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ANCIENT MEETING-HOUSES, &c.

ANCIENT MEETING-HOUSES;

OR,

MEMORIAL PICTURES

NONCONFORMITY IN OLD LONDON.

GODFREY HOLDEN PIKE.

'HE IS THE VICTOR WHO TO TRUTH DOTH YIELD."

LONDON :
PASSMORE & ALABASTER 18, PATERNOSTER ROW.
S. W. PARTRIDGE & Co., 9, PATERNOSTER ROW.

MDCCCLXX.

TO THE
PASTORS, OFFICE-BEARERS, & CONGEEGATIONS
OF
THE THREE DENOMINATIONS OF
PROTESTANT DISSENTERS.
The present volume is dedicated to you with all con
fidence as to the respect you cherish for the prin
ciples it illustrates, and the esteem in which you
hold the sainted men whose lives it records. A re
view of the severe conflicts, and of the heroic exer
tions of the fathers in the faith, it is sent forth as
an affectionate memorial of their loyalty to con
science, their fidelity to revealed truth, and of their
sublime steadfastness amid difficulty and suffering.
It thus seeks to extend the pure fame of those
worthy confessors who so nobly defended the prin
ciples of civil and religious liberty when fiercely
assailed by the corrupt forces of tyranny and priest
craft ; to whom, therefore, under Divine Providence,
the present generation must trace its priceless ad-

VI DEDICATION.
vantages. An endeavour is also made to do honour
to those nonconforming worthies of the eighteenth
century upon whom devolved the grave responsi
bilities which arose out of the moral victories of an
eariier period. The reader will learn something of
the patience, courage, and cheerfulness with which
the Dissenters in the old City toiled while carrying
on the work of Christ — a work now happily ex
panded into the unexampled evangelistic efforts of
the present era. By a faithful examination of
original manuscripts and other standard autho
rities, it has been sought to preserve accurate
memories of the rapidly disappearing sanctuaries
of old London ; and thus, in some degree, to per
petuate the influence of those centres of religious
life. The book is circulated with the hope that it
may strengthen the love of freedom which so emi
nently distinguished the pastors, officers, and mem
bers of the Churches in less peaceful times, thus
leading to a yet wider diffusion and a more mani
fest triumph of the Spirit of Liberty.
G. H. P.
Enfield, March, 1870.

CONTENTS. CHAPTER I.
Devonshire Sqttaiie.
Introductory — Allusion to the Baptist in Hudibras — Jasper
Fisher — ^First planting of the Society in Devonshire-square
— Wn.T.TA^r KrFFEJf and his biographers — Early troubles
and conversion — Secedes from the Established Church —
Joins the "Independents" under John Lathorp, and com
mences preaching — ¦His marriage— Is imprisoned — Other
troubles — Enters into the Diitch trade — Hi a rapid rise —
Ecclesiastical condition of England on the eve of the civil
wars — T^iffen an officer in the Parliamentary army — Bap
tismal controversies — " Gangrene " Edwards — The custom of
anointing — ^New troubles — Alleged plot to murder the King
— A missing MS — Domestic sorrows — The Howling tragedy
— Battle of Sedgemoor — The "bloody" assizes — Reaction
of public opinion — Kiffen is called to Court — Made an alder
man — Secedes from the church — His liberality — Death and
character — ^Thomas Patient — Dies of the plague in 1665 —
Is succeeded by Daniel Dyke — His death — The ancient
discipline at Devonshire-square — Richabd Adams — His
persecution — Succeeds KiflFen — ^Disputes about psalmody —
Mabk Key — Sir G. and Lady Page — Dr. Sateb Etjdd— His
church removes to Devonshire-square — Disagreement with
the people — ^Libelled by Ivimey — Removes to Maze-pond —

vm CONTENTS.
Geoege Braithwaete — Early life and conversion — ^Becomes
a Baptist, and commences his ministry — Unpopularity of his
treatise agaiast public-houses — ^Accession at Devonshire-
square — Quarrel between that church and the Society at
Maze-pond— His last days and death— John Stevens —
Charges against bim — Division in the church — Some par
ticulars of his life — Walter Richards — His brief pastorate
and resignation — John Macgowakt — Early life — Talents as
a writer — Death — TmOTHT Thomas — His disadvantages —
Genial nature— Death — The fatuie of Devonshire-square. PAGE 1
CHAPTER n.
Pinners' Hall.
Ancient associations of the site — The hall is leased by the
Nonconfonmsts~ANTHONTPALMER--Histroubles— Removes
to London — Works with G. Fownes — Death — Richard
Wavbl — Sufferings — The Merchants' Lecture — Sabba
tarian Baptists — Dr. Watts and his people in Pinners' HaU
— Jeremiah Hunt — His talents — Friendship with ColUns
and Lord Barrington — James Foster — His early days^
Removal to London — Visits Lord Ebnamock — Foster and
his eulogists — His popularity and defective teaching — Caleb
Fleming — Early life— Becomes a Socinian partisan — Extinc
tion of the church  PAGE 61
CHAPTER ni.
Crosby Hall.
Early history of the premises— The haU is leased by the
Presbyterians— Thomas Watson— His devotion and industry
—Death— Stephen Chaenocke— His ancestor ' ' Rosicrucian"
—Early life of Stephen— Settles in Dublin— Returns to Lon
don and serves under Watson at Crosby HaU — Works  Last
resting-place- False story about him— Samuel Slater 

CONTENTS. ix
The lecturers at Crosby HaU— Benjamin Grosvenoe— A
jyrotegS of Keach— Secedes from the Baptists— Great prosperity
of the church under his pastorate— Retires— Society becomes
extinct  PAQj; 79
CHAPTER rv.
The Oisd Jewry.
The site named after the Jews— Sufferings of its early
inhabitants — Description of the old meeting-house — Edmund
Cat.amy — Samuel Boefet — John Shower — Early traioing
— ^He travels over Europe — Rome in the seventeenth cen
tury — Travelling adventures — Returns to England in 1687 —
His engagement at Silver-street under John Howe — Removes
to Oripplegate — Erection of the Old Jewry Meeting-house —
Correspondence with Lord Oxford on the Occasional Con
formity BUI — The promoters of that measure — Robert Harley,
Earl of Oxford — Shower's last days — Timothy Rogers —
A strange story belonging to the Old Jewry, note — "A
broken vessel " — Joseph Bennett — His early trials — Simon
Browne — Shepton MaUet his birth-place, see note — Settles
at Portsmouth — Removes to London, 1716 — Extraordinary
haUucination — He retires to Shepton MaUett — Continues his
studies — Describes his own case, see note — Behaviour in
company — His works — Cause of the delusion — Death and
character — Thomas Leavesley — His unpopularity — Samuel
Chandlee — Hi a education and coUege companions — Settle
ment at Peckham — Is engaged on a lectureship at the Old
Jewry — Removes to London — Popery and the Pretender —
The Gentleman's Magazine and the Dissenters — Romanist
disputes — Chandler's zeal against the papacy — His action in
the RebeUion year, 1745 — His great success — Mary Chandler
— ^De. Miles — Hi a singular industry — Richard Price —
Early discipline — Removes to London — Settles at Newington-

X CONTENTS.
green — His book on Civil Liberty — Admirers and detractors
—Doctrinal views— Death of fi-iends- Centenary sermon on
the Revolution— Death— Thomas Amory— Not popular— An
archdeacon is invited to assume the pastorate — Nathaniel
White — Abraham Eebs — His vast industry in preparing
his Encyclopaedia— His popularity and professorship at
Hoxton— Last days of the Old Jewry Meeting-house-
New chapel in Jewin-street — Death of Dr. Eees — David
Davidson — ^Discouraging state of the congregation — The
pastor resigns — Extinction of the society — Reflections PAGE 95
CHAPTER V.
The Sabbatariait Baptists in Old London.
Old Oripplegate- Curriers' HaU— Francis Bamppield —
His provincial experience — Removal to London — Persecuted
— Scene in Pinners' HaU in 1683 — The pastor's arrest and
death in Newgate — Edward Stennett — His residence at
WaUingford — The Castle and its privUeges serve the cause of
Nonconformity — A plot defeated — Pastorate at Pinners' HaU
— Death — Abingdon — Joseph Stennett — Early industry —
Aids the Revolution — Becomes pastor of the Sabbatarians —
A politician — Marries a French Protestant — Effects of revok
ing the Edict of Nantes — Tunbridge Wells in 1700— Stennett's
popularity as an author — Many of his pieces lost — Dissenters
and the war of the Spanish Succession — Treaty of Utrecht —
The Ministry court the Dissenters — Stennetf s reply — Last
days and death — Edward Townshend — Thomas White-
wood — Robert Burnside — His early days — Singularities —
Some account of his denomination, note — ^Death — MUl-yard,
Goodman's-flelds — The records not accessible — ^Whiteohapel
in the olden time — Petticoat-lane under James I. — Who was
Goodman ? — The Wilson MSS. — Founding of the MUl-yard
Society — The people's peculiarities — The Fifth Monarchists

CONTENTS. XI
— John James — ^His arrest and trial — Prison experience—
An enthusiast in life but brave in death — Execution — Hi a
character — John Savage — JohnMaudden — Robert Ooen-
WAITB — Daniel Noble — William Slater — Places occupied
by the Sabbatarians — Their character — Other societies which
have settled at MUl-yard, note  page 159
CHAPTER VI.
Burt Street, St. Mary Axe.
The old chapel stUl standing — Ancient associations of the
neighbourhood — Founding of the church — Joseph Caryl —
Early life — Conduct in the civil wars — Appreciated by Crom-
weU — Great industry— Death— William Bbarman — His
charities — John Howe — LibeUed by Wood — The Owen
famUy — Early tutors — ^Enters the Church EstabUshment —
Removes to London — CoggeshaU — Owen and the Long Par
liament — Removes to Oxford — ^Wood's libels — Writes against
popery, note — 'Savoy Conference — Returns toLondon — ^Widely
esteemed — Death and character — Robert Ferguson — A
plotter and a renegade — David Clarkson — Works — Isaac
LoEiTB — Isaac Ohaunot — ^Edward Terry — Isaac Watts
— His famUy — Early life — Tutors — Returns to Southampton
— Stoke Newington — The Hartopp famUy — ^First sermon —
T. Gunston — Illness — The church's solicitude — The Abneys
— Theobalds — ^Watts and the Unitarians — Songs for children
— 1719 — ^Watts and Bradbury — The times he Uved in — The
clergy and the Jacobites — State of the common people — "The
good old times " — Strange number of suicides — Watts and
the Gentleman's Magazine — ^Poetical prizes— Sylvanus Urban
and his staS, note — Blair's "Grave" — ^Watts and his asso
ciates — ^Frequent illness — The Countess of Huntingdon and
Dr. Watts — Unhandsome behaviour of certain relatives —
Last days and death— Samued Price— Meredith Towns-

XU CONTENTS.
HEND — Samtuel Morton Savagb — Tutor of Hoxton
CoUege — Life-work — Death — Thomas Beck — Removal
of the church to Founders' HaU, and thence to Bethnal-
green  page 208

CHAPTER VH.
Little Carter Lane.
Ancient associations of the vicinity — WUson's description
of the chapel — Matthew Sylvester — Life, work, and cha
racter — Richard Baxter — Kidderminster in the olden time
— Baxter's early Ufe — Education — Condition of rural districts
in his youth — Conversion — Early industry — Goes to Court —
Great physical weakness — Commencement of his ministry at
Dudley — Precursors of civU war — Abuses in the Church —
Baxter and Kidderminster — Great benevolence — CivU war —
Rough usage of Puritans — Coventry in the war time — Baxter
in the army — Polemical disputes — The Covenant — The Re
storation — Dissatisfaction of Nonconformists — A Court ad
venture — The Act of Uniformity — Black Bartholomew — Con
dition of the Dissenters — Margaret Baxter — Her famUy —
Baxter and the Charltons — A charmer — Marriage — Margaret
as a wife — Her death — Rumours of plots — Dissenters and
their friends — London in the Plague time — Acton — Great
love of the populace for him — Imprisonment — The Ex
chequer closed — Persecution — State of affairs in 1672 — In
dicted for calumny — Account of the trial — ^Last days —
Closing reflections — Edmund Calamy — Family connexions
— Home in Aldermanbury — School days — ^Visits to impri
soned Puritans — London and the great frost of 1684 —
James II. proclaimed — Two remarkable incidents, note 
EngUsh travels — Andover — Oxford — Bristol — Hoxton-square
— Caution of the Nonconformists — Calamy's visit to the Uni-

CONTENTS. xiii
versity press— French prophets— Account of ejected ministers
— ^Walker and his coUectors — Some of his heroes not martyrs
— Calamy's last days and death — Samuel Stephens — Samuel
Wright — Jeremiah Burroughs — Thomas Newman 
Edward Pickaed— John Tailor- John Fuller, (fee-
Last days of the old chapel — Closing reflections. page 265
CHAPTER Vin.
The King's Weigh-House.
East-cheap in the olden time — The original King's Weigh-
house — Planting of the Church — Samuel Slater — Thomas
Kentish — John Ejstowles — Persecuted by Laud — Quakers
and " Steeple-houses " — His great zeal — Thomas Reynolds
— CaUed from SUver-street to the Weigh-house — Early Ufe —
Return to London — Settles in East-cheap — Jabez Earlb
and Jambs Read, his assistants — Diflferences with the latter —
Unkindness of brethren — Death — Psalmody disputes — Non
conformity after the Revolution — The latter event largely
promoted by the Dissenters — Magnanimity of William HI.
— ^English Uberty preserved by the Puritans — Opposition of
Liberals to Comprehension and Why — The Jacobitical
clergy — Anglican encroachments — Their effect — Jacobitism
its own enemy — Party writers — Apostasy of Nottingham —
— ^The Schism BUI — ^Anti-Nonconformist riots — A clergyman
hanged — ^Lingering love of Puritan customs — The old Dis
senters and Christmas-day — Accession of George I. — The
King insulted in the Churches — Seditious pamphlets — The
old Dissenters and their Sunday services — The Bangorian
controversy — Renegades — A meeting in Dr. WUUams's
Library— Test and Corporation Acts— Methodism— Tithes
and their opponents — Alehouses — The old newspapers and
their readers— Ministers' stipends— Samuel Sanderson—
Removes to Bedford— Dr. William Lan^geord— Early life—

xiv CONTENTS.
Life-work- Death— Samuel Padmer— Edward Vennoe—
Dr. Samuel Wilton- Settles at Tooting— His charity-
Successful labours— Early death— John Clayton— Birth
and education— Apprenticed to a chemist— Introduction to
the Countess of Huntingdon— Trevecoa CoUege in the days
of George III.— An unpleasant adventure— Clayton becomes
a Dissenter— Acquaintance with Sir H. Trelawney—
Introduction to the Weigh-house— Ordination— A Tory in
poUtics— Marriage— His life at home— His preaching-
Death  PAGE 333
CHAPTER IX.
Salters' Hall.
The Company of Salters -Their haUs— The Church planted
— Richard Mayo — Kingston — Whitechapel — Popularity —
Great industry — Natttanibl Taylor — Student Ufe — A hard
student — Character — Ministers bom in 1662 — William
TONG — Early Ufe— Temptation — Ministry at Chester— Plants
a church at Knutsford — Removes to Salters' HaU — Industry
— One of Henry's continuators — ^Death — The disputes of
1719 — Arianism in the West — The ministers of Exeter —
Half-yearly synods — Circulation of pamphlets — The "peace"
meeting at Salters' HaU — Scene in the haU — Subscribers and
Nonsubscribers — Curious Tracts — Both parties appeal to the
public — Clark, the pubUsher — John Newman — Samuel
Newman — Early death — John Barker — Settlement at
Hackney — Retires to Epsom — Becomes associated with
Salters' HaU — Doddridge — ^Last days — Francis Spilsbury
— Early bereavement — Strange cause of his settUng in
London — ^Life-work — Death — Hugh Farmer — Student life
under Doddridge — Removes to Walthamstow — ^Mr. Coward
and his household regime — Settles with the SneUs — Popularity
— A London lecturer — Hugh Woethington — Early days at

CONTENTS. XV
Leicester — Removes to London — Success in the City — Unex
pected death — The last days of Salters' HaU. . . page 376
CHAPTER 5.
Footprints of the Baptists in Old London.
Old chapels which have disappeared — Crutohed Friars —
Paul Hobson — ^Mark-lane — The Baptists in Turners' HaU—
Richard Allen — Moral bravery and rough experience —
Barbican — Geoege Keith — Joseph Jacob — Presides over a
"reformed church "in Thames-street and in Southwark —
Character of his followers — William Collins — Ebbnezer
Wilson — Thomas Dewhurst — ^Wesley and Turners' HaU—
Our fathers' mistaken notions as to the size of London —
Gracechurch-street — Du Veil — Conversion — Searches for
truth — Joins the Baptists — ^A pastor commits suicide —
Lampoons on Nonconformists — RepUes — Great St. Helen's —
East-cheap — John Noble — Life and character — State of
London in 1731 — Samuel Wilson — Samuel Dew — Last
days of East-cheap meeting — TaUow-ohandlers' HaU —
Thomas-street — Joiners' HaU — John Harris — Joseph
Maistees — Tastes persecution — Pinners' HaU — Thomas
Richardson — Clendon Dawkes — Huguenot settlers in
London — ^Petty France named after them — William Collins
— Simple Faith — Zeal — ^Death — ^Nehemiah Cox — ^A learned
shoemaker — Puzzles his judges — Thomas Harrison —
White's-aUey — ^Laying on of hands — The Commonwealth
era and its pamphlets — Libels on the Baptists — Petition to
Parliament — Satires on reUgion — 'An example, note — Hounds-
ditch — ^Hbnry Danvbrs — LibeUed by Macaulay — A proUflo
author — Governor of Stafford — Enemies — A poUtician and a
patriot — A "calumnious" tract — Escapes to Holland — s
advertised for, woJe— The authorities for depreciating his
character — Dr. Calamy and Echard, no<e— Macaulay 's asper-

XVL CONTENTS.
sions unfounded — Other assertions disproved — Inferences —
Baptists prosper under CromweU — More UbeUous squibs —
derkenweU and its old gate — John Yoxley — Dr. William
RussEL — The Old Jewry — Jeremiah Ives — ^Disputes with
a Romanist — BasinghaU-street — Joseph Taylor — Dr. Wil
liams's Library — Bedcross-street — Thomas Ceanee —
Augustus Clarke — ^Thomas Mabbott — Aldermanbury —
Brewers' HaU, note — Closing reflections . . . Page 412

Cl^apler l.
DEVONSHIRE SQUARE.
Among the many associations inseparably connected
with old London, those clustering around the Dis
senting Churches of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries are pre-eminently interesting. Truly, in
many instances, these ancient buildings have passed
away ; and it is ecLually true that the principal ones
which remain are appointed to destruction. While
traversing the city and its boundaries how many
hallowed spots are discovered — hallowed through
once having been the resting-places of Religion, and
the scenes of the labours of men of whom the ages
they adorned were so often unworthy. Our curiosity
respecting these places is no ordinary curiosity, al
though the sites may now be serving for common
place merchants' warerooms. How vainly we re
gret that there did not arise, at least a century ago,
some Nonconformist Stow or Maitland to hand
down facts and traditions now irrecoverably lost.
During the last century the Dissenters' chapels were
more numerous than may be imagined. On account
of altered circumstances they have disappeared. The
1

2 ancient meeting houses.
churches of the Establishment, on the contrary, re
main, as under the voluntary principle they never
could have remained, to witness week after week
services conducted for the benefit of heedless walls
and empty pews. While, however, most of the
chapels of London proper have yielded to the action
of time, several remain intact ; and with one of these
— Devonshire Square — we open the present volume.
In the third part of Hudibras a couplet occurs
which modern readers will find obscure :
That represents no part of tlie nation,
But Fisher's Folly congregation.
In a sumptuous edition of Butler's poem, published
some seventy years ago, the annotator fails to make
clear the reference alluded to. He thought the poet
pointed at Quakerism ; and, therefore, our editor
may never have heard of William Kiffen. If such
was the case, Mr. Nash resembled a late reviewer,
who only recently, and for the first time, became
acquainted with the name of Thomas Shillitoe. The
lines, however, are apparently simply a parallel
which the author drew between the Long Parlia
ment and the Baptist Assembly " neer Devonshire
Square." The distich, moreover, would seem to
refer to that period of our national history when,
in 1641, the King, on returning from Scotland to
Hampton Court, found discontent prevailing in
London and anarchy in Ireland — a crisis which
sufficed to prompt the after-famous Remonstrance

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 3
of the Commons, Avho, with a strong military guard
about their house, were debating the state of the
nation. But we are informed by the editor alluded
to, " here is an equivoque on the word represent. It
means either to stand in the place of and be substi
tuted by others, or to resemble and be like them. In
the first sense, the members they should pack would
represent their constituents, but in the latter sense
only a meeting of enthusiastic sectaries." From such
an allusion the inference is fairly drawn that, prior
€ven to the Outbreak of the Civil Wars, the Baptists
presided over by Kiffen were a notable society.
There lived in London three hundred years ago, a
goldsmith of the name of Jasper Fisher. Vanity, it
would seem, was this old citizen's besetting sin ; and
therefore a principal aim of his existence was to
outshine his neighbours in splendour of living.
Truly enough, our goldsmith's susceptible nature
may have received a bias from the fact of uniting in
his own individuality a worker in the precious metals,
¦a justice of the peace, and a clerk in Chancery. Any
man, who by fortune or accident, found himself so
conspicuously raised above the vulgar, would natur
ally set down a little ostentation to the score of self-
respect. It probably happened so with Jasper Fisher.
Whatever his illusion may have been, it prompted
the erection of a sumptuous mansion not very many
yards from the Bishop's Gate ; and this house was
one of the finest homes which the old city then con
tained. The spaciousness of the premises, the fine
2 *

4 ANCIENT lIEETmG HOUSES.
apartments and costly fiitings, together with the
luxuriant gardens, often became the theme of con
versation among thrifty freemen, as they chatted
away their evening hours. In those distant days a
simpler speech and living prevailed. In a way most
quaintly graphic, old Fuller tells us how, "a- she
citizen " once became persuaded that malt was spun;
for the fair damsel, upon collecting her thoughts,
remembered having noticed the threads. The little
things of Ufe, moreover, attracted more attention
than they do in these faster times. It necessarily
happened that a man's movements were narrowly
watched when his neighbours' intellect, from sheer
lack of proper food, could so ill-afi'ord to let others'
business alone. Thus the rearing of four celebrated
mansions was commemorated in what the burso-
masters considered most respectable rhyme —
Kirhebie's Cattle, and Fisher's Folly,
Bpinola's Pleasure, and Megsie's Glory.
The owner of the second-named house earned some
well-merited contempt by assuming a position which
his means were inadequate to maintain. Eventually
Master Fisher became involved in debt ; and doubt
less his pecuniary difficulties obliged him to dispose
of this fair estate, which soon after passed into the
hands of several consecutive owners, among whom
stands out conspicuously the ancient name of De
Veee. During the time that the mansion was
occupied by the Oxford family, the honour of a visit

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 5
was received from Queen Elizabeth, her Majesty
being then presented ^\'ith some perfumed gloves —
the first imported into Great Britain. William, Earl
of Oxford, died at tliis residence in the summer of
1628. His name appears in the list of parish bene
factors — a Mst not uninteresting, since one bene
volent lady has left funds in trust for an annual
reunion of parson and flock. The property next
descended to the Cavendishes, and has ever since
been associated with their title.
Long prior to the date in question the Cavendishes
were connected with Bishopsgate ; for a Lady Caven
dish was interred in the Church a hundred years
earlier. The Society in Devonshire Square, London, is one
of the most ancient Dissenting interests in England.
The year of its first planting cannot be exactly stated,
but the documents in the possession of tlie Church
date from the reign of Charles the First, The
people who obtained the original deed appear to
have migrated from Wapping after seceding from the
Church there, on a disagreement about the question
of open communion. This probably occurred about
the year 1638. Whether the retiring party coalesced
with others already established, or whether they
themselves were the sole nucleus of the new founda
tion, it is not easy to ascertain. The original title-
deed is stiU preserved, and this is written in Norman-
French, the legal jargon of the times, a jargon which
no ingenuity can decipher, if we only except the in-

6 ancient meeting HOUSES.
genuity of an adept who may have mastered so pecu
liar a philological puzzle. William Kiffen is the
first minister of whom we have notice ; but from
such a fact it may not be inferred that the pastor
had no predecessors. The Church whence he and
his followers withdrew, was founded in the beginning-
of the century. They were called Independents —
a term which simply included evangelical Dissenters
whose opinions upon baptism and discipline were
various. As regards WiUiam Kifien, if there are desiderata
in religious literature, a good biography of this
merchant Baptist may fairly be reckoned one of
them. Neither of the two we possess does justice
to its subject. That by Orme is the best; and,
strangely enough, he was prompted to write by the
supposition that Bridgenorth, in Peveril of the
Peak, was a caricature of the redoubtable Kiffen.
The account by I^-imey, published some few j-ears
later, supplies no addition to our knowledge. The
book is merely a reproduction of Kiffeii's autobio
graphy, unskilfully broken up and interspersed with
useless observations, which perplex the reader by
obscuring the narrative.
Our main source of information respecting this
remarkable man is a manuscript which he chiefly
composed himseK; that part detailing the Hewling
tragedy having been written by Hannah, the sister
of the unfortunate youths, and included in the
Western Martyrology of 1689.

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 7
The Kiffen family was originally of the Princi
pality, the name in Welsh denoting a horderer.
WiUiam, who was born in London, in the year
1616, found liimself bereaved of parents and friends
by that dreadful plague visitation which nine years
later cut down a third part of the City populace.
The lad himself was attacked and prostrated by the
scourge ; and, contrary to all expectation, recovered.
A short time after these disasters, William was
apprenticed to a brewer, and while in that situation,
many humiliating circumstances added bitterness to
his bereavement.* The mental depression and dis
gust experienced rendered his surroundings so intoler-
* Kiffen's master was that ' ' great trouble- world and
hodgepodge of reUgion," as Wood styles him, John LU-
bume. He must indeed have been rarely gifted in the art
of vexing civU governments, for he proved himself alike an
enemy to kingly tyranny and to CromweU's rule. Earth
discovered no resting-place for his fiercely-turbulent spirit.
When iUegaUy punished by the Star Chamber for an alleged
promotion of sedition, he made the pillory a platform from
which to anathematise bishops and other episcopal maUg-
nants. At the same time he threw his books among the
crowd. Like a true hero, he endured for three years the
horrors inseparable from a loathsome confinement ; and from
his prison sent forth a poUtioal essay. It was even supposed
he set the gaol on fire for the purpose of making an escape.
After the Long Parliament had released him, LUbume fought
the Royalists at EdgehiU. At the battle of Brentford he was
captured, carried to the King's head-quarters at Oxford, and
accused of High Treason. The Commons obtained his re
lease by threatening their opponents with retaUation if they

8 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
able, , that he resolved he would forsake the hated
employment. To accomplish this resolution he
arose one morning betimes, and left his master's
house. While despondingly wandering through the
old City, some persons were observed entering a
church, and these young Kifi'en listlessly followed,
to find one of those early services proceeding which
were so common in the Puritan era. To the young
proceeded with such a trial. Friends now triumphantly
welcomed Lilburne back to London, and presented him with
a testimonial of £306. About this conjuncture in the na
tional crisis this zealot laid aside his sword to resume his
pen. An extreme hostiUty to the Presbyterian regimen
formed the principal reason for so doing. His many Ubels,
however, proved so troublesome that CromweU found the
author a lodging in Newgate, whence he was afterwards re
moved to the Tower. His next adventure was to undergo
a trial for treason. The jury found him Not GuUty, and to
celebrate this acquittal LUburne ordered a commemorative
medal. He continued to pursue a most eccentric career tUl
the ParUament condemned him to fine and imprisonment,
which, however, he escaped by a flight into HoUand. On
returning to London in 1653 LUburne was again seized,
thrown into Newgate, tried, and once more acquitted.
EventuaUy he joined the Quakers, and Uved out his remain
ing days at Bltham. He died in 1 657 when only in the thirty-
ninth year of Ms age. One who knew him had an opinion about
this old Puritan soldier and controversialist which apparently
approximated nearer to truth than many of his contem
poraries would have cared to admit ; and this opinion was
that even if the world were emptied of all save John LU
burne, LUburne would quarrel with John, and John with
LUburne.

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 9
auditor the sermon was composed of strange sounds;
very words in season, for the preacher forcibly
explained the relationship between masters and
servants, and thereby unconsciously persuaded the
boy to return to the forsaken brewhouse. Next fol
lowed conversion. From Kiffen's own account of
this process, some correct notions are derived of the
fiery ordeal of spiritual torture which he endured.
His terror-striking visions were doubtless partly
occasioned by a lively imagination. The happiness,
however,- which attended the succeeding calm, more
than repaid for all such buffetings ; and henceforth,
Kiffen's life was characterised by a pastoral industry
and dauntless courage which the enemy could
neither damp nor dismay.
Hitherto, young Kiffen had remained a consistent
member of the Anglican Church ; but the Laudian
persecution became the means of inspiring a change
of sentiment. With a heathen ferocity, " the little
bishop" was driving from England her most Chris
tian inhabitants ; and, by a savage intolerance, was
alienating others. Our sharp-witted apprentice ex
amined for himself the disputed questions of doctrine
and discipline, tiU conscience bade him join the per
secuted section. Such was the process by which
worldly men in Christian offices expelled the
noblest spirits from a Church commonly extolled
as a shelter for aU. The earnestness which ani
mated such youthful Puritans is somewhat interest
ing. Kiffen, with a number of kindred natures.

1 0 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
habitually attended the six-o'clock-in-the-morning
lectures, and the hour preceding each service was
devoted to common instruction and prayer.
Being now a recognised Puritan, Kiffen found a
pastor in John Lathorp, whose Chiu'ch of Indepen
dents was among the earliest foundations of Non
conformity in London. The members congregated
at unstated hours and in various places ; for Laud,
by his introduction of " thorough," was endeavouring
to lower Eeligion and Conscience to his own con
temptible standard. While working for such an
end, the prelate was becoming quite an adept at
whipping, fining, and mutilation. Eoyal smiles-
and the approval of his own mean capacities, en
couraged the bishop to persevere. John Lathorp
and thirty of his people, by seeking a home in the
New World, sought an escape from their enemies'
fury. Kiffen, however, remained, and probably
about this date inaugurated his ministerial labours.
He had no sooner entered upon such a path than he
found his action entailed much difficulty and self-
denial, which would probably have been fatal to a
preacher of less courageous faith. In such wretched
times the ignorant populace never questioned the
righteousness of a bishop's example. The insults of
the rabble, therefore, were necessarily borne in
addition to the opposition of their more knowino-
preceptors. On one occasion, when our youn»
evangelist was about leaving the meetino--room a
rough and cowardly company who had congreo-ated

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. H
about the door, supplemented their coarse epithets
with a shower of stones. Such an adventure was
not one calculated to ruffle a Puritan's breast ; and
it was probably mentioned only for the sake of
introducing its result. A year later a messenger
appeared from a person in dying circumstances,
who requested Kiffen's immediate attendance. The
sufferer turned out to be a blacksmith, and the
identical man who had thrown the stone. The
poor creature who was utterly prostrate, and little
more than a skeleton, earnestly craved forgiveness.
He confessed, moreover, that his flesh had wasted
since the fatal day whereon he had publicly ridi
culed the preacher.
Kiffen's act of " taking a suitable yokefellow "
was almost simultaneous with another step of
scarcely less importance as regarded himself —
the adoption of Baptist principles. Five years-
before, for similar reasons, some persons seceded
from the Church with which he communed, to-
establish themselves at Wapping, where Kiffen iioav
joined them.
The young evangelist found his way beset by
many troubles which, however, were bravely en
countered. He was suddenly seized while preaching
in Southwark, and thrown into prison. Among the
gaol society was a man who regarded him with
unaccountable hatred ; and the murder of Kiffen
was planned by this mysterious enemy. The man
so poisoned his fellow-prisoners' minds, that a

12 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
number of them, prompted by murderous motives,
abruptly entered the pastor's apartment during the
calm of a Sabbath evening, and while he was enjoy
ing a brief visit from his family. The hospitable
reception which the ruffians received fairly as
tonished them, and completely won them over.
Indeed, many minutes did not elapse ere the lately
intended victim interfered in order to shield his
accuser from injury. The man's unseemly violence,
however, daily strengthened. He reiterated his
charges of treason; and by such means contrived
to prolong the confinement of his innocent victim.
Circumstances at length occasioned the committal
to the Tower of Judge Mallet, who was Kiffen's
enemy also, and the latter became set at liberty.
When in his twenty-fourth year, disease again
attacked and prostrated the young preacher. A
number of relatives considered his restoration as
improbable, and therefore made the calamity an
opportunity for appropriating as much of the family
property as could be secured. The invalid, as may
be supposed, grievously suffered by these dishonest
dealings. Wliile lying in a forlorn condition, his
case was pronounced hopeless by the surgeon who
attended him. An abler physician was providentially
consulted, who immediately manifested so strong a
predilection for his patient, that he paid him incessant
attention, and Kiffen eventually recovered. He was
nevertheless woefully reduced, both in natural vigour
and worldly substance. He was therefore anxious

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 13
as weU as grateful when the time came for reward
ing his benefactor; but the good doctor checked
every misgiving by only accepting a single crown,
although, by his generous attention, he had neglected
other interests.
After these troubles Kiffen undertook a trading
expedition into Holland. He was assisted by a
co-religionist, a young man as poor as himself Their
business was pre-eminently successful, and the mer
chant-divine soon found his circumstances daily
growing easier. His resources were destined to.
increase, till, on account of his wealth and influence,.
he came to be regarded as the Metropolitan of the
Baptist denomination, and till his authority was
recognised by Baptists throughout the British Isles.
We may, in some degree, realise what England's
condition was religiously, and of what the endea
vours to extirpate dissent consisted, by examining
the Eeports prepared by the Archbishop of Canter
bury for the use of Charles the First. As regards
our present purpose, these documents have a special
interest, on account of the glimpses they afford into
the every-day life of districts through which Kiffen
and Patient travelled, during their propagandist
tour. In 1634, both Ashford and Maidstone were
considerable centres of Nonconformist influence.
Scarcely beyond the shadow of Canterbury Cathe
dral, a few Dutch Protestants were wont to assemble.
These people were regarded with an evil eye,
ordered to abandon their Church state, forego their

14 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
meetings, and conform to the Eubric. Noncon
formity also widely prevailed in Bedford. Lincoln
is represented as having descended to a condition
still more abject, for in Lincoln one Johnson, a
Baptist, habitually preached; and to the Arch
bishop's sincere regret, crowds of admirers accepted
his plain instructions. The populace even preferred
his unlettered Gospel harangues to the sermons of
the drunlien clergy, who, as the Metropolitan admits,
abounded in the diocese. All endeavours to sup
press the meetings were not only contemptible
failures, they manifestly aided in promoting their
influence. In 1637, several Puritan preachers were
captured in Kent. The principal was scarcely
secured ere he " shpt out of prison," and recom
menced with redoubled zeal his evangelising labours.
Such intrepidity reaped an abundant reward, even
when, as in the present instance, the subject of it
was recommitted to gaol by the Court of High
Commission. The Archbishop, however, was de
pressed by other trials that more excite our sym
pathy. He suspended an obstinate schoolmaster for
refusing to conform, to take the oath of allegiance,
or to introduce his rustic students to any knowledge,
save orthodox theology. With such a leaven
working, it was found that even Canterbury people
were weaned from Anglicanism, although the lights
of the Church were about to enforce a strict con
formity. In the diocese of London, thirty clergymen
were summoned before the Bishop's Chancellor to

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 15
answer for a deviation from the Eubric, or for the
then lighter offence, drunkenness. In the see of
Norwich certain towns had dwindled away till the
Church, the Manor House, and some miscellaneous
ruins, were about all the relics remaining of former
prosperity. In one, if not in more instances, the
squire had appropriated for a storehouse the
deserted aisles of the village sanctuary. Parishes
were occasionally found destitute of ministers, and
with churches gradually becoming ruinous. When
such was the case, the people worshipped with their
neighbours, and escaped the payment of tithes. An
instance for illustration occurred at Lanwood, near
Newmarket. In that town the church remained
neglected till the roof fell in ; yet only by forth
with selling the bells for old metal, did the authori
ties manifest any concern. The condition of burial-
grounds in rural districts, as also in towns, was no
less dangerous than disgraceful. In some places
inn-keepers' signs were erected amid the graves ;
and the churchyard at Edmundsbury is reported
to the King, as having a public-house in its centre.
In some situations on the east coast, the sea threat
ened with common destruction both the churches
and the homes of the people. But the crowning
perplexity which, in those days, most sorely tried
our bishops, was a matter of readmitting to com
munion some persons who had escaped from the
prisons of Morocco, but who, to preserve their
lives, had renounced their Christian faith. The

16 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
prelates held long consultations, ere their conflicting
counsels planned an escape from this unparalleled
dilemma. When at length a form of readmission
was agreed on, it was exactly registered for the
weal of posterity, who would not be Kkely, while
grappling with an identical difficulty, to discuss it
with similar wisdom.
The share taken by Kiffen in the Civil Wars,
and their attendant political troubles, was probably
greater than we have any account of. We find that
both he and Benjamin Hewling the elder, were
officers in the Parliamentary army, Kiffen's military
prowess, however, did not prevent his becoming a
Trier of ministerial candidates. In addition to such
engagements, he travelled about England, in com
pany with Thomas Patient, specially to defend and
expound the tenet of Believers' Baptism. These
efforts put forth by one of 'Kiffen's character and
standing in commercial society, were pre-eminently
successful, if the effect produced, may be judged - of
the opposition encountered.
In 1642, the controversy between Baptists and
Psedobaptists provoked some angry public discus
sions in London. The leading combatants were
Kiffen and Dr. Featley. The latter, in his Dippers
Dipt, has commemorated this passage-at-arms, and
the public sufficiently appreciated his scurrilous book
by raising its sale to a sixth edition in 1651. The
curious even yet consult this quaintly -written farrago,
but they only value it on account of the illustrations

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 17
it yields of that fierce intolerance so common to
the times. Kiffen and his people are alluded to as
illiterate sots, belonging to a profane and blasphe
mous sect ; and the judgments of heaven, likely to
leonfound them, are fully prophesied. The libelled
denomination replied to these malignant attacks by
publishing a Confession of Faith, which, being
signed by Kiffen and six others, appeared in 1644.
By this publication the authors endeavoured to
prove, that Baptists were neither Jesuits nor Poly-
gamists ; Adamites nor Epicures, nor even Phycho-
pannychists — epithets, however, which through being
freely applied, and industriously circulated, were
commonly believed. By taking this defensible
attitude, the Baptists awakened some amateur
revilers. Upon the title-page of The Anabaptist^
LoohiTig Glass, printed in 1645, Kiffen is described
as " the author and grand ring leader of that seduced
sect." A more notable opponent was Thomas
Edwards, the Presbyterian writer of Gangrseua, a
book wherein all are maligned outside the connexion
of Thomas Edwards. In Presbyterianism the author
discovered a sovereign panacea for the numberless
troubles then vexing the Church. He alludes en
passant to Kiffen as a mountebank ; and to his
people — who in fact were wealthy and influential — as
a deluded rabble of servants and children, whose
custom it was to assemble without the consent of
either their masters or parents. The preaching of
Edwards very nearly amounted to fanaticism. Such
2

18 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
an orator, it will be readily imagined, but rarely
ascended the pulpit without denouncing those as
Amalekites and scions of Jezebel's household, who
disowned the Presbytery. Occasionally, to their
own credit and our satisfaction, certain hearers
would audibly dissent from the preacher's fiery
declamation. Once a man vented his irrepressible
indignation by calling out, "This rascally rogue
deserves to be pulled out of the pulpit ; " and
immediately a responsive cry was heard, " Let's go
and pull him out." Kiffen once addressed this
formidable antagonist by a brief note, which, at the
conclusion of his usual harangue against the sectaries,.
was handed up to Edwards in the pulpit of Christ-
church, London. This letter was printed in the
form of a handbill four inches square, and an
original copy is yet carefully preserved.
The custom of anointing sick persons with oil,
and accompanying the act with prayer for restora
tion, prevailed among the English Baptists until
after the time of Queen Anne's accession. For such
a purpose Kiffen visited Hanserd KnoUys, and his
health, we are told, was recovered. Another instance
occurred of a female member of the congregation
having been similariy waited on by her pastor and
elder. She also recovered her strength, and public
thanks were returned to God.
Thus years passed by. The Protector died. Troubles,
national and personal, loomed in the distance. It
could scarcly be expected that Kiffen, who united

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 19
the earnest divine to the opulent merchant, would
be allowed to pursue a course unnoticed or unmolested
by the iniquitous government of the Eestoration.
Even before the return of the King the pastor found
his trials begin. One night, just after bed-time, in
February 1659, some soldiers forcibly entered his
house, also that of Benjamin Hewling, and two
others. The premises were overhauled and minutely
searched — an outrage which was immediately
followed by the issue of a libellous and seditious
paper purporting to emanate from the congregational
churches. Kiffen was arrested. He appealed to
the Lord ilayor ; printed the petition for general
circulation, and so obtained his release. A few
weeks subsequently, a squib appeared wherein the
pastor was grossly caricatured, and his chapel referred
to as New Bedlam. Even from such sources we
learn that Kiffen filled a very eminent station.*
Only a few months after this an atrocious plot
was planned having for its object the judicial
murder of its victim, and the confiscation of his
' " After two or three conferences with Patience (Patient)
and the devil, he was by instinct and revelation appointed to
the work, and ordained Musty of aU heretics and sectaries.
But this was not without great heartburnings of other gifted
brethren, who upon his assumption to the Pontificacy and
Primacy began to separate and divide from the congregation,
and to set up for themselves in their particular conventicles,
intending to weaken Kiffen's design and party; but the
wenches stuck close unto him, and he prevaUed, as we see
unto this day." — -Vide The Life and Approaching Death of
William Kiffen, 1659. 2*

20 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
property. A treasonable letter, addressed by one
Basset of Taunton to an accomplice of the name of
Crabb in London, was discovered in the western
mailbag. The writer referred to the recent decease
of the Princess of Orange, and proceeded to speak of
a plot ripe for explosion, when Kiffen's promised aid
of arms and ammunition arrived. The sagacious
merchant, however, pointed out how the conspirators
had overshot their mark, by dating the paper several
days earlier than the death of Her Eoyal Highness
had really occurred, and thus he obtained his
discharge. Kiffen's free-trade sentiments were next the
occasion of considerable trouble. Dangerous times
had fallen upon England, and many through their
days of difficulty and self-denial could have testified
with Kiffen, that one trouble only came as the
prelude to another. Our divine was required to
give evidence before a Committee of the House of
Commons, and in doing so spoke to the detriment
of certain persons who were seeking by a royaL
licence to monopolise the cloth trade with Holland.
The dismayed manufacturers in the west of England
applied to their parliamentary representatives, whom
they referred to Kiffen as a competent person to
supply any information. The latter found himself
scurrilously attacked, and charged with various
crimes even before the King in Council. Fortunately
a contrary effect was produced from that desired, and
the maligned witness was raised in the King's esteem.

