“Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion.”
To —
As through grace you have been an eye and ear witness to the Lord’s dealings with me, and to the testimony which he has borne to the word of his grace (however weak the instrument) in town, so you have heard of some success I have had in the country. Various have been my journies, and scarcely have I ever heard of one in vain. Soon alter the death of my dear girl, I was invited to take a journey to Sheerness. When I arrived, some who had heard me preach in town, and others who had beard of me, came to solicit me to preach in that place. The minister was requested the use of his pulpit, but he denied it at first, which threw a general damp upon them all. However, I was impressed that the Lord had intended me to preach there, and when I got alone, I begged of the Lord to shew me his mind, which he did in his Word, by this text, which I opened upon—“I will give thee the opening of the mouth unto them.” When my friends assembled around me again, each giving their various opinions, I told them I should surely preach to them. The next day I wrote a polite note to the minister myself, and in the evening he as politely came to invite me. The Lord opened my mouth, and the dew descended on the barn floor. This was an enlivening and a quickening time. Many, and especially the Baptists, were stirred up, and shortly built a small place for themselves, in which I shortly after preached. I believe a church is since formed in the place, and godly Baptist ministers supply it. The Lord also opened the meeting at Strood, and enabled me to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ to the joy of some good old-established Christians, who had long sat under the truth, and were blessed with that charity that rejoiceth not in error, but rejoiceth in the truth. Many remember those visits, and although I shall never see them more in this world, yet I trust that truth that has made us free will bring us home to the enjoyment of the God of truth. In the year 1811, I opened a Monday-evening lecture at Horselydown, and another at the Welsh meeting at Lambeth, where I continued some years, till Providence altered the circumstances of these places; also at Little Providence Chapel, in Holborn, where the Lord met many precious souls, and highly honoured me, to bring in some of his people: as it is written, Isaiah lxvi. “And they shall bring in your brethren for an offering unto the Lord, out of all nations, upon horses and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain, saith the Lord.”
Yours, J. C.
P.S. I was very partial to travelling from place to place, but the Lord has cured me of that roving fit, and I have scarcely a desire left me of ever leaving my own place: for, sometimes it is found true what Solomon says—“As a bird that leaveth his nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.”
May God the Spirit free impart
Fresh life and vigour to the heart;
And with a living coal inflame,
To speak the honours of his name.
LETTER XVII.
“The Lord is my helper and my deliverer.”
To —
There are some few periods in our lives when we may be said to sit still and be at ease; but there are other times we could particularly mention, when trouble abounds—as Job expresses it, “Thou breakest me with breach upon breach;” or, as David says, “Deep calleth unto deep, but the Lord will command his loving kindness in the day-time.” This was my experience from the 1st of January, 1813, to the 12th of July. No sooner had the year commenced, but having occasion to pass through Blackfriars-road, I saw in the shop-window of a printer and bookseller, an infamous and daringly-printed paper, including the fac-simile of a letter said to have been written by me to an awful character; in which I had included a guinea, to assist him. This piece of effrontery hurt my mind, but I was enabled to bear it, and preached a sermon the same evening, on “They shall call his name Emanuel, God with us.” The above letters were bought by hundreds, friends and foes: I took no notice of it, and presently came out many editions, with great additions. Soon after this every corner of the streets and every lamp-post had a placard posted, with these elegant words, in capital letters, “JOHN CHURCH, INCARNATE DEVIL,” and these were interlined with many awful scriptures, against uncleanness of every description; [86] but this failing of its intended plan, to rouse public indignation, another method was resorted to. Some pretendedly pious young men were employed to read these papers, with an audible voice, at the Obelisk, on Sunday mornings, as the Congregation were coming to chapel; this was going out into the highways, indeed, and gathering as they could, some good and some bad—the effect was, many disputes amongst them. The public-houses were filled; and, for several Lord’s-days a vast mob assembled around the door, but peaceably, and all was peace within. I continued my labours’ six times a week; yet not without much inward grief. Some warm but indiscreet friends were determined to apprehend the first that made any disturbance, and no one seemed very forward to do that, except one young man, who was observed to frequent the mob: he was taken to the watch-house by order of the managers of the chapel, who charged him with a breach of the peace, but when he was brought