the
meetings of the General Committee ; his sagacity aided the coun-
sels, and his unwavering attachment sustained the courage, of the
friends of the college through all the vicissitudes of its history.
At the foundation of the institution he was elected chairman of
the Board of Education, and held the office tiU his death.

To this Board is intrusted the responsibility of examining and
admitting candidates ; and of terminating the course of any of the
students whose intellectual or moral qualifications for the ministry
prove to be unsatisfactory. To it are reported any grave instances
of irregularity in conduct, or carelessness in study. At the expira-
tion of a student's course, he appears before the Board to undergo
the examination by which he obtains college testimonials.

As chairman of this important body, Mr James was nearly
always present at its meetings, and exercised great influence on its
decisions. His kindness and gentleness to the candidates for
admission made the dreaded ordeal of examination before a council
of theologians a very light matter ; and when he was requested to
convey official reproof to offenders, his affectionate anxiety to avoid
inflicting unnecessary pain, deprived his rebukes of harshness and
severity. His interest in the students had all the characteristics
of a strong personal friendship. They were constant guests at his
table. When he published a book which he thought likely to be
useful to them, it was his custom to send every one in the house
a copy. I believe that there are several Spring-HUl men now
in the ministry who would testify that when their finances at
college ran low, Mr James, having somehow discovered their cir-
cumstances, quietly assisted them from his own purse, or procured
them assistance from the generosity of his friends. But the paper
kindly furnished by my friend the Eev. W. Guest of Taunton, and
appended to this chapter, on the influence which Mr James exerted
on the life of the students, renders any further details of this kind
unnecessary.

Many, however, wiU inquire with interest, What were the
opinions of Mr James on the important subject of ministerial

368

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

education ? To this inquiry, his position at Spring-Hill gives a full
and unambiguous answer. It is unquestionable that his influence
in the Educational Board, in the General Committee, and among
the supporters of the college, was so great, that had he seriously
disapproved of any part of the Sprmg-Hill system, it was in his
power to have effected an alteration. For many years he was the
main support of the college out of doors ; his name procured both
friends and students. More than any other man, he was respon-
sible for everything.

Profoundly convinced that a fervent and vigorous religious life,
a passion for saving men, and certain natural endowments which
no culture can confer, are the indispensable qualifications for
effective ministerial work, he was also extremely anxious to employ
every legitimate stimulus to elevate the general standard of Non-
conformist scholarship. In private conversation, and in his more
formal addresses, he insisted very earnestly on the value of classi-
cal and philosophical studies. He approved of the affiliation of
the Independent Colleges to the University of London. Though
he saw that it was very possible for theological studies to be
somewhat neglected through a student's natural ambition to take
a good degree, he did not attempt to conceal his disappointment
and vexation when any of the Spring-HiU men failed at the uni-
versity, and a gold medalist was sure to receive from liim most
hearty congratulations.

There were, however, some deficiencies in the Spring-Hill,
arrangements which he would have been glad to see remedied.

He regretted the absence of direct and systematic training
for public spealdng, though he confessed how hard it is to supply
the deficiency. There can be little doubt that the keenness given
to the critical faculty by classical and philosophical studies, makes
many a youth who, when he entered college, could speak with
rough vigour, timorous and feeble. He is in continual fear
about the construction and cadence of his sentences, and about
the consistency of his metaphors. In his anxiety for correct-
ness, passion is quenched. He cares so much for finish, that
force is sacrificed. His thoughts being divided between what

CONNEXION WITH SPEING-HILL COLLEGE. 369

he is saying and how he is saying it, there is a mental hesitancy
which destroys the resoluteness and energy both of his thought
and style. How much a tutor can do to enable a student to
preserve his freedom, while increasing his accuracy, wiU vary with
certain special qualifications of the tutor, and with the natural
aptitudes of the student.

In the training for public speaking, which Mr James thought
should be provided, if possible, in our theological colleges, he in-
cluded the cultivation of the voice, and of general manner. Of
the importance of a good elocution and graceful and impressive
manner, he was never weaiy of speaking. In his "Earnest Ministry"
he says : — " Manner is, so to speak, the harbinger and herald of
matter, summoning the faculties of the soul to give audience to the
truth to be communicated, and holding the mind in a state of ab-
straction from all other subjects that would divert the thoughts and
prevent impression. It is not only the more illiterate and feeble-
minded, not only the miiltitude who are led by feeling more than
by reason, that are influenced by good oratory, but also men of
the sturdiest intellect, and of the most philosophic cast of mind.
The soul of the sage as weU as of the savage is formed with a
susceptibility to the power and influence of music, and, therefore,

to the power and influence of elocution Far greater nmn-

bers of our preachers fail for want of this, than from any other
cause ; a fact so notorious as to need no proof beyond common
observation, and so impressive as to demand the attention not only
of the professors, but the committees, of all our colleges. It is too
generally the case that no adequate cultui'e is bestowed upon the
speaking powers of our students, from the beginning to the end of
their course of study. There is great assiduity manifested in giv-
ing them a fulness of matter, but far too little in producing an
impressiveness of manner. Every assistance is granted to them to
make them scholars, philosophers, and divines ; but as to good
speaking, for the acquisition of this they are left pretty much to
themselves. Nay, it is not even inculcated upon them with the
emphasis it should be, to try to make good speakers of themselves.
A complete system of ministerial education must, of necessity, in-
2 A

370

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

elude some attention to elocution, which should commence as soon
as a student enters coUege ; so that, by the time he is put upon
the preaching list, he may have some aptitude for the management
of his voice, and not have his thoughts diverted then from his
matter and his object to his manner. He should, by that time,
have acquired a habit of good speaking, so as to be able to practise
it with facility, and without study."

He was also anxious for some plan to insure that all ministe-
rial students should be engaged from the commencement of their
course in religious work. Most of the Spring-Hill students have,
during their first two years, taught in the Sunday school, or visited
neglected districts in the town and neighbourhood, or conducted
religious services in cottages ; but Mr James thought that it would
be well to require every junior student to undertake work of this
kind. He knew that the spiritual earnestness of those who en-
gaged in no such labour was likely to suffer, and that their evan-
gelistic zeal was almost certain to decline. It is a question, how-
ever, whether the important end for which he was solicitous would
not be most easily and efficiently accomplished by the private,
friendly, and unofficial influence of the pastors of the students.

It was Mr James's opinion that there are some men endowed
with a remarkable faculty for interesting and swaying a popular
audience, who are likely to be injured rather than improved by the
attempt to make them scholars. Their early education having
been neglected, the dreary toils of the grammar and lexicon would
quench or dim their natural fire. Though destitute of school-
learning, they have had their judgment trained and their wit
sharpened in workshops and factories. By hard though irregular
reading, they have acquired considerable information, and in de-
bating clubs and in mutual improvement societies, or in village
preaching, have obtained a free command of vigorous and racy
English. Mr James believed that by a course of instruction
adapted to their jDeculiar wants, men of this class might be made
very useful and efficient preachers ; and he cordially supported
the Editor of this volume in an attempt to institute, as an experi-
ment, a " three years' course " for students who, from their age or

COKXEXION WITH SPKIKG-HILL COLLEGE.

371

other circumstances, a2:)peared unlikely to derive benefit from the
full curriculum.

At j\Ir James's death, Spring-Hill had been in existence twenty-
one years ; and he must have contemplated its success with
satisfaction. During that period, fifty-four students had com-
pleted their course ; and while the Calendar of the London
University afibrds proof that the college has won for itself a good
literary position, he knew that there were faithful ministers,
earnest missionaries, accomplished professors, who remembered
Spring-Hill and the Chairman of the Board of Education with
most affectionate gratitude.*

Of the fifty-four students who, during the first twenty-one
years of the existence of the college, finished their course, forty-
five entered the Congregational ministry ; of the remaining nine,

• The following table presents a complete view of what has become of the
Spring-Hill students. Of those that had finished their course in 18G0, there
were —

University men, 33

Non-University men, .... 21

Total, ... 64

Of the 21 Non-University men,
there have entered the ministry, 18
27 (Of these 2 have died since en-

tering the ministry.)
Quitted for the Establishment, . 2
„ for other pursuits, . . 1

2
1
3

33 21

There have been 12 students who passed through only a portion of their coui'se.
Of these there were —

University men, 4

Non-University men, .... 8

Total, ... 12
Of the 4 University men, there was Of the 8 Non-University men, there

removed by death, . . .1 was removed by death, . . 1
Removed by illness, or some other By illness, &c., . . . . 7

cause of supposed unfitness for
the ministry, .... 8

7 ¥

Of the 33 University men, there
have entered the Congregational

ministry,

(Of these 5 have died since en-
tering the ministry.)
Quitted the ministry through ill-
ness,

Quitted for the Established Church,
„ for other pursuits,

372

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAIVIES.

two quitted our ministry through illness, three to become clergy-
men in the Establishment, and four to engage in other pursuits.
Of the forty-five, seven have already been called away from the
toils of the ministry to its everlasting rewards.

In addition to the fifty-four who continued at college for the
full term, there were twelve who passed through a considerable
portion of the course ; of these two died, and ten left college
through confirmed illness or other causes. Of these ten, one or
two have since become clergymen in the Establishment, and others
have become ministers among ourselves.

Mr Guest's paper on Mr James's influence over the students,
may be fitly introduced by an extract from an essay read by Mr
James at an important conference on Ministerial Education, held
in the Congregational Library in 184:5. He says : —

" We are not yet prepared for academic chaplains, or for wardens of
our colleges ; but there are other ways of supplying the deficiency, and
accomplishing the object, and that is, hij extending tlie intercourse
heiween our senior ministers and the students. How many eminent
and venerable men are there in the metropolis, and in the provinces,
whose age, experience, wisdom, and general excellence might, under
proper management, and Avitli diligent application, be made to bear
with the most salutary effect upon the minds, and hearts, and characters
of their younger brethren ! !Men who have passed through the studies,
the difficulties, and the perils of a college life ; who know by experience
all the peqjlexities to which the neophyte is exposed, and have a \ixid
recollection of all that entered into their own curriculum of study ; who
have since added to this the knowledge of the ministerial and pastoral
character; who know with what false or correct views they set out in
life, what bad or good habits they contracted, what mistakes they
made, and by what means they were corrected; — of what immense
advantage may all this be made to those, before whom the path of
ministerial life, and every step of it untrodden, is stretched out in
somewhat appalling perspective, and on which, always without experi-
ence, generally Avithout knowledge, and often without caution, they are
preparing, and sometimes eager to enter ! By a reflective mind, much
may be learned by reading and cautious inquiry, — but what is a book
to a living instructor? How much do the living voice, and 'human
face divine,' kindness, and gentle earnestness of manner, the look of
affection, and the tone of solemnity, impress all that is said upon the
heart and memory of the attentive listener! How many counsels

CO^'NEXION WITH SPEING-IIILL COLLEGE.

373

might be given, how much sage and valuable iiistniction imparted, how
many difficulties removed, and how many doubts solved, during an
hour or two of free and friendly conversation between a student and a
wise, experienced, and communicative minister of the gospel! No
lecture of the class-room can either give so much practical wisdom, or
give it -with, such effect, as may be delivered during such a season, and
by such a method of intercourse ■v\-ith such an adviser. ' This,' says
the student to himself, ' is the man who has tried the ex]ieriment : he
is no theorist, but a practitioner; he sj^eaks experimentally; he has
stood the test of thirty or forty years; has preached and warned
all this time; has known the church and the world; has been
blessed -with popularity and success; and he is now giving us the
results of his exi:)erience, observation, and reflection, which are
worth listeuing to.' Yet, may it not be asked, rather wdtli the inten-
tion of exciting inquiry than of casting blame, how many of tlie
venerable, and holy, and usefid ministers, either of the metropolis or
the provinces, are thus making their influence bear xipon the students
and young ministers? It is true they serve upon committees, and
carry on the machincrj' of the colleges ; and so far their services are
valuable and important ; but beyond this, what direct intercourse have
they with the students, what personal conversation? Do they seek
opportunities to cultivate their acquaintance, and to do them good?
Has it ever occurred to them to make their influence bear upon them ?

" It will probably be asked, How would you have us act ? Would
it not be oflicious and obtrusive for any one who felt inclined to go,
without special invitation of the students, or appointment of the com-
mittee, to any of their institutions, and summon the inmates to attend
a lecture or receive an address ? ilost certainly it woidd, and a wise
and inteUigent committee would prohibit it. But there are other ways
in which, without any such obtrusion, the end may be accomphshed.

" It may be j^resumed, that all the students are members of some
church, or, if not in actual feUowsldp as accepted members, are, when
not engaged in preaching, in the habit of regular communion, under
the pastors they have voluntarily selected ; and, moreover, this ought
to be ascertained by the committee, to whom each student should be
required, soon after entering college, to make known the church with
which he is in association. Every student ouglit to have a pastor, and
the tutors or the committee ought to see and know that he has one.
The very idea that he should cease to feel the obligations and to avail
himself of the privileges of church-membersliip when he enters upon
a coiu^e of trainuig for the work of the Christian ministrj" ; or that his
habits, as a Chiistian, should become loose, irregular, and desultory
when he is preparing to be a pastor, is surely repugnant to all sense

374

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAJIES.

of propriety. The students ought not only to be in the regular liabit
of communion with their own selected church, but of attending all its
church-meetings. They would thus learn pastoral habits, by seeing
how the business of a well-conducted church is done, and by the prac-
tical exemplification of our principles of ecclesiastical polity, which is
continually going on before their eyes, would acquire, almost without
eflfort, the faculty of government : and it woiild carry on this training,
if the senior students were to be employed in visiting the candidates
for communion in common with the other members, and in making
their report to the church of the fitness of such persons for fellowsliip.
Every student, we repeat, should, during his residence at college, have
a pastor. Here, then, is a relationship established, in virtue of which
the pastor should be allowed the same access to the students who are
under his oversight, as to any other of his members ; nor are there any
of his flock, in whose welfare he should take so deep and solicitous an
interest, as those who are one day to be pastors themselves. It would
be easy for him, if not to visit them at the college, yet to ask a ■visit
from them at his own house : this would be at once less formal, and
more efficient. How could he more usefully, or more pleasantly spend
an hour or two occasionally, than by devoting it to such an occupation ]
He need not fear an imwiUingness on the part of the young brethren
to accept his invitation. The esteem in which he is held by them-
selves, and in which they know him to be held by the public, will cause
them to feel that he is conferring upon them a favour which they ought
not to be backward to accept. In the free and famiUar, yet dignified
intercourse of those social and precious hours, what rich communica-
tions of wisdom and experience might be made to his youthful visitors,
communications on every variety of subject related either to personal
godliness, mental improvement, habits of study, modes of preacliing,
pastoral avocation, the controversies of the day, and, indeed, everything
which has a bearing upon their future character and labours as minis-
ters of the word, and which might be of serA'ice to them to the last
hoiu' of tlieir ministry upon earth ! Of course it should be his object
to make the intercourse profitable, as well as pleasant ; and, though
cheerfulness need not be excluded, yet his conversation should not be
made up of mere humour, amusing anecdote, and the relation of face-
tious adventure. His time, and theirs also, is too precious to be thus
wasted ; both parties should consider that they are togetlier for high
and sacred purposes — he to impart, and they to receive, the words of
wisdom and the counsels of exjierience.

" It would not be desirable, however, to confine this intercourse mth
the students to those ministers who are their pastors; it may hapi^cn,
and probably does, in the metropoHs as well as in the provinces, that

CONKEXIOX WITH SPKIKG-HILL COLLEGE.

375

the greater part of the alumni are connected with only one or two
churches, or at any rate with very few, and it would be therefore throw-
ing too much of the duty and responsibility of such super\dsion upon
one or two men. It would tend much to keep alive the interest and
efficacy of ministerial intercourse, and carry out to a greater extent the
spiritual objects of our coUegiate system in reference to the students,
if the committees were to consider themselves charged, as they certainly
ought to do, ■«'ith the religious superintendence of the institution, and
were, in pursuance and discharge of this solemn tmst, to appoint from
their own body a quarterly visitation of the college, for the purpose, not
of superseding the tutors, but of upholding them in their truly onerous
and important duties. If such a plan were adopted, especial care should
be taken to secure the cordial co-operation of the students, by making
it in every respect agreeable to their feelings. There must be no
suspicion that the visitors come in the character of inquisitors, spies,
accusers, or informers, or even of reprovers; but simply as friends,
counsellors, and guides. Their sole business should be such as shall
make them Avelcome, and render their visit an object of desire, and not
of dread. It would be also well for them not to invest themselves
■with an air of authority, or with the stiffness of formality; but to
appear with the easy affability of a friend, and the affectionate tender-
ness of a father. The first hour of such visitations might be spent at
the tea-table, in the flow of appropriate, friendly, and profitable con-
versation, and in answering such questions as would arise out of the
topics of discourse. With a circle of twenty or thirty students gathered
round an experienced minister of the gospel, there will be no lack of
subjects of interest. But this holy conversazione should be followed
by exercises of devotion, and a solemn yet affectionate address. What
a fine opporturuty would be afforded to a man who felt the responsi-
bility of his situation, and cherished an intense longing for the right
formation of character in so many aspirants to the sacred office, to
breathe into their soids the enthusiasm of his own ! If the \T.sitors
entered thoroughly into the object of such addresses, and prepared
for them, not elaborate and ornate discourses, calculated more to
excite admiration than to produce impression, but solemn, affec-
tionate, pungent appeals to the heart and conscience — appeals which
should be of such a character as to leave the students as much without
the power as without the aaIU to criticise — appeals which should
compel them to steal away in silence and in tears to their closets
and their knees; what results might not be expected ? As it would
fall to no man, even in the country, more than once in two or thi'ee
years to deliver such a charge, he might well spare the time for so
important an occupation, and summon all the energies of his soul to

876

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JA1\IES.

produce an address wliich sliall enter into the student's innermost soul
— shall make Mm in the same moment tremble and rejoice, and which,
while it displaces from the field of vision all the little objects of a vain
and low ambition, shall fill it with the one grand object of winning
souls to Christ, and shall present that object invested with its own
incomparable glory and surpassing importance. What preachers might
we not look for from a succession of such addresses, delivered by our
greatest and holiest men, all bearing upon the heart and conscience of
the students, — addresses which shall not be mere fireworks of eloquence
and oratory to amuse their imagination, but live coals, taken as with
a seraph's hand from the holy altar of devotion, to kindle them into
flames of fire ! Verily, we have no need to wonder, and no right to
complain, that our rising ministry fall below some of the older ones,
if the older ones do not take pains to make them better than themselves.
It was said of Earl St Vincent, under whom Nelson was a pupil in the
art of naval war, that he formed a greater hero than himself, and then
admired him without envy. So ought it to be with the senior pastors
of our churches. Useful and hap})y is that minister who, when the
student's eye is looking round for an object to gratify the pantings of
liis youthful ambition, shall so fix it on the glory of the cross, that he
shall never after be able or ■willing to escape the fascinations of that
stupendous object. The men who have done most for their denomi-
nation, not only as scholars and as authors, but those who have served
it well as preachers and as pastors, and who, in attracting attention to
themselves, have fixed it upon their whole body, breathing their own
spirit into the souls of our students, and stamping their own character
upon these young minds while they are in a soft and tender state to
receive the impression ; and they should never forget that he who in
the midst of such a circle is so employed, is not only speaking to the
twenty or thirty individuals before him, but to the thousands whom
they wUl at some future time address, and by this means learn to
address more effectually, and is, in fact, perpetuating through many
generations his own individual usefulness.

" To doubt whether our young brethren would value such attention
from their seniors, would be a reflection on their piety, humility, and
good sense, which all that know them would be unwilling to cast.
Wherever the experiment has been tried, it has demonstrated the
contrary. If, without being su.spected of egotism or vain-boasting,
the writer of this paper may refer to his own practice, he may be
permitted to state that he has made it a matter of sacred duty, arising
out of his official connexion with Spring-Hill College, and his pastoral
relation to many of its inmates, to maintain with his young brethren
the intercourse here recommended. It has been. his custom, when other

CONNEXION VriTH SPETNG-IIILL COLLEGE.

377

duties tlid not interfere, to invite two or three of the students every
Saturday to. partake with liim of the humble fare of Iiis own simple
table, on which no luxuries are placed, not even wine, and which,
therefore, could offer no inducement but the fatherly affection and
friendly counsels of the host, whose invitations have ever brought
around him, most willingly to them, and most agreeably to himself,
the objects of his solicitude. During the dinner-time, and for another
hour afterwards, the conversation is carefully directed to such topics as
are likely to be of service to the guests, either in the way of promoting
their personal religion, or their future ministerial and pastoral useful-
ness. Tliere has been no lack of subjects to discuss, or disposition to
discuss them ; the tendency to practical mistakes, generally the result
of youthful ardour and inexperience, as disclosed by passing remarks,
has been corrected; juvenile indiscretion restrained; bashfulness and
timidity encouraged ; and, amidst and above all else, usefulness, as the
great object of the Christian minister, has been held up to view with
as much enthusiasm as the bost himself could command, while the
means to obtain it, illustrated and confirmed by experience, have been
pointed out. The time allotted to these interviews having expired,
one of the young brethren prays, and he is followed, without their
rising from their knees, by their friend who has received them at his
house. He has already had his reward in the pleasure afforded by
those seasons to Mmself, and it has been made far more ample by the
gratefid acknowledgments and assurances of benefit, which he has
received from many who have entered on their pastoral duties. To his
brethren far better qualified than liimself for such offices, he would
earnestly recommend the same practice, assured that they will find in
it some of the most delightful seasons of sublime enjoyment, and of
extensive and enduring good, which the whole course of their muiistry
will afford."

To these interviews the paper, written by the Rev. William
Guest of Taunton, one of the earliest of the Spring-Hill students,
particularly refers. It was accompanied by the following note to
the editor : —

"My dear Friend, — In compliance with, your request, I have
sought, in the accompanying paper, to give a sketch of the influence
Mr James exerted on the life of the students of Spring-IIill College in
my time. Had it not been for your own kind persuasion, the paper
would have been shorter, and yet the most lengthened and elaborate
statement would fail to convey a just estimate of the value of Mr
James's relation to the students. Second only to his charge, as you

378

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

well know, did he regard this sphere of influence during the latter years
of his life. — I am, my dear brother, yours most affectionately,

" William Guest.

" The Rev. R. W. Dale, M.A.-
MR guest's paper.

Language, even when used by those who command its richest
resources, is incapable of conveying a full impression of the influence
of one powerful mind upon the mind of others. Who can adequately
picture the benefit which a susceptible and aspiring disciple derives
from constant and unreserved intercourse with one of the wisest and
best of masters 1 This is the magnetic influence of soul upon soul ;
the secret force of thought upon thought ; character upon character ;
and is hardly less mysterious than the silent and never-to-be-defined
agency of the good Spirit of the Father.

Well may I feel, then, the inability of my pen to convey a just
impression of the influence of Mr James on the college-life of the first
students of Spring-Hill. It was clear to us that he regarded the insti-
tution as a sphere for the exercise of the most affectionate watchfulness
and the profoundest interest. It was a new channel of usefulness,
opened at the time when physical infirmities were threatening to
narrow the circle of his hitherto widely-extended labours, and he
threw himself into it with all the characteristic energy of his nature.
It was not that the novelty of the institution interested him, nor
did he regard his work in connexion TOth the students as a thing
to be attended to by the by, as other claims permitted ; but the in-
fluence he sought to exert on the college arose from a deep sense of
duty to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. His sway, while not in
the least obtrusive, seemed to overshadow us with holy and quickening
power. His interest in us was never withdrawal ; it never grew cool ;
it neither abated with time, nor became diverted amidst other labours.

Some of us had, by mutual arrangement, attached ourselves to the
church worshipping in Steelhouse Lane ; it made no difference to Mr
James. His relation to aU the students was at once pastoral and
paternal ; that also of the faithful friend and the wise counsellor. " He
was one of our tutors," writes an excellent minister, who was one of the
early students, " as tridy as if he had fiUed a professor's chair, and no
small part of our training, for preaching and pastoral work, was directly
or indirectly furnished by him."

Mr James was chairman of the Board of Education. I never
heard of one solitary instance in which there was anj^hing approach-
ing harshness in his treatment of a candidate. Tremblingly did some
appear before the Board, prior to their admission to the college. They

CONNEXION WITH SPEING-HLLL COLLEGE.

879

were young, and unused to an assembly of grave and reverend divines.
They were plied -with questions wliicli were sometimes curious, often
irrelevant, and not unfrequently very difBcult. The moment the
chairman spoke, an apparently stern manner softened into the kindest
considerateness. With the admirable tact which never failed him, he
covered the confusion into which the candidate had been thrown. " I
recollect," says the writer just quoted, " giving a crude and incorrect
answer tp a question involving a point of doctrine, and I have not for-
gotten with what a fatherly kindness Mr James noticed my error, and
how his criticism was joined vrith. words of warm encouragement.
From that moment I felt I had found in him a father and a friend, and
so it proved.''

Nor on such occasions only would our constant friend cheer us.
If we met him on our walks, whatever the weather, or however pressing
his engagements, he never appeared hurried to us. His face lighted
up with an expression of interest ; his hand cordially pressed ours ;
and minute inqmries about our health, studies, and prospects, would
be followed by warm wishes, and words of counsel. Sometimes he
would conduct our evening worship. I love to recall the sacrednesa
of his serious smile as he sat among us on these occasions. Then,
with what touching and tender eloquence he departed from his more
pubHc custom of simply reading the Scriptures, and expounded the
Holy Word ! I well remember, to this day, his reading the second
chapter of the First Epistle to the Thessalonians : how Ms words gave
us deeply-moving glimpses of his ova\ exceedingly impressive views of
a pastor's relation to a flock ; how he lingered over the words of the
great apostle, — " We were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth
her children : " " ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly
and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe :"
"how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a
father doth his children, that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath
caUed you unto his kingdom and glory."

One mode of intercourse there was, which demands a fuller
memorial, and the adoption of which was the fruit of Mr James's
deep interest in the college, and of the dehberate devotion of his in-
fluence to its welfare. It was his wont, almost every Saturday, to
invite two or three students to dinner. Naturally might we have
supposed that after a week spent in Uterary labours, and manifold
services for the Church of Christ, and amidst the demands of pre-
paration for ministering twice to a large congregation, the afternoon of
Saturday would have put in its plea for repose. But herein we saw
how real was his soUcitude for our happiness and usefulness. That
day was selected because it was less likely than other days to be

380

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

broken in upon by unforeseen demands, or by visitors. It was this
certainty of securing an uninterrupted interview, and our comfort, not
his convenience, that giiided the choice of the day. His wisdom was
seen in the selection of the little party to whom the invitation was
addressed. Those of us who were less earnest were asked to accom-
pany the aspiring and consecrated ; or those whose danger was a too
eager devotion to literature, were invited -with such as were marked for
their high spiritual life. There was a pleasant action, therefore, of
mind on mind ; and the common identity of sentiment, which went
along with diversities of character, made the intercourse touch our life
at all points.

To strangers there was often an apparent hurry of manner about
;Mr James. But to us on these Saturday afternoons, how manifest were
liis fatherly affability and the glow of his welcome ! " Can you tell us
the way to the hoiise of the Rev. Mr James 1 " was the inquiry from a
labouring man, when the afterwards well-known residence was not so
familiar. " Is it Angell James you mean V was the answer ; " oh
yes, any one knows where he lives." "When the good man came down
from his study, with a quiet manner, and his face illumined by a smile
of interest and affection, and when he cordially said, " Well, Mr So and
So " — never forgetting the name of the student he addressed — we felt
that his assuring ministries of kindness well sustained the prefix to his
name. At the dinner-table he presided with a considerate hospitality,
the charm of which was heightened by his watchful care for the
comforts .of his only daughter, who, though a confirmed invalid, m
response to his feehng, vied vrith him in attentions to their guests.
There was no reserve or assumption of dignity ; Ms manner was
marked by a cheerful seriousness entirely free from sanctimoniou.sness.
With his hand on his ear, he would by patient queries draw from us
information on subjects peculiarly interesting to ourselves ; or he would
elicit opinion, and even counsel, with unaffected earnestness, and would
listen with eager attention.

Then came the moments laden with influences which to this day
have moulded the pubUc hfe of many of us. Inviting us to form a
little circle round the fire, he led the conversation to themes full of
profit. Drawn aside from the literary work of the week, we felt our-
selves brought into contact vnih all the spiritual responsibilities of that
ministry to which we were looking forward. Uniformly, and yet most
naturally, would he give this useful direction to the conversation. With
a manner that entirely won our confidence, he would suggest rather
than teach, would indicate rather than enforce. Oiu- own earhest and
best impressions were revived and intensified, and we ourselves were
led to express our convictions of the sacredness of the ministry as a

CONNEXION ■WITH SPEING-HILL COLLEGE.

381

testimony and entreaty of reconciliation between an offended God and
perishing men ; we could not help seeing how right it was to hold fast
to the fundamental doctrines of repentance, regeneration, and faith in
our Saviour Jesus Christ. But while he often pleaded with us to let
the truths in our sermons be seen as lines obviously radiating from the
cross, and so to make Christ and His saving work the living centre
of oiu" preaching as that the hopes and purposes of our hearers might
be drawn to Him, and guarded us against the modern tendency of
employing a phraseology which, while aiming at novelty, falls often
into the serious error of obscuring or altering the import of theological
statements, he would not by one word depreciate scholastic attain-
ments.

Not unfrequeutly he would call our attention to a distinguished
preacher, pointing out vrith. admirable analysis the secrets of Ms suc-
cess ; or he would bring out some pithy and striking extract to read to
us in illustration of the power of the pulpit. " There was," as a beloved
brother has said, " what I may fairly call a moral and spiritual mastery
that he exercised over us." " The rich results of his long exjjerience,"
says another, " were placed at our disposal His wonderfid memory
poured forth its varied stores. Jtlauy a beacon-light did he hold before
us lest we should make shipwreck of faith and of a good conscience.
Many an incentive to 'patient continuance in well doing' did he cuU
from his own history, especially from the earliM- years of his muiistry.
His constant admonition was, without holiness you cannot see nor serve
the Lord. ' Some,' he once remarked, ' have \dolated principle wMle
aiming to be useful That is doing e\al that good may come. Useful-
ness has been my one aim through Ufe, but I am no mere utilitarian.'"
Still the burden of his counsels to us was, as we all shall testify, to
aim constantly, to aim supremely, and to aim by the consecration of
every talent we possessed, at usefulness in the conversion of lost men
from sin to righteousness, and from the awful perils of an everlasting
perdition to eternal salvation. If there was one thing in which, above
all others, by look and tone he awoke our enthusiasm, it was while
speaking of the high joy — which some of us have since been mercifully
permitted, through God's distiiiguishing gi-ace, to understand — of being
instrumentally the means of saving souls from death. Over aU our
conversations the remarkable thing was, and the fear of iteration does
not keep me from repeating it, his heart poured the fidness of its love,
and our hearts were knit to his by the glow of its genial friendliness.

We invariably knelt before God at the close of the interview.
After prayer from one of us, his own tender and affectionate interces-
sions were presented. We then learnt ' how to pray :' the heart was
stirred to its depths; the fountains of sympathetic desires were un-

882

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

sealed. " I have often," says one, " been silently melted into tears ■with
his earnest supplications on our behalf. Far away from home and
kindred, I seemed to hear a father's voice pleading for me w-ith holy
tenderness ; and I cannot doubt that his intercessions ' availed much '
for all of us." We usually separated about half -past four o'clock : we
had met at two : he, mostly, leading his home with us to visit some
sick member of his ilock.

Of course, the measure of the benefit of the intercourse on these
Saturday afternoons depended upon ourselves ; and there are few of
us, it may be, who are not humbled as we are reminded how much
greater ought to have been our improvement of these privileged seasons.
But so far as my own recollections go, I do not remember any students
returning to the college from these visits, upon whom there did not
rest the softening traces of the interview. Well do I remember, also,
how those brethren prayed at the evening meeting for prayer, wluch
closed the duties of the week, who had come from the communion of
the afternoon. No doubt is there, moreover, that the exciting, sancti-
fying, and manifold advantages of these memorable hours contributed
very largely to prepare some for occupying so worthily the honoured
positions they now fill. " I can distinctly trace to I\Ir James's influ-
ence," says a learned and beloved tutor in one of our colleges, " much
that I shall never cease to be thankful for, and I am disposed to think
that I shall err rather by defect than excess in the estimate I form of
the good derived from intercourse Avith him. I am sure that I owe to
the stimulus of these familiar social meetings more than I can express.
The most solemn purposes and vows I ever recorded arose from the

impression of these gatherings I can only wish that every

aspirant to the Christian ministry had the privilege of similar counsel
and stimulus."

It will be seen that the main benefit of these Saturday afternoons
was their quiclcening influence on our moral and spiritual life. The
very thing tliis that we needed. At a time when the heart is so
eminently susceptible — when there is so much mental activity — when
enthusiasm can be so readily evoked, it is like murder to mental
power to make men sit as the passive or mechanical recipients of
the knowledge which a more learned man has to communicate. We
are always recipients of God's blessed gifts, but we are so, as the
plants are of sun-light and atmospheric moisture ; they are quickened
into activity to take in, and appropriate, the precious influences around
them. An elder -ndll do httle good who expects to communicate
knowledge or lessons of experience as we can pour water into a vessel,
and who does nothing to educe thought, stimulate inquiry, and keep
alive a happy mental action. I make the observation merely to indi-

CONNEXION WITH SPRING-HILL COLLEGE.

883

cate tlie real nature of Mr James's influence upon us. There are few
of us, it may be, wlio can recall the information he communicated.
Nor do we care to do it. We aU know this, that he had the art of
making us happy and active, by touching the springs of the best part
of our nature ; that he helped us to know ourselves ; that he aided us
to form or strengthen our holiest purposes ; that he led us to feel more
deeply, avail ourselves of coUegiate advantages more industriously,
watch against our peculiar perils more vigilantly, and implore the grace
of the Divine Spirit, to prepare i;s for our responsible work, more
fervently and importunately.

Two prominent characteristics there were, however, which marked
Mr James's influence upon the students, and which demand special
mention. There was a rare discernment of character. With a marvel-
lous intuition did he see the peculiar weakness, or perU, of every one
of us. If there were any whose subsequent course justified his fear of
the absence of Christian enlightenment, it was clear that no gifts nor
scholarship could find for them a way into that innermost centre of his
affections, in which he had the peculiar faculty of making men feel
they had a place. He was the last man in the world ^ith whom
hypocrisy could feel at home. We were all sensible that he knew us
almost better than we knew ourselves. This gave him singular power
over us. We felt he had taken the trouble to imderstand us. Men
who would not have borne an iudiscrimiuating censor, jdelded full
response to his counsels. The showy and superficial were stimulated
to dig deeper. The scholarly became anxious to make fidl proof of
their ministiy in winning sinners to Christ. The devout were impelled
to study harder, while they prayed none the less. It is a high thing
to say this. Interest in the collective body of an institution is not
always followed by careful thoughtfidness for its individual members.

The other characteristic I refer to was si/mpathy. Mr James was no
severe judge of a student's failings. The timid forgot that they were
in the presence of a man who had a world-wide reputation. We saw
no airs of importance in him. There often seemed a childhke and
most beautiful unconsciousness of his fame. He forgot himself in his
visitors. Out of scores of interviews, I can hardly bring to mind one
where he made mention of, much less paraded, the multitudinous duties
that lay upon him. He saw so clearly the snares of our student-Ufe,
he felt so solemnly the weighty responsibilities which were before us,
he entered so warmly into the high joys and rewards of our subsequent
luiiiistry, he was so manifestly anxious that we should reach the highest
point of eminence and usefulness, — that his intercourse -with us can be
expressed by no other term than that of a lively and unmistakeable
sympathy. And so was it to the end, as later students will testify.

884

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

During tlie latter years of liis life, I ever saw in Mm the same prompt
interest in others. While he talked of his years, perhaps too frequently,
because the reference would mislead a stranger, those who knew him
better regarded it as almost an apology on his part for the confidence
with which he gave advice. When the snows of age were upon him,
they chiUed not the responsive attention with which he entered into
the history of .your plans, fears, wishes, and hopes.

There were other modes whereby the pastor of Carr's Lane co-
operated with the three beloved and honoured tutors who at that
time presided over our studies. " It gradually became the custom of
Mr James," writes Professor Creak, M.A., of Airedale College, " to
join the tutors and students at the prayer-meeting held at the com-
mencement of each term of our studies. The addresses delivered on
these occasions were remarkable for the intense solicitude with which
he pressed upon us the solemnity of our work, and sought to transfuse
into our souls the earnest desire for usefulness so conspicuous in his
own prayers and labours. These were hallowed occasions when the
lessons of wisdom, enforced by our esteemed friend with the ardour of
a mind deeply imbued with apostolic singleness of aim, were accom-
panied by the devout breathings of our tutors, commending themselves
and the students afresh to the care of the Father, and the teaching of
His Spirit, to fit us for the service of Christ."

It was therefore this profound interest that the saintly and now
sainted man took in the coUege, this quiet, pervasive, and holy sway
that he so deliberately, and with such self-sacrifice, sought to exert
over us, and above all, these constant opportunities of contact we had
with him, that constituted the secret of his influence upon us. The
readers of this biography will have before them a complete view of the
character of him to whom I am permitted, on behalf of those who studied
with me, to raise this loving, though humble memorial. I will therefore
but advert to that one element of his character which gave him such
ascendancy over us. This was his uncompromising fidelity to his con-
victions. We saw, from our close communion with him, that while he
was never captivated with the merely popular, was never impetuous,
often extremely cautious, he gave himself unhesitatingly to that which
he believed to be the duty of the time : that when once he was convhiced
a course would tend to the welfare of humanity, and the advancement
of the cause of God, the conviction was immediately followed by
corresponding exertion. We easily traced an eminent devoutness in
Iiim to no transient or ephemeral emotion, but to this fidelity to him-
self and to God ; for we beheld in him one who most firmly beUeved
that power and efficiency could be sustained by Divine aids alone, and
who, therefore, amidst the most thronging businesses, was obviously,

COXXEXION WITH SPRING-HILL COLLEGE.

385

and continually, drawing aside to receive the influences that descended
upon his soul in the closest communion with God. We learnt as we
sat by his side how this uncompromising faithfulness to conscience led
him to deny himself of many an other\vise lawful enjoyment, lest his
ministerial usefulness should be impaired; and when with him in
society, we wonderingly saw how he would, impelled by the same
sense of duty to Christ, guide the conversation for a whole evening into
channels of high and profitable intercourse. Nor less instructive was
that astonishing industry which sprang from the same faithfulness to
personal conviction. It was evident that the hour of completion of
one work of usefulness was the starting-point for another, and that he
was ever seeking to interpret the mind of the Lord, and to arouse the
churches to the special work of the period. To this industry we knew
how largely it was owing that he was one of the most eloquent preach-
ers of the age ; how even his felicity in selecting the weightiest terms
was a habit formed by the most patient carefulness ; how he did every-
thing as perfectly as possible that touched the cause of God; how he
acquired a power of adaptation which could scarcely be surpassed, so
that in a small congregation at a mission chapel, or a large one that
represented the intelligence of the age — seated among a dozen anxious
souls in a class-room, or standing before the crowds of Exeter Hall
— he met the very requirement of the time; instructing, or enchain-
ing in breathless .silence, or charming by the singular approiiriateness
of what he uttered. And last, though not least, we were deeply as-
sured by the teaching of these never-to-be-forgotten hours that that
strenuous adherence to evangelical truth, which constituted the dis-
tinguishing feature of his preaching and writing, was the fruit of
I his fidehty to convictions of unusual depth and clearness. It is true
that departure from evangelical truth does not often spring from an
act of the understanding, deliberately substituting other truths, but
I from inadequate conviction — the mind having never reached, or hav-
ing lost, the habit of belicAing, reverent, and profound tlioughtfulness
on the revelations of the Word of God Pride of heart, however, and
shrinking from " the offence of the cross," may do serious violence to
the clearest convictions. But while we saw in our honoured father
I and friend a man whose heart was touched by the lost and perishing
I condition of the race, and who realised the tremendous and glorious
k meaning of the words sin and redemption, we learnt also how his
\ feeUngs imperiously moxilded his pulpit addresses, and that it was
4 because he was true to his apprehensions of the appalling dangers
i of sinners that he became so decided an advocate of evangeUcal ortho-
r doxy, and pointed men so urgently and successfully to flee for " refuge
* to lay hold upon the hope set before us."

2 B

386

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

I am tlius led to remark that, besides those more private methods
of personal influence upon the life of the students, which I have
spoken of, I should feel this sketch incomplete if it did not advert
to the benefit which we derived from his more public services. It
was our privilege to hear him as a preacher. We listened to those
addresses from him to the unconverted which, for heart-searching de-
scription, solemn remonstrance, and pleading persuasion, have been
rarely surpassed. We heard that voice of amazing compass and rich-
ness explaining the nature, and urging the invitations of the gospel,
until the music of the word salvation hovered over the congregation
like the lingering echoes of an angel's message. " As preached by him,"
writes an honoured friend, by whose side I often sat in Carr's Lane
Chapel, " the gospel was always and emphatically ' the ministry of re-
conciliation ; ' and the method of that reconciliation — the Holy One
who knew no sin made sin for us, that we might be made the right-
eousness of God in Him — was seldom by any hps more lucidly or
persuasively taught than by his. How admii-able, too, and to us
students how instructive, the manner in which he fulfilled the ministry
as designed for ' the perfecting of the saints, the edifying the body of
Christ.' If any Christian pastor ever shewed his people what maimer
of persons they ought to be in all holy conversation and godliness, and
did it in a way to enamour them of their caUing, as well as enhghten
them in the duties of it, he did ; did it in the spirit of that apostle
who says, 'Now we live if ye stand fast in the Lord,' and of that
other apostle who says, ' I have no greater joy than to hear that my
children walk in the truth.' " Ours also was the benefit of his example
as the industrious instructor of his congregation. The heart overflows
with treasured remembrances as the thought of his fuU, critical, experi-
mental, and tender expositions of the Divine Word comes over the
s[iirit. Alike to be loved and reverenced was the manner and the
teaching. How did we hsteu, with love to the instructor, to those
eloquent and consecutive sermons on the doctrine of Justification by
Faith ; or, on other Sabbath mornings, were enabled to look into the
glorious depths of St Paul's Epistles, and to reahse at once their eleva-
ting and practical tendency.

Month after month we saw him at the Lord's table, where, over
the symbols of the Kedcemer's dying love, his face seemed to shine
with the radiance of an unutterable gratitude, and where, mth a melt-
ing pathos, he dwelt on the unsearchable grace of God in Christ, and
the hopes of beUevers ; or, in the sacramental address that always fol-
lowed the communion, presented appeals with a view to the advance-
ment of the piety of the church, the most faithful, stimulating, and
soul-moving, I ever expect to listen to. And can we forget the in-

CONNEXION WITH SPEING-HUL COLLEGE. 387

fluence upon us of those monthly meetings of the church, which at
the time I am speaking of filled the body of the chapel, -nhere he
presided -with such consummate prudence ; addressed the candidates,
who were almost every month led in and grouped around him, with
such appropriate cautious and weighty admonitions; maintained an
oversight that secured unbroken peace without compromise ; and ruled
with such a wise dignity as to win a respect which had not a shade of
servility, and an unbounded confidence which never approached adula-
tion ? Happy were we as students enjoying the advantages of such a
pastorate, and sharing the benefit of such an example ! Ah, how much
wiser, holier, and more zealous, might the churches have expected us
to be !

It remains to be added, that Mr James's interest in us did not cease
with our removal from Birmingham. " "^Tiile of all men," says one,* from
whose letter I have before quoted, " he could well plead the pressure of
multifarious duties, I never found him reluctant or tardy to aid me
when I needed his counsel "WTien, at Sheffield, my wife and myseK
were weeping over the loss of our only child, I well recoUect how a sweet
letter from him lightened our gloom ; and often since have I been a
debtor to his sympathy." It is an astonishing fact, speaking volumes
for the largeness of his heart, and demanding the most grateful remem-
brance, that very few students ever left the college who did not share
to the verj' close of his life in similar expressions of affection. Perhaps
an additional testimony to his personal attentions to the welfare of one
may convey an evidence of his thoughtfulness for all : on this ground,
then, let me transcribe a leaf from my own experience. On completing
my studies he weighed carefully the claims of conflicting spheres, and
indicated the spot where the call was the most imperative ; he came
to give the charge at my ordination ; he kindly delayed a journey to
I preside at my marriage ; he travelled to Reading to preach the first
f sermon in the new sanctuary raised by my people for God's worship ;
1 he came afterwards to re-open the chapel, and to encourage me when
I I had sought in Leeds to build up the broken walls of Zion ; he wrote,
i when unable to be present at the centenary of that church, a long and
1 weighty letter for the occasion ; he sent me a letter of sympathy,
> I and afterwards knelt by me in prayer, when the hand of sickness
' was upon me, and sought sanctifying consolation for me in what he
tenderly termed those " Gethsemane walks." But, truly, I am only
one out of very many ministers who have gone forth from the college ;
I know that he loved other most excellent brethren quite as much,
and, no doubt, he followed them with practical expressions of an
interest and regard which went beyond those I have enumerated.
* The Kev. S. Clarkson of Salford.

388

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

I do not think, therefore, that mine is any partial eulogy ; I am
sure it is a most feeble and inadequate expression, on behalf of
my once fellow-students, of the love and gratitude we owe him. And
no tribute should be raised for such a purpose by any student of
a college that owed so much to his prayers, benefactions, and exertions,
every line of which is not written with the affectionate reverence of a
son for the most beloved and honoured of fathers.

I close with the words of my much-loved friend, the Kev. WiUiam
Thorp of Shrewsbury, from whose communication I have previously
made a quotation. " I will enumerate, as I can hastily recall them, the
principal elements of Mr James's influence upon myself. First among
these undoubtedly was his character. I never knew one in whom I
saw so much of the mind that was in Christ, so much of the beauty
and, I will add, grandeur of the Christ-like character, and saw it so
uniformly as in Mr James. If I have since felt any ardent longings
to possess it myself, I cannot forget that his example was one precious
means of their becoming what they have been. The individual traits
of excellence that I especially observed in him were — the realising sense
which his faith gave him of eternal things, his unrelapsing spiritual-
mindedness, his never-halting pursuit of the things which are before,
his studied avoidance of everytliing bordering on the selfish or the
mean, his sedulous practice of the things that are true and honest, just
and pure, lovely and of good report, his tenderness that was so ready
to weep with them that weep, his magnanimity that the sHmy trail of
envy never defiled, his charity that might have furnished the apostle
with his memorable description of this grace, his circumspection, his
prudence, his never-tiring industry, his intense zeal for the conversion
of the heathen, and his much more than negative, his intensely positive
catholicity of spirit towards all, of every name, who hold the Head, and

who keep the commandments of Jesus The immense debt we

owe him we can never repay, but our Master and his is now paying it
on our behalf."

LETTEES TO MINISTERS AND MISSIONARIES WHO HAD
BEEN STUDENTS AT SPRING-HILL.

TO REV. D. G. WATT.

" Edgbaston, Januwiy 21, 1842.
" My dear Friend and Brother, — Your two letters, one dated
July and the other September 1841, both came safely to hand, and
excited both my joy and gratitude on your account. I was gratified
not only to hear of your safe arrival at the important scene of your
future labours, and your health, but to perceive that your soul has lost

CONNEXION WITH SPRING-HILL COLLEGE,

389

none of its interest in your great -work, and I trust none of its devoted-
ness to your Divine Master. Perhaps before I come to the contents of
your epistles and to the circumstances of your station, I may for a few
moments advert to my own altered condition since we parted. My
beloved and estimable wife, as you had heard before your last com-
munication was sent oflF, after a lingering illness of more than two
years, has left me to be once more a solitary pilgrim on the road to
immortality. Her affliction gave an opportunity for a bright display
of rich grace in the manifestation of aU the passive virtues of the
Christian character. Never did grace, or at least rarely, shine more
respleudently than in her. There was the sweetest tranquillity and
Uvehest hope, resting on the solid basis of firm faith, and maintained
through many months till mortality was swallowed up in Hfe. I wish
I knew how to convey to you a copy of the memorial of her that has
been published since her death. As regards my.self, I have been
hitherto mercifully and surprisingly sustained; and although I deeply
feel, and ever shall, the irreparable loss I have sustained, and expect to
go mourning all my days, yet I am not cast down, for the Lord is the
lifter up of my head.

" I now enter upon a consideration of the contents of your letters.
I am glad you gave up many preconceived ideas of the best mode of
conducting yourself in minor matters, and left time and observation
to form habits. Yon act wisely in being slow to draw conclusions.
Many things which appear at first sight questionable, if not absolutely
wrong, will present a different aspect after longer observation and
closer inspection. A new-comer should defer much to the opinions
of men who have been some years on the spot, in whose general judg-
ment and sincere piety he has confidence. I am glad to perceive you
think well of your colleagues. We have had a good opportunity of
knowing Mr Buyers, and have formed a high opinion of his good sense
and strong, masculine understanding. He is a clear-headed man, and
I should judge of good and amiable temper. I am glad he is one of
the httle band with whom you are associated in that vast metropolis of
Satan's Eastern empire where you are placed. I have no need to
admonish you to cultivate the best understanding with your com-
panions, because your temper is kno\vn to be nuld and accommodating.
Be ambitious for the place of Christian distinction, and that is the
lowest seat and the servant of all. How have our missions been
hindered by the quarrels and di-visions of our missionaries ! Satan's
grand aim is to sow the seeds of discord between the labourers, and
thus stop the work. "What you see deficient in piety among any of
them at any time endeavour to supply rather by the force of a modest,
humble example, and by your own habitual spkit, than by reproof and

390

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

admonition, except in flagrant cases, and even then do all in love. As
to the modes of operation for carrying on the work, and the compara-
tive advantages of preaching and education, there needs be and ought
to be no comparison instituted between them. Both are parts of one
great system, both are sanctified by Scripture, and both are adapted to
the heathen among whom you labour. I was glad to hear Mr Buyers,
both pubhcly and privately, labours to do away with an erroneous
impression which his book is supposed to have produced. He strenu-
ously advocated the importance of schools, and made it evident that he
was an advocate for this mode of communicating truth, but not to the
neglect of preaching. My own opinion, however, is that our Society
has been in danger, if they have not actually faUen into it, of attaching
too little importance to education. I would certainly lay out still
more money in this department of action. The desire of the Hindoos
to obtain education as such, and especially English education, ought to
be laid hold of with eagerness to train them up m useful knowledge,
and, as far as can be, in the knowledge of Christianity. The athe-
istic system of the Government schools on the subject of religion is
wicked in point of religion, and foolish as a matter of policy. I am
quite desirous, therefore, to cherish in your mind a strong prepossession
in favour of education. It is an adage of universal application, to
Hindoos as weU as to Englishmen or Scotchmen, ' Train up a child in
the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.'
My own opinion also goes to another point, which is, that it is better
to educate a few thoroughly, than many only in a haK manner. Even
those children of the lower classes which you obtain, if thoroughly
taught, especially in the principles of Christianity, may carry out much
light into the mass among whom they ^viU one day move.

" I quite agree with you that it would be well to have one of our
missionaries devoted especially to the work of superintending the for-
mation of schools, and superintending them, provided we could spare
money enough to form a number of schools sufficient to occupy his
time. Such a man would have a sphere of usefulness as wide and as
important as any that could be allotted to him. It should be also his
department to foster the talent and piety of any of the more promising
boys, and thus prepare them for acting as future preachers of the gos-
pel I think there are two great objects ever to be kept in. view by
our missionaries, and these are, to make our missions as soon as pos-
sible self-supporting, and self -propagating. It is neither accordant with
Scripture nor reason to suppose that the cause is ever to be dependent
on agents and resources from Christian countries. How slow at this
rate must be the spread of the gospel in the world ! Already the ma-
chine is in danger of stopping for want of money. Hence all who are

fOXXEXIOX WITH SPEIXG-HILL COLLEGE.

391

in the field slioiild look out for some ears of corn of native growth,
which shall become seed for the country where they grew. Well may
you look round on the immensity of the field and the paucity of the
labourers with a feeling of dismay and despondency. But what is to
be done 1 The directors are abeady exceeding their income, and the
churches seem to have arrived at their maximum of subscriptions. Oh
for more prayer, faith, and deadness to the world ! Christians must re-
turn to simpler habits.

" The times at home are fearfully bad. Distress increasing on every
hand, and men's hearts failing them for fear. How our religious insti-
tutions are to be supported it is difficult to say.

" At Spring-HiU things are going on pretty weU. Thompson, your
countrjTnan, wiU prove a clever man. He is now supplj-ing Nile Street,
Glasgow, where, it is probable, I think, he will have an invitation to

settle. 's health bas failed, and he has given up the ministry for

trade. I do not think he would have succeeded as a preacher, and
perhaps he was of the same opinion. Coles goes on thoroughly weU.
He will make an excellent missionary. I wish they would send him
to Benares, but I suppose he must go to Madras. But I will try hard
to send you Fairbrother, who answers so well to his name. He is a
lovely fellow. Griffith's destination is altered from Africa to the
South Seas. Two of Micaiah Hill's sons were received upon probation
last Tuesday as missionaries. They appear to be two verj- excellent
young men. Mr East, as you know, has obtained a co-pastor, a Mr
Kaven, from Hadleigh, in Suffolk, a truly devoted, pious, and excellent
man, who, I am persuaded, will do much good.

" At Carr's Lane we go on much as usual. God, I trust, is with us,
and giving testimony to the word of His grace — but not, that I am
aware of, in any extraordinary manner. Dr Wardlaw, you probably
know, intends soon to resign his pastoral charge.

"I had forgotten to caution you against over-exertion, especially
during the heat of the day. It is the opinion of some, that not a few
of our missionaries have injured themselves by want of caution in this
<E respect. Idleness is one extreme, but rash exertion is another.

" I was sorry to read your reiterated request for a copy of the charge
I delivered at your ordination, because I do not know where to find it.
When I meet vdth it I will copy it, and send it by some conveyance to
you. And now, may God, in His rich mercy, bless you. May our
divine Lord so replenish you with His divine benediction, as to qualify
you for, and help and bless you in, your momentous undertaking. — I
remain, yoiu- sincere friend and brother in Christ,

" J. A. Jajies.

" Kind regards to your co-workers."

392

LIFE OF JOHN AKGELL JAMES.

TO THE EEV. J. COLES, BELLARY,
ON THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE.

" Edgbaston, September i, 1850.
" My dear and much-afflicted Friend and Brother, — I have
been mucli distressed by the sad intelligence of your heavy and incal-
culable loss. God has indeed laid His hand upon you in this pauiful
bereavement, and I cannot allow you to mourn unpitied and without
this expression of my deep sympathy with you. I knew the excellence
of your wife, and how truly and tenderly you loved her, and I can
therefore in some measure estimate the weight of your sorrows. And
then, having drunk twice of the same bitter cup, I can enter by experi-
ence into your case. Still your lot is more sorro%vf ul than mine was in
consequence of your being in a strange land, and having three little
children left upon your hands. Dark, dark indeed is the cloud which
has thrown its shadow upon your path and your prospects. StOl you
can say —

" ' I through the cloud believe Thy grace,
Secure of Thy compassion still ! '

" Yes, my good brother, there is grace behind the cloud, and -wdsdom
too, though veiled in mystery. Now, more than ever, is the time for.
faith and confidence. Trust in Hrm now, when you have little else to
trust in. The cistern is broken — the water is spilled — but there, full
in your view, amidst the broken fragments, is the glorious and infinite
fountain ; there is God with aU His attributes — Christ with all His
offices — the Spirit with all His influences — the Bible with all its pro-
mises— and heaven with all its glories. In mercies lost forget not
mercies left. Surely, surely you wiU not allow yourself to think that
all is gone, though so much is taken. Your dear wife is removed to
heaven — you are following her — and, till you meet, will be still God's
honoured servant. You are still upheld, and will be, I hope, in Chris-
tian integrity, and better lose a wife, and all your children — and
your own life too — than your character. Don't puzzle yourseK about
the mystery of the event. It is God that has done it, who never does'
a foolish or an unkind action. You may not see the reason, but it is
God's doing, and there is all reason in that, and with this assurance
may be as well satisfied as though you saw ten thousand reasons. I
hope you will not give yourself up to indulge and nourish grief. Sub-
mission and occupation will be the best balm for your wounded spirit.
Christ's service vnR be your best cordial.

" Don't let weeping prevent sowing ; and then, sowing in tears, you
will reap in joy. Need I say that you are now placed in new circum-
stances, and are surrounded by new temptations. May God watch

CONNEXIOX WITH SPBIXG-HILL COLLEGE. SOS

over you, and preserve you ! Many are the trials of a young widower :
watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. When I came
into your circumstances, I constantly and earnestly prayed to be kept
not only from sin, but from foUy, and through much grace I was pre-
served from both. Your three babes will in due time need that you
should provide them with a second mother. May you be wisely
directed ; but be cautious, for their sakes as well as your own. Your
circumstances in India will perhaps require this sooner than would be
necessary or decorous in this land, and provided you make a prudent
choice, all considerate persons will not only justify you, but commend.
We have been deeply interested, and since the intelligence of Mrs
Cole's death arrived, aflfected, by the beautifid picture and very touching
historj' of the orphan twins. We shaU take care of them. May my
little namesiike, to whom I beg my fatherly love, be a good boy — a
holy man — a useful minister. And now, my dear brother, farewell till
I write again. God comfort, sanctify, and bless you, and if this dark
dispensation make you through grace a better missionary than ever,
your glorified wife, you her bereaved husband, and her sorrow-stricken
mother, will stiU have cause to rejoice and bless God. Poor Mrs
M'Turk ! oh, how I feel for her ; but she bears it wonderfully, though
sometimes her heart seems broken. My kind regards to Mr and Mrs
Wardlaw. — Your most sympathising friend,

'•' J. A. jAitES.

'■ Be thankful that your dear wife ascended in such glory to glory.
What a blissful departure, hardly like d}ing !"

TO THE EET. AV. GUEST, LEEDS.

" Edgbastox, April 30, 1855.
" My dear Mr Guest, — It was with great reluctance I decHned the
offer held out to me to be present at the approaching solemnities of
your centenary services; for if I could have added little to their
beneficial effect, I certainly could have derived much benefit from
their operation on my own mind. I am more and more deeply con-
vinced of the importance of availing ourselves of some suitable occasion
for that kind of fraternal intercourse among the ministers of the gospel,
which is hkely to rouse each other's minds to the great ends of our
vocation, and to stimulate them to a greater zeal in accomplishing
them. I am sorrowfully impressed with the fear that the work of
genuine conversion goes on but slowly among us at present, and it
becomes us aU most anxiously and inquisitively to search for the cause.
Do we bring forward with sufficient prominence, simplicity, and earnest-
ness, the great themes of redemption and regeneration, which are God'a

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

own appointed means for the renovation of the heart and the salvation
of the soul ? I have been lately looking into that incomparable bio-
graphy, the ' Life of Doddridge,' by Orton, and was much impressed
with the following passage. ' He saw,' says his biographer, ' and
lamented the sad deviation of many ministers from what he thought
important truths of the gospel ; insisting upon them much less than
they should have done, or in such a manner as if they were making
concessions to an adversary rather than opening their hearts to their
hearers on a favourite topic. He saw persons refining upon a plain
gospel till it was almost evaporated and lost.' ' I hope,' said he in a
sermon before an assembly of ministers, ' we shall never practise so
dangerous a complaisance to unbelievers of the present age as to wave
the gospel that we may accommodate ourselves to their taste ; which,
if we do, we may indeed preserve the name of virtue, but I fear we
shall destroy the thing itself, — lose it in our congregations, and pro-
bably in our own hearts ; for I confess it seems to me much more
probable that the doctrines of natural religion alone should be blessed
as the means of reformi:ig the heathen who never heard of eternity,
than they should have much effect upon those who under the profession
of it slight its most glorious peculiarities, as if the religion of Jesus
were a mere encumbrance, which while we own it to be true, we might
nevertheless forget without great danger or inconvenience. Indeed,
the gospel is a great thing, or it is nothing. I am more and more
convinced of the need of keeping to the good old evangelical and
experimental way of preaching, and look upon most of the new-fashioned
divinity, of which some persons of different extremes are so fond, as a
kind of quackery which bodes iU to the health of the soul and of the
church in general.' How applicable these remarks of the saintly and
scholarly Doddridge are to the present time I need not point out. Oh
what a revival in our ministry might be looked for if all its members
would but agree to read devoutly through within the next six months
the life of this great and good man, — his sermon on the ' Guilt and
Danger of Neglecting Souls,' — and Baxter's ' Keformed Pastor !' We
all need rousing up to a solemn consideration of the object of the
Christian mmistry, and as solemn a review of the manner in which we
are seeking to accomplish it. Never were there so many and such
powerful influences counteracting the efforts of our labours, and never
was there needed more power in the preacher, and more earnest prayer
for the Spirit of God. We live in extraordinary times, and neither
ordinary men nor ordinary efforts wUl do now.

" May God be in the midst of you at your approaching meeting, and
leave you in no doubt whether the cloud of His glory resteth upon you.
May a new baptism of the Spirit be granted to all assembled, that

CONNEXIOJT WITH SPEING-HILL COLLEGE.

395

you may enter with renewed ardour and more entire self-consecration
upon your work. May it be the honour of Leeds to begin a revival
of religion in our churches. It must begin somewhere, and why not
there 1 and at some time, why not now 1 We want more of the Spirit
of Carey's immortal admonition, ' Expect great things, attempt great
things.' I shaU think of you and pray for you, and shall be happy to
catch a reflection of your light, and a radiation of your heat. If you
think it worth while to remember me to the brethren, give my fraternal
love to them, and say how I honour the men who are caiTying out
the designs for which the Son of God expired upon Calvary, and how
intensely I long for their success in bringing sinners to Him for
salvation. — With kind regards to Mrs Guest, believe me affectionately
yours,

" J. A. Jajies."

TO THE EEV. W. GtTEST, LEEDS.

" Edgbaston, Novemher 28, 3855,

" My dear Sir, — I am really much concerned to hear from you so
indifferent an account of your health, and intended to have told you
80 before this ; but I really am so pestered with correspondence that I
am often gvulty of putting by letters 'and forgetting them which far
more deserve attention than many I am compelled to answer.

" You have evidently overtaxed your strength, and have been rather
a spendthrift of your energies. Don't you often feel what a clog this
poor materialism of ours is to the ethereal .spirit which animates it ?

" Well, we shall be delivered by and by from the burden of the flesh
and serve God without let or hindrance. Yes — but we shall not con-
vert souls to God in heaven ; this noble work is to be done on earth,
and makes one long to remain on earth to do it.

" Your account of things at Leeds is as regards your congregation
very delightful. Now you must rest, Y^our strength at present is, to
sit stiU. In qidetness and confidence you Mill be established. You
are now to stop preaching for a while to preach still better when you
preach again. But do not be in haste to begin. ' Festina lente.'

" I suppose Mr Barker sent you our regulations for the admission of
students. I wish both your young friends were coming to us. But I
conclude this is too late now for us to hope this. We are anxious to
liave a tolerably good number for our new coUege next year.

" I am much as usual, tolerable in health, but suffer inconvenience
from my constitutional complaint. Not many conversions in the
• nunistry of either Mr Dale or myself. Oh, how we need the shower !
May it come ! Kind regards to Mrs Guest. — Yours very truly,

" J. A. James."

CHAPTER II.

THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.

There was no subject nearer to Mr James's heart, none with
which his name is more closely identified, than that of Christian
Union. His endeavours to remove the estrangement and mutual
suspicions of Christian brethren professing different creeds, and
adhering to different forms of ecclesiastical government, were not
suggested merely by his judgment and conscience, but by the
strong impulses of his kindly and generous nature. The firmest
attachment to his own theological opinions and denominational
principles was associated with a cordial admiration of upright
and honourable Christian men belonging to all evangelical com-
munities. " He loved the universal Church better than any part
of it." As might have been expected, he has detailed at consider-
able length in his Autobiography, his connexion with the forma-
tion of the EvangeUcal Alliance. But, before he arrived at this
important chapter, he was becoming weary of writing ; and I am
glad that, in addition to information derived from other sources,
I am able to supplement and illustrate Mr James's narrative, by
extracts from a letter kindly furnished me by Dr King of Glasgow,
with whom he had frequent conference in the early days of the
Alliance, and for whom it was his habit to express the warmest
affection and esteem.

The autobiographical chapter on the Alliance commences thus: —

THE EVA:N'GELICAL ALLIAN'CE.

397

No thoughtful Christian cau be otherwise than afficted by the Autobio-
multiplied sects, divisions, strifes, and controversies of Christen- ^^'"'^^
dom. Strange and mournful it is that the prayer of our Lord for
the visible unity of His people should not yet have been answered
in any tolerable measure. I do not think that professing Chris-
tians are sufficiently impressed and afflicted by this state of things.
They are not only reconciled to it, but often compare it to the
varied colours of the rainbow, adding, by variety, to the beauty
of the Church. This is a fatal mistake. It is disfigurement, not
loveliness, that is much to be deplored, and we ought to do aU we
can to remove it. All cannot be right. There must be much error
afloat in these diversities. I have often reflected upon these things.
One morning, at my private devotions, I was much led out in
prayer on this subject, and a suggestion came forcibly to my mind
to do something to aft'ect a union of Christians in some visible
bond. I rose from my knees and sketched out a rough draft of a
schenjp of union. The May meeting of the Congregational Union
soon followed. At that meeting I called the attention of the bre-
thren present to the subject before thom. Indeed, this was my
chief object in going to the meeting.