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 21
He even lived to obtain some influence over the
government. A notable instance of his political
power occurred when the fanatical magistrates of
Aylesbury condemned twelve Nonconformists to
death. Messengers were despatched to London, and
Kiffen immediately obtained the Chancellor's
interference. But notwithstanding all, the pastor
was vexed by many trials fast following one upon
the other.
The next surprise experienced was an arrest by
the agents of the Duke of Buckingham, who accused
their prisoner of planning the King's murder. In
vain did the pastor express abhorrence at even the
thoughts inspired by such atrocity, as affecting the
meanest creature, much more as regarded his Majesty.
During his dangerous affliction. Lady Eanelagh
visited the captive, ministered to his comfort, and
did much besides towards obtaining his release.
Thankful for so welcome an issue, Kiffen hastened to
Whitehall to express his gratitude. There, however,
he encountered several enemies, and among others
the Lord Chief Justice, who attempted to prove the
truth of the late accusation. Escape was apparently
impossible. On Clarendon's recommendation our
divine petitioned the King to accept bail. Although
he failed to obtain an interview with Charles, two
substantial merchants appeared who were willing to
stand as sureties, but the prisoner was told to depart
about his business. Whether or not tliis absurd
affair really inspired alarm, can never be known.

22 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
The monarch showed some temper over it, however,
so at least declared the page who delivered to Kiffen
his order of release.*
Kiffen's path was still beset by annoyances
varying both in kind and in degree. He was ordered
to appear before Justice Brown, to explain the
manner in which he had lately spent his time. He
was likewise required to prove, by satisfactory
evidence, that "those people with whom he walked,"
at their church meetings and sabbath gatherings, did
not lay schemes for the vexation of government.
One witness actually testified that the society was a
company of conspirators. Kiffen, however, obtained
his release by showing that politics were no part of
the congregational tenets. This episode was succeeded
by a run of comparative quietness, broken at length
by* a- party of soldiers paying the merchant-divine a
visit at his residence in Austin Friars, for the purpose
of ¦ overhauling and minutely inspecting the mansion.
¦One searcher eagerly caught at a certain volume
'whic^'Tay temptingly exposed beneath a desk; but
' hi.s cry" of expectant surprise would neccessarily give
place to disgust when the hoped-for treason turned
out to be a well-thumbed copy of Reynard the Fox.
* The information of the plot to murder the king was
given by one A. Bradley. " Lieutenant Colonel Kiffen said
that the Scarlet Whore, the King, must be stabbed, and it
could be easUy done in his night-clothes." -Vide Calendar
of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1662. Kiffen was also
accused of saying he could command seven hundred men in
the contemplated insurrection.

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 23
Crosby alludes to a trial of another complexion — a
doubtful anecdote, yet probably true — to whichKiffen
was subjected. Charles the Second once ai^plied to him
for a loan of £40,000. That sum being a larger
one than the divine could afford to part with, the
King was desired to accept as a present a quarter of
the amount so graciously named. Kiffen, meanwhile,
considered that by this gift a saving of 5£30,000 had
been effected.
It is commonly supposed that a more particular
account of himself and people was written by Kiffen.
Such a work, did we possess it, would fiU up a
missing page in the history of the heroic period of
Dissent. While wanting it, we must be content to
borrow just what facts are available for the illustra
tion of our narrative.
Kiffen's domestic sorrows were of themselves a
severe discipline, and when considered as trials of
faith, are found to have equalled in severity his more
public troubles. Death struck down a son in 1679,
and about the same time a daughter likewise died.
One ailing son remained, and if possible to restore
his departed vigour, he was sent on a sea voyage.
The lad was provided with every comfort, and
accompanied by a friend because of the dread
entertained of Eomish contamination. Notwith
standing these precautions a fanatical priest contrived
to poison the youth at Venice. Mrs. Kiffen's death,
in 1682, brought yet heavier trouble. Through
good and evil report she had gladdened her husband's

24 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
heart, and had been for nearly haK a century the
light of his city home. The removal, therefore, of
such a companion could not fail to occasion great
and lasting sorrow.
But the old man's last days were especially
darkened by the untimely fate of his grandsons,
Benjamin and William Hewling. About all the
trustworthy information respecting these young
heroes is included in their sister Hannah's account,
which now rare and valuable pamphlet was published
in 1689 and entitled The Dying Speeches, Letters,
and Prayers of those eminent Protestants who suffered
in the West of England. The grandfather, in his
Autobiography, has copied the details without
alteration. The good breeding of the youths, their
Christian mien and intellectual culture, awakened
admiration and respect in all who knew them. Their
violent death served the country in a way their
enemies little suspected. The government by its
infamous policy unconsciously intensified in degree
that widely prevailing indignation and disgust which
gradually yet surely prepared the way for the
triumphant progress of the Eevolution. The father
of the Hewlings had been a merchant who had
principally concerned himself with the Turkish trade.
He died, however, before calamity overtook his
family, and ere " Jeffrey's campaign " had maddened
England, till even the hardened and profaned regarded
with a wholesome disgust both the wicked judge
and his contemptible master. As the merchant's sons

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 2o.
belonged to a genteel and opulent family, they
enjoyed the best education the times could afford.
They were pursuing their studies in Holland when
the expedition of Monmouth first attracted their
attention. Inheriting a brave, adventurous tempera
ment, they laid their books aside and joined the
duke's supporters. They regarded the encroachments.
of Eome with hatred a Puritan rearing could alone
have begotten, and therefore while taking the-
sword, they enthusiastically resolved to aid in re
establishing the throne, and in restoring the Pro
testant faith.
Landing with their leader, the brothers fought at
the fatal battle of Sedgemoor. Our ancestors supposed
that that dismal night would have ended differently,
and so it would in all likelihood but for the
unfortunate absence during a critical stage in the
fight of the elder Hewling, who happened to be
engaged in bringing up artillery from Minehead.
This Benjamin possessed a military genius quite
unique for his time of life. His modesty in private
strangely contrasted with his intrepid courage in the
emergencies of war. Hardship and peril, indeed,
when duty prompted him to encounter them, were
faced with a valorous bravery which awakened
chivalrous memories, rather belonging to Eichard
Coeur De Lion. When all was lost the brothers put
to sea, but contrary winds drove back their barque,
and upon relanding they were taken, lodged in
Exeter goal, and thence were brought to London a

26 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
few days after. Their behaviour in captivity
completely won the affection of the officials. The
prisoners were nevertheless thrown into Newgate and
loaded with irons. It was only by a determined
perseverance against a host of difficulties, that the
family could obtain the favour of an interview even
with a turnkey present. The captives were ordered
back to the west, there to take their trial, and during
the journey to Dorchester they proved that their
¦courage was sustained from a preternatural source ;
for not by undervaluing life, but by rising above the
fear of death, they manifested the truest heroism of
which human nature is capable. William, the younger
brother, was condemned at Dorchester. The pro
ceedings in either case were a complete mockery
of justice. The contemptible Jeffreys only observed
his usual custom when he insulted the prisoners, yet
on this occasion his railings were supplemented by an
outburst of extempore blackguardism, and he
denounced, as only worthy of hanging, the grandfather
Kiffen. On account of Jeffreys being a court
confidant a peculiar meaning became attached to his
language, and a belief gained currency among London
Dissenters that the government only awaited an
opportunity to effect the pastor's ruin and disperse
his congregation.
On the day of their execution William Hewling
and several others were taken from Dorchester to
Lyme. The fruitful and sunny landscape — made glad
.on the summer morning by ripe cornfields and cyder

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 27
orchards — weU corresponded with the martyr's strange
elation of spirits. To him the cheerful aspect
apparently prefigured that perfect inheritance so
soon to be realised, where all are gladdened by the
presence of Christ.
Following Jeffreys' track of blood and death
appeared an unpretending girl, who, though delicately
nurtured and politely educated, endured through her
sisterly love the round of horrors of the " Bloody
Assizes." This was Hannah Hewling. The ordeal
she underwent commenced at Dorchester, where she
tenderly ministered to the comfort of her brother
William. Having seen the grave close over William,
Hannah wiote some consoling words to her stricken
mother in London, and then hastened to Taunton to
witness the completion of the tragedy which Avould
fill her cup of misery. Causes identical with those
which had supported one brother enabled the other
to rejoice under corresponding circumstances. The
sweetest season of his life, he declared, was that
summer of 1685. His entire mien, amid such
distressing surroundings, revealed a spirit submissive
andforgiving,aswell as a Christian ripeness notusually
found in youth; and military men, not wont to weep,
were heard frankly confessing that they were
scarcely able to bear the spectacle. Even the horses
which were used for drawing the condemned to the
gallows, by refusing to stir for half an hour with
their burden, appeared to sympathise with afflicted
humanity. Thus was it that Hannah had her strength

28 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
sustained through an ordeal sufficiently shocking to
have shattered both mind and body. The maidens
of the West, to the prayers they offered for their
sister's support, added expressions of admiration ;
and thus the young and the beautiful mourned in
common at the open graves of the murdered youths.
This protest against tyrannical cruelty, made in such
a manner and at such a time, England has never
forgotten. The seed was truly sown in tears, but
when it germinated into full fruition, it brought
confusion to the wicked by promoting the Eevolution.
Meanwhile the afflicted family, as sufferers for the-
public good, would often be interceded for by Kiffen's-
congregation. The Hewlings, it must be remembered,
made no recantation. They died as they had lived,
believing Monmouth's cause to have been righteous,
its failure a national calamity, and disastrous to the
Protestant religion. Kiffen had vainly endeavoured
to buy a reprieve by offering three thousand pounds
to an influential commoner. When tidings of thi&
reached the Chief Justice he became doubly anxious-
to see the sentence carried out, because he considered
the money should have been offered to himself..
Jeffreys was accused by his contemporaries of
behaving to Miss Hewhng with that coarseness which
seemed inseparable from his degraded nature, but
the truth of this is denied by Noble. Jeffreys, we
are told, was expecting to inherit the fortune of a
certain relative, and this person threatened to transfer
the property to another unless strenuous endeavours-

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 29
were made to save the brothers. After such an
explanation it is not~difficult to believe that, for once,
our historical savage may have conquered his
repugnance to decency. He did use, so he averred,
every means to avert the Hewlings' execution. The
word, however, of such a man must ever be worthless.
His atrocious career had so incapacitated him for
anything but wickedness, that the distich of a
contemporary poet was happily conceived : —
VFith care this hraf was reared, for fear if should
Grow tame, and degenerate into good.
Two years after this western exploit of Jeffreys
aU was changed. The story has been too often told
to need repetition how the iniquitous James attempted
to serve his own Eomanist faction by assuming for
the moment a mask of toleration ; by which means he
hoped, in his suicidal selfishness, to undermine the
Protestant faith, or to destroy the Established Church
by the agency of Dissent. Although numbers, and
principally the Quakers, joyfully hailed the illusory
Indulgence, the Nonconformists as a body were far
too sagacious to be allured into the trap of the
fawning tyrant. Among those honoured ones, who
in England's extremity, refused the friendship of the
common foe, such names appear as those of Kiffen,
Howe, Bunyan and Baxter. Kiffen was so influential
that the government regarded his alliance as of
paramount importance, and he therefore received the
royal command to appear at Whitehall. All this

30 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
occurred while the revolutionary business was pro
gressing of rescinding corporation charters; and,
under the new arrangements for London, Kiffen was
offered an alderman's gown. Noble, in his History
of The Protectorial House of Cromwell, has told the
story well, and Macaulay has drawn materials from
the relation and used them with good effect : — " He —
James — talked of his favour to the Dissenters in
the court style of the season, and concluded by telling
Mr. Kiffen he had put him down as an alderman in
his new charter. ' Sire,' replied Mr. Kiffen, ' I am
a very old man, and have withdrawn myself from
aU kind of business for some years past, and am
incapable of doing any service in such an office, to
your Majesty or the City ; besides Sire,' continued
the old man, fixing his eyes steadfastly upon the
King, while the tears ran down his cheeks, 'the
death of my grandsons gave a wound to my heart
which is still bleeding, and will never close but in
the grave.' The King was deeply struck by the
freedom and the spirit of this unexpected rebuke.
A total silence ensued, while the galled countenance
of James seemed to shrink from the horrid remem
brance. In a minute or two, however, he recovered
himself enough to say, ' Mr. Kiffen, I shall find a
balsam for that sore,' and immediately turned about
to a lord-in-waiting."
Notwithstanding his distaste for civic duties, the
court duly appointed Kiffen an alderman, and acting
on counsel's advice, he decided on serving at^ainst

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 31
inclination, rather than risk the infliction of ruinous
fines. The pastor's high commercial standing, and his
great influence in Nonconformist circles, gave him
ample power, had he chosen to exert it, to promote
the designs of the Court. Had Iviffen adopted so
degrading a policy, the sacrifice of his kinsmen would
have had compensation in civic and county honours.
Through nine months, however, he sustained the
office of alderman for Cheap ward, and when the
Corporation invited James to a grand banquet he
contributed fifty pounds towards the expenses.
The closing portion of Kiffen's career remains
obscure. About 1692, he had it would seem, some
disagreement with his people which occasioned his
resignation and withdrawal from the church.*
* About the era of the Revolution we find that Kiffen
¦wrote a preface to The Prodigal's Return, a pubHcation
of which his friend, H. HiU, was the author. HUl was
closely connected -with the church at Devonshire Square,
or as it is emphaticaUy caUed " The Anabaptist congrega
tion." In his younger days HiU rose to be printer to the
government of the Commonwealth. Like many of his com
peers, who were equally fortunate, he rose from an humble
station — a Maidstone ropemaker. He took his first step
upward by becoming servant to Harrison, by whom he was
eventuaUy placed in a printing estabUshment. HiU absconded
from this employment to enlist in the ParUamentary army,
and to fight in CromweU's battles. His promotion, which was
very rapid, commenced soon after. He was transferred from
a foot regiment to one in the cavalry. About this conjunc
ture he declared for the independent regimen, and Cromwell
appointed him his printer general. HiU produced most of the

32 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
A circumstance which occurred about this time
will serve both to prove the pastor's benevolence, and
to illustrate the times he lived in. He undertook the
protection of a persecuted Huguenot family, by
providing them a house well furnished, and liberally
supplied with all necessaries including servants, the
entire cost being paid by this generous Christian
merchant. Such was William Kiffen. He died on the 29th
of December, 1701, having reached his 86th year.
His remains were interred in BunhUl Fields. It
would have been well had additional memorials
descended to us of so active a Christian and of so
eminent a man ; as it is, sufficient data remain from
which to form a somewhat correct estimate of his
character. He was orthodox according to the strict
standard of the times, and the theological tenet
which separated him from other contemporary
worthies — Believers' Baptism — ^was embraced after
pubUcations ordered by the Commons, including the procla
mation for the King's arrest. At length an action for adultery
was instituted against him, which entaUed a fine of £260.
¦Qn account of a lack of means the printer languished for a
while in the Fleet, and it was from this prison the penitential
book above aUuded to was sent forth. This became the
m.eans of his re-admission to church feUowship, besides ob
taining the appointment of "Printer to the Anabaptist
¦congregation." A contemporary author thus alludes to
HiU: — "At that time he was printer to OUver the usurper.
He became a zealous preacher among the Anabaptists, where
he thumped the tub so furiously that he was much noted by
the heads of that tribe, as Kiffen, Ives, King, &c."

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 33
a diligent study of the Scriptures, and a careful
¦examination of ecclesiastical history. Strong partisan
sympathies may have sometimes prompted an unwise
severity of language. Such transgressions, however,
must be excused, for they belong to the customs of a
ruder age, wherein ever threatening dangers attended
a conscientious walk. The man, if we fairly weigh
•each trait of his character, manifestly appears to have
been a good man. Though not learned, and perhaps
¦overmuch addicted to controversy, he yet possessed
abilities of more than average merit. Thus was he'
¦enabled during half a century, to proclaim the Gospel
he loved, and, maintaining a consistent walk in life,
he does'not appear to have deviated by example from
the doctrines .he expounded. Doubtless, therefore
Kiffen received in death the gitt of Christ and the
approval of his heavenly Father.
The Kiffen family, it may be mentioned, became
nearly related to the Cromwells, in 1686, by Hannah
, Hewling's marriage to the Protector's grandson.
Major Henry Cromwell. This lady survived her
husband about twenty years, and died in 1731, leaving
several children to imitate her virtue and Christian
heroism. *
The plague of 1665 proved a sore calamity to the
* Manuscript Records of the church at Devonshire Square ;
Oosby's History of -the EngUsh Baptists ; Noble's Pro
tectorial House of CromweU; Orme's Life of Kiffen:
Edwards's Gangrsena ; Western Martyrology ; Wilson's
History of the Dissenting Churches. Many tracts and broad
sides of the period have been consulted also, but it is nofe
3

34 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Church at Devonshire Square. From the manner in
which his death is recorded, we infer that the scourge
cut off Thomas Patient, Kiffen's co-pastor. He had
only been ordained about a month when he died on
July the 29th, and was buried on the day following.
Although Patient occupied so prominent a denomi
national position, only little information can now be
gathered respecting him. In his earlier days he had
served a New England congregation, but while in this
situation he renounced his Psedobaptist principles,
and thereby incurred, it is said, the penalty of perse
cution from former allies. ' The convert closely followed
the dictates of conscience, and even composed a small
treatise, wherein he defended his newly-adopted
sentiments. His name is also found among the
Confessors of 1644.
Patient probably accompanied General Fleetwood
into Ireland, and he is commonly regarded as the
planter of the Church at Clough Keating, in Crosby's
time a flourishing society of several hundred members.
Among the political prosecutions preceding the
Eevolution, was a remarkable trial which befel these
people. The minister and members being simul
taneously accused of treason, were tried for their lives.
The foreman of the jury, animated by the Laudian
spirit, openly declared he would never leave the
court until the whole company were condemned. As
necessary to enumerate them in order. The reports con
cerning the ecclesiastical condition of England may be seen
in Rymer's Foedera.

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 35
he entered the justice-room this man was stricken by
death; and — perhaps through awe of so fearful a
visitation of heaven — the eleven jurymen remaining
acquitted the prisoners. We are mostly in the dark
in reference to any advantages the Church in question
derived from Patient's ministrations ; for shortly after
the Eestoration he accepted the lectureship of
Devonshire Square, and during the memorable
summer of 1665, while the plague raged around the
meeting house, he was solemnly inducted into his
office. Hanserd Knollys and Kiffen were there to
lay hands upon the head of the co-pastor, who, alas !
a few days subsequently was " Discharged by Death
from his work and office he being taken from the
evil to come, and having rested from all his
labours, leaving a blessed savour behind him of
his great usefulness and sober conversation ; this,
his sudden removal being looked to be to his own
great good and advantage, but the Church's sore
loss. On this day he was carried to his grave ac
companied by the members of this and other
congregations, in a Christian, comely and decent
manner." *
A successor to Thomas Patient was appointed in
the person of Daniel Dyke, M.A., who as son of the
Vicar of Epping, had enjoyed a University education.
He was also in former days a chaplain in Cromwell's
household, and likewise acted as one of the Protector's
Triers. This divine held for a time the living of
' Church Book, 1665. 3*

36 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Hadham in Hertfordshire, and while there his
prescience warned him of the ecclesiastical anarchy
which would follow the Eestoration. He resigned
his cure, and is included among the ejected ministers,
to whom he did not properly belong. Subsequently
Dyke encountered a full share of persecution, yet so
well did he weather the stormy period, that he never
spent more than two consecutive nights in prison.
After occupying the pulpit for several months our
divine was chosen lecturer, and was set apart to
his sacred calling by Kiffen and Hanserd Knollys, in
February, 1668. The situation was held for twenty
years, that period having been one of the roughest
epochs in modern history. Dying in 1668, Dyke laid
the arms of his warfare aside, when, before the dawn
of a happier future, the churches' afflicting shade was
passing from the land ; and a more eminent Baptist,
John Bunyan, that same year departing into rest,
the two were in death divided by only a few paces in
the burial-ground in Bunhill Fields.
It wiU. not be out of place if we briefly refer to this
ancient Society's disciphne, revealing, as it does, some
Nonconformist customs during the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. The guiding text-book for daily
life was the Bible. J\Iembers were expected strictly to
adhere to its doctrine and directions. Any deviation
from rectitude immediately awakening the warning
voice of the Church, an inattention to which incurred
the penalty of exclusion from commimion. In the spring
of 1644 a member was accused of the double offence

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 37
of frequenting Bishopsgate Church, and of serving as
Churchwarden. Persons were delegated to remon
strate with this erring brother, but because they
remonstrated in vain he was cut off from fellowship.
In 1666 the charms of a certain maiden captivated
the heart of an imprudent swain, her inferior in social
rank, and to ensure success in his suit, he falsely
represented himself to be possessed of several hundred
pounds. The youth attained his object, but when
tidings of the subterfuge reached the ears of the
Society, the offender was summoned and sus
pended from communion. In 1691 a young woman
suffered excommunication for "keeping company
with a parson of the Church of England." Another
paid the like penalty for distributing £200 of her
husband's money. Improper marriages were always
discountenanced. In 1702 a female member was
expeUed on account of getting "unequally yoked."
"We have ample evidence, that when Wesley
inaugurated Methodism, the Baptist Churches very
suspiciously regarded both the movement and its
promoter. Members who assembled with the new
sect in their^public services were treated as disorderly.
Some, whom the Arminian preachers had attracted,
sought restoration to communion by confessing their
errors. Yet exclusion for this offence, and for conform
ing, appears to have been very common. As regards
Gifts, these old Puritans were very zealous encouragers
of the earliest symptoms of ministerial ability,
deeming themselves meanwhile the truest judges

38 ANCIENT :meeting houses.
of its quality. In 1704, a youth addicted to taUdng,
became desirous of assuming pastoral responsibHit-ies.
In strict accordance with Dissenting custom, he
declaimed before the grave assembly, but the oratorical
effort was entirely disapproved. Disdaining to act
upon the advice given to discontinue his harangues —
the lad continued, as opportunities occurred, to indulge
in his ambitious platitudes. The indignant tribunal
seeincr its authoritv thus contemned, excluded him
from fellowship, and only when he acknowledged
having been " misled by Satan," did the offender gain
re-admission. In the closing years of William's reign,
the Church introduced the custom of appointing
recognised visitors, and they were expected to render
quarterly accounts of the general prosperity of
individual members. It was usual for the necessitous
poor to state their need in person, and occasionally
such applicants received an amount representing a
quarter's rent. Weekly allowances were likewise
bestowed, and separate monthly subscriptions levied
to meet these Cliristian demands.
Shortly after the Eevolution, Eichard Adams
was appointed assistant-lecturer. He was the ejected
minister of Humberstone in Leicestershire. On
rehnquishing his cure Adams continued to instruct
as many of liis late parishioners as chose to attend at
his residence. A local "Justice " strenuously opposed
this self-denying course, and allowed his respect for
the man to be conquered by his hatred of Dissent.
The persecution which the evangelist endured was.

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 39
therefore, merely intended to counteract his influence.
The country people, as did multitudes of their
neighbours, continued to entertain for their former
pastor much love and reverence. Unpaid fines
accumulated, and the village officials could only
be compelled by extreme pressure to seize the good
man's property. Even when the goods were taken, it
was found impossible to dispose of them, for none
would buy them. Where such unexpected obstacles
obstructed the smoother progress of the law, the
magistrate summoned the divine into his presence
sharply to rebuke him, but granted the unasked for
permission to keep a school. Not long after, this
enemy to the faith was taken, and the disease of
which he died led the Dissenters to regard his death
in the light of a special judgment.
How long Adams remained in this sphere after the
removal of his opponent is uncertain ; that he shortly
removed is probable, because some years prior to the
Eevolution he was a pastor in South London, whence
in 1690, he removed to Devonshire Square. In the
autumn of that year he was specially set apart, and
the importance attached to the proceedings almost
warrant the inference that they signified the admission
of a convert to Believers' Baptism into the denomi
nation. This ordination was one of the last occasions
on which Hanserd EJioUys and other eminent Puritan
leaders were assembled together. Kiffen eventually
withdrew from the pastorate, and Adams held the
office till his death in 1716, though he was debarred

40 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
by bodQy infirmity in his latter years from fre
quently engaging in public ministrations.
About this period disputes arose among the
Dissenters concerning congregational psalmody.
Hitherto, the practice of singing had not been
customary ; and the abettors of the iimovation neces
sarily worked with cautious timidity m the face of
a strong opposition from those who had been born
and were grown old under the ancient regimen.
But Isaac Watts was now a preacher at Pinners'
HaU, and a new chapel for the poet in Bury-street,
St. ilary Axe, was in course of erection. Watts
became a prominent advocate of the new movement,
as well as a writer of suitable pieces for singing.
As M'as the case with sister churches, the Society at
Devonshire Square was divided against itself; but the
contending sections wisely agreed to a compromise.
After the morning service, those who objected to " the
unchristian infection" retired, and they who remained
joined in singing one or more appropriate hymns.*
Mark Key, the succeeding pastor, assumed his
office as the turmoil was subsiding which the rising
for the Pretender had occasioned, and when society,
having recovered from the revolutionary shock and
having regained its wonted equilibrium, was settling
down once more to enjoy that common freedom
which, since the expulsion of the Stuarts, has been
* Manuscript Records of the Church ; Crosby's History of
the EngUsh Baptists ; Wilson's History of the Dissenting
Churches.

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 41
the heritage of Englishmen. The new minister was a
native of London, and being the son of poor parents,
had received but an indifferent education. His.
friends were General Baptists, and, as early as 1691,
Mark had preached in Moorfields to a congregation
of that persuasion ; but failing health four years-
after obhged his resignation. In 1702 a change in
favour of Calvinism occurred in his sentiments ; and
he was brought under the ministry of Eichard Adams,
iti whose pulpit a year later Key resumed his public
exercises. The intellectual endowments of this divine
were very considerable. His delivery was powerful
and impressive. On account of growing popularity
several attempts were made by various churches to
obtain his services, but the bond of union between
him and his people was of sufficient strength to pre
vent a removal. At first he was merely lecturer ;
then, in 1706, he became fully recognised as the
aged pastor's regular assistant. At Mark Key's
ordination Adams placed his hands upon the head
of his younger brother and proclaimed aloud — "I
do declare by the authority of Christ and this Church
that my brother ... is by the Church appointed
and ordained a joint elder, pastor, or overseer, with
myself over her." As already stated, Eichard Adams
died in 1716, when the pastorate devolved on Mark
Key, who terminated his earthly career at Mid
summer 1726. During his last years he was aided
by two members of the congregation, of whom little
is known beyond thefr names. These were John

42 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Toms and Charles Bowler. Their signatures fre
quently occur in the Eecords — a circumstance prov
ing them to have been active members of the Society.
The first-named divided with the Non-subscribers at
Salters' Hall in 1719.
It is unfortunate that so few particulars are to be
obtained concerning the Ufe-story of Mark Key- —
a man once famous for oratorical gifts. We are
well informed, however, that honoured as were his
efforts in life, the respect manifested for him in death
far exceeded the ordinary expressions of bereave
ment; it also pleasingly illustrated that Christian
sympathy which in an irreligious age could charac
terise minister and people — an age wherein the
advent of better things, promised by the Eevolution,
was eclipsed by the dreary reign of George the First.*
In the early part of the eighteenth century a
society from Pinners' Hall occupied the Chapel at
Devonshfre Square for one part of each Sabbath, and
for this privilege allowed the sum of £1 0 a-year. At
this time the Lady Dowager Page was connected
with the congregation, and had a pew fitted up on
either side of the pulpit for the convenience of her
self and attendants. Sir Gregoiy and Lady Page
were opulent and liberal Dissenters of the eariy
Georgian era. The latter during her widowhood
distributed her wealth with no grudging hand, and
* Manuscript Records of the Church at Devonshire Square ;
Crosby's History of the English Baptists ; WUson's History
of the Dissenting Churches.

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 43
at her death bequeathed means for the succour of
her poorer fellow-membeis. Ladj- Page was remark
able for the diligent attention she gave to religious
literature. In the decline of life she suffered from
a painful weakness. Her servants were wont to
carry their mistress into the family pew in the old
Chapel in Devonshfre Square. Dame Mary died in
March, 1730. Two sermons, an ode, and a funeral
oration were published to commemorate her departure.
The members, meanwhile, keenly realised their
widowed state as they looked upon the lifeless form
of ]\Iark Key, and evidence remains to prove how
heartfelt was their mourning. On Thursday, June
30th, the Church assembled and sought divine
dfrection. At a subsequent conference they de
cided on inviting Dr. Gifford, of Bristol, but cfr-
cumstances prevented his immediate attendance in
London, and he finally declined the proffered honour.
While, however, the deacons were vainly endeavour
ing to conquer difficulties, matters were arranging
themselves in a way quite unexpected. A Baptist
Societ}- then worshipped in Turners' Hall, and had
statedly done so since the days of Charles the Second.
At this date the pastor was Sayer Eudd, a town
physician and an acceptable preacher, regarded by
many as a suitable successor to Mark Key. It was
likewise fairly represented that a union of the two
communities would increase their common oppor
tunities of doing good. The churches conferred
together at Christmas, 1726, and were amalgamated

44 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
six months afterwards. There remained but one
obstacle to be surmounted. The company from
Turners' Hall possessed an endowment only retain
able so long as they preserved their separate state.
This circumstance occasioned the invention of an
unique device. In June, 1727, the people assem
bled to be addressed by John Toms, after which a
unanimous vote dissolved their union. Sayer Eudd
and his people from Turners' Hall now took full
possession. A few minutes passed, and then the
members of the late Society applied for Christian
fellowship, and, on being received, the two assemblies
became one. By an ingenious manoeuvre they had
fully protected themselves from future legal embar
rassment. Sayer Eudd retained his office till the spring of
1733, when a misunderstanding about a continental
tour occasioned a separation. Eudd had privately de
termined to travel j;hrougli France ; his people were
as firmly resolved that he should continue in
England. The pastor effected his design; the people
regarded the pulpit as forsaken. Eesolutions were
passed binding the members to stand by one another
in their extremity. Only ordained ministers were
permitted to dispense the Sacraments: preachers
supplying the pulpit received a guinea a sermon;
but only half that amount if from the country. John
Eudd, the pastor's brother, had occasionally served in
the pulpit; but prior to the disagreement he settled
in the ministry at Wapping.

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 45
During his stay at Turners' Hall, Eudd proved
himseK a man of learning and ability. On his
re-appearance in London, after having travelled
through France, he consented to supply at Maze
Pond : and all obstacles in the way of an amicable
settlement were apparently removed, when some dis
covered, as they thought, defects in his doctrinal
sentiments. The candidate, on an appointed occasion,
plainly expressed his theological views, and, because
the majority of his hearers detected Sabellianism,
his further services were dispensed with. Eudd, never
theless, drewafter him an influential portionof the con
gregation, and one lady member, at her sole expense,
provided an additional meeting-house, besides sub
scribing a hundred pounds a year towards its sup
port. About this conjuncture Eudd was excluded
from the ministerial conclave who assembled on
^Mondays at Blackwell's coffee-house. Two years
after, death deprived the pastor of his able patron,
Mrs. Ginns, and he conformed to the Eubric in
1742, for the purpose of accepting the living of
Walmer. He also conducted a school at Deal, and
died there in 1757. After the decease of Mrs.
Ginns, her chui'ch in Southwark dwindled away,
and eventually the chapel became one of John
Wesley's preaching-stations. The young man who
conducted the services gained a complete ascendancy
over a large congregation, till he and his people
imbibed such views of perfection as prompted them
to exclude Wesley from their pure communion.

46 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
This occurred in 1763. Wesley engaged a neigh
bouring building, but his connection by this seces
sion suffered a loss of six hundred members. The
chapel was successively occupied by the Primitive
Methodists and the Baptists.
However many or heinous Eudd's errors may
have been — and no attempt will be made to ex
tenuate them — the manner in which he is treated by
Ivimey may justly be indignantly deprecated. It can
be clearly proved that the rough treatment Eudd ex
perienced at Devonshire Square, sufficed to drive him
away. Although the Nonconformist ranks of those
days included so much that was admirable, it may
not, on the other hand, be denied that there were
among them ignorant, self-consequent persons, only
too ready to embrace opportunities of abusing
their liberty. At Devonshire Square they could not
tolerate the presence in their pulpit of a Psedobap
tist. They were ready to quarrel with their pastor
when he purchased more books than they supposed
he required, and so needed a larger salary ; or when
he indulged in too free language. Eudd found his situa
tion become so uneasy, that in 1731, he addressed
a Latin letter to the Lord Chancellor, wherein he
asked for preferment in the Established Church,
although still objecting to the rite of infant
baptism ; at another time he entertained some
thoughts of conforming to Quakerism. His motives
could not have been purely mercenary; for, had
he cared only for monej-, his desires would have

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 47
been satisfied by preaching Calvinistic doctrine, and
remaining at Maze Pond. Ivimey thought other
wise : " He — i.e. Eudd — was a vain, conceited
person," who "always prefixed M.D. to hie name,
and was called Dr. Eudd. From this cfrcumstance,
it does not follow that he ever understood medi
cine." It would be equally generous to reply : " A
certain preacher compiled a Baptist history, and was
called the Revere7id Joseph Ivimey. Hence we are
not to infer that he ever comprehended the Gospel."
The fact is, Eudd has left behind him ample evidence
of ability and scholarship. The pastor's Certain
Metlwd to Krww Disease testifies to his knowledge of
the Greek and Latin tongues ; but of the existence
even of this publication Ivimey was not cognisant,
or he would have included it in the list he subjoins
of the Doctor's works.
This interruption to the Society's prosperity was
of nine months' duration, after which, by the happy
choice of George Braithwaite, the Church filled the
vacancy. This divine, then in his fifty-fourth year,
besides being intellectually strong, had benefited by
an extended experience as a Christian minister.
His native place was Furnessfells, in Lancashfre,
and his family, who adhered to the Estab
lished Church, maintained a good position in the
county ; one of their number being a preacher of
some eminence in the immediate neighbourhood.
His parents intended that George should succeed
his uncle in this living; and with this object in

48 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
view, he passed the preliminary stages of his educa
tion at the town grammar school. Thence he pro
ceeded to the University, where by an industrious
application he won a degree. At this date the
death of a relative occasioned his recall home, and
he never returned to his college. Soon after Braith-
waite's conversion to anti-ptedobaptism occurred,
when he became ineligible for Anglican preferment.
In the year 1706 this young scholar settled in
London, and joined a company of Baptists who
assembled in Curriers' Hall. In such society Ms
cultivated talents attracted notice; and by acting
in unison with the people's desire, he allowed him
self to be set apart with fasting and prayer to the
office of preaching. When the family discovered
that this scion of their House had arrived at such
determinations, thej^ employed every art to allure
him back into the Anglican communion. As, how
ever, conscience had led him in this direction, it
allowed of no yielding to temptation ; for the report
is probably true that Braithwaite embraced antipredo-
baptist principles, while ignorant of the existence of
a Baptist denomination. Having finally determined
to embrace the ministerial profession, the young
evangelist felt constrained first to proclaim the
Gospel to his neighbours at Furnessfells. When a
very young man, he resolved and strangely vowed,
that should he ever enter the vineyard of Christ,
Furnessfells should first benefit by his Christian
endeavours. To accomplish this purpose he now

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 49
repaired thither, and upon a site chosen from his
hereditary estate, erected a chapel. In this self-
selected sphere Braithwaite successfully laboured,
and to the character of a Christian gentleman
united the attributes of a zealous pastor. There
arose at length some difference of opinion between
the latter and his people concerning open com
munion, and the dispute eventually led to a separa
tion. This controversy at least served one good
end : it further revealed the pastor's amiabihty and
generous forbearance, for he presented the members
with the chapel freehold as a parting gift of friend
ship and personal esteem.
The next scene of Braithwaite's Christian effort
was Bridlington. While there- he published a
curious treatise against unnecessarily frequenting
pubhc-houses. In the days of George the Second,
the pernicious custom complained of widely pre
vailed. Even respectable persons would assemble
at the village hostelry to gossip away their evening
hours. The publication of Braithwaite's book created
an extensive ill-feeling, on account of which the
author not only became unpopular, but uneasy in
his situation. At that time numbers were found
even among chapel-goers, who would thoroughly
have agreed with Johnson in regarding a tavern
parlour chair as the throne of temporal felicity.
This occurrence led to the pastor's resignation, and
his retirement from the vicinity. On returning to
London, during the spring of 1734, he commenced 4

50 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
that occupancy, which continued through life, of the
deserted pulpit of Sayer Eudd.
On Braithwaite's acceptance of the call to Devon
shire Square, he was recognised by services which
Dr. Gill and Samuel Wilson conducted. To the
meagre account contained in a funeral sermon by
the latter, we are chiefly indebted for the few
particulars known about a life which doubtless
abounded in interesting events and instructive
lessons. Braithwaite is reported to have kept a
diary during thirty years, and with great precision
to have noted down numberless circumstances.
This and many similar treasures of that era never
saw the light.
The year 1744 was signalised by the fortunately
rare occurrence of a pubhc quarrel between the
church at Devonshire Square and the sister society
at Maze Pond, over which Edward Wallen presided.
Aaron Spurrier — an occasional preacher and a
member at Devonshire Square — wrought much
mischief by depreciating his pastor's labours and
creating disunion, tiU his brethren severely censured
his conduct. Spurrier then forsook his place in the
assemblings, and on application was admitted to
communion at Maze Pond. This reception of a
suspended member was resented as an unprecedented
affront, and as such was rebuked. In the City the
indignation produced "An Appeal to the Baptist
Churches in and around London." In this letter
the Southwark people were accused of disorderly

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 51
¦walking, a charge which prompted the issue of a
counter-address, in turn to be immediatelj'- replied
to by another statement from Devonshfre Square.
The dispute lasted several months, and became the
occasion of some excitement among Dissenters in
London. The upshot was that Spurrier surrendered,
confessed Ms errors, and craved forgiveness. He
afterwards statedly ministered to a Church at Lime-
house, where he died in 1749. Dr. Gill, who
preached Spurrier's funeral sermon, highly eulogised
Ms character.
As the summer of 1748 advanced, Braithwaite's
natural vigour gave place to weakness. To him,
however, approaching death was but nearing "The
Oate of Life ; " and in July he entered on Ms reward.
During his last hours he selected the words " I have
fought a good fight," from which he desired Samuel
Wilson to preach a funeral sermon. The final scene
of the pastor's course supplies a fine illustration of
Christian triumph. Consolation derived from a
complete trust in Christ, was supplemented by a
clear testifying of conscience, that never knowingly,
either for profit or for renown, had he deviated from
rectitude. The Church's loss, after circumstances
proved to be an unusually severe one. The mem
bers assembled at a special prayer-meeting, hung the
chapel with black and voted the funeral expenses.
It may be mentioned that Braithwaite's once ample
resources were about exhausted some years prior to
Ms decease ; he even experienced the pressure of
4*

52 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
poverty. In 1746 the lease of some property
owned by the Church in Moorfields expired, and
tMs event probably narrowed the pastor's stipend. *
We turn to a gloomy page of the Society's his
tory on parting from the pious Braithwaite. An
attempt to bring Henry Lord from Bacup failing,
John Stevens, a West-countryman, accepted the
pastorate, being in the thirtieth year of Ms age.
This occurred in the spring of 1750, after the
young minister had served several months upon
trial. During some following years great popularity
attended his labours, so that in addition to Ms
stated ministrations, he succeeded Dr. Gill in the
Lectureship at Great Eastcheap. After this pros
perity had lasted for or about ten years, it was
suddenly ended by some blasting charges being
preferred against his moral character, the impeach
ment being sustained by the testimony of several
members who witnessed to his crimes. The majority
nobly discharged their duty by ignomimously ex
pelling from communion an intruder into the
Church who had sullied her purity, and disgraced
her mission. Nothing abashed, however, Stevens
removed to Eedcross- street, where he preached till
Ms death in 1778. About ninety members, by
whom of course he was regarded as innocent, fol-
* Manuscript Records of the Church; Samuel WUson's
Sermon on the Death of George Braithwaite ; The Nation's
Reproach, by G. Braithwaite ; WUson's History of the Dis
senting Churches.

