And, in a letter dated in 1826, Mr. I. says, "The church now consists of more than 470 members." p. 192.
Of the great labour of his life, "The History of the English Baptists," in four large volumes, 8vo., we may venture to predict that it will be far more in demand before this century closes than it is now. The author, we believe, never received any thing like compensation while he lived; he will be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. Mr. I. believed, as did also the late Rev. James Dore, that when a man ceases to be a strict Baptist, there is no resting-place for his feet till he finds himself a strict papist.
But it cannot be justly maintained that our zealous brother shut himself up within the narrow precincts of his own denomination. So far from it that he had free and open communion with Christians of almost every name. Soon after he came to London, he was elected a member of the committee of the Religious Tract Society; and at the hospitable rooms of Messrs. Hardcastle and Reyner, Old Swan Stairs, near London Bridge, he cheerfully mingled with Churchmen, Dissenters, and Methodists, of every shade and every grade; all agreeing, however, to insist upon the leading doctrines of the gospel in all their publications. He was not, it is true, in the habit of going "to the house of God in company" with Mr. Taylor, the old Presbyterian Minister of Carter Lane, Doctors' Commons; nor with Dr. Winter, the Congregationalist; nor with Richard Philips, of the Society of "Friends;" nor with Mr. Butterworth, nor Dr. Adam Clarke, of the Methodist connexion; but he often "took sweet counsel" with one or another of these eminent persons; and with these more frequently than with many others, because they were among his nearest neighbours while his residence was in Harpur Street; nor was there among them all a more resolute and determined advocate in the great cause of civil and religious freedom, or in any of the pious and charitable institutions which beautify and bless our native land.
The excellent volume before us will show that our beloved brother, when most strenuously pleading for liberty, was quite alive to the claims of all lawful authority. He was for "laws and liberties combined," nor ever gave countenance to the daring and presumptuous schemes of any wild and unprincipled demagogues in this or in the sister island. His political creed, he has often been heard to say, was built upon the revolution of 1688, and the "Act of Settlement." He knew as well as any man what the House of Brunswick owes to the Protestant Dissenters; and what the Protestant Dissenters owe to the House of Brunswick. Let his printed funeral sermon for the Princess Charlotte, and another for the duke of Kent, and another for George the Third, be lasting monuments of the ardent and affectionate loyalty which he himself so deeply felt, and which he was assiduous to cherish in the ever-widening circle of his acquaintance.
Many of his constant hearers must have been aware that their pastor's heart and house were open to ministers and other friends from all parts of England; to many from Wales, Scotland, and Ireland; and that his correspondence with North America was frequent. But very few of them probably could ever guess at the number of private applications that were made to him by letter for his advice and assistance. No man was more public; and yet, by early rising, and still more by a strong desire to be useful, he had formed himself to habits of promptitude and facility in the dispatch of business, that to ordinary minds were truly surprising. Always alive and awake, he knew every thing that was done in London to promote the cause of Christ, or to hinder it. Enjoying the confidence, and the occasional visits, of such men as Saffery and Steadman, and Fuller and Hinton, and Kingborn and others, he was no stranger to whatever occurred in the country.
May the amiable young pastor who succeeds, with all his brethren in office, and every other member of the much-favoured church in Eagle Street, long continue to flourish under the smiles of the Great Head of the church, without whose gracious influence nothing is strong, nothing is holy!
We might have added that Mr. Pritchard has appended to the Memoir a few abbreviated sermons of our lamented friend, which, no doubt, will be often read by those who heard them; and from which strangers may learn something of the spirit and style of the minister at Eagle Street, in his ordinary pulpit exercises on the Lord's-day, and on week-days.
If it be said, "Mr. Ivimey was sometimes wrong in temper, or wrong in his measures," the answer is, "This may be easily said, and justly, of every good man that breathes, who is in active life."
But, after making every concession that could be extorted from candour and truth by the most jealous and jaundiced prejudice, we need not fear to assert that much, very much, will remain, to excite admiration, and gratitude to the great Author of all good, in his sincerity, clear as crystal to the bottom; in his unquenchable zeal for the glory of God, and the best interests of mankind; in the labour, the energy, and unfainting perseverance with which he pursued his object; in the noble disinterestedness which he evinced on all occasions;—and these, all will admit, were the most prominent features of his character.
If this work meets with only half the attention it deserves, it will be extensively read in this country and in America; and the zeal displayed in the full-length portrait of "a good minister of Jesus Christ," will provoke very many.