/ 
 
 / 
 
 FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON. D. D. 
 
 BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 
I 
 

 
MEMOIRS 
 
 LIFE AND WRITINGS 
 
 REV. ROBERT HAWKER, D.D., 
 
 LATE VICAR OF CHARLES, PLYMOUTH. 
 
 BY THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS, D.D., 
 
 MINISTER OF STROUD, GLOUCESTERSHIRE. 
 
 PRINTED FOR EBENEZER PALMER, 
 
 18, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. 
 1831. 
 
;'/"/ 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 For the convenience of those persons whose circum- 
 stances may prevent their purchase of the Uniform Edi- 
 tion of the Author's Works, for which this Memoir was 
 written, and to which it is attached, the Publisher has taken 
 off a limited impression of it separately. 
 
 The Uniform Edition forms Ten Volumes, 8vo.; and 
 is sold in boards, price £6. 6s. A few Copies have been 
 printed in a very superior manner, on a royal paper, price, in 
 extra cloth boards, £\2. 12s. 
 
 paternoster row, 
 
 June 30, 1831. 
 
MEMOIRS 
 
 REV. ROBERT HAWKER, D. D. 
 
 Biography is a study as useful and profitable, as it is 
 interesting and gratifying, when it emanates from a desire to 
 glorify the Creator, rather than to eulogize the creature. 
 Although the biography of scripture may, from its general 
 brevity, be considered biography in miniature, yet the biogra- 
 phical sketches there given are inimitably beautiful, without 
 any artificial drapery to embellish the portrait — all is simple 
 — all is striking — truth is, in each, its prominent feature, 
 and simplicity its richest adorning. Every sketch, though 
 as brief as a monumental inscription, is, like that of Jabez, 
 (1 Chron. iv. 9.) replete with instruction, consolation, and 
 encouragement to all the tried household of faith. 
 
 Next to the biography of scripture, nothing perhaps more 
 fully pictures to the mind, the goodness, the faithfulness, 
 the unceasing regard of our covenant God to his chosen 
 people, in all ages, than the lives of such eminent men, as 
 have been and still are raised up of Him to feed, console, and 
 instruct them in the mysteries of his kiugdom. Although 
 the Memoirs of that venerable father in God, the Rev. 
 Robert Hawker, may form but a small section in the 
 annals of the church of Christ, yet it will be a very inte- 
 resting one to many, who have been, through his faithful 
 labours, either brought to " the knowledge of the truth as 
 it is in Jesus," or blest with clearer views of their election 
 of God the Father, of their redemption through Christ our 
 
 Vol. I.] b 
 
2 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Lord, and of their sanctification by the Holy Ghost. And, 
 whilst here I pause to bow the knee, before the Divine Ma- 
 jesty, to make my best acknowledgments, which are but poor 
 at best, of the ten thousand obligations, which I am under, 
 to the Eternal Three in One, for bringing me, a sabbath 
 wanderer, under the ministry of this dear man of God, 
 and for opening mine eyes to see the wonderful things of 
 his law, and for all the subsequent mercies, which have 
 flowed, from this one mercy, to me the unworthiest of his 
 ministers ; I cannot but express my most ardent wish, that 
 all, under whose eye this record of divine grace shall fall, 
 who have been awakened, edified, or refreshed instrumen- 
 tally through him, may share with me in the same over- 
 flowings of joy, and unite with me in the same ascription of 
 praise, in the review of such Ebenezers as these, that " for 
 the gift bestowed upon him, thanks may be given by many 
 on his behalf," 2 Cor. i. 11. 
 
 The Rev. Robert Hawker, whose praise is in his works, 
 which must ever endear him to the church of Christ, and 
 whose memorial, deduced from authentic resources, I esteem 
 it a distinguished honour to record, was born on the 13th 
 day of April, in the year of our Lord 1J53, in the city of 
 Exeter, the metropolis of the county of Devon, which is also 
 said to be the birth-place of the celebrated Richard Hooker, 
 whose work, on Ecclesiastical Polity, obtained for him, from 
 King James the First, the appellation of the learned and 
 judicious ; and of Sir Thomas Bodley, founder of the Bodleian 
 Library in the University of Oxford. It may not be unpro- 
 fitable to remark, that, in the very city where Richard 
 Hooker was born, in 1553, the champion, in his day, of 
 free-will ability and conditional election, which doctrines 
 have had their baneful and widening influence over the pro- 
 fessing churches of the realm for these two hundred years 
 past, there also was born, in 1753, Robert Hawker, whom 
 God raised up to combat those growing errors, and to shew to 
 the churches, how derogatory to his glory, and inconsistent 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 6 
 
 with his word, are such doctrines as lay the foundation of 
 our election or salvation in human merit, or human caprice, 
 and not in free and sovereign grace — doctrines which frustrate 
 the need of regeneration, or the Spirit's work on the human 
 heart. 
 
 If it had not been ascertained from his family, the writer 
 of this memoir must have said of him, what the Rev. John 
 Prince, in his History of the Worthies of Devon, has said of 
 Hooker, iS whether he was born at Exeter, or Heavy-Tree, 
 near adjoining, is yet a question ;" for I have also heard both 
 places mentioned as the birth-place of our author, who has 
 attained unto the first rank among the worthies of his 
 country. Later biographers have not hesitated to decide, 
 that Exeter was the birth-place of Hooker. And it appears, 
 that there was an estate, at Heavy-Tree, belonging to the 
 family of Dr. Hawker, which, no doubt, led to the conjec- 
 ture, that there was the place of his nativity ; but he was 
 born in the city, in the corner house of a street, which leads 
 from Mary Steps Church to the Bridge Church, where his 
 father practised as a surgeon ; and on the 14th of May fol- 
 lowing, at Mary Steps Church, he. was presented before the 
 Lord, at the font of baptism, as attested by the church 
 register. Although it may seem of little moment, where the 
 heirs of glory were born, or where they breathed their last ; 
 yet as the sacred historians, in the records of God's Israel, 
 are sometimes directed to confer this honour on places so 
 distinguished, we cannot deem it too insignificant to mark 
 the spot. If an angel from heaven were sent to us on an 
 embassy of mercy, to make known some special favour, with 
 what grateful feelings should we thereafter recognize the spot, 
 where he first descended, or where he left the last impress 
 of his foot, when bounding from the earth, he stretched 
 his celestial pinions to be gone ! And are not the ministers 
 of Christ, the angels of the churches, sent on embasssies of 
 love to make known the riches of his grace to his chosen, 
 Ins redeemed people ? 
 
H MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 I wait not to inquire what were his armorial bearings ; but 
 he tells us of 1 a royal family, into which he knew his adop- 
 tion, whose supporters, helmet, crest, shield, and motto, are 
 all of grace, and i( the gift of grace," Rom. v. 15 ; according 
 to the charter of the kingdom, formed in the ancient settle- 
 ments of eternity. His grandfather was a physician and an 
 alderman of the said city of Exeter, a man, in his day, much 
 beloved and respected. His father, whose name Avas Jacob, 
 died at the early age of thirty-six years, and left him an 
 infant, his only surviving child, at that time not more than 
 fourteen months old. An infant daughter had been pre- 
 viously removed by death. From these very circumstances, 
 he became more endeared to his bereaved and widowed 
 mother, whose hopes and happiness seemed now to concen- 
 trate in the fuUire prosperity of her beloved and only son. 
 He had also two aunts, who felt a deep interest in his 
 welfare ; but one of them more particularly blended her cares 
 and assiduities, with those of his mother, in watching over 
 his education, and instilling into his memory select portions 
 of the word of God. In recommending this practice, I have 
 heard him say, how greatly he was indebted, in after life, to 
 this plan pursued with him, for the readiness and exactness 
 with which he could quote the chapters and verses, which 
 from earliest childhood he had committed to memory. 
 
 ' Jt is in my views,' saith he, ' a solemn consideration, that 
 our little children, from the false refinement of the times, are 
 now taught their A. B. C. in books, which, for the most part, 
 are more suited to keep them from the knowledge of the 
 Lord, than to make that season of infancy, when first im- 
 pressions are strong impressions, the time of bringing them 
 into acquaintance with the Lord. Jt was my happiness to 
 have been taught my letters in the first books of learning, 
 which gathered all the lessons from the scriptures. And 
 now I find cause to bless God for a mercy, of which, at that 
 
 » See his Works, Vol. X. pas;e 150. 
 
. REV. I) It. HAWKER. O 
 
 time, I was unconscious of the value.' ' And I take occa- 
 sion from this place,' continues he, thus speaking of infant 
 education, * from long experience of the blessedness of this 
 plan of teaching, earnestly and affectionately to recommend 
 to all godly parents and teachers of schools, to have their 
 little charge taught from the scriptures of truth only, " which 
 are able to make them wise unto salvation through the faith 
 which is in Christ Jesus," ' a 2 Tim. iii. 15. 
 
 Under this impression, that the lessons from which our 
 children are taught, should be as much as possible taken 
 from the word of God, he has for this purpose compiled the 
 Child's First and Second Books, consisting of lessons from 
 scripture, or illustrative of scripture, from one, two, and 
 three syllables, to larger portions, with practical observa- 
 tions. Several useful and instructive catechisms were also 
 drawn up by him with this view, to bring the children therein 
 taught to an early acquaintance with the word of truth. How 
 amiable does the man of first-rate talents, the scholar of deep 
 erudition, the polemic divine appear, in condescending to 
 prepare the first books of learning for our infant children, to 
 guard them against the delusions of error ! Did ever the 
 venerable Dr. Isaac Watts shine with more lustre, than when 
 thus employed ? 
 
 As soon as he had attained to a sufficient age, our young 
 Hawker, to qualify him for some learned profession, was 
 sent to the endowed Grammar School at Exeter, where he 
 made a considerable proficiency in the Latin and Greek 
 classics. J know not under what master he studied Hebrew, 
 but his critical knowledge of the three learned languages 
 gave him an advantage in polemical divinity which he knew 
 how to appreciate. Though, when a youth, he was like too 
 many of the same age, frivolous, gay, and thoughtless ; yet 
 he was not inattentive to his studies, nor satisfied with 
 superficial attainments. With a mind ardent, unwearied, 
 
 » Vol. X. page 122. 
 
MEMOIRS OK THE 
 
 and capable of mastering any science ; with a genius excur- 
 sive, inventive, and aspiring ; with a memory quick, capa- 
 cious, and retentive, he was not disposed to rest satisfied 
 until he had attained unto the summit of his wishes, in all 
 the pursuits of literature. 
 
 Although from his infancy, the child Robert had mani- 
 fested a strong bias to the clerical profession, by the pleasure 
 which he felt in frequently assuming the habit of a minister, 
 and in rehearsing some part of the church service; in 
 mounting his imitative pulpit, and delivering his juvenile 
 sermon ; yet so strong was the predilection of his mother 
 for his father's profession, that her highest ambition was to 
 place him under the instruction of some learned practitioner, 
 where he might acquire a competent knowledge of surgery 
 and medicine; with which art and mystery she herself was 
 not unacquainted ; for to many of the poor in their affliction 
 has she often prescribed with the ability of a physician, and 
 in their emergency performed the office of a skilful midwife. 
 After he had acquired a sufficient knowledge of the classics, 
 an opportunity offered of placing him under a respectable 
 surgeon of the name of White, at Plymouth, who was after- 
 wards an alderman of that borough, and took an active part 
 in procuring for him the nomination to the vicarage of 
 Charles. Many eminent surgeons were there at Exeter, 
 under whom he might have been placed with advantage, 
 yet none but this situation would suffice in the purpose of 
 the divine mind ; for here was to be formed a link in the 
 chain of his eventful life, which led to his future sphere of 
 eminent usefulness. I beg here to call the attention of the 
 reader to the gracious providence of our God, who even before 
 they know him, or the purposes of his love towards them, 
 directs the feet of his saints. To be near her son, to share 
 his assiduities, and to watch over his morals, thither also his 
 mother removed ; but little did she know, at that period, how 
 much the glory of God was engaged, and the eternal welfare 
 of many of her fellow creatures was concerned, in the 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 
 
 measures which she had been thus unconsciously adopting. 
 " This also conieth from the Lord of Hosts, which is won- 
 derful in counsel, and excellent in working," Isa. xxviii. 29. 
 
 Whilst at Plymouth, he kept up a correspondence with his 
 beloved aunts. A letter to him, from one of them, is still 
 preserved by the family, of which I have been favoured with 
 the perusal, and have made extracts, which I hope will not 
 be unacceptable, as it demonstrates his habits and pursuits 
 when a youth. From this letter his aunt appears to have 
 been a woman of a superior mind, clear in her judgment, 
 sound in her principles, deep in penetration, and well 
 acquainted with men and things. Had Hippocrates been 
 instructed in a christian school, he could not have enjoined 
 on his pupils more wholesome counsel. After informing him 
 that she had received, with pleasure, his letter, enclosing 
 some poetical compositions, consisting of a fable, and pas- 
 toral elegy, which juvenile productions are now lost; she 
 gives him this memento for his future practice, ' Always to 
 consider, that the life of the lowest individual is as dear to 
 himself as that of the greatest personage, and therefore, not 
 to be trifled with by the ignorance or inexperience of a weak 
 or raw practitioner' — ' A consideration,' continues she, l which 
 I fear is not always attended to by the physical tribe. 1 the 
 rather say this to you, as you seem, in your last, to condemn 
 (which I am much pleased with) the hasty and overforward 
 prescriptions of beginners. 1 hope you will never do so, 
 until you are versed in the theoretic part ; and then, when 
 you come to launch out into practice, walk by that golden 
 rule, of c doing to others as you would wish to be done unto,' 
 Deal with your patients by conscientious, not lucrative or 
 vain-glorious views. Think that every life and every case 
 that is committed to your care you must give an account of; 
 which will lead a good man, (such as I wish my dear boy to 
 be) not only to be careful what he does, but also to implore 
 the divine assistance to succeed his endeavours, and think 
 himself happy in being the instrument only of good to hie 
 
O MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 fellow creatures.' She then refers him to Ecclesiasticus, in 
 the Apocrypha, chap, xxxviii. 1 — 14, which speaks of the 
 honour due to physicians, and of their duty to " pray unto 
 the Lord, that he would prosper that which they give for 
 ease, and remedy to prolong life." This letter bears date, 
 June 11, 1770> when he was about the age of seventeen. If 
 any juvenile students, in the school of medicine or surgery, 
 may at any time peruse these pages, may the Lord bless to 
 their future success and happiness the sage advice of this 
 amiable woman. Related as he was to those who were 
 capable of giving such good and excellent counsel, he was 
 himself, no doubt, the child of many prayers. It appears, 
 from her letter, that she was more concerned to see her 
 nephew a good man, than a great man. But how very far 
 was it from the conceptions of her mind, when counselling 
 the young surgeon in these matters, how great, how useful, 
 how eminent a character her dear boy (as she affectionately 
 calls him) would, in after life, become in the church of 
 Christ, as the vicar of the very parish in which he was then 
 training for a different profession. How marvellously the 
 Lord works in developing the purposes of his providence and 
 grace, and how differently ofttimes from our view of things, 
 in the training and settlement of our children. 
 
 Although he was blest with good instruction and whole- 
 some counsel from them, who, no doubt, followed up their 
 admonitions with prayer to God for his blessing upon them, 
 yet amidst all these advantages his heart was not changed. 
 This can only be effected by an Almighty power. When 
 my aged father has been stating some of the instances of 
 frolic and fun, in which he has seen him engaged, with 
 others of his own age and rank, at the door of the Old 
 Tabernacle, Briton-side, Plymouth, and even within the walls, 
 where no shaft of the archer, however expert or successful, 
 had received a commission to reach him, the change subse- 
 quently wrought has ofttimes elicited the exclamation — who 
 would have thought, that a youth, so inconsiderate and full 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 9 
 
 of levity, would have become so faithful and devoted a 
 minister of the gospel ! " This is the Lord's doings ; it is 
 marvellous in our eyes !" Psalm cxviii. 23. 
 
 I have heard it said, that in his juvenile thoughtlessness, 
 he once threw a squib among the congregation, where the 
 very man (the Rev. Henry Tanner, of Exeter,) was preach- 
 ing, of whose interesting memoirs he afterwards became the 
 gratuitous editor. But whether this took place at Exeter or 
 Plymouth, I know not, nor can I say, at this remote period 
 of time, from whom I received the information. In the 
 preface to these memoirs, he states, that in the simple and 
 unadorned path of doctrine, Mr. Tanner treads on equal 
 ground with Bunyan. This work he undertook for the 
 benefit of this worthy man's widow and daughter, who were 
 left in indigent circumstances. A widow, whose arithmetic 
 of life amounted to no less than eighty -one years. ' Surely,' 
 saith he, ' it is impossible, but that every one who venerates 
 age, and knows how to feel for the desolated winter of it, 
 must wish well to this publication. It will, I am persuaded, 
 strike their minds with full conviction, (I. confess, it did 
 mine most powerfully) that a life of labour, such as Mr. 
 Tanner's was, and that life protracted to so long a period as 
 eighty-seven years, possesseth no small claim on the bene- 
 volence of all, and especially of the religious : and when to 
 this consideration it be added, that, since the slender means, 
 afforded him for those long and wearisome services, allowed 
 him no possibility of making the least reserve for relations 
 so near and dear to him as his aged partner and daughter ; 
 surely the very inability seems to be the result of Infinite 
 Wisdom in the appointment, that it might be compensated 
 another way.' The result, I might add, of Infinite Wisdom 
 indeed, that the youth, who thus irreverently and thought- 
 lessly disturbed the Divine worship where he was officiating, 
 should, in process of time, though in a situation so dis- 
 similar, do him this honour to edit his memoirs, to recom- 
 mend his works, and to administer to the wants of his aged 
 
10 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 widow and daughter. May all who need this grace, whether 
 churchmen or dissenters, learn a lesson of liberality from the 
 vicar of Charles ! 
 
 Before our young surgeon had completed his nineteenth 
 year, he formed an attachment to Miss Anne Rains, the 
 eldest daughter of Lieutenant Rains, afterwards Captain in 
 the Royal Navy, and was married to her, at the parish church 
 of Charles, Plymouth, on the 6th day of January, in the year 
 1772, when their united ages did not exceed thirty-six years. 
 A truly young couple to embark in so momentous an under- 
 taking. How far early marriages are prudent, must depend 
 upon circumstances ; but, in some cases, it has a tendency to 
 prevent or correct illicit connexions. Theirs was an attach- 
 ment of early and mutual affection ; and what, in the 
 character of Zion's Pilgrim, he speaks on this subject, may 
 have been the genuine feelings of his heart." ' The Lord 
 hath given me many who are very near and very dear to my 
 affection in the ties of nature. Even in the moment while 
 writing, I feel all the tender influences of the claim, and 
 pause to lift an eye of humble supplication to the God of all 
 grace, that he may give to " every one of them grace 
 according to the measure of the gift of Christ." Grace doth 
 not destroy, it only heightens and refines our feelings. 
 Among the number, there was one more intimately wrapped 
 about my heart, whose influence, in every thing but religion, 
 I have ever found it to be both my interest and happiness to 
 feel ; for whom there needs no other claim than nature's 
 feelings to call forth every energy of the mind, in the pro- 
 motion of her welfare ; and in grace my earliest and latest 
 prayers for her salvation will cease but with my breath.' 
 
 It was, however, his lot to consign her mortal remains to 
 the silent tomb, ten years previously to his own departure. 
 She died on the 3rd day of April, in the year 1817- They shared 
 each other's affections, in the domestic enjoyments of life, 
 
 8 Vol. III. page 105. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 1 I 
 
 more than five-and-forty years. By her, who was his only 
 wife, he had eight children, who all arrived to years of 
 maturity, and the greater number are now living. 1. John, 
 the eldest son, who was the resident curate of Stoke Damarel 
 for many years, (of which parish all Devonport forms but a 
 part,) and is now the minister of Eldad Chapel, in the 
 borough of Plymouth, which was built by the affectionate 
 zeal of his friends on his quitting that curacy, and the mayor 
 of Plymouth laid the foundation stone. He married a lady 
 of Oxford, of the name of Sadler, by whom he has a large 
 family. 2. Mary, the eldest daughter, who married Thomas 
 Hodson, Esq. an opulent merchant of London ; the benevo- 
 lence of this lady's character will appear in the subsequent 
 pages of this Memoir. 3. Anna, who was never married, 
 but resided with her father to his death, to whom she paid 
 the most vigilant and unwearied attention. She was left his 
 sole executrix, but survived him only three years and a few 
 days. She died, to meet him in glory, April 18, 1830. 
 4. Jacob, who serves the curacy of Stratton, Cornwall. He 
 married a lady of the name of Drewitt, of Plymouth, sister 
 to the Rev. Thomas Drewitt, of Cheddar, Somerset, who 
 also married a Miss Sadler, sister to the lady above-men- 
 tioned. The eldest son of Mr. Jacob Hawker, before he had 
 attained to eighteen years, published a small volume of 
 poems, entitled " Tendrils" the first shootings of the 
 young vine, in its natural and unpruned luxuriancy, which 
 might, under divine training, produce a vintage of richest 
 clusters. He has since sent to the press an Oxford prize 
 poem, on the Ruins of Pompeii. Without conducting the 
 reader c on the foot of wandering' into fairy haunts by wizard 
 streams, I take the liberty to quote, as a specimen of his 
 poetical talents, a few lines descriptive of the death of 
 Jabin : 
 
 ' He died a death which none should die, 
 Whate'er their deeds, whate'er their guilt, 
 His pangs were dear to woman's eye, 
 By woman's hand his blood was spilt. 
 
12 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 For him no hostile bow was bent, 
 
 For him was drawn no foeman's sword, 
 His death-place was the peaceful tent, 
 
 His death, the judgment of the Lord.' 
 
 If his more mature muse still love to wander on the 
 flowery banks of poesy, may he know what it is to drink 
 largely of that fountain, whence Zion's minstrels drew their 
 inspiration and their song- — a song, which no man can learn 
 but the redeemed of the Lord, Rev. xiv. 3. 5. Thomas, 
 who is also in the established church, and serves the curacy 
 of Trusham, near Chudleigh, Devon. He first married a 
 daughter of counseller Vincent, brother to Nicholas Vincent, 
 Esq. admiral of the red, from whom Dr. Hawker received the 
 interesting anecdote narrated in his Sailor Pilgrim, 3 so illus- 
 trative of the gracious government of God in his providence. 
 Since her decease he is again married, and has a large family. 
 6. Charles, who was a fine youth, brought up as a surgeon, 
 but was removed by death, in the month of May, 1816. He 
 had a wen on his eye, which some surgeon in London advised 
 to be taken off, to which he assented, unknown to his father ; 
 but inflammation succeeded the operation, and terminated in 
 death. 7* Caroline, who is married to a gentleman of the 
 name of Ball, an architect of science and taste, who, at the 
 time of her father's decease, resided at Totness, to superin- 
 tend the erection of a new bridge across the river Dart. 
 8. Sarah, who was married to Captain Bow^den, commander 
 in the royal Navy. She died in the month of November, 
 1824, aged 32 years. The aged father felt most keenly the 
 decease of this his youngest and beloved daughter; for whom 
 he preached a funeral sermon b three days after her death, 
 and previously to her interment, which has since been pub- 
 lished. In the advertisement he thus refers to the mournful 
 event : — ' It pleased the Lord to remove from me, by death, 
 my beloved Sarah, the youngest of my children. I found it 
 
 » Vol. III. page 430. b Vol. IV. page. 1 1. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. K> 
 
 right to be at my post of duty as usual, on the Lord's day ; 
 and when the time for the pulpit service came, after humble 
 supplication to the Lord, that as my day so might my 
 strength be, I addressed the Lord's people to the following 
 purport : — ' I believe, that my attendance here this morning 
 was not expected by some, and may be a matter of surprize 
 to others. Those to whom it is known, that the Lord has 
 made a breach in my family, by the death of my child, may 
 have supposed that my absence would have been excusable. 
 But it is not so with me. I dared not that my private feel- 
 ing should take place of my public labours. The Lord's 
 cause supersedes with me every other consideration. True 
 indeed it is, that by this event, the Lord hath made a deep 
 wound in my heart. The incision hath been sharp and 
 painful. And perhaps the more poignant, from my age and 
 increasing infirmities. Like an old tree of the forest, over 
 which the storms of many a winter have beaten, my greenest 
 branch is now broken off, and I myself am withering. But a 
 wisdom, which cannot err, hath so appointed ; and sure I 
 am, that in this, as in every other dispensation of the Lord 
 to his people, a love which cannot fail, nor change, is also at 
 the bottom : and while I bend submissively to the Lord's 
 holy will, I hear the Lord's voice graciously speaking, in 
 tender, but sovereign language, " Be still and know that I 
 am God !" Ps. xlvi. 10. It is my mercy, therefore, that the 
 Lord dries the tear of nature, and grants me the suited grace. 
 Moreover, according to the course of years, I have but a few 
 sabbaths more to enjoy below ; every one becomes the more 
 precious in ministering to holy things, before the Lord shall 
 take me home to the everlasting sabbath, which is above.' 
 
 Many an eminent man of God has felt the same desire, 
 and made the same apology, for seeking consolation in the 
 house of God, under bereaving afflictions, and could not yield 
 to the custom, however excusable it may appear, to be absent 
 a single sabbath from the assembly of his people. But to 
 return from this digression, to which the mention of his 
 
J 4 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 youngest daughter naturally led, and from making so beau- 
 tiful and appropriate quotation I could not resist ; especially 
 when I consider, that many may peruse these Memoirs who 
 have not before noticed this funeral sermon. It evidences 
 the full affection of the bereaved father, and the conscientious 
 devotedness of the aged minister. When he died, including 
 his grandchildren and their parents on both sides, there 
 were of his family no less than forty descendants. 
 
 After his marriage, our young surgeon, (for so in con- 
 tinuing the narrative I may as yet style him) to make him- 
 self proficient in his studies, and to qualify him for practice, 
 went to London, and attended lectures at St. Thomas's, 
 Guy's, and other hospitals. On his return, he obtained an 
 appointment, as assistant surgeon, in the Royal Marines. 
 To the practice of flogging, for the purpose of enforcing 
 either naval or military discipline, he was very averse ; and 
 the poor delinquent, who was doomed to suffer, was sure to 
 find, in his generous surgeon, a willing and powerful advo- 
 cate. If, on enquiry, he found a single good trait in his 
 character, he was ready to plead it in his favour, and oft- 
 times with success. This readiness and lenity endeared him 
 to the men. Whether any particular predilection for this 
 corps induced him to accept the appointment, I know not, 
 but the Lord had other things in view. Here our ' Zion's 
 Warrior' was brought to an acquaintance with the terms of 
 the military school, which the better prepared him, in his 
 subsequent life, to write the pleasing interesting work which 
 bears that title — ' The Zion's Warrior, or Christian Soldier's 
 Manual, in which the duties and occupations of the military 
 life are spiritualized and improved.' Though he might have 
 looked forward to a promotion in his Britannic Majesty's 
 service, the King of kings was training him for a very dif- 
 ferent warfare, and a more important post of honour. 
 
 From the sermons preached and published on the occasion 
 of his death, through the inaccurate information given to 
 some of the gentlemen who thus honoured this distinguished 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 15 
 
 servant of Christ, it would appear, that he was abroad in the 
 army as an assistant surgeon ; that after having been abroad 
 for some time, the regiment to which he belonged came 
 home, and was quartered at Devonport ; that in consequence 
 of having received religious impressions, he quitted the 
 army, relinquished his profession, and entered himself at 
 college. But I am assured from his family and from his own 
 testimony, that these statements are incorrect. Except for 
 a short time, as deputy chaplain to the garrison, when vicar 
 of Charles, he never belonged to any other corps than the 
 Royal Marines, and to that corps perhaps not longer than 
 three years. He was never abroad in the army in any 
 capacity; and it is well known, that when he first entered 
 the ministry, his views of gospel doctrines were, very indis - 
 tinct, and in some points erroneous. I feel persuaded that 
 my correction of these mis-statements will be more accept- 
 able, than otherwise, to the gentlemen who have perhaps 
 been unintentionally misled in their enquiries. Truth is their 
 object, their aim, their theme, their glory. 
 
 From what cause he directed his thoughts towards the 
 church, I am left to conjecture. Whether he thought the 
 church a larger field for the display of his talents, for talents 
 he possessed of no common magnitude, and he could not be 
 unconscious of them ; but it appears, that it was not from 
 lucrative motives, for he tells us, that at that period he had 
 no other prospect than of living and dying a curate." Or 
 whether, as some have stated, that his feelings were so acute 
 at the sufferings of others, that he could not follow the 
 chirurgical profession with any degree of pleasure or comfort 
 to himself. Whilst he has been only listening to the tale of 
 woe, the starting tear has ofttimes attested the tender feel- 
 ing of his heart. Or whether the good instruction instilled 
 into his mind by his pious aunt, had left an impression there, 
 that under indistinct views of the truth, there was still a 
 
 * Vol. IX. page 401. 
 
1(5 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 latent desire, if he were but the instrument only, of doing 
 good to others. Whatever was the motive, the Lord had a 
 work to perform by him, and therefore his views were 
 directed towards college to prosecute there his preparatory 
 studies. 
 
 Although now a married man, and the father of several 
 children, so bent was he on his new pursuit, which with him 
 had always been a favourite one, that he gladly resumes his 
 classical studies, resigns his situation in the Marine Corps, 
 and was matriculated, at Magdalen Hall, in the university 
 of Oxford, May 2J, IJ78, as it appears by the college books. 
 In his circumstances, the anticipation of three or four years' 
 residence at college was not very pleasing. But the Lord 
 so paved his way to a speedy entrance on his ministerial 
 labours, that in the autumn of the same year, he was offered 
 a title to a curacy in Cornwall, if he could obtain ordination 
 from the bishop of the diocese. This was not very probable; 
 yet having obtained the most respectable testimonials in his 
 favour, and feeling confident in his own abilities, he made 
 application to the bishop, and stated to his lordship, that 
 although he was not of long standing on the university 
 books, yet if his lordship would condescend to examine 
 him as to his literary attainments and qualifications to 
 undertake the sacred office of deacon, if he were found 
 incompetent, he should deem it no hardship to return to his 
 studies. From the strong recommendation l'eceived in his 
 favour, and the modest frankness apparent in his conduct, 
 the bishop was induced to meet his request. He was 
 examined and approved, and ordained deacon by the right 
 reverend^Dr. Ross, then bishop of Exeter, as it appears by 
 his letter of orders, on the 20th of September, 1778, at the 
 Palace Chapel, to the curacy of Saint Martins, near Loe, in 
 the diocese of Exeter, and county of Cornwall. To this 
 curacy, after having passed through his academical studies 
 at the same hall, his eldest son was also ordained deacon, 
 twenty-four years after. He held this curacy about three 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. YJ 
 
 months, for it so occurred, that a curate was wanted at the 
 parish church of Charles, Plymouth, where he had resided so 
 long, and was so much respected, and from which place he 
 had not yet removed his family. In consequence of this 
 vacancy, he was soon after appointed curate, by the Rev. 
 John Bedford, then vicar of Charles. Here again we see, 
 how, under the guidance of an unerring pilot, the swell of 
 the tide carried his destined bark into the very haven where 
 it should be. Had his ordination been deferred but a very 
 short time, another clergyman had succeeded to this curacy, 
 and thrown an impediment in the way of his nomination to 
 the vicarage, which opened so wide a field for his future 
 labours. His name first appears as curate, in the marriage 
 register, on the 30th of December, 1 J7& ', but in a note to a 
 sermon, which he preached after his return from Gloucester- 
 shire, in 1825, and which was afterwards published, he gives 
 us this memorial :* — 'The first sermon I preached at Charles' 
 Church, was Nov. 22, 1778: and the text was, " Now then 
 we are ambassadors for Christ," 2 Cor. v. 20. c I have only,' 
 saith he, c to renew the proclamation of the church's warfare, 
 which, for nearly half a century ago, in this church, the Lord 
 then enabled me to do ; and, under one form or other, he has 
 graciously held me up ever since to preach among you the 
 unsearchable riches of Christ.' To a stranger it would ap- 
 pear, from this sentence, that he had from his earliest 
 ministry preached among them, in all the freeness and 
 fulness of the gospel, the unsearchable riches of Christ. 
 But he must not be so understood. It is qualified by this 
 expression, under one form or other. He refers chiefly to 
 the proclamation which he was then enabled to make, at the 
 first opening of his embassy, which, if not elucidated with the 
 perspicuity of a vetei'an, was declared with the faithfulness 
 of a good soldier, as far as he had been then taught. From 
 the earliest period of his ministry he might have preached 
 
 * Vol. IV. page 178. 
 Vol. I.] c 
 
18 MEMOIRS OK THK 
 
 some of the leading doctrines of our faith ; but he knew 
 nothing savingly of these grand truths of the gospel which 
 give offence to the carnal mind; and had he known and 
 declared them fully, it is very probable he had never been 
 vicar of Charles. I mean, our election of God before time 
 was, without reference to works ; our new birth in time, in 
 consequence of this election, and our inseparable union with 
 Christ by virtue of our new birth; with all the other branches 
 of doctrine which spring from these roots. I have heard him 
 say, that at eight-and-twenty years of age, he knew no more 
 of these great and mysterious truths, as to any personal 
 application, than the moles and the bats; yet still there was 
 in him an evident desire to benefit his fellow creatures, 
 blended with some indistinct views of the gospel of Christ. 
 
 From the college books, we find him again at Oxford 
 during the Easter-tei'ni, 1779, some time after he had been 
 ordained deacon ; and it appears, from his letter of orders, 
 that he was ordained priest, by the right reverend Dr. Ross, 
 at the Palace Chapel, Exeter, on the Lord's day, May 30, 
 1779, to the curacy of Charles; and he is therein described 
 as now or late of Magdalen Hall, Oxford. He took his 
 name from the college books, October 27, 1780. Of this 
 Hall was also the celebrated William Tyndale, who was a 
 great promoter of the Reformation, and the first translator of 
 the new testament into English. He suffered martyrdom in 
 the year 1536. How opportunely does the Lord raise up 
 great and useful men to carry on his own purposes of grace 
 in the church of Christ. 
 
 The first publication of the curate of Charles, and indeed 
 the only publication whilst he continued curate, was a 
 Sermon, preached at Roborough Down, near Plymouth, 
 before the North Battalion of Gloucestershire Militia, there 
 encamped, on Sunday, Aug. 5, 1781, which he entitled, ' A 
 Devout Soldier,' which title comprises the whole of his text, 
 taken from Acts x. 7- This sermon was no doubt a specimen 
 of his preaching at that period — the language classically 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 19 
 
 chaste, elegant, and impressive ; but it is defective in scrip- 
 tural doctrine, and barren of gospel elucidations. The name 
 of his all-glorious Christ, as he was wont, in his later days, 
 most emphatically to call Him, " whose name is above every 
 name," is not once mentioned. The Great Sovereign of 
 the universe, the Supreme Disposer of all events, the Divine 
 Being, and God Almighty, which are the common epithets 
 or periphrases used in refined divinity, for the God and 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, are the terms adopted in 
 this sermon, save at the close, where he exhorts the Devout 
 Soldier ( to contemplate the glories of that future region of 
 the blessed, and conceive, if possible, the happiness that will 
 expand his breast, when invited to make one of that celestial 
 multitude, in those emphatic words of divine approbation, 
 " Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into 
 the joy of thy Lord."" ' 
 
 To meet some disingenuous remarks made by the Rev. R. 
 Polwhele, in reference to this sermon, whilst animadverting 
 on the Doctor's more enlarged views of gospel truth, which 
 Mr. Polwhele seemed to think incompatible with either 
 uniformity or consistency, the Doctor observes, 1 c . In the 
 midst of all your reproaches, I have to thank you, Sir, for 
 reminding me of what my forgetful heart is but too apt to 
 lose sight of; I mean, my unspeakable obligations to God for 
 his gracious instructions, during a period of nearly twenty 
 years, since I published my little work ' The Devout Soldier.' 
 When I look back and consider, how divine grace has brought 
 me on my way, I take shame in the reflection, how little my 
 improvements have been under so many and long opportu- 
 nities. It appears, by what you (Mr. P.) say, that it is a 
 subject of joy to your heart that you have felt no change ; for 
 you tell me, that ' your religious sentiments have been uniform 
 and consistent.' My rejoicing, on the contrary, is, that in my 
 instance the promise is fulfilled, " The Lord hath brought 
 
 ■ Vol. IX. page 400. 
 
20 MEMOIRS OF THK 
 
 the blind by away that they knew not," Isa. xlii. 16. I have no 
 cause to blush in acknowledging, that at the time I published 
 that sermon, my ideas of the great and essential doctrines of 
 the gospel were faint and indistinct to what they are now. It is 
 my mercy, however, to see, that in that very sermon, if there 
 are no great marks of divine teachings, there are no blind 
 and presumptuous reasonings against them.' 
 
 The influences of devotion, as his term is, seem to be the 
 chief theme of his discourse ; but he was evidently, at that 
 period, whatever his attainments in knowledge might have 
 been, a stranger to that renewing grace whereby a man is 
 made a new creature in Christ Jesus. As this sermon may 
 not have been before observed by many who may read this 
 memoir, I hope it will be excusable if 1 give a short extract 
 as a specimen of the elegance of his style and the manner of 
 his preaching, at the earliest part of his ministry. 
 
 ' Strains 8 of piety,' saith he, ' flowing from the warrior's 
 lips are doubly animating ; the bended knee or uplifted eye 
 of the soldier is a sight, which it is impossible to behold 
 unmoved or without admiration. Indeed, the spirit of devo- 
 tion ever imparts a dignity to the mind that claims respect 
 from all orders. To witness the prayers of saints, and to 
 listen to the addresses of the devoted religious, in sacred 
 haunts of consecrated worship, where the voice of adoration 
 is only heard, is an awakener of tender emotions, exciting a 
 pleasing sensibility in our powers wholly irresistible j but 
 when, from the din of war or silent camp, the soldier's 
 incense ascends in pious fervours to heaven ; when, in the 
 field of battle, we see the hero animated with the strength of 
 a devout heart, and looking up with reverence and submission 
 to the Great Disposer of events, and no less, in the peaceful 
 retreat of the tent, pouring forth, before the God of Hosts, 
 the same effusions of his breast in gratitude and praise, this 
 
 Vol. IX. page 61*1. 
 
RKV. DR. HAWKER. 21 
 
 surely transcends the utmost picture our ideas can form, 
 calls up the passions with more abundant force, and carries 
 our conceptions to the highest pitch of admiration and 
 applause. Religion herself, in fact, seems to feel the supe- 
 rior energy of such oblations.' 
 
 The personification of religion and devotion in pulpit 
 discourses, whose purpose should be to lead the mind to a 
 real and not to an imaginary agency, in the great work of 
 sanctification, carried on in the heart by the Holy Ghost, is, 
 in my view, however common the practice, reprehensible. 
 Every principle in true religion, every spring of sacred 
 devotion in the soul, originates hi his presence there. Even 
 the term, grace, when personified, has a tendency to draw 
 the thoughts from the only Communicator of divine in- 
 fluence, the third Person of the glorious Trinity. There is 
 no religion, no devotion, no influential grace, but what he 
 bestows, inspires, or quickens. But this our camp preacher, 
 however fertile his imagination, or impressive his eloquence, 
 however extensive his reading, or great his literary acquisi- 
 tions, had yet to learn. The term, influence, appeared familiar, 
 but as yet he knew not what it is to have fellowship with 
 Him, who is the well-spring of all vital influence holy and 
 divine. 
 
 Whether in the martial camp, or in the peaceful saloon, 
 his mind was always awake to the powers of music. And 
 his natural taste and love for this science ofttimes induced 
 him, at this period of his life, to join the parties of the gay 
 and thoughtless, where he was literally the fiddle of the 
 company ; for as an amateur of the violin, his proficiency is 
 not yet forgotten. The vivacity of his wit, the cheerfulness 
 of his disposition, and the courtesy of his manners, caused 
 him to be much in request. , But even an ardent attachment 
 to music is frequently the source of much dissipation. Though 
 it be only what is called sacred, yet if the heart be not in 
 accord, it is vox et prceterea nihil. Music is only the hand- 
 maid of devotion, but if ever substituted for it, it becomes 
 
22 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 meretricious, and no longer harmless. His love for the 
 harmonic science induced him to use his exertions to have a 
 new set of bells for the parish church of Charles, which 
 were put up in the year 1782. But however melodious the 
 music of their merry peal, never was sweeter music heard 
 within those walls, than the melodious notes of the gospel, 
 which, in some subsequent years, fell from his lips, breathed 
 in strains of richest eloquence purely natural (that is, inarti- 
 ficial and unstudied) and seldom rivalled. There was music 
 in his very cadences ; but, in the transcendent elevation of 
 his subject, sometimes rapture. 
 
 But to return to our narrative. In the year 1784, the 
 Rev. John Bedford, who had been vicar of Charles five-and- 
 twenty years, was removed by death ; and this year became 
 an eventful one to him whose memorial I write. i It is,' 
 saith he, in one of his tracts, ' among the highest duties of 
 life to watch the ebbings and flowings of God's goodness, in 
 the tide of our own history.' He had been six years and a 
 half curate of Charles, with no very large income and a 
 growing family. As a man of unsullied integrity and 
 superior talents, he had a claim on the honourable con- 
 siderations of the corporation of Plymouth, in whose 
 patronage was the presentation of the living. Another 
 candidate was found in the lecturer of St. Andrew's in the 
 same borough. His friends were canvassed, among whom 
 was his former master, who, at this critical period, was not 
 only a member of the corporation, but mayor of the borough, 
 and took an active part in his behalf. Though there was 
 another candidate, so great was the majority in his favour, 
 that on the day of election there was but one dissentient 
 voice. His presentation to the vicarage of Charles, by the 
 mayor and commonalty of the borough of Plymouth, received 
 the bishop's seal, on the 20th of May, 1784. It is lamentable, 
 that this corporation should of late years have so far over- 
 looked the duty, which they owed to the morals of this 
 borough, as to set at sale the patronage of this living, and 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 23 
 
 with the money thus obtained to erect a theatre. ' One 
 theatre,' says archbishop Tillotson, to whose popular divinity 
 every member of the corporation would perhaps pay some 
 deference, ' ruins more souls, than fifty churches can save.' 
 It is true, that a tremendous responsibility hangs over the 
 heads of patrons of livings ; but what shall we say of pro- 
 fessedly christian bodies corporate becoming the proprietors 
 and patrons of theatres ? The world wants amusements, 
 but what will be the result of these amusements on a dying- 
 bed, never enters their thoughts. 
 
 In the year ensuing to his nomination, our new vicar was 
 called upon to preach a sermon before the bishop of the 
 diocese, at his triennial visitation, which took place in the 
 parish church of St. Andrew, Plymouth, on the 6th of 
 August, 1J85. This sermon (from 2 Cor. vi. 4, " In all 
 things approving yourselves as ministers of God,") was also 
 published, in which there is evidently a more enlarged view 
 of gospel truths, a deeper insight into spiritual things, and a 
 higher standard of divinity, that we cannot but admire the 
 progress he was making in divine knowledge. I know not, 
 whether this sermon received any subsequent revision, as I 
 am not in possession of the first edition ; but the whole of it 
 evidences a growing acquaintance with the word of God, and 
 a stronger conviction of its importance. In the Devout 
 Soldier, the quotations from scripture are very short and 
 few ; but in this visitation sermon, the select portions are 
 not only numerous, but well applied, and the attention is 
 drawn to some important doctrines. i When our congre- 
 gation,' saith he, ' is composed, for the most part, of men of 
 plain understanding, who have to learn what are the first 
 principles of the doctrines of Christ, the plainest language 
 should be adopted to the plainest truths of scripture ; I 
 mean those concerning our fallen state, and our recovery by 
 the Lord Jesus, through the teaching of the Holy Ghost. 
 When we address ourselves to others of more refined minds, 
 who are advanced in the path of grace, we may then, with 
 
24 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 greater propriety, dwell on the more advanced doctrines, 
 which trace that recovery up to its glorious source in the 
 covenant of redemption, between the Persons of the Godhead, 
 before the foundation of the world."* 
 
 Whether this section, or any part of it, was added or not 
 in any subsequent revision of his works, the sermon evidently 
 demonstrates a more advanced acquaintance with the doc- 
 trines of grace ; and as his mind opened to the contemplation 
 of these subjects, he felt more concerned for the spiritual 
 interests of his parishioners. About this time, sunday-schools 
 became more generally patronized and promoted. He pub- 
 lished a sermon, in recommendation of these institutions, in 
 the month of February, 1789, in which we may trace a 
 growing love for immortal souls. 
 
 I know not, nor have I, from enquiry, been able to ascertain, 
 at what period he became freed from the delusive doctrine of 
 man's own free-will ability of coming to God, or of obtaining 
 an interest in the election of grace ; but it appears, from the 
 letters b of that veteran champion of divine truth, the Rev. 
 William Romaine, that he was at Plymouth in the month of 
 August, 1789 ; and it is well remembered, that our generous 
 vicar, who had at some time previously invited the Rev. John 
 Wesley to his table, with the same liberality admitted the 
 Rev. William Romaine to his pulpit. I have heard from some 
 quarter, at a distance too remote to recollect my authority, 
 that Mr. Romaine preached in the morning in his usual 
 manner, on the depth of human depravity and the sovereignty 
 of divine grace, and that our worthy vicar, in the afternoon, 
 made some attempts to controvert or qualify the bold 
 assertions or unguarded expressions which the morning 
 preacher had advanced. How different were his feelings, 
 when some years after ( 1803) he first entered the pulpit of 
 
 * Vol. II. page 179. 
 
 b See Homaiiie's Works, Vol. VII. page 265, printed for Chapman, Fleet 
 Street, 1796. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 25 
 
 St. Anne's, Blackfriars, London. ' I found my mind,' saith 
 he, ' impressed with a more than ordinary solemnity, when 
 I recollected the venerable character of that faithful servant 
 of God, who had so often occupied it ; when I called to mind 
 the labours of so great a man in this place ; and when I 
 considered this very pulpit, in which I now stand, is the 
 highly honoured spot, on which dear Mr. Romaine stood, 
 who is now with Jesus ; a certain undescribable emotion 
 passed over me, and induced sensations I had never before 
 experienced.' a And well he might, if he associated with 
 these ideas, the recollection of his former imperfect appre- 
 hension of the truth. 
 
 In his Zion's Pilgrim, he makes mention of a traveller, 
 with whom he had an interview, at a time when he was 
 seeking to know more of the way of truth, which traveller is 
 represented as entering into conversation with him on the 
 depravity of man, and as introducing him to a prayer-meet- 
 ing, and as reading a sermon to him, on " The sure mercies of 
 David," Isa. lv. 3. * One branch of this subject,' saith he, 
 i particularly arrested my attention, to which, on account of 
 my imperfect conceptions of it, I ventured to communicate 
 to my friend my objection.' Some have supposed, that this 
 traveller is not an allegorical, but a real character, and that 
 it is none other than the Rev. Mr. Romaine; others have 
 considered the Rev. Mr. Goode, who succeeded Mr. Romaine 
 in the rectory of St. Anne's, Blackfriars, to be the intended 
 traveller, who also visited Plymouth some time after, and 
 preached for him, and with whom our Zion's Pilgrim formed 
 an intimate friendship. I regret, that in conversation with 
 our venerable friend, I never thought of making the inquiry — 
 not that I mean to imply, that he received his knowledge 
 merely of man, but an A polios was indebted to Aquilla and 
 Priscilla, K for expounding unto him the word of God more 
 perfectly," Acts xviii. 26. Neither of the ministers above- 
 
 « Vol. VII. page 666. 
 
26 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 mentioned were ashamed to avow, that man's salvation was 
 wholly of God's sovereignty, in the election of grace, even 
 before the foundation of the world; and that they were 
 chosen to be holy and blameless before him in love : and not 
 because the Lord foresaw that from their own free-will 
 ability they would render themselves worthy of his appro- 
 bation and choice ; for then salvation would be no more of 
 grace, but of works, which is contrary to the apostle's 
 doctrine, Rom. xi. 6. 
 
 There was a time, when the vicar of Charles did not 
 cordially receive the doctrine, that maintains the freeness 
 and sovereignty of God's electing love. In his little work, 
 entitled, * Visits to and from Jesus,' after discussing this 
 subject, he reverts to his former error : — c But here I pause,' 
 saith he, c indeed I can go no further, until I have first fallen 
 down to the dust of the earth, before the Sovereign Majesty 
 of my God, under the deepest sense of self-abasement and 
 abhorrence ! How long and how daringly violent did I 
 myself oppose this glorious truth, which now, through thy 
 grace subduing my rebellion, and teaching my soul its 
 blessedness, is become my greatest joy and delight. Lord ! 
 thou knowest well, with what bitterness of a fallen nature, 
 I contended against the sovereignty of thy grace, in thy free- 
 will election ; while in the very moment audaciously insisting 
 upon my own power in a free-will ability of serving thee ! 
 Oh, what mercy hath been shewn me on the recovery of my 
 soul from a delusion so awful !' a 
 
 It must have been about this time, that he began to with- 
 draw from worldly society. From his natural vivacity, and 
 enlivening conversation, his company was, as I before 
 observed, much sought. Even to old age, he retained the 
 same spirit of wit and humour, and was a most entertaining 
 as well as instructive companion. If any thing were spoken 
 contrary to sound speech or sound divinity, it never or 
 
 1 Vol. VII. page 262. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 27 
 
 seldom escaped his animadversion ; but with the reproof, 
 which corrected the error, there was commonly blended the 
 smile of affection. In addition to the love of music, which 
 led him into company, he was naturally sociable, and was 
 ever welcome to a large circle of friends ; but when his mind 
 became more deeply sensible of the value of time, and of the 
 inconsistency of a professed minister of Christ spending his 
 evenings at the chess-board, or card-table, he would rather 
 relinquish their friendship than join in their amusements. 
 This brought upon him their displeasure. A Portuguese 
 lady, at whose house he was wont often to resort to spend 
 his evenings in this manner, and from whom he was led to 
 expect some considerable legacy, when she found that he 
 would no longer indulge in these pursuits, sent for him, and 
 by way of shewing him that he had no longer any interest 
 in her bequests, asked him when it would be agreeable to 
 him to witness her will? 'Now, or when you please,' said 
 her courteous visitor ; for he well knew what she hereby 
 intended; for whoever becomes a witness to a will, doth 
 thereby, as the reader may well know, exclude himself from 
 any and every interest he might otherwise have therein. 
 This cross, among many others, he was willing to bear for 
 the Lord and his truth's sake. 
 
 His evenings were now more frequently spent in> the 
 chamber of the sick, the aged, or paralytic, among the 
 humblest of his flock, " both hearing them and asking them 
 questions." But this also was turned to his reproach,* ' that 
 a man of his education and ability should associate with such 
 low and ignorant persons as commonly attended prayer- 
 meetings ;' without taking into their calculations how much 
 these meetings for social prayer were blessed of God to his 
 people. Here he could speak more familiarly on the things 
 of the kingdom ; here the poor and the diffident could always 
 find access to his person; here they could freely unbosom 
 
 — ■ » 
 
 a Vol. III. page 106. 
 
28 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 their sorrows and fears ; here he became more intimately 
 acquainted with the state of their minds. Weekly meetings 
 for social prayer were held at Mary Le Fortune's, the poor 
 woman whose obituary you will find in the last volume of 
 his works, extracted from a religious periodical publication, 
 to which he sent it. Here to relax from laborious duties, 
 and to unbend his mind from severer studies, he would oft- 
 times retreat, from the noise and bustle of the great world 
 without, to unite in prayer and praise, and to expound the 
 scripture to a few of the faithful followers of his Lord and 
 Master. Also at the lowly abode of Jonas Eathorn, the 
 paralytic mentioned in his Zion's Pilgrim. Jonas Eathorn 
 was of the humble business of a hair-dresser, and when the 
 Lord was pleased to convince him of the exceeding sinfulness 
 of sin, and of the absolute necessity of a change of heart, he 
 felt the obligation of relinquishing his usual practice of 
 following his business on the Lord's day. This determination 
 caused him to lose many of his customers ; but he persevered 
 in his good purpose, until it pleased the Lord to confine him 
 by sickness to his chamber. From a paralytic seizure, he 
 was confined to his bed six-and-tiventy years. Although his 
 resolution to keep the sabbath sacred exposed him to many 
 difficulties, and he was so many years the Lord's prisoner, 
 yet he was never known to want. Oft have I heard him 
 speak of his rich Almighty Banker, and his promissory notes. 
 1 Here, Sir,' said he, clapping his hand on his bible, ' here is 
 my check-book, and when I want, I draw upon him, by 
 prayer and precious faith, and thus he "supplies all my need 
 according to his riches in glory by Jesus Christ," Phil. iv. 19. 
 In the chamber of this afflicted yet faithful disciple of the 
 Lord Jesus, have I ofttimes met our venerable friend, and 
 witnessed the affectionate condescension of the scholar and 
 divine in this humble circle. The social meeting began their 
 devotions about seven o'clock in the evening, by singing a 
 hymn and with prayer. The hymn-book was given to some 
 aged pilgrim or faithful servant of the Lord to select his own 
 
REV. Dtt. HAWKER. 29 
 
 spiritual song, which was generally adapted to his own 
 feelings for the time ; then followed the introductory prayer, 
 which was commonly offered up with so much ardency of 
 affection, with such an evident singleness of aim, and in so 
 rich an adaptation of scriptural language, that I have felt it 
 a holy luxury to he there. Our reverend pastor then ex- 
 pounded the word of God, or after a few spiritual observa- 
 tions, questioned those present on the ground of their faith, 
 on the hope of their calling, on the evidences of their renewed 
 life, and such were the answers given, and such the conso- 
 lations administered in solving knotty difficulties, and in 
 throwing light on doubtful cases, under the warrant of 
 scripture and the sealing of the Spirit, that it has appeared 
 to me a little university of experimental divinity. And, 
 although the experience of several descriptions of character 
 narrated in his Zion's Pilgrim, may appear to a stranger to 
 be the paintings of his own imagination, to give a varied 
 colouring to his little volume, yet have I heard in that 
 circle, the same mournful complaints of an evil heart of 
 unbelief, or of the hidings of God's countenance, or of the 
 various exercises of doubt and fear, with which their faith 
 had been tried, or confidence shaken, as are therein 
 described. Himself when there always concluded with 
 prayer, which was poured forth in such a flow of vivid 
 language, so rich in christian experience, so strong in 
 special pleadings, and accompanied with such an unction of 
 the Spirit, that the spiritual mind, under kindred influence, 
 could feel itself melt with his fervour, and mingle in the tide 
 of his devotion. 
 
 The Lord was pleased to call me early in life to the 
 knowledge of the truth, and I hope to the enjoyment of it, 
 under his ministry : and, in these humble circles did I first 
 learn, under the Almighty Armourer of his church militant, 
 to gird on the harness for spiritual conflicts ; here did I first 
 join in communion with the people of God ; here did I first 
 learn to distinguish between a covenant of works and a 
 
30 MEMOMIS OF THE 
 
 covenant of grace ; here oft did new truths, at least new to 
 me, flash upon my mind " to give me the light of the 
 knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ," 
 2 Cor. iv. 6. But, although in grace I have grown, and in 
 the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, yet I 
 dare not consider myself more the object of divine favour 
 now than I was then, or than I was when chosen in Christ 
 before the world began. I still carry about with me a body 
 of sin and death, a vile body, a corrupt body, and expect it 
 not to be otherwise till it be renewed from the grave. 
 
 But to proceed. — In the parish of Charles there is an 
 ancient meeting-house, which is generally considered a 
 Presbyterian place of worship, where Arian, if not Socinian, 
 doctrines were, and I believe still are, preached. Whether 
 built for some puritan or ejected minister, I know not, but it 
 is commonly believed, that it was built and endowed by men, 
 whose views of divine things were very different from their 
 sentiments into whose hands it has since fallen. This shews 
 the necessity of having in the deeds, or in some formulary, 
 articles of appeal against any preacher, who may occupy a 
 place of worship, and there disseminate doctrines dissimilar 
 to the great truths, for the preaching of which it was first 
 intended. The provision made by the Church of England in 
 this particular, evinces the wisdom of the founders, though 
 their precaution be too often superseded. 
 
 At this meeting-house, there was, about the year 1790? a 
 preacher of some ability, very industrious in promulgating 
 his Socinian sentiments. The vicar of Charles, therefore, 
 thought it his duty ' to prevent the minds of his congrega- 
 tion in particular, or parishioners in general, from being led 
 away from what he, on sound argument, conceived to be the 
 pure faith of the gospel, by the revival of an opinion long 
 since exploded or discountenanced in that town ; but, which 
 seemed to be mingling with the fashionable doctrines of the 
 times. These discourses he would have confined to his own 
 pulpit, but when he found the sincerity of the established 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 31 
 
 clergy called in question, and it was confidently said, that 
 but few of them believed the doctrines he professed, he 
 concluded, that he ought not to confine his sentiments 
 within the narrow limits of his own parish, but declare 
 himself in a more public way, to be one of those supposed 
 few, whose professions and convictions are happily blended.' 
 With this apology expressed in the preface, his volume of 
 Sermons on the Divinity of Christ were sent to the press, at 
 the close of the year 1790. A volume, which requires no 
 eulogy from me to recommend it ; its praise is in the 
 churches. This volume procured for him the diploma of 
 doctor in divinity, from the University of Edinburgh. The 
 diploma bears date, July 5, 1J92, and is signed by one-and- 
 twenty leading members of that learned body ; among whom 
 was, Doctor William Robertson, late principal of that Univer- 
 sity, and historiographer to his Majesty George III. for 
 Scotland, the historian of Charles V. of Germany, and 
 author of other learned works ; also, the Rev. Hugh Blair, 
 professor of rhetoric and belles lettres in the said University, 
 celebrated for his lectures in rhetoric, and sermons on 
 various subjects. The elegancy of our author's diction, the 
 courtesy of his appeals, the cogency of his arguments, and 
 the lucid arrangement of the whole, gained the work many 
 admirers ; and not a few acknowledged their conviction of 
 the truth. In the hope that the same result may follow, 
 under divine blessing, to some honest enquirer, still wavering 
 upon decision, I cannot resist quoting a few striking remarks 
 in the margin of the new edition of the work, which, after 
 six-and-thirty years, has had its last revision from the pen 
 of the author. c Let the man,' b saith he, ( who hath not yet 
 received sufficient evidences to satisfy his understanding of 
 the divinity of Christ, ask himself this single question, 
 whether it be possible to suppose, that a Being can be 
 distinguished by such incommunicable properties, to be 
 
 n Vol. I. page 6. b Vol. I. page 122. 
 
32 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 present at all times, and in all places, upholding all things 
 by the word of his power ; his eye unremittingly directed to 
 take in, with one comprehensive glance, every object, both in 
 heaven and in earth ; his ear open to the numberless cries of 
 all creatures ; his arm stretched forth to support, restrain, 
 protect, punish, and reward the various subjects of his 
 providence ; and all this to millions and millions of creatures 
 in one and the same moment; and yet all the while be a 
 created being, or the delegated creature of another ? Oh ! 
 the absurdity of modern infidelity ! What contradictions will 
 it not reconcile rather than bow down to the truth.' The 
 assertion of the apostle, " I can do all things through Christ 
 which strengtheneth me," Phil. iv. 13, carries with it, in my 
 mind, a sufficient argument for the divinity of Christ. 
 
 This volume of sermons brought from Mr. Porter, who 
 then officiated at the same meeting-house, a volume of two 
 hundred pages in Defence of Unitarianism, professedly to 
 animadvert on the Doctor's views of the deity of the Lord 
 Jesus. In this defence, in coasting along in pursuit of 
 arguments to silence his opponent, Mr. Porter, in behalf of 
 himself, and those embarked in the same cause, thus writes, 
 ' That though we allow the different writers of the new 
 testament to have written the books attributed to them, we 
 are not of an opinion that they were under a plenary 
 inspiration at the time they wrote them.' 
 
 In a letter to Mr. Porter, published soon after, in reply to 
 this intended defence of what he is pleased to call Unita- 
 rianism, the Doctor disclaims his intention of going over the 
 beaten ground of controversy in confirmation of the Godhead 
 of our blessed Lord, but undertakes to rebut the sentiment 
 set forth in the above quotation. c Was it not,' saith he, 
 ' enough to deny the divinity of the great Saviour of the 
 world, but you must also deny the full inspiration of God's 
 most holy word?' But, as the Doctor argues,/ if we are not 
 to believe the full inspiration of scripture, a partial inspira- 
 tion is no better than none at all, for mankind would be as 
 
REV. DR. HANKER. 33 
 
 much embarrassed to know what was inspired or what was 
 not, as they would be to collect a religion for themselves.' 
 The injunction of the Lord, not to add thereto or to take 
 therefrom, is in proof of a plenary inspiration of his word. 
 " All scripture is given by inspiration of God," 1 Cor. xiv. 3J. 
 And if this may be said to refer only to the old testament, 
 the apostle says, 1 Cor. ii. 13, " We speak not in the words 
 which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost 
 teacheth." So also, 1 Thess. ii. 13, " When ye received," 
 saith he, " the word of God, which ye heard of us, ye received 
 it not as the word of man; but as it is in truth the word of 
 God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." 
 After going through a large body of evidence, with which 
 the controversy is supported, he takes leave of his opponent, 
 assuring him, that he had not the vanity to suppose, that 
 anything which he had said would operate to the emanci- 
 pating of his mind from the erroneous doctrines he professed. 
 ' I know,' saith he, i that this is not in the power of man — 
 it belongs to a higher power — to Him, with all possible 
 humility, is the whole referred.'" 
 
 A pretended answer was afterwards published by Mr. 
 Porter, in another letter, in which he maintains the same 
 error. ' Neither Esdras,' saith he, ' nor Luke were prophets, 
 but grave and prudent men, who neither wished to deceive 
 nor would suffer themselves to be deceived. Did Luke say, 
 the word of the Lord came to Luke ; and the Lord said to 
 him, write, as the prophets were accustomed to say ?' — i The 
 prophets were influenced in a very different manner from 
 what Luke was, whose good intentions, however, may be 
 ascribed to the holy spirit.' I quote his own words from the 
 sixth page, and retain the small initial letters to the name of 
 the Third Person of the all-glorious Trinity. Though he would 
 detract attention, by substituting small for capital letters, 
 yet is he entangled in his argument, and unwarily admits the 
 
 ■ Vol. IX. page 269. 
 Vol. I.] d 
 
34 MEMOIRS OK THE 
 
 personality of the Holy Ghost ; for how could it be ascribed 
 to him, if he were not an agent or person ? Luke is declared, 
 by St. Paul, to be a fellow-labourer with him ; Philem. xxiv. 
 and of his fellow-labourers, he assures the Corinthians from 
 Philippi, where Luke was with him, Acts xx. 6. " We 
 speak not the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but 
 which the Holy Ghost teacheth," 1 Cor. ii. 13. But from 
 whom doth Luke say he had a perfect understanding in all 
 things ? uvufrev, " from above." It is improperly translated, 
 "from the very first," Luke i. 3. To this letter, however, the 
 Doctor made no reply ; for it would have tended to multiply 
 and encourage the sale of his opponent's heresies. 
 