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 53
lowed Mm thither. This calamity, which very
severely tried the Society, arose from the usurpation
of the CMistian office on the part of a wicked man.
During the six following years, only trifling addi
tions were made to the Church.
When the disastrous division above mentioned
occurred, there was li^ing in London a wealthy
lady of the name of Maisters, a Christian of un
blemished character ; but whose intellect, even then
tinged with insamty, was destined to fail her.
John Stevens, the expelled minister, who more
becomingly might have Mdden Ms face in peniten
tial seclusion, found in Mrs, Maisters a friend and
patron, and obtained from her a chapel in Eedcross-
street, wMch she had reared at her own expense.
Stevens was a native of Exmouth, where his
parents filled nothing more than an humble station.
Before meddling with divinity, the lad tried his
skill both at ropemaking and agriculture. He was
first brought to a profession of religion by one of
Lady Huntingdon's agents. His next step was to
give Ms leisure hours to study. When he com
menced to labour as a village evangelist, he achieved
a reputation for oratorical power very unusual
under similar cfrcumstances. Such indeed was his
fame, that on first coining to London, his services
were valued by the Society at the Tabernacle in
Moorfields. Stevens likewise visited Scotland as an
itinerant preacher of her Ladyship's connexion.
Soon after returning from this tour he declared

54 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Mmself a Baptist, and succeeded George Braithwaite
at Devonshire Square. Ultimately, as already ex
plained, the pastor's character and his prospects of
further usefulness, Avere simultaneously annihilated
by the dark charges preferred against him. The
voluminous manuscript accounts extant too plainly
prove the wicked man's guilt to allow any doubt to
remain in the mind of an unbiassed reader, to whose
lot the ordeal may fall of having to digest the details.*
Three years passed, and the community thus rent
and impoverished, found no suitable leader. At
length the choice of Walter Eichards, a young man
then living at Birmingham, carried with it some
promise of a happier future. His brethren affec
tionately surrendered him, and just before Christmas
1762, he was ordained in London. The pastor's
ministrations were unsuccessful. The people mani
fested dissatisfaction by shunning the chapel. By
a minority, however, Eichards was highly esteemed ;
but the insulting behaviour of others counter
acted their support, and he resigned, — retired to
Ireland, there probably to meet with better success,
since he is referred to nearly fifty years later, as
still flourishing in the Emerald Isle.
To supply the pulpit so soon again vacant proved
a difficult task. Eichard Hutchings, a Northamp
tonshire minister, first attracted attention. The
affectionate self-denial of his own people far exceeded
* Manuscript Records of the Chiu-ch ; WUson's History of
the Dissenting Churches.

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 55
their poverty ; and merely through considerations
for thefr pastor's comfort, they urged him to seek a
charge with ampler means. He visited Devonshire
Square, but the call not being unanimous he
declined accepting it.
Communications were next opened with John
Macgowan, who was prevailed on to assume the re
sponsibilities of the pastorate. A native of Edinburgh,
and born in 1726, he merely received in youth an
ordinary Scottish education, suitable for the weaving
craft, his intended calling. In early life he embraced
Wesleyanism, and when first religious impressions
were deepened into real conversion, Macgowan pro
moted the Methodist movement by engaging as a
preacher. Growing more Calvimstic his convictions
led him into Independency ; and by embracing the
tenet of Believers' Baptism he eventually entered
the Baptist denomination. Macgowan then settled
at Bridgenorth, a situation wMch, through want of
success, he resigned, and removed to London in 1766.
After an introduction, he accepted a call to the
pastorate at DevonsMre Square, and in the following
summer was pubHcly recognised in a service which
Gill and Stennett conducted. The pastor continued
to labour in the old City till removed by death in
1780. He excelled in preaching and in writing,
the fame he achieved by the Dialogues of Devils
still surviving. A large number of contemporary
readers justly appreciated the author's pieces, and
during the present century they have been re-

56 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES
published in a uniform edition. The first suggestion to
write The Infernal Conference may have sprung from
Dialogues of the Dead, a singular book printed in 1 7 6 0 .
Macgowan was constitutionally weak, and his
strength was apparently unequal to that habitual
application so indispensable in the ministerial pro
fession. This wiU account for Ms oft-recurring
mental cloudiness, and spiritual dejection. He was,
nevertheless, a valuable mimster; and often, by
mere effort of wiU, would lay aside an ever present
physical debility for the purpose of honouring Christ
by building up his Church and comforting his
people. A strong imagination, retentive memory,
and large stores of general knowledge, rendered him
an improving and attractive companion and a de-
sfrable counsellor. His farewell visit to Devonshfre
Square was an affecting occasion long remembered.
It occurred on Sunday, November the 12th, 1780.
Feeble by the weakness attending bodily decay, and
suffering from the pains of impending dissolution,
the pastor yet determined once again to dispense to
his fiock the commemorative Bread and Wine. To
complete tMs pious resolve, to declare that he stood
in his place for the last time, and to recommend
Timothy Thomas for a successor, the strength of the
dying man sufficed. On a quiet Sabbath evemng a
fortmght after, his spirit departed, to enter into rest.*
* WaUin's Sermon on the Death of John Macgowan ; Inti-o-
duction to Macgowan's Works ; New Baptist Repository ;
WUson's History of the Dissenting Churches.

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 57
Timothy Thomas — whose ministry some yet liv
ing will remember — is the last pastor of whom it
will be necessary to speak particularly. The family
were Welsh Dissenters, and the father of our subject
held an honomable position in the mimstry at Leo
minster. Thomas was born in 1753, and after re
ceiving a second-rate education, was apprenticed to
a carpenter. Wishing to attain increased proficiency,
Thomas settled in London, and being employed by a
member of DevonsMre Square, he became connected
with that Church. On manifesting an inclination
for the CMistian imnistry, the young artisan found
his way beset with difficulties. An extreme pre
judice then prevailed against any literary traimng for
the pastoral office ; and Timothy Thomas was neither
gifted nor educated. While perfectly conscious of
Ms shortcomings and unpolished mien, he ventured
on expressing a desfre to enter Bristol Academy, but
he received some contemptuous rebukes from many
who maintained that a Christian's proper school was
the Church, and Ms only teacher CMist. His elders,
however, judged of Ms intellectual strength by listen
ing to a sermon ; they would only acknowledge the
preacher to be possessed of " an infant's gift."
Timothy Thomas proceeded to Bristol, and there
progressed as favourably as the disadvantages from
wMch he suffered would allow. The tutors, Hugh
Evans and Ms son Dr. Caleb, were able men, and it
happened unfortunately for young Thomas that his
pastor's decease in London occasioned a shortemng

58 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
of the allotted curriculum. The people quickly
acted on Macgowan's dying counsel by despatching
a message to Bristol to call on their fellow-member
to return and minister to their need. On the Sabbath
of Macgowan's death his proteg4 preached his first
sermon at Devonshire Square, and during the fol
lowing summer was fully installed. One smaU
matter — widely separated from study — had obtained
some attention at Bristol, a principal result being a
transformation of the tutor's daughter into Mrs.
Thomas. The young minister's life prospects were now far
from being unpromising, although certain drawbacks
checked his prosperity. The invitation to the pas
torate not having been unanimous, the minority were
a source of vexation. Annoyances increased till,
by acting on the advice of his brethren, the pastor
resigned ; and although not accepted, that resignation
had the effect of restoring peace by compelling the
withdrawal of the opposing forces. Troubles thus
blowing over, life's happiness flowed on uninter
ruptedly through several succeeding years. In 1 7 9 6
Thomas left Ms manse in Houndsditch to establish
himself as a schoolmaster at Islington — a step which
was immediately followed by the untimely death of
Mrs. Thomas.
As he grew in years so Timothy Thomas increased
in favour among his cotemporaries. The man's
broad open countenance revealed his generous and
honest nature. He very heartily loved the Baptist

DEVONSHIRE SQUARE. 59
denomination, and laboured hard to promote its
general well-being, besides faithfully distributing
the Regium Donum. The heavy afflictions wMch
overtook him in his declining years need not be
particularly mentioned. The principal, a stroke of
paralj'sis in 1824, disabled him from frequently
preaching for ever after. The affection of Ms people,
however, prevented thefr listening to any pro
posal concerning resignation. They preferred look
ing into Bristol CoUege for an assistant; in their
search they found Thomas Price. For the purpose
of hearing his young colleague, and then of admin
istering the Sacrament for the last time, Timothy
Thomas attended the chapel on the first Sabbath of
1827. Illness debarred him from fulfilling the second
part of tMs design. He was carried home to linger
till the opening days of summer, when he too passed
into that rest wMch so many of his predecessors
already enjoyed.
Our sketch must now conclude. The recent and
lamented death of Dr. Price might veiy properly have
occasioned a reference to his career and to his con
nection with this ancient Church, had not the parti
culars of his life been already so widely diffused.
A rebuilding of the meeting-house celebrated his
accession to the pastorate, the present chapel having
been opened by ilr. Binney, in 1829.
In our own day the name of John Howard Hinton
has long been indissolubly associated with Devonshire
Square. His term of office extended through twenty-

'60 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES,
seven years — from 1837 to 1863. On accepting their
respected pastor's resignation, the Church secured the
services of William Thomas Henderson, of Banbury,
who then removed to London. He still retains his
office, and the affection of the people, to whom Ms
ministrations are peculiarly acceptable.
The Metropolitan Eailway Company being about
to extend their line to Tower Hill, the site of Devon
shire Square Chapel wUl be required. The Church
will thus become necessitated to forsake a spot wMch
many sacred and ancient associations have endeared
to Nonconformists. As in all tMngs, Providence is to
be trusted, so in this matter likewise. Out of present
¦difficulties good will doubtless arise, and in a new
sphere — wherever that may be — we may fervently
trust that the connection between pastor and flock
may remain unbroken through many prosperous
.years. Some eminent tMnkers have supposed that the
saints enjoying eternal rest are acquainted with and
interested in terrestrial affafrs. If tMs be so, then
Kiffen, Braithwaite, Macgowan, and a multitude
more, are witnesses to the removal of this old
Christian landmark from the spot they loved so well,
and so greatly frequented. While this may be truly
so, our desire is that those who remain, by love and
Christian harmony in action, may prove themselves
good soldiers of the Church Militant, and descendants
worthy of their noble predecessors.

Cljapler II.
pinners' hall.
There came to London about the year 1580 a citizen
of Vemce, of the name of Verselyn. Being skilled
in the art of glass-blowing, he became anxious to
establish a trade in the country of Ms adoption.
With this end in view he sought the countenance of
Elizabeth, and the Queen extended her patronage by
granting Mm a patent. With Ms newly-acquired
power the trader planted a factory near Old Broad-
street, in the City of London. The opposition of
the citizens to this innovation was determined and
persevering. Extraordinary representations were
made to Government of evU consequences likely to
follow the sanctioning of such an institution — e.g.,
sundry families afready engaged in the glass trade
would be ruined; vast quantities of wood required
for other purposes would be consumed in the Vene
tian's furnaces; and, worse than all, the customs
would suffer merely to enrich a contemptible
foreigner. Verselyn bravely weathered the storm
wMch Ms enemies raised, and probably sold more

€2 ancient meeting houses.
glass on account of their opposition; for in after
years the business he founded was sufficiently pros
perous for the overseer to resign his office, the heat,
he declared, being so excessive that he would soon
have melted away among those hot Venetians. The
site of Verselyn's manufactory was afterwards occu
pied by Pinners' Hall. The trade of this guild —
pin and needle-making — greatly suffered from foreign
¦competition. In the time of Charles the Second
this hall passed into the hands of the Noncon
formists, who, besides founding a Christian Church
of the Independent order, established a Tuesday-
morning sermon — the once celebrated Merchants'
Lecture. The first pastor at Pinners' Hall* was Anthony
Pahner, a divine, who through the religious dissen
sions of the Commonwealth, sided with the Presby
terians, and subscribed the Covenant, but afterwards
joined the Independents. He rose in the estimation
of his party till preferred to the living of Bourton-
on-the- Water. Our libeller-general, Anthony Wood,
declares that Palmer " was all things to all men,
such was the mutability and vanity of the person."
* Several distinct societies were connected -with Pinners'
HaU, but in oui- present sketch we must principaUy confine
ourselves to the Independent Church planted by Anthony
Palmer. The Glass-house, as it was caUed, was connected
with a society of Baptists in the time of CromweU. Palmer
and Pownes, prior to their settlement at Broad-street, appear
to have preached in the house of one Savage, on London
Bridge.

pinners' hall. 63
According to the same authority, moreover, he became
'" AnabaptisticaUy inclined."
The testimony of more credible witnesses to the
integrity and reUgious zeal of Anthony Palmer can
not fairly be called in question. After studying at
Oxford he settled at Bourton in 1649. Bourton was
then an inconsiderable village of not more than
seventy houses, containing three hundred and fifty
inhabitants. Immediately after the Eestoration the
vigUant enmity of his foes followed the pastor to
Bourton. He had been one of CromweU's Triers ;
and to be especiaUy hated by the country gentry was
the penalty paid by those who had dared to prove
the uselessness of bishops. As for Palmer, on being
accused of plotting against the Government, he was
UteraUy driven from his living by the leading par-
isMoners. He was also greatly harassed by the
malicious spite of his enemies. In AprU, 1660, a
military party invaded Ms private residence under a
pretence of searching for arms, but really for purposes
of plunder and outrage. Such were the things wMch
made up the routine of a Nonconformist's life two
hundred years ago. Strange reports were sometimes
-current of judgments which overtook the persecutors.
One of Palmer's detractors, so people said, had been
visited by death, wMle another was smitten by a
strange disease.
Palmer removed to London in 1 6 6 2. After preach
ing for a time in a private house, he settled at Pin-
aiers' HaU, where, to quote the words of the Oxford

64 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Mstorian, " he carried on the trade of conventicling
to the last," and "was buried in the phanatical
burial-ground joining to Old Bedlam, near to Moor
fields by London."* The truth is, that Palmer's
efforts to promote the advancement of peace and
righteousnesss were only terminated by death. For
long after, the Church held Ms name in honour ; but
the EoyaUsts left nothing undone and unsaid wMch
by saying and doing they could blacken Ms character.f
Palmer was assisted by the able and devoted
George Fownes, who, on embracing Baptist princi
ples, resigned the cure of High Wycombe during
the ascendancy of CromweU. The times changed,
and Fownes encountered the harshest treatment;
Ms cMef opponent being a local magistrate of the
name of Wroth. Ultimately the pastor was driven
to London by the troubles of the times, and there
undertook a lecture at Lothbuiy, and thence removed
into Pinners' HaU. After the death of Anthony
Palmer, Fownes settled at Broadmead, Bristol, to
which Church and City Ms Mstory properly belongs.
At Bristol he proved himself a worthy successor
of the noble Hardcastle. A relentless persecution
brought Mm to a premature grave ; but although
he died under them, he never quailed before Ms
trials. As usual in those days, the enemy-in-cMef
* BimhiU Fields.
t Athense Oxonienses; Nonconformists' Memorial;
Ackyn's History of Gloucestershire; History of the Dis
senting Churches ; Crosby's History of the English Baptists.

pinners' hall. 6 5
to any evangeUsing efforts was the bishop of the
diocese. Such shepherds were not ashamed to re
sort to every manoeuvre wMch promised to harass
Nonconformists. Witnesses were suborned who
said Fownes had broken the peace of a certain
place ; but it transpired that he and his horse on
then- peaceful travels had been the only rioters. He
found himself continuaUy imder arrest. To walk
upon the King's Mghway, or to stand up amid
Ms people, was to risk a sudden seizure. During
tMee years he lay in the gaol of Bristol, and not
untU 1685 was that freedom awarded which belongs
to " The noble army of martyrs."
The spfrit of persecution continued to predomi
nate after Palmer's decease. His afflicted church
anxiously sought a suitable successor to Ms arduous
duties. The necessary quaUties were found in
Eichard WaveU, whom the Uttle band now chose
for their leader. He was a native of the Isle of
Wight, and during the CivU Wars his father had
espoused the side of the EoyaUsts. Wavel had been
previously tempted to conform by liberal offers of
preferment, but he now agreed to risk comfort and
freedom if the people would as openly hazard thefr
money. Each party exactly fulfiUed tMs heroic
contract. The pastor fearlessly discharged his duties,
and Ms foUowers cheerfuUy bore the expenses entaUed
by frequent legal embarrassments. Several services
were regularly conducted on the Sabbath, although
the utmost caution had to be observed — a course of
5

66 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
action especiaUy praiseworthy when, as in this
instance, alluring paths to affluence had been nobly
eschewed. This good man held his ground against
the sophistries of the tempter and the attacks of
persecution, and remained with the people of his
choice long after the iniquitous Stuarts had for
feited the crown their reign disgraced. At one
period WaveU possessed a valuable friend in the
person of the Lord Mayor, Sir Harry Tulse, who
helped him through many trying seasons. Once it
feU to the lot of Sir Harry to apologise for the term
" gentleman," coupled by a thoughtless indictment
writer with Wavell's name, and at which the sitting-
magistrate, as he thought, reasonably quibbled. At
another time Tulse detained a principal witness
against WaveU in conversation till the completion
of the trial. Such troubles, however, being ended
by the Eevolution, WaveU Uved on tiU the year
1705, loving his work, and doing it weU. When
the dawning appeared of approaching repose, he
laid aside the arms of his warfare with visible
joy. His place was never properly suppUed, for
from the period of his death we date the earliest
symptoms of decay in the church at Pinners' HaU."*
It is manifest by the eminent names associated
with it, that Pinners' Hall in the times we write of,
was a chief centre of Nonconformist influence.
* Nonconformists' Memorial ; History of the Dissenting
Churches, &c. Por an account of Po^wnes see Crosby, and
more particularly the Broadmead Records.

pinners' hall. C7
From a union of Independent and Presbyterian
Ministers in 1672, sprang the Merchants' Lecture,
the first preachers of which were men with characters
closely approacMng the apostolic standard. Dr.
Manton, leading the way, was supported by Owen,
Bates, Baxter, and others. Unfortunately, the tie
wMch umted tMs iUustrious galaxy was sufficiently
weak to be broken by the discussion of some
doctrinal tenets. Baxter's first sermon in the course
awakened an anti-Armiman outcry throughout Lon
don ; but the malcontents were sharplj' rebuked by
Manton, and also by the lecturer himself in a broad
side caUed " An Appeal to the Light." Thus for the
time was the tMeatened breach prevented. In a
few years, when some of the original lecturers lay in
their graves, disputes again arose to breed division
between the two denominations, so that a rival
lecturesMp was instituted at Salters' Hall. These
Tuesday services grew into real attractions, and
hearers from the outskirts were wont to return at
mid- day to thefr suburban homes, well repaid for a
toUsome walk by having listened to some distin
guished preacher.
The old haU was likewise used in Puritan tinies
by a congregation of Seventh Day Baptists. Francis
Bampfield, their pastor, being persecuted to death,
ended his sufferings in Newgate in 1684. A
metrical broadside, commemorating his sufferings,
makes him say : —
" I spent in prison more than twice five years." 5*

68 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
The people's sense of bereavement is thus ex
pressed : — ¦
" ShaU we pine for want of living bread ;
Or shaU our hungry souls -with husks be fed ?
O, Heaven forbid it ; give us not dross for gold ;
Let younger prophets stUl succeed the old."
The society of Independents wMch leased the hall
met only in the morning ; and consequently other
congregations were aUov/ed to assemble during other
parts of the day. Dr. Watts and Ms people enjoyed
such a privilege till their removal, in 1708, to a
newly erected meeting-house in Bury-street, St.
Mary Axe. At other periods, by special arrange
ments, various churches were permitted to use the
room. Wavell's successor. Dr. Hunt, introduced the
practice of preaching twice on the Sabbath; but
even then the General Baptists occupied the build
ing in the afternoon. When the lease expired in
1778, the Independent society was dissolved. The
hall next became leased to Anthony Crole for
twenty-one years, who during that space, ministered
to a flourishing congregation. Eventually he re
moved to Founders' HaU, where he continued till
his decease. FinaUy Pinners' Hall was taken down,
and no traces now remain of a structure interesting
because so intimately associated with the history of
Nonconformity. From 1707, till his death in 1744, the pulpit was
occupied by Jeremiah Hunt. His election was an
Unfortunate procedure, for it marked the fatal first

PINNERS' HALL. 69
step towards a declension in doctrine and prosperity.
Born in 1678, young Hunt at two years of age lost
Ms father. He was originaUy intended for trade,
but his mother encouraged a riUing incUnation which
prompted Ms studying for the Christian ministry —
a course he foUowed successively at London, Edin
burgh, and Ley den. Being a laborious student, he
especiaUy excelled in a knowledge of Hebrew and
Oriental lore. WMle staying in HoUand, moreover,
he attained to that oratorical fluency wMch he ever
after displayed. So mamfest indeed were his powers
of extempore speaking that he occasionally trans
gressed the warning of the hour-glass, " without," as
Dr. Lardner says, "any discernible confusion or dis
agreeable tautology." Dr. Hunt's first settlement
was at Tunstead, near Norwich. Thence, in 1710,
he removed to London, and continued tiU his death
at Pinners' HaU.
In London, Jeremiah Hunt won a reputation for
genius and learning, and from a Scotch university
received the diploma of doctor of divinity. As a
preacher he was characterised by many singularities.
On the consecutive Sabbath mornings of several years
he selected texts from the Book of Proverbs. His
¦custom was thorougMy to work out his subject, and
this he often did without making notes. So good a
judge as Dr. Lardner classed the pastor at Pinners'
HaU among model preachers, although the results of
his labours prove him to have been very unsuccess
ful. We can in some degree reaUse the estimation

70 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
in which contemporaries held Dr. Hunt by some lines
on the Nonconformists of London, written by one of
the "advanced" party for the Gentleman's Maga
zine in 1736 — the author having probably been
the abandoned Eichard Savage : —
" With soundest judgment and with nicest skill.
The learned Hunt explains his Master's ¦will;.
So just his meaning, and his sense so true.
He only pleases the discerning few."*
There are some almost incredible stories testifying
to the strength of the Doctor's memory. He had the
reputation of never forgetting sermons after once
delivering them ; according to Ms own confession to
Dr. Lardner, he believed that nearly all the discourses
he had preached could be recalled. In one notable
instance a lecture, given fourteen years before, was
reproduced with scarcely a verbal variation from the
original. At this date a principal member at Pinners' HaU
was Viscount Barrington, whose eminent station and
abiUty enabled him to exercise an extensive influence-
among Nonconformists. His lordship had already
attained to some celebrity by writing in defence of the
* A parody on this poem soon afterwards appeared, and
the author portrayed Dr. Hunt in less brUUant, though
possibly truer colours, e.g. :
" The busy Hunt, with little skiU,
Takes mighty pains to extol his own free'wiU ;
So dull his meaning, and his action too.
He reaUy pleases but a very few."

pinners' HALL. 71
principles professed by himself and by his brethren.
Dr. Fleming communicated to the editors of the
Biographia Britannica some particulars of the
friendsMp which existed between Dr. Hunt, Lord
Barrington, and the freethinker, Anthony CoUins.
At the Viscount's seat in Essex these friends were
wont to meet ; and they made a point of gratifying
their critical taste by introducing a Greek Testament
with the dessert. One day CoUins so far committed
himself as to express some admiration of the charac
ter of St. Paul. WMle in a magnanimous mood,
the infidel admitted that the Apostle was at the least
" a man of sense and a gentleman." Collins further
confessed that, he would have believed in miracles
had Paul himself laid claim to miraculous power.
An immediate reference to such a circumstance
having occurred in the apostle's life, confounded
the unwary deist, and he soon after withdrew from
the company.*
The eminent orator James Foster next succeeded
at Pinners' HaU, and continued to occupy the pulpit
tiU his death in 1753. Being a native of Exeter he
was educated in that city ; and his first tutor at the
Grammar School became so deUghted with the genius
and learning of Ms prot4g6, that he openly boasted
of Mm about the town. Foster continued his studies
in a Nonconformist academy at Exeter, where his
* Lardner's Sermon on the Death of Dr. Hunt -, Biographia
Britannica ; Gentleman's Magazine, vol. vi. ; History of the
Dissenting Churches.

72 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
abilities and kindly nature exalted him into high
favour. He won the friendship of Dr. Conybeare,
Bishop of Bristol, and conscience alone, it would
seem, debarred young Foster from taking a foremost
position in the Established Church. His public
ministry began in 1718, in the midst of that con
troversy respecting subscription to theological doc
trines which, arising in the West, reached a climax
of violence at Salters' Hall in the following spring.
Unfortunately for his good influence and reputation,
Foster imbibed the sentiments of Pierce, who origi
nated the dispute, and was thus never popular in the
western counties. He wandered from place to place
without affording his hearers any satisfaction ; at
one time the eloquent preacher, with a yearly stipend
of fifteen pounds, simultaneously ministered to two
congregations in the neighbourhood of the Mendip
Hills. So unacceptable indeed were Foster's earlier
endeavours, that to relinquish his profession in favour
of trade appeared a manifest duty; and he only
escaped the glove craft by accepting a chaplaincy in
a gentleman's family. This change of fortune was
shortly succeeded by a call to London, wMther he
removed, and settled in Barbican with Jeremiah
Burroughs ; thence, on the death of Dr. Hunt, he
removed to Pinners' Hall. After settUng there,
Foster's great abUities were appreciated to a degree
beyond the most sanguine anticipation.
Foster possessed every attribute requisite for at
taining popularity. He was a correct scholar, and a

pinners' hall. 73
good critic ; he inherited large stores of miscellaneous
knowledge, all available at command. He possessed
a voice of great compass, which he controlled with con
summate art ; and this contributed in no small degree
to the successful working of his other powers. His
elocution was admired by the best judges, including
Johnson; and although surpassed in pronunciation
by Watts, the most fastidious were never offended by
Ms deUvery. Whether in their lowest key, or other
wise in the peroration, his tones rang clearly through
out the buUding. One tMng effected by these ac-
compUshments was the attraction of large numbers
of women to the chapel — a crowning triumph of
gemus ; so at least thought Foster's contemporaries.
In 1746 Foster frequently visited Lord Kil
marnock during that nobleman's confinement in the
Tower previously to Ms execution — the penalty he
paid for having actively shared in the rising for the
Young Pretender. WMle admitting his treason, the
prisoner confessed that Ms crimes had been occa
sioned by the demands of extravagant and dissolute
habits. Hope of retrieving Ms decayed fortunes, he
said, allured Mm into joining the desperate adven
ture for Charles Edward. Foster drew up an ac
count of the imprisonment and death of Kilmarnock,
but was so lastingly affected by the Earl's untimely
fate, that, tUl the close of Ufe, the dark impression
never could be effaced from his kindly nature.
Many eulogies on the oratorical powers of Foster
are stUl extant, having mostly appeared in the

74 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Gentleman's Magazine. His popularity surpassed that
of all contemporary Nonconformists, and therefore,
at various times, Sylvanus Urban contributed some
fitting mites to the common flattery, e.g. :
" But see the accompUshed orator appear.
Refined his language, and his reason clear ;
Thou, Poster, only hast the pleasing art
At once to charm the ear and mend the heart."
" In him (great modern miracle) we see
A priest from avarice and ambition free ;
Thee, honest Dissenters, we -with pride may own
Our TUlotson, and Rome her Penelon."
" Truth stands by thee displayed to mortal sight
In naked majesty supremely bright ;
While from thy arm her darts unerring fly.
And folly, ¦vice, and superstition die."
One section of the press depreciated the doctor's
work and character. In the Weekly Miscellany of
June the 7th, 1735, he is depicted as a "teacher of
false doctrine ; a spreader of sentiments injurious to
Scripture and the cause of Christianity."
Foster's contemporaries accounted for his popu
larity by tracing its origin to an eminent physician,
who, on being driven by stress of weather into Pin
ners' HaU, was favourably impressed by the preacher's
powers, and in consequence made him a subject of
eulogy throughout his connexion. This absurd
accounting for success gained sufficient currency to
be widely credited. If we accept it as truth, how

PINNERS' HALL. 75^
happily has England changed ! Preachers of to-day
may be congratulated, since modern intelligence so^
quickly appreciates merit. The necessity for Dissent
to seek constituents in Belgravia, or in any way to-
be beholden to the good offices of a fashionable
physician, has completely passed away.
Considering the religious apathy of the period,
Foster's fame appears to have been somewhat singu
lar, if not unparalleled. The then unusual number
of two thousand persons subscribed for his work on
Natural EeUgion ; and but for this success — such
was the author's UberaUty — he would have died in
poverty. Among the number of Foster's eminent
admfrers appears the name of Alexander Pope, who
seems to have been an occasional hearer. In his-
EpUogue to the Satfres, the poet has bequeathed
us a graceful tribute to the preacher's power : —
" Let modest Foster, if he ¦wiU, excel
Ten MetropoUtans in preaching weU."
Such praise awakened the fre of the High Church
part}'. The principles of that party made it appear
too extraordinary to be probable, or even possible,.
that a dissenting teacher, in an old room originaUy
dedicated to pins and needles, should show talents
then vainly sought among George the Second's
bishops. AngUcan spleen was fittingly expressed
by Warburton's sneering note on the above couplet,
wMch, as an insult to taste and sense, is scarcely
worthy of quotation.

76 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Other celebrated hearers, however, besides Pope,
•crowded to the feet of Dr. Foster. During his
Sabbath-evening lectureship at the Old Jewry, the
attractive force of his eloquence drew to the chapel
¦the wits, the courtiers, clergymen, and freethinkers
of the town. WMston, the translator of Josephus,
on seceding from the Establishment, became Foster's
disciple. Nevertheless, there were certain observers
who dared to speak the reverse of compUment —
¦e.g.: —
" But see the bold Socinian now appear.
Pull fraught with pride, but void of fear ;
Por Poster truly has the running art
To please the ear, but leaves one in the dark."
Such having been the character of Dr. Foster, it
need occasion no regret that his influence has not
been lasting. Let us rather grieve that one who to '
great intellectual powers added other endearing
quaUties, yet forsook the light ol the Cross and
the teachings of Paul for the Ufeless dogmas of
¦Socinus.* The last pastor of the old Independent church.
Pinners' Hall, was Caleb Fleming, a native of Not
tingham, and born at the end of the seventeenth
¦century. He received his early education in the
neighbourhood of his home, but had no intention
* Puneral Sermons for Dr. Poster by Caleb Pleming and
'Charles Bulkley ; Protestant Dissenters' Magazine ; Gentle
man's Magazine, vols. v. and xxiU. ; History of the Dissent
ing Churches.

pinners' hall. 77
of following the course he did tUl, on removing to
London, he extended Ms studies, and commenced
preaching. In 1738 he accepted the pastorate at
Bartholomew Close ; and, while stationed there, he
occasionally assisted Dr. Foster, at whose death
Fleming and Ms people removed to Pinners' HaU.
There our divine laboured on untU infirmities common
to age compeUed Ms retfrement. After the pastor's
decease, in 1778, the Society was dissolved. Fleming
and Lardner maintained a close friendship ; the two
having found great delight in corresponding on doc
trinal and Mstorical themes, although their homes in
Hoxton Square were only separated by a few paces.
Fleming was unfortunately a strong Socinian parti
san ; and it is therefore weU that his publications,
sixty in number, are now forgotten, being chiefly
met with in the remote nooks of our pubUc Ubraries.
The doctor's extreme hostUity to the orthodox faith
caused many even of his own party to shun his
acquaintance; yet ample proof remains that he
suffered in worldly matters for conscience sake.
His principles prompted him to abandon prospects
which opened before him of Church preferment. A
portrait of Fleming wiU be found in Dr. WUliams's
Library; but the features are not those of a man
who possessed a happy disposition.
Thus, the end of this church in Pinners' HaU
was not worthy of its opening promise. In tracing
the history of Nonconformity, it invariably follows
that, so far as churches have receded from those

78 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
central truths of the Gospel — Christ's divinity and
atonement — so far has the power to accomplish their
mission diminished. It is not always easy to discover
when heresies in a given society first made their
-appearance, or what the causes were which led to
the introduction of pastors of a lower theological
standard. The history of Pinners' Hall is the story
of a religious degeneracy hardly to be paralleled in
the annals of Dissent.*
* Palmer's Sermon on the Death of Dr. Pleming ; History
of the Dissenting Churches, &c.

Chapter III.
CROSBY HALL.
Crosby Hall, as the finest remaining specimen of
the domestic arcMtecture of old London, has seen
changes, humiliating and otherwise, since the days
m which it was forsaken by its lordly possessors
and the Nonconformists. By turn it has served as
a pacMng-shed and a wine-ceUar. About seventy
years ago a tradesman of the former caUing used it
for a workshop ; and posterity has witnessed how
pipes of claret and Sauterne can desecrate the time-
honoured pavement. The haU is now a dining esta
blishment ; but as the premises have been offered for
-sale, some reasonable fear may be entertained re
specting this interesting reUc, wMch, if permanently
secured, might properly be transformed into a library
and reading-room for the City of London.
Crosby Hall, as it now exists, is a portion of a
sumptuous mansion erected by Sfr John Crosbie in
1470. The present room was known as Eichard
the Third's Chapel, that tyrant having once been
lodged there for a few nights, on which occasion

80 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
some of his vUlanies were planned. OriginaUy the
house was the most lofty of London private resi
dences, and to the citizens of a ruder age it was
doubtless an object of prominent interest. The site
was bought of Alice Ashfield, the Prioress of Saint
Helen's. About five years only did Sir John Cros
bie survive the completion of his mansion. Sub
sequently the property passed out of Ms family.
Years later the house was inhabited by Sir Thomas
More. In Elizabeth's reign the apartments served
as a lodging for some foreign ambassadors, and occa
sionally for a lord mayor. On the accession of
James the First, the French ambassador, with a
grand retinue, occupied the place, imparting to the
chambers a magnificence such as had seldom or
never been equalled within their waUs. About
1640 it feU into the hands of Sir John Langham,
afterwards to be destroyed by a calamitous fire; but
the HaU, escaping unscathed, was converted into a
meeting-house of the Presbyterian denomination.
Thus Crosby Hall was destined to become asso
ciated with other and nobler objects. When, in
1672, Charles the Second proclaimed his Indulgence,
the premises were hired by Thomas Watson, the
ejected mimster of St. Stephen's, Walbrook, who
gathered upon the spot a flourisMng congregation.
Watson owed much to the patronage of Sir John
Langham, the owner of the property, for Sir John
in those rough days was a staunch friend of Non
conformists. As a pastor, Watson was laborious and

CROSBY HALL. 81
¦conscientious. Previously to the opening of Crosby
HaU he had habituaUy preached as opportunities
were afforded, either in private or otherwise. The
pastor's conscience was sufficiently tender, and he
beUeved apparently in the divine right of kings, for
after siding with Charles, through the Civil Wars, he
brought trouble upon himself by mixing with cer
tain conspirators who sought to anticipate the Ee
storation by bringing in the exiled heir. Watson
was one among other divines whom Cromwell, on
account of this business, imprisoned in the Tower.
One of the number — Christopher Love — ^was exe
cuted for traitorous practices ; and supposing so
terrible an example would act as a salutary warning,
-the government released the remaining prisoners.
Watson enjoyed a good reputation for scholarship,
and was besides an able preacher. He indulged in
-authorship to the great admiration of a wide circle
of readers. Many of his works were composed
during the period of enforced silence, and one ot
them. Heaven Taken by Storm, was instrumental in
the conversion of Colonel Gardiner. He also com
posed A Body of Divimty, the same being con
tained in a folio of one hundred and seventy-six
sermons on the Assembly's Shorter Catechism.
He moreover possessed, even for Puritan times, an
¦uncommon gift in prayer. At one service he had
for an auditor Bishop Eichardson, who was agree
ably surprised at the fervour and beauty with which
the pastor prayed. At the conclusion of the service
6

82 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
the prelate followed Watson home for the double
purpose of expressing gratification and of begging a
copy of what he had heard. " Alas I " exclaimed the
pastor, " that is what I cannot give ; for it was no
studied thing, but uttered as God enabled me from
the abundance of my heart and affection." The
bishop expressed great astonishment at finding a
man who could thus intercede with heaven without
a book. Watson continued pastor at Crosby HaU untU the
faUing of his natural vigour compeUed Mm to resign.
He spent life's closing years in rural retirement,
and lived to see the Eevolution consummated, and
those principles of freedom in the ascendant for
wMch he had so greatly suffered. He died in his
study, whUe engaged in prayer, in 1689.
A more illustrious man associated with Crosby
Hall was Stephen Charnocke, whom the Christian
^vorld agrees to honour as a luminous star in the
Puritan galaxy. The Charnockes were a famUy of
ancient and respectable standing in the county of
Lancaster. In the olden time one of their number
was distinguished by the soh'iquet of Eosicrucian
Charnocke, and during the sixteenth century this
singular character attained some celebrity as an
alchemist. He once determined on exploring Eng
land in quest of that knowledge which he deemed
so indispensable to one of his absurd profession.
While accomplishing these studious peregrinations he
stayed for a season at Oxford, but soon after he settled

CROSEY HALL. 83
in Salisbury, where he allied himself to a celebrated
chemical investigator. A chemist or alchemist, as
he existed in the days of Elizabeth, was a being very
widely differing from any known species of the modern
pharmaceutist. He was a creature whom the vulgar
regarded with awe and the literate with curiosity.
He commonly passed Ms days and nights within the
precincts of two apartments. In one of his rooms
he hurriedly swallowed his food, and took, in restless
snatches, what Uttle sleep his excited brain permitted
Mm to enjoy. In his working room he was con
tinuaUy engaged among crucibles, furnaces, salts,
and the mysterious lapis philosophorum. Occa-
sionaUy these disciples of the phUosophers' stone
stooped from thefr lofty pursmts to the degradation
of authorship, but unfortunately for this later age,
their dfrections about reducing baser metals into
golden ingots of a hundredweight each are usually
written in a professional jargon unintelligible to
common people. Like Ms compeers, Eosicrucian
Charnocke not only laboured at his fires, but com
posed several treatises, and a portion of his literary
effusions was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. He
once tolerated a slight interruption in his studies,
and in the interim married Mistress Agnes Norden,
of Bristol. His last days were spent in the neigh
bourhood of Bridgwater. Our old alchemist is found
to have burnt himself out, but profiting by experi
ence he contrived a laboratory of fireproof construc
tion — a highly necessary precaution, if we consider
6*

84 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
that his little sleeping-room adjoined. Eosicrucian
Charnocke died in 1581, and lies in the churchyard
at Otterhampton.Stephen Charnocke, the justly celebrated author
of the Discourses on the Existence and Attributes
of God, was the son of a lawyer in the City of
London, and born in 1628, not far from the spot
so intimately associated with his name and labours.
He was entered at Emanuel CoUege, Cambridge, and
there studied under Archbishop Sancroft. At an
uncertain period, during the last years of Charles
the First, Charnocke was engaged as a preacher in
Southwark. In 1649 he relinquished his charge
and removed to Oxford. While there Ms splendid
endowments won the high favour of the Presby
terians, who elected him proctor of the University,
or, as Anthony Wood sneeringly puts it, he was
"then taken notice of by the godly party for his
singular gifts." When we consider how high he
ranked among the Puritans it will appear extremely
singular that the particulars of his life should be so
scanty, the last five years of which were spent with
Watson at Crosby Hall. Charnocke's friend, John
Gunter, is commonly supposed to have prepared some
additional memoirs now not known to be in exist
ence. Our author himself wrote an account of his
conversion and early career, but unfortunately these
papers, with his entire library, perished in the Fire
of London. On leaving Oxford, in 1656, Charnocke visited

CROSBY HALL. 85
Ireland, to reside for some years with Sir Harry
Cromwell, in Dublin Castle, meantime receiving a
salary of £200 a-year. The Lord-lieutenant was
also accompanied by a number of eminent divines,
so that in such a sphere, and among such associates,
Charnocke was encompassed by pleasant surround
ings. His stated labours agreed both with his
capacities and predUections. His lectures in the
cathedral, and in the old church of Saint Wesburgh,
were thoroughly appreciated, and encomiums on the
preacher came from persons of all parties. His Uvely
fancy and graceful deUvery set off his great powers
to the best advantage. Persons to whom the ele
vated piety which animated the orator would have
been but smaU attraction, were drawn as by an irre
sistible charm around him. These useful and happy
labours were interrupted by the Eestoration. After
finaUy quitting DubUn, Charnocke passed fifteen
years either in traveUing or in studious seclusion.
In 1675 Watson obtained the assistance of Char
nocke. After settling at Crosby Square the latter
took up Ms residence with a glazier's family in
WMtechapel, and in an apartment of this trades
man's house wrought out those profound discourses
on the Attributes of God which have made their
author's name dear and familiar to students where-
ever the language in which they were spoken is
known: Few, surely, wUl be able to renew their
acquaintance with Crosby Hall without feeling an
additional interest in the structure which once re-

86 ANCIENT MEETIn;G HOUSES.
sounded with the Uving voice of the preacher of
these celebrated pieces.
Though only in Ms forty-seventh year when he
engaged himself at Crosby HaU, Charnocke had
grown prematurely old. Persons who remembered
him as he appeared in DubUn, twenty years before,
could scarcely recognise in Thomas Watson's assistant
the original of their favourite orator. Because Ms
memory had once proved treacherous he could not
be prevaUed on again to trust it ; Ms sermons were
consequently written at length. His weakened eyes
rendered a glass a necessity, and tMs, in his nervous
trembUng hand, was doubly inconvement. Notwith
standing these many drawbacks, Charnocke con
tinued to be almost the idol of many admirers.
Indeed, when we consider the position he held, we
get a fair conception of tMs man's modesty, who,
during Ms whole Ufe, only pubUshed a single sermon.
In his declimng years he endeavoured to bring before
Ms hearers a complete body of divinity ; and he was
busy with the discourses relating to the Attributes
of God, when death ended Ms labours. Bis col
lected works were published by his executors, Edward
Veal and Eichard Adams ; and the Christian com
munity of the era of William and Mary was not
slow in discovering our author's extraordinary merits,
for a tMrd edition appeared twenty-two years after
his decease. On the 27th of July, 1680, death
found Charnocke in the midst of his labours, but
more than wiUing to respond to the summons.

