51 
 
 200 
 
 Oak Street 
 UNCLASSIFIED 
 
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 https://archive.org/details/sermonoccasionedOOmade 
 
A SERMON 
 
 OCCASIONED BY THE DECEASE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REV. JOSEPH PROUD, 
 
 FORMERLY 
 
 A MINISTER IN THE GENERAL BAPTIST CONNEXION 
 AT NORWICH, 
 
 But since that period for many years 
 
 A MINISTER IN THE NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH j 
 
 INCLUDING A CONCISE 
 
 Account of ?jt$ 3ltfc K Habottt$. 
 
 Delivered on SUNDAY , August the 20th, 1826, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 NEW JERUSALEM TEMPLE, NEWHALL STREET, 
 
 BIRMINGHAM. 
 
 By the Rev. EDWARD MADELEY, Jun. 
 
 MINISTER OF THE SAID TEMPLE. 
 
 PRINTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE CONGREGATION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY J. S. HODSON, CROSS STREET, HATTON GARDEN; 
 
 AND SOLD BY W. SIMPKIN AND R. MARSHALL, STATIONERS * HALL COURT, LUDGATE 
 STREET; AND T. GOYDER, II, DARTMOUTH STREET, WESTMINSTER : SOLD ALSO 
 IN BIRMINGHAM, BY BEILBY, KNOTT AND BEILBY, HIGH STREET, AND 
 R„ WRIGHTSON, NEW STREET; AND IN MANCHESTER BY W. & W. CLARKE. 
 
 1820, 
 

 
 , . r ' ■ 
 
 ■ ,/• if* 
 
A SERMON, &c 
 
 Mr dear Auditors, 
 
 By your request I have undertaken this 
 evening the weighty and solemn task, of 
 paying a public tribute of esteem to the 
 venerated memory of our late beloved 
 Pastor. I have for many years enjoyed 
 the honour of his friendship ; and I have 
 reasons to hope, that I in some degree 
 shared his affections. I was baptized by 
 him into the faith and life of the Lord’s 
 New Church : I have received, from time 
 to time, his kind instructions with regard 
 to the ministerial work : I was inaugurated 
 by him into the sacred office of the ministry : 
 and, have succeeded him in his labours in 
 this town. It must be acknowledged, there- 
 fore, that I possess other motives than your 
 request, which excite me to the perform- 
 b 2 
 
4 
 
 ance of the trying duty, which this evening 
 devolves upon me. I deliver this Memo- 
 rial of our departed Minister and Friend, 
 (though far from being composed with that 
 ability and accuracy which the occasion 
 demands) expressly with the intention of 
 taking a retrospect of his life and labours, 
 and of recalling at the same time, in bright 
 remembrance, those glorious truths, those 
 salutary precepts, which he has so fre- 
 quently and so powerfully inculcated 
 among us. 
 
 As the basis of what I have to advance, 
 permit me to direct your attention to the 
 Gospel of 
 
 John, Ch. xii. part of ver. 26. 
 
 u Where I am,” (saith the incarnate Sa- 
 viour) u there shall also my Servant he 
 
 THE kind and ever gracious promises of 
 our Lord God and Saviour, operate upon 
 us in the hour of affliction and sorrow as 
 
5 
 
 a reviving cordial. If we make the in- 
 tended application of them to ourselves, 
 we shall have no reason to doubt their 
 authenticity, but shall be enabled to prove 
 unquestionably the divinity of their origin 
 by their powerful effects. They will nerve 
 us with a steady and becoming fortitude, 
 and will assist us to bear up with magna- 
 nimity, amid all the diversified trials and 
 sufferings of humanity. But it must ap- 
 pear evident, that the consolations and 
 encouragements of Divine Revelation, can 
 only be effectively applied by those to 
 whom they of right belong, — namely, by 
 the wise and the good, by the penitent 
 and the sincere. 
 
 There is no prevailing sentiment, which, 
 with a happier effect, brings consolation 
 to the human mind, than the consideration, 
 that God is continually present with man. 
 It restrains him from the exercise of his 
 evil propensities : it renders him submis- 
 sive to the Divine will : it urges him on- 
 wards in the path of duty. Our Heavenly 
 b 3 
 
6 
 
 Father is ever intimately present with all 
 his faithful servants. If the good man be 
 surrounded with difficulty and danger ; if 
 his virtues are unknown or known but par- 
 tially : yet is he supported and encouraged 
 by the reflection, that God himself is pre- 
 sent with him in the hour of need, and as 
 a witness to all his conduct. If he be 
 forsaken and neglected in the world, his 
 character blackened by calumny, himself 
 pining in poverty, the good man’s comfort 
 is still the same : he knows that “ God,” 
 whom he sets continually before him,” 
 “ is no respecter of persons,” and that, 
 amidst his glorious operations, the meanest 
 condition is not overlooked ; for alike with 
 him, in this respect, are the peasant and the 
 prince, and each may equally share the 
 beatitudes of his presence. Though af- 
 flicted with unkindness, though forgotten 
 by his friends, yet the truly righteous 
 man can lift up his voice with Job and 
 say, 66 Behold, my witness is in heaven, 
 and my record is on high ;” and when he 
 