 An observation made by one of the reviewers of this con- 
 troversy is worth recording. 1 ' It has been remarked by 
 pious naturalists, as a peculiar instance of the goodness of 
 providence, that, in places where poisonous herbs are pro- 
 duced, antidotes are generally to be found near at hand. 
 This is the case in the subject before us. Plymouth, which 
 has lately brought forth the noxious weeds of error, happily 
 furnishes the sovereign antidote of divine truth to counteract 
 its baneful influence, While a Porter disseminates the per- 
 nicious dogmas of socinianism and infidelity, a Hawker 
 opposes to him, and with success, the wholesome doctrines 
 of grace and truth, which came by Jesus Christ.' 
 
 From the kind reception, which was given by the public 
 to his volume of Sermons, on the Godhead of Christ, and 
 from a desire of being further useful in the same glorious 
 cause, he was induced, early in the year 1/94, to send to the 
 press another volume of Sermons, on the Divinity and 
 Operations of the Holy Ghost. Here is indeed a volume of 
 evidences on these grand truths ; but his arguments, 
 grounded on Mark iii. 28, 29. wherein our blessed Lord is 
 speaking of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, are much to 
 the purpose, strong, conclusive, unanswerable. They may 
 
 1 Evan. Mag. for 1793, page 129. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER; 35 
 
 be thus briefly compressed : — If the Holy Ghost be not a 
 person, how can we sin against him ? And if he be not God, 
 how can that sin be blasphemy ? iVnd if he be not a distinct 
 person from the Father, how can that sin be unpardonable ? 
 " For all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and 
 blasphemies wherewith they shall blaspheme. But he, that 
 shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, hath never for- 
 giveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation." In a note 
 on the introductory discourse, are some remarks on the 
 improper application of the word enthusiast, which he 
 quotes, as if a transcript of his own feelings on the subject. 
 * The man, whose fire is kindled from the rhetoric of Tully, 
 who travels over high mountains to kiss the dear ground that 
 Marcus Tullius Cicero walked upon, whose soul would be so 
 animated as to be ready to burst, if he could see the rostrum 
 from whence Cicero poured forth his thunder of eloquence ; 
 this man shall be esteemed a being of superior order, and as 
 one who possesses a larger soul than the common horde of 
 men ; but he, who in the contemplation of that love of God 
 that passeth knowledge, feels an animation of the purest 
 nature, to whose awakened mind the recollection of his 
 Redeemer's sufferings shall call tears from his eyes, and 
 heave the sigh of sorrow in his heart, this man is to be 
 branded with the name of enthusiast, and classed among the 
 most senseless of men — Alas ! what a proof of human 
 depravity. If the having a more awakened attachment than 
 others towards the Divine Being, who, strictly speaking, is 
 the only object in the universe deserving the affections of his 
 creatures ; and if the being animated with this divine love, 
 manifesting itself in all the instances of duty, (which is the 
 only infallible evidence of its reality); if these things con- 
 stitute an enthusiast, would to God that I were the greatest 
 enthusiast alive !' a This holy breathing of his soul appears, 
 in this good man's life, to have been in reality answered ; for 
 
 a Vol. I. page 212. 
 
36 ' MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Avhere is there one in all the wider circle of the church of 
 Christ, or in all the minor circles of our friendship, that was 
 more animated with this divine love, manifesting itself in all 
 the instances of duty ? Even his enemies declare, that they 
 have nothing in his moral character wherewith to accuse 
 him. He stood nobly forth in defence of the great truths of 
 the gospei, and therefore they contended with him. 
 
 In the same year, in which his Sermons on the Divinity 
 and Operations of the Holy Ghost were published, he also 
 sent from the press, An Appeal to the People cf England on 
 the Subject of the French Revolution. — Of which he says : 
 ' When I wrote it, 1 sent it forth into the world anony- 
 mously, that neither the insignificance of the author on the 
 one hand, nor his particular situation as a minister of the 
 establishment on the other, might impede its utility.' a In 
 admonishing his countrymen against a desire of change, he 
 states : ' That if they really understood what were the most 
 prominent features of a republic, tending to promote a 
 people's happiness, they would have known, that in the 
 present limited monarchy of this kingdom, they really have 
 what they seem to covet. The British constitution is formed 
 on that happy model, that if,' continues he, ' I may be allowed 
 the expression, it is a monarchy and a republic consolidated ; 
 for it unites with the vigour of the one, the freedom of the 
 other, and, without any infraction upon the principles of either, 
 supports both.' b He compares it to l a fine old painting, the 
 production of the first master of the art, which may have 
 suffered from the ravages of time, and its beauties may be 
 somewhat defaced ; yet no man surely,' saith he, ' would 
 entrust so invaluable a piece to every pretender of the brush, 
 or suffer the injuries it hath sustained to be mended by the 
 course daubers of the day. Nay, the very dust which hath 
 fallen upon it, the real connoisseur would not permit to be 
 wiped off, but with the most gentle and delicate hand. And 
 
 » Vol. I. page 3fi7. b Vol. IX. page 581. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 37 
 
 yet there are some of my countrymen, who, though allowing 
 the English form of government to be like this painting, the 
 finest production of human art, uniting all the collected 
 wisdom of our ancestors hi the contrivance, are, nevertheless, 
 so infatuated, as to be ready to deliver it up to the correction 
 of a rabble, and seem to be perfectly unapprehensive of the 
 consequences.' 11 
 
 In compiling the memoirs of any author, who may have 
 published any thing on the subject of politics, I should deem 
 myself deficient as a biographer, if I did not give the out- 
 lines of his political views ; the quotations made are an 
 epitome of his sentiments. The author of this i\ppeal has 
 been charged with inconsistency, for using in the pulpit this 
 apothegm, the bible is my jjolitics, whilst he published anony- 
 mously a pamphlet on the French revolution. But what are 
 the politics of the bible, save that which is embodied in the 
 text which he chose, on another occasion, when he preached 
 before the Lodge of Unity, December 27, 1792, on the 
 invaluable blessings of our religious and civil government ? 
 " My son, fear thou the Lord, and the king, and meddle not 
 with them that are given to change," Prov. xxiv. 21. And 
 what tendency has his Appeal to the People of England 
 but to enforce tbe same doctrine ? 1 see not the shadow of 
 an inconsistency in all this. At the first view, it appears 
 surprizing, that a man of such distinguished talents and 
 useful labours, did not receive some mark of public acknow- 
 ledgment for his zeal and industry, besides a mere diploma. 
 Many for works of little importance in their nature, less 
 talented in their execution, and the least efficient in their 
 influence on the morals of the people, have been honoured 
 with dignified preferments. But the Vicar of Charles knew 
 not how to stoop to mean compliances ; he sought not his 
 own glory, and was now ranked among those, who were 
 particularly designated as evangelical preachers, which is 
 too frequently an impediment in the way to ecclesiastical 
 
 a Vol. IX. page 580. 
 
38 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 preferment. Surely this is a little of the dust which wants 
 to be wiped off the good old picture. But the truth of God 
 shall remain unalterable — the world loveth its own. 
 
 Although he had this year, 1J94, presented to the church 
 of Christ a volume of Sermons on the most interesting 
 subjects, and to the people of England an Appeal against 
 any political revolution, to be attempted by tumult and 
 clamour ; yet he was not unmindful of the miseries of the 
 poor. In the close of this year, he sent to the press his 
 Misericordia, or Compassion to the Sorrows of the Heart ; 
 intended originally for an institution of that name, which he, 
 about this time, established at Plymouth, and which still 
 continues to pour its stream of active benevolence, where 
 misery and want reside. But this useful little work was 
 afterwards published, as the title-page expresses it, ' for the 
 use of the sick and sorrowful of every desci'iption, and 
 forming a suitable companion for every sick-room.' The 
 Misericordia, from which this little work borrowed its name, 
 is a charitable institution, for the express purpose of 
 relieving the wants of the forlorn and distressed stranger. 
 In every large town there may be found numbers of this 
 description, and not merely among such as come forward to 
 public notice, by knocking at the door to ask alms ; but 
 much more so, in those retired haunts, where modest 
 poverty too often secretes itself from observation. e In such 
 abodes of human woe,' as testifies our worthy friend, ' are 
 sometimes discoverable beings of more real wretchedness 
 than the imagination can well conceive ; at once contending, 
 amidst all the pressing necessities of nature, accompanied 
 very often with sickness and pain, against every sorrow to 
 which the heart of man is accessible; without a friend to 
 console, and not unfrequently without all sense of religion to 
 soften the severity of the gloom around. The first design 
 of this institution is directed to supply the wants of the body 
 — the next is to the concerns of the soul. Not that the 
 wants of the body have the prior claim ; but because, when 
 its wants are supplied, the mind is left to more freedom, and 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 39 
 
 is better disposed also, it is presumed, to attend to the one 
 thing needful?* 
 
 In the preface of a subsequent edition of this little work, 
 he thus writes : l About this time, I was called upon daily to 
 perform the last office in burying the dead, chiefly of soldiers, 
 and to such numbers, that my mind was more than ordina- 
 rily arrested to enquire into the cause of such great mortality. 
 I found, that several transports, laden with troops for foreign 
 service, had put into Catwater (the name of an inlet of the 
 sea at Plymouth) for distress of weather ; and a pestilential 
 fever breaking out among the soldiery, they were constrained 
 to bring them ashore ; and a large barn afterwards, and there- 
 from called the Friary Hospital, in the parish of Charles, 
 received them. Within the space of three months, more than 
 a thousand died: and the wives and children of many of 
 them took refuge in garrets and cellars in the town. Their 
 distresses excited no small consideration. I availed myself 
 of this general feeling, and instituted this charity, which I am 
 pleased to say,' continues he, * hath been kept up by annual 
 subscription to this hour, now near thirty years ; and I hope, 
 through the. divine blessing, will long continue amidst the 
 other charities of Plymouth.' 13 
 
 Mr. Thomas Watts Oborne, who was more than thirty- 
 three years clerk of the parish of Charles, and voluntarily 
 resigned his office soon after his beloved pastor's death, gives 
 me the following information : ' That the dead soldiers were 
 carried in cart-loads to the burial ground, in St. Andrew's 
 parish, and buried in large trenches dug for that purpose.' 
 He also states, that three hundred and twelve inhabitants 
 died of the same contagion. What an awful instance of the 
 dreadful ravages of sin — sin slew all these, and will soon open 
 the grave for all living. Reader, art thou anticipating thy 
 release with holy joy ? or art thou afraid to die, because thou 
 art too conscious that thy heart was never changed ? Pause 
 
 a Vol. II. page 537. b Vol. II. page o35. 
 
40 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 over the thought — the Lord alone can brighten up thy pros- 
 pects of eternity. 
 
 In the last edition of this little work, in an appendix to the 
 preface, dated January 11, 1827, the venerable author begs 
 permission to relate an anecdote of no small feeling. ' During 
 the continuance of the soldiers, which survived the pesti- 
 lence at Friary Hospital, one of them, by name Patrick 
 O'Connor, had sold (perhaps to provide for some pressing 
 occasion) a book of his ; and it was lying on an old book- 
 stall, which lay in my way, when going to the burying 
 ground. On the back of the title-page, the poor man had 
 written his name, and the state of his then misery, thus : 
 ' Patrick O'Connor, once of the famous city of Limerick, in 
 the county of Kilkenny, in the kingdom of Ireland; but now 
 dying of a broken heart, in Friar's Hospital, Plymouth.' 
 
 Amidst his earnest concern to be useful to the church of 
 Christ, in contending for the faith once delivered to the 
 saints, and his pastoral solicitude to bring his parishioners 
 practically acquainted with prayer ; amidst too, his patriotic 
 zeal for his country, and philanthropic commiseration for the 
 forlorn and distressed stranger, he was not unmindful of his 
 own household. From their tenderest infancy, never could 
 a father shew more devoted affection or more unwearied 
 carefulness over this endearing part of his charge. Even 
 when his views of divine things were very indistinct, and he 
 knew less of the value of an immortal soul, he felt the ten- 
 derest solicitude for their welfare. But when clearer light 
 beamed upon his mind, all his sensibilities were awakened, 
 not only to a concern for his own, but for their salvation. 
 His e Paraclesis, or Consolations in a Dying Hour, from a 
 review of the evidences of a renewed life, in a series of 
 letters to his children,' will remain a monument of his pa- 
 rental affection. In his first letter, he thus writes : 'From the 
 first moment it pleased the providence of God to call me to 
 the duties and anxieties of a father, I have felt the tender 
 charities of such a relationship, and the resistless claims have 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 41 
 
 but increased upon me with increasing years. The waking 
 seasons of earliest life, while engaged in the puerile pursuits 
 of unconscious childhood, have not unfrequently called forth 
 the distressing apprehension of your safety ; and often, when 
 looking upon you in the defenceless state of your sleeping 
 hours, have I hung over you with an affection not less ena- 
 moured (though arising from a different stream of love), 
 than what the poet represents our first father to have felt 
 for the tender object of his regard — and beheld 
 
 " Beauty, which, whether waking or asleep, 
 Shot forth peculiar graces." — Milton, Book V. 
 
 ' While in the view,' continues he, ' and the imagination 
 contemplating the perilous path, to which your riper years, 
 if spared, would necessarily be exposed, I have felt the rising 
 sigh bursting involuntarily from my heart, accompanied with 
 a prayer, not unlike the patriarch's of old, " O that Tshmael 
 might live before thee!" Gen. xvii. 18. The parent's heart 
 will know of what I speak, and will enter with me into a full 
 participation of these exquisitely tender, but altogether inde- 
 scribable feelings, which are peculiarly his own. To all others, 
 I am well aware, they are among the joys and sorrows, with 
 which a stranger cannot intermeddle. 
 
 e Through the gracious benignity of an indulgent provi- 
 dence, I have lived to see you rising up into life to act for 
 yourselves, and one by one departing into the world, like the 
 full-fledged offspring of the nest, taking wing in different di- 
 rections, l'emote perhaps from me and from each other. To 
 send after you the father's blessing, and to follow your flight 
 through the world with the father's prayer, are now all the 
 remaining duties 1 can perform for you. Perhaps the foolish 
 fondness of the father, in looking back on the rugged path of 
 life, which he himself hath long and sometimes painfully 
 trodden, would send forth the wish, that the way be softened 
 and rendered less trying to his children ; but I suppress the 
 ill-judged desire. There is but one unerring Judge of what 
 is right. My prayers are, that as the Lord shall open the 
 
42 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 several successive pages of the book of life before you, the 
 impressions of his Holy Spirit may be read in every line ; and, 
 whether, on the whole, the chapters in your history shall be 
 most prosperous or afflictive, the life itself may be a life of 
 grace here, leading to an endless volume of eternal glory 
 hereafter.' 11 
 
 Although a sweetly flowing strain of eloquence runs through 
 the whole of this quotation, yet, I fear, it has lost something 
 of its elegancy, from being presented in an abridged form. 
 In all this, how richly is the warm glow of parental affection 
 blended with the softened temperament of mature wisdom. 
 After having, in his own peculiar style, familiar yet rich, 
 copious yet chaste, descanted largely on the evidences of a 
 renewed life, which demonstrates his knowledge, if not the 
 enjoyment of them, he closes the work with a touching pic- 
 ture of the father of a family, who knew himself to be but a 
 steward in his master's house, retiring to his chamber, and 
 taking care, that his children be given every necessary in- 
 struction for a comfortable night's rest before his master calls. 
 e And now,' saith he, * let me only refresh your memory once 
 again with the recollection, that what is here offered is the 
 last advice of a father, in the night of death, before he goes 
 hence to be no more seen. I have considered myself indeed 
 all along as rising with thankfulness from the supper of life, 
 and waiting, with my lighted taper in my hand, for the Mas- 
 ter's call to rest ; but knowing your hour of sleep to be 
 approaching, I have paused before I bid you, farewell, to tell 
 you of the softest chambers of repose, to them who sleep in 
 Jesus. My latest breath will be a prayer to God, that he 
 may give you grace to live in the possession of those evidences 
 of the renewed life, that you may die in full assurance of 
 glory — Farewell."* 
 
 On the recurring birth-days of each of his children, it was 
 his custom, as long as the Lord permitted him to sojourn 
 
 ■ Vol. 111. j.;u;c 4%, 497. b Vol. 111. page 561. 
 
RKV. Dll. HAWKER. 43 
 
 among them, to write a letter of parental greeting ; containing 
 some memento of the Lord's goodness and mercy towards 
 both father and child. As nothing more fully developes the 
 private character of any one, than documents of this nature, 
 which were never intended to make their way beyond the 
 drawer of the bureau of the person to whom they were 
 written, I have prevailed with one of the family to permit me 
 to transcribe one of those birth-day epistles to embellish these 
 Memoirs. It was written after he had attained his seventy- 
 first year. 
 
 ' Eight o'Clock, Sept. 25, 1824. 
 
 f My dearest Mary, I greet in the Lord ! I am just returned 
 from the heavenly court, (indeed I am still there in spirit) 
 where I have been to present in the arms of my faith my dear 
 child to Him and His unceasing favour, from whom 1 first 
 received her ; leaving, at his throne, all that my poor heart 
 could utter of supplications with thanksgiving, for all blessings 
 spiritual, temporal, and eternal, for my dearest Mary ; and 
 that my God may supply all your need according to his riches 
 in glory by Christ Jesus. It was my mercy, that with the 
 first dawn of the morning, the Lord brought to my recollec- 
 tion, that it was my dearest child's birth-day. "Blessed be 
 the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits." Then, said I, 
 the Lord hath granted a renewed commemoration of this 
 mercy to my dear child, and hath blessed me to see it. Mar- 
 vellous grace to both, amidst the dying and the dead ! After 
 the many wintry dispensations which have passed over me, 
 like an old desolated tree of the forest, I have still this dear 
 branch remaining. Well may I use the language of one of 
 old, and say as he did, " The living, the living, he shall praise 
 thee as I do this day ; the father to the children shall make 
 known thy truth," Isa. xxxviii. 19. 
 
 * And now, my dearest Mary, let us both seek grace from 
 the source, where alone it is to be found, that lives, so dis- 
 tinguished as ours are with divine favour, may be dedicated 
 to the divine glory ; and while the Lord, in whose hand our 
 
44 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 breath is, and whose are all our ways, preserves us on earth, 
 our conversation may be more and more in heaven. It is 
 possible, (yea, it is more than possible,) it is probable, when 
 I consider, that I have already passed the scriptural marked 
 boundary of human life, that this may be the last annual love- 
 token, which I may be permitted to send to my child on her 
 birth-day. Be it so. All is well. A wisdom which cannot 
 err, and a love which cannot change, are in all dispensations 
 towards His children. And, if in the almanack of time this 
 is to close the congratulations of the father to his beloved 
 child on her birth- day, this finale will be the more in esteem ; 
 and when the heart which dictates to the hand, and the hand 
 which now writes, shall both cease their office, the Lord will 
 bring to my dear child's remembrance the past, and though 
 I then write no more, yet being dead the memento speaketh. 
 e There is a 25th of September to come in the annals of 
 time, in which both the father and the child will be alike 
 unconscious, and the place, which now knoweth them, will 
 know them no more ! Oh, the unspeakable mercy, that when 
 unknown on earth, we shall then be well known before our 
 God; and though we die, Jesus ever lives, and hath said, " be- 
 cause I live, ye shall live also." The great Lord, the almighty 
 speaker and promiser of these divine truths, confirm them 
 daily to our hearts, " that whether we live, we live unto the 
 Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord, whether we 
 live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's." Your's, my dear 
 child, in Him, in all the affection of the father and the 
 friend, 
 
 1 Robert Hawker.' 
 
 How sweetly doth this birth-day letter exhibit his real 
 character ! With the earliest dawn, his conversation is in 
 heaven. His first object is to present, at his heavenly Father's 
 court, a petition for his beloved daughter. His own heart 
 grows warm at the tender recollections of the Lord's mer- 
 cies, and whilst it dilates with gratitude, he anticipates yet 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 45 
 
 greater things to come, nor yet for him alone, but for her 
 whom he had first received on this favoured day. Let the 
 man who has discernment judge which was most happy in 
 the enjoyment of a recurring birth-day, the considerate and 
 spiritually-minded father, who began it in prayer, and suffered 
 it not to pass without a memorial of gratitude to his God, or 
 the wealthiest worldling that treads the earth, whoever he 
 may be, who makes such a season an occasion of indulging 
 in luxury and dissipation. This letter was written in his 
 latter days, when most under the censure of men, who pre- 
 tended that their principles in religion were more holy than 
 his — examine his principles by their interesting effects in his 
 family circle, where a man is best known, and how amiable 
 yet dignified, how affectionate yet faithful, 'the father and 
 the friend,' appears ! 
 
 Not only from the first dawn of divine truth upon his mind, 
 did he feel deeply concerned for the eternal salvation of his 
 own children, but for the children of his parishioners, that 
 they might be taught the things of God. In the year 1J89, 
 as was before observed, he preached a sermon to recommend 
 Sunday schools, and what he then recommended was carried 
 into effect, and many a poor man's child reaped the benefit. 
 But a commodious place for assembling them on the Lord's 
 day was much wanted. He was, therefore, resolved to erect 
 an edifice for that purpose, which might also accommodate 
 a school of industry on the week-days, and be a suitable asy- 
 lum for a few orphan children, under the management of a 
 reputable mistress. The children of his Sunday school were 
 all supplied with an uniform dress ; but he wished to bring 
 them under proper instruction on the week-days, and to 
 maintain as well as to clothe a few orphans, as far as cir- 
 cumstances or finances might allow thereof. 
 
 In the year 1J98, the foundation-stone was laid, when he 
 had not a single guinea subscribed towards the building. 
 From this circumstance, he called it, The Household of 
 Faith, which inscription it still bears in its front. It also 
 
46 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 furnished the true household of faith with a suitable place to 
 meet for social prayer. The members of the church here 
 met on Sunday mornings at nine o'clock, and on Wednesday 
 evenings at seven, to implore the divine blessing on their 
 pastor and his labours ; and no doubt can be entertained, 
 that the same Lord, who disposed them to meet for prayer, 
 and gave them a heart to pray, answered their prayers in 
 directing their minister in the way of truth, and in replen- 
 ishing his soul from the well-spring of "salvation. Meetings 
 of this description, when well conducted, cannot be otherwise 
 than beneficial to the people among whom they are instituted, 
 for there the Lord has promised his blessing. 
 
 The foundation-stone of this building was laid in faith, 
 the superstructure was carried on with prayer, and " The 
 head- stone thereof was brought forth with shoutings, crying 
 grace, grace unto it," Zech. iv. J. The Lord, who put it 
 into his heart to build the house, furnished the means, and 
 it remains a monument of his faith, perseverance, and 
 benevolence. " The liberal man deviseth liberal things, and 
 by liberal things shall he stand," Isa. xxxii. 8. 
 
 Although at his church there were two full services, and 
 many additional duties, yet so desirous was he to set forth 
 the Lord Jesus, and to win souls to Christ, if such were the 
 mind of the Spirit, that he instituted a third service, and for 
 many years went through the whole with little or no 
 assistance. On the evenings of the Lord's day, an exposi- 
 tion was given on one of the lessons appointed by the rubric, 
 and the children of the sunday-school attended to read the 
 chapter ; each child reading one or two verses, on which he 
 commented richly and largely, not only for the instruction 
 of the children, but for the edification of a numerous and 
 attentive congregation, which also assembled. These expo- 
 sitions, no doubt, suggested to him the design of publishing 
 his Poor Man's Commentary on the Bible, of which more 
 hereafter. A collection was made at the close of the lectures 
 for the benefit of the orphans, till other arrangements became 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 4J 
 
 necessary. In a preface to a Selection of Hymns published 
 by him, and sung at the evening lectures, he observes : ' That 
 the profits arising from the sale of this publication, is the 
 sole property of the household of faith, and will be faithfully 
 applied to the support of the orphans of the Plymouth 
 sunday-school, who, from their peculiar situation, are ren- 
 dered the more immediate objects of charity, and are wholly 
 fed, sheltered, and provided for, from no other source than 
 the collections made /or them in the boxes, and at the church 
 doors, on lecture evenings.' But subsequently, his time was 
 so much engaged in writing for the press, either in defence 
 of the truth, or in promotion of the one glorious object, 
 which every one who loves the Lord Jesus has near his 
 heart, that he could not give all that attention to his school 
 which the orphan department required, and his christian 
 benevolence dictated. 
 
 In the year 1J99, a most unjust and unprovoked attack 
 was made upon him by the Rev. R. Polwhele, vicar of 
 Manaccan, Cornwall. It appears, that the Doctor went into 
 that county solely with the view of spending a few days with 
 some very dear and valuable friends at Falmouth ; and to 
 fetch from thence, when those days were over, a part of his 
 family, which had been there on a much longer visit ; and, 
 during the twelve days which were appropriated to this 
 journey, he never officiated in any church but Falmouth, and 
 that at the particular request of the minister of the parish, 
 except on his return, through Truro, when by the earnest 
 solicitations of some in that place, who had at their instance, 
 and not at his, obtained from the clergyman the use of the 
 pulpit for him, both at St. Clement's and Kenwyn. e And 
 from the politeness,' saith the Doctor, ' shewn me by both 
 these clergymen, I had no reason to suspect, that the liberty 
 I had obtained from this courtesy, was the effect of any 
 indirect or improper means used to obtain the favour 
 granted.' 1 
 
 » Vol. IX. page 362. 
 
48 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 In giving this statement, the compiler of these Memoirs 
 wishes merely to prepare the reader's mind for the sub- 
 sequent charges of Mr. Polwhele, and to shew how slight a 
 matter may be misconstrued to the prejudice of a person, 
 whose object may have been not only justifiable, but laudable. 
 This journey Mr. P. denominates a Quixotic expedition. 
 He charges him with having taken possession, under the 
 imposing mask of his divinity, of the pulpits of some, who 
 were unacquainted with his doctrines ; yet, in the first page, 
 he says, e that the fame of the Doctor's preaching had echoed 
 from the heights of Maker, and re-echoed from the shores of 
 the Lizard.' As much as to say, it was known through all 
 that county. It appears, that the Doctor had not preached 
 at more than three churches, during the journey, and whether 
 any indirect or improper means were taken to obtain the 
 pulpits which were granted him, let the reader judge from 
 the Doctor's own written testimony. But among much 
 ribaldry and calumny thrown promiscuously on different 
 denominations of christians, he accuses the Doctor of dis- 
 seminating unscriptural doctrines, of intemperate zeal, of 
 presumptuous itinerancy, of enthusiasm, impiety, and blas- 
 phemy. One specimen of the vicar of Manaccan's divinity 
 will shew the reader how little he had studied his bible, or 
 knew of " that righteousness which is unto all and upon all 
 them that believe," Rom. iii. 22. ' If the righteousness of 
 Christ,' saith he, ' be imputed to the faithful, so as to 
 become, as Dr. Hawker teacheth, their righteousness ; it 
 follows, that the faithful are equally righteous, and indeed, 
 that the faithful are in the eye of God as righteous as Christ 
 himself!!!' After these three notes of admiration, he 
 exclaims: ' how impious; how blasphemous !' In reviewing 
 the subject, how painful is the thought, that a minister of 
 our established church, eminent for talents and classical 
 knowledge, and for many literary labours, should be so 
 grossly ignorant of the doctrine of imputed righteousness, as 
 to charge a brother minister with impiety and blasphemy 
 
REV. DR, HAWKER. 49 
 
 for preaching the very doctrine which the apostle himself 
 maintained, who accounted all things but dung and dross, 
 " that he might win Christ and be found in him, not having 
 his own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which 
 is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of 
 God by faith," Phil. iii. 9. " For he made him to be sin for 
 us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteous- 
 ness of God in him," 2 Cor. v. 21 . 
 
 In repelling the charge of itinerancy, the worthy Vicar of 
 Charles has given us some facts, which reflect lustre on his 
 character as a parochial minister. ' With respect,' saith he, 
 * to the charge of itinerancy, so very opposite is this to my 
 real character, that during the period of more than twenty 
 years, in which I have exercised my feeble ministry in the 
 parish of Charles, I have never been absent from it, in any 
 one year of that time, three Sundays. Mark, I beseech you, 
 what I say. Not three Sundays, in any one year ; and 
 consequently, not threescore Sundays put them all together, 
 in the whole term of twenty years. Can Mr. Polwhele 
 contend for greater residence ? Is there a single minister in 
 the whole diocese, nay, in the whole kingdom, unless for 
 some particular causes, more stationary?' ' I presume, Sir,' 
 continues the Doctor, ' you had no consciousness of this, 
 when you came forward to tell the public, that the regular 
 clergy, and the more sober part of their flock, are displeased 
 with the presumptuous spirit which hath apparently prompted 
 me to visit their parishes as a missionary of the gospel. ' a 
 
 The Doctor doth not make this statement because he 
 shunned the charge of itinerancy, as if a crime, but to repel 
 what was not truth. ' You asserted,' saith he, b ' that my 
 journey to the West was for the sole purpose of preaching. 
 1 contended on the contrary, (which all my friends, who 
 knew of my journey, knew for a fact,) that this was not the 
 object of my visit. But, if Mr. P. or any other man supposed 
 
 * Vol. IX. page 362. b Vol. IX. page 399. 
 
 Vol. I.] e 
 
50 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 from hence, that I wished to be understood, that I would not 
 itinerate to preach the gospel, if convenience and opportunity 
 offered, without neglecting the duties of my own parish, 
 this were to mistake my meaning. Gladly would I go from 
 parish to parish, and from one county to another, i to seek 
 for Christ's sheep/ (as the ordination service enjoins,) that 
 are dispersed abroad. And pardon me yet further, when I 
 add, that of all places, did it come within my reach, 
 Manaccan, with your permission, should be the favourite 
 spot of my itinerancy. T should like above all things to take 
 wing and alight on some perch near you, to warble, in the 
 best manner I am able, the sweet notes of the gospel, though 
 you and your friends might perhaps think, I did but chatter 
 as a swallow.'* 
 
 At the particular request of some of the clergy in the 
 vicinity of his parish, who held weekly lectures for the 
 benefit of their parishioners, our venerable friend would 
 occasionally assist them. To meet the repulse which the 
 Doctor had given him on the charge of itinerancy, Mr. P. 
 in his reply to the Doctor's answer, interrogates him in these 
 terms : ' Have you not preached in the neighbourhood of 
 Plymouth ? Did you never preach on a week-day at Egg- 
 Buckland?' &c. &c. To which the Doctor responds, in the 
 true spirit of a well-taught scholar, ' Yes, verily, and by 
 God's help so I will, and I heartily thank our heavenly 
 Father, who has called me to this state of salvation, and I 
 pray unto God to give me his grace, that I may continue in 
 the same unto my life's end.' 
 
 The Doctor complains very justly of a cruel, mischievous, 
 and unjust remark, which Mr. P. made in this second letter. 
 In a note referring to his Devout Soldier, preached in 1/81, 
 he saith, ' You then contemplated the bended knee and the 
 uplifted eye of the soldier, with admiration ; but now it seems, 
 you, prima facie, damn every soldier and sailor to the flames 
 
 » Vol. IX. page 400. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 51 
 
 of hell.' To meet this unwarrantable assertion, the Doctor 
 very properly and seriously puts the question, ' Is there a 
 single sentence or word in any of my preachings or writings, 
 which hath even the most remote tendency to favour such a 
 construction ? Do you mean to hold me forth both to the 
 army and navy as meriting their execrations ? And do you 
 indeed intend to expose me to any personal evil, which any 
 of either order, stimulated by your representations, might 
 be prompted to attempt ? Is this the Rev. Mr. Polwhele, 
 who tells the world, that nothing can afford comfort in the 
 hour of death, but the consciousness of having done justice, 
 loved mercy, and walked humbly with God ?' a 
 
 This charge of his certainly must have been penned, in a 
 most thoughtless and inconsiderate frame of mind ; to say 
 nothing of the malignity, that seems to conceal itself under 
 this cruel, wanton, and unsubstantiated assertion. In a parish 
 like Charles, where, in the time of war, there are so many 
 convened both of the army and navy, such language was as 
 dangerous as it was inflammatory. Many a soldier and 
 sailor will, however, have to thank God on his behalf, when 
 time's last tempest shall have spent its strength, and all the 
 conflicts of life are ended. 
 
 Meeting all this calumny with meekness and firmness, the 
 Vicar of Charles thus writes in his own defence, which I 
 transcribe, because it is not irrelevant to our purpose, but 
 makes him, in some measure, his own biographer. ' I shall 
 not be accused, I hope, by a generous public, of unnecessary 
 vanity in wiping off this foul reproach, if I bring forward 
 certain facts, which otherwise might have savoured of 
 ostentation. It is the only way, perhaps, to repel a charge 
 of this nature, by shewing what my conduct hath been, 
 opposed to what Mr. Polwhele saith. And if a life of con- 
 tinual labour and unremitting fatigue in the ministry, can be 
 considered as the best evidences of christian love ; perhaps 
 
 » Vol. IX. page 402. 
 
52 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 it may be found, in the end of the day, that Dr. Hawker 
 hath no reason to shrink from a comparison with Mr. 
 Polwhele, in services rather to promote the eternal welfare 
 of his fellow creatures, than to pronounce their destruction.' 
 ' In the close of the year 1797> I accepted the deputy- 
 chaplaincy of the garrison at Plymouth, and with no other 
 view, than that of having the door of the army opened, as far 
 as my province of duty might extend, to speak to the military 
 the great truths of salvation. By virtue of my office, it became 
 a branch of my duty to visit the sick in the hospitals, both in 
 the garrison at Plymouth, and the military hospital at Stoke 
 Village, which is somewhat two miles distant from the 
 garrison. And in consequence of this appointment, during 
 the two years which I have held this office, I have for the 
 greater part of that time, once in every week, both in sum- 
 mer's heat and winter's rain, discharged the duty of visiting 
 those hospitals. In the execution of which, at the Stoke 
 hospital particularly, (while the sick troops continued in that 
 temporary building, and before the new hospital was opened 
 near Stoke church,) I have performed divine service, in 
 prayers and expounding the scriptures, sometimes in the 
 three distinct wards of that hospital, and always in two of 
 them, when the other was not in use, amidst the floating 
 miasmata of the typhus, and the effluvia of other disorders. 
 And this I have done, without any kind of emolument 
 whatever, the whole profits of the appointment being, from 
 the first moment in which I entered upon it to the present 
 hour, regularly paid over by me, as soon as received, to the 
 gentleman who hath done me the honour of assisting me in 
 the duties of my church, while I have been engaged in the 
 duties of the garrison. And that the testimony of these facts 
 may not rest on my bare assertion, the Rev. Mr. Sullock, 
 who is the clergyman connected with me in this service, 
 hath, at my request, very kindly consented to subjoin his 
 certificate to satisfy the public mind on this point. I now 
 very cheerfully leave it to every man's candour to determine, 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 53 
 
 whether such services can be supposed to correspond with 
 Mr. Polwhele's cruel expression, that I damn every soldier 
 and sailor to the flames of hell.' The certificate referred 
 to is found in the margin of the letter," and demonstrates 
 the disinterestedness with which he undertook this laborious 
 and important office. 
 
 Whilst he held the deputy-chaplaincy, I have known him 
 leave his friendly circle, at a late hour of the night, to visit 
 a poor sick soldier of the garrison, who had expressed a wish 
 to see him, though the distance was considerable, and when 
 many, from the lateness of the hour, would have felt them- 
 selves justified in deferring the visit till the next day. With 
 many of the army and navy he kept up a regular corre- 
 spondence, nor, whenever his advice was sought, were the 
 humblest in the ranks withheld this favour ; ever l happy in 
 being the instrument only of good to his fellow creatures,' 
 more especially in relieving the burdens, or assuaging the 
 sorrows of any of the Lord's contrite ones. From one of 
 this humble rank, now residing in Scotland, I received not 
 long since a letter, from which I solicit the indulgence of 
 making a brief extract, as it affords one proof out of many, 
 that his ministry was not without a seal among the soldiery ; 
 and it comes recommended with this additional interest, that 
 the writer thereof was one, with whom our worthy friend 
 kindly kept up an occasional interchange of letters for many 
 years. i I have the pleasure,' saith he, c although very 
 unworthy of such a favour, of being one of Dr. Hawker's 
 humble correspondents — being a soldier in the Royal Perth 
 Militia, I was, through the agency of the Spirit, and the 
 preaching of Dr. Hawker, brought, I hope, to a saving 
 knowledge of the truth "as it is in Jesus." We corresponded^ 
 after my leaving Plymouth in 1814, receiving always with 
 his letter, a copy of his New Year's Address to the Church 
 of Christ. About nineteen months ago, I named my child 
 
 Vol. IX. [>;u;e404. 
 
54 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 and only son, when baptized, Robert Hawker, as a 
 remembrancer, (should the Lord spare him) of the Lord's 
 goodness to me, through means of his dear and worthy 
 servant.' In the fulness of his heart, he mentions, that he 
 had noticed this circumstance to the family, a circumstance 
 which, though trivial in its nature, is interesting in its 
 motive, that they might know, ' that Dr. Hawker lived yet 
 in a lively remembrance in a humble little cottage, amongst 
 the cold mountains of Caledonia.' 
 
 I have before me the copy of a letter,* sent to Dr. Hawker, 
 about the time of Mr. Polwhele's controversy, from a chaplain 
 in the royal navy, which has no reference to the controversy, 
 but shews, in conjunction with the former letter, what 
 claims were made on his time from both departments. He 
 was better known, and more beloved, both in the navy and 
 army, than perhaps any other minister in his day. The 
 letter furnishes such a specimen of the operations of divine 
 grace among some, who go down to the sea in ships, and 
 occupy their business on the great waters, that I make no 
 apology for introducing it; since it proves, that there was not 
 wanting, even then in the navy, such as sought his prayers, 
 rather than feared his condemnation, 
 
 c The Q. at Sea, I don't knoiu where. 
 
 ' Februarv 9, 1799. 
 
 ' My very dear Sir, 
 
 ' I write at a peradventure, (but what is there that is not a 
 peradventure, save the Rock of Ages ?) to tell you, that I am 
 well in bodily health, and would 1 could add, that I was well 
 in the only sense in which it is worth being well. But, 
 though I trust the Lord means to let the lustre of his coun- 
 tenance shine upon me ; yet, at present, I only see him 
 through a cloud of doubts, fears, and dismal apprehensions. 
 My love is cold, my hope is faint, my faith is weak ; and the 
 only source of consolation that assures me that the Lord 
 
 a Zion's Trumpet, Vol. I!, page 171. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 55 
 
 has not left me altogether is, that I am restless and uneasy 
 under the bondage of corruption, and groaning to be delivered 
 from this body of death. Would you believe there could 
 be such callous insensibility about the human heart ? I hung 
 over eternity last night by an hair, and yet this morning the 
 emotions of grateful acknowledgments, for lengthening out 
 the time of grace and patience, have vanished like the 
 morning dew ! O pray for me, my dear Sir, and wrestle at 
 the throne of grace on my behalf, that the Lord Jesus would 
 make a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me. 
 
 * I hope and trust the work about me goes on prosperously. 
 The Lord seems to have laid to his hand in several instances, 
 and we know, that his arm is not shortened, that it cannot 
 save. He has indeed been dealing out many awful dispen- 
 sations of late before our eyes ! Dissolutions so sudden, and 
 rescues so marvellous, I never remember to have witnessed ; 
 and I rejoice to see that these warnings have not been in 
 vain to some of the survivors. They have construed the 
 admonition the right way, and are going on, I trust, from 
 seriousness to salvation. I am now attending a death-bed, 
 where, I think, I perceive the symptoms most desirable, a 
 self-loathing and a self-distrust. On this foundation I look 
 forward to behold the glorious fabric of the gospel erected, 
 and the hopes of the condemned sinner realized, before the 
 spirit returns to God who gave it. 
 
 f I remain, dear Sir, 
 ' Yours, very truly and sincerely in Christ, 
 
 < E. W.' 
 
 ' P. S. The weather has been very turbulent ever since 
 we have been out. The wind has shifted so often, and the 
 sun so constantly concealed his face, that we have been, in 
 some measure, uncertain about our precise situation. What 
 an emblem of man is the ocean ! The ship a-head has just 
 made signal for land. Would it were the true terra Jirma !' 
 
 The severity of Mr. Polwhele's remark led us to notice the 
 deep interest which this man of God took in the spiritual 
 
56 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 welfare of both the army and navy j and enough has been 
 said, I trust, to shew, that it was no less unjust than severe ; 
 but to return to our review of the controversy. So sorely 
 did the vicar of Manaccan feel, from the Doctor's answer to 
 his second letter, that he disclaims any further communica- 
 tion with him, and addresses a letter to the bishop of Exeter 
 on the itinerancy and nonconformity of the Vicar of Charles, 
 complaining of his unfairness and subtilty in argument. 
 ' But Dr. H. is fond,' saith he, ' of discussing such ques- 
 tions, as arise from the articles of liturgy, that he may 
 entangle his church opponents in their talk. For his shield 
 and his spear, he has recourse to the church armoury, whence 
 his antagonists profess to have borrowed theirs.' What an 
 acknowledgment was this of his own weakness, and of the 
 justice of the Doctor's cause ! What questions could be 
 more suitable for polemical divinity ? or with what weapons 
 could he more fairly meet his antagonists in the field ? 
 
 The Doctor, in his third letter to Mr. Polwhele, says, that, 
 by his conduct in his affairs, and by his subsequent appeal to 
 the bishop, in calling in his lordship's authority to his aid, 
 he acts like a school-boy, who skulks from behind to give the 
 first blow, and, when he has been well beaten for his teme- 
 rity and presumption, declares off to fight no more, and runs 
 away to the master with the tale. 'But, sir,' saith he, ' you 
 should be told, that my zeal in the best of causes was not 
 reserved for the bishop's knowledge to come from your in- 
 formation. It is a point, with which his lordship has been long 
 acquainted. And in a letter, which I had the honour to re- 
 ceive from him on the subject, prior to the first opening of 
 this correspondence of yours with me, he was pleased to 
 observe, that he was persuaded, I was too well grounded in 
 the principles, which animated me in the discharge of my 
 duty, not to be prepared to exert them, through evil report 
 as well as good report. And this, among other civil things, 
 which his lordship, at that time, was pleased to say to me, 
 was not in consequence of any servile adulation shewn by me 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 5J 
 
 towards his lordship ; but the free and spontaneous result of 
 his own mind. I knew too well the deference due to the 
 bishop's rank not to be ready to give him suitable respect 
 on all occasions ; but, whilst I keep in view his dignity, I 
 never lost sight of my own. And, as to the prospect of pre- 
 ferment, I am confident, that the bishop, if ever he conde- 
 scends to speak of the subject, will do me the justice to 
 acknowledge, that, from the very commencement of our cor- 
 respondence, I disclaimed all views of the kind. I begged 
 his lordship to understand, though in the most modest and 
 least offensive manner I was able, (what to a man of Mr. 
 Polwhele's complexion, must be marvellous indeed) that he 
 had nothing to bestow in the way of preferment, which I 
 would accept. In the vicarage of Charles, i had attained to 
 the highest dignity I coveted in the present life. a 
 
 In his reply to the charge of nonconformity , because he 
 met his people for the purpose of prayer, in the chamber of 
 the paralytic, or in the school-room of the orphan-house, he 
 thus writes : ' It forms, in my view, a new dictionary in lan- 
 guage, which the dullness of my apprehension prevents me 
 from understanding, that it is become a crime to fill up the 
 intermediate hours, which the public demands of my church 
 do not occupy, to the promotion of the same important pur- 
 poses, by private visitations among the people. I confess, 
 indeed, that, in all this, there is evidently a very strong non- 
 conformity to the conduct of writers of religious jest-books, 
 and to men, who subscribe to doctrines, which they have the 
 unblushing confidence to tell the world they do not believe."* 
 
 In the close of the controversy, Mr. Polwhele seems to 
 avow more unequivocally his conviction, that mere morality 
 cannot save. ' The Doctor thinks,' saith he, j that I hold 
 forth salvation to christians on the ground of mere morality. 
 God forbid, that such a sentiment should ever be published — 
 should ever be cherished — should ever arise in the heart of 
 
 * Vol. IX. page 429. b Vol. IX. page 430. 
 
58 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 any minister of Christ Jesus — of any one who professes him- 
 self a christian.' 1 But it would be well for all to know, who 
 profess themselves ministers of Christ, that to build our sal- 
 vation partly on morality and partly on the Lord Jesus is 
 equally perilous. The house partly on the rock and partly 
 on the sand will not stand in the day of trial. If once built 
 on the Rock which is laid in Zion, we shall need no sweeter, 
 stronger motive to live to his glory, than that love to him, 
 which is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 From the base attacks made upon his public character (for 
 against bis private character, they could allege nothing), some 
 of his friends took alarm, lest his public ministry might be 
 impeded, or his personal safety be endangered ; others re- 
 commended prosecution, thereby to seek redress and to 
 silence slander; some of his own family also began to be 
 apprehensive, what would be the result of all this enmity 
 and rancour against him ; for Mr. Polwhele was not the only 
 one who endeavoured to prejudice the public mind against 
 this laborious and exemplary servant of Christ. But a letter 
 from him to one of his daughters, pending these circum- 
 stances, shews the state of his mind, under all this calumny, 
 and with what feelings he met the advice of those, who 
 wished him to seek redress by legal proceedings. 
 
 'Plymouth, Dec. 9, 1799. 
 
 ' My sweet dear Child, 
 
 ' How astonished am I to discover, by the complexion of 
 your letter, your distress of mind at the persecution I sustain ; 
 after what you have seen and known of the same for many 
 years. Read the 12th and following verses of the 4th chap, 
 of the first of Peter, and you will immediately perceive, that 
 these are among the necessary marks of our high calling. 
 "No man," saith Paul, "ought to be moved by these afflictions, 
 because you yourselves know, that ye are appointed thereunto." 
 And if no man, no poor humble soldier in the mere ranks of 
 
 Letter III. page 67. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 59 
 
 the army — what a dastard must be a subaltern who carries his 
 King's commission, if he be moved! Job says, "Let my 
 enemy write a book ; surely I would take it upon my 
 shoulder and bind it as a crown to me," chap. xxxi. 35, 36. 
 You seem to fear the depth and finesse of my adversary. 
 Alas ! my dear dear daughter, where is your faith ? I can say 
 of him, and all the clan, as David did to Goliath, " Thou 
 contest to me with sword and spear ; but I come to thee in 
 the name of the Lord, whom thou hast defied." You talk 
 
 also of actions. Alas ! my dear dear , here again you 
 
 lack faith. The action to be brought is already began ; I 
 have brought it and lodged it in court, and the day of decision 
 is coming. And it is in such a court, where no lawyer will 
 be wanted, nor counsellor to plead. Fact, mere fact, will be 
 all that is needed, and as sure as the Lord is true, those 
 assassins of my reputation will feel a decision ; unless by re- 
 pentance it is prevented, which will amply do away all the 
 injury they have done me. I might imitate the example of 
 Moses, and if I did, it would be on equal ground, by saying, 
 " Respect not thou their offering," Numb. xvi. 1 5. But I rather 
 would copy his bright example, who said, " Father, forgive 
 them, for they know not what they do." You forget my 
 
 dearest , that this battle I am fighting is the Lord's. It is 
 
 not against me. It is not Dr. Hawker, Vicar of Charles, with 
 whom they contend; for if I had preached only the dry 
 system of morality and not the doctrine of the cross, never, 
 no never would they have come forward against me, though 
 I had got drunk and tumbled into the grave after the corpse. 
 But it is Dr. H. the preacher of vital godliness, they hate, 
 and therefore, persecute. But let them alone, his is the 
 cause, whom I so poorly serve ; and he, in his time, not ours, 
 will vindicate his own. 
 
 ' I write this by return of post, merely to make you easy. 
 If my happiness will contribute to yours, be assured, that I 
 never, in any one period of my life, enjoyed more perfect 
 happiness, more tranquillity, than in the moment I now am 
 
60 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 writing to my dearest clear . If I am ever low in the con- 
 test, it is in this consideration, (and which the enemy I know 
 suggests): — my dear children, who are dearer to me than 
 life, will complain, f Oh, had our father used the opportunities 
 he hath had of getting forward, he might have been high in 
 life, and raised our fortunes.' When 1 turn my thoughts to 
 this side of the subject, and hear or fancy I hear my dear 
 children's reproaches — then I sometimes falter. Bat blessed 
 be God these thoughts are but momentary. If I do not ad- 
 vance your fortunes in this life, I am truly confident, my God 
 will recompense you, for what you lose in a better. Ho- 
 sanna ! my dear — — , "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth." 
 I hope to see you next week, till then the Lord be with you, 
 as he is always with me. I preached yesterday from these 
 words, "Is not the Lord in Zion ? is not her King in her?" 
 Jer. viii. 19. And now I feel the sweetness of the passage 
 to my own experience. I can, and do, with full confidence 
 say, "The Lord of Hosts is with me. The God of Jacob is 
 my refuge." Surely you will be easy after these assurances. 
 Only consider these events as furnishing out to me work for 
 prayer, and then you will see the mercy of the dispensation. 
 Go, says God, and let the enemy attack him — wound his re- 
 putation — asperse his name — I shall have more of his com- 
 pany. Long prosperity makes him like stagnant water. Oh, 
 how gracious is our God ! I charge you, my dear dear child, 
 rest more on the Rock of Ages, and then you will see the un- 
 reasonableness of your fears, concerning 
 
 ' Your tender and affectionate father, 
 
 ' R. Hawker.' 
 
 In the year 1/98, a small periodical was commenced by 
 a society of clergymen, under the title of ' Zion's Trumpet,' 
 not as a rival publication to others; but chiefly to dissemi- 
 nate and illustrate the doctrines of the Church of England. 
 To this little theological miscellany he contributed largely. 
 Zion's Trumpet to the watchmen upon her walls — to her 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 61 
 
 watchmen which go about the city — to the camp in Israel — 
 to the deserters from the camp of Israel — to God's ancient 
 people, the Jews — to all that love the Lord Jesus in sincerity 
 and truth — to the mourners in Zion, these seven blasts from 
 this Trumpet were blown by this devoted priest of the most 
 high God. In one of the papers contributed to this little 
 work, he strongly recommends to every one who has tasted 
 that the Lord is gracious, to mark down in the diary of his 
 own life, memorandums of the Lord's mercy and grace 
 towards him, as well in the sorrowful as in the prosperous 
 pages of his history. From which the faithfulness of God, 
 and the immutability of his promise, may be traced in his 
 own experience. 
 
 1 The following extract,' saith he, ' from the diary of one 
 accustomed to remark God's gracious dealings with his soul, 
 may serve as a guide to others, who may be encouraged to 
 adopt the same plan. The author of the diary, it is true, is 
 of the sacred order ; but observations of the discipline with 
 which the Lord trains up his people in the school of grace, 
 will furnish similar remarks, according to their respective 
 situations in life, wherever his providence has been pleased 
 to place them/ 
 
 The specimen given is well known to be from his own 
 diary, not exactly as inserted in the original, but here and 
 there a remark selected, as might best promote the object 
 which he then had in view. ' Jacob's pillar at Bethel ; Hagar's 
 well at Beer-lahai-roi ; Moses's altar on the victory over 
 Amalek, inscribed Jehovah-nissi ; and Gideon's, of Jehovah- 
 shalom. What are all these,' saith he, ' but so many memo- 
 rials of those sweet and gracious providences intended to 
 refresh God's people in their road to Canaan ? And when 
 the believer himself makes each instance more especially his 
 own, by setting up his own Ebenezer, "that hitherto the Lord 
 hath helped him," this becomes practical and personal, and is, 
 (in the language of the apostle) " what the Holy Ghost 
 teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.'* ' 
 
(32 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Extracts from his Diary, for the Year 17^7- 
 
 ' Jan. I, 17^7« Lord's day morning. — After a comfortable 
 night's rest, through the good hand of my God upon me, I 
 was awakened with a refreshing passage of scripture, brought 
 to my mind with some peculiar energy, " Ask what I shall 
 give thee?" I recollected that it was new year's day, and 
 the Lord's day also. The new year's gift which I ask, Holy 
 Father, through the name of Jesus, is the blessed gift of the 
 Holy Spirit, I replied ; increasing grace every day, and that 
 the love of God may be shed abroad more and more in my 
 heart by the divine power. Oh, that the grace of the Holy 
 Spirit may rest upon me, in my person, in my family, in the 
 church of Christ over which the Holy Ghost hath made me 
 an overseer ! That I may see the work of the Lord prosper 
 in my hand, and of the travail of my Redeemer's soul, and be 
 satisfied. I found my heart much drawn out in prayer on 
 each of these points, and have reason to bless God for so 
 auspicious a commencement of the new year. 
 
 ' Memorandum in the evening of the same day. — Never, 
 surely, did a year open with more promising and auspicious 
 appearances. I found great strength through all my public 
 services this day, in my morning, afternoon, and evening 
 ministrations. Is it not worth the remark, O my soul, that 
 after the labour of the day was over, and before I sat down to 
 supper, a man came to inform me of some gracious impres- 
 sions wrought on the mind of a young person in the congre- 
 gation, under the instrumentality of the word ! " Ask what 
 I shall give thee ?" occurred to my mind most sweetly. Oh, 
 what a God-awakening, hearing, and answering prayer, is 
 my God ! 
 
 ' Monday morning, Jan. 2. — "Ask what I shall give thee ?" 
 is still my motto ; and I pray God that I may never lose 
 sight of it, and of the refreshments which this portion of 
 scripture, applied as it hath been to my personal experience 
 in yesterday's mercy, hath afforded me. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 63 
 
 ' Jan. 10. — A day of providences, but not of gratitude. Oh, 
 my forgetful heart. 
 
 ' Jan. 16. — The world broke in upon me this day, like a 
 tide ; somewhat comforted in the evening. 
 
 e Jan. 24. — Went to visit Mr. and Mrs. ,on the death 
 
 of their eldest son. This dear youth was a very promising 
 child ; and from some expressions, which dropped from him 
 during his long illness, great reason there is to hope, that he 
 was a child of God. What can reconcile us to the separation 
 of ties so tender ; but the assurances that our departed child 
 or brother has fallen "asleep in Jesus ?" 
 
 < Feb. 17. — Heard this day of the death of Mrs. . 
 
 Poor woman ! I lament, that any thing should have arisen 
 to prevent me from seeing her in her last hours. She made 
 a jest of my religious principles ; and my proud nature with- 
 drew from her acquaintance. But ought I to have withdrawn 
 for this ? Might I not have gained upon her by a gentleness 
 of persuasion ? Was it not quitting the ground to the enemy 
 to leave the cause as I did ? Lord, lay not this sin to my 
 charge ! Oh, may the Lord have regenerated her heart and 
 received her to his mercy in Christ Jesus, before she was 
 called hence ! 
 
 { Feb. 25. — The prayer-meeting this evening was particu- 
 larly refreshing. 
 
 ' Dec. 31. — The end of the year 1797, which began so aus- 
 piciously, ended as mercifully. And I do not recollect through 
 the whole, that I experienced one half-hour's sickness from 
 the beginning to the end of it. Upon the review, I see much 
 to admire and adore of the Lord's gracious dealings, and 
 abundant reason to take shame and confusion of face in my 
 unprofitableness and short comings — " Ask, what I shall give 
 thee," said the Lord. But, Oh, my God, how much more 
 bountiful have been thy gifts, than my requests !'* 
 
 It is much to be regretted, that the original diary, which he 
 
 n Zion's Trumpet, Vol. II. p. G7. 
 
64 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 kept to the close of his pilgrimage, when his views were more 
 distinct, his judgment more mature, his communion with God 
 more intimate, and his joy in the Lord more abundant, has 
 been lost. Not that the veteran has a nature less corrupt or 
 less carnal to contend with than the youngest disciple, who 
 is made a new creature in Christ. They are both only re- 
 newed " in the spirit of their mind ;" their body is still a vile 
 body, a corrupt body, and will and must continue so, till re- 
 newed from the grave. All his papers fell into the hands of 
 his daughter Anna, who superintended his house after the 
 decease of her mother, and became his sole executrix, to 
 whom he gave direction either to preserve or destroy his me- 
 morandums, as she thought proper. As in these papers, 
 many things were noted, which only concerned his own fa- 
 mily, and could not be of any interest to others, it is feared, 
 that they have all been destroyed ; though judicious sketches 
 from these unvarnished portraits of his heart, taken in every 
 varied shade of position or attitude, would have been deemed 
 an invaluable acquisition to a large circle of his friends. In- 
 deed extracts of this nature, from the memorandums of a man 
 so deeply acquainted with things spiritual, must have been 
 very acceptable, and no doubt beneficial to all his " compa- 
 nions in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus 
 Christ," Rev. i. 9. 
 
 It was in this little Miscellany, for July, 1799, first appeared 
 his Zion's Pilgrim. l He that goes a pilgrimage after Bunyan, 
 and writes the journal of his progress, undertakes,' says one 
 of his reviewers, ' no small difficulty. Dr. Hawker has, 
 however, struck out a path of so much novelty, and presented 
 so many interesting objects on every stage, that except at 
 the house of the interpreter, we are scarcely reminded of our 
 old friend John in all the way.' Indeed it has all the pathos 
 and elegancy of Sterne without his affectation and ribaldry. 
 One incident arising out of another, keeps the attention con- 
 tinually awake ; and the varied scenes, which present them- 
 selves to your view, furnish the mind with many a rich subject 
 
KEV T . I)K. HAWKER. 65 
 
 for contemplation, as you accompany the pilgrim in his 
 eventful path. 
 
 'It was not,' saith he, f until that I had passed a very 
 considerable portion of time in the life of man, that I felt 
 the full conviction of my being but a stranger and pilgrim 
 upon the earth. I pause — in the moment of recollection to 
 look back upon the whirlpool, in which for so many years 
 I was hurried on by the unceasing current ! unconscious of 
 the perilous situation in which I then moved, and uncon- 
 cerned at what I saw of the sudden departure of those 
 around me, swallowed up in the vortex. Dread power ! 
 awful even in thy mercies ! Do I now stand secure on the 
 edge, upheld by a strength not my own, no longer within the 
 reach of the tide, and beholding the solemn prospect of thou- 
 sands still ingulphed ? Can I call to mind the past danger, 
 and the present deliverance, unmoved with pity over the 
 unthinking throng, and untouched with gratitude to thee the 
 sole Author of every mercy ? I feel (blessed be the grace 
 that inspires it !) the rising hymn of thankfulness in my 
 heart, while the tear drops from my eye : " Lord, how is it 
 that thou hast manifested thyself unto me, and not unto the 
 world!" 
 
 'I hardly know at what period to commence my history. 
 All that part of life, which I spent prior to my conversion, I 
 cannot reckon in the estimate of really living. He only 
 lives, who lives to God's glory — all else is but a blank in 
 creation. I can only tell the reader, that if from my first 
 apprehension of divine things must commence the calcula- 
 tion of my real life, I have but a little path to go over. But 
 from this era would I desire to date my history. What were 
 the secondary means, which the Lord in his providence was 
 pleased to employ, it is not so interesting to be informed, as 
 to behold their efficacy under grace. It will be sufficient for 
 him to know, that from an ardent pursuit, like that of the 
 generality of the world, of the several objects which attract 
 attention in the circle of life, I found my mind suddenly 
 
 Vol. I.] f 
 
66 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 arrested by matters of a higher nature ; and among the first 
 evidences of a renewed life, I discovered two or three leading 
 principles manifesting the mighty change. As for example : 
 — from being occupied in an unremitting regard to things 
 temporal, I now found my heart earnest to pursue the things 
 which are eternal : and if, at any time, the necessary and un- 
 avoidable claims of the world broke in upon me to call off 
 my attention, my heart, like the needle under magnetic in- 
 fluence, which cannot be long diverted from the object of its 
 attraction, soon was turned again to its favourite pursuit. 
 In like manner, the troubles of life, and the disappointments 
 necessary to the present preliminary state, which, in the days 
 of my unregeneracy operated with all their severity, now 
 lost their power, or at least became lessened in the great 
 anxiety of what might be my situation in the world to come. 
 This, like the ocean, whose boundless bosom takes in all the 
 rivers flowing into it, swallowed up every lesser stream of 
 sorrow j and, an awakened concern for " the one thing need- 
 ful," made me forget every other consideration.' 
 
 These are among his preliminary remarks j but through 
 the whole his style is elegant, yet familiar ; his imagery 
 affluent, yet not gaudy ; the incidents are for the most part 
 from real life ; yet, in connecting them together, he has, 
 like Bunyan, borrowed the dress of allegory, and indulged in 
 the language of fiction. Some of the closing scenes of Zion's 
 Pilgrim's chequered way were first published in the Gospel 
 Magazine, and were no doubt a transcript of his own views, 
 feelings, and circumstances at the time he wrote them; to 
 which, reference will be hereafter made, in describing some 
 of the last days of this eminent saint of God. 
 
 Bunyan and Milton were two favourite authors of our 
 venerable friend ; on both of which he has written notes, 
 which are before the public. His notes on Bunyan are con- 
 fined to the second part, to accompany the first part with 
 notes by Scott and Newton. ' My chief object, in the notes 
 I have offered,' saith he, on Milton's Paradise Lost, i hath 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 67 
 
 been to shew what a rich vein of true divinity runs through 
 the whole work, and that our author was as sound a divine, 
 as he was great as a poet.' 
 
 His Zion's Warrior was also first published in the same 
 miscellany, commencing in June, 1801, under the title of 
 the Soldier's Manual. In his introduction, he says, ' Having 
 exercised some little portion of my ministry among the 
 military in this neighbourhood, (meaning as deputy-chap- 
 lain of the garrison, at Plymouth) I have been frequently led 
 to reflect, that there is a striking affinity, in many instances, 
 between the profession of a soldier and that of a christian. 
 And under this impression, I have thought, that it might 
 be instrumentally conducive to the glory of God, if some 
 little tract, displaying the resemblance, were drawn up with 
 suitable reflections, and dispersed among the army ; by the 
 perusal of which, the soldier's mind might be led on to the 
 consideration of the solemn and interesting claims of reli- 
 gion, even whilst engaged in the employment of his pro- 
 fession.' 
 