It was at the Annual Assembly of the Congregational Union, EJitc ml.
held in London in May 1S42, and in seconding a resolution of
fraternal welcome -to Christian brethren from Berlin, Canada, Van
Diemen's Land, Scotland, and \Yales, who were present in the
Assembly, that Mr James developed his scheme. He said, —

" Though pressed for time, I cannot sit do%vn without disburdening
my heart on a subject which has induced me to leave the privacy from
which I rarely emerge, and perhaps shall emerge more rarely stdL It
is this, — the Union has done much, but it may do more, in my opinion,
notwithstanding the diA-ided and distracted state of the Protestant
Evangelical body. There is, in spite of the bigotry, prejudice, virulence,
and hostility which is manifested in every direction, an under-current
flowing, a yearning for more extensive union. Who could listen to the
short paragraph from the letter of Dr Chalmers without feeUng that
tiiere was there manifested a desire for union ] And is it not in the
power of this Union to bring about, by God's blessing, a Prctestant

398

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Evangelical Union of tlie whole body of Christ's faithful followers, who
have, at any rate, adopted the Voluntary principle 1 In my judgment,
the time is come when such a union may be attempted ; and I know
of no body that could attempt it with more rational hopes of success
than that which is now assembled. Is it not the reproach of Chris-
tianity, of Protestantism, and of our own body in connexion vnth. other
sections of the Christian Church, that we are so divided, that there is
no recognition of one another as Christian brethren 1 It appears to
me that we have it in our power to raise up a defence against Infidelity,
Popery, Puseyism, and Plymouth-brethrenism, by bringing about a
union of all Protestant bodies of Christians holding the Voluntary
principle. How many are there who would unite, if for nothing else,
upon the basis of a simple mutual recognition ! How many are there
who would rejoice to acknowledge others holding great leading senti-
ments, and to be acknowledged by them as brethren in Jesus Christ !
Let the imagination only dwell upon the scene presented by a meeting
in Exeter Hall, where certain great principles of Protestant and Evan-
gelical reUgion should be acknowledged as the basis of union, aU who
held those principles recognising each other as brethren. Let six
ministers of different denominations address that meeting, each follow-
ing his address with a prayer. Let the members of various churches
be invited to attend such a meeting ; and let us exhibit it to the world
as the Union of the Protestant Evangelical bodies of Christians. It
would have a power which nothing that had as yet been presented to
the world had ever exerted upon the public mind. We should strengthen
ourselves and strengthen each other. The work must begin somewhere.
Why should it not begin here 1 What materials are there for the for-
mation of such a union 1 Think of our body in England, Scotland,
Ireland, and Wales, the Baptist body. Lady Huntingdon's Connexion,
the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion — think of the north of the Tweed,
the Secession Church, — shall I speak prophetically and prospectively?
— the Voluntaries that are to be, if not aheady Voluntaries to a certain
extent, and who, I know, are not unprepared to unite upon such prin-
ciples as these, if such a union could be brought about. In Ireland
you would find the Synod of Ulster, or, at least, many members of it,
prepared to unite with you. Think how glorious would be the spectacle
of such a union, how great the honour conferred upon any body who
should bring about such a convocation ! I do not despair of the time
coming round when Dr Chalmers himself will again visit this metro-
polis, not to employ his mighty eloquence against the Voluntary prin-
ciple, but to vindicate that which he once laboured to depreciate. Let
us only carry out the principle of a great Protestant Union ; and we
may yet have representatives from aU bodies of Protestant Christians

THE EVANGELICAL ALLIA^XE.

399

to be found -nitliin the circle of our own United Empire. I do seriously
refer it to the consideration of the brethren of the committee, whether
such a convocation be practicable — rlesirable we must all admit it to
be — whether it be practicable ; and I do submit that at our meeting
at Liverpool in the ensuing autumn it shoidd be a subject of grave and
serious consideration."

After the meeting, Dr Leifchild came to Mr James, and begged
him to follow up his proposal, and lay it before the public. Adopt-
ing this hint, Mr James wrote the following letter, addressed to
the secretaries of the Congregational Union, and had it inserted in
the Congregational Magazine for July 1842 : —

"PROPOSAL FOR A GENERAL PROTESTANT UNION.

" TO THE SECRETAEIES OF THE COXGEEGATIONAL UNION.

"Deae Bretheen, — You will probably recollect, that, in the few
remarks I made at the late meetuig of our body, I gave utterance to
an opinion that it was both desii'able and practicable, to form an asso-
ciation, bearing the title which stands at the head of this paper, and
for purposes which shaU be stated in its contents ; and that it is in the
power, and would be for the honour of your Committee to attempt it.
Owing to the press of business, and the shortness of time, I had no
opportunity then to explain and enforce my \dews ; and I therefore
now avail myself of the columns of our denominational organ of com-
munication, to make you and your readers better acquainted -with the
object of my wishes.

" It is unnecessary to dwell at any length on the present divided, and
perhaps, I may add, distracted and alienated condition of the great
Protestant body ; which in fact may be rather represented as a collec-
tion of disjecta meinhra, than as a hody ; and this remark applies "nith
truth to the various communities which have separated from the two
national Establishments, in their relation to each other, as well as in
their relation to the churches from which they have alike conscien-
tiously seceded. Holding in common, both as Christians and as
Protestants, all fundamental doctrines, how little intercourse or visible
communion do they hold with each other ? Nay, is there at the present
moment any mutual, public, palpable recognition of each other, as
brethren in Christ,' and as members one of another? Is not each
section shut up -nithin itself, and separated from aU others, almost as
entirely as so many isolated and independent, though, perhaps, friendly
States, each ■with its local government, but the whole ■without any con-
federation for defence against common foes? Thus neglecting and

400

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

forgetting our Lord's prayer for the unity of His Cliurcli ; allowing
tlie spirit of sectarianism, with its attendant evils, to go on growing
unchecked ; rejecting a means of strengthening the whole ; and
furnishing to the foes around a vantage-gi'ound for assailing all. It
would be needless to dilate on the sagacity of our common enemies, in
perceiving this our weak point, or on their skill in avaihng themselves
of it, in strengthening themselves, and attacking us. InhdeLs, Papists,
Puseyitcs, and last, though in some respects not least, the Plymouth
Brethren, assail us -with, the charge of sectarianism. We are insultingly
taunted with the sneer of 'a house divided against itself,' and tlie
asseveration that we are so unlike and so hostile, such bigots for
division, so infected with jealousy and the odium theologicum, that we
cannot unite ; and have carried our Protestantism so far, as not only to
abjure the notion of unity, but even the wish for it. ' The Brethren '
are busy and successful in plying against us the assertion, that we have
aU of us lost both ' the outward and visible sign of brotherhood and
the inward and spiritual grace,' though they are themselves as sectarian
a body, without its name, as any in existence.

" How desirable, then, at aU times, and especially now, the project
of doing something for wiping out this stain and rolling away this
reproach, and proving by some public demonstration, that we are, if
not perfectly of one mind, yet of one heart ; and that though we
inhabit sepai-ate dwellings, each being regulated by its own independent
and uncontrolled domestic economy, we form one municipal corpora-
tion, and live in all the confidence and kind offices of good neighbour-
hood. What an argument would it snatch from our quadruple foes, if
we could be seen by the world united by any legitimate bond, if it
went, and possibly it could yet go no further, than to acknowledge our
members as brethren, and our pastors as ministers of Christ, who
recognise and love each other for the truth's sake that dwelleth in us 1
Is it not 230ssible to exhibit in beautiful reahty a union founded on the
aphorism of Father Paul, which has been so often repeated on plat-
forms to grace a sj^eech at a Bible meeting, and so seldom remembered
afterwards 1 — ' In things essential, unity ; in things indifferent, Hberty,
and in all things charity.'

" Of course, whatever union is brought about, it must be without
compromise. We cannot enter into any fellowship with persons of
other sentiments, by sacrificing our own. The wisdom that cometh
from above is ' first pure, then peaceable.' And notwithstanding the
present divided state of the Protestant Evangelical body, and the
apparent tact and taste for separation, is there no yearning after union 1
No voices sounding abroad over our separate camps the inquiry, * Why
cannot we be one?' No Noahs sending forth the dove over the

THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.

401

troubled waters to search for the olive branch 1 Are not the Christian
elements in many, very many bosoms, rising into the ascendant above
those of a sectarian nature 1 Are there not some upon the watch-tower
in silent meditation, and holy observation, looking out upon the dark
and stormy horizon to see from what quarter the signs of light and
peace ■v^all shew themselves 1 I am sure there are many.

" To such, my honoured brethren, I submit through you, the follow-
ing scheme for consideration and discussion : —

" NAME— PROTESTANT EVANGELICAL UNION.
" PUEPOSE AND OBJECT OF THE UNION.

" If at present it could proceed no further, the mutual recognition
as brethren in Christ of all who agree to the principles hereafter stated ;
and as ministers of Christ, all godly men, who hold and preach these
principles, by whatever forms of ordination they may have been intro-
duced to their office.

" principles of union to be the BASIS of such recognition.
" 1. General and Protestant Principles —

"The inspii-ation of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New
Testament.

" The Holy Scriptures are the sole and sufiScient ride of faith in
matters of religion, whether relating to doctrine, morals, or
worship.

" The indefeasible right, and incumbent duty, of every man to
read the Scriptures, and to judge of their meaning, to the ex-
clusion of all authoritative, traditional interpretation whatever.
" 2. Theological Principles —

" The Trinity of co-equal persons in the Godhead.

" The atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ by His sacrificial death.

" The doctrine of salvation by grace.

" The justification of the sinner by faith alone.

" The indispensable necessity of regeneration by the work of the
Holy Spirit.

" form of recognition.
"We acknowledge, as true Christians, and as our brethren in the
Lord, all who beheve and profess the foregoing principles, however in
other matters they may diS"er, and without at the same time expressing
our approval of other sentiments, either theological or ecclesiastical,
with which these principles may be associated in the case of those that
profess them.

" We also acknowledge as true and valid ministers of Christ, those

402

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAIMES.

wlio are partakers of apostolic spirit, and are the preachers of apostolic
doctrine, by whatever form of ecclesiastical order they may have been
introduced into their office.

" We acknowledge it to be equally our duty and our privilege to
love as brethren all who are thus united, and all others not united,
who agree in the fundamental doctrines of Divine truth ; and while
we conscientiously adhere to om- distinctive denominational principles,
and shall not cease to maintain, defend, and propagate them, we will
endeavour no less conscientiously, to check the spirit of sectarianism,
and to promote the diffusion of a spirit of charity.

" EXHIBITION AND OPERATION OF THE UNION.
" At present, httle or nothing can be done in the way of action, and •
perhaps nothing more than public recognition. For this purpose, let a
biennial or triennial meeting be held at Exeter HaU, none to be
admitted but accredited members of churches ; the meeting to be of
a devotional character, four or six ministers of different denominations
to deliver an address of a given length, on some subject bearing upon
the occasion, and to present a short prayer; and for the sake of
enlivening the meeting, let there be a hymn or two sung.

"parties to be ADMITTED TO THE UNION.

" Any that can agree to the basis laid down. The following may be
expected : — the whole body of Congregationalists in England, Scotland,
Wales, and Ireland — the Baptists — Lady Huntingdon's Connexion —
the Calvinistic Methodists — the United Secession Churches in Scotland
and England — the Moravians — perhaps the Synod of Ulster; and
should a new secession take place from the Church of Scotland, these
also would probably join. Gladly should I see the Wesleyan body in
such a union, and the pious clergy of the Churches of England and
Scotland.

"general OBSERVATIONS.

" Such, my brethren, is the scheme which I have formed in my own
mind, as an object of my heart's desire. Be it that it is only a vision
destined to expire in the imagination in which it was conceived ; it is at i
any rate an innocent, and to myself, a lovely one. I feel a gratification
in having proposed it. I should have been unfaithful to my own con-
victions, and have repressed the yearnings of my heart and the moni-
tions of my conscience, if I had not laid the project before you and the
pubUc, even as I have laid it before God. Could it be accomphshed,
how would it silence the sneers of infidelity, neutraUse the arguments
of Papists, refute the objections of the Plpnouth Brethren, and strengthen
and consolidate us all against the arrogant assumptions of the Puseyites.

TUE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.

403

And -while it would be a defence to us against our foes, wliat a benefi-
cial influence would it exert upon ourselves. Witbout weakening our
attachment to truth, it would promote in us the spirit of love, and thus
prepare us to come eventually to a closer agreement on those points
which now separate us. Conceive what an impression M oidd be pro-
duced upon the public mind, by such a scene as Exeter HaU would
present in tliis holy fellowship of brethren — the long lost wonder of a
united Church would be restored, the echoes of the a-"<nent exclamation
woidd be awakened, and thousands of voices would again be heard to
s;iy, ' See how these Christians love one another !' What a rebuke
and refutation, I repeat, would it give to the proud isolation of Pusey-
ism. The public, when they saw this arrogant and mahgnant spirit
retiruig -inthin the schools of Oxford, to adopt the ceremonial, and im-
bibe the intolerance and maledictory exclusiveness of its Roman master,
would place in striking and beautiful contrast with it, the brightening
and extending charity of other denominations, and in seeing them all
come forth to such a noble fellowship of love, would be at no loss to
determine who were in possession of the true catholicity.

" And who can tell, if the scheme should be commenced, when and
where it would stop, or what the last circle of the -widening undulation
woidd touch or embrace ? Might it not be hoped, or is it calculating
too largely upon the charity of the present age, and anticipating too
speedily the glories of the coming ones, to expect that Christians of
other countries, to earth's remotest bounds, would solicit to be admitted
into ' the holy league 1 ' Shall Papists have a bond of union that
crosses mountains, oceans, and continents,' and which, def jing all bar-
riers of nation, custom, language, and climate, comprehends within its
mighty circumference the inhabitants of the poles and the equator, and
Protestants make no effort to set up a recognition which shall do the same 1

" ^Mlo shaU make the trial ? Who will contend for the honour of
sending abroad the sound of union, and the in\'itation to unite, over
the discordant elements of the Protestant body ] I propose it to i/ou,
my beloved brethren, to commence this work of faith, this labour of
love ; and may you not only enter upon it, but go through it with the
patience of hope. You are the secretaries of a committee and of a body
that delight to honour you ; whose confidence and affectionate esteem
you largely possess ; and without wishing or intending any invidious
comparison, you have one scribe among you whose heart is so richly
ii'iliiied vdth. the spirit of love, whose mind is so skiKul in all its in-
ns and honourable de\'ices, and Avithal, his pen so conversant vdih

iiiLUifluous vocabulary, that it seems as if he were given us for the
purpose of canjing on the blessed work of union in this divided world,
and almost equally divided Church.

404

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

" Confer, then, my brethren, upon the scheme, or any other and bet-
ter one of a similar kind, for I am zealous only about the general prin-
ciple, not about the details. It it be practicable, accomplish it : and if
not, and we must stiU give up the hope of seeing the bow of many
colours upon the cloud, and of hearing the still small voice succeeding
the storm, let us at any rate pray that a wiser, holier, and happier age
than our own may soon arrive, when what is impossible to us shall be
possible to others, and the prayer of our Lord be answered, ' Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which believe on me through
their word, that they all may be one, as thou. Father, art in me, and I
in thee, that they also may be one in us : that the world may believe
that thou hast sent me.' — I remain, dear brethren, your friend and bro-
ther,

" J. A. James.

"Edgbaston, May 31, 1842."

Of this letter he had a number of copies struck off, and addressed
them to the principal ministers of the various evangelical deno-
minations, not excepting the evangelical clergy of the Church of
England.

The letter attracted general attention, and received many replies,
approving generally of the plan. At the adjourned meeting of the
Congregational Union, held in Liverpool in the autumn of the
same year, the Rev. W. Bevan moved —

" That this assembly would thoughtfully call to mind the %Aill of the
Lord Jesus, that His Church should be one, so solemnly expressed in
His intercessory prayer for His flock; and the tendency of the true
Christian spirit to unite believers in love, notwithstanding differences
in sentiment or practice on subordinate points. The meeting would be
humbled and afflicted before God, that so little of this fraternal and
uniting spirit is at the present time apparent among even real Chris-
tians, but that, on the contrary, bitterness, alienation, and strife, have
been greatly increased by recent controversies and changes. Yet this
meeting would express the conviction that more of the true Christian
spirit exists than appears, and great pleasure that the subject of union
among evangehcal Protestants has been of late pubUcly discussed ; and
the meeting would recommend this deeply-interesting subject to the
consideration and prayers of all the churches and pastors of this Union,
affectionately advising them to promote, with the utmost cordiaUty and
vigour, any practicable proposal for harmonising and uniting move-
ments among Protestant evangehcal Christians of all denominations."

THE EVAKGELICAL ALLIAKCE.

405

In support of tliis resolution, Mr James made a speecli of some
length, of which the following extract contains the most important
passage : —

" In the first place, I would state that the project which has been
laid by myself before the public through the medium of the secretaries
of the union, is not my own. My esteemed friend, Mr Fletcher, had
the thought in his mind before it came to me. I take no credit to
myself, either for desiiing union, or for sagacity in discerning the best
means to promote it. Should it be, however, through my humble
instrumentality any progress should be made towards an object, the
consummation of which we all so devoutly wish, I shall be thankful to
God, and I am quite sure my brethren around me will be equally
thankfuL It does occur to me as somewhat strildng that our body,
which has been represented, reviled, and held up to pubhc obloquy as
the most schismatical of schismatics, should be the first pubhcly to hold
forth the olive-branch of peace, and to stretch out to the whole Chris-
tian world the hand of fraternisation ; and it is somewhat striking too,
that from the very meeting at which we are assembled primarily for
the promotion of our own distinctive and denominational principles,
there should go forth a scheme for a general union of Protestant bodies
of Christians. Here is a plain demonstration, not merely to ourselves,
we do not need it, but to the world, that Independency does not neces-
sarily contain in it the germ of all that is discordant and dissevering,
that it does not separate us from the whole body of Chiistians, and
draw us into our particular section of the Church, there to work by
ourselves, and against all others. So that it appears to me, that if
anything practicable could be adopted by this meeting, it would have a
blessed efi'ect even as regards the character of the denomination to
which we belong. Now, sir, in the drawing up of the scheme which
has been referred to, I was guided by one or two principles. First,
there must be no compromise. We cannot for the sake of union and
I peace sacrifice truth. The basis, whatever it be, on which we unite,
[ must be strictly evangelical. No union of Protestants can be founded
i on any other basis.

" In the next place, it struck me, that if we aimed at anything, it
I must be, not what we desired, but what we are most likely to secure,
I and that by attempting too much we should fail in everything. I
I agree with my friend Dr Fletcher, that at present we can hope for
i nothing but a demonstration of union, which in fact does already
I exist, though it is not sufficiently apparent. I want union to come up
► from beneath that load (shall I call it ?) of prejudice, or ignorance, or
whatever it be that keeps us from each other; I want the world to see

406

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

tliat there is a tie wMcli binds us together. I go further than Mr
Massie. It is not enough that there should be simultaneous prayer for
the outpouring of the Spirit upon the Church and upon the world.
"We want sometliing that the world should be able to take up, and to
look at, something which should induce it to exclaim, ' See how these
Christians love one another !' This can only be secured, I tliink, in
some such manner as that which I have proposed. What it may lead
to, it is impossible at this present moment to conjecture. Let us first
acknowledge each other as brethren, then let us act together as brethren ;
but till the acknowledgment be made that we are one in aU the funda-
mentals of Christianity, we shall not be prepared to act together.
Action must follow recognition. I go for no society. There have
been Protestant unions of aU kinds, which have done very little good,
either to Protestantism, or that which is of stiU greater consequence,
to evangelical religion. Therefore I go for no subscription, no society,
but simply for a demonstration. That, I suppose, we are aU prepared
to make, and I am quite sure that the effect of making it woidd be
exceedingly beneficial. Perhaps it would be interesting to aU present
to know what have been the impressions which that letter has pro-
duced, and what the feeHngs which it has called forth. First, let me
speak of Ireland. I received a letter from a minister connected ^^ith
the Synod of Ulster, haiUng the scheme with deUght, and sa}dng in
effect, ' We are prepared in the Synod of Ulster to uphold the scheme,
and go with you.' In Belfast there is a newspaper pubhshed called
The Banner of Ulster. In that paper the scheme was pubhshed at
full length, and it was accompanied by a long and able comment from
the pen of our brother, Mr Godkin. He has also addressed a letter to
the Congregational Magazine, suggesting a plan of union. In addi-
tion to that a letter has been addressed to myself personally by another
esteemed member of the Sjoiod of Ulster, also haiUng the scheme.
This morning, since I have been in this room, I have received a letter
from another gentleman in that country, expressive of similar senti-
ments. This shews the state of mind, at least of the Presbyterian
body, in Ireland in relation to this question. From Scotland I have
received a letter from a member of the Secession Church, hailing the
scheme ; and the writer expresses his conviction that that body would
gladly join any movement for the demonstration of opinion. From
Wales I have received a letter from a gentleman connected with the
Calvinistic Methodists, urging me to go down to the meeting of their
Association, and assuring me that that body would co-operate in the
proposed union. I have also received many letters from members
of my own denomination, approving the scheme. Now, sir, I have
nothing farther to say upon the subject. The scheme is in the letter;

THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.

407

it is simple, as it strikes me, practicable, and I am sure if it could be
accomplished the most blessed effects would result from it. The
movement must originate somewhere. Shall it not originate with the
body among whom the thought was first cherished ? Somebody must
begin in every good work. I would recommend that our friends the
secretaries should correspond with other religious bodies upon the
subject, that we may not appear to claim all the merits of the proposal
for ourselves. Might there not be a conference of the representatives
of different rehgious bodies in Loudon for the purpose of forwarding
the object? My proposal does not extend merely to the mind of
individuals, but to the mind of bodies; and my first object would be
to induce public bodies to declare their adhesion to the scheme. I do
not, of course, expect that the Church of England as a body, whatever
may be the feehngs of many of its members, wiU look with a friendly
eye upon the movement; but with the exception of the Church of
England, I think nearly aU the great bodies of Christians will heartUy
co-operate. I really believe that the Methodist Societies wiU be in-
duced to come into the scheme. In a conversation which I had not
long since with an excellent Methodist brother, he expressed his regret
that the scheme had not been proposed earHer, in order that it might
have been brought before the meeting of Conference. Under all the
circumstances I think the scheme is accomplished, and if canied to a
conclusion, I feel certain tliat it will be beneficial, not only to us as a
denomination, but to the whole of the Protestant body, preparing it for
that wliich its prospects and hopes require."

He subsequently moved, —

"That in order to carry the foregoing resolution into effect, this
meeting urgently recommends the Committee of the Union without
delay to correspond with various religious bodies and churches in the
United Kingdom and elsewhere, in order to ascertain their views of
the desirableness and practicability of obtaining a general, united
manifestation of attachment to the general principles of Protestantism.''

To return to the Autobiography.

On the first day of the year 1843, Dr Leifcbild convened aAutobio-
meeting for Christian union in Craven Chapel, at which four^'^^'^'^'^^
addresses were delivered, and prayer presented, by ministers of
various denominations. This meeting was characterised by the
most cordial feelings of the true brotlierhood of Christ, and it was
evident that the subject of union had taken hold of many Chris-
tian hearts.

408

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autoi)io- Hitherto, the subject of my proposal had continued iu the hauds
oi.ip in-a . ^j^^ secretaries of the Congregational Union. Early in the year
1843, they called a meeting of Christians of various denominations
in the Centenary Hall of the Wesleyan Body, where they for-
mally resigned the subject to a committee then appointed, which,
in furtherance of its commission, convened a public meeting in
Exeter Hall, in June following. Never before, or since, was such
an assemblage convened in that building. Refusing to take the
responsibility of soliciting or denyuig applications, tickets were
granted to aU who requested them, and eleven thousand were dis-
tributed. The crowd was so great that people's clothes were iu
many cases torn from their backs. On this occasion, the speakers
were — Drs Alder (Wesleyan), Cox (Baptist), Harris (Independent),
Messrs James (Independent), Hamilton (Presbyterian), Noel (Epis-
copalian), Isaac Taylor (Episcopalian). This was a great meeting,
but, after all, it was not a business meeting. " It stood forth,"
says Dr King, "as a mighty fact, a majestic rock, but equally
isolated as imposing, and forming no part of a mountain chain."
Resolutions, approving of Christian union, were passed, but no
organism was formed, no plan for further action submitted. Here
it seemed as if the scheme would stop with this magnificent
demonstration of Christian recognition. Just about this time, a
meeting was held in Edinburgh, on July 1843, to celebrate the
bicentenary of the Westminister Assembly.

Editorial. In reference to this meeting, Dr King writes,* —

"The immediate object of the commemoration was calculated to
associate only Presbyterians. It was attended, however, by evangelical
Christians of various denominations, who were attracted to it by a
natural curiosity to witness the large though sectional demonstration ;
or who, differing from the Westminster divines on subordinate points,
agreed with them in essential doctrines, and venerating their memory,
were desirous to give honour to whom honour was due. Happily
nothing occurred to wound the feeUngs of such parties — to incense the
members of any Christian communion. A delightful harmony charac-
terised aU the meetings. Becoming sentiments of respect were ex-
pressed for Puritans of the seventeenth century not Presbyterians, as

* In his letter to the Editor.

TtlE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.

409

well as for CongregationaUst churches of oui- own day. Even the
eulogies which were passed on Presbyterian church-government were
temperate, breathing a candid catholic spirit, and tending to heal rather
than aggravate divisions. The animus manifested has evident and
important relations to union ; and how pleasing to mark such an im-
proved temper in our times, to note the unmistakable progress of
Christian charity.

" The late Professor Balmer was one of the speakers at the bicen-
tenary meeting. He had not been engaged to deliver any address, but
being present, was urged and induced to make some observations. The
topics belonging to the occasion were not new to him ; all questions
bearing on spiritual and ecclesiastical concord he had long and earnestly
pondered, and he delighted his audience with valuable thoughts from
the rich stores of his reading and reflection, clothed in graceful though
extemporaneous language, and breathing enlightened benevolence with
ardent piety.

" Dr Balmer, no doubt, regarded this incidental service as imiiu-
portant, and anticipated from it no great results. But ministers never
know when the seed sown shall produce fruit, nor where the harvest
shall be most abundant. The esteemed Professor was hstened to with
much interest by the audience generally. Some expository remarks
which he made on Phil, iii 15, 16, particularly impressed one of his
hearers, John Henderson, Esq. of Park, as presenting the duty and
benefits of Christian union in a most striking and persuasive light.
Yet it was not the exposition, hut the passage expounded which pro-
duced the effect ; and however eloquent any appeals may be they are
not likely to be greatly useful further than they are scriptural, and the
just account of their success is, that ' the word of the Lord has free
course, and is glorified.' To the impression so made on Mr Hender-
son's mind the AlUance dates its origin. He not only proceeded at
once to take steps for the promotion of union, which resulted in the
AlUance, but he has tendered to the cause ever since the aid of his
felicitous discretion, practical efficiency, and munificent generosity,
without which the most sagacious plans and the most fervent oratory
might have perished with their utterance. It gratifies me that I have
cause to speak of Mr Henderson in a contribution regarding Mr James,
because they were most attached friends and fellow-workers ; and
nothing drew out more their friendship and fellowship than the joint
promotion of the visible and cordial unity of the Church.

" Mr Henderson puqjosed, in the first instance, to ofler a prize for
the best essay on Christian union, having the passage in Philippians for
its text or motto. The time requisite, however, for writing and after-
wards examining the competing essays must have occasioned undesir-

410

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

able delay. A single successful essayist also, with whatever abihty ho
might write, could not alone exemplify the union which he inculcated.
I suggested to Mr Henderson that he might apply to ministers of
different denominations to produce the desired publication jointly. By
exeouting this work in concert they would so far cany into effect what
they proposed, and would happily exemplify the union of which they
expounded the nature and obligations. This suggestion was adopted.
In 1845 were published in one volume, ' The Essays on Christian
Union,' by eight authors, of whom only two survive — the rest, -with
the publisher, are fallen asleep. Dr Chalmers, when solicited to furnish
one of the essays, said to me, ' This is a praiseworthy scheme ; Mr
Henderson is highly to be commended for his generous endeavours to
promote harmony among us. At the same time, the question as re-
spects your particular denomination and ours should not be one of
co-operation but of incorporation. There is sin in our separation, — I
say there is sin in our separation. I cannot suppose Paul to be here
and to approve of our disseverance. The differences between us are so
many straws, and I would consider it an honour ' (emphatically suiting
his action to the sentiment) ' to gather them up and cast them into the fire.'

" Mr James of Bii-mingham was among the first mentioned as one
of the most desirable writers to be secured for the contemplated pubh-
cation. His name was a household word throughout Christian society.
It had become thus widely known and beloved by his excellent trea-
tises, all teaching the doctrine and imbued with the spirit of ' the
common salvation.' What he wrote he lived. In all his personal
bearing and social intercourse he magnified his office, — reflecting its
greatness and its goodness in his deportment, loving aU who loved his
Master, beaming benevolence around him, and amid all incitements to
contention striving to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Such a man, wherever he walks, treads down bigotry and intolerance
His simple presence in society is an antidote to its feuds. He cheers
good wherever he finds it, making all philanthropists feel that he is
one of them ; and no party spirit in a rival sect can be so extreme as
not to look with deference on such a minister and on the ecclesiastical
association honoured with such ministers.

" Besides, Mr James had taken active measures to advance the peace
of Jerusalem. He had originated a proposal for a Union of EvangeHcal
Protestants, to advance Protestant objects, as well as for mutual recog-
nition. He had submitted his scheme to his brethren at the metro-
politan meeting of the Congregational Union in 1842, and also pub-
lished a letter in the Congregational Magazine, which was afterwards
sent in the form of a circular to leading ministers of various evangehcal
denominations. These are a sample of Mr James's active efforts to

THE E\' ANGELICAL ALLIANCE.

411

promote union ; and I might easily shew, if space permitted, that
though they had not caused any formal and permanent organisation to
be framed, they were yet greatly influential, and led to numerous and
valuable residts.

" His well-known modesty induced a conviction that if he were
asked in writing to prepare an essay he would very probably decline ;
and having once committed himself to refusal, might be less easily
persuaded to comply. By the advice of Mr Henderson, I therefore
went south to urge on him this service, and to deliberate with him on
the general subject in aU its phases. Long he pleaded excuse and
A\ithstood entreaty, naming dozens of ministers whom lie pronounced
more competent than himself for the duty in question. At last, how-
ever, he yielded to importunity and gave his consent. His essay is
admirable in itself, and proved more important than any of the rest in
respect to its issues. There was appended to it a proposition trans-
mitted by the Eev. Dr Patton of New York, ' to call a convention of
delegates from all evangelical churches to meet in London for the pur-
pose of setting forth the great essential truths in which they were
agreed.'

" Mr Henderson was very solicitous that this idea should not fall to
the ground, the more so that it met with extensive favour and eUcited
many expressions of desire to see it carried into efifect. But how was
it to be realised ? How was it to receive shape and be set in motion 1
' Who was to be the world's convener,' I have said elsewhere, ' and
take upon MmseK the consequences and responsibilities of associating
in this cause the ends of the earth? The object shone before the
friends of union like the sun and mo,on : but like these great lights, it
appeared from want of a pathway to be lamentably inaccessible.' " *

" This volume," -writes Mr James in his Autobiography, " of
course, kept the subject before the public mind. Scotland was
much moved by it, and the Congregational Union, at its autumnal
meeting at Leeds in October 184i3, passed resolutions, f moved by

* Historical Sketch of the Evangelical Alliance, p. 13.

f " 1. That the meeting recognises with gi-eat joy, in the meeting for Christian
Union held in Exeter Hall, on the first of June last, and in those held in Edin-
burgh in July last, for celebrating the Bicentenary of the Meeting of the West-
minster Assembly of Divines, as now reported, renewed proofs of the essential
unity of the evangelical churches of the Protestant Reformation ; as well as of an
evidently growing disposition among the various denominations to cultivate the
h«nnony and co-operation so urgently required for maintaining the great Protesfc-
uat cause in these remarkable times.

" 2. That this meeting hopes to see the cause, thus auspiciously commenced,
carried forward on a wider range, and to more practical results ; and the meeting

412

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

me, still more warmly approving the principles of Christian miion,
and expressing a desire for a representative meeting of delegates
from all parts of the world."

The difficulty, however, as Dr King's letter has stated, was to
determine by whom the great convention should be called. Dr
King proceeds to say, —

" In pondering the subject, I came to the conclusion that a prelimi-
nary conference on a smaller scale was indispensable, and that a smaller
meeting must prepare for the greater. This impression I communi-
cated to Mr James. He agreed with it ; but represented that the state
of parties in England did not allow them to take the initiative, and
therefore the first move must be made in Scotland. I then suggested
that the invitation might issue from Scotland, but be addressed to
brethren in England, and might point to some English provincial town
as the place of rendezvous. After much and varied consultation, in
which distinguished men of various rehgious bodies in Scotland took
an earnest part, this plan was adopted, and Liverpool was selected as
the scene of our assembUng. Having proposed the letter of invitation,
I was appointed to write it ; and after it had obtained the sanction of
Scottish friends and of Mr James and others in England, it was pub-
lished with a goodly list of signatures, and distributed generally over
the kingdom.

" Scarcely had this manifesto appeared when serious difficulties arose
and many objections were started. Not a few hinted that obstructions
were insurmountable, and that the enterprise must be abandoned.
Some on their way to Liverpool stopped short in the journey, and
returned home. On the very eve of the meeting in the Music Hall
all was uncertainty and speculation as to the number who would
attend, the course they would adopt, and the temper and efi'ect of their
dehberations. Anticipations incbned mostly to the side of terror. I
remember well how apprehensive Mr James was, and with what tremu-
lous emotion he depicted the danger of widening the breaches we were
seeking to close. Fears fled before facts. The conference began with
cordial salutations, and ended with exulting joy. And no one who
was there can forget the manifested dehght of such men as Mr James,

feels a full persuasion that the churches and pastors of the Congregational Union
of England and Wales will be prepared to sustain and assist in a general conven-
tion of delegates from evangelical churches in various parts of the world, for
united counsel and action in defence of the essential truths and principles com-
mon to them all, whenever Providence may prepare the way for so important a
movement, or in any other less extended movements of a similar character and
design."

THE EVANGELICAL ALLIAJKCE.

413

over the attainment of long-cherislied aspirations, — friend hailing friend
in evangelical jubUee, and proving in its richest terrestrial fruition the
Imniry of love ! "

Mr James's own remembrances of the Liverpool Conference
were not less happy. He says : —

Never had there been such a meeting in the history of Christi- Autobio-
anity. For the first time since the Church had been divided into sra^piiicai.
sects, did these sects agree to rise above, without abandoning, their
peculiarities, and recognise each other by the one original name
of the disciples of the Saviour, and merge all designations in that
of Christian. Two hundred ministers and laymen came together
from all parts of England, and Scotland, and Ireland, and some
from the mountains of Wales. We knew not what we were to do,
but we went with the desire of union in our hearts. I recollect
that in the railway carriage in which I travelled to Liverpool were
five other brethren, who, with myself, started the question, " What
are we going to do ? " None of us could answer the inquiry. Per-
haps to wi-angle over our Shibboleths and Sibboleths, and place
ourselves wider apart by the very attempt to come together. Per-
haps to demonstrate that God is able to do above all we can ask,
or even think. As we met, the first thing was to pray. As the
acknowledged originator and proposer of the scheme of union in
England, I was most unexpectedly called to occupy the chair, and
preside over the meeting. I endeavoured, but in vain, to excuse
myself, as I was totally unprepared with any address. I opened
the meeting with a few sentences to the following effect : —

" Beloved and honoured Brethren, — Called most unexpectedly
to myself to occupy a situation of which I am utterly unworthy, and to
which I am no less unequal, I cast myself upon your candour to bear with
my feebleness in the discharge of its sacred and momentous duties. It
is impossible for me to forget the responsibilities I have incurred in
consenting to take the chair on this occasion. In every chorus of
human voices, the harmony depends upon the key-note being rightly
struck ; that note I am now appointed to give — and it is love. The
concord of the meetings which we have in prospect, and of which this
is the introductory one, can be maintained only by remembering the

414

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

apostolic injunction, ' forbearing one another in love.' Composed as the
meeting is of brethren of so many branches of the Christian Church,
and therefore differing from each other in so many minor points,
and assembled to consider how far it is practicable to devise any
scheme of union that shall comprehend us all, we shall do right in first
approaching together the throne of Him who is Ught and love to invoke
in prayer His own blessed Spirit upon us. Union in prayer prepares
for union in everything else that is holy and good, and we never
approach so near to each other as when we draw near together to the
common centre of our union. A new scene in the history of the Chris-
tian Church now presents itself to us ; may we have grace so to con-
duct ourselves in passing through it as to raise the ancient admiration
from those who shall hear of our proceedings : ' See how these Chris-
tians love one another ! ' "

Autobio- These few brief remarks, through God's grace, had their appro-
giaphical. pj,jg^j.g gQ-ggi; Tears sunk, hopes rose before the magic power of
that one word " Love." We felt as if we were one, and as if we
were now prepared to shew our oneness to the world. The sub-
sequent meetings were of the most thrilling and of the most in-
tense interest. It seemed as if the reign of truth, love, and peace
were really begun. We seemed reminded of the day of Pentecost,
for though we saw no tongues of fire on each other's heads, our
countenances were irradiated with a smile that looked like a re-
flection of the light of God's own countenance. What strains of
fervent charity flowed from every lip that spake, and were meant
by those that sat in silence. All hearts were fused by a celestial
fire into a commingled stream of holy love. There was no arti-
ficial rhetoric ; all that was said was the eloquence of sacred feel-
ing. There was one scene which those who witnessed it can never
forget, no, not in heaven. The difficult and delicate question came
up, " On what basis of doctrine shall we found our imion ? " Just
think of nearly twenty different denominations asking such a
question. We all felt a transient doubt, a momentary trepida-
tion. We felt we had now reached what might prove a rock on
which we should split. Is it possible, we asked, we can agree
upon any basis ? Can we draw up articles of union and peace
without any compromise of individual opinion ? The trial was
made. A large sub-committee was appointed to sit and draw up

THE EVA^'GELICAL ALLIANCE.

415

the creed and confession of the Alliance — a designation which, Autobio-
after much discussion, had been agreed upon for the association. ^^^'"'^'''^
They were to sit in the afternoon, and bring up their report in
the evening. "We met, we feared, we prayed. Difficulties were
found in the way of satisfying all parties. Doctrines were first
to be decided upon, — ^what, how many, or how few ; their termi-
nology, or the very words in which these doctrines should be
expressed. We saw the time going on, and we could not produce
on aU points consentaneousness of opinion. Anxious fears took
possession of many hearts. "We had come within a quarter of an
hour of the time when we were to meet the general committee,
and we were not yet agreed. The time had expired, and the
larger body were in convocation waiting anxiously for our report.
Silent prayers from every heart went up doubtless to God for the
Spirit of Avisdom and revelation. "Within the next quarter of an
hour these prayers were answered — the coveted harmony of minds
was produced — all agreed — all was satisfied, and the doctrinal
basis was adopted, which was to be presented to the general body.
A feeling of wonder, love, and gratitude filled every heart. They
returned to the general body, which was anxiously waiting, and
somewhat fearing. An awful silence pervaded the assembly while
the report of the sub-committee was read. It was declared that
the sub-committee had been imanimous in their judgment of the
articles and expressions then submitted. Still the basis had to
pass the ordeal of examination and adoption by the whole assembly.
Discussion commenced, but did not last long. There was no dis-
position to captiousness. There were no hair-splitting divines
whom no tenninology could sati-sfy but that which is supplied
from their own theology.

The question that the report brought up by the sub-committee
' "uld be adopted as the basis of the Alliance, was carried unani-
u>ly. A burst of rapturous feeling followed which it is impos-
>ii>le to describe. Some clapped their hands, some shouted, some
I'uvst into tears, all seemed enraptured. "Why this gush of emo-
tion ? It had been predicted that men of nearly twenty denomi-
nations could never agree on a doctrinal basis ; it was impossible ;

416

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio^ they could meet only to quarrel. This prophecy was now falsified.

giap cd . accomplished fact now that they could agree, that union

without compromise was not only a possibility, but a reality.

Thus, with some other meetings and matters, terminated the
meeting at Liverpool, at which the Alliance was formed. We re-
turned to our homes, exclaiming, "What has God wrought!"
Other meetings were subsequently held in Birmingham in 1 846,
and subsequently in Manchester, and other places, when, at length,
it was proposed to hold a great assembly in London, at Avhich
delegates should be present from all parts of the world favourable
to the cause. For hitherto it had been rather an English Alliance
than a general one of the Christian world. A correspondence had
been opened with the brethren in the United States, who approved
of the scheme, and promised to attend a general meeting in Lon-
don. This was accordingly held in London, in August 1846, in
Freemasons' Hall. Never had there been such an assembly con-
vened before.

" There," says Dr Massie, in his History of the Alliance, " were
the associations of the Reformed and Lutheran Churches of the
continent of Europe, of cities and countries most distinguished
in history, and honoured for their ecclesiastical annals in their
religious celebrity, The mountains of Switzerland, the valleys of
France, the plains of Germany, sent forth their choicest heralds";
Nismes, Lyons, Montauban, Paris, Berlin, Frankfort, Basle, Geneva,
Lausanne, Halle, Erfurt, Wurtemberg, and Leipzic, were represented
by their honoured sons and faithful leaders. The Rhine and the
Elbe, the Danube, the Saone, and the Seine, poured in as tribu-
taries, with the Hudson and the St Lawrence, the Ohio and Mis-
sissippi, with African and Asiatic streams, to swell the confluent
well of consecrated affection and wisdom. From these, and other
localities far apart and secluded, did the thousand members of the
Conference travel ; some of them five thousand miles, and many of
them through difficulties, and dangers, and privations calculated to
try the constancy of love and the strength of faith. There, in that
conference, were the Tholucks and the Monods, the Buxtons and
the Bairds, the Buntings and the Beaumonts, the Buchanans and

THE EY-VXGELICAL ALLIAJN'CE.

417

the Cuiiuingliams, the Noels and the Bickersteths, the Cummings Autobio-
and the M'Leods, the leaders and heads of the people, whether ^p^"^'
their tribes or of their hundreds, and all seemed united in fervent
and devout expectation that God would bless them, and make them
a blessing, and that from this day forth He would bless the whole
house of Israel At that conference the meetings were surpass-
ingly interesting. In different rooms the praises of God were
sung in English, German, and French, and tended to remind us of
the day of Pentecost, when every one heard in his own tongue the
wonderful works of God. The harmony, however, was a little dis-
turbed by the difficulties which arose with our American brethren
on the subject of slavery — difficidties which were never finally
overcome, and which proved fatal to the cause of the Alliance in
the United States. The plan of a general aUiance was then
adopted, on the basis agreed to at Liverpool.

Such was the commencement of the Evangelical AUiance, and
these were its palmy days. What might not have been looked for
from such a beginning ? Alas, alas ! that the fond hopes and
bright visions thus raised, shoidd be doomed to disappointment !
Its first days were its best. It seems to have come too soon. The
Christian Church was not prepared for it. Sectarianism on the
one side, and ecclesiastical bigotry on the other, were, and stiU are,
too rife for its extensive success. Its seed, like that of the king-
dom, fell among thorns — the thorns of religious controversy. It
found favour neither with Churchmen nor Dissenters, and from
that time to the present has been continually losing ground. It
committed two faults at fii-st. It aimed to take the public mind
by a C02ip de main, instead of by more progressive steps. It
began with a blaze instead of a spark. Had a few like-minded
men first met, and consulted, and prayed, and worked together
quietly and secretly, ti-usting to God and the goodness of their
cause, and commending it to others by its operations and its fruits,
it woidd, perhaps, have succeeded better. Too much publicity
was given to it at once. The plant should have been nurtured in
the shade, before it was exposed to the full blaze and ardonr of
the noontide sun of publicity. Then it was far too expensive in
2d

418

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JA5IES.

Autobio- its procedure. It was reckless of expense in the way of printing

graphical.

and other matters. And it began on too refined a principle of ac-
tion. The cry was, " We do not want to become a society. We
unite for union's sake." This was too ethereal, too sublimated.
It was called a Do-nothing Society. Before its formation, whQe
the correspondence was going on with Scotland, I entreated our
friends there to take up the continent of Europe as its object, — to
seek the diffusion of evangelical principles, both among Papists
and Rationalists there. I brought forward the same proposal after
it was formed — but it was disregarded. At length, however, in
one way or other, the continent is its chief object, especially in its
attempts to gain for it the precious boon of religious liberty. ^

Editorial. This chapter cannot be better closed than with the following
sentences from Dr King's letter : —

" Mr James's interest in the alliance was consistently sustained. He
rejoiced to attend its meetings as long as he was able ; and effectually
contributed, by his advice in private and his eloquence in pubhc, to its
permanence and prosperity.

" And now he is gone — gone, and yet not gone — dead, yet speaking.
He Uves, and will live in his influence. As it has extended from land
to land, so will it from age to age ; and children's children will respond
to his exhortations in deeds of beneficence and songs of salvation. May
he live in our zealous imitation, as well as loving remembrance of his
excellences ; and following him in faith and patience to the inheritance
of the promises, may we meet at last where Christian union is per-
fected, and all distinctions are merged in a glorious Church, not having
spot or wrinkle, or any such thing ! "

LETTERS ON THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.

TO THE REV. DR PATTON.

" Edgbaston, June 27, 1 843.
" My dear Brother Patton, — In your letter of 28th March you
say I am in your debt at least two letters; surely this must be a
mistake. I am confident that I have written to you, whether my
epistle has reached you or not. Your piece of music has come to hand,
but I have not yet heard it played, and therefore cannot give any
opinion of its merit. Anything that can meet, rebuke, and bring into
ridicule or contempt the arrogance of Prelacy is entitled to pubUc

THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.

419

countenance, provided it be a legitimate mode of warfare, and there is
nothing unlawful in music, and therefore I am very willing to tune and
to turn all the pianofortes in existence against this proud and domi-
neering spirit. I am not at all surprised at the alarm, or at any rate
anxiety, which the present efforts of Romanism and Puseyism are
making in your coimtry. It is not only Protestantism but Republican-
ism that is threatened by these twin systems of mischief. I do not
think your constitution would or could remain unchanged if Popery or
Prelacy in any form were to gain the ascendancy. The genius of a
democracy does not suit the priestly domination of Rome or Oxford ;
and all your senators ought to be alive to this, and all your people too.
Still it is not by the Orange mobs of PMladelpMa that Popery can be
arrested. Such outrageous violence as was manifested in that city
rather helps than hinders the cause of the ' man of sin,' by turning
pubhc sj-mpathy towards the cause. Your proposal of a Protestant
convention came to hand just at the right time. You are aware of the
movements that have been made in this country for bringing about a
visible union among all evangelical Protestants, which originated in a
paper I pubhshed in our Congregational Magazine. The subject has
been taken up m Scotland by the different bodies, or rather I should
say by a few of the ministers of the different bodies — Drs Chalmers,
Candlish, Wardlaw, and some others, who, at the suggestion and ex-
pense of a wealthy individual, are about to publish a volume of essays,
each taking a branch of the subject, and sending it out in his own
name. I have written one of the essays, and shall print a long extract
of your letter in the form of an appended note to my piece ; thus I
shall make your proposal known through the length and breadth of the
United Kingdoms, and bring it for consideration fully and fairly before
the public. The subject is not quite new; one of our most able and in-
fluential ministers and myself have talked it over, and, indeed, I think he
regretted that we had not tried the scheme rather than the meeting we
held at Exeter Hall. It would entail so much expense, time, and labour,
that it becomes us to inquire well and calmly into the probable results,
and consider whether these would afford an adequate compensation.

" It cannot be questioned that Popery and Pusejdsm are advancing
in all parts of the world. Systems that we thought had grown old and
effete, are renewing their youth; controversies that we supposed had
been settled, are reviving with all the fierceness of polemical war ; and
elements of mischief which we imagined were extinct have burst into
a flame, and are threatening a conflagration. We need not be panic-
stricken, but we ought to be serious and on the alert. The absurdities
that are coming forth from the Puseyite writers are astounding ; and
we are ready to ask, Is this reaUy Britain in the nineteenth century of

420

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

the Christian era 1 There is a singular conflict of events ; the disrup-
tion of the Scotch Church presents a singular contrast in the north
with the state of tilings in the south. But God reigiieth.

" Our body has been made a Little anxious by the rising up in some
quarters of a tendency to what is known I believe with you by the
designation of self-conversioiiism. I think Finney's books have done
a little harm in this country, and I regret I ever gave a recommenda-
tion to his lectures, though what I wrote was as much in the strain of
caution as of commendation. The sentiment here that has given
uneasiness is a virtual denial of the Spirit's work in conversion. The
Spirit is in the mind, not with it. God brings the sinner under the
power of the word, and then the truth converts him ; and there is no
other influence exerted by the Spirit upon the mind of the converted
man than upon that of the unconverted one. Dr "VVardlaw and the
Committee of the Scotch Congregational College expelled eleven
students lately for this heresy. America gets the blame of this, and
by participation we. I who have recommended American theology
come in for a share. I do not think it has spread very -widely here,
but it is usually connected with revivalism, which makes it seductive
and mischievous.

" I wish much to be informed about a Mr Elihu Barritt of Worcester,
near Boston, your wonderful blacksmith, whose learnmg is prodigious.
I received from him the most extraordinary letter I almost ever read,
both in thought and diction. I have sent it to one of our periodicals,
and the perusal of it has excited great astonishment in many minds.
Please to tell me all about him. I know he is learned, and can read
fifty languages ; but is he esteemed among you 1 and what is he doing
in the way of serving God and man 1 I know also he is an Abolitionist,
for his letter is chiefly on slavery. I have lately seen an interesting
American, who is the master of your Deaf and Dumb Asylum, brother
of Theodore Weld, one of your most vigorous writers. And we have
had also in Birmingham, and are to have here again, a Mr Lord, nephew
of tlie Presidout of Dartmouth College, Iccturmg on the IMiddle Ages
— a clevcrish man, but though a minister, much more adapted for a
lecturer than a preacher. Do you know him? He is, I think, from
Boston — a very liberal and philosopJdcal man, but upon the whole,
sound. Your friend from Canada, I think it was, by whom you in-
tended to send the numbers of the BiUical Repository, left them behind
So I am still wanting them. Did I tell you how it was the ' Congre-
gational Lectures ' came to you opened and cut 1 I sent them by Mr
Lewis Tappan, who said he sliould like to read them. I wiU send you
Dr Bedford's, and also the new forthcoming series by Dr Halley, when
an opportunity presents itself. Baird's book on America is very well

THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.

421

■written, and is very -well received in this country. And now mny our
common Lord bless you and yours. Eemember me to your son. I am
glad lie is likely to make a useful minister of Jesus Christ."

TO THE REV. DR PATTON.

" Edgbaston, January 27, 1844.

" My dear Friend and Brother, — I send you herewith

the last volume of ' Congregational Lectures,' which you will find an
able, scholarlike, and theological discussion of the interminably contro-
verted subject of baptism, by Dr Halley of Manchestci". I believe
there is one volume yet wanting in your set — you told me what it was
in one of your letters, and if I do not forget, it was Dr Eedford's, but
I will wait for a confirmation of my recollection before I send it ofl^
I now allude to another volume which accompanies this, in which you
will feel, and have a right to feel, a stiU deeper interest, — I mean a
volume of Essays on Christian Union, of which I have already given
you previous notice. The work is attracting attention in this country
and Scotland, and ^viLl make its subject matter of reflection and dis-
cussion. Chalmers and Candlish, the two great leaders in the Disrup-
tion of the Scottish Establishment, have not, in their share of the
volume, done justice either to their subject or themselves. But your
eye and heart will be on your own part of the volume. I am happy
to say the idea is attracting attention, as you will see by the extract
from the Free Church Magazine which I send. I have within a day
or two received a letter from Dr King of Glasgow, the author of one of
the Essays, and the manager of the whole affair, who speaks Avith great
delight of the proposal, and is most anxious to know what steps can be
taken to carry out the project. All idea of a meeting in the present
year must be abandoned. So grand a scheme cannot be precipitated.
Men must look at it much, and often — must ponder it deeply, and
talk of it with one another, and see their way clearly before they will
move. It must be deposited Uke leaven in the public mind, and be
allowed time to ferment and permeate the mass. Hasty attempts to
accomplish such a plan will be sure to be abortive. I hope it will be
taken up by the periodicals on both sides of the Atlantic, and become
matter of conversation in the private circles of our ministers. "When-
ever it shall assume a practical shape and bearing, great care must be
taken in selecting the basis of union. It must be wide cnougli to
embrace aU evangelical Protestants. Popery in all its shapes and
modifications must be the object of our antagonism — not Prelacy. If
we take up the latter, we cannot carry Episcopalians with us. Not,
indeed, that I expect any disposition on their part, or at least the bulk
of them, to confederate. Nor will Protestantism alone, uuassociated

422

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

with evangelical sentiments, do ; this is too broad, as it -nill include
the Socinians of America and England, and the Rationahsts of Ger-
many. It is true, genuine, primitive Protestantism would exclude
them, but not modern Protestantism. I think the basis more easily
defined than the object. I feel at a loss for something practical A
convention that shaE be only declaratory is hardly sufiicient j we want
something organised — permanent — aggressive, and yet I know not
what. Let us ponder and pray. The ' Father of Lights ' may dart a
ray of His own wisdom into some mind, that shall illuminate us all.
Could you not prepare some resolutions in your General Assembly on
the subject 1 You and I are committed in a great measure to it. May
God direct us ! But oh, how oppressively do I feel my own insufficiency
for this, and every other good and especially every great work ! What
should we do without that assurance, ' My grace is sufficient for
thee ! '

" I am afraid there is a season of stagnation both in America and
England as regards revivals. It is a jjretty general complaint here,
that there are few conversions. It is especially so with myself. I
seem to preach with no results. Few are awakened, and behevers, I
am afraid, lukewarm and worldly. What is it that hinders the progress
of the work? I beheve nothing is a greater obstacle both with you
and -with, us than politics. What a snare are these to men's souls; how
they engross the mind and /cee;) out religion where it has never entered,
and d7-ive it out where it has gained a footing !

" The Puseyite heresy is keeping our EstabKshment in the flames of
contention. The surplice controversy is raging furiously ! Alas, alas !
to see a Church divided, and a nation convulsed about such a trifle, as
whether a man shaU preach in white hnen or black silk ! What httle
matters will men quarrel about when they leave the great things of
God's truth ! It is difficult even to conjecture what the end of the
schism win be in the Anghcan Church ; and yet I am sorry to say our
unestablished denominations are not in a high state of prosperity. The
opposition to Dissenters is more fierce than ever. This is sure, of course,
to be the consequence of the spread of Tractarianism. Such an over-
whelming opposition of property, and rank, and influence is brought to
bear against us, that in small tomis and villages, the cause of Noncon-
formity is almost crushed in many cases. Then we are not agreed
among ourselves. Many of us are opposed to a confederation, half
religious, and half political, entitled ' The Anti-Church and State Con-
ference.' This has had its influence in originating a new periodical, in
which moderation is to be arrayed against ultraism. Oh, how much
there is to make us long for that Avorld,

THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.

423

" ' Where joy, like heavenly dew distils,
And all the air is love ! '

" 'When are you coming over again ? For, if we meet, it must be in
England, as I shall never visit America.

" My kindest regards to Mrs Fatten and your family. The Lord
bless you, and still make you a blessing. — Yours, as eyer,

" J. A. James.

" It has occurred to me since I -wrote the foregoing, that a Protestant
association, to promote the Protestant cause by the press, in the -way of
sending forth reprints of old standard works, and offering premiums for
new ones, which should call forth all the talent of the Protestant world
in America, Germany, France, and England, and procure translations
into vernacular tongues, woidd be a grand object. Think what ten or
twenty thousands a-year spent in this way might accomplish, together
with the activity and energy which it would call forth. The Papists
are seizing the press, and sending forth their ablest works. Let us do
the same. The greatest difficulty in such a scheme would be where to
fix the executive, and the selection of works ; but turn this over in your
mind. Do not put anything I have said in print, but start the subject
yourself."

CHAPTER III.

"MY DIPLOMAS OF DOCTOR OF DIVINITY."
Autobio- I HAVE always had some doubt of the propriety of this academic

gi-aplucal. I I J

honour, grounded on our Lord's injunction to His disciples not to
be called Eabbi, which in conventional usage signified teacher or
doctor. I am aware that the case of the apostles and that of mo-
dern ministers is not precisely parallel, nor perhaps are the reasons
as forcible for the non-reception of this distinction by the latter as
by the former. Still, the general ground of both is the same,
which is, that no titles of distinction are to exist amongst the
teachers of religion, since they suggest the idea of superiority, and
foster pride and vanity. To what an exorbitant extent of mischief
has this love of distinction by rank, office, and title, in the matters
of religion, reached in Christendom ! "If those rules," (Matt,
xxiii. 8,) says Scott the commentator, "were proper for the
apostles and primitive disciples, they must be still more suitable
to the case of all other teachers and Christians ; and it is evident
they were given with a prophetic view to the enormous abuses and
fatal effects that have since been witnessed in the Christian Church,
from the ambition and lust of dominion in some, and the abject
subjection of others to them."

It is pleaded that the application of this term in modern times,
means something essentially different from what it did in Jewish
history. Among the Jews, it implied not merely eminence of

"MY DIPLOMAS OF DOCTOR OP DIVINITY." 425

knowledge, but authority in teaching. The words of the Rabbis Autobio-
were accounted, by their infallibility, the word of God. And,
therefore, our Lord forbade only the application of the term in
that sense in which it was used and understood by the Pharisees
and their pupils. The universal precept, founded on this local
one, meant no more than that no teacher of religion was to be
called by a designation, or honoured by a distinction which im-
plies undue authority, or demands undue submission. Tlais, I
admit, has some force ; but still, even the modern application of
the word doctor, intends a pre-eminence which I think the spirit
of our Lord's prohibition forbids.

I am quite aware that it is argued that these diplomas are to be
regarded as mere academic and literary honours and distinctions,
conferred as the reward of merit. This may be said of mere
secular degrees, such as B.A., M.A., LL.B., or LL.D. — these are all
simply literary ; but it is not the same with D.D. This is in its
true meaning a religious distinction, never conferred but upon a
minister of religion, and intended to raise him in public estimation
above his fellows. It does therefore appear to me to be in opposi-
tion to our Lord's injunction to His discijjles. I have ever felt
this so powerfully, that, if on other accounts I were entitled to the
degree, I could not accept it. More than thirty years ago I came
to learn that some of my friends were wishing to obtain a diploma
for me from the Glasgow University. As soon as I was acquainted
with their intention, I immediately stopped it.

Several years after this, my friends in America moved the college
of Princeton, New Jersey, to confer a D.D. upon me ; which
accordingly came. I locked it up in my drawers, and said nothing
to anybody about it, and hoped that nobody would know it.
However, it oozed out. The kindness of my Scotch friends,
especially Mr Henderson and Dr King, applied to the University
of Glasgow for a D.D. to be conferred upon me, and obtained it.
No sooner was this announced in the papers, than I wrote to say
I did not mean to assume it. By this determination I inflicted
some pain upon those generous individuals who had sought to
honour me. I was much grieved at this, but could not consent to

426

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Autobio- oblige them at the expense of principle. The next attempt to
graphical, j^^j^^^ niade by Jefferson College, in the

United States. From that institution, a diploma, entirely un-
sought, I believe, by any one, arrived. But none of these things
moved me. I could not consent to wear the title. And, more-
over, apart from this conscientious scruple, I never thought myself
warranted on the ground of any superior learning or attainment
to be thus called Rabbi. True it is I have written books on reli-
gion, not a few, but they are all of a practical nature, and contain
no profound theology, nor any new elucidation of holy Scripture.
Perhaps I might lay claim to as much of this, and therefore as
good a claim to the distinction as very many on whom it is con-
ferred, and who now consent to wear it. This, however, is saying
very little. As regards some who are now called Rabbi, I wonder
they do not blush at this iteration of their own distinction. May
I but be considered as a faithful, earnest, and successful minister
of the new covenant, and be accounted such by the Great Master,
and I am quite content that my name shall stand, wherever it is
recorded, without any academic affix !

Editorial. An extract from an earlier passage of the autobiography will
appear in a general review of Mr James's connexion with the
Carr's Lane Church, in the chapter on his Jubilee; but at this
point Mr James's recollections of his life, from which this volume
derives its chief value, terminate.

CHAPTER IV.

CHINA.

It is probable that Mr James's strong interest in Chinese missions
originated in his college friendship with Morrison. For very many
years China was never a day out of his thoughts ; the vastness of
its population fired his imagination as well as affected his heart ;
in his pubhc and in his private devotions he was incessantly pray-
ing that China might be brought to Christ. He did not forget
other regions of missionary enterprise; he had correspondents in
the South Seas, in South Africa, and in India, but the evangelisa-
tion of China was his ruling passion.

In 1852 and 1853, intelligence reached this country of the
most interesting and startling character. The officers in one of
her Majesty's ships reported that the Yang-tse-Kiang was covered
with the wrecks of demolished idols; that Buddhas, twenty feet
high, were floating outward to the ocean; that a great religious
revolution had begun in China, which threatened the complete
overthrow of idolatry. Missionaries sent home word that in one
of the remote provinces there had appeared a powerful political
party in open revolt against the government, and professing a new
religious creed. It was said that the rebels proclaimed the imity
of the Divine nature, and were furious iconoclasts ; that they
acknowledged the doctrine of the Trinity ; that they received the
Lord Jesus Christ as the universal Saviour; asserted the authority
of the moral law as expressed in the Ten Commandments ; insisted

428

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JA^SrES.

on the necessity of penitently confessing sin ; and taught the im-
mortality of the soul. With these truths, however, they mingled
many grievous and grotesque errors.

Hung-tseu-seuen, the leader of the new movement, had acquired
some knowledge of the Christian doctrine from a tract called ' Good
words to admonish the age,' written by Leang-a-fah, the first Pro-
testant Chinese convert, who had been baptized by Dr Milne at
Malacca, in 1816. In 1834!, Leang-a-fah and three friends distri-
buted ten thousand copies of this tract, among the young men
assembled in Canton for the triennial examinations. This aroused
the wrath of the mandarins, and ended in the flight of Leang-a-fah
to Singapore, the severe punishment of one of his friends, and the
death of another ; but before the good work was stopped, one of
the tracts had fallen into the hands of Hung-tseu-seuen, and issued
in unexpected results. In 1837, this young man was seized with
fever, and while his brain was on fire with disease, the new truths
he had read in Leang-a-fah's tract were interwoven with wild and
insane fancies ; he imagined he was taken up into heaven ; that he
received wonderful revelations, and was intrusted with a commis-
sion to overturn the idolatry of his countrymen. After his reco-
very, he wrote and circulated several books propounding the prin-
ciples of a corrupted Christianity, and he travelled about the pro-
vince of Kwang-se, propagating his opinions, and preparing the way
for revolution. In 1850 there was a change in the policy of the
imperial government, in consequence of the accession of a new em-
peror ; and it seemed a favourable time for rousing the popular
discontent against the Tartar dynasty. Suddenly a great army of
insurgents poured out from the mountainous district of Kwang-se,
and instantly swept to destruction the troops which attempted to
resist their progress. So general was the sympathy which the
movement immediately commanded, that many persons anticipated
the destruction of the Chinese government, and an entire change
in the national religion.

The tidings produced great excitement in England. Mr James,
while cherishing the hope that the revolution, if successful, would
overthrow many of the obstacles to Chinese evangelisation, saw

CHINA.

429

that its success was still very doubtful He prayed and hoped for
the best, but trembled. While his inind was divided between hope
and fear, he received a letter from his friend Thomas Thompson,
Esq. of Poundsford Park, boldly proposing that an immediate
appeal should be made to the Christian zeal of the Sunday schools
of this country to send A million new testaments to china.
As the New Testament could be printed for fourpence, the scheme
would require between £1G,000 and £17,000. To this letter
he sent the following answer: —

TO THOIIAS THOMPSON, ESQ.

"Park, neak Glasgow, August 27, 1853.
" ;My deae Sir, — Your letter followed me to this place, where I am
spending a week with my friend, the wealthy and benevolent John
Henderson.

" Your proposal is a noble and vast conception. It would be a gross
and guilty neglect on the part of the Chri.sti;ui Clnuch to suffer the
revolution in China to occur without some attempt to turn it to the
advantage of that cause which all events are intended to subserve. It
is the greatest providential movement of modern times, and is pregnant
with results of a most momentous character. Still it is yet only par-
tially developed — it is iVi transitu, and how it may determine it is
impossible to say. Shoidd the insurgents be ultimately defeated, and
the rebellion crushed, there will in all human probability be, for the
present, insurmountable obstacles thrown in the way of propagating
Christianity, inasmuch as it will be identified with the insurgent cause,
and be proclaimed as treason to the throne and to the empire. The
balance is yet trembling, and on what side it will preponderate waits
to be seen.

" Under these circumstances, I am inclined to think we had better
wait for future developments. For should the progress of the revulu-
tion be arrested and its present work unravelled, any labour we might
take in the way suggested in your letter would be wasted energy.
Should Pekin be taken, the success of the movement woiild most likely
be complete, and we might go forward without hesitation. A very
short time will decide this.

" In the event of such an occurrence, it becomes a question in what
way the appeal should be made, and to whom. You say the Sunday
schools might be called upon to take up the work. But why these ?
Would it not be better to appeal for joint action to the whole Christian
Chiu-ch both in America and these United Kingdoms 1 Would it not

480

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

be a beautiful spectacle of Christian union to see tbe followers of the
Redeemer tlirougliout tlie world associating for tlie conversion of China?
Recollect it is a pure biblical effort, like that of the Bible Society,
requiring no sacrifice of opinion from any, and admitting without com-
promise the aims of all. The Bible Society might be applied to for a
contribution, and it would doubtless grant one. Yea, I am not quite
sure whether it would not be desirable to make that institution, repre-
senting, as it does, the Catholic Church, the central agency for carrying
out the scheme.

" The cost of carrying out the scheme would be about £17,000.
Surely tliis is not too much for the whole body of the faithful to raise
for such an object.

" I submit these things for your consideration, and shall be happy
to hear from you again. I feel quite prepared to follow up your sug-
gestion in any way which upon mature deliberation may be thought
best. I intend to return home next week, so that a letter may be
addressed to me at my own place of residence.

" I beg my Christian respects to Mrs Thompson. — Yours very truly,

" J. A. James."

Mr Thompson, who had been all his life an energetic friend of
Sunday schools, clung to the idea of letting the million Testaments
be the gift of the Christian children of England. But Mr James
■was strongly convinced that it would be best to place the scheme
in the hands of the Bible Society. The confidence felt in that
institution by evangelical members of the Established Church, as
well as by all the Free evangelical Churches in this country, and its
perfect organisation, were the principal considerations which deter-
mined his preference ; and Mr Thompson soon gave way. On
September the 14th, in the British Banner, and on the 15th, in
the Patriot, Mr James addressed the following letter to the " Pro-
testants of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,"
developing his scheme : —

" We live in an age of wonders, but the greatest of them all is this
movement in China. It is indeed ' the wonder of wonders.'

" ' The Chinese revolution,' says the Times newspaper, ' is in all
respects the greatest revolution the world has yet seen.' Such a testi-
mony, by such a witness, in addition to all that has been said by others
stiU more competent to give evidence, deserves and demands our pro-
foundest attention ; for it is true, as it is important. God is evidently

CHINA.