7 
 
 is about to depart this transitory life, and 
 u the flesh and the heart begin to fail, 5 ’ he 
 remembers where it is written, u Fear thou 
 not, for I am with thee and his heart 
 responds, “ Yea, though I walk through 
 the valley of the shadow of death, I will 
 fear no evil ; for thou art with me ; 
 thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” 
 He is resigned to the will of Providence ; 
 and he joyfully lays down his material 
 frame, that he may go to his proper home, 
 where in the presence of God there is 
 “ fulness of joy.” The omniscience of our 
 Almighty Father, who in the Glorified Per- 
 son of Jesus Christ is the only God, re- 
 conciles us to every varying change, to 
 which we afe subject in this fluctuating 
 scene of existence. Assured by the Lord 
 himself, that not a sparrow falleth to the 
 ground without his knowledge, we are 
 bound to believe that the divine appoint- 
 ment had a share in that bereavement we 
 have just experienced, and which, having 
 in some measure divided a kindred feeling, 
 b 4 
 
8 
 
 necessarily, at least for a time, affects us 
 with sadness. Though we do not mourn 
 as those who have no hope, yet over ex- 
 pressions of grief, when the natural affec- 
 tions are wounded, we have not an entire 
 control ; nor does the exercise of sensibility 
 form any derogation from the dignity of 
 our nature. Grief and sorrow are not un- 
 frequently permitted, that the native ob- 
 duracy of the human heart may be softened 
 down, and the mind be rendered more 
 pliable, more susceptible of beneficial im- 
 pressions. As we intend, this evening, to 
 enter the chamber of the expiring righteous, 
 to catch a glimpse of the serenity and tran- 
 quillity which true religion diffuses around 
 the dying bed, let us, at the same time, re- 
 member, that our own departure is certain, 
 and may be nigh at hand. Let us, there- 
 fore, imitate the same divine example, 
 that was followed by our departed friend ; 
 that having lived the life of the righteous, 
 our w latter end,” “ like his,” may be ac- 
 companied with joy and peace. 
 
9 
 
 u Where I am, there shall also my ser- 
 vant be .” 
 
 The word servant literally signifies one 
 who dedicates himself to the service of 
 another; so, in the language of inspiration, 
 it is uniformly employed to denote that 
 individual, wherever he may be found, 
 who serves and obeys his heavenly 46 Lord 
 and Master, ”/rom a principle of holy love, 
 and by an inflexible adherence to the Divine 
 Commandments ; — one whose heart, whose 
 mind, whose life, are continually con- 
 secrated to the service of the Lord. 
 
 The Christian Minister, faithful to 
 the great trust committed to his care, 
 is pre-eminently, in every state, the de- 
 voted servant of the Lord. To him his 
 talents, his powers, his very existence, are 
 dedicated. He serveth him day and night ; 
 he is zealously attentive to the true in- 
 terests of the Church ; and earnestly de- 
 sirous to promote, in every possible way, 
 the welfare of all around him. Seriously 
 impressed with the importance of his office, 
 
10 
 
 with eager and friendly care he strives to 
 awaken all to a just sense of their con- 
 dition. He excites the careless to vigilance ; 
 he rouses the slothful to activity; he com- 
 forts the “mourners in Zion;” he brings 
 back the wanderers to the fold; and he 
 rejoices, with “joy unspeakable,” in the 
 happiness of all. While he distributes the 
 “ bread of eternal life,” and “the new 
 wine of the kingdom,” with an impartial 
 and unremitting attention, the lamp of 
 truth is held aloft by his hand to enlighten 
 the path that leads to happiness. He is a 
 “ burning and a shining light;” and his 
 good works are manifested that his Heaven- 
 ly Father may be glorified. To the Chris- 
 tian Minister is entrusted the proclamation 
 of the eternal and unerring laws of re- 
 vealed wisdom ; and he is invested with a 
 subordinate authority, to expound and en- 
 force them. How sacred, then, how mo- 
 mentous, is the ministerial office ! and 
 “ blessed is that servant whom his Lord 
 when he cometh shall find so doing.” 
 
11 
 
 But it is not meet, that ministers, how- 
 ever amiable, or however useful, should 
 labour here for ever. Another stage of 
 being, beyond the verge of time, is destined 
 to receive all men. Here their abiding 
 city is not to be found : here they inherit 
 not, they expect not, their promised reward. 
 Theirs is the toilsome and fatiguing labour, 
 which, in this unkind world, is seldom re- 
 quited, but often undervalued. They 
 have, with other men, to fight against 
 their own perverse propensities within; 
 and, frequently, to struggle with ingrati- 
 tude and scorn from without. While his 
 heart, alive to every tender sensibility, is 
 perpetually grieved with the wickedness of 
 the world, how frequently does the minister 
 of peace sigh over fruitless exertions ; how 
 often, pouring forth the bitterness of his 
 spirit, does he exclaim with the prophet, 
 u Who hath believed our report, and to 
 whom is the arm of the Lord revealed !” 
 O, my dear auditors, where it not for the 
 enlivening presence of the all-seeing God, 
 
the promise of the eternal reward, the 
 benevolent feelings of which true religion 
 is the source, and the essential duty ot 
 rightly employing the talents committed to 
 our care ; who would undertake, who would 
 not shrink from, the arduous task ? It is 
 needful, therefore, that the minister, with 
 others, should find rest from his labours ; 
 and the Lord, in the plenitude of his 
 mercy, will not leave his faithful servant 
 to languish in despair: he entertaineth 
 towards him a tender and compassionate 
 regard : He saith, u Where I am, there shall 
 also my servant be , 55 
 