 ' The truly christian soldier,' saith he, ' for only such know 
 any thing of the spiritual warfare, cannot read this little 
 Manual without being led to see, that the same God, who 
 chooseth our inheritance for us, hath also chosen him to be a 
 soldier.' The reflection he makes on the deserter brought 
 back to head-quarters, is affectingly beautiful: 'Yonder 
 behold a deserter brought back to head-quarters. Ah ! 
 thoughtless youth ! what could be the motive to tempt you 
 to forego the oath you have taken to allegiance, and shame- 
 fully run from your king and country's service ? And what 
 possible persuasion coidd it be to impose upon your better 
 knowledge, with the hope to escape from being taken and 
 brought back to punishment ? But pause, my soul, over the 
 thought, and recollect what a deserter am I from the stan- 
 dard of Christ Jesus ! What motive has influenced me, 
 times without number, to desert from so kind and gracious 
 an employment, and to run away from a master whose 
 
68 MEMOIRS OP THE 
 
 very service is perfect freedom ! There is one striking 
 similarity between the character of the deserter among 
 soldiers, and a man who backslides from the faith and love 
 which is in Christ Jesus. The deserter never returns again 
 to his regiment, until either by persuasion he is prevailed 
 upon by the promise of pardon to come back, or is compelled 
 to it by necessity. Just so the christian. After a season of 
 remissness and disobedience and departure, though the 
 sweet voice of grace is ever proclaiming, " Return, ye back- 
 sliding children, and I will heal your backsliding, saith the 
 Lord," yet there is neither power nor disposition to return 
 until God inclines the heart.' a 
 
 In the year 1801, to which we are arrived in the chrono- 
 logical order of our narration, he lost by death his beloved 
 mother. Spared to a great age, and confined to her apart- 
 ment, if not to her bed, to her he paid his daily visit, except 
 when from home, or unavoidable duties prevented, which 
 occurred but seldom. And there beside her couch, he might 
 as regularly be found, pouring out his heart before God in 
 strains of ardent affection for daily supplies of spiritual 
 strength and consolation to be administered to his aged 
 parent. Happy in administering to her any little temporal 
 comfort, which the languor of nature in her advanced age 
 required ; which happiness was only heightened when he saw 
 the tear glisten in her eye, whilst the prayer for her eternal 
 safety rose warm from his heart. Indeed, he proved himself 
 the most affectionate of sons to the most affectionate of 
 mothers. i Dear name!' saith he, in his Sailor Pilgrim, of 
 which we shall hereafter speak, e the very mention of it 
 awakens remembrance in my mind to a thousand images of 
 tenderness, which marked her character towards me in the 
 boyish days of my life : then, indeed, but coolly considered, 
 and, I fear, but as unthankfully acknowledged ; but now she 
 is no more, they rise to my recollection in all the warmth of 
 
 ■ Vol. III. page 481. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 69 
 
 affectionate remembrance, and tell me how much she loved 
 by what she did.'" Although he there speaks in the character 
 of the Sailor Pilgrim, yet in drawing this sketch of the most 
 tender of parents, it is not to be supposed that he was 
 unmindful of his own. Stronger affection, or more assiduous 
 attention, could never be witnessed in a son than he was 
 wont to shew to his venerable mother. Can the admirers of 
 the mere moral school exhibit a finer specimen of filial 
 attachment, in which is interwoven, with the best affections 
 of nature, the liveliest concern for her spiritual consolation 
 and meetenings for glory ? 
 
 In 1802, he commenced a society for distributing religious 
 tracts, denominated, t The Great Western Society, for dis- 
 persing religious tracts among the poor (gratis) in the 
 western district.' Although his numerous engagements pre- 
 vented him from paying all the attention he could wish to this 
 department of his literary engagement — himself, as I have 
 heard him say with much pleasantry, the sole committee, 
 chairman, treasurer, secretary, and editor — yet he furnished 
 the religious world with several new and useful tracts. To 
 answer a supposed question — Is not such a plan rendered 
 unnecessary, by reason of those societies which are already 
 established with the same object in view in London ? The 
 worthy editor remarks, ' The scripture saith, that " two are 
 better than one." And while we wish all imaginable success 
 to every society formed upon the principles of sound religion 
 and vital godliness, we venture to believe, that there is yet 
 room for more. Besides, we find that tracts can be printed 
 as cheap in the country as they are in town, and thereby we 
 avoid the expense of carriage. So that, on principles of 
 frugality, our plan is worthy to be adopted.' In reference 
 to the dissemination of the gospel by means of tracts, in 
 addition to other arguments, he saith, ' To mention no more, 
 what a field of the richest charity is opened before every 
 
 Vol. III. page 261. 
 
70 • MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 man of tender and compassionate feelings, when he considers 
 what the gospel affords in its balm of comfort, and under its 
 various applications to the sickness, sorrows, darkness, and 
 the ten thousand instances of misery which beset the path of 
 life, and which are the sad consequences of sin, and the 
 natural effects of our present fallen state.' 
 
 The title of one of these tracts is quite novel to me: 
 ' Bible Nuts, made easy for the tooth both of young and 
 grown children.' It reminds me of some of the titles of the 
 old puritan's books, which still attract notice from their 
 singularity and quaintness, and furnish no mean dessert to the 
 banqueting christian. The Bible Nuts are such texts of 
 scripture as require opening by gospel elucidations, before 
 their fulness and sweetness can be seen or tasted ; but when 
 thus opened, furnish many a rich kernel to the spiritual 
 mind that knows how to relish them, whether young or old 
 in the life of faith. 
 
 In the same year that he commenced his Great Western 
 Religious Tract Society, he was invited to preach for the 
 London Missionary Society. His sermon on that occasion 
 is before the public, preached at the church of St. Mary 
 Magdalene, Bermondsey, London, May 14, 1802, from Rom. 
 x. 14, 15. A more important subject for such a purpose 
 could not have been chosen, than the title implies, i The 
 Work of the Holy Ghost essential to give success to all 
 missions for the Gospel.' No collections were, at that time, 
 made after the sermons preached on the occasion. To this 
 practice he felt a strong objection ; not that he deemed it 
 improper or unnecessary to furnish gospel ministers with the 
 means of visiting foreign climes to preach to the heathen the 
 unsearchable riches of Christ, for St. Paul had remittances 
 made to him from the church at Philippi ; " For even in 
 Thessalonica," saith he, " ye sent once and again to my 
 necessity," Phil. iv. 16. — but he objected to a practice, too 
 frequent on such occasions, of urging the necessity of giving 
 money, as if the more money there were subscribed* or raised, 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. j\ 
 
 the more souls there would be converted and saved. This 
 is wretched divinity. If the professing church were to fill 
 the whole world with preachers, it would avail nothing as 
 to the conversion or salvation of the soul, unless the word 
 preached were accompanied with " an unction from the 
 Holy One." I write not this to discourage missionary labours, 
 undertaken in the simple faith of the gospel ; but to call the 
 attention of the reader to an important truth stated in this 
 sermon, that, * as the success of the preacher's labours 
 wholly depends upon his being called to the work, and sent 
 forth by the Spirit's immediate direction; so no less, to 
 render it effectual to the hearer, the same almighty power 
 must dispose the heart to receive the truth in the love of it.' a 
 When Paul and Barnabas preached the word of salvation 
 to the Gentiles, we read, that " as many as were ordained to 
 eternal life believed," Acts xiii. 48. And wherever the same 
 word is preached, the same results will follow. We leam 
 from the apostle himself, what was the extent of his views 
 in all his missionary labours : " I endure all things for the 
 elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation, which 
 is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory," 2 Tim. ii. 10. 
 Wherever and whenever an effectual door is opened, let the 
 gospel be preached, and elders be appointed in every city ; 
 but, after all this is done, there will be no increase, until 
 " the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of 
 the Lord," Acts iii. 19. So injudiciously and unwarrantably 
 have many spoken of converting the whole world by mis- 
 sionary efforts, and have calculated so much on the number 
 and efficiency of missionaries appointed, or to be appointed 
 to this work, that you would almost suppose, that they had 
 yet to learn " whether there be any Holy Ghost," by whose 
 alone power sinners are quickened, renewed, converted, 
 sealed, and sanctified. Seeing, that there was so much 
 ascribed to, and so much expected from mere human agency, 
 by many of the advocates of missionary societies, our worthy 
 
 * Vol. II. page 249. 
 
72 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 friend, in his latter years, thought it right rather to with- 
 hold his subscription, than to give countenance to such pro- 
 ceedings. How far he adopted the best measure to be 
 pursued in such a case, I know not ; but of this I am per- 
 suaded, that he undertook nothing of importance without 
 much deliberation and prayer ; and, no doubt, sought direc- 
 tion from on high in this particular. As to public collec- 
 tions for missions, he thought, that many are induced to 
 give on such occasions from improper motives felt, and from 
 improper arguments used ; and that the feelings of the poor 
 are too often wrought upon, by the zeal or energy or un- 
 scriptural colouring of the preacher, to give from a principle 
 very different from that which induced the poor people of 
 Corinth to contribute to the relief of the poor saints at Jeru- 
 salem, 2 Cor. viii. 5. 
 
 From whatever motives others may contribute their mite, 
 and it is beyond a doubt that they are not always pure 
 motives, and although there may be ground to fear that some 
 sent by such societies are not sent of the Lord ; yet I know 
 some among them who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity and 
 in truth ; and when I subscribe my mite, I wish always to 
 keep in view, that it is contributed for this or that dear 
 servant of Christ, whom I know and love in the truth, who 
 needs this assistance, whilst he endures the heat of sultry 
 climes, and many painful deprivations for the elect's sake ; 
 happy, amidst all he endures, if through his humble instru- 
 mentality only one poor wanderer may be brought home to 
 the fold of Christ, " chosen in him before the foundation of 
 the world," Eph. i. 4. Although our beloved and venerable 
 friend withheld his subscription, he withheld not his best 
 affections from such missionaries as preached the gospel in 
 all its freeness, fulness, richness, and sovereignty, to the 
 glory of the eternal Three in One. Not only his heart, but 
 his hand was open to send them, if not remittances in money, 
 donations in books, whenever and wherever he thought such 
 a present would be acceptable. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 73 
 
 Of all the missionaries sent out by the Church Missionary 
 Society, perhaps not one was more eminently blessed of God 
 than the Rev. W. B. Johnson, at Sierra Leone ; and perhaps 
 not one came nearer in his doctrines to the purity of the 
 gospel. The Lord acknowledged his own word, and made 
 it effectual to the salvation of many. There are two letters 
 sent by him to the Rev. Dr. Hawker, published in the 
 Gospel Magazine, for August, 1824, which will substantiate 
 what I have recorded, and will shew how much the Doctor's 
 writings were prized by this zealous, humble, and highly 
 distinguished missionary. If all other missionaries would 
 indulge a hope of being equally blessed, they must not 
 only preach the redeeming love of Christ, but the electing 
 love of the Father, and the renewing grace of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 * The following letters,' say the editors, i were sent for our 
 perusal without any restraint on their publication. The 
 artless strain of the composition, and the primitive simplicity 
 of the diction, press upon us to lay them before our readers, 
 without any comment of our own. The privacy enjoined by 
 Mr. Johnson in the first letter, is now superseded by the 
 death of that faithful servant of Christ, which will render any 
 apology unnecessary. Our friend, (the Rev. Dr. Hawker) 
 who has conveyed the letters to us, observes, that one cir- 
 cumstance in Mr. Johnson's first letter, is worthy of peculiar 
 notice, namely, that of the twenty-Jive tribes of different 
 tongues, from the banks of the Niger, that they should all 
 speak the English language ; as if, in the Lord's everlasting 
 ordination, they were thus suited for the ministry of Mr. 
 Johnson, that by his mouth they might hear the joyful sound, 
 when sent by the Spirit to make ready a people prepared for 
 the Lord. Such are the ways and works of our wonderful- 
 working God." 1 
 
 Gospel Magazine, 1824, page 360. 
 
74 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 * Regent's Town Colony, Sierra Leone, 
 'June 5, 1821. 
 
 1 Reverend and Dear Sir, 
 
 f Your kind note of October 23, 1820, with The Poor 
 Man's Commentary on the New Testament, came safe to 
 hand about the middle of March ; and I herewith desire to 
 make my grateful acknowledgments for your great kindness 
 in sending that work, which has proved a blessing to my 
 soul, and I trust to the people over whom God the Holy 
 Ghost has made me overseer. You have also been so kind 
 as to promise the Commentary on the Old Testament, which 
 I shall receive with joy. Mr. Hullah will be so kind, and for- 
 ward the same. 
 
 'The people, amongst whom our covenant Jehovah has 
 been pleased to place me, are the liberated negroes of vari- 
 ous tribes, of about twenty-five different tongues, chiefly 
 from the banks of the Niger. About twelve hundred attend 
 my ministry, of which, three hundred have been baptized, 
 and are communicants, who, as far as one can conceive, live 
 a life of faith. The whole speak English ; being of so many 
 different nations, they are compelled to speak it. None, but 
 the people amongst whom I live, like to hear me preach ; 
 there are few of other settlements that do attend. Euro- 
 peans I have none, except my own family. The doctrines of 
 sovereign grace are not relished, and I cannot preach any 
 other, and my people like to hear no other. It is sovereign 
 grace, which I have received from the Father of mercy, 
 through the Mercy of mercies, the Lord Jesus Christ ; ap- 
 plied by God the Holy Ghost to my sinful heart, and no 
 other can be acknowledged by me. O that God the Holy 
 Ghost may make me more and more wise unto salvation, and 
 reveal unto me the mysteries of grace ! 
 
 ' This sheet is too small to enter upon it at large, which 
 respects my past life ; I shall just mention a few of the prin- 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 75 
 
 ciple occurences, during my being of thirty years. When I 
 was nineteen, I ran from my father's home, spent all I had, 
 and parted with my last shirt, and then engaged as a soldier 
 in the German Legion, (being a Hanoverian,) in which I 
 served his majesty five years ; during that period 1 was in 
 the bombardment of Copenhagen ; in Spain and Portugal ; 
 and, at the taking of Flushinzen, was most wonderfully pre- 
 served in many hot engagements. After the return from 
 Flushinzen, I procured my liberty by making my escape to 
 London ; after being at that place about two years, and 
 having filled up the measure of sin, it pleased the Lord to stop 
 me in my madness by his sovereign grace. I did not attend 
 any place of worship, and thus was not converted through 
 hearing the word of God ; but the Lord's time was come, and 
 he is not bound to means. 
 
 * A portion of scripture, which I had learned when very 
 young at school, darted into my mind, and instantly broke 
 my stony heart, and I saw what a rebel I was ; and, had not 
 the Lord pr evented me, I should have committed suicide. 
 In short, I cannot describe the state of my mind, which was 
 relieved however soon after, when it pleased the God of 
 Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, to smile upon me through 
 the " Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." 
 Banyan's Pilgrim's Progress, in the German language, was 
 made very useful to me. However, my comforts did not 
 continue long ; for I fell into the hands of arminians, who 
 brought me into deep mire. When I told them my distress, 
 they proved to me miserable comforters : they told me to 
 do this and that ; but alas ! the more I worked, the deeper I 
 sunk, until I happened to drop into a chapel, where, through 
 the instrumentality of one there preaching, I was much com- 
 forted, and I bid finally farewell to all arminianism. How I 
 came to be engaged in the Church Missionary Society, I 
 cannot exactly explain now ; I can only say, that I have been 
 engaged and sent out to this place entirely against my will, 
 and endeavoured to disengage myself, until I got on board 
 
J6 MEMOIRS OF TilE 
 
 the ship. The following scripture did constantly compose 
 my mind, when under great temptations, after I was engaged 
 in the missionary cause ; — " I will bring the blind by the 
 way that they know not ; I will lead them in paths that they 
 have not known ; I will make darkness light before them, 
 and crooked things straight ; these things will I do unto 
 them, and not forsake them." 
 
 ' When I arrived here in this colony, I found it stocked 
 with arminians ; and, as soon as my sentiments were dis- 
 covered, I was disliked, and it was thought proper to send 
 me into the mountains of Sierra Leone, amongst the libe- 
 rated negroes, who are the offscourings of Africa. I went, 
 encouraged by the above-mentioned passage of scripture, 
 fully persuaded that the sovereign grace of God was sufficient 
 to change the greatest cannibal in Africa ; and that, if God 
 had from the beginning chosen any of them to salvation, 
 through sanctification of the Spirit, he would in due time call 
 them to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 The first Sunday I had nine hearers, which has increased to 
 at least twelve hundred. These people lived in the moun- 
 tains by tens and twenties, and so were dispersed in every 
 direction ; they have, however, come out of the forest, and 
 now at this place reside at present about fifteen hundred, 
 children included ; about six hundred attend school, and 
 above two hundred can read the word of God. 
 
 'In 1817? a young man came out, who is now with Christ 
 in glory, who had much profited by your ministry, and who 
 brought out a number of your tracts, also the Poor Man's 
 Commentary ; and I must confess, that I firmly believe that 
 that young man was sent for the purpose to bring those 
 books here. I have reason to bless God, that they ever 
 came into my hands. When I was in England in 1819, this 
 young person died, and in his will desired that his books should 
 be distributed amongst the remaining missionaries ; but as I 
 was absent then, they thought it right to pass me by, and I 
 have not seen any of your works. What is become of them I 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 77 
 
 cannot tell ; one who was present went to England, and has 
 most likely taken them. But I must conclude, and as I have 
 not disclosed to others what I have briefly stated above, I 
 would beg you to let it remain with yourself. Being fully 
 persuaded, that you daily watch the sovereign acts of our 
 covenant Jehovah, I have been induced to state the above. 
 Should you be pleased to favour me with a few lines in re- 
 turn, I should be extremely happy to receive them. 
 
 'Now may God the Father, God the Son, and God the 
 Holy Ghost, the triune and covenant Jehovah, bless, pre- 
 serve, and keep you, is the prayer, reverend and dear Sir, of 
 your most humble and affectionate servant in Jesus, 
 
 ' W. Johnson.' 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 ' Regent's Town Colon v, Sierra Leone, 
 'April 20, 1822. 
 
 'My Dear Sir, 
 
 ' Your very kind and affectionate letter of October 17, 
 1821, with a part of ' The Poor Man's Commentary on 
 the Old Testament,' came safe to nand. Be so kind and 
 accept my thanks for them. I trust it is another proof of 
 the sovereign mercy of our covenant Jehovah, that he has 
 inclined you to take notice of one of the most unworthy of 
 the Lord's sheep in this distant land. I pray that the letter 
 received may not be the last ; but that you may feel still 
 inclined to send me a few lines now and then. As the elect 
 are one with their glorious Head, being members of his 
 body, of his flesh, and of his bones ; they long and love to 
 hear from each other, and of their Head, who is altogether 
 lovely. 
 
 ' I mentioned in my last, part of my past life, especially 
 how I was led to adore that grace, which is free, full, and 
 sovereign. I am still led to see and experience more and 
 
78 MEMOTRS OP THE 
 
 more, that it is the only source of comfort to poor self-con- 
 demned sinners ; and that those people only enjoy the peace 
 of God which passeth all understanding, who have been and 
 are led by God the Holy Ghost to see themselves interested 
 in it. How few are in our days favoured to see these things ! 
 And why ? " even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy 
 sight." Many will acknowledge the truth, but as much as 
 possible avoid to bring it forward in the pulpit. The most 
 of my fellow-labourers call themselves calvinists, but still 
 they are not altogether orthodox. There is one, who was 
 an arminian when I first arrived here, who withstood me to 
 the face, but has since entirely changed : he fully agrees with 
 me now in every point, has denied all he once asserted, and 
 boldly preaches now a full Saviour. Since his change, it has 
 pleased the Lord to bless his labours. Your works are much 
 read and admired by him. The rest are not decided, they 
 are something like those who are called £ evangelical preach- 
 ers.' Sometimes they produce a little fruit, but it does not 
 continue, but vanishes again like the early dew. We have a 
 monthly prayer meeting, at which all missionaries attend, 
 and which is the only opportunity I have to find out their 
 sentiments. When they engage in prayer, they will address 
 the Father through Christ, and perhaps pray for the Father's 
 Spirit; but address neither the Son nor the Holy Ghost as 
 distinct persons ; and thus come so near unitarianism. I 
 cannot feel comfortable, unless I address God the Father, 
 God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, as three distinct 
 persons in one covenant Jehovah. 
 
 c When you are pleased to write again, be so kind as to give 
 me a few lines on this head. My humble flock enjoy these 
 things, and I humbly trust, that many are under the divine 
 teaching of God the Holy Ghost. Some time ago, a poor 
 negro woman came to me and applied for baptism. As I 
 have many visits of this kind, I paid at first very little at- 
 tention to what she said ; at length, however, my mind was 
 drawn to listen to her story ; and then, asked if she prayed ? 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. JQ 
 
 She replied, ' Yes.' I asked, i to whom do you pray ?' And 
 
 she replied, ' I pray to God the Holy Ghost, to shew me my 
 
 sins, and give me understanding ; I pray to the Lord Jesus 
 
 Christ, to forgive me my sins, for he died for sinners; and I 
 
 pray to God the Father, to receive- me through the Lord Jesus 
 
 Christ. Me sin too much, and that make me pray so/ I 
 
 said, * then you pray to three Gods !' ' No, massa, them 
 
 three be one God.' Thus we see, that God teaches his 
 
 people alike, whether they are black or white. 
 
 c Our church is now built large, and will accommodate when 
 
 finished about two thousand persons. The number is great 
 
 which attend, and all appear eager to hear the word ; but I 
 
 believe, that the real number of believers is still but small. 
 
 May the Lord, who appeared unto Jacob, be with you in the 
 
 close of your pilgrimage. So prays, your's, in the Lord Jesus 
 
 Christ, 
 
 ' W. B. Johnson.' 
 
 I have not introduced these letters merely by way of episode 
 to my narration, though Mr. Johnson, as a correspondent of 
 Dr. Hawker, might be allowed this mark of respect; but to 
 shew in how many ways this man of God was made useful ; 
 not only in the army and navy, as before observed, but even 
 among missionaries. Yet, from these letters we may note, that 
 if a servant of Christ, wherever or whoever he may be, declare 
 the sovereignty of God in the election of grace, " in making 
 known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which 
 he had afore prepared unto glory," how invariably these sen- 
 timents are disrelished by the carnal mind; and even by those 
 who profess to believe them, how frequently are they with- 
 held, either from worldly policy or a false delicacy, or an un- 
 gracious timidity lest they should give offence. But we may 
 also note, that where this grand doctrine is made prominent 
 in the ministry of the word, how the Lord works with the 
 word, and confirms it with signs following. 
 
 I have indulged thus largely on the subject of missions, 
 because our worthy friend was not unfrequently assailed on 
 
80 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 this ground, as if he were hostile to every one who embarked 
 in the missionary cause ; but he was not only ready to give 
 the right hand of fellowship to the humblest missionary, who 
 shewed by his credentials that he was sent of God, but to 
 bid him God speed ! His soul was one with them, whom he 
 considered in verity one with Christ. 
 
 It has also been stated, that he was hostile to the Bible 
 Society. The Bible Society had for some time his fullest 
 concurrence ; but he saw human policy mingling in the 
 stream of its public benevolence — an undue solicitude was 
 shewn for the patronage of the great, and unwarrantable con- 
 cessions made to the prejudices of the papists. He feared 
 also, that much evil would arise in employing men who knew 
 not the truth to be the translators, and by so much the inter- 
 preters of God's truth in another language. But he continued 
 a regular subscriber, until it was discovered that the books of 
 the Apocrypha had been intermingled with the word of God, 
 and sold in this interpolated form by the agents of the So- 
 ciety. It is no more than honest to state, that their agents 
 are now no longer countenanced in dispersing Bibles thus 
 interpolated; but it is much to be lamented, that any copies of 
 this description were ever sent forth into the world; for if men 
 were not prepared to receive the pure word of God without 
 this adulteration, they were not prepared to receive it at all. 
 
 At home among his family, in his parish, and in the mili- 
 tary hospital, we have noticed the zeal of the exemplary Vicar 
 of Charles, to make known the truths of the gospel, and to 
 profit, if so it pleased the Lord, immortal souls. When called 
 from home, the same hallowed principle evidenced itself in 
 his unwearied labours and habitual readiness to avail himself 
 of every opportunity to set forth the glory of a covenant God 
 in Christ Jesus. Early in the year 1803, he repeated his 
 visit to London, where he had been invited the year before 
 to preach for the London Missionary Society. Sketches of 
 this journey, interspersed with spiritual reflections, he soon 
 after published. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 8 
 
 " A man on earth devoted to the skies, 
 
 He sees with other eyes than ours; where we 
 
 Discern a sun, he spies a Deity ; 
 
 What makes another smile, makes him adore." Young. 
 
 In taking leave of his flock, on the Lord's day preceding 
 his journey, he says, c It was reserved for the moment of 
 separation from the people of my charge to be made sensible 
 how very closely both their persons and their everlasting 
 interests had wrapped themselves about my heart. Five and 
 twenty years of a feeble but affectionate ministry among 
 them, and which never had before been interrupted by an 
 absence equal to the one now intended (excepting only by 
 sickness, and once on a similar errand), called up a variety 
 of interesting images before me, and awakened every anxious 
 concern/ — i Many affecting ideas crowded upon my mind, 
 when, in the close of my evening lecture, I came to say, fare- 
 well : so that I could only tell them, how greatly " I longed 
 after them all in the bowels of Jesus Christ," Phil. i. 8/ 
 
 During his absence for four Lord's days, he preached for 
 no less than eighteen charitable institutions, at different 
 churches, chiefly in the metropolis, to recommend which, he 
 principally wrote his Journal ; and including these, he de- 
 livered no less than twenty-jive sermons. This was certainly 
 aggravating the offence, which had awakened the careful 
 jealousy of the vicar of Manaccan. From this time, he 
 generally paid an annual visit to town, and his popularity 
 increased with increasing years. When it was known that he 
 was about to preach, the avenues around the churches 
 were crowded to excess. I have heard some of the London 
 clergy, who love the truth as it is in Jesus, say, i we should 
 be happy to open our pulpits to Dr. Hawker; but, when he 
 preaches, our own congregations find not only their seats 
 but the isles pre-occupied, so that they cannot get in, and 
 the throng is sometimes so great as to do injury to the seats 
 and benches. Sometimes even the rails have been broken 
 down, and the doors unhinged. 5 I recollect his laconic 
 
 G 
 
82 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 answer to one of them, who assured the Doctor, that this was 
 the only cause why he did not venture to solicit him to preach 
 — e What ! are you afraid then to trust the Lord to make 
 you amends }' But I am inclined to believe, that this was a 
 greater objection in granting to him the use of the pulpit 
 than any high standard of divinity, which he was known to 
 maintain. Such indeed was the admiration in which his 
 preaching was held by the religious public, not only for the 
 peculiar flow of eloquence and chaste metaphors of illus- 
 ration, with which his discourses were enriched ; not only 
 for the warmth of affection and energy of expression, with 
 which they were delivered; but for the purity of doctrine and 
 spirituality of sentiment, with which the whole came recom- 
 mended to their hearts, that they offered to build or purchase 
 an episcopal chapel for his sole use whenever he came to 
 London ; and they entertained no doubt that arrangements 
 could be made for any clergyman, whom he might nominate 
 to occupy it during his absence. His own son was men- 
 tioned as a suitable person to be the permanent minister. 
 If emolument had been his aim, here was a favourable open- 
 ing to benefit both himself and his family ; but, no 1 he was 
 content with the vicarage of Charles, and sought no other 
 benefice. With his usual courtesy, he acknowledged the 
 kindness of his friends, who had formed themselves into a 
 provisional committee for the purpose ; but he declined to 
 sanction the measure, or to receive this token of friendship and 
 esteem, which they so generously tendered him. 
 
 The honours and emoluments of this world was not the 
 object he kept in view. In one of his journeys to town, one 
 of the nobility at Bath, particularly requested an interview 
 with him, which was granted ; and as a mark of distin- 
 guished favour, which might have led to other considera- 
 tions, he was personally solicited to accept a chaplain's 
 scarf, and as a proof of the readiness and cordiality with 
 which it was conferred, the necessary document was pre- 
 pared free of all expense to him ; but with equal courtesy, he 
 
REV. DU. HAWKER. 
 
 F. 5 
 
 assured his noble friend, that he sought no other title or 
 distinction than that of the Vicar of Charles ; and, conse- 
 quently, declined the intended honour. 
 
 Before we proceed, it will be well to call the attention of 
 the reader to a custom which he adopted in all his journeys ; 
 and where the weight of character and the dignity of office 
 will sanction the invitation, it may be adopted not only with 
 propriety, but with success. i It is my custom in travel- 
 ling/* saith he, c to invite the master or mistress of the inn, 
 at whose house I am, with as many of the family as feel 
 disposed to join in the morning or evening worship. This 
 was done with such happy consequences at Reading, (i. e. 
 in his way to town) that in our return, there needed not the 
 invitation to be repeated/ In his little tract, called c The 
 Traveller/ in which he gives the outlines of his manner of 
 conducting worship at an inn, he saith, ' though I have 
 sometimes, and not unfrequently, observed the alteration 
 made upon the countenance of the waiter at the inn, in my 
 proposal of prayer, yet such things have never discouraged 
 me from constantly following up the invitation. On the 
 contrary, by a firm and decided perseverence, I have in 
 many places overcome all difficulty. Indeed now, from long 
 custom, and especially in those inns, where from going 
 more than once I am known, it is in some measure become 
 habitual ; and the inhabitants of those inns would, I believe, 
 be disappointed were I to omit the invitation/ i Who 
 knows/ continues he, c what hidden ones of the Lord may be 
 in such a house ? Who shall say, what blessed consequences 
 shall follow? Let no man shrink from it. That sweet promise 
 is absolute — " In due season ye shall reap, if we faint not." 
 
 From another clerical friend, I have heard the good effect 
 of this practice. He was at a town in the north, at an inn, 
 and sent an invitation to any of the family to join him and a 
 brother clergyman in their morning devotions ; but no one 
 
 * Vol. VII. page 694. 
 
84 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 attended, save a female servant, to whom they spake of the 
 privilege of prayer and of the glorious things of Christ's 
 kingdom. She pleaded, that she had no time for prayer! 
 ' Surely,' said one of the clergymen, ' it would not take much 
 time to bend the knee before the God of all grace, and say, 
 Lord, convert my soul!' Some considerable time had elapsed 
 before he visited the same place again, and on knocking at 
 the door of the minister's house, who also preached the doc- 
 trines of the cross, he recognized on its being opened the 
 servant who had on tbe occasion mentioned attended their 
 morning worship at the inn. The Spirit of the Lord had so 
 impressed the short prayer which he had suggested on her 
 mind, that she could not forget it. Lord, convert my soul! 
 was ofttimes in a day breathed in a sigh or mingled with 
 a tear, till she felt and enjoyed the privileges of the gospel. 
 She left the inn, and hired herself to the minister of the 
 parish, that she might share in the privilege of morning and 
 evening worship in his family. Thus the Lord works and 
 accomplishes his purpose in a way that we know not. 
 
 In speaking of the reluctancy and aversion, which has 
 been sometimes shewn in the features of a waiter at an inn, 
 on the bare proposal of prayer, he mentions a striking in- 
 stance of the same feeling which came under his own 
 notice. ( Well do I remember/ saith he, c in the family of 
 one, who is now a peer of the realm, where the most sove- 
 reign contempt was manifested by a valet of the house to 
 family worship. Not satisfied with constantly absenting 
 himself upon those occasions when prayer was observed in 
 the house, he proceeded to shew a yet more decided hatred 
 to the service, and made a point to insult the whole of the 
 family while at their devotions. For this purpose, he con- 
 trived to place himself in the adjoining room to the one in 
 which they had assembled ; and by noise in whistling, sing- 
 ing, and throwing about the furniture, as his corrupt humour 
 directed him, to turn if he could the whole solemnity into 
 ridicule. But without being supposed to know that this 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 85 
 
 conduct of his was designed, his master took occasion to 
 enquire of him, how it was that he never attended family 
 prayer. ' Prayer !' said he, and with the most impudent 
 brow of scorn and derision, ' I never did live in a praying 
 family, and never will/ ' True, my friend/ said the 
 Doctor, in answer to what he heard, for he was present, 
 ' you have for once spoken the truth. You never have 
 known, it is plain by what you have said, what prayer is 
 and the blessedness of it ; and living and dying in this 
 prayerless state, you never will. For in hell there are no 
 prayers, and to that family you are hastening, and ere long 
 will live in it for ever/ 
 
 This anecdote shows, that although he was indeed a Bar- 
 nabas to the church, in administering consolation to the 
 humble and contrite, yet he was a Boanerges to the ungodly, 
 whose acts of audacity and impiety merited the severity of 
 reproof. He knew how to rebuke sharply, and with all 
 authority. Tit. i. 13. ii. 15. 
 
 In the year 1803, was also commenced the first volume of 
 his ' Poor Man's Commentary on the Bible/ ( The idea,'* 
 says one of the reviewers of this work, ' of publishing a 
 Commentary on the Bible for the poor, and in so cheap a 
 form (that is, in penny numbers), certainly does honour to 
 the benevolence, as well as to the judgment of Dr. Hawker. 
 The poor man, who either by his own industry or the bene- 
 volence of a friend, possesses that inestimable treasure, a 
 Bible, and who is anxious to understand its sacred contents, 
 and compare spiritual things with spiritual, will feel many 
 obligations to this popular writer, whose plan comprises the 
 following interesting particulars. 1. An introduction to 
 every book, and a table of contents to each chapter. 2. 
 References to other passages of scripture, by way of illus- 
 tration, with occasional elucidations and remarks. 3. Re- 
 flections, at the close of each chapter, by way of improve 
 
 * Evan. Mag. 1803, page 309 
 
86 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 ment. It was said of two celebrated commentators, Coc- 
 ceius and Grotius, that the one found Christ everywhere, 
 and the other nowhere. Dr. Hawker is of the former 
 school, and Jesus is the name, which he everywhere " de- 
 lighted to honour;" so much so, that we fear in some 
 instances, he has overlooked the primary and literal sense 
 to introduce allegories, which can hardly be justified. He 
 writes, however, with great modesty, and the general design 
 is so good, and its tendency so excellent, that we earnestly 
 hope the author will be spared to prosecute his design, and 
 that it may be a standing blessing to the church, especially 
 to its poorer members/ 
 
 In this introduction, he reminds the reader of that which 
 our Lord himself declared, John v. 46, " Moses wrote of 
 me ;" and charges him to place this motto by way of remem- 
 brance at the head of every book, and of every chapter of 
 the writings of Moses. — " Moses wrote of Christ." From 
 this unquestionable authority, he thinks we are warranted to 
 say, whenever we open any of the writings of this distin- 
 guished servant of God, whether it be discovered by us or 
 not, Jesus is here. In following up this impression, it may 
 be admitted, that the ingenuity of his imagination has dis- 
 covered some outlines of the profile of his all-glorious Lord, 
 in passages and characters where a mind less fertile or 
 excursive would never have sought him, which has brought 
 him under the censure of some, who are too fastidious to 
 admit, or too indolent to examine the authority of his argu- 
 ment. But is this the height of his offending ? 
 
 This his reproach ! that his dear Lord he sought, 
 In types obscure, where others ken hirn not ; 
 This his sole error ! — Justice is suffic'd 
 His very errors lead the soul to Christ. 
 
 As I shall have occasion to refer again to this voluminous 
 work, I shall merely observe, that although for many years 
 much of the time which he could spare from his parochial 
 and other engagements was chiefly occupied in writing his 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 87 
 
 Commentary, yet other subjects occasionally and not un- 
 frequently employed his pen. 
 
 In the year 1804, three small interesting tracts were sent 
 to the press, ' The Brother born for Adversity/ « The Friend 
 that loveth at all Times,' and < The Plant of Renown.' The 
 design of the author was to exhibit to the youthful mind the 
 Lord Jesus in all his loveliness ; and in the contemplation of 
 him under these characters, let the thoughtful youth say, Is 
 there not somewhat in the very name of a brother, which 
 tends to endear Jesus to the heart ? And what friendship 
 can there be so stable in its basis, or so promising in its 
 results as the friendship of Jesus ? And in all the science of 
 botany, if such be his study, is there a plant so sweet, so 
 verdant, so truly perennial, so rich in beauty, or so exube- 
 rant in fruitfulness, as to be compared with Him ? e Hail ! 
 thou eternal Plant of never-fading renown !' exclaims every 
 believer, whose heart is in union with his who wrote this 
 little tract, c may my soul gaze for ever on thy beauties 
 and live upon thy fulness — O be thou to me the sum and 
 substance of all my joy in time and to all eternity.' Our 
 worthy friend has shewn, by this little work, that he was no 
 stranger to botany. e Perhaps,' saith he, ' in the whole 
 circle of sciences, none can be less exceptionable, because 
 none is less harmless, than the study of the botanic garden ; 
 but even here, as in human life itself, so in this department 
 of one of the principal sweeteners of life, a wintry dispensa- 
 tion must come, and, when it comes, it must invade and 
 desolate the most promising prospects. But it is the pro- 
 minent feature of him, who is the Plant of Renown, that 
 amidst the perishing nature of all things around, " He is the 
 same, and his years cannot fail." In the recollection of this, 
 how doth all the loveliness of all earthly flowers languish, 
 and the durableness of every perennial die away. Eden 
 itself appears but a desert/ 
 
 In 1806, his ' Sailor Pilgrim' first made its appearance. 
 It is drawn up much in the same manner as his Zion's 
 
88 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Pilgrim and Zion's Warrior. To give the three works 
 a similarity of title, it may not be unfitly called Zion's 
 Mariner. In the preface, he says, i It will be very evident 
 to the reader of discernment, that I have given scope to the 
 imagination in the execution of my plan. Many fancied 
 situations are figured in the history, which, without bor- 
 dering on the improbable, may very fairly be supposed to have 
 taken place in a sailor's life. I hope I do not err in this. 
 The holy scriptures seem to authorize such plans of teach- 
 ing. The prophets used similitudes, and the Lord of the 
 prophets taught in parable. The reader is desired to recol- 
 lect, that the Sailor Pilgrim is no other. Indeed, several of 
 the events noticed in this little work, are taken from real 
 life ; but the great outline of the history is but fable/ In 
 the second part of this work, which did not appear till 1809 
 there is a truly interesting anecdote given of N. Vincent, 
 Esq., Admiral of the Red, which he states to have heard 
 from the Admiral more than once, which is strikingly illus- 
 trative of the gracious providence of God. 
 
 In a work written purposely for seamen, which describes 
 the life of one who knows what it is to conflict with other 
 storms and tempests than those which agitate the unwieldy 
 world of waters, it is natural to expect a reference to be 
 made to the anchor of hope. The author of the Sailor 
 Pilgrim has drawn a striking resemblance between the 
 believer's and the sailor's anchor, yet shews, that in many 
 instances the resemblance is lost. ' The one,' saith he, 
 1 throws out his anchor to an uncertainty, it may or it may 
 not find anchorage : but the other hath nothing doubtful. 
 The sailor's hope may be frustrated, from many and various 
 causes ; the anchor itself, how strong soever, may break ; the 
 cable separate, let go its hold, or be itself snapped asunder, 
 and the ship drive : but the sinner's can never give way ; 
 it is sure and stedfast, for it entereth within the vail ; it 
 rests, as the church itself doth, upon the Rock, its Al- 
 mighty Founder, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER 89 
 
 it.'* But it is remarkable, that in a work of this nature, no 
 reference is made to the mariner's compass or the polar star. 
 Whether he considered them subjects too trite, or whether 
 they escaped his recollection at the time of writing it, I 
 know not ; nevertheless, although these similes are not used 
 or alluded to in all the work, as far as I have noticed, yet, 
 is not Jesus the author's guiding star ? And does he not 
 assure us, though not couched under the same language, 
 that even, when this star is from inward darkness not dis- 
 coverable, there is an influence by far more attractive and 
 mysterious, than that of the magnetic needle, which directs 
 the steerage of every sailor pilgrim, embarked in the ark 
 of the covenant, by its undeviating tendency to one grand 
 centre of all spiritual polarity, (if I may so designate the 
 Lord Jesus,) in whom all divine attractions concentrate, and 
 our best wishes meet; I mean, the influence of the Holy 
 Spirit, which not only directs his steerage, but draws the 
 heart of every believer uniformly to Christ. 
 
 But this venerable champion of evangelical trnth, (for such 
 I do not hesitate to call him, although it has been appended 
 to his name as a term of reproach,) was not permitted to re- 
 main long unmolested, in the tranquil enjoyment of winter's 
 quarters. He, who had contended for the truth against a 
 Porter and a Polwhele, had, in the year 1808, to enter the 
 field against a Barrister, who had opened a masked battery 
 upon him. His work was anonymous, entitled, ' Hints to 
 the Public and the Legislature on the nature and effect of 
 Evangelical Preaching.' In which he attempts to prove, or 
 professes to shew, that evangelical preaching is the inlet of 
 sin — that the doctrines of grace lead to licentiousness — that 
 a system of morality is competent to the full correction of 
 the minds and morals of men ! As he had made the Doctor 
 and his writings a target for his mark, upon whom, however, 
 the strongest, keenest shaft which this forensic bowman could 
 
 * Vol. III. page 322. 
 
90 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 send from his unvalorous covert, though drawn to the very- 
 barb, made no impression either to the wounding of his 
 honour or his peace, the courteous Vicar of Charles imme- 
 diately addressed to him a Letter, and expressed the obliga- 
 tions under which he was laid for the honorary distinction 
 conferred upon him in this attack. ' There is, I confess, 
 saith he, { an awkwardness in addressing one that is unknown 
 — but though I know not to whom I write, yet I well know 
 for whom I write. In such a service, I feel a confidence too 
 firmly grounded to shrink from abuse. I should pity indeed 
 the man, who suffered even his haste to be impeded upon an 
 errand of mercy, and much more, if he lost his temper, be- 
 cause some angry looker-on threw dirt at him as he passed/* 
 
 After stating, that the general tenour of a rnan^s life is the 
 truest refutation of all anonymous calumny, he subjoins : 
 c It will not, I hope, be considered either unsuitable or un- 
 becoming in me, (indeed it ought not upon an occasion like 
 the present) if I contend for an honourable distinction of 
 character equal with my censor, be who he may, in all the 
 departments of moral, civil, and social life. And the jurors 
 of my conduct, he himself shall impannel. You shall gather 
 them, sir, if you please, from the common mass of all that 
 know me. Neither will I challenge the restriction of them 
 to such as have similar views of religion to myself; but let 
 the whole, if you wish it, be selected from those who differ 
 from me in sentiments of faith, but are disposed to give full 
 testimony to exemplary practice. In the parish where I now 
 dwell, and where the last thirty years of my life have been 
 spent, I venture to take confidence, none can or will come 
 forward to impeach a line of conduct, engaged for the most 
 part in the humble and peaceable, but laborious office of 
 a parochial minister .'f 
 
 1 Is this appeal to an honourable reputation/ says the 
 worthy Vicar, ( foreign to the modesty becoming me ? Is 
 
 * Vol. IX. page 6. t Vol. IX. page 7. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 91 
 
 it in any degree departing from my own principles of the 
 fallen state of man ? Far, very far from it. There is a 
 wide distinction between our views of moral rectitude, in 
 the comparative statements of human life, as they relate to 
 man with man, and as that rectitude appears in the divine 
 eye. When man stands opposed to man at this bar of 
 judgment, good works may and indeed ought to be fully 
 apjDreciated. But when man stands at heaven's tribunal, 
 here, " all the world must become guilty before God." But 
 the cause for which I address you, is not the defence of my 
 character but my doctrine — every other consideration with 
 me, is lost in this one.'* i You say, that evangelical preach- 
 ing is the great inlet to sin : it is to the want of it, that I 
 ascribe the abounding of iuiquity. You contend, that the 
 doctrines of grace lead to licentiousness : I assert, that it 
 is that grace alone, which bringeth salvation, which can 
 teach us, or when taught enable us, to practice the divine 
 lessons of " denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and 
 living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." 
 In your calculation, a system of morality is competent to the 
 full correction of the minds and manners of the people : ac- 
 cording to my creed, nothing short of a change of heart can 
 accomplish a reform.'f — i If> according to your apprehension 
 of the persuasiveness of moral preaching, it is fully compe- 
 tent to induce a reform among all ranks and orders of people, 
 will you or can you explain why it is that it should so uni- 
 formly fail of its end?';*; 
 
 ' If you have candour, you must allow, that not all the 
 eloquence of moral preaching, joined with all the eloquence 
 of self-interest, and under circumstances the most promising 
 from refinement and education, and circumstances at the same 
 time the most alarming from the consideration of personal 
 safety ; yet all unitedly taken together have not been found 
 sufficient to give a new bias to the human heart, but have 
 
 * Vol. IX. page 9. t Vol IX. page 11. J Vol IX. page 13. 
 
92 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 lost their effect. 1 observe, from the portrait which you have 
 drawn of human nature in the dark shades of it, the exercise 
 of your pencil has been limited to the humbler walks of so- 
 ciety. Was it, sir, because you could find no originals of 
 real life to copy from of similar complexions among the 
 higher order of the people ? Surely you have read mankind 
 to very little purpose, or rather, to no purpose at all, if you 
 do not know, that the historic gallery of the nations, in the 
 living and moving characters of it, could furnish you with as 
 many and as highly finished subjects for the brush, among 
 the great as among the small, and where the features of hu- 
 man depravity would appear full as large and prominent/* 
 
 Thus the Doctor shews, by an appeal to existing circum- 
 stances, how universally prevalent is the spiritual disease of 
 our nature, and that no moral preaching can effect its cure. 
 From the quotations which the Barrister had made from Dr. 
 Blair's Sermons, and the handsome terms in which he had 
 spoken of him, it seemed to imply, that he was among his 
 admirers. On which Dr. H. expresses his belief, ' that there 
 are many who appreciate very highly the elegance of Dr. 
 Blair as a writer, who have a sovereign contempt for his 
 principles as a divine. I had the pleasure/ continues he, ' of 
 Dr. Blair's correspondence before his death ; and, I believe, 
 was among the latest to whom he wrote. His creed and 
 mine were not conformable to the same standard; but I have 
 no right to feel displeasure on this account. The complexion 
 of the mind, like the stature of the body, will vary ; every 
 man is not alike six feet high. His views of some of the 
 grand distinguishing doctrines of the gospel, I have always 
 admired.' — ' In the first volume of his Sermons, on the sub- 
 ject of devotion, Dr. Blair thus delivers his faith on the doc- 
 trine of regeneration — ( The great Author of our religion, who 
 £ well knew what was in man, laid the foundation of his whole 
 
 *Vol. IX. page 14. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 93 
 
 ' system, in the regeneration of the heart. The change which 
 e was to be accomplished on his followers, he did not purpose 
 ' to effect merely by regulating their external conduct ; but 
 * by forming within them a new nature, by taking away the 
 ' heart of stone, and giving them a heart of flesh/ * 
 
 ' Now, sir/fsaith our venerable friend, in his appeal to 
 the Barrister, ' from this striking passage in the Doctor's 
 sermon, allow me to ask, did Dr. Blair believe in the doc- 
 trine of regeneration ? If he did, (as who upon earth could 
 question it, after so palpable a testimony from his own words) 
 how can they who profess to shelter themselves under the 
 Doctor's wing, deny the doctrine of regeneration, as if mo- 
 rality and not grace was the sole topic of his discourses }' 
 
 ' In his second volume of Sermons, on the subject of the hap- 
 piness of a future state, Dr. Blair thus expresses his ideas of the 
 doctrine of the atonement: — i How are the robes of the blessed 
 6 washed ? Whence is derived that spotless purity in which 
 c they are arrayed ? The Spirit of God has answered us ; 
 ' " From the blood of the Lamb ;" leading our thoughts to 
 ' that high dispensation of mercy, to which the saints above 
 e owe their establishment, first in grace and then in glory. 
 ' From that blood which " was shed for the remission of sins," 
 ' flow both the atonement of human guilt, and the regenera- 
 c tion of human nature." ' Now, sir, from this specimen of 
 Dr. Blair's belief in the great doctrine of the atonement, as 
 well as from what was reviewed before concerning his senti- 
 ments on that of regeneration, suffer me to ask,' says the 
 worthy Vicar of Charles, i had the Doctor lived to the present 
 hour, would he have thought an apology necessary for evan- 
 gelical preaching ?' 
 
 The pains which our worthy friend takes to defend the 
 character of Dr. Blair from being ranked among the mere 
 moral preachers, (though it is to be wished, that his evan- 
 gelical principles had been more conspicuous in his writings,) 
 
 * Vol. IX. page 20, 
 
94 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 is highly creditable ; when it is considered that the Edin- 
 burgh divine was among the first to honour him with the 
 diploma of Doctor in Divinity, for his Sermons on the Deity 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in writing this Memoir, I 
 could not omit copying these quotations, and Dr. Hawker's 
 remarks thereon, to give a prominency to this noble trait in 
 his character. He knew how to requite a kindness in a 
 friend, and to vindicate his honour. 
 
 In consequence of several distressing cases which came 
 under his notice in his usual occupation of visiting the sick, 
 where he found a more than ordinary apprehension of mind, 
 lest their situation by reason of sin had precluded them from 
 the hope of mercy ; for the relief of such mental maladies, 
 he published a little work, entitled, f A Prop against all 
 Despair, intended for the consolation of self-condemned 
 sinners in general, but more especially for those perishing 
 souls who fear they have sinned against the possibility of 
 pardon/ This little book the writer of this Memoir has 
 found useful to characters of this description, and more 
 especially the doctrines contained therein, not only in cheer- 
 ing the prospects of the dying, but in removing the doubts of 
 the desponding. And there is no doubt, but many ministers 
 are able to bear the same testimony in its favour. Both Mr. 
 Polwhele and the Barrister enter their protest against it ; but 
 in the vicissitudes of life, men have been brought to feel 
 the need of those very props, which they in their self-con- 
 fidence have previously despised. 
 
 ' In the representation you have made,' saith the Doctor 
 to the Barrister, i of my writings to the public and the legis- 
 lature, (from what motive I leave you to determine) you have 
 endeavoured to blacken my character, as if the magistrate's 
 authority would be incompetent to keep due order in the 
 metropolis, while my publications are suffered to be cir- 
 culated.' After having, in self-defence, shewn for whom the 
 book was designed, and with what object it was written, that 
 is, to enquire whether there be not, under divine grace, a 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 95 
 
 sufficient prop found in the glorious gospel of the ever-blessed 
 God, to stay up the hopes of every poor perishing and self- 
 despairing sinner, the Doctor presses the question — s Now. 
 sir, suffer me to ask, how could you, under all the fine 
 impressions you profess to feel of the love of God, and of 
 the love of your neighbours in your heart, and with the full 
 prospect of heaven in your view from keeping the com- 
 mandments, and standing pre-eminent in the practice of all 
 moral duties, how could you venture to tell the public and the 
 legislature what you have respecting this little book of 
 mine ?'* The sum of which accusation was, that it gave 
 permission, yea, encouragement to add sin to sin. 
 
 The Barrister's want of candour and fairness in thus 
 misrepresenting the truth, was only commensurate with his 
 ignorance of scripture, which he betrays in his attack on the 
 Rev. Mr. Toplady. i So little acquainted are you with the 
 word of God/ says the Doctor, * that you have literally taken 
 a passage in Toplady's sermon, which he had made use of 
 from Paul's second epistle to Timothy, (chap. i. ver. 9.) and 
 from this presumptuous conclusion in your own mind, you 
 have presumptuously said, if this be the doctrine of the true 
 gospel, then the new testament cannot be the true gospel."f 
 O that men would read their Bibles with more attention, 
 before they pretend to be the censors of others, or undertake 
 to decide what is truth ! 
 
 The conclusion of this letter is grand and affecting ; and 
 although I have quoted so much, to give the reader a fair 
 view of the controversy, I hope to meet his indulgence in 
 making another brief extract. — i If the change,' saith he, 
 e you seem so much to wish for was once to take place, if 
 evangelical doctrines were driven out, and moral essays only 
 to supply their room, doth it not strike you, that such 
 duplicity between our articles and such preaching must 
 sooner or later call down the divine displeasure. " The 
 
 * Vol. IX. page 31. t Vol. IX. page 33. 
 
96 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 blood of souls (saith God by his servant the prophet) will I 
 require at your hands." ' Which/ saith Chrysostom, c are 
 thunderbolts, and not words/ And if the right-aiming 
 thunderbolts of God should once be sent abroad in this 
 visitation, it doth not require the spirit of prophecy surely 
 to foretell the fire will be awful. The venerable turrets of 
 our churches, which rise to the clouds, will not be able to 
 resist the lightning with which they are charged. In vain 
 doth the cross stand as an electrical conductor on the dome 
 of St. Paul's, if the preaching of the cross be not held 
 within. Nothing but the blood of the lamb sprinkled on 
 the houses restrained the distroying angel from entering. 5 * 
 
 In the first pamphlet, the Barrister from appearing to be 
 a friend to the established church, threw a disguise over his 
 own real creed ; but in his second, he betrayed a socinian 
 sibboleth. The Doctor, from certain expressions, suspected 
 the unsoundness of his faith in this particular ; charged him 
 in this second reply with being a follower of Socinus, con- 
 fessing himself, at the same time, ready to retract the charge 
 with pleasure, if the Barrister would briefly say in his next 
 pamphlet, that he believed in the Godhead of Christ. A 
 third book of the Hints has since appeared, in which the 
 Barrister notices the Doctor's second letter, but not the 
 challenge therein sent him. 
 
 In the commencement of this second letter, in answer 
 to the Barrister's second pamphlet of ' Hints/ the Doctor 
 says, ' I have this moment heard the second blast of your 
 horn, and hasten to meet you in the field of battle. And 
 now you no longer appear in a questionable shape, winch 
 you assumed in your former controversy, I no longer feel 
 the embarrassment I then laboured under, from an uncon- 
 sciousness in what character I had to approach you. Indeed, 
 as I now and then glanced your armour, I thought, (but I 
 rather wished to suppress than to encourage the idea) that I 
 
 * Vol. IX page 35, 
 
REV. DR. F1AWKER. 97 
 
 espied the arrow of heresy in your quiver.'* ' And while you 
 are engaged in your way (saith he, in another page) in dis- 
 secting with attention, as you term it, the body of evangelical 
 doctrine, I hope that 1 may be indulged in mine, in lecturing 
 with equal freedom on the skeleton of unitarianism.' b 
 
 In this second letter, the Doctor recapitulates the sub- 
 stance of his former one under distinct heads, to shew that he 
 had already met several charges, which the Barrister boldly 
 and unwarrantably asserts he had not noticed. In the latter 
 part thereof, he justifies his doctrines from the clear and 
 express language of the church of England, in her truly 
 scriptural articles, and strongly marks the absurdity of the 
 Barrister, in impeaching him for his faithful adherence to the 
 very doctrines, which by law and conscience he was bound 
 to maintain. e Here is a man,' saith the Doctor, * who 
 comes forward with unblushing confidence to impugn a 
 minister of the establishment, for preaching the very doc- 
 trines which the law itself hath appointed, and which, at his 
 ordination, the accused was set apart to support. And this 
 man not only comes forward to criminate on this ground, 
 but actually calls upon the legislature to devise some method 
 for putting a stop to the propagation of those very truths, 
 which that legislature hath in its wisdom for many suc- 
 cessive generations established. Such an attempt forms an 
 outrage, not only upon common law, but common sense. It 
 is a phenomenon in history reserved for the opening of 
 the nineteenth century. ' c 
 
 In the third pamphlet, the Barrister speaks of approaching 
 the Doctor with respect, after all the contumely which he 
 had so profusely heaped upon him ; but intimates, that it 
 was his profession, and not his abilities, that had this claim 
 upon him. But it is doubtful, if he had not smarted from his 
 superior abilities, whether he had ever paid homage to his 
 profession, as a minister of that faith, which, if honest, he 
 
 a Vol. IX. page 37. b Vol. IX. page 40. « Vol. IX. page 72. 
 
 Vol. L] h 
 
98 MEMOIRS OF THK 
 
 must have wished to annihilate. As the Doctor had pledged 
 in his second letter, that until his opponent had filled as many 
 pamphlets as he had already filled pages, he would continue 
 to follow him up, step by step, he published a third letter, 
 in answer to the third book of Hints : in which, he intro- 
 duced lectures on unitarianism, together with a comparative 
 view of the similarity in the principles of the unitarian faith 
 and Mahometanism. 
 
 In this controversy, we see gracefully blended in all his 
 conduct, qualities which rarely meet, or when combined, 
 like precious stones of different colour in the same golden 
 ouche, set forth each other by a variety of lustre — the dig- 
 nified courtesy of the gentleman, with the deep humility of 
 the christian; the patient forbearance of the injured minister, 
 with the skilful swordmanship and home-thrust of the po- 
 lemical divine. He has indubitably shewn, that his weapons 
 were not carnal ; and after having laid his antagonist low, 
 stripped his quiver, and broken every shaft, he bends over 
 him, not with a shout of triumph, but in the attitude of 
 prayer for his fallen adversary ; and thus closes a contest 
 never to be renewed again by the same combatants in this 
 world, nor submitted to any court of decision, till opened in 
 a court from which there is no appeal, before the Almighty 
 Judge of quick and dead, at the last audit of all human causes. 
 ' God, in mercy grant, if it be his holy will,' saith this spe- 
 cial christian pleader for his very accuser, ' that it may be 
 said of you, concerning your present contempt of Christ, as 
 Peter had in commission to tell the Jews; " I wot," said he, 
 " brethren, that through ignorance ye did it," Acts iii. 17« 
 And much would it rejoice my heart, if God should grant 
 repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, in the instance 
 of many an unitarian beside yourself, that you might be 
 recovered out of the snare of " the devil, who are taken 
 captive by him at his will,"" 2 Tim. ii. 25, 26. 
 
 • Vol. IX. page 171. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKUR. 99 
 
 It is not without design, that I have omitted to notice in 
 their proper place, as to chronological order, several small 
 publications of our beloved friend, and to defer it till this 
 period of his history, that I might whilst noticing them meet 
 some unjust remarks made upon them in the Christian 
 Observer ; and made at a time when it appeared in some 
 measure to be siding with an avowed opponent of evangelical 
 preaching. As I before observed, the unitarian Barrister had 
 entered his protest against the Doctor's little work, e a Prop 
 against all Despair.' The cause is obvious. The chief remedy 
 therein prescribed is brought from doctrines which the soci- 
 nians vilify and deny. But in the review of the Barrister 
 and others on evangelical preaching, which appeared in the 
 Christian Observer, for June, 1809, it is said, that ( Dr. 
 Hawker in this work exalts the doctrine, " that all sins 
 shall be forgiven to the sons of men," at the expense of this 
 doctrine, " that without holiness no man shall see the Lord." ' 
 f At the expense of this doctrine !' Has the Doctor then in 
 this work invalidated this doctrine ? Does he not call it in 
 the preface a horrible maxim, "to continue in sin that grace 
 may abound ?" Does he not, in the work itself, call the 
 attention of the reader to this distinguishing property of the 
 everlasting covenant, " I will put my fear in their heart, 
 that they shall not depart from me?" Doth he not teach, 
 how earnestly he should pray for grace to be a follower of 
 them, " who now through faith and patience inherit the 
 promises ?" Doth he not immediately subjoin the prayer, 
 that such a one may be " faithful unto death ?" After 
 enumerating the black list of awful characters mentioned by 
 the apostle, 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. doth he not remind his reader 
 of the change they underwent, by following up the quotation, 
 " But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are jus- 
 tified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our 
 God?" Was he not professedly speaking to such poor 
 perishing sinners as fear they have sinned beyond the hope 
 of mercy ? And is not the sum and substance of the whole 
 
100 .MEMOIRS OF TUB 
 
 work comprised in the apostle's exhortation to the trembling 
 jailor — " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
 saved ?" Did he not guard his doctrine by requesting the 
 reader, before he entered on the perusal of this little treatise, 
 to ask his heart — e Am 1 really awakened under a solemn 
 conviction of my sin and depravity, to an anxious concern 
 for salvation ; and is sin become my greatest burden, and a 
 deliverance from it my first and most earnest desire V 
 
 Yet all this will not satisfy the querulous reviewer. i This 
 preparatory question,' saith he, ' should have been pressed 
 home more strongly.' As if it were to be done by mere 
 strength of argument, forgetting the words of the prophet, 
 " Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the 
 Lord !" 'The sinner,' he adds, ' should have been cautioned, 
 before he applied to himself the. consolations of the gospel, to 
 examine whether he really hated sin as an offence against God, 
 or whether he only dreaded it as bringing down punishment 
 on himself.' Surely all this is fully implied and understood 
 in the preparatory question ; but here again, in the use of 
 the un scriptural phrase, of applying to himself the consola- 
 tions of the gospel, the reviewer seems to forget what the 
 Lord hath said, " I wound, and I heal :" and although the 
 apostle speaks of administering comfort to others, it is said 
 to be " with the comfort wherewith we ourselves are com- 
 forted of God," 1 Cor. i. 4. It is the prerogative of the 
 Holy Ghost, and his only ; all without him are comforters of 
 no value. ' He should also have been warned,' continues he, 
 ' that he must, should his life be prolonged, devote that life 
 to the service of God, and by his zeal for good works, and 
 his practice of holiness, prove his faith genuine, his re- 
 pentance sincere, his gratitude to Christ that died for him 
 warm and active.' (Oh ! how much of self-sufficiency is 
 there in all this !) B Of all this, however, we find nothing,' 
 saith he, ' in this Prop against all Despair !' 
 
 But I would ask, with all deference and humility, would it 
 be judicious, would it be seasonable, to give such cautions 
 
REV. DH. HAWKER. 101 
 
 and warnings as these, at a time when a man is supposed to 
 be verging to despair? As well might the sage reviewer, if 
 present, have taken the apostle by the elbow, when admi- 
 nistering consolation to the trembling jailor, and have 
 whispered — press home more strongly some preparatory 
 question ; he should have been cautioned before this to 
 examine himself from whence his terror arises ; he should 
 have been also warned, that he must, should his life be 
 prolonged, devote that life to the service of God, and so 
 forth. Of all this, however, we find nothing in the apostle's 
 admonition to the trembling jailor! 
 
 The worthy Doctor, in reference to David's plea with 
 Cod, expressed in the 25th Psalm, " For thy name's sake, 
 
 God, be merciful unto my sin, for it is great;" well 
 observes, that * this kind of arguing, were it made among 
 men, would be considered strange indeed ; for we use the 
 very reverse. It is the common maxim to endeavour to 
 extenuate the offence by pleading the never having done it 
 before, and the hope of not falling into it again. But with 
 God the plea differs. (As much as to say, we dare not plead 
 their littleness, but we plead the need of his mercy from 
 their greatness.) The greatness of our sin pleads with the 
 greatness of divine mercy. " Deep calleth upon deep." '" 
 
 1 At such language,' the reviewer adds, ( we realty shudder. 
 And this from a fear, lest many should conclude from this 
 language, that they ought to continue in sin that grace may 
 abound.' As well might they shudder at the apostle's 
 language, " the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." 
 
 But it is much more shuddering to the poor despairing 
 sinner to be told, that he mast do this and must do that, 
 without informing him from whence he is to have help or 
 strength ; that the Lord hath assured us, that his grace is all- 
 sufficient; that as our day is so our strength shall be; that 
 the Holy Spirit helps our infirmities; that our heavenly 
 
 ■ Vol. IV. page 396. 
 
102 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Father will, with every temptation, make a way for our 
 escape, that we may be able to bear it ; that he giveth power 
 to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth 
 strength. Of all this, however, we find nothing in the 
 amendment suggested by the reviewer, as to the Prop 
 against all Despair ! 
 
 In a tract, entitled, ' Solemn Questions for Members of 
 the Church of England,' published in 1798, will be found 
 this sentence : ' I shall not declaim on the moral excellence 
 of human nature, while our church prayers with one voice 
 continually declare, we have no health, no excellence in us ; 
 neither shall I recommend, that human strength be exerted 
 in acts of moral virtue to procure our salvation, while the 
 same form of worship solemnly assures us, that in God alone 
 is our help found.' 3 This is made the subject of animad- 
 version by the Barrister. ' We do not fully understand,' 
 saith the same reviewer, ' what vindication Dr. Collyer 
 meant to suggest for this passage, by printing these four 
 words in italics, toivards their own salvation,' for thus the 
 Barrister had altered them. But I would ask the reviewer, 
 is it not plain, that though all our powers may be exerted to 
 serve and praise the Lord, and to evidence our faith and love, 
 when quickened to newness of life by the Holy Spirit, yet 
 nothing of this is done, or can be done to procure our salva- 
 tion, or towards our salvation, much less mere acts of moral 
 virtue, which have all of them the nature of sin, if produced 
 by mere exertion of human strength, and not done in faith ; 
 " for whatsoever is not of faith is sin," Rom. xiv. 23. See 
 also what the thirteenth article of our church maintains on 
 this point. The faithful and laborious Vicar of Charles has 
 suffered much in his character from ignorant, injudicious, 
 and prejudiced reviewers. How far they have impeded his 
 usefulness will be determined at the last day ! 
 