CROSBY HALL. 87
Having throughout Ufe set a notable example of
redeeming time, rest to his weary spirit was the
more welcome. A broadside of poems celebrated
Ms departure, an original copy of which is extant,
whence we learn how sincerely the people bemoaned
thefr loss, e.g. : —
" 0 surely now great darkness doth draw on.
When God such shining stars as he caUs home ;
Methinks I could have rendered up my breath
To have saved him from grim conquering death."
His remains were carried from the house of
Eichard Tymns, in Whitechapel, to Crosby HaU,
and thence to St. Michael's, Cornhill, where John
Johnson preached the funeral sermon. The coffin
was committed to the earth hard by the tower,
beneath the belfry of that fine old sanctuary. Many
tearful eyes, as they took a farewell glance of the
grave, proved the sincerity of the mourners' grief —
a grief well excused by the poet already quoted : —
" Sure when such a Moses doth faU asleep
It is high time for Israel to weep."
Numbers are stUl attracted by the internal beauties
¦of St. Michael's, but how few of such visitors re
member, wMle passing into the church, that they
are walking over the dust of Charnocke !
There is a story told, on the authority of Bishop
Parker, about Charnocke's having been engaged in a
•conspiracy against the government of the Eestoration.
One Presbyterian minister was hanged on account of

88 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
complicity in this affair, and one Charnock is men
tioned as having been an accomplice. That this last
named was Stephen Charnocke is quite improbable,
for the conspirator appears to have been living some
years after our subject's decease.*
Samuel Slater, the successor of Charnocke, was a
son of the person of the same name who originated
the Weigh-house society. Educated at Cambridge
University he officiated during the Cromwellian era
in a parish church; but, on refusing to read the
Common Prayer, was ejected from his cure at the
Eestoration. "The first place which was blessed
with his stated public labours was Nayland, in
Suffolk, and in that candlestick was this great Gospel -
light first set up, where it spread and diffused Ught
and knowledge for several years, till removed to St,
Edmundsbury, in the same county." Slater's settle
ment in London took place about the time of the
King's proclamation of Indulgence, in 1672. His.
accession to Crosby Hall was occasioned by the
removal hence of Stephen Charnocke, and Ms
pastorate continued until May, 1704, when he died
at a good old age, "like the geritle expiring of a
lamp that ceaseth to be fed."t
* Johnson's Sermon on the Death of Stephen Charnocke ;
Athense Oxen, &c., &.
¦f Nonconformists' Memorial ; History of the Dissenting
Churches ; Daniel Alexander's Sermon on the Death of
Samuel Slater : —
"And now give me leave to throw in my mite of sorrow
into the common treasury, which (I doubt not) you-naU

CROSBY HALL. 89-
From the tim.e of this Society's formation to the
date of its dissolution in 1769, the services were
enjoyed of twelve ministers, including their assistants..
Scarcely any particulars respecting some of these
have survived. John Eeynolds, one of the number,
was stationed here at the time of the Eevolution,
having belonged to that minority which unwisely
thanked the tyrannical James for the Indulgence of
1687. Eeynolds died four years later, and if the
eulogies pronounced upon him were not the offspring
of too fond a partiality, the pastor was " A person
of considerable abilities, a truly gracious humble
Christian, a profitable preacher, an able catechist,
and a faithful friend." Another assistant was Daniel
Alexander. He stayed at Crosby Hall from 1693
tUl the death of his coUeague in 1704. Some
difficulty arose wMch caused his removal. At
Armourers' HaU he officiated till his death in
1709.*
admit to be real and sincere ; and others -wUl be incUned to,
beUeve when I have said that I had the honour and advan
tage to be assistant to him for near eleven years, in all which
time not the least tincture of jealousy or suspicion obtained
to hinder our usefulness or mutual confidence ; but I was.
always 'trea'ted by him -with that unparaUeled candour, con
descension, affabUity, endearing kindness, and sincere respect
which rendered my work in that relation much more pleasant
and desirable than otherwise it would have been, as is now
manifest from the quite contrary treatment I have met ¦with
since his death." Daniel Alexander's Sermon on the Death of
Samuel Slater.
* Nonconformists' Memorial ; Samuel Slater's Sermon on

90 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Another eminent man connected with Crosby HaU
for nearly half a century was Dr. Benjamin Grosvenor.
His term of office extended from 1704 to 1749.
The doctor's connections were respectable traders of
the City of London. Benjamin, who was born on
New Year's-day, 1675, from early youth "had a
most awful sense of God upon his mind." During
his early years, while one day passing through Gravel-
lane, Southwark, he turned aside into the old chapel
formerly standing there ; he heard a sermon by one
unlcnown to him, and whose name he could never
afterwards discover. That discourse became the
means of his conversion, and henceforth Grosvenor
was remarkable for extraordinary seriousness. He
manifested no predUection for the common pastimes
of boys, but loved seclusion for purposes of reading
and self-improvement. Eeared in Southwark, under
the pastorate of Benjamin Keach, that eminent divine
and his Baptist connections were not slow to discover
young Grosvenor's abilities. Through their advice
and instrumentaUty he was placed in the academy
of Timothy Jollie at AttercUffe, and trained for the
Christian ministry. He was thus thrown into Psedo
baptist society, and on returning to Southwark he
surprised his friends by appearing among them as a
fuU-fledged Presbyterian. The Baptists, it is affirmed,
the Death of John Reynolds ; History of the Dissenting
Churches. Slater's discourse is a closely-printed quarto of
thirty-two pages 'with scarcely a word of information respect
ing its subject.

CROSBY HALL. 91
behaved somewhat harshly to their former protege on
account of this change of sentiments. Even if cor
rect, the story wUl bring little discredit on the Bap
tists, for at that era a tendency to bigotry pervaded
aU sections of the CMistian Church.* After relin
quishing Antipsedobaptism, Grosvenor was approved
by the London Presbyterian examiners, and settled
with a charge in Southwark under Dr. Oldfield. The
lectiirer shone in tMs sphere tiU endeavours were
made to bring Mm into the City. He was ultimately
appointed to conduct a lecture established at the Old
Jewry by some opulent citizens.
During the spring of 1704, shortly after Slater's
decease, Grosvenor acceded to the pastorate at Crosby
HaU, which Ms earnest and effective services sufficed
to crowd ¦with a rich and influential congregation.
Soon after he lost Ms young wife, an amiable CMis
tian, and daughter of Captain South, of Bethnal
Green, whose famUy were distinguished Noncon
formists. The doctor composed some fine reflections
on Ms great trial He married again in 1712. In
subsequent years he was severely troubled and per
plexed by unmanageable sons.
* As regards the persecution of which Grosvenor's friends
complained, Crosby admits that " the church dealt plainly
¦with him," an expression which means excommunication.
Both Dr. Grosvenor and Crosby changed their sentiments
whUe young. The first, having been reared a Baptist, became
an eminent Presbyterian ; and the other forsook the Psedo-
baptists to become the historian of his adopted denomination.
Posterity respects the conscientiousness of both.

92 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
The London citizens of those days being addicted
to establishing lectureships, several were set up by
the Nonconformists, and advanced to high apprecia
tion. To sustain these institutions the services of
the most able divines were secured, and among such
Benjamin Grosvenor may be fairly classed. He is
found to have been early engaged in the Weigh-
house Psalmody Lecture, and also in the Merchants'
Lectureship at Salters' Hall. In the last-named
place, many years later, he and others chose
Eomanism for a theme on account of the appre
hensions then prevalent of that curse overshadowing
England, and centreing in the Young Pretender, who,
though an exUe, was still sanguine of regaining the
throne of his ancestors.
The Church at Crosby Hall attained its zemth of
popularity under the pastorate of Dr. Grosvenor and
the able colleagues by whom he was assisted. Dr.
Wright officiated for three years, and resigned in
1708, to succeed Matthew Sylvester at Blackfriars.
Dr. Wright was followed by John Barker, who con
tinued till the summer of 1714, when he took the
place of Matthew Henry at Hackney. In Crosby
Hall, moreover, laboured Clerk Oldsworth, of whom
little more is known than that he divided with the
Nonsubscribers at Salters' Hall in 1719, and died
seven years later. Here also preached Edmund
Calamy — the son of a more celebrated father —
who resigned simultaneously with his coUeague in
1749.

CROSBY HALL. 93
On the completion of the first half of the eighteenth
century Dr. Grosvenor entered into that seclusion of
studious ease so weU earned by a laborious career of
nearly fifty years' duration. His evening of life he
devoted to reading, and thereby attained to what
appeared a umversal acquaintance with contemporary
literature. He attended at BunhiU Fields on the
day of Watts's funeral. After the poet's coffin was
lowered into the grave a friend exclaimed, " WeU,
Dr. Grosvenor, you have seen the last of Dr. Watts,
and you wiU soon foUow; what think you of death?"
¦" Think of it ? "V\Tiy, when death comes I shall smUe
upon death if God smUe upon me." During his last
days Grosvenor was an intense sufferer, tiU death
severed Ms mortal chains on the last Sabbath morn
ing of August, 1758. He has left us twenty-seven
separate publications.*
It is probable that Dr. Grosvenor retained Ms
pulpit longer than prudence dictated, for when he
relinquished the duties of active Ufe the church had
lost its former prosperity. The efforts of Dr. Hodge,
who succeeded, to revive the d-windling interest were
nnavaUing. He resigned after twelve years' per
severance in labour. Very Uttle is known about
this pastor's life, but we have an affecting account
of a calamity which overtook his son. Young
Hodge was at Daventry Academy preparing for the
* John Barker's Sermon on the Death of Dr. Grosvenor ;
Crosby's History of the EngUsh Baptists; History of the
Dissenting Churches.

94 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Christian ministry. On the occasion of a fire in the
town he hastened to the scene of action, and under
the influence of excitement exerted himself tUl ex
cessively fatigued and soaked with water. A slow
fever succeeded, to be quickly followed by death.
Just prior to his departure, while walking in a
neighbouring graveyard, the youth pointed out the
spot where he desired to be buried.
Eichard Jones, of Cambridge, followed Dr. Hodge,
but his utmost endeavours to revive prosperity were
unsuccessful. A few years later the lease of Crosby
HaU expired, and because the members were too few
to warrant a renewal a dissolution took place. A
solemn scene, therefore, was witnessed within the
ancient haU on the first day of October, 1769. The
congregation then being assembled for the last time
heard a sermon suitable to the occasion. The bread
and wine were dispensed, after wMch the members
separated to be, we trust, ere tMs reumted in the
church of the First-born in the Land of Promise.
Thus just a hundred years ago did Eichard Jones
bid adieu to Crosby HaU. Subsequently he settled
at Peckham, where he continued for a lengthened
period. The old haU grows in interest the better^
we become acquainted with its Mstory, and with the
great and good men who laboured in it — men who,
by laying their talents at the foot of the Cross,
glorified God and benefited their fellows.

Cl^apte IV.
THE OLD JEWEY.
Whenever we visit the Old Jewry imagination
crowds the spot with people and scenes of other
days — those actors for good or for evU whose life-
deeds stOl Uve in Mstory. TMs suburb or Jews'
garden of Old London derives its name from the
IsraeUtish inhabitants, with whom it was an
ciently a favourite retreat. Within its precincts
flourished a synagogue — the earliest erected in Great
Britain. Henry the Fourth's principal palace in the
Old Jewry was a buUding of unknown date, wMch,
according to Maitland, occupied the site of de
molished Jewish houses. In tMs neighbourhood a
remnant of the chosen people congregated, wMle our
fathers regarded them with superstitious hatred en
gendered by their rejection of Christ and their love
of usury. In those days a trifling affront, if from a
Jew, sufficed to rouse the fiercest passions of so-
caUed CMistians. The infuriated populace were
ever ready to redress a compeer's real or imagined
wrong. The local annals abundantly Ulustrate this

S6 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
proposition. The parish church of St. Mary Cole
formerly stood at the corner facing Cheapside.
WitMn this sanctuary, on the ninth of November,
1261, a Jew and a Christian disagreed about some
trifling matter, and proceeding to fight over their
difference, the Hebrew wounded his antagonist.
News of the quarrel quickly spread through the
city. Armed persons from aU directions gathered
upon the spot, by whom the Jew was hunted down
and murdered. Actuated more by desire for plunder
than by religious zeal, the inhabitants next proceeded
to massacre the inhabitants. Three years later the
Old Jewry presented a scene even yet more melan
choly. It happened during Palm Sunday week,
1264, that a Jew quarrelled with one of his debtors
— a citizen who owed him twenty sMlUngs. A
revengeful mob immediately assembled and slew five
hundred inhabitants of the colony, besides robbing
the houses and destroying the synagogue. The
Government suppressed the meeting-house after t-Ms
manifestation of popular vengeance. It was subse
quently occupied by a fraternity of begging friars,
who endeavoured to win popular sympathy by a
pious austerity wMch prompted them to sup on the
diet of hogs and to clothe themselves in sackcloth.
In the succeeding reign of Edward the First the
entire Hebrew race was banished from the land by
a royal edict, and nearly four hundred years elapsed
ere Jews .were again allowed to settle in Britain, and
they never returned to the vicinity so intimately

THE OLD JEWRY. 97
associated with their liistory.* This interesting
ground, however, was early occupied by the Non
conformists. In Puritan times Jeremiah Ives
gathered here a congregation of Baptists, of whom
only scanty memorials remain.
The Presbyterians erected their church in the Old
Jewry during the opening years of the eighteenth
century, and throughout that century it remained
one of the most considerable places of worsMp in
England belonging to thefr denomination. Carefully
sMelded from the street, it stood in Meeting-house
Court — ^the only trace now remaining of this once
celebrated building. On entering the passage the
visitor obtained a side view of what was an exten
sive and substantial structure. With its two large
central bow-windows, one over the other, and four
smaUer ones on either side, the Dissenters of the
days of Queen Anne thought the exterior handsome
and imposing. The interior occupied an area of two
thousand six hundred square feet. There were three
gaUeries, furnished with seats five or six deep, the
whole having been fitted up in a style of great ele
gance. The meeting-house dated its origin from the
* AbiUforthe Jews' naturaUsation passed in 1653; yet so
loud was the popular clamour against its pro'visions, that it
was shortly after repealed. The Eabbi Manasseh Ben Israel
¦visited London in 1655 ; and from this date some would
reckon the modem history of the race in England. The Jews,
however, did not reaUy return until after the Eestoration,
and when they came again amongst us, they did so apparently
¦with neither permission nor hindrance. 7

98 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
year 1701 ; but the Society was founded forty years
before, by Edmund Calamy, the ejected mimster of
Moreton, in Essex.*
Although Calamy's disposition was modestly shy,
he fearlessly adhered to the principles inculcated in
Ms father's house, and in the church at Alderman-
* He was son of Edmund Calamy, the Puritan ¦vicar of
Aldermanbury, London. It ¦wiU reveal the kind of home in
which the founder of this great church spent his youth if we
devote this note to his father's career. The elder Calamy
was a London citizen, and bom in the year 1600. After
completing his education at Cambridge University, he accep
ted a chaplaincy under Pelton, Bishop of Ely. A little later
he settled at Edmundsbury, whence he was driven by his
diocesan for refusing to read the Book of Sports. When
instaUed into the Uving of Aldermanbury, in 1639, Calamy
at once achieved a high reputation. As many as twen'ty
carriages conveyed their aristocratic o^wners to the weekly
lecture. The old Puritan never seems to have manifested
the least ambition. His straightforward conscientiousness
prompted him either to reprove CromweU, or pubUcly to
reproach Monck, whUe the latter was present. He Uved to
repent of the zeal ¦with which he had promoted the Eestoration ;
for, on coming into power, the party he had befriended shut
him up in Newgate for preaching. The excitement his im
prisonment occasioned is scarcely paraUeled in the annals of
Puritan persecution. Broadsides of doggrel were plenti-
fuUy circulated, either for the purpose of extoUing him as a
martyr, or of denouncing him as the blackest character among
Newgate thieves. Dr. WUd, of Oripplegate, who defended
Calamy, dealt out some equivocal compliments to bishops in
general : —
" I can behold them take into their gills
A dose of churches as men swaUow piUs."

THE OLD JEWRY. 99
bury. The old Puritan acted as his son's tutor, till
in due time Edmund was entered at Cambridge
Umversity. During his youth he acquired extensive
stores of knowledge, besides making Mmself singular
by the Uberal views he entertained concerning tolera
tion. He successively took the degrees of B.A. and
WUd cares for none of the riches of these men who are
striving to cUmb by steeples to heaven. He envies Calamy
his imprisonment, and would count it happiness if he might
but keep his ceU-door. If any imagined that Newgate could
suUy Calamy's fame they are likened to one,
" Who thinks reproach or injustice is done.
By an ecUpse to the unspotted sun."
The poet proceeds: —
' ' Thanks to the bishop and his good Lord Mayor,
Who have turned the den of thieves into a house of prayer."
Complaint is then made of another tyrant. Bishop Gout, who
had extended his diocese to the person of Dr. WUd : —
" Now, sir, you find our sufferings do agree.
One bishop's clapt up you, another me."
A scurrilous rejoinder to WUd was immediately put in cir
culation. Meantime, the traffic in Newgate-street was in
conveniently obstructed by the coaches of Calamy's visitors.
A certain Eomanist lady, who only by great difficulty had
been enabled to ride past the prison, represented to the King
what a bad influence was being exercised by such a state of
affairs, and Calamy was soon after released. He did not long
survive the Great Pire. A few months after that event he
was driven through ruined London. The desolate spectacle
so completely shocked his nervous system that, on reaching
home, he retired to his chamber, whence he was destined
never to come forth again aUve. 17*

100 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
M.A. On leaving college, after having been ap
proved by Eichard CromweU's commissioners, he
was installed into the living of Moreton. He
manifested a strong love of retirement; but gave
sufficient attention to politics to side with the pro
moters of the Eestoration, and, as a sequel to Ms
endeavours, encountered much hard treatment when
the restorers of monarchy triumphed.
On retiring to London, Calamy settled at Alder
manbury, and, in an apartment of his house, minis
tered to a congregation of Nonconformists. This
practice he continued till the proclamation of In
dulgence in 1672, when the people removed to
Oripplegate, and occupied Curriers' Hall. Thence
the church was driven by fresh persecution, and
during the remainder of Calamy's pastorate the
members met with caution as occasion made it
necessary. The pastor was exceedingly fortunate in
escaping apprehension, although closely watched by
enemies. MaUgnant opposition could neither check
Ms industry nor repress his moral bravery. Through
out his comparatively brief career, spiritual zeal was
superior to a sickly constitution. His kindly temper
and moderation were also conspicuous. He refused
the Covenant while preferring the Presbyterian order.
Incessant application, an indifference to worldly
wealth, or even to the necessary comforts of life,
aided in undermimng the pastor's health, and con
sumption ended his useful life in May, 1685, in the
fiftieth year of his age. A constitutional timidity

THE OLD JEWRY. 101
never aUowed him to favour the world with one-
single specimen of Uterary skill.*
Calamy was succeeded by Samuel Borfet, the
ejected minister of High Laver, in Essex. This
divine was Ukewise of a weakly constitution, and
Ms infirmities reacted upon Ms mind tiU they pro
duced seasons of severe spuitual dejection. At times
he found it impossible to fulfil the ordinary duties
of life. He and Janeway were feUow- students at
Cambridge Umversity, and, as is seldom the case,
an early attachment ripened into a lifelong friend
sMp. In one instance only did Borfet commit him
self in print, by writing a recommendatory letter for
the preface of Janeway's Memoirs. He encountered
a large share of persecution, and settled in London
after having been roughly used at IMaidstone, where
he had endeavoured to plant a church. He parted
from Ms country flock with much sorrow, for Ms
amiable mien and pastoral ability commanded the
esteem of aU who knew him. After coming to the
metropoUs frequent gloom clouded his soul, and a
preternatural terror oppressed him when he con
templated his eternal prospects. Such misgivings
were happUy superseded by peaceful assurance, in the
possession of wMch he died soon after the Eevolution.f
* Nonconformists' Memorial ; Neal's History of the Puri
tans; WUson's Dissenting Churches; David's Nonconformity
in Essex; Calamy's Autobiography. The eminent Dr.
Calamy was the eldest son of the above.
t Nonconformists' Memorial ; David's Nonconformity in
PIssex.

102 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
John Shower, who during the reigns of WilUam
and Anne was among the most eminent of London
divines, next succeeded, in 1691, the chapel being
then in Jewin-street. He came of a good famUy,
and was born at Exeter, in 1657. He and tMee
other sons were dependents upon a widowed mother.
These were all handsomely started in the world, and
one of them. Sir Bartholomew Shower, attained to
eminence at the Bar, and in the Senate.
During the severe winter of 1716, William Tong,
the pastor at Salters' Hall, busied himself in writing
the life of his friend, and his scarce old volume is
now the main source whence modern biographers of
Shower must draw information.
The mother, Dorcas Shower, acting on the ad-vice
of her brother, a neighbouring Nonconformist divine,
trained John for Ms uncle's profession, being en
couraged to do so by the lad's superior capacities.
When he had obtained his grammar learmng he
removed from Exeter to the academy of Matthew
Warren, at Taunton, a kind of scholarly hero, who
then incurred much personal risk by superintending
a theological seminary. His institution was one of
the earliest of its kind. To Matthew Warren and
Eichard Frankland, therefore, the honour belongs of
having originated a plan of education upon EngUsh
ground, which embraces to-day an extensive system
of collegiate training.*
* " The learned and reverend Mr. Warren, who for manj'
years, and -with great success, kept up a private academy, as.

THE OLD JEWRY. 103
That her sons might enjoy yet greater advantages,
Mrs. Shower removed to Newington-green, near
London, about the year 1674. There John had
Dr. Manton for a friend, and Charles Morton for a
tutor. Having reached Ms twentieth year, young
Shower deUghted Ms distinguished connections by
delivering Ms maiden sermon in an old meeting
house long since demoUshed.* He at once became
unusuaUy popular. "He had," says his biographer,
" lively affections, a grave and serious behaviour,
great freedom of expression, and chose the most
awful and affecting subjects : it was impossible for
him to he concealed in tMs great city, where there
were very many of the first rank that adhered to the
Dissentmg way in that time of restraint, and some
the reverend and very learned Mr. Frankland did in the
north of England; and I think those two venerable men
were the first that ran the risque of much trouble and per
secution, that they might train up a rising generation of
ministers in those principles and ways which they them
selves had suffered for, as reaUy beUe'ving them to be most
agreeable to the Word of God." — Tong's Life of Shower.
* This was situated in Hand-aUey, Bishopsgate, and the
pastor was Thomas Vincent. The chapel was commodious
and weU fitted up ¦with roomy pews, benches, and three
gaUeries. After the Great Pire the parish authorities forci
bly appropriated the premises for the services of the Estab
Ushment; and not untU the churches were rebuUt did Vincent
recover his pulpit. Dr. WUUams, the founder of the Library,
was like'wise a minister here. In 1720 a site for a new meet
ing-house was obtained in Broad-street, when the old one
was taken do^wn, and some houses erected upon the spot.

104 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
of them with much more affection and zeal than
they have since discovered in a long term of
liberty." In Tong's opinion, the Papists had been the chief
promoters of the Nonconformist persecutions, for
Protestantism was thus attacked at its least pro
tected point. On the supposed discovery of the
Plot, in 1678, this spirit, if it really existed, was
rudely -checked. The Dissenters were not suspected
of any complicity in this business, but, on the con
trary, they rose in favour, and some of the harsh
restrictions imposed by their enemies were relaxed.
In the year named, when greater freedom of worsMp
was established, a kind of merchants' lecture was
instituted at a coffee-house in Change-alley, and the
services attracted a rich congregation. Shower being
one of the preachers. For a wMle he divided his
time between his City congregation and another at
Westminster. He was not regularly ordained, how
ever, until Christmas, 1679.
But Nonconformist Ufe in England was daUy
becoming rougher. Shower, therefore, consented to
leave trouble behind, and to make the tour of
Europe, with Samuel Barnardiston, a gentleman of
fortune, and son-in-law of Dr. Goodwin. Sf.ttins
out in 1683, the travellers passed through Paris to
Lyons, and thence to Geneva. The details of their
adventures are valuable because illustrative of every
day life in that distant era. The summer was chiefly
spent at Geneva, and the time spared from social

THE OLD JEWRY. 105
pleasures was often devoted to the collection of
valuable books and curiosities. Later in the season
the traveUers proceeded into the papal dominions,
but found it necessary to exercise the strictest
caution, whether in regard to speech, or in avoiding
the malignant infections which the miserable in
habitants exhaled who roamed about the wUd and
imdrained wastes.* During the continuance of the
* The party passed through Naples en route for Eome.
An ex'tract from the description of the tourists' doings in
the former city ¦wUl serve as a specimen of biography--writ-
ing 150 years ago : —
"Mr. Shower and his Priends were much delighted with
the curiosities particiUar to this place, namely the Grott
Zucullus, which is a road of considerable length, cut -with
immense labour through the bottom of a high hill, at a little
distance from the To^wn, for a shorter and more easie reci
procal Passage, and the pleasant HUl Pauselippo, covered
with Trees of various Kinds and famous for the Tomb of Virgil,
who, as Tradition reports, was buried there. Mr. Shower and
his friends were pleased ¦with the extensive and charming
prospect which this Eminence affords. Turning their faces
to the South, they saw ¦with pleasure the Bay of Naples
spread beneath, and ships under saU making to the port, or
coming from it ; beyond the bay rises high in the Air, Mount
Vesuvious, vomiting from its hoUow Peak Clouds of Smoake
and cynders ; on the Eight Hand they -viewed the Isles of
Ischa and Caprea, on the Left the beautiful City of Naples,
stretching across the Shear towards this place. They were
informed that the Gentlemen and Ladies during the hottest
seasons, constantly in then- pleasure Boats pass hither from
the City in the Evening to breath the refreshing Air, as
those of London spend the evenings in the Eing of Hyde
Park. Mr. Shower was no less pleased to visit the antiqui-

106 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
summer heats, Eome was a pestUential focus, the
atmosphere of which, in a radius of thirty mUes,
was not safe to sleep in. During cooler weather the
traveUers ventured into the city, and, as distmguished
EngUshmen, were weU received, and, besides other
attentions, obtained free passes to the theatres. Pru
dence, however, soon dictated an abrupt exit from
Eome, for one hardened Briton had refused to kneel
ties of Baiae near this place, particularly the Vapour Baths
of the ancient Romans, and the Pish Ponds of Julius Ocesar;
in another place he was surprised ¦with the sight of Zoepho-
tara, famous for its stores of brimstone whore, as he was
amazed to observe, that when he rode on Level Ground that
was bare of Grass, it shook under his Feet at every Step, and
if pierced ¦with the point of his sword, that it let forth Smoak
and hot Vapours ; so he viewed ¦with Admiration the hot and
yeUow mouth of the Volcano, that glow'd in the sides of the
rising ground which emcompasses the Place. He was informed
that frequent BeUowings under Ground, heaving earthquakes,
and terrible eruptions of melted Minerals happened here; and
that not many years before so vast a Heap was raised, carried
through the Air, and let do^wn at about a mUe distant, that it
formed a new TTill now called Montagna Nuova. Mr. Shower,
accompanied by his feUow traveUers, was so curious and hardy
as to visit the top of the famous burning HUl Vesuvious, whose
Head is a towering Heap of Cynders, difficult to ascend.
Approaching near the ¦wide and smoaking Mouth, to gratify
his curiosity he trod on Lakes of Sulphur, unform'd Oar
and hot Cynders, and heard a terrible noise issuing from the
Bowels of the burning Mountain. Prom this scene of horror
he was reUeved by another of as great pleasure, when look
ing Eastward he had a different ¦view of Campania Felix, the
Garden of Italy, and beheld a ¦wide and fruitful plain covered
with beautiful cities." — Tong's Life of Shower.

THE OLD JEWRY. 107
when the Host was elevated. The party began to
attract an attention unpleasantly dangerous, and
thefr perplexity was probably enhanced by a dis
respect for the Pope's slipper which another Briton
had previously shown. On being warned of danger
by a friend. Shower and his party wisely retreated
from the capital. The young scholar thought he
discovered by observation that the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes was planned by the French and
English Courts, in order to ensure papal supremacy,
as a prelude to the estabUshment of arbitrary power.
The ruUng despots imagined they could accomplish
thefr designs by first anmhUating the Huguenots,
and secondly, by repressing EngUsh Nonconformity.
If tMs be true, the plot was a promising one.
But the Dissenters' sufferings were the darkness
preceding a happier dawn, although at James the
Second's accession their mimsters risked insult and
perU by openly walking the streets of London.
Meantime, Shower and Ms party were meeting
with some strange adventures in Switzerland and
Germany, Once, for example, they resolved on
spending a mght at sea, in a small saiUng-boat. On
the morning following, they were thrown into a
fever of consternation by discovering that their cap
tain had slept tUl the fraU barque had drifted far
from land, "in the turbulent Adriatique Sea." After
experiencing some unsettUng apprehensions of pirates
and of a watery grave, the party safely reached an
hospitable haven. They returned to England shortly

108 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
prior to the Eevolution, and Shower resumed his
lecture in Exchange-aUey. He must have found
his procedure attended by much personal risk, and
ere long he again retreated to the Continent, attended
by Howe and several others.*
When the insane policy of the Court — which, if
not dictated by Jesuits, was prompted by the King's
popish predUections — had turned the scale of public
opinion, and rendered necessary, as James imagined,
the Indulgence of 1687, the Dissenters freely opened
their chapels, and completed many new erections.
At that crisis Shower was comfortably settled at
Eotterdam. His powers were well appreciated ;
and had he chosen, he might have accepted a
still richer cure in the Dutch capital. When, how-
* WUUam Tong thus describes the state of London society
in 1685 : — " Por some time before a popish prince ascended the
Throne, and popish oounoUs so far prevaUed, that it was not
safe for a Dissenting minister to be seen in the streets of
London; many of them were thrown into commongaols. Then"
meetings, which for some years they held by connivance, were
every where suppressed. They chose in some places to meet
in the night, in smaU numbers, rather than be whoUy desti
tute of the worship of God, in that way of administration
which they thought most comformable to his Word. The
civU liberties of the people of England met with a ¦violent
shock at the same time. Some of the best blood that ever ran
in EngUsh veins was then spilt as water upon the ground;
juries were packed, false ¦witnesses suborned, corrupt judges
upon the bench, and meroenary la^wyers encouraged at the
Bar, with noisy insolence to hunt down the true friends of
the EngUsh Constitution." — Life of Shower.

THE OLD JEWRY. 109
ever, the church in Silver-street, London, earnestly
desfred Ms return, he thought well to comply. He
only continued about a year in the congemal society
of Howe and liis people, for when affliction disabled
Samuel Borfet, Shower was caUed to the pastorate,
many, -with some reason, arguing that no single pulpit
should retain a Howe and a Shower. As for John
Howe, he valued Ms coUeague, and " was loath to
part with Mm." Indeed, the poUte and wealthy
assembly in SUver-street had become accustomed to
thefr lecturer's pecuUarity — his love for the mys
terious and the sublime.* They showed some in
dignation at this turn of affairs, but notwithstanding.
Shower deemed it a duty to station Mmself at Orip
plegate. The sequel proved the wisdom of his deci
sion, as the prosperity of the church immediately
revived, and a removal to a more commodious build
ing in Jewin-street soon became necessary. When
at length this latter place grew too narrow for the
congregation, the meeting-house in the Old Jewry
was erected ; there Shower continued to sustain his
usefulness and popularity till overtaken by decay of
natural vigour.
The funds requisite for providing the church in
the Old Jewry were readUy raised by the opulent
merchants and weU-to-do shopkeepers' who, as ad
mirers of Shower, made up Ms congregation, and
* "They (Shower's sermons) chiefly relate to earthquakes,
and other awful and great events, as he had a talent^for
pathetic ¦writing." — Noble's Continuation of Granger.

110 ANCIENT meeting HOUSES.
whose homes for the most part were within the City
boundary. The pastor laboured for a length of time
without any abatement of power, although he bore
some severe domestic afflictions. Immediately after
removing to Curriers' HaU death took his youthful
wife. In the year of settlement at the Old Jewry
Ms second wife Ukewise died. In 1706, during a
visit to Epsom, he was himself suddenly prostrated
by fever. At this crisis the Christian community
were intensely anxious that Shower's life should be
prolonged. Day after day many such wended their
course up the Old Jewry to attend the frequent
prayer-meetings held on the pastor's behalf
There is one interesting passage in Shower's Ufe
to which Tong does not even allude, although it
merited a passing notice. In 1711 he wrote a pro
test* against the Occasional Conformity Bill, which
* See a letter by Shower ¦with a reply by S^wift in Scott's
edition of the dean's works. According to Sir Walter, Shower's
letter "was ¦written by the dissenters in the extremity of
their despau'." This epistle and the "caustic and acrimonious
answer " are subjoined for the satisfaction of the reader.
Mt Lord, — London, Dec. 20th, 1711.
Though there be Uttle reason to expect your lordship
should interpose in favour of the Dissenters, who have been
so shamefuUy abandoned, sold and sacrificed, by their pro
fessed friends ; the attempt is, however, so glorious in aU its
views, tendencies and prospects, that if it be not too late, I
would most humbly beg your lordship not to be immovable
as to that matter. The fatal consequences of that bUl cannot be
expressed ; I dread to think of some of them, and shaU as
much rejoice, ¦with many thousands, if you may be instru-

THE OLD JEWRY. Ill
he transmitted to the Lord Treasurer Oxford. TMs
letter and the reply it evoked from Ms Lordship's
secretary, Jonathan Swift, are extant, and serve to
show with what temper Dissenters were regarded in
Mgh quarters during the Augustan age, and by such
an unprincipled and profligate writer as Lemuel Gul-
mental to prevent it. May Heaven direct you in this, and aU
your great affairs for the pubUc good of your country, I am,
my honoured lord, your most obedient servant, — John
Sho'WEB." The next day, the foUo^wing reply to the above
was received. "Dec. 21st 1711. Eeverend Sir, — Had not a
painful distemper confined me, I had desired the favour of
seeingyou some time since,andshould have spoken veryplainly
¦to you, as I shall whenever I see you. I have long foretold
that the Dissenters must be saved whether they ¦wUl or not ;
they resist even restraining grace ; and woiUd almost con-
¦rince me that the notion of man's being a mechanism is
true in every part. To see men moved as puppets, ¦with rage
for their interest, ¦with envy acting against their o^wn interest,
having men's persons in admiration ; not only those of their
©¦wn body, who certainly are the first who pretend to con
summate ¦wisdom and deep poUcy, yet have sho^wn that they
know not the common affairs of this nation, but are dweUers
in thick clay. They are epicurian in art, Puritans in pro
fession, poUticians in concert, and a prey and laughing-stock
to the church and synagogue of the Ubertines in whom
they have trusted, and to whose infaUibiUty they have sold
themselves and their congregations. AU they have done, or
can do, shall never make me their enemy. I pity poor
deluded creatures that have for seventeen years been acting
against aU their principles, and the Uberty of this nation,
¦witJiout leaving so much salt as to keep the body of them
sweet ; for there has not been one good bUl, during that term
of years, which they have not opposed in the House of Com-

112 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
liver. A quarrel had through many previous years
been in progress between the Tories and theu' heredi
tary foes, the Nonconformists. The former were deeply
tainted by Jacobitical sympathies, while our fathers
were strenuous promoters of the Protestant succes
sion. The Anglican party began to regard meeting-
mons ; contrary to the practices of those very few Dissenters
which were in the ParUament in King Charles the Second's
time, who thereby united themselves to the country
gentlemen, the advantages of which they found many
years after. But now they have tested themselves ¦with
those who have first denied our Sa^viour, and now have
sold them. I have -written this only to show you that I
am ready to do anything that is practicable to save people
who are bargained for by their leaders, and given up by
their ministers. I say their ministers, because it is averred
and represented that the dissenting ministers have been con-
stUted and are consenting to this biU. By what Ues and arts
they are brought to this, I do not care to mention ; but as to
myself, the engineers of this bill thought they had gained
a great advantage over me ; finding I had stopped it in the
House of Commons, they thought to bring me to a fatal
dilemma, whether it did or did not pass. This would have
no influence over me, for I ¦wiU act what I think to be
right, let there be the worst enemies in the world of one side
or other, I guess by your letter that you do not know that
the bUl yesterday passed both Houses, the Lords having
agreed to the amends made by the Commons, so that there
is no room to do anything on that head. What remains is
to desire that the Dissenters may seriously think from whence
they are fallen, and do their first works, and recover their
reputation of sobriety, integrity, and love of theu- countiy,
which is the sincere and hearty prayer of, Eeverend SU, your
most faithful and most humble servant, OxroED.