 How greatly rejoiced is that servant, 
 when the period draweth nigh, in which he 
 is to give an account of his labours, and 
 render all honour and glory to his Divine 
 Master ! Let us follow him to the verge 
 of eternity. Bodily dissolption, even to the 
 good man, is attended with some degree of 
 solicitude 2 it will be serviceable, therefore, 
 to speak a few words on the consolations 
 he derives, in his parting moments, from 
 
13 
 
 a retrospect of the past, from a contempla- 
 tion of the present, from the prospect of 
 the future. 
 
 In the past , he beholds the magnitude 
 of the dangers he hath escaped, the rug- 
 gedness of the path he hath traversed, the 
 firm support he hath received, the precious 
 mercies he hath enjoyed, the great good 
 he hath been instrumental in promoting. 
 His soul is filled with gratitude. 44 What 
 hath not the Lord my God,” saith he, 
 44 done for me ? With him is 4 forgiveness 
 and plenteous redemption,’ and 4 his 
 tender mercies are over all his works.’ I 
 have been but 4 the unprofitable servant, 
 having done no more than was my duty to 
 do ;’ yet he bids me, though unworthy 
 of the least of his favours, to come unto 
 himself. 4 Thou tried and afflicted servant, 
 enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Thou 
 hast been faithful amid the snares of the 
 world ; the law of truth was in thy mouth, 
 and iniquity was not found on thy lips : 
 thou hast walked with me in peace and 
 
14 
 
 equity, and hast turned many from ini- 
 quity. 5 Come, therefore, to my imme- 
 diate presence ; for 6 where I am, there 
 shall also my servant be. 5 55 
 
 If he consider what is passing around 
 him the good man first enters into his own 
 mind. There, to his unspeakable delight, 
 he finds that confidential trust in his Sa- 
 viour, which inspires him with a well- 
 grounded hope. His change is approach- 
 ing ; but he has been looking for it with 
 anxious expectation, as a source of relief. 
 His last hour upon earth is near ; but he 
 is prepared to meet it. The world is re- 
 ceding with all its fascinating follies. Ah, 
 my dear auditors, but for the activities re- 
 quired of him as the servant of God, the 
 world, to him, had long been a scene of 
 vexation and vanity. He is leaving his 
 relatives and friends; but he leaves them 
 to the care of a provident and indulgent 
 Father, who hath said, “ Leave thy father- 
 less children, I will preserve them alive 5 
 and let thy widows trust in me. 55 The 
 
15 
 
 moment of his deliverance is nigh, from the 
 bondage of corruption, from the sorrows of 
 mortality, from the burden of the flesh. 
 He knows that, “ absent from the body, 
 he will be present with the Lord,” who 
 hath uttered the condescending words of 
 the text, u Where I am, there shall also my 
 servant be.” 
 
 But who can presume to define the in- 
 expressible greatness and grandeur of the 
 faithful servant’s future expectations ! 
 While the frail body is left 66 to say to cor- 
 ruption, Thou art my sister,” the soul, 
 which, properly speaking, is the man him- 
 self, enters the bright abodes of im- 
 mortality. He quits his “ earthly house,” 
 where he has long been a stranger, for a 
 66 building of God, a house not made with 
 hands, eternal in the heavens;” there to 
 appear a spiritual being in perfect human 
 form, gifted with every sense and faculty 
 and power suited to spiritual existence. 
 Separated from sin and suffering, he will 
 enter into the fruition of every exalted 
 
16 
 
 hope and every purified desire. In the 
 societies of the just, he will possess a source 
 of inward felicity, which to be known must 
 be experienced. Clothed with the adorn- 
 ments of wisdom, surrounded with the 
 emblems of love and obedience, encircled 
 by the magnificence of the heavens, — But 
 I forbear! — who can describe the happi- 
 ness of the blessed in the presence of God, 
 u where are pleasures for evermore ?” Let 
 this suffice : he who knoweth the se- 
 crets of every heart hath declared, that 
 “ he that endureth unto the end, the same 
 shall be saved,” and, at the termination 
 of his terrestrial existence, shall be re- 
 warded with the crown of eternal life. God 
 himself will say, u Welcome, faithful soul:” 
 “ Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit 
 the kingdom prepared for you from the 
 foundation of the world :” “ for where I 
 am, there shall also my servant be.” 
 
 Such are a few of the consolations which 
 are provided to support the servant of God 
 in his last solemn trial ; and such were the 
 
17 
 
 consolations from which, doubtless, our 
 aged Pastor derived a source of confidence 
 u which the world could neither give nor 
 take away.” 
 
 But we now come to that part of our 
 discourse, in which it will be proper to take 
 a short review of his labours, and to speak 
 more particularly respecting him. 
 