 In 1803, was published a small pamphlet, denominated, 
 
 » Vol. x. page 219. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 103 
 
 ' The Spirit's Work in the Heart, the great* Witness to the 
 truth as it is in Jesus, a small token of affection to the 
 Church of Christ.' By one or two quotations, the reader 
 may have some general idea of this little treatise. * It is the 
 work,' saith he, 'of the blessed Spirit, by his quickening 
 power, to impart the first principles of the new life in the 
 soul. To him also it belongs to accomplish on the soul that 
 act of grace, whereby we are translated from the kingdom 
 of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. And it is 
 his work no less, to separate from the original stock of a 
 corrupt nature, and to unite the soul by a living union to the 
 person of Christ Jesus, as the spiritual Head of his people. 1 a 
 As one of the evidences of being taught of the Spirit, he. 
 saith, ' " If so be you have so learned Christ, and have been 
 taught by him," then have ye, as the apostle describes it, 
 " put off concerning the old man, which is corrupt according 
 to the deceitful lusts, and are renewed in the spirit of your 
 mind, and have put on the new man, which after God is 
 created in righteousness and true holiness." ' b He then 
 subjoins : ' What know you of these things ? Depend upon 
 it, if God the Spirit hath been your Master, in the di- 
 vine science, then hath he taught you these practical and 
 experimental lessons : for his instructions carry with them 
 so many distinguishing properties, and are followed with such 
 soul-transforming effects, that it is impossible to mistake 
 them.' Is there nothing of sanctification in all this ? Yet 
 the reviewer, in the Christian Observer, tells the religious 
 world, that ' in a tract, entitled, ' The Spirit's Work on the 
 Heart,' Dr. Hawker has said nothing on the doctrine of 
 sanctification by the influence of the Spirit, and states that 
 his mode of teaching has a dangerous tendency to encourage 
 antinomianism !' The reviewer might as well say, that in 
 the epistle to the Ephesians, (from which the above quota- 
 tion is made), and in several other epistles, the apostle Paul 
 
 * Vol. IV. page 419. b Vol. IV. page 423. 
 
104 MEMOIRS OF THK 
 
 has said nothing on the doctrine of sanctification by the 
 influence of the Spirit, because in these epistles the word 
 sanctification is not found ; or that the inspired writers have 
 said nothing of happiness, as it regards this world or the 
 next, because the word happiness is not to be found in all 
 the Bible ! Can sanctification be more scripturally defined, 
 than by the verses quoted by the Doctor from the epistle to 
 the Ephesians ? Or can the subject be pressed home more 
 strongly, (to use the reviewer's own phrase) than is done in 
 the above quotation taken from the Doctor's pamphlet ? How 
 must it have grieved this good man's heart to see his writings 
 thus misrepresented, and the truth perverted ! 
 
 In 1799, he sent to the press a little work, entitled, ' Union 
 with Christ, the only possible means of enjoying Communion 
 with God, or an answer to that interesting question, What is 
 the truest preparation in those who come to the Lord's Supper?' 
 ' In this tract,' says our christian reviewer, ' not a word is 
 said in favour of holiness, as a fit preparation for a commu- 
 nicant.' How can this assertion be justified ? On the very 
 title-page, is it not set forth as the leading feature of the 
 work, that there is no possible means of enjoying commu- 
 nion with God, without an union with Christ ; and that this 
 union with Christ is the truest preparation in those who 
 communicate at the Lord's table ? Now, permit me to ask, 
 can there be an union with Christ without holiness ? Is there 
 then in this tract, not a word said in favour of holiness, as a 
 fit preparation for a communicant ? Are we not greeted 
 with it at the vei - y threshold ? Or does the reviewer pretend 
 to maintain, that there can be an union with Christ without 
 the Spirit of holiness resting upon us or abiding in us ? Who 
 knows how far the sale and usefulness of these excellent 
 tracts have been prevented by these misrepresentations and 
 false colourings ? I will not say, that this was done inten- 
 tionally, but surely it behoves a reviewer professing godli- 
 ness to examine and weigh every sentence before he makes 
 assertions so distorted from the straight line of truth and 
 
REV. DR. HAVVKBU. 105 
 
 integrity. If the thing be expressed, yet not in the very 
 terms which the reviewer would have adopted ; or if it be not 
 expressed, but merely implied, and implied only in a single 
 word, it cannot be true, that there is not a word in all the 
 work in favour of the thing in debate. 
 
 The Doctor, in this little treatise, animadverts on the folly 
 and inconsistency of what is called a iveek , s preparation for 
 the Lord's Supper. As if a week's abstinence from business 
 or pleasure, to which the heart is wedded all the while, could 
 beget a divorce ; or a week's hurrying over a few unfelt 
 prayers, could bring the soul nearer to God. ' Perhaps,' 
 subjoins he, l while I am shewing the fallacy of what is called 
 a weekly preparation, I shall be misconstrued, as if I dis- 
 countenanced all preparation whatever. But this is far from 
 my design ; and the man of candour and sincerity will not, 
 I am persuaded, be under the influence of such a persuasion. 
 I do indeed desire to be understood, as very highly repro- 
 bating that preparation which is in man, because I learn 
 from an authority not to be questioned, that " the prepara- 
 tion of the heart is from the Lord." And hence I earnestly 
 desire to recommend to every sincere worshipper to seek the 
 Lord's face in the Lord's strength.** He also proves, ' both 
 the importance of a personal union with the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, as forming an habitual preparation for the purpose of 
 enjoying real communion with God ; and that the actual pre- 
 paration is in the blessed Spirit's work also, in exciting grace 
 in the heart, and calling forth the exercise of it, in every 
 single act of prayer, or praise, or faith, or repentance.' b Yet 
 in this habitual and actual preparation wrought in Christ, 
 and through the Holy Ghost, according to this reviewer, there 
 is not a word said in favour of holiness as a fit preparation 
 for a communicant ! Not a word indeed in favour of a pha- 
 risaical holiness, which rests in mere form ; but a holiness 
 breathed into the soul by the Holy Ghost, evidenced in "self- 
 
 a Vol. II. page 310. b Vol. II. pttge 319. 
 
106 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 humbling, self-loathing, and self -abhorrence before the mercy- 
 seat; and the blessed Spirit ultimately produces those effects, 
 in which David exults, when he says, " O send out thy light 
 and thy truth, that they may lead me unto thy holy hill, and 
 to thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, 
 unto God my exceeding joy ; for I will yet praise him who 
 is the health of my countenance, and my God," Ps. xliii. 
 3, 4, 5/ 
 
 Jn the year 1809, ' An Address on the Dangerous Ten- 
 dency of the London Female Penitentiary,' was published 
 by William Hale, Esq. a gentleman, 'whose exertions and 
 success in counteracting many evils in one of the most popu- 
 lous parishes in the metropolis, are said to have given him 
 strong claims on the attention and respect of true patriots 
 and christians.' 1 * But why an attack should have been made 
 on this Penitentiary particularly, rather than on the Magda- 
 lene Asylum, does not at least to me clearly appear. The 
 very decided part which Dr. Hawker had taken in promo- 
 ting the interest of the institution, (for his heart was over- 
 flowing with benevolence, through the riches of divine grace 
 bestowed upon him,) induced him to meet the objections, in 
 a Letter to this gentleman, by way of answer. On taking a 
 distinct and leisurely survey of the Penitentiary, which he 
 visited in person, he gave his decided opinion, that it merited 
 the fullest encouragement ; for Mr. Hale had stated, that he 
 thought the workhouse the best school of reform for such 
 persons. \ The exercise of a parochial ministry,' saith the 
 Doctor, f in a town like Plymouth, for thirty years ; and 
 where, for obvious reasons, a very numerous body of these 
 wretched women abound, may be supposed to have made me 
 painfully conversant with their sad history. I have been in 
 the constant habit of visiting the sick and dying chambers 
 of such characters, equally perhaps to any minister what- 
 ever ; and it may be reasonably supposed in such a school, 
 
 * Vol. II. page 314. b Evan. Mag. 1812, page 282. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. JOJ 
 
 that the science of their misery, with the best probable 
 means of relief, might be learnt.' a And with the observations 
 which he had made, he hesitated not to conclude, that a 
 penitentiary, and not a workhouse, is the best suited to the 
 recovery of such characters. 
 
 From a conviction of the utility of an asylum of this de- 
 scription for such poor creatures as wished to leave their evil 
 courses, and to be restored to a reputable sphere in society, 
 he had long wished to establish a Penitentiary at Plymouth, 
 which from his indefatigable zeal and perseverance was car- 
 ried into effect in the year 1808. The utility of such an 
 institution appeared more evident, from a circumstance 
 which occurred about that period. One lovely morning, 
 as the sun shone with all its usual benignity, he was rumi- 
 nating upon the probable multitudes, amidst the head-aches 
 and heart-aches with which the world was teeming, to whose 
 languid and sorrowful eye the gladdening rays of the sun 
 had lost their brightness j when a poor woman in deep dis- 
 tress came to his door, and sought his advice and assistance. 
 She was a poor defenceless widow, the mother of an only 
 daughter. Her child had been seduced from her, even 
 before she had the consciousness of any danger, and for 
 fifteen months she had not only lost her, but notwithstanding 
 all the vigilance of the most anxious enquiry, no traces could 
 be found to discover her abode among any of the haunts of 
 sin and wretchedness. On the very morning, a letter sent 
 from the poor deluded young creature herself, gave the first 
 information where she was, with an account of her dejection 
 and wretchedness. In the first impulse of the moment, the 
 distracted mother ran with the tidings to her minister ; but her 
 fear was, that the persons who kept the house would not ad- 
 mit her to see her daughter. The benevolent pastor consented 
 to accompany her to fetch home the wretched wanderer. 
 
 'I hastened,' saith he, b ' with the poor mother to the place 
 
 ■ Vol. IX. page 1 77. b Vol. X. page 345. 
 
108 " MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 mentioned hi her daughter's letter ; and Oh ! what a place it 
 was ! The very atmosphere of the place seemed contami- 
 nated — several of the ruined inhabitants passed before me, as 
 I went through one of the apartments. It is a circumstance 
 perhaps but little known, but yet too true, that by far the 
 greater part of those miserable outcasts of society, die at an 
 earlier period, than that in which multitudes begin to enter 
 life. We at length arrived (the poor afflicted mother and 
 myself) at the sick room of her poor child. Her sickness 
 preyed upon her too much to leave her alive to the full feel- 
 ings, which her mother's presence and her own conscious 
 heart would no doubt otherwise have called forth. Tender- 
 ness and affection on the part of the poor old woman was all 
 that in the present state could be shewn ; and the object 1 
 had to accomplish, was to adopt the speediest method for 
 her removal' But it was impossible in rescuing one unhappy 
 female from such a state of complicated misery, to behold 
 the many left behind to perish ; nay, to recollect the thou- 
 sands continually hurried into this whirlpool of iniquity, but 
 with the most painful sensation. The asylum for the recep- 
 tion of such poor deluded outcasts appeared in all its loveli- 
 ness to my mind ! Indeed, it were most devoutly to be 
 wished, that its ability of admission within its hospitable 
 walls were equal to all the wants of the multitudes that are 
 perishing without j and like the city of the ransomed which 
 is above, the asylum of the miserable below had the gates of 
 it never shut day nor night.'' 
 
 The interesting circumstances attending the restoration of 
 this poor young creature to her mother, was made the sub- 
 ject of a tract, which first appeared in the Evangelical 
 Magazine for September, 1808. This tract arrested the 
 attention of Mr. Hale, who concluded that it was written in 
 recommendation of the Pentonville Penitentiary; for he 
 knew nothing of the asylum then forming and afterwards 
 established at Plymouth. It will not be unacceptable to the 
 readers of this Memoir to be told the sequel of this poor 
 
RKV. DR. HAWKER. 
 
 109 
 
 girl's history. It could not be recorded when the tract was 
 first published, because the subsequent event had not taken 
 place. But when the Doctor wrote to Mr. Hale, the daugh- 
 ter, recovered by divine grace to a state of penitence and 
 reform, was living with her mother, and maintaining herself 
 by her labours, in honest and virtuous poverty." 
 
 Sweet and pathetic are the verses which accompanied the 
 account of this young female, entitled, ' The Magdalene. ,"' 
 It is by far the best of his poetical productions. It was also 
 set to music by the author. 
 
 " The child of sin and woe, 
 Ah! whither shall I flee? 
 To what kind bosom go 
 To tell my misery ? 
 For none will see 
 But all agree 
 To frown on me — 
 
 A Magdalene ! 
 
 " My father ? — Ah ! no more 
 His home or love I know; 
 He spurn'd me from his door, 
 And gave me up to woe ! 
 He'll not relent, 
 Though penitent, 
 My heart is bent — 
 
 A Magdalene ! 
 
 " The grave— the only end 
 To sorrow's heavy load ! 
 Death is indeed a friend 
 
 To them at peace with God ! 
 But grace must be 
 First given, and free ; 
 There's none for me — 
 
 A Magdalene ! 
 
 " I've heard of Jesu's name, 
 Who on the gospel day, 
 Received all that came, 
 Nor turned a wretch away. 
 
 Though all forbear 
 Will Jesus hear 
 In earnest prayer — 
 
 A Magdalene ? 
 
 " Methinks I feel a ray 
 
 Of hope arising round ; 
 Some angel points the way — 
 1 Here's an asylum found !' 
 What's this I see ? 
 And can it be 
 Inviting me — 
 
 A Magdalene ! 
 
 " And will you, can you take 
 A wretch like me within ? 
 Will you for Jesu's sake, 
 Help me to flee from sin ? 
 Oh ! love divine ! 
 For grace to shine 
 On guilt like mine — 
 
 A Magdalene ! 
 
 " Here then in this retreat, 
 
 My soul shall wait and pray ; 
 Nor rise from Jesu's feet, 
 Till sin be put away. 
 Jesus will hear 
 And answer prayer; 
 And say, ' lo here — 
 
 A Magdalene 1" 
 
 ■ Vol. IX. page 180. 
 
 h Vol. X. page 772. 
 
110 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Mr. Hale's views were, that the London Penitentiary (and 
 consequently, every other penitentiary of the same descrip- 
 tion) would ultimately disappoint the expectations of its 
 supporters ; that the results of its operations would never 
 lessen, but increase the sum of prostitution ; and that the 
 measure adopted cannot be supported by precept or example 
 from the word of God. But surely the inn to which the 
 good Samaritan brought the wounded and despoiled traveller, 
 may be a sufficient precedent, in scripture, for providing a 
 house of mercy for the penitent Magdalene, who has been 
 despoiled of all that is valuable, wounded in her conscience, 
 and left more than half dead ! As to Mr. Hale's first propo- 
 sition, since it rested wholly on conjecture, it was conse- 
 quently unfounded and premature, but subsequent results 
 have manifested its utility : nor is this the only one, where 
 females of this degraded cast have entered ignorant of their 
 alphabet, destitute of any knowledge how by honest la- 
 bour to earn their bread, and by no means inured to habits 
 of industry ; yet, when they have left, they have known how 
 to read their Bible, how to earn their bread honestly, and 
 have conformed themselves to industrious habits. 
 
 When Dr. Hawker visited the London Penitentiary, it 
 was the custom of the matron to direct her charge to make 
 their own observations in writing, on the progress of their 
 own improvement under the ministry of the word. A book 
 was found lying on the table in their work-room, which the 
 women had just left, to make vacant for the entrance of him- 
 self and friends who accompanied him thither. He was so 
 struck with the sentiments expressed by one of them in this 
 book, that, he tells us, he could not resist the importunity 
 of copying them in his pocket-book. They were verbatim 
 as follows : 
 
 c Nov. 21. — I feel my soul exceedingly sad, when I reflect 
 on the strong resentment I yet feel against those who have 
 bitterly injured me ; and that, in spite of my resolves, the 
 least circumstance which appears unpleasant to me, rouses 
 
RKV. OR. HAWKER. 1J1 
 
 my ill- suppressed anger, and in my heart I sometimes curse 
 the author of my wretchedness. How dare I then presump- 
 tuously suppose my heart softened, and more alive to the 
 blessed truths I hear, when I, who stand so much in need of 
 forgiveness from a Being of infinite perfection, against whom 
 I have sinned with impunity, feel a reluctance to pardon a 
 fellow-creature, whose offences against me are venial, com- 
 pared with mine towards God !' 
 
 The Doctor justly concludes, ' that the writer of such senti- 
 ments would be too susceptible of feeling to go to a parish 
 officer for admission into a workhouse, to seek through that 
 medium a restoration to virtuous society. And is it not to 
 be supposed, that among the great mass of twenty thousand 
 females, which, it is said, infest the streets of the metropolis 
 by night for the purposes of seduction, there are many 
 equally capable of thinking ? — many whose feelings and con- 
 duct equally correspond?' 11 — 'many such brought into the 
 asylum, have given testimony of a change of heart as well as 
 a change of conduct in their deportment. Many a tear falls 
 from those eyes which before were full of lasciviousness and 
 uncleanness ; and many an hallelujah now drops from the 
 lips, in praises to God and the Lamb, which but a short 
 space since were used in profaneness.' b 
 
 '. Since,' saith the Doctor to Mr. Hale, ' I sat down to write 
 this letter to you, I have been called upon to visit a poor 
 broken-hearted female of this description, not that she 
 needed money, neither stood in want for the supply of the 
 body ; but she wanted to return to the nurturing nest of a 
 fond mother, from whose cherishing wings she had been 
 decoyed, by the syren song of one who lay in wait to de- 
 ceive, and at the age of seventeen fell into the net of the 
 spoiler ! Should I have said, when sent for to such an inte- 
 resting case of misery, let her go to the parish officer ? Her 
 parents' house was but within five miles of my own, and, 
 
 ■ Vol. IX. page 191. b Vol. IX. page 192. 
 
112 MEMOIRS OF TFIE 
 
 through the help of a kind friend, who is always alive to 
 offices of philanthropy, the business was not suffered to rest 
 until the poor fugitive was safely lodged under the tender 
 covering from which she had fled. Indeed so far is poverty 
 from being the universal motive, in prompting these miserable 
 creatures to seek a shelter from their calamity, that I venture 
 to believe it is not so very common a case as is supposed. It 
 is but a few weeks past that one applied to be taken into the 
 Plymouth Asylum for no motive whatever but to get free from 
 this horrible way of life, as herself termed it, into which she 
 had fallen. ' I do not want money,' said the poor young crea- 
 ture to a lady of the committee to whom she applied, i for I 
 have six pounds in my pocket, and need no clothes, but I 
 want to be delivered from a life of such misery.' ' a 
 
 Speaking more particularly of the Plymouth Asylum, he 
 says, ' Early in the last year this charity opened. From the 
 period of its institution to the present hour, twenty-three of 
 these outcasts of society have been received into it. Of that 
 number two are already gone into service, having for some 
 time given proof of exemplary behaviour. The families who 
 received them are known to be pious families, and the heads 
 of those families were well acquainted with the character of 
 these poor creatures whom they received in among them ; 
 and I have the pleasure to add, that every report concerning 
 their conduct, since their departure from the Asylum, tends 
 more and more to confirm the hope, that a thorough change 
 of mind and manners hath taken place upon them. One died 
 in the Asylum, concerning whom there was the highest rea- 
 son to believe that her end was peace. One is returned to 
 her friends, with whom a happy reconciliation had been 
 effected, previous to her leaving the Asylum. And of those 
 who now remain in the house, from the matron's report, it 
 appears, that several are under truly serious impressions.' 1 * 
 
 Surely all this shews, that such institutions are not and 
 
 » Vol. IX. page 194. b Vol. IX. page 197. 
 
KKV. DR. HAWKER. 1J3 
 
 cannot be of a dangerous tendency; neither would it be 
 adviseable to send a poor broken-hearted penitent to a parish 
 officer for relief, when she rather sought relief for her mind 
 than maintenance for her body. In reference to parochial 
 relief, he strongly recommends one general national fund to 
 be made for the support of the poor, ' Let there be, saith 
 he, ( but one parish of the whole kingdom, considered as to 
 the poor. In all other parochial concerns, the present dis- 
 tinction of bounds and interests should continue. Then, 
 farewell vexatious law- suits between parish and parish, in 
 determining the poor man's settlement! Farewell for ever 
 to the heart-breaking business of removing numberless poor 
 families in old age to their home ! Farewell the sad tales of 
 sending vagrants, from tithing to tithing, &c. ! And a long 
 farewell to the drains made on the poor's purse for law- suits, 
 and a long train of et ceteras, by which many score thou- 
 sands are annually spent!'" 
 
 c Though I am no lawyer,' saith he, ' nor have served in a 
 parish office, yet painful necessity hath made me an expe- 
 rienced practitioner in both, as far as the poor laws are con- 
 cerned. Many hundreds of letters have I written to the 
 various parishes of the kingdom, in a way of petition, re- 
 specting their wandering poor, whose husbands or whose 
 children have brought them to Plymouth in hopes of seeing 
 them. No situation, for very obvious reasons, can furnish 
 out more melancholy instances of this kind ; and many, I 
 fear, in the event of want, have pined away in secret rather 
 than make their cases known. ' b All this shews how many 
 and varied must have been his parochial and casual duties, in 
 addition to the many publications in which he was engaged. 
 His kindness and condescension to the poor, in hearing with 
 patience their tale of woe, in relieving the present pressure 
 of want, or in promoting their interests or that of their chil- 
 dren, in a vast variety of instances, have embalmed his name 
 
 a Vol. IX. page 211. b Vol. IX. page 210. 
 
 Vol. I.J i 
 
I 14 MEMOIRS OK THE 
 
 in their memories and endeared it to their hearts. What he 
 says of the Penitentiary, I believe, may be applicable to his 
 feelings for the poor in general. ' If the resources proved 
 insufficient to supply the daily bread for the household, — 
 looking up to Him who hath promised, that bread should be 
 given and water should be sure, I would go forth in his name 
 to seek it from every quarter ; and when I had drained every 
 resource, and tired by my importunity every heart ; though 
 the fig-tree ceased to blossom, and there remained no fruit 
 in the vine, still my confidence should not be shaken ; but I 
 would, as the prophet did, look to the Lord, and hope in the 
 God of my salvation. I would return to him in whose name 
 I had gone forth, present in the arms of my faith the poor 
 Penitentiary, with all its inhabitants, and say, Shall any of 
 those perish for whom Christ died?'* 
 
 The Plymouth Penitentiary has, however, for some time, 
 been relinquished. During the late war, there are obvious 
 reasons why such an asylum was more needed. As it was 
 the constant rendezvous of so many thousands for the pur- 
 poses of defence or embarkation, thither also were drawn a 
 large number of these unhappy females ; but since the war, 
 the Exeter Penitentiary, as a county asylum, has been con- 
 sidered sufficient for their reception. Although it has been 
 published, with the Doctor's Letter to Mr. Hale, the reader, 
 who has met with it there, will pardon the introduction of a 
 copy of verses, which, I understand, was composed by a re- 
 claimed Magdalene. 
 
 From the Penitents of the Probationary Ward of Penton- 
 ville Penitentiary y to Dr. Haivker, 
 
 ONE OF THE BENEVOLENT FOUNDERS OF THE PLYMOUTH PENtTENTIARY. 
 
 " My feeble muse essays to siug 
 
 From gratitude what feelings spring ! 
 Friend of the needy and oppress'd, 
 Whose liberal hand and gen'rous breast 
 
 » Vol. IX. page 214. 
 
11EV. DR. HAWKEK. 115 
 
 To the poor mourner yields relief, 
 And from the bosom chases grief; 
 Tells them that Jesus will forgive, 
 And bid us guilty sinners live; 
 Live to express his wond'rous pow'r, 
 That sav'd them in the trying hour. 
 When dark despair their minds assail'd, 
 And sin and Satan near prevail'd ; 
 Poor midnight wanderers for bread, 
 Who knew not where to lay their head ! 
 For these thy care provides a home, 
 And thither bids the wanderers come ; 
 Teaches their souls the way to heav'n, 
 And bids them hope their sins forgiv'n. 
 Exalted, noble, generous man, 
 Oh ! yet pursue tby God-like plan ! 
 And still our daily prayers shall rise 
 To heav'n a pleasing sacrifice ; 
 That when thy work on earth is done, 
 Jesus may all thy labours crown !" 
 December 20, 1808. 
 
 Although often engaged in controversial subjects, he still 
 continued to proceed with the publication of his e Poor Man's 
 Commentary:' and in the year J 810, was sent to the press, 
 * The Poor Man's Morning Portion ;' to which soon followed, 
 6 The Poor Man's Evening Portion;' being selections of a verse 
 of scripture, with short observations, for every day in the year: 
 e intended for the use of the poor in spirit, who are rich in faith, 
 and heirs of the kingdom.' These were first published, like 
 his Commentary, in penny numbers. This work is a suitable 
 companion to the Bible, in the bed-chamber of every one who 
 loves the Lord Jesus in sincerity and truth. From his re- 
 marks, which exhibit a great warmth of affection, a lively 
 energy of expression, a graceful flow of language, and an 
 affluent store of scriptural sentiments, it may soon be as- 
 certained, that he had acquired a deep acquaintance with his 
 own heart, maintained a holy intimacy with his dear Lord; 
 and was well instructed in the mysteries of his everlasting 
 kingdom. Surely his was no common Teacher ! There is a 
 lovely simplicity in his sublimest thoughts, and in his hum- 
 
116 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 blest themes a becoming dignity. Though sometimes fami- 
 liar, yet never low ; and whenever high, always intelligible. 
 This work has been greatly blessed. I have often left it in 
 sick rooms to be read to the afflicted, where longer reading- 
 might have been wearisome and objectionable; aud some 
 have been so much attached to these sweet portions, that 
 they would rather give any thing than part with them. At 
 meetings for social prayer among our young men, the read- 
 ing of a portion or two, by way of parenthesis between the 
 devotions, have been found useful and beneficial. My own 
 opinion is, that the chamber is not well furnished in which 
 are not found these Morning and Evening Portions. 
 
 The reviewer of the Doctor's controversy with the Bar- 
 rister, passes his censure on his familiar use of what he is 
 pleased to call fondling epithets, prefixed to the name of the 
 Lord Christ, as dearest Jesus. ' The apostles,' saith he, * were 
 too sensible of the Infinite distance between the Master and 
 the disciple, between the Saviour and the redeemed, to ven- 
 ture on such familiarity.' But on the supposition it be not 
 mentioned in their epistles, it does not follow, that they never 
 used such terms of affection in their prayers ! Can the thought 
 be indulged for a moment, or does this writer mean to say, 
 that our dearest Lord, dearest in ten thousand points of view, 
 will look with forbiddance on his redeemed and regenerated 
 ones for using such epithets as these, when all is felt which 
 the word conveys ? Will he question the inspiration of the 
 Canticles of Solomon ? I trow not. And shall we hesitate, 
 when we feel the subject, to adopt the language which the 
 Holy Ghost has taught us, and to say of our precious Lord 
 Jesus — " His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the 
 cedars; his mouth is most sweet; yea, he is altogether lovely. 
 This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Je- 
 rusalem !" Sol. Song v. 15, 16. Such epithets will, indeed, 
 fall ungraciously from the lips of those, who know not what 
 it is to draw near to him with holy boldness; who know not 
 what it is to enjoy a holy fellowship with him ; but may it 
 
RKV. DR. HAWKER. WJ 
 
 be my happiness to know him more intimately, and to con- 
 verse with him more familiarly ; and may the last words which 
 shall vibrate on my dying lips be none other than dearest 
 Jesus; and the first words, if it be his will, which my disem- 
 bodied spirit shall speak in the language of eternity ! If these 
 Memoirs meet the eye of this reviewer, let me entreat him, 
 as a brother and a friend, to cultivate a hallowed nearness to 
 the Lord of life and glory, and he will not feel it repulsive to 
 use such language of affectionate intimacy as this towards 
 Him who is not ashamed to call us brethren ; nor let him 
 suppose it to be an improper familiarity, as he has conjec- 
 tured, in the meanest servant of our Emanuel, to say, ' Dear- 
 est Jesus, come and sit down with me at the table which thou 
 hast spread. Be thou thine own almoner, and accompany 
 thy kind gifts for the body with grace for the soul.'" For 
 has not the Lord himself said, " I will come in to him, and 
 sup with him, and he with me ?" Rev. iii. 20. 
 
 In the year of our Lord, 1812, the Doctor completed his 
 Commentary on the Old Testament. Although many occur- 
 rences impeded his progress in this great undertaking, yet 
 he was indefatigable in his studies, which were indeed to him 
 rather a solace and delight than a labour or fatigue. He 
 wrote of Jesus. This was the favourite theme on which his 
 soul delighted to dwell. The reader has, no doubt, ofttimes 
 seen, in the field of nature, or in the enclosure of the garden, 
 a summer-bee, buried in the honied cell of some lovely flower, 
 and loth to leave it until he has loaded himself with the pre- 
 cious sweets ; so, in the scripture field, wherever he found a 
 sacred type of the Lord Jesus, on this he would hang with 
 eager delight, until he had extracted, as far as may be, the 
 liquid sweets. Hence he brought the spiritual nectar and 
 ambrosia, with which his Commentary is so largely and 
 richly fraught, and on which the children of the kingdom 
 feel it their privilege to feed. In perusing his Commentary 
 
 * Vol. II. pa^e383. 
 
] 18 MKMOIRS OK THK 
 
 [ am ofttimes reminded of his Sunday Evening Lecture, 
 which I found very profitable and instructive in my younger 
 days. Although his language is sometimes colloquial, it is 
 by design ; if elaborate, it is to use plainness. We must 
 remember, that it is the Poor Man's Commentary, and 
 therefore, he suits his language to the poor man's appre- 
 hension ; though by hastily adopting provincial expressions, 
 he sometimes overlooks the incorrectness of the grammati- 
 cal construction, as, * let you and /,' (me)." Whilst the mind 
 is absorbed in the beauty, the grandeur, or the importance 
 of the subject, these little inaccuracies will, through inad- 
 vertency, occasionally occur, especially in works so exten- 
 sive and voluminous. 
 
 At the close of his comment on the Book of Psalms, he 
 observes, which appears to me to be a sort of apology for 
 any thing colloquial or familiar, ' Perhaps many who sit 
 under my poor ministry, (if they should condescend to read 
 these feeble offerings on the Psalms) will recollect some of 
 the observations here brought together, which they have 
 heard by word of mouth in my evening lectures. / write 
 as I speak, without much attention to stile or manner. For 
 if Jesus be but glorified, the whole both of preaching or 
 writing, according to my apprehension of what is right, is 
 fully answered. And, if God the Holy Ghost, whose blessed 
 office it is to glorify Christ, should graciously condescend to 
 bless this little work (as the author is pleased to call it) when 
 I am no more, and make it an instrument in his almighty hand 
 of spreading the sweet savour of Jesus' name among the 
 people ; and if any of those among whom I have gone preach- 
 ing the kingdom of God, should, as they read those lines 
 after my decease, call to mind what they have heard in my 
 personal ministry, and say, ' We remember those words as 
 they came warm from his heart, which we now read while 
 his ashes are mouldering in the cold grave' — the very thought 
 
 1 See Reflections on the First Psalm, <!ve. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 119 
 
 comforts my soul in the moment of writing, and prompts me 
 to hope, that the prayer of faith I leave behind me for the 
 Lord's blessing on my poor labours, will have its answer in 
 mercy, and that God in all things may be glorified in Jesus 
 Christ. Amen.' 
 
 Should any of my brethren in the ministry be induced to 
 read these Memoirs, I would beg leave to call their attention 
 to his remarks on the ordination of Ezekiel to the ministry 
 of the word. It is a faithful and an affectionate appeal to 
 every minister in our national church. ' If my humble com- 
 mentary,' saith he, i could be supposed to fall under the eye 
 of any of the ministers of God's sanctuary, I would venture to 
 say to such an one, Behold ! my brother, the solemnity of 
 Ezekiel' s ordination ; and then enquire, whether it can be 
 supposed, that in the church of Jesus now the ordination of 
 any can be less solemn or less important ? Did one like the 
 Son of Man ordain Ezekiel ? And did the Spirit enter into 
 the prophet, as the Lord spake to him ? And can there be any 
 real ordination now, but under the same almighty authority ? 
 Did I say at my ordination, that I believed myself inwardly 
 moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon me that holy office ? 
 And have 1 never enquired since, whether that almighty 
 Spirit hath spoken in me to my own soul, and by me to the 
 souls of others ? Oh ! what an awful thing it must be in 
 any to rush into the ministry unsent, uncalled, unauthorized, 
 unanointed ! Reader, join my soul in prayer to God, that 
 none may go forth to the Lord's ministry but such as are of 
 the Lord's ordination !' a 
 
 The conclusion of the comment on the Old Testament 
 carries with it internal evidences of his deep humility and 
 self-distrust. Sweet graces in a mind so highly talented and 
 so greatly blest ! ' And now, reader,' saith he, ' as with 
 this last number of my Poor Mart's Commentary 1 close 
 the sacred volume of the Old Testament scripture, I beg once 
 
 a Ezekiel, Chap. ii. Reflections. 
 
120 MEMOIRS OK Till! 
 
 for all, and finally and fully, that you will bend the knee in 
 prayer, as the author has done before you, that the Lord will 
 bless all that it contains, as far as it is agreeable to his holy 
 and eternal truths, and pardon all that is amiss, which human 
 weakness, ignorance, and infirmity have given birth to, in 
 this feeble endeavour to be helpful to the Lord's household. 
 May that sin-bearing Lamb of God, that taketh away the 
 iniquities of our most holy things, cleanse all that is here 
 unholy and unclean ! It is my intention, if the Lord favours 
 such a design, to prosecute, in the same plain and humble 
 manner, the several books of the New Testament by way of 
 commentary. But this I leave, as I do all other events, 
 bounded as they are within the limits of a life hastening to 
 a close, to Him who fixeth both the time and place of his 
 people's habitation. In the mean season, I here set up my 
 Ebenezer afresh, tf Hitherto hath the Lord helped !" And 
 concerning my farther wishes to write the Poor Man's Com- 
 mentary for the New Testament, as the Lord hath permitted 
 me to finish one on the Old ; if the gracious Master should 
 say concerning this, as David remarked upon another occa- 
 sion, " I have no delight in it ;" with him I would submis- 
 sively say, " Behold, here I am, let him do to me as seemeth 
 him good !" Amen. 
 
 ' On my birth-day, making fifty-nine years of sin and 
 vanity ! April 13, 1812.' 
 
 Plymouth, Charles' Vicarage. 
 
 Thus he frequently endeavoured to make memorable the day 
 on which he entered upon this stage of being, by bringing 
 to a conclusion, or sending to the press, some memorial of 
 his love to the Lord Jesus, and of his faithfulness in his 
 service. How prayerful, how submissive, how mindful of 
 his eternal home, did this good man seem to walk, as if 
 always sandaled in preparation for the last stage of his 
 earthly pilgrimage, when his gracious Master should say 
 concerning him, "Arise, let us go hence!" 
 
 Previously to the publication of his Commentary on the 
 
BBV. DR. HAWKER. 121 
 
 New Testament, he published another elaborate work, ' The 
 Poor Man's Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred 
 Scriptures, both of the Old and New Testament ;' arranged 
 in alphabetical order, and containing, in addition to the 
 usual literal explanation of words, short doctrinal and prac- 
 tical essays upon certain points of the truths of God. It 
 was published upon the same plan and form as the Com- 
 mentary. l Perhaps,' saith he in the preface, i with some 
 readers, an apology may be thought necessary that I have 
 entered upon this service, in sending forth before the public 
 a Concordance before I have finished my Commentary ; but 
 the truth is, I have, through grace, concluded my writings on 
 the Old Testament scripture, and many months since set up 
 my Ebenezer upon that occasion : what I propose, there- 
 fore, by this Concordance, is intended only by way of a 
 jmrenthesis, between my finishing the Commentary on the 
 Old Testament and my entering on the New. I hope very 
 shortly, if the Lord spares, (and long before my printer is 
 ready for me,) to re-assume that soul- refreshing service of 
 the sacred word, and of going over the gospel of the ever- 
 blessed God ; and sure I am, that when I have closed my 
 Concordance, which furnisheth both profit and amusement 
 for my leisure hours, I shall enter on the remaining engage- 
 ment of the Commentary with increasing earnestness and 
 delight.'* 
 
 As a specimen of this work, I here subjoin what is written 
 under the word mystery, which is brief, yet states what are 
 scriptural mysteries, and gives the references where the word 
 may be found. 
 
 ' Mystery. — Oh, what a mystery is the gospel of salva- 
 tion, and the blessed contents of it ! What a mystery is that 
 great and fundamental truth, " God in Christ, and Christ in 
 God !" 2 Cor. v. 19. Col. iii. 8. What a mystery that Three 
 sacred Persons should be in One, and yet the same eternal 
 
 a Vol. VI. page 5. 
 
122 MEiMOIK* OK THE 
 
 and undivided Jehovah ! 1 John v. J. What a mystery Jesus 
 speaks of, when addressing the Father, and speaking of 
 himself and the church, " I in them, and thou in me !" John 
 xvii. 23. What a mystery, yea, what a great mystery is godli- 
 ness; " God manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of 
 angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, 
 received up into glory!" 1 Tim. iii. 16. And is there not 
 another mystery to every truly regenerated believer, as great, 
 yea, if possible greater than any; namely, that I should 
 believe in Jesus, and Christ be formed in my heart the hope 
 of glory, when thousands neither know the Lord, nor believe 
 the record God hath given of his dear Son.' a 
 
 On the 26th of September, 1813, was formed in the parish 
 of Charles, Plymouth, the Corpus Christi Society, of which 
 our venerable friend was the benevolent founder. As the 
 Misericordia Society was instituted for the relief of the poor 
 destitute stranger ; the Corpus Christi Society, as the name 
 imports, was established for the relief of the poor distressed 
 members of the mystical body of Christ, who are ofttimes 
 poor in worldly circumstances, as well as poor in spirit, 
 though rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom. As it was 
 intended not only to relieve their temporal wants, but to 
 soothe the afflicted under their spiritual sorrows, to pray with 
 them and to pray for them, this institution was opened in 
 prayer, at the Household of Faith, on the Lord's day. The 
 motto which he adopted for the society is from 1 Cor. xii. 2J. 
 " Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in par- 
 ticular." ' It is one express object and design of the Corpus 
 Christi Society, to search and seek out the distressed mem- 
 bers of Christ's body ; and, as far as ability shall reach, to 
 be distributing to the necessity of saints ; to be given to 
 hospitality, and to remember them that are in bonds as bound 
 with them, and them that suffer adversity as being ourselves 
 also in the body : and, whilst doing good to all men, to be 
 
 » Vol. VI. page 586. 
 
RKV. OR. HAWKER. 123 
 
 more especially regardful of them who are of the household 
 of faith. It is the Lord's poor, that in the Corpus Christi 
 Society is to be helped from the Lord's alms. It hath no 
 respect to parish, or nation, or kingdom. It is not confined 
 to the establishment, neither limited out of it. Churchman 
 and dissenter lose all distinction in the body of Jesus. All 
 on whom the saving work of God the Holy Ghost hath 
 passed, are, in the truest and fullest sense of the word, 
 members cf Christ's body, and as such, are entitled to all 
 the privileges of this society. In conformity to the apostolic 
 pattern, Acts vi. 3 — 6. the members of this society were to 
 look out and make choice of seven persons of honest report, 
 and, as far as may be, of the same description of character 
 as the apostles recommended, to whom the entire government 
 of the society should be entrusted. Of which number, one 
 should be chosen as treasurer, to receive and distribute the 
 alms as might be determined, and another to act as secre- 
 tary, to enter the minutes of the society. And, by way of 
 record, both for the present generation and all that shall 
 come after, to perpetuate the Lord's gracious dealings with 
 his people among the Corpus Christi members, a book 
 shall be provided for making an entry of all cases, both 
 spiritual and temporal, which come under the notice of the 
 directors, and in which more especially there are special 
 tokens of the Lord's grace manifested to his tried ones in 
 afflictions ; that these records may serve to comfort the 
 minds of the people under similar exercises, and encourage 
 the brethren to go on in their office when they thus see the 
 Lord's blessing following them. And it is humbly hoped, 
 that many will partake of the holy joy, and be themselves 
 refreshed, when they shall hear " the righteous acts of the 
 Lord, even his righteous acts towards the inhabitants of his 
 villages in Israel," Judges v. 11. As it will be needful to 
 receive the alms of the people, as well as to request the 
 prayers of the faithful, for the general good of the Corpus 
 Christi, another book shall be opened for the entry of all 
 
124 MliMOIHS OF THE 
 
 subscriptions anil benefactions to the society. And, while 
 the affluent, and to whom the Lord hath given largely both 
 of his upper and nether spring bounties, be admonished to be 
 ready to give and glad to distribute, the poorer of the Lord's 
 people be reminded, that though they have but little, yet 
 gladly to give of that little, knowing that a cup of cold 
 water, when a child of God hath nothing warmer to give, 
 and given with an eye to Christ in the name of a disciple, 
 is a costly offering in Jesus' sight. Under this rule it may 
 be proper to add, that it is presumed all the contributors of 
 the Corpus Christi, as the Lord's almoners in the Lord's 
 family, will give all with a single eye to the Lord's glory, 
 accompanied with earnest prayer for the Lord's blessing 
 upon their gifts, that both " prayers and alms may come up 
 for a memorial before God," Acts x. 4. 
 
 Early in the year 1814, was published a sermon preached 
 by him at the church of Charles, on the Lord's day, January 
 2, before the Corpus Christi Society, from Eph. i. 22, 23. 
 To which sermon, were appended the rules and regula- 
 tions of the society, and from which the above outlines 
 have been abstracted. Although the sermon has little or no 
 reference to the particular purposes of the society, yet it 
 speaks of the headship of Christ, over his body the church, 
 as the Father's gift ; and the nature of that church, over 
 which he is the head, as the true Corpus Christi ; and the 
 glorious offices, which as the head of the church he sus- 
 tains. After speaking of the infinite fulness and glory of 
 Christ, and of the increasing revenue of adoration and praise 
 that must accrue to the eternal Jehovah through Him, this 
 highly taught servant of the Lord Jesus follows up the whole 
 with such practical remarks as never embellished the ora- 
 tions of the mere moral school. ' And now,' saith he, ' what 
 is there wanting to make the whole complete before God, 
 but that the members of this glorious head of his body the 
 church should be living to him, and living upon him, and 
 Jiving by him, and deriving all from him. If God the Father 
 
RRV. DR. HAWKER. 125 
 
 hath acknowledged him to be the head of his body the 
 church, shall not the whole Corpus Christi do the same ? If 
 Christ is the head of union, the head of influence, the head 
 of communion, of power, efficiency, fulness, grace, glory, 
 will any of his members seek supplies elsewhere ? If he be 
 the fulness which filleth all in all, shall not his whole re- 
 deemed say as one of old did — " All my springs are in 
 thee ?" Brethren ! it is a blessed life of grace to be coming 
 to the Lord Jesus every day, and all the day, as we came the 
 first day we heard of his name; and, under a sense of want 
 and weakness, and unworthiness, and sin, to be seeking from 
 our spiritual Head the daily grace, as we need the daily 
 bread. Sweet was the lesson taught the church by the 
 Holy Ghost, and happy the soul that the Lord the Spirit 
 enabled to practise it — " I will go in the strength of the 
 Lord God ; I will make mention of thy righteousness, even 
 of thine only. My mouth shall shew forth thy righteous- 
 ness and thy salvation all the day, for I know no end 
 thereof," Psalm lxxi. 15, 16.' 
 
 This society, as well as the Misericordia, still continues to 
 exercise its benevolent operations. Many in the humble 
 walks of poverty, whose conduct and conversation evidence 
 the power of godliness, have had reason to thank God for this 
 laudable institution. It would greatly alleviate the pressure 
 of human misery, and frequently cheer the heart of the 
 Lord's afflicted ones, if a Misericordia and a Corpus Christi 
 Society were established in every populous parish or district. 
 The Lord will in no wise overlook the least act of benevo- 
 lence, when done in faith, unto the least of these his 
 brethren, Matt. xxv. 40. 
 
 In addition to the attacks made upon the worthy Vicar of 
 Charles by men who deny the truth, and who charged him 
 with nonconformity, other attacks from men who professed 
 to believe the truth were made upon him for his perse- 
 verance in conformity, for which they charged him with an 
 irreconcilable inconsistency. A very virulent attack was 
 
126 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 made upon him in the year 1815, by a Shimei of the non- 
 conforming school ; nor was this the only time that he 
 obtruded himself to the notice of the public, by publishing 
 his uncharitable insinuations and unwarrantable assertions in 
 defamation of Dr. Hawker. Indeed, his several produc- 
 tions may be considered, whatever he may say to the con- 
 trary, ruther covert attacks on our venerable establishment, 
 than any particular censure on our venerable friend. For, 
 although he condemns him for his adherence to the esta- 
 blished church, he speaks thus far in his defence — ' If by 
 ' the opprobrious epithet of antinomian, his opponents who 
 ' thus brand him mean to imply, that in the spirit and 
 * tenour of his life he is inclined to walk in what they de- 
 ' signate moral evil, or to think lightly of it, they therein 
 ' greatly slander him, because they affirm what cannot be 
 ' proved.' And in another place, he asserts, ( In the vulgar 
 ' acceptation of the word moral, no man stands more free 
 1 from outward blemish, or more adorned with shining vir- 
 ' tues than Dr. Hawker.' But of this pamphleteer it may 
 be truly said, " The words of his mouth were smoother than 
 butter, but war was in his heart ; his words were softer 
 than oil, yet were they drawn swords," Psalm lv. 21. 
 
 But as to the Doctor's adherence to the established 
 church, let him speak for himself, who best knew how to 
 express his own sentiments on this subject. In a letter, 
 addressed to the Rev. J. Stevens, Minister of York Street 
 Chapel, London, on the pre-existence of the human soul of 
 Christ, which doctrine our worthy friend considered errone- 
 ous, he complains that Mr. Stevens had improperly wrapped 
 up in the question some irrelevant remarks on the establish- 
 ment of the church of England — ' Yet, a what have these 
 things,' saith he, 'to do with the point in question ? They 
 ought not to be taken into the account, since they neither 
 make for or against the main thing at issue. True, dear Sir, 
 
 Vol. IX. pan;e 442. 
 
RKV. DR. HAWKER. 127 
 
 I do belong to the church of England. For indeed and in 
 truth, amidst many things in her liturgy and discipline 
 which would admit of much improvement, the soundness of 
 her faith in her articles and homilies is such, as without 
 giving offence to any order of orthodox professors whatever, 
 I may venture to say, is exceeded by none. And where J 
 disposed to leave the establishment, because mingled with 
 sound doctrine there are errors in it, which I lament but 
 cannot remove, I should be much at a loss to know what 
 class of dissenters to join, where nothing of equal incorrect- 
 ness is discoverable ! 
 
 1 Bear with me,' continues he, ' (for I mean no offence in 
 saying it,) I know of no community or order among my 
 dissenting brethren, with whom I could meet in church 
 communion, which would afford me an asylum for greater 
 spiritual privileges than I now enjoy. I know indeed many, 
 yea, very many of the excellent of the earth, who are mem- 
 bers of meetings with whom T now live in true christian and 
 brotherly love ; and with whom I shall one day eternally 
 dwell and be for ever united to them in our glorious Head, 
 when communion upon earth is over ; but there are causes 
 for which we cannot now always join in the same form of 
 worship. 
 
 ( Moreover, if I do not greatly err, the Lord hath blessed 
 me and my poor labours where I now am. I was born in 
 the establishment, and new born in it ; and have witnessed 
 the new birth of others in it also. Until, therefore, I see the 
 pillar of the cloud going out before me, I should not think 
 myself justified in departing. Every servant of the Lord, 
 ordained by the Lord to his ministry, is like a centinel on 
 his post : and it is death, by the military law, for a soldier 
 to leave his station, before that he who planted the watch 
 comes to relieve him. I need not tell you who it is that 
 fixeth the bounds of his people's habitations. 
 
 ' But it hath been said, (and probably you may have heard 
 it,) that I am wedded to the establishment by the love of 
 
128 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 gain ; and but for the loaves and fishes, I should have left it 
 long ago. I am in a great measure a stranger to you. 
 Nevertheless, an old man as I am, and lately brought back 
 from the border of the grave, and now every day hastening 
 fast towards it again, may be credited when I say, that had 
 the love of money preponderated with me, many a year since 
 I might have quitted the church of England on very advan- 
 tageous terms of worldly profit. Neither on this ground 
 hath the temptation been small. For, although I am a man 
 of little expense, yet never, in any one year since I entered 
 the ministry, hath the income of my labours been competent 
 to cover the maintenance of my household ; and, but for 
 other resources, I must have been poor indeed ! Pardon, 
 dear sir, this garrulity, induced as it hath been from your 
 observations on the church of England, in my belonging to 
 it. Had I been at your elbow when you were framing my 
 creed, I should have put you in mind of a church, to which I 
 hope, notwithstanding our differences in other points, you 
 and I both belong ; and without we do belong to it, indeed it 
 is of no consequence what other congregation we are the 
 members of, whether churchman or dissenter. Yes, dear sir, 
 the church to which I allude is the church of Christ, which the 
 glorious Head of it himself saith, is one and but one, " the 
 only one of her mother; the choice one of her that bare her." 
 And the sure and certain proof of belonging to this church 
 is, when " by the washing of regeneration and renewing of 
 the Holy Ghost, shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ 
 our Saviour ; being justified by his grace, we are made heirs 
 according to the hope of eternal life," Titus iii. 5 — 7- This 
 is the standard of character, whether in the establishment or 
 out of it. This is the door of entrance to every member. 
 " Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of 
 God." Infant baptism or adult baptism are alike unprofit- 
 able without the baptism of the Holy Ghost. ' a 
 
 a Vol. IX. page 446. 
 
RKV. DH. HAWKER. ] 29 
 
 The Rev. George Comb, Minister of Soho Chapel, Lon- 
 don, in a sermon delivered on the occasion of his decease, 
 and published as * A Tribute of Respect to Departed Great- 
 ness,' states, and no doubt has good authority for his state- 
 ment, that ' although a security of two thousand pounds a 
 year was offered him to leave the established church, he 
 never would accede to the proposal : he considered himself 
 as a centinel, and till the Lord removed him, he dared not.' 
 ' The Lord,' said he, ' has placed me at Plymouth, and hun- 
 dreds are witnesses of his power through my ministry.' 
 
 As a proof that no sordid love of money influenced his 
 conduct, it is well known what lenity he manifested in 
 gathering his tithes. One of the best estates in his parish 
 was purchased by one of the denomination, called quakers — 
 whether from a persuasion that he should never be troubled 
 by him for his religious tenets, in paying no tithes, I cannot 
 say ; but so it proved. For although he ought to have been 
 one of the largest payers, and notwithstanding he paid 
 nothing, yet the worthy Vicar took no legal steps to compel 
 him. I know not how men of this persuasion can reconcile 
 this measure even to common honesty ; for if the estate be 
 purchased with this incumbrance, and less be given for the 
 estate because it is so incumbered, and not tithe-free, how 
 in righteousness can they withhold the tithe from the incum- 
 bent as soon as they take possession ; when it is as much his 
 right as if he had been a lay-impropriator, or a poor widow 
 having a yearly claim of a decimal annuity on the estate ? 
 If they never purchased the tithes, it must follow, that they 
 dishonestly withhold them. 
 
 It may be supposed by some, from his numerous publi- 
 cations and extensive popularity, that he must have reaped 
 considerable pecuniary advantages from this resource. But 
 the very low price at which he directed his works to be 
 sold, precluded the return of much gain from this quarter ; 
 and whatever profit was derived from their sale, was almost 
 always;, devoted to some charitable purpose. His labours 
 Vol, I.] k 
 
130 .MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 were literally given to the public. The volume of ' Scripture 
 Extracts,' which contains more than seven hundred pages in 
 octavo, was given to the original publisher on condition of 
 his supplying his sunday school, assembling at the Household 
 of Faith, with certain articles of clothing. If he wanted to 
 support a charity, the publication of a new volume some- 
 times furnished him with supplies. 
 
 It may not be improper to introduce here some of the irre- 
 gularities, if such they may be deemed, with which he was 
 charged, either by avowed opponents or pretended friends. 
 One was, that he preached extempore. As if he thereby 
 deviated from the general practice of what are called the 
 regular clergy. But, although the practice of preaching from 
 manuscript is become customary, it was considered such an 
 innovation in the reign of Charles the second, as deserved 
 his majesty's censure. In the statute book of the university 
 of Cambridge, this document is found, as inserted during his 
 reign, bearing date October 8, 1674, addressed to the vice- 
 chancellor, &c. 
 
 * Whereas, his majesty is informed, that the practice of 
 reading sermons is generally taken up by the preachers 
 before the university, and therefore, continues even before 
 himself ; his majesty hath commanded me to signify to you 
 his pleasure, that the said practice, which took its beginning 
 from the disorders of the late times, be wholly laid aside ; 
 and that the said preachers deliver their sermons both in 
 Latin and English by memory without book ; as being a 
 way of preaching, which his majesty judgeth most agreeable 
 to the use of foreign churches ; to the custom of the univer- 
 sity heretofore, and to the nature of that holy exercise. 
 And that his majesty's commands in these premises may 
 be duly regarded and observed, his further pleasure is, that 
 the names of all such ecclesiastical persons as shall continue 
 the present supine and slothful way of preaching, be from 
 time to time signified to me, by the vice-chancellor for the 
 time being, on pain of his majesty's displeasure. 
 
 'Monmouth.' 
 
REV. OR. HAWKER. 131 
 
 Without any disparagement to others, I consider myself 
 justified in saying, that no man throughout the kingdom, had 
 greater popular talents for extemporaneous preaching than 
 Dr. Hawker. As a textuary, he was unrivalled. The un- 
 hesitating readiness and numerical exactness with which he 
 would quote the chapter and verse of the various numerous 
 texts, which he would produce in proof of his doctrine, or in 
 illustration of his text, in a sermon preached wholly extem- 
 pore, was indeed surprizing. At an evening party, when a 
 Bible has been called for, that he might give his thoughts on 
 some chapter for the edification of those present, I have 
 known him decline giving them the trouble, as it was too 
 early to order the candles and too dusky to see without 
 them ; and beginning the chapter, as if reading it, he has 
 repeated the whole, verse after verse, and interwoven his 
 exposition with all the correctness as if a Bible had been 
 opened before him. And this I have known him do, when 
 the faculties more frequently become enfeebled, even after 
 he had attained the seventy-third year of his age. 
 
 The author of ' the Pulpit, or a Biographical and Literary 
 Account of Eminent Popular Preachers,' gives this sketch 
 of his character, interspersed with other observations too 
 lengthy or unnecessary to quote : — ' Preaching forms his 
 vitality. Faulty as his sermons may appear, it is difficult to 
 specify his defects. Such is the animation of his addresses, 
 such the efficacy of his delivery, such his oratorical origi- 
 nality, that his deficiencies are scarcely perceptible when he 
 speaks ; while, owing to the strong impression which true 
 eloquence always makes on the feelings, his errors are hardly 
 discoverable even in the solitude of retrospection. What, 
 however, are the commanding qualifications of this distin- 
 guished ambassador of Christianity ? He owes all to his 
 zeal. Survey him in the pulpit — the animation with which 
 he joins in congregational psalmody ; the awful fervour with 
 which he presents himself at the footstool of divine mercy ; 
 the strong agitation of his soul ; the solemnity of his rising, 
 
132 MEMOIRS OF THK 
 
 and the impressive distinctness with which he announces his 
 text ; the dignity with which he asserts the doctrine, and the 
 severity with which he denounces the inflictions of his reli- 
 gion. His looks speak. Dictated by his feelings, his ges- 
 tures are not oratorical ; they are natural and becoming as 
 well as energetic. He is rather an apostle than a preacher. 
 Whenever he cites scriptural authority (in which he fails 
 not) for the opinions inculcated by him, his emphasis serve 
 as elucidations of the passages he instances. Many may 
 object to his preaching ; but none can deny its power. His 
 gifts are great. Judgment may often demur to his autho- 
 rity ; but the heart is always led captive at his will.' 
 
 Such is the opinion of one who knew how to appreciate 
 talent; himself no ordinary observer of the faults or excel- 
 lencies of the popular preacher ; yet all are not blemishes 
 which may be depicted as such upon his ingenious mind. 
 An occasional colloquiality may be necessary to meet the 
 apprehension of the less informed, and such a condescension 
 may enhance the sublimity or brilliancy of the ideas which 
 may immediately open all their lustre upon them. The com- 
 manding influence of his preaching was not owing merely to 
 his zeal, his animation, or his eloquence; but to a vital 
 unction which accompanied his preaching with power from 
 on high. It was this that led the heart captive, though the 
 judgment was demurring. 
 
 Another charge against him, was praying extempore 
 before and after sermon. But the adoption or use of a col- 
 lect in the pulpit, before or after sermon, has no warrant 
 from the rubric of the liturgy. This also, as well as preach- 
 ing from manuscript, is a greater liberty assumed than the 
 offering of a prayer extempore, which is called by Bishop 
 Hall, e a conceived prayer.' In his answer to Smectymnuus, 
 in defence of the liturgy, the bishop thus writes : — ' It is a 
 ■ false ground, that the imposing the book (of common prayer) 
 ' ties godly men from exercising their gift in prayer. An 
 ' enjoined liturgy,' continues he, * may well stand with the 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 133 
 
 c freedom of a prayer conceived ; the desk is no hindrance to 
 ' the pulpit ; he is wanting in his duty that slackeneth either 
 ' service.' Here is not only a defence of the practice, but a 
 censure on the man who exerciseth not his gift in prayer in 
 the services of the pulpit. In an appendix to the Rev. 
 < George Herbert's Country Parson,' there are two prayers 
 thus entitled ; ' The Author's Prayer before Sermon, and his 
 Prayer after Sermon ;' which indubitably shews, that, at least, 
 at some period of his ministry, the worthy orator of the uni- 
 versity of Cambridge deemed it his province to use before 
 and after sermon his own conceived prayer. There is a 
 prayer to be used before all sermons, lectures, and homilies 
 prescribed in the fifty-fifth Canon ; but with this limitation, 
 in this form or to this effect, as briefly as conveniently as 
 they (viz. the preachers and ministers) may — always con- 
 cluding with the Lord's prayer. 
 
 But the awful solemnity with which he approached the 
 mercy-seat, the holy boldness with which he pleaded the 
 promises, the fervid affection which seemed to glow in his 
 bosom, the privileged nearness which he appeared to feel 
 whilst he urged his petition and sought the divine blessing, 
 carried ofttimes conviction to the heart, that the man was 
 among the excellent of the earth, who " worship God in spirit, 
 rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." 
 Whilst thus engaged, there was dignity in his very attitude ; 
 and in all his pleas a visible intimacy of communion ; like a 
 courtier, who is much at court, feels himself at home in the 
 king's presence ; his very soul was apparently going forth in 
 his devotions ; or, as St. Jude expresses it, " Praying in the 
 Holy Ghost." 
 
 Another charge against him, was his use of hymns in the 
 church; but perhaps, in this particular, no, minister in the 
 united kingdom was more regular. He compiled a selection 
 of hymns for the evening service, which service was origi- 
 nally intended for the instruction of the sunday school, with 
 a view also to the benefit of their parents and friends ; and 
 
134 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 was conducted after the following manner. It commenced 
 with singing, after which he read the liturgy, as far as to the 
 first lesson. Opposite the desk was a bench, on which stood 
 a select band of the best readers from his sunday school, who 
 were all clad in an uniform dress with caps and tippets, given 
 them gratuitously from the funds of the charity. After he 
 had made some introductory remarks, he directed the chil- 
 dren by a mere bend, to commence. They read, verse by 
 verse, until he wished to enlarge or expound, and so on to 
 the end of the chapter; when the children again sang a hymn 
 from his selection suited to the subject, and the congrega- 
 tion was dismissed, with the usual benediction. The accu- 
 racy and distinctness with which the poor children read was 
 admirable ; and the sweetness and harmony of their voices in 
 singing was attractive. In addition to those for whom it 
 was originally designed, a large congregation attended. 
 
 But, at the morning and afternoon service, he rigidly ad- 
 hered to the old version of Sternhold and Hopkins. He 
 deemed their rude and unpolished verses to contain sweeter 
 melody from their accordance to the spirit of the Psalmist, 
 than the tuneful numbers of Tate and Brady, which are some- 
 times not only destitute of gospel elucidations, but even re- 
 pugnant to the leading articles of the church. No minister 
 is called upon to subscribe to them. Their use is wholly 
 optional. Certain detached verses of Sternhold and Hop- 
 kins would he often repeat with his usual emphasis and 
 pathos, and dwell much on their beautiful simplicity; among 
 which was the following — 
 
 " O God, my strength and fortitude, 
 
 Of force, I must love thee ; 
 
 Thou art my castle and defence, 
 
 In my necessity." Psalm xviii. 1. 
 
 There is certainly a sweet simplicity and a natural ele- 
 gancy, which no time can render obsolete, in the second 
 line, ' Of force, I must love thee.' The old version has no 
 other authority for its use than Queen Elizabeth's injunctions 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 135 
 
 to her clergy, which injunctions are recognized in the thirty- 
 seventh article of the established church. The clause to which 
 I refer, runs thus : ' For the comfort of such as delight in 
 ' music, it may be permitted, that at the beginning or end of 
 
 * common prayer, either at morning or evening; there may be 
 ' sung a hymn, or such like song, to the praise of Almighty 
 ' God, in the best melody and music that may be conveni- 
 1 ently devised, having respect that the sentence of the hymn 
 
 * may be understood and perceived.' This extract as fully 
 authorizes the use of hymns, or such like songs, as it does the 
 use of Sternhold and Hopkins' version, at the beginning or 
 end of common prayer, provided that the sentiment be cor- 
 rect and the language intelligible. Consequently, there can 
 be no irregularity in selecting a book of hymns for the use 
 of his Sunday school, though sung by the children at the 
 beginning or end of the evening service. 
 
 Contrary to usual practice, he would sometimes address 
 the congregation with a brief introduction before he an- 
 nounced his text ; but his design in doing this was to call the 
 attention of the people to that portion of God's word on 
 which he purposed to ground his discourse. This irregu- 
 larity, as some would deem it, is not without a precedent 
 either among the fathers of the Reformation, or the divines 
 of the Lutheran church. But an introduction preceding the 
 text, when prolix, rather wearies than excites attention. But 
 so fascinating and powerful were his addresses of this descrip- 
 tion, that they rivetted the attention, awakened reflection, 
 and, under the divine blessing, ofttimes produced the hap- 
 piest effects. Many who could not acquiesce in his state- 
 ments from their misconceptions of scriptural doctrines, 
 were constrained to admire his eloquence, and revere the 
 man. 
 
