Memorials of the Independent Churches in Northamptonshire Part 2

After about ten years' labour as pastor, tutor, and author, finding the state of the Church not to his satisfaction, and feeling that he could not attend to it as it appeared to him to require, he endeavoured to engage the Church to choose some a.s.sistants to him in his work among the people, under the name of elders. They acceded to the request of their pastor, and unanimously made choice of the Rev. Job Orton, Rev. John Evans, as also of Mr. John Brown, to a.s.sist the pastor in his care of the society; and also desired Mr. Samuel Heyworth, by divine providence resident among them, though a member of the Church at Rowell, to a.s.sist, by his counsels and labours, in the same office. They were solemnly recommended to G.o.d by prayer at a Church-meeting, February 26, 1740, having then signified their acceptance of the call.

These elders appeared at once to enter with an earnest spirit on the duties of their office. After several meetings amongst themselves, with the concurrence of the pastor and deacons they drew up a letter, to be presented to the Church, expressive of what they considered to be the duties to which they were called, and of what they regarded as necessary to the good order and prosperity of the society. The letter was gratefully received by the Church. Special Church-meetings were appointed to consider the proposals it contained, and the unanimous sanction of the members present was given to what the elders desired.

Regarding the letter as an interesting doc.u.ment, we shall here present it before the reader:--

_The Elders and Deacons of the Church of Christ a.s.sembling on Castle Hill, Northampton, to their brethren of the Church, greeting._

DEAR BRETHREN, BELOVED IN THE LORD,--As we are chosen, in common with our pastor, to watch over you, and serve among you in offices relating to the public honour, edification, and comfort of the society, we think it our duty to address ourselves to you with one consent, on a subject which appears to us of great importance.

You cannot but know, dear brethren, that our Lord Jesus Christ, whose servants we are, has by his apostles commanded his Churches that they "withdraw themselves from every brother who walketh disorderly, and not according to the traditions received from them; that they mark those that cause scandals among them; and that if any obey not the word, that they note that man, and have no fellows.h.i.+p with him, that he may be ashamed; and that if any brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner" (and, upon the same principle, if he be a liar, or one that defrauds others), "they should not eat with such a one; but that" (though such as are without are to be referred to the judgment of G.o.d) "they judge those that are within, and put away from among themselves such wicked persons." These, brethren, are the precepts of Christ, according to which, by our entering into Church fellows.h.i.+p, we engaged to walk; and we apprehend that the neglect of these precepts, and the discipline in the Church of Christ which should be founded upon them, is a great evil, which often provokes G.o.d to withdraw from his people, and to hinder the success of other ordinances while this is neglected. We do therefore, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, beseech you that ye would attend to these precepts, and would consent to proper measures for the regular exercise of discipline among us. And as we have observed that several have withdrawn themselves from the table of the Lord, though their names stand as members among us, we desire that the Church would take it into consideration, and that if it shall be found (as they fear it will) that some have withdrawn on account of such irregularities in their behaviour as have given scandal and offence, we cannot think the matter ought to rest merely in their withdrawing from us, but that it is our duty as a Church solemnly to admonish them, and, where the offence has been great and public, to separate them from our communion, till G.o.d shall give them repentance to the acknowledgment of their sin; after which, it is our undoubted duty, on a suitable time of trial, with proper declarations of their repentance, to admit them again in the spirit of love and rejoicing in their recovery.

We do therefore, in concurrence with our pastor, by whose approbation we write these things, exhort you, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you enter into a serious disquisition of these things; and advise, that you appoint a day in which they may be solemnly discussed, at which the members of the Church shall be present, and such only; at which time we, the elders, are ready to exhibit a list of several persons absenting themselves from communion, of whose cases the Church will do well to judge, that such measures may be taken concerning them as the precepts of our common Lord direct; and we desire that the elders may now be commissioned, in the name of the Church, to give notice to such persons, if they think proper to attend at that meeting, that if they have anything to offer in favour of themselves and their own conduct, they may be heard, and all due regard be paid to their defence; they being also in the name of the Church informed, that if they do not so attend, their absenting themselves without sufficient reason a.s.signed will be taken as a confession of their being incapable of offering any excuse, so that the Church will accordingly proceed against them.

To this, as our unanimous advice to the Church, we have here set our hands, that if any of us then should be absent, our approbation of these measures may be evidently declared; and we pray that G.o.d may guide you in all your deliberations and resolutions, to the glory of his name, and the honour and edification of this Society.