THE OLD JEWRY. 113
houses with increased antipathy now that the Eevo
lution had brought the Act of Toleration. A small
tMng sufficed to excite their spleen or to occasion
an unwonted stir among their ranks — e.g., when a
civic dignitary ordered the City symbol of justice to
be borne before him into Pinners' Hall. The Occa
sional Conformity BiU originated with this party,
and was their leading hobby through many succeed
ing sessions. Englishmen influenced by sentiments
of barest justice, or even of common sense, con
demned this measure as one likely to draw down
only odium upon the EstabUshed Church. Messrs.
St. John and Bromley, the two Commoners who
fathered the BiU, were in all respects fitting tools
for their work. Each represented a university.
The first, by writing a book of travels, had so re
vealed Ms conceit and ignorance that out of pity
the famUy stopped its circulation.* The measure
in question was introduced during the session of
1702, and provided for the exemption of "Dis
senters from such offices as cannot by law be exe
cuted without receiving the sacrament." By the
Lower House it was immediately passed ; but the
Lords, whose mien tMoughout more became them as
EngUshmen than did that of the Court or the Com
mons, proposed fourteen amendments. The majority
* Oxford once repaid St. John a grudge by reprinting an
edition of this volume and circulating it among his morning
caUers. He could devise nothing more Ukely to effect his
purpose. 8

114 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
of the Commons were chagrined at tMs miscarriage,
but with the best grace they were able to command
they agreed to hold a conference of both Houses. Ac
cordingly a conference was convened, and the abettors
of the measure adduced some far-fetched arguments
in vindication of their action. If unchecked. Dis
sent would ultimately gain an ascendency in cor
porate towns, or even in the ParUament itself.
Occasional conformity was to add hypocrisy to
schism. The Nonconformists, moreover, only
wanted power, and they would destroy the Estab
lished Church. Such sophistries chiefly emanated
from the " October men " (fox-hunters), of whom
the Commons' majority was largely composed. The
better educated peers proceeded to answer the charges.
The last they entirely denied. They pointed out the
beneficial effects which sprang from the Act of Tole
ration. They demonstrated that harsh and unsettling
laws would be improper, because dangerous, at so
critical a season, for hardship would be imposed upon
a large section of the population at home, wMle a
corresponding disgust would be created abroad. Op
posed by the Lords, the bishops, and the reasoning
of Locke, the Tory scheme for the time was defeated.
In the reign of Anne a high churchman was
usuaUy supposed to sympathise with the Pretender,
and to approve of Nonconformist persecution. In
1703 the Tories again pressed to the front with
their pet measure. Two scribes were found to re
present the faction in literature— one of whom was a

THE OLD JEWEY. 115
wortMess Jacobite fanatic, while the other was
an unprincipled adventurer. One of the leading
supporters belonged to a family which had endea
voured legally to murder some Worcestershire Dis
senters. Among the bishops, Burnet eloquently
denounced as uifamous this attempt to annihilate
the Uberties of a loyal class — an attempt made by
kno-wn enemies of the Constitution. One peer face
tiously advised the tacking of the Pretender to the
BUl if their Lordships seriously intended passing it.
News, however, soon reached the City that the Tories
were once more defeated, and the intelligence brought
great joy and reUef Nothing daunted, the country
squfres renewed the attack in the session of 1704.
Thefr movements were characterised by cautious
subtlety. Their rendezvous, the Vine Tavern, in
Long Acre, was nightly thronged by rural politicians,
who at heart were with the Pretender, and whose con
victions were that heresy only abounded without the
AngUcan pale. TMs enUghtened conclave threatened
to tack the BUl to another which the Lords would
be unable to reject ; but even in the Commons the
stratagem met with determined resistance, and was
finaUy abandoned. Out of the hundred and thirty-
four members who voted for it, fifty lost their seats
at the next election, and tackers became the oppro
brious epithet by which the clique were known in
Liberal circles. Nevertheless, the Bill passed in its
separate form to the Upper House. Queen Anne
attended the debate, wMch ended as others of pre-
8*

116 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
ceding sessions had ended. In 1710, however, the
Sacheverel riots acted as a stimulus to bigotry, so
that the country party took fresh courage. A change
of mimsters likewise occurred. Eobert Harley, a
Presbyterian, "sacrificed religious principles to Ms
political -views " tiU he betrayed his former friends,
and won the earldom of Oxford. Harley belonged
to a Nonconformist famUy which had sided with the
Parliament in the Civil Wars, and as a renegade he
earned the contempt of the three denominations,
when the iniquitous measure at length was carried.
Time, as it so often does, brought retribution, for in
the succeeding reign the obnoxious measure was re
pealed, Oxford impeached, and committed to the
Tower. Shower accounted it a great happiness that he
lived to witness the triumph of the Protestant Suc
cession. During Ms decUning years the pastor, in
search of health, removed from one locaUty to another.
At one time we find him benefiting by the air of
Epping, at another drinking the waters of Tunbridge
WeUs. Last of aU, he retired to Stoke Newington,
there to make one in a circle of which he and Watts
were distinguished ornaments. In June, 1715,
Shower entered into rest, leaving behind him twenty-
three separate publications, one of which. The
Mourner's Companion, gracefully commemorates the
loss of his wife.
The assistant lecturer from 1691 to 1708, was
Timothy Eogers, son of the ejected minister of

THE OLD JEWRY. 117
CrogUn, Cumberland.* Timothy early manifested
serious predUections, joined to talents of a high
order. He prosecuted his studies in the north
* Timothy Eogers was born at Barnard Castle. His
father, after his ejectment, officiated as a Dissenting minister,
and as such was sorely harassed by a neighbouring High
Church justice, Sir Eichard Cradock. This magistrate
prided himself on the faithful rigour ¦with which he enforced
the statutes against Nonconformists, and he truly used
every de^vice to hunt them into prison. He once hired two
spies, commissioned them to attend Eogers' meeting, and
take do-mi the names of the persons composing the congrega
tion. This business the obseqiuous agents accomplished to the
letter. The sequel was, that the pastor and a number more were
cited to appear at the HaU. The Uttle band duly attended ;
but, as -wiU easUy be imagined, harboured many misgi^vings.
WhUe waiting to be caUed before their persecutor, they at
tracted the notice of the squire's granddaughter, who was a
chUd of about seven years. Eogers inherited a nature which
chUdren found very attractive ; and in the present instance
a strong friendship immediately sprang up between the Uttle
g^l and the venerable-looking gentleman. On account of
the illness of a ¦witness and his consequent absence, the
party were dismissed, yet were commanded to reappear when
required. On the day of their second appearance at the
HaU they were of course aU committed. The justice, in his
satisfaction at so auspicious a result, proceeded to make out
the mittimus. Eogers had not forgotten his Uttle acquaintance.
The chUd came flitting across the haU, and gladly accepted a
present of sweets which the pastor had brought her. The
grandfather, it seems, had over-indiUged the little miss, till
she, in her. waywardness, insisted upon ha'ving aU she desired.
She had once pierced her arm and endangered her Ufe on ac
count of having received a denial. The estabUshed custom was ,
therefore, to refuse her nothing. "What are you here for,

118 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
of England, but completed his curriculum under
Edward Veale, of Wapping — a tutor who then in
dustriously applied himself to the work of preparing
sir ? " she asked Eogers. "I beUeve," he answered, "your
grandfather is going to send me and my friends to gaol."
"Why?" continued the chUd; "what have you done?"
" Why, I did nothing but preach at such a place, and they
did nothing but hear me." "But my grandfather shan't
send you to gaol." " Aye, but my dear, I beUeve he is now
making out our mittimus to send us all there." She hastened
to the library-door, and after ¦vigorously kicking tUl
admitted, called out, "What are you going to do ¦with my
good old gentleman in the hall ? "" That is nothing to you,
go about your business," exclaimed the magistrate. "But
I won't!" passionately replied this juvenUe vixen : " He teUs
me that you are going to send him and his friends to gaol ;
and if you do send them, I'll drown myself inthehorsepond ;
I wUl, indeed ! " Her determined manner so alarmed the old
man, that he gave way. He proceeded into the haU, and
addressing the prisoners, said: "I had made out your
mittimus, to send you to gaol as you deserve, but at my
granddaughter's request I drop the prosecution, and set you
aU at Uberty." The prisoners expressed their gratitude
without acknowledging any guilt. As for Eogers, he placed
his hand upon the head of his benefactress, and exclaimed,
' ' God bless you, my dear chUd ! May the blessing of that
God whose cause you did now plead, though as yet you know
Him not, be upon you in Ufe, at death, and to aU eternity ! "
In Queen Anne's reign there resided in London a Mrs.
Tooly. Like some others of her class, she customarUy enter
tained at her table the Nonconformist ministers of the town.
It was on one of these occasions that the Old Jewry lecturer,
Timothy Eogers, related the above passage from his father's
history. When the story was finished, Mrs. Tooly astonished
the company by remarking : ' ' And are you that Mr. Eogers's

THE OLD JEWRY. 119
young men for the Christian mimstry. Eogers
began Ms pubUc Ufe at a week-evening lecture in
Crosby HaU, wMch he and Thomas Kentish jointly
son ? WeU, long as I have been acquainted ¦with you, I
never knew that before. And now I ¦wiU teU you something
which you do not know : I am the very Uttle girl your dear
father blessed in the manner you have related, and it
made an impression upon me which I can never forget."
Thomas Bradbury, of Petter-lane, who was present, ex
pressed his surprise that the speaker had so effectuaUy risen
above the bias of education and early prejudices against
Nonconformity. The lady then explained the reasons. After
having inherited her grandfather's wealth, mental dis
quietude prevented her from deriving any satisfaction from
it. She thought a ¦visit to Bath would dispel her reigning
gloom. During her sojourn in that gay city a certain
apothecary attended her professionaUy, and being a Christian
man, he got his patient to promise she would read a book
which he would pro-vide, for the book, he said, was an an
tidote to gloomy spirits. After repeatedly calling for the
eagerly-expected treasure, the lady scarcely concealed her
chagrin when presented -with a New Testament. She acted,
however, upon her promise, and perused the book ; yet from
such perusal gained no immediate benefit. Her next resolu
tion was to try the effect of a London season. Lodgings
were engaged for herself and maid in a fashionable quarter.
Like all preceding experiments, this change Ukewise faUed
to reUeve the mental burden. WhUe in this state of mind
she dreamed one Saturday evening about a chapel, a
preacher, a text, and a sermon. So apparently real was the
vision, that upon awaking she distinctly recoUected the aspect
of the meeting-house, the minister's features, and his text
seemed yet to ring in her ears. The impression this occurrence
made upon her mind was deep and lasting. The next morn
ing being the Sabbath she set out, accompanied by her

120 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
sustained. His peace and continued usefulness were
simultaneously interrupted by a strange spiritual
gloom whicli darkened his mind with preternatural
horror. His appetite decUned, social enjoyment
became impossible, because his tortured soul wan
dered into regions beyond the reach of human con
solation — in " a land of darkness on which the sun
never seemed to shine." During a temporary sus
pension of his affliction, Eogers published a treatise
on Trouble of Mind. He also resumed his duties at
servant, -with the determination to discover if such a place as
the one dreamed of existed. The travellers walked east
ward, and after a dUigent but unsuccessful search, they found
themselves at one o'clock in Cheapside. They dined, and then
recommenced their wanderings. As they approached the
Old Jewry, they observed that numbers of persons were
turning do^wn the street. This crowd turned out to be the
afternoon congregation at the Presbyterian Meeting-house.
The strangers foUowed them, and turned ¦with them up
Meeting-house- court. The lady was startled at the first
view of the chapel. "This is the very place," she cried,
"I saw in my dream." Immediately after entering and
taking seats, the pastor, John Shower, took his place in the
pulpit. " That is the very man I saw in my dream; and if
every part of it hold true he ¦will take for his text, Psalm
cxvi. 7.'' The words sounded Uke a preternatural message
when Shower read, " Eetum unto thy rest, O, my soul, for
the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee." Thus origi
nated Mrs. Tooly's connection ¦with the Old Je^wry Meeting
house. Thus it was, moreover, that she simultaneously
became a Christian and a Dissenter. The above narrative
was well authenticated at the time by many eminent divines.
A fuller relation was also prepared and pubUshed in a
separate pamphlet.

THE OLD JEWRY. 121
Crosby HaU, which he probably again relinquished
on accepting the lectureship at the Old Jewry.
Shower greatly admfred both the character and the
abUity of his coUeague. A large congregation also
held Eogers in high esteem. " He was," we are
told, " a man of a most heavenly temper." His sad
depression retiumed with unabated force in 1707,
and rendered Ms resignation necessary. He received
a Ufe pension from Ms people. He retfred, it is sup
posed, to Wantage, in Berkshfre, where he occasion-
aUy assisted his brethren of the district ; but he
continued to regard himself " as a lamp despised,
a broken vessel, and a dead man out of mind."
Eogers died at the age of seventy, in 1729.*
Another of Shower's assistant's, Joseph Bennett, be
longed to a famUy which through several generations
nobly defended truth and conscience. His father's
name is among those of the Sussex ejected mimsters.
TMs old confessor afforded his son a careful traimng ;
he placed him with Thomas Goldham, a brother
Nonconformist, who after Bartholomew-tide, 1662,
set up a school at Burwash. Thence young Bennett
removed to the academy of Charles Morton, at New
ington-green — a tutor whose abiUty and attention
the pupU never after faUed to acknowledge.
After leaving Stoke Newington, Bennett saw a
gloomy prospect spreading before him as he looked
abroad in search of employment. His famUy was
* Nonconformists' Memorial ; History of the Dissenting
Churches. Eogers pubUshed several works.

122 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
poor, and his class despised. Having no funds at
command, he might stiU have secured a competence
by violating conscience had he chosen to conform. In
such a strait, with threatening poverty on one side,
and beguUing temptations on the other, he sat down,
once for aU to examine the basis of Nonconformity,
and he arose from the investigation with those
great principles strengthened which he learned at
his father's hearth and in Morton's class; he had no
resources, however, other than trust in God.
Providence wonderfully opened Ms way. He
obtained a tutorship in the family of Dr. Singleton,
the ejected head-master of Engby School ; and when
the Eevolution lessened or removed the grievances
of Dissenters, Bennett sought that labour which he
considered Ms peculiar work. He engaged himself
to a suburban congregation, and, in 1694, was
ordained, with six others, at Little St. Helen's. He
subsequently accepted a lectureship at Stoke New
ington under "good old Mr. WUUam Wickens," who
died in 1699. Bennett was caUed from this rural
retreat to the Old Jewry on account of the loss of
Timothy Eogers. He passed an uneventful Ufe, yet
laboured with satisfactory success tiU the period of
Ms death in 1726. For the space of forty years he
Uved the valued friend of Edmund Calamy, and the
doctor paid him a last mark of respect by improving
his departure in a funeral sermon.*
* Dr. Calamy's Sermon on the Death of Joseph Bennett ;
History of the Dissenting Churches.

THE OLD JEWRY. 123
A more remarkable man is seldom encountered
than Shower's successor, Simon Browne, who was
born in 1680, at Shepton Mallet, Somerset.* For
the particulars extant respecting him we are mainly
indebted to Anthony Atkey, whose affectionate re
verence for his subject pervades the funeral sermon
he has bequeathed to posterity. The Brownes were
very respectably connected, and ha-ving been in
tended for the Nonconformist pulpit, Simon was
* This interesting old to-wn, which is situated five mUes
east of Wells, was early occupied by the Nonconformists.
The rector, David Calderwood, was among the two thousand
confessors of 1662. Either the tourist or the antiquary -wiU
find the vicinity fuU of attractiveness, and the neighbourhood
is rich in historical associations. Mallet was anciently
appended to Shepton, because its possessors were of that
name. Some centuries ago there were placed in the church
two interesting effigies. They are supposed to represent two
of the MaUet famUy, who were members of the Society of
Knights Templars, and as such accompanied the crusades.
At an early date Shepton was also associated -with Christianity
in Britain. In the year 709 an Irish convert, named In-
dractus, here encountered death, as he and a hundred feUow
pilgrims were journeying homeward from Eome. A certain
robber, called Hona, supposing the party to be laden -with
wealth, attacked them whUe sleeping, and after slaying the
whole number, he buried them in a neighbouring pit. At
Shepton, moreover, Walter Charleton, the Court physician
during the reigns of the First and Second Charles, was bom.
The Eevolution, which happened in his old age, appears to
have reduced him to poverty. He was the author of a
curious work wherein he maintains that Stonehenge originated
¦with the Danes. Here may be mentioned a very remarkable
occurrence that created some Uttle consternation in Shepton

124 ANCIENT ilEETING HOUSES.
early placed imder John Cumin ing, the Shepton
Presbyterian minister. On completing Ms prepara
tory course, he stiidied umversity learning with John
More, an eminent theologian, at Bridgewater. Even
in early life. Brown's talents were verj- conspicuous.
Before attaining his majority he served in various
pulpits; and such were his abUity and grave de
meanour that the most judicious readily excused Ms
early practice on account of the profit they derived
from lus discourses.
In due course Browne settled at Portsmouth, where
the Nonconformist society was as respectable as any
then existing in the provinces. A strong attachment
sprang up between pastor and people ; and our di-vine
had sustained several years' local popularity when
called to the Old Jewry to supply the place of Shower.
For seven more years in his meti'opoUtan pulpit he
sustained his reputation. Then a domestic crisis
occurred; death deprived him of his wife and only
during the year 1763. There -was then U-ving in the town an
old miUtary pensioner, who worked at the taUoring trade.
In the decUne of life he was overtaken by illness, and was in
consequence confined to the house. A sister, weU-nigh as
poor and as old as himself, was his only attendant ; they
both mainly depended upon charity for daUy necessaries.
In warm weather the invaUd was occasionaUy carried
do^wnstairs that he might enjoy a change of scene and air.
About sunset one evening the woman for a short time left
her brother alone, and upon returning home found only his
empty chair. In vain did the to^wnspeople scour the neigh
bourhood in search of the old soldier, and to this day his fate
is a mystery.

THE OLD JEWRY. 125
son, and from that shock Browne never recovered.
Sorrow produced a mental disorder, accompanied by
an haUucination of a very singular nature, so singular,
indeed, as to need a psychologist in any degree to
explain it.
During Ms stay at Portsmouth the pastor won some
Uterary laurels. The Caveat Against Evil Company
appeared in 1706, and was a piece pronounced by
Dr. Williams and other eminent judges, to be the
finest performance which they had seen of its class.
This was foUowed, in 1709, by The Character of a
True CMistian. In tMs work the importance of
governing the thoughts is forcibly argued. After his
settlement at the Old Jewry, in 1 71 6, Browne con
tinued with unabated perseverance to pursue his
favourite studies. In 1720 he pubUshed his Hymns
and Spiritual Songs. TMs volume includes nearly
three hundred separate pieces, a dissertation on the
practice of psalmody, and a set of engraved tunes,
several of which the accomplished author Mmself
composed. When the delusion referred to took possession of
the pastor's mind, one grand idea ruled his action.
Providence, he supposed, had gradually drawn the
soul from his body. He consequently imagined
himself a pitiable wreck — a creature incapable of
inteUectual effort, because he had lost " the thinking
substance." He discontinued all pastoral duties;
and, as he was now whoUy animal, religious exercises
were also relinquished. He desired that friends

126 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
would not offer prayer on his behalf, for he had
ceased to be, he declared, a moral agent. A dark
melancholy supplemented these Ulusions. At one time
the case appeared nearly hopeless, and relatives even
feared an attempt at self-destruction. As months
wore on, however, Browne became somewhat calmer ;
but after he settled quietly down, he continued for
the remainder of his days to be insane on the point
in question. He supposed himself beholdmg all
things with the ken of an ammal, and perfectly
to resemble a parrot in speech. When persons
accepted his words as intelligent utterances, or
recogmsed his gaze as not meaningless, they gave
offence by seeming to doubt Ms veracity. He often
took great pains to demonstrate the reality of his
affliction, and on such occasions his behaviour showed
how keenly incredulity annoyed him. When some
would reason with him to prove aU an haUucination,
Browne invariably showed signs of uneasiness.
Thus disabled, the pastor retired to Shepton
Mallet, where he soon gave convincing evidence,
that, instead of having suffered annihUation, his
mental capacity had reaUy grown stronger, while his
imagination was capable of taking higher flights.
He was stUl a valuable acquisition to any company
caring for intelUgent converse. He continued to
reason ably and clearly, and showed in conversation
an extensive acquaintance with science and general
Uterature. He applied himself to study with un
flagging perseverance, and published several valuable

THE OLD JEWEY. 127
treatises. Indeed, he may be said to have accom
pUshed prodigious mental feats, for he produced
poetical pieces, translated the classics, and composed
a speUing-book, a grammar, and a lexicon.* Once,
* Prior to his leaving London, Bro^wne addressed the fol-
lo^wing remarkable letter to a ministerial friend. It has been
several times published, e.g., in the Gentleman's Magazine for
1762, in the Biographia Britannica, &c. "Eeverend Sir, — I
doubt not you have been earnest with God on my behalf since
you left -the city, who expressed so much tender concern for
me whUe you were in it. I ¦wish I could -write anything to you
that might turn your compassion into thanksgi-ving, and your
prayers into praises. But, alas ! nothing of that kind is to
be expected from one who has Uved a life of defiance to God,
under a Christian profession and a sacred character ; and
now through his just displeasure is in the most forlorn state
a man can be on earth, perfectly empty of aU thought, re
flection, or consideration, destitute — entirely destitute of all
knowledge of God and Christ, and of his own soul, and the
things both of time and eternity, being unable to look back
ward or forward, or inward or outward, or upward or do^wn-
ward, having no con-nction of sin or duty, no capacity of
reviewing his conduct, or looking forward ¦with expectation
of either good or evil, and, in a word, ¦without any principles
of reUgion or even of reason, and -without the common sen
timents or affections of human nature ; insensible even to
the good things of Ufe, incapable of tasting any present
enjoyment, or expecting future ones ; dead to his chUdren,
friends, and country, having no interest, either bodUy or
spiritual, temporal to value or mind, but converted into a
mere beast, than can relish nothing but present bodily enjoy
ments, -without tasting them by anticipation or recoUection.
This is my true condition : thus am I thrown down from my
exceUency. Because I had not, God has taken away the
things that I had. Indeed, I have not those horrors on my

128 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
when absorbed in these literary occupations, a curious
visitor, peeping in at the study door, enqufred what
he was doing. "I am doing nothing," Browne
quickly replied, " that requires a reasonable soul ; I
am maMng a dictionary; but, you know, thanks
should be returned to God for everjrtMng, and there
fore for dictionary makers." At another time, whUe
sitting at table, some one pressed him to say the
grace ; he uneasUy hesitated, but at length exclaimed
with much emotion, " Most merciful and Almighty
mind to which you were a ¦witness ; I am gro'wn more calm,
because more insensible, and every day since you saw me
has this insensibiUty been gro^wing upon me, nor can it be
removed ¦without a miracle of grace, and for this grace I
cannot pray, ha'ving lost aU sight of God, and tenderness of
soul towards Him. Such an instance of divine displeasure
the world hardly ever saw, much less one recovered by divine
grace out of such a condition. I doubt whether you have
room to pray ; but if you think you have, I doubt not
but you wUl be fervent at the throne of grace in your re
quests. But I am so changed that I must first be made a
man before I can become a Christian ; having now none of
that knowledge, or common sentiments on which a saving
change must be founded. I am entirely incapable of any
business in life, and must quit my present station, and think,
as soon as I can, to be retiring into my o^wn country, there
to spend out the wretched remains of a miserable life, which
I am continuaUy prompted to destroy. I thought you would
be wUUngtohear from me, and though you cannot be pleased
¦with the account, I am obUged to give yeu a true one, and
beg an interest in your prayers, which -wUl turn to your o-wn
account if it avails nothing towards the salvation of the
¦wretched and ¦wicked sinner who would yet, if he was able,
1)6 your friend and servant, — SniON BaowxE."

THE OLD JEWEY. 129
God, let Thy Spirit, which moved upon the face of
the waters, when there was no light, descend upon
me, that from this darkness there may rise up a man
to praise Thee." At dinner, on another occasion,
under sinular circumstances, he said : " 0 Lord, I am
nothing. I ask nothing, and I want nothing ; but
bless these good creatures to those who are about to
receive them." After retiring to Shepton his iUusions
never checked his singular industry. At one time
fancy prompted the translation of a classical author :
but it led him at another time to make verses for
chUdren. He composed a Scriptural History, and a
commentary on Paul's Epistles. " With great
labour," says Anthony Atkey, "he also amassed
together, in a short compass, all the themes of the
Greek and Latin tongues, and compiled likewise a
dictionary to each of these works, in order to render
the learmng of both those languages more easy and
compendious." Neither these nor several minor
pieces were ever published, yet such as are curious
enough, and have the opportunity, may inspect for
themselves in the British Museum several manu
scripts by Simon Browne.
WMle thus multifariously employed, time only
strengthened our author's hallucination. The
Defence of the EeUgion of Nature and the Christian
Eevelation he dedicated to the Queen, on account
of its being, as he imagined, a Uterary curiosity
emanating from a THING, once mortal. The book,
which he would have thus madly introduced to the
9

130 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES
world was hailed by scholars as one of the best
produced by the controversy with Woolston and
the freethinkers.* MarveUous as such an haUuci
nation wUl necessarily appear, it was not entirely
without precedent. In the autumn of 1743, one
Lewis Kennedy, a gardener employed by the
Bedford famUy, committed suicide under a similar
delusion to that which affected Simon Browne.
Although the probable cause of the pastor's
affliction has been described, his contemporaries,
on tMs mysterious subject, held various opimons.
Dr. Ashworth, in a lecture on the Passions, delivered
* " Of aU the extraordinary things that have been tendered
to your royal hands, since your first happy arrival in Britain,
it may be boldly said, what now bespeaks your Majesty's ac
ceptance is the chief. Not in itseH; it is a trifle unworthy
your exalted rank, and what ¦wiU hardly prove an entertaining
amusement to one of your Majesty's deep penetration, exact
judgment, and fine taste. But on account of the author, who
is the first being of the kind, and yet without a name. He
was once a man, and of some Uttle name, but no worth, as his
present -unparaUeled case makes but too manifest; for, by the
immediate hand of an avenging God, his very thinking
substance has, for more than seven years, been continuaUy
wasting away, tUl it is whoUy perished out of him, if it be not
utterly come to nothing. None, no not the least remembrance
of its very ruins remains, not the shadow of an idea is left ;
nor any sense, so much as one single one, perfect or
imperfect, whole or diminished, ever did appear to a mind
within him, or was perceived by it. Such a present from
such a thing, however worthless in itself, may not be whoUy
unacceptable to your Majesty, the author being such as
history cannot parallel ; and if the fact, which is real, and

THE OLD JEWRY. 131
before the students at Daventry Academy, affirmed
that sudden fright was the primary cause of
Browne's hallucination. The latter and a com
panion were one day travelUng together, when a
highwayman suddenly demanded their money ; and
the man threatened violence unless his demands
were instantly compUed with: Browne sprang at
the robber, and after a short struggle upon the
ground disarmed him, and held Mm down with
a deadly gripe until assistance arrived from a
neighbouring town. On the officer's arrival, Browne
released his hold of the enemy's throat, but was
horror-stricken when a Ufeless body lay before him.
That dearly - purchased victory unbalanced his
nervous system, and originated his strange illusions.
It has now become impossible either to disprove or
to establish the truth of this explanation.
The private character of Simon Browne was
amiable and attractive. His researches had been
multitudinous, and on scientific and literary themes
he was competent to converse with freedom and
judgment. His general knowledge was extensive
and correct. After returning to Ms native town
he worked on in melancholy seclusion, until inces-
no fiction nor -wrong conceit, obtain credit, it must be
regarded as the most memorable, and indeed astonishing
event in the reign of George II., that a tract composed by
such a thing was presented to the illustrious Caroline." — Vide
the suppressed dedication to The Religion of Nature and the
Cliristian Eevelation. 9*

132 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
sant appUcation produced a mortification wMch
ended Ms life. When in 1725, aU hopes of cure
were abandoned, a successor at the Old Jewry was
appointed, wMle a present of £300 was transmitted
to the disabled pastor. Bro-wne died in 1732,
in his fifty-second year, and rests in the chapel at
Shepton MaUet.*
The constitution of the church in the Old Jewry
made it sometimes difficult to effect a pastoral
settlement. Members and subscribers voted in
common, a proportion of two-thfrds being requisite
to render an election vaUd. When Browne retfred,
several endeavours to secure a suitable successor
faUed. Dr. Wright, of Blackfriars, and John
Warren, of Coventry, were both meffectuaUy sought.
An unanimous invitation, however, brought a weU-
known divine — Thomas Leavesly — to London.
Since the year 1700 he had presided over a
country charge at Little Baddow, in Essex. His
predecessor was John Oakes, the ejected minister
of Boreham, whom the Barringtons had protected.
The congregation soon became an important one
in the district named ; and among such rural sur
roundings the character and habits of Leavesly
were formed. It happened, therefore, notwith
standing Ms private worth and amiable disposition,
that an unchaste style and homely iUustration,
* Atkey' s Puneral Sermon for Simon Bro^wne ; Biogra
phia Britannica; Protestant Dissenters' Magazine; Browne's
Hymns and Spiritual Songs; Wilson's Dissenting Churches.

THE OLD JEWRY. 133
wMch sufficed to instruct and edify Essex agri-
culturaUsts, proved entirely unpalatable to the
refined assembly at the Old Jewry. Leavesly, in
consequence, was not popular, although, till his
death in 1737, he worked on, highly esteemed by
his coUeague and by his hearers.
A very celebrated divine and author of the
eighteenth century was Samuel Chandler, who
succeeded Joseph Bennett at the Old Jewry in
1726. His family was of the West of England;
and one relative, a Taunton trader, bravely suffered
for conscience' sake in the troubles preceding the
Eevolution. Henry Chandler, our subject's father,
officiated during many years in the Nonconformist
ministry at Hungerford, whence he removed to
Bath. In the former town Samuel was born
in 1693.
In the reign of Queen Anne there flourished at
Bridgwater a Presbyterian divine — John Moore —
whose services as a trainer of youth were highly
approved by educated Dissenters. At a proper age
young Chandler was placed with this tutor. Thence
he removed into the academy of Samuel Jones at
Tewkesbury. While a student. Chandler enjoyed
the daily compamonship of Joseph Butler — the
future author of the Analogy — and Thomas Seeker,
who afterwards rose to the archiepiscopate of Can
terbury. HappUy neither time nor circumstances
destroyed the friendship begun in youth, for it
flourished till the last amid the vicissitudes of life.

134 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
When Chandler left Tewkesbury, in his twenty-
first year, he commenced his way in the world, and
in 1716 settled at Peckham over a Presbyterian
congregation. During those years of inexperience
he embarked a large sum — Ms wife's dowry — in the
wild speculations preceding the crisis of 1720 ; and
on the collapse of the South Sea Bubble the Chand
lers shared the common ruin. In some measure to
repair this reverse, a bookseUing business was estab
lished at the Cross Keys, in the Poultry. His adopted
profession brought him into close companionsMp
with the celebrated printer, WUUam Bowyer; and
he and Chandler were wont to walk together to the
Mitre in Fleet-street to attend the meetings of the
Society of Antiquaries.*
Soon after Chandler's settlement at Peckham a
lecture was founded at the Old Jewry for the object
of examining the basis of Christian belief, the ap
pointed preachers being Chandler and Dr. Lardner.
This course was discontinued, and foUowed by
another series by Chandler only. His sermons were
highly appreciated, and were eventuaUy pubUshed
as a vindication of the Christian religion. Arch-
bishop Wake perused the volume while ignorant of
the author's station, and expressed some surprise on
finding such learning and ability emanating from a
bookseUer. The prelate addressed the pastor by
In after years these meetings were held at a house in
Chancery-lane. Since 1780 the Society has had apartments
in Somerset House.

THE OLD JEWRY. 135
letter, and ventured an opinion that such talents
would be better employed in Milting books than in
selling them. If it did not obtain a Scotch diploma,
the work placed Chandler in a position to obtain
one had he so desired ; but an honour so equivocal
he Ughtly valued, "because so many blockheads
have been made doctors." The distinction of doctor
of di-vinity, however, was ultimately accepted during
a visit to Scotland with the Earl of Findlater. His
City lectures were also instrumental in effecting
Chandler's removal to London, although he continued
to preach at Peckham once on the Sabbath until
1729. His abiUties produced results even yet more
unexpected, for offers of Anglican preferment reached
him only to be unwaveringly decUned. In many
distinguished circles regrets were plentiful, that so
able a writer should be a Nonconformist.
In 1735 the nation grew excited about a sup
posed spread of popery, closety connected with which
was the future rebeUion in favour of the Pretender.
Taking advantage of the occasion, the Dissenters
established a lecture at Salters' Hall, and a number
of eminent ministers were engaged to expose the
falsities of Eomanism. The lectures of Chandler
created much interest, and awakened a controversy
on the subject in hand, for whUe denouncing Eome,
our orator dealt some heavy blows at the English
Establishment. This he effected by pointing out
that a bUnd subjection to priestcraft is the soul and
essence of popery. He moreover saw no reason why

136 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
simUar means shoiUd not be used for the propaga
tion of truth as the -Jesuits resorted to for dissemi
nating error.
In the Gentleman's Magazine for tMs year wUl be
found several allusions to the anti-papal di^'ines at
Salters' Hall. Indeed, among Ms poetical essays for
February, Mr. Urban has a piece directly relating to
the subject in hand, e.g. : —
" What thanks are due to Neal, and to the rough handler
Of aU divines, and of aU Churches, Chandler I
Te demagogues, 'tis commendably done
T' unmask the whore of Babylon:
In Salters' HaU to sacrifice the Beast,
And -with a jvasted Pope the rabble feast."
The other lecturei-s foUowed in Chandler's wake,
and the newspapers accused them of attacking the
Anglican regimen. Eusticus, however, proceeded to
ask : —
" We mourn Eome's superstition daUy gro-wing ;
But is not to your schism that e'vU owing ?
Is not the worship of the man of sin
Promoted by contempt of discipline ? "
It is not easy to realise either the need or the
value of such services against popery as our fathers
encouraged, and we certainly cannot realise the in
terest these endeavours excited, unless we undei-stand
that alarm with which Eome and her protege, the
Pretender, were regarded. Not only did lecturers
deUver their harangues, disputes were arranged
between Protestant divines and Catholic priests.

THE OLD JEWRY. 137
Smaller conflicts came off before tavern bars and
among coffee-house groups. One day in the winter
of 1734-5, a Eomanist preacher was seen walking
up CornhUl, and on reaching the Pope's Head
tavern, he entered, and began freely conversing with
the assembled company. He complained of some
charges against liis order, made by the Hackney
pastor, John Barker, at Salters' HaU. Persons
present defended the ground taken up by the Non
conformist, and the upshot was that arrangements
were made for a verbal combat at the BeU tavern,
Nicholas-lane, a discussion at wMch Dr. Hunt, of
Pinners' HaU, and Samuel Chandler, were present.
Dr. Hunt volunteered an argument two hours long
against transubstantiation, and he aptly concluded
by declaring he would talk no longer. The two
divines probably retired with those pleasurable emo
tions wMch are only begotten by intellectual con
quest. Their chagrin, therefore, must have been
considerable on finding that iutelUgence had travelled
to the Continent of a victory over the Protestant
leaders in London. Indignant and mortified. Chand
ler hastily sent forth An Authentic Account of the
Late Discussion. The sermons preached at Salters'
Hall were like-wise pubUshed in two volumes.
Dr. Chandler well understood the pernicious ten
dency of Eomish superstition. Zeal in checking the
enemy's encroachments prompted him to translate
Limbofch's History of the Inquisition, which he
prefaced with an able dissertation. A sharp contro-

138 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
versy was awakened by this publication, and after
several pamphlets had appeared on both sides, it was
foUowed by the History of Persecution. Chandler's
pen was also actively employed in 1736, when the
Dissenters endeavoured to promote a repeal of
the Corporation and Test Acts. These and other
Uterary labours raised up many opponents. Two
rival poets presented the town with their effusions,
and their lines reveal the conflicting sympathies
which animated the citizens, e.g. : —
" In Chandler's soUd weU-composed discourse.
What wondrous energy, what mighty force !
Still friend to Truth, and strict to Eeason's rules.
He scorns the censures of unthinking fools."
How differently thought the parodist : —
" In Chandler's frothy Ul-composed discourse.
There's nothing found of energy or force ;
StiU friend to Arius and bUnd Eeason's rules.
He seeks the praises of unthinking fools."
During the season of political turmoU in 1745,
ten editions of his Great Britain's Memorial Against
the Pretender were scattered abroad to produce a
marked and salutary effect among the people. The
doctor promoted the discomfiture of the Jacobite
faction by depicting the results likely to follow a
wider prevalence of popery. This he accomplished
by illustrating Ms arguments with descriptions of
the Huguenots' persecution after the revocation of
the Edict of Nantes.

THE OLD JEWRY. 139
Chandler's Old Jewry pastorate was a forty years'
story of prosperity. Loved by his people, and um-
versally respected, he was also admired by a wide
circle of distinguished friends. The rapid promotion
of Ms early companion, Thomas Seeker, occasioned
certain Dissenters to harbour some groundless hopes
of a Comprehension. To this subject Doddridge
aUuded when he congratulated the bishop on his
translation to Oxford, and spoke of " reconciliation."
" Doctor," repUed our Tewkesbury student, " my
sentiments concerning these matters are different
from yours." Such a rebuff dispeUed for the time
aU delusion about Comprehension. Nevertheless, in
the year 1748, Chandler conferred with the bishops
of Norwich and SaUsbury on tMs subject. He even
-visited Archbishop Herring, who very handsomely
received Mm, and spoke of the proposed scheme as
"a very good thing; he -wished it with all his heart;
and the rather because tMs was a time which called
upon aU good men to imite against the infidelity and
immorality wMch threatened universal ruin, and
added, he was encouraged to hope, from the piety,
learning, and moderation of many Dissenters, that
tMs was a proper time to make the attempt." "But,
may it please your Grace,'' interrupted his Lordship
of Norwich — who in a recent charge had affirmed,
"The leaders of the EebeUion (1745) were Presby
terians," — "Mr. Chandler says, 'the Articles must
be altered into the words of Scripture.' " " And why
not?" continued Dr. Herring, "it is the imperti-

140 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
nences of men thrusting their own words into
Articles, instead of the words of God, which have
occasioned most of the divisions in the Christian
Church from the beginning to this day."
Throughout his long career Chandler was as guilt
less as most men of absurdities. The temperate
regimen which he necessarily imposed on himself
was not wholly profitless, for in many ways it pro
moted a healthiness of body and mind. Vegetarians,
therefore, are welcome to Chandler's case as an iUus
tration of their principles, for he had to deny Mm
self, and subsist cMefly on vegetable diet in order to
counteract a singular predisposition to fever. As
to the absurdities, one deserves special mention. In
a funeral sermon on the death of -George the Second,
he extravagantly eulogised the King, and drew
paraUels between the Psalmist and our old German
prince. Chandler's acumen discovered that the two
rulers resembled each other in character, and that they
had reigned an equal number of years. This discourse
acted as a provocation to Grub-street, having been
answered by a scurrilous attack on the Psalmist him
self To the profane audacity of a literary hack,
posterity is partly indebted for our author's Critical
History of the Life of David.
Mention may just be made of Mary Chandler, the
doctor's deformed sister, who early relinquished every
hope of happiness apart from a single life. Never
theless, she wisely determined to cultivate her mental
faculties, in order that literary accomplishments

THE OLD JEWRY. 141
might outweigh her Ufe misfortune. On settling
at Bath, Mary divided her days between mUUnery
and poetry, and her Uterary efforts won the commen
dation of Pope. EventuaUy, when she grew as at
tractive as she had originaUy determined to be, a
gentleman who had seen her, traveUed a hundred
mUes for the purpose of seeking her hand in mar
riage. His suit was unsuccessful. Mary remained
in maidenhood, to die, at the age of fifty-eight, in
1745. When, in May, 176 4, Chandler entered on his
reward, the whole body of Dissenters sustained the
loss of a champion. His remains were interred in
BunhUl-fields. At the subsequent sale of the doctor's
library some valuable manuscripts were disposed of
An interleaved Bible containing a great number of
notes, is yet preserved in Dr. Williams's Library. A
copy of Bowyer's Conjectures upon the New Testa
ment, with the margin written on, was vainly searched
for in later years by Mr. Nichols, of The Gentleman's
Magazine. *
We have again and again visited the spot in the
Old Jewry wMch its old meeting-house once occu
pied, and have reaUsed on such occasions those
emotions which are awakened by time's ceaseless
* Biographia Britannica; Chandler's Sermons edited by
Amory; NichoUs' Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth
Century ; Authentic Account of the Late Debates in Nicholas
Lane ; History of the Dissenting Churches, Maitland's and
Pennant's Histories of London, &c.