431

coming forth from His place to do one of His greatest works in the
earth, and, vdth a voice loud and awful as thunder, is summoning the
Christian Church to do something worthy of Him, of itself, and of the
events that have occurred. We must be stone-deaf not to hear, and
insensible even to death itself not to feel, the calls of God upon our
devoted attention. The letters of Drs Legge and Hobson which have
appeared in these columns, leave us no longer in ignorance or in doubt
of the marvellous change which is coming over the Chinese Empire,
not only politically, but morally considered. If anything more be
necessary to complete the proof that Christianity, however corrupted,
has much to do with this great movement, it is a document which I
have lately read, which is an autograph letter of one of the insurgent
chiefs, given to Dr Charles Taylor, when lately at Ching-Keang, which
has been sent by Dr Lockhart, our medical missionary at Shanghae, to
Mrs Lockhart, now residing in this neighbourhood, and of which the
following is a translation : — -

" ' Lo, the fifth arranger of the forces attached to the palace of the
celestial dynasty of T'hae-ping, who have received the command of
Heaven to rule the Empire, communicates the following information
to all his English brethren. On the first day of the fifth moon, (June
5,) a brother belonging to your honourable nation, named Charles
Taylor, brought hither a number of books, which have been received in
order. Seeing that the above-named individual is a fellow-worshipper
of God, (Shang-te,) he is therefore acknowledged as a brother : the
books hkewise which he has brought agree substantially with our own,
so that it appears we foUow one and the same road. Formerly, how-
ever, when a ship belonging to your honourable nation came hither,
(the Hermes,) she was followed by a fleet of impish vessels belonging to
the false Tartars : now also when a boat from your honourable nation
comes among us, the impish vessels of the Tartars again follow in its
wake. Considering that your honourable nation is celebrated for your
truth and fidelity, we your younger brethren do not harbour any
suspicions. At present both Heaven and men favour our design, and
this is just the time for setting up the Chinese and abolishing the
Tartar rule. We suppose that you, gentlemen, are well acquainted
with the sig-ns of the times, so that we need not enlarge on that sub-
ject ; but while we, on our part, do not prohibit commercial intercourse,
we merely observe that since the two parties are now engaged in war-
fare, the going to and fro is accompanied ^vith inconvenience ; and.
judging from the present aspect of affairs, we should deem it better to
wait a few months, imtil we have thoroughly destroyed the Tartars,
when, perhaps, the subjects of your honourable nation could go and
come without being involved in the tricks of these false Tartars.

432

LTFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAlSIEa

Would it not in your estimation also be preferable 1 We take advan-
tage of the ojjijortunity to send you tkis communication for your
intelligent inspection, and liope that every blessing may attend yoiL
We also send a number of our o^\ti books, which please to circulate
among you.'

" From this interesting document the facts are clearly and fully
estabUshed, that the new faith of the insurgents is substantially Chris-
tian, as evinced by the acknowledgment of the writer in his admission
of the sameness of their religious books with ours ; that they on this
ground recognise us as their brethren, and are therefore, of course,
prepared and ready to enter into fellowship with us, and receive our
books. Thus everything proves that the insurgent party, with all their
adherents, are accessible to the influence of British Christians, and that
' a wide and effectual door is now set open ' to the entrance of Chris-
tianity into China. It is pre-eminently beyond anything that has taken
place in the history of modern missions ' the Lord's work, and is mar-
vellous in our eyes.' There is in this movement less of the hand of
man, and more of the finger of God, than in anything that has recently
occurred.

" And, now, what is the duty of the Church 1 "What can we do ?
What might we to do 1 What, in the name and by the help of the
Lord, shall we do to help on this great work 1 What does our Divine
Lord exjDect from us ] What -will He approve and bless if we do it ?
We have missionaries, I know, of various denominations, which must
be indefinitely multiplied, and from various countries — able, devoted,
long-tried men, who ynH do all they can, and who will feel a fresh
stimulus to their work in these great events. But what are they
among so many millions of the population 1 And into how limited a
portion of the Chinese territory can they penetrate ? They are divided
into sections, and though tliey are held together in the unity of the
Spirit and the bond of peace, they, like ourselves, from whom they go
forth, are separate in action. Is there nothing to be done at this
juncture by the union and co-operation of all at home and aU abroad
for the conversion of China to the pure faith of the gospel of Christ 1
I say, for the pure faith of the gospel of Christ. For it is evident, thac
though the new faith of this body comprehends the elements of Chris-
tianity, it is, for want of the New Testament, in an imperfect and cor-
rupted form. "What they want is, the Christian Scriptures. They
know more of the Old Testament than of tlie Ncav. Protestants, now
give your serious attention to what follows. I have lately received a
letter from that active and devoted friend of Christian enterprise,
Thomas Thompson, Esq. of Poundsford Park, containing the- noble
proposal to raise a fund immediately for printing and circulating in

CHINA.

433

China a million copies of the Chinese New Testament, and earnestly
toliciting me to lay the subject before the public, through the medium of
the press, and to call out the Sunday-school teachers and scholars to do
the work. The project of circulating a million copies of the New Tes-
tament is itself a vast idea. Is it practicable ? EasUy. Is it worth
the effort, the pains, and the cost 1 Transcending aU we can calculate.
Shall it be done ? "Will not voices as numerous, though far more in-
teUigent, as those which, in the eleventh century, under the wild enthu-
siasm of Peter the Hermit, shook the plains of Clermont, and raised the
thimdering shout, 'God wills it!' again say, 'God wiUs iti' What
might not a million copies of the New Testament, poiired into China
at such a time as this, accomplish for the cause of Christianity, in cor-
recting the false notions of the insurgent leaders, of the nature of our
holy religion, and in circulating a pure Christianity among their follow-
ers ? Unhappily, Christianity is now presented mixed up Avith fables,
and associated with fanaticism, war, and massacre. It is infinitely im-
portant that we should lose no time in presenting it pure and uncor-
rupted in its own inspired records.

" Mr Thompson proposed that this work should be done by the Sun-
day schools and their teachers. In my reply to him, I suggested that,
while they need not be excluded, the work should be done by the
whole Christian public, and would afford a beautiful, glorious, and usefid
object of Christian union and co-operation. To this, in a subsequent
letter, he entirely assents. Suppose, for instance, that a public meet-
ing was called at Exeter HaU expressly for this object, which should
combine the various denominations in this plan, to give a million copies
of the New Testament to China. "What a blessed spectacle of confede-
rated zeal ! There is Christian union for action — action of the most
momentous character, and which implies and requires no compromise
of principle in any one. What is this but a smaller temporary Bible
Society for China, created for the occasion, having at once the form,
features, spirit, and object of the greater and permanent one ? And if
it were thought more desirable, let this effort be made in connexion
with and under the direction of the British and Foreign Bible Society,
of which it may itseK be a kind of affiliated branch.

" It will be seen by calculation, that as a Chinese New Testament
can now be printed and sold for fourpence — mirabile dictu ! — the mil-
hon copies will require, all expenses included, about ,£17,000. Such a
sum, for one object, seems large ; ah, but what an object ! Was such
a sum ever yet expended upon the Bible, with such a prospect of im-
mense results 1 Were the friends of the Bible ever yet invited to such
an effort? It would facilitate the raising of the reqmsite means, if, in-
stead of taking down the individual subscription in the usual m/mey
2e

434

LIFK OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

form in pounds, shillings, and pence, they were entered in the numeral
one of so many copies. My friend, Mr Thompson, has commenced this
subscription list himself, by promising to give one thousand copies ; and
I shaU be most happy to give five hundred. There is something in this
mode of contribution that more powerfully interests the imagination.
A poor man, for example, entering his name for only a single copy, is
better pleased with the idea of giving a single copy of the New Testa-
ment to an inhabitant of China, than giving fourpence to a common fund
for that purpose. We know, of course, it amounts to the same result ;
but we are influenced by the forms, as well as essences of things ; and
giving sixty copies of the Scriptures to sixty Chinamen, sounds in the
ear pleasanter than giving a pound to a fund for purchasing a miUion
copies. It brings out more forcibly the value and importance of indi-
vidual efi'ort.

" As regards the distribution in China, this might be intrusted to a
committee, formed of the missionaries of all denominations in that
empire. How would it delight these holy men, and strengthen their
hands in their great and noble enterprise, to be the almoners of such a
gift to the nation for whose conversion they are labouring !

" Protestants, can you need motives to induce you to engage in such
an enterprise 1 Look at the events which have called forth this appeal
What mind but the Infinite One can calculate or comprehend their
stupendous importance and infinite results 1 I am astonished at the
comparative apathy with which the intelligence is received and dwelt
upon. It is a new epoch in our world's history, pregnant with in-
eflFable and inconceivable consequences, both to the world and to the
Church.

" How consentaneous and homogeneous this efi'ort with the movement
itself, which has had its origin more by the press than by the living
voice of the missionary. The Chinese are a reading people, and are
fond of books, and wiU soon read with avidity the inspked records of
that faith which has been set forth by their leaders and embraced by
the insurgent party.

" The insurrection is essentially a Protestant and not a Popish move-
ment. The Jesuits have had nothing to do with it, and they wiU stand
aghast with amazement and mortification. But at the same time they
wiU lose not a moment in endeavouring in some way to ihfluence, direct,
and pervert it. All the machinations of the Vatican, stirred up and
inspired by all the art and cunning of the father of lies, will be em-
ployed to turn it to the purpose of the Church of Rome. I have not
the shadow of a doubt that emissaries from the camp of the Papist'
are on the way to Nankin, if they are not there already, to gain th(
ear of the chiefs of the insurgents. There is, however, this hope, thai

CHINA.

435

they will uot succeed Tlie Chinese convei-ts are such determined and
relentless iconoclasts, that they wiU not receive the images of Rome nor
tolerate their worship. Yes, but Rome, to gain her ends, -Kill conceal
for a while every sign and symptom of her idolatry. Trust not to this ;
like her master, she can transform herself to accomplish her purpose
into an angel of Ught. Be up and doing, in the way of arming the
Chinese population against Popery with the sword of the Spirit. Cir-
culate the New Testament at once, and the whole Bible in due time.
Be beforehand with Rome. The revolution has commenced in con-
nexion with portions of the Scriptures ; keep up that connexion. Al-
ready the Chinese of the revolution consider our Sacred Book as theirs,
OS the bond of friendship and the symbol of a common faitL Let us
lose not a moment in bestowing as a great national gift the volume of
our common faith. Rome would barter much of her territory and her
power in other parts of the world for China. For a long succession of
ages this empire has been the object of her ambition, her efforts, and
her hopes. Let us disappoint her expectations ; and what is so legiti-
mate and so probable a way to do so as a wide circulation of the New
Testament. Let this be one of the operations and triumphs of the
jubilee year of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

" What will be so hkely to impress the mind of the Chinese with
fervour, both for this gift of the Word of God, and the givers of it too,
' as the fact, that all sections of the Chiistian Church had united in this
labour of love ? They already know from our missionaries that on some
points we hold different views of the meaning of the Word of God ;
1 but this xmited action will convince them that we are agreed on the
I auilwiity of the Word itself, and that we live in unity and love, and
I for our common faith can act together. One of the first acts and argu-
f ments by which the Jesuits wiU attempt to prejudice the minds of the
Chinese against the Protestants -svill be our divisions and sects. And
how can we better answer this than by reminding them of the million
, copies of the Word of God, which, by this holy and loving association
j of all sects and parties, we had sent amongst them ?
I " Let it not be said, ' The issue of the contest is not yet known, and
' that it would be premature to make the effort tUl we know how it will
terminate.' This was my own impression when the subject was first
proposed to me by Mr Thompson ; but, on further reflection, and on
conversing with some friends about it in the counting-house of my
excellent friend, John Henderson, Esq. of Glasgow, I am led to the
conclusion that no time is to be wasted by delay. Should the present
Government suppress the rebellion, of which, from the testimony of Dr
Legge, I see no great probability, the opportunity will be lost of pour-
ing into China the pure Word of God; while, on the other hand,

436

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

should the insurgents be successful, the door will remain permanently
open for its introduction without hindrance or molestation.

" Protestants! I appeal to you, then, for the support of this project.
A nobler one was never presented to your attention. What a platform
does it afford for our union without compromise ! Conscientious or
prudential scruples keep many of you from coming within the bonds
of ' The Evangelical Alliance while others are kept back from it by
the question — Gui bono ? We are told, and perhaps with some truth
and force, that union for union's sake, without action, is too abstract
an idea for so busy and practical an age as this. Well, then, here is
an object of immense importance, which, whUe it unites our hearts,
may engage our activities. It was my intention at one time to make
the proposal to the Evangelical Alliance to take up the subject ; but
on consideration, I deemed it best to throw it open to the whole Pro-
testant body, and which, if it see fit, may not limit itself to the circu-
lation of one million of copies of the New Testament, but go on in this
glorious career till it has filled all China with Bibles.

" AlS Christians, how we must exult in this wonderful movement !
There are many things in it which we lament, but there are others ia
which we must rejoice, even with joy and singing. The Christianity
mixed up with it, which is now so corrupted and disfigured, will, we
hope, by God's grace and His Word, throw off the slough of its cor-
ruptions, and come forth pure. How fervent should be our prayer for
God's blessed Spirit to come down upon the work, and how strong
should be our faith in a glorious result ! It is worthy of remark, that
this movement, though it originated from one of the converts of a mis-
sionary connected with the London Missionary Society, is not in direct
connexion with that society or any other. The prejudiced eye of sec-
tarianism has no reason for looking askance from it ; religious bigotry
can raise no murmur, indulge no suspicion, fling no objection against it.
There is no room for even the ordinary operations of jealousy or envy.
It is an event that belongs to our common Christianity, in which all
Christians may feel, and should manifest, a common interest ; and let all
come forward to the help of the Lord against the mighty.

" Christian men and Protestants of all denominations ! in the name
of our holy religion — the spread of which is now so likely to take place
over so vast a portion of the earth, — in the name of the great empire
of China, now by the mysterious providence of God opening for the
reception of the gospel of Christ — and especially in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, whose kingdom seems likely to be established upon
the ruins of the idolatry of half the pagan population of the globe, — I
call upon you, and conjure you, to give the subject of this paper your
serious and prayerful consideration. J. A. James.

CHIXA.

437

" P.S. — As this i3 an appeal to Protestants and Christians generally,
I shall feel gratified if the editors of other religious newspapers would,
pro\-ided they deem the proposal worthy of notice, recommend the
consideration of it to their readers in any way they may think proper.

" Should the proposal be thought worthy of notice and considera-
tion, a question will arise as to the parties Avho shall take the initiative.
Perhaps no better plan for this could be devised than referring it to a
conference between the secretaries of the British and Foreign Bible
Society, the Protestant Alliance, the Evangelical Alliance, and of the
various missionary societies. Or it coidd be taken up by a few imoffi-
cial laymen, who might issue a circular of invitation in their own names
to others. But probably it could be best accomplished by the British
and Foreign Bible Society. It comes within the comprehension of their
object, and they have an extensive machinery of organisation by which
it could be worked out."

The proposal was formally adopted by the committee of the
Bible Society on the 19 th of the same month. In the British
Banner of the 21st, appeared a letter from Mr James, announcing
the result of his appeal to his o^vn congregation on the previous
Smiday.

" TO THE EDITOR OF THE ' BEITISH EANXER.'

" Sir, — In addition to my letter in the Patnot on Monday, I find it
necessary to write one more, for which I beg room in your columns,
which have already been thrown so widely open to me. I hope it will
not be requisite to trouble you or your readers with much more on
this momentous subject; but having adopted the grand idea of a million
copies of the New Testament for the largest empire on earth, and at a
time when that empire seems preparing to receive them, I \\ill, at the
hazard of being reproached with ' boring ' the public, leave no efi'urt
untried to make it a ' great fact.'

"I am perpetually receiving letters and newspapers from various
parts of the country appro\ing the scheme, giving names of subscribers,
and earnestly inquiring how to proceed. For self-defence, therefore, I
must now inform the pubHc that the subject is in the hands of the
British and Foreign Bible Society, who have taken it up, and purpose
to carry it through, and to whom all further communications should be
made. It is no longer Mr Thompson's scheme nor mine, but theirs. I
will, however, here state, for the information of my honoured brethi-en
in the ministry^ — -with whom and our Sunday-school superintendents

438

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

and teachers tlie success of tlie proposal will, under God's blessing,
depend — ^my own metliod of procedure. After the morning sermon
yesterday, which was founded on the words, " Let us not be weary in
well-doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not," (Gal. vi. 9,)
I gave a brief statement of the religious aspect of the revolution in
China, and of the proposed scheme of supplying the Chinese with the
New Testament, and begged the congregation that they would go home
and ponder the subject, and after dinner write down upon a slip of
paper their names, with the number of copies they would subscribe.
Having thus appealed to the congregation, I addressed the Sunday-
school teachers and children, and told them that they would not be shut
out from the privilege of sharing in this great and good work. Consi-
derable enthusiasm was evidently excited, though I was not parti-
cularly impassioned beyond what is my usual custom when I have any-
thing important to accomplish. In the evening, just before tlie second
hymn was given out, the deacons went round with the boxes which are
usually employed at collections to gather up the papers. On coimting
the numbers, it was found that nearly twenty-Jive thousand copies had
been subscribed, which in money value reaches the sum of somewhat
above ^£410. I confess I was as much surprised as I was delighted,
especially as it is but a fortnight since we had our missionary anniver-
sary, when we raised nearly £500 for the Missionary Society. It is
not, however, to parade our doings that I transmit this statement, but
to prove how easily the proposed million of New Testaments may be
raised, yea, a million copies of the whole Bible, if the ndnisters of reli-
gion will take up the work, and throw their souls into it. The people
are willing, waiting, eager for the opportunity to do something. By
this morning's post, a friend has written to me, saying, ' Put my name
down for 10,000 copies.' Is not God, by His providence, doing some
great thing in China, and by His grace drawing the hearts of His people
into fellowship with Him ? I am now somewhat anxious lest we should
be seduced into a dependence upon these efforts alone, instead of a
simple reliance upon God's grace. Let us devoutly remember that
man's doings, even in circulating the Holy Scriptures, without God's
Holy Spirit, will do nothing effectual for the conversion of the world ;
and that, therefore, the more we do the more we must pray. A suigle
copy of the New Testament will do more, with God's blessing, for
China's conversion than a million copies without it. Let us therefore
pray without ceasing. — Yours, &c.,

" J. A. James."

The two next letters were printed in the Patriot of the 26th,
and the British Banner of the 28th of September : —

CHINA.

439

" TO THE EDITOR OF THE ' PATRIOT.'

" Sir, — I am grateful for the support you have rendered by your very
able advocacy to the realisation of my friend Mr Thompson's noble idea
of pouring at this juncture the New Testament Scriptures into China.
The British Banner has done good service in this cause, so has the
Christian Times, and the Watchman, and the Record, and some pro-
vincial papers. The project is laying firm hold on the public mind.
Help is offered, spontaneously and most cordially, from various quarters.
Well indeed might it be ! It is no bubble of enthusiasm — no mere
vision of a heated imagination — no impracticable suggestion of a wild
and dreamy inventiveness ; but a project as useful as it is vast, and as
attainable as it is useful. It will, however, require prompt, immediate,
and combined action. Again I say, no time is to be lost. The golden
opportunity is now in our hands, and if not improved it may be ages
before it returns. We must not sleep over the matter, nor merely
talk about it, nor merely praise it ; we must act, all of us — each of us.
All can do something, and all must do what they can. Still we want
leaders. They are ready — they have offered — they are able — they are
■nilhng. The British and Foreign Bible Society have come forward, as it
might have been expected they would do. When were they backward
to respond to any call for help to circulate the Word of God ? What
have they not already done for China ? We have only to read the
resolution passed by the committee, in which they have embraced with
ardour Mr Thompson's proposal, and held it up for public support, and
also the letter of Mr Brown, the secretary, to be convinced of the
wiUingness of this institution to become Britain's almoner to China
of this million copies of the New Testament.

" Gentlemen of the Committee of the Bible Society —
" I begin with you. May I, without presumption or impertinent
officiousness, venture to offer you a few suggestions? Would it not be
desirable for you, without delay, to appoint a sub-committee of your
own number for carrjdng out this special object, apart even from the
general purposes of the jubilee 1 I am not unaware of the seeming
complexity which this, by possibility, may introduce into your opera-
tions, already so multiform. The scheme, however, is so vast, the
object to be accomplished so momentous, the opportunity so favourable,
and the urgency so pressing, that you may justly consider a little extra
labour in tliis case well bestowed. We want immediately a body, in
whose wisdom, zeal, and ability we all have confidence, to concentrate
and guide our operations; and where can we find such a body, so
speedily and so satisfactorily, as among you? Would it not, also,

440

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

conduce to the success of the project, if a circular were issued by such
a sub-committee to the auxiliaries and subscribers, earnestly recom-
mending its support, and inviting contributions ? I do not forget that
you are still in the midst of your operations for the year of jubilee, and
that you may, perhaps, hesitate about the propriety of proposing a new
object. But it is not altogether new. China was among the objects
you presented to the pubhc, as what you contemplated by the celebra-
tion of the jubilee ; so that it is only an enlargement of one of the
branches of your programme. Besides, the benefactions of your friends
for this happy season of your existence are ah-eady nearly completed.
Let this come in as a supplemental effort to all that has been done and
is doing. Have faith in God, in His people, and in your friends. Be
not afraid. CaU upon us to come forward and trust in you to carry
out our own purpose. Depend upon it you will not be disappointed.
Let the trumpet-caU be sounded from Earl Street, and you may rest
assured it will be returned in ten thousand echoes from the country on
the 12th of October.

Ministers of Religion of every Denomination —
" Much will depend upon you ! If the scheme find favour in your
eyes, its success is, by God's blessing, determined. Is it not worth your
consideration, and worthy of it ? It is, at any rate, no trifling thing.
All its terms are vast. The New Testament — a million copies — China.
You are invited to aid in nothing little. Call out the energies of your
private friends and your congregations. Preach about it, and circulate
in your various circles an interest in it. Open subscription books for
your people to enter their names for the number of copies each wiU
subscribe for. There is scarcely a congregation in the kingdom so
small or so poor but what might send five hundred copies of the
Christian records to five hundred Chinese families; and there is
scarcely a congregation that would not do it, if their minister earnestly
asked them to do so. My honoured brethren, lend your aid !

" Men of Wealth—
" What would a thousand, or even ten thousand, copies be to you ?
Imitate the example of the Earl of Gainsborough, and give us your
individual names and contributions to this cause.

"Committees, Superintendents, and Teachers of Sunday schools —
" You cannot, must not, shall not be left out ! It was Mr Thomp-
son's original proposal to leave the work in your hands. But it was
thought that it was a work too heavy for you to bear up alone, and it
was also considered that it would be depriving many who are not teachers

CHINA.

441

of a privilege in which they would wish to share, to confine the effort
exclusively to you. But you must have a share, and a large share too,
in the blessed work. Is there a child in your schools who would not
■willingly give a penny a- week for four weeks, or a halfpenny a-week for
eight, to bestow a copy of the New Testament upon a Chinese boy or
girl ? Ask for only one copy from each child, and what an aggregate
would result ! Abeady the work is begun in this way. One offer of
this kind has come to hand, and it is a noble one : —

"'Chesterfield, September 19, 1853.

" ' My dear Sie, — The Brampton (near Chesterfield) Wesleyan Metho-
dist Sunday school respond to the call for China. They will give five
hundred copies, and would have Hked to have given one thousand
copies of the New Testament to the Chinese ; but for the other five
hundred they pray the God of all China to open the hearts of all
Sunday-school teachers, scholars, and those interested in the training
up of youth, to disseminate God's truth, but especially to aid now in
sending a million copies of the Chinese New Testament, — to strike
while the iron is hot. Now is the time, I believe, the thing can be
easily accomplished, and by Sunday-school teachers and scholars. We
are longing for Christ's kingdom; we pray that He would soon come
and reign ; we esteem it a high privilege to give ; we would be the
first to hold up your hands in this noble work, and we pray that God
would for Christ's sake bless you, and keep you, and strengthen you
until the summons arrives, and that we may meet in heaven.

" ' Excuse this hasty scrawl ; I am so much pressed to-day in busi-
ness, but not so busy as to forget to put this into the post; I am so
anxious that you should have this quickly. Please direct us how to
proceed in the payment, for we are ready with that also. — I remain,
my dear sir, yours faithfully,

" ' Thomas Irving, Superintendent, so called.

" ' The Kev. J. A. James.'

" AH honour to the Brampton Wesleyan Methodist Sunday school
and its energetic superintendent. Let this example be as setting fire
to a train, or rather, the first spark which shall kindle the flame of a
noble sacrifice on the altar of our Sunday-school system.

" Heads of Families —
" How much might you do ! And how can you better train your
children to Christian activity and benevolence — to interest in the cause
of Christ, or to noble deeds — than by engaging them in this magnificent
work ? Here, too, I have a letter in point : —

442

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

" ' St John's Wood Park.
" ' My dear Sir, — "We have already contributed to tlie Bible Society,
and now send as a jubilee memorial our desire of presenting five
hundred copies of the New Testament to the Chinese. Accredit me,
dear sir, yours devotedly,

" ' Henry Thompsoit.

Coi)ies.

"* Henry Thompson, St John's Wood Park, . • loO
Mrs Henry Thompson, do., , . . .100

Master Henry Heugh Thompson, do., . . 50

Miss Charlotte Elizabeth Thompson. , . 50

Master James Stratten Thompson, , , . 50

Miss Fanny Thompson, ..... 50

Miss EUza Mary Thomson, .... 50

500'

" Another beautiful instance of this kind is recorded in the Banner
of last Wednesday.

" These are delightful instances of family fellowship in a great and
good cause. In one of those, a Christian household will furnish five
hundred Chinese families with a copy of that book which is ' able to
make them wise unto salvation.' I would here make a proposal, that
the heads of aU Christian families would, on Sunday morning, the 2d
of October, at the hour and before the exercise of domestic devo-
tion, take down the names of all the members of the household, not
excluding the servants, and the number of copies they are willing to
subscribe for, and then present the list on the family altar as an offer-
ing to God, sanctifying the gift by the Word of God and prayer. What
a scene would this present to heaven in the families of the godly upon
earth !

" Before I conclude this letter, already too long, I may be permitted
briefly to point out one circumstance connected with the present rebel-
lion in China, eminently favourable, as a collateral fact, to our attempts
in evangeKsing its inhabitants ; and that is the prohibition by the in-
surgents of the use of opiimi. The use of this deleterious drug had
become so common, and was becoming so much more extensive, as to
throw a stiU more formidable obstacle in the way of moral reformation
than even drunkenness is in these kingdoms. The consumption of this
poison, except as medicine, is now amongst the prohibitory precepts of
the new code of morals put forth by the party seeking the dominion of
the empire. Let us all now be up and doing. Enough of writing in
newspapers and other periodicals. Let us proceed to action ; and let
the British and Foreign Bible Society lead us on to the glorious achieve-

CHINA.

443

ment, under the s'weet sounds of the jubilee trampets and the inspiring
watchword, ' A million copies of the New Testament for China !' —
Yours,

" J. A- jAitES.

" F.S. — Those friends who have addressed letters to me, with oflFers
of contributions, are hereby respectfully informed that their names and
amounts of subscriptions shall be forwarded to the sub-committee of
the Bible Society, as soon as such committee is formed and announced ;
to whom I shall then hand over the management of this great concern,
contented to be lost in their mighty shadow, and thankful for the hon-
our of having brought under public notice the conception of Mr
Thompson.

" It is, of course, understood that the promises are upon the condition
that the million copies, or very near to it, are subscribed for."

" TO THE EDITOE OF THE ' BRITISH BAN>T:E.'

" SiE, — "Without waiting for your promised and published opinion of
my proposal for this great object, I trouble you with a word of expla-
nation, to remove a misconception which the gigantic natui-e of the
project may produce, and has already produced, on some minds.

" Among the numerous letters of approval of the scheme which are
daily reaching me from various quarters, one of them, from a member
of the Society of Friends, suggests that, from calculations he has made,
it will require a ship of more than 200 tons to carry out the million
copies of the Xew Testament to China, and that the duty upon the
paper would amount to nearly J3000, which, however, he thinks,
might, by application to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, be remitted
in the way of drawback. Nevertheless, my correspondent expresses his
■willingness to co-operate in carrying out the scheme. For his informa-
tion, therefore, as well as others, I remark, that the books must of
necessity, on various accounts, be printed in China, where, notwith-
standing the present rather high price of paper in the empire, books can
be printed at a much lower rate than in this country. Dr Dick's
volume on the Solar System has been translated into Chinese, and, with
the diagrams, has been published at the wonderfully low rate of one
pennj'.

" This fact of our having to print the books in China, is an additional
motive for losing no time in carrying out the proposal It is a case to
which applies, with great propriety and emphasis, the proverb, ' He
gives twice who gives quickly.'

" Offers of assistance are coming in fast. One gentleman writes, ' I
shall subscribe for 500 copies at least.' Another says, ' I shall sub-

444

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

scribe 1000 copies for myself, and another 1000 for my wife.' A third,
wealthy and profusely generous, will enter, I know, largely into the
scheme. By much prayer, much faith, much labour, and much union,
a pure Christianity, by God's grace, may now be introduced into China
Let us up and be doing.

" J. A. James.

" F.S. — Since the foregoing letter was written, I have received the
following communication, which will shew that this scheme is attract-
ing notice in high and influential quarters: —

" '9 Cavendish Square, Septemher 18, 1853.
" ' Dear ]\Ir James, — I see from the papers that there is a subscrip-
tion for sending Bibles to China. As I am going, dear sir, immedi-
ately abroad, I am anxious to send you my contribution to the excel
lent scheme, and therefore have the pleasure to enclose you a cheque-
for £20. — I remaia, dear ]\Ir James, sincerely yours,

" ' Gainsborough.' "

The editors of the Patriot and the British Banner, and, indeed,
of all the newspapers representing the great evangelical communi-
ties, cordially supported the scheme, and their columns were filled
week after week with communications which shewed the interest
it had excited among all ranks, and in every part of the country.

It so happened that this appeal for the million New Testaments
was made when the Bible Society was in the midst of its jubilee
celebrations. In their report for 1854 they state its results : —

" Not in vain did your committee again cast themselves on the hber-
ahty of the Christian public. With httle effort on their part, but with
much noble, and generous, and self-denjdng effort on the part of others,
the calculated amount necessary for the proposed million of New Tes-
taments has been promptly raised ; and a noble surplus is found, which,
after meeting the further requirements of the project, will be wholly
devoted to the spreading of the Scriptures in China. The intensity,
activity, and rapid result of this new effort of Christian zeal has per-
haps never been sui-passed ; contributions have flowed in from all quar-
ters, and from all classes, in almost endless variety of amoimt. In
this, as in the general Jubilee Fund, the poor man has vied with the
rich, the child with the aged sire, the colonies with the mother country,
and even foreigners, in climes far distant from each other, have pressed
to take, though it may have been but an humble part in this magnifi-
cent act of charity.

CHINA.

445

" The amount of the united special funds, as made up at the close of
the societ/s financial year, has already been announced to you. This
amount has since been increased as foUows : —

" GeneralJubilee Fund, . . . £67,040 0 5
China Fund, 32,183 16 6

MaHng a total of . , £99,223 16 11"

While the society's general Jubilee Fund amounted to £67,000,
the special China Fund amounted to £32,000, thus providing for
the printing, not of " one million Testaments," as originally pro-
posed, but of TWO mLLiONS. The society immediately invested
£30,000 in the 3 per cents, on account of the Chinese Testament
Fund, of which £5000 was sold in the year 1857, and £5000 in
the year 1858. The accrmng dividends, with the subsequent
contributions, have increased the original fund from rather more
than £32,000 to £44,383, 5s. 6d., of which £22,570 remained in
hand on March 31st, 18G0. How those copies of the Word of
God already issued have been distributed, will be seen from the
following extract, printed in the Bible Society's last report, from
a letter of the Eev. W, Muirhead : —

"I have visited the literary examinations at a place called Kwanshaw,
forty miles off. I took six hundred copies of the New Testament, and
fifty of the Old, with me. On reaching the city I was amazed at the
number of students gathered together, and was told there would be at
least ten thousand in the course of the month, as they included the
graduates and aspirants from thirteen different districts. I began the
work of distribution, and was pleased at the eagerness of the students
in general to receive a volume of the Sacred Volume. ]\Iy plan was to
load a boatman and a native agent with as many as they could con-
veniently carry, and to take twenty or thirty copies in my owa hand.
Walking along the streets I met the students in every direction, when
I requested them in a polite manner to accept a copy. In a few minutes
the supply was exhausted, and we either returned at once to the boat
for more, or I stood up in some pubHc place to addi-ess the students
and others on the great truths of salvation. In this way I spent three
or four days, and proceeded on missionary work to another part of the
country. But as this was too good an opportunity to be neglected, I
returned in a short time to Shanghae, ^d arranged with a missionary
brother, Mr Johns, that either he or I should go again to Kwanshaw

446

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

for the same purpose. He immediately agreed, and left last week with.
three thousand copies of the New Testament.

" The students are the most appropriate class of Chinamen amongst
whom to distribute the Sacred Volume, as they can most readUy under-
stand it, and, through God's blessing, may exert an influence over the
scholars under their care, and in the communities around them,"

The next extract is from the secretary of the Corresponding
Committee of the Bible Society at Canton : —

" Colporteurs stopped at a large trading place, Tin-po. A church
member, named Y6ung, is a shopkeeper there, and found them quarters.
The village elders called this man before them, and inquired about his
becoming a Christian. He related that he went a§ a blind man to Dr
Hobson, who healed him, and instructed him in the doctrines of salva-
tion, and that he was baptized and became a disciple of Jesus Christ.
They inquired about the two colporteurs ; if they wished to open a
preaching place, and whether the foreign teacher was coming to Tin-po.
He explained that they came for a few days only, and had books to
distribute — that the foreign teacher was unable to leave Canton at
present. The elders answered that they knew the fame of Dr Hobson,
who was a man of great benevolence ; he had healed others of their
town. They also ordered the inhabitants not to molest or liinder the
colporteurs, and promised that if the foreign teacher visited the place
they would issue similar instructions. The residents received their
books gladly. A few of the gentry inquired about the Testament ;
some of the people came to their house to converse about the doctrines;
they stayed several times till nine o'clock at night."

It would be a mistake to estimate the importance of this unique
and successful movement merely by the money which was contri-
buted, or even by the vast number of Testaments which it has
placed at the disposal of Chinese missionaries and colporteurs.
Mr James's proposal created a deep and general interest in
missions to China, out of which may some day arise efforts to
evangelise that country of a far grander magnitude than Protestant
churches have ever yet attempted. Just as the Testaments were
beginning to be distributed, events occurred which for a time
disturbed missionary operations. On the 8th of October 1856,
the Arrow, a vessel with a register from Sir John Bowring,
the Governor of Hong Kong, and with an Englishman for her

CHINA.

447

master, was boarded while at anchor near Canton by a Chinese
officer. Twelve of the crew were seized and carried away; it was
alleged that the British flag was flying at the time, and hauled
down by the Chinese. Apologies having been refused by the
brutal Yeh, the Imperial High Commissioner, and Governor of
Canton, hostile proceedings immediately commenced, and the war,
iu which France and England united, was protracted tiU nearly
the middle of 1858. On the 21st of June that year, a treaty of
peace was signed at Tien-Tsin, and the western powers secured
freedom and protection throughout China for Christian mission-
aries, and toleration for such Chinese as should be converted to
the Christian faith.

These surprising concessions awakened in England the gxeatest
astonishment and delight, and greatly stimulated missionary
enthusiasm; in Mr James's heart the intelligence rekindled the
fire of youth, and he wrote a pamphlet glowing with passion and
radiant with hope, imploring the Protestant chiu'ches of Great
Britain, Ireland, and America to accept at once the obligation
imposed upon them by the opening of China to the gospel. " In
default," he says, " of some voice of more commanding power than
my own, I have determined to call the attention of the churches
to their duty and their privilege in reference to recent stupendous
events afiecting China. Disabled by the visitation of God for
much bodily labour in His cause, I must, if I would do anything,
employ my pen. If intense interest in the spiritual welfare of
China qualify me for the task of urging the claims of that country,
I am not unmeet for it ; for I can truly say that a day never passes
over my head during which I do not let my thoughts fly to it, and
my earnest prayers ascend to God for it. Perhaps I may, without
assumption or arrogance, affirm that the subject belongs to me,
since God by my pen, no long time since, called forth between two
and three million copies of the Scriptures for China, and raised for
the Bible Society between £30,000 and £40,000 for this purpose.
Hanng thus sent forth the call for a million Testaments, (for such
only was the original requirement,) I seem almost authorised to
raise another caU for a hundred missionaries."

44.8

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

He was not content with merely publishing his pamphlet, but
posted several hundreds of copies to the most prominent men in the
various evangelical denomiuations of England and Scotland, accom-
panying them in many instances with private letters, urging and
entreating an immediate response to " God's voice from China."
Many of these letters were answered in a manner that indicated
that his earnestness and fervour had touched the hearts to which
he appealed : all the prelates of the English Church, with one
exception, courteously acknowledged his communications ; several
of them with great cordiality.

The recent interruption of friendly relations between China and
western Europe has again checked our missionary exertions ; but
the hope may be justly cherished, that whenever the people of
that great empire shall be accessible to the influences of Christian
teaching, Chinese missions wUl be supported with an enthusiasm
and a generosity which shaU demonstrate that Mr James did not
write and speak and pray in vain.

CHAPTER V.

THE CO-PASTORATE.

It is with a trembling hand that I commence this chapter ; the
most fervent language of aflfection, veneration, and gratitude
would fail to convey the impression which Mr James's magnani-
mous conduct towards myself has engraved for ever on my memory
and heart.

To record the innumerable acts of kindness and proofs of
generous confidence, which are instantly recalled when I review
the pleasant years during which I was permitted to share his
anxieties and labours, is impossible. And not a solitary act or
word or look can be remembered which inflicted — even on the
quick sensibilities of a youth just escaped from six years of
college seclusion, and unacquainted with the ways of men — the
slightest transient pain.

In this chapter I shall venture, for the sake of my own con-
gregation, to give many details in reference to the history of the
relation between Mr James and myself, in which strangers will
feel little interest ; should another edition of this " Life " ever be
called for, many of these may be cancelled. It will also be neces-
sary, in order to do full justice to the nobleness of Mr James's
character and the tenderness of his sympathy, to insert, without
mutilation, letters which no inferior consideration could have
induced me to place before the public*

* Samuel Palmer's prefatory advertisement to Job Orton's interesting letters
may serve to protect me from censure : —
" The publication of the following letters to the Editor may need an apology,

450

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMEii.

Though it was not till towards the close of his ministry that Mr
James became anxious to share with another the responsibilities of
the pastorate, he had twice or thrice sought and obtained some
relief from the pressure of his general ministerial work by securing
an assistant. In the year 1813 he was released by the church
from the obligation to preach three times on the Sunday, and
allowed a fixed annual sum to enable him to provide supplies for
the afternoon. Mr Berry, formerly resident tutor at Homerton
College, and subsequently to that, pastor of the Independent
Church at Camberwell, who was residing in Birmingham in con-
sequence of ill health, being able to preach once in the day,
became permanent afternoon preacher, and his services proved
very acceptable to the congregation. When the new chapel was
about to be opened, he resigned his engagement, that Mr James
might obtain an assistant who would be able to give him more
help in the visitation of the sick, and the superintendence of the
numerous institutions which gather round every vigorous Christian
Church.

Mr Adams of West Cowes in the Isle of Wight was chosen for
the vacant position, and came to Birmingham in January 1819.

since so many parts of them relate to his own personal concerns. Being appre-
hensive of incurring censure on this ground, I have been doubtful, as matters of
this kind are inseparably interwoven with the greater part of this correspondence,
whether it were not most advisable to suppress the whole. And yet, upon re-
peated and the most impartial reviews of what I had selected and transcribed,
many things appeared full as interesting as most in the preceding letters, so that
I thought the suppression of them would diminish the value of the publication;
and to some of my friends it might appear a false delicacy, if, after printing so
many letters of my correspondent addi-essed to other persons, I should present
them with none which I had received from him myself. Nor was this merely my
own opinion. Though 1 have left out many passages which appeared the most
likely to be objected against on the above ground, some readers will probably
think that others are retained which prudence and delicacy would have suppressed.
Possibly this may, in some instances, be the case ; but different persons will judge
differently on the same particulars. As to myself, I cannot but apprehend that,
in general, those articles which are the most personal, are capable of being applied
to some useful purpose, especially by my yoimger brethren, whose situations and
circumstances may be similar to what mine were at the time the letters were
written ; and that others may profit by the ojiinion, the advice, the approbation,
and even the censures of my worthy friend — the last of which I as readily in-
serted as either of the former."

THE CO-PASTOEATE.

451

Mr Adams, "holy Adams" as he was universally called, was a
very singular, as weU as a veiy excellent man.

The following sketch of him is extracted from a letter written
by Mr James to the Eev. Thomas Mann, and inserted by him in
his Memoir of Mr Adams, published in 1849 : * —

" It is now nearly five-and-forty years since I became acquainted -with
this saintly man, and I have still a vivid recollection of the impression
produced by his appearance and conversation when I first saw him.
While a student under Dr Bogue, at Gosport, who had also been his
tutor, I visited Winchester with some of my fellow-students to take out
our licence at the quarter sessions as preachers of the gospel, which
was then reqvdred by law. We were received "nith the most affectionate
cordiahty by Mr Adams at his humble lodgings, and made welcome to
such hospitalities as his means enabled him to afford. It was impos-
sible not to be impressed with his peculiarity of manner and with his in-
difference to the ordinary circumstances of neatness and comfort ; but I
, felt that I was in the presence of a man who seemed to belong less to this
I world than to the region of unsulhed purity, and who was less fitted to
converse with the inhabitants of earth than with the spirits of just men
made perfect. His conversation turned upon the object of om visit,
and I M eU remember with what devout earnestness he endeavoured to
impress upon us the solemnity of the oath which we were about to take,
in order to a legal quahfication for our office, as dissenting ministers.
As long as I was imder his roof it seemed to me as if I were in com-
pany with one of the hohest men I had ever conversed vdih ; and yet
jver aU this there was a certain air of uncouthness, which, but for his
aninent sanctity, would have occasionally called up a feeHng approach-
Jig the ludicrous. From that hoiu- my mind was made up as to the
iaracter of Mr Adams. I knew him at once, and all my subsequent
icquaintance only served to deepen and confirm my first impressions of
lis distinguished excellence and great peculiarity.

" During my residence at Gosport I saw him occasionally, and also
leard him preach and pray. His prayers struck me more than his
emions — their unction was rich, and there seemed to be on his mind
uch a reverential awe of God, blended with so much fihal confidence,
hat I thought I had never heard anything like it before. The students
11 liad the same opinion of him, and even they who were most disposed
lie at his eccentricities were checked by a sense of his most extra-
ry piety.

inoir of the Rev. Kichard Adams, of the New Forest, by Thomas Mann.
1., Ward & Co., 1849.

452

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

" After leaving Gosport I saw little of Mm, except at tlie missionary
meetings in London, when it appeared to me as if both his pecuharitiea
and his sanctity had kept pace together in their growth. The emotions
of his devout mmd at these seasons and scenes of religious excitement
were often too strong to be repressed, and he evinced by his looks and
gestures that his soul was in more intimate communion with God than
with the multitudes by which he was at that moment surrounded, but
from which he was abstracted in a world of his own. His feeUngs
were so far visibly and variously expressed under the influence of what
was going on as not unfrequently to assume the air of the grotesque,
and, in some persons who did not know him, to lead to the supposition
that he was a person of disordered reason.

" I little supposed at that time I should ever stand in a relation
to him which would make me so much more intimately acquainted with
him. Being in want of an afternoon preacher and general assistant,
my attention was directed, I forget by what means, to Mr Adams.
This was now thirty years ago, when he must have been about five-
and-forty years of age. His first sermon produced a very considerable
impression, as did his prayers also. The people also felt as if a man
of no ordinary piety had come among them. It was not talent —
genius — elegance ; it was something higher than aU these, — it was
holiness — unction — spiritual power. But it is a little singular he
never seemed to rise to the height of that discourse afterwards. It is
true, his time of preaching was the afternoon, which is always a most
unfavourable time for preachers, and especially for those who depend
for the success of their discourses more upon the state of the heart than
the power of their intellect or the previous preparation of their dis-
courses. His preaching did not prove attractive. Whatever was the
cause, he could not, as he told me, do justice to himself. His dis-
courses were rather loose and rambling, though always spiritual and
devout, and by no means devoid of thought, for he was an excellent
theologian.

" His intercourse with the people, particularly those more eminent
for piety and the poor, was much enjoyed, and proved very edifying.
His usefulness, however, lay chiefly with those who had been recently
brought under concern about religion. Thus his services were invalu-
able, not only in leading inquirers to a more intimate acquaintance
with Divine truth, but in giving them a more clear insight into their
own hearts. How gladly and how thankfully would I still avail
myself of the services of such skill in that most difficult of all pastoral
avocations — the dealing with inquirers after salvation, and candidates
for church fellowship ! Persons who had been under his training were

THE CO-PASTOKATE.

453

always likely to be clear in their knowledge of the truth, and deep in
their experience of the power of religion.

" It is almost needless to add I had the most entire confidence in his
fideUty as an assistant — I mean in his unwearied endeavours to pro-
mote my comfort, usefulness, and harmony with my flock. He was in
this respect as far from selfishness as I can conceive a human heart to
be in this world of imperfection. He forgot himself in liis labours for
me. I knew that wherever he was and whatever he was doing he was
doing aU he could to raise me in the estimation of the church. It
would seem as if he knew not, by experience, the meaning of the words
envy and jealousy. If any other man than John the Baptist ever used,
In sincerity and satisfaction, the expression, ' He must increase, but I
must decrease,' it was this humble saint of the IMost High God.

" In his concern for my usefulness he would often point out what
appeared to him to be deficiences and faults in my sermons, both as to
matter and manner ; but it was done in such a kind, modest, and unas-
suming way, that instead of ofi'endiug me it always increased my afi'ec-
tion for him, and as he was generally correct in his criticisms, inspired
me with confidence in his judgment.

" Mr Adams's piety, as is evident from aU this, was of an unusual
elevation. Devotion was his element. He entered more deeply than
any one I ever knew into the meaning of that sublime and expressive
phrase, ' communion with God.' I am sure I speak truly when I say
that, besides frequent days of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, he spent
hours every day in pouring out his heart to God in secret. His piety,
however, led to some irregularity of habit. If his heart were enlarged
in morning devotion he would give scope to his feelings, regardless of
the progress of the hour, and would thus keep breakfast waiting for
him at his lodgings to an inconvenient lateness ; or if a sudden impulse
came upon his mind, he would rise in the middle of the breakfast and
retire for prayer, leaving the meal unfinished sometimes for hours. All
this was ^^Tong, and fitted him more to be a hermit than a member or
society.

" In him devotion was united with the greatest tenderness of con-
science I ever knew, and with the greatest regard, even in httle things,
for the comfort of his fellow-creatures. It will, perhaps, appear ludi-
crous to some, but it seems to illustrate his conscientious benevolence,
to say, that if there were orange-peel or a stone in the path which would
be likely to occasion a fall to any one, he would be sure to displace it.
If there were a cellar- window in an insecure state, and which w^ould en-
danger the passers by, he would go in and expostulate, but always in
the most gentle mannei-, with the owner or occupant of the house. As

454

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

another illustration of the tenderness of his conscience, I may mention
the following facts. While he was in Birmingham he was robbed of
some money by a fellow-lodger or servant. He informed me of the
fact, and mentioned the name of the individual whom he had sus-
pected of being the pUferer. I thought nothing more about the matter,
but about a year, or it may be more, after he had left our town, I re-
ceived a letter from him, informing me that he had lately been spend-
ing a day of fasting, examination, and prayer, and had been making
dUigent search after any sins of heart and conduct which, through in-
advertence at the time, had escaped his notice, and which, therefore,
had never been confessed and repented of. In the course of his self-
scrutiny he had recollected the suspicions he had entertained of his
feUow-lodger being the thief who had robbed him, and the mention of
his suspicions to mc. Now, as he had no positive evidence that the
money was taken by this individual, he considered that this was a sin
against that law of charity which ' thinketh no evil,' and having con-
fessed it to God, he could not be easy till he acknowledged it to me.
Having mentioned the circumstance also to the person who was the
occupant of the house, he was at the trouble of writing another letter
to him on the same subject and for the same purpose; and I am certain
that if he could have conceived that the suspected person had ever been
made acquainted with his opinion concerning him, there is no language
of concession and humiliation he would not have been wilKng to em-
ploy in expressing his sorrow for having cast such an imputation upon
him. It must be recollected that he had not subsequently obtained
evidence to prove that his suspicions were groundless — on the contrary,
there was still strong probabihty that they were well founded ; his idea
was, that in the absence of positive proof of guilt it was a sin to think
evil of another, and especially to speak it. Many will, no doubt, be
inclined to smile at this moral fastidiousness ; but who that acknow-
ledges the authority of conscience will not admire this instance of
entire subjection to its control 1 How sensitive and delicate must have
been that conscience which shrank with pain from so slight a touch
of iniqiuty as that I have just narrated! How different a world
shoidd we hve in, and how much holier a Church should we witness, if
all men were as anxious as this eminent Christian thus to maintain a
conscience void of offence both towards God and man ! Another in-
stance of his scrupulosity I remember. He once had in his possession
a five-pound note issued by a provincial bank that had failed. He
went, with other persons in similar circumstances, to prove his debt.
Being called upon to make oath, which was then the law in reference to
bank debts, he considered it too light a matter to be accompanied by
the solemnity of an oath, and chose rather to suffer the loss of the

THE CO-PASTOEATE.

455u

dividend than ojBfend tlie delicacy of Ms moral perceptions by obtaining
it in this way. Now, we may be of opinion tbat Ms scruples were
groundless, but still we cannot but be struck with the seK-denying
morality which would sacrifice his little all, for such it probably was,
rather than retain it at what he considered the expense of religious
principle. Should it be supposed, as it wiU be, no doubt, by some,
that Mr Adams's conscientiousness was in excess, this, in an age when
a depth of it must be mentioned as one of the things that are wanting
to give beauty and power to the Chiistian profession, may weU be ex-
cused.

" In that branch of religion which has special reference to what is
called Temper our dear friend stood pre-eminent above most. His was
indeed ' the meekness and gentleness of Christ.' His kindness, long-
suffering, and forbearance was such that I am not quite sure he would
have killed a wasp that stung him, or have killed a dog that had bitten
him. I cannot imagine the amount of provocation which woidd have
excited him to auger or have inflamed him to passion. I never
once saw him, on any occasion, perturbed in the smallest degree with
wrath, nor do I recollect ever hearing him speak evil of any one, in the
ordinary meaning of that expression. Malice was quenched in benevo-
lence. His desire to do good was ever thoughtful, inventive, and
active, though his efforts were not always, perhaps, judicious. He
usually kept some halfpence in his pockets for the rehef of beggars, who
never appealed to him in vain. The boon of charity was always accom-
panied by some lesson of piety. I have seen him stand in the streets,
and, in a few sentences, preach the gospel to a mendicant, whose eye,
perhaps, would be more fixed on the halfpenny than his ear was on the
homily the good man was dehvering. No matter that : he had dis-
charged his duty, — had spoken a word for the Master he loved to serve,
and had preached a short sermon to a poor sinner, who would in all
probability hear one nowhere else.

" Mr Adams, as may weU be imagined, was singularly qualified to
carry consolation to the chamber of sickness, and other scenes of
suffering humanity. There was a kindness in his looks, a tenderness
in his tone, an aptness in his words, which was well adapted to soothe
and comfort the children of woe. Yet he was so drawn out in com-
passion as sometimes to weary the patient by the length, not only of
his prayers, but of his visits ; nor was this the only complaint I some-
times heard of him, for he sometimes forgot the hour, and made his
entrance when the friends were preparing to go to rest.

" Our dear friend, as aU who knew him will bear testimony, was a
cheerful and happy man, and could allow the quiet, cahn, and peaceful
smile to relax into laughter, occasionally loud, but always somewhat

^56

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

grave. There was neither gloom nor melanclioly about hiin, though
oftentimes an air of deep solemnity.

" His personal habits were not to be commended as regards external
appearance. His extreme absence of mind led him to neglect too
much his dress, and to be sometimes otherwise too indifferent abou,
himself. During his residence in this town, some friends, perceiving
that he had no outer covering except a shabby old cloak, provided for
him a new great coat, which was neat, graceful, and becoming. I
never saw it on his back but once, and what became of it, and why it
was laid aside, I know not. WMle residing in Hampshire, long after
his leaving Birmingham, I have been told a lady of wealth and piety
was fond of his society as a man of eminent reUgion, and used to in-
vite him to her religious parties, for the sake of his expositions of the
Scriptures, and his prayers ; but he often came -with such utter neglect
of personal apparel, that she provided him with a new suit of clothes,
in order that he might make a better appearance in her drawing-room.
He came once or Uvice in the new clothes, but, to her great dismay and
displeasure, she saw him enter one day in his old suit, and being asked
why he had not put on the dress the lady had given him, he really did
not know the condition in which he then stood before her, but supposed
he was then clad in the new habiliments. The fact is, a poor necessitous
man had begged a coat of him, and he had given away the new instead
of the old one without being aware of it. It is not improbable that m
some such way as this the new surtout given him at Birmingham had
disappeared.

" In reviewing the character of Mr Adams, then, while I am entirely
convinced he was one of the holiest, if not the holiest man I ever knew,
I am still of opinion there was a tinge of monachism about him, and a
kind of pietism that fitted him more for the cloister than for the pulpit.
His eccentricities hung hke a thin cloud over his excellences ; and
though it could not conceal them, yet somewhat dimmed, at least to
public observation, their brightness, and hindered their effect upon
others. Many men with less than one-half of his intense devotion, are
abundantly more useful. He seemed more fitted for communion with
God than with man : more adapted to hold intercourse with the church,
or, I should rather say, with the better portion of it, than with the
world ; meaning, by that expression, to convey the idea that there
are many professors of rehgion in whom the spirit of the gospel is so
low, and the spirit of the world so predominant, that among them this
eminent saint would have found himself as little at home in his own
feeUngs, as he would have been found welcome to theirs.

"The last time I saw our friend was in the autumn of 1845, at
Southampton, whither, having heard I was to preach there, he had

THE CO-PASTOEATE.

457

come to meet me. He appeared not so much altered as I liad expected
to find him, considering the years which had elapsed since I last saw
him. He greeted me with the same affection, and I looked at him with
the same veneration, as we had long cherished towards each other.
He seemed to enjoy the sermon, which was delivered in Mr Adkins's
chapel ; and -with the same respectful fidelity as he had used in former
years, he begged me, to use his own words, to preach it somewhere
with a little more explicit introduction of the divinity of the Saviour,
which he thought the subject admitted of. We had some very delight-
ful communion at the house of a friend ; and thus terminated our in-
tercourse for ever upon earth.

" I shall ever hold the name and memory of Eichard Adams in affec-
tionate and grateful remembrance. How much of the undeserved and
unexpected success which God, in His sovereignty, has been pleased to
crown my very imperfect services in His Church, I owe to his prayers,
I know not — that I shared largely in his intercessions I am sure — and
if the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, T
may conclude that his were supplications which*? Grod delighted to
honour."

Mr Adams continued h\ Birmingham about four years, and then
returned to the Isle of Wight After a short interval, he was
succeeded by a student from one of the London colleges, who
remained only a few months, turned out badly, and ultimately
went to America. For more than twenty years Mr James dis-
charged, without assistance, the duties of his large and op-
pressive pastorate ; but becoming conscious of the increase of
physical infirmities, and anticipating with a constant and almost
morbid dread their i^apid development and aggravation, he repeat-
edly declared to his people his desire for a colleague who might,
after his retirement or death, become his successor.

In 1847, a student was received into Spring-Hill College, to
whom, from the commencement of his studies, Mr James mani-
fested great kindness. In the early days of the youth's reli-
gious history, the "Anxious Inquirer" had rendered him too
important a service for hira to be without grateful affection for its
author ; but through his previous associations he had caught the
distrust with which Mr James's Nonconformity was then regarded
by some extreme Anti-State-Churchmen, and he seldom went to Mr

458

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

James's Saturday dinner without coming into very definite and vigor-
ous though friendly controversy with his kindly and venerable host.

After a few months, reports reached Mr James which made him
fear that his young friend was in danger of drifting away from
evangelical truth into scepticism or heresy ; aud one Saturday he
sent a note to the college requesting me — for I cannot longer tell
the story in the third person — to come alone that afternoon to
dine with him. I wondered what would be the explanation of
this. At dinner there was as much freedom and cordiality on his
part as usual, perhaps more. After dinner, he asked me to walk
up-stairs with him into his study. As soon as we sat down, he
drew his chair to the front of the fire, and bringing his great face
close to mine he said, " Mr Dale, may I speak plainly to you ? "
"As plainly as you like, sir," was the reply. Then came out
what he had heard, and what he feared. I answered him very
frankly, and, as he might have justly thought, somewhat presump-
tuously ; but, instead of reminding me of my youth, and the
crudeness of my intellectual condition, he talked with me as
familiarly and freely about the points on which we difli'ered, as
though he had been a lad of my own age ; with far greater tolera-
tion, indeed, of what he thought my mistakes, than a lad of my
own age would probably have manifested.

He was chairman of the Board of Education, and some of his
practical recommendations to which I demurred he might have
authoritatively enforced, but with admirable patience and wisdom
he never passed beyond simple argument and advice. Though his
counsels, I am sorry to say, failed to influence me, the discovery
which I made that afternoon of the simplicity and generosity of
his temper, and his genuine and deep concern for what he believed
to be my spiritual and intellectual perils, eflfected a complete
revolution in my feeUngs towards him ; from that time, though it
was only gradually that I came to feel his power, I venerated his
goodness, and felt that in any trouble he would be a most faithful
friend.

A year and a half afterwards, at the close of the long vacation
in 1849, Mr James wrote to me to say he was very unwell, and

THE COPASTOEATE.

459

that he wished me to come down from London to preach for him
on the following Sunday morning. Not having entered the theo-
logical class, and, therefore, never having heard any lectures on
preaching, I was surprised by his letter, but came down, preached
on the Sunday morning, and was his guest for two or three days.
After supper on Sunday evening, we sat talking for a couple of hours
about preaching ; one of us with the ardent hopfulness with which
the greatest of all human callings is not unfrequently anticipated,
the other with the solemnity produced by the memory of many
years of ministerial responsibility, but brightening often into a most
genial sympathy witli the sanguine enthusiasm of youth.

He explained, with characteristic simplicity and frankness, the
principles by which he had been guided in the structure of his
sermons, and threw out many suggestions on the art of preach-
ing, which seemed to me at the time very valuable for their good
sense and practical wisdom. The details of the conversation have
faded from my memory ; two things only can I remember -s^ith any
distinctness, — the warmth and animation with which, in respond-
ing to some vehement expression of my sense of the nobleness and
glory of the preacher's vocation, he said that a passion for preaching
was a sure pledge of success ; and the earnestness with which he
spoke of "usefulness," as the one great end which a minister
should propose to himself in all his labours.

Kather more than a year after this, he begged me to listen to
"no hint or solicitation about settling with a congregation, without
first consulting him and, in November 1851, he wrote me the
following note : —

" Edgbastox, November 11, 1851.
" My dear Sie, — I shall be obliged to you for a sermon next Sab-
bath, but I cannot yet say whether it ■«t11 be iu the morning or even-
ing.

" I now touch upon a more serious subject. Do you remember, that
many months ago I requested you not to hearken to any hiut or soh-
dtation about settling M-ith a congregation till you had spoken to me ?
Perhaps you would conclude that I had some intention, not expressed
in a suggestion so vague and general, but certamly implied. If so,
your impression was correct. I had. I really meant, that provided aU
went on at college as had hitherto been the case, I should like, after

460

LIFE OF JOHN AKGELL JAMES,

the present year of your studies was finished, to have your occasional
help at Carr's Lane, without altogether breaking up your college hfe.
So that by the end of another year you might be AvhoUy, if you saw
fit, an assistant to me.

" I confide this to your own bosom. Say not a word about it to any

one. But at some convenient season we will talk it over —

Yours faithfully,

"J. A. Ja:\ies."

The proposal, though it did not startle me quite as much as it
would have done but for his previous very emphatic request that
I would not commit myself to any engagement without consulting
him, occasioned me great perjDlexity. I had come to regard Mr
James with great affection and respect, and felt it would be a great
honour and haj^piness to lighten his labours and to commence my
ministry under the guidance of his experience and wisdom. But
this settlement at Carr's Lane, as soon as my college course was
over — it had then nearly two years to run — wovdd cross some of my
most cherished plans ; it had been my intention to study in Ger-
many for a few sessions after leaving Spring- Hill ; this would have
to be abandoned. Like most students, I had my visions of the
kind of congregation to which it was my ambition to minister,
and those visions were very unlike the reality which now seemed
inevitable. The movement to evangelise the irreligious masses of
our manufacturing population was at that time gathering great
strength, and supposing my vocation lay in that dii-ection, my
scheme was to find a small congregation of poor people in the
heart of a manufacturing district, and to make it the pivot and
centre of an active system of evangelistic labour among the sur-
rounding myriads of working people ; this dream, too, had to be
abandoned, and it was abandoned very reluctantly.

No choice, however, seemed left me, and so, during my last
year at college, it was arranged that I should preach for Mr
James on the first Sunday morning of every month, and occasion-
ally at other times. To this arrangement he refers in a note
written to me in September 1852, when the college session was
just beginning.

THE CO-PASTORATE.

461

" Edgbaston, September 17, 1852.

" My deab Sir, — I believe you perfectly iinderstood the proposal I
made to you for your future services at Carr's Lane — to preach during
the last year of your studies every Sunday morning -when the Lord's
Supper is administered, and as often as I may require additional help,
i.e., on Wednesday evenings, and at other times on the Sabbath — of

course, asking moderate demands I do not -wish to interfere

with your preparation for the master's degree — to vrhich your reading

must be most directed during the year I would carry on my

classical studies, were I in your place, with great diligence. Try to be
a good and accurate scholar. I deem this of great importance. Your
course of reading for the degree will not only furnish much knowledge
in philosophy, but be an admirable mental discipline. But take care
of your health. Don't overdo it. Attend to exercise. I forgot to ask
if you smoked. If you have contracted this habit, I beseech you to
break it. To me it appears of so much importance that it would tend
to disturb our intercourse if you were addicted to this habit. You are
not so far committed to it, even if you have begun it, as to find it
difficult to destroy the pipe. You can have but little idea with what
disgust and loathing it is regarded by many of our people, to whom
your company would be less pleasing if you carried this habit with you.

" May I suggest a hint as to your delivery 1 Yoirr voice is musical,
your flow of language easy and elegant, jowv style good; but both
manner and matter a little too equable. It is the flow of a river,
graceful, and somewhat majestic; but it wants the occasional rush,
rapid and cataract, more elevation occasionally, more impassioned
intonation, more solemn point and appeal You can be a very good
speaker. We do much by pathos, by heart as well as head. Feeling,
if I have any -power at aU, has constituted no small share of it.

" As you win have to preach often to the same people, I hope this wiU
not interfere with your preparation for the degree. I do not by any
means wish that it should. . . . . — Yours affectionately,

" J. A. James."

The next letter was written in answer to some inquiries of mine
suggested by impressions, inaccurate as they proved to be, which
I had received concerning IMr James's plans for the future from
a gentleman with whom he had been conversing about his inten-
tions : —

" Edgbaston, May 30, 1 853.
" My dear Sir, — As I do not receive vas letters on Sundays, I had

462

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

not read yours of Saturday wlien I saw you yesterday, or I might have
then alluded generally to its contents, though they require a more
lengthened reply and more extended explanation than I could have
given during the few minutes we were together in the vestry.

" First of aU, let me say that I approve, admire, and commend the
frankness with which you have expressed your views on several points.
Candour and explicitness should characterise our whole conduct towards
each other in the important relation in which we now stand, and I
therefore thank you for your communication, and beg that in future
the same open-heartedness may guide your whole behaviour towards
me, and I shall avail myself of the same privilege of friendship of
placing before you anything that strikes me as requiring explanation or
alteration. Ingenuousness is the best security, as it is the truest ex-
pression of sincere and hearty friendship.

" Your letter affords me the opportunity of laying before you what I
ought to have done before, — my whole object, purpose, and plan in
reference to my future connexion with you. I seemed to take it for
granted that you knew all about it, for what has been long our inten-
tion to do we are apt to suppose is already done. I have ever wished
to help my people in the selection of my successor, that they might not,
after my death, or when I am incapable of the duties of the pastorate,
be left to the hazard of a schism and division in the exercise of their
choice. Yet observing how often a co-pastorate had proved a source of
uneasiness both to the ministers and the churches, I hesitated about a
step of such importance. My hopes, however, prevailed above my fears
when I saw the budding excellences of your talents and disposition,
and after much and earnest prayer to God, I determined to try the
experiment. I thought I saw in you one who, without servility or
forgetfulness of what was due to himself, would regard me with some
of the respect and deference as well as affection due from a son to a
father, one who would not be a suspicious, jealous, and sensitive stickler
for the last and least punctilio of his rights. All I have seen and
heard confirms me in the conviction that in this view of you I have
not mistaken your character. To carry out my purpose, you wiU re-
collect I proposed to you that you should come for a year as my assist-
ant, to preach once for me on the Sabbaths when the Lord's Supper
is administered ; and on other occasions when wanted, leaving you still
at college to pursue your studies till the end of your curriculum. I
stated that I would go no further in the way of positive engagement,
but that if your services continued to prove acceptable, I should then
more fully engage you as my assistant for another year. I am not
quite sure whether I ever till now explicitly informed you what services
I should require of you during the second year. These I will mention

THE CO-PASTOEATE.

463

presently. As the expiration of the first year was to determine whether
our relationship should proceed further, so the expiration of the second
was to determine the same thing. The second is a kind of probation,
both for you and me to ascertain whether we can, with mutual assent
and consent, and consent of the church, and ■with entire confidence of
all parties, come into the co-pastorate. The expiration of the second
year will, if I live so long, bring me to my jubilee, when, if our way be
clear, it is my intention to share the pastorate with j'ou, or, if we should
not see fit to come together, -with some one else. But in order to pre-
vent all collision between two co-ordinate powers, it appears to me that
the plan of Dr Cox of Hackney is a very wise and good one. He has
invited Mr Katterns, who is not a young man, to be his co-pastor, at
' the same time reserving to himself the presidency at the church meet-
' ings, and I believe the Lord's Table, except when he invites Mr Kat-
terns to take his place, which, of course, he sometimes does. And he
also considers that his voice in all church matters is to be considered
next to the New Testament, the ultima lex for guiding the decisions of
the church. This is not for the sake of power but of peace, to shut out
the occasion of contest between the two pastors. The younger one may
well consent to this, considering that it cannot be long before he will
not only be supreme, but alone.