_April 2nd, 1741._

After this follows a number of cases presented to the Church for suitable admonition and discipline. One entry we will quote, as deserving the attention of the Churches of Christ at the present day:--

It is the unanimous judgment of this Church, that the frequent acts of bankruptcy which have happened in Dissenting congregations, as well as elsewhere, have brought so great a dishonour on religion, and occasioned so much mischief and reproach, that we think ourselves obliged in duty to enter our public protest and caution on this head; and we do hereby declare, that if any persons in stated communion with us shall become a bankrupt, or, as it is commonly expressed, fail in the world, he must expect to be cut off from our body, unless he do within two months give to the Church, by the elders, either in word or writing, such an account of his affairs as shall convince us that his fall was owing not to his own sin and folly, but to the afflicting hand of G.o.d upon him; in which case, far from adding affliction to the afflicted, we hope that as G.o.d shall enable us we shall be ready to vindicate, comfort, and a.s.sist him, as his friends and brethren in Christ.

Signed, in the name and presence of the Church, this 1st day of May, 1741, by the pastor and deacons.

Shortly after this Doddridge is deprived of his valuable a.s.sistant in the academy and the Church, Job Orton; and he parts with him in a manner that indicates the high sense he entertained of his worth, and the affectionate attachment he felt to him. When it was decided for him to leave, we find this record:--

Our dear and reverend brother, Mr. Job Orton, having declared his purpose of leaving us, on the invitation of the united Church at Shrewsbury, was solemnly recommended to G.o.d by the prayers of the Church, several hours being spent in that exercise, and then was dismissed to the said Church at Shrewsbury by the following letter, sent by the pastor, in the name of the Church:--

"_The Church of Christ a.s.sembling on Castle Hill, Northampton, to the Church of Christ in Salop a.s.sembling_.

"DEAR BRETHREN AND FRIENDS, BELOVED IN THE LORD,--As the providence of G.o.d hath seen fit to remove from us to you our reverend and dear brother, Mr. Job Orton, who has for many years resided amongst us, and has of late years, with great honour and acceptance, ministered unto us and a.s.sisted us under the office of an elder; though we cannot resign him without the most affectionate and tender concern and deep regret, yet, being obliged to acquiesce in the determination of the great Head of the Church, though to us a very painful one, we think it our duty by these letters to dismiss him from our stated communion to yours; which accordingly we hereby do, blessing G.o.d for all the advantages we have enjoyed by his ministry and presence, and earnestly praying that his labours may not only be highly acceptable and delightful to you, as we are persuaded they must be, but that they may be crowned with abundant success. We cannot doubt but your conduct to him will be so obliging and affectionate, as abundantly to demonstrate the sense you have of the singular favour of Providence to you in sending among you so able, so faithful, and so zealous a labourer; and we earnestly desire your prayers for us, that G.o.d may make up to us, by his immediate presence and blessing, the unspeakable and otherwise irreparable loss which we sustain by his removal from us.

"Signed, by the unanimous direction of the Church, at their Church-meeting, October 1st, 1741, in the name of the whole society,

"PHILIP DODDRIDGE."

Another memoranda by Doddridge we shall here insert:--

_May 2nd, 1748._

I reviewed the list of the Church from the beginning, and found that from 1694, when Mr. Hunt was settled as their pastor (that is, within the compa.s.s of 54 years), 784 members have been admitted, inclusive of those then found--that is, one year with another, more than 14 members each year: of which 240 only continue alive and reside still among us; of which, 58 were admitted before my settlement with the Church;--and, as I have admitted 299, they show that 117, who have been admitted from that time, are either removed or dead, besides many others who were admitted before.

N.B.--Seventy-eight have been my pupils.

This would average, during the ministry of Doddridge, 16 admissions in a year.

The following letter of Doddridge, written about this period, containing some statements relating to his Church and his feelings as a pastor, we think never before published, may here be suitably introduced. It was addressed to "the Rev. Mr. Ryland, in Warwick," father of the late Dr.

Ryland, of Bristol, and afterwards minister of College Street Chapel, Northampton.

_Northampton, May 17th, 1747._

REV. AND DEAR SIR,--I am much obliged to you for your affectionate letter, and shall be very ready to give you a visit and a sermon, if Providence give me a convenient opportunity; but my motions are at present uncertain, depending partly on some visits I expect from my friends, and partly upon other circ.u.mstances. Be a.s.sured, Sir, that if I have an opportunity I shall be very glad to see you and serve you to the best of my little power, and think myself happy in an opportunity of doing anything to promote the kingdom of Christ amongst you or elsewhere. I beg your prayers for me. Through the Divine goodness I continue well. I have been much afflicted by the breach made in our Church by the Moravians, who have got from us a little congregation. The affliction has been increased by the death of some very promising and hopeful persons, especially of one who died last night, and whose age, circ.u.mstances, and character concurred to give us the greatest hopes of usefulness from him; so that it is one of the greatest blows of that kind that I have received since I came hither. My spirits are much grieved and oppressed; pray that I may be enabled to wait on the Lord with quiet submission and humble hope.