 But to notice all the frivolous objections, scandalous ob- 
 loquies, and unscriptural points of doctrine, with which the 
 pamphlets were freighted, that have been launched into the 
 troubled waters of religious controversy to carry on warfare 
 
136 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 against him, would fill a volume of larger dimensions than 
 any custom-house ledger. A few will be noticed as we pro- 
 ceed in our review of succeeding years. His opponents out 
 of the church have charged him with an inconsistency in 
 declaring, that there is no other regeneration than that which 
 is effected by the power of God ; and yet in the baptismal 
 service thanking God that it hath pleased him to regenerate 
 the child ! But what inconsistency is there in this, as it re- 
 gards the one sole agency in this work ? All is uniformly 
 ascribed to God. It is not my present purpose to write in 
 defence of our formularies. A revisal is much needed. Yet 
 there is more consistency, in supposing that infants may be 
 regenerated by the Holy Ghost, in consequence of united, 
 fervent, faithful prayer, grounded on the promise, " that if 
 two of you shall agree on earth, as touching any thing that 
 they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which 
 is in heaven," Matt, xviii. 19. than there is in maintaining, 
 that a man can regenerate himself, or make himself a new 
 creature in Christ Jesus, or that he can save himself by fall- 
 ing in with the offers of divine grace, as too many preach, as 
 if he were capable of doing this without any regeneration at 
 all ! His little tract, entitled, ' The Child Baptized,' 11 is an 
 interesting illustration of this ordinance, as administered in 
 the Church of England. 
 
 The reformers of our national church, having drawn up the 
 baptismal service for the household of faith, and for them 
 only, have given to the sign (in language at least) all the 
 effects of the thing signified. But had they been as clear in 
 their views of the doctrine of Baptism, as of the doctrine of 
 the Lord's Supper, it had been, no doubt, differently ex- 
 pressed. It is evident from Bishop Latimer's Sermons, that 
 he knew how to distinguish between the sign, and the thing 
 signified, as the following quotation will shew — ( Christ saith, 
 " Except a man be born again from above, he cannot see the 
 
 » Vol. III. page 633. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 13J 
 
 1 kingdom of God." He must have a regeneration. And what 
 e is this regeneration ? It is not to be christened in water, 
 1 as these fire-brands (the papists) expound it, and nothing 
 ' else. How is it to be expounded then ? St Peter sheweth, 
 ' " that we be born again, not by mortal seed, but by immortal ; 
 ' by the word of the living God." Thus cometh our new 
 * birth.' Water-baptism, whether administered to an infant 
 or an adult, by sprinkling or immersion, can be of no avail 
 without the baptism of the Holy Ghost. What has been 
 said of circumcision may be said of this rite, in Christ Jesus 
 neither baptism availeth any thing nor unbaptism, but a new 
 creature, Gal. vi. 15. 
 
 In the year of our Lord, 1818, he completed 'The Poor 
 Man's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures;' which he com- 
 memorates in terms of deepest humility and liveliest thank- 
 fulness. ' And now, reader,' saith he, ' in folding up the 
 whole of my Poor Man's Commentary, while I lie low in the 
 dust before God, under a conscious sense of unworthiness, 
 and my continued short-comings, I desire to set up a renewed 
 Ebenezer to the praise of his grace, who hath hitherto helped 
 me, and borne with me all the way through, in the many 
 years since I first entered upon it, to the hour of writing 
 with my pen the last line of it. The more I contemplate 
 the subject, the more I stand amazed at the Lord's goodness 
 and my undeservings.' He declares the sole end of this work 
 to have been, ' to hold up and to hold forth the Lord Jesus 
 Christ as God's Christ, and as the sole perfection of all his 
 people.' After commending the reader to God, and to the 
 word of his grace, he subscribes this memorandum : — c Ply- 
 mouth, Charles' Vicarage, April 13, 1816, once more made 
 memorable in being my birth-day, counting sixty-three years 
 of the Lord's grace and my sins.' 
 
 In his Commentary, he gave great offence to many of his 
 brethren in the ministry, both in the church and out of the 
 church, from the candid disavowal which he therein makes of 
 the doctrine of progressive holiness, and more especially from 
 
138 
 
 MEMOIRS OK THE 
 
 his general view of sanctification on 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14. But 
 it appears to me, that they have not duly considered the sub- 
 ject, nor fully apprehended his doctrine. That the humblest 
 reader of this Memoir may not mistake the term, progressive 
 holiness, 1 beg leave to state for the information of such, that 
 he nowhere calls in question the doctrine of final perseve- 
 rance, but was most fully convinced of the scriptural sound- 
 ness and heart-cheering sweetness of the truth. But there 
 are many who maintain, that every child of God grows holier 
 and holier by a certain progression ; so that to-day he is ho- 
 lier than he was yesterday, and will be to-morrow holier than 
 he is to-day, and that thus he continues and proceeds in this 
 progressive holiness until he arrives at perfection ; that the 
 flesh, as well as the spirit, is partaker of this progressive 
 ratio of holiness ; though St. Paul, twenty- three years after 
 his conversion, thus writes to the Romans ; u I know that 
 in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing !" Rom. 
 vii. 18. This doctrine of progressive holiness, our venerable 
 commentator denies ; not only from his own experience, who 
 was now between sixty and seventy years of age, and had long 
 walked with God, but from the history of the saints recorded 
 in Holy Scripture. 
 
 As a man, when made a new creature in Christ Jesus, is 
 as much in Christ Jesus the first day of his regeneration, as 
 in the last day of his life ; so a sinner sanctified, which is but 
 another term for the same act, is as much sanctified the first 
 day when brought into union with Christ, as he will be to the 
 time of his removal from a state of grace to the fruition of 
 glory. But he nowhere denies the progressive fruits of this 
 sanctification, though not in any particular ratio arc these 
 fruits expected to appear. Yet fruits there will be more or 
 less; which fruits of the Spirit he does not consider our sanc- 
 tification, nor properly speaking any part of it, but the sweet 
 testimonies and happy effects of our sanctification. Permit 
 me to ask, how can any dare say, that this denial of pi*ogressive 
 holiness, in this view of it, promotes licentiousness ? From a 
 
HJiV. Dll. HAWKER. 139 
 
 misconception or a wilful perversion of his doctrine, (the Lord 
 knoweth which it may be,) he has met with cruel usage and 
 base slander. Yes, blessed man of God, like thy Master, 
 thou hast been wounded in the house of thy friends ! 
 
 In speaking of sanctification, he thus writes : ' Sanctifica- 
 tion, or to sanctify, hath a different meaning in the different 
 scriptures. But the most general sense is, either to set apart, 
 consecrate, or dedicate to a sacred service : or to purify, 
 cleanse, and make holy what was before unholy in our 
 nature. In the former, Christ is said to have " sanctified 
 himself," John xvii. 19. In the latter, the church, when 
 regenerated, is said " to be washed, to be sanctified, to be 
 justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of 
 our God," 1 Cor. vi. 11. In the regeneration, as it does not 
 appear that any alteration is made on the body, he maintains, 
 that in the latter sense no part of it is sanctified. But inas- 
 much as the body becomes an habitation of God through the 
 Spirit, it is a vessel set apart for the Master's use ; and every 
 child of God is taught " how to possess his vessel in sancti- 
 fication and honour," 1 Thess. iv. 4. 
 
 c But although thus set apart, the body is not renewed. 
 Although the spirit of a man be renewed, when he is quick- 
 ened from a death of sin to newness of life, yet the body is 
 not renewed until it be reduced to the dust and renewed 
 from the grave at the general resurrection. " That which is 
 born of the flesh is flesh," and will be so to the end of the 
 day. Hence the unceasing warfare ; " for the flesh lusteth 
 against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh ; and these 
 are contrary the one to the other, so that we cannot do the 
 things which we would," Gal. v. \J. But this contrariety 
 could not exist if the body were renewed. In consequence 
 of these internal conflicts, which every one who has received 
 the grace of the Spirit feels more or less to be carrying on 
 between the flesh and the spirit, sin will sometimes in its 
 struggles, even in them, gain the mastery, though not a per- 
 petual or habitual dominion. Many imagine, that they shall 
 
140 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 go on subduing one sin after another till all be subdued ; as 
 if there were a time, on this side the grave, when they should 
 be able to sit down at ease, and have no more spiritual con- 
 flicts to fight ; but is there a sin subdued, that will not in 
 some future day present itself afresh to the mind, and give 
 the soul the same struggle and pain as at the first ? There is 
 no truce in this war. There is no pause to render it prudent 
 to unbuckle the armour, until we unbuckle it for the grave. 
 The helmet of hope, the shield of faith, and other parts of 
 the spiritual harness may be left at the threshold of heaven, 
 for we shall not want them within the pearly gates of the 
 new Jerusalem ; but as long as we are in the body we shall 
 want all and every part of the armour of God to conflict with 
 sin in the flesh.' ' I know not what other men's hearts 
 feel,' saith this highly favoured man of God, * but the daily 
 workings of corruption in my heart shew me that the carnal 
 mind is still carnal. Ps. xxxvi. 1. Rom. vii. 14. I feel a daily 
 warfare. I groan being burdened. I not only feel these work- 
 ings when occupied with divine things, but often in the house 
 of God. Like Paul, I know what it is, " that when I would 
 do good evil is present with me," Rom. vii. 21. In the pulpit, 
 at the table of the Lord, at the mercy- seat, often when in a 
 moment of sweet communion with my God and Saviour, a 
 train of thoughts rush through me like unbidden guests, and 
 rob God at his face of his glory, and my soul for the time 
 of comfort ! Can a body where such things are be in part 
 renewed ? Am I in a progressive state of holiness in a body 
 where I find such cause of humblings, and which I loathe ?'" 
 
 1 I am well aware,' saith he, ' that the whole tide of 
 commentators are against me, while I would desire with all 
 humility of soul, (instead of swimming with them down the 
 stream) to bear up my feeble bark to the torrent of this 
 opinion.' After speaking of the personal election, redemp- 
 tion, and sanctification of the whole church of God in Jesus 
 
 a See his comment on 2 Thess. ii. 13, 11. 
 
REV. DK. HAWKER. I 1 i 
 
 Christ our Lord, he makes this observation, that ' while 
 these grand and indeed (as they may well be called) funda- 
 mental truths of the gospel, are generally received and 
 admitted in the church of the faithful as so many standards 
 of decision, against which there is no appeal, the glorious 
 doctrine of sanctification doth not seem to be as clearly 
 understood as those of election and redemption. The more 
 generally received opinion is : — that at regeneration we are 
 regenerated but in part, and that as well in body as spirit. 
 There is a perfection, say they, of parts of the new man in 
 both, but only in degrees. Though there be a complete 
 perfection in Christ, in which they are interested, yet their 
 sanctijication is imperfect. They are in a progressive state 
 of holiness and progressive sanctijication, but not complete 
 in either. This, I apprehend, is the generally received 
 opinion. 
 
 The Doctor's view of the subject appears to be this : — that 
 by one act of God the Father, before the foundation of the 
 world, the church was chosen in Christ, " to be holy and 
 without blame before him in love," liph. i. 4. That by 
 one act of God the Son, we are sanctified through the offer- 
 ing of the body of Jesus once for all. " For by one offering 
 he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified," Heb. 
 x. 14. That by one act of God the Holy Ghost, the soul is 
 regenerated ; for regeneration, when considered as the quick- 
 ening of a sinner dead in trespasses and sins to newness of 
 life, can be but one act. But on the supposition, that this 
 act of God the Spirit in regeneration is but in part, not only 
 this beautiful order and equality in those acts of grace is 
 destroyed, but a train of the most painful consequences arise, 
 which involve the mind in endless apprehensions concerning 
 the eventual perfection. ' And wherefore,' saith our worthy 
 friend, i should the work of regeneration, and the sanctifica- 
 tion included in it, be an imperfect act of God the Spirit, 
 more than the act of election in God the Father, or redemp- 
 tion by God the Son ? If it be only for a moment admitted, 
 
142 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 that regeneration doth not renew the body, neither was ever 
 intended, during the time-state of the church, to renew the 
 body, every difficulty vanisheth.' 
 
 On the supposition, that no alteration whatever is made on 
 the body at regeneration, he concludes that no part of it is 
 sanctified, that is to say, free from corruption and sin ; yet he 
 meets the difficulty, how, with all this alloy, the body is made 
 the temple of the Holy Ghost, which dwelleth in us, 1 Cor. 
 vi. 19. with this argument — that it enhanceth the grace, that 
 the Holy One, who inhabiteth eternity, and who is himself 
 all holiness, should dwell in these bodies of filth and defile- 
 ment. O the grace of our condescending God i a 
 
 It may well be asked, if the body were renewed, though 
 but in part, how it could remain a natural body ? ' It is the 
 language,' saith he, ' of Jesus himself, " that which is born 
 of the flesh is flesh." It is the same as it was when born, 
 and so remains till it returns to its original dust. For " it 
 is then sown a natural body," 1 Cor. xv. 44. Whereas, if it 
 were renewed, or, as some speak, in part renewed, that part, 
 however small or great, would be by so much, spiritual : 
 and how then could it become liable to corruption, and be 
 sown at death a natural body ? Moreover, the apostle, 
 speaking of himself many a year after his conversion, that is, 
 after his regeneration, declared that in him, that is, in his 
 flesh, dwelled no good thing, Rom. vii. 18. a thing impos- 
 sible to have said, if any part of his body had been rege- 
 nerated. 1 * 
 
 But although this venerable commentator speaks of the 
 body as still carnal, and that there is no holiness inherent in 
 the body, let not the reader suppose for a moment, that the 
 believer is not called upon through the Spirit to keep the 
 body in subjection, or to mortify the deeds of the body, or 
 that he means to inculcate this. ' When God the Holy 
 Ghost,' saith he, ' quickens the soul of a child of God by 
 
 a See on 2 Tliess. ii. 13, 14. b See on Gal. v. 16—18. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 143 
 
 regeneration, he becomes a life-giving, soul- renewing source 
 in the spiritual part ; and whilst influencing the spirit of the 
 believer, in opening continual communications from Christ 
 as the Head to his members, the redeemed are enabled to 
 mortify the deeds of the body by his indwelling presence,' 11 
 Rom. viii. 13. ' And while the Lord the Spirit enables me 
 to mortify the flesh with its affections and lusts, let all the 
 fruits of the Spirit testify whose I am and to whom I belong, 
 as sweet testimonies and effects, while Christ alone is the 
 cause of all my salvation and all my desire. ' b 
 
 But to sum up in few words his view of this interesting 
 subject, it is this : — that the child of God is when regene- 
 rated only renewed in the spirit of his mind ; that the body 
 is still a vile body, a corrupt body, and will remain so till it 
 be sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body ; that the 
 believer is enabled to mortify the flesh with its affections 
 and lusts, through the indwelling presence of the Holy 
 Ghost; that the keeping of the body in subjection, the 
 mortifying of the flesh with all its vile affections, and the 
 gracious fruits of the Spirit which appear in the believers 
 life, is not his sanctification, but the sweet testimonies and 
 happy effects of his sanctification. 
 
 Notwithstanding he maintains that the body is not re- 
 newed, nor so sanctified as to be free from corruption and 
 sin, he considers it, by the indwelling of the Spirit, a temple 
 consecrated to God, or a vessel like that of the sanctuary, 
 set apart for the Master's use, and ought not to be used for 
 unhallowed purposes. If by progressive sanctification any 
 one understand, that a believer continues more or less 
 through the indwelling of the Spirit to evidence his sanc- 
 tification by the fruits of the Spirit, or at least by some 
 signs of spiritual life, he by no means denies this ; but main- 
 tains it, though the believer may sometimes for wise pur- 
 poses be stripped like a tree of both fruit and leaves, and 
 
 1 See on 1 Cor. vi. 15, to the end. b See Reflections on Gal. v. 
 
144 MEMOIRS OK THE 
 
 his spiritual life be only known by the peeling of the bark, if 
 I may so speak, that is to say, by an investigation of the 
 inward man ; yet when the Holy Spirit (as the life that is in 
 him proceeding from the root) puts forth his strength, the 
 believer shall again flourish in all his vigour, verdure, and 
 fruitfulness. If by progressive holiness, others may under- 
 stand the christian pilgrim's continued progress in the King's 
 highway of holiness, he by no means denies this, though he 
 shews that he has no holiness of his own ; for his very best 
 dress of this description is indeed a poor tattered garment, 
 nay, nothing but filthy rags. He acknowledges that the least 
 deviation from the right path humbles and grieves him. But, 
 if by progressive holiness any one understand, that this 
 body, the flesh, becomes holier and holier, this he denies ; 
 although as a proof of his sanctification in the Spirit, the 
 body be kept in subjection. He denies the sanctification of 
 the fleshly body, either in whole or in part, though a vessel 
 set apart for the Master's use ; and this vessel, as far as it is 
 cleansed, is not so by virtue of any inherent holiness in 
 itself, but by the subduing and restraining influence of the 
 Holy Ghost. ' In relation to church members,' saith he, 
 i walking honestly towards them that are without, it were a 
 reproach to the name of Christ if the ungodly had any charge 
 to bring against them. Very sweet to this purpose is that 
 comprehensive exhortation by the Holy Ghost to the church, 
 that whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, 
 and of good report, believers in Christ are expected above 
 all men to be eminent in the practice of these things." 1 
 
 The same error which some entertain of progressive holi- 
 ness, as if it were something inherent or acquired, is also 
 indulged by others as to progressive strength. Before a man 
 be regenerated, it is acknowledged by all who hold the grand 
 doctrines of the gospel, that he has no spiritual health or 
 strength in him ; but after his regeneration, some speak of 
 
 a See on 1 Thess. iv. 9. 12. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 145 
 
 the growing strength of a believer, as if he had some 
 inherent or acquired strength in himself. But by way of 
 appendix to the above observations, I beg leave to enter my 
 protest against this delusion. If by any inherent strength 
 I am become stronger in myself than at the time the 
 Lord was first pleased to renew me by his grace, then am 
 I less in want and more independent of the grace of the 
 Spirit. But who does not see the presumption of this con- 
 clusion ? The child of God, as soon as quickened by the 
 Holy Ghost to newness of life, is only strong in almighty 
 strength ; whatever strength is made perfect in his weak- 
 ness, it is all from the sufficiency of divine grace. And after 
 the believer has gone forth in the Lord's strength for twenty 
 years together, he has no inherent strength ; he is strong 
 only in the almighty power of Jesus. He is still all weak- 
 ness in himself, and has no acquired stock upon which he 
 can draw ; but, as at the first, so to the last, in the Lord, 
 and in him only, has he righteousness and strength. 
 
 But to return to the narration. In the same year he com- 
 pleted his Poor Man's Commentary, he was bereaved of his 
 son Charles, a promising young man, who unadvisedly sub- 
 mitted to an operation, as before stated, whicli terminated 
 in his death. It was to his father a soui'ce of much distress. 
 He seems to refer to this event in a sermon preached on the 
 last Lord's day morning of this year, 1816. It commences 
 with these words : — ' The mind of every one renewed by 
 grace wants something continually to lean upon. And when 
 under divine teaching the Lord hath brought the child of 
 God into an apprehension and enjoyment of the everlasting 
 love of God to the church in Christ as the cause, and the 
 unchanging purposes of God to the church in Christ as the 
 effect, he hath then found a source of never-failing comfort 
 to bear him up and to bear him on amidst all the changes of 
 time, until the Lord shall bear him home, and bring him to 
 his everlasting kingdom.' ' You need not,' saith he in the 
 conclusion, ' be told that you live in a changeable and dying 
 
 Vol. I.] 1 
 
146 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 world, and yourself in changeable and dying circumstances. 
 You know not what a day or what an hour may bring forth. 
 If you look into houses or families, kingdoms or empires, all 
 seem fluctuating. Both the world and the men of the world 
 can promise you nothing. "It is a time of Jacob's trouble." ' a 
 
 The substance of this sermon was published in a tract, 
 entitled, ' The Immoveable Kingdom, the subject of peculiar 
 blessedness to the Lord's people, amidst all the dead and 
 dying circumstances of this moveable world ; affectionately 
 sent and recommended to the church of God the first day of 
 the new and eventful year, 1817-' Perhaps, he little antici- 
 pated, when he published this little tract, from which the 
 above quotations are taken, that this eventful year would 
 take away the desire of his eyes with a stroke. His beloved 
 wife departed this life, April 3, 1817- Five and forty years, 
 as before observed, had they lived together in the mutual 
 enjoyment of each other's affections. Year after year was 
 he thus called to pay a visit to the grave ; not as the minister 
 who speaks a word of comfort to others, but as the mourner 
 that needed himself to be comforted ! 
 
 It appears, that from the year 1817, he regularly published, 
 early in January, a tract, as a f New Year's Gift for the Church 
 of Christ, or an affectionate Salutation to the Household of 
 Faith, on the opening of the new year/ There is such an 
 elegant simplicity, godly sincerity, and sweet assurance, ex- 
 pressed in the introduction of one of them, that the reader 
 will pardon a brief quotation, as an illustration of his manner 
 of addressing, in these tokens of remembrance, the spiritual 
 church of Christ. ' Verging as I now am on the confines of 
 eternity, and well aware that every step I take in the present 
 time-state at my advanced age, the world is receding more 
 and more from me, and I from the world, I gladly avail 
 myself to catch the passing moment as it flies, that it may 
 bear on its wing, at this era, my salutation of the church. 
 
 » Vol. X. page 138. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 14J 
 
 I esteem it indeed no small mercy, that since the Lord hath 
 spared me to behold the close of the past year, through the 
 same gracious indulgence I am favoured at the opening of 
 the new, " to greet the brethren which are in Christ Jesus ;" 
 and once again (peradventure it may be the last,) to send 
 them my annual love-token of remembrance, " before I go 
 hence, and be no more seen." ' Like the traveller returning 
 from his journey, and being nearly arrived home, to whose 
 longing eye the habitation, in which are lodged all that is 
 dear to him, begins to open before him, and a thousand 
 tender images of delight arise to his imagination ; so to my 
 spiritual senses, the many glorious things which are spoken 
 of in scripture concerning my eternal home come in full 
 prospect before me, and fill my soul with a joy unspeakable, 
 as I approach the precincts of that blessed city, whose builder 
 and maker is God.'* One commences with this motto, which 
 since it is not retained in the copy published in his works, I 
 here transcribe : e Salutem a Salutis Fonte, Jem Christo .-' 
 Health from the Fountain of Health in Jesus Christ to the 
 church of Chi'ist, in the opening of the new year of our 
 Lord, 1821.' 
 
 More than twenty years had elapsed, since he published 
 his Sermons on the Divinity and Operations of the Holy 
 Ghost : at the close of the year 1817, he published six Lec- 
 tures on the Person, Godhead, and Ministry of the Holy 
 Ghost. As the former were intended e for the more imme- 
 diate use of those, whose leisure and ability might afford 
 much opportunity for study ;' in publishing the latter, he had 
 chiefly in view the benefit of the labouring class of the 
 Lord's people, who had not time for such indulgence. In 
 the fifth Lecture, his arguments for the personality and 
 Godhead of the Holy Ghost, deduced from the sin against 
 him being unpardonable, must be sufficiently clear to the 
 meanest capacity to understand. It may be summed up in 
 
 « Vol. VII. page 551. 
 
148 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 this brief manner : — if the Holy Ghost were not a person, he 
 could not be sinned against ; and if not God, that sin were 
 not blasphemy ; and if not a distinct person both from the 
 Father and the Son, this blasphemy were not unpardonable ; 
 for all other sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven, except 
 blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. 
 
 It was in the year 1817, as appears from the date on the 
 title-page, that he published his little tract, ' Bread selling 
 to the Poor at half-price, a sweet memorial of the Bread of 
 Life, which is given to the poor of the Lord's people without 
 money and without price. ' a No apology will be deemed 
 necessary for noticing this little memorial ; for the cause of 
 his writing it furnishes another trait in this good man's 
 character, namely, his attention to the temporal as well as 
 to the spiritual wants of the poor. i What gave birth to this 
 little tract,' says he, i was this : in order to soften, in a 
 parochial way, the pressure of the times, which hath borne 
 hard upon the poor in the present winter, both from the 
 difficulty of procuring employment, and the high price of 
 provisions ; the parish of Charles, in Plymouth, by voluntary 
 contributions and collections every Lord's day morning in 
 the church, adopted the plan of selling a thousand sixpenny 
 loaves of the best quality, for threepence to each person. 
 And it is pleasing to observe, with what delight the poor, to 
 whom this little bounty was offered, received the well-meant 
 favour. The cheerfulness of their looks, and the promptness 
 with which they proffered their few pence from their scanty 
 pockets, loudly bespoke the grateful sense they entertained 
 of the kindness shewn them.' 
 
 ' It was at one of those public sales in our churchyard for 
 bread at this reduced price, when the pressure of the people 
 was so great they almost trod one upon another, that a 
 thought struck me, how blessed would it be to behold such 
 an eagerness in the people of the Lord for the bread of life. 
 
 ■ Vol. IX. page 262. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 149 
 
 What a blessed occasion, I said, would it be to speak to 
 them on the subject ? And while their looks testify so much 
 cheerfulness at the receipt of this little boon of the earth, to 
 call their attention to that free gift of God in Jesus, the 
 living bread, which came down from heaven, of whom who- 
 soever eateth shall live for ever, John vi. 51. But the 
 clamour at those sales, from the earnestness of the multi- 
 tude, totally precluded the hope of being heard on the 
 subject, however interesting. I therefore determined, under 
 the Lord's grace, to adopt this plan of addressing them, and 
 ivitli every loaf give a copy of this tract ; and send it forth, 
 as I have now done, under the hope of the Lord's blessing. 
 In the discourse I have endeavoured to raise from it, I 
 still consider myself as having those poor ones of the Lord's 
 family before me. I am in idea still at the sale, and while 
 each one is so busy in stepping forward for the cheap pur- 
 chase of this loaf, I put my little tract into his hand, to tell 
 him of the bread of life, and to be had without money and 
 without price.' After illustrating the subject by various 
 instances of scripture history, and holding forth the Lord 
 Jesus as the living bread, which came down from heaven for 
 the satisfying of his needy family, and shewing that they 
 who have Christ for their portion have a feast-day every day, 
 and in him a Benjamin's portion to live upon in time and to 
 all eternity, he applies the subject by way of question: — ' And 
 now what say our poor purchasers of our bread to these 
 things ? You are come to our cheap shop to supply your- 
 selves and little ones with a small portion of the bread that 
 perisheth, is not the bread of life more cheap, more neces- 
 sary, more free, more full, more generous, more blessed ? 
 Can any market equal the market of free grace ? Can any 
 bread equal the bread of life V 
 
 Let the men who vilify the doctrines of free and sovereign 
 grace, say, whether the life of this man was demoralized 
 thereby ? Whilst he unites with his benevolent parishioners 
 to provide for the bodily wants of the poor, how promptly 
 he avails himself of the opportunity of drawing their atten- 
 
150 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 tion to the bread of life. And to do this he spares no ex- 
 pense. With every loaf he gave a copy of this tract, and 
 that there may be a careful distribution, himself attends to 
 put this little book into the hand of every purchaser. One 
 thousand tracts, at least, were thus distributed by him among 
 the poor, at his own expense. And he tells us, that it forms 
 a luxury of the purest kind (when unmixed with pride and 
 self-righteousness) to be instrumental to the poor man's com- 
 fort. 
 
 This year, 1817? he also published in a series of tracts, 
 ' Sweet Morsels to Hungry Souls, in the Lord's word for the 
 Lord's people, affectionately recommended to the Church of 
 God.' The circumstance of distributing bread to the hungry 
 poor may have furnished him with the idea. In the preface, 
 he takes occasion to remark, what a fulness may be found 
 under the Lord's teaching from short sentences, and even 
 sometimes from a single word in the scriptures of our God. 
 He notices also, i How sweet and ponderous sometimes the 
 marginal notes and various renderings of our translators of 
 the Bible are.' { In these tracts,' saith he, ' I have availed 
 myself of the labours of those men of God, in gathering some 
 few of the sweet morsels for spiritual refreshment of the 
 Lord's people.' His own Bible is rich in marginal notes ; 
 for he was accustomed, if a passage more than ordinarily 
 struck his mind, to make memorandums of it in the margin. 
 Hence the Bible he commonly used is marked in most 
 parts with such observations. As several friends from time 
 to time solicited permission to copy them, he selected a few 
 to shew to others his plan, that if more generally adopted, it 
 might become under the Lord's blessing more generally 
 useful, which he published under the title of c Fragments 
 from Holy Scripture.' 
 
 The writer of this Memoir was much pleased with the 
 paternal affection and christian solicitude expressed in an 
 autograph of his, in the blank leaf of a Bible, presented to 
 his eldest daughter ; and has procured a copy, that the 
 spiritually- minded reader might share in the gratification, 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 151 
 
 and follow up his example, that if the Lord so will a divine 
 blessing may attend it. 
 
 t Memorial: to bring to remembrance. — Psalms the 
 38th and JOth.' 
 
 e This holy Bible is the gift of a father to a child, as the 
 truest pledge of real affection ; and inscribed with the names 
 of Robert Hawker, and his dearly beloved Mary. 
 
 f His prayers go before and follow his boon, that an unction 
 from the Holy One may accompany the constant perusal of 
 those sacred truths of God, to make her wise unto salvation, 
 through faith in Christ Jesus ; and that a daily spiritual and 
 scriptural apprehension may be wrought in her mind and 
 understanding " to the acknowledgment of the mystery of 
 God, and of the Father, and of Christ, in whom are hid all 
 the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." 
 
 ' Lord ! cause her to be graciously enlightened into a per- 
 sonal knowledge of and communication from the Holy Three 
 in One, which bear record in heaven ; that when the hand 
 that now writes this memorial shall have ceased its office, 
 her spirit may have been brought into such a holy familiarity 
 with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, 
 and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, that in her changing 
 also time for eternity, it may be no more than from living 
 here by faith, she may then be admitted into open vision by 
 sight, with that glory that shall be revealed, to see God in 
 Christ as he is, and to know even as we are known !' 
 
 September, 1820. 
 
 Soon after the publication of his Commentary, the Doc- 
 tor published a small tract, entitled, i The True Gospel, 
 no Yea and Nay Gospel, affectionately recommended to 
 the people of God in the present low estate of the Church.' 
 Of this motley gospel, which he shews to be at variance 
 with truth, he gives the following outlines : — e A yea and 
 nay gospel takes for granted, that all men are alike in a 
 salvable state; neither can any man fail of salvation, but 
 from his neglect of the opportunity, at one time or other 
 
152 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 afforded him. And if a man seeks for acceptance before 
 God partly by faith and partly by good works, he is certain 
 of happiness. Christ is made, by the yea and nay gospel, 
 nothing more than a procuring cause ; so that if a man so 
 far makes use of Christ, as by him to seek out his own salva- 
 tion in the exercises of faith and repentance and good works, 
 he doth all that is required of him, and Christ will make up 
 the deficiency.'" 
 
 In controverting these points, he shews, that if a man's 
 salvation depend upon his improvement of any opportunity, 
 the mind must be left in wretched uncertainty ; moreover, if 
 it depend on any improvement on our part, it is not wholly 
 of grace. He animadverts on the unscriptural phrases of 
 offering Christ to the congregation, or of pressing Christ 
 upon their acceptance ; as if every thing depended on the 
 very opportunity, and not on the purpose of God and the 
 grace given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. He 
 maintains that the yea and nay gospel was not the creed of 
 the apostles ; that the salvation of the church of Christ, and 
 the promises of God to that church, were not a matter of 
 doubtful issue ; neither did the apostles preach such doc- 
 trines. " But as God is true," saith the apostle Paul, " our 
 word towards you was not yea and nay. For the Son of 
 God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even 
 by me, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, was not yea and nay ; 
 but in him was yea : for all the promises of God in him are 
 yea, and in him amen, unto the glory of God by us," 2 Cor. 
 i. 18 — 20. b He asserts, that such is the certainty of the 
 salvation of the church of Christ, ' that nothing of perad- 
 venture can arise ; no yea and nay can come between to 
 make the event doubtful. The charter of heaven runs in 
 these words: — "I will make an everlasting covenant with 
 them, that I will not turn away from them to do them 
 good ; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall 
 not depart from me," Jer. xxxii. 40.' 
 
 a Vol. IX. page 473. ■» Vol. IX. page 476. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 153 
 
 Under the assumed signature of Verax, which, says one 
 of his reviewers, should have been Menax, the Rev. James 
 Bidlake of Plymouth, published a pamphlet, entitled, 'The 
 True Gospel of Dr. Hawker, shewn to be at variance with 
 the gospel of Christ and his apostles, and therefore unde- 
 serving of its assumed appellation.' In this pamphlet, he 
 controverts the Doctor's statements, and attempts to prove 
 that salvation is conditional ; that to offer Christ to the con- 
 gregation even indiscriminately is scriptural ; and indicates, 
 that it is by believing a sinner becomes interested in Christ. 
 The title-page carries in its front a very bold assumption, 
 without any foundation in truth to uphold it ; and a gross 
 insult to a veteran minister of the church, without the least 
 semblance of modesty to mask it. This pamphlet was sent 
 to the Vicar of Charles with a written letter, whether from 
 the author is uncertain, for it was anonymous ; but expressed 
 in terms of no small acrimony. 
 
 In an appendix to the True Gospel,* the Doctor i-eviews 
 this anonymous pamphlet, and states that the whole (except 
 his many angry expressions) might be summed up in few 
 words — that the true gospel of the Doctor's tract implied, 
 that there is some other inability, than that of the will which 
 prevents men from being saved ; but, saith this self-named 
 Verax, Jesus and his apostles knew of no other ; they there- 
 fore taught, that in the rejection of the appointed salvation, 
 men are inexcusable and self-condemned. All this to carnal 
 reason looks very plausible ; but, as the Doctor observes, 
 ' here is free-will in the very quintessence of it. A doctrine, 
 if true, which sets aside the necessity of the new birth alto- 
 gether, and makes the grace of God to depend wholly upon 
 the will of man.' 
 
 ' Unmoved as I am with the least anger beyond the hectic 
 of the moment, from the contents either of the pamphlet or 
 the letter, yet,' saith he, l the duty which I owe the church 
 
 * Vol. IX. page 483. 
 
154 MEMOIRS OK THE 
 
 of God will not suffer me to remain silent under such asper- 
 sions. It is not from personal considerations I now write. 
 I consider myself imperatively called forth to confirm and 
 make good what I have written for the church's sake, which 
 is Christ's body. It is his blessed cause for which I feel ; 
 his people's comfort for which I contend — it is of eternal 
 consequence, that no child of God should be left to the per- 
 adventure and uncertainty of a yea and nay gospel.' 
 
 As to conditional salvation, if the salvation of a sinner is 
 not in every respect unconditional, it cannot be in every 
 respect of grace ; for, as the reviewer in the Gospel Maga- 
 zine observes, 11 ' grace would lose its very nature, if a single 
 condition were annexed to it, and Paul's positive declarations 
 would be false, Rom. xi. 5, 6. Eph. ii. 8. 2 Tim. i. 9.' As to 
 indiscriminate invitations and offers, upon this point the 
 Doctor enters largely in his appendix ; and shews, that every 
 address, offer, or invitation in the word of God is made to 
 the church of God, under some special character ; as God's 
 Israel, or his people — to the weary and heavy laden — to him 
 that is athirst — to him that willeth, that is, to him whom 
 the Lord hath made willing. To preach the gospel, and to 
 proclaim salvation in the audience of all sinners wheresoever 
 they came, this was the apostle's commission. And the 
 same will all faithful servants of the word do now, who are 
 ordained by the Holy Ghost. To preach Christ, they knew 
 to be their province; to persuade to the acceptance of Christ, 
 they knew to be his. They used not "enticing ivords of 
 man's wisdom," 1 Cor. ii. 4. As to a sinner obtaining an 
 interest in Christ by believing ; the reverse is the case. If 
 he had not an interest in Christ before he believed, he would 
 never attain unto it. " Faith is the gift of God." By this 
 gift he attains to the knowledge of his interest in Christ. 
 Men are not made the Lord's chosen because they believe, 
 but because they are his chosen, therefore, it is given them 
 
 a Gospel Magazine tor 1817, page 409. 
 
REV. DR. HAWK BR. ]55 
 
 to believe. Salvation does not commence in man's be- 
 lieving ; but by the Holy Spirit's work on the heart, a man is 
 brought to believe in Jesus. That there is some other in- 
 ability than that of the will, which prevents men from being 
 saved, is very evident ; " For no man can come unto me," 
 saith Christ, "except the Father who sent me draw him." 
 " It is not of him that willeth," saith St. Paul, " nor of him 
 that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy," Rom. ix. J 6. 
 And again, "The election hath obtained it, and the rest were 
 blinded," Rom. xi. 7* Yet Verax is rash enough to state, 
 that * Jesus and his apostles knew of no other inability which 
 prevents a man from being saved but the will.' And what 
 greater obstacle to a man's salvation can there possibly be 
 than this ? Unless the Lord slay the enmity and controul 
 the will, man never can be saved. 
 
 After a lapse of several months, another pamphlet was 
 published, entitled, e Truth Vindicated, or a Series of Re- 
 marks on some of the leading Doctrines of the Gospel, occa- 
 sioned by Dr. Hawker's appendix to his True Gospel, by 
 James Bidlake, alias Verax.' This induced the Doctor to 
 send to the press his animadversions on this pamphlet, under 
 the title of the ' True Portrait of Antinomianism, being an 
 Admonitory Letter to the Rev. James Bidlake.' In vindica- 
 tion of what he had before stated, Mr. Bidlake quotes several 
 passages of scripture to prove, that our Lord and his disci- 
 ples made offers and invitations indiscriminately to all. The 
 Doctor in turn shews, that the several passages which Mr. B. 
 produces, either have not the character of invitations, or, if 
 invitations, were made to persons of a special description, 
 and not to all indiscriminately. In his zeal to run down his 
 adversary, Mr. B. had unwarrantably asserted, that the Doc- 
 tor not only forbade invitations to the unconverted, but 
 ' discouraged even the declaration to them of what Christ hath 
 done and suffered for sin.' ' This,' saith the Doctor, e is 
 contradictory to the whole tendency both of my preaching 
 and writing ; and you (addressing Mr. B.) knew the charge 
 
156 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 to be false in the moment you made it.' It was certainly a 
 gross perversion of the Doctor's words ; but it is lamentable 
 to witness how a prejudiced controversialist will sometimes 
 pervert the truth to throw an odium on his adversary. This 
 is not the only instance in this pamphlet of his, wherein Mr. 
 B. bears false witness against his neighbour. 
 
 It seems to have given umbrage to this gentleman, that the 
 worthy Vicar of Charles, spake so largely and so frequently 
 on the doctrine of election; to justify himself in this parti- 
 cular, he shews, that he has eminent ensamples in holy writ — 
 that the three Persons of the glorious Trinity not only attest, 
 but are themselves preachers of the doctrine — that the apos- 
 tles also were preachers of election. e And shall I,' saith he, 
 * be apprehensive of error in following such examples ? Shall 
 I on this account dread that great day of God, when Jesus 
 shall send his angels and gather his elect from the four 
 winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost 
 part of heaven?" Mark xiii. 2J. Let those tremble who 
 preach it not !'" 
 
 Although men cannot deny that the doctrines of election 
 and predestination are scriptural doctrines, yet too many not 
 only disrelish but absolutely hate them. But is it not an 
 awful consideration, that it is the truth of God they hate, 
 and the sovereignty of God they oppose? To discountenance 
 these doctrines, and to deter others, if possible, from main- 
 taining or professing them, it has been customary with men 
 of the free-will school, to traduce such ministers as preach 
 them, under the epithet of antinomians. ' This name,' saith 
 the Doctor to Mr. B. * hath been too frequently used by men 
 of your description, as a bugbear to frighten the Lord's little 
 ones. By confounding libertinism with antinomiauism, and 
 blending them together as one and the same, many godly 
 persons have been distressed, and shrunk from the imputa- 
 tion of it, as considering it the greatest obloquy. ' b 
 
 1 Vol. IX. page 528. b Vol. IX. page 536. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 15/ 
 
 Many are the definitions which have been given of this 
 dreaded reproach ; and as every one feels himself at liberty 
 to annex his own ideas to the term, Mr. B. has exhibited his 
 view of the subject, and the Doctor has subjoined his. An 
 antinomian has been considered variously, as for instance, 
 one who holds the truth in unrighteousness, one who sins 
 that grace may abound, one who denies the law to be a rule 
 of life, one who maintains justification without the deeds of 
 the law, a godly minister who preaches the sovereignty of 
 grace. That faithful servant of Christ, the Rev. Mr. Romaine, 
 and others of the same school, have oftentimes been branded 
 with this appellation. It is a term which has its dark shades 
 and fair colourings, according to the taste of the artist who 
 draws the portrait ; but it is most commonly applied as a 
 term of reproach to one, who like the apostle, declares, that 
 the elect of God are " saved and called with an holy calling, 
 not according to their works, but according to the purpose 
 and grace of God, which grace was given them in Christ 
 Jesus before the world began," 2 Tim. i. 9. And it has 
 been so commonly applied to such characters, that it begins 
 to lose its opprobrious stain. 
 
 Of its dark shades, Mr. Bidlake says, ' Were I required 
 to give a definition of ancient and modern antinomianism in 
 separate words, I should speak of it as an amalgama of irre- 
 ligion, ignorance, conceit, pride, obstinacy, selfishness, and 
 cowardice. It is moreover clamorous, morose, scornful, in- 
 solent, petulant, revengeful. It is the hot-bed of discoi'd, 
 and the most effectual promoter of religious feuds. It is a 
 Diotrephes in the house of God, and a tyrant in the domestic 
 circle. Where it attaches to dispositions naturally amiable, 
 it converts them into bad ones ; and it makes those who are 
 naturally bad, intolerable.' He enters still more largely into 
 the description, and gives a full length picture of the anti- 
 nomian ; but it is such a vile caricature, that no one could 
 possibly recognize it, unless Mr. B. had written the name 
 underneath. He represents him as exulting at infants being 
 
158 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 in hell, a span long; as destitute of all natural affection; the 
 most uncivilized, inhuman, cruel, unscriptural, and infernal 
 of all spirits — e a more hideous spirit/ saith he, ' never es- 
 caped from the bottomless pit.' 
 
 But what does all this imply ? or why was this black pic- 
 ture drawn and inserted in his ' Truth Vindicated,' unless 
 thereby Mr. B. intended to vilify, stigmatize, and defame 
 this good man's character ? But where in all this is there 
 a single feature that was prominent in the Vicar of Charles ? 
 I heard a respectable clergyman state, who knew nothing of 
 Dr. Hawker but through the vile pamphlets published 
 against him, that he had a perfect horror of his character 
 until a poor old woman in the village where he resided, lent 
 him a book, without a title-page, which proved to be Zion's 
 Pilgrim. He was quite delighted with the book ; but how 
 great was his surprize, when he found it was the production 
 of Dr. Hawker : and perhaps he would never have read it, 
 had not the title-page been accidentally or intentionally torn 
 off. Such slanderous pamphleteers as the Barrister, and 
 Bidlake, and others, have taken a tremendous responsibility 
 upon themselves, to be answerable at the bar of Christ, for 
 the mischief they have done in blasting, in some places, 
 where their foul mildews have fallen, this good man's use- 
 fulness. I wish not to give offence ; but beseech them, if 
 these Memoirs should come under their observation, to weigh 
 the consequences. 
 
 Let the reader contrast his character, with the picture 
 drawn by Mr. Bidlake of an antinomian. He is known to 
 have been a man who lived near to God, well versed in holy 
 scripture and in general literature, deeply acquainted with 
 his own heart, humble in his deportment, ready to acknow- 
 ledge his errors, liberal towards the poor, intrepid in his 
 Master's cause. Though set for the defence of the gospel, 
 he was neither obtrusive nor clamorous. In manners lively 
 yet not volatile, courteous yet not temporizing. With a mind 
 too enlarged to be petulant, and with feelings too softened to 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 159 
 
 be resentful j a lover of peace, and a promoter of christian 
 charity. In the church, faithful to his charge, and firm in 
 his purpose ; yet no Diotrephes, for he loved and patronized 
 the brethren, and they were willing of themselves to give him 
 the pre-eminence. In his domestic circle, kind, affectionate, 
 and indulgent. In his disposition, amiable, communicative, 
 and tolerant ; and if deemed intolerant, it was only by such 
 as conscious of their improprieties feared his faithful rebuke, 
 or bold in their opposition to the doctrines of grace knew 
 that they should meet with his salutary correction. What 
 he was, he was by the grace of God. Though I have lived 
 more than half a century in the world, and have known not 
 a few of the excellent of the earth, yet I have not met with 
 one in whom appeared more of the man of God than Dr. 
 Hawker. This is not written to eulogize the man, but " to 
 glorify God in him," Gal. i. 24. I do not wish to represent 
 him without faults, but who has not reason to lie low in the 
 dust from a sense of his own ? 
 
 Though in the many volumes of his works, we cannot but 
 admire the reflected lustre of that grace which was bestowed 
 upon him, yet it was not merely in his publications that his 
 pre-eminent virtues shone ; but he carried his religion into 
 all the transactions and minutias of life. If he wrote a note 
 on business, however brief that note, there was always some- 
 thing in it which evidenced the heavenly-mindedness of the 
 man, and gave a dignity to the transaction. His chief bu- 
 siness appeared to be, to exalt and glorify his Lord and 
 Master ; and nothing was more painful to him, than to be 
 kept from the Lord's house, and the usual engagements of 
 the Lord's day. Early in this year, 1818, he was confined 
 to his house, if not to his chamber, from long and severe 
 affliction. I have before me a brief note, which happens to 
 be preserved, to illustrate and confirm what is here said of 
 him through the affection which the gentleman felt towards 
 him to whom it was written. It is a fair specimen to shew, 
 how admirably and unostentatiously he blended the great 
 
160 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 things of salvation with the minutest concerns of life. This 
 gentleman was, I believe, at that time one of the church- 
 wardens of the parish of Charles ; and the mere purport of the 
 note was to request him to call before he attended the vestry ; 
 yet here we may see, how lovely religion appears when mixed 
 up with our common intercourse with men, and how feasible 
 this is, under the teaching of our heavenly Master. 
 
 'April 13, 1818. 
 * Dear Sir, 
 
 e Grace be with you. Probably you mean to attend 
 the vestry to-morrow ; if so, will you do me the favour to 
 call uj>on me before you go. I should save you the trouble 
 were 1 able, but I am still a prisoner, though the Lord's 
 prisoner. Well is it for me, that the chain is golden ; and 
 that He is graciously looking in upon me, to smile upon me 
 with his love ; or my heart would have broken. Thirteen 
 Lord's days kept from the Lord's house ! My love to your 
 dear wife, and the sweet prattling interesting little boy. 
 Jesus bless them and you. 
 
 c Your's, dear Sir, in the Lord, 
 
 1 Robert Hawker.' 
 
 To John Moor, Esq. Foxhall. 
 
 Seeing that his enemies, or rather the enemies of the truth 
 as it is in Jesus, notwithstanding his exemplary life, were 
 determined to designate him an antinomian preacher ; in the 
 ' Admonitory Letter' to Mr. Bidlake, he draws the portrait 
 of what he considered a true antinomian according to the 
 scriptures of God ; and then assures his adversary, that under 
 this description of character he was willing to bear his re- 
 proach. f The word antinomian,' saith he, l is well known 
 to be formed from a greek compound, anti-nomos; the 
 nearest literal translation of which is, against law. And the 
 meaning, when applied to any person in relation to religion 
 is, that he who is an antinomian is looking for justification 
 before God solely on the footing of Christ's person, blood, and 
 righteousness, without an eye to the deeds of the law, yea, 
 
HKV. DR. HAWKER. 161 
 
 even against them. This, in the scripture sense of the word, 
 is the definition of a real antinomian. ,a 
 
 6 A true antinomian,' he therefore argues, ' according to 
 the etymology of the word, is looking for justification before 
 God solely on the footing of Christ's righteousness. Unless, 
 therefore, the Holy Ghost hath quickened him from the death 
 of sin, and made him a new creature in Christ Jesus, brought 
 him into a feeling sense of the plague of his own heart, so 
 that he loathes himself in his own sight, and is led by sove- 
 reign grace to behold Christ in all the beauties, glories, and 
 infinite excellencies of his person, and the suitableness, ful- 
 ness, and all-sufficiency of his redemption-work, for the 
 accomplishment of salvation ; this man cannot be said, in 
 opposition to the law as a covenant of works, to be looking 
 to and living upon Christ, his blood and righteousness, as 
 Jehovah's covenant of grace. And if he doth not so live and 
 so act, he hath not " the faith of God's elect," neither can 
 be called with truth an antinomian. ' b 
 
 Having thus defined an antinomian, as one who seeks no 
 justification by the law, and whose life is not inconsistent 
 with a sound profession, he then asks, ' Who (in this view of 
 the picture) in the latter ages of the church, in the gospel 
 day, ever stood so high under the banner of antinomianism 
 as the apostle Paul ? The name given him, by way of 
 opprobrium, was that of " the ringleader of the sect of the 
 Nazarenes," Acts xxvi. 5. But had he lived in our day, 
 neither his apostleship, nor the inspiration with which the 
 Holy Ghost had endowed him, would have exempted him 
 from the more reproachful name, the ringleader of the 
 antinomians. , He, therefore, admonishes the real followers 
 of the Lord c no longer to shrink from the charge of anti- 
 nomianism, because men who know not the Lord use it as a 
 term of reproach to the Lord's people. While the Lord 
 keeps you, according to his promise, from falling, their 
 
 » Vol. IX. page 542. b Vol. IX. page 544. 
 
 Vol. I.] m 
 
162 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 attempting to blend libertinism with antinomianhm will be 
 to their own confusion. And to be an antinomian upon true 
 gospel principles is a badge of peculiar honour, in the present 
 awful day of rebuke and blasphemy.' 
 
 In the conclusion of his letter, he thus addresses Mr. B. 
 c And now, sir, for the present I take my leave of you ; our 
 cause will have a hearing in due season, and the Lord will 
 judge between me and you. In the meantime, you have my 
 full consent (as far as my power extends to grant it) to call 
 me antinomian, and to write it too on my forehead ; yea, if 
 your conscience will allow you, you may add to it all the 
 harsh epithets you have given of antinomianism, and add as 
 many more as your fancy can suggest. Blessed be God ! I 
 have more than consolation enough to bear me up under all. 
 In relation to God, I can truly say with Paul, " Therefore 
 being justified by faith, I have peace with God, through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also I have access by faith into 
 this grace wherein I stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory 
 of God," Rom. v. 1, 2. And in relation to man — the kind- 
 ness, favour, and affection of all with whom I am acquainted, 
 and especially in the town and parish where I have spent 
 more than half a century, are ample balance to all the abuse 
 thrown upon me by persons of your complexion. And while 
 the Lord speaks peace, it matters not who declares war; 
 while he is near who justifieth me, I care not who condemns 
 me.' 
 
 In 1818, was published another pamphlet, entitled, l More 
 Work for Dr. Hawker, or a Reply to his Misrepresentations 
 of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, contained in two Tracts, 
 entitled, The True Gospel, and Appendix to the True Gos- 
 pel, by the Rev. Thomas Smith, of St. John's College, 
 Cambridge, and Master of Gordon House Academy, Kentish 
 Town, Middlesex.' ' This religious squib,' says the reviewer 
 in the Gospel Magazine, ' is as complete a take-in upon the 
 credulity of the public, as we ever remember witnessing. 
 After placarding the walls of the metropolis with large 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 163 
 
 posting-bills, sending letters to private houses, with adver- 
 tisements in the public papers and magazines, announcing in 
 a plagiarism title, 'More Work for Dr. Hawker,' out issues 
 from the press a pamphlet of twenty -four pages for one 
 shilling ; four of which are devoted to the title, two in puffing 
 off his school, with about four in quotations.' Thus leaving 
 a residue not very voluminous to employ the attention or the 
 pen of the Vicar of Charles. 
 
 This pamphlet the Doctor acknowledges in a letter of 
 thanks to Mr. Smith ; but complains, ' that the contents did 
 not correspond with the title-page. For having in vain 
 looked over the pamphlet from beginning to end, to find 
 somewhat corresponding to the title-page which might open 
 to him employment, he tells us he was just on the point of 
 giving it up as a lost pursuit, not being able to find any 
 thing to do, till turning his eyes to the advertisement on 
 the last leaf, he amuses himself and the reader with some 
 animadversions on the prospectus of his plan of education.'" 
 
 It is to be feared, that mere adventurers, who wished from 
 some sinister motive to obtrude themselves to public notice, 
 have availed themselves of attacking the Doctor's character 
 or writings, from a persuasion that any book would sell 
 which bore his name on the title-page. And hence, climbing 
 the pedestal of his popularity, have made an exhibition of 
 their talents and of their follies too, aiming thereby to court 
 the world's applause, or to make a gain of godliness. It is 
 not my province to sit in judgment on Mr. Smith's motive ; 
 but he was certainly never intended for a polemical divine, 
 nor yet for a classical critic. He tells the Doctor, * that he 
 has endeavoured to prove from scripture, that the Doctor's 
 assertion, that the gospel is not to he preached to sinners, is 
 not true.' In all the Doctor's works there is no such an 
 assertion to be found. The thought never entered his mind. 
 The gospel not to be preached to sinners ! ! In what field 
 
 1 See Vol. IX. page 565. 
 
1G4 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 did he glean this idea ? What a folly is it for men, who 
 know not how to distinguish terms, to exhibit themselves as 
 combatants in controversial divinity ! 
 
 This blunder of his reminds me of another which he has 
 made in his edition of the Eton Latin Grammar, which, 
 though irrelevant to the subject, shews the man. Every 
 latin scholar knows, that the terminal letters of the several 
 declensions and conjugations in the grammar are set off 
 with an hyphen, to shew the learner what letters he must 
 alter in forming other words on the same construction ; as 
 for instance, regn-um, a kingdom ; regn-i, of a kingdom, &c. 
 But so ignorant is Mr. Smith of the purpose of this set off, 
 that he gravely tells the public, in his preface to a new 
 edition of his own correction, that ' the division of syllables 
 in the Eton Grammar, is on an average wrong in more 
 than nine instances in every ten.' But who, save himself, 
 ever conjectured that these set offs were intended as divi- 
 sions of syllables? Yet, as a critic on the Eton Grammar, 
 he has absolutely reduced them to syllables, to the no small 
 perplexity of the poor boy, who is thereby at a loss what 
 terminals to alter. May not this edition be well entitled, 
 ' More Work for Dr. Keate.' It is lamentable, that men of 
 so little discernment should presume to write critiques on 
 the Eton Grammar, or to enter the list of theological con- 
 troversy with such men as Dr. Hawker. 
 
 In his appendix to his little tract, entitled, ' The True 
 Gospel no Yea Nay Gospel,' the Doctor maintains, ' that in 
 the example of our Lord and his apostles, the preachers of 
 the gospel find no authority whatever to make offers or 
 invitations, in an indiscriminate manner, to sinners in 
 general ; neither do the scriptures furnish a single instance, 
 where Christ and his apostles have ever made offers but to 
 the people of God.' a This, Mr. Smith, as well as Mr. Bid- 
 lake, endeavours to disprove. But it is evident, that neither of 
 
 » Vol. IX. page 487. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 165 
 
 them fully understood his terms; for they both drew the 
 conclusion, that he maintained that the gospel was not to be 
 preached to sinners in general. This is a most unwarrantable 
 gloss on his words. The Doctor's objection against making 
 tenders of grace., and offers of salvation, and indiscriminate 
 invitations to all, is not levelled so much against the mere 
 act itself, although of this he disapproves, because there is 
 no commission or warrant so to do; as against the heterodoxy 
 which lies concealed under this practice. For it presupposes, 
 that man, in his natural state, is not so far dead in trespasses 
 and .sins, as to be unable to fall in with these tenders, invi- 
 tations, and offers : but, that he is able to do this, which is 
 both pleasing and acceptable to God. Mr. Smith must pre- 
 suppose this, or his offers are inefficient, futile, and vain. If 
 he presuppose this, he holds a doctrine which the tenth 
 article of the church denies ! 
 
 If every man in his natural state is able to fall in with these 
 tenders, invitations, and offers of grace, then every man in 
 his natural state must have grace enough to do this, or can 
 do it without grace. If he have grace enough to do this, 
 then every natural man has grace. But who does not see 
 the fallacy of this conclusion ? If Mr. Smith will not submit 
 to the absurdity of this conclusion, that every natural man 
 has grace, he must fall on the other horn of the dilemma, 
 and acknowledge that every natural man can do this without 
 grace. If he have grace, why make him an offer of grace, 
 as if he had it not ? If he have no grace, and can fall in 
 with the offers of grace, he is not wholly dead in trespasses 
 and sins ; and moreover, he can act faith before he receive 
 the grace of Christ. Wretched divinity ! Although 1 have 
 taken the liberty in this argument to use Mr. Smith's name, 
 it is not intended to apply only to him, but to all who main- 
 tain that offers and invitations are to be made in an indis- 
 criminate manner to sinners in general. This doctrine of 
 theirs sets aside the need of regeneration, and makes God's 
 purpose depend on man's will. 
 
J66 MEMOIRS OK THE 
 
 I cannot dismiss this article without observing, that some 
 respect was certainly due from Mr. Smith to a minister of 
 Christ, venerable for his age, walking in all the oi'dinances of 
 the Lord blameless, and greatly honoured of God in the 
 ministry of his word ; but he by no means intreats him as an 
 elder, but adds insults to his ungenerous, uncandid, and 
 unjust rebukes. In the 7th page, he saith, i I should not 
 ' despair of convincing you of the falsity of your assertion, 
 ( had you not unhappily learned the art of equivocating and 
 ' shuffling when a direct answer is required, and also that of 
 ' wresting the scriptures, and causing them to speak what- 
 ' ever your fanciful mind dictates.' Also, in page 16 : ' You 
 4 have confessed that your judgment is imperfect, for you 
 1 see, even in your latest publications, enough to lament over, 
 ' and pray the Lord to pardon. Certainly you do not ima- 
 1 gine that your confession will obtain credit. Indeed, it is a 
 ' feigned humility mixed with pride.' I might produce more 
 equally insulting ; but let these two quotations suffice. And 
 may grace be given to the writer of the above uncharitable 
 remarks to see, even in his own publication, enough to 
 lament over, and pray the Lord to pardon! 
 
 Under the grace of that Spirit, whose anointing teacheth 
 of all things, he acquired, from the constant perusal of the 
 word of God, clearer views of the doctrines of truth, and saw 
 and sometimes regretted, that his former publications did not 
 contain so full a testimony as could be given to the doctrines 
 he espoused. This no doubt induced him to send to the press 
 his - Lectures on the Person, Godhead, and Ministry of the 
 Holy Ghost/ some years after he had published his ' Sermons 
 on His Divinity and Operations.' Though blended with a 
 benevolent motive, he published the Lectures on a more 
 limited plan, to render the book sufficiently cheap for the 
 poor man to purchase. From the same motive, he published 
 in the year 1819, ' The Personal Testimony of God the 
 Father to the Person, Godhead, and Sonship of God the 
 Son, as set forth in the scriptures of God the Holy Ghost 
 
RJOV. DR. I1.VWKEK. 16/ 
 
 — an everlasting truth of unspeakable blessedness to the 
 church of God in all ages ; but of peculiar sweetness in the 
 present awful day of a Christ-despising generation.' Although 
 he had many years previously published his ' Sermons on the 
 Divinity of Christ,' yet his i Personal Testimony' is sent forth 
 1 compressed,' he tells us, ' into as small a compass as pos- 
 sible for humble pockets.' The preface bears the date of 
 April the 13th, his birth-day, which he has ofttimes made 
 memorable in his various publications. 
 
 After having shewn from the holy scriptures, the great- 
 ness and the glory of this ' Personal Testimony,' he speaks of 
 the immense blessings included in the souship of the children 
 of God, from their adoption- character in God's dear Son. 
 As if, in writing the conclusion of this work on his birth- 
 day, he had been reminded of his earthly alliance,- he pro- 
 ceeds to speak most sweetly of the glorious results of his 
 heavenly alliance. ' And as the men of the world,' saith he, 
 ( carry themselves proudly from their carnal alliances, and 
 are very fond of letting every one know if they have con- 
 nexions with the great ones of the earth ; so would 1 desire, 
 that all men should discover by my life and conversation, 
 that my alliance is heavenly ; being, by regeneration, brought 
 into the high privilege of my adoption-character in Christ 
 Jesus, and rank among " the sons and daughters of the Lord 
 God Almighty !" 2 Cor. vi. 18.' ' This indeed,' continues he, 
 is a relationship which beggars every other. This is an 
 affinity which all the proud annals of the world cannot boast; 
 yea, compared to which time itself is nothing, and will sink 
 into everlasting forgetfulness before it. For when we shall 
 have done with this dying, sinful, sorrowful world ; yea, 
 when we shall not only have entered heaven, and lived ages 
 beyond the remembrance of all things here below, our son- 
 ship will be the same, from our union with God's dear Son ; 
 and he that is our God and Father now, will be our God and 
 Father then, and our portion for ever.' a 
 
 * Voi. III. pauc 610. 
 
168 MEMOIRS OK THE 
 
 In the year J 818, a pamphlet was published, entitled, 
 ' The Antiquity of Jesus, or his Pre-existence defended, in 
 a Letter to the Rev. R. Hawker, D.D. &e. by John Stevens, 
 Minister of York Street Chapel, St. James', London.' This 
 was occasioned by some remarks made by him in his ' Second 
 Lecture on the Holy Ghost,' respecting the human soul of 
 Christ. It appears, from the Doctor's Letter to Mr. Stevens, 
 published soon after, that at the time when he published this 
 Lecture, he had never heard of any one who espoused the 
 doctrine of Christ's pre-existence in an human soul, but the 
 followers of Sabellius, the Libyan. He, therefore, had thus 
 expressed himself: — that e some men untaught of God the 
 Holy Ghost, have fallen into dreams of their own imagina- 
 tion, and ventured to propose I know not what sort of 
 phantasy, of the pre-existence of the human soul of Christ, 
 prior to his incarnation.' At which language, Mr. Stevens had 
 taken some umbrage. By way of explanation, the Doctor 
 therefore gives this information, and observes : — ' In my view 
 of one tenet of the sect I included the whole, and deemed it 
 what I still consider it to be, an awful heresy.' 
 
 Mr. Stevens appears, in all the leading doctrines of the 
 gospel, sound in the faith ; and therefore, the worthy Vicar 
 of Charles meets him on friendly terms. ' I am sorry,' says 
 the Doctor, ' to note an error in your title-page. I have 
 before observed, that the single point of contention (and that 
 I hope a friendly one) between you and me, is whether Christ 
 had or had not a pre- existent human soul. But whoever 
 reads the title-page of your Letter would at once conclude, 
 that Dr. Hawker denies the pre-existence of Christ, than 
 which nothing can be more foreign to the truth." 
 
 The most prominent arguments which the Doctor ad- 
 vances against this system (for I need not produce the whole 
 of them) are : — that the Holy Ghost is silent on the subject 
 throughout all the scriptures of truth — " that Christ took not 
 
 Vol. IX. pa«e44(i. 
 
RKV. DR. HAWKER. 169 
 
 on him the nature of angels ; but he took on him the seed of 
 Abraham," meaning thereby the whole of human nature. But 
 if the human soul of Christ was united to the Godhead of 
 Christ four thousand years before his incarnation, he did not 
 in the fulness of time take on him our nature, but only half 
 of our nature, the mere body. " It behoved Christ to be 
 made like unto his brethren in all things ;" which could not 
 be the case, if, according to Mr. Stevens' system, the nature 
 of Christ is made up of an human soul, begotten before the 
 world, and an human body born in time. 
 