" Well, now, we are about to enter upon the second year of our en-
gagement, and my proposal for that year is to divide the services of
each Sabbath, alternating between the morning and evening, and the
same as to the week-day service; i.e., he who preaches on the morning
of one Sabbath preach on the evening of the next, and he who preaches
one Wednesday evening be silent the next j and each to take the whole
day when the other is out, either occasionally for a single Sabbath, or
I during their annual excursion. All this must, of course, depend upon
I the approbation and decision of the church. You must also relieve me
from Bible classes, attention to the schools, and some portion of the

I visitation of the sick, burials, and marriages And now, my dear

young friend, I have told you all that is in my heart towards you — all?
No, not all, for I cannot do this. I cannot tell you how much and
how earnestly I pray for you, how deeply solicitous and how tremblingly
anxious I am for you — for your piety, your soundness of sentiment,
your usefulness, your happiness. The hope that you may suit me and
my church is indeed a blessed one. It would be wormwood and gall to
I my cup if anything should disappoint my expectations concerning you.
No father ever felt more soUcitous about a child of promise on which
his heart was set than I do about you. It is a matter about which we
should both be incessant and importunate in prayer : a matter on which
the serenity of my evening and the brightness of your morning of Ufe

464

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

depend; and in wliich the comfort and respectability of both are in-
volved : and not only so, but also the peace and prosperity of a large
and at present flourishing church. Oh, let us be devout, and carry it
to God. Let us be jealous, not indeed of each other, but of ourselves.
I am anxious, but I am hopeful. I am sure the weKare of the church
lies very, very near my heart. I can still live and labour for it, or, if
God wills it, I can die for it ; but I can neither live happily nor die
comfortably if its peace be disturbed or its prosperity be destroyed or
even hindered, ilay God bless you with all -wisdom and grace, and
make you and keep you a holy, devoted, successful minister of the New
Covenant many years after the hand which pens these lines shall have
'lost its cuiming,' and shall have given itseK in fellowship to the
worms of the earth! — Your affectionate friend, and as yet your
pastor,

" J. A. Jajies."

My college course ended in June 1853, and at the church meet-
ing previous to the first Sunday in July, the church was requested
to sanction my appointment as assistant minister. Among Con-
gregationalists the assistant minister is only a private member of
the church, who aids the pastor in certain kinds of ministerial duty;
he may not have been ordained ; in many churches, custom would
prevent him presiding at the Lord's Supper or administering bap-
tism. He has no pastoral authority ; he is not chosen or appointed
by the church, but by the pastor whom he assists. Though, how-
ever, he occupies no recognised office, it is obviously required by
the spirit and principles of Congregationalism, that the church
should be invited to express its opinion on his appointment ; and
hence the resolutions which were forwarded by Mr James with his
letter of July the 2d. The resolutions themselves it is unneces-
sary to insert.

The letter dated July the 14th was in answer to my acceptance
of the invitation ; that of July the 27th was written just as he
was leaving home, and immediately before my work in Birming-
ham was to commence ; that of August the 23d was written from
INIr Henderson's of Park, near Glasgow ; and the last of this series
was written in answer to a desponding letter of mine, written to
him while I was away from Birmingham for a few days in Feb-
ruary 1854.

THE CO-PASTOEATE.

465

" Edgbastos, July 2, 1S53.

"My dear YOUJfG Bkother, — I now forward you a copy of the
resolutions which were passed at the church meeting last evening ;
and it will be to you, as it was to us, matter of most fervent praise that
they all passed not only itnammoiisli/, but most cordially.

" The reading of this document can convey to you but an inadequate
idea of the feeling of the churcL / send you the letter of what was done ;
the spirit cannot be thus forwarded, — all hearts were full to overflo^\■ing.
Is it not of God ? Is it not a token for good ? Have we not been led
thus far by the Divine head of the Church ? And may we not take
encouragement from this, to hope that He wiU make our path as plain
for the future as He has for the past ; and that our course will be as
plainly radicated at the close of the second year as it has been at the
close of the first 1 Surely you must be encouraged by the thought
that, out of such a church, numbering now above nine hundred mem-
bers, not one opposing hand was lifted up, not one dissentient voice
threw in a discord to the general harmony. I see in aU this an answer
to the intensely fervent prayer which I have, without ceasing, presented
to God. And now, my dear brother, may you come in the fulness of
the blessing of the gospel of Christ ! May your mind be rightly directed
in the answer you give to me ! I can anticipate but one reply. You
have already, I am sure, carried this matter to Him whose blessing
alone can make anything we do profitable to ourselves or glorious to
Himself. StUl invoke His direction and benediction. May He who
sent forth His seraphim to pmify the lips of the prophet, and to pre-
pare him first to receive and then deliver the message of the Lord,
purify your mind and heart to know and fulfil His coimsel !

" It is a solemn crisis in the history of us both. I tnist we feel it
to be so. My prayers are intensely earnest that it may be for God's
glory and the good of the church, as well as for our mutual comfort.
I feel it to be an explicit and unambiguous notification to myself of the
approximating close of my ministry. I seem to be entering on the
last stage of my journey, and deeply serious do I feel in these circum-
stances. Of course, the ministry never can appear in such a light as
when the greater part of it is \dewed as past.

" May you set out with these impressive contemplations !

" Before we see each other, I may perhaps offer a few suggestions in
reference to your future course. In the mean time, I am sure I need-
not entreat you to be much in prayer for the Divine unction to rest
upon you. I hope we shall often pray together, and help each other to
cultivate a spirit of deep devotion.

" I congratulate you on your success at the university examination.
When Henry ^lartyn, whose memoir I recommend to you, came out of
2 G

466

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAJIES.

the Senate House with the honour of senior wranglership, his reflection
was, 'I am surprised now to find what a shadow I have grasped.'
May you have an equally deep impression of the vanity of earthly
things ! It is the knowledge you have acquired, rather than the honour
of getting it, that is to be chiefly valued.

" I hope you are getting health by your vacation, and that you will
come home strong to labour. I am going to preach to-morrow twice
from 1 Thess. v. 25, ('Brethren, pray for us.') This is to follow up the

pledge of the church given last evening — Yours afi'ectionately,

"J. A. James."

" Caer's Lane, July 14, 1853.
" My dear young Brother, — I received your two letters, the one
addressed to myself, and the other to the church, and am thankful to
our heavenly Father for their contents. I had little doubt of your
acceptance of an invitation which, without any presumptuous attempt
to pry into the secrets of Omniscience, or to interpret the will of God
by events accordant with our wishes, may, I think, be considered as
sent by Him as well as by us. In this case I think we may say that
vox populi is vox Dei. It is a rare occurrence that so large a church
should be so perfectly and cordially unanimoiis, and must be as great a
satisfaction to your mind, in the decision to which you have come, as
it is to mine. You wUl very naturally suppose that I must feel some
solemnity, which, though unmixed with suspicion or misgiving, cannot be
unaccompanied with soHcitude in thus sharing with another the labours
of my pulpit and the afl'ections of my people. There is, however, as
little of this in my heart as can ever be expected in any simUar case.
My first dependence for our entire good understanding is upon Him,
who has both our hearts in His keeping, and next, upon the kindness,
frankness, and amiableness of your disposition, together, of course,
with those Christian graces which the great Sanctifier has ■RTought in
you. Our piety is the surest g-uardian of our peace. The more we are
baptized with the Spirit of holy love to Him, who is Himself light and
love, the less likely shall we be ever to come into a state of ahenation
and contention. Seraphs in heaven ever walk together and are agreed.
May we approach them in the fervour of their love and purity ! then
we shall also come near to them in their unbroken harmony. 0 my
brother, it is in this we are all most wanting. Our principal defects as
ministers he chiefly in our character as Christians. We should be all
better preachers, and better pastors, if we were hoher men. And it is
my hope and my prayer, that the intercourse which you and I may hold,
may improve us both, and help to keep up the divine life within us.
I am myself deeply sensible how far short we all are in this respect.

THE CO-PASTOKATE.

467

A minister's lieart should, so far as human instrumentality goes, be the
central fire of the church. I have no doubt you have found it the
most difficult thing you had to do at college to keep up the spiritual
pulse in good and healthful tone. Aiistotle, Locke, and Cousin afford
small helps to faith, hope, and love. Yet they will assist you in dealing
■with human intellects. You enter upon your ministerial career with
advantages of this kind, of which I knew very little at the outset of
life. I had but a small capital to begin with, but I have contrived to
■work it well One thing I did possess, and have retained, and that is
a clear understanding of the object of the ministry. ' They watch for
souls as they that must give account ' has been my motto ; and a con-
stant aim at conversion, in the good old Puritan meaning of that term,
has been my aim. I very early read ' Baxter's Reformed Pastor,' and
I moulded my preaching after that model I have always considered
that a minister does as much by his heart as he does by his head. If
mind is moved by mind, heart is moved by heart. True it is that the
converse is also a fact, heart is moved by mind, and mind led by the
heart. A cold intellectuality — a mere scientific mode of preaching ■will
do little good. My ' Anxious Inquirer ' is but an embodiment of my
preaching. And how marvellously has God honoured that ■unpretend-
ing work ! Now, it may be supposed that what reaches the soul through
the eyes, will also reach it thi'ough the ear. I am sure it is the gospel
in aU its fulness, earnestly, feelingly, but powerfully preached, that
God ■will bless for the conversion of souls. Don't imagine I am
writing a lecture, I am only giving you my ministerial experience.
You know me and my congregation, and know that through God's
most surprising grace, I have done something, and this is how I have
done it. And then I have been enabled to keep hold of the hearts of
the people, by my o^wn heart being much she-wn to them in aU my inter-
course -with them. They knew I loved them, and love begets love.
Indeed, it is this which I sometimes think has led me into a degree of
familiarity which I would ad-vise you to restrain. My tendency is to
too much openness and frankness. My affability has perhaps degener-
ated into an undignified freeness of manner. I would not be lordly,
reserved, stately. I would not assume either the odour of sanctity, or
the pomp and air of officiality ; but if I were to go over life again, I
should be a httle more reserved. My kindness should not be less
fervent, nor my affability less easy and gentle ; but they should be more
restrained and elevated. Akin to this, I have permitted my cheerful-
ness, to which I am naturally prone, to partake of a little too much
facetiousness. I don't think I ever approached the character of a
jester. Broad farce and buffoonery I ever condemned in others, and
avoided in myself ; but I have been somewhat more jocose than I now

468

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

quite approve. Not that I do not like and approve a good laugh — I
enjoy it ; but it has sometimes trenched on seriousness. If the deacons
must be ' grave,' surely the bishop should be aiiMvog — a word that signi-
fies dignity. And now I mention these things that you might give them
due consideration, and if they strike you with any force as applicable
to me, to profit by them. A cheerful man, you and I, and all Chris-
tians, as well as all Christian ministers, ought to be. Nothing spectral
should be in us.

" As to my habits in my intercourse with my people, these have been
somewhat restrained. I have abstained from evening parties, as I
deemed them most profitless to myself and others.

" To sit three hours in mere chit-chat, or hearing young ladies play
on the piano and sing, was a waste of time I could not endure. I never
supped out except at the Book Society Meetings, and then I invariably
left at half-past ten. Nor have I been in the habit of frequenting
dinner parties. I do not like this meal away from my own table many
times in one year. Perhaps I have erred in being too little with my
people. This, however, is to err on the right side. No one could ever
call me a gossiping minister. Many, I am persuaded, make themselves
too familiar with their people in this way. A dignified reserve is better
than a jocular familiarity. By these means I have, through God's bless-
ing, I believe, maintained the respect as well as the affections of my people.
If I do not mistake you, your danger will he on the side of mine.

" You win, I am sure, take all this in good part as coming from one
who is jealous over you with a godly jealousy

" This has been written at several times, for I am very busy. — ^Yours
very truly, J. A. James."

" Edgbaston, July 27, 1853.
" My dear young Brother, — I have just written a sermon to be
preached on Sabbath morning next, fi'om 1 Cor. xvi. 10, 11, [' Now, if
Timotheus come, see that he may be with you ■nathout fear : for he
worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do. Let no man therefore despise
him; but conduct him forth. in peace, that he may come unto me: for
I look for him with the brethren ; '] with what reference I need not say,
and it has been followed by an intense prayer founded on Eom. xv. 29.
May the exhortation to the church be felt and followed by them, and
the petition to God be answered in the letter and spirit of it ! You are
aware, of course, that you are expected to enter on your ministry at
Carr's Lane on Sabbath week, and that you are looked to for the whole
service for the time of my absence, both Sabbath-days and week-days.
This, I am aware, is a hard service, but the God whom you serve will help
you in it, and through it. You are coming to a people who are prepared

THE CO-PASTOEATE.

to receive you, and w lio will welcome you to their pulpit. Much prayer,
I am quite sure, will go up to God for you. There is little ground for
the fear mentioned in the text, yet I have thought it not unreasonable
to require for you a warm-hearted, confidential reception. You may
return to us, therefore, full of confidence both in God and His people.

" * I have this day been looking out for lodgings for you, and have
found what, I think, will suit you, in Francis Street, that is the street
just opposite !Mr Keep's house, leading into ^Monument Lane ; but, of
course, nothing is determined upon till you come. Were I at home I
would wish you to come at once to my house ; and if you have not
provided for your reception, and will let me know, I will procure some
friendly Gains to take you in until you have determined for yourself.
.... — Yours affectionately,

" J. A. James."

"Park, Glasgow, Aur/ust 23, 1853.

" My deak young Beother, — I have lately led so rambling a life,
and have been so perpetually in locomotion, that I have had but Kttle
opportunity for corresponding with any one, or I possibly might have
forwarded you a few lines before this. It is true I have but little to
communicate, beyond the information that I have had a most agreeable
journey from the outset to the present moment. The sojourn witli ^Mr
Backhouse at Scarborough, and the rambles with him and my son
around the ruined abbeys of Yorkshire were delightfid. I am now con-
fined to the house by the first day's rain I have had since I left home,
and this gives me leisure for writing up my correspondence.

" Yesterday was fine, when we had a glorious view of the mountains
round Loch Long and Loch Lomond. I forget whether you have seen
Scotland, li you have not, you have a great treat before you ; and if
you have, the repetition of a former enjoyment. I am aware the surprise
and novelty of a first view of fine scenery can never be repeated ; but
the quiet, calm, minute gratification resulting from it is ever new and
ever fresL I confess to so much delight, that I am somewhat fearful
occasionally of being too sensuous, and stopping in the vestibule of the
temple of God without passing on by faith to the Adytum, the Holy of
Holies, where the God of grace reigns upon the mercy-seat between the
Chembim. And, after all, it is not from the sublime or beautiful of
nature the soul derives her sustenance, or her highest enjoyment. Not
a ray of mercy beams upon the dark and troubled conscience, not a
whisper of consolation is heard by the broken or contrite heart.

! * I let this passage stand, as it is an illustration of the minute and kind atten-
tions which, through the whole time of our connexion, Mr James was constantly
•hewing me. — Ed.

470

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAJIES.

" I hope you have found this initiation into the duties of office, if not
easy, yet not oppressive. I am aware it was not wading into the
waters of the sanctuary when they were only ankle-deep, but plunging
into them when they were even to the louis.

" I learn nothing but satisfaction with your labours, and am glad to
hear that, as the best proof of the pleasure of the people in hearing
you, the congregations are good. I am more and more convinced that
the substantial verities of DiAane revelation, are the most direct and
surest way to the alfection, the esteem, and the confidence of the people.
This I know from experience, as well as by report. I do not say it in
the way of boasting, nor from an impulse of vanity, but in order to
bear witness to the truth of the assertion I have just made, — the kind-
ness and respectful, almost reverential, attention I receive, astonishes
and humbles me ; and I cannot but perceive it is a tribute, not so
much to talent, for I am not above multitudes of my brethren in this
respect, and far, very far below many of them, but to supposed useful-
ness. The 'Anxious Inquirer' has sent my name eveiywhere before
me, and prepares everywhere the kind of reception I have alluded to.
There is a species of sanctity in this reception to which I have little
claim, a most exaggerated idea of my usefulness, but still this exists.
Oh, is there, can there be anything comparable with this % How much
better than adulation and flattering compliments ! One look, one word,
one smile, which says, I owe you something, for my soul's welfare is
worth volumes of mere encomiastic language. May you, my dear bro-
ther, have much of this !

" I have been thinking much in what way you may be useful to the
young men of the congregation. It has occurred to me that by another
year you could form a class, distinct from and above the Brotherly
Society, and take them through some course of study, perhaps of a
somewhat metaphysical character, such as mental philosophy, or
' Butler's Analogy,' for which your education has peculiarly fitted you.
I should like you to share with me attention to inquirers. It has often
occurred to me that we do not individualise our hearers sufficiently.
There is too much collective teaching, and not enough of class instruc-
tion. Impressions die away for want of being fostered and deepened
by private and personal intercourse. In the earher period of my
ministerial career I was very deficient in this part of my duty, but
have endeavoured to supply the deficiency in more recent times. You
wiU also do much to estabHsh yourself in the afiections of the people
by visiting the sick. Here I have been wanting in niy later years,
which may be accounted for, if not excused, by my being engaged so
much in public business and authorship. It has occurred to me whether

THE CO-PASTOEATE.

471

a certain portion of the town might not be assigned to you as your
particular charge.

" I have been considering the case of the Lozells. As regards the
Sabbath, the arrangement is ah-eady settled between us, but nothing
has been said of the week-day services. To give the cause aU the
advantages we can secure for it, I think it desirable to have one service
which might combine both prayer-meeting and sermon, i.e., an address,
which might be held simultaneously with Carr's Lane Wednesday even-
ing service, and which I would share with you, taking it alternately.

" However, this may not be thought necessary when we come to
consider matters more maturely. I ^^ill converse with ^Ir "WiUiams on
the subject. We cannot commence our labours there tUl the second
Sabbath in September, in consequence of the Lord's Supper ; and it
just occurs to me that on the days of the Supper it will always be neces-
sary for me to preach in the morning, or else we must get a supply
for the Lozells from the college.

"I am glad to hear you have found lodgings in Frederick Street,
though, as I do not know at what house you have obtained them, I
must send this to my own residence, and direct it to be forwarded to
you. May the good Lord abundantly bless you. — Yours very truly,

" J. A. James."

" Edgbastox, Fehrumy 4, 1854.

" My dear Brother, — I am glad to learn that this temporary' sus-
pension of home duties and the recreative influence of agreeable society
have contributed to restore your health and spirits, and that you have
the prospect of returning ' strong to labour.'

" Your complaints of a want of apparent usefulness, while I am sorry
that there should be in your estimation any ground for them, please
me much, because I see by them what way the mind points. It is, my
dear friend, a good sign, and seems to me to indicate a coming blessing.
It would be a portent of no equivocal nature if you were satisfied with
large, attentive, and applauding congregations, and with the universal
esteem and regard of the whole church, while, at the same time, there
•were no proofs of usefulness in the way of conversion. Here, as it
strikes me, is the low ambition of many young ministers — to be con-
tented with an admiring crowd. But do- not be discomraged. There
may be seed germinating that does not yet appear above ground. I
am often of the same mind with yourself, and am ready to think I am
doing little in bringing sinners to the Saviour. I beUeve that, so far as

preaching goes, Mr converts more souls than I do. How is this ]

I will teU you. He dwells more upon elementary truths than we do.

472

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

He preaches the law in its spirituality and extent to produce conviction
of sin, and the gospel in its fulness and freeness for pardon. He com-
mends himself to every man's conscience. We are afraid of being
thought to deal in old truths. I sometimes am ready to think I have
lost the power of getting at the conscience I once had. I must go
back again to regeneration, justification, and all the truths that cluster
round these central doctrines ; and I mean to do so. When you come
back I will shew you a book I have got from America.* I wish to
preach at the Lozells next Sunday evening, to go on with the lecture on
Joseph. *. . . . — Yours most truly,

" J. A. James."

At the close of the year's assistantship, it was determined, at Mr
James's suggestion and reqiiest, that the church sliould be con-
vened to consider the expediency of inviting the assistant minister
to the co-pastorate. As I was away from home, he communicated
to me the result of this meeting in the following letter : —

" Edgbaston, July n, 1854.

" My dear Brother, — Mr Wright, I find, has anticipated me in
communicating the joyful result of last night's church meeting; but as
he gave no details, I am sure the communication of them wiU be as
deUghtful for you to receive as it is to me to make. I have rarely sat
down to the writing of a letter with such thankfulness as I do to this.

"I preached twice last Sabbath with immediate reference to the
church meeting, and the momentous purpose for which it was called.
The morning discourse was founded on Acts xiv. 23, [' And when they
had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed ■with fasting,
they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed,'] and was
a right down Nonconformist ■ sermon to vindicate our practice in the
popular choice of our ministers. In the evening I preached from Phil,
ii. 1, 2, [' If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any com-
fort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
fulfU ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of
one accord, of one mind,'] endeavouring to shew the importance of har-
mony in a church, and how much and for what reasons it contributed
to the joy of its pastor. On Monday evening the deacons met for tea,
and arranged the proceedings of the evening. The weather was most
unpropitious, as it poured with rain. But the enthusiasm of the church
was not to be extinguished by torrents ; it was actuated by a love that
many waters could not quench. As the choice depended upon numbers,
it was arranged that for the more expeditious and facile method of
taking them, the brethren should all sit together on the right hand side
* Spencer'e Pastoral Sketches.

THE CO-PASTOEATE.

473

of the desk,^" and for the first time perhaps in the history of the church
the two sexes were divided, and appeared in their separate array. It
was rather a curious as well as novel, and, on the part of the sex, rather
a tantalising concern. After my prayer and address, the first business
was the counting, to ascertain if the numbers came wdthin the prescrip-
tion of the deed ; for if it did not, the business would have been imme-
diately arrested, and the meeting postponed to collect a larger number.
We felt, of course, some Uttle solicitude on this point, but a few minutes
relieved us of this ; and when it was announced that more than two-
: thirds of the male members were present, a sense of joy lifted up the
whole church, and many turned towards each other with a look and a
nod of silent but expressive congratulation. Mr Phipson, as senior
I deacon, then read the first and most important resolution, to invite you
i as co-pastor. His speech was tender, and not too long. He was fol-
lowed by Mr Cocks. I then put the resolution. In an instant up flew
a little forest of hands and arms, for the brethren were not content
■with lifting up the former, but, to give emphatic expression to their
sufi'rages, held up their arms, and seemed to me to give their hands a
shake, as if to say, ' Let that be taken for the lifting up of our hearts,
our whole hearts.' Then came the call for the negative, if any. I
looked round ; not a hand was to be seen. I could not refrain the
manifestation of deep emotion, and after littering an audible sentence
of thanksgiving to God, sat down mastered by my feelings. That God
should have so united the hearts of nearly a thousand members, for the
women voted with their souls though they were not allowed to do so
with their bodies in the choice of a pastor, must, I think, be taken as
bearing out the vox populi, vox Dei. Yes, my brother, we cannot inter-
pret it otherwise than that our choice is God's choice. While thus
absorbed in my own feelings, I heard a burst of song spontaneously
uttered by the church in the doxology.

" The other resolutions were aU passed with equal unanimity — not a
single negative given to any one of them during the whole evening.

" Then came the afiixing the signatures to the document, and not a
man left the place tiU he had recorded his name as well as given his
vote for you,

" Never was there such a church meeting before. It was full to over-
flowing with holy joy and thanksgiving. After it was over many
gathered round me to express their congratulations, and well they
might. Oh, how many prayers that meeting answered, how many
anxieties it relieved, how many hopes it excited ! And now, my dear

* By the custom of the Carr's Lane Church, only the male members vote; and
a certain proportion of the whole number must unite, to make the election of a
minister valid. — Ed.

474

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

brother, wliat say you to this 1 Does it not cause gratitude and love
to our adorable Lord 1 Does it not fill your heart with thanksgiving
and your mouth with praise 1

" You need not be told that I invite you to be my co-pastor. If
you do, I relieve your anxiety by saying, ' Come and labour with me
in the gospel of Christ. Come and be the evening star of my life.
Come and help me amidst that growing weakness which I must soon
expect. And may our good Lord bring you in the fulness of the blessing
of the gospel of Christ!'

" I cannot enlarge as I am just going off to Tamworth, and have
been hindered nearly all the morning from writing, and have now written
so fast and so badly that I am afraid you will not be able to read what
I have written — I am affectionately yours,

" J. A. James."

Whether he had forgotten that he had preached on 1 Cor. xvi.
10, 11 on my election to the assistantship, I cannot tell; however,
he preached on the same text again on my election to the co-pas-
torate ; and I know that the tone and spirit of all he said of nie in
private sustained his public expression of affection and confidence.

From the commencement of the co-pastorate he never took for
granted my consent to any of his own plans about the action of
the church or the management of any of its institutions, but in-
variably waited till we had discussed them together. In commit-
tees, and in conferences on questions of public interest, when the
weight of his judgment had almost silenced those who differed
from him, it was not unfrequently my ill-fortune to feel obliged
to state distinctly and fully the reasons against the course he pro-
posed ; and I never feared that this would irritate or annoy him,
for he did not imagine that our mutual friendliness was to be
maintained by concealment and compromise. At one time, in a
series of sermons on the Epistle to the Romans, I happened to ex-
press opinions on an important theological subject, seriously out of
harmony with those held by many members of the church and
congregation, and not absolutely identical with his own. It would
have been foolish and impertinent to seek an occasion for the
statement of doctrinal views with which I knew he did not coin-
cide ; but when the occasion came it did not seem right to shelter
the discrepancy by silence or evasion. He was not ignorant of the

THE CO-PASTOEATE.

475

disturbance and alarm which these sermons excited, and though
substantially my opinions were not very unlike those held by him-
self, our modes of stating them greatly diflfered. His conduct,
through that time of disquietude, was singularly noble. Without
compromising his own convictions, the whole of his personal influ-
ence was exerted to soothe and tranquillise the agitation and ex-
citement. I cannot omit to mention, that, through his own request
and by his own act, the sum devoted by the church to the support
of its ministers was divided equally between us when the co-
pastorate began ; and that gi-adually his own pastoral income was
diminished, and that of his colleague increased, until at his death
the elder minister received from the church less than one-half the
amount that was received by the younger. To the close of his life
not a passing shadow clouded the kindliness of our mutual rela-
tions ; and if any wish to know how it was that we worked together
so happily, I can give a very definite and satisfactory reply.

In his heart of hearts, the aged minister loved and trusted his
younger colleague — was his generous, unflinching champion against
all suspicion and unjust censure — was ingenious in his devices to
secure for him public respect and honour — was open and frank in
the private discussion of questions on which they disagreed — never
suggested, because he never supposed, that the authority of his own
age, reputation, and experience could justify him in requiring the
younger minister to sacrifice or trifle with his convictions of truth
or duty. In one word, Mr James had a noble, generous temper,
and in all his conduct towards me, there was never the faintest
trace of suspicion or selfishness.

The letter dated March 1, 1855, was written to me while away
on my wedding tour ; those dated May 28 and June 2, 185G, were
written in answer to a letter written to him from Ireland during my
annual holiday, the contents of which are sufficiently indicated by
the replies they elicited. The letter from Hastings was written
to me when he was away from home in the summer of 1856.

At the close of the year 1857, I was invited to become the
pastor of the church assembling in Cavendish Street Chapel,
Manchester, and on many accounts had a very strong persuasion

476

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAJIES.

that my iisefulness there would be greater than at Can's Lane.
After much agitating reflection, I went away from home to give
the question a more quiet and thoughtful investigation than was
possible while I was in daily contact with Mr James and the
members of Carr's Lane Church. I finally determined to place
before Mr James himself my reasons for believing that the claims
of Manchester preponderated, and to trust the decision to his own
judgment. His two letters, dated December 2-i and December 26
]857, conveyed me his decision, and determined my course.

The letter on ministerial assistants to Dr Fletcher was ^vritten,
I believe, about the year 1830; but as it affords important illustra-
tion of the views Mr James then held on the subject of this chap-
ter, it has been reserved for insertion here.

"Edgbaston, March 1, 1855.

" My dear Friend and Brother, — I had been waiting with some
degree of impatience for intelligence from you, having till your letter
arrived no answer to give to the numerous inquiries which were made
concerning you and yours.

" I need scarcely say how large a portion of my family and personal
devotions was given to the subject of your union on the day of its
formation, or how sincerely I now congratulate you on the event so
interesting to all the feelings of your heart, so important to your future
happiness and usefidness in Hfe. I hope and beheve that you have
not now to search for evidence that nothing is a matter of indifference
to me that concerns you. Your marriage is an occurrence in which
not only you and the object of your dearest earthly affections have a
stake, but I also, and the whole church of which you are one of the
pastors. We have, however, confidence first of all in God, that His
grace will be so richly bestowed upon you as not to allow the cares
and comforts of domestic Hfe to damp your ardour in the discharge of
the functions of the still higher relation in which you stand to Christ
and His church ; and then we have confidence in you, that the most
assiduous and dehghtful attention you pay to the comfort of her you
have chosen to be the companion of your pilgrimage \d]l not make
you less watchful for the salvation of immortal souls. Much prayer
has gone up to the fountain of wisdom and grace that you may give
fujl proof of your fitness to rule the church of God by the discreet and
holy manner in which you govern your own household. Our example,
both in our individual and domestic conduct, is kno-mi, and must be
influential for good or evil. Our households should be patterns for the

THE CO-PASTOEATE.

477

flock. Tlie apostle's language in 1 Timothy iii. seems to imply all this.
In going through life I have endeavoured to bear this in recollection ;
and though I could have lived in somewhat more showy and expensive
style, I have chosen rather to be known for a dignified simplicity. I
have marked the tendency of the age to indulge a taste for a little
more worldly conformity than I thought compatible with the Christian
profession, and I have determined that I would abstain from even the
appearance of this evil. In this I was nobly sustained by both my
wives — women of considerable pi-operty, of tolerably high connexion,
of sound sense, of sincere piety and patrician bearing. I owe much,
very much, to both these excellent women. Their prudence was
exemplary, never obtruding themselves on the congregation, never
demanding deference, though it was conceded to them, and never
backward to give their influence to all that was holy, benevolent, and
useful Fifty years hence, when hoavy -n-ith age, and crowned with the
honours of saintly piety and ministerial usefulness — ^when ripening for
heaven amidst the respect and affection of your friends on earth, may it
be granted to you to speak of that dear young woman whom Providence
has placed at your side, as I now speak of those whom I have had and
lost; with this difference, however, that you may have to bear this
testimony to herself, living and sharing with you the fruits of a pious
old age, while I am permitted only to bear my testimony to the memory/
of departed excellence.

" And now to one or two topics of your letter. You say nothing
about the indisposition with which you left Birmingham ; therefore I
hope, despite of the weather, you have lost this.

" I think your choice of Cambridge and Oxford as objects of interest
during your journey, was a wise one. These can be seen when the
country is wrapped in the wintry sheet of snow, or bound in the icy
chains of frost. I am glad you heard Xewman HaU, and I am not soixy
you learned from him, if nothing eke, the advantage in honuletics of
announced divisions of discourse. Wliat you say is very true, that they
often break the force of an address. This, however, depends on their
nature and mmiber. If they are conjunctive and not cZisjunctive, they
aid the memory without materially weakening the effects of the sermon
at the time. Besides, the mental capacity of the audience should also
be taken into account. An overwhelming majority of our congregations
consist of persons who, if they are to travel through a sermon at aU, and
not to lose their way on a plain, which has neither roads nor milestones,
must travel by the easy stages of these divisions. Still an occasional
deviation from this plan introduces variety of manner. I think it
judicious and useful sometimes to expoimd according to the Scotch
method of lecturing, verse by verse — sometimes to extract the essence

478

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

of a passage and dilate upon it with great breadth; but aa a general
rule, divisions are the most useful style of preaching. I think I told
you that one of the best educated members of our church once com-
plained of your deficiency in this, and said for want of it he could not
carry away so much of your sermons as he could wish. Mr Jay, in
his autobiography, has some useful remarks on this

" And now a httle about myself. I went through the two sermons
with as much ease as I did before my iQness, although one of them
was a funeral sermon for Mr Lee, which occupied nearly an hour. I
am getting on, or rather Hudson is, with the book very fast. I have
received from Mr Bolton, Mr Jay's son-in-law, a copy of a fimeral ser-
mon for Dr Spencer, the author of which gives a most striking account
of him, and which wiU enrich my httle volume. I have looked over
again ' The Whistling Thinker,' and shall take it in.

" Aiid now, may God preserve you and your bride during the remain-
der of your journey, and may you return strong to labour in the work
of saving souls. My kindest regards to Mrs Dale. — ^Yours most
affectionately,

" J. A- James."

"Edgbaston, May 28, 1856.
" My dear Friend, — .... Well, now to your letter. First of
all, I am thankful you have had a pleasant voyage and reception. It
is weU you went over on Saturday, and not on Sunday, for we had
quite a hurricane on the latter. I think the excursion wiU do you
more good than my London journey did me. I took a sad cold, and
was veiy unweU on Monday; but preached on Sunday evening, and
returned next day. I have been improving all the week. Mr Scales
preached for me on Sunday evening, and Mr Barker takes next Sunday
morning. But I am getting off from you to myself. You were in one
of my gloomy moods when you -wTote your letter, or perhaps I had bet-
ter and rather say you were passing through the searching and purifying
fire, under the observing eye of the great Kefiner. I am not surprised
by these mental conflicts, nor grieved by them. Perhaps you needed
them ; and, indeed, we need not say ' perhaps,' for it is certain, or else
you would not have had them. Few young men have set sail on their
ministerial voyage with a smoother sea, a fairer wind, or fuller sails.
If there has not been splendid success in the way of conversion, there
has been general acceptance. You have heard no complaints — ^you
have witnessed no neglects — ^you have felt no chilling indifference
towards you. Your congregations have equalled if not excelled mine,
and that when you were expected in the pulpit. Nothing, then, can
have discouraged you but the lack of direct conversions by your

THE CO-PASTORATE.

479

ministry. But have not I equal cause to be disheartened ? Are not
the instances of your success equal to mine? yea, are they not more
numerous ? Besides, does either of us know yet what really exist ? I
am, while I write, thus condemning myself, for there are times when I
am ready to think my usefulness is over, and that I may almost as well
give up. And herfe let me say, perhaps we have both been too anxious
about results — too anxious on our own account. Is our anxiety for
Christ, for souls, or for ourselves ? I have lately thought in reading
the New Testament, that the apostles do not seem to have perplexed
themselves so much about success as taking the right means to obtain
it. To preach and to make known Christ was their aim, and they seem
to think they had done a great work when they had done this. May
we not both learn something here ? I beUeve we may. This comforted
the apostle. ' We are a sweet savour of Christ unto God, both in them
that are saved and in them that perish' It is a great thing to diifuse
this odour. Let our sermons, our conversation, our whole character
and conduct, be scented with this perfume, and we may be sure of
acceptance and favour with God.

"Now, my good friend, let me expostulate with you on your supposi-
tion that you could be as usefxil for Christ in secular life as in the
office of the Christian ministry. How could such an idea find lodgment
for a moment in your mind ? That Christian laymen may be very use-
ful in the cause of rehgion, cannot be questioned, and that many of
them do far more good than some preachers, is quite clear. But, then,
let us not make the comparison between men of distinguished talent
out of the ministry and of no talent in it. Oar inquiry should be,
whether men gifted to be preachers by voice, manner, talent, and piety,
as ministers, are not blessed with powers and opportunities for useful-
ness, that far exceed those of almost any laymen whatever. Tou are
one of those who are adapted and qualified for the work of the pulpit;
and you may weU ask in what sphere of activity could you be so well
employed for Christ and His Church as that which you now occupy.
But against all this you reply the paucity of instances of success which
liave attended your labours. To your reply I bring as mine, what I
have said in a former part of my letter. It is really too soon yet for
you to ascertain the degree of your success, or the defect of it.
. " Let me now ask if you could make your sermons a little more
telling — if you could add to the efficiency of your public services.
Two things have sometimes occurred to me. Your prayers want a
little more simplicity, and to be a little more petitionary. They are
too much in the style of elaborate and elegant compositions. "We aU
might learn something from the dignity and simplicity of the Church
of England. Then, as to your sermons. There is in you what I have

480

LIFE or JOHN ANGELL JAME3.

often felt to be in me, a certain land of — I hardly know how to pnt it
in a positive form, and I must therefore adopt a negative one — a want
of solemnity.

" We preach on high, sacred, and momentous topics of religion in
much the same tone, manner, and spirit, as we should do on any secular
topics. It seems to me we approach what is light and flippant in
manner. Then we are not sufficiently textual. We also need a little
more of the experimental, the sesthetic. We preach too little to the
heai't. Our sermons are too religiously scientific, or rather too scientific-
ally reUgious. You want also a little more pathos. In your compari-
tive seclusion, your ' retreat,' your season of reflection and self-exam-
ination, you may turn over aU these ideas and suggestions. You are
made for the pulpit, and in the pulpit you must remain ; and you will
not easily find a pulpit to which you are more suited, or where you
will be more welcome, than that in Carr's Lane Chapel. Continue your
attachment to evangelic truth, both as that which will promote your
own personal growth in piety, and your success in the ministry, and
you have nothing to fear excepting from your own fears. Watch
against a liberalism, to which, I think, you have some little tendency,
and see what in every case of great moral renovation, either in
particular ages and churches, or in the long period of the Church's
Idstory, God has blessed for the conversion of souls; and there is
before you, if God spares your life, a long career of comfort and useful-
ness in His vineyard. * You see how long a letter I have written to
you;' but do not suppose I shall always thus tax your time, your
patience, and, I may add, your labour in deciphering what I have
written — ^Yours afi'ectionately,

" J. A. James."

" Edgbaston, jtine 2, 1856.
" My dear Friend, — On reading again your letter, there appear to
me some matters on which I did not appropriately touch, or touch at
all, in my reply to it. I particularly refer now to that part of it in
which you speak of your difficulty in maintaining that glow of intense
earnestness which you deem essential to right ministerial work. Now,
it is impossible, with the view I entertain of the object of our ministry,
that I should for a moment attempt to lessen in your estimation the
really awfid weight of responsibiUty that lies on one whose business it
is to save souls from eternal ruin. I do think with you that we ought
ever to maintain a solemn and intense ardour for their salvation. I
wonder / or any one can be so easy as we are with such destinies in-
trusted to our care. It seems to me sometimes as if the weight of our
ministry ought to be felt by us as a pressure of which we could never

THE CO-PASTOEATE.

4S1

rid ourselves. But then, shall I deem myself disqualified and give up
the pursuit of the object, because my fervour is not equal to my sense
of obligation and my -nishes ? Certainly not. My business is to mouru
and seek to supply my deficiency — yet to go on. Is it not the same
as regards our personal salvation ? Does it not seem sometimes as if,
with such an object as eternal salvation before us, we should be in an
incessant glow of zeal, love, hope, joy ? Yet we are not. AndshaUwe
on that account give up the pursuit, because we feel our pursuit so far
below what it should be?

" May I suggest that the present state of your mind is not aU its
own mere weakness, but is either the efi"ect of Satanic influence seekuig
to embarrass, to discourage, and to weaken you ; or else, which I would
fain hope is the case, the effect of God's Holy Spirit deepening your
sense of obligation, and elevating your desires and aims. Perhaps, also,
there may be in you a little too much of the subjective in religious
experience — a tinge of mysticism which turns away the eye of the mind
from the great objective realities of our faith. I have sometimes
thought your mind is stiU struggling with unacknowledged, perhaps
almost unsuspected, doubts on some points of dogmatic theology; and
I do not think your Unitarian association likely, though it is professedly
only a Uterary one, to be of service to you. Not that I suspect you of
heterodoxy, or tending to it. But it is probable that in yom- earnest
inquiry after truth, and your anxiety to examine aU that can be said
against it, you are giving to the difiiculties and objections that can be
brought against it more weight than really belongs to them. Your
mind is so strongly analytical, that you are likely to see difficulties
where others who possess less of this power are at ease in their conclu-
sions. The class of authors you have been lately reading ought not to
be passed over. Maurice, and Jowett, and others of that school, should
be known — well known, and studied by oiu: strong-minded youi\g
ministers. But this requires great firmness in established opinions to
withstand the seductions of the error, which is set forth by their genius
with no inconsiderable attraction of logic and rhetoric. I ■«ish that
with them you would read Howe, Baxter, and some parts of Owen,
among the ancients, and Fuller, Wardlaw, and Chalmers, among the
moderns. I know that among most of our young men there is an
extreme aversion to go in the ruts ; but is there not also a danger of
getting off the rails 1 There is a richness and fidness of Divine truth
in the old writers, which, with aU their antiquated style and scholastic
technicalities, and somewhat narrow views, the moderns lack. And,
oh ! their devotion — their communion with God — their sustained and
elevated piety ! This, this is what we want — this is our deficiency. We
cannot live upon our own public services — and these are so frequent
2h

482

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

and SO urgent as to leave us little time for anjrthing else. I hope
by the time you get this you will have lost some of your groundless
apprehensions of unfitness for the ministry. I believe the dread of
wzfitness is just God's own method of producing a greater fitness : and
that your Irish journey will prove to have been the means of inestim-
able benefit to your own personal godliness and your ministrations to
the people of our joint charge.

" Let me now mention a subject which has long pressed heavily upon
my mind, and which has been this morning brought before me by our
friend Phipson, and that is, the want of pastoral visitation. Some
murmurs now and then are borne to me by those who have intercourse
with the people of their being neglected. They expected that with
two pastors they should be better shepherded. Now, to a certain ex-
tent their expectations should be realised — but to the full measure of
their minds it is impossible.

" With a church of more than a thousand members, scattered over
the whole exi3anse of this large and continually-extending town, it is
impossible to devote much time and attention to individuals. And,
moreover, how little do the members care to visit each other ! Still
there is some reasonable ground for complaint, which we must endea-
vour to meet. The church is neglected by us, and we must try to
make up our deficiency. I can hardly think that our various institu-
tions, classes, public business, and a variety of other matters, can be
admitted as any excuse for neglecting the church committed to our
care. Nor do the deacons and the superintendents of the districts do
their duty. All are wanting. And aU must be stirred up to greater
diligence. On your return we will talk over this matter a'fresh, and
see whether our organisation cannot be improved — Yours affec-
tionately,

"J. A. James."

" Hastings, Awjnst 11, 1856.
" My deae Friend, — .... A neat and really elegant place has
been erected [here], which is now occupied by Mr GriSin, late of Man-
chester, whom I heard preach last Sabbath morning, when he gave us
one of the best sermons of the be.st kind of preaching I have heard for
a long time. I esteem it a privilege, I assure you, to have heard two
discourses of this sort since I left home. The other was by Mr Raleigh,*
at Union Chapel, Islington. I am more than ever convinced that this
is the kind of preaching which is wanted in the present day — a com-
bination of the intellectual, doctrinal, experimental, and practical —
sermons coming from the head through the heart, or from the heart
* Then of Glasgow, now of Canonbury.

THE CO-PASTOKATE.

483

through the head. It is the old substance with new accidents — the
matter of the past age in the style of the present. I wish we had a
great deal more of it. I do not think our present race of preachers
take sufficiently into account the importance of the heart — I mean their
own heart — as an aid in the production of effect. From the heart to
the heart is the great canon. Our hearers love to feel as well as to
think ; and a great many of them, I am sorry to say, are more desirous

to feel than to think

" I am going to preach to-morrow evening to the thoughtful and im-
pressed but undecided hearer, and expect, if the weather be fine, a large
congregation. I am more and more bent on the conversion of souls.
I do not seem as if I had any business in the pulpit if I forget this.
My mission always has been, and I believe will be to the last, to reach
the unconverted. I believe this is also your aim. Never give it up.
I know we are both a little discoiiraged, sometimes, we do not accom-
plish it in a greater degi-ee at Carr's Lane. StUl let us go on. God
will not leave us without His testimony to the propriety of such an aim.
And then we are at the head of a great piece of machineiy, which is
accomplisliing this end in some measure through our means

" Edgbaston, December 24, 1857.

" My very dear Friend, — Your welcome letter has lifted a load
from my heart, to be replaced by another. I have just risen from my
knees to bless God (which, in fact, I did also the first moment after I
had read this disclosure of your heart and decision of your judgment)
for His great kindness to me and my church in retaining you amongst
us. How great has been my anxiety He best knows to whom it has
been expressed morning, noon, and night. Think not, however, that I •
am now altogether free from it, for that other load which I now am
conscious of is the solicitude I feel lest, as you have intrusted the de-
cision to me, I should do that which at any future time you should see
cause to regret. That the balance of probabilities of usefulness lies on
the side of Birmingham, all things taken into account, I have no doubt-
The first consideration, I know, is your connexion with Carr's Lane.
This takes precedence of all matters in judging of your duty. It is not,
of course, for me to limit the power and resources of the Almighty, and
say He could not find for us another man whom He coidd enable to bear
the weight and promote the prosperity of our church ; but I may and
do say, I know not the man who is more likely to do so than yourself.
The late decision was not obtained by my influence, nor that of the
deacons, but was the free expression of the churcL

" I have not time to enter into a consideration of your candid, impar-
tial, and -vsise comparison of the two situations. I will enter more

484

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

fully into them wlien we meet and talk over tlie matter. I have liad a
business of importance, which called me out soon after I received your
letter, and have had since then to put a few thoughts together for a
sermon to-morrow morning. I must, therefore, refer only to the pro-
posal you make of abiding by my own decision. My only ground of
shrinking from this is lest my own wishes should so bias my judgment
as to prevent my seeing in its true light the evidence that lies on the
side of Manchester. I tremble lest I should so determine as that in
promoting my own comfort, and even in thinking I was promoting
yours, I should so advise as to keep you from a more successful and
more happy career of ministerial labour. If, therefore, you refer it to
me, I most heartily say, ' Stay with us.' If, however, it would be
more satisfactory to you to have the opinion of those brethren whose
minds are not Liable to the same warping influences as mine, I wiU lay

the matter before them. My mind is made up

" Abounding thanks to you, my dear friend, for your generous con-
sideration of my comfort ; but I should be sorry if that had more weight
than belongs to it upon your decision, but it wiU certainly bind me
closer to you than ever. But again I say, shall you, come what will,
be satisfied, in looking back upon the present state of the case, with
leaving it to my decision 1 Will you not be ready to say, if anything
should happen, now altogether unlikely — 'I wish others besides, not so
interested and partial as Mr James, had been called in ? ' If you can
leave it with me, under God's influences, it is decided, and you are
stni what I have prayed you might be — my co-pastor for a little while,
and the pastor of Carr's Lane Church soon. — Yours most affection-
ately,

" J. A. James."

" My Study and Oratory, December 26, 1857.
" My deae Fkiend, — I have again read your letter, and have again
also prayed that I might be able to give such a deUverance upon its
contents as shall be for God's glory, your guidance in the way you
should go, and the good of the cause of Christ at large, as well as the
welfare of the church at Carr's Lane. Perhaps you will, in consequence
of subsequent events, attach less weight to the perfectly unanimous
vote of the church at your election to the co-pastorate than at one time
you woidd have done; but whatever little disturbance there was of
that unanimity at one time, it has of late all but entirely returned,
and in very many quarters the attachment of the people is stronger
than even in the ardour of their first love. This / consider should
have great weight, and go far to satisfy you, as weU as me, that you are
where the Divine Master would have you be. This returning and all

THE CO-PASTOEATE.

483

but universal confidence seems to have come at a time Avhen it may be
almost regarded as an intimation of His -wiLL

" Next to this, I place the avowed strong feeling of reciprocal attach-
ment of your oviTi mind and heart to the church. Had there been
anything of even incipient alienation from us, any diminution even of
former regard, any consciousness that your labours "were losing that
power which cordial affection for the object of them cannot faU to
impart, in that case I should not hesitate to say that you would be
likely to be more useful at Manchester than at Birmingham. But
nothing of this kind exists. The first love is still the first love in-
creased.

" I honour you for pausing in those circumstances, and asking, not
where can I be most comfortable as a man ? but most useful as a minister ?
You had so much to attract you and to attach you to your present
situation, that it could be nothing but a question of duty which would
lead you to ask, ' Ought I to leave it ? ' I am far more desirous that
this matter should be decided by the judgment and the conscience, and
not merely by the heart.

" I still could almost have wished I had called in the judgment of
brethren whose names you mentioned,* more, however, for the reasons
I have already specified than for anything else. One of them, Dr
Bedford, I have considted ; to him I read your letters, and he without
hesitation said I ought to take the responsibility upon myself, and
immediately decide the matter the way I do. Before, however, I do
this, I will refer to one or two points you have laid before me.

" The gist of the difficulty in your mind lies in two things. First,
a doubt of the adaptation of your style of preaching to our congrega-
tion, and a supposition that it is better suited to a Manchester audience.
I am most decidedly and firmly of opinion that the habitudes of thought
in the two congregations are very much the same — that what will suit
one will suit the other. I believe that those you have been accustomed
to preach to, and who are likely to be your future hearers, are as to their
tastes and capacity precisely what the Manchester people are. If you
can please the one, you can as surely please the other. This will
strictly apply to your remarks on your natural tendency to dwell on
' docti-inal subjects.' I am quite sure the congregation at Carr's Lane
•will not object to sound doctrine; and though in one or two points
which came out in your exposition of the Bomans there was a little

♦ I had said in my letter, that while personally I should have no hesitation in
accepting his own decision as absolute and final, he might, if he shrank from the
responsibility of determining the question alone, lay it before the Rev. Dr Bedford,
late of Worcester, the Rev. R. D. Wilson, then of Wolverhampton, now of
Birmingham, and the Rev. D. K. Shoebotham of Dudley.

486

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

difference of theological sentiment to what I hold, they do not touch
the substance or core of evangelical truth, and form in my view no
valid reason why you should not continue the pastor of Carr's Lane
Church. You speak of your tendency to ' speculative preaching.' In
the modified sense in which I understand that word as used by you,
and interpreting it by the recollection of four years' listening to your
sermons, I do not see anything in that which induces me to shrink
from the responsibility of advising you to remain in Birmingham. I
have heard no speculations which I thought unwarrantable in a public
teacher of God's truth. I have often been much struck with the
practical manner in which you have treated doctrinal subjects, and the
power of your hortatory and appUcatory appeals to the conscience. . . .

" So much, then, for my views of your adaptation to the meridian of
Birmingham. Here you have acquired a name and a weight, which I
doubt not you would soon do in Manchester, and start perhaps with
some advantages which as a young man just come from college you did
not have

" Looking at all these matters, my dear friend, can you hesitate on
the question, which is the sphere in which you are most likely to serve,
not the interests of a single congregation, but of a whole denomination,
and thus the cause of Christ ? Ji you are at a loss, and I believe this
to be the case, and the reason of your hearkening at aU to the invita-
tion from Manchester, I am not. As I said in my last letter, I say
also in this. My mind is made up. I believe you will be serving
Christ better by remaining. I stiU say, if it wiU satisfy you more for
me to consult the three brethren you have named, I will do it. But
great as is the responsibility I incur, I take it up and recommend you
to remain where you are, as my beloved co-pastor of the church in
Carr's Lane. — Your affectionate friend and loving brother,

" J. A. James."

TO THE EEV. DR FLETCHER,

ON THE EXPEDIENCY AND DESIRABLENESS OP MINISTERIAL ASSISTANTS TO THE
PASTORS OF LARGE ANE WEALTHY CHUECHES.

" Birmingham, October 28.
" My dear Friend, — I have reflected much and often, since I saw
you, upon the subject of our conversation relative to your -wishes of
obtaining an assistant ; and the more I have thought upon the matter,
the deeper and steadier are my convictions of the utility, and, I may
add, the necessity of the plan. I wiU give you my views of its advan-
tages, and then meet the objections to it Avliich may be founded upon
conjectural and anticipated evils.

THE CO-PASTORATE.

487

" The ADVANTAGES are so numerous that they require classification,
in order to be adequately enumerated. The first class is composed of
such as affect yourself. Your health would be benefited by being re-
lieved from the necessity of ever preaching three times on the Sabbath,
which I presume you are sometimes obliged to do, as things are. Three
pubUc services in one day may do very well, and be borne without in-
jury, in small places, and even in large ones, where men have iron con-
stitutions and sinews of brass, but your place is large and your frame
delicate and sensitive. And then there are seasons of indisposition, in
which, as a sermon delivered at such a time is a dreadful expenditure
of strength, more than ten discourses preached in good health, you
ought to be relieved, and your people ought to be most willing to sub-
mit to the sacrifice. To preach under bodily infirmity in a house
where a whisper may be heard almost to the extremity may be harm-
less in most cases ; but in these circumstances to address fifteen hundred
or two thousand people is to throw two shovelfuUs of earth at once out
of a man's grave. Your pastoral avocations are, of course, in proportion
to the extent of your church, which is always very large, and they
make an incessant and ever-wearing demand upon your strength ; and,
in addition, your extra-ecclesiastical services in the way of visiting the
sick and aiding the operations of the Chiistian Instmction Society,
altogether produce an amount of exertion which should be shared Avith
you by some able-bodied and able-minded assistant. Few churches are
yet sufficiently aware of the value of a good minister, to be willing to
prolong his life and usefulness at a little cxiicnse of property and a
little occasional sacrifice of mental gratification.

" 2. Consider next the advantage it would be to your church. In
those seasons when indisposition or absence from home renders it
necessary that a supply should be procured, and often at a short notice,
here would be one at hand, who could cither occupy the pulpit himself,
or exchange with some neighbouring minister. The trouble of pro-
curing help in such cases is often very considerable, and even then but
indifferent aid can be sometimes obtained. But it should also be
remembered that the sick, the poor, and the afilicted of every class
would be by this means much better attended to, the young and the
anxious inquirers after eternal life would have more enlarged oppor-
tunities of instruction. Even in the quietude of past ages of the
church, when no public institutions, or ahnost none, demanded and
shared a pastor's time and attention, and he was left all at leisure for
attending to the state of his flock, it was but a very inadequate portion
of practical care that he could give to each of three or four hundi'cd
membei-s. How much less, amounting to scarcely any, can he give
to them now, when hardly a day or an evening occurs in a week of

488

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

■wliich, in tlie metropolis or in large towns, he must not give a large
portion to the public. Who will venture to say that it is his duty to
withdraw from societies on which the world's welfare so much depends 1
And yet, if he do not withdraw, he must support them vrith time taken
from his flock. I am myself the pastor of a large church in a large
town," and I find myself frequently in a most painful conflict between
the claims of the public and those of my church, and am often reduced
to the strait of neglecting one or the other.

" 3. I may very properly state next, the advantage which would be
derived bt/ the public. Home operations, or exertions for the benefit of
our own teeming, and, alas ! it must be added, immoral population, are
assuming a prominence and importance altogether new, in consequence
of the rise and progress of the Christian Instruction Society. Help is
much wanted for this valuable scheme. I would not exclude the
agency of the laity, for this is the life's blood of the plan, but I would
give a more regular and a healthier circulation, by the introduction of
clerical influence. Without watchfulness and care, that which is really a
great good, may become a great evil. Many wiU not be content merely
with running to and fro that knowledge may be increased, but wiU
ascend unsent, and in some instances unqualified, into the pulpit, or
that which leads to it. Would it not tend to check this evil, and, at
the same time, do great good, if we had a number of young ministers
employing their talents on the Sabbath-day, when not occupied in their
own places of worship, in preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ
in the dark places of our cities and large towns ? How many churches

THERE ARE IN LONDON, LARGE ENOUGH AND RICH ENOUGH TO EMPLOY

SUCH ! Is it not to be deplored, that in a city where such myriads are
perishing for lack of knowledge, and where the places of worship are so
inadequate for the population, a single house of God should be shut up
any part of the day? There are, perhaps, twenty churches at least, in
tlie metropolis, which could support a young minister who could preach
once a day for them, and twice a day for the Christian Instruction
Society. What an amount of good might be expected from such
efforts as these ! Here, also, is so much added to the moral machinery
of the day, to the committees of Bible associations, tract societies,
Sunday schools, &c. We are told there are too many ministers
educated, and yet London alone is supposed to contain seven hundred
thousand souls who go to no place of worship, and, indeed, have none
to go to. Ye rich and large churches, I appeal to you in the name of
Christ, and on behalf of these crowds of neglected immortals ! Consider
my proposal. Do not throw it aside, with a sneer, as one of the
visionary speculations of an active and enterprising age, or the mere
theory of a speculative and restless imagination.

THE CO-PASTORATE,

489

" 4. The advantage of such a plan would not be inconsiderable
to the assistant ministers themselves. However well our Dissenting
colleges may be conducted, and however great might be the benefits of
a literary kind which the students may reap within their walls, there
are certain kinds of knowledge, or rather of wisdom, not to be gathered
in academic bowers. The scholar, the philosopher, the writer, the con-
troversiaUst, even the preacher and the expositor, may be formed there,
but not the pastor. His character can be formed, or, at any rate,
formed weU, only by observation and experience. A man of extra-
ordinary knowledge of human nature, of instinctive habits of prudence,
perspicacity, and government, may at once be fitted to pass from the
secluded shades of scholastic pursuits to the chair of presidency in a
Christian Church; but not so the multitude. How many of our
ministers, who are acceptable as preachers, fail as pastors! This is
the rock on which they sjjlit. And who can wonder, when they
consider that many have passed from the humblest occupations to the
college, and from the college to the rule of a church. Would it not be
of vast and incalculable advantage to such ministers, unskilled as they
necessarily must be in the art of government, to serve as assistants to
a judicious pastor for two or three years, and thus have an opportunity
of learning by observation, before they attempt to learn by exjierience,
which in important matters is always hazardous, how a reUgious society
should be conducted'? Our settled and matured pastors would thus
become the tutors of pastors, and prepare for the churches a race of
men, of whom it would be said, as it was of David, ' So he fed them
according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skU-
fiihiess of his hands.' Something of this kind is much wanted in the
formation and completion of the ministerial character ; and it is incon-
ceivable of what service our senior brethren might be in this way to
their juniors.

" 5. If this be correct, our churches and the whole denomination
woidd participate in the benefits of the scheme. For my own part, I
am jealous for the respectability of the Dissenting body, and not only
so, but am also fearful. I have many apprehensions, and they are
principally founded upon an incompetent ministry. Incompetent, not
in consequence of any fault or defect of our tutors, not for a want of
learning, but in consequence of rash, untried, youthful minds, who
know not how to rule the Church of God. It is beyond description
painful to see how, in some cases, the peace of our churches is not only
put in peiil, but actually destroyed by the want of aptness to govern
which is evinced by the raw academic, who, with whatever store of
Greek, or mental philosophy, or bibhcal criticism he might have left the
college, was deficient m that which tutors cannot supply, — a knowledge

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

of human nature, or a habit of sound discretion. Prudence, where it
is wanting in the original constitution of the character, is rarely suppUed
except by our being placed in a situation where we have it constantly
before our eyes, and thus catch it by imitation.

" The American churches, amongst other things in which they excel
us, are before us in the plan now recommended. Many of their pastors
in the large cities and towns have assistants, with a view, not only to
the aid they may give, but to the improvement they may receive.

" But it is time to meet and answer objections.

" 1. It is expensive. I recommend it only to large and affluent
churches, such, my dear friend, as yours, to which the sum of a hun-
dred a-year can be no object.

" 2. It may expose the church to the danger of schism and strife,
vexation and irritation in the election of the assistant minister. In
answer to which, I remark, that the church should not elect the indi-
vidual, but leave this entirely to their pastor, who, of course, will take
care not to elect any one that would be unacceptable to his people.
On every account it is best for the society not to entangle itself with
two ministers. The pastor should engage and dismiss his own assist-
ant, by which means incipient mischief may be at any time stopped.

" 3. Might not the assistant become at length a rival with the pastor
in the affections of his people 1 Such a thing is possible in any case,
even in yours, my friend, who have as Httle ground for apprehension as
any man living ; but it is only just possible, certainly not in obable
Besides, I do not contemplate a permanent settlement of any one assist-
ant, because then one part of the object would be defeated. Three
years would be long enough, or two, for a young man to be in this
subordinate situation, and he may then look out for a pastorship.

" 4. Would it not be a temptation to a pastor to leave his pulpit
more than he otherwise would do ? Not if he be a wise man or devoted
minister. He should give his assurance that this shall not be the case,
and with his word his people should be contented. Moreover, should
he faU at any time into and under this temptation, a respectful hint
given by the deacons woidd correct the evil.

" 5. Young men could not be found. This cannot be proved but
by experiment. If there be the superabundance of ministers in the
present day which has been talked of, the presumption hes on the side
of supposing that there would be no difficulty on this head. The
churches in London have peculiar advantages from their vicinity and
easy access to our two largest colleges. I am aware that this is an age
when there is no lack of self-supposed maturity, and even precocity, on
the part of young men for pubhc stations, both civil and sacred, but I
do beheve there are not wanting a goodly number who, like the young

THE CO-PASTORATE.

491

and eloquent Apollos, would be thankful to sit at the feet of some
Aquila, to be taught the way of ruling the Church of God more per-
fectly.

" My views are now before you, my dear friend. Make what use ot
them you jilease; and should you think them at all Ukely to be ser-
viceable, you have my full permission to forward this letter for insertion
in the Congregational Magazine. If it should catch the attention of
any of my brethren, and lead to practical results, or to discussion, I
shall be glad. I am convinced of the utility of the scheme, and am
anxious to see it reduced from theory to practice. — I remain yours
most truly,

"J. A- James."

CHAPTER VL

THE JUBILEE.

It is an almost universal custom among Nonconformists, when a
minister has presided over the same church for fifty years, to hold
special rehgious services in celebration of his jubilee. The aged
pastor reviews his ministerial history, bears grateful testimony to
the goodness and fidelity of God, and addresses to his congregation,
from whom death or the infirmities of old age must soon sej)arate
him, affectionate and solemn counsels. He speaks with the trem-
bling earnestness of one who knows that he will not often speak
again. The people listen with reverential love. A few gray-
headed men can remember when the minister came to them in the
strength and ardour of his youth, and while he recalls former
times, pleasant voices long since silent seem to be heard once
more, the house of God seems filled again with the forms of
parents, children, friends, who are lying now under the gi'ass in
the graveyard, and the old men feel that their years are nearly
spent, and that death and judgment are at hatid. Younger people
pause in their eager haste to get rich, or to enjoy the bright but
transient pleasures of this world, and are thrilled with admiration
for the enduring grandeur of a life which has been wholly conse-
crated to the filling up of " that which is left behind of the afl3ic-
tions of Christ " " for his body's sake, which is the Church," and
to making known " the exceeding riches of His grace."

THE JUBILEE.

493

Before narrating the proceedings in honour of Mr James's
Jubilee, it is desirable to give a brief sketch of the visible results
of his fifty years' pastorate. He came, in 1805, to a church of fifty
members ; in September 1855, it numbered about one thousand ;
the congregation had increased from about one hundred and fifty
to seventeen or eighteen himdi-ed. The increase in the size of
the church, was not more remarkable than the development of
its Christian activity and generosity, and its prolonged peace,
•which, through the whole fifty years, was scarcely ever threatened
with interruption.

I have presided, — writes Mr James in his autobiography, — at the Autoijio-
election of deacons eight or nine times, and never had any dis-
turbance or dissatisfaction generated by the procedure.

During these years, we sent off between twenty and thirty of
our members, who resided at Smethwick, to form a separate and
independent church in that village, where, for forty years, we have
held worship by our village preachers. And at the time I am
now writing, that church has grown to considerable numbers,
power, and usefulness. They have recently erected a handsome
and commodious place of worship, and are in a very flourishing
condition. We have done the same in one of the suburbs of
oiu- town called the Lozells. There had been preaching on the
premises of Mr IMillichamp many years. The congregation was
continually augmenting, when Mr M., having purchased a plot of
ground, generously offered a piece of it for a chapel, if our congre-
gation would build one. The offer was accepted, and a small place
erected, which has since been enlarged. Between twenty and thirty
of our members were dismissed to form a church there, which has
since attained to some degree of strength ; but for want of a minis-
ter thoroughly adapted to the locality, it has not increased so much
as under more favourable circumstances it would have done.

For many years we conducted, by some of our members, a
Sunday school and preaching in the neighbourhood of Great Barr
Street in this town. At the commencement of our operation, this
was one of the most demoralised parts of Birmingham. Mr Der-

494

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

AutoWo- rington, who had been an operative, was induced to address the

graphical.

children, in the first instance, then the parents and neighbours, tQl
at length he became the regular local preacher for the neighbour-
hood, as a town missionary supported by the Carr's Lane Church. A
small chapel was erected in Garrison Lane, which soon became too
small for the congregation ; and, at length, the very neat and com-
modious one in Palmer Street was built. Mr Derrington's labours
have been very successful, as not less than a hundred and thirty
members have by him been introduced into the church in Carr's
Lane. He is supported by our church stUl. The church is not
yet entirely separate and independent. Mr Derrington administers
the Lord's Supper ten times in the year, and in the months of
May and October the members come to the communion of the
mother church in Carr's Lane.

We set up another preaching station and Sunday school in
Bordesley Street, where we have erected a neat little chapel and
convenient school-rooms, and where our able and devoted mission-
ary, Mr Carter, is labouring with great success. Chapels were also
erected by us at Yardley and Minworth, and one purchased at
Great Barr, besides another small one near the Canal, and origi-
nally intended for the spiritual benefit of the coal-boatmen.

Thus our church has ever been a working one, for I have to the
uttermost encouraged a spirit of activity and liberality. It has
ever been carrying on home missionary operations, and has become
a mother church. From us has sounded out the word of the
Lord all around.

Eilitorial. To this account it is necessary to add, that a large majority of
the members who formed the nucleus of the church in Francis
Street, Edgbaston, were from Carr's Lane ; that Mr James, shortly
before his death, laid the foundation of a new and beautiful
chapel at Acock's Green, and that a church has since been founded
there, under the pastorate of the Rev. Dr AUiott, nearly all of
whose original members were also from Carr's Lane ; that he
warmly promoted the project for erecting a new chapel in the
Moselcy Eoad, and that when the new church there is constituted,

THE JUBILEE.

495

the members who will be dismissed to it from Carr's Lane will
know that in leaving their old associations they are fulfilling Mr
James's most earnest wishes.

The two town mission stations referred to in the autobio-
graphical extract have lately been formed into two independent
churches, with the missionaries for pastors. One of them received
about one hundred and ten members from the mother church, and
the other between fifty and sixty.