142 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
changes. Imagination recalls those distant days
when the most gifted divines were alone deemed
worthy of preaching in that famous pulpit. Yet,
alas ! who among the splendid congregation is now
remembered, when even the names of the pastors are
well-nigh forgotten ?
Dr. Chandler enjoyed the services of several able
assistants. Dr. Miles, of Tooting, succeeded Thomas
Leavesly. By enormous industry the doctor repaired
a deficient youthful training, and won an extensive
acquaintance with classical and general literature.
He was elected a member of the Eoyal Society, and
occupied a first place among Ms accomplished com
peers. His literary industry was singular in the
extreme, for it frequently prompted Mm to com
mence his daily labour at two in the morning. His
sermons were commonly written out, and were the
result of incessant appUcation. At his death his study
was so abundantly furnished with manuscripts that
Dr. Furneaux considered a parallel case had never
occurred of a divine's having produced such piles of
papers. Although he inherited neither a stout con
stitution nor a strong voice. Dr. Miles preached
twice each Sabbath during a period of thirty years,
and declined several invitations to settle entirely in
London. He lived to be sixty-five, and died in
1763.* In 1744 Eichard Price, then a young man, by
accepting the lectureship at the Old Jewry, rose to
* Dr. Furneaux's Seimon on the Death of Dr. MUes, &c.

THE OLD JEWRY. 143
immediate popularity. Dr. Chandler was even
accused of jealousy, because he advised his colleague
to show more modesty and less energy. Youno^
Price soon after resigned. His subsequent course
was a mixture of sadness and prosperity. From
the hereditary faith of Ms fathers, he lapsed into
Ariamsm, a change from which he was apparently
widely removed when, absorbed by the way in
Butler's reasonings, he returned to his college
across the snow-covered Breconshire hills. The life-
story of Eichard Price, who, on coming to London,
rose from being a barber's lodger in Pudding-lane,
to an influential position among the best society,
is fraught with interest. At different times he was
stationed at Ne-wington Green, Poor Jewry-lane,
Edmonton, and Hackney. For twenty years his
wife was an invalid, and the doctor Mmself had
long been a sufferer, when he died in 1791.
Tynton, in Glamorganshire, claims the honour of
being the birthplace of Eichard Price. The famUy
was strictly orthodox ; and the father on one
occasion snatched a volume of Clark's sermons from
Ms son's hand, to throw it upon the fire, choosing so
to manifest his horror of Arianism. The extreme
rigour of the parental rule, it may be feared,
prejudiced Eichard's susceptible mind against the
tenets thus harshly supported. Eichard received
his early instruction from a dissenting minister
at Neath. Thence he removed to Pertwyn, where he
studied under Samuel Jones. Having completed

144 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.

his grammar learning, he went to Talgarth College,
of which Vavasor Griffith was president. In 1739
his father died, when Price found that that father's
eccentricity of temper had diverted from him a
proper share in the family estate: one brother
being endowed with the whole at the expense of all
other dependants. At this conjuncture, Eichard
had an uncle settled in London — an assistant of
Dr. Watts. By acting on the advice of this relative,
he removed from Wales to the capital; and the
events of the road from Cardiff to London, aptly
illustrate student life in the days of George the
Second. Etiquette, it seems, obliged the richer
brother to provide a carriage to Cardiff; but when
landed in that convenient seaport, Eichard was left
to shift for Mmself, with scarcely anything more
substantial than commonplace good wishes to aid his
journey. A lady travelUng to Bristol fortunately
overtook him, and judging him to be a youth of
gentlemanly birth and poUshed mien, offered him a
seat in her carriage. From Bristol to his destina
tion in London, the means of transit was one of
those broad-wheeled waggons which then traversed
England in all directions. On settling in the
metropoUs, Price perseveringly appUed himself to
study, under the celebrated professor Fames. A too
ardent pursuit of knowledge, and some inconveniences
inseparable from a barber's saloon, ere long prostra
ted the young aspirant, and rendered the air of his
native Cambria an indispensable restorative. After

&

THE OLD JEWRY. 145
spending a season in Wales, he returned to London
and completed Ms curriculum. Through the suc
ceeding thirteen years he held a chaplaincy at Stoke
Newington. Both his patron and his uncle died
almost simultaneously ; and, inheriting a legacy from
each, Eichard found Mmself in easier circumstances.
From youth upward. Price had mamfested an
abUity to tMnk for Mmself on theological and
ethical questions. The too independent opimons,
it may be feared, wMch he formed, greatly irritated
his father ; and the uncle at Bury-street declared he
would prefer seeing his nephew transformed into a
pig, to ha-ving him lapse into a heterodox dissenter.
Nevertheless, Price advanced in so-called UberaUty
of sentiment ; and whUe he never reached Sociman-
ism*', he may fafrly be classed among Arian preachers.
At the age of thirty-two he married, and settled in
Hackney. His lady belonged to an unfortunate
but numerous class, whose wealth had taken wings
amid the mad speculations of 1720. A-fter two
years' sojourn at Hackney, Price resigned, preferring
the Church at Newington Green. He now began
those Uterary pursuits which rendered Ms name
a household word both in the British Isles and in
the American colomes. His first etMcal work brought
him into acquaintance -with David Hume ; and the
two occasionaUy dined together at Cadell's publishing
* I hope it -wiU not be thought that I ever use this term
offensively. I use it, as Priestly does also, as the opposite
of Calvinism. 10

146 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
house in the Strand. Hume professed not a little
surprise at the theological broadness of his courteous
opponent; and the celebrated sceptic found some
pleasure in sometimes passing a quiet day at
the Newington manse.
When the pastor entered on his new sphere at
Newington-green the congregation had declined in
numerical strength and in purity of doctrine. For
such degeneracy it is always difficult to accoimt ; and
it becomes more difficult in the present instance, be
cause forty years earlier, during the disputes of 1719,
the minister at Stoke Newington, Martin Tomkins,
had been dismissed on account of theological defec
tion. That Price was animated by an honest desire,
faithfully to fulfil the office of a Christian teacher,
cannot justly be questioned ; for, whUe his tender
treatment of a deistical antagonist almost amounted
to effeminacy, his susceptible nature was troubled on
account of the apathy of his own people. On one
occasion, in particular, he was more than ordinarUy
discouraged. He exerted all his powers, mental and
physical, in an endeavour to awaken his hearers to a
just sense of the terrors attending a final judgment.
His utmost efforts merelj"- sufficed to lull them to
sleep. Indeed, the Church was sleeping in the
truest sense ; for when members died, or removed
away, none came forward to fiU their places.
Price, therefore, entered on a more promising field at
Hackney, stiU continuing to preach at Newington-
green on Sabbath afternoons.

THE OLD JEWRY. 147
The admiration of Price's London friends prompted
them to bestow upon him a very equivocal compli
ment. They purchased a diploma at Glasgow
Umversity, and dubbed their favourite Doctor of
Divimty. Certain is it, that had Price himself sus
pected the manoeuvre, he would have contemptuously
declined so small a distinction.
In those days Hackney boasted of its literary and
scientific cfrcles, the prestige of wMch a few master-
spu'its sustained, as week by week they assembled
to enjoy the social deUghts contributed by their
common talents. A society likewise congregated at
a city coffee-house, including Kippis, Priestley, and
others of high atfcamments; yet none of his distin
guished associates outshone Price in intellectual
lustre and conversational power.
When the misunderstanding occurred between
England and the American colomes. Price grew
intensely anxious to preserve the friendly relation of
the two peoples. When the quarrel progressed to
an open rupture, in common with most Dissenters of
that period, he sympathised with the settlers. The
¦winter of 1775 was spent in preparing Ms celebrated
treatise on Ci-vU Liberty — a book which created a
sensational interest then weU-mgh without a paraUel.
The run upon the pubUsher was so extraordinary,
that the printers were not able to keep pace with
the demand. This wide dissemination of his senti
ments stimulated many enemies into activity; the
more distinguished of whom were the Archbishop of
10*

148 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
York, Wesley, and Edmund Burke, the last, in par
ticular, having proved the weakness of his cause by
violent invective. Calumniated by a crowd of
detractors on the one side, and congratulated by
countless admirers on the other. Price apparently
experienced Uttle either of elation or concern. As
regarded the war, he observed a commendable caution,
whether in speaking or in writing. He became, how
ever, a leading representative of a great party, and,
for the time, probably no Uving politician exerted a
greater influence over the world's destinies. The
Corporation of London presented him with the free
dom of the City in a golden box. The effect his
writings produced on society in the New World,
doubtless hastened the Declaration of Independence.
The first Congress invited the doctor to accept an
office either of trust or honour under the new Ee-
public. So widespread and so high an appreciation
of his conscientious services in the cause of Liberty,
further incensed his opponents, as was proved by
their mamfestations of rage and spite. Some
denounced him as a traitor, and even threatened his
life. Others represented him to be an abandoned
profligate; but notwithstanding such attacks. Price,
had he chosen, might have accepted a secretarysMp
under the premier, on the change of ministry in
1782. His actions were ever showing that his
heart was uncorrupted by ambition. Though tempted
to court the patronage of nobles, or to feel raised
by their flattering attentions, he manfully repelled

THE OLD JEWRY. 149
the tempter. The aUurements of worldly preferment
were far less attractive than a peaceful pursuit of
Uterary avocations.
Some additional interest Avas awakened among the
literati by the pubUcation of Price's objections to the
leading Socinian tenets. TMs was an apparent en
deavour to steer betwixt opposing schemes, and the
charitable mference may be fafrly drawn, that the
author, after all, only sUghtly swerved from the
Baxterian standard. His views were zealously con
troverted by Priestley and Lindsey — a fact wMch in
itseK is a most auspicious omen in the author's
favour. The flight of time brought to our divine what, as
we grow in years, we must each realise — that death
is continually severing terrestrial ties. Dr. Shipley,
of St. Asaph; Dr. Adams, of Pembroke CoUege; and
John Howard in a distant country, aU died, and their
vacant places naturally tended to depress the spirits
of thefr surviving friend. In 1787 Mrs. Price also
died. This loss, joined to that of so many early
compamons, occasioned the pastor's removal from
Newington-green to Hackney, where Ms home would
have been only a melancholy one but for a sister's
tender superintendence. By the death of Benjamin
FrankUn and John Howard the doctor was parti
cularly affected. He received a last letter from the
phUantMopist, written during Ms visit to the Moscow
hospitals. Dr, Price was chosen to preach a centenary sermon

150 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
at the Old Jewry in celebration of the hundredth
anniversary of the English Eevolution ; and such
was his strain of patriotic eloquence, on this occasion,
that the audience could scarcely refrain from venting
their admiration by shouts of applause. Very pos
sibly both Price and his compeers too readily sym
pathised with the French politicians, many of whom
as their personal friends, were hospitably received
at Hackney.
Although Dr. Price was only for so short a time
connected with the Old Jewry, that brief connection
must be sufficient apology for having given the
above particulars of one who died as he had lived —
an honest man. For some time he devoted a fifth of
his income to charitable uses, and few were found who
surpassed him in conscientious endeavours to act out
their teaching. His death was accelerated by a cold
taken in BunhUl-fields whUe attending a funeral,
and he entered into rest during the spring of 1791.
The following lines commemorating his departure
were written by one of Price's friends, and are here
for the first time printed : —
" See the freed soul, from earth's low cares removed,
Expatiates in the liberty he loved ;
And leaves the cruel shackles far behind.
See Sydney, Hampden, Locke, each patiiot name
Dear to the friend of freedom and to fame.
0 ! see them all in smUing triumph meet.
The dauntless friend of human kind to greet.
See humble Wren, too, urge his eager way.
To introduce his friend to perfect daj'.

the OLD JEWRY, 151
Their shouts united shake the upper skies ;
And as they lead him to receive the prize,
Lo angel warblers the fuU song sustain,
WhUe choirs responsive catch the glo-wing strain,
And loudly hail him to that happier shore.
Where Burke can neither stab nor tyrants vex him more."
The interesting and pretty town of Taunton was
the birthplace of Thomas Amorj--, whose name
appears among the pastors at the Old Jewry. At
Taunton, Nonconformity early tMove in a congenial
soil. Amory was born in 1701, at Ms father's house
— a grocery estabUshment. The parents' circum
stances enabled them to endow their son with every
educational advantage ; yet even in those days, after
the Eevolution had cleared the political horizon, the
obstacles in a dissenting student's path were many
and perplexing. A theological seminary was opened
in Taunton by Stephen James and Henry Grove;
but the Schism BUl obliged these professors to close
their doors untU the happy accession of the House
of Hanover. After being approved by his examiners, Amory
returned to Taunton, where he was duly appreciated.
For a time he was associated with the Presbyterian
Church, but when Ms colleague refused to di-vide the
stipend, an indignant section of the congregation
provided another chapel. Although he secured an
influential and happy position at Taunton, he resigned
in 1759, and removed to the Old Jewry. His family
benefited by many advantages peculiar to London,

152 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
but the pastor himself never achieved any popiUarity
in his more elevated station. He succeeded Chandler
in 1766, and found his hearers wiUing, for the sake
of his learning and private worth, to overlook some
defects — e.g., a weak voice and heavy delivery. He
never inherited the happy knack of making learning
attractive, and never raised himself into very Mgh
esteem. In 1768 he foUowed Jabez Earle * in the
Merchants' Lectureship at Salters' Hall, and died
six years later, "j"
At this conjuncture the people took a remarkable, if
not an unparalleled, course : they invited Archdeacon
Blackburn to forsake the Anglican communion by
taking their society under his charge. "The -writ
ings of that eminent man upon the subject of reU
gious liberty," says Wilson, " had coincided so fully
with the fundamental principles of Protestant Dis
senters, as to lead to a supposition that, upon a
favourable opportunity, he would quit the Establish-
* He was in some respects a remarkable instance of
longevity. He died in his chair during the year named at
the age of ninety-two. He was a London minister of good
position for nearly seventy years, and he preached on the
last sabbath of his Ufe. Throughout this proti'acted period
he never experienced a day's illness, and he would probably
have kno-wn pain only from hearsay and ft-om books, had
not a broken arm added to his knowledge in this direction.
A favourite recreation in his latter years was to repeat lines
by the hundred from Homer and Virgil.
t Dr. Plexman's Sermon on the Death of Dr. Amory;
Biographia Britannica ; History of the Dissenting Chui-ches.

THE OLD JEWRY. 153
ment and join the Dissenters. This apprehension,
however, proved iU-founded ; for though the worthy
archdeacon was far from being a good churchman,
yet some weighty reasons induced him to decline the
proposal." Nathamel White, who eventuaUy succeeded, had
studied under Dr. Doddridge, and was undergoing
the Northampton curriculum when his amiable tutor
died, in 1751. WMte removed with the academy
to Daventry to continue his course under Dr. Ash
worth. On leaving college, he immediately won a
good position, and successively settled at Hinckley
and at Leeds, but removed to London in 1766. He
held a lecturesMp at Hackney, which he resigned
after Ms assumption of office at the Old Jewry. His
death occurred in 1783.
The last pastor at the old chapel was Abraham
Eees, whose connections in the PrincipaUty were
Mghly respectable. During the persecutions of the
sixteenth century a member of his famUy suffered
martyrdom. From infancy, Abraham was set apart
for his sacred profession, and his earliest instruction
was received in the neighbourhood of Llanbrynmair ;
thence he removed to Hoxton Academy, where he
studied under Dr. Jennings. Eees there attained to
great proficiency in various branches of literary
knowledge. He was consequently appointed as
sistant tutor, and ultimately became the principal
— a position he held for twenty-three years. Eees'
first settlement was over a church in Southwark ;

154 ANCIEXT MEETING HOUSES.
his removal thence to the Old Jewry, it was ex
pected, would restore prosperity — an anticipation
not wholly unfounded.
The life of Abraham Eees pre-eminently belongs
to the history of literature, and his individual fame
is chiefly based upon the Encyclopaedia named after
him — a work comprising forty-five volumes in
quarto. The completion of so vast an undertaking
necessitated twenty years of incessant labour — an
ordeal which sufficed to impair the editor's health. If
this work be admitted to be, what in fact it is,
a continuation of Harris's Lexicon Techidcum, it
will then appear to be the first encyclopaedia in
the English language. John Harris was a mathema
tician who flourished in the reign of Anne, at Ms
retreat in Amen-corner, beneath the shadow of St.
Paul's. There he spent Ms days in -writing for
neighbouring bookseUers : his spare hours were
devoted to lecturing on scientific themes, and the
company which benefited by his instructions met
at the Marine Coffee House, Birchin-lane, " At six
o'clock in the afternoon." In after years a revised
edition of the author's dictionary was prepared by
Ephraim Chambers, to be again improved by Dr.
Eees, and published in four volumes foUo, in 1786.
This again formed the basis of that great monument
of learning and industrious perseverance, Eees' Ency
clopaedia, commenced at the beginning of the present
century. Notwithstanding the success it achieved, the En-

THE OLD JEWRY. 155
cyclopaedia did not afford entire satisfaction. Dr.
Eees, his critics urged, lacked judgment by over
crowding his pages with redundant matter. Not
only was the book cumbered with useless articles,
but those articles were oftentimes defective and erro
neous. Dissertations properly belonging to one sub
ject were inconvemently subdivided, greatly to the
bewUderment of enquiring students. In physical
and mathematical science the editor exceUed, but his
phUological attainments were not very highly rated,
and Kippis, it was generaUy supposed, surpassed
Eees in refinement of taste. That the latter, how
ever, was a man of vast acquirements, the successful
conduct of Ms Encyclopaedia amply testifies.
In the pulpit. Dr. Eees to a commanding presence
added a winning manner. NaturaUy, therefore, his
eminent position and valuable works brought him a
crop of honours. He was elected a Fellow of the
Eoyal Society; the Umversity of Edinburgh created
him a Doctor of Divinity. In several offices of trust,
Eees rendered honourable and useful service. He
was a manager of the Presbyterian Fund and a dis
tributor of the Regium Donum, which he frequently
supplemented by money placed at his disposal
by private beneficence. Twice during Ms long
life did Eees approach the Throne with addresses
from the Three Denominations. On the second
of these occasions the Dissenters congratulated
George the Fourth on his accession, and a lord-
in-waitiug expressed regret that, on account of

1,56 ancient MEETING HOUSES.
principle, our doctor's loyalty could not be suitably
rewarded. Dr. Eees also distinguished himself as a college
tutor. He and Drs. Savage and Kippis were the
professors at Hoxton Academy, at the era of the
coUapse of that institution in 1785, a catastrophe
doubtless hastened by the low standard of theology
adopted by two of the professors. Eees and several
others then combined to estabUsh a coUege at Hack
ney, agreeably to the Arian scheme ; but after a trial of
two years or thereabout tMs endeavour likewise failed.
The opening years of the nineteenth century saw
the last of this old meeting-house. In 1808 the
lease expired, and an attempt to obtain a renewal was
not successful. A site for another church was procured
in Jewin-street, the memorial-stone of which was laid
by Dr. Eees, who also opened the buUding in 1809.
Dr. Eees died at Ms house in Finsbury-square,
in June 1825, at the age of eighty-two. Tall in
stature, he had a countenance open and handsome,
with a voice strong and musical. His genial nature,
gentlemanly mien, and great attainments rendered
Mm the valued friend of numerous distinguished
members of the learned professions, many of whom
followed Mm to his last resting-place in BunhiU-
fields, the pall of the coffin being borne by six
ministers of the Three Denominations.*
* Eees' Encyclopaedia ; Encyclopsedia Londinenses ;
'Gentleman's Magazine, vols, v and Ixxxv ; Biblical Eeposi-
tory 1809 and 1825 ; Private Information.

THE OLD JEWRY. 157
David Davidson, the assistant and successor of
Abraham Eees, and a graduate of Glasgow Univer
sity, was the last pastor of this ancient society.
"When, in 1825, he removed from Dundalk in Ire
land to Jewin-street, he already enjoyed the repu
tation of being an able scholar. Numbers considered
him even superior to the great encyclopaedist, whose
endowment of voice, talent, and commanding exterior;,
sufficed to retain a popularity more lasting than
most can enjoy. It would seem, however, that
Eees held Ms office longer than prudence warranted.
Numbers of his youtMul hearers forsook the chapel,
whUe the migration from city to suburb was on the
increase. The pastor, in consequence, year by year,
sorrowfully witnessed a diminution of Ms congrega
tion. It has been supposed, that if the doctor had
resigned earUer, the chapel would have remained his
successors' inheritance; but from our standpoint, we
think we discover a far more potent cause of decline;
but as doctrinal controversy forms no part of the
present design, we gladly waive particular reference
to tMs vexed question.
ileanwMle the decrease in the congregation pro
gressed, and the mimster resigned Ms office. The
trustees eventuaUy disposed of the buUding to the
Wesleyans, and a flourishing society of that per
suasion stUl assembles within its walls. After
retiring in 1840, the pastor never accepted another
charge, but employed Mmself in various literary
pursuits and other matters. In 1850 he sustained

158 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
a paralytic stroke, and died at Epsom in December
1858. Thus passed from the world this great society.
Had the members retained that purity of doctrine so
prized by Calamy and Shower, thefr descendants would
probably to-day have been witnesses for Christ in the
world. How manj'- communities as ancient are still
in existence, simply because their standard of faith
has been preserved ! What, could they have descried
it, must have proved a weU-spring of grief to
the Ulustrious founders, is at least to posterity a
lesson fraught with momentous truth — The tenets
OF SOCINUS generate DECAY.

^^Ept^r y.

THE SABBATAEIAN BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON.
Oripplegate, as most persons are aware, derives its
name from the cripples who anciently stationed
themselves around its entrance for the purpose of
soUciting alms. This gate, in aU probabiUty one of
the four original inlets to London, stood upon the
Eoman Ermine-street, and dated its foundation from
a dim antiquity. In the year 1010 the citizens saw
its ponderous doors thrown open to admit into Lon
don the remains of a martyred king whose life and
fate are commemorated in the church of Saint Ed
mund, Lombard-street. Once upon a time the neigh
bourhood of Cripplegate--without-the-WaU was a for
midable bog and an eyesore to venturesome stroUers,
besides being sufficiently unhealthy to prompt various
attempts on the part of the citizens to improve the
surface by drawing off the stagnant pools. But engi
neering art in the Plantagenet era was scarcely equal
to the converting of marsh into dry subsoil, and the
area of Moorfields seems to have baffled aU endea
vours to improve it, by persisting in remaining a bog
till the eve of the Eeformation ; about which time

160 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
the watery supremacy was partially conquered by one
more determined and expensive eftbrt. The .place
gradually assumed the pleasant aspect of a recreation
ground, and instead of pestUential pools spreading
disease in the summer heat, or giving amusement to
sliders and idlers when frozen in winter, the space
was laid out with gravel walks, plots of grass,
and beds of herbs, the whole being studded over
with trees for shade and ornament. In a ruder age
the inhabitants of Oripplegate drew their daily sup
plies of water from " a well with two buckets," and a
neighbouring spring, the inheritance of a city monas
tery, gave a name to Monkwell-street. In tMs ward
was situated The Swan with two Necks, the an
cient rendezvous of northern carriers. With what
spirit our fathers sought to protect Ufe and property
we learn from many a time-stained document, e.g. : —
" There are to watch at Oripplegate and at several
other stands in divers places of this ward every
night a constable, a beadle, and forty watchmen."
At a neighbouring chapel. The Hermitage-on-the-
WaU, the officers of the Clothworkers' GuUd were
wont to meet at intervals of three months ; on which
occasions, as they marched to their pews, wigged and
robed, they imparted to the congregation a hue of
civic picturesqueness. Doubtless while engaging in
the service, some thoughts intruded into these good
traders' minds of the substantial fare which com
monly foUowed. Be that as it may, the sermon
over, these dons of clothworking piously distributed

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 161
twelvepence each to twenty-four old men and A\-omen,
the gift at Michaelmas having been supplemented by
" A frieze gown, a lockram shift, and a pair of winter
shoes." Such quaint customs retain a freshness of
interest long after the buUdings they belonged to
have passed away. Both time and space would fail
us, however, were we to enumerate the events of
interest and the Ust of historical personages asso
ciated with this ancient parish and its noble sanc
tuary. The names of Milton, Cromwell, and a host
of others who were celebrated in divinity, politics,
and literature, readily suggest themselves. Neverthe
less, from these we are constrained to turn aside, and
to make way to the court of old appropriated to
that " indifferent good buUding " styled Curriers'
Hall ; the reason of our visitation being that this
place was anciently associated with a denomination
now nearly extinct in the metropolis — the Sabba
tarian Baptists.
It wUl not come within our present design to
account in any way for the pecuUar notions these
people professed in regard to the Sabbath; but as in
past times their ranks included some very eminent
names, a few remimscences may not prove unin
teresting. In the matter of the Sabbath only did
they differ from orthodox Baptists. Through one
portion of the last, and also of the present century,
the doors of the chapel at Devonshire-square were
opened on each Saturday morning to admit their con
gregation. The founder of this particular society was
11

162 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Francis Bampfield, in whose lifetime the people used
Pinners' HaU, but afterwards removed to Cripple-
gate. He is yet remembered as one of the most
zealous and efficient of those confessors, who, during
the iniquitous ascendancy of the Stuarts, testified
unto death.
Bampfield came of a highly respectable family in the
county of Devonshire. At the age of sixteen he pro
ceeded to Oxford, and on completing his course at that
university he was presented with a prebend's staU at
Exeter, and afterwards with a country living, which
he resigned in favour of Sherborne* in Dorsetshire,
where, with an ardour rarely surpassed, he fulfilled
the duties of his pastorate. His efficiency is partly
accounted for by the fact of his having been
prepared from early childhood for the Christian
ministry. * This old town — 121 mUes distant from the metropoUs
— was caUed by the Saxons Seiraburn, a name signifying
a clear spring, and which old EngUsh -^^rriters speU in a variety
of ways. The surrounding country was formerly the terri
tory of the West Saxons, and constituted the immense
diocese of Winchester. When the see was ultimately divided,
Sherborne was made the seat of episcopal rule, and here the
Eing created AldheUn the first bishop. The last-named
diocese included six counties, and extended to the Land's
End. After the Conquest, the prelates removed their head
quarters to Old Sarum. In Saxon times Sherborne boasted
of an important monastery, which, at the Dissolution, was set
do^wn as worth £700 a-year. The Normans erected a castle
in the town ; but after standing for 600 years, this strong
hold was stormed and demolished by Cromwell.

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. lG->
Bampfield's first rural charge yielded a stipend
of £100 a-year; but, possessing private means,
nearly equivalent to that amount, he distributed his
entire salary in charity. At Sherborne he continueel
tUl the general secession of 1662. According to
Crosby, it is doubtful if Bampfield ever relinquished
his aUegiance to Charles the Fii-st ; for, says the
Baptist Mstorian, he " was zealous against OUver's
usurpation and the ParUament war." If it was so,
the Government he had the unhappiness to Uve
under was too eagerly pursuing passing pleasures to
heed the sufferings of former friends, many of whom,
apparently on account of having been friends, were
the more relentlessly persecuted for Nonconformity.
When the disputes broke out between Eling and
ParUament Bampfield sided with the EoyaUsts, and
he harboured some conscientious scruples about pay
ing such taxes as were imposed by the Commons.
To Eichard Baxter, it is supposed, the responsibility
belongs of having diverted the pastor's sj'mpatMes
into the channel of Parliamentary politics. As it
occasionaUy happens under similar cfrcumstances,
the convert went far beyond what his preceptor
would have sanctioned ; for, on joining the Puritan
party, he subscribed the Covenant — a procedure
Baxter never sanctioned. At Sherborne, Bampfield
laboured with indefatigable zeal, and although two
centuries have roUed by since those troublous days,
many readers wUl be interested, and even concerned
to learn, that the evangelist's principal opponents
11*

164 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
were " Quakering Avitches," whom he appears to have
successfully resisted. Indeed, that estimable autho
rity, Anthony Wood, testifies "He (Bampfield) carried
on the trade among the factious people till the Act
of Umformity cast him out." After the secession of
Bartholomew's Day he was not permitted to pursue
his course in Sherborne without tasting the dis
cipline of the county gaol. For the crime of conduct
ing family worship after the Puritan order, he was
seized and summarily imprisoned ; but the superior
offence of "praying and preaching" in public en
tailed a confinement of eight years at Dorchester,
where his presence proved a lasting blessing to many
of Ms fellow prisoners. When, in 1 6 7 5, he regained his
Uberty, he immediately engaged in itinerant preaching,
undaunted by a severe experience. WhUe passing
through Dorchester he was again arrested, and confined
for eighteen weeks at Salisbury, from which city he
sent forth his little work. The Free Prisoner. On
leaving Salisbury he retired to London, and finding
the persecuting laws were less rigorously enforced, he
gathered a church in Pinners' Hall in 1676.*
* Among the State Papers there is a letter which Bamp
field addressed to the King, and of the supposed date of 1664.
WhUe denying several false reports respecting himseU, the
author testifies to his good affection and peaceableness
during the late ci^vU commotions. He avows an abhorrence
of war and sedition, and an aversion to opposing such as are
set up in authority. As regards his personal comfort, he
confesses a willingness, if need be, to b ear pain for conscience'
sake ; because, by unheeding that faithful monitor, a heavier

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 165
But troubles springing from the civil magistrate
were not lessened by a removal to London, for in
that city Bampfield was imprisoned during the last
year of Ms life. What character the pastor sus
tained, during Ms years of usefulness in the metro
polis, we are enabled to learn from the testimony of
both enemies and friends. In ecclesiastical govern
ment he was notoriously given to change — a fickle-
mindedness supplying Wood with an opportunity
of ventmg those sneers which appear to have con
stituted a part of that Mstorian's nature. Wood
was dumbfounded at this example of a Gentile
who preached sermons, besides publicly worshipping
God on Saturdays ; and accordingly, Bampfield is
designated, " almost a complete Jew," and so " en-
thusiastical and canting, that he did almost craze
and distract many of Ms disciples by his amazing
and frightful discourses." While not attempting to
excuse this harsh judgment of an enemy, it may yet
be conceded that, in many respects Bampfield was a
sanguine enthiLsiast — an admission in no degree ex
cusing the hard treatment he endured. He seems to
have regarded with strong disapproval all systems of

punishment is entaUed than merely human infiictions, and
on that account he cannot relinqiush preaching the Gospel.
He points out to Charles, what estimable advantages a king
possesses for benefiting others, and adjures him to make the
Bible his standard of government. By many of his con
temporaries Bampfield was mistaken for a Quaker. — Vide
Molls' House MSS., Domestic Series, Charles II., vol. xcix.

166 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
human learning: he refused to countenance any
science other than the Bible supplied. He stoutly
maintained that. Scriptural knowledge alone was
sufficient for all temporal as well as aU eternal pur
poses. He mamfested a general dissatisfaction with
terrestrial affairs, and even wished to see the Eoman
characters superseded by the Hebrew alphabet. A
survey of education afforded him still less comfort.
Youth were taught to reverence " Enthusiastic phan
tasms, humane (human) magistralities, self-weaved
ratiocinations, forced extractions, indulged sensua-
tions, and unwitting scepticisms."
The various events of Bampfield's diversified Ufe
strikingly reveal the roughness of those times, and
of the pastor's way in particular ; besides illustrating
what was too oiten the experience of a dissenting
minister in the reign of Charles the Second.
We have now specially to refer to Saturday,
February 17tli, 1682, the place being that sanc-
tuarium of Nonconformity, Pinners' HaU. The con
gregation is not a large one, but every member is
genuine, as is sure to be the case in time of danger
and trial. The pastor, who is in his pulpit, is now
an old man, and in addition to the furrows of time,
he discovers some honourable scars of hard service.
Suddenly, and without warning, a company of armed
men enter the room, the leader exclaiming, " I have
a warrant from the Lord Mayor to disturb your
meeting." " I," replied Bampfield, " have a warrant
from Christ, who is Lord Maximus, to go on." TMs

THE SABBATARIAN B.^.PTISTS. 167
brave or defiant mien, however, avails nothing.
The preacher is ruthlessly pulled down from his desk,
and, with six of his foUowers, arraigned at the bar of
that impersonation of justice and patron of feasting,
the Lord Mayor, who, with undissembled pleasure,
fines the culprits ten pounds each. Other strange
events were destined to characterise that memorable
Saturday. In a short space the time arrives for
afternoon meeting, for none of these veterans intend
relinqmshing their second service on account of their
preceding experience. Anon, tMs service is speedUy
interrupted by the representatives of civic justice,
and a scene ensues which perhaps is scarcely pre-
cedented in the Mstory of Pinners' HaU. The oc
cupants of the pews warmly remonstrate with the
official intruders, untU the latter, with abashed faces
and apologetic tones, excuse their performance of
duties which necessity alone compels them to dis
charge. Although again arrested, Bampfield is imimediately
dismissed. He next opeiUy proceeds to his o-wn
house, and there conducts the service which the law
forbids his holding in the Pinmakers' HaU. On the
mormng of the foUowing Saturday, the 24th of
February, pastor and people are again molested, the
former being dragged from his pulpit while in the
act of prayer. Bible in hand, he is led captive
through the City streets, testifying to the spectators
that, for Christ's sake, he willingly surrenders Uberty.
According to their predilections, the citizens express

168 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
sympathy or resentment. " A Christian Jew ! " ex
claims one party, whUe others as readily reply, "A
martyr ; see how he walks, with his Bible in his
hand." Ultimately, the Lord Mayor commits him to
gaol, and he is sentenced to imprisonment for Ufe
for refusing to swear allegiance to the King, although
his principal crime was, doubtless. Nonconformity.
On hearing the judgment of the Court, Bampfield
essayed to speak, but could only evoke the reply of
" Away with them ! " We have only to follow the
old confessor to Newgate, for there the dismal tragedy
of his suffering is ended in February, 1683, at the
age of seventy years. In those days, the Dissenters
possessed a graveyard in the -vicinity of Aldersgate,
and thither, in the wintry morning, were conveyed the
remains of Francis Bampfield, the ceremony of inter
ment being attended by " a very great company of
factious and schismatical people." *
Edward Stennett was in every respect a man
superior to Francis Bampfield, whom he succeeded
in or about 1686. It is to be regretted that the
materials at disposal for making a sketch of his Ufe
are too scanty to do the subject justice, the memofr
of Ms son Joseph being the principal source whence
our facts and inferences have to be drawn. Very
probably Edward was the first of his family to pro-
* Athenae Oxonienses; Calendars of State Papers, Do
mestic Series, Charles II. ; Crosby's History of the EngUsh
Baptists; Calamy's Account and Continuation; Wilson's
History of the Dissenting Churches, &c.

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 169
fess the Baptist tenets, or even to embrace the Non
conformist regimen; for, on the breaking out of
civil war, his principles prompted an espousal of the
ParUamentary cause — a procedure which estranged
him from his nearest relations. Besides sorrow of
heart, tMs action ensured a large amount of tem
poral difficulty. He practised physic whUe dis
charging the functions of a Dissenting preacher.
His success in the medical profession far exceeded
his expectations, since he amassed sufficient means
to start his children handsomely in life.
After the Eestoration, Stennett bravely shared the
common trouble, and in his turn suffered imprison
ment for conscience' sake. Eesiding at WaUingford,
he had a home in some apartments of the castle in
that town, wMch then existed entire. This baromal
stronghold ha-ving been associated with the most re
markable portion of the pastor's Ufe, we may venture
on a short digi'cssion to say a few words concerning it.
The Parliamentary borough of WaUingford, situated
about fifty mUes from London, was anciently of some
importance, as is testified by the Eoman ramparts
which may yet be traced, and by the antiquarian
reUcs occasionaUy discovered. In the year 1006
the town became a prey to Damsh invaders. About
haK a century later the castle was inhabited by
Wigod the Saxon, who, when the prestige of his
race decUned at the battle of Hastings, conformed
to misfortune, and entertained the victorious WU-
liam during his march to London, in 1066. A

170 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Norman officer wedded Wigod's daughter, and on
this son-in-law's inheiiting the castle, he superseded
the old pile by another more in sympathy with con
tinental tastes. Amid the quarrels of hostile par
ties which characterised succeeding centuries, the
weather-beaten walls and towers went through some
hard service, now resisting, and anon succumbing to
the fury of maddened assaUants. The middle of the
seventeenth century found the castle in a state of
decay, but the whole being speedily repaired, passed
into the hands of the EoyaUsts, from whom it was
wrested by Fairfax, in 1646, to be utterly demo
Ushed in succeeding years.
At the Eestoration era, as just stated, Edward
Stennett resided in the castle at WaUingford.
Among other privileges attached to this place, and
a remnant of feudal times, was this : no civil
functionary, ranking lower than a Lord Chief Justice,
could grant warrants of search, no matter how great
the emergency. Stennett resolved on taking advan
tage of a fact so auspicious, and, therefore, in spite
of squire and parson, he metamorphosed the hall of
kings and barons into a Nonconfoirmist conventicle,
for the innovation could be effected with impunity,
if only ordinary caution were exercised to exclude
such undesirable society as common informers. The
consummation of the project suppUed an apt illus
tration of the proverb, "An Englishman's house is
his castle." So uninterrupted a progress to Non
conformity, however, gave unspeakable annoyance to

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 171
those brave gentr)-, whose too liberal scheme of ethics
embraced the rustic joviality of maypoles and village
ale-houses. As the resident magistrate cast many
maUcious glances at the proud gates of WaUingford
Castle, his fre was stirred by the remembrance that,
not by Ms puny authority could those venerable
towers be humbled. By false pretence or stratagem,
various were the endeavours made to get an emissary
admitted, for the Dissenters' keenness in scenting
interlopers was every way worthy of and as pro
voking as their general mien and teaching. In fact,
the Nonconformists had literally encamped in the
very midst of the enemy's territory, their citadel,
meanwMle, wearing a front as boldly defiant as those
mud ramparts described by Foster, which could be
neither stormed by surprise nor reduced by perse
verance. But with " The Merry Monarch " gracing
the tMone, and wUling hands to support a different
order of things, it could not be tolerated that this
centre of religious infiuence should continue to
flourish. The squire and parson aUuded to con
vened a conference, whereat were debated certain
grievances, but those of WalUngford in particular.
Ultimately resol-ving to honour the maxim, " all is
fair in love and war," they determined to e&''ect, by
questionable measures, what a fair and open pro
cedure refused to accompUsh. The arts resorted to
were suggested by purest knavery. Witnesses were
to be Mred who, for a certain consideration, would
supply the wanting testimony. The parson, it is

172 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
true, had openly expressed friendship for Stennett,
because the physician had ably served him in his
professional capacity without accepting fees. But
now Dissent had to be repressed, and, if necessary,
by the sacrifice of both principle and gratitude.
The witnesses were duly marshalled, each having
his appointed task, and as success appeared not un
likely to attend their manoeuvres, Stennett took due
precautions to thwart the conspiracy. The plotters
were in high spirits. When the assizes came off
at Newbury, even the presiding judge acted like a
•confederate ; but on the morning of hearing some
curious disasters discomfited the conspirators. A
son of the judge, an Oxford student, who was to have
shared the perjury, opportunely absconded with some
strolling players. Both by his presence and by his
lying testimony, the parson designed aiding the pro
secution, but death suddenly disconcerted his plans.
Sickness cut down one of the witnesses, accident
prostrated another; at length, but one of any im
portance remained, and on him were fastened the
dearest hopes of the party. This man was a gar
dener, whom the Stennetts had partiaUy employed,
and, although by them he had been very considerately
treated, they had never ventured on admitting Mm
into the haU at the hours of service. By bribes
and by drink the better nature of this gardener was
temporarily overcome, yet, prompted either by super
stitious fear, in consequence of the strange turn
events had taken, or by remorse for his ingratitude,

THE SABBATAEIAN BAPTISTS. 173
he disappointed his employers at the critical moment.
Instead of testifying against his master, he expressed
penitence for his individual wickedness. When,
therefore, he walked into court on the day of trial,
our physician found the course completely cleared,
and the proceedings against Mm were immediately
quashed. After the death of Francis Bampfield, Stennett
succeeded to the pastorate at Pinners' Hall, but be
cause he stiU continued to reside at WalUngford, he
only visited London at stated periods. He was
pecuUarly happy in Ms fainUy, his sons and only
daughter no less exempUfying the Christian graces,
than they did those inteUectual accomplishments
which rendered them the charm of cultivated circles.
Benjamin and Joseph entered the Dissenting minis
try, Jehudah succeeded Ms father in the practice of
physic, and honoured Ms Jewish name by publishing
a grammar of the Hebrew tongue at the age of nine
teen. Miss Stennett discovered an aptness for learn
ing equaUy worthy of her family, her knowledge of
the ancient tongues being such as members of her
sex only rarely acMeve. The favoured sire of this
amiable galaxy just sur-vived the triumph of Liberty
in the accession of WiUiam the Third, in 1689.
The pastor's remains rest with those of his lady, in
the town so closely associated with his life and
labours.* * ' ' Here Ues an holy and an happy pair ;
As once in grace, they now in glory share ;

174 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Abingdon, in the county of Berkshire, is ranked
among the most venerable of English towns, dating
its foundations, as some imagine, from the days of
the ancient Britons. The name, being of Saxon
origin, signifies the toiun of the ahhey ; for at Abing
don in the olden time flourished one of the wealtMest
of monasteries. The ancient borough records contain
some interesting items — e.g., here lived Offa, King of
Mercia ; and here an English prince, afterwards Henry
the First, was educated. Not, however, on account
of such matters do we make this allusion to Abingdon;
but rather, because, in 1 6 6 3, Abingdon was the birth
place of Joseph Stennett.
This divine — a son of the eminent physician al
luded to above — spent his youth with his father at
WaUingford. In early life he mastered Hebrew,
French, and ItaUan in a manner to discover his re
markable pMlological capacities. Probably directed
by his father, he also fulfilled the prodigious task of
systematically studying the writings of the Christian
Fathers ; and by a diligent attention to these and to
Scripture, his principles became eaflyand firmly fixed.
After honourably acquitting himself in the prepara-
They dar'd to suffer, but they feared to sin.
And meekly bore the cross, the cro^wn to ¦win ;
So Uv'd as not to be afraid to die.
So dy'd as heirs of immortaUty.
Eeader, attend : though dead, they speak to thee ;
Tread the same path, the same thine end shaU be."
Vide Epitaph on Edward and Mary Stennett in WaUingford
Cliurchyard.

