Edward Hoare, M.A Part 15

"I need not tell you what a sense of solemnity there was last night throughout the house. We have all deeply felt it, but I must say that thankfulness prevails, for all who knew her had felt anxious for her future. How graciously does G.o.d deal with His children! and how needless are our anxieties!"

In the Ladies' Bible Cla.s.s, when going through Acts xvi., he had urged upon his people the duty of ever looking out for opportunities of speaking for G.o.d. "Lydia" was the case in point, and the apostle's readiness to make a personal appeal was shown to be G.o.d's plan for this woman, who, residing in the very place which St. Paul was not allowed to visit, was yet brought all the way to Philippi to meet G.o.d's messenger there. This will explain some pa.s.sages in the following letter to his daughters:-

"SCARBOROUGH, _July_ 12_th_, 1880.

"I have been thinking of you unceasingly ever since I left home, and am more and more amazed at my ever having done so. How I could bring myself to it I cannot imagine; but I hope it is for the Lord's service.

"I have been looking out for 'Lydia' all the way, but not very successfully. When I got into the train at Tunbridge Wells there was a nice-looking lady who fixed her eyes on me so steadfastly, as if wis.h.i.+ng to speak to me; so I soon opened the way, but I found the poor thing was out of her mind, being taken to London.

"In the next train there was a lady with her servant, very tearful, so as she sat opposite me I took the opportunity of a civil word about the window, but as soon as she could she got away to the other side of the carriage, so there was no opening there. But I am not sure that 'Lydia' may not be in this house, for there is a lady staying here, and both she and my hostess are eager for conversation on the great truths of the Gospel.

"I had a pleasant, quiet Sunday. The place is perfectly charming; the house and garden delightful, with the most lovely view of the sea and the opposite hills, so that I do not know how to tear myself away from my bedroom window.

"The church is very nice, but sadly small... . There were good congregations, but not a crowd. I preached in the evening, and I certainly could not have desired a better congregation. I hope the Lord was with us, bestowing His blessing.

"I heard in the morning a very good, practical sermon on the causes of restraint in prayer:

"Allowed sin, "Unbelief, "Worldliness, "Business, "Temper.

"It was all true and profitable, but I should have been more profited if he had helped us to overcome them."

"NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, _October_ 4_th_, 1881.

"As for the Congress, I cannot say I like the thought of it, though I hope the Lord will make use of it and of me in it. I have been thinking of my text last Sunday, 'Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?' so I am rejoiced to act with my brethren, and I trust the Lord may unite us in His service, and give us not only meekness of wisdom but the wisdom of meekness."

"CROMER, _October_ 10_th_, 1881.

"I am rejoiced to hear of your happy visit to that dear home at Canterbury. I cannot say with what thankfulness I think on all the grace which our G.o.d and Saviour has shown there, and how delighted I am that you all should have the unspeakable joy of being employed as the Lord's agents for conveying the glad tidings of life to precious souls.

"I return you Mr. Stock's letter, as you wish it, though I am more inclined to put it in the fire, for it frightens me. But I believe the Lord was with me on the occasion to which he refers, and there was one very remarkable circ.u.mstance about it which he did not know.

"Dr. Bardsley and I had both sent in our cards, and I saw that he was eager to speak. About twenty minutes before the close of the meeting the Bishop turned to me and said that he could just manage to find a place for me. So I told him he had better call Bardsley instead, which he did. So B. spoke, and some other man after him, when the Bishop turned round again and said, 'I think after all I can find time for you.' All this made me the last speaker of the day. Off I went, and I believe before the Lord; He seemed to give me the ears and the good-will of the people at the very first sentence. I was enabled to say exactly what I wished, till at length, speaking of toleration, I said, 'But if men introduce a ritual intended to symbolise Rome-' when two or three persons cried out 'No, no.' But their objection only roused the whole mult.i.tude to what seemed like an almost unanimous cheer, which went on so long that at length the bell rang without my being able to finish my sentence, and there the discussion ended. So I lifted up my heart to the Lord and thanked Him for His mercy.