 The Rev. Joseph Proud was born at 
 Beaconfield in Buckinghamshire, on the 
 22d March, A.D. 1745. Exhibiting, in 
 his youth, the marks of a superior genius, 
 his talents were directed to the ministry, 
 under the auspices of his father, who was 
 himself* for many years, a minister in the 
 Connexion of the General Baptists. Our 
 departed friend commenced his pulpit ex- 
 ercises in the year 1768, being then twenty- 
 three years of age ; and having continued 
 to preach with zeal and ability for the 
 space of seven or eight years, he was ad- 
 mitted by ordination into the regular mi- 
 nistry of the General Baptist Denomination. 
 C 
 
18 
 
 His first engagements were at Wisbeach in 
 Cambridgeshire ; but he was shortly re- 
 moved to the city of Norwich, where a 
 commodious chapel was erected purposely 
 for him, by the late Mr. Hunt, then of that 
 city, but latterly of Gissing in the county 
 of Norfolk, and who acted with him as his 
 colleague in the ministry. His labours 
 were eminently successful ; nor were they 
 exclusively confined to the city of Norwich; 
 for the adjacent towns and villages shared 
 the benefits of his exertions. He con- 
 tinued an acceptable minister in the Gene- 
 ral Baptist Connexion till the year 1791, a 
 period of twenty-five years ; during which 
 he published twelve small works on reli- 
 gious and moral subjects, which had a 
 considerable circulation. In the year 
 1789, two gentlemen zealous to promote 
 the rising cause of the New Jerusalem 
 Church, travelled through England, at 
 their own expense, for the express pur- 
 pose of promulgating the heavenly doc- 
 trines of that Church, both by preaching 
 
19 
 
 and the distribution of books. On their 
 arriving at Norwich, Mr. Hunt allowed 
 them, repeatedly, the use of his chapel, 
 and shewed a disposition to lend a fa- 
 vourable ear to the truths they announced; 
 in which he was, at first, vehemently op- 
 posed by our late Friend and Pastor. 
 Anxious to suppress what he then consi- 
 dered to be contrary to Scripture Testi- 
 mony, Mr. Proud undertook to convince 
 the visitors, by public declamation and 
 private argument, that they were the dupes 
 of an artful and visionary enthusiast, and 
 that the opinions they maintained were 
 utterly unworthy the acceptance of man- 
 kind. What a contrast, does his conduct 
 at this time present to that which it soon 
 afterwards became ! For, how frequently 
 and how solemnly have we heard him 
 declare, — yes, brethren, and the last time 
 we heard him lift his voice in this place 
 he declared, — that, the doctrines of the 
 New Jerusalem Church were the most 
 scriptural, the most rational, the most con- 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 solatory, the most to be prized, of any 
 that were ever published to the world! 
 How often has he told us, that in being 
 made acquainted with these doctrines, we 
 have experience^ the most stupendous and 
 inestimable blessings that could ever fall 
 to the lot of man ! while he hath earnestly 
 exhorted us, even with tears, to shew our 
 utmost gratitude to the Great Giver, by 
 letting our “ light so shine before men,” 
 that they may be convinced of the purity 
 of our doctrines by the purity of our lives, 
 and constrained to glorify the God of 
 heaven. In conclusion, however, several 
 works of the Hon. Emanuel Swedenborg, 
 — that heaven directed messenger of the 
 Lord of Hosts, that “ luminous expositor” 
 of the mysteries of the Holy Word, — were 
 left in his possession, and a promise was 
 elicited that he would candidly and se- 
 riously peruse them. For some time he 
 formed various undecided opinions respect- 
 ing their contents. He suffered great 
 mental inquietude from the consideration, 
 
21 
 
 that if the doctrines of the Eternal Truth 
 were providentially offered for his accept- 
 ance. an obstinate rejection might with 
 justice be imputed to him as a crime. 
 Being one day more than usually agitated 
 on this subject, he retired to ask the divine 
 assistance and direction in prayer : he im- 
 mediately afterwards opened the Holy 
 Word, when the passage in Hab. i. 5. 
 accidentally arrested his attention. The 
 words are remarkable : “ Behold ye , among 
 the heathen , and regard y and wonder mar- 
 vellously : for I will work a work in your 
 days y which ye will not believe , though 
 it be told you From that instant he 
 was resolved calmly to reconsider the writ- 
 ings he had despised, in the unbiassed 
 spirit of prayer and perseverance. His old 
 mistaken and gloomy notions on religion 
 soon gave way, and convictions of the grand 
 and glorious truths offered to mankind 
 in the doctrines of the New Church, soon 
 grew and were confirmed. He obtained 
 “ The True Christian Religion or Universal 
 c 3 
 
Theology of the New Church,” and began 
 to study the doctrines with a glowing and 
 increasing delight. He perceived and 
 acknowledged their heavenly tendencies. 
 For they directed him to the true and 
 proper Object of all Worship : they in- 
 structed him “rightly to divide” and 
 understand “ the word of truth :” they 
 impressed upon him, at the same time, the 
 absolute necessity of shunning every evil, 
 in heart and conduct, as a sin against God : 
 in short, they prescribed to him a life of 
 love and wisdom, of charity and faith, as 
 leading to a life of never-ending blessed- 
 ness in eternity : and while he found them 
 harmonize together, he saw them supported 
 both by rational and revealed evidence. 
 