 ' I know not how it strikes you,' saith he, ' but with me, 1 
 confess, that instead of those sweet constraining affections to 
 draw to Christ, which the precious doctrine of God incarnate, 
 taking into union my whole nature, awakens through grace 
 in my soul ; I should feel a distance and shyness in the con- 
 templation of the human soul of Christ, without a body, as 
 existing before all worlds. Neither can I make out any 
 relationship between this part of Christ's human nature and 
 ours, to give the confidence of drawing nigh to him. Indeed, 
 as the scripture informs me, that he was to be " made in all 
 things like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful 
 and faithful High Priest, in things pertaining to God," Heb. 
 ii. 17. — as long as I considered his human soul not so made, 
 I could not reconcile it to myself, that, under my soul-travail 
 and soul-exercises, he could enter into my feelings by his 
 own ! But, as long as I look to Jesus as God the Holy 
 Ghost instructs me to look to him, as taking into union with 
 his Godhead a nature both of soul and body, made of the 
 same materials as my own, yet without sin ; I feel a boldness 
 to go to him at all times, and upon all occasions, as one that 
 not only knows as God, but feels as man ; and can and will 
 grant the suited " grace to help in all time of need." " 
 
 A second Letter was soon after published by Mr. Stevens, 
 in which he animadverts on the contents of the Doctor's 
 
 » Vol. IX. page 460. 
 
170 MEMOIRS OK THK 
 
 first Letter. Some of the remarks are on subjects extraneous 
 to the point in debate. In defence of his system, Mr. Stevens 
 often quotes an appellation given to the Lord Jesus, Rev. 
 iii. 14, " The beginning of the creation of God;" as if the 
 word, apxi7, which is translated beginning, was to be inter- 
 preted, the first production of the creation of God., or the 
 first thing created ; whereas it expresses the divinity of Christ 
 as the cause, origin, or author of the creation of God. And it 
 has this interpretation also in the Greek classics ; as in 
 Homer, where Paris is said to be the cause, origin, or author 
 of the Trojan war : — 
 
 'Ewe} KfAnw. 7roAA« 7!eTroade 
 E/i/£k' i/uLiis ipuioq, x«< 'AAe^uvdpov svek dp^ijq. 
 
 " Since for my quarrel all these ills ye bear, 
 And for King Priam's Son, the author of the war." — Iliad iii. 100. 
 
 As Paris was the arche or origin of the Trojan war, so 
 Christ was the arche or origin of the creation of God. This 
 text by no means favours the hypothesis, that the human 
 soul of Christ was the first production of the creation of God. 
 
 In reply to Mr. Stevens' second Letter, the Doctor still 
 demands proofs from holy scripture, which he maintains Mr. 
 S. has not given. ' Besides, by this faith,' a saith he, ( I am 
 taught to believe, that the Son of God took into union with 
 himself, in his divine nature, an human soul without a body 
 before the Avorld; and an human body without a soul in time; 
 many ages and generations passing in the interval of these 
 distinct acts : holy scripture all the while neither relating 
 such things, or explaining the causes of them. Moreover, 
 by this assumption of an human soul without a body before 
 the world, for the purpose of the office of mediator ; such a 
 mediator is not the mediator which the word of God reveals; 
 for there we are told, that "there is one mediator between God 
 and men, the man Christ Jesus," 1 Tim. ii. 15. But this 
 
 ■ Vol, IX. page 467. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. IJl 
 
 mediator is not God and man ; for a soul without a body 
 doth not constitute manhood.' The Doctor, after explaining 
 a passage in his ' Poor Man's Commentary,' on the book of 
 Judges, as not applying to this point of debate, takes of him 
 a friendly farewell. 
 
 Mr. Stevens, in this controversy, which was carried on 
 with much firmness and much temper on both sides, shews 
 himself to be a man of considerable talent, much learning, 
 and real piety ; but he evidently has not a right apprehen- 
 sion of the formularies of our church ; and although he dis- 
 approves of the baptism of infants, I beg leave to state, that 
 he has no better scriptural authority for admitting females to 
 the Lord's Supper than we have for admitting infants to the 
 rite of baptism ! Many of his views of biblical truth, I prize, 
 admire, and cherish, and bless the Lord for the comfort and 
 support which under the divine favour, they administer ; but in 
 other minor things, we must agree to differ. May the uniting, 
 enriching, and harmonizing grace of the Spirit be with all 
 them who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity and truth ! 
 
 In the year 1820, another of his publications was presented 
 to the church of Christ, bearing for its date the memorable 
 13th of April. It has the title of ' The Poor Man's Prayer- 
 Book, formed from God's Scripture-Book ; in which is proved, 
 that all true spiritual and personal communion with God is 
 the sole result of the gift of God, and not in the words which 
 man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, 
 (2 Cor. ii. 13.) affectionately recommended to the church of 
 God, and intended as a Supplement to a little work, some 
 time since sent forth among the Lord's people, entitled, The 
 Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions, for the use of 
 the poor of this world, who are rich in faith, and heirs of the 
 kingdom.' His chief design seems to be to remind the re- 
 generated child of God (for of such only he repeatedly tells 
 us he speaks) of his high privilege, to take with him words 
 from God's own records ; and to draw near in faith, nothing 
 doubting. ' Let his present circumstances,' saith he, * be 
 
IJ'2 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 what they may, either under depression or the reverse, in 
 this precious book of God he will discover expressions so 
 exactly suited to his own personal situation, as are the most 
 calculated of all others wherewith he may come and present 
 himself and his concerns before the Lord. As if a gracious 
 God designed (and which is indeed the case) that the Lord's 
 people should speak to the Lord in the Lord's own words. 
 For in truth, (and it is a truth which can never be too often 
 nor too strongly impressed upon the mind), we can say no- 
 thing to God, that is profitable to us in a way of prayer or 
 praise ; but what God hath first said to us, in a way of grace 
 and love.' a 
 
 His volumes are in general much enriched from the can- 
 dour and freedom with which he speaks his own experience 
 in spiritual things. In speaking of those ' shuttings-up of 
 the soul in seasons of prayer at one time, and enlargement 
 at another,' which he has felt, he reminds us of our own ; 
 and though we feel humbled for our deadness, and coldness, 
 and barrenness, yet there is something reviving in the thought, 
 that our experience is not solitary. ' For my own part,' saith 
 he, ' I find cause to bless God for those occasional heart - 
 straitenings and self-emptiness which I feel. And very sure 
 I am, that by such spiritual exercises God the Holy Ghost 
 is teaching me to profit. I feel the better, and know the 
 better, the blessedness of the Lord's strength, being made 
 perfect in creature weakness. It is the sun's absence or 
 presence which produceth the different effects of darkness or 
 light in the earth. And all the day-light in the soul is solely 
 induced by the Lord the Sun of righteousness. Oh ! then it 
 is blessed to call to mind the unchangeable love of the eternal 
 Three in One, when, in our approaches to the mercy-seat, we 
 can only lay low in the dust before God, and utter a few broken 
 sighs and self-reproaches of un\vorthiness.' b It is well also to 
 remember, what he very sweetly observes on this subject : 
 
 » Vol. VII. page 321. k Vol. VII. page 350. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 173 
 
 c It is not our preparedness or our enlargements of spirit, 
 which become the cause of our acceptance before God ; 
 neither our heart-straitenings or being shut up, preventions 
 to acceptance. It is indeed good to feel and to enjoy at times 
 the goings forth of the soul in the actual exercises of grace ; 
 but then these are but the effects and not the cause of divine 
 favour.' 
 
 in 1821, appeared his 'Letter to an Undergraduate, on the 
 subject of the Bishop of Peterborough's Questions to the 
 Candidates of his Diocese for admission into Holy Orders.' 
 ' Although,' says the Doctor, l it be not my province to say, 
 how far another man may or may not be warranted by law 
 to frame questions on the articles, and to make the result of 
 those questions in the answers given, according to his judg- 
 ment, the basis of admission to or rejection from the mi- 
 nistry of the church of England, yet is it my province as much 
 as his, to use an equal freedom in relation to the articles, 
 which I have signed ; and to shew that in themselves when 
 accepted in their own pure, genuine, and artless language, 
 undisguised and unvarnished by any commentators ; they are 
 too plain and too palpable to admit of a different construction 
 from their first and most obvious meaning. That beautiful 
 style of simplicity which distinguishes the writings in the 
 era of our good old Reformers of blessed memory, and which, 
 more or less runs through the whole of the articles, manifest 
 that they were then as they are now, calculated and as they 
 were designed, for popular apprehension. They are like the 
 prophet's vision, and as if the Lord who watched over him 
 guided them, and as they wrote held their pens and said, as 
 to him, " Write the vision and make it plain upon tables, 
 that he may run that readeth it," Hab. ii. 3. 
 
 ' Indeed it would raise a blush,' continues he, ' in my 
 wrinkled face, old and nearly worn out as it is, were it 
 otherwise. I should shrink from the attack, with more 
 alarm than the sensitive plant from the touch, were it pos- 
 sible for any man, and especially among the writers of mo- 
 dern divinity, to produce the shadow of a proof against the 
 
1J4 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 articles taken from the scriptures of God. I should tremble 
 more than the Roman governor did under Paul's preaching-, 
 could it be now shown at my going out of life, that those 
 doctrines were false, which in acknowledging the articles 
 I subscribed to at my entrance in. And what an accumula- 
 tion of foreboding would the very idea, like a spectre haunt- 
 ing the conscience, raise to my mind, which no exorcisms of 
 preferment could quiet, had my subscription to the articles 
 been then pro forma, to obtain the favour of men ; uncon- 
 scious and unconcerned at such awful duplicity in the sight 
 of God ! 
 
 ' But T bless God, charges of this nature are not with me. 
 I have lived too long, and laboured too hard in the word and 
 doctrine of sound truth, within the walls of the establish- 
 ment ; yea, and both felt and enjoyed in my own soul, and 
 beheld in the blessed effects on others, those great things 
 accompanying salvation, too strongly witnessed by the teach- 
 ing and sealing of the Lord the Spirit, to need any other 
 conviction. True indeed the articles of our establishment, 
 derive their legitimate sanction from the law of the land : 
 and while that law continueth what it is, and unrepealed, 
 its enactments are as binding and obligatory, or ought to 
 be, as in the days of the Reformers. But I hail those ancient 
 records of our church, and venerate them much more in that 
 they have for the soundness of their doctrine yet an infinitely 
 higher authority in the word of God ; and bring with them 
 their full credentials from being in perfect harmony with the 
 faith once delivered unto the saints. ' a 
 
 He proceeds to animadvert on a few of the more obnoxious 
 questions which are found among the eighty- nine. His plan 
 is, first, to bring forward for inspection the article ; secondly, 
 the scripture proofs of its soundness; and thirdly, to shew 
 how far the questions proposed thereon are or are not framed 
 on scriptural ground. On the doctrine of the Trinity, it is 
 asked, c what is the office of God the Father — what is the office 
 
 ■ Vol. IX. page 279. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 1 J& 
 
 of God the Son — and what is the office of God the Holy 
 Ghost ?' On these questions, the Doctor observes, e is there 
 not somewhat very degrading in the term office when spoken 
 in reference to either of the persons in Jehovah ?' He was 
 always jealous lest any man should be unsound in this article 
 of faith, and had a quickness of perception to discover it. On 
 the 17th, it is asked by the Bishop, inter alia, ' If it be not 
 a contradiction both to scripture and to this article, to assert 
 that the decrees of God are absolute, or that the election on 
 the part of God has no reference to foreseen good conduct 
 on the part of man ?' But what saith the scripture ? " He is 
 of one mind, and who can turn him !" Job xxiii. 13. Hence 
 God's unchangeableness renders nothing which he hath pre- 
 destinated liable to any peradventures from the mutability 
 of man. If a man be elected of God unto salvation for good 
 works foreseen, he is as much chosen of God and saved for 
 good works as if the election were deferred till the works 
 were done ; but the apostle tells us, " it is not of works, lest 
 any man should boast," £ph. ii. 9. There is no uncertainty 
 as to the number of the elect. On the doctrine of original, 
 or birth sin, it is asked, ' whether the frequent repetition of 
 the doctrine, that we are not only far gone from righteous- 
 ness, but are nothing better than a mass of mere corruption 
 and depravity, have not a tendency to destroy all sense of 
 virtue and moral goodness ?' 'If so,' saith the Doctor, f God 
 himself must answer it ; for he commands his faithful ser- 
 vants " to cry aloud and spare not, to lift up their voice like 
 a trumpet, and shew his people their transgressions, and the 
 house of Jacob their sins," Isa. Iviii. t. Until grace be given, 
 there is no disposition to virtue or moral goodness ; for the 
 Holy Ghost testifieth, that " there is none that seeketh after 
 God;" but when a change is wrought by grace, it is said, 
 that i( according to the divine power, there is given to us all 
 things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the know- 
 ledge of him that hath called us unto glory and virtue," 
 2 Pet. i. 3. 
 
\J6 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 There is, in the close of this c Letter to the Undergraduate,' 
 a suitable admonition to all candidates for admission into 
 ecclesiastical orders, not to make any undue concessions, nor 
 to adopt any improper measures ; but to commit all in prayer 
 to the wisdom and sovereignty of God. In reference to these 
 questions which he had discussed, he thus writes to his 
 young friend : — ' The views which the Lord hath given you 
 in divine things, will not suffer you to pay the toll demanded 
 at this newly erected gate. But you have a never-failing 
 resource in the sovereignty of God. If the Lord hath de- 
 signed you and ordained you, as he did Jeremiah from the 
 womb for this service, in due time the Lord will appear for 
 his own glory. There is " a set time to favour Zion." " He 
 that hath the key of David will set before you an open door, 
 and no man can shut it." And until this is done, it were to 
 run unsent, which is among the most awful and portentous 
 signs of the present day. In the meanwhile, to call to mind 
 those blessed words of the Lord Jesus, when he said, " In 
 your patience possess ye your souls !" The very dispensa- 
 tion will be sanctified, if it leads you to rest more on the di- 
 vine faithfulness, and to study more the divine sovereignty. 
 " Be still, and know that I am God." And never for a mo- 
 ment lose sight of this unquestionable truth, namely, that 
 the Lord's hand is in every appointment of the Lord's pro- 
 vidences. Men are but instruments for bringing about the 
 sacred purposes of his will; yea, and sometimes they are 
 made the unconscious instruments of accomplishing the very 
 reverse of what they themselves intend. It will be your 
 mercy upon this and every other occasion, if you can look 
 off from man and repose yourself in God. That is a pre- 
 cious scripture, and was not recorded for nothing, when one 
 under peculiar straitenings could and did say, " I will cry 
 unto God Most High, unto God that performeth all things for 
 me," Ps. lvii. 2.' a 
 
 » Vol. IX. page3f.2. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 177 
 
 Iii 1822 was published his i Scripture Extracts, accompa- 
 nied with notes and observations, from some of the most 
 striking historical parts of Holy Scripture.' In these Extracts, 
 we have some interesting sketches of some particular inci- 
 dents in the annals of scripture worthies, which are drawn 
 with much vigour and animation. One of his reviewers re- 
 marks of them, that they might with propriety be called, 
 ' Scripture Portraits.' Among these Scripture Portraits, there 
 are some beautiful sketches of the Lord Jesus himself, to- 
 gether with some prominent object of his benevolence, as 
 originally set forth by the unerring pencil of divine truth. 
 In all these portraits the outlines are admirably depicted, in 
 which there is strength without harshness, and boldness 
 blended with the finest touches of his masterly skill. The 
 colouring has less of earthly taint than the productions of 
 most who are considered proficients in theological limnings. 
 The prominency of the features therein given to each, leaves 
 no room for mistake for whom the portraits are intended. 
 The embellishments are in strict accordance with the whole 
 design, in which there is nothing foreign, nothing fantastic, 
 nothing frivolous ; if there be superfluity, it enriches rather 
 than encumbers ; if the same embellishments occur again and 
 again in the several pictures, they are too well adjusted to 
 offend. We may learn from the best authority, that the 
 models of all these characters, before the Almighty Power of 
 God had formed the realities, were exhibited and arranged 
 under the direction of infinite wisdom, in the council-cham- 
 bers of eternity before the earth was. And well may we fall 
 low in the dust before him, who ordereth all things after the 
 counsel of his own will, overwhelmed with the review of his 
 knowledge and goodness, if in the development of his mercy 
 and grace ic be demonstrated, that ourselves were grouped 
 among the number, and our names written in the Lamb's book 
 of life. 
 
 With a view to draw attention to subjects of the deepest 
 interest, our worthy friend composed these Extracts, in the 
 
 Vol. I.] n 
 
178 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 hope, that this little volume, (for at first it was but one) 
 might be permitted to find a place on the table or in the 
 window, where larger publications might be inadmissible. 
 c The friend while waiting for his friend in the parlour, the 
 man of business, or the traveller stopping at an inn, the youth 
 from school, or the servants in the kitchen, with a great va- 
 riety of other characters which constitute the different depart- 
 ments in life, might by such means meet with this publication, 
 and derive pleasure and profit from the perusal.' ' And as it 
 hath been known, that sometimes and not unfrequently a word 
 or portion from holy scripture, when unexpectedly brought to 
 the view, hath been made particularly useful ; the present se- 
 lection is done with the hope, that similar events may be found 
 now to follow, and from the Lord's blessing on the Lord's 
 word, his gracious promise may be fulfilled in many an in- 
 stance, when he saith, " I am sought of them that asked not 
 for me, I am found of them who sought me not," Isa. lxv. l.' a 
 
 We may learn from this preface to the first volume, how 
 widely his views were extended to benefit every class of 
 society, and how large his efforts were to do good, if so be 
 that the Lord would be pleased to favour his designs. When 
 these Extracts were sent first to the press, no more, in point 
 of bulk, than a small volume was intended ; and they were 
 sold in numbers, that they might come within the reach of 
 the labouring classes. ' That a second volume hath followed, 
 is to be ascribed,' saith he, ' to the partiality with which the 
 Jirst hath been received ; a lax-ge impression of which having 
 been disposed of, and a new edition called for, before the 
 second volume went to press.' ' And if the work be found 
 to minister in the Lord's hand to the Lord's glory, in the 
 spiritual benefit of the Lord's people, a renewed testimony 
 will be thereby given, that the Lord's strength is made per- 
 fect in human weakness.' b 
 
 At the opening of the year 1823, his first production, as 
 
 » Vol. V. page 2. b Vol. V. page 356. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. J 79 
 
 usual, was a ' Token of Remembrance to the Church of Christ.' 
 After having enlarged on his subject, which was founded on 
 Ps. xvi. 5. " The death of the Lord's saints precious in the 
 Lord's sight" — with an elegant simplicity he observes, * For 
 myself at my advanced years, I can only say, that walking, 
 as I now am daily, on the confines of time, and on the look 
 out for the eternal world, I am in expectation of soon rea- 
 lizing in open vision what I now live upon by faith. And 
 in thus greeting the church of our most glorious Christ on 
 the entrance of another year with this subject, I would, with 
 all thankfulness to God and unfeigned humility of soul, de- 
 sire grace to make use of the beloved apostle's words, and 
 say, " That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto 
 you." The bread which I eat, and find good for food, may 
 safely be recommended to others. The stream from which 
 I have slaked my thirst, when blessed by the same Almighty 
 Giver, cannot but be found salutary to all who drink of it. The 
 Lord of all spiritual life and health open the new year to his 
 whole spiritual church, and prepare every individual of his 
 mystical body for what he is preparing for them ; " that 
 whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, 
 we die unto the Lord ; whether we live therefore or die, we 
 are the Lord's," Rom. xiv. 8.'" 
 
 In describing the life of so laborious a writer, we meet 
 with less of incident than in the life of others whose avoca- 
 tions are less confined to the arm-chair in the study ; but; 
 advanced as he now was to his seventieth year, his mind 
 was as vigorous and his pen as active as ever. Eight Ser- 
 mons were published by him this year, under the title of ' Sa- 
 cramental Meditations,'' being the substance of a course of 
 sermons, occasionally delivered in the church of Charles, be- 
 fore the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. On the Saturday 
 evening preceding the administration of this holy ordinance, 
 he usually preached a sermon on the occasion, and it was 
 
 * Vol. VII. pag;e 550. 
 
180 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 found to be to many a profitable opportunity. Many of other 
 communions not unfrequently attended. In the preface, he 
 speaks as one mindful of his change, and ready to depart at 
 his Master's call. ' The lease of my life,' saith he, ' accord- 
 ing to scripture tenure, (Ps. xc. 10.) being nearly run out, 
 and unable, from increasing years and increasing infirmities, 
 to hope much longer the going in and out, as I have done for 
 nearly half a century, with the Lord's people, in the ordi- 
 nance of the Holy Supper, I have thought, to gather up the 
 fragments which have been used on those occasions, might 
 not be unacceptable neither unprofitable under the Lord's 
 blessing. I dare not regret that my life is nearly over, and 
 that my labours are nearly finished. Indeed, indeed I rejoice 
 in the prospect. Through the tender mercy of my God, I 
 have had my day, and a long day of mercies from the Lord 
 it has been. And as one well fed and nourished at the Lord's 
 table, whenever the bountiful Lord of the feast shall com- 
 mand the cloth to be removed, sure I am, through his grace 
 enabling me, I shall arise, return thanks, and depart.'** 
 
 Many a year had elapsed since our Zion's Pilgrim had 
 closed his narrative, the last sheet of which was given to the 
 public, in ' Zion's Trumpet,' for October, 1800. During 
 fourteen of these years which had intervened, he was much 
 occupied in writing his ' Commentary on the Bible;' in which 
 it may be seen, that he was no alien to Zion's common- 
 wealth, and no stranger to Zion's honoured King. Other 
 productions numerous and various, the chief of which have 
 been already noticed, remain the monuments of his unwearied 
 industry, fertile mind, ardent zeal, and spiritual affluence. He 
 was rich towards God ; for the Lord had made him a steward 
 of many things, which he dispensed to others. His seventieth 
 birth-day, which occurred this year, was a day that under the 
 Lord's blessing had awakened in his soul many pleasing and 
 profitable reflections ; which induced him to reassume after a 
 
 » Vol. II. page 402. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKKR. 181 
 
 long pause his instructive narrative, and to add a few more chap- 
 ters to that truly interesting work. ' Zions Pilgrim from the 
 age of Seventy ,' fast appeared in theGospel Magazine, for No- 
 vember, 1823; the editors of which have held up his hands 
 amidst all the calumnies and falsehoods with which he has 
 been unjustly assailed and basely traduced. The Lord re- 
 ward them for this labour of love, and make the last days of 
 their pilgrimage like his, holy, honourable, and happy. He 
 spent them in the suburbs of heaven. 
 
 The religious world hailed the continuation of Zion's Pil- 
 grim's narrative with much pleasure. As I wish to make 
 our venerable friend as much as possible his own historian 
 in this work, especially where he enters more fully into the 
 history of his mind, I again assume a liberty which I have 
 often indulged, to subjoin a few quotations. 11 ' The day in 
 which I finished my seventieth year, was rendered,' saith he, 
 * doubly memorable to call forth praise, in that it was also the 
 Lord's day. And in the first moment of recollection, after a 
 night of sweet sleep given me by the Lord, when I had blessed 
 him for the same and all his mercies, the thought crossed my 
 mind, that the Lord having added another year to my event- 
 ful life, had now, according to his own measurement by his 
 standard of scripture, completed in me the age of man ap- 
 pointed upon earth, and numbered my days of threescore 
 years and ten. And the idea involuntarily rose therefrom, 
 that if the same gracious God which had borne me, as on 
 eagles' wings thus far, were now to close my pilgrimage, the 
 inscription on the stone which marked the spot of my burial 
 ground, (if peradventure any tablet were given me) would 
 have engraven on it seventy years! To what a length of 
 time hath my life been extended ! The very consideration 
 called up a train of thoughts, which, in quick succession, 
 like the coming tide, wave after wave, rushed in upon my 
 mind with overwhelming power. My heart melted within 
 
 * Vol. III. page 133. 
 
182 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 me, as the several images passed and re-passed before my 
 imagination. The grave-stone which covers my dust may 
 indeed tell the number of my days, but who can count the 
 number of the Lord's mercies towards me? What arith- 
 metic can be found competent to enumerate and sum up' in 
 all the multiplied instances the aggregate of the Lord's good- 
 ness and my undeservings ? How incalculable the one ! How 
 immeasurable the other ! 
 
 ( I now stand as upon an isthmus. I am arrived to the 
 stated boundary of time marked in scripture, and the eternal 
 world is opening before me. I feel, I know, the seeds of 
 death are ripening within me. The pins of my earthly 
 tabernacle are daily loosening ; and the whole fabric, if the 
 Lord appoint it not to fall in at once, is gradually taking 
 down from continual dilapidations. Is it not high time for 
 me to be on the look out for my Lord's coming ? and while 
 the Lord is thus undressing me for the grave, I may behold 
 him no less dressing my spirit " with his garments of salva- 
 tion, and his robe of righteousness." Isa. lxi. 10. It is true 
 indeed, that during the long lease I have already had by the 
 divine grant, I have held it solely on the pleasure of him, 
 '-' in whose hand my breath is, and whose are all my ways." 
 And had the bountiful Lord, at any one period of the term, 
 withdrawn the principle of life he first in his free grace gave, 
 and from the same cause hath ever since continued ; and had 
 the Lord issued an ejectment, and without a moment's warn- 
 ing, 1 could not justly have complained of wrong ; neither 
 would the Lord's goodness have been thereby rendered, in 
 the smallest degree, impeachable. Nevertheless, from in- 
 dwelling corruption, nature is too apt to murmur at divine 
 dispensations, when at any time the Lord's appointments 
 run counter to flesh and blood. It is very blessed, therefore, 
 when the redeemed and regenerated people of God are brought 
 not only into a full submission to the Lord's sovereignty, but 
 into somewhat more than this ; namely, to know, that that 
 sovereignty is everlastingly exercised for their welfare. Such 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 183 
 
 views lead the mind, when taught of God, how to appreciate 
 divine mercies; yea, and to discern mercies where carnal 
 minds would discover nothing but evil. Death is in the be- 
 liever's inventory of good as truly as life; neither can he enter 
 into the joy of his Lord, but by passing through the same 
 valley of the grave as his Lord hath passed before him. Do 
 I not know, that until the Lord bring my body down to the 
 grave, I shall never be free from the being and indwelling of 
 sin ? Until I sleep in Jesus, the inherency of original sin, 
 which is the very core, the very elixir of my fallen nature, 
 will never dry up. And in relation to my soul, until I am 
 disembodied, never shall I enjoy uninterrupted communion 
 with the Lord; neither those longings and desires of my mind 
 after Christ in all their vast capaciousness be filled, until I 
 see him as he is, and dwell with him for ever i 
 
 ' To return therefore to the original idea, which first opened 
 to my mind on having finished my seventy years ; the pros- 
 pect now of an early departure, tended under grace to awaken 
 suitable and becoming apprehensions for the remaining days 
 of my pilgrimage, whether many or few, as to be found in a 
 waiting frame when the time should come.' ' I have before 
 observed, that the day was rendered doubly memorable, in 
 that also it was the Lord's day, on which I commenced this 
 epoch of my renewed lease of life. Sweet day of Christ, the 
 sabbath ! And blessed they, who know him as the very sab- 
 bath of sabbaths ! For this is not the rest of another day, it 
 is now. Hence the precious testimony given by the Holy 
 Ghost; " for we which have believed do enter into rest," 
 Heb. iv. 3. a 
 
 e It was under the gracious impressions received from the 
 Lord, that the Lord was pleased to usher in the first morning 
 of my seventy -first year. I pause at the entrance upon it. 
 Perhaps it might be gratifying to some of my readers were 
 I to give in before them a statement of what is called 
 experiences. I know, that in histories of this kind, it forms 
 
 1 Vol. III. page 138. 
 
184 MEMOIRS OK THE 
 
 a prominent part. But had 1 the power of recollection, and 
 could marshal to my remembrance all that has passed and 
 repassed, through the long period of my eventful life, much I 
 fear that the recital would disappoint, rather than satisfy. 
 My experience of the work of grace upon my soul hath 
 totally differed from what, for the most part, is made the 
 standard of religion among the great mass of professors in 
 the present day. All that I know, in relation to myself, are 
 discoveries of my fallen nature, which have been daily un- 
 folding themselves, under divine teaching, more and more to 
 my apprehension. From the first dawn of the day-spring 
 which from on high visited me, when the Lord was pleased 
 to bring me into acquaintance with myself, and to make me 
 know the plague of my own heart, I have been unlearning 
 (if the term be warrantable) what I had before been studying 
 with so much care, how to recommend myself by human 
 merit to divine favour. But when the Lord in mercy took 
 me under his pupilage, he inverted this order of teaching. 
 I was then led to see more of his ways, and to think less of 
 my oivn. And from that hour of matriculation in his school 
 to the present, I have been learning to get daily out of love 
 with myself, and in love with Christ. And so it hath proved, 
 that in the exact ratio in which I have advanced in the know- 
 ledge and love of the Lord, and in the ways of grace, I have 
 been going back in my estimation of all creature excellency 
 and creature attainments, until at length I have arrived at 
 the same conclusion with Job, " to abhor myself, and repent 
 in dust and ashes," Job xiii. 6.'" 
 
 ' True indeed, (and in the moment of recollection I desire 
 to bless the Lord for his distinguishing mercy over me,) J 
 have been kept by his restraining grace from the more out- 
 ward acts of sin, into which some (and great professors of 
 inherent holiness in the creature) have fallen. And from the 
 Lord's mercy, I have not been made (as the scripture ex- 
 presses it) " the reproach of the foolish." Yet notvvith- 
 
 ■ Vol. III. page 139. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 185 
 
 standing these things, I am now too well acquainted, from 
 long experience, with the workings of my inbred and in- 
 dwelling corruptions, not to know, and as thankfully to 
 acknowledge, that such preservations are wholly the result 
 of God's grace, and not the effect of my merit. ' a { And as 
 all the manifestations of the Father to the church are in the 
 person of Christ, so all that the church can know of the 
 Father is in and by Christ.' ' For my own part, when I first 
 came to Christ, or rather, more properly speaking, was first 
 led to Christ for salvation, I did not know my Almighty 
 Leader. But when those words of Christ, of " shewing his 
 people plainly of the Father," were opened to my spiritual 
 understanding, then I learnt to discover the gracious mani- 
 festation of Christ to me concerning the Father. Oh ! what 
 a ray of light, since that blessed commencement of divine 
 teaching, hath broken in upon my soul ! Am I come to 
 Christ ? Jesus said, " I could not, except given to him of 
 the Father !" John vi. 37. And draivn to Christ ? This 
 neither could have been done, but by the Father ! John vi. 44. 
 Am I beholding the glorious person of my most glorious 
 Christ, as the great object of faith ? This never could I have 
 done, had I not " heard and learned of the Father !" John vi. 
 45. Here then I find the same blessed truth confirmed at 
 every step.' b ' It is in the Son I learn to know the Father, 
 and all the revelations of the Father are made in the Son.' 
 e And very sure I am, that if I had but grace to watch the 
 tendencies of the Comforter, in the love of the Spirit, (Rom. 
 xv. 30.) towards my spirit, as the Lord is watching me, I 
 should have a thousand enjoyments which my poor inatten- 
 tive heart is continually losing through negligence, in which 
 the Lord waits to be gracious ; and to direct my heart into 
 the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ, 
 2 Thess. Hi. 15. Tsa. xxx. 18.' 
 
 ' They who have made long and wearisome marches in the 
 
 1 Vol. III. page 141. b Vol. III. page 147. 
 
186 MEMOIRS OK THE 
 
 spiritual warfare can best tell what kind of feeling in the 
 soul that is, which groans under the consciousness of inherent 
 sin, and the infinite preciousness of that sovereign relief 
 which is found only in Christ. Like disbanded soldiers 
 coming out of the battle, which have stood out many a 
 campaign, are best calculated to relate what passed there ; so 
 the veteran in the army of our most glorious Lord, when 
 retreating into winter quarters, and viewing and reviewing 
 the many perils the Lord hath carried him through, he it is 
 that will make the truest estimate of the Lord's faithfulness. 
 It is not until the redeemed and regenerated child of God 
 hath been brought into a true spiritual and scriptural appre- 
 hension of the person of our most glorious Christ, that he 
 can have a true spiritual and scriptural apprehension of the 
 completeness of his salvation. ,a 
 
 In the above quotations are given some of Zion's Pil- 
 grim's personal experiences of the great and glorious truths 
 of the gospel ; but for a more full statement of his confidence, 
 peace, and joy, in the Holy Ghost, a reference must be made 
 to the work itself. In the sweet assurance of his interest in 
 Christ, and of all the glorious results which arise from an 
 union with him, his prospects were exhilirating, his com- 
 forts abounding, and his joys ofttimes overflowing. 
 
 With a view to disperse more widely such tracts, and such 
 only, as clearly set forth the gospel plan of salvation, this year 
 was instituted, at his suggestion, ' The Gospel Tract Society.' 
 At a meeting holden in London, on the 16th of June, 1823, 
 Henry Peto, Esq. in the chair, it was resolved unanimously, 
 ' That the present era peculiarly calls for the formation of 
 a society, which shall have for its object the printing and 
 circulating tracts of a pure gospel complexion — that the 
 plan suggested by the Rev. Robert Hawker, D. D. is 
 approved by this meeting — that a Committee be now ap- 
 pointed, composed of persons in whom, as far as can be 
 
 * Vol. III. pane 154. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 187 
 
 ascertained, the saving work of grace is wrought, to carry 
 the ahove into effect.' Such was the high estimation in 
 which these gentlemen held his writings and character, and 
 such the implicit confidence which they placed in his judg- 
 ment and decision, that they not only requested him to 
 accept the presidency, but to become the final editor of all 
 tracts published by the society. Much success attended their 
 exertions, and many auxiliary societies were formed ; and 
 although they did not commence the publication of tracts 
 until the October ensuing its establishment, yet before the 
 month of June, 1825, they were enabled to issue no less than 
 three hundred and sixty thousand ! 
 
 Among the various means which are used, in humble 
 dependance on the divine blessing, to make known the un- 
 searchable riches of Christ, this society adopted for publica- 
 tion such gospel tracts 6 as set forth the everlasting love of a 
 triune Jehovah — man's totally lost and ruined condition as a 
 sinner — and exhibit the glories of the person and work of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, as the only and all-sufficient Saviour — the 
 absolute necessity of regeneration by God the Holy Ghost — 
 justification by faith alone in the blood and righteousness of 
 the God-man Mediator — and the certainty of the final perseve- 
 rance of the whole election of grace, agreeably to the scriptures 
 of truth, Phil. i. 6.' a To this society our venerable friend con- 
 tributed as many as twelve tracts, which though varied in the 
 choice of their subjects, and in the richness of their language, 
 yet all hold forth the same unvaried and invariable truth. 
 Let it not be understood, that I mean to espouse or justify 
 every expression which may have fallen from his prolific 
 pen, but with the worthy rector of Chillendon, I may here 
 say, — * I have found in Dr. Hawker's works positions to 
 which I cannot agree ; but they involve no point of doctrine 
 essential to salvation. ' h The above doctrines are the pro- 
 minent doctrines of all his works. 
 
 a Sec First Report. 
 
 b See his Sermon occasioned by the death of Dr. H. page 33. 
 
188 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 la some of the titles of the tracts, there is a singular 
 originality, striking, comprehensive, and intelligible to the 
 humblest capacity, where grace reigns. One of them, which 
 has more than once been made the subject of animadversion 
 by men of the free-will caste, is entitled, ' God's Will and 
 Mail's Shall, an everlasting security to the church of Christ, 
 who are called according to God's purpose ; to which is 
 added, observations on that interesting passage, Heb. vi. 4 — 6 : 
 proving, from that very scripture, the impossibility of any of 
 God's chosen and called ones falling finally from grace.' In 
 this tract he admirably maintains the doctrine of the final 
 perseverance of the saints, grounded on the promise and 
 pledge of a covenant God. Of the passage taken from Jer. 
 xxxii. 37 — 40. which is a crucible of rich elixir to the spiri- 
 tual alchymist, an omer of rich manna fresh every day to 
 the hungry Israelite ; in the application of it to his subject 
 he thus writes : — f It is all made up of God's wills and man's 
 shalls. " I ivill gather them." " I will bring them again." 
 " I will cause them to dwell safely." " They shall be my 
 people." " /will be their God." " / will give them one 
 heart and one way." " / will make an everlasting cove- 
 nant with them." All, all is God's will, God's work, God's 
 act. The church is merely a receiver, and no worker (in all 
 this). The Lord undertakes for both. God saith, " I will 
 not ;" and the same God saith, " they shall not." And what 
 can be needed more ?' 
 
 ' Some there are, who from being great advocates for the 
 free-will of the creature, profess to be greatly alarmed at this 
 doctrine of free grace, and in the lightness of their mind, 
 have ventured to suppose, that the belief of it is like opening 
 the flood-gates of sin. Alas ! such men so speak because 
 they know not the scriptures, neither the power of God ; but 
 are ignorant of what they say and whereof they affirm." 1 
 * What,' continues he, in a subsequent page, ' can as 
 effectually secure the honour of God's laws as the grace of 
 
 * Vol. X. page 74. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 189 
 
 God in the hearts of his people ? Who is most likely to be 
 examples of believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in 
 faith, in purity ; — the regenerated child of God, who under- 
 takes nothing but in divine strength, and desires nothing but 
 the divine glory ; or the man, who makes his own free-will 
 the standard of his endeavours, and depends more upon an 
 arm of flesh than in the power of God ?' a 
 
 In explaining the important passage quoted from the 
 epistle to the Hebrews, he takes the same view of it, which 
 all commentators have taken who maintain the doctrine of 
 final perseverance, though from the affluence of his mind, 
 his arguments and illustrations receive a richer dress. But 
 to their views on the subject, I beg leave to state my objec- 
 tions ; and to submit, with all deference to the masters in 
 Israel, an explanation, which I consider simple and consis- 
 tent. I know not any writer who has taken the same view, 
 but it is not less sound because unprecedented. My beloved 
 friend, and other commentators, consider it to be a picture of 
 a finished hypocrite, who after having been once enlightened 
 ivith head knowledge, and having merely tasted of the 
 heavenly gift, and the good word of God, and the powers of 
 the world to come ; and having been made partaker of the 
 Holy Ghost in outward gifts ; if he shall fall away, it is 
 impossible to renew him again unto repentance. 
 
 My objection to this view is, that the words, to renew them 
 again, imply that the persons supposed to have fallen away 
 were once renewed, or the word again loses its effect. I 
 cannot admit, that a finished hypocrite was ever renewed ; 
 but the words imply some previous renewal. There are few, 
 who would not consider such a finished hypocrite, the chief 
 of sinners. The gospel of Christ holds forth a hope for the 
 chief of sinners, but this view leaves no hope for the finished 
 hypocrite, who has fallen away from a mere profession ! It 
 is generally assumed, that such an one never was renewed ; 
 
 a Vol. X. pane 78. 
 
190 MEMOIRS OF TJIK 
 
 and yet in the conclusion, it is inferred that it is impossible 
 to renew him again, or indeed to renew him at all. That is, 
 that God's grace cannot reach, or cannot renew a finished 
 hypocrite ! Could it be proved that he had committed the 
 unpardonable sin, there would then be no hope j but this is 
 not proved. Nor can I conceive, how such a character can 
 be said to " crucify the Son of God afresh, and to put him to 
 an open shame," mote than David by his dreadful fall, who 
 thereby " gave great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to 
 blaspheme," 2 Sam. xii. 14. I am not arguing to counte- 
 nance hypocrisy, God forbid ; but to elicit truth ! 
 
 As many of the Lord's renewed and tried ones, whose faith 
 is sometimes shaken from a mistaken view of this passage 
 of scripture as to their final perseverance, may be induced to 
 read these pages, because of the celebrity of the author whose 
 Memoirs I write, who might not be inclined to peruse a tract 
 of mine on the subject, I therefore feel disposed, for the 
 edification of such, to give them as briefly as possible my 
 humble comment thereon; in the hope that it will be blessed 
 of the Lord to that purpose. And I trust that it will not be 
 considered irrelevant or obtrusive, when it is recollected, 
 that my proposal was not only to furnish such memorials of 
 his life as I could obtain, but to give an account of his 
 writings, in which my own remarks were of course antici- 
 pated ; and the more readily I submit my opinion, because 
 by no means dissonant to the doctrines he generally main- 
 tained. 
 
 It appears to me, e that the apostle is, in this passage," 
 shewing the impossibility of any man experiencing more 
 
 * Without giving a new translation to the words, the grammatical construc- 
 tion of the original runs thus : " For it is impossible to renew again unto 
 repentance those once enlightened, and having tasted of the heavenly gift, and 
 being made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and having tasted the good word of 
 God, and the powers of the world to come, and having fallen away — cruci- 
 fying (thus) for themselves the Son of God afresh, and putting him to an open 
 shame." Although the word if bG not in the original, it is certainly implied. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 191 
 
 than one new-birth ; that if a man be born of God, and 
 experience all that is here stated, on the supposition that he 
 become again degenerate, it is impossible for him to undergo 
 a second new-birth. If he fall away, it is impossible to renew 
 him again ! Here lies the emphasis. And there is much 
 beauty in the oneness and perpetuity of regeneration. Al- 
 though the apostle lays down a supposition, yet it is but a 
 supposition, to prove more strongly the contrary of it ; for he 
 tells the true disciples of Christ, the heirs of promise, that 
 " he was persuaded better things of them, and things that 
 accompany salvation, though he thus spake." He also im- 
 mediately refers " to the immutability of God's counsel, con- 
 firmed by an oath, that by two immutable things, (his 
 counsel and oath) in which it is impossible for God to lie, 
 we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge 
 to lay hold upon the hope set before us." It is in unison 
 with my dear departed friend's doctrines, that no man ever 
 did, and that no man ever can, experience more than one 
 new birth. It is a passing from death unto life, and this by 
 virtue of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. But, 
 if a man, once quickened by the Spirit of God unto newness 
 of life, become again dead in trespasses and sins, there would 
 be a necessity of crucifying the Son of God afresh, that by 
 virtue of this second crucifixiou he might again live through 
 him. There are who assert, that a man may fall away and 
 be renewed again repeatedly, and thus experience, for ought 
 they maintain to the contrary, as many new births in one 
 year as there are new moons, and die in his sins at last. 
 But we have not so learned Christ ; but believe, and are 
 " confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun 
 a good work in us, will perform it until the day of Jesus 
 Christ !" Phil. i. 6.' 
 
 No man, perhaps, had larger conceptions of the greatness 
 and glory of the change which is wrought in the heart by 
 regeneration, than this venerable man of God. This is so 
 admirably and elegantly expressed in one of the tracts, 
 
192 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 entitled, ' My Birth-day,'' adopted by the 6 Gospel Tract 
 Society,' that I will take the liberty to close my observation 
 upon it by a brief quotation, in the hope that it will further 
 its circulation, as a suitable memento to be sent to any friend 
 on his birth- day. ' There are two highly interesting views,' 
 s'aith he, ' in which the recollection of my birth-day affected 
 my mind ; namely, of the birth-day in nature, and of the new 
 birth in grace. I stay not so much to enquire, how many 
 years in the world's almanack I count, since the first cry 
 from the womb at my birth indicated that one more of 
 Adam's fallen helpless race was born ; as to ask my own 
 heart, how many days I can number since the call of God 
 " from darkness to light," and " from the power of sin and 
 Satan" into Christ's kingdom ? We do not calculate God's 
 love by our calendar of time, because that love itself is ever- 
 lasting. Here, then, is neither beginning nor ending. " The 
 child (new-born) shall die an hundred years old," Isa.lxv. 20. 
 But it is the vastness of the change from whence we are to 
 form the data. The stride from nature to grace, from the 
 death of sin to the life of righteousness, is greater than all 
 the after- steps by which the Lord leads on his people. If 
 the Lord was pleased to make the new-born child in Christ, 
 immediately after that birth, as high as the highest angel in 
 light, the transition would not be as great, as when first 
 calling the sinner from death to life, and from sin to salva- 
 tion in Christ ! And in that call is folded up, in one rich 
 cluster, eternal glory with all its preliminaries. Here are, 
 therefore, no calculations of time. The love of God in Christ 
 hath no arithmetic such as we use. God loves not by the 
 day. His is an everlasting love ; an ocean for ever flowing, 
 and which hath neither bottom nor shore !' a 
 
 Soon after the establishment of the ' Gospel Tract Society,' 
 he commenced the ' Village Sermon Society,' byway of appen- 
 dix to the former ; yet, I believe, the funds were not blended ; 
 
 a Vol. X. page 118. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 193 
 
 but the latter was chiefly supported by himself, together with 
 a few friends. Four-and-twenty of the first sermons, which 
 are all yet published, are the production of his own pen. A 
 quotation from the preface of the first sermon will shew the 
 object he had in view in publishing them ; and where, and 
 when, and how he would recommend them to be read. ' Let 
 it be supposed,' saith he, ' that two or three of a village, or 
 two or three of a family, among the cottagers, remote from 
 the great congregation, were occasionally to meet together, 
 as opportunity offered, when the labours of the day were 
 over, and more especially on the Lord's day, that sweet day 
 of rest ; and after, by prayer and supplication, seeking a 
 blessing on their little assembly, were to read a portion of 
 the word of God, and then one of the Village Sermons ; might 
 we not hope, that as it was said of Christ upon a memorable 
 occasion of old, so it would be said now ; " The power of the 
 Lord was present to heal them," Luke v. 17-' To which he 
 subjoins this brief petition for a divine blessing : e Lord Jesus! 
 condescend by those feeble means to make known the almigh- 
 tiness of thy strength ! As far as those Village Sermons are 
 in conformity to thy holy word, and the sovereign purposes 
 of thy holy will, own them in the hearts and consciences of 
 thy people. Let that sacred scripture be felt and made 
 known thereby, in which it is said, " Not by might, nor by 
 power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts," Zech. 
 iv. 6. ?a 
 
 Two or three of these sermons may not appear so fully 
 adapted for general village reading as others, since they refer 
 to particular events in the memoranda of his own life ; as for 
 instance, the sermon preached after the decease of his 
 youngest daughter — also after an absence of a few weeks, in 
 visiting other churches — after a confinement by sickness of 
 three months — after an absence of four months, except a 
 short taking leave at Easter— yet much that is of a peculiar 
 
 a Vol. IV. page 4. 
 Vol. I.] o 
 
194 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 application to his own church or circumstances is confined to 
 the preface ; and even these little incidents, which may be 
 considered personal, give, in the estimation of many readers, 
 an additional interest to the discourse. In his usual dis- 
 courses from the pulpit, he would not unfrequently address 
 the congregation for several minutes together before he 
 delivered his text, which was done to prepare the mind and 
 keep the attention awake, that he might introduce his text 
 with larger emphasis and better effect, if so be the Lord 
 might be pleased so to bless it. The third of his Village Ser- 
 mons, as well as several others, has an introduction of this 
 description, which will illustrate and confirm my remarks. 
 More than one hundred thousand of these sermons have been 
 printed and widely circulated ; but they will not be received 
 with any lively zest, except by those who wish to have the 
 Lord Jesus held forth as the alpha and omega, the first and 
 the last, the O yes ! and amen, of every discourse. 
 
 As a proof that he would have no one, who has tasted that 
 the Lord is gracious, rest satisfied with present attainments, 
 hear his testimony : — ( True indeed, when first the Lord is 
 beginning the work of grace upon any of his chosen ones, 
 the awakenings, by the Lord the Spirit, to a deep and 
 alarming apprehension of sin, become so distressing to the 
 guilty conscience, that a deliverance from the wrath to come 
 is the sole consideration that occupies the heart. But, in the 
 after stages of the life of God in the soul, when having found 
 peace in the blood of the cross, the child of God is brought 
 into fuller views of salvation ; it is a sad matter, and which 
 cannot but of necessity induce great leanness in spirit, that 
 any of the Lord's people should sit down satisfied with those 
 attainments, when the Lord opens larger discoveries of the 
 church's interest in Christ.' 3 So also in another place : 
 e When by regeneration we are brought into a capability of 
 having our spiritual senses called forth, in the study of the 
 
 ■ Vol. IV. page 194. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 195 
 
 person and incommunicable salvation of Christ, we are sup- 
 posed to be daily advancing in an holy familiarity with both, 
 and find all our delight in this one divine science only.'* O 
 yes ; there will be in every child of God a growing acquaint- 
 edness with things divine ; and, if there be not a daily 
 advancing in hallowed intimacy with the Lord Jesus, there 
 will be a desire after it. Our venerable friend, though he 
 considered sanctification like the consecration of a vessel for 
 the sanctuary, to be but one act of the Holy Ghost in setting 
 us apart for God, when translated from the kingdom of Satan 
 into the kingdom of God's dear Son ; and consequently, no 
 more progressive than consecration or regeneration itself; 
 yet he considers it a sad matter, when in the after stages of 
 the life of God in the soul, there is a resting in present attain- 
 ments ; and reminds the believer of his supposed advances in 
 holy familiarity with the Lord Jesus, both as to his person 
 and incommunicable salvation. By way of parenthesis I 
 would here observe, that by incommunicable salvation is to 
 be understood, that in which no one ever did or can partici- 
 pate as co-partner — " Of the people there was none with 
 him, his own arm brought salvation," Isa lxiii. 3, 5. I have 
 called the attention of the reader to those points of doctrine, 
 because it has beeti falsely supposed, that in denying sanctifi- 
 cation to be progressive, he denied all progressive advances 
 in the divine life. 
 
 In this year, 1823, he also published, ' An Appeal to the 
 common feelings of mankind, in behalf of the Negroes in the 
 West India Islands ; more especially addressed to the sub- 
 jects of the British Empire, through the medium of a letter 
 to William Wilberforce, Esq. M.P. ; in which is taken a short 
 retrospect of the history of those much injured beings in 
 that part which hath long called forth the public atten- 
 tion ; together with some of the most popular arguments? 
 which from time to time have been advanced in favour of 
 
 ■ Vol. IV. page 327. 
 
196 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 emancipation by statesmen of the highest authority ; but 
 which, after a lapse of more than thirty years, hath left the 
 subject where it found it, and the negro as complete a slave 
 under all the rigour of cruelty and oppression in 1823, as in 
 any former period of his sad history. To which is added, a 
 short but simple plan, and as practicable as it is simple, for 
 giving relief by gradual and sure means to this sorrowful 
 class of society, in the purchase of plantations, with all their 
 appendages of negroes and cattle, through the voluntary 
 contributions of the whole realm. A measure, if once 
 adopted and followed up as subscriptions shall enable, in the 
 purchase of one plantation after another, which will tend to 
 raise from their present degradation those too long op- 
 pressed beings of our common nature, and restore them to 
 that station in the community to which they are justly 
 entitled by all laws human and divine.' 
 
 The above paragraph is embodied in the title-page. Pie 
 had endeavoured to excite the attention of the public, as well 
 from the press as the pulpit, to the same laudable cause 
 previously to this publication, by an advertisement in ( The 
 Times,' of the 3rd of June preceding; and in a sermon 
 preached at St. Clement's Church, in the Strand, June 11, 
 following, he informs us, a that he ' had the high pleasure to 
 hear, that resolutions were made, when the service was over, 
 by certain persons present of opulence of engaging in annual 
 subscriptions for ten years in succession to a considerable 
 amount, whenever the society might be formed.' The name 
 by which it was to be designated is, ( The Society for pur- 
 chasing the Emancipation of Slaves in the West India 
 Islands by voluntary contribution.' His plan was to pur- 
 chase plantations, and to place the negroes on the estate in 
 classes of servants, and not slaves ; not by giving them their 
 freedom at once, but holding it forth to them, after a certain 
 period of time, as a remuneration of their labour. 
 
 Vol. X. page 487. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 197 
 
 We learn from this pamphlet, that considerably more than 
 thirty years previously to its publication, when the feeling 
 part of the community in this land took alarm at the horrid 
 traffic in human blood of those poor Africans ; and contem- 
 plating it nationally as a sin of no small magnitude, com- 
 mittees were formed in different parts of the kingdom for the 
 purpose of procuring their manumission — that himself had 
 the honour (' if,' saith he, ' it can be deemed an honour to 
 have been engaged in what proved to be visionary,') to be 
 one of a committee at that time formed at Plymouth, to 
 promote this good work. At the request of several mem- 
 bers of the society, he preached a sermon at the parish 
 church of Charles in favour of the abolition, and which at 
 the same request was aftewards published. Though thirty 
 long years had passed, and little or nothing had been effected 
 towards their total emancipation, yet we find him with a 
 zeal as warm as ever advocating the cause of the poor 
 negroes, and proposing an equitable if not altogether a 
 feasible plan to release them from their yoke. As in his 
 ' Appeal to the people of England on the subject of the 
 French Revolution,' he shewed himself a true patriot ; so in 
 his e Appeal to the common feelings of mankind in behalf of 
 the enslaved Africans,' he has shewn himself a genuine phi- 
 lanthropist ! 
 
 A barrister, of eminency in his profession, engaged gra- 
 tuitously to frame a digest of laws proper for the regulation 
 of the society which he wished to be formed; and a person 
 of approved merit, who had resided fifteen years in Jamaica, 
 tendered his services to superintend and manage their con- 
 cerns, ' without an eye to personal profit :' but the plan 
 which he suggested did not succeed. Difficulties of a com- 
 mercial nature presented themselves ; for were a society of 
 this description to employ their contributions in purchasing 
 and cultivating plantations, it would become a trading com- 
 pany ; and in case of subsequent losses, which might arise 
 from things unforeseen, every director, and perhaps every 
 
198 MEMOIRS OF THJJ 
 
 contributor, whose sanction ensured credit, might be con^ 
 sidered responsible for those losses, even if he never shared 
 in the gains. I know no other reason why his proposal met 
 not with success. Yet who can but applaud the effort which 
 he made to engage the opulent of the realm, by whom such 
 losses would not have been felt, to embark in this cause. 
 The conclusion of this Appeal is ardent and animating, 
 stimulating every rank to unite in their endeavours " to undo 
 the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and to break 
 every yoke." ' In a word, the ice once broken, and the long 
 and hitherto impenetrable frost now thawed, (for so it then 
 seemed to be) this vessel of mercy, will,' saith he, l launch 
 forth for the West India Islands, with her golden cargo, 
 where slavery hath too long reigned with despotic sway over 
 the negro ; but where now will be unfurled the streamer of 
 freedom and humanity, and guided at the helm by the Lord 
 of Hosts, her charter will be the greatest and most valuable 
 ever delivered on landing, " in bringing liberty to the cap- 
 tive, in binding up the broken in heart, opening the prison 
 doors to them that are bound, and proclaiming the acceptable 
 year of the Lord.'"" 
 
 Among the publications of this year's catalogue, appeared 
 a work, entitled, e Strictures on the Plymouth Antinomians, 
 by Joseph Cottle,' the author of several poetical works. Of 
 their merits I am not prepared to give an opinion ; for I never 
 read them, except a ' Metrical Version of the Psalms," in which 
 I have met with many stanzas elegantly expressed, and 
 admirably adapted to convey the sense of the original ; and 
 on the whole, it is much better executed than many of the 
 metrical versions of his predecessors, of which I have seen 
 nearly thirty. But in these his ' Strictures,' I am grieved to 
 notice so much disingenuity and want of integrity ; so much 
 illiberality of sentiment and ignorance of doctrine ; such a 
 levity of spirit and adroitness of insinuation ; and I may say, 
 
 * Vol. X. page 506. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 199 
 
 disregard to common verity ; that it would fill a folio volume 
 to make animadversions on all that might be made the sub- 
 ject of discussion, and in my humble opinion of just repre- 
 hension. He has so matted truth and error together, and 
 formed them into figures of his own fancy, that it would take 
 more space to unravel the threads, and expose the deception 
 of even a few of them, than can well be allowed in a work of 
 this nature. From the picture he has given of the Plymouth 
 Antinomians, the reader is almost led to conclude, that these 
 Antinomians are sinners above other Antinomians, and that 
 the caricature which he has copied and embellished from 
 Mr. Bidlake, is no unfair likeness of Dr. Hawker. It 
 would have been well, if the mellowed relenting, which at 
 the close of his work he tells us he felt, in discharging so 
 painful and ungracious a duty in publishing these ' Strictures,' 
 had induced him to have committed them to the flames. The 
 Lord pardon him for the mischief he has done ! 
 
 Dr. Hawker was a witness for God and his truth in this 
 awful day of ours, when the sovereignty of God in the 
 election of grace is not only called in question, but made a 
 subject of derision and scorn. Mr. Cottle is evidently of the 
 free-will school, if not a Pelagian. It may be noted, that all 
 advocates or barristers, at this world's tribunal, when they 
 wish to depreciate evidence, will attempt if possible to 
 traduce the witness, that they may more easily invalidate his 
 testimony. It is in this light I view Mr. Cottle and his 
 attack. He dislikes the doctrines of the late Rev. Dr. 
 Hawkek. To make him ridiculous, if possible, he mixes 
 up his character with all the ribaldry of anecdote with which 
 his common-place book will furnish him concerning weak 
 and ignorant religionists ; and to make his doctrine odious, 
 he takes certain scraps of sentences, and gives them a 
 colouring which the Doctor never intended, and which in 
 fairness ought not to be given ; and then brings forth the 
 whole as an exhibition of another Sampson blinded and 
 buffeted to make sport for the Philistines ! 
 
200 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 His work bears not the character of a sober appeal to 
 scripture ; and although he tells us he has long noticed in 
 Dr. H. a partial, and latterly a complete abandonment of 
 some of the most important doctrines of the Reformation, he 
 has not had the fairness to state particularly what doctrines 
 of the Reformation he had completely abandoned. And as 
 to a partial abandonment of some of them, which he has 
 long noticed, I confess that it requires some knowledge of 
 compound vulgar fractions to guess what he means. A par- 
 tial abandonment of some, must be some of some ! But I 
 am pained to be thus frivolous, and only condescend to it to 
 shew how pompous sometimes men may make their own 
 absurdities, by using great swelling words of vanity ; alas ! 
 how true, " they know not what they say, nor whereof they 
 affirm." Of Mr Cottle, and of other opponents of the late 
 learned, venerable, and godly pastor of the parish of Charles, 
 we may say what St. Luke says of the Jews in reference to 
 their accusation of St. Paul before Festus, " they laid many 
 and grievous complaints against him which they could not 
 prove," Acts xxv. 7- 
 
 Mr. Cottle has an undoubted right to make animadversions 
 upon what he considers heresy ; but let it be proved to be 
 so from scripture, and let him speak the words of truth and 
 soberness. If there be an abscess in the spiritual body, let it 
 be opened with the keen lancet of God's own word, and not 
 with the jagged instrument of his own wit and sarcasm, 
 which will only lacerate and inflame what it was intended to 
 open and heal. Notwithstanding Mr. C.'s advocacy for man's 
 natural and moral capacity of doing good, the work does not 
 appear to me to have been written under a temperate, holy, 
 and chastened spirit, which, although the natural warmth of 
 temper will sometimes effervesce, was so discoverable in 
 Dr. Hawker's controversial or polemical writings. I appeal 
 to the general testimony of his reviewers. 
 
 As a proof of Mr. Cottle's disingenuousness and want of 
 integrity, he first blackens the character of Antinomians as 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 201 
 
 much as possible, as ' confederating with direct Infidels in 
 assaulting all the old and accredited land-marks of religion 
 and virtue ;' and then denominates Dr. H. the great patron 
 and apostle of their creed ! But where in all his works has 
 he shewn a confederacy with direct Infidels for this or for 
 any purpose ? Has it not been rather thrust on him as a 
 reproach, that he objected to the Bible Society for admitting 
 Socinian Infidels to the council-board of their committees ? 
 The object of the Bible Society is highly laudable, and I bless 
 God I live in such an era as this, when such efforts are making 
 to translate the word of God into all tongues ; but no society 
 may do more mischief than this, if care and vigilance be not 
 with them who guide the helm. But this is not all. Mr. 
 Cottle gives his own definition of an Antinomian with the 
 foulest features of spiritual deformity ; and then unblushingly 
 tells the world, that Dr, Hawker is an Antinomian : and 
 afterwards disingenuously adds, ' in order to settle the ques- 
 tion, Dr. H. shall speak for himself;' and from his quota- 
 tions insinuates, that Dr. H. acknowledges himself an 
 Antinomian, and encourages others not to shrink from the 
 charge ; whereas, Dr. H. had given his own definition of an 
 Antinomian, which was of a scriptural complexion, and as 
 far remote from Mr. Cottle's definition as the east is from 
 the west. 
 
 ' It is indubitable,' says Mr. Cottle, ' that the conclusion 
 to be drawn from Antinomian preaching is, that man has 
 neither a natural nor moral ability to comply with the com- 
 mands of God, and that he cannot be made even a medium 
 by which spiritual benefit may be conveyed to a fellow-crea- 
 ture ; those who are the most enlightened from above, it ap- 
 pears are compelled to lie like logs on the ocean, operated 
 upon by influences over which they have no controul.' * This,' 
 continues he, f is the blackest fatalism that tongue can utter, 
 and is opposed from the first verse of Genesis to the last of 
 Revelations — the incapacity of doing any good, so earnestly 
 contended for, involves terrific consequences !' But is not 
 
202 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 this incapacity of doing good, the very doctrine inculcated in 
 the tenth article of the Church of England, which I need not 
 here prove is well grounded on the word of God ? Hear its 
 language ; ' The condition of man after the fall of Adam is 
 such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own 
 natural strength and good works to faith and calling upon 
 God : wherefore we have no power, (natural nor moral)* to 
 do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the 
 grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a 
 good will, and working with us when we have that good will.' 
 It was to me unknown, that any sect maintained that man 
 cannot be made even a medium of spiritual good to his fellow- 
 creatures ; for were not all the prophets and apostles made 
 mediums of this description ? May we not apprehend, that 
 this was a flight of Mr. Cottle's own imagination? tie quotes 
 no authority for it. But as to man's natural and moral inca- 
 pacity to comply with the commands of God ; or in other 
 words, to do good works unless operated upon by influences 
 over which he has no controul, this is a doctrine of the Refor- 
 mation, which Mr. Cottle not only abandons, if he ever held 
 it, but designates the blackest fatalism ! So ignorant does 
 he appear to be of what are the doctrines of the Reformation, 
 that he charges Dr. H. with completely abandoning at least 
 some of them, which charge has no foundation in truth, whilst 
 he himself is in reality doing the very thing with which he 
 charges the Doctor. With all Mr. Cottle's apparent zeal for 
 the integrity of the Church of England, and especially of her 
 ministers, he denominates the doctrine involved in her tenth 
 article the blackest fatalism that ever tongue can utter ! 
 Surely Mr. Cottle is no churchman — whether this be the 
 case or not, his creed is not scriptural. 
 
 If we were to judge of Mr. Cottle from his own language 
 somewhat after the manner in which he has judged our worthy 
 
 ■ By referring to the article the reader will find, that the words within the 
 parenthesis are introduced here merely by way of explanation. 
 
REV. DR, HAWKER. 203 
 
 friend, we might, and with much more propriety, charge him 
 with holding this very doctrine of fatalism. He has asserted, 
 that the assemblage who sat under Dr. Hawker's ministry 
 were ill-fated. If it were from the illness of their fate that 
 they were so circumstanced, it was not from the badness of 
 their choice; and therefore, whatever accrued must be at- 
 tributed to their ill-fate, and not to their bad choice. But if 
 fate be admitted so to circumstance the people, the same fate 
 must be admitted to circumstance the minister; and thus, by 
 induction, fate must be admitted to govern all the world ! 
 Surely this is deducible from Mr. Cottle's language. I wish 
 not to take an undue advantage of Mr. Cottle's inadvertency, 
 but to shew how, at random, he will use words derogatory to 
 his own creed. He is by no means a prudent or cautious 
 writer. But, if there is so little discrimination in him in the 
 choice of his own words, how is he competent to sit in judg- 
 ment on the words of others ! 
 