"I sent in my card next day on 'Reformation Principles,' but the Bishop of Carlisle, who was chairman, did not call me up.

"On Friday I read my paper. {209} Of course there was no excitement about that, but quite as much cause for thanksgiving, for several persons, amongst them Arch-deacon -, came to me in the evening and thanked me for it as having been a real help to them in their own souls. So I am come away with a thankful heart and a longing desire to spend what time remains as a firm and faithful witness for truth."

Few speeches at a congress can have aroused more excitement than Canon h.o.a.re's famous impromptu address at Derby in 1882, and none probably have been so far-reaching in their effect. The enthusiasm aroused in the vast audience was electrical; cheers and shouts of applause interrupted the speaker at every sentence.

The same night it was being sold about the streets of Derby as a separate publication, next day it was in all the papers word for word, and during the twelve months that followed letters came in large numbers from nearly every part of the world, thanking him for his manly and vigorous words, in which he did not merely "hold the fort," but carried the war into the camp of those who wished to bring our Church back into the dominion of Rome.

Commenting upon it, the _Guardian_ of that date said: "No one, whether agreeing with Canon h.o.a.re or not, could fail to be struck with admiration at the courage and skill with which he grappled his antagonist."

The speaker who followed allowed himself to utter words which in calmer moments he would never have said; it is hardly possible that one who rose, as he expressed it, "to pour oil upon the troubled waters," could have otherwise stated that Canon h.o.a.re's friends would hold up as a very "mark of the beast such a frequent use of the Holy Communion" as Mr. Wood and his friends advocated; and this said to one who always had weekly Communion in his church, and who, when a young man at Richmond, had been the first in his diocese to inst.i.tute an early celebration!

"CROMER, _October_ 10_th_, 1882.

(_After Church Congress at Derby_.)

"I enclose you four letters received by this morning's post, and now, as that speech to which they refer has manifestly made a great impression, I wish to put on record the Lord's dealings with me in the matter, for they have tended very greatly to the confirmation of my faith, and, I hope, given me a lift for the remainder of my life.

"When I was first asked to take part at the Congress the Secretary asked me to choose a subject from a list sent to me. I marked three, any one of which I should be prepared to undertake, one being the Liturgy, to which my attention had been directed at the Bible cla.s.s and preparation for my Lent sermons. Thus G.o.d was preparing me then.

"When the list came out I was disappointed that I had a speech and not a paper, and felt the responsibility of my position, as I was the only speaker on the list, and there were four papers to precede me, by Hope, Bickersteth, Wood, and Venables.

"You all know what difficulty I felt in preparation. I did all I could to be prepared, and continually committed it to G.o.d, but I felt doubtful all the way through whether all my preparation would be of any value.

"So we went on till the day came. I awoke very early under the sense that I had important work before me, and as I lay still in the dark I was able to cast the whole matter into the hands of the Lord. After breakfast I went to preside at the prayer-meeting, and spoke to them of the Lord's love for the Church, in Ephesians v. The room was very full, and when we knelt down to pray I was solemnised more than I can tell you by all who prayed praying for me especially: I was the one subject of their prayers.

"I never can forget the prayer of one of them that the Lord would make me His mouthpiece and put His thoughts into my mind. This was very delightful to me, but it made me think something was coming; so I left the morning meeting and went home for a quiet hour before luncheon. I then polished up my weapons, finished off my opening and conclusion, and spread it all out before the Lord, in happy remembrance of the good man's prayer.