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 175
tory stages of Ms education, he left his parents' roof
to settle inLondon, in 1685 — one of the most gloomy
and humUiating periods of our national history. At
that date, indeed, the friends of our constitution were
troubled, not so much by the death of a profligate ruler
as by the accession to the throne of his popish brother.
During the momentous five following years, when events
transpfred, and triumphs were achieved, the blessing
of which we are yet enjoying, Stennett was quietly
located in the capital, earning his living as a common
tutor. A a young man he was a keen-sighted poU
tician, who gladly lent Ms genius and wit to the
cause of the patriotic party. Many of the squibs
privately cfrculated by the Whigs were the offspring
of Ms versatUe pen. In the Indulgence year — 1 657
— Dissenters would have been more extensively
allured by the specious bait but for Stennett's dex
terity in versification— the means he employed to
expose the wily monarch's real design, meanwhile
taking care plentifully to strew the printed copies
among the Nonconformist assemblies. After the
happy accession of WUUam the Third a coUection
was made of this revolutionaiy literature ; but hav
ing been pubUshed anonymously, it is now impos
sible to distinguish our author's handiwork.
On religious liberty being restored by the Eevolu
tion, Stennett earnestly turned his attention to what
he had long considered his legitimate work — the
Gospel ministry. At the outset of his course he
ably acquitted himself at an evening lecture set up

176 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
by the Baptists at Devonshire-square. It soon be
came evident that his learning, natural talents, and
-winmng mien were sufficient to raise him into an
enviable station among the Nonconformists ; but to
Ms cost, in a pecuniary point of -view, his principles
coincided with those of the Sabbatarians to whom
he engaged himself, in 1690. Stennett's mastery of
EngUsh would have eminently quaUfied him for suc-
cessfuUy discharging the functions of the orator, had
his vast knowledge and ready utterance been attended
by a larger compass of voice. It having been
otherwise ordained, one humble sphere constituted
his lifelong pastorate. What a path of conscien
tious self-denial he trod is shown by the scantiness
of his followers, and also by that poverty which pre
vented their raising anything considerable to-\vards
their pastor's support. Besides tending Ms regular
charge, he very generaUy employed himself on the
ordinary Sabbath. For a number of years he thus
mimstered to the General Baptists of Barbican — a
station he reUnquished, in consequence of a disagree
ment, in the last year of the seventeenth century.
Stennett sufficiently meddled with politics to prove
Ms patriotism, and to lay bare his purely unselfish
nature, as anyone may judge .from his published
pieces. Among those numerous addresses which, in
1698, congratulated the King on his escape from
assassination, none were more heartily sincere in ex
pressions of loyalty than the one which our author
Mmself drew up and presented on behalf of the Bap-

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 177
tist denomination. Other passages in Stennett's life
are sad illustrations of that fierce animosity which
then separated the English people from their neigh
bours of France. Several years prior to the date we
write of — in the dark days when Louis the Four
teenth basely revoked the Edict of Nantes — a
Huguenot trader, of the name of Gill, sought an
asylum in England. He was accompanied by his
two daughters — one of whom became Mrs. Stennett,
while the other married Daniel Williams, the muni
ficent founder of the Ubrary named after him.
Threatened by imminent perU, Gill had hurriedly
forsaken his native countiy, leaving property behind
to the value of £12,000. Lord Preston, the am
bassador of Charles the Second at Paris, was com
missioned to represent the case fairly to Louis the
Fourteenth ; and that despot readily signed an in
strument promising the restoration of the estate; but
when the Eevolution changed the aspect of English
affairs, and for a base betrayer of his people's honour
substituted a Prince of Orange, passionately eager
to humble the haughtiness of France, Louis found
it inconvement to remember his engagement. Never
theless, it was supposed that some persons might ven
ture across the Channel to investigate the probability
of being able to reclaim the estate ; and on account
of Ms fluency in the J'rench language, Stennett was
adjudged the individual most likely to succeed in so
hazardous a service. The latter, in his anxiety to
serve his father-in-law, would have embarked for
12

178 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
France had not the counsel of more judicious friends
occasioned the project's abandonment. It subse
quently transpired that the pastor had escaped the hard
usage of certain other EngUshmen who, while travel
ling through French territory, were grossly maltreated.
In the year 1700 Stennett retired to Tunbridge
WeUs — then, as now, the fashionable resort of plea
sure-seekers and invalids — to recruit his strength,
which a dangerous illness had recently reduced.
Although his modesty blinded him to the fact, he
ingratiated Mmself in the good opinions of the dis
tinguished company with whom he daily associated.
Thus while benefiting on the one hand by relaxation
from pastoral cares, by the pure atmosphere, and by
drinking the waters ; on the other hand, he materiaUy
widened the circle of Ms acquaintance. One of that
circle, Mordecai Abbot — one of Stennett's most gene
rous friends — as receiver-general of the customs, was
a great favourite with WiUiam the Third. A genial
and high-spirited Nonconformist, Abbot never missed
either public or private opportunities of honouring
the principles he professed. For Stennett he showed
particular fondness — an attachment as warmly re
turned, as the epitaph on the abbot's grave survives
to testifj^ * TMs gentleman and his amiable daughter
* " Just, prudent, pious Abbot's dust
Has found a sleeping-place beneath this stone ;
Earth, in thy bosom hide thy precious trust,
TUl his departed spirit claim its own.
How that returning soul -wUl joy to see
Her body as immortal and as blest as she!"

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 17 9
were prematurely and almost simultaneously removed
by death. Stennett so acutely realised the severity
of the loss that the shock threatened to impair his
constitution. Meantime, Stennett's great learmng and correct
judgment won general appreciation. While he
ranked as a principal leader of his denomination
in the capital, provincial admirers, and even those
in foreign cUmes, avaUed themselves of his wisdom
and impartiality when perplexed by cases of disci
pline or of disagreement. By reading his pieces,
whether in prose or verse, such persons in the dis
tance naturaUy formed a high estimate of Stennett's
powers and personal character. As Baptists, they
had haUed with grateful deUght their champion's
able and temperate rejoinder to Eussen's True Pic
ture of the Anabaptists. On the appearance of
Stennett's treatise many outsiders were found, who,
whUe not sympathising with the author's conclusions,
yet faUed not to commend the wit, learning, and
good temper pervading his pages — virtues but poorly
cultivated by controvertists of the Augustan age.
Besides such services of the pen, the pastor proved
himself a formidable disputer, since Quakers and
Socinians, Nonjurors and Eomanists, were made to
smart in succession. Had health and leisure been
awarded, he intended writing a complete and elabo
rate history of the Baptist denomination — a work
posterity may regret the want of; for had it been
written, the succeeding century and a quarter would
12*

18 0 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
not have seen the Baptists suffer as they did from
the unskilful hands of incompetent historians.
His answer to Eussen forms the fifth volume of
Stennett's works in the edition of 1732. The first
four volumes are chiefiy sermons and poems, the
sermons having been taken down in shorthand ; for,
on account of his fluency in our language, the pastor
never favoured written notes, but stored Ms memory
with ideas rather than words. After Ms death many
regretted the irrecoverable loss of numbers of very suc
cessful discourses, these not ha-vingbeen secured at the
time of delivery in the manner described. In Non
conformist circles Stennett's poems were very popular,
but many of these fugitive pieces, parted with in
manuscript to private individuals, were lost for ever ;
whUe others, by not being inserted in the coUected
edition of their author's works, no less mournfuUy
passed into oblivion.
During the war of the Spanish Succession, or those
years of widespread carnage, of terror, of devastation,
and of what are popularly called great victories, the
national conscience would seem to have been seared,
till even such a kindly nature as animated Stennett
could attend with comparative complacency, and even
with emotions of exultation, to narratives of whole
sale destruction of life, and to evidence of misery's
having extended her empire to the homes of un
offending peasants, provided such peasants were
classed with papists, and were sufficiently unfortunate
to live under Louis the Fourteenth.

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 181
The terror inspfred throughout Europe by the
encroacMng ambition of the French king, must ex
cuse that passion for war and hatred of France so
characteristic of our fathers. The barbarous cam
paign of 1704 culminated in a double triumph —
the capture of Gibraltar, and the magnificent victory
of Marlborough at Blenheim. Hundreds of burning
towns and villages, whence the luckless inhabitants
were driven into neighbouring woods and fields,
marked the track of the chivalrous aUies. Anon,
these preliminary manoeuvres were followed by the
defeat or the almost anmhUation of the French at
Blenheim. The pamphlet literature of the day yet
testifies to the extravagant joy which the news occa
sioned throughout the nation: the pulpits of the
Nonconformists resounded loudest with thanksgiving
sermons. The discourse by Stennett was immediately
printed, and eagerly read by admiring thousands.
Some unknown person presented a copy to the
Queen, and her Majesty showed her appreciation by
ordering the author a gratuity from the privy purse —
a procedure thought the more remarkable, because
Anne in her most genial moments assumed an un
gracious mien before Dissenters. As we read the
sermon to-day, when the enthusiastic patriotism
which inspired the preacher has subsided into sober
Mstory, this performance reflects honour on the head
rather than on the heart of its author ; for sooner than
conceal the satisfaction, which the cutting off of prodi
gious numbers of human beings afforded, he exult-

182 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
ingly dUates upon the fact that the arms which
cMefly struck down myriads of papists, or drove them
panic-stricken into the Danube to be drowned, were
not those of Germany, but of Protestant England.*
None were found who more vehemently vindicated
the war than did the Dissenters ; f for, in our fathers'
eyes, Louis the Fourteenth exactly personified what
is moraUy bad and politically contemptible. Sten
nett ably and largely shared in the doings of those
stirring times. The addresses to the throne and the
* " Our enemies have not only been conquered, but cut off
in prodigious numbers ; many squadrons which escaped the
edge of the sword were precipitated into the Danube, and
dro-wned therein, as the Canaanites were in the river of
Kishon, and the Egyptians before in the Eed Sea, and a
great number of battalions made prisoners of war ; so that
a numerous and well-disciplined army was not only routed,
but, in a manner, totally ruined. . . . They so ordered
the matter that, when their army was broken, a great part
of it was so enclosed by the confederate forces, that it was
impossible for them to escape, and many others found no
other way of retreat than that of throwing themselves into
the Danube, lea-ving their camp and the spoU of it to the
conquerors; and that which ought to endear to us the
memory of this action, and to give a particular accent to our
thanksgivings, is, that the forces of the Protestant princes
and States, and more especiaUy the EngUsh troops, had the
far greatest share in it, and consequently of the honour that
attends it." — Vide Stennetifs Thanksgiving Sermon for the
Victory at Hochstadl {Blenheim).
^ " And how much soever peace is to be desUed, especiaUy
after a long and expensive war, yet 'tis so very evident that,
'tis impossible for the balance of power in Europe to be pre-

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 183
petitions to ParUament which he assisted in drawing
up, amply prove that the avocation of the divine
-sufficed not to engender an indifference to politics.
When the war at length drew to a close, Stennett
assumed a somewhat conspicuous place among the
notables of the memorable year 1713, when, be
trayed by the renegade Harley, the Tories, and even
by thefr Sovereign, the better part of the English
people indignantly witnessed the signing of the
disgraceful treaty at Utrecht. In such seasons of
national humiliation, there is ever a sufficient num
ber of sycophants forthcoming, who, only anxious
about advancing their individual interests, satiate
the ears of royalty with contemptible adulation. On
this occasion the ranks of the parasites were more
tMckly peopled than the national credit for honesty
could afford. The WMgs were now completely at
bay. The Tories or Jacobites, to consummate their
triumph, strenuously endeavoured to evoke congratu
latory addresses from persons supposed to belong to
neither of the great poUtical parties. The ascendant
faction tried the experiment of flattery on the Three
Denominations, but to the Dissenters' honour, even
served, and the trade of the nation to be retrieved without
reducing the exorbitant power of France to just Umits, and
restoring the cro-wn of Spain to the house of Austria, that we
think it much more eUgible to bear the burden of a just and
necessary war than weakly to faU into the obvious snare of
a dishonourable and destructive peace." — From a paper by
Joseph Stennett, ivritten for presentation to the lionov/rable mem
bers for London, in 1708.

184 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
the least sanguine were disappointed at the result.
The conditions of the treaty of Utrecht were emi
nently solacing to the pride of that exhausted and
bewildered tyrant, Louis the Fourteenth, because
more was surrendered to Ms rapacity than he would
have dared to demand, and the articles of peace ren
dered completely nugatory the enormous outlay of
treasure, life, and national reputation, which sustained
the sanguinary campaigns of the war of the Spanish
Succession. In their united capacity, the Noncon
formists contemptuously spurned the Tory advances,
but not losing hope, the latter imagined that, being
the smaller body, the Baptists would rejoice to bask
for a season in the sunshine of Court favour. Four
peers were commissioned " to try what could be
done with the Baptists." The leaders of the forlorn
hope staked their all on Joseph Stennett, now in the
last months of his life. The pastor listened to pro
mises of government favour and of royal protection,
but these could not estrange him from the conscien
tious procedure of the other denominations. Neither
myself nor my brethren, said he, can ever he hrougU
to justify with their hands what their hearts disap
prove, and no particular advantage to thejnselves can
ever counterhalanee their regard for their country. An
answer as honourable to the Stennetts as it was
worthy of English Nonconformity.
Stennett's high quaUfications, natural and ac
quired, would have rendered him a very desirable
trainer of others for the profession he so well

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 18o
adorned himself, had not a multiplicity of business
and constitutional weakness forbidden his attempt
ing such a scheme of education. Nevertheless, in
his closing years, several youths were lodged in his
house whose studies he partially directed.
That ardent pursuit of knowledge which charac
terised Stennett's early Ufe, and which, indeed, he
never suffered to abate, is supposed to have weak
ened his fragile body, and ultimately to have cut
short his life and usefulness. In the early part of
1713, when symptoms of decay appeared, he was
only in Ms forty-ninth year. His weakness in
creased wMle the season advanced. The last dis
course he preached was a funeral discourse for that
friend of the Stennetts, and the pastor at Little
Wild-street, John Piggott. In search of health,
Stennett now undertook a journey to KnaphiU, but
it soon became apparent that he had only removedf
to die. In Ms last hours, wife and children gathered
around his couch to receive the dying counsel of
their best earthly friend. A bystander, on enquiring
what feelings the pastor experienced in the near
prospect of life's awful change, received for answer,
" I rejoice in the God of my salvation.'' Many
attach pecuUar value to the latest utterances of the
great and good ; such persons wiU be edified to learn
that Stennett's last spoken words were pereectly
SATISFIED. When his remains were carried to
Hickenden churchyard, the mournful ceremony of
interment attracted large concourses of people from

186 ancient meeting houses.
London and surrounding towns, who, by gathering
around Joseph Stennett's grave, paid a last tribute
of respect to the Christian, the philosopher, the poet,
and the divine.
The vacancy occasioned by the death of Joseph
Stennett remained unfilled for fourteen years — a fact
for which the fewness and poverty of the people
satisfactorily accounts. Of Edward Townshend, who
succeeded at or about Christmas, 1727, little or
nothing can be told, although his term of office ex
tended to the year 1765. Thomas WMtewood fol
lowed two years later. After preaching but three
times Whitewood died, and several mimsters — John
Macgowan, John Eeynolds, Dr. JenMns, WilUam
Clarke, and John Eippon — successively served in
turn on Saturdays. At Midsummer, 1780, Eobert
Burnside was called to the ministry, and in 1785 to
the pastorate ; he may therefore be said to have been
a London minister through a period of forty-six
years. Being a native of Clerkenwell, Burnside was re
moved thence during infancy to Snowfields, Ber-
mondsey,and the home of those early days continued
to be his home for the remainder of life. Educated
successively at Merchant Taylors' School and Aber
deen University, he was a man of ripe scholarship, his
classical attainments, in particular, having been held
in sufficient repute to prompt several famUies of dis
tinction to secure Ms services in tuition. Possessing,
moreover, a strong constitution, he scarcely expe-

the SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 187
rienced illness till the closing month of his life, if
we only make exception of that weakness of sight
and defective hearing bj"- which he was permanently
aflicted. Notwithstanding aU drawbacks, his manners
were affable, and his whole mien revealed the polished
gentleman. By teaching, by authorsMp,* also by
* His principal "work, pubUshed in 1825, is entitled, "Re
marks on the Different Sentiments entertained in Christendom
relative to the Christian Sabbath." This is an octavo volume
of 354 pages. Besides serving as an iUustration of our
author's style, the foUo-wing extract -wiU interest the reader :
" The Sabbatarians derive their appeUation from the
pecuUar tenet held by them concerning the scriptural weekly
Sabbath, as being the last day of the week since our Lord's
resurrection as weU as before it. They make their ap
pearance in the history of the Church as early as theU
Christian brethren who are of a different opinion from them
in this particular. Their Sabbath is said by the historians
Socrates and Sozomon, to have been kept, in conjunction
-with the first day, everywhere among the Christians, except
at Eome and Alexandria, for upwards of three centuries.
Accordingly, the seventh day and the first day are called
sisters by Gregory Nyssen. Strong remonstrances were made
against not keeping both days by St. Ignatius and others,
and penalties were ordered by the CouncUs of Tullo and
Laodicea to be inflicted on clergymen who did not observe
both days as festivals. At length Constantine, the first
Christian emperor, issued a proclamation about a.d. 321, in
favour of the first day solely, which was foUowed by several
others similar to it. In consequence of these edicts, which
strictly enforced the observance of the first day without
making the smaUest pro-vision for the seventh day, that had
hitherto been on an equaUty -svith the other, the Sabba
tarians, Uke aU other reUgious bodies that found themselves

188 ancient meeting houses.
officiating at public services on the First day, he
found full employment for his time and diversified
talents ; but by passing his days in bachelorhood, bj'
practising an extreme economy, and by divers eccen
tricities in private life, he occasioned many to mis
interpret his actions and to misunderstand Msmotives.
Thus at his death an exaggerated report gained cur
rency that, the late president of the four or five old
people, who then constituted the expuing society
of Sabbatarian Baptists, had amassed a fortune of
£40,000. If Burnside did evince some singular
aggrieved by imperial and ecclesiastical mandates, seem to
have retired into Abyssinia ; for there, as ScaUger and Brere-
wood, the professor of astronomy inform us, they stiU
remained in the time of Queen Elizabeth. Whether they
returned to Europe soon after the decrees of Constantine
does not appear ; but most probably, like many other bodies
of people who could not in conscience accede to all the
decisions of princes and councUs on reUgious subjects, they
took refuge in the valleys of Piedmont. Prom there they
emerged, it would seem, about the beginning of the Eeforma
tion; since, according to Bishop White, history associates
them, in the time of Luther, ¦with the people caUed Anabaptists,
in Germany. Their state in England during the seventeenth
centui-y, was sufficiently important to draw the attention of
professors Brerewood and WalUs, who -wrrote against them ;
as also did White, Bishop of Ely, by the direction of Laud,
Archbishop of Canterbury. There were Sabbatarians among
the refugees who came over to this country from Prance.
A century or two ago there were several congregations of
Sabbatarians in London, and also congregations of them in
many of the counties in England ; but theU state in this
country at present is very low. However, in the United

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 189
predUections, such failings Avere amply counter
balanced by that amiabiUty of disposition which
advanced him into the high esteem of the Three
Denominations ; and his enviable capacity for im
proving social intercourse is proved by a number
of allegories he expressly composed for the enUven-
ment of the tea-table at a neighbouring ladies'
school.* After enjoying so lengthened a term of
uniform and uninterrupted health, our author at
length departed rather suddenly. On the first Satur
day of May, 1826, he officiated as usual at Devon-
States of North America, whither some of them went
from England during the reigns of the Stuarts, they have
greatly increased within these few years. One of their
churches has 900 members. Another of them, in the year
1820, received an accession of 140 members in the space
seven months. Among ¦their communities are two churches,
the foundations of which were laid by persons from Germany
and Scotland; from the former in 1720- With respect to
their reUgious principles, as far as is kno-wn, they have
always been, and still are, connected -with that description
of Christians which in this country bears the name of
Protestant Dissenters, and more particularly with that
denomination of them caUed Antipcedobaptists, or Baptists.
But they do not aU hold the same doctrinal tenets, either
here or elsewhere, any more than the other descriptions
of Christians. Those to whom I belong {i.e., Eobert
Burnside) are styled Particular or Calvinistic Baptists. Their
creed may be found in the doctrinal articles of the Church of
England, and in the Assembly's Catechism."
¦• Vide "Tea Table Chat, or Eeligious Allegories told at
the Tea Table in a Seminary for Ladies." By Eobert Bum-
side, 1820.

190 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
shire-square; what proved to be his last sermon
having been preached on the foUowing day, at MUl-
yard, Southwark. On retiring from the latter ser
vice, the weakness of bodily decay rapidly overtook
him, and he died on the 19 th of the month named.
During Burnside's continuance in office, few or no
accessions were made to the number of Ms foUowers.
Under the care of his successor, J. B. Shenston, this
little band assembled in Eldon-street, Finsbury,
and some scanty remnants of the denomination are
still to be found in Whitechapel. As an intimate
friend of his predecessor, Shenston published A
Tribute to the Memory of Eobert Burnside. This
pamphlet drew forth some cutting animadversions,
which provoked its author to publish a defence of
his Sabbatarian sentiments : The Authority of
Jehovah asserted. " As Mr. Shenston now regards
the fourth commandment as his rule in regard to the
Sabbath," wrote the reviewer of the latter piece in
the Baptist Magazine, " He must of course enforce
its requirements on both Ms congregations.
Did he ever consider that men are not at Uberty to
keep two weekly days of rest ; that it is as much
their duty to work six days as it is to worship God
on the Sabbath ? " Written throughout in a caustic
strain, tMs article, and also the answer it elicited,
occasioned at the time an interesting stir. Indeed, as
regarded the review, one authority even hazarded the
opinion, that nothing so severe had previously ap
peared in the Baptist Magazine.

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 191
During the last summer (1869) some things
found their wa)- into the newspapers about an
ancient society of Sabbatarians who perpetuate their
quaint order by maintaimng a scantily-attended
meeting in MiU-yard, Goodman' s-fields. As do
account of these people has been forthcoming the
remainder of tMs article wiU be devoted to their
Mstory. It is only fair to state that the records of Mill-
yard have never been easy of access, and had it not
been for the discovery of some manuscript references-
to the old settlement and its unfasMonable surround
ings, what foUows would not have been written. In
treating of the general subject of Sabbatarians in
London, the mistake should not be made of con
founding these people -with the society planted by
Bampfield in Pinners' HaU. The two churches
represent two distinct denominations. The followers
of Bampfield and Stennett were Cal-vinists ; their
brethren in Whitechapel were Arminians. The
latter are now understood to be in sympathy with
Socinus. In what are somewhat facetiously caUed the
" good old times " the citizens called Whitechapel
the Essex-road, their most excellent reason for so
naming the thoroughfare being, that this Essex-road
formed the highway into Essex. Although not then
so crowded with traffic as now, Whitechapel was a
main outlet from the capital, and the homes of its
substantial inhabitants, lining the broad roadway.

192 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
overlooked a never-ending stream of vehicles con
stantly arriving from or departing for the eastern
counties. The Whitechapel of those days was en
livened by the presence of many hospitable hostelries,
some of which yet remaining are quaintly interest
ing. Numberless travellers, in these old inns have
experienced a pleasant introduction to London. The
hay-market is an ancient institution, as is likewise
the butchers' quarter. "They carry on a good
trade," observes one trusty chronicler, "and kiU
excellent meat, lying so convenient to have their
cattle from Eomford Market."
Early in the seventeenth century that Sabbath-
day's disgrace to London, Petticoat-lane, as an at
tractive semi-rural retreat, had it shady hedgerows
and stately elms. The house wherein John Strype
first saw the light, occupied a court in this lane,
which the inhabitants named after the famous his
torical collector. The same mansion was also once
occupied by Hans Jacobson, jeweller to James the
First. In the same locaUty stood the house of the
Spanish ambassador.
But we are concerned with Mill-yard, Goodman's-
fields. Who was Goodman, and when did he flour
ish ? Questions curiosity may have often put with
out obtaining an answer. Goodman was a yeoman
of the Elizabethan era, whose sleek and healthy cows
grazed on smooth meadows surrounding his farm
stead, the area of which is now covered by the
murky streets of the Minories. During his youth

THE SABBAT.\JtIAN B.A.PTISTS. 193
the historian Stowe habituaUy called at Goodman's
dafry for a halfpennyworth of milk, the quantity
carried away for that humble coin having been
tMee pints or a quart, according to the season.
TMs pleasant inheritance, in natural course, dis-
cended to the younger Goodwin, who even at so
early a date, and notwithstanding the laws made for
repressing the growth of London, found he could
secure larger profits by letting land for build
ing than by the prosaic avocation of cow-keeping.
In the times we "write of the neighbourhood was
a favourite retreat for fashionable and substantial
people, on wMch account it appears to have been
chosen as the site for a theatre.
Among the manuscripts of the late Walter WUson,
in Dr. WiUiams's Library, are some particulars of the
MiU-yard Sabbatarians. WUson, as is well known,
industriously coUected materials for Nonconformist
history, and he woiUd have laid posterity under yet
greater obUgation, had a more Uberal encouragement
been awarded his endeavours. Whatever he under
took, Wilson accomplished thoroughly, and Dissen
ters of aU denominations wiU continue to hold his
name in grateful remembrance.
The society in MiU-yard is of ancient foundation,
its planting dating as far back as the reign of
Charles the First. The history of the original
meeting-house, wMch was destroyed by fire, may be
possessed by the present occupants ; but the people
seem to be animated by an hereditary aversion to
13

194 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
commumcating anytMng about their ancestors. An
example of their caution occurred at the beginning
of tMs present century, when the pastor, then in
possession, demed WUson access to the records. The
historian was told that the church had existed for
two hundred years, an improbable story, since such
a reckoning would extend backward to the days of
James the First. " He, i.e., the pastor, is not disposed
to communicate any particulars," says the manu
script, " and says there is nothing concerning Ms
church that is at aU material for the public
to know." But Wilson, not to be completely
balked, recovered from various quarters many facts
belonging to the annals of these peculiar noncon
formists. Of the pastors of tMs church who preceded the
Commonwealth, if there were such, no accounts
survive. The first Arminian Sabbatarian preacher,
about whom history breaks silence, is John James, a
WMtechapel silk- weaver of humble origin. While
of deUcate constitution, necessity compeUed his
toiling to supply more mouths than he could
convemently feed; but notwithstanding he seems
to have gladly borne the burden of ministering to
some forty followers who congregated in the chapel
in Bulstrake-alley. His pubUc discourses proved
the preacher to be far gone in enthusiasm if not in
fanaticism. From these failings sprang his future
troubles. About a year after the Eestoration, the
authorities learned that the preaching mechanic

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 195
boldly proclaimed the dreaded, because highly dan
gerous, tenets of the Fifth Monarchists. Only a few
months before, the citizens had been extremely
terrified by a band of these mad sectaries, who,
¦with flaunting banner and scriptural watchwords,
emerged from their meeting, indiscriminately to
shoot or otherwise to maim unoffending passengers,
and aU by way of inaugurating that theocracy they for
long had predicted. We shaU scarcely be suspected
of unduly sympathising with the Government of the
Eestoration ; but it is idle and unfair to blame that
Government for repressing zealots who regarded no
Ufe sacred when its sacrifice furthered their ex
travagant designs, and who read the Bible as a
poUtical text-book untU they lost sight of the
spiritual significance of its peaceful precepts. Eccle
siastical Mstorians, however, foUow one upon the
other in a weU-beaten track, accusing Charles and
his administration -with persecution in regard to
thefr treatment of these people, meanwMle for
getting how CromweU — as zealously as ever did
the Stuarts — by spies and by the law, sMelded
Mmself from zealots whose crotchets were dangerous
because subversive of aU eartMy rule. It is a
questionable procedure to paint the worst of kings
in hues too black to be beUeved. Charles, for ex
ample, issued a proclamation against these uncom
promising enthusiasts; and so far from regarding
that document as " a characteristic specimen of
Stuart knavery and audacity," as does a late

196 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Baptist Mstorian, it seems to have been demanded
by reason and necessity.
The poor weaver, John James, was doubtless suf
ficiently harmless, and would have pursued a useful
way had he not adopted sentiments peculiar to a sect
whose strange doings and worse threatenings struck
with dismay their brethren of the Baptist denomina
tion, no less than they did all other parties. Never
theless, we cannot doubt that James had many
enemies, whose action may have been prompted by
mercenary or revengeful motives. However this
may have been, one Tipler, a journe3'man pipemaker,
volunteered information of the sedition which, as he
averred, made part of the weekly teachings, and
which were uttered sufficiently loud for the pipe-
makers to hear while following their daily business.
One objection remained in James's favour : Tipler
was " a scandalous idle fellow," and no justice would
receive Ms unsupported testimony. A neighbour
then appeared to make good the accusation, and the
justices supposed they were but consulting pubUc
safety by maintaining due surveillance over the as
semblings of Bulstrake-alley. On the afternoon of
Saturday, the 19th of October, 1661, a magistrate
and an attendant visited the service. The magis
trate's servant ordered James to leave the pulpit,
while accusing him of treason ; and on his unheed
ing the interruption, the preacher was dragged from
his desk amid great uproar.
It now remaiued to tender to the entfre society

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 197
the oath of allegiance. The congregation, instead of
being aUowed to depart, were despatched in com-
pames of seven to a tavern near at hand ; thence, if
they declined the oaths, to be remitted to Newgate.
That tMs was not the first occasion of James's
arrest transpfres in his examination by the lieutenant
of the Tower. The prisoner confessed having pre-
-viously appeared before their worships, when the
bench very civiUy treated him, and cautioned him
about exercising for the future a more sober circum
spection. He admitted his sympathy with the Fifth
Monarchists, the Bench meanwMle indulging in some
merriment, and exclaiming, " Now we have it from
Mmself." Some things adduced as teUing against
the pastor were trifling and ludicrous. He had ac
commodated a lodger, for example, who annoyed the
neighbourhood by practising on a war-trumpet, and
now it was argued that James used the instrument
in question for the purpose of attaining perfection
against the day of a contemplated insurrection. Thus
the court ended the sitting of that autumn day with
— "Take this man, be careful of him, and commit
him close prisoner to Newgate."
When the trial came on in Westminster Hall the
charge against James had nothing to do with religion.
He was arraigned " for preaching maliciously and
traitorously against the life and safety of our sovereign
lord the king, and against the peace and government
of the whole realm." However unjustly he may
.have suffered, it is only fair to remember that James

198 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
was not condemned for reUgious teaching, but for
treason against the State. The jury, it has been
supposed, were unfavourably biassed, for a mys
terious message received by the pastor while con
fined in the King's Bench before his trial, advised an
objection to certain "pickt men" who were sum
moned. If the prisoner adopted the advice volun
teered, and purified the juiy-box of the obnoxious
persons, there is less reason for supposing he had an
unfair trial as trials went in those days. Although
condemned to death, James tiU the last stoutly main
tained the reasonableness of his political principles.
On the last Sabbath of Ms Ufe he addressed a small
company of friends in the yard of Newgate, when he
as bitterly denounced the rule of Cromwell as he did
that of other earthly governors.
Some facts belonging to the imprisonment of this-
remarkable man are humiliating revelations of the
England of the Eestoration. While the prisons in
their loathsomeness resembled literal lazarettos, the
delinquencies of prison officials were in terrible keep
ing with the iniquitous dens they superintended.
The prisoners were as miserable as disease and filth
could make them. The warders were grasping, heart
less, and unsympathising. In the person of James-
a culprit was delivered into their charge whose woes
in his highest prosperity might have provoked the
compassion of generous hearts. By hard, prolonged,
and painful effort he had barely supplied the wants
of his numerous family. But no such considerattona-

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 199
affected men grown caUous by prison associations.
TMs man, whose drudgery at Ms daily business
usuaUy reacted on his system tiU it deprived him
of sleep, was not used worse than myriads of others,
when on being delivered to the officials of Newgate
he became a prey to their avarice. They stole his
clothes, and worried him out of sums of money,
varying from one to sixteen shUlings — prisoners'
fees, and fees which officials, whether of high or
low position, were not ashamed to exact at the
expense of starving famiUes.
But another trial — and one infimtely more shock
ing to posterity — feU to the lot of this unfortunate
Fifth MonarcMst. On the day preceding his execu
tion the hangman visited Ms lodging and demanded
twenty pounds, " that he might be favourable to Mm
at Ms death." His victim being too poor to raise
so large a sum, this literal " scum of the earth "
reduced Ms desfres to ten pounds; and anon, on
coming down to five pounds, the wretched bribe-
seeker tMeatened to " torture him exceeding " if so
reasonable a consideration were not forthcoming.
Stripped of his clothing and robbed of Ms money,
James could only consign himself to the miscreant's
mercy. If in Ms daily life he had favoured an extravagant
enthusiasm, James in Ms last days displayed much
Christian heroism. Seldom has death more com
pletely lost his sting. The charms of life were out
shone by the superior lustre of unfading realities.

200 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Visitors thronged Ms apartment to witness the
triumph of his faith. On the last evening of his
Ufe he exultingly observed to some friends who were
present, " I sup with you to-night ; but you would
be glad to sup with me to-morrow." Nevertheless,
he endured temptations. Dark seasons occurred
when the flesh quailed, and when even his brave
heart trembled before the ordeal through which he
was passing. After perspiring with agony through
such a season, he would rise, declare the trial past,
and express that "joy and peace unutterable " which
possessed his spirit.
Even more an'ecting was the fareweU he took of
his wife. After Mrs. James had unsuccessfuUy
petitioned the King in person to pardon her husband,
they separated in the strongest hope of being eter
nally reunited ; and thus, by the grace of God, were
"as wiUing to part as ever they were to come
together." Then came the end. James was taken from
Newgate on Wednesday, the 26th of November, to
be dragged on a hurdle to Tyburn, through the mud
and water of the sloppy and Ul-paved streets. " The
sheriff and hangman were so civU to him in his exe
cution as to suffer him to be dead before he was cut
down." According to the repulsive custom of the
time, his limbs were exhibited on the city gates, and
his head exposed on a pole to the denizens of White
chapel. If a misguided, James was at least an
honest man ; and, if he may not be classed among

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 201
the martyrs of the Church, for the sake of what
was sterling in his character he deserves to be re
membered with respect. If not a martyr, he was at
least a victim of those stirring times in which his
lot was cast.*
John Savage, who died in 1726, presided for a
great number of years over these Sabbatarians.
During his pastorate the removal from Bulstrake-alley
to MiU-yard occurred. This divine is stated to have
been the grandfather of Dr. Savage.
Savage enjoyed the assistance of an able lecturer
in the person of John Maulden, who, prior to the
Eevolution, keenly suffered from steadfastly adhering
to the principles of Nonconformity. Eefusing to
discontinue preaching, and being unable to pay the
ruinous fines of twenty pounds a month, he was
arrested and tMown into Clerkenwell gaol, his goods,
meanwhUe, being sold by his persecutors. At
ClerkenweU he passed his days among common
felons, but remaining himself uncontaminated, he
became to his rough associates a rare exemplar of
Christian patience. His history shows that even
the wretched government of the Stuarts could ex
perience momentary shame at the scandal in-
* " The Speech and Declaration of John James, a weaver
in the pressyard at Newgate, on Sunday last, to the Pifth
Monarchists, &c., 1661." " A Narrative of the apprehending,
commitment and execution of John James, who suffered at
Tiburne, November the 26th, 1661, &c." See also the
Calendars of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1661; and Crosby's
History of the English Baptists.

202 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
separably connected with the incarceration in
noisome dungeons of men whom God had appointed
to dispense His gospel. Thus it happened in the
case of Maulden and others that criminals' quarters
were exchanged for more comfortable accommoda
tion. On regaimng his Uberty Maulden settled with
the Baptists of East Smithfield, who, on account of
the dangers attending the holding of pubUc ser-vices,
assembled in private households. After the Eevo
lution this society erected a chapel in Goodman's-
fields. The pastor, however, did not for long share
this freedom and prosperity, for, accepting office
under John Savage, he continued with the Sab
batarians till released by death in 1714. He is
the author of several pubUshed pieces.
Eobert Cornwaite, the successor of Savage, was a
native of Bolton, and bom in 1696. His father
dying early, and the family being large, Eobert con
tributed to their support by establishing a school.
He also proved his capacity to think for himself by
setting his kindred the example of seceding from
the National Church in favour of Presbyteriamsm,
and thence, by another step, he joined the Baptists.
On assuming pastoral responsibilities he stayed with
his first charge at Boston about twelve months. The
encouragement he met with to work among Dis
senters was not of the warmest kind, and, had not
conscience dictated his principles, his opportunities
were ample to have retreated from an unattractive
path into the more comfortable parterre of the

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 203
AngUcan Church. He appears to have shown a
changeable temperament, but after once forming his
opimons he would zealously defend them. On
settling in London he became attracted by, and then
interested in, the controversy regarding the Sabbath,
the result being Ms convereion to the sentiments of
the Sabbatarians. Succeeding in 1726 at Mill-yard,
he there laboured tUl Ms death. He was a man of
great literary activity, and wrote in defence of the
distinguishing tenet of his denomination, having
been honoured by the opposition of Samuel Wright
and Caleb Fleming. " His death was sudden, but
pre-viously to it he had expressed a complete and
absolute resignation with respect to the length and
shortness of his life." Of one Peter Eussell, an
assistant of Cornwaite, and who was stationed over
tMs church in 1730, no memorials have survived.*
Daniel Noble was set apart for the ministry at
MUl-yard in the autumn of 1755, and remained tUI
his death in 1783, meantime holding another charge
at Barbican. Noble was bom at WMtechapel in 1729. After
being grounded in grammar learning by a local
tutor, the pastor Cornwaite directed his education.
He appears to have been no ordinary school-boy, for
he differed from Ms companions in so far, that he
loved to burden Ms memory with longer lessons
than either his elders or prudence prescribed. His
* Daniel Noble's Sermon on the death of E. Cornwaite ;
Protestant Dissenters' Magazine, vol. vi.