 Having thus discovered the “ pearl of 
 great price,” in the knowledge of the Only 
 Wise God our Saviour, and become en- 
 riched with the treasures of true wisdom, he 
 joyfully and fearlessly proclaimed the glad 
 tidings to all around him, under the pleas- 
 ing anticipation that all would be equally 
 
23 
 
 gratified and benefited with himself. But 
 alas ! the abettors of error, satisfied with the 
 aberrations of their own prostrate reason, 
 raised around him a host of opposition. 
 Alarmed at the great change in the senti- 
 ments of an eminent Minister, they assailed 
 him from all quarters. Like his Saviour, 
 he suffered persecution for the sake of the 
 truth. Yet was he unbending; because 
 they desired him to exchange the stability 
 of wisdom for the wanderings of ignorance, 
 and to relinquish the life-giving fountains 
 of heaven for the broken cisterns of human 
 tradition. Hence he was inflexible ; and 
 he was therefore driven from communion 
 with the General Baptists, to seek among 
 strangers even the means of subsistence. 
 His fortitude on this trying occasion did 
 not forsake him. He forgave their un- 
 charitableness, aware that they knew 
 not what manner of spirit they were of.” 
 And though many were his enemies, who 
 carried their rancour far beyond what a 
 difference of opinion would warrant, yet 
 c 4 
 
24 
 
 was his heart gladdened by some, who 
 rejoiced in the light he attempted to 
 diffuse around him ; while the antichris- 
 tian sentiments exercised towards him, 
 and from those too from whom “ he might 
 have expected better things,” doubtless 
 contributed to wean him entirely from the 
 erroneous principles which dictated such 
 conduct, and to confirm his good opinion 
 of the New Doctrines he had espoused. 
 
 Providentially, at this period a temple 
 was erected in this town, being the first 
 place of worship ever raised in this king- 
 dom, for the dissemination of our senti- 
 ments; and our late friend and brother 
 was earnestly requested to take charge of 
 the congregation ; to which he acceded. 
 He had previously, in the short space of 
 three months, composed the volume of 
 Hymns bearing his name, the first edition 
 of which was printed in 1790. On making 
 application in London, he was re-or- 
 dained a minister of the New Jerusalem 
 Church, on the 3rd of May, 1791. The 
 
25 
 
 late Rev. Mr. Leicester, previously an 
 esteemed clergyman of the Church of 
 England, who had been appointed to 
 preach the opening Sermons in Birming- 
 ham, becoming suddenly indisposed, the 
 duty devolved upon Mr. Proud, who 
 preached two discourses from 2 Samuel, 
 vii. 29 ; in which he took occasion to 
 announce the general doctrines to be ad- 
 vocated in that place. These sermons are 
 before the public ; and a contemporary 
 observes respecting them, u that they were 
 masterly compositions, were delivered with 
 the utmost propriety, and were satisfacto- 
 rily received by an overflowing audience.” 
 The temple was regularly crowded to 
 excess ; and great indeed were the expect- 
 ations which were then formed of the future 
 prosperity of the Society ; expectations, 
 alas ! not then to be realized. Unforeseen 
 misfortunes awaited them, occasioned, it is 
 but too certain, by an imprudent zeal on 
 the part of several principal supporters of 
 the cause. The congregation was dispersed, 
 
26 
 
 the society overwhelmed in calamity and 
 surrounded with difficulty, and the temple 
 alienated, within the short space of two 
 years. Our friend, with great regret, left 
 Birmingham, to act as the colleague of the 
 late Rev. Mr. Cowherd, in the large and 
 handsome church then just completed in 
 Peter-street, Manchester. The Society in 
 Birmingham, however, collected their scat- 
 tered remains, and with great exertions, 
 in which they were warmly and materially 
 assisted by the present proprietor, the 
 place in which we are now assembled 
 was erected, and Mr. Proud, after an 
 absence of only seven months, again con- 
 sented to become their minister. 
 
 Here he continued until the year 1797 ; 
 when, on solicitation, he left Birmingham 
 again, to take charge of a Society in Lon- 
 don, and to proclaim the doctrines of the 
 New Jerusalem in the commodious chapel 
 in Cross Street, Hatton Garden. That So- 
 ciety removed, in 1799, to a larger chapel 
 in York Street, St. James’s ; where they 
 
continued till the expiration of their lease in 
 the year 1813, when they were compelled to 
 relinquish it for a small place in Lisle 
 Street; which, however, they only engaged 
 as a temporary convenience. As a proof 
 that our friend’s ministry was acceptable, — 
 for he was 6C a workman that needed not to 
 be ashamed,” — I have been informed by 
 those who witnessed the fact, that for the 
 period of seventeen years, — the time he re- 
 mained in the metropolis, — he always had 
 large and respectable congregations ; those 
 in the evening, amounting to not less than 
 from 700 to 1000 people ; except, when 
 at Lisle Street, where the place would not 
 contain so great a number. 
 