 Dr. H. stated in one of his pamphlets, ' that the preachers 
 of the Gospel find no authority to make offers or invitations, 
 in an indiscriminate manner to sinners in general.' For it 
 may be noted, that to scripture invitations is annexed the 
 character to whom they are made, with a special and par- 
 ticular discrimination : as for instance, " Ho, every one that 
 thirsteth, come ye tc the waters," Isa. lv. 1. " Come unto 
 me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest," Matt. xi. 28. " And whosoever will, let him 
 take the water of life freely," Rev. xxii. 17- In these, as in 
 other invitations, the character is particularized. Mark the 
 distinctions. The first is to every one that thirsteth for the 
 waters of life ; the second, to all that labour and are heavy 
 laden, whatever their burden might be ; the last to him that 
 is willing, whosoever he is, whom the Lord has made tuilling 
 in the day of his power. These invitations are not made in 
 an indiscriminate manner to sinners in general, but to sin- 
 ners of this special description of character. Mr. Cottle in- 
 veighs mightily against Dr. H. for making this statement, as 
 
204 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 if he made special what the Lord had spoken to sinners in 
 general; and indeed for saying what himself has said or sung 
 in his version of the Psalms : 
 
 " But ye who slight God's holy word, 
 And still your evil ways pursue ; 
 The promises of God the Lord 
 Were never made to comfort you." — Ps. I. Cottle's Version. 
 
 No; but to comfort the Lord's people — his saints, who are 
 to be gathered together unto him — " those that have made a 
 covenant with him by sacrifice," even the sacrifice of the 
 cross," Ps. 1. 5. 
 
 Mr. Cottle has asserted, that ' Dr. Hawker forbids all in- 
 vitations to sinners.' This is not true. In what page of all 
 his works has Dr. Hawker forbidden invitations to sinners ? 
 He simply states, that e we find no authority in scripture to 
 make them indiscriminately to sinners.' If Mr. Cottle can- 
 not see a grand distinction between these two propositions, 
 he is incapacitated to argue the point. If he did see a dis- 
 tinction when he wrote that sentence, he is chargeable with 
 not maintaining the purity and integrity of truth. This de- 
 mands serious consideration. The words of a minister of 
 Christ are not thus to be perverted with impunity. Whether 
 this were done by incapacity, inadvertency, or design, will 
 ere long be heard at the supreme tribunal ! If Mr. Cottle 
 can put such a misconstruction on his written sentences, 
 which he had time and leisure to weigh and consider, is he 
 likely in all points to give an accurate testimony of what he 
 heard vivd voce, when the mind is called into a more rapid 
 exercise ; and while it is pondering over one sentence that 
 arrested the attention, the connexion which followed is some- 
 times lost ? It is not my wish to throw out any improper 
 suggestion, but so it struck me as I was perusing this part of 
 his book. 
 
 Both Mr. Cottle and his reviewer or reviewers in the 
 Christian Observer, have produced a few texts, which they 
 consider not reducible to Dr. Hawker's general rules. Mr. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 205 
 
 Cottle says, that these are invitations which c Dr. H. cannot 
 with his heart repeat ;' which is certainly taking upon him 
 to say, what only He could say who knew his heart. It is 
 my opinion, that he could and did repeat them with all his 
 heart. The reviewer, in an air of triumph, says, that any single 
 text of those quoted is no more to be answered, (that is, as I 
 understand it, to be reduced to Dr. Hawker's general rule,) 
 than " the Word was God," by the Socinians ; or, " Drink ye 
 all of it," by the Papist. Of those texts, I will select one as 
 a specimen to shew how rashly some reviewers will decide. 
 This hastiness of judgment ill becomes a Christian Observer. 
 As a text indiscriminately addressed to sinners, both Mr. C. 
 and the reviewer refer to Isa. Iv. 7- " Let the wicked forsake 
 his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him 
 return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him, and 
 to our God for he will abundantly pardon." But as it now 
 reads, is it not a promise to the returning sinner and to every 
 returning sinner, and only to sinners of this description ? 
 Here is the discrimination. Moreover, I maintain that there 
 is not a stronger text in all the Bible to establish the doc- 
 trines of Dr. Hawker than the text just quoted, when pro- 
 perly translated. For the inaccuracy of the present transla- 
 tion, and for the correctness of the one here given, I appeal 
 to any Hebrew scholar. It is not an invitation, nor an offer 
 of grace, on any self-accomplished condition. The proper 
 translation runs thus, in connexion with the preceding verse, 
 which is addressed to the Lord's people as the whole chapter 
 evidently shews : " Seek ye the Lord. While he may be 
 found, call upon him. While he is near, the wicked shall 
 forsake* his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and 
 shall return b unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon 
 him, and to our God for he will abundantly pardon." Here 
 is God's will and man's shall. In the original, these words 
 are not in the imperative mood, but in the future tense of the 
 
 » Relinquet, 3TV* b Revertetur, SW» 
 
206 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 indicative; and the Septuagint version will sanction me in 
 altering the division in the words of the text. I have made 
 as little variation in the language as possible, although the 
 translation is capable of additional improvement. The other 
 texts, as far as they can be considered invitations, are as 
 easily reduced to his general rule, that the invitations of 
 God to sinners are not made in an indiscrimate manner ! 
 
 Mr. Cottle has stated, that Dr. Hawker maintained the 
 doctrine of imputed sanctifi cation. From what I know of 
 his doctrines and writings, I do not believe that he ever 
 adopted the term. I should as readily believe, that he had 
 adopted the term, imputed regeneration. Until I am shewn 
 the page in his works where the words are used as his own, 
 I shall maintain, that he never adopted the phrase. He has 
 expressed his disapprobation of the term progressive sanc- 
 tification, and states that sanctification is one act of the Holy 
 Ghost, by which we are quickened from a death of sin unto 
 newness of life — how then could he have used the term as if 
 it were an imputative act ? Himself and his doctrines have 
 been grossly vilified. The general opinion is, that after we 
 are regenerated by the Holy Ghost, we are, by advances in 
 the divine life, progressively sanctified. Dr. Hawker main- 
 tains, that we are sanctified in the very act of regeneration, 
 and are made thenceforth an habitation of God through the 
 Spirit ; and all the subsequent progressive advances in the 
 divine life, are the fruits, the effects, and sweet testimo- 
 nies of our sanctification. I do not see how the moral 
 government of the world simply considered is at stake by 
 either statement ; although Mr. Cottle has taken alarm, and 
 is gone forth into the street to cry, Fire ! I see no more danger 
 from the one view than from the other, except to Mr. Cottle's 
 free-will system. 
 
 The Rev. T. Reed, Minister of Rehoboth Chapel, Fetter 
 Lane, London, in his Letter to Mr. Cottle, on his e Strictures,' 
 
 See his Comment on 2 Thess. ii. 13. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 207 
 
 has undertaken to justify the term imputed sanctification, by 
 shewing, that the eternal Jehovah called his people holy, 
 when their conduct was most unholy ; and that they could 
 not be deemed holy but by imputed sanctity ; and in this 
 point of view he maintains, that imputed sanctification is a 
 scriptural doctrine, and not as Mr. Cottle has called it, a 
 doctrine of devils ! The Rev. J. Babb, late curate to Dr. 
 Hawker, does not appear to shrink from the charge in this 
 view, that " Christ is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, 
 sanctification, and redemption," I Cor. i. 30. But neither of 
 these gentlemen consider, that the imputation of holiness to 
 God's people, when unholy in themselves, supersedes the 
 work of the Spirit on the heart, or the fruits of the Spirit in 
 the life. In giving an epitome of Dr. Hawker's writings 
 and preaching, to meet Mr. Cottle's base insinuations, Mr. 
 Reed observes, that Dr. H. first sets before the view of the 
 enlightened sinner, the glorious person of Christ as the au- 
 thor of our salvation ; and then proves that a bewailing and 
 forsaking of sin will follow the reception of his atonement 
 and righteousness; and this, instead of preventing aspirations 
 after holiness, will lead the receiver of pardon and reconcilia- 
 tion to ask for grace to mortify sin, and for power from on 
 high, that he may " adorn the doctrine of God his Saviour in 
 all things ;" as a recipient of the grace of God that bringeth 
 salvation, he will " deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, 
 and live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world," 
 Titus ii. 11, 12.'* Mr. Babb, also, so far from advocating a 
 barren faith, shews that ' one man may abound more than 
 another, " in the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus 
 Christ, to the glory and praise of God," and also in the fruits 
 of holiness " in all holy conversation and godliness ;" yet even 
 this,' continues he, ' could not be, if we were all Jilted with 
 these fruits, as we ought to be. ,b 
 
 I cannot here forbear quoting an honest appeal of the Rev. 
 
 * Letter to Mr. Cottle, page 23. b Reviewer reviewed, page 22. 
 
208 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Mr. Reed to Mr. Cottle — c You say, that Dr. Hawker's sen- 
 timents tend to subvert the very basis of civil order ! Sir, 
 you know as well as I can tell you, this is false. Dr. H.'s 
 sentiments do no such thing ! I am really grieved, that you 
 are so often making such untrue and unjust declarations. 
 Had Dr. Hawker been a traitor to the sovereign of the 
 realm, you could not have spoken more reproachfully of him 
 than you have. 1 demand of you, sir, to shew me the place, 
 the community, the family, where such effects have been pro- 
 duced, as the subversion of the basis of civil order by Dr. 
 H.'s doctrines ? Until you do this, you will not be held 
 guiltless of uttering a most cruel slander against a peaceful 
 and exemplary servant of Jesus Christ, and a faithful mi- 
 nister of the Church of England !' 
 
 In a paragraph quoted by the Christian Observer, Mr. 
 Cottle insinuates, that Dr. Hawker had renounced the 
 scriptures of truth as a standard of faith, and a ride of life ! 
 But no man was more tenacious than Dr. H. of maintaining, 
 that the scriptures of truth and those only were the true 
 standard of faith and the unerring rule of life. Does not 
 Mr. Cottle blunder here on a doctrine which is held by some 
 able and learned divines, though I do not know that Dr. H. 
 has specifically dwelt upon it, that the laic, that is the de- 
 calogue of Moses, is not the christian's rule of life ? This 
 doctrine does not extend generally to the Holy Scriptures, 
 but simply to the law of ten commands ; and it is not to be 
 understood, that this doctrine is so maintained by them, as 
 if the christian were freed from the obligations of the law j 
 but that the gospel opens to the christian new duties which 
 the ten commands do not enjoin, as " repentance towards 
 God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." The rigour of 
 the law admits of no repentance, and the letter of the law 
 inculcates nothing of that life of faith which the christian 
 lives upon the Son of God. It knows nothing of Jesus as 
 a way of access unto the Father through the Spirit, or as 
 the Mediator of a new covenant. It knows nothing of 
 
KEV. L>K. HAWKER. 209 
 
 counting all things but dung or dross, that we may win Christ 
 and be found in Him ; with other such like rules of true chris- 
 tian living. 
 
 Mr. Cottle appears zealous for holiness ; but in his state- 
 ments he certainly does not honour, as he ought to honour, 
 the third person of the glorious Trinity, * who sanctifieth us 
 and all the elect people of God.' I have generally observed, 
 that men who are most zealous to promote or exalt creature- 
 holiness, give little or no distinction in their writings to God 
 the Holy Ghost. This was not the case with our late vene- 
 rable friend. After insinuating that Dr. Hawker, and such 
 men as Dr. Hawker, never pray for the spread of the gos- 
 pel, he intimates e how impossible it is for a christian to feel 
 placid under the conviction, that no particle of his gold is 
 circulating in grand combination through the veins of truth, 
 who is now rising like a refreshed giant from his slumbers, 
 to achieve new and more memorable triumphs on the plains 
 of the spiritual Armageddon.' All this is flourish. Such si- 
 miles have no warrantry in God's word. By adopting such 
 personifications, the Holy Ghost is robbed of his glory. I 
 am far from discouraging christian missions ; but be it ever 
 remembered, that missionaries may be sent, and the truth 
 of the gospel be preached, and not a single soul be con- 
 verted, unless God the Spirit open the heart to receive it. 
 Missionaries may plant their battery against what Mr. Cottle 
 calls the almost impregnable fortress of human nature, and 
 find it not only almost but altogether impregnable, without 
 the power of the Holy Ghost accompanying their ministry. 
 The apostle reminds the Corinthians, that his preaching was 
 " not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demon- 
 stration of the Spirit and in power;" but when Dr. Hawker 
 tells us, that he is grieved to hear men using enticing words 
 of man's wisdom ; or in other language, the ivooing and win- 
 ning words of human persuasion — he is for this held up to 
 ridicule and scorn. Although Mr. Cottle may set a great 
 value on what he calls ' all the elements of intellectual 
 Vol. I.] p 
 
210 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 strength," 1 I know not any who have made greater blunders in 
 divinity than men of great talents. Confiding in their own 
 abilities, they forget that it is the Holy Ghost who alone 
 can guide us into all truth. Newton and Locke were great 
 philosophers, but they were very shallow divines. Although 
 Mr. Cottle may imagine it, it is not a matured judgment which 
 ensures a steady and safe course through the shoals of diver- 
 sified opinions, but the Lord the Spirit, whom in such state- 
 ments Mr. Cottle not only overlooks, but thereby dishonours ! 
 In reviewing this volume of i Strictures,' I pass over a 
 large mass of scurrilities, which any one slightly acquainted 
 Avith the Doctor's real character and writings must know to 
 be untrue and unwarranted ; but I cannot pass over the in- 
 consistency of Mr. Cottle in one particular, by which we may 
 see an illustration of that text, " The tender mercies of the 
 wicked are cruel," Prov. xii. 10. Mr. Cottle tells us, that he 
 has such tender mercy for Dr. Hawker, that, although he 
 plumes himself on his prowess in taking this lion by the 
 beard, he would not hurt the hair of his head; but in the 
 next page, for it cannot be misunderstood, he classes him 
 among the degenerate part of Antinomian ministers, who in- 
 stead of leaving the establishment cleave to their benefices. 
 ' But,' saith he, ' if such men will not go, they should be 
 driven.' The words in italics are so marked by himself. 
 But note this inconsistency ; he would not hurt the hair of 
 his head, but he would eject him from his living ! In another 
 part, he tells the world that ' too much forbearance has been 
 exercised towards Antinomians — that they demand a treat- 
 ment different from that to which others are entitled — and 
 require that the character of the remedy should bear some 
 proportion to the violence of the disease.' ' Where,' saith 
 he, in another place, ' is the vigilance of primates and pre- 
 lates, in allowing such funguses to adhere to the venerable 
 walls of the church, within which the brightest ornaments 
 of past ages exerted their mighty talents to expose the very 
 heresies which now in the same places Antinomians unblush- 
 
II EV. DR. HAWKER. 211 
 
 ingly proclaim?' If this be not exciting persecution, I know 
 not what is. Yes, thou blessed man of God, who art safe in 
 glory, if this man had possessed the power, he would have not 
 only taken thee by thy beard and dragged thee from thy home, 
 but have wept over thee crocodile tears, whilst he inflicted on 
 thee this calamity ! But the Lord hath forbidden us to bring 
 a railing accusation against any man; to him, therefore, would 
 I simply say, " The Lord rebuke thee !" 
 
 To explain his views more fully on the work of divine grace 
 on the heart, Dr. Hawker published a tract on the subject 
 of Sanctification. In the introduction of which, he says, e So 
 many and various have been and still are the sentiments of 
 men, yea, and of gracious men too, on this subject, that it is 
 plain their different views cannot all have been learnt in the 
 same school, and under the same divine Teacher. For my 
 part, so angry have been some of my mother's children, (as 
 the spouse in the Canticles calls them, Song i. 6.) with me, 
 for what I have advanced on the subject in my ' Poor Man's 
 Commentary,' that I fear, unless an act of grace from the 
 Lord prompts them to regard me with more tenderness, I 
 shall not soon be forgiven by them. What a relief it is to 
 my soul on all such occasions, (and I feel the blessedness of 
 it in the moment of writing) that the Lord seeth not as man 
 seeth. If Jesus smiles, it matters not who frowns. And 
 what a holy calm follows the strife of tongues, when ceasing 
 from man we are enabled to draw nigh unto the Lord !' a 
 
 ' If,' saith he, in his explanation of it, ' I am to believe, 
 that the work of God the Holy Ghost in quickening and re- 
 generating the church is not a finished work, as are the acts 
 of the other persons of the Godhead ; that sanctification is 
 progressive, and depending oilman's improvement, the beau- 
 tiful order in the covenant of gi-ace is hereby broken, and the 
 great event of salvation left to a peradventure, whether it 
 
 Vol. X. page 188. 
 
212 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 shall or shall not be accomplished !' ' Moreover,' as he ob- 
 serves in a subsequent paragraph, ' if a man's own progres- 
 sive sanctification (or improvement) is to form a part of the 
 work, the creature is to divide the glory with the infinite 
 Creator.' i If I know any thing of my own heart,' continues 
 he, e I have no one object in view when trying the question 
 by the divine standard but the divine glory. If the event 
 were to prove the reverse of what I have learned to accept it, 
 and I have to learn that the grace of God depends upon man 
 for improvement in a progressive sanctification, 1 bless God 
 I shall stand on even ground with the advocates of this doc- 
 trine ; and may say, " We believe, through the grace of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they !" Acts 
 xv. 11. 
 
 After taking a view of the working of sin in his heart, 
 which is apparent from his spiritual conflicts by day, and 
 even from the visions of the mind by night, he exclaims, 
 ' Precious Lord Jesus! should I not tremble at the very thought 
 of thine inspection, if my acceptance before thee depended 
 upon the least atom of worth in me ? And can I, can any 
 man in the consciousness of such things, be led to advocate 
 the cause of inherent holiness ? The question rings through 
 all the chambers of the conscience, and all the walls of the 
 heart reverberate the solemn sound, and echoes to the en- 
 quiry — " How shall man be just before God ? How can he 
 be clean that is born of a woman ?" Job xxv. 4/ 
 
 ' When I look back to the days of old, when I consider the 
 years of many generations, when I read the groans and self- 
 reproaches of the greatest servants of the Most High God ; 
 not in the days of their unregeneracy. but many of them years 
 after a saving work of grace had been wrought in their hearts, 
 I ask myself the question, did these men indeed feel what they 
 have said, and under such impressions could any one have 
 made them believe the doctrine of inherent holiness and pro- 
 gressive sanctification?' The reviewers in the ' Christian 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 213 
 
 Observer, ' a having quoted the chief part of the above sen- 
 tence, adds, ' what completes the paragraph we dare not 
 transcribe ; and we can only say, that if the day does not 
 come, when its author, like Cranmer, might wish that right 
 hand burnt from the arm which traced the sentiment, it will 
 be no symptom to us of Dr. Hawker's good progress of any 
 kind.' 
 
 This is the venerable man of whom in the preceding part 
 of the same review, they give this attestation — ' Whose whole 
 life we have strong testimony to believe has been free from 
 what is usually deemed a moral blemish ; whose early career 
 was marked with very distinguished services in the cause of 
 sacred truth, and whose latest breath we believe he will de- 
 sire to employ in healing the troubled spirit, and cheering the 
 broken in heart.' Yet of this quotation from his works just 
 referred to, they say, * what completes the paragraph we 
 dare not transcribe F — and then subjoin language which is 
 as harsh and cruel, as this affected concealment of theirs is 
 disingenuous and unjust ! Well might the Rev. Mr. Babb 
 say, in his ' Examination of their Remarks,' which he has 
 given to the public : ' This, sirs, is an illicit silence ; yea, it 
 is as evil as it is affected, and becomes at once the respon- 
 sible parent of many a false and hurtful idea, conveyed by a 
 dark insinuation.' And to prevent the enquirer from exa- 
 mining for himself, they artfully, yea avowedly conceal the 
 name of the tract. But that the reader of these Memoirs 
 may see and judge for himself, I do not hesitate to transcribe 
 the whole faithfully. 
 
 * Nay, hath God the Holy Ghost in the history of those 
 faithful followers of the Lord given a single instance in all 
 the Bible of such a one ? Hath the Holy Ghost testified to 
 Noah of such an improvement in his heart, in those different 
 views given of him before and after the flood? Gen. vi. 8 — 21. 
 Was Lot in a state of progressive sanctification, whose 
 
 November, 182o. 
 
214 MEMOIRS OF THIS 
 
 " righteous soul was vexed with the filthy conversation of 
 the wicked," when in Sodom, but who afterwards fell into 
 such an offence at Zoar ? Gen. xix. with 2 Pet. ii. 7? 8. Was 
 Abraham advancing in self-holiness, whose faith was so il- 
 lustrious at Moriah, and towards the close of life took unto 
 him concubines ? Gen. xxii. with xxv. 6. Do the lives of 
 Moses, Aaron, David, Jeremiah, Peter, and Paul, furnish 
 proofs of a progression in sanctity, and not rather on the 
 contrary, most decided testimonies to the reverse ? See Num. 
 xx. 10. Exod. xxxii. 21. 2 Sam. vii. compared with chap. xi. 
 Jer. i. with xx. 14, &c. Matt. xvi. 17- with xxvi. 69, &c. 
 Rom. vii. 18, &c. &c.' 
 
 And is this the paragraph for which this good man was 
 branded before the world as writing what Christian Observers 
 dared not transcribe ? And is this the paragraph for writing 
 which he ought to have wished his right hand burnt from his 
 arm ? Yes, reader ; because he asserts that the greatest ser- 
 vants of the Most High God stood as much in need of the 
 grace of God the last day they lived as the first day they 
 knew him ; and to shew us that we have no accessions of 
 strength or holiness in ourselves, but what we derive daily 
 and hourly, yea, momentarily from him ! Had I by such a 
 malignant expression prejudiced the christian world against 
 the writings of so able and useful a minister of Christ, I 
 should rather have thought the hand that wrote it deserving 
 of the flames ! On the supposition, that in developing the 
 anatomy of the human heart, he had used language to suit 
 his purpose, as revolting to a delicate taste as some of the 
 prophets have used, is he therefore to be held up to universal 
 odium, reprehension, and reproach ? 
 
 The Doctor follows up the preceding paragraph, which 
 brought on him such a severity of censure, with an humble 
 acknowledgment of his own vileness before God. ' Gracious 
 Lord Jesus ! I desire,' saith he, c to lay low in the dust before 
 the Divine Majesty, under a conscious sense that I find no- 
 thing progressive of holiness in my body, which is virtually 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 215 
 
 all sin ; " for in me, that is, in my flesh, dvvclleth no good 
 thing!" Yes, blessed Lord, let me go softly all my days 
 under a deep sense of it, learning more and more my own 
 nothingness, that I may therefrom, under God the Holy Ghost 
 know how to value more and more thy fulness, suitableness, 
 and all-sufficiency. And if the daily workings of my heart 
 do but endear my Lord the more to me, I am content to be 
 indeed nothing, yea, worse than nothing, that Jesus may be 
 glorified." Mr. Cottle acknowledges the same truth in verse, 
 though he seems to deny it in prose : 
 
 " I breathe pollution every hour, 
 My heart is far from thee ; 
 And nothing but Almighty power, 
 
 From hell can rescue me." — Psalm xxxvii. Cottle's Version. 
 
 Dr. Hawker and his associates have been charged with 
 saying, that i sin cannot hurt the christian, nor hinder his linal 
 happiness.' Perhaps Mr. Cottle does not know, that in the 
 sense in which these gentlemen view it, the same doctrine is 
 inculcated in the Homilies of the Church of England. In 
 the Homily against the fear of death, (second part) it is thus 
 written — ' Death cannot deprive them of Jesus Christ, nor 
 can any sin condemn them that are grafted surely in him, 
 which is their only joy, treasure, and life.' 
 
 To shew what a deep view this devoted minister of Christ 
 had of the. exceeding sinfulness of sin, one quotation will suffice 
 from a small work, entitled, ' The Portrait of the Church,' 
 which he published this year. After drawing the attention 
 of the reader to the several descriptions of Christ's sufferings 
 given by the holy evangelists, and whilst contemplating his 
 agony in the garden, when " his sweat was as it were great 
 drops of blood falling down to the ground," he adds — • 1 
 pause over the trembling subject ! such views of Christ can 
 only form the true mirror for beholding sin in its real colours. 
 There are no events in human life, in all the accumulated and 
 
 ■ Vol. X. page 196, 
 
216 MKMOIRS OF THE 
 
 aggravated forms of misery that can describe what it is in 
 its heinousness, or convey an idea of the baleful malignity of 
 it. The drowning of the world by water at the deluge, the 
 burning of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire, the whole earth as 
 one hospital of sorrow and woe, yea, hell itself with its ever- 
 lasting burnings ; let all be taken into one aggregate — nay, 
 suppose the whole creation of God was offered up as a burnt- 
 offering for human transgression, all could not demonstrate 
 in equal characters the tremendous nature of sin, as that of 
 the Son of God in becoming incarnate, and sweating a bloody 
 sweat, from the agony of his mind, under the pressure of it. 
 He and he only felt the full effects, for he only knew it in its 
 nature, though but by imputation.'* 
 
 The year 1824 was opened, as was usual with him, in greet- 
 ing the spiritual church of Christ on some interesting subject. 
 The subject chosen for the commencement of this year was — 
 ' Death Abolished, and Life and Immortality brought to Light 
 through the Gospel.' The introduction, from which I have 
 already made a quotation, indicates a mind that daily holds 
 converse with another world, and is ready to shake hands and 
 bid a last adieu to this. It breathes the language of holy con- 
 fidence and joyful anticipation of a glorious immortality. It 
 was not because his voyage had been stormy, or because he 
 feared any future perils, that he wished himself in port ; for 
 he knew, that the vessel in which he was embarked had an 
 unerring pilot at the helm, and, what bespeaks the almighti- 
 ness of his power, " gathereth the wind in his fists," Prov. 
 xxx. 4. He rejoiced in the blessedness of his state. ( In 
 the overwhelming view,' saith he, ' of such goodness in the 
 past, I find the greater confidence to trust the Lord for all 
 that is to come. I can and do say with Paul, and from the 
 same Avell-grounded faith as his was ; " For 1 know whom I 
 have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep 
 that which I have committed unto him against that day," 
 
 a Vol. VII. page Ml. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 217 
 
 2 Tim. i. 12. I am therefore, as he was, when he so ex- 
 pressed himself, " looking for that blessed hope, and the 
 glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ/' ( Death in nature,' saith he, (and what he spake he 
 appears to have felt) c is more a privilege to the Lord's 
 people than an evil ; for the sting of death is sin, and that 
 the Lord hath taken out, when he put away sin by the sacri - 
 fice of himself. Nay, sin being removed, death ceases to be 
 death, it is but a sleep ; where, after the example of our most 
 glorious Christ, the dead in Christ retire, as into their cham- 
 ber of repose, until the resurrection morning. In death 
 they are freed from all the sorrows, pains, and toils of life. 
 They sleep in Jesus !' a 
 
 In the preceding year, he had added a chapter or two to 
 his e Zion's Pilgrim,' and purposed an enlargement ; ' but,' 
 saith he, in its continuation, which appeared in the Gospel 
 Magazine, for July, 1824, ' time had hastened so fast since 
 I began to sketch those outlines of my advanced pilgrimage, 
 that the revolution of another year had imperceptibly stolen 
 upon me, and I found in the arithmetic of my days, the hand- 
 hour of my life now pointing to seventy-one. The fragments, 
 therefore, which remain to be filled in, whether few or many, 
 as the wisdom which cannot err hath appointed, must hence- 
 forth commence from this period.' ' Will the reader of my 
 journal,' continues he, c pause to question what attainments 
 I have made in the life of grace during the past year ? Truly 
 the ledger of every day, as it concerns my improvement, if it 
 were added together, would leave but a cypher at the bottom. 
 Amidst innumerable mercies with which my bountiful Lord 
 hath strewed my path, and manifested his loving-kindness to 
 me on the right hand and on the left, I can discover nothing 
 on my part but continued cause of humiliation before God. 
 My daily walk of barrenness too nearly resembles the pro- 
 
 Vol. VII. pages 552, 56G. 
 
218 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 phet's description of the heath, " which doth not see when 
 good cometh," Jer. xvii. 6. And let some men say what they 
 will of a progression of holiness in the creature, I am free to 
 confess that I know it not. It forms no part in my creed, 
 neither do I find it in my experience. How the Lord deals 
 by others is not for me to judge. But in relation to myself, 
 since the Lord was pleased to call me by his grace, and to 
 reveal his Son in me, I have been led into deeper discoveries 
 of my own creature-corruption ; as through divine teaching I 
 have been brought into further knowledge of the Lord. And 
 the result to this hour is, that in proportion as I have found 
 the fulness, and suitableness, and all-sufficiency of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ to my state and circumstances, " when I myself 
 am weighed in the balance, I am found wanting!" ' a 
 
 Such were the humbling views which this man of God 
 had of himself, which may serve to console many an aged 
 pilgrim who groans under the same burden. Indeed, the 
 freedom and candour which he felt in declaring his own 
 feelings, largely qualified him to administer consolation to 
 others. Strangers from various parts would also consult him 
 under the spiritual maladies with which they laboured, and 
 for whom he could not but feel a deep interest when he saw 
 the artifice with which Satan held them bound. From this 
 very circumstance, he was led to speak freely and fully of the 
 abounding grace which is in Jesus for the chief of sinners. 
 
 The following letter is given by him as a full illustration 
 of the influence which Satan holds over the human mind ; 
 and bis own observations upon it is a full illustration of the 
 tender feelings of his heart towards such as groaned beneath 
 Satan's chain. ' Oft hath it been spread by me,' saith he, 
 ' before the Lord, and scarce a visit have I made in private 
 to court without again and again mentioning the case to the 
 King. And it is a maxim, which through a long life I have 
 closely observed, and never seen to fail, namely, that when- 
 
 • Vol. 111. page 174. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 219 
 
 ever the Lord gives the spirit of prayer, the Lord answers it 
 in mercy.' The following is a copy : — 
 
 e Sir, 
 
 ' A very unhappy person, desolate in mind, once 
 applied to you to implore your prayers through Christ for 
 peace and pardon. I was then quitting England for another 
 clime ; but no clime can heal a wounded spirit ! I am now 
 returning to my miserable home, for I know no other but 
 that which is misery ; and I once more write to you to implore 
 your prayers, that God would look with pity on the being, 
 whom for eighteen years he has pursued with his fiercest 
 wrath, and save and restore me to his fold ! As my years 
 decline, my sorrows increase ; and I see only self-destruction 
 before me in spite of struggles and fervent prayers. And 
 now again I cannot pray, the power is worn out — a sort of 
 inanity overwhelms me that proceeds from despair — I write 
 this in the fields — I cannot bear observation — I am gone — 
 pray for me, and hold sacred my ' a 
 
 Here the letter ended. It appears as if the writer intended 
 to have added his name, but did not. It was written on a 
 wretched scrap of paper, and fully pourtrayed the desolate 
 state of the writer's mind. O how precious is the preaching 
 which makes Christ all and in all, to such poor bewildered 
 and disconsolate mourners ! 
 
 As was usual in preceding years, the preface of one of his 
 publications this year bears date the memorable 13th of 
 April ; its title, ' Visits to and from Jesus upon interesting 
 occasions, and in the most hallowed moments of life.' In 
 the introduction, he says with his usual humility, i I have 
 ventured to intrude one labour more of mine, in this little 
 work, upon the church of Christ. Hastening fast as I now 
 am to the close of life, these intrusions will soon be over.' 
 The first is entitled, ' A Morning Visit from Jesus ;' in which 
 he says, e I am no stranger to the day-dawn visit of Jesus. 
 
 » Vol. III. page 216. 
 
220 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Many a morning before the world is up have I found cause 
 to say, " He wakeneth morning by morning," Isa. 1. 4. Nay, 
 I think I should not err, were I to add, that sometimes, and 
 not unfrequently, the manifestations of my Lord's presence 
 have been so striking, in the first moments of recollection, 
 as if called from sleep for the express purpose of com- 
 munion. '■ ' Come then, my honoured Lord, and day by day 
 grant me the renewed visits of thy love. Draw back the 
 curtains of my heart, and bid my soul, good morrow ! " Be 
 thou as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even 
 a morning without clouds/' 2 Sam. xxiii. 4.' b I have heard 
 him say, that it was his custom every morning, as soon as he 
 was awakened, almost invariably to repeat the fourteenth 
 chapter of the gospel of St. John. It is Jesus speaking to 
 his disciples a word of comfort, and he has ofttimes found it 
 a heart-cheering and soul-refreshing season, to hear the 
 Lord Jesus speaking to him the same gracious words with 
 an emphasis that could not be mistaken. 
 
 Considering the numerous and illiberal attacks which were 
 made upon his doctrines and character, he might be thought 
 by some to be ofttimes in deep waters ; but no man enjoyed 
 more tranquillity of mind. Whatever clouds were without, 
 there was sunshine within. f To be ill-spoken of,' saith he, 
 (in a letter of thanks to the editors of the Gospel Magazine, 
 for their handsome conduct towards him,) e by the advocates 
 of free will for proclaiming the doctrines of free grace, is 
 an ancient, an honourable badge, worn by all that are alike 
 indifferent, while preaching the distinguishing principles of 
 the gospel, whether by honour or dishonour, by evil i*eport 
 or good report. It is indeed no small dignity to be branded 
 as Paul was, when called " a ringleader of the sect of the 
 Nazarenes." Such a standard it is well to take with us 
 when we go forth to the glorious Nazarene without the 
 
 Vol. VII. page 225. b Vol. VII. page 232. 
 
 c Gospel Magazine, for 1824, page 73. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 221 
 
 camp, bearing his reproach. Metbinks it is a pity, that they 
 should combine in one subject matters so irrelevant to each 
 other, as the gospel of Christ and a person of so little note as 
 Robert Hawker ! It is of eternal moment what is said and 
 what is believed concerning our most glorious Christ : but 
 what is said or believed of me, and of my insignificant life, 
 even while I live, is of no importance ; and when I die (as 
 very shortly must be the case) my remembrance will soon 
 cease among men, as though I had never been. Whence, 
 therefore, so much ardour, and why are men so hot in 
 their military warfare, to level their arms against a poor, 
 solitary, and now almost worn-out soldier, in the camp of 
 free grace ; as if determined, that more or less the whole 
 battalion of free-willers, either in grand divisions or sub- 
 divisions, shall make him their target.' 
 
 i For several years last past I have been so much in retire- 
 ment, that with the exception of attending ordinances in the 
 house of God I am never seen in public. Did my opponents 
 know how totally unacquainted I am with their contumely, 
 whether in speaking or writing, they would certainly relin- 
 quish their fruitless attempts to give me pain by their 
 I'eproaches. I never myself see any of their publications, 
 and what I casually hear never excites more displeasure than 
 the hectic of the moment. They are as transient as snow- 
 balls, which little wanton boys throw at passengers, which 
 melt before they wound.' 
 
 Thus, (saith an advocate of his doctrines, who had quoted 
 the above paragraphs,) he like 
 
 " Atlas, 
 
 Whilst storms and tempests thunder on his brow, 
 And oceans break their billows at his feet, 
 Stands unmoved." 
 
 The advocate I refer to, is the Rev. James Jacks of 
 Nottingham, who ably defended his system of theology, (if a 
 system it is to be considered,) against the attacks of the Rev. 
 Isaiah Birt of Birmingham, which was published this year 
 
222 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 with this title; ' The Moral Government of God, in the 
 Dispensation of the Gospel, vindicated, in Observations on 
 the System of Theology taught by the Rev. Dr. Hawker, 
 Vicar of Charles, Plymouth.' The very title insinuates, that 
 Dr. H. paid little or no respect, in his body of divinity, to 
 the moral government of God ; than which nothing can be 
 more false, if falsehood will admit a comparison. 
 
 From this pamphlet it appears, that Mr. Birt has in his 
 own mind, by abstract reasoning, separated the divine sove- 
 reignty of grace from the moral government of God ; and 
 with this distinction in view, he charges Dr. H. with main- 
 taining the sovereignty of grace in almost every page, whilst 
 the moral government of God, if not totally, is greatly neg- 
 lected. Surely Mr. B. does not mean to say, that Dr. H. 
 maintained the divine sovereignty of grace and not at the 
 same time the moral government of God ? I know not what 
 others may conceive on the subject, but it appears to me a 
 gross libel, if we may so speak, on the divine sovereignty of 
 grace, to separate it for a moment, even in idea, from the 
 moral government of God. If the sovereignty of God be 
 inculcated almost in every page, is it not connected with the 
 reign of grace in the heart ? And what is this but a moral 
 government established there, against which the evil pro- 
 pensities of our carnal nature are continually rebelling ? In 
 the very paragraph which Mr. B. has quoted as a specimen 
 of his preaching, does he not say, ' that the person, glory, 
 grace, blood-shedding, righteousness, and finished salvation 
 of our Lord are the glorious doctrines I preach — these I make 
 the ground-work of all practical godliness, and without 
 which nothing of true godliness can arise in the soul ?' The 
 courteous reader will permit me to ask, is there no moral 
 government in all this ? I have known Mr. B. from my 
 boyish days, and still retain a respect for him ; but I am 
 grieved that I cannot justify this attack of his on the 
 venerable Pastor of Charles. He is certainly less violent and 
 acrimonious than some other opponents ; but there is a mis- 
 
RBV. DR. HAWKER. 223 
 
 representation in his language, and a want of fairness in his 
 statements. 
 
 I will instance this only, from many of a similar import. 
 In his Comment on the 4th chapter of the Acts of the 
 Apostles, Dr. H. thus writes of the third person of the 
 glorious Trinity : — f We behold him here under many of 
 those most gracious characters in which the Lord Jesus 
 promised him. As the Lord the Spirit is the founder, so 
 is he the governor, preserver, teacher, comforter, sanctifier, 
 of the church in all ages.' Mr. Birt only cites the last 
 sentence of the above quotation, and says in connexion with 
 it : — c The government and present salvation of the church 
 he either directly or indirectly ascribes exclusively to the 
 Holy Ghost ;' and adds, that such views of the divine 
 economy in the government of the church are incorrect and 
 unscriptural. This is by no means a fair statement ; for no 
 man more pointedly or fully ascribes the government of the 
 church to the holy Three in One ; and even in the first part 
 of the above quotation, Dr. H. refers to the promise of the 
 Lord Jesus " to send the Spirit," John xv. 26. which surely 
 is not to ascribe to the Holy Ghost an exclusive government ! 
 In his zeal to decry the Holy Spirit's government in the 
 church, Mr. B. asserts, e that the apostles neither speak of 
 themselves, nor are they spoken of in the holy scriptures, 
 as the servants of the Holy Ghost.' What means then 
 this text, which not only refutes the last assertion, but 
 shews that the Holy Ghost is the appointer of the chief 
 servants in the church of Christ, and consequently the 
 Governor — i( Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to 
 all the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made you over- 
 seers ?" Acts xx. 28. My view of the holy Trinity is, that 
 whatever in the government of the church is ascribed to one, 
 is ascribed to all. " He that honoureth the Son honoureth the 
 Father," and no one can honour either without ascribing 
 collaterally equal and undivided honour to the Holy Ghost. 
 1 Whilst writing,' says Mr. Birt, ' I have lying on the 
 
224 MEMOIRS OF THK 
 
 table ten different tracts written by the Doctor, all of which 
 I have read with more than common diligence, and am 
 really not aware that a single gospel precept is enforced in 
 any one of them.' Does Mr. B. mean to assert, because no 
 gospel precept be expressly quoted, that no gospel precepts 
 are there inculcated ? He might lay the same charge against 
 the interesting history of Joseph, unless this be accounted 
 one, " See that ye fall not out by the way;" but surely no 
 one would say this is the only gospel precept inculcated in 
 this sweet portion of holy scripture ! e In the section where 
 he makes this charge,' as Mr. Jacks remarks, ' Mr. B. has 
 only mentioned tivo of those tracts, namely, ' The Heirs of 
 Promise,' and ' God's Will and Man's Shall." In the 
 former, the Doctor tells us, ' that if the reader in his own 
 instance can clearly ascertain the precious assurance of being 
 called by grace from darkness to light, and from the power 
 of sin and Satan into the kingdom of God's dear Son ; he 
 hath the most decided testimony which can be given of being 
 among the heirs of promise ; for this holy calling is the 
 unerring character of a child of God. And connected with 
 this, he tells us, that Peter's advice (or gospel precept) comes 
 in here very admirably, when he bids the church " to make 
 their calling and election sure," 2 Pet. i. 10.' a In the last- 
 mentioned tract, he states, ' that such assurances as are 
 grounded on the covenant promises of a covenant God in 
 Christ, are admirably calculated to beget holiness in the 
 heart of every believer.' c What,' saith he, e can as effectually 
 secure the honour of God's laws as the grace of God in the 
 hearts of his people ? Who is most likely to be examples 
 of believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith, in 
 purity ; the regenerated child of God, who undertakes no- 
 thing but in divine strength, and desires nothing but the 
 divine glory ; or the man who makes his own free will the 
 standard of his endeavours, and depends more upon an arm 
 
 • Vol. X. page 108. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 225 
 
 of flesh than in the power of God ?' a Surely the reader will 
 not be at a loss to find many a gospel precept inculcated 
 here ; and although not worded in the imperative mood, it is 
 evident that there are inculcated by Dr. Hawker, even in 
 this tract, high obligations to obey God, in word, in conver- 
 sation, in charity, in faith, in purity, which arise from his 
 high commands, or from the aboundings of his grace and 
 mercy in Jesus Christ, though Mr. Birt may assert the con- 
 trary. All the sections of his book are too highly varnished, 
 and will not bear the touch of truth. 
 
 In the month of May this year, 1824, was commenced, 
 ' The Spiritual Magazine, or Saints' Treasury ;' for which he 
 wrote an introductory discourse, entitled, ' The Mystery of 
 the Kingdom of God given to be known only to the Children 
 of the Kingdom,' Mark iv. 11. ' In the character of those 
 our Lord describes in Matt. vii. 24 — 27- as hearing his 
 sayings and doing them, we have,' saith he, ' the portraits of 
 the men in the regeneration, unto whom is given to know the 
 mystery of the kingdom of God. By regeneration, or the 
 new birth, they are called forth to the exercise of the spi- 
 ritual faculties the Lord hath given them. Hence they are 
 spiritually alive to divine things ; their eyes are enlightened 
 to see the hope of their calling ; they hear and know the 
 joyful sound ; they walk in the light of God's countenance. 
 Every spiritual faculty is awakened and engaged. ,b After 
 expatiating on the subject, he concludes with this benedic- 
 tion : ' The God of all grace bless with his savour these 
 words to those unto whom he hath given to know the mj^s- 
 tery of the kingdom, and make that knowledge introductory 
 to all spiritual understanding, " that ye may walk worthy of 
 the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good 
 work, and increasing in the knowledge of God," Col. i. 9, 10.' 
 
 May Mr. Birt know the blessedness of finding his portrait 
 here, in these brief sketches of christian character, and of 
 
 a Vol. X. page 78. b Vol. X. page 472. 
 
 Vol. I.] q 
 
226 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 putting into practice the duties here enjoined ; though he 
 would fain have the world believe, that ' Dr. Hawker is 
 defective in his exhibitions of the christian character and 
 duties.' In a series of letters published in this Magazine, 
 Mr. Birt has met with an opponent, who has shewn no 
 small ability in analyzing and exposing the errors of judg- 
 ment, the sophistry of argument, the perversion of language, 
 and misrepresentation of facts, which are discoverable in 
 Mr. Birt's ( Moral Government.' I need not add, that this 
 Magazine, which treats of the spiritual things of Christ's 
 kingdom, has in its Treasury that which is far more pre- 
 cious than the gold of Ophir, or the topaz of Ethiopia, Job 
 xxviii. 16, 19. It holds forth the Lord Christ as the way, 
 and the truth, and the life ! 
 
 Some time this year, this indefatigable writer sent forth a 
 work of much learning and research, entitled, ( The Portrait 
 of an English Bishop of the Sixteenth Century S It fur- 
 nishes the reader with many interesting particulars in the 
 public and private history of our most learned and devoted 
 bishops, about the time of the Reformation, and in the fol- 
 lowing age. It is replete with general information, and can 
 scarcely be read by any one without benefit, and is well 
 worth the perusal of the younger clergy. Though written 
 after he had past his seventieth year, it shews the author to 
 have been in the full vigour of his mental powers. Not one 
 of all his productions exhibits a greater variety of reading, 
 or embodies more matter in smaller compass. From what 
 we may judge of this specimen, he would have shone as an 
 ecclesiastical historian. ' It may be demanded,' saith he, 
 ' wherefore give the portrait of a bishop of the sixteenth 
 century, rather than of any other century ? The answer is 
 at hand. This was the era, which in reference to the 
 religion of this country, might well be called the golden age 
 of the church.' The motto in the title-page exhibits a 
 miniature sketch of the author's design. It is the character 
 of Archbishop Leighton, by Bishop Burnett. In the prelates 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 22J 
 
 of that century, there was a close resemblance to the apostolic 
 pattern. ' And what summed up and put a beautiful finish 
 to their whole character, they lived what they preached, 
 and taught only what they themselves practised. Some men 
 talk well of God by books ; but those men spake from the 
 heart. The general feature of those saints of God corre- 
 sponded to what Jerome said of Nepotianus, who by frequent 
 and unremitting meditation of the scriptures had his mind 
 so stored with them, that the father called him, ' a magazine 
 of knowledge, and the library of Christ.' ' a 
 
 But have we not here a striking delineation of the Doctor 
 himself. From his frequent perusal of the scriptures, com- 
 paring spiritual things with spiritual ; for to this he ascribed 
 it, rather than to a tenacious memory, he was one of the 
 best textuaries of his day. I know not his equal. More 
 frequently than otherwise, when he quoted a text of scrip- 
 ture, he would immediately give the chapter and verse. 
 Although in the ardour of his eloquence, he quoted one text 
 after another in confirmation of his doctrine sometimes 
 with great rapidity, yet such was his numerical acquaintance 
 with the sacred volume, that he would with the greatest 
 readiness and accuracy give both chapter and verse. Many, 
 struck with his promptitude in this particular, have taken 
 their bibles with them to see if they could detect him in any 
 error of this nature, but with admiration have acknowledged 
 the correctness of his references. He was a scribe well 
 instructed, " an eloquent man, and mighty in the scrip- 
 tures," Acts xviii. 24. 
 
 Although highly blessed of God, he had his trials in the 
 church and his trials in his family ; but he had learned even to 
 enumerate all these among his blessings. It is obvious that 
 he had suffered much this year from attacks made on his 
 writings, from quarters whence perhaps he did not expect 
 them ; and, as before observed, in the November of this year 
 
 a Vol. VII. page 33. 
 
228 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 he lost his youngest daughter ; but what were his feelings 
 under these dispensations our Zion's Pilgrim can himself 
 best describe. ' The train of occurrences which hath taken 
 place during another year of my eventful life, hath only 
 tended in the operation to wean more from earth and to 
 endear heaven. We unavoidably retain the early impres- 
 sions received in our early years ; and from the common 
 propensity which we all feel to have the good opinion of our 
 fellow-creatures in the meridian of life, it is not till old age, 
 and then only through grace, that we can rise above it. 
 Indeed I was matriculated into this divine science for some 
 time before, when for a while I considered myself as called 
 upon to contravene the contumely cast upon me. But the 
 Lord hath taught me better. I now feel the sweetness of 
 that holy scripture of our God, when he said, " in your 
 patience possess ye your souls," Luke xxi. 19. Hence I 
 have ceased to answer the numerous attacks of my oppo- 
 nents. I am told, that amidst their displeasure at my doc- 
 trine, they ascribe nothing immoral or reproachful to my 
 person or conduct. The arrows in their several quivers are 
 levelled at my preaching and writings — all is well ! I have 
 read of some who have found a peculiar sweetness in those 
 words concerning our most glorious Christ, " for neither did 
 his brethren believe in him," John vii. 5. Well may I be 
 satisfied, therefore, under reproaches ! And what can be so 
 endearing as the consideration, that we are hereby in some 
 measure brought into a situation like himself, " Whose image 
 we are to be conformed to in all things, that he might be 
 the first-born among many brethren," Rom. viii. 29. 
 
 ' And is it so, that the dispensation is of the Lord ? Is it 
 by such a process of grace that the Lord deadens our affec- 
 tions to the approbation of men, the more effectually to 
 bring home the whole heart to God ; and dashes the cup 
 with bitterness, like the waters of Marah, where we had pro- 
 posed to ourselves much sweetness ? Henceforth would I 
 learn the blessedness of that scripture, in this as well as in 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 
 
 229 
 
 a thousand other instances, " Cease ye from man, whose 
 breath is in his nostrils ; for wherein is he to be accounted 
 of?" Isa. ii. 22. It was my mercy, that the Lord had 
 brought me into this school and taught me those salutary 
 lessons, or the events of the past year would have opened so 
 many and so various an occasion for polemics, as could not 
 have afforded me space to have defended myself from the 
 several assailants during the campaign of the annual course 
 " when kings go forth to battle," 2 Sam. xi. 1. But inde- 
 pendent of these things, and indeed wholly unconnected with 
 them, the Lord in his providence had appointed the greater 
 part of my seventy-second year to a very different employ- 
 ment. In the infinite ordination of his wisdom, combined 
 with his infinite love, the Lord called me aside to attend to 
 the long sickness of my youngest daughter, and which his 
 holy will was pleased to terminate in death.' 
 
 ' True, the Lord by this appointment had inverted the 
 general plan of his administration, which for the most part 
 is shewn in children burying their parents ; and where the 
 younger survives the elder. But in the instance of my 
 child's departure, she is gone before me ; and the same Lord 
 who ordereth all things in wisdom, and after the counsel of 
 his own will, and who had appointed her my junior in time, 
 had in a moment made her my elder in eternity. Solemnly 
 but sweetly the Lord's word accompanied the Lord's be- 
 reaving dispensation, " Be still, and know that I am God !" 
 Ps. xlvi. 10. It is an alleviation of the highest and most 
 consolatory nature, when in the loss of those who are dear 
 and near to us, we can and do say with one of old, " the 
 righteous hath hope in his death," Prov. xiv. 32. An alle- 
 viation did I say ? That is too little upon the occasion, when 
 the believer falls asleep in Jesus. The voice John heard, in 
 vision from heaven, declared also such blessed who die in the 
 Lord, Rev. xiv. 13. And beyond all doubt they are blessed, 
 for they die in union with Christ, and are part with himself. 
 In relatiou to my child, there were many precious tokens to 
 
230 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 this assurance. She knew the Lord ; she loved the people of 
 the Lord ; she loved the word of the Lord, and the ordinances 
 of the Lord. True, all these were but effects ; but such effects 
 could not be without a cause. And God the Holy Ghost hath 
 most blessedly shewn the cause, when saying by his servant 
 John, " We love him, because he first loved us," 1 John iv. 19. 
 O delightful consolation under all bereavements in separa- 
 tion by death ! ' 
 
 ' But while I have all the comfort in respect to the de- 
 parted that can be needed, I feel the void in the chasm made 
 by her flight into the world of spirits. Blessed be God ! she 
 is gone beyond " the lion's den, and the mountains of the 
 leopards." Her conflicts with sin are all over: her anxieties 
 are for ever ceased. Her body will sleep till the resurrection- 
 morn in the dust, undisturbed by any of those exercises 
 which these are warring with who survive ; and her spirit is 
 for ever with the Lord ! For myself, I have one less attrac- 
 tion than I had before to things below ; and by so much I 
 have my affections to things below brought into a narrower 
 circle. Such are among the events of my seventy -second 
 year ; and if the Lord hath other bereavements to call me 
 into in the seventy-third, sure I am, the trial his wisdom 
 may think proper to send, his grace will be sufficient for. 
 Take what the Lord may, all he takes was and is his own. 
 In fact, all I have are merely the boons of his bounty, and 
 not given, but lent. One gift indeed is given ; namely, 
 Christ, and that for ever : and having him, in him I have 
 all things. The Lord hath given, and will give me grace, 
 as I am now daily walking on the confines of another 
 world, to be loosening connexion with this. And while his 
 wisdom is withering my gourds, and breaking my cisterns, 
 and the props of all earthly comforts are taking down, I 
 shall find strength from the Lord to look off from the un- 
 satisfying objects of sight, and realize the glorious objects of 
 faith ; and to be endowed with the same spirit as those holy 
 men of old, who by always bearing about in the body the 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 231 
 
 dying of the Lord Jesus, the life also of Jesus was manifest 
 in their mortal body. u For which cause (said they,) we 
 faint not ; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward 
 man is renewed day by day. For our light afflictions, which 
 are but for a moment, work for us a far more exceeding and 
 eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things 
 which are seen, but at the things which are not seen ; for 
 the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which 
 are not seen are eternal," 2 Cor. iv. end.' 
 
 It is pleasing to remark, in what a waiting position he 
 always stood in these his last years, ever anticipating his 
 Lord's message to beckon him away. In his renewed con- 
 tinuations of his ' Zion's Pilgrim,' he commonly concluded the 
 account of his journey Zionward, with such a remark as 
 this : ' To be occasionally continued, if the Lord spare.' 
 ' To be continued as fragments occasionally, if the Lord 
 please.' So at the close of the communication just quoted, 
 he wrote thus : ' If life continues, and ought occurs the re- 
 lation of which may be rendered profitable through divine 
 teaching to the Lord's people, ( Zion's Pilgrim past Seventy' 
 will again write, D. V. If not, the close of this life will per- 
 haps be filled in by another hand." 1 Who can read the pre- 
 ceding paragraphs, and not contemplate him in the last 
 stages of his pilgrim path with pleasing admiration? Amidst 
 the good report and the evil report which he shared, calmly 
 he travels his up-hill road ; the world receding, and heaven 
 opening to his mental gaze. Yes, venerable saint, sweet 
 were thy visions, and delightful thy prospects in the last 
 wilderness stages which it was thine to make in thy sojourning 
 here ! Though he has been contemptuously represented as 
 telling his congregation, that we shall be better employed in 
 heaven than in singing songs ; b yet he had learned " a new 
 song, which no man can learn but the hundred and forty 
 and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth," 
 Rev. xiv. 3. 
 
 Though to his soul the sweetest melodies were the conso- 
 
 a Gosp. Mag. for 1825, page 22(i. b Cottle's Strictures, sec. edit, page 51). 
 
232 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 lations of the gospel, yet he was no stranger to the charms 
 of music. His proficiency in this science, in his younger 
 days, caused his company to be much sought ; but in the 
 subsequent periods of his life, this talent, as well as every 
 other with which the Lord had honoured him, was devoted 
 to the best of purposes. There was no organ in his church, 
 but the singing was attractive and devotional. In a full con- 
 gregation crowded to the very ceiling, the swell of the voices 
 which seemed to rise in full harmony of soul, as well as in 
 full harmony of note, was grand and exhilirating. As a com- 
 poser of music, he will not soon be forgotten. The e Abba 
 Hymn,' the l Ruach Hymn,' the c Amen Hymn,' (the words as 
 well as the music by the Rev. Dr. Hawker) have been long 
 favourite tunes with many a lover of sacred song. In his 
 own church they were sung with admirable effect. He also 
 composed another hymn tune, called the ' Bethesda,' and one 
 for the Thirteenth Psalm, old version, which has been adapted 
 to a well-known funeral hymn by Dr. Watts, (" Why do ye 
 mourn," &c.) A musical composition of his, entitled 'the 
 Magdalene,' was published in the Evangelical Magazine, for 
 1808. The words are also his, which have been already 
 quoted in this Memoir. It was with him a hallowed recrea- 
 tion to sit down to the pianoforte, and play his chaunts ex- 
 tempore, adapting the music to the varied subjects of the 
 psalm which he thus chaunted. His poetical compositions, 
 which are but few, stand in need of the file; but, as he wrote 
 for dying sinners and not for literary fame, he therefore 
 deemed it expedient to dispense with the well-known rule 
 of Horace : 
 
 " Nonumque prematur in annum." 
 
 Although here and there a verse may be found incorrect in 
 metre or rhythm, yet in the soundness and sweetness of the 
 sentiment, the reader will find ample compensation for this 
 deficiency. The following verses are from a hymn, entitled, 
 ' Union with Christ :' a 
 
 - 1 Vol. X, page 775. 
 
REV. OK. HAWKER. 233 
 
 " Ye children of God and the Lamb, 
 
 Remember, when sorrows press sore, 
 Your Jesus did once feel the same, 
 When conflicts and trials he bore. 
 
 And still his redeemed should know, 
 
 He's Jesus the same in his love ; 
 The foot can't be crushed below, 
 
 And the head be unconscious above. 
 
 And what a sweet thought for to bear, 
 
 By all where his grace he hath given, 
 His poorest on earth are as dear 
 
 To him, as his greatest in heav'n." 
 
 In 1825, he proceeded with the publication of his Village 
 Sermons, One of them bears this remark in the title-page: 
 ' Preached in the Parish Church of Charles, on the Lord's 
 day Morning, after an absence of a few weeks in visiting 
 other churches.' The affectionate manner with which he 
 greets them at his return, shews what a union of hearts sub- 
 sisted between him and his substitute, and their flock. There 
 was no supercilious distance shewn by him towards his cu- 
 rate, as is ofttimes ungraciously witnessed in professing 
 churches ; but he addresses him and treats him as a fellow- 
 labourer in the ministry ; as may be seen by this exordium 
 to his sermon:* ' When I last spake to you from this place, 
 in taking leave of you for a short season as was then in- 
 tended, 1 commended the whole church, with my fellow- 
 labourer in the ministry and myself, to the Lord and to your 
 prayers. And if I remember right, upon that occasion of a 
 farewell, among other things I ventured to make use of the 
 words of the apostle, which he addressed to the church of 
 the Thessalonians, 2 Thess. i. 11, 12. "Wherefore also," 
 said the apostle, " we pray always for you, that our God 
 would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good 
 pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power ; 
 that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in 
 
 ■ Vol. IV. page 177. 
 
234 MEMOIRS OF THK 
 
 you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God, and 
 the Lord Jesus Christ." And I feel confident,' said the affec- 
 tionate pastor to his people, ' that this hath been and still is 
 most graciously accomplished by our most blessed God, who is 
 a prayer-awakening, a prayer-hearing, and a prayer-answer- 
 ing God, in all ages of his church.' After shewing how in all 
 things our covenant God fulfils all the good pleasure of his 
 goodness, he says, ' It was under these impressions I left 
 you a few weeks since ; and am now, through the good hand 
 of my God upon me, brought back among you again.' 
 
 During this absence he paid a short visit to Gloucester- 
 shire, where his popularity drew no small congregations, 
 and where his friends felt no small pleasure to hear him 
 preach in all its fulness, sweetness, and blessedness, the 
 gospel of the grace of God ; but his stay was short, as he 
 pui-posed to have been in London at the anniversary of the 
 Gospel Tract Society ; in all the concerns of which he felt 
 a deep interest. But indisposition prevented him from sharing 
 the pleasure. In his letter to the committee, he says, e I 
 know not whether I ought to regret my inability of mingling 
 with you on the day of your anniversary. We are taught by 
 unerring wisdom, that, " to every thing there is a season, 
 and a time for every purpose under heaven." I confess in- 
 deed, that had the Lord so appointed, the being with you on 
 this solemnity, would have afforded me a pleasure of much 
 gratification, and of the purest kind. For to be in any way 
 connected with an institution whose first and ultimate ob- 
 ject is the divine glory, in ministering to the welfare of his 
 church, is in my esteem the most delightful employment the 
 renewed heart is capable of enjoying this side heaven. And 
 although, had the Lord so permitted, I am of too little im- 
 portance to have rendered my personal attendance at all 
 available, and too old to have been of use in a service of 
 such magnitude, as the Gospel Tract Society embraces ; yet 
 in respect of myself, sure I am, that neither my insignificancy 
 nor age would have blunted those finer sensations of the 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 235 
 
 soul, which, through divine quickenings, would have been 
 excited and called forth into energy in such an assembly of 
 the Lord's people. As, however, it is the Lord who wills this 
 privation, I am content ; and find cause to bless this ordina- 
 tion, in that he hath given me grace to blend my prayers with 
 yours, on the occasion. And in this sense, I shall be with 
 you. And far remote as I am in body, yet one in spirit, 
 " joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of 
 your faith in Christ." '" 
 
 During his visit to Gloucestershire, I well remember the 
 circumstance which he mentions in his last edition of the 
 f Zion's Pilgrim, ,b when a neighbouring clergyman called upon 
 the Doctor, and solicited him to give him his views of that 
 text in Micah vi. 8. To whom the Doctor, inter alia, made 
 these remarks : ' That as to doing justice, no man could do 
 justice to God the Father, who did not acknowledge himself 
 a hell-deserving sinner; and no man could love mercy aright, 
 who did not love the Lord Jesus, the source of all mercy ; 
 and when any man had been taught these two lessons by the 
 Holy Ghost, he would not fail to walk humbly with his God.' 
 Though he did not mean to circumscribe the text to these 
 views only, yet no man can say in verity that these views of 
 it ought not to be taken ; although Mr. Cottle has thought it 
 prudent to throw his slur of censure upon it. The clergyman 
 mentioned, was at that time an incumbent in Gloucester- 
 shire, whose pulpit would have been readily opened to this 
 venerable servant of Christ, if he could have found time to 
 have paid him a visit. He now fills an important station in 
 another county, and preaches the great and glorious truths 
 of Christ's everlasting kingdom. 
 
 This year, the Religious Tract Society, by a special ad- 
 vertisement, disclaimed all connexion between itself and the 
 Gospel Tract Society. As the Doctor observed, from the 
 singularity of this measure, it appeared, that some more 
 
 a First Report, page 23. b Vol. iii. page VJ. 
 
236 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 latent principle than the ostensible one assigned had given 
 birth to this marked production. The ostensible reason 
 given for this notice was, that several enquiries had been 
 made respecting it. In his remarks on this advertisement, 
 he gives at large this statement to shew wherein they differ: 
 * The Religious Tract Society considers all mankind alike 
 salvable ; the Gospel Tract Society acknowledged none but 
 the election of grace. The former conceives, that the com- 
 mon ground which the churchman, dissenter, and foreigner 
 jointly occupy, will bring about those evangelical princi- 
 ples in which all are agreed ; the latter limits, accoraing to 
 scripture, " the remnant of Jacob in the midst of many 
 people, as a dew from the Lord, and as showers upon the 
 grass," Micah v. J. The one society professeth, that the 
 most opposite principles may amalgamate into christian union 
 of a general mass ; the other, observing the divine command, 
 desires to act instrumentally only in the Lord's hand, " to 
 be as his mouth, and to take forth the precious from the 
 vile," Jer. xv. 19. The Religious Tract Society contend, 
 that there is a somewhat in every man by nature, by which 
 he may be helpful to himself, and become instrumental to 
 his own salvation ; the Gospel Tract Society, following the 
 decisive declarations of scripture, considers every man by 
 nature dead in trespasses and sins, and incompetent to a 
 single act but by regeneration to a spiritual life. The one, 
 therefore, is for ever leaning upon some supposed goodness 
 in the creature ; the other, hanging wholly upon the righ- 
 teousness of God. This sacrificeth to the unhumbled pride 
 of human nature, in the merits and free-will of man ; that 
 gives the sole glory to the free grace of God. Hence, whilst 
 the one goes only in search of the lost sheep of the house of 
 Israel ; the other cherisheth the hope, from an hypothesis of 
 its own creating, that on the large portion of common 
 ground, jointly occupied by mankind, it shall ultimately 
 convert the whole world !' a 
 
 » Vol. VII. page 622. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 23J 
 
 It is certainly a matter of regret, that so much of the 
 language of Ashdod is blended with the language of God's 
 spiritual Israel, in some of the publications of the Religious 
 Tract Society. Their advertisement, which spake nothing 
 friendly or brotherly, called forth not without reason all the 
 animadversions which were made by the Doctor. It was 
 from no want of urbanity in him, but from pure christian 
 affection to them, that these remarks were given. The 
 tracts of this society want a close revision from some well- 
 instructed editor, who from the Lord's teaching knows how 
 to distinguish the precious from the vile, the wheat from the 
 tares, the gold from the dross ; sentiments which demonstrate 
 man's salvation to be wholly of God, from those which di- 
 rectly or indirectly represent man to be a co-partner in the 
 great work of salvation . 
 