In his Letters on the spiritual state of our churches, which
appeared in the Evangelical Magazine a few months before his
death, he says : —

" When I became pastor of my church, more than fifty-three years
ago, the only object of congregational benevolence and action was the
Sunday school, which was then conducted in a private house, hired for
the purpose. There was nothing else; literally, nothing we set our
hands to. We had not then taken up even the Missionary Society.
And our state was but a specimen of the inactivity of the great bulk of
our churches, at least in the provinces, throughout the whole country.
We may well wonder what the Christians of those days could have been
thinking of. Now, look at the state of things at the opening of the
year 1859. If I allude to my own church, it is not for the sake of
ostentation or self -commendation ; for we are not one wliit better than
some others. Ours is but a specimen and average of the rest. We have
now an organisation for the London Missionary Society, which raises
as its regular contribution nearly .£500 ;je>' annum, besides occasional
donations to meet special appeals, which, upon an average, may make
up another £100 a-year. For the Colonial Missionary Society, we
raise, annually, £70. For our Sunday and day schools, which com-
prehend nearly two thousand cliiklren, we raise £200. We support
two town missionaries, at a cost of £200. Our ladies conduct a work-
ing society for orphan mission schools in the East Indies, the proceeds
of which reach, on an average, £50 a-year ; they sustain also a Dorcas
Society for the poor of our town ; a Maternal Society, of many branches,
in various locaUties; and a Female Benevolent Society, for visiting the
sick poor. We have a Religious Tract Society, which employs ninety
distributors, and spends £50 nearly a-year in the purchase of tracts.
Our Village Preachers' Society, which employs twelve or fourteen lay
agents, costs us scarcely anything. We raise £40 annually for the Coimty
Association. We have a Young Men's Brotherly Society, for general
and religious improvement, with a hbrary of two thousand volumes.

496

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

" We liave also night scliools for young men and women, at a small
cost, and Bible classes for other young men and women. In addition
to all this, we raise £100 per annum for Spring- HiU College.

" I again say that this is but an average of congregational exertion
and liberality in this day of general activity. Yea, many churches of
our own and other denominations perhaps greatly excel us. And,
after all, we none of us come up to our resources, our opportunities, or
our obligations. We aU could do more, ought to do more, must do
more. Still, compare this with what my congregation did with, its
single object, the Sunday school fifty-three years ago.

" In addition to this, there are, in all our congregations, many and
liberal subscribers to our public societies, such as the Bible Society, the
Society for the Conversion of the Jews, and aU other objects of Chris-
tian zeal and benevolence. What, I ask, does this manifest and prove 1 "

Of the affection with which Mr James was regarded by the
members of his church and congregation, their reverence for his
character, their high estimate of the power and worth of his min-
istry, many proofs have already been given in this volume. He
regarded them with reciprocal love. Tt was not because he was
never invited to leave Birmingham that he remained there to the
end of his days. Once, indeed, he seemed on the point of remov-
ing. In 1826, his friend Mr Wilson, who, ten years before, had
tried in vain to induce him to become the pastor of Paddington
Chapel, earnestly pressed him to become the first minister of
Craven. The chapel was as large as Carr's Lane, and it was
certain that his preaching would at once attract a crowded
congregation. Just at that time he was rather vexed by what
he thought the indifference of his own peoj^le to the heavy debt
incurred in the erection of their new place of worship, and by the
extent to which they permitted him to share their pecuniary re-
sponsibilities. Mr Wilson's urgency, and the noble prospects of
usefulness at Craven, were, however, overborne by the strength of
his aSection for his old flock. In declining this invitation he
made a large pecuniary sacrifice. His income at that time from
Carr's Lane was £300 per annum ; he was offered £700 at Craven,
with the prospect of £1000. Whether he received a formal
invitation to succeed Rowland Hill at Surrey Chapel, I have not
been able to discover, but proposals were certainly made to him,

THE JUBILEE.

497

■which, if encouraged, would have led to this ; and he once
informed me that, on the death of Dr M'All, the question was
put to him whether it would be possible to induce him to remove
to ^Manchester. Perhaps some may think that, on the whole, he
might have effected more good, if, after creating a large congrega-
tion in Birmingham, he had left the work of sustaining it to some
man endowed with a less brilliant eloquence, and gone elsewhere
to inspira and strengthen some feeble and struggling church.
Here, in Bii'mingham, it cannot be expected that such opinions
should win many suffrages. In this town, he gradually became
invested with a power to which even his eloquence was feebleness.
The stainless reputation, and incessant labours of fifty years, won
for him a homage, and gave him a moral and spiiitual influence in
Birmingham, which the brightest genius might have coveted in vain.

At the close of the first forty years of his ministry, he preached
a sermon on the text, "For the Lord thy God hath blessed
thee in all the work of thy hand : he knoweth thy walking through
the great wilderness : these forty years the Lord thy God hath
been with thee ; thou hast lacked nothing." The sermon, in which
he gave a brief history of his pastorate, and enforced the prac-
tical lessons suggested by the solemn review, was printed in the
form of an address, and entitled " Grateful Recollections."

Ten more years of ministerial happiness and prosperity passed
by, and then came the celebration of his Jubilee. The excitement
and enthusiasm of his people about this event made him troubled
and anxious. Writing to myself about a month or five weeks be-
fore the jubilee services were held, he says, " I am really becoming
quite nervous about the whole aSair, and feel that my kind and
generous and noble-hearted people have gone too far in the splen-
dour of their gifts. I am afraid there is too much of glorying in
man. The subject has a little entangled my imagination and my
conscience ; I find it difficult to shake it off when I go to bed, and
it in some measure disturbs my sleep. This I know is my weak-
ness, but I cannot help it. I pray against it, I struggle against it,
but it comes back upon me."

About the "gifts," the "splendour" of which disturbed him,
2i

498

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

there was much difficulty. After many impracticable proposi-
tions had been suggested, discussed, and abandoned, it was finally
resolved that the testimonial should consist of a copy of Bagsters'
Comprehensive Bible, Eoberts' " Illustrations of the Holy Land," a
silver vase, and an oak cabinet.

The balance of the Jubilee Fund, amounting to upwards of
£500, it was determined to place at Mr James's disposal. On the
second Sunday of September 1805, he had preached his first ser-
mon as the settled minister of Carr's Lane congregation, and his
Jubilee sermon was preached on the morning of the second Sunday
of September 1855. The sermon has already appeared in the
"Collected Works,"* and is characterised by great pathos and
vigour. In the evening a sermon was preached by his colleague.
On the Monday evening a discourse was delivered to the children
of the schools and of the congregation ; after the sermon the chil-
dren of the congregation passed in files before the desk, and re-
ceived from Mr James's own hand a little book, written for the
occasion. On Tuesday morning he laid the foundation stone of
the Congregational Church in Francis Street, Edgbaston. In the
evening a meeting for prayer and thanksgiving was held at Carr's
Lane. On Wednesday morning Dr Bennett preached in the same
place, to a large congregation, on 2 Pet. i. 12-15. After the ser-
mon, congratulatory addresses and letters were read from twelve of
the ministers of New York, from Dr Bedford of Worcester, from
the church assembling in Ebenezer Chapel, Birmingham, from the
Rev. R. A. Vaughan, B.A., and from the Carr's Lane Brotherly
Society. In the evening a public meeting was held in the Town
Hall, for the presentation of the testimonial. The magnificent
building was filled in every part, and hundreds who were anxious
to be present were unable to obtain tickets. Ministers of every
evangelical denomination, among whom were many of the for-
mer Spring-Hill students, settled in distant parts of the country,
filled a large portion of the platform. After devotional exercises,
the chairman, W. Beaumont, Esq., one of the deacons of the
church, made an admirable introductory speech.

♦ Vol. iii.

THE JUBILEE.

499

The following letter was then read from the Rector of St Mar-
tin's : —

"Edinburgh, September 10, 1855.
" My dear Sie, — It is not -without much hesitation that I venture
to obtrude even a few hues upon you, expressive of my sincere regret
that absence from Birmingham will deprive me of the dehght of being
present in some nook of the Town Hall on Wednesday evening, at the
Jubilee meeting of our beloved friend and brother, Mr James. His
own flock will not, I trust, deem a Church of England minister
obtrusive in desiring to sj-mpathise in their joyous gratitude to the
great Head of the Church, for raising up and preserving to them such
a man as John Angell James, not more honoured among his own deno-
mination of the Church of Christ than by multitudes of the -n-ise and
good of every name and land. On such an occasion, we behold not
the Dissenter or the Churchman — but the man of God — the faithful
and honoured servant of Christ — claiming our tribute of grateful love
for this, not the least of his many uivaluable services, that, by the con-
sistent tone of his life, no less than by the powerful advocacy of his
Hps and of his pen, he has in the town of Birmingham, drawn so close
the bonds of Christian brotherhood, and recognised in our common
union vdth. the Lord Jesus Christ a "tie which shall bind us together in
bhssful and endless fellowship, when our divisions and their causes
shall be forgotten for ever. It is my earnest hope and prayer, that
your week's proceedings may be sanctified and sweetened by the
presence and blessing of our God and Saviour ; and that His honour
may be promoted in the honour given, for His sake, to my beloved
friend. His servant. — Believe me, my dear sir, very sincerely yours in
Christian brotherhood,

" J. C. Miller.

" John Keep, Esq."

Dr Urwick of Dublin, who was once a member of Carr's Lane,
proposed, and the Eev. J. B. Marsden, incumbent of St Peter's,
the historian of the Earlier and Later Puritans, supported the
first " sentiment," which read thus : —

" "We are deeply convinced that the spiritual strength and success of
whatever human agency may be employed in the service of Christ and
the Church, are wholly derived from the Spirit of God; and while
we heartily congratulate the Rev. J. A. James on having completed the
Jubilee of his pastorate, and rejoice with him in the results which have
followed his work, and in the love and confidence which thousands of
Chiistian people in this couutrj' and in different parts of the world

500

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

entertain for liira, we desire to give special emphasis and prominence
to the expression of our gratitude to God for having made him in early-
life a Christian and a Christian minister; for having through so many-
years protected the purity of his character, and sustained the vigour of
his ministerial labours; — and to God -would -we most solemnly and
devoutly ascribe all the glory of the success with which these labours
have been crowned."

Then followed addresses and resolutions from the gi'eat societies
which Mr James had supported, and from various communities of
Christian people both in England and America, — from the English
Eeligious Tract Society,* the London Missionary Society, from
Presbyterian Clergymen in Philadelphia and its vicinity, from the
Wesleyan Methodist Ministers and Circuit Stewards of the Bir-
mingham District, from the Ministers and Officers of the Presby-
terian Church in Birmingham, from the Baptist Ministers in Bir-
mingham, from the Board of Education of Spring-Hill College, from
the Students of Spring-Hill, from the Warwickshire Association of
Ministers and Churches, and from the Carr's Lane Church and
Congregation.

The Chairman then presented to Mr James the testimonial
which was intended to form the enduring memorial of the affec-
tion of his people, expressing the hope that to these gifts his eye
and heart would turn in seasons when he might need a visible
token of sympathy, and that they might ultimately descend as an
heirloom to his posterity.

Agitated by emotions which he could with difficulty control,
and welcomed by the loud and repeated cheers of the immense
assembly, Mr James then said —

" My deak Sir, — I must be more or less than human if, on the
present occasion, I were not oppressed and almost overwhelmed by
emotion. I wish it were possible for me with a calmer mind, though
not with a colder heart, to survey the scene by which I am at this
moment surrounded. My feeUngs, I can assure you, are not altogether
those of unmixed dehght. My consciousness of utter unworthiness of
this demonstration of respect and affection is so intense, and my fears
so great that the glory which belongs only to God should be given to

* The address from the American Tract Society arrived too late to be read at
the meeting.

THE JUBILEE.

50]

one of His dependent creatures, that tliese considerations shed a few
drops of corrective and salutary bittex-ness into the full and otherwise
intoxicating cup of delight which is now presented to me. With
unutterable astonishment at the honours which are now heaped upon
me, I blush over them; and that, from a conviction of their excess
above all I desire or deserve; and am truly ashamed to receive them.
True it is, that for fifty years I have endeavoured, by God's help, to
serve my flock in the oversight of their spiritual interests, and have not
' shunned to declare the whole counsel of God,' so that I may perhaps
say, ' I am clear from the blood of all.' True it is, that I cannot
doubt I have, by God's grace, promoted their interests for both worlds ;
and no less true is it, that I have also attempted to be of some service
to the cause of religion and humanity at large. The greatest modesty
and the profoundest humility cannot, need not, deprive me of this
conviction, nor blind my eyes to the evidence of some degree of useful-
ness ; yet I feel that were I all in myself, and had done all for others
which my friends in looking at me through the magnifying power of
their affection have been too ready to suppose, yea, had I a thousand
times exceeded all this, I should still possess an irresistible persuasion,
that, with thankfidness for what had been accomplished, there should
be, as I am sure there is, a feeling of deep self-abasement that I had
not done more, and had not done it better. In reference to those
services to which the kind, beautiful, and affectionate address just read
so tenderly alludes, I would adopt the language of the apostle, and say,
' Not I, but the grace of God by me.' If in any degree I shine, and
with any radiance, it is by reflection from the Great Sun of Righteous-
ness, of which I am but an humble satellite. With these convictions,
and jealous for the honour of Him who will not give His^ glory to
another, I am tremblingly anxious that my flock should, as far as
possible, forget the servant, and think chiefly of the Master. In the
fuU blaze of His glory would I be thankfully and efi"ectuaUy lost sight
of, as much as an insect when floating upon the boundless ocean of the
sun's meridian splendour. Let all that has been done, or that you
imagine has been done, by my instrumentality, during the fifty years I
have been with you, lead you to honour Christ as the sole Agent and
Author of all. Then I will joy and rejoice with you all ; but if it lead
you to honour only me, the highest distinctions you could confer upon
me, will be to me for a grief, a shame, and a lamentation ; and while
rejoicing multitudes arc uttering their jubilant voices, I shall hang my
harp upon the willow, and mourn apart. Of the chorus of joy this
evening, be this the theme, — and I wiU be the leader, and strike the
highest and the loudest note of praise — ' Not unto us, not unto us, O
Lord, but unto Thee give glory.'

502

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

" Should any person deem the proceedings of this evening a departure
from the simplicity that is in Christ, — and I will confess I am not
altogether free from such an apprehension, — my friends wiU, at least,
bear me witness, that it was their doing, — the doing of their fervent
and irrepressible regard, and not my own. I never expected nor
desired such notoriety ; it has come to me without being sought by me.
I should, perhaps, on some accounts, have preferred a less elaborate
mode of celebrating the event which has brought us together this
evening; but I have sacrificed my own wishes to what I knew to be
the sincerity, the ardour, and intensity of others; and when strong
affection seeks for the most emphatic expression, it must be left to
itself to determine in what form it will embody its utterance ; and pro-
vided that no principle of Christianity be violated and no law of reli-
gion transgressed, it must not be judged by a test too rigid, nor con-
demned with a censure too severe. If I have done wrong in accepting
such honours and consenting to such publicity, it is an error which, as
I have never committed before, I never shall again, unless I live with
you to celebrate my centenary. I am solicitous that the services of
this evening should be considered as a public testimony, borne to
religion itself, rather than as a wreath around the brow of one of its
advocates; a tribute offered in the place of public concourse to the
wisdom that cometh from above, rather than to one of its teachers.
Taking other grounds — if these honours should, as they do, proclaim
that, by earnestness on the one part, and kindness and forbearance on
the other, it is possible for a pastor and his flock to Hve together in
undisturbed harmony and affection for half a century, — if they should
shew that gratitude still lives in this cold and selfish world, and this
should stimulate to those offices of love which are calculated to excite
it, and sliould prove that, notwithstanding the fickleness of humanity
and its morbid sensitiveness, peace and good-will may be maintained
with the greatest amoimt of religious freedom, — if this public expres-
sion of regard to an aged minister should teach his younger brethren
that, provided they are diligent and faithful, they will not, when they
are old, be cast off or forsaken either by God or man, — they will have
a beneficial use, far beyond that which is more immediately contem-
plated, and serve a valuable purpose, both for the churches of Christ
and the world at large.

" I now turn my attention to the splendid gifts in whicli my beloved
flock have embodied and expressed their affection, and of which you,
sir, in your kind address, and in so graceful a manner, have begged my
acceptance in their name and on their behalf ; and which I now
publicly, humbly, and thankfully accept — accept, not, indeed, as
rewards of ministerial labour, but merely as tokens of affectionate

THE JUBILEE.

503

respect You, my friends, have too higli an idea of the rewards due
to the services of a Chiistian pastor to suppose, for a moment, that he
can find an adequate or appropriate reward in such things as these,
however precious or however costly they may be. For this you refer
me, even as I look myself, to the more august scene, when the Chief
Shepherd shall appear, and when, if I have been found faithful, I shall
receive, not silver and gold, but a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
If there be one of these materialities to which a fastidious taste is
likely to object, it is the splendid vase which now glitters before your
eyes, and which, perhaps, does seem a little more in keeping with civic
than with ecclesiastical distinction. But here affection has displayed
its ingenuity as well as its liberaUty, for it has so constructed the
article as to contain, according to your representation, sir, in its several
compartments, a pictorial compend of my ministerial history, even to
a representation of the very desk upon which I have -mitten aU my
sermons and all my books. There is another item of these costly
presents on which I must remark, — I refer to the sum of money placed
at my disposal. Ten years ago, you, my generous and large-hearted
flock, when I had spent forty years among you, marked that era by
raising £500 to foiind a scholarship in Spring-Hill College, to bear my
name in per^^etuity ; and now you have raised nearly double that sum.
Part of this will go, as you have stated, to defray the expense connected
with this Jubilee, and incurred by these presents, and the remainder
you have now placed in my own hands, to do with it as I may determine.
Had Providence been less bountiful to me than it has, I should have
felt justified in appropriating this sum to my own personal use; as it
is, however, every farthing of it will be appropriated — with the addi-
tion of a thank-offering of my own for the mercy of this season — to
the use and benefit, in some permanent way, of my brethren in the
ministry. Valuable as these gifts are, they are less precious than the
affection from whence they spring. Silver and gold can neither be
substitutes for love, nor can they adequately express it. In looking on
these beautifid articles, it will ever be a consolation to my mind to
consider that, at the expiration of my fifty years' residence among my
friends, I was not deemed less worthy of their respect and regard than
I was at the commencement of this term.

" And now, having first of aU given thanks to Him ' from whom
Cometh every good and perfect gift,' and by whose grace ' I am what I
am,' I would attempt to express my gratitude to you, not only for these
presents, and the affectionate address by which they have been accom-
panied,— not only for all the trouble the committee have taken to
render this season and scene in eveiy way gratifying to my feelings, —
but for fifty years of such unequivocal instances of respectful regard as

504.

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

leave me now at a loss for words to express my sense of obligation. I
will, therefore, simply say, in language uttered on a former occasion,
but now repeated with a deeper emphasis— Your fathers bore with the
inexperience, if not with the indiscretions, of my youth ; you and your
children are bearing with equal patience the infirmities of my age. I
thank you for all your kindness ; injuries I have received none.

" The expression of my gratitude cannot, however, be confined on
this occasion to the circle of my own congregation. To those generous
friends in this town belonging to other congregations, and even to other
denominations, who have so spontaneously and so hberaUy come for-
ward to do me honour, I thus pubUcly make my respectful acknowledg-
ments ; especially to the rector of St Martin's, for his kind and cathoHc
letter of congratulation, addressed, first of all, to the committee, and
now to this meeting ; and also to my esteemed friend and co-secretary
in the Bible Society, the Rev. J. B. Marsden, for the favour of his
presence, and the aff'ectionate and generous sentiments to which he has
given utterance this evening; who, if his penetrating glance and just
discrimination can find something, both in the Earlier and Later
Puritans, to censure — as he certainly may — has also found much to
admire and to praise, and has with elegance and candour exhibited, on
the page of his beautiful history, with his impartial pen, their virtues
as AveU as their faults, and who is present this evening, by his friendship
to honour one of their descendants. This, I hope, will be received as
evidence that, while as consistent men — one a Churchman and the other
a Dissenter — we have held with, firmness our principles, we have in
each case made charity to triumph over bigotry. Oh, what are the
points that separate the EvangeHcal Chiirchman from the Evangehcal
Nonconformist compared with the great truths which unite them — but,
as the municipal and parochial regulations which distinguish town from
town, and city from city, compared with the glorious British Constitu-
tion, which gathers them aU up into the fellowship of rights, privileges,
and common loyalty and patriotism, of a nationality which is one and
indivisible !

"To the various pubhc bodies who have done me such unmerited
honour, both here and elsewhere, I return my best thanks for their
addresses of congratulation, whose kind fellowship with me and my
friends in the joys of this season fills me with profound astonishment
that they should have deemed me worthy of such notice. Most of all
has my surprise been excited by those addresses which have come from
the United States of America — a proof that there is a bond between
Christians which oceans cannot separate, nor national distinctions
weaken. So far as the matter goes this evening, it is deUghtful to see
the British Lion and the American Eagle reposing in fellowship beneath

THE JUBILEE.

505

the cross, and both animated by the dove-like spirit of Him that died
upon it. O my brother Patton, pardon me if I ask, not witli a fro\s-a
upon you — for I know the Abolition principles which fiU and warm
your heart and actuate your life — but with a sigh and blush for your
country — when shall the fellowship of the two countries be complete
by the removal of the last fetter from the last slave, and America be
in reality what she is by profession — the land of freedom as well as the
land of temperance ?

" On some accounts I feel it to be an addition to the honour of this
occasion, that it is conferred upon me in this magnificent hall of ci\-ic
and popular convocation ; as it proves that, through God's grace, I am
not myself ashamed, nor deemed by others unworthy, to lift my head
among my fellow-townsmen. During my fifty years' residence in this
town, I hope I have been enabled so to conduct myself as to secure the
character of a peaceful citizen, and thus to obtain a place among its
useful inhabitants.

" Further, the joy of this Jubilee season is heightened by its being
celebrated in association with my much-esteemed colleague. By the
mercy of God, he has dissipated the clouds which were gathering round
my setting sun, and gives a bright star to the evening of my Ufa. May
his ministry be more lengthened and useful than my own, and his
Jubilee as happy !

" And now, in conclusion, I would turn for a moment my attention
and yours from this interesting scene and occasion to one infinitely
more august, — Avhen the Chief Shepherd shall appear to call the nations
to His bar, and deal -with pastors and their flocks, ours among the rest.
In that awful, yet glorious day, the meanest indi\'idual in this vast
assembly, though now lost amid the multitudes by whom he is sur-
rounded, shall, if he receive the grace of God which bringeth salvation,
and teaches men to live a sober, righteous, and godly Kfe, be lifted
from his obscurity, elevated to the throne of Christ, and be covered
with His glory, and shall receive from the hand of his Divine Lord
tokens of affection and marks of distinction, compared with which those
that have been conferred upon me this evening are not worth a wish
or a thought. Then, when kings and priests, warriors and statesmen,
philosophers and scholars, poets and orators, that have not believed
God nor honoured Christ, shall be passed by in silent contempt, or
receive only the language of condemnation, shall this humble follower
of the Lamb hear the Judge sajing to him, before assembled worlds, —
' Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord.'"

Another "sentiment," expressing the kindly feeling of the

506 LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES. ^

church to the junior pastor, having been proposed, supported,
and responded to, a vote of thanks to the chairman closed the
business of the evening. The doxology was sung, and the Kev. J.
Gawthorne of Derby pronounced the benediction.

These Jubilee services had a moral significance and grandeur
which produced a profound impression on all who took part in
them ; and out of them sprang an institution which the English
CongregationaUsts greatly needed. Mr James had long thought
of the desirableness of establishing a general fund which should
enable aged or infirm ministers who had no income except that
which they derived from their congregations to retire from their
work : and he determined to make the cheque of £500 presented
to him in the Town Hall the nucleus of a " Pastor's Retiring
Fund," should it aj^pear probable that the churches of the deno-
mination were inclined to adopt the scheme. The balance of the
Jubilee Fund afterwards somewhat increased, and from his own
pocket he made it up to £1000. Great difiiculties had to be over-
come in divising a safe and equitable plan for efiecting the object.
That ultimately agreed upon is thus described in a paper read by
Dr Ferguson at the autumnal meeting of the Union, held at
Blackburn in 1860 :—

" It is provided that only duly accredited pastors of the Congrega-
tional or Independent denomination in England, Wales, the Channel
Islands, and the Isle of Man should be eligible to participate in the
benefits of the fund ; should be not less than sixty years of age ; should
have been engaged in the pastoral work of the ministry for not fewer
than twenty-five years, without following any trade or profession,
except that of a schoolmaster ; should be of irreproachable moral char-
acter ; and wliose views of Christian doctrine and practice are in con-
sonance with the ' Declaration of Faith, Church Order, and DiscipUne,'
adopted on May 10, 1833, at a general meeting of the Congregational
Union of England and Wales ; that such pastors as have been annual
subscribers, or have availed themselves of life assurance for the benefit
of their famifies, or whose churches may have contributed, by annual
collection or otherwise, to the fund, should, other things being equal,
have the priority of claim ; that no minister should be entitled to a
grant whose entire income from all other sources should exceed £100
per annum ; that, in making a grant, due regard should be had to the

THE JUBILEE.

507

efforts that the church from which the pastor retires may make to
fociUtate his resignation ; that in detennining the amount of grant to a
retiring pastor, consideration should be given to his previous average
stipend, as well as to family claims, age, and infii-mity, nor yet over-
looking the length and efficiency of his ministerial service ; that the
grant should in no instance exceed the sum of £50 per annimi, and
should be regarded in the light of annuity rather than an annual grant,
and be continued for life ; that the property should be vested in four
trustees, and the affairs of the Association be conducted by thirty-six
managers, one-third of whom should reside in London, and two-thirds
in the country, one-half of each being laymen, and the other half
ministers; that the managers should be members of Congregational
churches ; and that at an annual general meeting of the members of the
Association they should present a statement of their proceedings, with
the audited accounts of the year."

The deed of settlement was signed during the session of the
Union, by-laws were adopted, treasurer and secretary appointed,
and it was announced that the fund collected, of course, by volun-
tary contributions, had already nearly reached £15,000.

It is a pleasant thought, that while the scholarship at Spring-
Hill College, founded to commemorate the close of the first forty
years of Mr James' pastorate, will afford education and mainte-
nance through all coming years to an unbroken line of students
for the Christian ministry, the " Retiring Fund," originated by
the testimonial which he received from his people at the celebra-
tion of his JubUee, will afford comfort and peace to many aged
pastors who have spent their strength in Christ's service, " taldng
no thought for the morrow," seeking first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness, and believing that all other things should
be added to them.

LETTERS EEFERRIXG TO THE JUBILEE.

TO«HE EEV. J. C. MILLER, M.A.

"Malvebn, August 22, 1855.

" My dear Mr Miller, — A day or two before I left home for this
place, I called at the rectory, when, to my regret, I found you had left
Birmingham for Scotland that morning.

" The object of my call was to thank you for the truly kind, Chi-ia-

508

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

tian, and catholic manner in wMcli you had expressed yourself to my
friends in reference to their intended celebration of my Jubilee. It was
only one more act of generous and magnanimous friendship added to
the many that preceded it, though it exceeded them all. Apart from
the reference it bore towards myself, though, of course, I could not be
insensible to that, it delighted me as a beautiful exhibition of that charity
which is the very soul of our Divine Christianity. In a world yet, un-
happily for the credit of our common faith, so much under the mean
and degrading tyranny of a low and narrow sectarianism, it is delight-
ful to witness these triumphs of holy love, and thus to anticipate the
scenes and the feelings of that blessed world where the divisions of the
Church and the distinctions of party will be known no more.

" I can truly say, I glorify God in you. I have watched your course
ever since you have been in Birmingham, with admiration and pleasure,
not only on account of the extensive circle of ministerial usefulness of
which the Divine Head of the Church has made St Martin's Church
and its rector the centre, and which you have obtained grace to occupy
with such efficiency, but equally on account of the example you have
given of consistency as a clergyman of the Church of England, and
catholicity as a minister of the universal Church. I know some of the
perj^lexities you have had to encounter, and the difficulties which have
beset your path ; and I equally know the firmness, guided by prudence,
with which you have been enabled to persevere in your course of Chris-
tian Liberality. Your eagle flight you did not allow to be arrested or
turned aside by the pecking and twittering of birds of feebler vision
and less daring pinions. You know, in some degree, but not in all, the
place you fill in the minds and hearts of the evangelical Nonconformists
of our town. I believe, that, from many of their hearts, closets, and
family altars, supplications are continually going up to the fountain of
light and love on your behalf. They know how much of the good
feeling towards us of many of your brethren is owing to you. Do not
therefore, my dear sir, be discouraged if now and then you are called to
suffer under a want of sympathy in your noblest feelings from some of
your brethren in the Church of England. Depend upon it, when we meet
our Master, we shall have no rebuke for having shewn too much love
to the weakest of His servants. How many practical mistakes would
be corrected if we kept that interview perpetually before us, and Avere
to judge of things more as we may anticipate we shall judge of them
then ! Long, very long may God continue you in Birmingham, for a
still greater blessing to that important town ; and when the hand that
pens these few lines shall have lost the little cunning it ever had, may
your bow abide in strength, and the arms of your hands be made strong
by the mighty God of Jacob. I hope you are laying in a good stock of

THE JUBILEE.

509

health for home duties, by the invigorating breezes of the mountains
and lakes, which / shall never see again.

" If it be not troubling you, and wearing out your patience by this
long scrawl, I will refer, for one moment, to the subject which has led
to this letter, — I mean my Jubilee, to which you have so generously
alluded. I am ashamed and grieved at the notoriety which my friends
have given, and are still gi%'ing, to this event. It is, I assure you, no
simulated modesty, no affected humility which compels me to say, I
blush over my own fame — shall I call it 1 — from an entire conscious-
ness how little I deserve it ; and I now wish I had forbidden all this
pubUcitj'. Believe me when I say it is not mt/ doing ; and could I
have foreseen what my friends intended to do, and all the real concern
it now produces, I should have passed over the year almost in silence.
To me it seems as if a fast were more suitable than a festival, because
of the many and great imperfections which the review of fifty years
brmgs out upon my afflicted sight.

•• Pardon this intrusion, and with kind respects to Mrs ^tliUer, believe
me, my dear sir, yours faithfully,

" J. A. James."

TO THE EEV. DR MOEISON.

'• Edqbaston, September 25, 1855.

" Alany, many thanks to you, my dear, kind friend, for your solici-
tude and inquiries about your present correspondent, and the deep
interest you have taken in those events and scenes of his history which
have lately occurred.

" I beheve many wiU be astonished, and some half offended, at the
pubhcity and notoriety which have been given to the fact of a minister
of Jesus Christ having completed fifty years of his life and labours.
And I am sure none will be more astonished than that poor, unworthy
labourer himself. A tenth part, yea, and a much smaller fraction, of
what has been done never approached the horizon of my imagination
in the most anticipative moods of my mind. And when I discoveted
what my friends intended for me, I was reaUy in distress. True, I
could have resisted it, and refused the expressions of their kindness ;
but I should have given pain to those to whom, as far as I can influence
their feehngs, I owe nothing but pleasure. I have aU along been
sensitive and jealous for the honour of God, and was alarmed and
afraid lest the Master should be robbed of His glory, and the servant
invested with the sinful spoils. At one time I was sinking into a
nervous di-ead and apprehension of this kind. God mercifully released
me, and under the hope that my people would glorify God in me, I
was sustained amidst scenes of excitement enough to crush me to the

510

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

eartL If I know my own heart, and am not grossly and grievously
deceived, whatever may be the case with others who have looked on,
and who may be disposed to exalt me above measure, as regards myself
I am deeply humbled by all this, and was never lower in my ovfn
estimation than I am at this moment.

" I am grateful to God for the measure of strength He has granted
to me. I praise His holy name hourly for His goodness, and desire
to devote the remainder of my days \\dth more unreserved consecration
to His service.

"All this about my poor unworthy self. Well, I come now to
express my tenderest sympathy with you under these attacks of your
disease. You are a perfect wonder to me. God is magnifying His
power both in your body and mind, in enabling you to work on amidst
so much disease. Pray, did you, or some one else, write that admir-
able critique on [ 1 ] in the A'van. ? Whoever did it has my
thanks for its discrimination and fidelity.

" And now may the good Lord bless you and hold you up. My
love to your wife and the young — disciples shall I call them 1 Ask
them from me if they love Christ. — Yours affectionately,

" J. A, jAilES."

CHAPTER VII.

PUBLIC SPIRIT— AUTHOESHIP.

Theee or four centui-ies ago, when the clergy were almost the only
educated men in the country, there were very adequate reasons for
their active interference in all public aflfau-s. Whethei-, in these
days, it is a minister's duty to assume a prominent position in
every secular or serai-religious movement with which he may have
sympathy ; whether he is likely to promote or to hinder his success
in the highest duties of his office, by plimging into municipal
and political conflicts, by pronouncing publicly on every question
and every agitation which attracts the attention of his neighbours,
are questions which deserve grave consideration. On the one
hand, he must not renounce his duties as a citizen ; on the other,
it is doubtful how far he has a moral right to use his ministerial
position and influence to add impetus even to very excellent popu-
lar movements. To live a monkish and recluse life will injure a
minister's own spirit and temper, and make him less able to under-
stand and to affect ordinary men ; to be incessantly engaged in
public work of a non-religious kind wiU deprive him of the power
which he should derive from the special sanctity of his vocation.

Mr James somehow succeeded in hitting the mean between
these two extremes. He took his fair share of public work. He
never concealed his politics. Sometimes, when social and semi-

612

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

political questions closely related to the religious and moral wel-
fare of the country were debated in a town's meeting, he fought
for his own convictions with resoluteness and vigour. And yet he
never lost his ministerial character. Without putting on priestly
airs, or assuming a sanctimonious tone, he maintained his true
position. He could speak in a town's meeting without preaching ;
but he never spoke in a manner that would diminish the influence
of his preaching. He could talk familiarly, and sometimes raise a
hearty laugh ; but seemed never to forget that he would have to
speak to some of those that heard him from the pulpit, next
Sunday, and that there must be no startling discord between his
tone in the Town Hall and his tone in Carr's Lane.

Of several public movements of a purely philanthropic nature,
he was a persevering and energetic supporter. He hated slavery
with a perfect hatred. Coloured men were welcomed to his table
and his pulpit ; he glowed with indignation when denouncing the
crimes of America against her coloured people ; and in his letters
to his American correspondents, earnestly remonstrated with them
on their national sin, and urged them to do their utmost for its
removal.

The Temperance Eeformation found in him one of its earliest
advocates. So far back as 1834<, an extract from a letter written by
him to E. C. Delavan, Esq., appeared in the Quarterly Christian
Spectator, (published at New Haven,) expressing the most ardent
sympathy with the movement. He vrrites : —

" I offer to your country my sincere congratulations, and the humble
testimony of my delighted admiration, on the signal, wonderful,
and most beautifjdng success of this great plan of national refor-
mation; and which even at this present time, to say nothing of
what will be done in years to come, is a more glorious achievement
than that which effected your political independence. It is at once far
more difficult and far more honourable for a people to throw off the
yoke of their vices, than that of their oi^pressors ; and there seems to
me nothing impossible in the career of either moral or pohtical great-
ness to that country which, by one grand co-operative effort, can, by
the blessing of God, dehver itself, as yours is now doing from the
Qurse of intemperance. For the sake of the world, my dear sir, and

PUBLIC SPIRIT— AUTHOESHIP.

513

all future generations of mankind, I beseech you to go on in this
splendid course of national virtue. I have patriotism enough, to wish
this laurel had been plucked by my own country; but since this is
not granted to us, I rejoice that it is yowz-s. It is a precious one.
Preserve it from fading by a relaxation of zeal in the cause, and deem
not the honour complete till the world shall talk of the United States
as a land without a stOl, and without a drinker of ardent spirits. If
you ever arrive at this elevation of moral greatness, your example mtist
and will be felt in the world. Self-preservation, if nothing else, will
drive other nations into imitation of your example. In this, as in
other instances, you are raised up by the Kuler of the universe to be a
model to the civihsed and imcivilised world. Exjjeriments are carried
on at this moment upon your territory, the results of which are to be
felt to the end of time. If I could think it right to envy any one, I
should envy you Americans, in reference to several things which are
connected with your internal history."

He was also a strong friend of the Peace Society. Not that he
professed the extreme doctrines of non-resistance. His intellect
was not of the make to render that possible. The hard and nar-
row exegesis which requires us to suppose that the precepts of
Christ absolutely and universally forbid the resistance of evil,
demands a logical hardihood of which he was incapable. His
peace principles were not fastened by iron links to particular
expressions found in the New Testament ; they were the fruit of
a heart warmed with the purest Christian charity. He did not
suppose that an inexorable command forbad him ever to defend
property, liberty, and life ; but he was so full of gentleness and
self-sacrifice, that he thought it better to endure suffering than to
inflict it, and would not resort to violence except when the highest
interests of mankind required the forcible vindication of injured
rights and the forcible resistance of cruel aggression.

The list of his publications during the last eighteen years of his
life is a long one. His " Memoir of Elizabeth Bales," and " The
Path to the Bush," appeared in 1842 ; " Grateful Recollections : a
Review of the First Forty Years of his Ministry," in 1845; " Pas-
toral Inquiries : a New Year's Address," in 1847. In 1847 he also
published " The Earnest Ministry," the extension of a sermon
2 K

514.

LIFE OP JOHN' ANGELL JAISIES.

originally delivered at one of the anniversaries of Chesliunt Col-
lege. This impassioned appeal for greater ministerial devotedness
has had a very large circulation. John Henderson, Esq. of Park,
distributed about two thousand copies among the members of dif-
ferent denominations in Scotland, and about four thousand more
have been sold in England. In this book Mr James's opinions on
all questions connected with ministerial work and success are
most fully developed. In the same year he published his Sermon
on the deatli of Mrs Sherman.*

" The Church in Earnest," now in the fourth edition ; an Address
to the Christian Young Men's Association ; and a Tract on the
Sabbath, were published in IS-iS ; — A New Year's Pastoral Address,
and his Missionary Sermon at Surrey Chapel, in 1849; — "The
Olive Branch and the Cross ; " " The Chief End of Life : a New
Year's Address to Young Men and "Protestant Nonconformity
in Biruiingham," in 1850 ; — his Sermon at the Jubilee of the Eev.
J. Gawthorn ; i* a Pastoral Address on the Papal Aggression ; and
a volume of Lectures to Young Lien, entitled " The Young Man's
Friend and Guide through Life," in 1851 ; — a Lecture on Character,
delivered to the Young Men's Christian Association ; a volume of
Lectures to Young AVomen, entitled " The Young Woman's Eriend
and Guide through Life ; " his Funeral Sermons, for the Rev. T.
Weaver,]: and for his brother, James James, Esq. ; § and " The
Course of Faith," in 1852 ; — " Christian Progress ; " " The Oar and
the Rope ; " a Pastoral Address on the Institutions of the Carr's
Lane Church ; his Sermon on the Centenary of the Bristol Taber-
nacle ;|| and his Sermon on the Death of the Rev. R. Keynes, in
1853 ; — a Pastoral Addi'ess to the Church ; his Funeral Sermon for
the Rev. W. Jay of Bath ; and his Charge at the Ordination of his
Co-pastor, in 1854; in the same year also appeared Mv Jay's Au-
tobiography and Memoir, edited by Mr James and Dr Redford.
Dr Spencer's Pastoral Sketches, with an Introduction ; his Sermon
on his Jubilee ; his Address to Children on the same occasion, and
his Funeral Sermon for Mrs Redford of Worcester, were published

* Collected Works, vol. ii. + Ibid., vol. ii. J Ibid., vol. ii.

§ Ibid., vol. iii. II Ibid., vol. IL

PUBLIC sriUlT — AUTHOESHIP.

515

in 1855 ; — " Christian Hope ; " " The Voice of God from China ; "
and his Funeral Sermon for Joseph Stui'ge, in 1S5S ; — his Letters
on the State of the Chm-ches, republished from the Evangelical Ma-
gazine; and his Essay on the Character of Richard Knill, in 1859.

A detailed criticism on IMr James's writings will scarcely be
expected from his biographer. It wiU be sufficient if I say that I
believe his preaching was strengthened and elevated by the careful
preparation required for printing ; that had he written less, instead
of being more efficient in the pulpit, his power there would probably
have been greatly diminished.

The edition of his Collected Works, now being issued in bi-
monthly volumes, under the editorship of his son, T. S. James,
Esq., is the worthiest and noblest monument that human hands
can raise to his memory ; and I trust that the editor wiU close the
series by a review and estimate, which no man is better able to
produce than himself, of the value and characteristics of his father's
writings.

CHAPTER VIII.

"READY TO BE OFFERED "—« ABSENT FROM THE BODY,
PRESENT WITH THE LORD."

" HAVlNa a strong persuasion from certain symptoms in my con-
stitution, which it might not be possible nor important to describe,
that I am approaching the conclusion not only of my labours, but
also of my life, and deeming it probable that my last illness may
be of such a nature as to give me little opportunity to express my
views and hopes and counsels in prospect of dissolution, I have
determined thus to commit them to paper, in order that they might
be read to you after my decease, when the circumstance of my
removal to the eternal world, united to the calmness with which I
now give utterance to my dying testimony, will tend, by the bless-
ing of God, deeply to impress your minds."

These aflfecting words were written in December 1840, and form
the opening paragraph of a letter written by Mr James to his
Church and Congregation, to be opened and read after his death.
Though this conviction that he had only a few months or weeks to
live did not permanently retain its strength and vividness, it did not
leave him altogether. During the last twenty years of his life, his
conviction that it was possible he might be overshadowed at any
moment by the awful presence of death and eternity, filled his heart
with awe and fear. If he had ever been dazzled by his popularity as
a preacher, he was now weighed down by the tremendous responsi-

" READY TO BE OFFERED."

517

bilities of the ministerial office. Anticipating his own appearance
before the judgment-seat of Christ, and "knowing the terror of
the Lord," he persuaded men. He "watched for souls" as one
that would have to " give account." After the death of the second
Mrs James, and when his apprehensions in the prospect of public
services away from home were beginning in some measure to sub-
side, he instituted a searching inquiry into his obligations as a
Christian and a Christian minister, and the followmg paper, writ-
ten early in 1842, records the results : —

" Directions for my Spiritual Conduct.
" 1. More time for prayer — reading — meditation.
" 2. Cultivate more spirituaUty.

" 3. Seek to have the graces of faith and trust much strengthened.
Cheerfully trust God.

" Depend not on secondary sources of consolation j rest on God.
Passages to be much dwelt on —

" ' Fear not, I am with thee.'

" * Let him take hold of my strength.*

" * Grace sufficient.'

" ' Able to do exceeding abundantly.'

" All this to oppose a distrustful state with respect to the prospect
of suffering from apprehended disease.

" Endeavour to appear to be trustful before people.

" 4. Consider self now as having done with even much worldly
enjoyment. Set apart for God.

"5. Eeahse the approach of death — eternity. ,

" Domestic.

" To endeavour to make the house as cheerful as possible. To be
as punctual, solemn in family devotions as if many more. To continue
the practice of not supping out.

"Somethings which appear to me desirable to he done, as the results of
my present affliction, with regard to the church and congregation,
in order to render it productive of spiritual benefit.
"LA special solemn church meeting, to represent to the church my
great desire for their increased holiness. Increased prayer. Heart
religion. Week-day attendance. Get up a spirit of prayer in the
church for the Spirit's power. Going round to the families. Promote
early prayer-meetings in districts.

" 2. Congregation. — A series of very rousing, searching sermons, with

518

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAJIES.

a view to revival. Four last tilings — deatli — judgment — heaven —
licll; endeavour to make these very impressive — simple, yet solemn.
Have inquiry-meetings with these.
" 3. Young people.

"Meet young females not members, between 14 and 21, once a
fortnight ; young men once a fortnight.

" A mother^ society in honour of her memory.

" Meet the church in classes once a month on Tuesday evenings.
Eecommend books : aU read together.

" General.

" Give up aU facetiousness, but stUl cheerful
" Waste no time.
" Dedieation.

" Desiderata for the present year, 1842.
" Preaching.

'* A course of sermons on the person, work, and ofEces of Christ.
" The course on faith for week-day sermons.

"A continuation of Old-Testament histoiy not exceeding thi'ce
quarters of an hour in sermon. Avoid loud speaking, and be solemn.

" Pastorate.

" To meet the poor and overlooked members, on ]\Ionday evening,
to tea, in parties of twenty, at the vestry.

" To go through all the districts once each this year.

"To form something of Sisterly Society, or Female Missionary
Working Society.

" To preach to mothers, and form a Llaternal Society.

"J?o visit the sick and negligent more.

" To meet and address the children of the members at one of the
church meetings, about May or June, from age of seven to fourteen.

" To keep up Wednesday afternoon tea-drinking with friends and
families.

" Sunday-Schools.
" To meet superintendents twice, and teachers twice.
" To address the Sunday-school children twice, aU above eight.
"Inquirers.

" To write an address — Instruction — Experience — Conduct — Dis-
sent.

" To make this the basis of instruction privately, and give it them.
Lord's Supper — neighbourhood. Once a month — Stafford — Wolver-
hampton. Begin to return, if God wiU, to labour in other places.
■ Evenings — work, except Saturday, given to God for . . . ."

" EEADY TO BE OFFERED."

519

The imiDi-essions produced by his ovm. illness, and by Mrs
James's death, were not permitted to disappear. Other bereave-
ments followed. In the autumn of ISiJ, his sou married a lady
whose singular gentleness and goodness attracted universal affec-
tion ; she died within three months after her marriage, and his
distress appeared almost inccnsolable. In a preface to a Pastoral
Address which he published a few weeks after her decease, he
said : —

" To myseK, the late bereavement is one of peculiar gi'ief ; in addi-
tion to the happiness which the union had bestowed upon my son, it
brought no smaE share of enjoyment to myself. With no imnate of
my dwelling, except servants, but an invalid daughter, who had wel-
comed in the dear departed an affectionate sister, I had pleased my.?elf
with the hope that we had both found one who, from the nearness of
her relationship, the amiableness of her disposition, and the contiguity
of her dweUiug, would be a frequent visitor to us, and relieve the
somewhat desolate aspect of our own abode. Like a vision she hghted
upon us, and like a vision she has fled; and thus was extinguished
before we had time to prepare ourselves for the event, that new hght
which we thought God had kindled to shed its nuld ray upon our
dweUing. It has been otherwise determined by Hkn who never errs;
and ten short weeks were aU. that was allowed us to enjoy this new
mercy. Nothing now remains for us but to pray for submission, and
by Divine grace assisting us, to practise it : and seeing we have lost
her life, to see to it that we do not also lose her death." *

Early in 1852 he sustained another most painful loss. For
thirty-seven years his labours and his anxieties had been lightened
by the practical wisdom, resolute energy, and more than fraternal
affection of his brother, Mr James James ; to whose sagacity, general
ability, and public spirit the Carr's Lane Church owed much of
its efficiency. He was a man of vigorous intellect, great firmness
of purpose, and the highest integrity. On his judgment his bro-
ther had placed almost implicit reliance. He died when the infir-
mities of advancing years were beginning to make Llr James
sensible that, in the cares and perplexities inseparable from his
ministerual and public position, he needed whatever relief the coun-
sels and co-operation of able and energetic laymen could afford.
* Works, p. 368.

520

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Por several months his sorrow weighed so heavily upon him that
his strength appeared permanently broken, and I am not sure that
after this his spirits ever altogether regained their former elas-
ticity.

But his closing years were not without consolation. His son
married again, and his love for his daughter-in-law, and for the
children that soon added brightness to their house, opened to him
new springs of happiness. The intense mental depression which
had accompanied the physical prostration of former times had
passed away ; and although there was seldom much elevation and
excitement of religious joy, he was kept in perfect peace. He lost
none of his interest in public affairs ; his ardent sympathy for
every great Christian enterprise burned to the last undimmed ; the
warmth of his affection for those he loved was not abated ; his
heart clung fondly to his sick daughter, his son, his son's wife and
his little grandchildren Angela and Mabel ; but the distractions of
human life seemed latterly to have lost their power to trouble him.
His intercourse with God was close and constant ; and long before
he died, he appeared to have entered into rest. He had always
anticipated with an almost morbid dread the sufferings of a pro-
tracted iUness and the agony of dissolution, but could he have
foreseen the tranquillity of his last days he would have said,
" He shall hide me in His pavilion ; in the secret of His tabernacle
shall He hide me ! He shall set me up upon a rock." " Though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I wiU fear no
evil."

Year after year, however, his physical weakness and sufferings
increased. He became quite unable to travel far from home, and at
times he suffered great pain even when driving about Birmingham
in his own carriage. Between 1853 and the time of his death lie
had several alarming attacks of low fever and general prostration ;
one of these attacks, which occurred in the autumn of 1858, excited
so much apprehension that his friend, Dr Miller, offered prayer
for his recovery on Sunday morning in St Martin's. It was in
acknowledgment of this expression of fraternal regard that Mr
James wrote the following letter : —

" READY TO BE OFFERED."

621

TO DE MILLER.

" Edgbaston, September 25, 1858.

" Dear Mr Miller, — If I have not till now expressed my obliga-
tions to you for the public. Christian, and most generous manifestation
of your interest in my welfare, I can assure you I have constantly and
deeply felt them. Notwithstanding your truly catholic spirit and large-
heartedness above most, and the many personal proofs of this which
I have received, it was what I could have no right or reason to expect
that you should mention my name to your congregation, and soHcit
their prayers for my recovery. Thanks, many thanks, servant of Christ,
for this expression of fraternal affection, for one who, though serving
your Lord and mine in another part of His great vineyard, humbly
hopes he is a fellow-servant.

" It is not, my dear sir, the gratification that this token of your
esteem for me yields to me as a personal favour, that alone makes me
rejoice in your kindness ; but it is the beautiful illustration and exhibi-
tion of Christian charity which it has given out to the world. It has
shewn, that amidst much alienation and even hostility in the divided
Church of Christ, love has not altogether forsaken our world and fled
back to her native skies. How little do all our differences in minor
matters appear to one who has been looking into eternity, and listening
to the heavenly harmonies, as in some faint degree I have been doing
the past few weeks ! You, my dear sir, have obtained grace not only to
be a champion for trutli, but to be an advocate for love; and I am con-
fident, that amidst the sarcasms and the censures of some brethren not so
fuUy enjoying as yourself the liberty that is in Christ, you find your
reward in the smile of a God of love, and the testimony of your own
conscience. It is my earnest prayer that your precious life may be
preserved to a good old age ; that each succeeding year may be more
rich in usefulness and ministerial comfort; and that this town may
never lose the advantage of your powerful and efficient ministry, till
that ministry shall end in your eternal rest and Divine reward.

" I mend, but it is very slowly, but as fast as infinite wisdom, power,
and love see to be best.

" I beg my kind respects to Mrs Miller and your family.

" Please accept the volume which accompanies this. — Believe me,
with high esteem and regard, yours faithfully and gratefully,

" J. A. James."

Notwithstanding increasing bodily infirmity and the develop-
ment of painful disease, Mr James's mind retained its clearness
and vigour.

522

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JiUIES.

During the summer of 1859 he complained of great feebleness
and languor, but though he was visibly wasting away, neither his
friends nor his medical attendants supposed that the end was so
near. On the second Sunday of September, he preached in the
morning, at Carr's Lane, one of the annual sermons for the London
Missionary Society, and the sermon produced such an eflfect upon
the congregation that immediately after it Wiis over, one of the
deacons who was sitting behind me begged me to persuade Mr
James to publish it. On the following Sunday, (September 18,)
he i^reached in the evening at Carr's Lane.

On Sunday morning, (September 25,) he preached at the Congre-
gational Chapel, Francis Street, Edgbaston, on a very favourite text,
" The common salvation ; " and those who were present have often
spoken of the solemnity with which he declared, that if he knew he
was preaching for the last time, he could choose no subject more
in harmony with his own feelings. It was the last sermon he ever
delivered. In the evening he was present at the service at Carr's
Lane. The preacher was conscious at the time, that an unusual
seriousness rested both upon himself and the congregation ; and
evidence has since been disclosed that the power of the Holy
Spirit was working mightily in some hearts that night. It was
the last time Mr James worshipped in the sanctuary where his
ministry had accomplished such great results. WTien listening to a
sermon, it was his habit — I have often observed it — to bow his head
as if in earnest prayer when the preacher began to appeal with any
directness to the consciences of his hearers ; and I cannot doubt that
on that Sunday evening it was in answer to his sdent intercessions
that the earnestness of the preacher was intensified, and the hearts of
some of the people filled with penitence, and led to trust in Christ.

Mr James was also present at a prayer-meeting held in Carr's
Lane Library, on Llonday morning at twelve o'clock, and spoke
to those who were there of his strong persuasion that he should
not be with them much longer.

On Tuesday morning he was so unwell that he was unable to
fulfil an engagement to meet Dr Miller to arrange for some special
meetings for united prayer, and wrote him the following note : —

" EEADY TO CE OFFERED."

523

TO DR MILLER.

Edgbastou, September 27, 1859.
" My dear Dr ^Iiller, — A new malady has come upon me ■within
the last day or two, and I am really too iU to fulfil my engagement to
see you this morning ; and, indeed, I begin to feel that I must retire from
aU confederated action and ijublic exercises, except a sermon once a-day
ia my own pulpit, and even from that ere long. — Yours faithfully,

" J. A. James."

Symptoms appeared on that day (Tuesday) which awakened,
for the first time, the serious apprehensions of his family ; but
these passed oflF, and on Wednesday, though feeble, he was free
from pain, and alarm subsided. He was still, however, very weak,
and feeling unable to attend the church meeting in the evening,
he wrote me the following note : —

" Hagley Road, Wednesday.
"My dear Friend, — I enclose you some documents relative to
church afFau's.

" During the last two or three days, I have been very unwell with
new maladies. I cannot be at the church meeting this evening, and it
is tery doubtful if I shall be able to preach on SabbatL I am sorry to
throw so much upon you, especially in this season of your domestic
anxiety. I am glad to learn from Mr Beriy this morning that ]Mrs Dale
is better. As we hear every day from various sources, we do not in-
crease the trouble of your servant by sending. — Yours affectionately,

" J. A James."

Ou entering his study that afternoon I found him sitting at
the table with one of his little granddaughters on each knee,
bending over a book of pictures, and talking to them with great
cheerfulness about the wonderful things at which they were look-
ing. The gray head and furrowed but happy countenance between
those two chUdish eager faces, made a picture that will never be
eflFaced from niy memory. When the little children had kissed
him and run away, he began talking solemnly, but not sadly, about
his consciousness of increasing weakness. Gradually his thoughts
moved towards the highest regions of saintly contemplation, and I
was so impressed with the unusual glow and brightness of his
faith and hope, that I said to him, "Mr James, you have an

524

LITE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

extraordinary measure of happiness and joy in God to-Jay ; I
remember that when I first came to college your sermons seemed
to indicate that you were almost permanently under the shadow of
religious despondency; and I cannot help thinking of the con-
trast." He smiled, and said, " Yes ; I used to be clouded some-
times ; and now I am afraid that my joy only rises from the hope
and prospect of release ; I want to slip away and be gone."

" On Wednesday evening," writes Ms daughter-in-law, " I sat with
liim for some time, and read to him the opening address delivered at
the meeting of the EvangeHcal Alliance, to which he listened with
intense interest, and afterwards commented with much enjoyment on
the principles which it so forcibly laid down, — that the one only indis-
yensahle condition for Christian fellowship was mutual acknowledg-
ment of Christ as Son of God and Saviour of the world — that this one
truth united the highest and lowest intellects, the most exalted and
the feeblest piety — and that the difficulties in the way of Christian union
arose from the perpetual attempt to treat other truths as equally import-
ant to spiritual life and the unity of the Church.

" On Thursday morning I had a long conversation with him in his
study. I began by expressing my hope and behef that his more recent
symptoms were passing away, and he replied that — but I prefer giving
you his own most precious words, even in disjointed sentences, to alter-
ing them in the slightest particidar, in order to give them a more con-
nected form : — ' I am a wonder to myself — you know that on former
occasions in iUness I have had so much gloom and depression, and now
it is all gone — I am perfectly peaceful, nay, happy — I am sure that
many must have been praying for me — I am sure that other prayers
besides my own are being answered in me — as some good men said' —
and here he paused for a minute, and then proceeded with a sweet
smile on his face, ' No, it is not presumption in me to use the same
words, "I am like a letter signed and sealed, and waiting for dehvery." '
' Dear papa, not to be dehvered yet, I trust.' ' I have but one wish
now on the subject, and that is, that I may be spared a long time of
uselessness. To hve and not to be able to work would be vei-y painful
to me ; but I have worked long for God in action, and if He wills that
I am soon to glorify Him in suffering, I know that He wiU help me to
do so.'

" Then, leaning back in his chair, he clasped his hands vnth. the most
beaming smile on his face I ever saw on any countenance, and said,
'Oh, to have fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus
Christ ! Oh, the blessedness of such a support ! Oh, cidtivate it in

" READY TO BE OFFERED."

525

liealth, that you may possess it in sickness ! ' I have no language in
■which to describe his looks — his voice — while uttering these words ! I
felt they were spoken by one almost in heaven, and yet I little realised
how soon he would be there.

" I saw him again on Friday, before leaving home as I expected for a
few days, and again he spoke of his desire to depart, and his -nillingness
to remain, and of the entire and perfect peace which pervaded his soul.

" I may mention that one of my sisters, who saw him on Thursday,
told him she felt he would be spared to see a revival of true religion
here, and a new work begun in China ; and he replied to her, ' I shall
see them there ; ' and again on Friday, when another sister told him of
the death of a young man whom he had visited many times during the
summer, and whose last regret was that he had not seen ;Mr James
again before he went to heaven, he replied, speaking of the young
man's mother, ' Tell her I shall soon see her son in heaven — and these
were the last words I heard him utter.

" Throughout Fiiday he was bright and happy — wrote several letters,
and in the evening listened to some Missionary Reports read aloud by
a friend stajing in the house."

The letters he wrote that evening were to his brother, the Rev.
Thomas James ; to the Eev. W. Bolton, on the death of his mother ;
and to the Eev. W. C. Birrell of Liverpool, in reference to the Life
of Eichard Kuill. To his brother he wrote — "^ly condition just
now is very low — not my spirits. I am peaceful, I may say happy,
quietly and contentedly waiting to see how it will go with me.
Through mercy I get tolerable nights, but I believe it is the begin-
ning of the end."

To Mr Bolton he wrote : —

" Edgbaston, September 30, 1859.

" My dear Me Boltox, — So your dear and excellent mother has,
at the caU of her heavenly Father, ascended to the seat prepared for
her in His celestial mansion. What a mercy to have had such a
mother, to have had her so long, and to know that heaven has her
when you can have her no longer; and to crown all, that you shall
join her in the blessed world of light, love, purity, and joy !

" What we owe to the Bible and God's grace in Christ Jesus, as
there revealed ! What a dark object is the grave when seen by the eye
of sense and reason, but how changed when seen in the sunshine of
revelation ! Receive my s}Tnpathy for your loss, and my congratula-
tion for her gain. May the Lord the Spirit not only comfort you
under this bereavement, but sanctify you by it ! for comfort is not the

52G

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Mgliest good we should seek from affliction, but sanctity, — ' that we
might be partakers of His holiness,' says the apostle.

"You may be thankful for having been spared tlie trial of long
watcliing her sufferings.

" As regards myself, I am incurably ill with calculus in the bladder,
and diabetes, and believe I am fast decaying. But have good hope
through grace and everlasting consolation. — Yours very truly,

" J. A. James."

The following is an extract from the letter to Mr Birrell : —

" I think it probable that with these few notes on dear Knill's life
and labours, I shall lay down my pen, which has written much ; would
God that it had written better. But while I say this I am not without
hope, yea, I may add conviction, that it has in some degree written use-
fully. In some humble degree I have aimed at usefulness both in my
preaching and writing ; and God has, to an amoimt which utterly as-
tonishes and overwhelms me, given me what I have sought. It seems
a daring and almost presumptuous expression, but with a proper quali-
fication it is a true one — that usefulness is within the reach of us all ;
the man who intensely desires to be useful, and takes the proper means,
will be useful. God wlU not withhold His grace from such desires and
such labours. O my brother ! how dehghtful is it, notwithstanding
the humbling and sorrowful consciousness of defects and sins, to look
back upon a life spent for Christ ! I thank a sovereign God I am not
without some degree of this."

" On Friday evening," writes Mrs T. S. James, " he conducted
family prayer as usual, and when his daughter took leave of him
for the night, he gave her as a good-night text the words, ' My
grace is sufficient for thee/ Between nine and ten o'clock, sick-
ness and pain in the chest suddenly came on, and his kind friend
and neighboiir Dr Evans was hastily summoned, but before
twelve the symptoms had subsided, and at his own earnest request
he was left with only the attendance of his old and attached ser-
vant. Throughout the night he was greatly tried by pain and
sickness, but had evidently no idea that death was approaching,
and would not suffer the servant to send either for Dr Evans or
Mr Bindley. He spoke much to her of the support he experienced
from the consciousness of the presence of God, and repeated at
intervals two verses of the hymn,

PKESENT WITH THE LORD."

527

' Begone, unbelief, my Saviour is near ; '

and also quoted several texts, whicli as yet are only gradually
recurring to her mind."

He was so far from supposing that the end had really come,
that he would not permit either his invalid daughter or his son to
remain after Dr Evans had left him ; but " about six in the morn-
ing a sudden and unexpected change took place, and his servant
sent in all haste for his son and medical attendant, but they only
arrived in time for his son to receive one look of love and word of
recognition before he sank into unconsciousness, and about seven
o'clock he quietly and painlessly passed away."

The intelligence spread through the town and through the whole
country with extraordinary rapidity. Members of ]\Ir James's
chux-ch who were away from home heard of their loss the next
morning from pulpits in distant parts of the kingdom. The
services that day in Oarr's Lane will never be forgotten by those
who were present. The whole congregation were in deep mourn-
ing, and at the Lord's Supper the grief which had been restrained
with difficulty through the preceding service found expression in
the audible sobbing of many of the communicants. A meeting
for special prayer was held on Wednesday evening, and with tears
the church entreated God in His great compassion to have pity on
them in their bereavement, and to forgive them for not having
derived more benefit from the holy example and the earnest ex-
hortations of the pastor who had been taken to his rest. Many
who had never renounced sin, and heartily devoted themselves to
the Lord Jesus Christ, came to fear that having resisted the
solemn and affectionate appeals of him whose voice they were
never to hear again, they might continue to the end of their days
among the ungodly ; and at subsequent church meetings we have
learned that, mingling with the profound distress of that week,
there was a mighty tide of spiritual power by which many were
quickened to a new life.

It had always been Mr James's earnest desire that his mortal
remains should lie in the vault beneath the front of the pulpit.
At the close of the charge delivered at the ordination of his col-

528

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

league, he said, with deep emotion, — " Rich in years, in honour,
and in usefulness, may you come at some far distant day to your
end ; and then, after labouring with me in the same pulpit, come
and lie down with me in the same grave, at the foot of it ; so
shall we resemble warriors resting on the field where they fought
and conquered."

And there, according to his wish, his body awaits the resurrec-
tion of the just. The Home Secretary, Sir G. C. Lewis, in consi-
deration of the eminent position Mr James had long occupied in
Birmingham, and of the serious inconvenience which would be
inflicted on large numbers of the inhabitants if, after the service
had been celebrated in the chapel, the funeral procession had
been obliged to go to the cemetery to inter the body, granted
permission to reopen the vault in which Mr James had wished
to lie. The funeral took place on Friday, October the 7th. The
ministers of the town of all Protestant denominations, the muni-
cipal authorities, representatives of the gi-eat religious institutions
which he had served, the deacons and a long procession of the pri-
vate members of his church, and hundreds of other persons, accom-
panied the mourning family from his residence to the chapeL
The wliole town spontaneously expressed veneration for his char-
acter and grief for his loss. One who had come from a long
distance to be present, thus describes the scene —

" Desiiing to perpetuate the remembrance of the honours that ga-
thered around the obsequies, and to indicate the impression made by
them upon a visitor, I devote a page to record the scene. Under skies
that harmonised in their still and shrouded aspect with the funereal
gloom, groups of mournful faces gathered at an early hour. Shops here
and there, throughout the town, had remained vmopened ; and drawn
bhnds everjrvs'here, betokened an unusual presence of death. The area
of the Jubilee Chapel in Edgbaston was fuU ; there were there ministers,
students, officers of churches, and the teachers of the Carr's Lane Sun-
day-schools, waituig to join the mournful procession. At eleven o'clock
the coffin, containing the honoured form of the revered dead, upborne
on the faithful shoulders of members of the church, was seen leading
the door of that dwelling which for fifty-three years had been his home,
and in the presence of uncovered heads was placed in the hearse. It
would have been vain to attempt to estimate the length of the moving

" PRESENT WITH THE LORD."

529

procession, composed as it was of the authorities, clergy, and other dis-
tinguished inhabitants of the tovm, and of a long line of Christian men,
emulative to testify the love and honour they bore. There was no part
of the long route which was not lined with sorrowing countenances ;
but, as the files approached the main thoroughfares, the spectacle grew
overpoweringly sublime. It was noon, but all business was siispended ;
not a vehicle was seen ; the streets were cleared for the procession.
Except one or two which, however, were partially darkened, the whole of
the shops were closely shut up. Upper windows in the houses were filled
with persons in mourning apparel Every standing point was thronged
with spectators. I had seen the Queen of England passing between
these crowds, but the difference in the expression of their countenances
on this occasion, was so inexpressibly touching, that with great difficulty
I kept back an outburst of tears. On the face of the aproned artisan,
tliere rested a reverential sorrow. "Women took up the corner of their
shawls to wipe away their tears. The little children were obviously
subdued into wondering seriousness. The deathlike silence over these
crowds in that great mart of industry was deeply affecting." *

The chapel was thronged in every part. The coffin having been
placed in front of the pulpit, selected passages of Scripture were
read, and the Eev. Professor Barker of Spring-Hill College offered
prayer ; other passages of Scripture were read, and then followed
the funeral oration, delivered by ]Mr James's colleague in the pas-
torate. While the preparations were being made for lowering the
coffin, the congregation rose and sung —

" Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb !
Take this new treasure to thy trust,
And give these sacred relics room
A while to slumber in the dust,"

As the coffin descended into the vault, the words of interment
were pronounced: — "Forasmuch as it hath pleased Alniighty God
to take unto Himself the soul of our beloved and most revered
Father in Christ here departed, we therefore commit his body to
the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and
certain hope of the resurrection to eternal Hfe, through our Lord
Jesus Christ ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be like
unto His glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby
He is able to subdue aU things to Himself.