"At length the meeting began. Hope was very bad, but did not give much that I could lay hold on. But when Wood began he at once p.r.o.nounced our Communion Service to be a meagre deposit of the 'Use of Sarum,' and said he did not want to suggest the improvement of our Liturgy, but the adoption as an alternative service of the First Book of Edward VI. I sat listening to him, taking careful notes, and hoped that by the time Venables had done I should be ready. But what was my astonishment when I heard my name called by the Bishop as soon as Wood sat down. I said to him, 'It is not my turn,' but he replied, 'You had better go on.' I do not know his motive; perhaps it was that he wished Wood answered. So there I was in the face of the vast a.s.sembly without a minute's notice. But was not the Lord with me? and would He not answer the good man's prayer? So I put down my Prayer-Book, notes and everything-and away! The people gave me a most kind welcome, and, as I have been told since, many dear friends throughout the hall lifted up their hearts in prayer for me.

I saw in a moment what I had to say; it was as clear to me as if I had studied it for months: nor had I the slightest difficulty for words, except once when I failed in quoting accurately the thirty-first Article. I was hissed and met with noisy opposition.

But that did not matter in the least; the ma.s.s of the people was with me, and so was the Lord.

"Mr. Wood had put a weapon in my hand which was irresistible. I was encouraged as I went along with most hearty and enthusiastic cheers, till at length when I had done the people went on cheering as if they never could leave off. Oh, how I thought of the good man's prayers, and how I realised the privilege of being an instrument in the hand of the Lord! This thought has made me feel quite satisfied since. I should have liked not to have slipped in the Article, and there are many things that have occurred since to me, some that I might have added and some that I might have said better, but I have been satisfied in the thought that the Lord gave me what to say and that I said what He wished me to have said. So I do not fret over the omissions or defects, but accept it with thankfulness from Him.

"I cannot describe the expressions of thankfulness from mult.i.tudes of my friends after the meeting, or the deeply solemn feeling at the prayer-meeting next morning, when again I was the princ.i.p.al subject of it, but this time in thankful acknowledgment of the help which the Lord had given.

"Well! I have written you a long letter about my own proceedings, but I would rather say about the Lord's dealings with me, and that justifies its length. I hope the whole history will lead us all to trust Him more simply than ever to put words into our lips and thoughts into our minds, and so to employ us for His own most sacred service."

The following is the text of the speech, taken from the Church Congress Report:-

"Your lords.h.i.+p has called upon me before my time; but I am prepared, my lord, to go on if you think it right that I should. At the same time, I may add that I am called upon by surprise, for I expected to have to discuss the suggestions for Liturgical Improvements which it was likely would have been made by the Rev. Mr. Venables. At the same time, however, I am prepared to accept the position, as appointed for me in the providence of G.o.d. I consider that this debate is a most important one for the Church of England. I think that the speech of Mr. Wood, to which we have just listened, is one of the most important speeches that I have ever heard delivered at a Church Congress. We used to be told that what was originally called the Tractarian movement, but which has since been called the Ritualistic movement, was an effort of pious and devoted men to rise above our poor Churchmans.h.i.+p, and to bring out in better development the true principles of the Church of England. We always, with that happiness which accompanies a clear conscience, maintained that we were the true representatives of the Church of England. We acted upon its principles, and taught its truth. But still, we have had to bear a certain amount of reproach, and we have not been able to overcome the old prejudices. This day, however, we have been told by Mr. Wood, the President of the English Church Union, that our beautiful English Church Service is 'meagre': that there is nothing more meagre than our existing Liturgy; that our Holy Communion Service-in which we have taken so much delight-is a mutilated, an inferior, and a defective Service. [Cries of 'No, no.'] I say 'Yes,' and this great a.s.sembly has heard what Mr. Wood has said. We have been told to-day that we are to go back to the Liturgy and to the Communion Office of 1549, instead of accepting that of the year 1552, and finally revised in 1662. And, now, will you just look for one moment at the first Liturgy of Edward the Sixth?

"We were told to-day that it was a falling-off from the use of Sarum.

We are therefore, it seems, to look upon the use of Sarum-that old Popish Liturgy-I say that old Popish Liturgy, which existed in the diocese of Salisbury, as the model at which we are to aim. To this use of Sarum the Reformers applied the pruning-knife, and I cannot say that they left much of the Office of Sarum. There were certain very fine pa.s.sages in it, and they retained them. But they brought out a new Communion Office in 1549. There were, however, certain defects still left.