 As the year 1825 was opened by him, with a salutation 
 to the church of Christ on this question, " Watchman, what of 
 the night?" the year 1826 was opened with another of equal 
 importance, " What think ye of Christ?" ' Great events,' saith 
 he, ' are pending,' and marvellous are to be the forerunners 
 (as taught us in scripture) by which will be ushered in 
 the latter day glory ; but amidst all the convulsions, with 
 which the Lord will shake the earth, the church is impreg- 
 nable ; and this voice through all may be heard by every 
 regenerated child of God : " Say ye to the righteous, it shall 
 be well with him ! " Isa. iii. 10." 
 
 On the first Lord's day of this year, as on several pre- 
 ceding years, he preached from this text, " The faithful 
 God !" Deut. vii. 9. This sermon is published among his 
 Village Sermons, and opens with these remarks : ' The church 
 of God, which hath been accustomed to meet me in this place, 
 will anticipate both my text and sermon, before that I mention 
 either. It has been my plan, as many of you know, for several 
 years in succession, to enter on the subject of my preaching in 
 
 Vol. VII. page 559. 
 
238 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 the new year, with making proclamation of God's faithfulness. 
 You will give me credit for speaking the truth, when I say, that 
 in all the circumstances of my eventful life during the past 
 year, not one thing hath failed on the part of God's faithfulness, 
 amidst all the faithlessness which hath appeared in mine.'* 
 Speaking of the subject of his text, he observes : ' We shall 
 enter upon the beauties of it with more advantage, under the 
 divine teaching, if we look for a moment at the occasion which 
 gave birth to it. The holy army was now arrived at the 
 banks of Edrei, a small town on this side Jordan, situated in 
 the front of the country of Bashan, and only one stage, one 
 remove more before the people were to pass over Jordan. 
 And with this view of the subject, this sermon becomes still 
 more interesting, that our venerable friend had but one stage, 
 one remove, one year more before he would be called to pass 
 that swelling flood, of which Jordan is a type. Low indeed 
 were the waters when he was called to pass over ! 
 
 It pleased the Lord immediately after he had been permitted 
 to make his declaration of the Lord's faithfulness to withdraw 
 him from his sphere of useful labours and confine him to a 
 chamber of affliction. It was a severe attack of inflammation 
 on the lungs. In a farewell epistle to the spiritual church of 
 Christ, on closing in his seventy -third year, in reference to the 
 same event, he thus writes : c The year had opened most gra- 
 cious and lovely with the Lord's day, and I was enabled to be 
 found at my post as usual. It hath been my custom for many 
 a new year, in succession, to make proclamation to the church 
 on that text of scripture, Deut. vii. 9. " The faithful God !" 
 But whether on this occasion from a debility of which I myself 
 was then unconscious, or whether from a more than ordinary 
 exertion, when the public service of the holy day was over, I 
 found myself in a state of indescribable weakness ; since which 
 I have been the Lord's prisoner at home, without once being 
 able to go up to the house of the Lord.' This epistle bears 
 date, Feb. 8th, 1826. 
 
 » Vol. IV. page 238. b Vol. VII. page 634. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 239 
 
 Twelve Lord's days was he withheld from the work of the 
 sanctuary. ' Three months revolved,' saith he, in a preface to 
 one of his Village Sermons, while the disorder remained ; so 
 that I lay unconscious, under his Almighty hand, what his 
 sovereignty had appointed in respect to the termination. 
 One thing I had assured myself, and which through every 
 stage of the disease I never lost sight of; but with Paul could 
 and did say, and from the same well-grounded hope as his, 
 namely, that " Christ should be magnified in my body, whether 
 it be by life or by death ; for to me to live is Christ, and to die 
 is gain," Phil. i. 20, 21.' 'My appearing before the congre- 
 gation this day, March 25th, 1826, testifieth the divine will. 
 And although I have not strength to engage in my usual ser- 
 vices, yet am I through mercy in a state of convalescence. 
 In the intervals between the singing of the last psalm and the 
 sermon, I found strength from the Lord to speak to his people 
 the substance of what is contained in this sermon ;' which was 
 an illustration of Exodus xv. 26. " I will put none of those 
 diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Egyptians ; 
 for I am the Lord that healeth thee." The introduction runs 
 thus : f Brethren, beloved in the Lord ! I am not come out of 
 the other world, neither am I come out of my grave, to speak 
 to you this day of the grace and goodness of our wonder- 
 working God ! But the Lord, under whose divine hand of 
 sickness, I have lain since I saw you last in this place, hath 
 brought me from the borders of both, and preserved my life 
 by a great deliverance. I am come, therefore, to make my 
 first offering, as is most justly due to the God of my life, 
 " in who.se hand my breath is and whose are all my ways !" 
 It is to his goodness must be ascribed, that we see once 
 more each other's face in the flesh. Sure I am, that your 
 thanksgiving will join mine ; and that you will feel as holy 
 men of old did, when one said to another, " O bless the Lord 
 with me, and let us magnify his name together ! " Ps. xxxiv. 3. 
 And having first offered the tribute of praise to the Lord, I 
 next turn to thank you. You have not only manifested 
 
240 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 an abounding affection to my person, in your enquiries after 
 me ; but what is yet more than that, you have carried me 
 in the arms of your faith before the Lord : and this day is 
 the Lord's day for shewing himself herein a prayer-hearing 
 God. But, brethren, I am not come at this time to re- 
 assume my ministry among you. Indeed you may perceive 
 too much debility in me for such a service. I am simply 
 come now, only to relate to you some of the Lord's gracious 
 dealings towards me, during this my confinement.' 
 
 After pointing out the difference of sickness between him 
 that is in the unrenewed state of nature, and him that is 
 called by sovereign grace, he added, * I had intended to have 
 said much more to you on this interesting subject, coming, 
 as I have, immediately from my chamber of sickness, where 
 these things have been realized to my soul's joy. But I 
 find my strength unequal. One word more before I with- 
 draw. I have before observed, that my appearance among 
 you this day is not to enter at present on my ministry ; until 
 it shall please the Lord to renovate me for it. Those ordi- 
 nances which I have in times past enjoyed in this place, must 
 for a while be withheld from me. But I bend to his sove- 
 reignty, who thus appoints. Blessed be God, though I shall 
 not have the ordinances, I have always the God of ordinances ; 
 and while I have the substance, I shall have no cause to re- 
 gret in not having the shadow P c In the meantime, I com- 
 mend you to the Lord, as I am persuaded you commend me. 
 Your prayers will still follow me, as they have been called 
 forth before. I feel very highly interested in them, both for 
 myself and my brother in the ministry, whom I leave with 
 you to go in and out before you in the word and doctrine. 
 We both seek this from you as a boon from the Lord to the 
 church.' With these and such like words he took his leave 
 of his people, praying thus for their spiritual welfare in the 
 close of his address : ' Great God ! who inhabitest the praises 
 of eternity ! continue to manifest a prayer-awakening and a 
 prayer-answering God. Pour out upon this hallowed spot 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 
 
 241 
 
 and the choice ones of thy flock, which from time to time 
 assemble here before thee, the divine unction of thy Holy 
 Spirit. Let the gracious influences of the Holy Three in 
 One be felt, and known, and enjoyed, in sweet communion. 
 Let thine eyes be upon this place, as upon Judah of old, 
 from the one end of the year even to the other end of the 
 year, and cause this place from thy continual presence to be 
 called, "Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is there." a 
 
 From thence he withdrew for change of air to what he calls 
 in his letters, ' his station of exile at Totness,' where he con- 
 tinued a few weeks, with his daughter. On his return, he 
 preached his first Sermon on the commemoration of the 
 day of Pentecost, and opens it in this animating manner : 
 " Brethren, beloved in the Lord, I cannot tell you (indeed 
 I know of no form of words in a way of utterance to tell 
 you) what kind of joy of the soul that is, which I feel in 
 meeting you here this day. I see so much of the Lord's 
 goodness, in his wisdom blended with his love, as marked 
 in the late providence of my sickness, and now having 
 brought me back again from the borders of death and the 
 grave, that I cannot but anticipate very great blessedness 
 and enlargement of soul, both in myself and the Lord's 
 people, during the remainder of my labours among you, 
 whether the time shall be long or short. It is true, that 
 with increasing years and increasing infirmities, my ex- 
 ertions cannot be what they have been. My sermons must 
 necessarily be shorter, and my voice will be weaker. Time 
 was, when as you know I had, through the goodness of the 
 Lord, strength of lungs to fill this large church, so as to be 
 heard to the most remote part ; but the Lord's people of this 
 church will now be satisfied, I hope, if what I have to deliver, 
 be delivered with a trembling voice. Sure I am the great 
 truths of God you have been accustomed to hear from me, 
 will be the same, however faultering in my speech. I have 
 
 ■ Vol. VII. page 302. 
 
 Vol. I.] r 
 
242 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 but one glorious subject and which admits of no alteration, 
 namely, " Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for 
 ever." And in this I know, that, through the divine teaching, 
 I shall be more and more enlightened, so that my last days 
 will be my best days, to increase in all the increase of God.' 
 ' Though I have been separated from you for eighteen Lord's 
 days, yet I have not found the want of ordinances, having 
 had the God of ordinances with me. And the Lord hath 
 filled up all vacancies with himself. And it is himself in his 
 Trinity of persons, that is now by faith, and hereafter will be 
 in open vision, the glorious One to satisfy the boundless de- 
 sires of our souls in holiness, and blessedness, and glory to 
 all eternity.'* 
 
 Previous to his visiting Totness, the design had been formed 
 of publishing an ' Uniform Edition of his Works.' The preface 
 of the first volume bears date, ' Plymouth, Charles' Vicarage, 
 April 13th, 1826.' The last birth-day which it was his lot 
 to commemorate on earth, before the birth-day of glory, in 
 Christ's eternal kingdom in heaven. His deep sense of the 
 Lord's goodness towards him is legible through the whole. 
 ' I cannot,' saith he, ' close my preface without pausing to ob- 
 serve, and in that observation to adore distinguishing grace, 
 for preserving a life so marked with evil, (Ps. xxxvi. 1.) 
 through a period of six and thirty years, (that is, ' since the 
 publishing of the first edition,) and for enabling me to revise 
 these my early labours. ' b But perhaps nothing can exceed 
 the unadorned eloquence of the preface to his ' Lectures on 
 the Person, Godhead, and Ministry of the Holy Ghost,' em- 
 bodied in this volume ; though it bear an earlier date, it is 
 well adapted to the feelings he must have experienced, at 
 this remoter period of his life. I refer chiefly to this para- 
 graph : 
 
 ' I am now fast hastening towards the boundary of time. 
 With this great world and all its dying interests, I shall very 
 
 » Vol. IV. page 308. b Vol. I. page 5. 
 
REV. DH. HAWKER. 243 
 
 shortly have no more concern than those who lived before 
 the flood. According to the course of nature, I can have but 
 a little space to fill in, before I shall go hence to be no more 
 seen. The tide of that vast flood of eternity is rolling on with 
 its mighty waves towards me, and must shortly reach the 
 shore whereon I now stand, and will take me into its bosom. 
 And, if I know any thing of my own heart, I am on the look- 
 out for my Lord's coming, " with more joy, than they who 
 watch for the morning; yea, I say, with more joy, than they 
 who watch for the morning. — For I know whom I have be- 
 lieved, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I 
 have committed unto him against that day." Like the church 
 of old, I can and do say, " make haste, my beloved, until the 
 day break and the shadows flee away." In the meantime, 
 while remaining in the body and standing on this isthmus of 
 time, I would fain gather together the few fragments of life 
 which remain from my poor labours, and leave them behind 
 me, as a love-token to the church of Jesus. ' a 
 
 In his continuation this year of his 'Zion's Pilgrim,' he 
 reverts thus to the days of his sickness, with which and in 
 which the Lord was pleased to visit him. ' I might indeed oc- 
 cupy many a page in reciting somewhat of myself among the 
 occurrences of my seventy-third year, just closed in. For 
 the Lord has done by me, as by his servant the prophet 
 Isaiah, "spoken to me by a strong hand," Isa. viii. 11. 
 He hath taken me aside from ordinances and the society of 
 men, to withdraw with him for communion with God. And 
 as a man in friendship, when having some special thing to 
 communicate to one he loves, takes him by the hand and 
 leads him apart from all others, that he may make a stronger 
 impression of what he hath to say upon his mind; so the 
 Lord, by laying me down on a bed of sickness, and opening 
 to my view nearer apprehensions of the invisible world, 
 and his watchfulness over me, hath indeed spoken to me as 
 
 » Vol. I. page 429. 
 
244 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 to the prophet, "by a strong hand," and left such tokens of 
 his love, as through the remainder of my pilgrimage, whether 
 long or short, will, through his grace, never be effaced.' 1 
 
 He then records the departure of a fellow-traveller in 
 the way to Zion, and gives a biographical sketch of this old 
 acquaintance, whose exercises had been very singular and 
 trying ; < but whose help from the Lord,' saith he, ' hath been 
 like the blessing of Asher, whose foot the Lord dipped in oil, 
 whose shoes were iron and brass, and as his days so was his 
 strength.' This friend of his is no fictitious character ; but 
 the late Stephen Lowry, M. D. of Falmouth, whose Essays 
 explanatory and experimental, upon a few select passages of 
 scripture, were published in the year 1809, with a recom- 
 mendatory preface by Dr. Hawker; for which he tells us 
 he volunteered his service. ' From my very particular ac- 
 quaintance and correspondence with him, I was made privy,' 
 saith Dr. H. 'with all his embarrassments. Yet through all 
 and in all he was enabled to stay upon the Rock of ages. But 
 who can fail to admire the Lord mercifully timing his depar- 
 ture. When all human means ceased ; divine faithfulness 
 became conspicuous. When the brook Cherith dried, the 
 Lord took him home to himself, an everlasting Fountain.' 
 
 ' For myself, while I rejoice in his felicity, I feel,' continues 
 he, ' the chasm his absence has made, in the little circle the 
 Lord has left me here below.' There were but a few lights 
 left of those with whom I spent my youthful days ; but, by 
 his removal, one more is put out : so that I am constrained 
 sometimes to say ; " Help, Lord ! for the godly man faileth ; 
 the faithful are minished from among the children of men." 
 The church below is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge 
 in a garden of cucumbers ! It is our departure hence that joins 
 us to the great majority. Thither my friend is gone. And 
 all his tears are for ever wiped from his eyes. The Lord be 
 praised in his salvation. Thither also shall I shortly follow 
 
 Vol. III. page 229. 
 
REV. DK. HAWKER 245 
 
 to see Jesus as he is, and to dwell with him for ever. Halle- 
 lujah !'• 
 
 This year the Doctor paid a visit to the metropolis, to 
 preside at the Anniversary of the Gospel Tract Society. 
 The Meeting was held at Freemason's Hall, which is sup- 
 posed to hold three thousand persons. But at an early hour, 
 the whole area, with the galleries, were filled ; so that many, 
 who came before the time appointed, could not gain admission. 
 Although thronged to excess, yet all due order was preserved 
 and the most profound silence prevailed ; for amidst the great 
 pressure of heat and the faintings, which compelled many to 
 be carried out, the whole audience, during four hours fully oc- 
 cupied, evidently took a deep interest in all that was brought 
 before them. The venerable president was led to the chair 
 by the treasurer and the secretary, and after a few minutes' 
 pause, in which he appeared in silent prayer to be seeking 
 the Lord's assistance in the furtherance of the Lord's 
 cause, he arose and addressed the Meeting. After he had 
 spoken, the divine blessing was supplicated in an appropriate 
 prayer, and the whole proceedings were conducted in the 
 true spirit of christian love. At the close he took his leave 
 of them : — ' I am an old man going out of life, and cannot in 
 the nature of things hope to see your faces any more upon 
 any future anniversary. I therefore very cheerfully leave you 
 with the Lord in whose Almighty hands I have lodged all my 
 concerns for life and death, for time and eternity. I pray you 
 to follow me in spirit to the throne, and with an eye to this 
 institution, do not fail in every supplication for the Lord's 
 blessing on it, to plead the Lord's own promise.' After a 
 doxology was sung, the assembly dispersed, manifesting by 
 the liberal collection, the interest they had taken in the pro- 
 ceedings. 
 
 On the Lord's day morning, July 16th, he preached for 
 the last time, in the great city, in the Broadway Church, 
 
 * Vol. III. |>hkl' 2.37. 
 
246 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 St. Margaret's, Westminster, from that sweet portion, Zech. 
 iii. 9. "And I will remove the iniquity of that land in a 
 day." The minister of this church, the Rev. Mr. Mutter, 
 bears testimony to the energy, zeal, and success, with which 
 from time to time he preached in that church, the unsearch- 
 able riches of Christ. ' I have,' saith he, ' in his Funeral Ser- 
 mon for Da. H, ' in my ministerial duties in London, met 
 with several walking humbly with their God, in the light and 
 power of a divine faith, who have attributed under God all 
 their divine knowledge to the preaching of Dr. Hawker ; 
 and I have good authority, from his own neighbourhood, to 
 assert, that his preaching was a very fruitful ministration, 
 as a. means in the hand of God of turning many " from dark- 
 ness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." 
 
 On the Lord's day morning, August 27th, 1826, in the 
 parish church of Charles, after his return from London, and 
 after recovery from a renewed attack of sickness, he addressed 
 his congregation on Isa. lxii. 10 — 12. It is the last of the 
 Village Sermons ; and entitled, 'The Lord casting up the way 
 of his people.' I refer to it to shew what love he bore to his 
 stated hearers, and what a desire he had for their spiritual 
 welfare. He opens it thus : £ I have no words sufficiently 
 strong to express the delight I feel, in being brought home, 
 by the goodness of my God, to behold your faces once more 
 in the flesh, and to stand up in my place before you this day. 
 And after bending the knee in praise to the God of my life for 
 these mercies, I would say to you, in the words of the apos- 
 tle Paul to the church : " Now, I beseech you, brethren, for 
 the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and for the love of the Spirit, 
 that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for 
 me," Rom. xv. 30. I have already apprized you, before my 
 late departure, what you have to expect from my labours in 
 what remains to be filled in, in my feeble and now almost 
 worn-out life. For myself I feel, as the prophet speaks, 
 " when the summer fruits have been gathered, as the grape 
 gleanings of the vintage, there is no cluster to eat." Micah vii. 1. 
 
REV. £>R. HAWKER. 24J 
 
 But I am comforted in the assurance of what the Lord said 
 to the apostle, aud which equally belongs to all his people : 
 " My grace is sufficient for thee ; for my strength is made 
 perfect in weakness," 2 Cor. xii. 9. a After enlarging on the 
 doctrines contained in or connected with the text he had 
 chosen, in the close of his sermon he bears this sweet testi- 
 mony to the truths he had spoken. ' My brethren, it is of 
 vast importance to know these things from divine teaching, 
 and from the divine influence to live upon them. Nothing 
 this side eternity can equal, as to these truths, the anointings 
 of the Holy Ghost, in the heart, and mind, and conscience, 
 that, from day to day, the Lord's people may realize them, 
 substantiate them, make them our familiar companions, and 
 by lively actings of faith upon each person in the Godhead 
 be growing up into such an enjoyment of them, as to fill the 
 soul, by anticipation of delight, with the glory that shall be 
 revealed. ' b 
 
 In the last day, which was also the last sabbath of this 
 year, 1826, he preached on these words, " J am Alpha and 
 Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." 
 His appeal to his people at the close of it is interesting ; but 
 I must forbear quotations. In a letter to the writer of these 
 Memoirs, dated Dec. 28, he makes mention of a peculiar 
 dispensation which took place in his family this year. Of 
 his three sons each lost a child. ' You see,' saith he, ' my 
 dear friend, by my letter, that I am still in the body. Like 
 an old hollow leafless trunk of the forest, over whose 
 withering branches many a winter storm hath beaten, still 
 not rooted up. At the opening of the yeai*, after the first 
 Lord's day, when making proclamation of the Lord's faith- 
 fulness, the gracious Lord gave me immediate proof of it, 
 and laid me aside, and laid me down, that I might feel what 
 I had preached. And when the gracious Lord raised me up, 
 the Lord took one from each of my three sons' houses 
 
 * Vol. IV. page 363. b Page 373. 
 
248 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 whilst I remained. So that now those children are my 
 elders in eternity, that were my youngers in time. Thus the 
 Lord sometimes inverts the order of things.' 
 
 In tracing the footsteps of this dear man of God in some 
 of the eventful changes of his life, we are come to the 
 threshold of the last year of his earthly sojourning. On the 
 opening of the new year, 1827, in his salutation to the spi- 
 ritual church of our most glorious Lord, he adopts for his 
 subject the solemn demand of Christ — " When the Son of 
 Man cometh shall he find faith on the earth ?" Luke xviii. 8. 
 ' In a moment like the present,' saith he, f the solemn de- 
 mand of Christ becomes a matter big with the weightiest 
 considerations, in the prospect of impending judgments ; so 
 much the more, as ye see the day approaching. The ques- 
 tion is infinitely appalling to the most faithful among the 
 Lord's people; but to every one unconscious of an interest 
 and safety in Chi'ist, the tremendous challenge is calculated 
 to ring, like a peal of thunder, through all the chambers of 
 the heart. And what answer can be given, in the millions 
 of instances, among all such as have " the form, but deny 
 the power of godliness ?" It were almost needless to observe, 
 that these words of our most glorious Christ, though put in 
 a way of question, as if the matter were doubtful, are not 
 so, but rather as a thing already known and settled. It is 
 that kind of question which answers itself. It is, as if the 
 Lord had said, it will be a rare instance to find any. I have 
 thought the subject in itself highly interesting. And with 
 those prophetic scriptures in our hand concerning the latter 
 day, and the corresponding signs of the times before our 
 eyes, I have thought nothing can be more suitable to form 
 an address to the spiritual church of Christ, and to shew 
 my affectionate regard in the entrance on a new year, than 
 our Lord's own words, " When the Son of Man cometh, 
 shall he find faith on the earth?" ' 
 
 ' Let it not be supposed,' continues he, ' that though these 
 words of our most glorious Christ are expressed as extending 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 
 
 249 
 
 to all the earth, that I am going to trace the footsteps of 
 enquiry so far. My little tract must be bounded with 
 narrower limits. I cannot explore the subject beyond the 
 skirts of our own shore. What continental researches might 
 discover on this ground I know not. Though, if rumour be 
 true, the greater part of Europe is sunk into a state of 
 apathy to divine truth, or in subjection to any thing and to 
 every thing that is inimical to the glorious gospel of the 
 blessed God. Where the papistical government doth not 
 reign, infidelity hath erected her throne in the minds of the 
 people ; and to her sceptre all bend submissively, except 
 " that little band of men whose hearts the Lord hath 
 touched," 1 Sam. x. 26. It is my mercy, that I have never 
 left home to place a foot in those countries where such 
 things are transacted. Happily I know nothing of them 
 but from report. The most considerable part of my life hath 
 been spent in the duties of my parish, within the sound of 
 its church-going bell : so that little of this great world can 
 I speak from personal knowledge. A few observations on 
 our Lord's question, as may attach itself to the kingdom to 
 which I belong, is all that I have to propose. And if they 
 are as kindly received by the spiritual church of Christ as 
 they are affectionately offered, my gratulations of the Lord's 
 people, in the Lord's name, on the opening of a new year, 
 will be accompanied I hope with the Lord's blessing.' 1 
 
 His remarks on the concessions made to the papists, are 
 not less true than striking: — ' Popery, which was one time 
 paralyzed in this land, now like the frozen serpent, brought 
 by the incautious husbandman into a warm atmosphere, hath 
 emerged from her benumbed state, and is endeavouring to 
 recompense the kindness by biting our children. She hath 
 unfurled her banners, and more than once attempted to gain 
 again a legitimate footing in this kingdom. While with 
 equal earnestness, but with more secrecy, infidelity, with her 
 
 ■ Vol. VII. page 605. 
 
250 MKMOIRS OF THK 
 
 hydra heads, hath been at work to sap the very foundation 
 of the christian church altogether, by digging up the very 
 first principles of our most holy faith. What other por- 
 tentous signs will appear before the dreadful crisis of the 
 slaughter of the two witnesses, is not revealed; only in 
 general terms it is said, " that men shall depart from the 
 faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils," 
 Rev. xi. 7» 1 Tim. iv. 1.' 
 
 It is remarkable, that in revising his ' Zion's Pilgrim' for 
 the press, to be embodied in the i Uniform Edition of his 
 Works/ he entitles the last chapter — ' The Close of Zion's 
 Pilgrim past Seventy.' In the commencement of this chap- 
 ter, he says : — f Little did I conceive, when this history 
 recommenced, at the age of seventy, that it would have 
 extended to this period. Nothing of materials was formed 
 for that purpose to render it interesting ; but only as events 
 arose to mark them down, with an eye to the Lord's glory. 
 But it is now time to close the whole of what hath neither 
 novelty any longer to amuse, nor any thing beyond the com- 
 mon sameness in an old man's life, to attract regard. And 
 the entrance on the spring of the new year, 1827, and the 
 close of my seventy-fourth year meeting nearly together, 
 renders the present moment peculiarly suitable for this 
 purpose. For what can the withering circumstances of 
 seventy-five bring forth to interest the feelings of any ? In 
 taking a farewell upon this occasion of the readers of my 
 history, I thought the gracious words of the Lord to the 
 patriarch Abraham might not be unsuitable, by way of 
 leaving a divine impression, from scripture, upon the minds 
 of the Lord's aged ones, who like myself are now waiting 
 for the Lord's coming ; that whether at midnight, or cock- 
 crowing, or in the morning, when Jesus shall call, we may 
 instantly arise and hail with joy his approach. It was with 
 those ideas, the last sermon I preached in my church before 
 my seventy-fourth year had fully ended, I brought before the 
 Lord's people that precious proclamation the Lord himself 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 251 
 
 made to Abraham : — " And when Abram was ninety years 
 old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto 
 him, I am the Almighty God, walk before me and be thou 
 perfect." ,a 
 
 From this text he preached what may be called his own 
 funeral sermon. No fitter subject could be chosen wherewith 
 our Zion's Pilgrim could more appropriately finish his la- 
 bours. In his view of the Lord's manifestation of himself 
 to Abram, he connects with it the manifestation pledged in 
 the 14th chapter of St. John. He affectionately recommends 
 the daily study of this chapter to the whole regenerated 
 church of God, and especially to the aged. He then adds : — 
 ' I blush not to say, that not a day doth it pass away from 
 my remembrance ; and not unfrequently in the night watches 
 do the blessed portions of it pass and repass over my mind 
 in the sweetest accents.' He proceeds to analyze the chap- 
 ter, and then exhorts the children of the kingdom to ponder 
 these things, and then to say, ' whether the grace shewn to 
 Abram when ninety years old and nine, was of a singular 
 nature, while such blessed provisions of a higher kind are, 
 or are supposed to be, in the daily enjoyment of all the 
 Lord's chosen.' 
 
 This his last sermon closes with this appropriate address : — 
 ' Brethren, farewell ! you that are among the ancient of the 
 Lord's pilgrims have seen and have passed through many 
 cloudy days and cloudy dispensations ; but God's faithfulness 
 hath been manifested through all. Jesus speaks to each as 
 to the patriarch, " I am the Almighty God !" Keep this 
 always uppermost. Lose sight of self, and all that you are 
 subject and object of, to hang wholly upon him that is El 
 Shaddai. He that appeared to Abram, when he was ninety 
 years old and nine, will appear to you and fulfil his own 
 promise — " I will come and receive you unto myself, that 
 where I am there you may be also." And those are amonp; 
 
 * Vol. III. page 237. 
 
252 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 the last and closing acts of the Lord's everlasting love ; 
 namely, His it is to keep you from falling, and His no less 
 to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with 
 exceeding joy, Jude 24. To the holy Three in One be end- 
 less praise ! Amen." 
 
 This last chapter was in the press, when the intelli- 
 gence of the death of the venerable author reached the 
 publisher. The manuscript of which only came into his 
 hands, March 9, 182/, which was scarcely a month before 
 his decease. The publisher, in a brief note, solicits the 
 attention of the reader to the pleasing and remarkable 
 suitability of the final literary labour of the respected author. 
 Whilst our Zion's Pilgrim makes the last effort to raise 
 himself from his couch, to record the last page of his his- 
 tory, and to cheer the ancient of the Lord's pilgrims with 
 assurances of the Lord's faithfulness and truth, his last, 
 dying, swanlike note breathes sweetest melody. The last 
 sentence his heart dictates and his hand writes, in the records 
 of his pilgrimage, is, — ' To the holy Three in One be endless 
 praise ! Amen.' 
 
 As if anticipating a speedy removal, near the close of the 
 last year he sent in his resignation by letter to the Com- 
 mittee in the government of the Gospel Tract Society , b of 
 which letter the following is the chief part : — ' Brethren, be- 
 loved in the Lord ! having, through sovereign mercy, lived 
 to see your Society, after three year's trial, now as 1 hope 
 well established, I beg to give in my resignation of President 
 and final Editor, in order to withdraw, as time admonisheth 
 me, from all public places but the chui"ch of God ; to wait in 
 retirement, and meditation, and prayer, for the hour of my 
 Lord's call to take me to himself, that where Jesus is, I 
 may be also. Though from age and increasing infirmities, 
 I find it expedient to withdraw myself from forming a part 
 of your Committee, where I have no longer any efficiency, 
 
 > » Vol. 111. page 250. b Third Report, page 12. 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 253 
 
 yet I trust through grace to follow you with prayer, as long 
 as I remain in this tabernacle, that the Lord God will con- 
 tinue to grant his influence in crowning your labours with 
 success, and thus manifesting that his favour is with the 
 Gospel Tract Society. Committing and commending you 
 to the Lord, I remain, brethren beloved, yours, in the Lord, 
 
 ' Robert Hawker.' 
 
 November 11, 1826. 
 
 In the opening of the year 1827, he was again visited with 
 his old complaint, an inflammation in the lungs, attended 
 with a violent cough. It was milder in its attack than in 
 the preceding year. As soon as he became convalescent, 
 his earnestness to be employed in his Master's service in- 
 duced him (contrary to the advice of his medical friend and 
 the wishes of his family) to reassume his public ministry, 
 or at least to bear his testimony once more to the excellency 
 of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord, before he took 
 his departure for Totness ; and from thence, if the Lord per- 
 mitted, to go by easy stages into Gloucestershire. Indeed 
 two days only before his decease, he spake of this to his 
 daughter, making this remark, 'we wait my dear, the Lord's 
 leadings.' He had also some thought of extending his journey 
 to the metropolis, but the Lord had otherwise appointed. 
 
 It was on the 18th of March, he again took his post in 
 the parish church of Charles for the last time. And, as if 
 forgetting himself, so much was he absorbed in his subject, 
 and so lively and ardent were his feelings, that he pi*eached 
 no less than one hour and a quarter. Nor was it sufficient 
 to have preached in the morning, but in the evening also he 
 delivered a lecture, as was his custom, by way of exposition, 
 which occupied the same space of time. In this divine em- 
 ploy he felt so much delight, that when once engaged in this 
 work, nothing but complete exhaustion could cause him to 
 desist 1 ; but this was dangerous in his circumstances. Had 
 he known that this was to be the last time that he was to 
 
254 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 exercise his ministry among them, he could not have mani- 
 fested more warmth of feeling, more earnestness in his ap- 
 peals, or more animation in the delivery. Nor could his 
 discourses have been more appropriate. He spake as a dying 
 patriarch to his surrounding family. His affections seemed 
 to glow with renewed ardour, his doctrine to distil with a 
 peculiar sweetness ; the aboundings of grace was his theme, 
 and the joy of the Lord was his strength. But this lengthened 
 exercise of his lungs was too much for him. From the exer- 
 tions of this day, the symptoms of his disease again returned ; 
 and, humanly speaking, this brought on the solemn event. 
 Preaching was his element ; and as preaching was the solace 
 of his life, so preaching was the cause of his death. He 
 might truly be said to have died in his military harness. 
 Like a veteran warrior who had attained an eminence in the 
 battle-field, and wished others to follow him to the same 
 vantage ground, whilst waving the imperial banners and en- 
 couraging others to press on towards the mark of their high 
 calling, this standard-bearer in our British Israel fell, and in 
 the only true sense ' covered with glory.' 
 
 But to return to the narrative. On the following sabbath, 
 the 25th of March, when he found himself unable to follow up 
 his ministerial labours, and heard the sabbath-bells admonish- 
 ing the people to prepare for the engagements of the sanctuary, 
 he remarked to his daughter, Miss Hawker, ' These bells, my 
 dear child, which are calling others to tread the courts of the 
 Lord's house, are not calling me. /cannot go to the house of 
 the Lord; but " this also cometh of the Lord of hosts, who is 
 wonderful in counsel and excellent in working — wisdom and 
 power are his." On Monday, March 26, early in the morning, 
 from the rupture of some small vessel, and probably from his 
 late exertions, he vomited rather more than a pint of blood, 
 which also occurred again on the Tuesday, but the discharge 
 was in a smaller quantity. From this, however, he appeared 
 to be somewhat relieved. On the Wednesday he proposed to 
 visit Totness, the residence of his third daughter, Mrs. Ball, 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 255 
 
 in the hope that change of air might be blessed of the Lord 
 to his convalescence, as in the former year ; and, if so, to 
 proceed on his intended journey. 
 
 In the morning before he left home, he addressed the fol- 
 lowing letter to his fellow-labourer in the ministry, the Rev. 
 Septimus Courteney, at that time his curate, which shews 
 how deeply interested he felt for the spiritual welfare of his 
 people. 
 
 ' Plymouth, Thursday Morning, March 29, 1829. 
 ' DEAR SIR, AND BROTHER IN THE LORD, 
 
 e I greet you in Him in whom we have oneness and access 
 by faith, and are one with him to all eternity ! I request 
 you to be medium of conveying to that part of the Lord's 
 spiritual church in our most glorious Lord, who meet in 
 christian fellowship and communion in Charles, my warm- 
 est, best, largest, and never-ceasing regard. Tell them on 
 my departure, that I love them in the Lord, and that my 
 earliest and latest prayers are and will be for their spiritual 
 knowledge of and communion with the Holy and Almighty 
 Recorders who bear witness in heaven, Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost, until faith is swallowed up in open vision, and 
 " until we all come in the unity of the faith and of the know- 
 ledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure 
 of the stature of the fulness of Christ;" and say for me thus 
 further, that while I bear them in my arms before the throne, 
 they will not fail to remember me when going in before the 
 King. For yourself, dear Sir, and your ministry, I have 
 often, and shall continually leave prayers at the mercy- seat, 
 that great blessings may go before and follow your labours 
 of love. What the event of my departure will be, is with 
 Him who cannot err, and with whom I cheerfully leave it. 
 And so commending and committing you to the Lord, I 
 remain, in the dust before God, in the consciousness of 
 my nothingness and the Lord's all-sufficiency, yours, in the 
 Lord, 
 
 1 Robert Hawker.' 
 
256 
 
 MKMOTKS OF THK 
 
 After taking this affectionate leave of his people beloved in 
 the Lord, he proceeded on his journey, and bore it much 
 better than was expected, and seemed to enjoy the change. 
 The day after his arrival, he took an airing with Mrs. Hodson, 
 and found it refreshing to his enfeebled frame, on which he 
 made this observation, 'This air will be balm to my lungs.' 
 But on the following day, he was not so well ; and from this 
 period, he might be said to decline in bodily strength, though 
 strong in faith., and cheerful in the prospect of a glorious im- 
 mortality. During the whole of his last confinement, he 
 seemed to enjoy uninterrupted communion with God. On one 
 occasion, when apparently waking from sleep, his daughter, 
 who had assiduously watched over him, made enquiry, how 
 he felt after the refreshment of sleep. He replied, l my dear 
 anxious child, I have not been asleep, as you suppose ; but I 
 have had what is far better. I have been in the world of 
 spirits. I have had blessed communion with God the Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost : I shall have, if the Lord see proper to 
 raise me up, unutterable things to tell the church ; my soul is 
 overfilled with joy ; my spirit hath not room for its enjoy- 
 ment ; I am full of glory.' 
 
 Soon after, with a degree of animation not to be described, 
 he broke forth in a sweet strain of praise, quoting Isa. lxiii. 7« 
 " I will mention the loving-kindnesses of the Lord and the 
 praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath be- 
 stowed on us." He then proceeded to repeat the whole chapter, 
 dwelling sweetly on this verse, " In all their affliction he was 
 afflicted, and the Angel of his presence saved them ; in his 
 love and in his pity he redeemed them, and he bare them and 
 carried them all the days of old." When reminded by Mrs. 
 Hodson, that he was exerting himself too much, he acknow- 
 ledged it, lowered the tone of his voice almost to a whisper ; 
 but continued rehearsing the whole chapter, and commenting' 
 thereon as he proceeded. He dwelt much on the distinction 
 of character herein made. " The people of thy holiness, and 
 our adversaries, that have trodden down thy sanctuary." So 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 25J 
 
 also on that made in the 19th verse between we and they. A 
 grand and interesting distinction ! What a blessedness was 
 his who could in such an hour adopt the language of this 
 closing verse — We are thine ! 
 
 Finding that he did not get better, he proposed to his 
 daughters, Thursday, April the 5th, to return to Plymouth, 
 making this remark, ' We can as well set out on our intended 
 journey from thence as from here.' Preparations were there- 
 fore made for his return. The night before he left his 
 daughter, Mrs. Ball, at Totness, he read to the family the 
 twenty-third Psalm, and commented on the different verses, 
 particularly on the shadow of death ; observing, that indeed 
 it was nothing more than a shadow. On the Friday morn- 
 ing he rose early, and made a comfortable breakfast. After 
 commending his daughter and family in prayer to the Lord, 
 and to the word of his grace, he took his leave, and seemed 
 pleased with the thoughts of home. Whatever impressions 
 might have crossed their minds, that this might be the last 
 interview to be shared on earth, there was not the slightest 
 anticipation that his decease was so near at hand ; or to use 
 language more adapted to his own scriptural creed, that this 
 was fixed in the settlements of eternity to be his coronation- 
 day. It is surprizing, that a man so enfeebled by age, and 
 labouring under such a complaint, could endure a journey of 
 so many miles, apparently with so little fatigue, only a few 
 hours before his death. The first stage to Ivy-Bridge, he 
 bore admirably well, took there a little refreshment, and 
 pursued his journey. When within a few miles of home, he 
 began to shew a little languor and uneasiness ; but nothing 
 to excite any apprehension of immediate danger. He desired 
 to be driven at a slower pace, saying he was a little weary ; 
 but revived again when his own church- spire presented itself 
 to view. He clasped his hands, and lifted his eyes to 
 heaven, which had lost none of their usual lustre, and ap- 
 peared to have his mind drawn out in sweet and hallowed 
 musing, whilst at a distance he contemplated the beloved 
 
 Vol. I.] s 
 
258 MKM01RS OF THE 
 
 spot which had been the scene of his labours. Blended with 
 the gratitude which glistened in his eye, the enquiry seemed 
 legible in his countenance — Shall I be again employed in 
 that favoured spot, or are my labours ended ? 
 
 On his arrival at his dwelling, (about a quarter past three 
 o'clock) he was assisted from the carriage ; but he had not 
 entered many minutes before he called his household toge- 
 ther, and set up his Ebenezer of praise ; for, as his family 
 testify, he seemed to have done with prayer, as if he had 
 nothing more to ask. It was all praise, thanking the Lord 
 for his mercies in taking him out and bringing him home; 
 and raising his voice to give an emphasis to his last words, he 
 said, " Praised be our God, for his mercy endureth for ever." 
 To his family he said, 'I shall not be long with you, I am leaving 
 you ; but God will still be with you.' Very shortly after, he was 
 removed to his chamber, but was able to assist in undressing 
 himself for bed. After being a little composed, and raised 
 with pillows to a sitting posture, he repeated memoriier a 
 part of the first chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians, 
 from the sixth to the twelfth verse : and as he proceeded, 
 he enlarged on the verses, but dwelt more fully on these 
 words, " to the praise of the glory of his grace ;'" and very 
 sweetly on these, " in whom we have redemption through 
 his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of 
 his grace;" and also on the twelfth verse, taking up the 
 subject of praise again, " that we should be to the praise of 
 his glory, who first trusted in Christ." He paused, and then 
 asked, • who first trusted in Christ ?' And then made him- 
 self this answer, ' it was God the Father who first trusted in 
 Christ.' This was a happy thought for the moment, and 
 shews that his imagination was active and lively to the very 
 last ; though the original text, which could not have been 
 present to his memory at the time, will not bear that con- 
 struction. The translation would have shewn more of the 
 bearings of the original, if the words had been thus arranged, 
 — that we, who first trusted in Christ, should be to the praise 
 
( 
 
 REV. DR. HAWKKIt. 259 
 
 of his glory. But this was no time for dry criticism, nor 
 even here scarcely for me to introduce the remark. But his 
 mind seemed filled with delight whils.t he dwelt upon these 
 words, " to the praise of his glory !" This was his last 
 comment on the word of God, and it not only proved a 
 sweet, interesting, and affecting comment to those who sur- 
 rounded the bed of the departing saint, but it opens a 
 volume of evidences in proof of the excellency of the doc- 
 trines which the Lord had taught him ; for who, among all 
 the elders of the chiu'ches, was more holy in his life, or more 
 triumphant in his death ? There was a holy serenity in his 
 countenance, which spake the inward aboundings of joy and 
 peace through faith in Christ Jesus. 
 
 On his medical friend coming in, who had gone to Totness 
 to visit him, but on being apprized of his removal returned 
 in time to be with him at his death, he presented him a 
 friendly note which he had written for him that morning, 
 and said, ' Accept this, my dear sir, with my kind regards.' 
 But he now appeared much exhausted ; when his eldest son 
 came in, who had been sent for immediately after his 
 return, he took him by the hand, and said something to him 
 which was not understood ; he then placed his hand on his 
 son's head, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, as if imploring 
 a benediction upon him, but his speech was gone; yet though 
 not heard on earth it was heard in heaven. When the clock 
 struck five, he rallied a little, and asked * what hour it was?' 
 All was now solemn silence, the dying saint lay with his 
 head reclining on his eldest daughter, Mrs. Hodson, who 
 held him by his left hand ; and on the right he was supported 
 by Miss Hawker and his eldest son, who held his right hand* 
 He appeared to be in a sound sleep ; there was no appear- 
 ance of dying visible in his countenance in the apprehension 
 of his family, though his medical friend expected it ; there 
 were no clammy sweats of death, no convulsive throes, no 
 distortion of features; his hands were as soft and comfortable 
 
260 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 to the touch as when in health. About a quarter of an hour 
 before he breathed his last, he withdrew his right hand from 
 his son's, lifted it to his head, removed his nightcap, rubbed 
 his ear a little, as if just awaking from a placid sleep. In 
 this position, whilst his son held his right hand, and his 
 daughter his left, and his head was reclining on Mrs. Hod- 
 son, he continued sleeping till a quarter past six, when 
 without a sigh, without the least motion, yea, without the 
 perception of those around him, he ceased to breathe — he 
 literally fell asleep in Jesus. His medical friend, Mr. Dun- 
 ning, an old and eminent practitioner, who was present, said 
 he never witnessed such a death before ! 
 
 " Forth from the body, his late mansion here, 
 The spirit imperceptibly withdrew ; 
 As when an angel leaves a prophet's cell, 
 To him alone on special errand sent ; 
 Not e'en the unfolding of his wing was heard !" 
 
 So lived, so died, the venerable Robert Hawker ! blessed 
 in his life, blessed in his death, and blessed to all eternity. 
 Thrice blessed saint of God, farewell ! until all the members 
 of the church of Christ, to whom thy ministry has been made 
 a blessing, shall meet thee in glory, there together to praise 
 God and the Lamb for electing, redeeming, and regenerating 
 love and grace ; all everlastingly glorified in and with our 
 living head. " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, 
 from henceforth ; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest 
 from their labours, and their works do follow them," Rev. 
 xiv. J 3. 
 
 So much beloved and respected was this man of God, that 
 on the information of his death, the shops were half closed, 
 and remained so to the day of his burial ; and the bells of the 
 churches also continued to toll every day until his interment. 
 He entered into rest on the sixth day of April, 1827, and his 
 mortal remains were consigned to the silent tomb, on Good 
 Friday, April the thirteenth, the burial day of his dear Lord, 
 
RKV. DR. 1IAWKKR. 261 
 
 which was a clay made often memorable in his life, and now 
 no less memorable from his death ; and on which had he 
 lived he would have completed his seventy -fourth year. His 
 day of burial was his day of birth. Ten clergymen attended 
 at his funeral ; and the usual service was read by his " fellow 
 labourer in the ministry," the Rev. Septimus Courteney. 
 Many thousands were present, and the scene was truly 
 affecting, and the language of every one seemed to be — 
 "Surely, there is a great man fallen in Israel!" Many 
 funeral sermons were preached not only in the vicinity of 
 his residence, but in several parts of the kingdom ; some of 
 which have been published. They all bear testimony to his 
 superior natural endowments, to his high attainments in 
 divine knowledge, and to the exemplary benevolence of his 
 character — to the devotedness of his life, the spirituality of 
 his mind, and to the warm affections of his heart, exem- 
 plified in his love to God and his love to man, demonstrating 
 unto the world how much the power of grace rested upon 
 him. 
 
 Though we might fill volumes in enlarging on the excel- 
 lency of his character, nor in this enlargement exceed the 
 bounds of truth and moderation ; yet, in whatever his pre- 
 eminence appeared, it was all of grace. It all originated 
 in the love of God towards him, and the purpose of God 
 concerning him before all worlds. The Lord purposed to 
 make him all that he was made, and to work by him all that 
 was wrought, and that too at the very period or era, and 
 under the very circumstances and exigencies in which these 
 things were effected. With what talents he should be 
 endued, with what graces he should be blest, where he 
 should exercise his ministry, and with what success he 
 should be honom-ed, were all the results of unerring wisdom 
 and almighty power ! And when we contemplate him, as 
 one raised up of God to detect and refute error ; to elucidate 
 and defend the truth ; to edify, console, and feed the church 
 
262 MEMOIRS OF THK 
 
 of Christ ; the greatness of his talents, however brilliant ; 
 the eminency of his piety, however exalted ; and the fruitful- 
 ness of his ministry, however extensive ; are all lost sight of 
 in the exceeding riches of the grace conferred upon him ; 
 and whilst we love the man with the warmest affections, and 
 honour the minister with the profoundest veneration, we 
 eulogize not the creature, as having modelled his own cha- 
 racter, but " glorify God in him," Gal. i. 24. 
 
 Although in his doctrines he denied progressive sancti- 
 fication, yet no man in his life, within the compass of my 
 own knowledge, evidenced more the progressive fruits and 
 effects, and sweet testimonies of that one sanctification, 
 which was wrought in his heart, when made an habitation of 
 God through the Spirit. Like the consecration of a temple, 
 he considers it but one act, and all the subsequent advances 
 therein, as but so many grateful evidences of its continu- 
 ance. May both reader and writer, if it be the divine will, 
 know as much as he knew of the sanctifying influences of 
 the Holy One of Israel — he walked with God, he lived above 
 the world, his conversation was in heaven. 
 
 He knew that faith was the gift of God ; that Christ was 
 exalted to give repentance unto Israel ; that the love of God 
 was shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost ; and there- 
 fore, when found in the exercise of these graces, or indeed 
 of any other grace, he wrote it down among his privileges 
 enjoyed, rather than among his duties discharged. Some 
 divines, who have considered faith a duty rather than a pri- 
 vilege, have been sadly deficient in the exercise of this duty 
 in the hour of extremity. The writer of this Memoir means 
 no invidiousness in drawing a parallel between the death-bed 
 scenes of the Rev. Thomas Scott, and the Rev. Robert 
 Hawker ; but to shew the different effects of their respec- 
 tive principles : both were eminent in their day ; both minis- 
 ters of Christ ; both commentators on the holy scriptures ; 
 both set for the defence of the gospel ; both had maintained 
 
KEY, I)R. HAWKER. 
 
 an upright honourable character ; yet in their death how 
 different ! What is the cause of this ? — The one was strong, 
 and the other weak in faith. Mr. Scott is overwhelmed with 
 trepidation, Dr. Hawker is ravished with delight ; the 
 one trembles to enter the flood, the other feels no fears. 
 Mr. Scott in his life -time maintained, that faith was a duty ; 
 why not then exercise it, and in the discharge of this duty 
 banish this overwhelming awe and distressing timidity ? 
 Dr. Hawker, on the other hand, receives it as a gift, and 
 acknowledges it to be, even in the very exercise of it, a 
 privilege, and wholly of God; but he enjoys the triumphs of 
 faith over every fear of death, hell, or the grave. Surely the 
 hand of the Lord is in this ! This venerable man knew full 
 well, that he should cordially love no duty, and dischai'ge no 
 duty with an eye to the glory of God, any further than the 
 power of God rested upon him. We have seen him finish 
 his course with joy — the Lord was with him ! 
 
 The portion of St. Paul's Epistles, upon which he com- 
 mented with his dying lips, whilst his family circle sur- 
 rounded his bed, is indeed a sweet and interesting portion, 
 well calculated, when faith is brought forth into exercise by 
 the operation of the Spirit, to cheer the prospect of the 
 dying saint, to fill his mind with confidence, and his heart 
 with joy. May it be my happiness and also yours, my fel- 
 low traveller in the way of the kingdom, if such may cast his 
 eye over these pages, when we arrive at the last stage, when 
 our sun is going down below the horizon of things earthly, 
 and verging towards eternity, to cast a farewell look on the 
 way we have trodden, and in the retrospect of many mercies, 
 to ascribe all " to the praise of the glory of his grace, 
 wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved ; in whom 
 we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of 
 sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath 
 abounded towards us !" Of all the Bible, with which our de- 
 parted friend was so well acquainted, he could not have 
 
264 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 selected a portion more suitable, more consolatory, or more 
 encouraging. Like a summer bee, weary on the wing, he 
 pitches on this sweet flower buries himself as it were in 
 the honied cell, and there falls asleep, till there shall arise 
 upon the earth "a morning without clouds." Thus he died 
 as he lived, in the full assurance of faith, and in the lively 
 anticipation of eternal glory ! 
 
 Reader, whoever thou art, pause over the pages of this 
 brief Memorial — compare it with thine own — art thou made 
 sensible of thine own insufficiency ? And dost thou know what 
 it is to live the life of faith upon the Son of God ? Art thou 
 an habitation of God through the Spirit ? Through grace he 
 kept up communion with God, and maintained an holy 
 intimacy with heaven ; through the same grace, and through 
 grace only, canst thou be " a follower of them who through 
 faith and patience inherit the promises." 
 
 His body lies interred in the parish church of Charles, in 
 the same vault with his wife and mother, about thirty feet 
 from the south door in the aisle on the left hand ; and a 
 marble monument has been erected to his memory in the 
 chancel of the said church. Over the tablet, which bears 
 the following inscription, is a marble bust of the venerable 
 author : — 
 
 A PUBLIC TRIBUTE OF 
 
 AFFECTION AND RESPECT 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF 
 
 THE REV. ROBERT HAWKER, D.D. 
 
 SIX YEARS CURATE, 
 
 AND FORTY-THREE YEARS VICAR 
 
 OF THIS PARISH, 
 
 WHO DIED 
 
 THE SIXTH DAY OF APRIL, 1827, 
 
 AGED 74 YEARS. 
 
 Near his monument is a tablet, with this inscription, 
 which bears testimony to the filial affection and liberal 
 
REV. DR. HAWKER. 265 
 
 disposition of his eldest daughter, who inherits, through the 
 riches of divine grace, her father's best portion. 
 
 MEMORIAL — TO BRING TO REMEMBRANCE, 
 
 Psalm xxxviii. 70. 
 
 IN ORDER TO PERPETUATE THE LIVELY 
 REMEMBRANCE OF HER BELOVED FATHER, 
 
 ROBERT HAWKER, 
 
 AMONGST THE POOR OF THIS PARISH, 
 
 IN WHOSE WELFARE HE WAS EVER 
 
 DEEPLY INTERESTED, 
 
 MARY GRANVILLE HODSON 
 
 HAS INVESTED THE SUM OF £250 STOCK, 
 
 3 PER CENT REDUCED ANNUITIES, 
 
 IN THE NAMES OF TRUSTEES, 
 
 THE ANNUAL DIVIDENDS WHEREOF TO BE 
 
 PAID INTO THE HANDS OF THE VICAR OF THIS 
 
 PARISH, FOR THE TIME BEING, AND TO BE BY HIM 
 
 GIVEN AWAY IN BREAD TO THE POOR THEREOF, 
 
 ON THE 13TH DAY OF APRIL NEXT, AND ON THE 
 
 LIKE DAY IN EACH SUCCEEDING YEAR FOR EVER. 
 
 March 10, 1829. 
 
 On the other side is another tablet, on which is recorded 
 her investment of a similar sum to memorialize her affection 
 for her late husband, Thomas Hodson, Esq. the results of 
 the dividends to be given away in the same manner, on the 
 12th of December, for ever. 
 
 The writer of the inscription on his monument has com- 
 pressed his memorial in as few words as possible, perhaps 
 from a conviction that all that could be placed on a marble 
 monument could add nothing to the reputation of one, whose 
 numerous works will carry down his name to the latest pos- 
 terity. But that so little should be said of a man so dis- 
 tinguished for his christian virtues, his ministerial endow- 
 ments, and numerous writings, has given offence to many. 
 To the stranger casually visiting the church, or meditating 
 there among the tombs, it gives no idea of the eminency of 
 his character, or the usefulness of his labours, that they may 
 
266 MEMOIRS, &C. 
 
 be induced to enquire after his writings, or to " glorify God 
 in him." As some have wished to have a more enlarged tes- 
 timony to be inscribed on his monument, the writer of this 
 Memorial has ventured to draw up the outlines of such a 
 record, if through the medium of a new tablet it be deemed 
 sufficient to communicate some idea of his exalted worth. 
 
 May the Lord commission these Memorials of one of his 
 faithful servants to the edification, comfort, and establish- 
 ment of many of his chosen household, whilst sojourning in 
 this wilderness, till all their conflicts are over, and the 
 journey of life be ended. To the eternal Three in one be 
 endless praise ! Amen. 
 
A PUBLIC TRIBUTE 
 
 OK AFFECTION AND RESPECT TO THE 
 
 MEMORY OF THE 
 
 REV. ROBERT HAWKER, D. D. 
 
 WHO FOR NEARLY HALF A CENTURY WAS 
 
 THE FAITHFUL AND LABORIOUS MINISTER OF THIS PARISH, 
 
 SIX YEARS AS CURATE, AND FORTY-THREE YEARS AS VICAR. 
 
 THE ELEGANCY YET SIMPLICITY OF DICTION, 
 
 THE LIVELINESS AND BRILLIANCY OF IMAGINATION, 
 
 THE PERSPICUITY AND VIGOUR OF THOUGHT, 
 
 THE DEPTH AND COMPASS OF CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE, 
 
 WITH WHICH HE WAS TALENTED AND BLEST, 
 
 (THOUGH THE LIVING ELOQUENCE BE NOW SILENT) 
 
 ARE STILL EXTANT IN HIS 
 
 SERMONS ON THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST, 
 
 AND ON THE DIVINITY AND OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY GHOST, 
 
 IN HIS ZION'S PILGRIM, 
 
 AND OTHER NUMEROUS WORKS OF POLEMICAL, PRACTICAL, 
 
 AND EXPERIMENTAL DIVINITY; 
 
 BUT ABOVE ALL, IN 
 
 HIS POOR MANS COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE; 
 
 IN WHICH HE RICHLY DWELLS 
 
 ON GOD THE FATHER'S ELECTING LOVE, 
 
 ON GOD THE SON'S REDEEMING BLOOD, 
 
 AND GOD THE SPIRIT'S REGENERATING GRACE, 
 
 AS THE SOLE CAUSE 
 
 OF ALL HEALTH AND HAPPINESS 
 
 TO THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 
 
 HE ENTERED INTO REST, APRIL 6, 1827, AGED 74 YEARS. 
 
 " BEFORE HIS TRANSLATION, 
 
 HE HAD THIS TESTIMONY THAT HE PLEASED GOD." 
 
 Hell. xi. 5. 
 
 Here Zion's warrior brac'd his armour on, 
 Fought the good fight, and many a victory won. 
 But whence his prowess ? whence his arm of might ? 
 The Lord of hosts equipp'd him for the fight : 
 His was the shield of faith, the sword of flame; 
 From heaven's own armoury his weapons came. 
 His campaign ended — all his conflicts o'er — • 
 He rests pavilion'd on the glory-shore : 
 In yonder vault his mortal harness lies, 
 Till th' archangel's trump shall bid him rise, 
 And gird it on anew — to triumph in the skies ! 
 
AN ELEGY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 DEATH OF THE REV. ROBERT HAWKER, D.D. 
 
 VICAR OF CHARLES, PLYMOUTH, 
 WHO DIED ON FRIDAY, THE SIXTH DAY OF APRIL, 1827. 
 
 " The memory of the just is blessed."— Prov. x. 7. 
 
 BY JOHN KENT. 
 
 Forgive the muse, illiterate and obscure, 
 Who thus attempts in feeble verse to raise, 
 
 Tho' void of learning, yet with motive pure, 
 A monumental stone to HAWKER'S praise 
 
 'Tis done ! the conflict's o'er, the spirit fled, 
 Borne on seraphic pinions to the skies, 
 
 Where Jesu's face ten thousand glories shed, 
 And pleasures — everlasting pleasures rise. 
 
 Hawker is dead ! that herald sent of God, 
 To make to man his great salvation known ; 
 
 Let Zion's offspring weeping kiss the rod, 
 And gird their robes of deepest sackcloth on. 
 
 From coast to coast the doleful tidings spread ! 
 
 Weep ye, who love the gates of Zion well ; 
 Hawker's no more ! he's numbered with the dead- 
 
 This day in Israel's host a champion fell. 
 
 Gone down to dust, yet his immortal fame 
 The sacred annals of the church shall shew, 
 
 And long record a Hawker's honour'd name, 
 Till day and night no more their course pursue. 
 
ELKGY ON THE DEATH, &C. 2(5!) 
 
 Call'd up to celebrate with harps and songs, 
 
 The marriage-nuptials of the Lamb above ; 
 Where hallelujahs from ten thousand tongues, 
 
 Shall swell the triumphs of redeeming love. 
 
 Dismiss'd to glory with a kiss of love, 
 
 He bade the lagging moments swifter roll ; 
 Death was to him as harmless as a dove, 
 
 While floods of glory overwhelm'd his soul. 
 
 From Pisgah's top, by faith'a celestial ray, 
 
 He did the land of pure delight explore ; 
 The blissful regions of unclouded day, 
 
 Where sin ne'er enters, and where death's no more. 
 
 Not pluck'd, but gathered by the hand of love, 
 
 As tender fruit, or fragrant lilies are ; 
 Transplanted to the paradise above, 
 
 To blossom in eternal glory there. 
 
 His setting sun shone with refulgent ray, 
 
 Grace I grace ! in holy exstacy he cry'd ; 
 The cov'nant ark thro' Jordan leads the way, 
 
 And lo ! the gloomy waves of death. divide. 
 
 Rais'd up by God, to vindicate his cause, 
 
 And wield aright the Spirit's two-edged sword ; 
 
 Fearing no censure, seeking no applause, 
 
 His banner's motto was — " Thus saith the Lord !" 
 
 Against that rebel host, who dare the crown 
 
 Take from His head, who crush'd the host of hell ; 
 
 Devoid of fear, he ^ew the gauntlet down, 
 And fought, like Michael, till the dragon fell. 
 
 Firm as a rock, while raging billows toss 
 
 Their foaming heads amidst the storm's career, 
 
 He took his post, beneath the bleeding cross, 
 And nobly did the blood-stain'd standard rear. 
 
2J0 ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 Blush ye, who from the pulpit or the press, 
 At him your arrows dipp'd in venom threw ; 
 
 He lov'd the holy gospel, and no less 
 
 With holy Paul, the righteous precept too. 
 
 Go ye, nor with contaminated breath 
 
 Dare brand the saint with mental errors foul ; 
 
 And witness bear, while in the arms of death, 
 How sweetly did his dying moments roll. 
 
 Yet one there was, who wrote for nobler end — 
 Who for the faith with him in meekness strove; 
 
 To truth and the Redeemer's interest friend, 
 
 Who, through the contest, nothing meant but love. 
 
 No more the hallow'd fane of Charles shall hear 
 Salvation flow from his melodious tongue ; 
 
 Christ, in his glory, was exalted there, 
 
 While the vast area crowding thousands throng. 
 
 There did he preach to man's apostate race, 
 While in his breast divine affections glow, 
 
 The glories of Jehovah's sov'reign grace, 
 And awful glory of the fiery law. 
 
 Through Britain's isle, to climes beyond the west, 
 Such pastors, O thou God of Jacob send ; 
 
 Who, with the spirit of Elijah blest, 
 
 Shall for the faith delivered thus contend! 
 
 Go, trace the prophet in his wond'rous flight, 
 Ye young Elishas, and his steps pursue, 
 
 To catch, while he ascends the world of light, 
 His falling mantle and his spirit too. 
 
 And thou, O Charles ! amidst the general woe, 
 
 Shouldst mingle deep thy griefs with those that mourn ; 
 
 O'er his dear ashes let thy sorrows How, 
 With undissemblcd tears bedew his urn. 
 
REV. OK. HAWKER. 271 
 
 A thousand blessings did his hands bestow ; 
 
 He ne'er unpitied heard the orphan's cry, 
 But sought the haunts of wretchedness and woe, 
 
 To wipe the tear from sorrow's weeping eye. 
 
 Were there no heaven wherein the just shall dwell, 
 
 Such was his sympathetic love to man; 
 Or were the penal fires extinct in hell, 
 
 Still to do good would Hawker's feet have ran ! 
 
 Witness his care of that unpitied race, 
 
 Abandon'd harlots — victims to their sin ; 
 How did his ardent zeal procure a place, 
 
 From error's path their roving feet to win ! 
 
 In sure and certain hope, his flesh to dust 
 
 Commit, and ask— where is thy victory grave ? 
 
 To wait the resurrection morn august, 
 
 In which the upright shall dominion have. 
 
 Faithful to death, he now receives the crown, 
 And does the victor's palm in triumph wave ; 
 
 Is now with Jesus on his throne sat down : 
 Such honour shall the saints in glory have. 
 
 Farewell, farewell ! till round the throne we meet, 
 
 To sing with thee the never-ending song, 
 And cast our crowns at the Redeemer's feet, 
 
 While everlasting ages roll along. 
 
MS 
 
 r