• A Tribute to the Memory of the Rev. J. A. James. By the Kev. W. Guest,
now of Taunton.

530

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

"I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, From
henceforth blessed are the dead v^hich die in the Lord : even so
saith the Spirit ; for they rest from their labours, and their works
do follow them."

After this, the Kev. Dr Tidman, Foreign Secretary of the Lon-
don Missionary Society, offered prayer. " The grace of the Lord
Jesus -Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the
Holy Ghost," which are our strength and solace in every time of
trouble, having been invoked, the assembly of mourners slowly
and silently separated.

LETTERS.

TO THE KEV. DK PATTON.

" Edgbaston, April 14, 1842.
" My dear Brother Pattox, — I have received your letter of the
date of March the 2d, which has somewhat surprised and grieved

me by its contents. I am reluctant to speak or think ill of Mr ,

for aU I saw of him while here led me to respect him as a man of
much Christian integrity, charity, and simplicity; but the account
which you have forwarded me has shaken my confidence in my own
views of his character. During his residence in this town I had much
conversation with him on the subject of Perfectionism, but I most
certainly never professed myself a believer in that doctrine, even in the
modified and clarified form that it assumes at Oberlin. I had pre-
viously heard, that as held by many in the United States, it is only

another name for Antinomianism, and this I stated to Mr , who

was anxious to convince me that the Oberlin views were defecated
from the dregs of that lax and impure theology ; and as a proof of this
read, I recollect, a passage of !Mahan's book, in which the author
exonerated their system from the charge of a tendency to Hcentious
practice. After this he lent, or sent me Professor Cowles's book. With
the apparently holy tendency of that httle work I was certainly much
pleased, and did not fail, I dare say, to express myseK to that effect to

Mr ; but certainly I never intended in anything I said to convey

my approbation or belief of the doctrine in question. That perfect
sanctification is required by the law of God — that provision is made
for it in the scheme of redemption — that there is nothing impossible in
it arising from any defect in the natural faculties of man — and that on
all these groimds it is obviously man's duty, are propositions the truth
of which cannot be gainsaid ; but that it is ever attained in the present
world, I do not believe, and never did believe. The nearest approach

632

LJFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

I make to tliis doctrine is, tliat it is not in itself to be considered
impossible, and, therefore, in that sense it is attainable. It must be in

some such sense I have written to Mr ; and if, as I conclude to

have been the case from what you have stated, he suppressed so im-
portant an exception, when reading the commendatory part of my
letter, as an objection to the doctrine which Mr Cowles's book was
wi'itten to support, he did not deal honourably with me, or honestly
with my communication.

" Your information of the course which Oberlin theology is running
is affecting and alarming. However, I have sufficient confidence under
God in the logical accuracy, the metaphysical acumen and theological
sobriety and orthodoxy of the great body of your ministers and pro-
fessors, to resist the spread of opinions so imscriptural and unphilo-
sophical as those you mention. I am not for limiting the range of
theological investigation, nor for shielding the venerable systems of
antiquity from the most rigid scrutiny — nothing is true merely because
it is old, nor is everyUdng true that is new — let all be tried ; but still I
believe that the system of Calvinism is not a mere vapour arising over
the lake of Geneva, which a gust from Oberlin will dissipate.

" I have long been of opinion that Calvinism, as it was put forth in
the writings of the divines of the seventeenth century, and in some of
the symbols of orthodox churches down almost to the present time,
needed to be accommodated more closely to the mental economy and
the Word of God; and by many modern writers, both in your country
and ours, this has been done ; and though I should receive with grati-
tude fresh Hght from any quarter, not excepting Oberlin, I do not
expect much accession to our present knowledge of it as a system of
dogmatic theology.

" I perceive by the New York Evangelist, that the Anti-Slavery cause
is progressing in various ways in the United States, though perhaps
not quite so obviously in the form of Anti-Slavery organisation. I am
persuaded there is a growing conviction of the iniqmty of slavery, and
an increasing desire to get rid of it. The debate raised by Mr Adams
on presenting the petition for the dissolution of the Union, does him
great honour, and will do the Anti-Slavery cause great good. I have
no fear of a war with your country. The case of the Creole wiU make
your Southerners bluster a little, and the claim of our Government to
a right of search wiU add to it, but it will end in wind. Your Govern-
ment will never go to war on a question in reference to which your
own people are so divided, and on which so large a proportion of them
are with Great Britain. Neither country is in a position for war. I
am confident the matter vtdU be somehow or other settled. May God
preserve us in peace ! . . . .

I.ETTERS.

533

TO THE REV. C. M. BIRRELL OF LIVERPOOL,
ON THE DEATH OF HIS BROTHER.

"Birmingham, January 31, 1843.
" My dear Sir, — I liave intended from day to day, ever since the
arrival of your most welcome letter, ■with its mournfully interesting
accompaniment, to acknowledge with much gratitude your obhging
communication.

" I congratulate you that you had such a brother — I sympathise
with you that you have lost him. The narrative is deeply affecting;
he was indeed a bud of promise, but taken to open and bloom in
Paradise. I bless God for my share of instrumentality in recovering
him from sin to holiness, and from Satan to Christ. ' Blessed youth,
though unknown to me on earth, thou shalt be in my crown of rejoic-
ing in the presence of our Lord at his coming ! '

" And you, too, my dear sir, do you owe anything to my pen 1
Thank God for this grace also to His servant, though it be ever so small
a share of that tributary influence which contributed to your conversion.
The name of Mr BirreU of Liverpool awakens too much affectionate
esteem in my mind to leave me indifferent under his own assurance,
that I in any degree helped to lead him first to the cross, and then as
the consequence of this to the pulpit. May God long spare you, my
dear sir, to labour successfully for immortal souls ! Little did I think
when I was distributing as I have done ' The few counsels to Believers,'
that I should ever receive such a communication fi-om the author as
your pen has sent me.

" I have not the pleasure of knowing Mrs Birrell, but seventeen
years ago I spent a day with her excellent and eminent father and
mother in Edinburgh. I beg to be most kindly remembered to her. —
And am, -with fraternal love, yours truly,

" J. A. James."

to the same,
on irreligious alvrriages.

" 35 Highbury Place, London,
" October 14, 1844.

" My dear Sir, — In the multiplicity of my engagements, I came
away from home without replying to your letter, the subject of which
is not more important than it is perplexing.

" While I have, in various ways, protested against the practice to
which you refer, I have never seen my way clear to make it a matter of
church discipline, and that for several reasons, which I wiU now men-
tion. First, I hold, in common with aU others, that when a member

534

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

is suspended or excluded from fellowship, lie cannot, of course, be re-
stored but upon a profession of repentance, accompanied by fruits meet
for it. But is it not a strange and unseemly thing to expect a married
man to say he is sorry he did marry 1 And even suppose he should go
thus far, and say he is sorry, what fruits can he offer to prove the sin-
cerity of his affirmation 1 He cannot divorce his wife.

" Second, Again, is it not a supposed sin, the reality of which cannot
in all cases be proved ? Where there is infidelity, immorality, or a total
neglect of religious ordinances, here is proof positive and palpable ; but
where there is a regular attendance on the means of grace, though no
profession of religion, there may be piety without our knowing it ; and
are we to insist, in such a case, upon the persons being in fellowship ?

" Third, Suppose the intended party against whom exception is taken
belong to another communion, as is sometimes the case, how is the evi-
dence of piety, or the want of it, to be ascertained?

" Fourth, Innumerable cases occur wherein the religious party
hopes the other is converted, or is likely, from present appearances, to
become so, and goes forward with the approbation of conscience ; and
it seems hardly right in such cases to excommunicate.

" I mightj had I time and leisure, say more, but I have neither, and
have written this in so much haste, and amidst so much interruption,
that it is hardly worthy your notice, and yet, as I am on my way to
Norwich, I know not when I shall have time to write more.

" / therefore cannot, on these grounds, make the matter a subject of
church discipline. In haste. — ^Yours very truly,

" J. A. James."

TO THE EEV. DE SPEAGUE.

" Edgbaston, July 3, 1843.
" My DEAR Feiend, — .... It is now I cannot tell how long since
I heard from you, long enough to make me blush, much longer than
ought to be necessary for that, and therefore I cannot reply to old topics,
but must enter on new ones, and in this world of movement one need
never be at loss for novelties. First, to begin with your side of the
water, and what concerns yourself. By a letter which Mr Joshua Wil-
son read to me, and which he had lately received from you, I find, as
well as from the newspapers, that Albany has been visited with the revived
influence of revivals, and, indeed, that this has passed to a very consi-
derable extent over the land. Some of the accounts have startled me.
A man swearing or drunk in the week, and at the Lord's table on the
Sabbath, siich doings, I am quite sure, are not with you. It is a pity
they should be with anybody. I do not think an apostolic example

LETTERS.

535

•\7ill bear this out I am become cautious about the fniits of re-
vivals. I have had an experiment before my eyes, and am inclined
to think, that while measures ought to be used for reviving a dull state
of things, and producing a deeper impression than ordinary upon the
minds of the unconverted, yet a little caution is necessary in gathering
the fnuts into the Church. However, I think, from your volume on
this subject, and what I presume you are not prepared to retract — ijou
and I shoidd not differ. You cannot do or approve what has been done
by some in Albany. I suppose there is a downward tendency in all
regidar routine business, not excepting preaching, praying, and seeking
the salvation of souls — a tendency, I mean, to the temperature of freez-
ing point — which requires occasionally some unusual efforts to send out
the mercury, and yet we ought always to be up. I think in our own
churches there is a considerable flatness just now, at least, in many
places, which perhaps requires a degree of attention.

" I presume there is none of the attractions of cohesion becoming
apparent between the two American Presbyterian Chiirches. So f^ir as
the accounts of the two bodies contained in the public prints go, there
is neither attempt nor wish to unite. Perhaps it is better that you
should be as you are. You are large enough to be separate, if you can
but maintain good temper and good conduct towards each other. Pray,
does it interrupt the flow of brotherly and neighbourly good feeling ?
Do neighbouring ministers, who belong to both churches, keep up
friendly intercourse with each other 1

" Thus far I had written when your letter, June o, arrived I am
glad to learn you are in good health, and that your family enjoy the
same blessing, and especially that on some of them the shower of
heaven has fallen during the late awakening. I hope my namesake will
be added to the nimiber. Your accoimt of the revival confirms what
I had previously heard ....

" You speak of Puseyism in America. I do not wonder at this. It
might be expected, that, as Episcopacy is not sustained with you by
any State support, it should seek to strengthen itself by high spiritual
claims and pretensions. It is sadly rampant here, especially among the
younger clergy. But it has received one or two severe checks in the
Quarterly Revieiv, the leading High Church and Tory periodical, and in
the suspension of Dr Pusey from preaching for two years by the convo-
cation. One thing is alarming. A tutor — I mean, a son of the great
Wilberforce — has lately been appointed to the Prince of Wales, our future
king, who is a Pusepte. But the most extraordinary event that has
transpired here is the disruption of the Church of Scotland. That be-
tween four and five hundred ministers of that body shoidd secede on
the ground of the independence of the Church is an extraordinary

536

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JA1\IES.

event. It is true tlieir position in claiming spiritual freedom and tern- i j
porary support was a false one, but still they are an illustrious band of
confessors. You wiU have heard, long before this reaches you, of the
death of my venerable friend, Thomas Wilson of Highbury. After a
lingering and painful illness of two years' standing, he is dismissed to
his rest, fuU of honour. Joshua succeeds to a large portion of his father's
property and spirit. He is most happily married.

" I am still as I was, a widower, and shall in all probabiUty remain
such to the end of my life. My daughter is still a great invahd, and
is now away at the sea, and wUl be for months to come. I have none
but God dwelling with me, and He is everything. I beg to be most
kindly remembered to Mrs Sprague and your family, and remain very
truly yours,

" J. A. James."

TO THE SAME.

" EDGBASTOif, January 29, 1845.

" My dear Friend, — Your mild and gentle rebukes contained in
your letter forwarded by Mr Goddard have produced the effect which
reproofs administered in such a spirit usually do, and have led, as you
wiU now see, to confession and amendment ; but while I thus submit
to your chastened reproach for my long neglect of your last two letters,
if not more, I may, Avlthout impeaching the sincerity of my contrition
and acknowledgment, put in one word by way of explanation, if not of
extenuation, and that is, such a surfeit of letter-writing brought on by
our penny-postage system, as makes me turn sick at the very thouglit
of writing a long epistle. We are flooded now with letters on all sub-
jects, so that what does not demand an immediate reply is often post-
poned tiU a spirit of procrastination creeps over me, and, Hke other
sinners, I am the less disposed to amend the longer I postpone it.

" I am glad to find, by your communication, that you are stUl ' strong
to labour ; ' and able, as you see your shadow lengthening on the plain,
to rejoice in an ability as hale and vigorous as ever to work for Christ.
Long may it be so ! You occupy no inconsiderable sphere of activity
and influence, and your hfe is of some consequence in another and a
vidder circle than that which is drawn round your own fireside. It is a
mercy to you to be brought nearly to fifty years of age, and a still
greater one for me to be brought on near sixty, without any serious
mistake. I often think and say, that in looking back, I see many
things which, if I could go over life again, I could correct and do
better ; but then again, perhaps I should commit still greater blunders, so
that wlule I am humble, and much there is to make me so, I am
thankful.

LETTERS.

537

" The termination of your presidential election, to which, when you
last wrote, you were looking forward with doubt and dread, has taken
place, and realised the worst fears of the WTiig party. Well, the Lord
God Omnipotent reigneth, and there is God's hand, as well as God's
wisdom, even in this. "What a blessed thing it is to be let into the
secret of God's government of the world, to know what is His line of
policy, and by how certain, though to us unknown methods. He is
working out His plan and purpose ! ' Christ is head over aU things to
the Church.' There it is : and it is enough.

" I am glad to find the two di-sdsions of your Presbyterian Church
are approximating, first, in sentiment and feeling, and by this means
are preparing the way for re-union ; but if the unity of the Spirit is
better produced by separate organisation, then remain and love at a
little distance, rather than come near to quarrel.

" Now a little about myself, my country, and the general aspect of
affairs here. Through Divine goodness, I am able to go on with my
work. My health continues pretty good, and I preach, as far as I know,
with as much vigour at times as ever ; but as I am now in my fifty-
ninth year, and as my work, by my connexion with a local college as
chairman of the Board of Education, and other new matters, is very
much increased, I sometimes feel that I must look out for a co-pastor ;
but it is a step on which such consequences hang, both as regards my
own comfort and the peace of the church, that I am afraid to take it,
and am praying and watching and waiting for the ^^'iIl of the Lord in
the movement of the cloudy pillar,

" What a state our country has been in, and stiU is, in regard to eccle-
siastical matters ! The disruption of the Scottish Church is a grand and
important movement ; it is a wave that will roll further than many
expect or wish. Our own southern Establishment is convulsed to its
very centre. The Puseyite leaven has produced a fermentation which
is agitating the whole mass. AYhat it will come to, and where it will
end, the most sagacious calculators and the most far-seeing prognosti-
cators cannot divine. It has produced so much alarm, that I tliink the
bishops now and the Government will attempt to arrest its progress ; not,
however, by any legislative measures, but in an equally effectual though
more silent resistance. Puseyism will be a bar to preferment ; and
that is a powerful consideration with the adventurous, and there are
some such who speculate upon the chances of getting on and up in the
State Church. StiU there is an infatuation come over the public mind
in reference to this matter, wMcli will not easily let the matter drop.
The middle classes of the laity are in some places resisting it to turbu-
lence and mobbing, but I fear it is creeping about among the upper
classes. There are certainly elements of mischief at work in the Church,

538

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

which bode no good for it. It is a house divided against itself. And
yet, Avithal, I do not think Dissent is gaining ground. The property
and the people who hold it, are continually going off from us to the
Church, and many of those who go verge right over to Puseyism.

" StUl there are signs of good. There is among a large portion of
evangelistic Christians, a strong desire for a closer union with each
other. I send you herewith a volume of essays on Christian Union, in
which you wiU see one by your present correspondent : the others, vdth
the exception of Mr Wardlaw, are all by Presbyterians of the Free
Church of Scotland, and several other Presbyterian bodies in that
country. The volume had its origin in the catholicity and liberality of
a Scotch gentleman, who was so interested and impressed by the speeches
delivered, by various Presbyterian clergymen, at the bi-centenary meet-
ing held at Edinburgh two years ago, to celebrate the meeting of
the Westminster Assembly, that he determined to devote £300 to
promote union : and this volume is the fruit of his generosity. Just as
my essay was going through the press, I received Dr Patton's letter,
Avhich you wiU find appended. It is a good and a grand thought.
Difficulties will, of course, lie in the way of realising it ; but could it
be brought to bear, it would be a noble achievement. I doubt whether
a simple declaration is all we should seek. This would not be enough
to draw us together ; but could we not form a Protestant Association
to sustain and extend the cause of Protestantism by the press, in the
way of re-printing old standard works, and offering premiums for the
publication of new ones, and thus caU out the talent of the whole
Protestant world, in England, America, France and Germany 1 The
Catholics are at the present moment doing this, and calling out thus
most effective and even voluminous publications. I think ten or twenty
thousand pounds a-year thus spent, with aU the activity and energy
which it would engage, would do much to arrest the swelling tide of
Popery. WUl you turn the subject round in your mind 1

" I beg to be kindly remembered to Mrs Sprague and your family,
and am, as ever, affectionately yours, J. A. James."

TO THE KEY. E. K. CONDEE, M.A., OF POOLE, (nOW OP LEEDS.)

"Edgbaston, February 10, 1845.
" My deak Sir, — I am not surprised that you have already found
out how much greater are the difficulties of the pastor than those of
the preacher. It is, indeed, far easier and far more delightful to teach
men than to govern them. Even after forty years' experience, discip-
line often makes me tremble. I am afraid your venerable and most
estimable colleague has too much of the milk of human kindness in his
nature ever to be in danger of erring on the side of excessive severity.

LETTERS.

539

Partaking more of the father than of the judge, he has, perhaps, held
the reins of government -vnth rather too slack a hand, and suffered the
church to get a little beyond his control ; and now that you are seated by
him upon the box, or rather have come into his place as coachman, the
horses ■will not like to be too hastily pulled up. I see, from what you
say, it will require great prudence in you to carry out your views and
wishes and not give offence, and, at the same time, not to seem to re-
flect on Mr Durant's administration. You must not be in liaste to
reform, but bring about a better state of things gradually.
" I will now take your queries in order.

" If a report be in general circidation, charging moral deKnquency
upon a member, it ought instantly to be investigated by tracing it, if pos-
sible, to its source, and ascertaining its correctness, as far as this can be
done, before a regular examination. This should be done by the pastor
and deacons. Justice to the accused requires he should be cleared, if
innocent — ^justice to the church, that he should be corrected, if gixUty.

" Unpunctuality in the payment of debts, if so notorious as to bring
scandal, should be noticed ffrst by a private remonstrance, delivered by
the pastor and one of the deacons ; if persisted in, the individual
ought to be requested to see the whole eldership.

" It is a matter of no consequence that information comes from a
person who is not a member, if he be a veracious person, and is pre-
pared to substantiate his allegation. In many, if not most cases, the
only witnesses afe non-professors.

" The details into which it may be necessary to descend, in the in-
vestigation of any case, must be regulated by the nature of the case.
To criminate or clear is the object sought, and you must go to any
length necessary for this.

" There are some cases so notoriously bad, that the honour of the
church requires expulsion as soon as the crime is proved ; but these
are of unfrequent occurrence. In most cases suspension, to give the
offender an opportunity of bringing forth fruits meet for repentance, is
the best mode of proceeding ; but then, if there be no confession of
sin and marks of sincerity in a few months, the individual ought to be
expelled. Suspension is not so much a punishment — a sentence by
itself — as a space given for repentance.

" We never pass votes of censure ; but we sometimes rebuke an
offender by the discipline committee.

" I think the pastor and deacons, or discipline committee, as the case
might be, ought to have the power of suspending an indi\ndual from
church privileges, with the view of ascertaining the nature of an alle-
gation, and whether it is necessary to proceed further.

"I could not consent to receive or retain a member who kept a

540

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

public-house, except in cases where the regulations are so strict as to
render it all but impossible for such an establishment to succeed. The
case is different vnth. a wife, who is not her own mistress ; but then
she ought peremptorily to refuse to sell liquor on the Sabbath, and
leave that to her husband.

" I can conceive of cases, but they are most extraordinarily rare, in
which the pastor and deacons, or discipline committee, should have the
power of requesting a member to withdraw.

" I have now gone through your interrogatories, and wiU come to ou>-
plan, which, indeed, you perhaps recollect. At the church meeting in
February we always elect a discipline committee for the year. A list
of names is proposed by myself, which always comprises four of the
deacons and five other members, who, with the pastor, constitute this
committee. Whatever cases of delinquency occur are examined by this
committee. For instance, if I heard of the bad conduct of a member,
which required investigation, I send for the secretary, and request him
to call the committee together. When assembled, I lay the case before
them ; and one or two members are requested to inquire into the case,
and, if true, to request the attendance of the person at the next meet-
ing. At that meeting we have sometimes witnesses adduced. And,
when the case is discussed, we form our opinion, and come to a
conclusion ; and send up a report to the church, if it be a matter
which requires suspension. Sometimes it is enough to rebuke the
offender, and let the matter drop. The church invariably acts upon
the recommendation of this committee, and excommunicates or sus-
pends as we recommend. We have found this plan to work well
hitherto. If a person were to refuse to be answerable to this com-
mittee, the church would instantly expel him for contumacy ; and
some, rather than undergo an investigation, will do this. There is an
advantage in this over the plan of confining the persons investigating,
before it comes to the church, to the deacons — the responsibility is
shared with thein, and the church is likely to be more satisfied with
the conclusion. We change the committee usually every year.

" I hope this will help you. What you have to guard against is, a too
great laxity, on the one hand, and a fidgety looking out for cases, on
the other. Did you ever talk over the whole matter w^th Mr Durant 1
I would advise this — submit to him every plan. Mr Brown is a sen-
sible man, talk with him also.

" Next Wednesday week, Mr Creak is to be ordained ; and that day
fortnight, Mr Hill. I have conditionally promised to be at both ; but
I am becoming so nervous and poorly, that I am almost afraid, espe-
cially for Mr Hill. May the Lord direct you ! — Yours most truly,

" J. A. James."

LETTERS.

541

TO MRS MATHESON,
ON THE DEATH OF THE REV. DB MATHESON.

"Edgbaston, February 2, 1846.

"My dear Madam and deeply- aeflicted Friend, — If, in the
multitude of your sad and troubled thoughts, you can listen to the
words of sympathy and receive the expressions of tender condolence,
I now offer them. God has indeed afflicted you ; but it is your con-
solation to know, that it is God which hath done it : and may you be
able to look up to Him with profound submission, and say, ' I was
dumb, I opened not my mouth, because Thou didst it!' It is a deep
and painful mystery, and to us on this side of the cloiid it is all darkness
and distressful gloom ; but to him who has been taken, and who sees
the other side, it is all light and splendour and glory. You have no
refuge, resource, or consolation, but in God, and in Him you have all
these. Thousands pity you and pray for you. Oh, how fervently have
I knocked at the door of mercy for you ! God tvill hear all these
prayers. You will be supported and provided for, and your dear babes
too. Jehovah is the widow's God, and the Father of the fatherless.
He has not put off this tender and touching title, this endearing
character and relation. Honour Him, my dear friend — glorify Him in
the fires, by giving Him your confidence. They that know His name
will put their trust in Him, and i/ou do know His name. He lives,
and blessed be your Rock, and let the God of yoirr salvation be exalted.
I wish I knew what best would comfort you, what most readily and
efifectually would reach your riven heart, I would select the softest,
sweetest accents of consolation. Wliat better can I do than direct
your eye and heart and arm to the glorified Man of sorrows, who,
touched with the feeling of your infirmities, bends from His throne, to
offer, to convey, to impress the sympathy of His holy and merciful
heart ! He knows what He has done, why He has done it, and how to
comfort you under it. He loves you too well, and the dear departed,
to have done it for anything but for good. You will justify Him in
the end- You will then see, what you must now believe, that in some
way or other it is for His glory and your good. I know that it is a
triumph of faith almost too great to be expected from you, to believe
that such a bereavement can be for good.

" I feel as if I had lost a dear friend. I loved him, respected him,
confided in him. Alas ! for the society ; — but you and your dear cliil-
dren ! Well, cast yourself and them upon God — tell Him He is your
husband and their father, that you and they have no other, and see if
He wUl disown you. No ; never. He can. He will provide. He is
what He was on Mount Moriah, JehovaltrJireh. Lay hold, and keep
hold by faith, of this title.

542

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAIVIES.

" If my prayers are worth anything, they shall be yours. My love
to your dear children. — ^Your tenderly sympathising friend,

"J. A. James.

" Accept the little volume which I send with this."

TO THE EEV. DU SPRAGUE.

"Edgbaston, September 1, 1847.
" My deae Friend and Brother, — Permit me, first of all, to
acknowledge — which I do with many thanks — your kind remembrance
of me in the various offerings of your prolific pen which have lately
come to hand, and which fully sustain your literary reputation, and
corroborate the declaration of your welcome letters, that your energies
are unimpaired. I rejoice to find you so diligently sowing beside
all waters, and I trust that the harvest of good to others, and of legiti-
mate fame and reward for yourself, will be reached in rich and ripe
abundance.

" It is a great thing to live and labour for God and souls. This only
is to work for immortahty. But how difficult to keep the waters pure
— to live only for Christ !

" Your little work addressed to a young man's conscience, is a gem,
which I must have pubUshed in this country, and try to help you to do
good here.

" It is but fair I should send you a quid pro quo ; and yet this is
rather assuming that I give you what can be considered as of equal
value — but the expression hardly unpHes equality. Such as it is, I lay it
before you ; at any rate, the subject is momentous to the last degree.
I only regret that I have not done justice to it. Far, far mightier
intellects than mine must fall below such a theme. Ah, my friend, as
you and I draw nearer and nearer to the closing scenes of our ministry,
even the importance of that ministry itself magnifies upon our view
and presses upon our heart. How little we seem to act as men who
profess to be labouring for eternity — men upon whose lips hang the
destmies of immortal souls! Where is the Lord God of Ehjah?
Where is the Lord God of your Edwards and our Whitfield? I am
happy to say that there seems a disposition in this country to enter
into the subject of my little work, as is evinced by the fact that,
although the work was pubhshed only in May, I am now preparing a
third edition. May God sanctify the perusal of it !

" Your representation of the state of rehgion in America, is but a
counterpart of what it is here. All is duhiess, and the wind seems
blowing upon the vaUey of dry bones. The Wesleyan body had a
decrease last year of five thousand. Neither we nor the Baptists are
doing much, and the evangehcal clergy of the Church of England as

LETTERS.

543

little. The excitement of the age is bearing down religion. Men's
minds are wholly engrossed by the things that are seen and temporal.

" The Church partakes of the spirit of the world, and worldhness in
a variety of forms is eating out the core of personal godliness. As a
pastor, I have perhaps as Httle to complain of as most, but still I see
the effect of the existing state of things upon my flock. Amidst all,
however, there are some few elements of character conspicuously visible
in the present generation of professing Christians. Zeal and liberaUty
are rather growing than in a state of decadence. The aggressive opera-
tions of the Church upon the territories of the prince of darkness are
nobly sustained, though perhaps not yet with proportionate success.

" I conclude you have not entered upon a very serious consideration
of the present movement for Christian Union. I am a little afraid we
shall not make very rapid advances towards our great desideratum.
But even to fad in such an attempt appears to me more honourable
than not to make the effort. Though I am by no means convinced
that our plan has been in all respects the wisest that could be devised.
Dr Candlish, in his essay on the subject of Union, published in Scot-
land, said, that j^ei'haps all denominations must be first taken down
before they can all unite. We may none of us be yet in a condition
for general union. The strife between the friends and opponents of
State endowments is waxing stronger and stronger, and the late general
election has given political strength to the latter.

" I am happy to hear so good an account of your domestic affairs.
May your ' Angell ' be one in nature as well as in name, and a far
better and holier man than he from whom he has borrowed his
cognomen. You say he is preparing for college. This does not imply
that he is on his way to the pulpit ; if it did, I would have dedicated
the little volume I have sent, to him. May God convert him by His
grace, and then call him into the ministry. Give my love to him, and
tell him I shall pray to God on his behalf for these two things.

" I have lately had a very agreeable change in my domestic affiiirs
by the marriage of my son, who, with his bride, is now travelling on
the continent. It is a union to my satisfaction. My daughter is still a
great invalid, and is now in London under the care of a physician ; so
that I dwell much alone — but He whose company is a substitute for
all others, is with me.

" I beg my kindest regards to Mrs Sprague and your family. Shall
you ever cross the Atlantic again ? If we ever meet on this side of the
grave, it must be in this country. If not, we shall meet in a far
better one. — Yours most truly,

" J. A. James."

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

TO THE SAME.

"BiRMiNQHAM, September 18, 1851.
" My dear Friend and Brother, — I am not quite sure you will
tliink I am sincere in the use of this epithet, and of these relationships
— for you will be ready to ask how so long a silence on my part can really
consort with friendly and brotherly feeling. I fall under your rebuke,
and confess to its justice. I can set up no defence — and can scarcely
frame an excuse. The best apology I have to offer — and poor and
feeble enough it is — that with advancing age I have a growing dislike
to correspondence, which is strengthened by the aU but overwhelming
pressure of the penny postage. I know not whether your country is
favoured with this facility for epistolary intercourse — if so, you will be
prepared to sympathise with us in this land to which it has brought
such a vast assemblage of letter-writing, with, really very little diminu-
tion of outlay.

" Your letters, with the pamphlets which have often accompanied
them, have demonstrated to me that you are not only alive and well,
but active and useful. You have indeed the ' pen of a ready writer,'
but I am glad that you are employed, if I mistake not, upon something
more substantial and permanent than mere pamphlets. For these,
however excellent and acceptable, rarely have vitality sufficient to
keep them ahve beyond the day of their production, and cannot be
expected to float upon the stream of time to posterity. If I mistake
not, you are engaged on an American Ministerial Biography. This is a
great idea, and can be made eminently serviceable to the future by pre-
serving the precious remains of the past. A well-written life of a good
man is calculated to produce the hves of many good men. May God
give you health, and wisdom, and grace, to finish the work in such
manner as shall be for His glory and the good of His Church !

"As regards myself, I am thankful to say I am in tolerable health,
and, considering that I have entered upon the forty-eighth year of my
connexion with my church, in pretty good working condition. I go
through my Sabbath-day services with about as httle fatigue as for many
years past, and, blessed be the God of all grace, with, I believe, as much
acceptableness to my flock. My family remain as they were, — my son
a widower, after a short season of three months' happiness — my daughter
unmarried, but somewhat better in health than she was in former years.
I have not done much since I last wrote, in the way of authorship, ex-
cept publishing a plain, practical monthly sermon to young men, — a
class of persons in this country and in our congregation more hopeless
than any other. It is really fearful to think how indifferent they are
to the claims of religion, and how few of them we gather into our

LETTEES.

545

cliurches ! I calculate tliat two tliirds of the membei-s of all oiir
ckurcLes are females. I sujipose this is the same -with you iu America,
as well as with us.

" The state of religion in our country — if we mean by this the con-
version of the impenitent, and the high-toned devotion of the professors
— is low. I do not think I ever preached with less saving resiilts since
I was a minister ; and this is the case with most others. It is a general
complaint We have no diminution of Christian activity and associ-
ated effort ; but indiWdual piety is undevout and feeble. A spirit of
worldliness characterises the Church, and its separation from the ungodly
is less conspicuous than it ought to be. But there is a stiU more seri-
ous ground of apprehension in the minds of some of us, and that is for
the orthodoxy of some of our young ministers. It is obvious to eveiy
one that a spirit of scepticism is coming over our land and yours from
Germany and France, and aU the great verities of religious truth are to
be tried over again. This is finding its way into the minds of some of
our young men — who, by the German mode of thinking, aided by y-oiu:
Emerson and Parker, and our Carlyle, are not siitisfied either with estab-
lished doctrine or commonly-received phraseology. Eeligious truth
it is supposed cannot stand stUl while all around it is moving onward.
I am myself far more apprehensive of mischief from this source than I
am from Popery ; though, indeed, this latter has risen up with a front
and audacity that astounds many and alarms more. But people whose
reason is more active than their fears, are of opinion that the Papacy
has made a mistake in its late attempt to establish a Roman hierarchy
here. Protestant feeling is roused as it has not been since the Eevo-
lution of 1688. Papacy was making its silent way unopposed before
— but it is not so now. All are roused, and a flood of Protestant Hght
■will be poured over the land. It is said that your Eoman Cathohc
bishops wanted a cardinal for America, and that the Pope refused it,
and confessed he had been misled in grantuig one to this country.
StUl I have no doubt that there will be a considerable uicrease of
Popery as long as Puseyism continues in the Church of England ; but
I have no fear at all of Popish ascendancy. It appears probable that
the final triumph of our Eedeemer over Antichrist Avill not be when the
Papal power is in its weakness, but in some considerable strengtL

" Everything here in the religious world is in a strangely imsettled
state. The Church of England is shaken to its centre. The Method-
ists are divided in consequence of a struggle of a reform party against
the conference. The Dissenting bodies are peaceable, if not pure. But
one of the strangest religious phenomena of our day and coimtry is the
zeal and diffusion of a sect which is an import from yoiu: countrj' — I
mean, the Mormonites. Your Joe Smith, though he went out in infancy,

5iG

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

is glorified in myriads. "What absurdities will not men rather receive
than the truth ! I suppose you know that we have had a visit from
your Mr Finney. He was tln-ee months in this town, where he excited
some considerable attention, but did not succeed to the extent of his
expectations. Most of our ministers stood aloof from him. This I
could not bring myself to do. He preached five or six times for me,
and sometimes with great power. Dr Campbell of the Tabernacle
thoroughly entered into his measures, and gave him his pulpit for
months. Dr Bedford of Worcester also welcomed him to his congrega-
tion. He certainly was useful ; but there is so much that is startling
in his phraseology, at any rate, and so much that is novel in his state-
ments, together with so much occasionally that is low and vulgar in his
assertions, that I feel considerable hesitation about encouraging his
return to this country, for which a proposal is now being got up. But
how can he be spared from Oberlin and the American churches, if he be
so powerful a revivalist 1 And one should imagine he is wanted at home.
Yet, after all, there is so much deadness prevailing that one would wel-
come any instrumentality that is likely to infuse a httle more life, pro-
vided it be not the life of a lunatic or a maniac.

" I have seen some of your friends during our Great Exliibition —
among the rest Judge DarUng and his son, though it was but for a few
minutes. I met Dr Murray of New York in Scotland, with whom I
was much pleased. There was also a large gathering of Americans at
the Evangelical Alliance. Drs Baird and Bacon were prominent above
most. You may be sure we did not keep clear of the subject of Slavery.
Your atrocious fugitive slave bill came up. Still I think the discussion
did good. The objection taken by your brethren was against the sweep-
ing resolution of our British organisation, to hold no fellowship with
slaveholders, who may be such, under any circumstances ; and they also
reprobated the strong language used on tlus side of the water, and the
obtrusion of the subject on all Americans coming to tlus country, which,
they said, if continued, would sever the tie between the two countries.
Your brethren behaved very weU, though they said something in our
meetings which, perhaps, had better not have been said. The meetings
of the Alliance were good, and wUl do good. — Your sincere and afi'ec-
tionate friend,

" J. A. James."

TO THE REV. H. MAELEN, LIVERPOOL.

" Birmingham, October 25, 1852.
" My dear Sir, — A letter so kind and catholic in its spirit, and so
flattering to myself, as yours of the date of the 15th September, ought
to have received an earlier reply. But you know the current of en-

LETTERS.

gagements which in a large town is ever setting in upon the ministers
of reUgion, and how much this is increased by the correspondence
brought upon them through the penny postage. I suppose it is the
custom of all to despatch those letters first which are demanded by
the most pressing claims, and reserve the others ' for a more convenient
season.' The consequence is, that they do not escape the peril of
temporary oblivion. Accept this as my apology.

"And now accept my sincere thanks for your truly fraternal and
Christian reference to my productions, both of the pulpit and the press.
Well do I remember the sermon you mention as ha\ing been preached
at Canterbury. I never felt my subject more than I did on that occa-
sion. I believe the great Master was with His servant, and gave an
unusual unction to his mind. But, sir, you know enough of our
mental economy to be aware how much depends upon manner. It
happens that God has given to me a voice of some compass, and much
of what is agsthetical in my constitution. Stripped of this, my sermons
■would appear but as ordinary things.

" I am much obHged to you for the suggestion about a volume of
these things; but I am sure they would disappoint eveiybody, not
excepting even yourself, so kindly disposed to think well, ah, too well,
of what I do. It is a proof that some charity is yet left in our world
when a clergyman of the Church of England writes to a Dissenting
minister as you have to me. As to earnestness, this is what we all
want. There is a magic charm about it that \\dll compensate for other
things, and carry others away upon tlie tide of its own feeling.

" What you say is very true about the desirableness of a catalogue
of useful books for a young minister ; but young ministers now-a-days
choose rather to judge and select themselves.

" I trust you are blessed by God in the conversion of souls. This
is what we should aU seek ; but I have a painfid apprehension that the
work of real conversion goes on but slowly in our day. Mens minds,
hearts, hands, are aU so full, that it is difficiilt even with the themes of
eternity to gain a serious hearing, and to arrest the torrent of worldli-
ness that is flowing through society. May the blessing of God rest
upon your labours! — I am. my dear sir, with much esteem, yours
faithfuUy,

" J. A. James."

Note. — The previous letter is explained by the following extract from a note
of Mr Marlen's to the editor : —

" It was written in reply to one I addressed to the Rev. Mr James under the
following circumstances : — Ahout thirty years ago, or more, he was preaching in
the city of Canterbury at the Independent Chapel there, on a Lord's-day morning,
to a full congi-egation, and there being a strong desire felt by the members of
other churches to hear that gifted minister, the manager of the AVesleyan Chapel

5-1-8

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMi!.rf.

(the Iiugest cliappl in the city) offered the use of the same for the evening servic.
The building was crowded, and its galleries forming a sort of amphitheatre, tin:
appearance of the assembly, and the irai^ression left by the service, have never
been effaced from my memory. Mr James took for his text on that occasion the
2d chapter of Hebrews, and a part of the 3d verse — ' How shall we escape if we
neglect so great salvation?' I had never heard a sermon delivered with equal
power, and the treatment of the subject led me to think of the discourse as a
model of pulpit eloquence. Reflecting on the effect produced on that large
assembly of people, about eight years ago I wrote to Mr James, suggesting the
publication of a volume of his sermons as delivered, to which the enclosed is the
rejily, and as it illustrates the humble estimate he had been led to form of hi.s

own gifts, its preservation may not be without its use — Excuse great

haste, and believe me, reverend and dear sir, most affectionately your.s,

" Henry Marlen,
" Incumlenl of All Sairils, Liverpool."

TO THE KEY. DR PATTON.

" BiEMiNGHAM, October 28, 1853.

" My dear Brother Patton, — If when you wrote your letter dated
May 14, 185:2, you expres.seLl yourself in terms of mild and Christian
rebuke for my long silence, and reminded me of my heavy aiTears to
you in the way of correspondence, what must be your feelings and
words of reproach now, a year and a-half after that time? In mitiga-
tion, at least in regard to that letter and the books which accompanied
it, let me say, that strange as it may seem, and unaccountable to me
as to the cause, they never came to hand till this morning. Where for
eighteen months they have been lying I know not, nor do I know
now whence they came. IIow ungrateful you must have thought me
in not acknowledging your kind remembrance of me ! As regards my
})revious silence, I was not aware that it was so long since I wrote to
you. Time rolls on with such rapid current that one is frequently led
to neglect duties under the idea they have been already or recently
discharged. And then the penny postage in connexion Avith the vast
increase of public business has so multiplied our correspondents,
and so accunmlated in this way the claim upon our time, that those
friends who live remotely from us are almost sure to be neglected, if
not forgotten. However, to-day as soon as I had read your letter, I
determined not to give sleep to my eyes till I had answered it.

" And now, first of all, let me thank you for a copy of that wondrous
book which you have sent me. ]\Iodern times have produced no such
phenomenon in literature. No work ever produced such an impression
on the public mind of this country. ' Uncle Tom ' is known in every
home in this kingdom, from the palace to the cottage ; and Ave cannot
help thinking it will do more to promote the cause of Abohtion than
all the volumes ever published, all the sermons ever preached, and all
the speeches ever delivered. I don't think the wound wiU ever be

LETTERS.

549

healed wliicli the pen of Mrs Stowe has inflicted on the cause of slavery.
Her visit to this countiy excited great attention, and she was every-
where received with great love for her work's sake, and I thiiilv she
will speak favourably of Eiiglisli and Scotch hospitality. She was to
have been my guest on her return to Birmingham, but as she left
England earlier than she expected, I was deprived of the honour of
entertainhig her.

" Your Fugitive Slave Bill is as great a disgrace to your country as
Mrs Stowe's book is an honour. Oh, it is sad indeed to see a nation
boasting of its liberty, and proud of its independence, exjiosing itself to
the reproach of the civiUscd world for this outrageous violation of the
laws of our common humanity ! The conduct of some, yea, most of your
ministers of religion, in reference to this matter, excites great surprise
in tills country.

" We have had an importation from your country to ours of this
strange delusion of spirit-rapping. The testimony of one of your
judges of New York astounds us. Some of our credulous people here
beheve it to be an operation of Satanic agency ; and two clergymen of
the Church of England have each pubhslicd a [lamphlct avowing this to
be their conviction. It will, however, soon pass away here and be for-
gotten -with other wonders, that like meteors kindle and are extin-
guished.

" We have now in our country your celebrated temperance orator,
Mr Gough. I have heard him once, and truly, for a popular speaker
to the multitude, he has unrivalled powers. His command of the
audience by his humour, wit, anecdote, and eloquent appeals to the
feehngs is astounding. It is a combination of acting and speaking.
There is an equal mixture of the ludicrous and the pathetic. He is
amazingly popular, and therefore attracts large audiences wherever he
goes.

"And now about youi-self. What are you doing? Wliat part of
the city are you labouring in 1 and are you still a Congrcgationalist 1
As to myself, I have lately ventured upon sharing mj' labours with an
assistant, whom, next year, I shall take as co-pastor. If I live as long
as next September I shall enter upon my Jubilee. Oh, what a life of
unmerited and unexpected mercy I have enjoyed ! And this prospect of
a comfortable settlement with a man to my own heart's content, is an
immense addition to aU my other mercies. I have printed two or three
things since I last wrote, but which I have not thought it worth while
to trouble you with. I am still in great mercy preserved in good healtli,
and never worked harder than I have done of late years. Blessed be
God for ability in any way to serve om: gracious Lord. Since I M'rote
last, I have lost my dear brother James, who lived in this neighbour-

550

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

hood, and lately I have lost a brother-in-law. I came home last evening
from the annual conference of our Evangelical Alliance. We still keep
going on, though I am afraid we do not make much progress. I was
informed at the conference, that the French Branch of the Alliance has
sent, or is about to send, a deputation to the United States to expostu-
late with the brethren there on the subject of slavery. May God speed
their way !

" And now may God bless you and yours ! I shall be glad to hear
from you again, if you are not discouraged by my long silence.

" My daughter unites in kind regards to yourself and Mrs Patton.
— Your sincere friend and brother,

"J. A. James."

TO THE EEV. DR MORISON.

" EdgbastojST, Septemher 17, 1854.

" ]\Iy mtjch-loved Fkiend, — Your truly fraternal, kind, and Christian
letter demands as early and as full a reply as my poor, shattered, and
enfeebled powers of body and mind will enable me to give. Thanks,
many thanks, my brother, for your sympathy and the delightful ex-
pression of it. That you who have so many objects, and all of them
important ones, to think about, should think of your now afEicted
friend — and that you, who have so many things to do, should appro-
priate part of your precious time to write to him, is a proof and ex-
pression of Christian friendship which is not lost upon him on whom
it has been bestowed. I hope you love me chiefly for Jesus' sake. I
had rather be loved for His sake than for my own. This is the feeling
I have towards you : I love and respect you as my friend and brother,
Morison — your manly intellect, and generous disposition, and loving,
brotherly heart endears you to me. Yes, but I regard you as one who
loves and serves Christ, and whom Christ loves and serves — and this
makes my friendship sacred, heavenly, divine. Oh, how sweet the
reflection that friendships in Christ are eternal ! You and I are friends
for ever and ever.

" Well, now, a little about myself — my poor, enfeebled self. How
little did I think, when we were regaling ourselves with the beauties of
Ventnor, that the furnace was heating in which my faith was to be tried.
Oh, may it be found unto praise and honour at the appearing of our
Lord Jesus Christ !

"I believe I was a little incautious in preaching too often after I
left Ventnor. At Sherbourne, I was seized with an attack of low, slow,
and obstinate fever. This has continued for more than a month, and
has such a grip, as I think you Scotch people say, upon me, that I
cannot throw it off. I am still waiting, I hope in calmness and confi-
dence, to see how it will go with me. I seem, to myself, to be a broken

LETTERS.

551

vessel ; and whether I am to be mended for further service is known
only to Him, in whose hands I am, and out of whose hands I would
not be removed. Tliis was commenced last evening, for it could be no
desecration of the Sabbath to hold fellowship with a Christian brother.
What an awful and affecting account j'ou give of the desolation of the
pestilence ! God be praised, you, though attacked, were not numbered
with its victims ! God preserve you, my dear friend, amidst all your
infirmities for many years to come ! ^ly love to our dear wife and
the good girls. — Yours affectionately,

"J. A. James."

TO THE SAME.

"Edgbaston, November 23, 1S54.

" My dear Friend, — Your solicitude about my health deeply affects
me. Who am I that I should have such a place in the minds and hearts
of God's people. His ministers, and in yours among the rest ? I am sure
if they knew me as God knows me, and as I know myself, they would
experience some abatement in their esteem. ^Vhat a mercy it is that
they do not know us as we know ourselves ! Well, I thank you for
your kind inquiries, and lose not a post in gratifying the affection that
prompted them, by saying, that through the unmerited goodness of
God I continue to improve. I now preach once on the Sabbath, but
do little else. Perhaps the best idea I can give you of my present
condition and capabilities is, to teU you what I went through yesterday,
when the ordination of my excellent co-pastor took place.

" I was in chapel the whole of the morning service ; delivered a
charge to the young pastor of an hour and five minutes in length ;
presided at the dinner for about two hours ; and, after two hours' re-
pose, went to hear Samuel ^lartin preach an extraordinary sermon, of
an hour and a quarter's length ; and after all this slept soundly, and am
in tolerable health this morning. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and
let us exalt His name together ! You see, I must have some strength
left, more than either I or my friends thought I had. Oh, that God
may give me a little more work to do for Him, and help me to do it
better ! The ordination service was a deeply solemn one ; the chapel
crowded to excess ; about forty or fifty ministers present ; the dinner
"without toasts, and prayer and praise and holy speaking instead. Oh,
how favoured am I ! How blessed of God in this harmonious settle-
ment!"

TO THE REV. DR PATTON.

"BiHMiNQHAM, January 2, 1855.
". . . . Since I last wrote I have been somewhat seriously iU.
AVhile on a journey of recreation, in August last, I was attacked with

552

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

low fever, whicli liung about me for some weeks, and left me in a
debilitated state. I am not able yet to engage in the fuU duty of my
pastorate. My constitution, I think, has received a shock from which it
will never entirely recover. I am, you perhajis know, in the seventieth
year of my age, and the fiftieth of my ministry ; and may well suppose
that the elasticity of my frame is somewhat weakened. Youth may
rally, but age cannot be expected to do so to any great extent.
Happily both for myself and the congregation, I had engaged a co-
pastor, who has the confidence and affection of the whole church, so
that during my illness tlie pulpit was supplied, and the congregation
kept up to its usual standard. This is, of course, still a great relief to
me, as I have only half work to do, and when unable to do that, my
colleague can supply my lack of service. I feel it some trial of faith
and patience to be in any degree laid aside from my former activity.
Still I am thankful to be able to do any work. I love my Master, I
love His cause, and I love His service ; and if He is pleased to con-
tinue me a little longer in His employ, I shaU be grateful, and if not,
I hope I shall be submissive to His wiU. If He give me life, health,
and strength, I want to send out a reprint in this country, with a
rather long preface on preaching, a work which has been pretty widely
circulated in America, entitled, ' Pastoral Sketches,' by a Dr Spencer,
who, I have been informed, is since dead. He seems to have been a
skilful physician of souls, and possessed admirable tact in dealing with
individual cases. Now, in tWs you Americans excel us, except in some
few instances. Our young ministers are deficient here. Their sermons
are not very well adapted to produce conviction and conversion ; and
as to their ability to meet the cases of awakened sinners, or aU the per-
plexities and anxieties of the first stages of the divine life, they are
quite novices many of them. Much of our preaching just now has
little to do with the heart and conscience. Now, for their sakes, I
should like, if God will accept the service, to send out an edition of
Spencer's work with an introduction. Do you happen to have known
himi Can you give me any information concerning him, which would
give an interest to the work when it comes before the English pubhc ?

" Everything I hear from your land, and everything I see in my
own, convinces me that all the great verities of Divine revelation are to
go througli a fresh conflict with error. Even our reputedly orthodox
men are somewhat tinged with the philosophical tendency and scep-
ticism of the age. Amidst the ten thousand splendid novelties that
are ever rising before the public mind, the old gospel is in danger of
being considered effete and out of date. But of aU the wonderful
meteors of the age, Mormonism is the most wonderful. It is amazing
that so clumsy and vulgar a delusion should have gained access to, and

LETTEES.

553

lioKl upon men's minds. I think the community at the Salt Lake
must, some time or other, come iuto coUision with your federal govern-
iiKiit. Polygamy can surely never receive the sanction of the States,
\\ liich it must in some way obtain, if the territory of the ilormons
should ever become populous enough to become a State, and be received
as such. And then we hear strange things of your fraternity of the
' Know-nothings.' I doubt not the reports are exaggerated, but there
seems to me to be a nucleus of mischief there. "We are all deei)ly
interested in this horrid war vnih Russia. The war spirit is aU but
universally rampant, much more so than suits my taste or my prin-
ciples. I am inclined to think we had no business ■^^ith it. When and
what the end will be, none knows, but He who sees the end from the
beginning. Already the slaughter and destruction by disease are
fearful, especially of the officers, which has sent ' mournLug, lamenta-
tion, and woe ' through the ranks of our aristocracy.

" You have said nothing of yourself and family. What are you
doijig? Have you a congregation, and where? or are you enjojdng a
quiet evening of life ? Revivals are rare vdth you as •with us. Stagnancy
characterises the spiritual state of our churches. Men's minds and
hearts, and hands, are all full of secular matters, and religion is made
to stand by at present.

" Well, now, I must conclude with my kind regards to your family.
I hope ^Irs Patton and your children are all well, and doing well.
The Lord whom we serve bless you! — Your affectionate friend and
brother,

" J. A. James."

TO WALTEE, SOX OF JOHX GRAHAM, ESQ.

"Edgbastos, January 19, 1855.
"My dear Walter, — You will probably be surprised, but I am
sure you will not be displeased, at receiving these few lines from me.
I feel so deeply interested in you, that I cannot resist the impulse to
express to you my good wishes for your present and eternal welfare,
and to assure you that you are individually the subject of my earnest
prayers.

" I need not tell you that you are the child of many anxieties, many
hopes, and many supplications. You have now arrived at an age when
the bud of childhood has expanded into the blossom of youth, and
when the blossom of youth will soon set in the fruit of manhood. And
it is quite time to ask, how you would wish it to set, and into what
kind of character it is likely to ripen. All the parental expectations,
desires, and solicitiides of your father and mother concentrate in you.
Should you be otherwise than they wish and pray for, there is no other

554

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

to whom they can turn and say, ' Whatever disappointment we may
have experienced in Walter, this other son shall comfort us.' But I
hope and believe you will not disappoint their fondest and largest
hopes.

" Hitherto, I think, from all I have heard of you, that you are a good
and dutiful son, rewarding by your dutiful conduct the care that has
been bestowed upon you. Thus continue to act. The heart of a loving
child is a good soil for other excellences to grow in. Ever may you be
your fathei-'s joy, your mother's pride !

" But, Walter, there is another parent I want you to love, honour,
and obey, and that is your Father which is in heaven. Have you yet
thought of His claim upon your fiUal regard 1 Have you yet begun to
remember your Creator in the days of your youth? Have you ever
heard with reverent awe that demand, ' My son, give me thine heart 1 '
Is true, vital religion a matter of deep interest with you? Have you
ever yet felt any yearning of heart over, and after, the character of a
truly pious man? If not, let me affectionately entreat you to take up,
in serious thoughtfulness, this momentous subject. I can assure you,
as miUions more can do, that wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace :

* ' Twill save you from a thousand snares
To mind religion young.'

And then while it will bless us, it will help us to bless others. I
want you, Walter, to be a good man, that you may be a useful one.
You have a father who is in this respect a pattern for you. He is
living not merely to get money, but to do good. Imitate his example.
Say to yourself — ' I will, by God's grace, be a good and useful man,
Hke my father.' Do not be a cipher in society — ^be something good,
and this may make you great. To rehgion add a thirst for knowledge,
and a determination to improve. Aim at universal excellence. Be
conscientious in all your conduct. Set your standard higL For all
this, give yourself to prayer. Pray for Divine grace to be decided
in reUgion, and decided in everything else that is good. There can be
no religion while there is no love for prayer. How can you exjiect the
blessing of God if you do not pray for it? And read and study your
Bible. Do not be ashamed when you are at school of being considered
a rehgious boy. May you deserve the honour !

" Give my kind regards to your good and excellent mother. I hope
you will both enjoy your j^resent situation, and return with a good
stock of health. — Youi- friend and minister,

" J. A. James."

LETTERS.

555

TO THE EEV. J. C. MILLEH, 51. A., RECTOR OF ST MARTIN' S, BIRMINGHAM.

"Edgbaston, April 28, 1855.

" My dear Mr JIiller, — I acknowledge, -witli many thanks, the
receipt of a copy of your very admirable pamphlet on the important
subject of National Education — a subject as difficult as it is momentous.
After you had directed my attention to them, I read your letters in
the Journal, and have repcrused them since they appeared in the pre-
sent form ; and most -vviUingly and cheerfully say that you have brought
to the discussion of the subject a degree of intelligence, analytic power,
and candour which must raise you stUl higher in the estimation of the
public than you ever stood before. You have done as much to untie
the knot as can well be accomplished.

" And yet, with all that you have written, and written so well, I am
but ' almost persuaded.' I feel a theoretic perplexity on the question,
whether the education of the people is indeed a matter within the
jurisdiction of Government, especially their religious education. For
tlie introduction of a catechism, if this be intended, as your reasoning
and the two biUs imply, makes it essentially religious. True, you make
a provision for the gi-eat principle of religious liberty, by exempting aU
Nonconformists from the obligation to learn the catechism. But does
this go further than the present toleration of the EstabKshed Church ?
And is it not, in fact, the principle of the Establishment carried into the
school, since the great bulk of the children will be taught the catechism,
as belonging nominally to the Church of England ? And without being
considered ultra- Voluntaries, may not many who look upon the cate-
chism as teaching baptismal regeneration, feel a conscientious objection
to be taxed for teaching what they believe to be error?

" I feel also some difficvdty on the subject from the effect a Govern-
ment measure will have upon existing schools, supported to such an
extent by voluntary contributions, and which have so multiplied of
late, as to indicate that this system, if stimulated, may at last overtake
the wants of the population.

" I am also a little apprehensive that any system of general local
management will, in the present state of parties, become a fruitful
source of social discord, strife, and contention. The number of bills,
amounting to six, including Scotland, now before Parliament, seems to
prove the difficulty of State interference, and the improbability of
coming to a satisfactoiy conclusion. Moreover, I am inclined to think
that if the State interfere at all, it should begin by protecting the
labouring population against the cupidity of parents and the tempta-
tions held out by the manufacturing system. Until this is done, no
measure of national education can meet the necessities of the case. It

556

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

is not school-rooms and masters we want now, but scholars. None of
our schools are full; and they never will be as long as children can
obtain their eighteenpence or two shilKngs a-week at the early age of
eight or nine years. I doubt if either of the bills now before the
House of Commons would, in the present state of our manufacturing
system, add a thousand children, or half the number, unless, indeed, a
depression of trade .should intervene, which would throw them out of
employment.

" Still, after all I have written, my mind is by no means made up
to say ' Neither ' to the bills you have so ably and impartially analysed.
On no subject do I feel so much perplexity. I see and lament the
evils you so accurately describe and so feelingly deplore ; and I am
often inclined, in spite of my theoretic difficulties, to say, ' Let iis have
some parliamentary measure, for we cannot meet the case without it.'
Of the two bills, I prefer Lord John Russell's, upon the whole, with the
supplement you suggest; and upon the most careful consideration I
can give the subject, I rather incline to his system of management.
Town councils, I am aware, are not, in aU cases — our own, to wit — the
best directors of this measure ; but this plan shuts out an occasion of
social strife. I need not say I write only for your own eye. My mind
is hardly made up ; and if, upon further examination, I should see eye
to eye, as I cei-taiuly feel heart to lieart with you, I shall be most
happy to follow and acknowledge you as my leader. — Yours with
esteem and regard,

" J. A. James."

TO DE MOPaSON.

"Sabbath Evening, [1855.]
" My beloved Fkiend, — I am again your debtor for another letter,
just like your o-\vn heart, full of love and tenderness, — and, prevented
from enjoying the communion of saints in the house of God, I sit down
to hold epistolary intercourse with one of them in my own. How sweet
and .sacred a tiling is Christian friendship, and how blissful a reflection
that it is to be perfected in heaven, and perpetuated through eternity !
You and I are to commune with each other millions of ages hence, and
by our interchange of affection, are ripening for this everlasting inter-
course. Oh, the sublimities of our holy religion ! How little and insig-
nificant appear all those his charities and offices which bind man to
man, compared ■with those that bind Christian to Chii.stian ! As there
is notliing holy without the gospel of our salvation, so there is nothing
holy but what is great."

" Itlany, many thanks for aU the kind expressions of your fraternal
letter. Indeed, my dear friend, I am unworthy of them. Never, no,
never was so much favour shewn to one so undeserving of it. A length-

LETTERS.

557

eneil affliction, wliicli leaves its subject in full possession of his faculties
and leisure, by the absence of extreme pain, to search the heart with
candles, makes strange and humbling disclosures. I thought I knew
myself, but I find now that, at the age of seventy, I have had much to
learn. And how humbhng the discoveries that have been made ! I
need no other argument for the doctrine of sovereign grace than the
knowledge of myself, compared with the multitudinous and wondrous
blessings showered upon me as a man, a Christian, and a minister.

" You have been greatly tried, my dear friend, in your congregation,
by the ravages of this fearful scourge, and well have you taught the
readers of your magazine to sing of judgment and of mercy. May
many have their hearts tuned for melody by these effusions of yours !
Mrs Kamsey's death was affectkig, and is doubtless a loss to you. But
while Jesus is with us, whom cannot we spare ?

"As regards myseK, I am thankful to say I am, I hope, slowly
improving. To-day, in weakness, fear and trembling, but with joy and
thankfulness, I presided at the Lord's table, and went through the
service with tolerable ease. To-morrow, T go for change of air to !Mal-
vem. May God give balm to the breeze, and an invigorating influence
to the scenery of that beautiful place ! I sometimes think my healthy
and hearty days are over, and that I may be called now to serve the
Lord with infirmity of the flesh. But all is in God's hands. Kind
love to Mrs Morison, and to the lambs. — Your ever affectionate
friend,

" J. A. Jajies.

" My dear daughter continues a great invalid. This has doubled the
aflliction."

TO WALTER, SOX OF JOBS GEAHAJI, ESQ.

" Edgbastox, June 3, ] S56.
" My beak Walteh, — As you are soon to leave school and return
to your father's house, I cannot resist the inclination I feel to write you
a few lines of congratulation aud counsel. I say, of congiatulation, for
is it not matter of thankfulness that you have been placed by Pro\i-
dence in such circumstances as to enjoy, and, I hope, to improve, the
advantages of a liberal education? By the goodness of God, your
father has been favoured in his worldly affairs, so as to be able to
command for you the benefits of a good school. You have not been
permitted to grow up in ignorance, but have had that training which
will fit you to occupy a respectable station in society. I think I may
commend you for having endeavoured to profit by the mental culture
■\\hich has been bestowed upon you. Another ground for congratula-
tion and thankfulness is, that you have a father's house to return to,

558

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

and are coming home to sucli parents as God lias given to you, — parents
who are anxious for your welfare in both worlds, and have done so
much to promote it.

" Perhaps, on looking back upon school-days, now coming to a close,
you can find some ground of regret, however diligent you have been,
that you have not been more anxious to grow in all useful knowledge
and in general excellence of character and conduct. I deem a peniten-
tial sense of shortcomings in every stage of life essential to future
advancement. I am hopeless of that man's growth in days to come,
who does not see something to lament in days past.

"Well, my dear Walter, let me now place before you the solemn
questions, — In what state of mind are you leaving school, towards God
and rehgion % and with what pui"poses are you returning to your home,
not now for the holidays, but for a permanency ]

" Is the great matter decided % Have you yielded yourself to God 1
Have you made up your mind fully, and finally, to serve the Lord ? I
am not without hope that this is the case. Is my hope well founded %
I know you have not been destitute of serious reflection ; but is there
decision? I know not whether you have read my 'Young Man's
Guide to Immortality ; ' if not, I will furnish you with a copy when
you come home, and beg you most seriously to read the three or four
first chapters, as appKcable to your age and circumstances. I will
suppose that you Imve decided upon a life of piety and usefulness, even
while at school. Permit me, then, to remark, that though you are
coming home to godly parents, to a father and mother Avho will still
pray for you and watch over you, yet the transition from school to the
domestic circle has, even in the most favourable circumstances, its
dangers. It vsdll be so sweet and pleasant to nestle under the wing of
such parents in such a home, that you wiU be in peril of so taking up
with their comfort as to feel that you have no need of the pleasures of
religion to make you happy. Now, let me beg of you to pray very
earnestly to God that you may retain your religious impressions when
you return. Be much in prayer, Walter. You can never become a
Christian, nor continiie one without prayer. Love to converse with
God. Is it not a glorious and wonderful thing to speak to God % And
never sufi"er a day to pass Avithout the Bible.

" Let me earnestly entreat you to be very careful about companions.
There are, alas ! too few of your age who are decidedly pious. Very
few whom it would be safe for you to associate with. Do not be at all
anxious about society. Make books your companions. Bead, and
read only such books as wUl do you good. Avoid all the habits of
young men that tend to levity, and afterwards to something worse. I
do not like to see young men, just out of their boyhood, swaggering

LETTERS.

559

alo'ig with a cigar in their mouth, priggish, vain, and trifling. Be
attentive to -whatever business your father, after consulting your own
tiste, shall determine upon. Make him your counsellor, and your
mother your confidant. Love their society, consult their wishes, pro-
mote their comfort. Bring from school the fixed determination to
make them happy. And then, do not be an idle or a selfish young man.
Do not live only for yoiirself. Determine to be useful. Begin life
domg good, as well as getting it. When you come home, become a
Sunday-school teacher. Is it not noble work to train mind, to develop
intellect, to form character 1 You would not be a worthy son of your
father if you do not aim to be useful. He is one of the most useful
men in our church. Grow up to be Uke him. A youth can be a phil-
anthropist as well as a man.

" May God bless you, Walter ! I have great affection foi- you and
great hope of you. Do not disappoint ini/ hope, your parents' hope,
and the hope of jom friends. Many prayers are presented for you,
mine among the rest. I shall be glad to see you, and I cannot but beheve
you are coming home with a character and in a state of mind that will
make me glad to see you. — Your affectionate friend and minister,

" J. A. Jajies."

TO THE KEY. DK PATTOX.

"Edgbastox, October 11, 1S56.
"My dear Feiexd and Brother, — Several months ago I wrote
you a long letter, which as I could not at the time put my hand upon
the directions you gave me for the transmission of my epistles, I for-
warded to your son at Hartford. Not having heard from you, I begin
to think my letter never reached you. I have determined, therefore,
to wait no longer, but to write again to inquire about you and yours,
and to give you all the important information that I deem interesting
to you about what is going on in my circle. First of aU, then, about
the chapel, at the laying of whose foundation you were present and
took part in the proceedings. It was opened for worship last Wednes-
day, the 8th, when, according to the condition you imposed at the
time of promising a Bible, viz., that I should preach the first sermon, I
delivered a discourse from Ezra vi. 16. When I rose in the pulpit, and
before naming the text, I said, ' I owe it to a Uberal friend who has
made a handsome contribution to the service of this morning, to state,
that the splendid copy of the sacred Scriptures which now lies before
me is given to the congregation novr worshipping in this house, for the
use of their pulpit, by the Eev. Dr Patton of New York, who was pre-
sent with us when the foundation-stone of this chapel was laid. In
this act of munificence, the American Eagle and the British Lion are

5G0 LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAJVIES.

seen bo-wing witli reverence together before tlie Divine Lamb, and the
heavenly Dove of the Word of God. May these two nations, marked
out by God to be the twin evangelists of the globe, be ever held in the
closest bonds of national and Christian fcllowshijj ! ' I then delivered a
discourse of more than an hour and a half to a large and interested
congregation. The place is very elegant, with its tower and spire —
appendages, I confess, I could have dispensed with. Formerly the
sarcasm was thrown upon us, that ' Dissent is the religion of barns,'
now it seems to be infected with the ambition of becoming the religion
of cathedrals. It is not that I altogether reject the graces of architec-
ture, but I am afraid that our concern for them is waxing greater than
our concern for the graces of the Spirit. I have dehvered your photo-
graph to the managers of the chapel, who intend to frame it, and hang
it in their vestry, and they will, at their first meeting, I doubt not,
pass a vote of thanks to you for the Bible. The other and stUl greater
work which was in progress when you were here, I mean the college,
was to have been opened to-morrow, when various services were to be
held, and addresses dehvered ; but to our excessive mortification, all is
postponed on account of the unfinished state of the building. Our
denomination is somewhat agitated just now on the subject of rehgious
dogmatic theology ; defection being a little suspected to some extent
on the part of some of our men. Perhaps there is more fear than there
is any ground for. At least, so many think. / am not without some
apprehension. There has been a grand quarrel between Dr Campbell
and Mr Binney, the former having pubhshed a series of letters to Mr
Binney in the British Banner. Not that he accuses him of error. Mr
Binney is unsuspected, but he is one of fifteen of our leading ministers
who have surprised our denomination by endorsing a suspected man.
What a troubled scene does even the Church of Christ exhibit hi its
present condition ! And what a stUl more troubled scene does your
country exhibit to the world at this moment ! We are watching the
progress of the present contest with intense anxiety. The great battle
between fi-eedom and slavery is about to be fought, and if the records
of the past be any guide to opinions for the future, there can be Httle
doubt in my mind how it will terminate. I am afraid there is not
virtue, courage, and patriotism enough, to say nothing of rehgion, in
the Northern portion of your union, to do battle successfully with the
South. Every confhct that has taken place yet, has ended in the yield-
ing— the succumbing — of the former to the latter. I own the North
has of late shewn signs of vigour and determination which are some-
what new. With your superior population, wealth, and intelligence,
you ought to be in action, what you are in means, too strong for the
slaveholding States. I wish the States of New England and their

LETTEES.

