Mr. Norris was very popular as a preacher, much beloved as a Christian minister, especially by his brethren in the ministry. He was engaged at the ordination of Doddridge, at Northampton, in asking the questions, and offering the ordination prayer. Doddridge regarded him with affection and veneration, as a father. He died very suddenly, February 8, 1738, in the sixty-third year of his age: he was buried in the Churchyard. The following lines on his tombstone were written by Doddridge:—
Decked with each manly and each Christian grace,
The friend of God, and all the human race—
While earth and heaven beheld him with delight,
From earth to heaven he winged a sudden flight.
Lo! angels pressed to bear their charge above,
To kindred realms of piety and love.
Doddridge preached his funeral sermon, from Genesis v. 24: "And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him."
We present a few passages from this discourse, descriptive of the character and ministry of Mr. Norris.
I may be permitted publicly to acknowledge (says Doddridge) the sense I have of the favour of divine providence, in leading me so early into the acquaintance of this excellent person, and blessing me with so great a share of his friendship, with which I was honoured from my first entrance into the ministry, and which his singular humility and condescension, wisdom and piety, have rendered exceedingly delightful and improving to me in all the succeeding years of life.
And surely I should be greatly deficient in the duty of this day, if I did not solemnly charge it upon you frequently to recollect your obligations to the divine goodness in giving you so able and so tender a shepherd, and in continuing him amongst you for so long a time with such cordial love, that repeated, unanimous, and earnest solicitations from the most considerable congregations in the neighbouring counties could not prevail upon him to remove from you. So evident was it that "he took the oversight of you, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind."
It may eminently be said of you, my friends, in a spiritual sense, that you have been "fed with the finest of the wheat," as the pure and uncorrupted truths of the Gospel have been preached amongst you with plainness and seriousness, and in the spirit of love. Your minds have not been amused with useless subtilties and barren speculations; you have not been vexed with strifes of words, unprofitable and vain; nor grieved with passionate invectives against your brethren of any denomination—invectives, which are never more criminal than when delivered in the name of the Lord, and which too often turn the food of souls into poison, and that which should have been for their welfare, into a trap. This "good man brought out of the good treasure of his heart good things"; his generous and benevolent soul overflowed with sentiments of candour and love; and he was never more in his own element, than when he was telling you that "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost": and I firmly believe, that in the thirty-eight years of his ministry among you he never delivered a sermon or a sentence inconsistent with that great principle.
I join with you in lamenting that none of those elaborate and judicious discourses which he delivered among you, from Sabbath to Sabbath, are, or can be, published to the world: for though it is certain that his graceful and venerable aspect, and his easy yet lively manner, gave a peculiar beauty to them as delivered by himself; yet, when I consider how judiciously his thoughts were selected, how methodically they were disposed, and with what propriety, elegance, and spirit they were expressed, I am well assured they would generally have been esteemed a rich addition to that great number of practical writings with which our age and country is already blest, and with which I hope it will still abound. * * * * * * * And, for what he was in the domestic relations of life, I had almost said, I wish it may not be too long, but I will rather say too tenderly, remembered. The loss of a husband so constantly obliging, so affectionately sympathizing, so well furnished as a prudent guide and a pleasant companion, and so well disposed for the offices of both, will, I fear, be too deeply felt. May the sense of it be tempered with those divine consolations which he was so eminently fit to administer, but which have not surely lost their value, and will not, I trust, lose their relish, though no longer administered by him. May the children which were dear to him as his own, never forget with how much diligence he instructed them; with how much importunity and constancy he prayed for them; and with what tenderness he watched over all their interests.
I may add, even in the decline of life this light was growing brighter and brighter; and though his removal, while his capacities of usefulness were to the last so great, must be very affecting to you, yet I cannot forbear saying that you have some peculiar reason to be thankful for the manner and circumstances of his death.
Nature was not racked with tormenting pains, nor worn out by a tedious, consuming illness; but the good man grew a little drowsy towards the evening of his long day, and, having "served his generation according to the will of God," gently "fell asleep" as he was going from one apartment of the house to another, and all the business and struggle of dying was over in less time than could have served him to get up the stairs, as he was attempting to do. It is a delightful thought, that God dismissed his servant in so peaceful a manner that his death so much resembled a translation, and "he was not, for God took him."
Mr. Norris preached the last Sabbath he lived, and concluded the public service with a copious, lively, and affectionate prayer for his people, which could not have been more suitable if he had known he was then taking his last farewell.
After the death of Mr. Norris, Job Orton preached his first sermon at Welford, and received an invitation from the people to become their pastor; but this he declined, as he did several other invitations, on account of his engagements as assistant to Dr. Doddridge in the academy.
Another of the Doctor's pupils, a Mr. Charles Bulkley, was settled over the Church at Welford; but early in the next year after his ordination he changed his sentiments on the doctrines of the Gospel, and on the ordinance of baptism; consequently, he was requested by the Church to resign his office as pastor over them, which he did, and retired to London, where he joined the General Baptists.
At this juncture, Mr. Bottrill, a gentleman of considerable property, connected with the Church at Welford, was at Weldon, a village about eight miles from Oundle; and there he happened to hear a young minister preach, who was a native of Oundle, and was on a visit to his widowed mother, who resided there. This apparently incidental circumstance was the means of bringing about a connexion that was long continued, and of a very happy and useful character. This young minister was Mr. King, son of a late pastor of the Independent Church at Oundle.
When Mr. Bottrill returned home, he induced the Church at Welford to invite Mr. King to preach to them, which he did for two Sabbaths, much to their satisfaction. After some further probation, he received a unanimous invitation to become their pastor, which he accepted, and was ordained in the spring of the year 1743; the Rev. Mr. Hill, of London, and Dr. Doddridge, preached on the occasion. When Mr. King became pastor, the number of members in the Church was 87.