Let it not be supposed, that in connecting his name and exertions so intimately with the progress of that great work, which is now carrying on throughout the earth, I detract from the honour which is due to other labourers in the same ample field; they also will have their reward: and there are none who would join more heartily in every sentiment which I have here ventured to express, than those who have toiled with him in the same service, and borne, in common with himself, the burden and heat of the day. Were I merely to transcribe their own recorded declarations, transmitted to me within the last few days, they would confirm the strongest statements which have hitherto been made of his important services.
We are often reminded, that, amidst the bustle and tumult of public occupations, there is great danger lest personal religion should be forgotten, and lest, even while endeavouring to promote the salvation of others, we should be tempted to neglect our own.
In admitting the propriety of this remark, I cannot allow that it is applicable in the instance before us. I might refer to the unaffected humility of the deceased as often manifested in his ready deference to others: “I have seen him yield,” says a near observer, “with the simplicity of a child, to persons inferior to himself in understanding and knowledge.” I might advert to his unshaken trust and confidence in God. When difficulties were more than usually formidable, he was frequently heard to repeat, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” This was not, as repeated by him, merely a well-sounding quotation; he acted upon the principle; he staked upon it his ease, his prospects, his reputation, and his life.—I might appeal to the impression of his friends concerning the habitual seriousness of his character, and the pleasure which he took in conversing with them upon sacred things. Christian conversation was at all times delightful to him; and by him was always conducted in a becoming spirit. Whatever, indeed, might be his vivacity upon other subjects, and however unrestrained within the limits of innocent mirth the course of conversation, if any observations were introduced of a religious tendency, he instantly checked his imagination, and restrained the sallies of his wit. This circumstance is more particularly worthy of remark, because he possessed, naturally, a cheerfulness and liveliness of disposition, which, in his early days, might seem almost to border on volatility: and, till disease had weakened his frame, he continued through life to have such a flow of animal spirits, that it must have required no ordinary check to keep them within regular bounds. But on serious subjects he was always serious. I speak, here, of the whole period within which I was honoured by his acquaintance. Of late years, this feature in his character appears to have been particularly remarked. “Ever since his severe and tedious illness in 1818,” says a correspondent, “I observed in the whole of his conversation and deportment increased gravity and seriousness. He seemed to have death and eternity most deeply impressed upon his mind; and, on many public occasions, he repeated with great emphasis those striking words; Work while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work!”
It must be acknowledged, that even the most judicious friends may form an incorrect estimate of the religious character and christian virtues of those who stand high in their affectionate regard. To see the interior of a person’s mind, we should follow him into retirement; and by doing so, as far as it is possible in this case, we shall, I think, discover much evidence of a mind devoted to God.
Among the papers of our late valued friend, I find one which he kept for some years suspended in his study, containing a few verses of Scripture, calculated to give him courage and confidence when in great hazard of being tempted to unfaithfulness in his ministerial duty. [35a] In another paper are several passages, from which, as it is stated in his own hand-writing, he was “accustomed to derive the greatest relief, support, and direction.” [35b] What an instructive lesson would it have afforded to behold him, in his many afflictions, thus casting himself upon the goodness of God, and reposing in the comfort of his exceeding great and precious promises!
On one occasion, when much depressed by very painful intelligence, he writes; “I sought comfort from meditation on the word of God; particularly, I was much relieved by reflecting on the passage; In the multitude of sorrows that I had in my heart, thy comforts refresh my soul. Oh, for faith in the divine promises, and the faculty of applying them wisely and effectually to my own condition!” At another time, being greatly afflicted, and finding that a friend was yet more troubled than himself; “The comparison of situations,” he observes, “threw me upon my knees, and made me bless God for the kind proportion in which he had measured out my chastisements.”
Of a somewhat similar description are the following extracts:—
“April 23. Humbled myself before God many times this day, having been astonished to find such powerful corruptions within me. I betrayed a great hastiness of spirit yesterday evening; this is a sign that the grace of God has not been improved as it ought to have been. I will, by God’s assistance, watch against this propensity. And, oh, that I may never again offend him, or wound my conscience by falling into that snare of the devil! Let every one of you be slow to wrath.
“Sunday, April 24. Have humbled myself before God, this morning; and do resolve to watch and pray that I enter not into temptation. May the Lord pardon all my sins, and secure me, by his grace, from falling into them again! Amen.”
It ought to be recollected, that the writer was a man of remarkably fine temper.
My next extracts respect his ministerial duties:—