 In the meantime, the Society in Birming- 
 ham underwent a severe trial by the re- 
 moval of their minister. The vacancy was 
 however filled up, during many years, by 
 the active services of the Rev. W. Faraday, 
 now deceased. But in the year 1814, our 
 late venerable friend, whose heart, as he 
 expressed it, was with the Birmingham 
 
28 
 
 Society, a third time yielded to their 
 urgent wishes again to come and live 
 among them ; and he overjoyed them by 
 his return. Here he took up his final 
 residence ; and here he has finished his 
 course. Ever alive to the welfare of the 
 church with which he was connected, he, 
 in the year 1815, voluntarily offered his 
 services to the General Conference assem- 
 bled in Manchester as missionary minister, 
 the perpetuity of such an office being then 
 under consideration. His services were 
 accepted, and he visited the greater part 
 of the New Church Societies in England, 
 at the advanced age of 71 years. He 
 commenced the arduous undertaking in 
 1816, and continued in it two years; 
 which was as long as his health would 
 permit. The Societies he visited testified 
 their affection and respect for him in every 
 possible way; and ample evidence might 
 be adduced, if necessary, as to the great 
 usefulness of his exertions. He has re- 
 sided in Birmingham, in all eighteen 
 
29 
 
 years, and has shared the regard of Chris- 
 tians of all denominations ; this is evinced 
 by the circumstance of his having at the 
 solicitations of the ministers and congre- 
 gations, several times preached in other 
 places of public worship in this town 
 besides his own. 
 
 For the long period of thirty-five 
 years he has been a useful minister 
 of the New Jerusalem Church ; and it 
 was his consolation in his last days to 
 remark, that, through the divine bles- 
 sing, he had never cast reproach on his 
 profession, nor disgraced his office by any 
 immoral conduct. He was accustomed, 
 both in the early and latter periods of his 
 ministry, to extemporaneous preaching ; 
 but entering upon the ministry of a church, 
 whose doctrines were so different from 
 those which he had before professed, and 
 the language proper for the accurate ex- 
 pression of which must of necessity be less 
 familiar to him than that which he had 
 practised so long ; he feared to trust him- 
 
30 
 
 self to this mode of speaking, and he 
 consequently delivered written composi- 
 tions for a number of years : and this was, 
 no doubt, a providential circumstance ; as 
 those discourses have been, and are to this 
 day, widely circulated among those rising 
 Societies which have no permanent mi- 
 nisters. During his ministry he has 
 preached not less than 7000 discourses, 
 3000 of which have been written. He 
 has published at different times* and on 
 various occasions, about ninety sermons and 
 lectures, either separately or in volumes, 
 all in harmony with the doctrines of the 
 New Church. His much admired volume 
 of Hymns passed through five editions ; 
 besides which, he has printed thirteen 
 other works, large and small, together with 
 many fugitive pieces and occasional papers 
 in periodical publications. He has left 
 behind him in manuscript, as he himself 
 informed me, a short time ago, as much 
 prose and poetry (including his sermons) 
 as would compose near three hundred 
 
31 
 
 volumes of an ordinary size, exclusively on 
 moral and religious subjects ; and besides 
 this, he maintained an extensive corres- 
 pondence with his friends. 
 
 Amid such multiplied and important 
 avocations did the life of our deceased 
 brother pass away. Though he cannot 
 be ranked among authors of the first 
 literary attainments, yet his abilities, as 
 a writer, were respectable : as a public 
 speaker, he was truly eloquent; if the 
 applicability of that term is to be esti- 
 mated from the extraordinary effect his 
 delivery frequently produced. He was 
 constantly heard with the most profound 
 attention, and always with delight. Of 
 the innumerable frailties incident to human 
 weakness, but very few were discernible 
 amid all the estimable qualities of our 
 Pastor; and it is but justice to remark, that 
 these principally arose out of a reserved 
 manner, which can only be ascribed to his 
 natural temperament, distinct from perver- 
 sity of character. Who among mankind 
 
32 
 
 is wholly free from imperfections ? Trials 
 and tribulations are permitted in the divine 
 economy, to assist in the purification of 
 the mind, by a gradual and almost imper- 
 ceptible operation : they continually remind 
 us of our polluted and depraved condition 
 by nature. The good man cannot escape 
 the tribulations attendant on this state of 
 probation : and of these our worthy friend 
 had his share ; while it must be acknow- 
 ledged, by those who shared his intimacy, 
 that he bore them with a resignation of 
 superhuman origin. He has had trials of 
 a continued and distressing nature in his 
 family. Out of thirteen children, prin- 
 cipally by a former marriage, two only 
 were permitted to remain ; and if they 
 were present in this assembly, I should not 
 shrink from the duty of reminding them, 
 that they had both been to him a cause of 
 long and anxious solicitude. He expe- 
 rienced trials among those he numbered as 
 his friends ; trials in the societies where he 
 has laboured ; trials from bodily afflictions ; 
 
 i 
 
33 
 
 for, owing to a constitutional disorder, 
 which for many years attacked him with 
 frequency and violence, “ wearisome nights 
 were appointed unto him.” But we have 
 every reason to believe that, ere this, he is 
 proclaimed as the faithful minister come 
 out of great tribulation, purified and 
 prepared for a triumphant entrance into 
 angelic felicity. 
 