561

neighbours would consider that the eyes of the civilised world are upon
them, to see how tliey will act in this tremendous conflict ; whether
they will rally round the constitution to bring it back to its original
sentiment and policy, which, unquestionably, were founded on the con-
viction and declaration that slavery is an svil, and must be eventually
abolished. AVhereas, the policy of late has gone in an entirely oppo-
site direction.

" What is thought of Mrs Stowe's new work in America ? It is no
disparagement to say it is not equal to ' Uncle Tom.' It is a book of
deep interest, but in my opinion, it fails in giving a full and impressive
■view of the fatal effects of slavery on the whites. Yet this is its avowed
design. That it does this to a great extent I admit ; but I think it
might have been carried further. Neither Tom Gordon nor his sister
Nina are, I think, fair representations of slaveholders. There wants
the epic character of Uncle Tom. There is no character that is the
hero of the tale. My spiritual taste is also offended by the occasional
and frequent profanity of the speakers. And I think the camp-meet-
ing, though drawn with great power, as well as some other parts of the
work, likely to turn not only hypocrisy into ridicule and contempt, but
religion itself. Yet, after all, with some exaggerations and some unna-
turalness, it is a powerful and interesting book, and is being extensively
read in England.

" I hope you are all weE What are you doing in the way of preach-
ing ? Is Emily a Christian yet ? Does she love Christ more than the
world ? Give my love to her, and tell her I ask these questions because
I love her, and desire her eternal happiness. I trust your dear wife is
as well as when she was here. Give my affectionate remembrances to
her. As regards ourselves, I am getting worse in the disease of the
bladder. I cannot now ride in my OAvn carriage without uneasiness.
My dear daughter is very, very unweE My son and daughter next
door are well, and their two children. Let me hear from you soon. —
Your friend and brother,

"J. A. James."

TO THE REV. DE MILLER.

" Haglzy Road, February 20, 1857.
" My dear De Millee, — As it is the first time I have addressed
you since your new academic distinction, permit me to congratulate
you on the fresh honour which is attached to your name. I wish all
who were called Eabbi deserved it as much as yourself. It will not
raise you in my estimation, only because nothing can. For my own
sake and others' in this town, I would rather address you as Doctor,
than as my Lord. But for the sake of your church, I could wish you
2 N

562

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

were raised from the piilpit to the throne and the bench. Whenever
you attain the latter elevation, I will, if I am aUve and able, be among
those who shall hear your first ex caihedrA address. Well, whether
doctor or prelate, may your life be long, and your usefulness stUl more
abundant!"

TO THE EEV. DR PATTON.

" Edgbaston, May 9, 1857.
" . . . . Beecher's name reminds me of the state of the anti-slavery
cause, or rather the negro's cause, in the United States. This decision
of your Supreme Court fills us with astonishment, horror, and indig-
nation. It is, indeed, the most terrible outrage upon humanity that
has been perpetrated for ages, and will do more to lower the moral
character of your country than even the present system of slavery. All
Europe and the whole civilised world wiU. blush for you. It is the
first time that I know of when a whole race was put without the pale
of social life on account of the colour of their skin. Will your country
submit to it ? Can it be conceived that the descendants of the Pilgrim
Fathers will bow to so horrible a rebellion against the precepts of Chris-
tianity and the dictates of reason? !My dear brother, what are the
Eastern States about that they do not rise en masse against this dictum
of a few men upon the bench ? However, there is one hope. It is so
bad — she-\vs so clearly the advance of the slaveocracy in yoiu: country —
that it must help on eventually the cause of abolition. The American
Union of the States appears to me to be becoming an idol, before
which your people are willing to make the most costly sacrifice of
moral principla Anything so that the Union be preserved. If it is
attempted to be preserved in this way, God with one of the thunder-
bolts of His vengeance wiU by and by shiver it to pieces. I read
with admiration Cheever's eloquent papers in the Independent. Oh,
he is a noble champion, not only for the rights of the negro, but for
the honour of your country. ..."

TO JOSHUA WILSON, ESQ.

" Edgbaston, January 1, 1858.
"My dear Friend, — ^Although by the time this reaches you a day
and a haK of the New Year vdll have passed off into the bygone time,
yet as there are three hundred and sixty three more days to come, it is
not too late to wish you a happy New Year. ' Few and evil,' said good
old Jacob, ' are the days of our pilgrimage,' and his history had qualified
him to bear the testimony. It is long since we heard of each other.
Your last report of your health was better than the preceding ones, and
I hope you can still give a good account of yourself and yours. I am

LETTERS.

663

much the same, and am thankful to say I have no great increase of
disease or suffering. Sometimes I think I get worse, and comparing
myself with what I was when with you at Hastings, I must pronounce
myself advancing in the road of suffering. I have lately been much
' exercised,' as some good people would say, about my colleague. He
has received a unanimous and cordial invitation to Dr Halley's church
at Manchester, and I do not wonder it presented to him some strong
attractions. Our church, however, rallied round him in such force and
with such entreaties, that he could not see his way out. He left it
pretty much for me to decide whether I thought he could most serve
the cause of Christ at large most at Birmingham or Manchester. /
looked not merely at the two congregations, though here there was a
difference of numbers, if numbers only are to be considered on our side ;
but I took into account the state of our denomination in Birmingham,
and then I also took into view the condition of our college. We are in
a very critical state. Mr Rogers leaves us at Lady-day for IManchester.
Mr Watts resigns at midsummer. On all these accounts I gave my
judgment in favour of his remaining with us. And on Friday last hia
decision was made known to the great joy of our church.

" I dare say the church at Manchester will still try to get him, but
I believe he will be firm. He thought his preaching more adapted to
Manchester than Birmingham, but I told him what would suit one
place woiild suit the other. I hardly think it was right of the Man-
chester people to try and tempt him away. We think of Conder of
Poole, to take Watts's place, though this must not be mentioned.
We shaU do with two tutors if possible, and some supplemental aid for
mathematics and natural history. Our finances are not in a good state.
— ^Yours affectionately,

" J. A. James."

TO W. E. LLOYD, ESQ.

"Edobaston, September 23, 1858.
" My dear Mr Lloyd, — I somewhat blame myself for not replying
to your letter before this, for though you did not ask for an answer,
and there was nothing in the way of business which required one, yet
pastoral sympathy ought to have been sufficiently awake and active to
have sent one, especially as I too have been in circumstances to make
me feel how precious a balm for a wounded spirit, and even a diseased
body, is Christian sympathy. Yes, I have been, and still am, much
afflicted. True, I am mercifully relieved from the suffering which I for
two or three days endured, but I am still enfeebled and laid aside from
my usual ministerial duties. I have preached once, and may be per-
mitted, probably, to preach again. But I beheve my work, i.e., my
regular ministerial and pastoral labour, is over. My disease cannot,

564

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

I think, be eradicated ; however, it may be modified, and kept a little
in check.

" But enough of myseK. You, my good friend, have been afflicted,
though now I am glad to learn are convalescent. How highly you have
been favoured by the sympathy and attention of that ministering angel
who is lodging under the same roof ! This individual effort to do good,
or rather the effort to do good to an individual in private, shews that
her benevolence is of the genuine kind, and not for public display.
By her giving you the Olney Hymns, I am led to beUeve that her
views are decidedly evangelical.

" Well, now, what have you and I to do besides endeavouring by
God's providential goodness to get well ? Why, by His grace, to derive
benefit, spiritual benefit, from our afflictions. Have you communed
with your oato heart upon your bed? Have you been taking the
candle of the Lord, which is His Word, and going down into the depths
of the soul to search for besetting sins and defects 1 Has the gold
shone in the furnace, and the dross of earthliness been consumed?
Have you been praying and wrestling for holiness ? You know God's
design in afflicting us is, that we might be partakers of His holiness.
An affliction sanctified is better than an affliction removed. Oh, let us
long, intensely long, to be made holy, spiritual, heavenly ! A Christian
should be one who Hves in heaven, and from thence be looking down
upon earth. You men of business need thus to be taken out of the
world into a sick-chamber. May God sanctify us both more perfectly !
All will go on well without us in the approaching Bible meeting. —
Believe me, your friend and pastor,

" J. A. James."

TO HIS ELDEST STJEVIVING SISTER, MES WOKSLEY,
ON HER BIRTH-DAT.

"Edgbaston, May 28, 1859.
" My dear Sister, — I do not forget that to-morrow is your birth-
day, when you will enter on the seventy-seventh year of your age, and
I now vnrite these few lines to express your brother's continued, sincere,
and fervent affection for you, and my best wishes and earnest prayers
that you may yet see many happy and holy returns of the day. And
yet is it a kind wish that you may be kept longer amidst the infirmities
of old age, from that blessed world where neither old age nor its infir-
mities will be ever known, nor any of the sins, sorrows, or conflicts
with which here they are ever associated ? You are another year's jour-
ney nearer home, and may say, ' A few more stiles to cross, and I shall
reach my Father's house.' Does it make you long to be gone to think
of the glory, honour and immortality that awaits you? 'Ah no!' you

LETTERS.

565

are ready to say, ' I am too earthly-minded. Even old age and the near
prospect of eternity do not entirely wean me from the world.' No, my
dear sister, nor do they effect this so much in me as they ought. How
we cling to earth ! and yet, when we reach heaven, we shall wonder
that we could endure to Uve on these low grounds. Well, let us con-
fess, mourn, and endeavour to vanquish our earthly-mindedness. It is
a shame that our affections are not more upon things above.

" I am glad to find you are, upon the whole, so well, and are not
likely to be disturbed in your house. I shall never see you again in
this world. I am in an enfeebled, dilapidated state, suffering great
inconvenience and much pain night and day. Yet, I am thankful it
does not yet amount to anguisL It Ls bearable. I sleep well, and my
appetite is pretty good, but, in consequence of my being afflicted with
diabetes as well as my other complaint, I am obHged to exercise great
care, and much self-denial in my diet. I now do not go from home,
though I generally preach once a-day, and have worked very hard with
my pen. It is a great trial to see poor Sarah Ann, and for her to see
me. I do, indeed, sometimes feel the want of a third person, and
blessed be God I can truly say, * When most alone, I am often least
alone, and feel how sweet, as well as solemn it is to be alone with God'
— Your affectionate brother,

" J. A. James."

ID THE EEV. DR PAT TON.

" Edgbaston, June 25, 1859.
"ISIy dear Brother Pattox, — My letters are literally AngeU's
visits, few and far between. But you know enough of the tunnoil,
and distracting and diverting engagements of one in my circumstances,
to account for the putting aside of matters which may be done at any
time, for those which must be attended to at the ])resent time ; and, by
the way, I thus explained your long silence after your return to America.
And I also, when I read your correspondence about the Tract Society,
found that you had been much better employed than in writing to me.
Your letters, on that subject, did credit to your head and your heart.
I thought you clearly shewed that the operations of your society were
carried on upon a very expensive scale ; and yet it must be taken into
account, that the colportage system, in a country like yours, where new
congregations are so rapidly springing up, and but ill supplied with
ministers, and where towns and villages are continually multipl}ing
without the advantages of depots, is a means of suppljdng rehgious in-
struction, and thus a means of supplying a substitute, for a wlule, for
both preachers and shops. I was at once surprised, amused, and some-
what grieved, by the uproarious conduct of your opponents at the

566

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

annual meeting of the society. I am inclined to think that, instead of
carrying on such scenes as these, you had better separate and form
another society. I see no very near prospect of your altering the mode
of procedure in the one for which you are battling. It is keeping open
a running sore, which must be injurious to the spiritual health of both
your pastors and churches.

" I perceive that the Revival feeling is a little subsiding among you —
that is, as to the more conspicuous manifestations of it. I doubt not,
however, that the impulse is still felt in the hearts and operations of
your ministers. It was hardly to be expected that the feeling and
action which were at one time maintained, can be, as human nature is,
the constant state of things. You have perhaps read, or will have read
before this reaches you, the account of the awakening in Ireland. It is
in some respects more remarkable than anything which you have wit-
nessed in the United States. Presbyterianism in the sister Isle was a
dull and torpid mass. Eehgious routine and heartless formality
characterised the churches, because it characterised their pastors.
Suddenly the Spirit has breathed upon the valley of dry bones, and
the skeletons are being clothed with flesh and are standing up an army
of hving men. The means of producmg this blessed change are similar
to your own, — the power of prayer. But in one very material respect
the manifestation is different — I mean, in the effect upon the physical
nature. The bodily contortions and swoonings, which, in bygone times,
were known in America, are now common in Ireland. I cannot but
regret this, as it will beget some incredulity about the spiritual nature
of the work. StiU, it is a wonderful work of God. I send you, by the
post which wiU convey this to you, a copy of the British Standard,
which will give you an account of the work, and Dr Campbell's remarks
upon it. And I mean to send you, regularly, a copy of the Standard in
return for the Independent, and am ashamed that it never occurred to
me before.

" There is very little stir in this country. People talk about revival,
and that is all. The Spirit is not yet poured out upon us. Prayer is
low. I shall send you, by the next mail, a copy of a pamphlet which I
have just pubUshed, on the ' Spiritual Condition of our Churches.' By
this post, I forward a sermon I have just sent out as a token of respect
to the memory of a man very well known in America — I mean, Joseph
Sturge, whose death occasioned a great sensation in this town, and I
may say in this country.

" You will see, by your journals, what a horrible war is going on in
Italy. Napoleon III. is at the bottom of it all In spite of generous
professions, his ambitious eye and heart are upon Italy. The friends
of peace are exerting themselves to keep this country out of the strife.

LETTERS.

567

The Roman Catholic countries are putting one another dovra. Oh, how
tianquillising the reflection, 'The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!'
Our home politics arc anything bat satisfactory. These rapid changes
of ministry are not very favourable to national tranquillity and pros-
perity.

" And now as regards myself. I am become very feeble, and am
consciously declining. My diseases increase upon me, and pin after pin
of the tabernacle is being taken out, preparatory to the taking down of
the whole, and I am calmly and hopefully looking on to the close. ' I
know whom I have believed, and am persuaded He is able to keep that
Avhich I have committed to Him unto that day.' My daughter is also
getting weaker, and we have had an affliction in the death of my old
servant Joseph. He died about two months since, after two or three
days' illness. All at next door are much as usual. In our congrega-
tion, affairs are peaceful, if not remarkably prosperous. Give my love
to Emily, and ask her, from me, if she has yet given her heart to Jesus.
It is a solemn thing to outlive a revival Tsithout being converted. My
daughter is gone for a fortnight to Mrs Keep's, the widow at Griffin's
HiLl. — Believe me, your affectionate friend and brother,

" J. A. James."

BOOK TI.

SUPPLEMENTAEY.

CHAP. I. HOME LIFE, BY T. S. JAMES, ESQ.
„ II. PREACHING.
„ III. PASTORATE,

CHAPTER I.

HOJIE LIFE. BY T. S. JAMES, ESQ.

My father was so simple and unpretending, that I have no doubt
servants, or persons of inferior perception, might have lived a long
time in his house without discovering anything else remarkable
in him ; but I am sure they would have been struck with the love
he bore to every one about him ; and if they had had any sense of
religion, they would have seen and felt that he lived in habitual
communion with God. For my o"mi part, on recalling all I knew
of him, I find no act of his unworthy or inconsistent.

I have no information to give as to his habits of personal devo-
tion, but I am sure that, in that respect, he performed himself all
that he exhorted others to do, and that his life might be drawn
from his sermons and writings. I know that he practised social
prayer to a very great extent. It was his comfort, when the
members of his family were leaving him, or taking any important
step in life ; and he indulged in it with all in whom he felt
peculiar interest, such as young men, especially students, his old
friends, and his brother ministers. He loved to commend them,
or to be commended by them, to God, and to pray with them for
the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. His family devotions
were most beneficial to those who shared them ; they were con-
centrated on a few subjects, which he was careful to vary from
day to day, so that in a week or so he had presented petitions
upon most of the subjects of united prayer. He always made

572

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

reference to any event which was expected, either by any one pre-
sent, or in the circle of his relatives ; and on Monday morning, he
prayed for every member of his household and his children indi-
vidually, whether present or absent, according to their peculiar
circumstances.

When he talked about religion, it was chiefly in reference to the
events of the day, and a minister has ever on his heart some scene
of death, sickness, misfortune, or affliction. His remarks were short
and almost ejaculatory, and never uttered as matters of form or
of course. Religious business he always transacted as business,
without religious phrases ; for cant of all kinds he avoided him-
self, and checked in others.

He was naturally of a very gentle, loving, and winning disposi-
tion ; yet withal impetuous, impatient, and combative in self-de-
fence. But so far had he disciplined himself, that I used to think
it cost him less than any other man to practise forbearance and
forgiveness ; and I never saw in him a trace of any malignant feel-
ing whatever. Yet there was something in all his acts, whether
of goodness or of kindness, which shewed they proceeded from
Christian principle, and not from natural amiability. And I know-
he habitually called himself to account for what he had done
harshly, as well as what he had done wrongly, and for every
opportunity of doing good, or shewing kindness, which he had lost.

Though very charitable in his opinions of others, and judging
them much less harshly than he judged himself, he was very firm
when principle required it. It was on a requisition which ori-
ginated with him, that Dr AchiUi brought his action against Dr
Newman, which unmasked everybody connected with it ; and he-
took care not to sit on a religious committee with a rich man
who had been convicted of a gross ofience against the revenue.
In this last case he spoke to the gentleman himself, and gave
him no other pain or offence. I have heard him condemn himself
for having, in the early part of his ministry, taken part in a Bible
meeting at which a nobleman of evil repute presided — a scandal
which the Society has long avoided — and declare that nothing
should induce him to repeat the mistake.

HOME LIFE.

573

It is necessary to a complete delineation of his character, and it
may explain his conduct on one or two occasions, to mention that
he laboured under the defect of indecision, not as to his opinions
or his objects, but in choosing between different plans or methods
of operation. This, I think, arose from his propensity to look on
the dark side of future events, and to presage every possible evil,
without regarding the probabilities of the case. The slightest risk
seemed to interfere with his power of judgment, and tended to
make him waver even after a decision. Yet I never noticed him
vacillating in his conduct, because he took the best method
of avoiding mistakes, for he sought counsel in every difficulty,
generally from one person only, and if he received positive
a'lvice, he followed it. But I thought that he sometimes came
firematurely to a resolve, in order to spare himself the pain of
doubt ; and he was always inclined to middle courses and attempts
to combine incompatible advantages, which sometimes resulted in
twofold damage, or the increase of evil by delay. He was very
sensible of this defect, and it subjected him to great pain and
mortification.

In matters of right and wrong, he was always governed by ab-
stract notions, and habitually endeavoured to bring everything to
first principles ; and he suffered neither expediency, habit, nor cus-
tom, to weigh with him. But his opinions on matters indifi'erent
in point of religion and morals were adopted from authors or
friends in whom he had confidence, and in great part taken on
trust; and I always thought that in matters of mere taste he judged
by a conventional standard, admiring what was generally admired.
In those particulars he was willing to be guided by general opinion,
and he was provoked by any one setting up his own notions in
opposition to it. Hence his feelings and predilections were those
of his position. Though anything but a formalist or a priest, he
was entirely a man of his profession, and looked at all things from
the point of view and through the medium proper and peculiar to
an English Nonconformist Minister.

But within the limits within which he allowed his imagination
to operate, he was entirely governed by it. Anything heroic

574

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAJtlES.

in private life, and particularly any great historical incident
carried hun away as completely as it could a child. When he
began the praises of Howard or Clarkson, or any like-minded
man or woman, he could scarcely either leave the subject, or ex-
press all he felt with respect to it ; to such an extent did the
horrors of gaols and the abominations of slavery crowd on his
mind. On the other hand, he took the most intense interest in
the great warrior and tyrant who scourged the nations in his time.
He read all he could get respecting him ; but Segur's " Retreat
from Moscow," and "Fouchd's Memoirs," whether authentic or
not, I think produced the greatest effect on him. And I shall
never forget his comments on Haydon's picture of Napoleon at
St Helena gazing on the sea, and on a French lithograph of his
dymg there, with his son, his marshals, and his old guard assembled
in the clouds to receive him. But China, as the great field for
missionary labour, and for the ultimate triumph of the Cross, took
permanent possession of his imagination. It was to him what
India was to Burke. This was owing, I think, in great part, to
Dr Morison having been his fellow-student, and corresponding
with him afterwards. The numbers of the Chinese, the antiquity
of their race, their early civilisation, and their unchanging manners,
had always filled his mind ; and when, at the close of his life, our
wars with them, and their own civil conflicts and revolutions,
appeared about to make way for Christianity, the prospect seemed
wholly to overpower him.

I must also state, as necessary to the understanding of my
father's character, that, though so amiable, tender, and loving, he
was entirely deficient in sympathy for any feelings imless he
himself had experienced them. He could not enter into joys
and sorrows which he thought unreal, puerUe, or unworthy. He
could not understand seductions and temptations which had no
power over him. He could not patiently listen to vain hopes and
groundless fears which he had never himself known ; and he never
seemed to me to understand exactly the state of mind and soul
produced by error, sin, doubt, or disbelief He was accustomed
to address men and women in masses with arguments which he

HOME LIFE.

575

knew ought to prevail with them, and he could not enter into
each particular case, and adapt his reasoning to it. When he
succeeded, it was by exhibiting fairly the gospel of God, itself
suitable to all cases, and sufficient for all emergencies. He be-
lieved it himself, declared it in love and tenderness, and left it to
act for itself ; and each mind he addressed received it, and appro
priated it for itself.

Hence he was not generally appreciated by young persons, par-
ticularly not by educated young men, who needed and wished to
have brought before them some special view of Divine truth
adapted to their usual habits of thought and feeling ; and this not
being done, they felt that they were not understood by him, lost
all interest in his conversation, and could not speak before him.
It was, in fact, only matured and exj^erienced Christians, with views
and tastes in unison with his own, with whom he really had a
fellow-feeling, and who, on their part, were at home with him.
He preached often specially to the young, and such sermons were
often very interesting, but not to the young more so than to
grown-up people. The number of young persons who attended
the chapel was very small in proportion to the congregation ; and
the young men in the church, unless in the lower ranks of the
community, were very few. My father, at one particular period,
noticed with dismay that no deacon had a son a member of the
church.

I have another remark to make which also may appear para-
doxical, that, notwithstanding the amiability and tenderness which
I have already referred to, and the geniality on which I shall
shortly dwell, he was inclined to asceticism in his practice, and to
austerity in his opinions. But his writings and his habits bear
me out in this. The Puritans were so, and the spirit of the Puritans
was in him. And, so far as my acquaintance with ecclesiastical
biography extends, this has been the leaning (and it seems to
me it must be so) of every eminent saint, whether among Pro-
testants or in any of the old Episcopal communions either
of the West or East. I know he contended that this was not
the case with him, and deprecated inferences to that effect being

576

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

drawn from his writings ; but what he said shewed that he was
conscious of this tendency in all his opinions and practices. He
seemed to me to have attained the character which, it is said,
John Calvin, in his admiration for St Bernard, wished to form in
all his followers, that of a man who, while he played his part and
did his duty in the world, should yet have his heart as much in
heaven as if he had been in a cloister. And this is the specific
state of mind my father again and again exhorts to.

I feel bound to state that these tendencies increased in him
very much after the revivalist preachers from the States visited
him, who (in contrast to his old friend Dr Patton, who became
more hearty and genial every time he came to us) seemed to set
themselves against all enjoyment whatsoever. My stepmother so
far fell in with these views as to wean my father from friendly
visiting. And, with reference to this, my uncle James once said
to me, "My brother would never have had the hold he has on
his people if he had from the first pursued this system, and it
will make us a rope of sand."

His almsgiving was very great, when viewed in reference either
to his income or expenditure. No relation or old friend, and
scarcely any minister, applied to him in vain, and he gave even to
his enemies. To do this he was very economical, especially in
his personal expenses. But he shewed it only by not spend-
ing money, and not when he spent it; for he was very easy
in every transaction, whether he paid or received. He lived as
plainly as he could with propriety, and he gave away the remainder
of his income. He held it a sin for a minister to hoard, and at
least an equal sin for him to indulge in display. I never knew
him so short with me as when I suggested it would be mercy to
put two horses to his carriage, which he kept as a matter of ne-
cessity. When, after my stepmother's death, he was obliged to
reduce his charities, he was more than ever careful to avoid out-
lay for his own pleasure. If he had a fancy it was for plate ; but
when choosing to return to Mr B. Neale's family a sUver cruet-
stand, which had been old Mr Neale's, (and was supposed to be the
last memorial of the Christian hospitality by which his house was

HOME LIFE.

577

honoured,) he would not replace it with silver unless he paid for
it in other articles of plate.

He was very neat in his person and dress, and was very par-
ticular not to appear in the pulpit with his hair in disorder, which
cost liim some care, as he always wore it combed straight up from
his forehead. He liked everything about him kept in good order,
except that the boofs and papers he had in hand always lay about
in confusion. He did not seem to have order and system, but he
must have had it, for he kept going the great machinery of his
church and congregation, with ease and comfort to everybody, and
without the need of any painful or convulsive efforts.

He received little more than £100 a-year from his works, for he
always published them in the plainest manner, and then sold them at
such prices that the purchasers had the best of the bargain, as old Sir
Oliver Cromwell insisted on selling his land. For this reason he
Ijarted with none of his copyrights, except to the Tract Society. And
I should mention, the money which he received for the " Anxious
Inquirer " he made a point of disposing of for religious purposes.

He diligently redeemed his time. Meals were despatclied in
his house in less time than I ever saw them got through elsewhere.
Though a stout man, all his movements were quick ; he walked
and wrote fast, and he dressed with unusual rapidity. ]\Iy step-
mother was as active as he was, and never kept him waiting for
her at a meal, or when going out with him, and she remarked
with great pleasure that Bonaparte gave the same praise to
Josephine. He was generally in his study soon after seven, and
I believe spent in devotion the hour before breakfast, (which in
winter and summer he took at eight.) He never sat more than
half an hour after diimer (at two or half-past,) and not a minute
after breakfast or tea. After supper (at nine) he usually read an
amusing book, and I think he did so also at the end of the morn-
ing. He wrote his letters generally in an afternoon, and grumbled
if he had to take up his pen after supper. Though he disliked
the occupation, his letters were generally very full, and almost
every one who wrote to him on a matter of personal religion was
sure of being answered at considerable length.

57S

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

Ey this diligence lie always had the afternoon to spend with
a friend passing through the town, whom he had asked, to dine
with him, or any one whom he wished to see, but he generally
gave his invitations for days when he had an engagement after tea,
or otherwise he stipulated for his evening. His chief relaxation
was to spend half a day in the country, and he could generally
make time for that, if allowed to fix the day. *

Nothing seemed ever to incapacitate him from working on up
to supper-time, or to dissipate his mind. He could breakfast out,
and when he returned fall to work as usual. When he reached,
home in an afternoon after travelling all day, he had tea as quickly
as it could be got and then went to his study, and generally on
such occasions was later than usual ^t supper. He never gave
up working unless physically unable to sit up, and made nothing
of a headache or other ailment which would have laid aside most
men.

Till the last years of his life he wrote standing, and to this he
attributed his health. For twenty years he had his study on the
second floor, but he was so often called down, that the fatigue of
ascending two flights of stairs became too much for him. From
the time of his second marriage up to 1839, when I left his
house, I never knew him give up one evening to his family, and
very often he had a religious engagement from home on every
night in a week except Saturday evening. He made a rule of not
supping out, if he could possibly avoid it, and never did so at a
mere party ; and in all cases ten o'clock was his time for reaching
home, and he would almost have thought his character endan-
gered by being met in the street after eleven. He was naturally
fond of society, being of a friendly and genial nature, but he
abstained from it, especially from about the year 1830, as I have
noticed. He often said he was determined that no one should
say of him, that he liked to go out to a -good dinner, which he
knew was the common reproach of the cloth. When the libel
for which he obtained a verdict against the Age newspaper stated,
that though he preached self-denial no man liked a cheerful glass
better, he resented the imputation of hypocrisy, but as to liking a

HOME LIFE.

579

cheerful glass, he merely said that he defied any one to prove he
indulged in it. He never would dine at the only civic dinners
in Birmingham to which the notables of the town were invited,
— those of the High-BailiflF and the Low-Bailiff, — not even when
a member of his congregation or his brother filled the ofiice
of Low-Bailiff (the higher of the two,) viewing it, I thought un-
fairly, as a mere matter of eating and drinking. But on occa-
sions which could not be regarded in that light, as on the meeting
of the British Association, he has dined in the Town Hall. He
rarely broke a rule which he had laid down, equally for healtli
and self-discipline, to rise from eveiy meal with an appetite. He
was always so abstemious that it was no matter of self-denial to
him to give up drinking wine, but according to the opinions of
all his medical advisers he injured his constitution by domg so.
He felt, however, so strongly on the matter, as an advocate of the
Temperance Society, that when compelled to take it temporarily
he always left it off too soon. But his taking wine, even under
these circumstances, was, at least on one occasion, noticed in an
abstinence journal in language appropriate to the relapse of a
reclaimed drunkard.

He considered it, on the other hand, a matter of duty for him
to exercise hospitality, especially to ministers not of the town ;
and it was not only the distinguished among them whom he enter-
tained, but the Welsh brother, with his chapel case ; and he could
scarcely bear that men of the latter class should be in lodgings
during their stay. At one time, before the citizens of the United
States became so sore on the subject of slavery, he insisted on re-
ceiving so many of them under his roof, that it was suggested he
should put the stars and stripes over his door. I must, however,
in justice to our cousins over the water, say that it is always a
difficult matter to induce them to accept an invitation, their habits
apparently rendering them most at home at an inn, and it never
seeming any object to their unestablished and unendowed clergy
when in Europe to lessen their travelling expenses.

His habit was to make pastoral calls on Monday, which is every-
where the parson's holiday ; but he always when at home attended

580

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAJtES.

his jirayer-meetiiig in the evening ; and he must, I am sure, have
thought he was indeed fallen on evil times, when, shortly before
his death, he gave up that meeting. If he failed in any part of
his duty, it was in calling on his people. Now and then he found
there were members of his church (received from other churches)
whose faces he did not know, but he never neglected one of them
in any sickness or affliction of which he was informed. When he
was once told in a friend's house how much more than a year had
elapsed since his last call, he answered, " That shews you have
cause to thank God that during all that time no sorrow has be-
fallen you, else you know you would have had me with you." He
admitted that he could not do his duty in this respect, and owned
that it was a great mistake to build a chapel so large that one
man could not attend to the congregation, or even to the church.

He was not easy if, when he had been at home, he had not
completed one sermon by Wednesday night, and I believe under
ordinary circumstances he never allowed Saturday to arrive vnth-
out good progress having been made in the composition of the
second ; and it was his rule to finish that by dinner-time ; the
afternoon he always from his boyhood made a holiday.

He was accustomed to walk a great deal, making all his pastoral
calls on foot, until, the town increasing on every side, and he
himself getting older, he found he had neither time nor strength
to continue the practice, but he abandoned it very reluctantly.
He resorted to country walks, of which he was exceedingly fond,
as a means not only of relaxation, but of meditation ; and after
the fields which used to come up very near to his house failed
him, he had the Botanical Gardens at hand, in the less frequented
parts of which (it was not much used at first) he spent a great
deal of time, especially after my stepmother's death ; and he told
me that he never felt greater disappointment than in finding his
favourite walk there unexpectedly stopped up, owing to the land
being taken from the garden.

He was most punctual in all his engagements, being always
before the time, and this was particularly the case in everything
connected with the chapel. Every person having anything to do

nOME LIFE.

581

at any service would know tliat he would be in time himself, and
reprimand any one who was not. He never allowed himself to
be in a hurry on a Lord's-day, though he often was so on other
days, and he always moved slowly on the chapel premises.

The Lord's-day he kept with the greatest strictness ; and he
seemed to consider Saturday evening, if not as a part of it, yet as
not to be spent otherwise than as a preparation for it. He was
displeased at merriment on that evening, and he never made even
a religious engagement for it, but spent it in private devotion.

He was much teased by a narrow-minded member of his church,
(who could walk very well himself, and whose wife never came out,)
remonstrating with him on his being driven to the series on the
Lord's-day. This dwelt very much on his mind ; but he reasoned
that as he could not, without the sacrifice of his health and comfort,
live nearer to his place of worship than he did, and as he could not
both walk to chapel and preach, there was no reason for his being
rendered miserable by frivolous scruples. But he took cai'e not
to have his carriage out on the Saturday, so that his horse kept
the Jewish Sabbath, and he the Lord's-day, and the commandment
was complied with as regarded its purposes of mercy. Latterly,
when he from any cause hired a vehicle for the Lord's-day he
bargained (for a higher price) that the driver should put up his
horse and come to service, — with him, of course, for certainty, —
and if I mistake not, the owner drove himself, and was glad of the
terms. He always, if possible, avoided posting a letter so that it
was delivered or even travelled on the Lord's-day.

He was a very regular attendant upon religious meetings and
committees, and made a point of being present, if possible, at
the Baptist, Church, and Methodist missionary anniversaries in
Birmingham, and subscribed to all those societies. He was
expected, as a matter of course, at every general meetmg for a
religious or philanthropic purpose ; for the spirit of a citizen
was strong within him. He desired to meet and co-operate with
his fellow-townsmen, and in the same spirit he liked to interchange
a passing bow or word with the leading men of the ncighboiuhood.
He and the town had grown up together, and he seemed quite part

582

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

of it ; lie loved Birmingham, and Birmingham was fond of him,
and never was private man so honoured by his town as he was at
his jubilee and his funeral.

From 1817 to 1844, he alone, as a minister, represented on
public and general occasions the " orthodox " Dissenters of Bir-
mingham ; for the other ministers of that class were averse to
public business, and but for him all non-sectarian matters would
have been left to the Established clergy and the "Unitarian"
ministers, which latter were of great weight, for their character,
attainments, and social position, just as their congregations con-
tained the elite of the town. But through him his party held its

O^Ml.

He never in my time meddled with politics, unless in leading
at a town's-meeting the opposition to the present system of grants
for education, on the part of the Voluntaries, who feared the effect,
direct and indirect, which the system would have on religious
matters. And that contest was so managed that no unpleasant
feeling was excited by it, the Government measure being ap-
proved by a large majority. He told me, afterwards, that if the
time were to come over again he should not take the same
course. I was very much surprised to learn from Mr Recorder
Hill that my father was very prominent at a town's-meeting
called by the Tory party, at the end of the war with France,
to make political capital out of the success which the Duke of
Wellington's genius and Bonaparte's infatuation had bestowed
upon them. I never heard him allude to this meeting; but
I suppose it preceded, and very likely suggested, his sermon
entitled " The Crisis." I need not say that he took part
against the principles then in the ascendant. It required some
nerve then to take that part in Birmingham ; for though War-
wickshire in the time of the first Charles took the Puritan side,
as might have been expected from the county of Cartwright and
his patron, the Earl of Leicester, (Mr Motley has lately shewn how
much better a Protestant he was than the trimming Lord Bur-
leigh,) Lord Brooke, and Sir Francis Nethersele, yet from the
Restoration it has consistently kept up its character as a Jaco-

HOJIE LIFE.

583

l)ite and high-flyiug Tory county ; and our town lias the dis-
tinction of having produced the last Church-and-King chapel-
Ijurning mob. He was a genuine old Whig, and was very careful to
give his county vote, and insisted on travelling to poll at his o^ti
expense. Yet he allowed himself to vote for Mr Joseph Sturge
and Mr Bright : for the former, because they dearly loved each
other ; and for the other, I sui:)pose, because he was glad to have
in the House so able an advocate of Anti-slavery and Noncon-
formist principles; but I know he held in perfect dread any
extension of the suffrage. He was always for " Catholic Emanci-
pation," circumstanced as the empire is ; but he held that a
Papist, on his own shewing, has no right to expect toleration from
a man of any other faith, but is always to be regarded as the
common enemy of human-kind ; and he thought that Queen Pomare
was right in sending the Prench priests away from her dominions.
His opinions as to foreign politics consisted in the conviction that
no nation besides our own can enjoy rational liberty in both poli-
tical and social life, and a distrust of the alliance with France.

As to Church polity, he wished as much Presbyterianism intro-
duced into Congregationalism as is compatible with its remaining
true Congregationalism, of which he was an uncompromising
supporter, notwithstanding his wishes for an organisation in the
denomination which might be thought by some to put its prin-
ciples in danger, and his efforts for closer union among all evan-
gelical communions at honia and abroad. His institution in his
own church of a committee to ascertain the facts and suggest the
decision in all cases of discipline was. a bold step, but a veiy suc-
cessful one. The plan, however, seemed to me put in peril by
the committee being yearly in great part changed, for in no church
do the men fit for such a post exceed the number of a committee,
and experience in such matters is as necessary as wisdom, a vary-
ing tribimal being sure to be inconsistent in its decisions, and there-
fore to be suspected of partiality. His fear of discord and debate
in the church induced him often to arrange matters beforehand
with the influential members, to a degree which, though it secured
a right decision in the particular cases, was scarcely consistent with

584.

LIFE OF JOHN A^•GELL JAMES.

the system, and tended, by determining the decision of the church
beforehand, to incapacitate it in the end for judging and acting for
itself. This was seen by some at the time, but the thought of
resistance to his wishes was checked by the conviction that he
desired to carry his point merely because he thought it right, and
that he was always open to reason. And Queen Elizabeth never
gave way to any expression of opinion, on the part of the nation,
more gracefully and heartily than he did to a general feeling on
the part of his church. But he was saved from mistakes in his
pastorate by his habit of always taking advice, to which I have
alluded. And as to this his circumstances were peculiar. He
came a very young man to a congTegation consisting almost exclu-
sively of old men, (for the younger part of it had gone oflF with ISIr
Brewer,) and he naturally deferred to men so much his seniors,
eminently venerable as they were in person and character. He,
however, from the first asserted the rights of his office whenever
he considered principle requLi'ed him to do so. On one occasion,
he overruled a venerable deacon on a point in which he had been
accustomed to have his own way; the old man yielded, but called
on my father the next day, to say it should make no diflerence
to their friendship, but he could not go to another church-meet-
ing. Mr Brewer's quarrel, moreover, was taken up by the neigh-
bouring ministers so far that they would have Uttle to do with the
Carr's Lane congregation. This state of things threw my father
for counsel upon the leading men among his peojile, and it was
his happiness throughout his career to have among them men
who, to clear and high principle, added sound judgment and great
strength of mind ; and of these his brother James was the chief,
both for his acquaintance with public business and his skill and
discretion in managing bodies of men. And my father, as in
every difficulty he betook himself to his counsellors, so he never
acted contrary to their advice.

I shall ever think that other circumstances tended to the good
management of things at Carr's Lane. The trustees fiUed up
vacancies in their own body ; the right of voting at church-meet-
ings was restricted to men ; and all matters of finance were decided

HOME LIFE.

685

only by such of the male members as were seatholders. It was
no small thing that in my father's time, first galleries were put up
in the chapel he came to, and then in less than ten years that
chapel was taken down and the present one built ; and that this
was done without any serious offence or even difference of opinion.

He was a thorough-going Voluntary, believing that Establish-
ments necessarily annihilate the distinction between the church
and the world, and render good men less useful than they would
have been in other circumstances. But he held these views in
love. It was at the time a burden and affliction to him to feel
himself compelled to write in defence of his principles, and he
always considered it one of the chief infelicities of his life. For
he found, as he often said, that if a man writes against "the
Church," no matter upon what compulsion, or in what spirit or
manner, he is denounced throughout the kingdom. He was, in
consequence of " Dissent and the Church of England," called a
political Dissenter, which is used as if it was the worst name a
man could be called ; though it is the friends of an Establishment
who blend politics and religion, and Dissent is nothing but a pro-
test against the profanation. I must, however, in justice mention,
that my father's friends in the EstabUshment in this neighbour-
hood did not allow the controversy to make any difference in their
feelings with regard to him. The following letter, which he ad-
dressed to Mr Weale, the Assistant Poor-Law Commissioner, and
which he most thoughtfully sent me, shews the quarter from which
he was assailed, and his hopelessness as to escaping from their
spite : —

"Stanley House, neak Stroud,*
August 9, 1843.

" My dear Sir, — When I had the pleasure of seeing you iu Bir-
mingham, our conversation turned upon the prejudice which had been
raised against me some few years ago among the clergy and members
of the Church of England, by a report in the Record newspaper of
some violent things I had spoken at a meeting of Dissenting Deputies,
and of which, as the allegations of that journal were entirely false, I
promised, at some time or other, to give you a correct account.

" I now fulfil my promise, as I have a little leisure during a
* The residence of his friend, Mr Nathaniel Marling, now also, alas, no more.

586

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

temporary retreat from the cares and duties of my v,idc sphere of
ministerial duties at home.

" At a Bible-meeting, held in Exeter Hall, just after Lord Grey had
come into office and carried the Keform Bill, Mr (now Dr) Marsh made
some kind and friendly allusion to myself,* which prompted the gentle-
men on the platform to caU me up, as soon as he had taken his seat.
I obeyed the summons, and dwelt much on brotherly love, and expressed
at the same time a wish that it might not be a mere platform charity,
but carried away with us to our respective spheres of action, and
brought out into aU the details of social intercourse.

" On the very next day a meeting was held in Loudon, of delegates
from the various Dissenting congregations and associations in the
country, who had been called up by the committee in the metropolis,
to discuss the subject of their grievances, and to adopt measures for
obtaining redress. At that time there was one of these associations in
Birmingham, and although I was going to London for other business,
yet they thought me too moderate in my Dissenting politics to come up
to their views, and therefore passed me over. My own congregation
were so hurt at what they considered a slight upon their minister, that
they immediately appointed me their delegate, apart from the associa-
tion, and in that capacity I went.

" On going into the London Tavern, where the meeting was held, the
secretary of the London committee said to me, ' James, we want a
MODERATE MAN from the country to move the resolutions we have pre-
pared, and knowing you to be such, it is our -R-ish that you should be
entrusted vdih that business. We go only for a redress of specific
grievances, but do not touch the question of separation of Church and
State. There are some delegates from Manchester and Nottingham
who wish to go further, but we cannot consent to it.' After some
hesitation I consented. In the course of my opening address, I used
these very words, or words of the same import, among others of course :
— ' My brethren, tlie eyes of the country are upon us. Let us take care
how we conduct ourselves this day. We meet here in the twofold
character of Christians and Dissenters. Let us not merge the Chris-
tian IN THE Dissenter, but exhibit both in harmony with each other.'
My whole speech was in this style, and was thought tame by many of
higher temperature than my own. As soon as my resolution was

* That he should thus be called up at a meeting of the Bible Society, in addi-
tion to the representative of the Dissenters, is worthy of notice, and proves more
than the several occasions on which it happened at meetings of the London
Missionary Society, how great a favourite he was with the lay audiences of the
metropolis.

HOME LIFE.

.587

luled by Colonel Addison, an amendment was moved and seconded
1 the Manchester and Nottingham delegates, to the effect that no
i i Ircss of grievances would be effectual -which was not based upon the

! aration of Church and State. A discussion arose. The amendment
resisted by a few, but strongly pressed by others. At length it
suggested that it would save the meeting from division, and
ired efficiency, if / would consent to take the sentiment of the
ii lment into the original resolution. The committee as weU as
-elf gave way; and upon a distinct understanding that the allusion
til the separation of Church and State was to be considered only as the

Oration of a principle but not as an intention of active measures, I
ed the resolution, which was to the effect that, while such and such
-ures of redress were to be sought, yet no redress coidd be deemed
I i luanently sufficient or safe as long as the Church was in union with
the State. The harmony and almost entire union of the meeting
were thus preserved.

" In a few days after there appeared one or two letters from corre-
spondents, in the columns of the Record, holding me up to reproach
and obloquy, as a hj-jjocritical pretender to brotherly love, by contrast-
ing my speech at the Bible meeting, with my conduct at the meeting
of Dissenting Deputies, and affirming that I called upon my brethren
to forget their Christianity there and to merge the Christian in the
Dissenter, thus completely misrepresenting and perverting the letter
spirit, and design of my address, and charging me with saying the very
reverse of what I really did say.

" Unfortunately I did not hear of this misrepresentation tUl some
months afterwards. I was simply told that I had been abused in the
Record, and I suffered the time to go by without referring to that paper
to ascertain the nature of the attack which had been made upon me,
and to this day I know it only by report.

" Such, my dear sir, is a succinct and faithful statement, which, as
you well know, has been the cause of no small prejudice against me in
the circles of Episcopalians, and owing, no doubt, in some measure to
my own silence in not contradicting the allegations of the Record and
its correspondents; but certainly never did any man more unjustly
suffer reproach than I have done in reference to this affair. It is not
of course of any very great consequence to me, except as affecting my
Christian integrity and simplicity, and thereby the credit of Christianity
and its ministry, what may be thought or said of me in circles wherein
I rarely move; and also as an advocate of Christian union, I would'
wish to gather out every stumblingblock I may have unintentionally
cast in the way of it.

588

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

" Witli kind regards to Mrs Weale, I am, with much esteem, yours
most truly,

"J. A. James.

" Egbert Weale, Esq."

One thing more only need be mentioned on the subject, and
that is, that for many years the post brought my father letters in
a disguised hand, addressed to him as " Brownist Teacher," or with
the addition of scurrilous epithets to his name, the contents of
which, generally in doggerel verse, always reviled him for his pre-
suming to preach, and for daring to write against the Church, and
frequently avowed that the object of the writer was (as our un-
christian laws prevented him from being punished for his dissent,
either by Church or State) to fine him in postages. My father
thought the writer was out of his mind, but in my opinion he used
the slang of his party too consistently to admit that supposition, and
his arguments did not seem to me much more feeble than writers
of the school of Mr Gathercole are generally well satisfied with.

But, notwithstanding the pamphlet I have mentioned, and
though the contest against the church-rate in Birmingham in great
measure depended in its origin upon my father's congregation, and
I think their decision was taken at his house at a book society
meeting, and his brother was chairman of the committee for con-
ducting the opposition to the rate ; he was regarded by many as a
half-hearted Dissenter. Having mentioned that contest, I cannot
help recording here, that it may not be forgotten, that the poUing
lasted eight days, to the total suspension of business ; that the
majority of plural votes, as well as of single ones, was clearly against
the rate ; that the Rector, Mr Moseley, was averse to the con-
test, and took it up only as a matter of duty, on the demand
of a party who were by no means friendly to him personally ;
that he so conducted himself throughout (I was in the room
with him all the time) that I believe every opponent of the rate
who observed his conduct, ever afterwards regarded him with re-
spect and admiration; and that when the struggle was over the
bitterness on both sides ceased. My father never joined the
Anti-State-Church Society, or the Liberation Society, or any

HOME LIFE.

589

society of the kind, and for tliat he was reproached by men who,
instead of building up the cause of Dissent as he did, had de-
stroyed their congregations by their inefficiency, or brought their
principles into mingled hatred and contempt by the violent and
yet foolish manner in which they had advocated them. His letter
to Mr Weale shews how he was treated by the Dissenters of Bir-
mingham.

He seemed to me to be by nature an orator ; for he was always
able to divine what was suited to his audience, to adapt himself
to their opinions and tastes, and to gain their confidence and
sympathy, and establish an interchange of feeling with them ; and
he could make subservient to his purpose the occasion, all associa-
tions of the time and the place, the accidents of the meeting, and the
statements and phrases of other speakers. His mind was sufficiently
logical to carry his hearers with him from one point to another
with conviction and delight ; he had powers of imagination and
description which enabled him to inspire them with pity, admira-
tion, or reverence, the master-feelings of the soul ; he was himself
at once ardent and susceptible, and evidently felt all he uttered ;
he had a countenance of great flexibility, and a voice of unusual
power, sweetness, and compass ; and, with these endowments, and
the advantage of the sacred themes on which he dwelt, he could
lead the minds and hearts of men at his pleasure. But, in my
opinion, he was not so good a preacher as a speaker; for in a
sermon little scope is allowed to an orator. The preacher brings
a message from God which yet has often been announced before ;
he may not present anything strictly his own ; it is his duty not
to fall in with the views of his congregation, but in great part to
tell them unwelcome truths ; his manner and method are restricted
within narrow limits, and his habits of speaking have become
fixed, from his having had to address the same people from week
to week upon topics which had long been familiar to them. My
father's forte lay in expository lectures upon the historical parts
of Scripture, (a method which he especially recommended to
students,) and in inculcating moral and religious duties ; and he
shewed marvellous delicacy and skill in handling topics which, in

590

LIFE OF JOnN ANGELL JAMES.

any other hands, would have been resented. He seemed to
to fail most in abstract reasoning and in devising illustrations
his subject. As to the matter of his sermons, I recollect
saying, not long before his death, that if his time were to come
over again, he should preach on moral subjects more often than
he had done, though he could not reiDroach himself with having
neglected them. Except when going through Isaiah, or expound-
ing the epistles to the churches of Asia IMinor, he avoided discours-
ing on prophecy or different events from the book of Eevelation ;
and he always seemed most to delight in his subject when his text
was taken from the writings of the apostle Paul. He was a very
fair expositor of Scripture; he did not take advantage of
speaking with no one to coatradict him ; he chose to understa"
the meaning of his text rather than to strain it ; his hearers felt
that he was dealing fairly by their understandings ; and their
reason being satisfied, the truths he conveyed went direct upon
their consciences.

He always wrote out his sermons at length, but he did not so
much commit them to memory as go over them and over them
again, so often that he never forget them from the time of his
writing them to their delivery, and having once had not merely the
thoughts but the words also in his mind, he could at any time easily
recall them. When, through illness, or not having had time for
study, he was obliged to preach an old sermon, he took two or three
with him, and he often, as he told me, changed his sermon after
going into the pulpit, and even sometimes just before rising to give
out his text. He very rarely confined himself to what he had written,
but he always liked to have the whole sermon in his mind, that he
could leave it and return to it again at any point as he chose.
He never went into the pulpit without his notes, though they
rarely left his sermon-case, and indeed the writing was such that
I think he could not have read it on the instant, except in the
case of his more highly elaborated discourses, (originally prepared
for some great occasion, and afterwards preached about the country
on similar engagements,) such as " The Oath of God," a missionary
sermon which he first delivered in Edinburgh in 1824.

HOJIE LIFE.

59J

He rai'ely if ever preached, even at his lecture on a week-
evening, without writing out a sketch of the sermon, and he
wrote out at least a great part of his speeches on special occa-
sions. He corrected his ordinary sermons very little, and evidently
did not stop to choose his words. They seem to have been finished
at two or three sittings, the writing becomes gradually worse, and
the omission of the little words more frequent, and sometimes
the conclusion of the discourse is fragmentary ; but sermons which
required an hour for their delivery, owing to his slow delivery and
frequent pauses, look short in his writing.

My sister tells me that he did not like to trust his memory to
quote Scripture without reading it. I had noticed that he gene-
rally did so, and supposed he thought it more effective to read ;
but she told me that notwithstanding his acquaintance with the
Bible, he could not recollect the precise words of it. He had not,
I think, a good verbal memory, and he has told me that he always
read the Lord's Prayer, having once, after much floundering, fairly
broken down in repeating it.

To the last he continued the laborious preparation of his ser-
mons, and in consequence they retained all their accustomed vigour
and freshness ; when he forgot his ailments, his voice was nearly
as clear and strong as ever ; and " his congregation hung upon his
lips as in his prime." Professor Rogers, from whom I have quoted
the last expression, remarked to me that he thought this one of the
most remarkable circumstances attending him.

He employed apostrophe and interrogation more than accords
with English usage, and I account for it by his having acquired
the French taste in that respect. His copies of the translation of
Claude's " Essay on the Composition of a Sermon," and of Saurin's
" Discourses," appear, from the former being very much worn, and
from his signature on the latter, to have been among his earliest
purchases of theological books. And this is not to be wondered
at, for the practice of reading sermons (or rather essays) has severed
the ministers of the two British Establishments from their brethren
in Christendom, (in this also penitus toto divisos orhe Britannos,)
and Nonconformist ministers, if they intend to speak their sermons.

592

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

are thus driven to foreign, that is in fact to French models. And
those who have heard even a third-rate preacher at the Oratoire
know that a French sermon in our day is still a thing of power,
while an English one is dull to a proverb. I trust I shall be
pardoned for mentioning that Lord Holland (the third Lord, the
Lord Holland of Parliamentary history) took several opportunities
of expressing his admiration of my father's speaking, and, as I
have been told, on one occasion said that as a persuasive speaker
he was surpassed only by Charles James Fox and Lord-Chancellor
Plunkett.

My father had not heard the great Parliamentary orators of his
day, and perhaps was a competent judge only of theological speakers,
but his opinion was, that taking all things into account, Dr M'Neile
of Liverpool came nearest of all the men whom he had heard to the
ideal of the perfect orator.

If my father had thought only of his own fame and comfort, he
perhaps would not have committed any of his compositions to the
press, for he was very sensible of his own defects ; but his sole
object in printing was to do good, and trusting to accomplish that
he was not to be deterred from the effort by any selfish considera-
tion. He felt very keenly the criticisms which his first publica-
tions underwent, but he determined to be the better for them, and
laboured to remove the faults which were pointed out. And he did
not shrink from telling me as much, while I was yet a boy, in
order to encourage me, by his own example, to derive profit and
instruction from any censure passed upon me. His prefaces,
almost to the last, shew his sensitiveness to remark. His books
were, for the most part, sermons worked up, and sometimes he
preached beforehand chapters of a work which he had in hand ;
and if this had not been the case, the habit of writing his ser-
mons would make his style a spoken one. Accordingly we find
in his writings the repetition of short words, chiefly particles, b}
which a speaker gains so much time for himself, and renders it
more easy for his hearers to follow him ; inverted constructions
serving either to mark the emphasis or make connexions between
sentences clearer ; and trivial metaphors, such as " the arm

HOME LIFE.

503

of industry," "the tear of pity," &c., expressions of course like
Homer's epithets, which also help alike the speaker and hearers. A
shrewd Wesleyan once remarked to me that my father owed much
of his success in the pulpit to his diluting his meaning, down to
the precise degree at which it was most easily apprehended by a
common congregation. Auy incorrectness in his diction arose, not
only from haste, but from his not always using words in their usual
sense ; for when a word occurred to him which, reasoning from
the analogy of the language, might have been correctly used to
express the notion he intended, and he could find no other which
did so, he seems to have determined not to waste time in seeking
for another expression, but to have trusted that his meaning would
be known. As if he was inclined to take liberties with the lan-
guage for allowing a word which might, in accordance with its
rules, have supplied a deficiency in its vocabulary, to be used irregu-
larly to mean something else, forgetting that usage, however capri-
cious at first, becomes law, and constitutes right. He was aware of
his incorrectness, and in consequence of it was very much annoyed
at his sermons being taken down in short-hand; and knowing that a
lady in his congregation had, during twenty-five years, made very
fidl notes of them, he gave her no rest until she had promised him
never to part with them. He had a very low opinion of his own
powers generally, and was astonished at the circulation and use-
fidness to which his writings attained He was thought sometimes
to refer to this ostentatiously, but his only feelings were wonder
and gratitude, and in the simplicity of his heart he gave utterance
to them. In p. 236 of the eighth volume of his works, he makes
a very touching allusion to this subject.

To the last, he never entered the pulpit on any occasion, when
he felt a more than usual efi"ort was requii-ed from him, without
timidity and apprehension. This feeling having once or twic3
prevented him from sleeping, he always expected it to produce the
same effect, and feared that he shoxild become iU, and be unable
to go through the service ; and when within three or four days
of any important engagement, he went to bed in a state of
alarm which prevented his sleeping properly, and in consequence
2 p

594

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAI.IES.

felt unwell ; if this bai^i^ened on a second night, he wrote
olF the next day to the unfortunate minister who was relying
on him, that it was doubtful whether his health would admit of
his coming. As soon as the letter was gone, he repented of hav-
ing sent it, and said he would attempt to fulfil his promise if he
died in the effort, and despatched a second letter to say he was
better. But when he had thus committed himself, all his appre-
hensions returned, and he declared that it was physically impos-
sible for him to go. By that time it was generally too late to write
again, and it was left for his state in the morning to determine
whether he went or not. But, except in two or three instances,
he always proved able to bear tlie journey and get through thi
service, though he must often have occasioned great uneasiness on
his arrival, as well as before it. For Avhen from home he had
always before him the terror of sleejDUig in a room from the window
of Avhich he could not easily escape in case of fire, and this dread in
one case made him so unwell that he returned without preaching.
When he did not keep an engagement, his self-reproach and mor-
tification were so great that he became seriously ill ; and it may
easily be conceived that, bad as these feelings were for him, they
were more trying to my stepmother, although she knew all the while
that his fears and fancies were groundless. They, however, got to
such a 2)itch at last, that he would, if she had permitted him, have
always stipulated, (not when he made the engagement, for then, of
course, it would have been given up, but within a week of the time
for its fulfilment,) that some other sufficient minister should, to the
last moment, remain in readiness to preach, if he felt himself
unable to do so ; and, while the dread of the case was upon him,
we could not make him see that this was most unreasonable. And
the most provoking thing was, that immediately after one of these
scenes, his kindness always made him accejit other engagements,
provided they were for distant days ; and he was displeased if
remonstrated with on the subject, and insisted that his difficulty
in former cases had arisen solely from illness, which he hoped
would not happen again.

He joined the Worcestershire Association to co-operate in it

HOME LIFE.

595

with his friend Dr Redford. The towns and villages of that
county lay in a half circle round Birmingham, and had ever com-
manded his services, and he had, almost from the time of his coming
into the neighbourhood, been the counsellor of the churches at
Worcester and Kiddenninster. But he by no means confined
himself to ^Yorcestershire ; StaflFordshire, I think, had most of his
occasional labours, very likely from a sense of duty, as he was most
connected with it. In Wolverhampton, there was Queen Street
Chapel, which he always liked, because the galleries of his own
first chapel were removed to it, and he had always been on most
friendly terms with its ministers — ]\Ir Scales, Mr Roaf, Dr ]\Iathe-
son, ]\Ir Smith, and Mr Wilson. Mr Scales came into the neigh-
bourhood a little before him, and they soon contracted a warm
friendship for each other, which was not weakened either by Mr
Scales's removal to Yorkshire, or by both of them having written
in defence of Dissent. Mr Scales did not allow his now very
advanced age to prevent him from attending his friend's funeral,
and he has since rejoined him. And my father's attachment to the
Queen Street Chapel did not prevent him from opening and often
preaching in that erected by the mnnificence and exertions of his
friend John Barker, whose personal bearing and endowments
qualified him for even a higher position than he had raised himself
to in his county, at the head of the South Staffordshire iron trade.
My father, also, was a great promoter, and the advocate with the
public, of the John Street Chapel case, which was the precursor of
the suit respecting Lady Hewley's Charities, and in connexion with
which he got into a controversy with the very learned Mr Robertson
of Stretton-uuder-Foss. The congregations at Lichfield, Walsall,
West Bromwich, the Potteries, and Burton-upon- Trent, with the
neiglibouring town of Derby, occur to me as having habitually
during my father's prime sought his advice, and received his visits.
With Warwickshire he was less connected, as in the north it gra-
dually narrows to a point, on which Birmingham is situated, away
from all its other towns ; and the mining and manufacturing dis-
tricts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire, and what used to be the out-
lying part of Shropshire, have a community of feeling and interest

59G

LIFE OF JOHN AKOELL JAMES.

with it, which the other parts of the county, being chiefly agri-
cultural, do not possess. But at Leamington he encouraged, and
indeed brought back, Mr Pope to build up the church, which,
though a station of great usefulness, Mr Bromley had left, at
the suggestion of Archbishop Magee, to die, doing nothing, a
curate on a Berkshire down. He took great interest in the chapel
at Kenilworth, which was rescued from Unitarians, in consequence
of their offering to teach only out of the Assembly's Catechism,
which Avas prescribed by the founder; but notwithstanding this
association of the place, a chapel was erected in Kenilworth to
commemorate the passing of the Dissenters' Chapel Act of 1844-,
in comi^liment to my friends, Edwin Pield, who was most active
in promoting the bill, and his father, tlie biographer of Dr
Parr. And he was always glad to visit Coventry, that ancient
citadel of Puritanism, in which, though the Old Meeting, in
which Tong, Matthew Henry's biographer, preached, is now held
by what has been so aptly called the abomination of desola-
tion, yet three flourishing chapels still uphold the faith of the
times of the Commonwealth ; and there my father had to make
a protest in behalf of Nonconformists, even at a Bible-meeting.
He was called upon to speak when the time had nearly expired,
and his speech was to this effect, — "I rise, sir, as the repre-
sentative of a very respectable part of the supporters of this
society, the Dissenters, and the lateness of the hour prevents
me saying more than that I am sorry they have not been thought
worthy of taking a greater part in this day's proceedings. I
have to move," &c. The mistake was not made again in
Coventry. Besides these places, he preached in many a Con-
gregational and Baptist chapel in the Midland Counties, and
he made a rule of paying his own expenses on travelling to
preach for a poor congregation, which, he said, was a very sure
way to be asked to visit them again, and to be generally
popular. He also preached for the Wesleyans more than most
of our ministers, except Dr Raffles, and he always lived on tlie
best terms with their ministers stationed here. He was very much
amused that permission could not be obtained for his preachijic,

HOSIE LIFK.

597

in their chapel in Scarborough in the autumn of 1853, after, and
therefore he sujiposed because, he had consented to be one of the
adjudicators of a prize offered by seceding or malcontent Wes-
leyans, on some subject connected with Methodism. But the
application was made on a Sunday morning, and it was necessary
to get an answer immediately, and perhaps the right person to give
it could not be spoken to. I should notice that he had a great
esteem for the New Connexion Methodists, and always advised
persons breaking off from John Wesley's body to join them ; and
wondered that he never found the advice taken.

During Mr Rowland HiU's life he supplied Surrey Chapel for a
month every year, in consequence, I understood, of a promise given
on his marriage with my stepmother, who was a member of the con-
gregation there, and almost filled the place of a daughter to ]\Ir and
Mrs Hill. Mr Hill, at the close of his life, manifested a little
coolness towards him, in consequence of the congregation in
Clemens Street Chapel, Leamington, of which my father was a
trustee, disusing the liturgy, which was much to Mr Hill's discom-
fort ; my father had, however, no hand in it, and could not have
prevented it, as the trust-deed did not impose the liturgy on the
people, as is the case at Surrey Chapel. Mr Hill knew that in all
other cases our congregations had done the same when they had
the power ; and I do not know what particular right he had to
deprive the people at Leamington of their Christian liberty. But
my father did not allow the old gentleman's complaints of dis-
honest trustees to offend him, and gave the address at his funeral.

He always read laboriously in preparing his sermons, referring,
I believe, to all the treatises and discom-ses which he possessed on
the subject ; and, I have no doubt, deriving a great part of his
matter from them, by which he would consider his congregation
were gainers as much as himself. And, in accordance with this,
in his Address to Students, he advises them to keep a commonplace
book of reference, in the way of an index, shewing them what they
had at their command on any subject. He also read a good deal
of divinity as it came out, keeping up with the English theological
literature of the day of his own school.

598

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

His favourite autliors were the Nonconformist divines of the
latter half of the seventeenth century, and those of the last seventy
years: especially of the ancients, Howe, Baxter, Owen, and Manton;
and of the moderns, Andrew Fuller, Moses Stuart, Eusseli of Dun-
dee, Dr Urwick of Dublin, Dr Wardlaw, Dr Chalmers, and Dr John
Brown. He particularly valued the Morning Exercises and the
Sermons of John Smith of Cambridge. Eichard Taylor's Works,
in separate volumes, he seems to have possessed from the begin-
ning of his ministry. He was much attached to Matthew Henry's
Commentary, for devotional reading ; and, for the interpretation
of Scripture, he prized most highly Doddridge, Campbell, and,
latterly, Albert Barnes. IMacknight, Hammond, and Whitby stood
near his desk. He read at family prayers, in the early part of his
life, Doddridge, and, after he had adopted the plan of reading the
Old Testament in the morning, Boothroyd. He made great use of
Bloomfield's " Synopsis Critica," and, I think, turned to Bishop
Horsley whenever he had written on the subject in hand. He
went to Adam Clarke for the Arminian view of a passage, but I
often heard him say he thought him overpraised. Scott he had
always at hand, but his Commentary was vreitten rather to be a
sole guide, than to be consulted with others.

I find mentioned in his Address to Students the Episcopalian
writers whom I considered he preferred, but I am surprised that
Archbishop Leighton is omitted. Tillotson's Works alone, of
all his books, bear his father's name, and I recollect they used
to be much about, and that in a printed letter he mentioned
that he very often read them. I have no doubt that he chose
the Archbishop's clear and easy style as a safeguard or cor-
rective for his own. Archbishop Whately's theological works he
read carefully, I suppose, as the ablest living writer of the school op-
posed to his. In a literary point of view. Lord Bacon, Dr Johnson,
Foster of Bristol, Robert Hall, and Lord Macaulay, were the chief
objects of his admiration. He always purchased Isaac Taylor's books
as they came out, but of no single volume did he ever make so
much as that of Douglas of Cavers "On the Advancement of Society
in Eeligion and Knowledge," and this appears in his works.

HUME LIFE.

509

His book of reference was Dr Eees' " Encyclopcedia," which
came out in his early years, and which those who are accustomed
to it stUl prize, notwithstanding the sneers which it has ever
received, appearing, as it did, during the French war, with a Dis-
senting minister for its editor. He was very fond of essays, espe-
cially the "Eambler," "Spectator," and "Friend," and there were
few more eager readers of the Edinburgh, Quarterly, Bntish
Quarterly, and Xorth British Reviews, for he liked a disserta-
tion which he could read at a sitting, and which the author threw
off at one heat, though often the concentrated thought of years ;
fragmentary perhaps, but highly wrought up, and being in prose
what an ode is in poetry. His other light reading consisted of
biography and accounts of voyages and travels, of which he was
very fond indeed.