before a magistrate, who was no friend of mine, he complained of my conduct to his brother, twelve years before that period. I was of course sent for, and went without any warrant being issued out against me. I made my appearance, and a very worthy magistrate bound it over for trial, at the Middlesex sessions, alledging it would give greater public satisfaction. All things were now peaceable till July 12. The time came on, and the trial took place, at which I was honourably acquitted. The chairman who tried the cause declared he never witnessed so malignant a prosecution before. We had peace once more in our borders, and prosperity in our palaces. I then explained the former case mentioned in this letter, concerning the infamous person to whom I had acted as a benefactor. The case was this: in the month of September, 1812, a person called on me. Mrs. C. who was blessed with a astonishing gift of discernment of character, came to my study, and said a person below wanted to see me—“but,” she added, “I don’t much admire his looks.” However, I came down, and she listened at the nearest window, anxious to know his business. He accosted me with “Sir, you don’t know me, but I have been unfortunately in prison a long time. I was formerly in the public line, and wish to go in it again. Many have helped me, and I hope you will take it into consideration also.” I told him if he would leave his address, I would certainly pay some attention to it, but could not stay then. In a few days time I went to the house he had directed me, and found, as far as I could see, every thing respectable; and an old gentleman assured me that the case was a very distressing one, and that the poor man was then in the spunging-house, put in that day by his brewer. This had all the appearance of truth; I felt for his situation; and the next day wrote the letter which was afterwards handled against me. But I believe it was nothing else but envy on the part of my opponent, who had borne a name so many years for his alms-giving, as though nobody could give an alms but himself. Not all the world can persuade me that the opposition made to me was from any other motive. Although zeal for the moral law was the plea, yet, that very person always acted contrary to the law, in every such act of opposition. But to return, the above ungrateful wretch had no sooner received my donation, than he sent a woman, purporting to be his wife, to solicit more money. Mrs. C. gave her an answer, assuring her that I had contributed generously to his wants, and could do no more for him, or for any one else, yet:—but the woman, not contented with that answer, replied, in an insulting manner, “Well, if Mr. C. does not choose to do it, he shall repent it as long as he lives; for I’ll go to Mr. D— directly, and tell him what I know will please him, against Mr. C.” The Doctor not being returned to town, the woman waited till he did, and then visited him, well knowing the above gentleman would jump for joy, if he could find out any thing amiss in my conduct, so as to fix the name of Antinomian in reality. Report says, he visited this infamous character in prison, and gave him two guineas for the letter. Many others of the holy contenders for the moral law, paid him a visit, and gave him money likewise, so that he made his boast he had but one guinea from me, but he got near forty guineas out of the Doctor and his people. The letter was soon engraved, at the Doctor’s expense, and thousands of them printed and sent into the world. And what harm did this do me? but send crowds to hear me preach, who filled the chapel so much, that we were obliged to look out for a much larger place. The infamy of this notorious character being so fully known, his palpable falsehoods respecting my visiting his infamous house, were discredited by any reasonable being; and as his testimony would not be taken in a court of justice, there was no reason why it should be taken in the courts of the Lord’s house. I relieved him from the purest motives of benevolence, as I have many hundreds beside, who are living witnesses of it. I acknowledge I have not been so discriminating in my acts of beneficence as I ought to have been: but I could never bear to send away empty from my door the petitioner for relief, whether good or bad, if I could relieve them, remembering, the advice and example of our Divine Lord, Acts xx. 35. And as to impositions, those who are kind to the poor must always expect it, both in the church and in the world. And if the most knowing of the benevolent are so often duped, you cannot wonder at my meeting with such characters; for it is a well-known truth, that if there is a flat in the world, a sharper will find him out: and, supposing my holy enemies to have acted from the very best motives, it their searching out my supposed faults, in doing so have they acted agreeable to the holy law of God, or to any of the precepts of the New Testament? I believe not. If it was criminal in my relieving a bad character with one guinea, [90] was it not more criminal in my persecutors to relieve him with forty guineas; or to put themselves to the vast expense of supplying whole columns of trash, pregnant with falsehoods, for the “Weekly Dispatch.” But you know this sort of conduct is pretended zeal for that very law that curses them for their hypocrisy.—Farewell.