 Never, O never, shall I forget the 
 earnestness, with which, a few wee cs pre- 
 vious to his removal, he exhorted me to 
 be faithful to the great trust committed 
 to my care. He took my hands and 
 placed them between his own, weak and 
 trembling as they were; and while the 
 tears glistened in his aged eye, he said, 
 “ Ah, my young friend, your toils are just 
 commencing ; mine are about to close : be 
 faithful: dignify your office by your con- 
 duct : and may the divine blessing sanctify 
 your labours, and render them abundantly 
 useful.” I felt his benediction ; I had a 
 presentiment it would be the last he would 
 D 
 
34 
 
 bestow : I was unable to reply. He ap- 
 peared absorbed in meditation ; and I 
 silently added, 44 Gracious God, hear his 
 prayer, and when thou takest him to 
 thyself, as thine upright servant, let, 4 his 
 mantle’ be my inheritance, and let a 
 4 double portion of his spirit be upon me.’ ” 
 The serenity and confidence with which 
 he contemplated his latter end were truly 
 remarkable : they shew the steady reliance 
 with which he depended upon the truths 
 of the New Jerusalem Church, and the 
 great degree of his preparation for the 
 heavenly inheritance. He has been in- 
 strumentally employed in 44 turning many 
 to righteousness and he is gone, where 
 he 44 will shine as the stars for ever.” 
 His private virtues endeared him to his 
 relatives and friends as a man and a Chris- 
 tian ; and if any thing gave him painful 
 sensations in his latest moments, it was 
 the reflection, that he was about to leave 
 a long-afflicted and beloved wife, who 
 would, by his bereavement, be subjected 
 to the severest trials. 
 
35 
 
 His departure was rather sudden, occa- 
 sioned by a severe attack of the complaint 
 before alluded to. On the Sabbath morning 
 previous to his bodily decease, he was more 
 than usually lively, and, had his strength 
 permitted, felt more than usually desirous 
 of meeting us again in solemn worship ; for 
 many months had passed since he had been 
 capable of staying with us through a Sab- 
 bath morning’s service. In the evening of 
 the same day he was taken ill : and on 
 the Thursday morning following, the 3rd 
 of August, 1826, he resigned his spirit into 
 the hands of his maker, at the advanced 
 age of eighty- two years. 
 
 The last sermon he preached on an 
 ordinary occasion was on the 9th of 
 January, 1825 : it was an impressive 
 one from Psalm xl. 2, 3 : 66 He brought 
 
 me up also out of an horrible pit , out 
 of the miry clay , and set my feet upon 
 a rocfc, and established my goings . And 
 he hath put a new song in my mouthy even 
 praise unto our God ; many shall see it , 
 d 2 
 
36 
 
 and fear, and shall trust in the Lord 
 from which subject he promised us another 
 discourse ; and though he was never per- 
 mitted to perform that engagement, yet 
 has he left us a practical sermon in the re- 
 membrance of his life, which was assuredly 
 most fully exemplified in the language of 
 that text. We may still call to mind his 
 venerable countenance and hoary head, the 
 decent solemnity of his voice and manner, 
 and the unaffected fervour of his piety, 
 while engaged along with us in our devo- 
 tional exercises. Methinks I still hear our 
 beloved Pastor, proclaiming to us the great 
 truths of the everlasting Gospel, exhorting 
 us to put implicit confidence in the pro- 
 mises of our God and Saviour, warning 
 us against the propensities of the natural 
 mind, encouraging us amid the multiplied 
 temptations of our condition, prescribing 
 to us purity of heart and an undeviating 
 rectitude of conduct. 
 
 But he is gone. He has left his 
 mouldering clay behind him to be con- 
 
37 
 
 signed to its kindred dust ; and the soul, 
 the real man, is no longer confined to 
 an earthly and perishable tabernacle, 
 46 He has fought the good fight, he has 
 finished his course, he has kept the faith : 
 henceforth there belongs to him a crown of 
 righteousness with which the Lord the 
 righteous Judge hath rewarded him ,’ 5 and 
 which he bestows on all his obedient chil- 
 dren. He is gone to be a bright inhabitant 
 of the spiritual world: yet the recollec- 
 tions of his memory remain; and while 
 we lament our separation, let us rejoice 
 that he was spared to us so long, and that 
 the Lord hath taken his servant to himself. 
 Let us remember his admonitory pre- 
 cepts, his kind instructions, and prepare 
 ourselves for a resigned departure from the 
 world. The place which knoweth us now 
 will very shortly know us no more for ever ; 
 but if we are found blameless and righte- 
 ous, we shall soon meet our beloved friend 
 again, and be gathered with the spirits of 
 the just made perfect before the throne of 
 
38 
 
 God, O what truths are these ! How our 
 hearts burn within us while we meditate 
 upon them, and while we consider that 
 “ those who have been fellow-labourers 
 and mutual comforters” in this scene of 
 sorrow and of suffering, may be united 
 together through an eternity of joy ! 
 
 Prepare us all, O God! gracious and 
 long suffering, and abundant in goodness 
 and truth, for our last trial. Amen. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 J. S. Hodson, Printer, 
 
 15 , Cross Street, Hatton Garden. 
 
WORKS 
 
 Published by J. S. HODSON, 15, Cross St., Hatton Garden. 
 