"But as time went on, and the Reformers saw more and more of the blessed truth of G.o.d, they then said that the thing must be thoroughly done, and it was of no use to carry out mere half-measures. So, thank G.o.d, they did not stop at the First Book of Edward. I am very much disposed to think that, if Mr. Wood gets it, he won't stop there either. And now that we have enjoyed the Prayer-Book as the Reformers gave it us for these three centuries past, we are told that we are to hark back again. Of this I am fully persuaded, that the Churchmen of England are not prepared for such retrogression. You must consider what has been said by Mr.

Beresford-Hope on this subject; he and I have sparred about this matter before now. Mr. Beresford-Hope knows just as well as I do that there is no such thing as an altar in the Church of England.

And I will tell you also what Mr. Wood and his friends know very well. They know as well as I do that if they can but coax us back to those three years-to 1549, to the First Book of Edward-that there they will find an altar. And that is one reason why they wish for it. The Reformers knew very well that an altar was essentially connected with a sacrifice. And they knew this also, that while they were prepared to offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, the sacrifice of propitiation was completed for ever. And they believed, further, that the doctrine of the ma.s.s was a lying abomination, or rather I would say, a 'blasphemous fable and dangerous deceit.' Now, then, my lord, we fully know our ground, and where it is we have to stand. We have, therefore, learned something at this Church Congress. We know where we are. We go home to-day knowing with what a power and with what an intention we have to contend. We know what Mr. Wood has told us. He has told us as plainly as possible that the object is to bring back the Church of England from the Reformed Church of 1552; to stop just a little by the way in the refreshment room of 1549, and then we are to plunge head-foremost right into the use of Sarum. Now, then, my lord, what shall we say to this? Shall we have it? or shall we not? What, I ask, shall we say to this?

Shall we stick by the blessed truths that we have received, and for which our Reformers died? Shall we cling to the dear old Office Book, in which we have hundreds and thousands of times poured out our whole hearts before G.o.d? Shall we unite heart and soul as witnesses for Christ while we come to His Holy Table, and hold there communion with Him? or shall we begin by half-and-half retrograde measures until we go right back into the arms of Rome? My lord, I say no more; but I wish to thank Mr. Wood for having spoken out so plainly on this subject, and for thus having let us know this day what are the real intentions of the English Church Union."

CHAPTER XV _BLINDNESS AND SECOND ILLNESS_

The annual Confirmation times were looked upon by Canon h.o.a.re as the most important occasions, and the ten or twelve weeks of preparation as a season whose value was simply inestimable.

Large numbers were prepared by him personally every year, and it was beautiful to see the tender individual interest which he showed in every case. Before the day of Confirmation, at the private interview with each, he noted down in a special book his opinion of the case. He was once asked when he made this diagnosis. He replied: "As they walk from the door to the chair beside me, I get a view of their character and disposition; the conversation which I have with them afterwards gives me a further insight, and I hardly ever find the estimate wrong." Many who read these lines will remember the earnest prayer, and then the fatherly grasp of the hand and loving blessing with which those interviews ended.

All through the weeks and months of preparation the candidates were remembered at the weekly prayer-meeting in the Parish Room, and on the Sunday previous to Confirmation they were commended to the prayers of the congregation and a sermon was specially devoted to the subject. On the day itself there was an early prayer-meeting, to which all candidates came, and afterwards every arrangement was made to keep the newly confirmed free from outside influences that might too soon remove good impressions; the evening was spent, after tea in the Parish Room, in the singing of hymns and listening to various addresses. Every year his interest in the subject was fresh as ever, and at the age of eighty-one his sermon on Confirmation, which was afterwards printed and a copy sent by him to the present Archbishop of Canterbury (and acknowledged by him in one of the following letters), was so remarkable in its power and teaching as to receive a special notice in one of the Archbishop's recent Charges-an honour most gratifying to the preacher and probably nearly unique.