We congratulate you on your marriage, and heartily recommend you and Mrs. Ryland to the Divine blessing.

I am, Rev. and dear Sir, Your affectionate brother and obliged humble servant,

P. DODDRIDGE.

One more entry we have in the Church-book, relating to his success as a pastor:--

_Some Remarks which have occurred to me on the State of the Church since January 1st, 1747, which I note for the Instruction of any future Pastor._

At the time above mentioned, I took a review of the number of Church members, which I found more decreased since Michaelmas, 1745, than I ever knew it to be in double that time; for I found that since that time we have received only 15 members, and have lost 17; 12 have died or removed the last year, and only 8 of the 15 have been admitted this year; so that our decrease since Michaelmas, 1745, is 2, and since this time twelve-months, on the whole, 4--a very discouraging circ.u.mstance, especially considering how much I have abounded in exhortations to the Lord's table during the last year.

N.B.--The _omission_ of the names of three, since recollected, who were admitted in 1745, made the state of affairs appear more melancholy than I afterwards found it to be.

His last statement is--"In looking over the account for the year 1749, I find that 22 had been admitted, and 22 removed by death or otherwise; so that we were just as at the beginning of the year--in all, 239."

These statements rather surprise us; considering what the writer of them had devolving upon him in the care of his academy, in his extensive correspondence, in his numerous and valuable publications, that he should, amidst all this, pay so particular and minute attention to the state of the Church of which he was pastor. It shows strikingly the activity, ardour, and entire devotedness of his spirit. But, alas! it was too active and ardent for the material framework long to sustain the efforts to which it was impelled. Hence the very next entry we meet with is, "That the Rev. Philip Doddridge, Doctor of Divinity, after being twenty-one years pastor of this Church, died at Lisbon, to which place he had resorted for the recovery of his health, on the 26th of October, 1751, we may truly say, to the unspeakable loss of this Church."

How he lived and how he died is very extensively known, by the Memoir published by Orton--the "Centenary Memorial" of him recently sent forth by Stoughton; so that, though we would fain linger over his memory, yet anything further respecting him would seem to be out of place here.

We happen to have in our possession a copy of the poem sacred to the memory of Doddridge, as it was first published by its author, Mr. Henry Moore, who had been one of the Doctor's students, and was afterwards settled as a minister in Devons.h.i.+re. It is the same poem in substance as is given by Orton at the close of his 'Memoirs of Doddridge'; but it is there considerably altered from this first copy. It is thus inscribed to Mrs. Doddridge:--

Permit me, Madam, to present to you the following poem, as a testimony of my high veneration for the memory of my deceased tutor, and my tender sympathy with his afflicted family.

I am, Madam, your most obliged humble servant,

H---- M----.

_Northampton, February, 1st, 1752._

We extract the following lines from pages 7-9:--

O, s.n.a.t.c.h'd for ever, ever from our view, Thou best, thou greatest of thy kind, adieu!

Thou, in whose ample, comprehensive mind, All the ten thousand streams of science join'd;-- All the fair train of social virtues smil'd, And bright religion beam'd divinely mild.

Ah, love shall listen with delight no more, While from thy lips Truth pours her sacred store;-- No more, while studious to instruct and please, You temper serious sense with graceful ease;-- No more, with zeal for G.o.d and virtue fired, By reason govern'd, and by heaven inspired, Thy various eloquence our ears shall charm, Command our pa.s.sions, and our bosoms warm; Bid in our breast seraphic raptures roll, And spread the generous flame from soul to soul; While sinners start, by conscious terror stung, And tremble at the thunder of thy tongue.

Once more, adieu! O friend, instructor, guide, With whom our hopes, our fairest prospects died.

With what fond zeal we press'd the throne divine, To rescue from the grave a life like thine!

If ardent prayers--if streaming sorrows, shed In all the bitterness of soul--could plead, Our prayers, O Doddridge! had revers'd thy doom, And tens of thousands wept thee from the tomb.

But cease, rash Muse--oh, tremble to repine!

'Tis heaven demands him, and we must resign.

All-perfect Goodness ever wills the best: Then bow submissive to the high behest, And silent drop the tributary tear That nature's forced to pay to friends.h.i.+p dear.

Though heaven forbids us to indulge our grief, A tear it will allow--the soul's relief.

Yet who would wish him still confin'd below, Struggling with dire disease, or loads of woe?