Mr. Killinghall did not again occupy the pulpit at Beccles; but about the year 1702 he was chosen pastor of a numerous and flourishing Independent church at Southwark. The expectations of those who had been inclined to think favourably of him were not disappointed. He continued with that society nearly forty years. He was one of the first six ministers chosen to preach the Horselydown Lecture for the support of a charity school instituted in 1715. His name is also on the list of subscribing members at the Salters’ Hall synod in 1719. He died in the month of January, 1740.
In the interval between Mr. Killinghall’s departure and the settlement of the next pastor, the congregation was probably supplied by various ministers. In July 1701, the ordinance of baptism was administered by “Mr. Green,” most likely the venerable pastor of the church at Tunstead, in Norfolk;—and a visit from so experienced and amiable a Christian, must have been peculiarly cheering and consolatory. [166]
Among other persons admitted to church fellowship on the 2nd of February, 1703–4, were “Mr. Richard Playters,” and “Mr. John Crispe.” The former surname is now remembered in the neighbourhood of Beccles, principally in connexion with the mansion and estate of Sotterley; the latter is well known, as borne by a widely extended family circle, who, having been yet more honourably distinguished as “the children of the covenant, for four or five generations,” have not suffered “the entail to be cut off.” [167a] The record adds, “Mr. Crispe was baptized before his receiving in.”
The next pastor was Mr. William Nokes. In the spring of 1688, he was at the University of Utrecht, surrounded by a constellation of men afterwards distinguished by their talents and usefulness; and in a situation to avail himself of the academical instructions of Witsius, and other eminent professors of divinity. [167b] The eloquent Saurin was at that time officiating in the French church at Utrecht. But the students from this country had less dainty fare on the Lord’s day, the minister of the English church being a Dutchman, who spoke the language very imperfectly, and who, though an honest and good man, was an indifferent preacher. Dr. Calamy mentions this circumstance, as well as the Dutch and French examples of laxity with reference to the sabbath, and the want of discipline in the University, as “very disadvantageous to the moral character and mental improvement of the English students.” [168a]
It does not appear that Mr. Nokes had the charge of a congregation prior to his coming to Beccles. Nor is the exact date of that event known. [168b] It is not unlikely that he previously resided for some time in London, for he enjoyed at this period of his life the friendship of Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Isaac Watts. [168c] To that truly great, and profoundly humble, man, he told (what is seldom told, but in the patient ear of intimate friendship) the tale of the “days of darkness,” which had clouded his spirit. A description of the state of his mind on religious subjects, which he committed to blank verse, Watts revised and amplified, and has preserved among his Lyric Poems. It is thus introduced: “The substance of the following copy, and many of the lines, were sent me by an esteemed friend, Mr. W. Nokes, with a desire that I would form them into a Pindaric ode; but I retained his measures, lest I should too much alter his sense.” The style of poetry is such as fully authorizes the conclusion, that friendship must have furnished the chief inducement to Watts to bestow his pains upon it. The following passages will afford a specimen.
“A SIGHT OF CHRIST. [169]
. . . . . . . . .
Once I beheld his face, when beams divine
Broke from his eyelids, and unusual light
Wrapt me at once in glory and surprise.
My joyful heart, high leaping in my breast,
With transport cried, ‘This is the Christ of God:’
Then threw my arms around in sweet embrace,
And clasp’d, and bow’d, adoring low, till I was lost in him.. . . . . .
But the bright shine and presence soon withdrew;
I sought him whom I love, but found him not.
I felt his absence, and with strongest cries
Proclaimed, ‘Where Jesus is not, all is vain.’. . . . . .
Oh that the day, the joyful day, were come,
When the first Adam from his ancient dust
Crown’d with new honours, shall revive, and see
Jesus his Son and Lord; while shouting saints
Surround their King, and God’s eternal Son
Shines in the midst . . .Death and the tempter, and the man of sin,
Now at the bar arraign’d, in judgment cast,
Shall vex the saints no more; but perfect love
And loudest praises, perfect joy create,
While ever-circling years proclaim the blissful state.”
In the same year in which Watts accepted the pastoral office, he addressed to Mr. Nokes the subjoined lines. The allusion to the sympathy of minds overwhelmed with floods of sorrow, renders it probable that Mr. Nokes had already been the subject of some deep affliction, while his subsequent history induces the supposition that it might he somewhat similar to that, which for so many years deprived Watts’s church of his public services.
“TO MR. WILLIAM NOKES.
Friendship.
1702. [171]
“Friendship! thou charmer of the mind,
Thou sweet deluding ill,
The brightest minute mortals find,
And sharpest hour we feel.“Fate has divided all our shares
Of pleasure and of pain;
In love the comforts and the cares
Are mix’d and join’d again.“But whilst in floods our sorrow rolls
And drops of joy are few,
This dear delight of mingling souls
Serves but to swell our woe.“Oh, why should bliss depart in haste,
And friendship stay to moan?
Why the fond passion cling so fast,
When every joy is gone?“Yet never let our hearts divide,
Nor death dissolve the chain:
For love and joy were once allied,
And must be joined again.”