He could not endure fiction, and I knew him read but one novel,
and that was " Eob Roy."' " Uncle Tom's Cabin" he read, not as a
tale, but an anti-slavery testimony. For the same reason he read little
poetry, beside Shakspeare, INIilton, and Cow^Der, and chiefly the two
latter. Of hj-mns, (if I may be in the present day permitted to men-
tion them under poetry,) he still preferred Dr Watts, and after him
Doddridge and Charles "Wesley, though single ones of different
authors were perhaps his chief favourites. I say he preferred
"Watts, though it was amusing to hear his abuse of him on Satur-
days, when selecting the hymns to be sung on the morrow, although
really the only foundation for his complaints was that the doctor
had not left a hymn on every possible religious topic.

His taste, as may be gathered from what I have said, was for
a chaste and slightly ornamented style. He thought Eobert
Hall's perfect. He delighted, like everybody else, in Lord Mac-
aulay's, but I fancy thought there was too much sugar and spice in
it. With regard to his own style, it may have been that the adverse
criticisms with which his first missionary sermon was attacked
arose chiefly from his having anticipated the modern taste for
picturesque writing. He had a great admiration for classical learn-
ing, though he pretended to no more than to read his text in the
original, and enter into the English criticisms on it. He told me,

GOO

LIFE OF JOHN AKGELL JAiMES.

when at school, that next to seeing me a good Christian he wished
to see me a good classic, and aftei* I had left it he inquired from
time to time if I was keeping up what I had learned, especially
Greek.

He prized very highly originality of thought, and used to name
several of our ministers living in villages or little towns in whom
he had found it, (I recollect only Mr Jones of Birdbush,) but he
did not give that praise to merely new-fangled phrases. But he
valued learning still more, for he thought that at this time of day
not much real novelty was possible ; and that any man, except he
was among the very noblest of his race, would attain greater
power of mind, and would impart more benefit to others, by
digesting, assimilating, and absorbing into his mental being the
thouglits of the wisest men who had written before him, than
by spinning new theories or interpretations out of his own head.

He was very affectionate in all the relationships of life, and in
every respect the chief of his father's house, speaking peace to all
his seed. And it was among the many mercies that crowned his
lot that he had very much to delight and little to try him m his
kindred. He was particularly blessed in his wives, except that
the second predeceased him by nearly twenty years. He mar-
ried at twenty-two, when my mother was three or four years older ;
she possessed a strength and refinement of mind, and a gentleness
yet dignity of deportment, which gained an ascendancy over all
who came into her presence, and she guided her husband's impulsive
nature and gave early maturity to his character. She sustained him
amidst his early efforts and discouragements. She is little men-
tioned in this chapter, only because I lost her when I was nine
years old. His second wife had unusual perception, judgment, tact,
and energy, guided by strong principle, and exerted under the sense
of duty. She was a noble counsellor and fellow-worker with him,
and cheered his heart and strengthened his hands in the most ar-
duous portion of his life. Both were devoted to him, and he was
always glad to say how much he was indebted to them, both for
what he was and what he had done. He was also very happy in his
brothers The elder, as a fellow-minister, engaged and skilled in

nOilE LIFE.

COl

public matters, was always associated ■with him in the business of
their denomination and its institutions, and gave him a home in
London or the neighbourhood, which of all parts of England he
most rejoiced to visit, for he liked to be at the centre of affairs.
His younger brother, living in his own town, was the man of his
right hand, on whom he leaned almost to the end of his journey
throizgh life, whom he watched during his fatal Ulness with all the
tenderness and assiduity of a woman, and after laying whom in
his grave he never thoroughly recovered his spirits.

My sister, his only child beside myseU, was an invalid from child-
hood, and for the latter part of his life was confined to the house,
and though possessed of great powers of observation and conversa-
tion, which fitted her to be a deUghtfid companion for him, she was
imfortunately disqualified by being always deaf, and often losing her
voice, and as he was also slightly deaf, they could in the latter case
hold but little commimion. Nevertheless he sat with her as much
as he could, (his book on Hope was written chiefly by her bedside,)
though of course the sight of her as she lay, suffering and unable
to converse with him, preyed upon his spirits, notwithstanding her
great patience under all her trials. I think, at last at any rate,
he loved people in proportion as he thought they were or would
be kind to her. He long had told me that his anxiety ia prospect
of death, was only for his church and his daughter, and he feared
he had hardly faith enough with respect to them. But when Mr
Dale became his co-pastor, that part of his care was removed, and
when I married, and he found he could intrust my sister to my
wife's care and judgment, he told her the bitterness of death was
past. He made a point of frequently visiting his relatives in his
native county, which till lately was distant two days' journey, laying
out his autumnal excursions accordingly, and for a long period he
was with them every year. Unfortunately in his last tour, taken
with the view of seeing his sister, who alone of all her generation
remained to him in the west of England, he contracted a feverish
attack, from the effects of which he never perfectly rallied.

A man of his loving nature was sure to have warmly attached
friends, and such to him were Dr Bogue of Gosport, Dr Bennett

G02

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

of Romsey, Rotlierliam, and London, Dr Fktcher of Blackburn and
Stepney, Dr Burder of Hackney, Dr Raffles of Liverpool, and
afterwards Dr M'AU of Macclesfield and Manchester, Dr Redford
of Worcester, Mr Parsons of York, and Dr Patton of New York.
In his dining-room, he had likenesses of members of his family,
and of Dr Bogue, Robert Hall, Rowland Hill, Dr M'AU, Dr
Chalmers, Dr John Brown, Dr Fletcher, Matthew Wilks, Mr
Jay, Dr Redford, Dr Patton, and ]\Ir Clarkson.

All these, it will be noticed, lived at a distance, except that Dr
Redford, on retiring from the ministry, came to live in Bii-ming-
ham, to their very great mutual comfort. It was most painful to
witness the doctor's grief on my father's removal, but he found
consolation in transferring his friendship to his friend's daughter,
and holding each Lord's- day a service with her in her sick-room.
The circumstances of their congregations kept my father and Mr
Brewer apart, until they came together at the formation of the Bir-
mingham Auxiliary of the London Missionary Society, and shortly
after that my father became ill, and he had not fuUy recovered
when Mr Brewer was seized with his last illness ; but I have heard
him say that Mr Brewer, after their first co-operation, declared
he felt ten years younger, and my father delivered at his chapel,
to the Sunday-school teachers of the two congregations, a ser-
mon which was the germ of " The Sunday-school Teacher's
Guide." And while he remained dangerously ill, Mr Brewer
called on my mother, in his cordial gentlemanly and Christian
way, to express his regard for my father, and to console her.
There was no subject I liked to hear my father talk of more than
Mr Brewer's fine person, and his noble, genial, and commanding
mind and character, which he thought fitted, perhaps beyond any
he had ever known, to win hearts and sway minds. And when did
a minister build up a church and congregation better organised
and cemented, or more flourishing in all their institutions ? And it
does not lessen his praise, that he had John Dickenson by his side
in all his works and counsels. After Mr Burt left Birmingham,
until Mr Vaughan came to it, the town had no Dissenting minister
possessed at once of sufiicient geniality, amiability, mental endow-

HOME LIFE.

G03

ments, and standing among his brethren, for my father to find
an intimate friend in ; but I must notice the cordial attachment
and respect which Mr Morgan and he had for each other. When
my father came to Birmingham, he found the congregations of
Carr's Lane and Cannon Street worshipping together at Cannon
Street, and jMr Morgan, who had very lately been settled there, and
he preached alternately. Mr Morgan died a few months before him,
and my father preached his funeral sermon, and engaged also to
print it, but his strength proved unequal to preparmg it for the
press, and the manuscript bears a sad endorsement, forbidding it
to be parted with. I should mention that it was a bitter disap-
pointment to my father, that Mr Ealeigh's health prevented his
coming to Ebenezer Chapel.

After 1838, however, he had the happiness of having for
friends at hand the professors of Spring-hill College. He par-
ticularly enjoyed the society of Professor Rogers, and during a
long illness of that gentleman, shewed almost a father's fondness
for him.

He was thus for great part of his life compelled to seek con-
genial minds among the clergy of the Establishment resident in his
town, and he found such among them, and often said they were
his true brethren, and the men he fraternised most with. He
was on the most friendly terms with Mr Bum, who at that time
stood alone in Birmingham, b\it at the head of a congregation such
as has not since been seen in any church in the town. He next
had for his friends Mr Garbet, Mr IMoseley, Mr Buyers, Dr Marsh,
Mr Bird, and Mr Eiland, and near the end of his time Canon
Miller and Mr Marsden. The society of the three last-named
gentlemen was a great source of happiness to him in his declining
years, and the respect which first Dr Marsh, and then Canon
Miller, were never weary of shewing him, was peculiarly grati-
fjdng to him, and Avell illustrated Lord Coke's maxim, which
if bad Latin is good morality — " Honor plus est in honorante
quam in honorato."

Of his friends among laymen, I must mention two or three, and
begin with Mr Thomas Wilson, and his son Mr Joshua Wilson,

cot

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAi\IES.

whose praise is in all the clmrclies. Their well-known house in
Highbury Place received no guest more attached to its inmates,
or, I believe, more loved by them. Mr Joshua Wilson's wife was
a relative of my stepmother. Mr Henderson of Park, near Glas-
gow, gave every minister of the United Presbyterian Church a copy
of my father's work entitled " An Earnest Ministry the Want of
the Times," and also of Baxter's " Reformed Pastor," which he
had reprinted upon his recommendation ; and year by year he
shewed him hospitality, or accompanied him in tours in Scotland,
which my father so much enjoyed, and was so much benefited by,
that all my anxiety every year was to get him to the North. Mr
Henry Wright of Birmingham during his last years became quite
a son to him ; amidst all his own occupations he always found time
when at home to look in upon him at his house, and accompany
him to meetings and services at the small chapels in and about
the town, bestowing on him an amount of personal attention such
as I never kncAV in any other instance.

]\Iy father had only one severe illness after manhood, it
happened in 1817, and the physician (Dr John Johnstone, Dr
Parr's friend and biographer) called it a nervous fever. He was
deprived of the use of all his limbs, except that, I think, he could
turn his hands, and he must have been laid aside for six months.
He suffered all his life from indigestion, having taken too much
medicine, and particularly having used alkalies too freely. He was
weakened at last by diabetes, an hereditary malady, and a post
mortem examination shewed that he had two large urinary calculi.
The existence of one was ascertained shortly before his death, and
he bore the announcement with great fortitude. A few days
before his death he began to suffer from angina pectoris of the
chronic kind which afflicts old persons. But he was taken from
us with comparatively little suffering by a slight rupture in the
heart, occasioned by sickness, consequent on his stomach having
lost its power. He had an abiding dread of two things — one that
he should not be able to bear pain with fortitude, and should not
afford an example of Christian patience, such as he had seen in
both his wives ; and the other was, that he should survive his

HOME LIFE.

G05

faculties. From both these calamities his Master mercifully
delivered him.

I may mention that early in liis ministry his jiortrait was painted
by Branwhite, and was engraved in the Evangelical Magazine, and
it was thought very like him at that time ; but the best likenesses
of him were by Coleman, (the game painter,) engraved in the Con-
gregational Magazine, and one on china. All three are in my pos-
session. But they were entirely superseded by photographs, ex-
cept that these were all taken in his old age. The best of them
were that engraved for the Illustrated JS^ews of the World, and
one representing him in a hearty smile, which is the most wonder-
ful copy of a face I have ever seen. All artists declared that he
was a most difficult subject to paint, owing, I think, to his features
varying with his thoughts. His countenance was certainly an
unusual one ; and Robert Hall declared it was the most remark-
able one he had ever seen, and that he was sure my father would
be the first man recognised at the resurrection. To friends in the
States of North America, (United or Confederate,) I would men-
tion that he was much aimoyed by engravings j^refixed to their
editions of some; of his books, taken from his portrait by Derby,
which was not done justice to by the transatlantic engravers. He
declared that he never looked as badly as they represented him. The
original was not a pleasant likeness, but I have seen him look
exactly like it when in an unusually grave mood. He sent to New
York a water-colour portrait wliich he had from me, but it was
what is called a flattering likeness in point of age as well as of
looks. I should mention in this connexion, my father's height
was under five feet eight inches.

Note. — The value aud authority of this most interesting chapter would be
gi-eatly diminished, if the Editor ventured to modify even a solitary expression.
On nearly every point there is a very gratifying coincidence between the state-
ments made by Mr James and those made by the Editor in other parts of this
volume; a coincidence the more remarkable, as neither writer read the MS. of the
other before going to press. — Ed.

CHAPTER II.

PREACHING.

It is not my purpose to describe in this chapter the brilliant
discourses by which, forty years ago, Mr James became famous
among English Congregational ists, nor do I intend to review those
sermons of his later years which were delivered away from home,
or on special occasions ; the most remarkable of these may be
read and studied in the first three volumes of his Collected Works.
This chapter is intended to answer the question. How did Mr
James preach every Sunday in his own pulpit ?

He had a profound sense of the greatness of the preacher's
vocation. Though he sometimes echoed the fashionable creed
that the press has usurped or inherited the ancient supremacy of
the pulpit, he never heartily accepted it. He believed in preach-
ing as a Divine institution, for which the true ministers of Christ
receive sjDccial endowments from the Holy Ghost. He thought of
it, too, as the highest employment of man's natural powers, de-
manding from all who are called to its responsibilities and glories,
the consecration of every faculty and every noble passion. He
permitted no side pursuits to divert his strength or abate his
enthusiasm. Theological reading, literary work, ecclesiastical
business, social pleasures, were forbidden to encroach on the time
claimed by his sermons. With some preachers, preachmg seems
a mere parenthesis in their life, interrupting the piu-suits to which
they give most of their energy and nearly all their heart ; Mr

I'REACHIXG.

GOT

James expended his utmost resources in making his sermons
attractive and powerful

For very many years his preparation for Sunday seldom com-
menced later than Wednesday morning * and he liked to be able
to lay down his pen between one and two o'clock on Saturday,
that he might have the afternoon for the students, and the evening
for quiet thought and prayer. But he did not suppose that when
the sermon was written all preparation for the pulpit was over.
He always read on Saturday evenings books which powerfully
move the religious affections, or which assert the awful dignity of
the ministerial office — books like Baxter's "Keformed Pastor,"
Payson's " Life," Brainerd's " Life," Howe's " Blessedness of the
Paghteous," Owen's " SX-)iritual Mindedness," Archbishop Leigh-
ton's " Commentary on Peter."

To the last he wi'ote his sermons very fully, though, except on
occasions of unusual importance, he never used his manuscript
in the pulpit. When his popularity as a preacher was at its
height he preached memoriter, and, I think, that even in his later
years he generally delivered many passages nearly as he had
written them. Few could speak better when altogether unpre-
pared, but he escaped the ruin into which a fatal fluency has
betrayed many a clever but indolent man, by conscientious and
painstaking preparation for ordinary as weU as extraordinary
services. He was not satisfied when he had mastered the mean-
ing of liis text, and thought out the didactic matter of the sermon.
He conceived that a preacher was not a mere quarryman, but a
sculptor; and that the arrangement, language, and illustrations
required as much labour as the solid thought. In this process
he was guided partly, no doubt, by the oratorical instinct which
was born with him, but partly, too, by the spirit he had caught
from the great preachers whose works he had studied, and by tlie
observations he had made on the style, topics, arguments, and
appeals by which men are most deeply interested, and most
powerfully moved. He could have written a very useful book,
and I once begged him to do it, on the influence of particular

• He often began on Tuesday.

COS

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

asjjects of religious truth on the affections and the heart, a homi-
letical treatise, discussing the substance of sermons, instead of the
form.

He was so much in the habit of insisting on the imi^ortance of
the preacher's manner, that some people suppose that his own
power lay principally, not in what he said, but in how he said it,
and that his sermons owed all their charm to his voice, tones,
and gestures. This is a great mistake. He knew precisely what
facts, what truths, what arguments have the mightiest control
over the common heart, and these he reiterated with unwearying
perseverance. It was the substance of his preaching that pro-
duced impression as well as the manner, and the impression was
produced by thoroughly legitimate means. Vivid descriptions of
natural scenery, exciting stories, frequently recurring appeals to
the natural affections of the human heart, may hold a congregation
breathless, brighten a thousand eyes with delight, or make them
dim with tears, while the truth around which all these telling
passages are grouped is neither illustrated nor enforced. The
sermon seems powerful, for the hearts of the people were filled
with agitation and emotion ; but examined more closely it will be
pronounced powerless, for it was not the glory of the Divine cha-
racter which hushed and awed the listening crowd, but the preach-
er's representation of an appalling thunderstorm ; it was not an
apostolic appeal to their Christian zeal that flushed their cheeks
with enthusiasm, but a splendid panegyric on the patriotism and
daring of some popular hero ; it was not the compassions of the
Lord Jesus Christ which "fail not," His mercy which "endureth
for ever," that brought tears, but the story of some fair giii with
bleeding lungs and hacking cough, wasting away through the
dreary winter, and longing for the tardy summer. It was not by
such means as these that Mr James sought to produce effect.

And yet his preaching was addressed to the imagination and the
passions, as well as the judgment. He knew that there are obstruc-
tions to the reception of truth which reasoning cannot remove, but
which arc often consvmied in a blaze of feeling. Blasting is often
more speedy and effectual than the pick and the spade.

PEEACHIXG.

609

Even when he had obtained the assent of the understanding, he
was iinwilling to leave the truth to produce its own effect. He
did not think of truth so much as a living seed, which by its own
vital force will germinate if once lodged in a kindly soil, but as a
weapon which must be wielded by a vigorous hand and directed
by a keen eye, if any results are hoped for. He asked himself
what particular impression he wished to secure by the facts or
doctrines which formed the staple of his sermon, and selected and
arranged all his materials with an eye to this. He always meant
to prevent his hearers committing some sin, or to persuade them
to discharge some duty; to awaken gratitude, reverence, faith,
fear, hope, or joy. He never forgot that to demonstrate is not
always to convince, nor to convince always to persuade. A gulf,
broad and deep, often lies between the judgment and the will, and
he endeavoured to bridge it over. Hence his sermons would never
by any accident be called intellectual. That term has been
applied of late years as an epithet of honour, to describe a style of
preaching which is deficient in all that distinguishes eloquence
from instruction. The orator does not exert his intellect less
strenuously than the philosophical lecturer, but in a different way ;
he appeals to the emotions of his audience, and not merely to their
logical facidties. He does not analyse the process of persuasion,
but persuades. He does not shew how strikingly adapted certain
truths are to ennoble all that believe them, but so states and
enforces these truths as to produce belief.

" Intellectual " sermons are not distinguished from good ser-
mons of another kind by the presence of greater logical power, but
by the absence of what is even better than that. Neither Shak-
speare nor Sir Walter Scott were " intellectual ; " neither Charles
James Fox nor Lord Erskine ; neither Jeremy Taylor nor Dr
Chalmers ; neither Eobert Hall nor Edward Irving. " Intellec-
tual preaching" is preaching in which nine-tenths of human
nature are clean forgotten. " We have to do," exclaims Mr
James in his " Earnest Ministry," " not only with a dark intellect
that needs to be instructed, but with a hard heart that needs to be
impressed, and a torpid conscience that needs to be awakened ;
2q

CIO

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

and have to make our hearers feel, that, in the great business of
religion, there is much to be done as well as much to be known.
We must give knowledge, for light is as essential to the growth of
piety in the spiritual world, as it is to the growth of vegetation in
the natural one ; and the analogy holds good in another point,
for we must not only let in light, but add great and vigorous
labour to carry on the culture. We must, therefore, rise from
exegesis into exhortation, warning, and expostulation. The apostle's
manner is the right one, — ' Whom we preach warning every man,
and teaching every man, that we may present every man perfect in
Christ Jesus.' There must not only be the directive bu.t the impul-
sive manner. All our hearers know far more of the Bible than they
practise. The head is far in advance of the heart ; and our great
business is to persuade, to entreat, to beseech. We have to deal
with a dead, heavy vis inertice of mind ; yea, more, we have to
overcome a stout resistance, and to move a reluctant heart. If all
that was necessary to secure the ends of our ministry were to lay
the truth open to the mind ; if the heart were already predisposed
to the subject of our preaching, then, like the lecturer on science,
we might dispense with the hortatory manner, and confine our-
selves exclusively to explanation. Logic, unaccompanied by rhe-
toric, would sufBce ; but when we find in every sinner we address,
an individual acting in opposition to the dictates of his judgment,
and the warnings of his conscience, as well as to the testimony of
Scripture, an individual who is sacrificing the interests of his im-
mortal soul to the vanities of the world and the corruptions of his
heart ; an individual who is madly bent upon his ruin, and rush-
ing to the precipice from which he will take his fatal leap into
perdition, can we, in that case, be satisfied with merely explaining,
however clearly, and demonstrating, however conclusively, the
truth of revelation ? Should we think it enough coldly to unfold
the sin of suicide, and logically to arrange the proofs of its crimi-
nality, before the man who had in his hand the pistol or the poison
with which he was just about to destroy himself? Would exegesLs,
however clear and accurate, be enough in this case ? Should wej
not entreat, expostulate, beseech ? Should we not lay hold of

PREACHING.

Gil

arm uplifted for dostruction, and snatcli the poison cup from the
hand tliat was about to apply it to the lips ? What is the case
with the impenitent sinners to whom we preach, but that of indi-
viduals bent upon self-destruction, not, indeed, the present destruc-
tion of their bodies, but of their souls ? There they are before our
eyes, rushing in their sins and their impenitence to the precipice
that overhangs the pit of destruction ; and shall we content om'-
selves with sermons, however excellent for elegance, for logic, for
perspicuity, and even for evangelism, but which have no hortatory
power, no restraining tendency, none of the apostle's beseeching
entreaty ? Shall we merely lecture on theology, and deal out reli-
gious science to men, who, amidst a flood of light already pouring
over them, care for none of these things ? "

The resources of Mr James's eloquence were very varied. As
some painters are only successful with a gloomy sky and a restless
sea, others with quiet corn-fields and running brooks, so some ora-
tors can only produce terror, and others only tears. Sublimity and
tenderness are not often found in the same preacher, but Mr
James had both. He could fire enthusiasm, or awaken pity ;
he could terrify, or soothe at will.

There was one characteristic of his preaching by which he often
made a very deep impression, at which, perhaps, strangers have
sometimes been surprised. I mean the freedom with which, espe-
cially in his own pulpit, he employed arguments and appeals
derived from his physical infirmities, his domestic sorrows, his
affection for his people, and their affection for him. It appears to
some that the attempt to stimulafte a chiirch to greater generosity,
to more regular attendance on public worship, to the maintenance
of peace and brotherly love, by motives of this order, is to lower
the digTiity of Christian duty. Most persons would admit that Mr
James availed himself of these elements of power to an extent
which few other men could have imitated with safety or propriety,
and that sometimes a severe taste might have complained that he
himself transgressed the limits it would have been well for him to
observe ; but that these personal allusions should be excluded from
the pulpit altogether, must not be too hastily conceded.

612

LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

It would be easy to shew from the Ei^istles of Paul that his
strong hold of the affection of his converts, his love for them, his
solicitude for their welfare, the impressions produced by his mani-
fest sincerity and goodness, were among his most valued instru-
ments of persuasion. He had learning and genius, he could argue
with irresistible cogency, he had the authority of high office, and
of inspiration ; and yet his eloquence, his logic, and his apostolic
commission itself, appeared to him to need the corroborating power
of his personal character, and of the mutual sympathies between
his converts and himself. In writing to the Ephesians, for in-
stance, he closes a magnificent train of inspired eloquence, in which
he has wielded all the grandest and loftiest motives which the
Divine love supplies, with an appeal to the sympathy of the Ephe-
sian Church with his personal sufi'erings. He has spoken of the
grace which, before all ages, chose iis in Christ, and predestinated
us to the honours and joys of Divine Sonship ; he has identified
believers with Christ in a sublime and mystical unity, declaring
that the same power which wrought in Him is working in us, that
we sit with Him in heavenly places, that the Church is the fulness
of Him that filleth all in all ; he has declared, that, in our salva-
tion and in the glory and bliss to which God intends to raise us,
He will reveal to the ages to come, and to heavenly principalities
and powers. His manifold wisdom and the exceeding riches of
His grace ; and had exclaimed that God is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all we ask or think, — though he had just prayed
that the Ephesians might be "filled with all the fulness of God;" —
and then he appeals at once to thfeir love for himself, " / therefore,
the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you." All his calamities and
persecutions, and especially his present imprisonment, had come
upon him through his zeal for the conversion of the Gentiles to
Christ ; and so, after pointing them to the throne of heaven, he
points them to the chain which for their sakes he bore on his
arm, and besought them to walk worthy of the vocation wheremth
they were called.

And this was Paul's manner. He entreated the Philippian
Christians to fulfil his joy by being "like-minded, having the same

PKEACIIING.

613

love, being of one accord, of one mind." He gave pathos and
power to his solemn charge to the Ei3he.sian elders, when he met
them at ]\Iiletus, by reminding them, that during the three years
he had lived in their city, he had not ceased " to warn every one
night and day with tears," and that he knew they should see his
face no more.

It is surely a mistake to regard with suspicion the alliance be-
tween the social and the religious affections, and the stimulus and
support which the spiritual life derives from admiration and love
for those who are eminently good. Our complex nature is perfected
by a complex system of spiritual forces. Not only the heat and
light of the sun in the heavens, but the kindly dews of the earth,
and the gentle breeze.s, feed and ripen the fruits of the Spirit. A
saintly man is a means of grace to all who know him. The
love and the respect he inspires, the pleasure of possessing his ap-
probation, and the fear of incurring his rebuke, are aids to holy
living. The social affections have been effective instruments of
moral debasement and ruin, and they are used by God to purify
and ennoble us. Mr James could not be ignorant of the strength
of his personal influence over the hearts of his people, and he
used it to enlarge their liberality, to rouse their activity, and to
maintain brotherly confidence and love.

To return from this digression, I repeat that Mr James's preach-
ing was addressed to the emotions, as well as the understanding
and that he was able to awaken emotions of the most varied char-
acter.

Sermons of the terrific order are now seldom heard, I suppose,
from English pulpits ; Mr James thought it a grievous mistake
and a cruel neglect of the duty which the preacher owes to the
impenitent for him to ignore the severer aspects of the invisible
world. There is a savage, fiendish mode of denouncing God's
vengeance, which can only provoke disgust and indignation in
cultivated persons, and which must produce frightfully distorted
conceptions of God's character in the minds of the untaught ; but
those who are entrusted with the " ministry of reconciliation "
shrink from half their duty, if they do not warn men of the moral

614

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

ruin and everlasting despair, which are the just and inevitable
penalty of refusing Christ's mercy and resisting the Holy Ghost.
The mighty spell by vphich Mr Finney compels the reluctant con-
science to condemn sin is a power of a different order. Mr James
could startle and terrify by vivid representations of the Divine in-
dignation and wrath, but his appeals were directed to the passion
of fear rather than to the moral sense. It was by pointing to the
vengeance which is gathering like a thunderstorm over the future
of the unsaved, rather than by assorting the righteous claims and
awful majesty of the Divine Law, that he was able to awaken
alarm.

But he was very far from supposing that the Christian minister
should devote all his strength to sermons intended to alarm the
impenitent and to persuade the unpardoned to receive God's
mercy. The instruction of Christian people in the duties they
owe to God and to man, had a very conspicuous place in his
preaching. He thought it necessary to shew the application
of spiritual principles and moral laws to the minutest circum-
stances of human life. He was incessantly preaching to particular
classes on their peculiar duties and dangers. He did not think it
a violation of the dignity of the pulpit to preach to mistresses and
servants, masters and workmen, husbands and wives, on their
mutual obligations. His ethical sermons were among the ablest
and most powerful that he ever delivered. Whatever truth there
may be in the reproach often thrown on the evangelical pulpit of
neglecting the inculcation of ordinary moral duties, no one who
heard Mr James frequently would bring the charge against him.
Some men imagine that wherever the divine life has been im-
planted it will transform by its own intrinsic energy the whole
character, and that to instruct those who have been renewed by
the Holy Ghost in the details of moral duty is unnecessaiy.
Would to God that this were so ! But there is no pastor who is
not from time to time grieved and amazed by the obliquity, or dul-
ness, or very partial development of the moral sense, even in good
people. Wherever true love to God has power in the heart, there
will be an earnest and habitual endeavour to do whatever is

PREACHING.

G15

' thought to be right ; but within certain limits, the opinions of
men as to what this is, will vary with their education and circum-
stances. Llany a man who would die rather than lie like Abraham
and Jacob, must be conscious that, on the whole, Abraham and
Jacob were much better men than himself ; but the structure of
our modem social life has given us a conviction which it was im-
possible they should have of the inviolable obligation of truth.
There are commercial transactions in which a professional man,
unaccustomed to business, has at first some diflBculty in discovering
any wrong, which are justly felt by a merchant to involve serious
gmlt. On the other hand, a scholar is often indignant at the dis-
honesty of which business men of the highest integ-rity are guUty
in the discussion and investigation of matters of opinion.

The contents of the New Testament afibrd, however, the best
answer to those who deny the necessity of minute ethical teach-
ing. Exclude the practical precepts from the Gospels and
Epistles, and you diminish the New Testament to half its present
bulk. The apostles are unanimous in affirming that men whose
hearts have been renewed stiU need to be warned against particular
sins, and to be exhorted to particular duties. St Paul, in the First
Epistle to the Thessaloniaus, supplies a startling illustration of this
statement ; though he felt it necessary to threaten with the Divine
vengeance certain gross sensual offences, he adds, " But as touch-
ing brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you ; for ye your-
selves are taught of God to love one another."

Very few of 'Mr James's ethical sermons were preached on
isolated texts chosen for the purpose. He expounded in course
many of the books both of the Old Testament and the New, and he
often said that in addition to the many other advantages of this prac-
tice, it enabled a minister to preach on particular moral virtues, and
on particidar moral offences, without giving the congregation reason
to suppose that the infirmities or sins of any individual had sug-
gested the discourse. His expository sermons were very uupreten-
tious, but were marked by sound judgment, and were very instruc-
tive. He availed himself freely of the most recent, as well as the
older exegetical authorities. John Owen, for whose general theolo-

1616

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

gical works Le felt too little admiration, he esteemed veiy highly »
as a commentator, and greatly prized his wonderful Exposition of
the Epistle to the Hebrews. For Archbishop Leigliton on St Peter,
even Coleridge could not have had a profouuder reverence. He
also greatly liked the good sense of Dr George Campbell's Notes
on the Gospels. For Macknight, I think he cared but little ;
Matthew Henry's praises he was always reiterating ; he was less
enthusiastic about Scott ; Dr Adam Clarke he consulted constantly,
though he had but little respect for the doctor's judgment. Dr
John Browni's Expository Discourses, especially those on Peter, Dr
Eadie's Commentaries on several of St Paul's Epistles, Alexander
on Isaiah, Moses Stuart on the Komans and the Hebrews, and
several of Albert Barnes's commentaries, were among his favourite
books. He greatly admired Tholuck, and occasionally used Heng-
stenberg and Olsliausen.*

In historical sermons, Mr James was also very successful. He
was equally happy in illustrating the lessons suggested by the
domestic life of the patriarchs, and in painting the splendour of
Belshazzar's feast, or the terrors of the plagues of Egypt, the
"darkness that might be felt," "the thunder, the hail, and the
fire " that " ran along the ground." Unlike many preachers who
tell the story in their introduction, and fill the rest of the discourse
with mere didactic matter, he interwove the narrative with the
instruction, and the climax of the story was often wrought into the
peroration of the sermon. Indeed, he could tell the facts in such
a way that made it almost uimecessary formally to state the
" moral."

The same observations apply to the sermons he preached
on public events. He was not continually looking through the
columns of the newspaper for tales of blood and horror to drag
into the pulpit; but, now and then, when the public mind was
greatly excited — whether by a continental revolution, or a financial

* I leave this passage as it stands, although it has been partly anticipated in the
preceding chapter. It may be interesting to some readers to notice the coinci-
dence between the testimony of Mr James's son and that of Mr James's col-
league.

rKKACHING.

G17

crisis — by the apprehension of war, or tlie liope of peace — by a
royal marriage, or the death of a great statesman — or by tlie execu-
tion of some notorious criminal, whose dark career suggested salu-
tary warnings — he availed himself of these circumstances with
consummate tact, and as in his historical sermons, the lessons he
wished to inculcate were so interlaced with the facts, and the facts
themselves were so skilfully arranged, that the congregation lis-
tened with an interest that became more and more intense as the
discourse proceeded. These sermons were not only popular, but
calculated to do great good.

It is hardly necessary to say that, in his regular ministry, very
many sermons were devoted to the encouragement of devoutness
and spirituality of life. Perhaps, in his eager anxiety that his
church should live under the constant control of the invisible
world, he reiterated entreaties and exhortations, when his object
would have been more certainly secured by less direct methods, —
especially by preaching more frequently on those i^arts of God's
revelation which fire and exalt the religious affections. He often
spoke with rapture to the unbeliever of God's mercy ; but it was
not often that he expatiated in his sermons, with any excitement
of joy, on the blessedness of Divine sonship, " the exceeding great-
ness of the power that worketh in them that believe," and the
consciousness possible to the devout and faithful Christian that he
dwells in God, and God in him. He was a Calvinist, but there
was very little Calvinism in his preaching ; there was neither the
severity of the darker parts of the system, nor the mighty and
victorious confidence of its brighter aspects. He worked out his
salvation "with fear and trembling." He thought it safer to utter
constant warnings against sin to preserve men from falling, than
to proclaim, too often, how certain it is that those who are in
Christ's hands will never perish.

At a time when there was a gTeat deal of talk about the sup-
posed decHne of orthodoxy among the yoimger ministers, Mr
James, in conversation with a young minister, was expressing the
apprehensions which he often uttered in public ; his companion,
who thought his apprehensions groundless, and saw that he was

618

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAJIES.

in a desponding mood, looked up and said, rather mischievously,
" Well, Mr James, you know that I am more orthodox than you
are."

" What ! what ! " was his reply, with a puzzled and amused
look ; " how do you make that out ? "

" At least I am more Calvinistic than you."

" No, sir," said Mr James, raising his closed hand to give em-
phasis to his words ; " I hold the doctrines of Calvinism with a
firm grasp."

" But, sir, you never preach about them, and I do."

" Well," he replied, rather slowly, " there 's not so much about
them in the Bible."

" That proves what I say, sir," answered the younger minister ;
" you don't half believe them."

This conversation, though only half in earnest on one side, indi-
cates Mr James's real position. In creed he was a moderate Cal-
vinist, belonging to the school of his predecessor, Dr Williams, but
his temperament led him to dwell much more on Christian duty
than on Christian privilege.

But the sermon was far from being the only remarkable part of
the Carr's Lane service. As Mr James slowly ascended the pulpit,
the stranger would see in his calm and solemn countenance that
his spirit was awed by a sense of God's presence ; and, after the
opening psalm was read,* and a hymn sung, he offered a prayer
which was generally characterised by the profoundest awe and
reverence for the Divine Majesty, and by earnest, sometimes im-
passioned supphcation for spiritual blessings. The Scriptures were
then read a second time, and a second prayer was offered, in which
intercession was made for " all sorts and conditions of men," for
the Queen on the throne, for the ministers of the crovm, for

* Some changes were made in the order of service a year or two before Mr
James's death. Formerly the order was, 1. The reading of a psalm; 2. Singing;
3. Prayer; 4. Reading the Scriptures ; 5. Prayer ; 6. Singing; 7. Sermon; 8. Sing-
ing ; 9. Prayer and benediction. The present order, which is nearly the same as
when Mr James died, is, 1. Prayer; 2. Singing; 3. Reading the Scriptures; 4.
Prayer ; 5. Singing ; C. Prayer ; 7. Reading the Scriptures ; 8. Singing ; 9. Ser-
mon; 10. Prayer; 11. Singing; 12. Benediction.

PREACHING.

G19

judges and magistrates, for merchants and tradesmen, for masters
and servants, for the rich, the poor, and the troubled, for all
Christian churches and ministers, and very often for some spe-
cial department of Christian labour ; missions in China and the
East being often remembered. And again, at the close of the
prayer, there were solemn ascriptions of praise, sometimes swelling
into lofty eloquence, to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The tones
of his voice, rich and deep, his manner — never hurried and gene-
rally very deliberate — added solemnity to the devotional part of
the service ; and many, I should suppose, are ready to acknow-
ledge with myself that his prayers were often characterised by even
brighter excellencies than his sermons.

CHAPTER III.

PASTORATE.

Foe several years before Mr James's cleatli the Carr's Lane Church
had numbered hard upon a thousand members, and it was, of
course, impossible that he should maintain a close personal acquaint-
ance with them all. How it was that he knew so much of the
circumstances and history of the people was always a puzzle to
me. He was constantly bewailing his inability to sustain a regular
and satisfactory system of pastoral visitation, and yet there were
very few persons in the church of whom he could not give a clear
account.

At one time it was his custom to sit in the vestry on Tuesday
morning to converse with any of the congregation that ^vished to
see him ; but this plan did not last long. He contrived to see a
considerable number of persons without losing much time by often
arranging to take tea at the houses of the church members on
Wednesday afternoon before the service, and occasionally requested
the family he visited to invite some of their friends and neigh-
bours. Death, sickness, or great trouble of any kind, always
awakened his sympathy, and the tenderness of his heart made his
visits to families in sorrow a great consolation.

Por the regular oversight of the church he made a double pro-
vision. The town was divided into six districts, and two deacons
had the care of each. It was their duty to ascertain the reason of

PASTORATE.

621

the absence of anj' member in their district from the monthly com-
munion, to administer relief to the poor, to visit the sick, to report
to the pastor any cases of severe iUness requiring his personal
attention, and to maintain a knowledge of the general character of
all the members assigned to their care. Another set of districts
was placed imder the charge of " superintendents," private mem-
bers of the church, selected for this post by the pastors and
deacons. It Avas their duty to provide for the holding of monthly
meetings for prayer, reading the Scriptures, and religious conver-
sation in their " parishes," to exercise a kindly watchfulness over
the members, to visit them all as frequently as possible, and to
secure contributions for the Carr's Lane Town Mission.

Of course, the success of this machinery depended altogether
upon the vigour with which it was worked ; and Mr James saw
the difficulty of finding men with leisure enough and power enough
to enable them to discharge the duties of these offices efficiently.
But while very many of the members of the chm-ch have, I fear,
been overlooked, there can be no doubt that the organisation I
have described has secured admirable results.

Although not maintained very regularly, it was ]\Ir James's
custom to invite the members to take tea with him about once a
month in the vestry, those belonging to the same superintendent's
district coming together. At these meetings, after an hour's
friendly conversation, he usually delivered a familiar exhortation,
which was followed by prayer. Occasionally, too, he was present
at the ordinary monthly district meetings.

His arrangements for the instruction of " inquirers," and for the
introduction of new members into fellowship, were such as are
made by most Independent ministers. He announced on the Sun-
day, that on a particular evening he would be in the vestry for
four or five hours, to converse with any persons under religious
conviction ; these he saw alone. If there were very many came,
he would arrange for a series of "inquirers' meetings," at which
he gave simple and impressive addresses adapted to their spiritual
condition, and offered earnest prayer. After holding five or six
meetings of this kind, he would ask them to come and see him

G22

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

again at the vestry privately ; and as one and another found rest
in Christ, and gave proof of a change of heart and life, he proposed
them for membership.

Some pei'sons may read this volume who are unacquainted with
the usual mode of admission into Independent churches ; for their
information, I will describe Mr James's practice, merely observing
that every Independent church claims and exercises the right of
determining the details of church order, according to its own judg-
ment of the best mode of carrying out the laws and precepts of
the New Testament ; and that, therefore, this description, though
probably representing in its principal outlines the method of pro-
cedure in many churches of our order, is not true of many others.

Having satisfied himself that a number of persons were really
living a Christian life, he proposed them for membership at one
of the ordinary monthly church-meetings ; the whole list was put
to the church at once, and if adopted, the persons included in
it were declared to be accepted as " candidates ; " he then ap-
pointed two members to visit each of them, selecting the visitors
according to his own judgment of their fitness to be entrusted
with each particular case. The visitors were expected, not only to
converse with the candidate on his religious knowledge and his-
tory, but to inform themselves of his moral character. If the
result of their inquiries was satisfactory, they reported at the next
church-meeting ; after their report letters addressed to the church
by the candidates themselves were frequently read, and the pastor
having given his testimony, the church was called upon to vote on
the question, whether the candidate should be received or not.
When all had been "received," they were brought into the meeting,
and having been arranged before the pastor's desk, stood while he
addressed them on their new responsibilities, on the joys and perils
of the religious life, on the glorious inheritance of the saints in
heaven, and other topics of a kindred nature ; and then, having left
the desk, it was his custom to give the right hand of fellowship,
addressing to each a few words suggested by their age, history, or
present circumstances.

At one of the earliest church-meetings at which I was present —

PASTORATE.

G23

it was not long after I went to college — there was a singularly
affecting scene. The lecture-room, in which the meeting is gener-
ally held, was very crowded, and a long line of new members stood
before the desk. One of them was an old man, who had lived for
seventy years without repentmg of sin. Next to him stood a little
girl, apparently not more than twelve or thirteen years of age, who
bad been taught by her mother to love Christ, and who, in answer
to her mother's prayers, had been early renewed by the power of the
Holy Ghost. Then came a poor man, who had been guilty of gross
and reckless sins ; a few months before, he had fallen into a ditch
in a state of intoxication, and, while lying there, thought he heard
a voice saying to him, " If you go on in this way, you will be sent
to hell ; " he remembered the words when he got sober, began
immediately to attend public worship, and had been living a new
life ever since. The emotion with which Mr James grasped the
hand of the old man, and the trembling tones with which he
welcomed him into the church, the tenderness with which he
spoke to the child on the blessedness of coming to Christ so early,
and his joy over the drunkard who had been so strangely re-
claimed, I shall never forget. Mr James then retm'ned to the
desk and implored for them all the Divine benediction, beseeching
God to keep them from falling, and to present them faultless be-
fore the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Scenes of this
kind were constantly recurring ; the church-meetings were among
the most important and powerful aids to the religious life of the
people. Some of ilr James's addresses to the new members far
surpassed, in aU the highest qualities of eloquence, any of the ser-
mons or public speeches that I ever heard him deliver.

It was always his anxiety to make these meetmgs strictly reli-
gious services, and to present the business in such a form as
should render discussion unnecessary. When any of the members
had fallen into sin requiring the exercise of discipline, the church
uniformly acted on the report of a discipline committee, appomted
by the church itself from year to year. Tive of the members of
this committee, including the pastor, wei-e church officers ; the
other five were private members of the church. The sins most

C24

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

frequently requiring exercise of discipline were drunkenness, and
dishonest practices in business. By the custom of the church,
insolvency was followed by immediate suspension from commu-
nion till the circumstances had been investigated.

It has been supposed by persons at a distance, that Mr James
ruled the church with a very strong hand, and tolerated no antag-
onism, or even difference of opinion. This is a very natural mis-
take, but it is a mistake, nevertheless. It is true, that during
the thirteen years that I attended the Oarr's Lane Church meet-
ings, no proposition coming from him was ever opposed, and it
would have required some courage for a member to rise and inter-
fere with the habitual assent of the church to the proposals of the
pastor. But this power had been gradually gained by an unweary-
ing solicitude on his part to propose nothing that would be out of
harmony with the general feeling of the people.

Often when seeming to guide, he was but expressing the judg-
ment of the church. It should not be forgotten that the church
knew that it was his habit to have a free and thorough investigation
of every proposal in the deacons' vestry before he submitted it to
the church-meeting. Moreover, it would have been strange if in
a fifty years' pastorate he had not acquired the hearty confidence
of the church in his wisdom and justice. He maintained his influ-
ence by not abusing it.

This chapter would be incomplete if no reference were made to
the extraordinary solemnity and pathos of his manner in conduct-
ing the Lord's Supper. Had we any record of the addresses de-
livered by St John to the church at Ephesus, at its meetings to
break bread in remembrance of the Lord Jesus, I can imagine that
in their form and spirit they would be found greatly to resemble
the addresses which Mr James delivered at the monthly commu-
nion. He passed from grave and penetrating exhortation to prac-
tical godliness, to such glorious visions of the throne of Christ, such
affecting expressions of love and thankfulness to Christ for His suf-
ferings and death, that his face often became radiant with an unut-
terable joy. There are, probably, many who never expect to expe-
rience a blessedness like that which they have sometimes known

PASTORATE.

G25

while listening to these meditations, until with him and a multitude
that no man can number, redeemed from every kindred, and people,
and tongue, and nation, they join in ascribing blessing, and honour,
and glory, and power, unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and
unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

T have reserved for this place two letters, written by 'Mr James
in 18-iO, when under the impression that he had not long to Uve,
to the deacons and to the members of the Carr's Lane Church.
They were found with his wiU after his death : —

" TO THE CHUECH A>-D CONGREGATION ASSEMBLING IN CARR's LANE,
BIRMINGHAM:.

"My BELOVED Flock, — Having a strong persuasion from certain
symptoms in my constitution, which it might not be possible nor im-
portant to describe, that I am approaching the conclusion, not only of
my labours but also of my life, and deeming it probable that my last
illness may be of such a nature as to give me Uttle opportunity to
express my views and hopes and counsels in prospect of dissolution, I
have determined thus to commit them to paper, in order that they
might be read to you after my decease, when the circumstance of my
removal to the eternal world, united to the calmness with which I now
give utterance to my dying testimony wiU tend, by the blessing of God,
deeply to impress your minds.

" In looking back upon the five-and-thii-ty years, or nearly that
term, which I have spent among you and your fathers before you, I see
abundant cause of gratitude and adoring love to the Divine Head of
the Church for directing my youthful feet to this town. My minis-
terial course among you has been one of such prosperity and comfort
as rarely falls to the lot of a minister of Jesus Christ, and never, no,
never, has fallen to any one who less deserved it, or had less reason to
expect it. I am filled with dehghted surprise, not at what I have done,
but at what God has done by me. I cannot, of course, be ignorant, and
I have not the hypocrisy to aflect ignorance, of what has been done ;
but now, as in the sight of God, and perhaps shortly about to appear in
His presence, I can truly adopt the language, and with it I beheve the
huniihty of the apostle, where he says, ' Not I, but the grace of God in
me,' for I am nothing. It is impossible for me by any terms I could
now select to convey to you any adequate idea of the sense I now
cherish of the defects, the imworthiness, and even the sinfulness of my
2r

626

LIFE OF JOHN AJ^GELL JAMES,

labours among you, so that the success of them appears the more
astonishing, and is thus more clearly proved to be aU of God. It is
impossible for me to doubt that many of you -will be my crown of
rejoicing in the day of Christ Jesus, even as you have been my joy
upon earth : but even this crown I shaU. take from my head as soon as
it is placed there, and cast down at the feet of Jesus, my adorable
Lord, to whom alone the glory is aU due.

" I know it will be a satisfaction to you to be assured how much
you have contributed to my happiness upon eartL For aU your kind-
nesses I thank you : injuries I have received none. AU that I have
had to object to or to complain of, in regard to most of you, is an over-
estimate of my poor services : and yet I dare affirm, I have loved you
and sought your welfare. It is pleasant to me to think of laying down
the pastoral office among the people for whom I took it up ; that I
have never known any other flock but you ; and that my bones will
rest till the resurrection beneath the only pulpit that ever received me
as its own occupant.

" It wiU be interesting and perhaps important for you to be informed
how the doctrines I have preached to you appear to my mind, and
affect my heart in the view of eternity; just as they ever did, only
with a deeper and more solemn sense of their truth, their importance,
and their aU-sanctifying and all-sustaining nature. It is my comfort to
know that with the reading and thinking of five-and-thirty years, I
have seen no reason to expunge or change a single article of the confes-
sion of faith which I publicly uttered on the day of my ordination.
I cannot now tell you how glorious the true and proper divinity of our
Lord Jesus Christ, His atoning sacrifice, His justifying righteousness
and regenerating and sanctif}dng grace, appear now to me. Yes, my
dear friends, they are more than articles of faith, they are the founda-
tion, the only foundation that I see, or feel, of hope for lost, guilty, and
depraved man. I see the niysteriousness of some of these truths, but
at the same time I feel their ineflable preciousness. How, with the
knowledge I now have of the sins of a whole hfe, seen the more clearly
as I draw nearer the great white throne, could I, or dare I, approach
that awful seat of immaculate purity, without the shelter of the blood
of sprinkling, and the covering of a better righteousness than my own ?
The atonement appears to me at this moment unutterably momentous,
tranquiUising, and dehghtful. Relying upon this, and this is all I do
rely upon, I dare plunge into Jordan's stream, believing that, guilty
though I be, — and most guilty that is, — the hand of mercy wiU receive
my spirit on that bank of the dark waters which is on the side of
eternity. Cling to this glorious and fundamental truth : it supports
me, and it wiU support you. It is a doctrine to die by, and yields in

PASTOEATE.

627

death its strongest consolation. I die, then, as a sinner at the foot of
the cross, looking for life eternal through the merits of Him who
expired upon it,

" You may infer from what I have said, that I have a good and a
firm hope of immortahty. I bless God I have. I feel no rapture, but
I have hope and peace. ' I know whom I have beUeved, and am per-
suaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him
until that day.' I have been sometimes too much troubled with the
love of hie, and fear of death : but I am thankfid to say that at the
time I write this, both are much diminished, and if I do not desire to
depart and be with Christ, I am quite willing to go when my Lord
caUs for me : and I encourage all the Lords people to trust Him for a
dying hour.

" In the prospect of meeting my Lord and Master, the Supreme
Judge, it must appear of small consequence to me, with what censure
or applause my name may be mentioned, or my conduct marked by my
fellow-creatures, whose opinions cannot follow me into eternity; but it
is a cause of some thankfulness that my memory will, I beUeve, be
respected by you. I have endeavoured in simplicity and godly sincerity,
not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of Gcod, to have my conversa-
tion among you. "Would God that my example had been a more per-
fect copy of Christ's, and one that was more worthy of your imitation.
Oh, that I had been more holy, more spiritual, more heavenly, for your
sake as well as my own ! I now see many things which I coidd wish
had been other^^lse. Still I thank God for that grace which has kept
me from falhug. What the tongue of slander may invent, for even
the grave is not always a defence from its -wickedness, I cannot predict ;
but while it is matter of deep humiliation and contrition that I have
not lived more up to the lofty standard of our profession and our prin-
ciples, it is at the same time matter of thankfulaess that I know
of nothing which need make you blush at the mention of your pastor's
name, or turn away with disgust from his monument.

" On account of the hirgencss to which the church has attained, it
has been impossible for me to pay that attention to the members indi-
TiduaUy, which I could have wished, and I am now afifected with a
sorrowfid sense of my great defects as a pastor. Forgive me, ye
neglected sick and poor ; load not my name -with reproaches for having
in any instance grieved you, if such has been the case, with the idea
that your minister had neither time nor heart for you. The latter, he
can truly say, he had, though far less of the former than was necessary
for the comfoit of so large a number as looked to him for the visits of
mercy and peace.

" Had it been the will of God, I could have contentedly and joyfully

628

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

continued yet longer to live and labour among you. I am not weary
of your society ; you have done nothing to make me wish to leave you :
but if the Lord has no more work for me to do, I am willing to go to
my eternal rest. And may the Head of the Church send you, and send
him soon, a successor, far more worthy of your confidence, your affec-
tion, and esteem, than I have been, because more devoted to your
interests, and more able to promote them than I ! Most truly can I
aver that I am not jealous of my successor. Such is the love I bear
you, that I could be comforted with the assurance that you would be
settled with a pastor a month after my decease ; nor would it disturb
the serenity of my deathbed to anticipate the disadvantage to which, in
every respect, I must ever stand in comparison with him who is to
foUow me. My earnest prayer to God for you is, that He would send
you a man both of competent talents and eminent piety. Attach more
importance to the latter than to the former. It has been long my
opinion that it is one of the faults of the churches of the present time
to attach more importance than belongs to it, to a certain kind of
showy and jjopular preaching. Seek for a man — may God send you
such a one ! — who is mighty in the Scriptures and prayer.

" Be of one mind in the choice of such a man. This cometh from
the Lord. Oh, how anxiously and earnestly have I wrestled with the
Author of peace and the Giver of concord, that He would unite your
hearts in the selection of a future pastor ! ISIay He in His great mercy
prevent aU divisions and strifes ! Do not, oh, do not, allow any alterca-
tion to arise about a teacher of truth, righteousness, and peace. Exer-
cise a just confidence in your deacons. But especially let your supreme
confidence be in Christ, the Divine Head of the Church. He vdll not
forsake you, if you do not forsake Him. He loves His body the
Church, and you are a part of it. You cannot be so concerned for
your welfare as He is. Cultivate the spirit of prayer. A good and
faithful pastor will be obtained by prayer. I particularly recommend that
the chapter in my book entitled ' The Church Member's Guide,' on the
subject of choosing a pastor, be read at an early meeting of the church
after my decease ; and that it be read more than once, if need be. I
bequeath that chapter as a legacy to the church for its direction in this
important afi"air. As you respect and love my memory, do not destroy
my work by dividing the church. Be of one mind and one heart. ' If
there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any
fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy,
that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of
one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain-glory ; but in
lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look
not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of

PASTOEATE.

G29

others. Let tliis mind bo in you, -n-bich was also in Cbrist Jesus,'
(Phil. ii. 1-5.)

" Dear brethren, we must meet at the bar of Christ. I think that in
prospect of that awful interview, I can in some humble measure adopt
the language of the apostle Paul, and say, ' I take you to record, that I
am pure from the blood of all men. For T have not shunned to declare
unto you the whole counsel of God.' You are my witnesses that I have
not been afraid or backward to bring forward any truth, however un-
palatable it might be supposed to be to any that heard me. As far as
I have known the truth I have declared it ; not fearing the frown of
man by fidelity, or courting his smile by the suppression of what I
deemed it to be my commission to make known. Some of you have
been the witnesses also of my fidelity in private, though here, perhaps,
I have been more deficient, as we all are, than in public. And now,
dear brethren, if you perish, your blood will not be upon me. Your
rum wiU lie at your own door. You know how constantly and how
anxiously I have reminded you that to be a church member is not all
the same as being a real Christian : how often and how emphatically
I have told you that many will spend their eternity in the bottomless
pit with Satan and his angels, who have spent their time on earth in
the nominal fellowship of the Church of Christ. Once more, I tell you
this awful trath. I remind you of it now, not as before from the pnlpit
or the sacramental table, but from my grave, and from my seat in glory.
Once more, let me solemnly entreat you to examine your hearts whether
ye are in the faith and Christ be in you. The mere name of a Chris-
tian will serve you in no stead in a dying hour and in the day of Christ.
Nothing but the reality will stand His scrutinising search. O brethren,
do not deceive yourselves : it is no easy thing to be a Christian, how-
ever easy it is to be called one.

" Many, very many of you have nothing to fear from examining
into your state. Every examination will only tend to strengthen the
assurance of hope in your souls. To you I say, ' We shall meet again !
Yes, there is a gathering together of the saints unto Christ approach-
ing, even as now there is a scattering. Blessed and glorious prospect !
Often contemplate it. We shall meet in His presence, where there is
fulness of joy, and at His right hand, where there are pleasures for
evermore.' What a mercy ! no more separation — no more going out —
but we are to be together through all eternity. What communion will
there be there, with God and each other ! How we shall be astonished
at our own and each other's felicity and honour ! With these hopes,
resist the temptations and bear the trials of life. Time is short!
' "Wlierefore let those that have wives be as though they had none ; and
they that weep, as though they wept not ; and they that rejoice, as

C30

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

thougli they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed
not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it : for the fashion of
this world passeth away.' ' Seeing aU these things shall be dissolved,
what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and
godliness; looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of GodV
" Farewell, my dear flock ; a long — a long — but not a last farewell,
from your late faithful, affectionate, devoted pastor,

" J. A. James.

" Begun in March and finished
" December 7, 1 840."

" TO THE DEACONS OP CAER S LANE CHUECH.

" December 7, 1840.

" My dear Friends, — As life is uncertain, and may terminate soon
with me, and in such a manner as to deprive me of all opportunity of
dehvering to you any parting salutation or advice, I deem it proper to
leave in writing what, in taking my last leave of you, I should wish to
say to you.

" In what manner I have served the church, you know, and wiU, I
hope and believe, testify that I have not been whoUy an indolent,
selfish, or unfaithful shepherd of the flock which the Holy Ghost com-
mitted to my care ; but even you who have met me so often in our
private conferences on the interests of our body, can form but an inade-
quate idea of the intense affection and solicitude with which my
ministry among you has been maintained. Dehghtful as my work has
been, it has been work indeed, oftentimes amounting to the burden of
the Lord. I have loved the church, and I believe there has not been a
day for many years in which it has not been the subject of my prayers,
both morning and evening ; and this anxiety for its weKare follows me
to the present moment, and in the prospect of leaving it, dictates this
posthumous effort for its welfare. I am perhaps soon to meet my
Divine Lord and Master, and am intensely desirous of hearing Him
say, * Well done, good and faithful servant.'

" It is a source of considerable satisfaction and gratitude to the God
of peace and wisdom, that my intercourse with you has been so pleasant,
and that our co-operation has been so cordial and harmonious. I leave
you with sincere affection and much respect, and in a most solemn and .
tender manner commend the church, first of all, to the unerring guidance J
and omnipotent love of its Divine Head, who cares for it far more than j
even you or I do, and, next to Him, I commend it to your superintend-
ence and jealous watchfulness. On you it will devolve at my decease
to look after the shepherdless flock, and to look out for a successor. You
will need much wisdom, grace, and a mixture of firmness and kindnesa

PASTORATE.

631

May you have a spirit of prayer and dependence upon Christ, accom-
panied by an impressive sense of your responsibility! Perhaps it
hardly concerns me to suggest any ideas for your direction ; and yet my
wishes to aid you, and help the church, go beyond my life.

" I advise you, then, to meet immediately after my removal, to agree
upon a plan for prociiring supplies, and appoint a secretary for manag-
ing the correspondence. My dear friend ]\Ir BeUby is suitable for this
office, as having more leisure than any other. Of course, j'ou wiU
devote among yourselves time for special prayer for your own guidance
and that of the church, and will also appoint a special season of prayer,
once a-week or fortnight, in addition to the customary prayer-meeting.
I attach great importance to this. I have always been anxious for a
praying church while I lived, and I am, if possible, more anxious for
the spirit of prayer to remain and increase when I am gone. Prayer,
if it be fervent, persevering, and believing, will obtain for you a. suit-
able and devoted pastor.

" It would not be well for you to depend too much for assistance
upon the neighbouring ministers, and thus to fill the pulpit by shifts
and expedients, but to have a long list of good and acceptable ministers
engaged for several weeks beforehand. Mr Barker, of the college, will
be always willing to help you, and always acceptable. Kespect for my
memory will, I think, induce many of our most able ministers to give
you a Sabbath or two from time to time, and these must be written to
soon, such, for instance, as Drs Raffles, Halley, Bennett, Wardlaw, Ur-nick,
Leifchild, &c. ; Messrs Kelly, Burnet, James HUl, Sherman, Binney,
Luke of Chester, Martin of Cheltenham, Ely, Hamilton, Scales of Leeds,
&c. It would be well to fill up the interstices of more popular
men from a distance \vith one from the neighbourhood. I am, of
course, supposing that it may be long before you are again settled.
And here I would entreat you, and also the church, to be patient. Do
not expect the pulpit to be re-occupied in a few weeks or a few months.
God may see fit to try your faith and confidence for a considerable
time. Do not allow yourselves to be hurried into an injudicious
choice.

" As to a successor, I must leave that to the Divine Head of the
Church and the wisdom and piety of His people. And yet I feel dis-
posed to say a few things upon the subject. Do not look merely for a
man of pulpit talent. I am aware that you must have an individual of
sufficient intellectual and physical powers to instruct the flock and
command public attention ; but do not make talents ever}i:hing, nor be
led away by what is showy rather than what is substautial. Indeed,
your own good sense may be trusted for this, and for seeking after a
devoted man, — one that will watch for souls, a labourer for Christ and

632

LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

His cause. Never introduce to the pulpit, even for a single Sabbath,
any one, with the idea of his being a candidate, about whom you have
not obtained much previous satisfactory information, and whom you
would deem unsuitable for the situation. Endeavour to come to as
much agreement of opinion among yourselves as possible. It woidd be
a sad thing if the deacons should be divided in opiriion. Confer
together in the spirit of confidence, love, and prayer. Avoid all
dogmatism and an overbearing manner of expressing your views to one
another. Should you unhappuy not agree in opinion, do not, I beseech
you, endeavour to form two parties. Forbear with one another in love.
Out of regard to my memory, if you have any veneration, gratitude,
and love for it, endeavour to keep among yourselves the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace. A conflict among the officers would be a
fearful thing for the troops. Let there be no self-will and nothing
done in your own spirit, but all in the Spirit of Christ.

" Although I know the Christian Church very extensively so far as
our denomination is concerned, I scarcely know to what quarter to
direct your attention. Amongst aU the ministers whom I know, I am
not acquainted with any one who, if he could be obtained, is more
likely to suit you than Mr Kelly of Liverpool. I hear also most favour-
able reports of Mr Alexander of Edinburgh; he is a man of great
ability and devotedness ; whether partaking enough of popular address,
I cannot say, as I have never heard him preach. Among younger men,
I might mention Mr G. Smith of Plymouth, who is rising in our
denomination, and is a man of energy and abUity, and Mr RLartin of
Cheltenham. I should advise you to consult with the following minis-
ters on the subject, — Drs Eedford, Bennett, Fletcher, Wardlaw, and
Raffles, with my brother Thomas, and Mr Joshua Wilson.

" But He that waUceth in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks
must be chiefly consulted, and have your confidence.

" As there are not many persons in the congregation who have been
in the habit of accommodating ministers at their house, all who can do
so should be applied to in this emergency ; but perhaps if you are not
soon settled, it will be desirable to look out for some place where the
supplies may be lodged — but then it must be a place of great comfort
and respectability. "When ministers come who are regarded as candidates
for the vacant office, every attention must be paid to their comfort to
give them a favourable impression of the people as a kind and affec-
tionate community. As your finances, if the congregation keep up, are
in a good state, you should pay your supplies handsomely, especially
those who come from a distance, and do not scruple to ask our most
able ministers from all parts of the kingdom.

" It is very evident that all this wiU impose some labour upon you,

PASTORATE.

633

and call for much time ; but then it belongs to your office to do it, and
you have not been called to much of this kind of work before. Re-
member Christ expects it of you, and again I ask it out of regard to
my memory. You know how I have loved the church, and laboured
and prayed for it ; and oh, do take care of it now I am gone, and not
siiffer it to be injured by your neglect.

" Dear brethren, devote yourselves to the spiritual welfare of the flock.
Be full of faith and of the Holy Ghost. Be not only moral men, but
eminently holy, spiritual, and heavenly. Be examples in aU these
things to the whole body of the members. Give yourselves much to
the spiritual welfare of the body. Bear with my affectionate fidelity
in saying that soma of you have been a little wanting in this, perhaps
not a little. Aid your future pastor in instructing the ignorant, sup-
porting the weak, and comforting the distressed.

" ]\Iay you all be able to fulfil the ofiice of a deacon well ; and pro-
cure to yourselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith ! May
you continue in all holiness, diligence, prudence, affection, and devoted-
ness to fulfil the duties of j-our ofiice till God shall call you to your
account, and then may it be your felicity, and mine with you, to hear
Him say, ' Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy
of thy Lord!' With such prayers and prospects, and with genuine
affection, does he take his leave of you for this world who ivas your
affectionate and faithful pastor,

"J. A- James."

THE END.

BALLAX-TYNE AKD OOMFASr, PBUrtKRS, HJlStSOTaH.

Now Publisting,

A COLLECTIVE EDITION

OF THE WORKS OF THE LATE

KEY. JOHN ANGELL JAMES,

EDITED BY HIS SON.
In Two-monthly Volumes, post octavo, 7s. 6d.

NINE VOLUMES AEE ALREADY PUBLISHED.

Vols. 1, 2, and 3. — Sermons.

Vol. 4. — Addressed to Young Women. Containing
THE YOUNG WOJ^IAN'S GUIDE.
THE FLOWER FADED.

Vol. 5 — Addressed to Young Men. Containing

THE YOUNG MAN'S GUIDE.
THE YOUNG JIAN FROM HOME.

Vols. 6 and 7. — The Christian Graces. Containing

CHRISTIAN CHARITY EXPLAINED.
THE PROGRESS OF FAITH
CHRISTIAN HOPE.

Vol. 8. — Addressed to Ministers. Containing

AN EAENEST MINISTRY THE WANT OF THE TIMES.
INTRODUCTION TO SPENCER'S PASTOR'S SKETCHES.
THE CONTERSION OF SOULS THE GREAT END OF

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
COUNSELS TO STUDENTS AND YOUNG MINISTERS.
LETTERS TO MINISTERS AND STUDENTS ON THEIR

PERSONAL RELIGION,
LETTER TO MINISTERS ON THEIR ATTENTION TO

SUNDAY SCHOOLS.

Vol. 9. — Addressed to the Churches. Containing

THE CHURCH IN EARNEST.

ADDRESS ON THE SPIRITUAL STATE OF THE
CHURCHES.

LETTER ON THE REVF^ALS OF RELIGION IN AME-
RICA, 1828.

PASTORAL LETTER ON REVIVALS IN RELIGION.

INTRODUCTION TO DR SPRAGUE'S LECTURES ON
REVIVALS OF RELIGION.

INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSOR EDWARDS' TREA-
TISE ON REVIVALS OF RELIGION.

INTRODUCTION TO FINNEY'S LECTURES ON REVI-
VALS OF RELIGION.

THE BEARING OF THE AMERICAN REVIVAL ON THE
DUTIES AND HOPES OF BRITISH CHRISTIANS.

To be followed by
Vols. 10 and 11. — The Christian Life. Containing

INTRODUCTION TO THE GREAT CHANGE BY DR

BEDFORD.
BELIEVE AND BE SAVED.

THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER AFTER SALVATION DI-
RECTED AND ENCOURAGED
CHRISTIAN PROGRESS.
THE CHRISTIAN PROFESSOR.
THE OLIVE BRANCH AND THE CROSS.
THE CHURCH-MEMBER'S GUIDE.

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