 An Account of Emanuel Swedenborg, 
 
 As contained in an Eulogium to his Memory pronounced, 
 in the Great Hall of the House of Nobles, in the name of the 
 Royal Academy of Sciences of Stockholm, October 7th, 1772. 
 By M. Samuel Sandel, Counsellor of the Royal Board of 
 Mines, Knight of the Polar Star, and Member of the said 
 Academy. Translated from the Swedish. With INTRO- 
 DUCTORY OBSERVATIONS exhibiting the claims of the 
 Writings of Swedenborg to the attention of the Public, and 
 presenting a characteristic description of the Four General 
 Classes into which his Works may be divided. Elegantly 
 printed in royal 12mo. Price Is. 
 
 A FEW PLAIN ANSWERS to the Question, Why do 
 you receive the Testimony of Baron Swedenborg ? By the 
 Rev. J. Clowes, A. M. Rector of St. John’s, Manchester^ 
 and late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Price 6d. 
 
 LETTERS TO A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT on 
 the Character and Writings of BARON SWEDENBORG, 
 containing a Full and Complete Refutation of all the Abbe 
 Barruel’s Calumnies against the Honourable Author. By 
 the Rev. J. Clowes. Second edition, 8vo. 4s. boards. 
 
 “ A sensible , candid , and energetic vindication of the character and 
 doctrines of the celebrated Baron Swedenborg , in opposition to the gross 
 misrepresentations of the Abbe Barruel , in the fourth volume of his 
 Memoirs of Jacobinism, Mr, C.’s book is well written ; and it com- 
 prehends, , besides a complete refutation of the Abbe's calumnies , a full, 
 and ( to us) very satisfactory exposition of the whole Swedenborgian 
 system , to which Mr. Clowes appears to be conscientiously attached • 
 On the whole , this work deserves , or we are much deceived , a place 
 among the most respectable productions of theological controversy in the 
 libraries of Protestant divines." Monthly Review, March, 1800. 
 
 “ A candid and energetic vindication of the character and theological 
 opinions of the celebrated Baron Swedenborg, whom we always considered 
 as an enthusiast , but of whose system is here given a full exposition , by 
 a clergyman of the Established Church , who appears to be conscien- 
 tiously attached to it." Gentleman’s Magazine for Nov. 1800. 
 
 THE FIRST CHAPTER of GENESIS EXPLAINED 
 according to its Internal or Spiritual Sense, extracted from 
 the Arcana Ccelestia, Vol.I. To which is prefixed the Affec- 
 tionate Address to the Clergy, by the Rev. J. Clowes ; 
 forming together a very useful Pamphlet of Introduction to 
 an acquaintance, with the Mode of explaining the Sacred 
 Scriptures, as taught in the writings of E. Swedenborg. 
 12mo. containing 66 pages. Price 6d. 
 
WORKS PUBLISHED by J. S. HOBSON. 
 
 AN APPEAL in behalf of the Views of the Eternal 
 World and State, and the Doctrines of Faith and Life, held 
 by the body of Christians who humbly trust that they belong 
 to the New Church of the Lord, signified (in the Revelation, 
 chap, xxi.) by the New Jerusalem ; including Answers to Ob- 
 jections, particularly those raised by the Rev. G. Beaumont, 
 of Norwich, in his work entitled “The Anti-Swedenborg:’* 
 with Occasional Notices of other Assailants. Addressed to 
 the Reflecting of all Denominations. By the Rev. S. Noble, 
 Minister of Hanover Street Chapel, Long Acre. In 12mo. 
 6s. bds. 
 
 THE PLENARY INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIP- 
 TURES ASSERTED; and the Principles of their Composition 
 Investigated ; with a view to the Refutation of all Objections 
 to their Divinity ; in Six Lectures (very greatly enlarged) de- 
 livered at Albion Hall, London Wall ; with an APPENDIX, 
 Illustrative and Critical. By the Rev. S. Noble. In 8vo. 
 13s. bds. 
 
 Lect. I. Introductory. Infidel Objections stated. II. The 
 True Nature of the Scriptures Explained. III. The Law 
 or Rule Explained according to which the Scriptures are 
 written. IV. and V. Proofs and Illustrations, evincing that 
 the Scriptures are written according to the above Rule. 
 VI. The whole Fabric of Infidel Objections shewn to be 
 without Foundation. In the Appendix are contained, among 
 various Important Investigations, Remarks on the recent 
 volume of Bampton Lectures by the late Rev. J. J. Conybeare, 
 M. A. 
 
 “ Mr. Noble's style is simple , but forcible and argumentative ; and if 
 Christianity has had more able , it has , perhaps , rarely had a more 
 rational advocate , or one more likely to convince the Sceptic 
 
 Lit. Chr. Jan. 1, 1825. 
 
 This (t is a work of much labour , and the writer has evinced powerful 
 talents , great activity , and unwearied perseverance in prosecuting his 
 researches''' Imperial Mag. Nov. 1825. 
 
 An Interesting Account of the LAST ILLNESS and 
 DEATH of MISS LAVINIA R. MURDOCH, most for- 
 cibly exhibiting the Divine Power of the Word of God ; and 
 shewing the superior Consolation afforded on the Death Bed, 
 by the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem Church : also, 
 A LETTER written by the deceased, on the occasion of her 
 reception of the above Doctrines, found amongst her papers. 
 Price 2d. or 9s. per hundred. 
 

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