204 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
strange predilections would draw from his tutor the
impatient exclamation, " Get you gone ; have I no
other boys to hear but you ?" From his childhood
upward. Noble enjoyed a training worthy of his
abilities, his parents from the first having intended
him for the Nonconformist ministry. After passing
his boyhood in London, he removed to Kendal, and
studied under Dr. Eotheram, thence removing to
Glasgow University. On returning to London in
1752, he succeeded in due course at MiU-yard, and
also established a school at Peckham. But teaching
and divinity were not the only objects of Noble's
pursuit. Loving Uterary activity, his experience in
authorship commenced in his sixteenth year, or in
1745, when he wrote against the Young Pretender
in a Letter to the People of England. In maturer
years he started a periodical called The Library,
which only lived till its thirteenth issue. Dr.
Jeffreys, who survived Noble about three days,
prepared a funeral sermon for his friend, but died
before he could deliver it ; and, although he pro
nounces a high eulogy on his character, it is not
more extravagant than justice demanded. That he
was able and learned, Noble's lifework is sufficient
proof He may also have been eccentric; for
whether so or not he called his chUdren by eccentric
names, his three daughters having been distinguished
one from the other byExperience,Eusebia, and Serena.*
* Dr. Jefireys' Sermon on the death of Daniel Noble;
Protestant Dissenters' Magazine, vol. v.

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 205
WiUiam Slater succeeded Noble, and died in
August 1719. He was followed by his grandson
W. H. Black. The church at MiU-yard still exists ;
but any further allusion to its modern upholders
wiU not be expected in this place.
We must take our fareweU of the Sabbatarian
Baptists. On the formation of Bampfield's Society
in March, 1675, they had a meeting-place in the
old chapel at DevonsMre-square. Thence they re
moved to Pinners' Hall ; thence to Broad-street ;
thence to Curriers' HaU, Oripplegate ; thence to Eed-
cross-street, and so back again to Devonshire-square.
From DevonsMre-square we trace them to Fins-
bury, there to lose sight of them, as we are
unable to identffy them -with the little church in
WMtechapel The regard these people showed for the seventh
day entaUed a self-denial too burdensome, or at the
least, an inconvenience too oft repeated, to allow of
their attracting adherents in any considerable num
bers after the subsiding of Puritan enthusiasm.
That they could act with straightforward con
scientiousness, it were easy to prove; since to
adduce but one example, the father of Burnside
on embracing Sabbatarian views, unhesitatingly
sacrificed a lucrative business to principle. Thus,
while unable to sympathise with them in all things,
we honour the memory of these singular people as
the memory of good Christians and honest citizens
deserves to be honoured ; and gladly add this

206 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
chapter of their Mstory to our annals of Noncon
formity in London.*
* Prom time immemorial it has been customary -with those
observing the seventh to aUow others to assemble in then-
chapels on the first day. In the year 1700 the Presbyterians
settled at MUl-yard. Their pastor was Samuel Harris,
formerly of Canterbury, who seceded from a charge
at Wapping in consequence of some change of sentiment,
the nature of which we do not understand. According to
WUson's manuscript he proved an acceptable preacher, and,
as a Cal-vinist, divided ¦with the Subscribers at Salters'
Hall in 1719. As Harris grew in years, his secluded habits
and singular bearing lost him many friends and led to the
¦decrease of the congregation. He had several lecturers, but
"does not appear to have agreed ¦with any of them," says
Wilson. The assistants aUuded to were John Lewis, John
Shuttlewood, Samuel StockweU, and another of the name of
Clark. The first retired from a meeting in Eopemakers'-
aUey, in consequence of disagreeing ¦with his people. The
second served at MiU-yard tiU 1711. The third, after com
ing to a misunderstanding ¦with his superior, settled at
Eedcross-street. The fourth came from Potter's Pury, and
retired from the ministry in 1730. Harris was succeeded by
Joseph Waite, formerly of Saffron Walden and Eomford.
' ' When he came to London he was advanced in years, and
yet a preacher of no smaU courage and boldness." Without
any pretensions to scholarship or culture, he kept up the
congregation. In or about 1 74 1 , the Presbyterians left MUl-
yard and the chapel was occupied on the first day by a
society of Baptists, who paid £10 annuaUy for the accommoda
tion. These enjoyed sufficient prosperity to remove twenty-
two years later into premises of their own in Church-street
Whitechapel. Mathew EudmaU, who came from a neigh
bouring chapel in Virginia-street, held the pastorate tUl his
death in 1756. He was foUowed by John Brittain, an

THE SABBATARIAN BAPTISTS. 207
nineducated tradesman. After itinerating for a time about
the south of London he was regularly ordained. He laboured
¦very zealously by ministering to his own large congregation,
and by setting up two lectureships which he partly sustained.
TTis election at MUl-yard occasioned division ; but not^with-
standing some discontent he had numerous foUowers, being
in fact " extremely popular." An anecdote told of Brittain
strikingly shows how deficient in common knowledge even
popular ministers might be in the Georgian era. One day
Brittain and a friend crossed Moorfields for the purpose of
hearing the great orator, who in those days preached in the
Tabernacle, named after him. An expression in Whitfield's
sermon — " Some people are as ignorant of reUgion as they
.are of algebra" — suppUed a topic of conversation during the
walk home 'to dinner. " Aye," enquired Brittain, with
laudible curiosity, " what language is algebra ?"
We may also notice, "AsmaU society of Particular Bap
tists," who favoured MiU-yard with their presence. John Mat-
Jock, "not a very honourable character," preached here. He
left for America, and we lose sight of him. Thomas Thomas, a
native of Aberdeen, was also connected ¦with this society.
He studied at Bristol under Hugh and Caleb Evans. Leav
ing coUege in 1780, he settled at Pershore, there to be
rendered uncomfortable by disputes and dissatisfaction. On
visiting London, in 1787, he settled at MUl-yard, where he
stayed tUl his death in 1808. During his pastorate the chapel
was destroyed by fire and rebuUt, but remained without its
.first day frequenters tUl August 1805, when the Indepen
dents reopened the first day services.

Cljapter VI.
BUET STEEET, SAINT MAEY AXE.
Probably few only of the sightseers who occasionally
spend a week in London, are ever found turning
down Bury-street, Saint Mary Axe, to visit the-
quaint chapel, which through so many years of in
terest was associated wibli the honoured name of
Watts. Nevertheless, in the locality specified the-
sanctuary may be found, but degenerated into a;
merchant's wareroom. The venerable pile will by
no means strike its visitors as being ornamental.
The plainest of brick walls with openings for the
plainest of leaded windows, were what our chapel-
building fathers thought proper for a house of
prayer. Their chapels, moreover, were so erected^
from choice rather than necessity, or were so in
numbers of instances ; for the society under notice-
was one of the richest in London of the Independent
regimen. As we walk up this London street, many things
belonging to the past will fiit across the memory.
In the olden time, when Popery was dominant, the
abbots of Edmund's-bury inherited a town residence--

bury STREET. 209
in this -vicinity. Prior to the confiscation of the
monasteries, at the da-wn of the Eeformation, the
site of Bury-street meeting-house was occupied by
the Priory of the Holy Trinity, founded by Matilda,
Queen of Henry the First. After the King had
confirmed the gift, the house became extremely
wealth}-, and consequently strongly provoked the
imtiatory attack, when in 1531, Henry the Eighth
decided on demoUtion. He who chiefly benefited
by the imfortunate monks' change of fortune was Sir
Thomas Audley, successively Speaker of the House
of Commons, and Lord ChanceUor. This gentle
man came into possession of the estate, and after
taking down a portion of the mansion, he converted
the remainder into his town residence, and there
<Ued during the reign of Mary. Holbein the painter
Ukewise died of plague in this house, in 1554, after
having enjoyed the patronage of Henry the Eighth,
and that of the Norfolk family. Henry had de
Ughted to honour the artist ; for a king, here-
marked, could in a single day make twenty nobles,
but never a single artist. The daughter of Sir
Thomas Audley married one of the Howards, and
after the dukedom of Norfolk, therefore, one part of
the neighbourhood we are concerned with is caUed
Duke's-place. It was in the days of Queen Anne
that the dissenting congregation, then assembUng
on Sabbath afternoons at Pinners' Hall, prevaUed
•on one Charles Great to lease them a portion of
Ms garden at a ground-rent of twenty pounds,
14

210 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
upon which site they erected the chapel stUI
extant. During the reign of WilUam the Third the con
gregation assembled at a private house in Mark-
lane, but in the summer of 1704 they removed to
Pinners' Hall. Four years later the building in
Bury-street was provided at a cost of £650. This
chapel, which in happier days had three gaUeries,
was opened by Thomas Bradbury, in October 1708.
At that date the congregation ranked Mghly among
Nonconformists, many of its members having belonged'
to famiUes of title or distinction.
The founder of tMs important church was Joseph
Caryl, the ejected minister of St. Simon Magnus,
London-bridge. He was born in 1602, and trained
at Oxford University. His descent was genteel, and
to the polished manners of good breeding, he added
the art and subtlety of the accomplished disputant.
In his twenty-fifth year, when national troubles-
loomed in the distance, Caryl took holy orders, and
commenced his pulpit exercises in the vicinity of
Exeter CoUege. As he grew in years the preacher
became "puritamcaUy incUned," but obtained the
lectureship at Lincoln's-inn. Amid the social and
political confusion engendered by the Civil Wars,
Caryl continued an uncompromising adherent to the
cause of Freedom; and accordingly he frequently
officiated before the Long Parliament. About this
conjuncture he obtained the living of St. Simon
Magnus, and in that situation found employment on

BURY STREET. 211
several state occasions. He attended the commis
sioners at Newcastle, who there waited on Charles
the Fiist, in 1646. In the Athense Oxonienses we
are entertained with an anecdote concerning this
journey. The King, as all know, treated Presbyters
themselves with Mgh contempt, as he did their
preacMng. He one day refused to delay Ms dinner
wMle one of them invoked a blessing. During their
stay at Holmby House, in Northamptonshire, Caryl
and his companion, Stephen MarshaU, offered to
officiate before his Majesty, but were of course
demed the honour. The King, it seems, also pre
ferred saying grace himself — a piece of presumption
wMch Marshal once thought well to rebuke : —
" WMle he was long in forming his chaps, as the
manner was among the saints, and making ugly
faces, Ms Majesty said grace himself, and was faUen
on Ms meat, and had eaten up some part of his
dinner before Marshall had ended the blessing."
Caryl, Wood has deigned to inform us, " was not so
impudent." He likewise attended the King at New
port, in the Isle of Wight, and was appointed to the
melancholy office of chaplain on the fatal 30th
January, 1649 ; but his services were decUned, as
were also those of his coUeague, Philip Nye.
During the Commonwealth, Caryl rose into high
favour, as his numerous printed sermons preached
before the Parliament on special occasions testify.
In 1650 he attended CromweU in the Scottish
campaign, and after returning to London was ap-
14*

212 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
pointed a ministerial Trier. Through those momentous
years Caryl may too often have descended from his
high vocation to poUtical interference, but his every
day life never ceased to discover the laborious and
popular minister. The near prospect of the Stuarts'
return, however, prompted a renewal of his poUtical
activity ; yet, while he conferred with Monk on the
state of the nation, we do not find that he opposed
the King's restoration. After the consummation of
the last-named event, Caryl retired to his charge of
St. Simon Magnus, of wMch he was finally deprived
by the Act of Uniformity.
The daily life of tMs old divine is said to have
been a fair acting out of his sermons. Of his literary
abilities and enormous industry he has left us the
most substantial evidences ; indeed, his stupendous
Exposition of the Book of Job, in twelve volumes
quarto, is one of the marvels of EngUsh Uterature.
Probably only the author and the abridger ever
perused tMs book throughout, which since the day
of its being ushered into the world has resisted the
witticism of ironical pleasantry. Nevertheless, this
Exposition is a great work, and its intrinsic worth
is fitly represented by its material bulk. It is the
best commentary extant on the patience of Job, and
a complete study of it will be found " a very suffi- ,
cient exercise for the virtue of patience, which it
was chiefly intended to inculcate and improve."
Only little in addition to the above can be told of
this able Puritan. He died at his house in Buiy-

BURY STREET. 213
street, in February, 1672, and several published
poems commemorate his departure. At the crisis
of death the pastor requested his friends to with
draw, so that his soul might pass away in soUtudc.
He then raised his hands, apparently to signalise his
triumphant departure. *
Another learned divine and able preacher con
nected with this society was WilUam Bearman, the
ejected mimster of St. Thomas's, Southwark. After
reUnquishing Ms cure he retired to Hoxton-square
— a classical spot to Nonconformists. Being pos
sessed of considerable wealth, he escaped that ordeal
of poverty which so heavily pressed upon others.
His naturaUy benevolent disposition prompted him
to become his own almoner. Eight almshouses were
erected and endowed in the rear of Ms residence.
TMough a wicket-gate, opening from his private
grounds, tMs benefactor was wont to pass into a
kind of little chapel, where he habitually met his
jjensioners, either to advise with them or to impart
reUgious instruction. The topographist Maitland,
rather sneeringly refers to this institution, because
the endownent, as he supposed, consisted merely of
a quantity of coals ; but had further enquiry been
made he would have discovered an endowment in
money. Thus Bearman in life manifested extra
ordinary benevolence, and at death bequeathed the
' Athenae Oxonienses ; Nonconformists' Memorial ;
Calamy's Account and Continuation; WUson's Dissenting
Churches.

214 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
whole of Ms estate for the benefit of Noncon
formity.* The year 1673 was a gloomy era in the annals of
Nonconformity. It witnessed the revocation of that
famous Indulgence which, only a few months prior,
the King had proclaimed, but the rescinding of
which the Londoners celebrated with shoutings and
bonfires. In this year, while the sun of that great
Puritan author, Joseph Caryl, was setting, his people
in LeadenhaU-street were looking towards a stUl
brighter luminary of the Christian Church, John
Owen, or as his admirers with some reason style
him, the " prince of modern divines."
Considering of whom he wrote, the account of
Owen by Anthony Wood, is probably as wilful a
piece of historical slander as the range of literature
affords. He was a very consistent maintainer of the
dogma, that kings are incapable of error, and are
therefore not to be resisted. Our unamiable his
torian is so absurdly loyal, that he -wUl not even deign
to allow a distinction between wanton rebellion and
a reasonable opposition to tyranny. At random, he
accuses persons of perjury whose action in life was
in strict accordance with the requirements of honesty
and patriotism. By acting on Wood's morality, those
fellows of universities who swore aUegiance to
Charles, must have proved themselves traitors to
the State had they observed the strict letter of their
* Calamy's Account; Maitland's History of London;
Wilson's History of the Dissenting Churches.

BURY STREET. 215
oath. Adherence to a king M'ho himself becomes
recklessly lawless, may not be extolled as loyalty.
The above remarks have been suggested by the
maUcious spleen of Anthony Wood, as discovered in
Ms article on Dr Owen, in the Athense Oxonienses.
It is perfectly obvious to those who are correctly
acquainted -with the story of his life, that Owen's
conduct in espousing the popular cause, was con
scientious, reasonable, and patriotic.
The family of Owen lays claim to some ancient
importance in the PrincipaUty of Wales, although
the father of our subject was an Oxfordshire school
master, and only occupied an humble station. He
was sufficiently fortunate, however, to get instaUed
into the -\icarage of Steadham, in the county named,
and in that viUage Ms son John was born in 1616.
John's earUest tutor was Edward Sylvester, who
during the reign of the first James, grounded youths
in grammar learning in the parish of All Saints,
Oxford. Having progressed through the curriculum
of tMs old schoolmaster, the young scholar matri
culated at Queen's CoUege, and while there, proved
Mmself possessed of more industry than prudence
by frequently aUowing himself but four hours'
sleep. At tMs early date Ms assiduous appUcation was
not prompted by religious enthusiasm. He was
ammated by no purer motives than those wMch are
commonly found to urge on ambitious youth to fame
.and fortune. To young Owen's unformed judgment.

216 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
the arena of politics wore a face as attractive as the
fairer field of theology.
Having made sufficient progress in his studies,
Owen at length decided for the Christian ministry, and
took orders as prescribed by the regime of the Estab
Ushed Church. It is yet doubtful if Owen would
ever have made a good Anglican, even had he Uved
in more peaceful times. Before he completed his uni
versity course, the lad was shocked by the procedure
of Laud, who, with that dominant spirit so charac
teristic of his nature, introduced into coUeges many
strange innovations, provoking the more conscientious
students to revolt, although others, less scrupulous,
conformed to the times. Because conscience forbade
compliance, Owen, was pointed at as a Puritan,.
and the annoyances of the situation ultimately
obliged Mm to resign his fellowship. After leaving
Oxford he was for a time enveloped in the gloomy
clouds of reUgious doubt. It was about this con
juncture, that he subscribed to the Covenant, and so
far honoured the Presbyterian order. His religious
principles were probably fixed at an early date ; and
from the original basis of his faith he does not
appear to have swerved when he declared for Inde
pendency. As already explained, when civU war
broke out, he zealously espoused the cause of the
Parliament. It was natural and orderly that such
a divine should rise to Mgh favour whUe Cromwell
was in the ascendant. There is no ground for
doubting the purity of those motives which prompted

BURY STREET. '217
Mm to foUow the path described, for thereby Owen
forfeited an estate from his uncle, which as a
" LoyaUst " he would have inherited.
On removing to London, Owen made Ms home
in Charterhouse- square. At this date his confidence
in Christ had not carried him to that triumphant
peace subsequently possessed, and, under Providence,
he became indebted to an unknown friend for the
dispeUing of Ms prevailing gloom. He strolled
away one Sabbath morning into Aldermanbury,
thinking to hear the Puritan rector, Edmund
Calamy. On that particular day a stranger preached,
whom Owen could never afterwards discover, and
whose name he could not even learn. That sermon.
marked a turning-point in the Ufe of our divine, by
inaugurating a reign of peace in Ms souL
The alarm of discord between King and Parlia
ment was now distracting the nation; and one of
Owen's vast abiUty was certain greatly to influence
whichever side he supported, and to be a general
favourite -with Ms compeers of corresponding senti
ment. Accordingly when, in 1642, he published
the Display of Armimanism, that work became
instrumental in advancing the author to the living
of Fordham, in Essex. The vicar of Fordham had
lately been sequestered by the Committee of Inspec
tion; and when the superseded pastor died, another
person was instaUed into the vicarage, so that Owen,
in consequence, transferred himself to " that nest of
faction caUed CoggeshaU." CoggeshaU, therefore^

218 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
traces back to Owen its heritage of Noncon
formity. How effectuaUy the pastor laboured, the
•extensive congregation he raised abundantly tes
tified : the weekly auditory numbered two thousand
persons. Owen was frequently appointed to preach before
the ParUament; and it was after one of these
exercises, in 1646, that he first encountered
CromweU. "Sir," cried the lieutenant-general,
" you are the person I must be acquainted with."
^' That," returned the divine, with ready wit, " wiU be
more to my advantage than yours." The friendsMp,
thus auspiciously begun, between these remarkable
men, continued unruffled tUl the Protector's death.
When Cromwell entered on his campaign in Ireland
he insisted on having the company of Owen. The
latter hesitated, as he cast towards CoggeshaU some
looks of lingering fondness, and thought how unwUl-
ingly Ms people would part with him. A temporary
separation, however, of a year and a half, seems only
to have strengthened their bond of union. When
his term of office expired Owen gladly re-embarked
for England and CoggeshaU, where his people wel
comed Mm with joyful manifestations. So great,
indeed, was CromweU's admiration of Owen, that
the general was apparently averse from traveUing
without the divine. The latter was requested to
attend the forces ordered into Scotland, and on dis
covering a reluctance again to forsake his people, an
order of ParUament compeUed both him and Caryl to

BURY STREET. 219
assume the chaplaincy. After a painful absence of
several months the pastor returned to CoggeshaU.
In the spring of 1651 the eminent services of
Owen were recognised by his being presented with
the deanery of CMist Church, Oxford. By delegation,
moreover, from OUver CromweU, he discharged the
duties of the chanceUorship, and was eventuaUy
elected vice-chancellor. During a short period the
Doctor even sat in ParUament as the University mem
ber. Anthony Wood has bequeathed us a ludicrous
caricature of tMs grave senator, author and preacher,
in a description of him as he appeared about the streets
of Oxford during those prosperous years. He cocked
Ms hat, we are told, and powdered his hair, wore
Spanish-leather boots with lawn tops and gaudy
ribbons, by wMch means he aped the mien of
younger coxcombs. We are further informed, en
passant, by this audacious UbeUer, that Owen was
a perjured time-server, a hypocrite, and a blasphemer.
Such a lying farrago can scarce^ produce other
effect than that of awakening for its concocter
our contemptuous derision. However fantasticaUy
Owen may have arrayed himself, whUe in the Uni
versity city he was assuredly distinguished by a
large-hearted charity wMch commanded the esteem
of other denominations.
At Oxford, Owen led a laborious life both as
regards preaching and writing. He thus progressed
tUl 1657, and in that year Eichard CromweU
deprived Mm of the vice-chanceUorship. Subse-

220 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
quently, when this same Eichard rose to his brief
protectorate, " the Doctor," says Calamy, " was cast
out of his deanery ;" but, according to Wood, " St.
Mary's pulpit was cleared of him." Owen was a
victim, it would seem, of Presbyterian influence. He
is reported by the Oxford historian to have exclaimed,
" I have built seats at St. Mary's, let the Doctor find
auditors ; for I will preach at St. Peter's-in-the-
East." The matter resolves itself into this plain
truth : Owen decided on preaching elsewhere, and
Ms congregation chose to follow Mm.*
* What may be termed the minutise of Owen's diversified
career, plainly reveals the narrow-mindedness and petty
jealousy of the Anglican party during the intoxication of
their regained ascendancy. In 1662,. for example, a Pran-
ciscan monk issued a work in which he extoUed the Eoman
communion as the only refuge of peace from the reUgious
distractions of the times. Somewhat alarmed at this book's
rapid dissemination, his friends prevaUed upon Owen to pro
duce an answer. This the Doctor eventuaUy accompUshed,
but the friar sent back an angry rejoinder. To this Owen
again replied. WhUe in manuscript, the last-named piece was
laid before the Ucensing bishops, who were staggered by two
prominent blemishes, e.g., the apostle Peter throughout this-
work was mentioned as Peter simply without the prefix of
Saint; and the author, moreover, further endeavoured to de
monstrate that the great apostle named was never at Eome.
The Secretary of State, however, peremptorily interfered, or
other-wise, by such contemptible quibbles as these would the
ecclesiastical noodles of the Eestoration have suppressed
the offspring of a master mind. Another churchman, in his
imagined superiority, refused to concede to Owen the title of
Eeverend. " I do give him notice," wrote the Doctor, " that

BUET STREET. 221
Dr. Owen made a principal figure at the Savoy
Conference. His sun of prosperity was clouded for
the time by the removal of his great patron, Crom
weU. The Doctor, in consequence, retired from
Oxford and settled at Stadham, his native town,
where he possessed an estate. In this retirement he
laboured on for the extension of Christian truth, tUl,
at the Eestoration, the county militia finaUy dis
persed Ms congregation. It appears from sundry
documents among the State Papers, and particularly
from a letter by Dr. Lamplough, dated Oxford,
January, 1661, that the excesses of Venner in
London -were made an excuse for oppressing Dis
senters in provincial districts. The soldiers were
busUy employed each Sabbath morning in breaking
up the worshipping assembUes of Independents,
Baptists, and Quakers, not a few of whom found
temporary homes in prison ceUs. * Even the house
of Owen was not sacred against the attacks of these
fanatical cavaUers, who were then striving to get
I have very Uttle valued it since I have considered the saying
of Luther, Eeligion was never endangered, except among the
most reverends."
* InteUigence reached Whitechapel from Plymouth, that
the authorities there were on the watch against an ex-
• pected insurrection of the Baptists, who had for a pastor
the future mart3T, Abraham Cheare. Porty or more of the
church members were simultaneously seized and imprisoned,
because they refused to bind themselves not to take up
arms against the Government. Vide Calendars of State
Papers, 1661 «o 1064, etc.

222 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
the Presbyters included in the order against con
venticles. MeanwhUe, our author was slandered by
lying informers, who represented at Whitehall that,
he and Dr. Goodwin, especially, were dangerous
persons. The chief ground for supposing them such
was their refusal to wear the surplice, although in
former times they had been wont to " wear velvet
cassocks, and receive from five to seven hundred a
year." Fortunately, Owen found a powerful pro
tector in the Earl of Oxford : thus, while true bUls-
were issued against him for convening unlawful
assemblies, he is not found to have suffered any
particular injury. Nevertheless, he sought an
asylum in London, where, in laborious seclusion, he
appUed himself to literature, and, as opportunities
were offered, to preaching. Even in those days of
gloomy misgiving the Government did not entirely
neglect him. Clarendon remained his friend ; and
had Owen chosen to conform he might have in
herited rich preferment. At or about this con
jecture, while religious troubles were thickening
around, Owen was looking towards the American
shore, or the plains of Holland ; for at either destina
tion his services were eagerly sought, and substan
tial rewards in return were offered. " The wind,"
says Anthony Wood, " was never in a right point for
a voyage.'' After the desolation of London by fire and death,.
when Dissent enjoyed a term of comparative freedom,
Owen gathered a congregation in the city wMch

BURY STREET. 225
many persons of distinction supported and attended.
A fierce spirit of persecution was again awakened in
1670, and, in that year, a weighty paper written by
Owen was laid before the House of Lords. The'
author's eloquent arguments and appeals were not suf
ficient to obstruct the progress of the infamous Con
venticle Act. Then came days of anguish to many Uttle
able to bear the ordeal. The Indulgence of 1672
aUowed a short-Uved respite, which extended into
the foUo-wing year ; and, amid the gloomy trouble
which came with its revocation, Owen succeeded
Caryl, at the old meeting-house in LeadenhaU-
street. Such was the amiable mien of our divine, that
numbers among the nobiUty deemed themselves
honoured by sharing his friendship. Even the king
and the "marble-hearted" James both professed for
Mm a generous esteem. On a certain day, during
a visit to Tunbridge Wells, Charles, it is said,
favoured Owen with an interview, in the course of
wMch he expressed a predUection for freedom of
worship ; and, apparently, whUe repenting for the
moment of -wrongs inflicted, handed his visitor a
thousand guineas for distribution among the suf
fering Dissenters. Thus tMs great divine, in Ms-
own immediate circle, and far beyond it, was im
mensely popular. He occasionally found some-
pleasurable days of relaxation at the seat of Lord
Wharton, of Wobum, a nobleman, who, by a Chris
tian hospitaUty, loved to gladden the hearts of Non-

224 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
conformist fugitives. Throughout the Protestant
world of the Continent the fame of Owen, if possible,
was even more extraordinary than in England.
Numbers of scholars, who with delightful profit had
perused his Latin pieces, commenced grappUng with
the difficulties of EngUsh grammar, in order to
achieve the power of studying Owen in his native
language. Others, prompted by even higher enthu
siasm, crossed the sea, visited the pastor, and doubt
less returned to their native marshes with emotions
of elated satisfaction.
Through one period of his busy and eventful life
Owen resided at Kensington. His means were suf
ficiently easy to allow of his keeping a coach, in
which he was more than once stopped on the high
way by agents of the Government — a fact which
illustrates the roughness of these times. In his
sixtieth year the Doctor was bereaved of his wife.
He again married, having for his second compamon
a rich young widow, with whom he retired to
EaUng, a pleasant -vicinity, where, according to
Wood, he " took all occasions to enjoy all the com
fortable importances of this life."
Thus lived John Owen, and he died at length in
¦his sixty-seventh year, in August, 1683. After taking
into account his incomparable quaUfications of intellect
and advantages of person, his mastery over his pas
sions, his persevering industry, his tolerant spirit,
and, more than aU, Ms genuine piety, vast learning,
¦and abundant Works — now the inheritance of the

BURY STREET. 225
church — we may cordially subscribe an opinion
another has pronounced, that Owen is at once the
Prince, the Oracle, the jietropolitan of Indepen
dency.* Among the early lecturers of this society appears
the name of that arch plotter Eobert Ferguson. The
Mstorian Echard has bequeathed us a word portrait
of tMs old Presbyterian : " A tall, lean man, dark
brown hafr, a great Eoman nose, thin jaw.'d, bent in
face, speaks in the Scotch tone, a sharp piercing eye,
stoops a Uttle in the shoulders, he hath a shufiling
gait that differs from aU inen, wears his periwig over
his eyes, about forty-five years of age." Ferguson
was ejected by the Act of Uniformity from the
Uving of Godsmersham, Kent. On leaving his cure
he immediately commenced a system of plotting
which, tUl the period of his death, fifty-two years
later, he never whoUy relinquished. The Govern
ment detemdned on securing him, and, accordingly,
dfrections were transmitted from Whitehall for as
sisting the agents in accomplishing their object.
This occurred in January, 1662—3, at which time
he was supposed to be one of Dr. Calamy's pen
sioners ; for the late Aldermanbury pastor, so people
said, had funds entrusted to him wherewith to
* The authorities to which I am principaUy indebted for
the facts of Owen's Ufe are — A. Wood, in his Athense Oxoni
enses; the Calendars of State Papers, Domestic Series,
Charles II ; Granger's Biographical History of England ;
-WUson's History of the Dissenting Churches, etc. 15

226 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
reUeve Nonconformist fugitives. Be this as it may,
Ferguson was "committed close prisoner to the
gate-house for treasonable practices." After several
weeks' confinement the prisoner petitioned for " ex
amination or speedy trial," and also that his relatives
might be permitted to carry him suppUes. He had
never done aught, he averred, to injure the Eing's
interest, and therefore he was released on giving
bail for £300, to return to his home at Tottenham
High-cross. Although Ferguson had a cMef hand in the Eye
House Plot, his action was apparently winked at by
the Government, till many considered him a Court
spy. He Ukewise superintended a secret press, and
he loved to have it supposed that he himself com
posed what he so prodigally dispersed, such was his
vanity, being " a very empty man." During the
period of his service under Doctor Owen, Ferguson
lived at Islington, where he conducted an academy,
but at length his numerous plottings against those
in power brought him into imminent danger, and
he fled the country. While a fugitive he won the
esteem of Shaftesbury and his party. His next
exploit was to return to England as a zealous pro
moter of Monmouth's ill-fated expedition. Ferguson
wrote the absurd manifesto put forth by that un
fortunate duke, who during his last moments com
plained of the villainy of Ms late accompUce. After
this rising was subdued, Ferguson contrived to escape
to Holland. He again appeared in England, in

BURY STREET. 227
1688, among the supporters of William of Orange,
and he was amply rewarded for his services by
the new Government. Plotting being his natural
element, he felt constrained to join the Jacobite fac
tion. This extraordinary character died in 1714,
and in neglected obscurity. Among his Noncon
formist contemporaries he bore a disreputable
character. Neither Burnet nor Calamy regarded
him as anything better than a political renegade, a
time-server, and a hypocrite.*
David Clarkson was another of that noble band
who sacrificed comfort and even income for con
science sake. On relinquisMng his pulpit at Mort-
lake, m Surrey, in 1662, this staunch old Inde
pendent retfred into studious solitude — a Ufe towards
which his predUections inclined. His seclusion,
however, was interrupted, in 1686, by his acceptance
of the lectureship under Dr. Owen. In the double
capacity of author and preacher, Clarkson was
successful and industrious. He had this favourite
saying, " The blood of the soul runs out in wasted
time." Both Owen and Baxter have portrayed his
character, but neither has supplied any details of
the pastor's labours, and, in consequence, scarcely
anything is known respecting him. Baxter tells us
' Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1662-3 ;
Oldmoxon's, Echard's and Macaulay 's Histories of England;
Calamy's Account and Continuation ; Grey's Secret History
of the Eye House Plot ; Sprat's True Account ; Burnet's
History of His o-wn Time, &c, 15*

228 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
he was " a divine of extraordinary worth, for solid
judgment, healing moderate principles, acquaintance
with the Fathers, great mimsterial abiUties, and a
godly upright life."
As master of Clare HaU, Cambridge, Clarkson in
his younger days instructed the youthful TiUotson.
It is much to be regretted that only such frag
mentary memorials are procurable of one who ranked
so highly in his day as a writer and pulpit orator —
a celebrity which time has scarcely diminished. Ten
years after our author's decease his works were col
lected in folio — " Printed for Thomas Parkhurst at
the Bible and Three Crowns, at the lower end of
Cheapside." The only engraved portrait extant of
this author is the one accompanying tMs edition.
The countenance is full, and pleasingly intelligent,
and from beneath a close-fitting cap his abundant
ringlets reach to the shoulders. A new edition of
Clarkson's writings has been issued, with a memoir
by Dr. Miller, who, however, has not been able to
add anytMng new to the few particulars already
known of his subject, who died in 1686.*
Another assistant of Dr. Owen, Isaac Loeffs — a
fellow of Peter-house, Cambridge — was the ejected
minister of Shenley, Hertfordshire. He settled in
London, and accepted a lectureship at St. Simon
* Calamy's Account and Continuation; Clarkson's Works,
ed. 1696 ; Ditto, Niohol's Puritan Divines ; Granger's
Biog. Hist, of Eng.; WUson's Histoiy of the Dissenting
Churches.

BURY STREET. 229
Magnus, of which the Act of Uniformity deprived
him. His connection with this church then com
menced, and eventually he succeeded Clarkson in
the pastorate, but only survived till July, 1689.
Isaac Chauncy, for convenience' sake, may be
numbered seventh among the early pastors of this
society. He was the ejected minister of Wood-
borough, in Wiltshire. His father, in the days of
the first Charles, was minister at Ware. He re
fused to read the Book of Sports, and on that
account provoked the opposition of Laud. Being
of a timid disposition, the vicar quaUed before his
persecutors when confronting them in the Court of
High Commission, and consequently confessed to
ha-ving been in error in regard to certain matters —
as kneeling at the altar, &c. — which surrender of
principle he so bitterly bemoaned that he withdrew
to New England, and even expressed repentance in
Ms wiU. He died in 1671, leaving six sons, for
whom he chose Hebrew names. Isaac, our present
subject, studied medicine and divinity in an academy
conducted by Ms father, and at an English univer
sity. The family predilections were for the Inde
pendent order ; and after being deprived of his cure
by the Act of Uniformity, Isaac is found to have
settled at Andover. WMle there persecution obliged
him to relinquish his pastorate and to follow the
practice of medicine. When, in 1687, the political
atmosphere showed signs of clearing, and the oppo
sition to Dissent became relaxed, Chauncy associated

230 a:s'cient meeting houses.
himself with the church in Mark-lane. The four
teen j'ears of Ms pastorate which foUowed were years
of discouragement and decline, and he, therefore,
resigned Ms charge in IMarch, 1701. As a preacher
he was never popular, having too frequently dwelt
on themes which his people deemed unsuitable to
their necessities. He was Ukewise a zealous de
fender of Dr. Crisp, and attacked with some asperity
the opinions of Dr. WUUams, the founder of the
library in Eedcross-street.
An assistant of Dr. Chauncy was Edward Terry,
the ejected minister of Great Greenford, J\Iiddlesex.
Among other adventures, the father of this divine
spent two years at the Court of the great Mogul.
His son, with whom we are now concerned, studied
at Oxford, and for a time was engaged as a tutor in
that town. In the year preceding the Bartholomew
ejectment he succeeded to his father's sphere, but
how he spent his time between the secession of
1662 and the Eevolution is not known. In 1688
he accepted a lecturesMp under Dr. Chauncy, and
remained at his post untU disabled hy infirmity.
He died at a good old age in March, 1716, after
a long afflicting confinement.*
The old town of Southampton, or Suth-Hamtun,
as the Saxons, who founded the castle, caUed it, is
remarkable on account of these following events : —
* Athenoe Oxonienses ; Granger's Biog. Hist, of Eng. ;
Calamy's Account and Continuation; Nonconformists*'
Memorial ; WUson's Dissenting Churches.

BURY street. 231
It was there Canute rebuked his flatterers ; and it
was there that Isaac Watts was born in July,
1674. The famUy of Watts was highly respectable, and
figured among the more considerable sufferers for
conscience' sake amid the abounding persecution of
the Eestoration. Thomas Watts, the poet's grand
father, in the capacity of a naval captain, was an
active servant of the Commonwealth Government ;
and by Ms comrades was generaUy respected as a
man of knowledge and taste. An anecdote is told
which strikingly Ulustrates the old sailor's bravery
under any dangerous emergency. During his sojourn
in the East Indies he one day found himself pursued
by a tiger. Being near a river he ran into the
stream — an example immediately followed by the
ferocious enemy. A close encounter ensued, in
which Watts secured the victory by seizing the
animal's head and forcing it under water tiU life
was extinct. This veteran eventually lost his Ufe
by the explosion of his vessel while engaged in the
war against HoUand. His wife long survived him,
and constantly manifested a laudable desire for the
weal of her grandson Isaac ; and the latter, till the
verge of life, held her memory in just veneration.
Isaac Watts, the poet's father, was a Southampton
schoolmaster of estabUshed repute, and the fame of
his attainments and aptness to communicate knowledge
had traveUed across the seas, till famiUes in the British
colonies' were wont to send their children to the

232 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
mother country, in order that they might enjoy his
tuition. Among the two thousand confessors of the Ang
lican Bartholomew-tide, there are two honoured
names closely connected with Southampton — Na
thaniel Eobinsoii, and GUes Say ; the one of All
Saints', and the other of Saint Michael's. The
famiUes of these ejected ministers were intimately
acquainted with the family of Watts, and thefr
attachment was continued to the next generation, as
Samuel Say, a son of the above, and an eminent
Dissenting minister of the last century, was one of
the poet's most valued friends.
During the era of persecution under Charles the
Second, Giles Say and the elder Watts were the
foremost defenders of freedom of worship in South
ampton, and the former became a licensed teacher at
the proclamation of Indulgence in 1672. When, in
the year following, that Declaration was revoked, to
appease the violence of the Commons, and to in
augurate a new reign of persecution, both the
elder Watts and Say were confined in the county
gaol. To this period, therefore, belongs the anec
dote of the poet's mother having been occasionally
observed sitting upon a stone without the prison,
suckling her son. His enemies kept a mostvigUant
eye upon the movements of the elder Watts, and he
was frequently imprisoned. He became obliged to
lead an exile life in London, whence he habitually
despatched to his family those excellent precepts

BURY STREET. 233
which circumstances debarred him from enforcing by
example. In connection with this excellent man, a
curious story is told of a stonemason who sought his
advice under pecuUar circumstances. The man
having purchased the materials of an old house in
the town, one mght strangely dreamed, that while
taking the premises down, a stone — which really
was in the buUding — fell and kiUed him. " I am
not," said Watts, on hearing the circumstance, " for
paying any great regard to dreams, nor yet for utterly
sUghting them. If there is such a stone in the
buUding as you saw in your dream, my advice to you
is to take great care to keep far enough off from
it." Whether the man purposely slighted this
sensible coimsel, or whether he neglected it by in
advertence, cannot be determined; but the stone
feU and kiUed him, in strict accordance with Ms
night -vision.
Young Watts received his early education under
the care of John Pinhome, the rector of AU Saints',
Southampton. Thence, in 1690, he removed to
London to study divinity under Thomas Eowe, the
pastor at Gfrdlers' HaU, where the poet was received
into Christian communion. Those were, indeed,
momentous times. The late king was actively em
ployed in sowing in Ireland the seeds of discord and
sedition. At home by their factious quarrels, Whigs
and Tories were working for the undoing of the
Eevolution, till the patriotic William, disheartened
and weary, was declaring his intention of relinquish-

234 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
ing the hopeless task of reconciUation, by retiring to
his native Holland.
Under Thomas Eowe, Isaac rapidly progressed, and
gratified his tutor by manifesting tokens of future
usefulness. Those years were a pleasant season, and
it is scarcely strange that Eowe was ever after remem
bered by Watts as a model professor. Eowe was a
celibate, and his example, it would seem, prejudiced
Watts against married tutors, as was evinced by the
advice he offered Doddridge on the occasion of the
founding of the Kibworth Academy. Certain it is
that, Thomas Eowe turned out some scholars of future
eminence ; but to affirm that his success at all re
sulted from his untrammeUed social condition, would
be ungallant in the extreme. Neal, the historian,
and other celebrities were fellow-students with
Watts, and in the poet's journal this entry is found :
— " Aug. 5, 1705. Mr. Eowe, my tutor, died." The
good man was one day riding through the City, and
on nearing the Monument a fit seized Mm, and he
fell from his horse and died.
During the four years of Watts's coUege curriculum,
many great events of English history were in course
of accomplishment. It was pre-eminently an era of
war. Ireland was completely distracted untU a truce
was effected by the Peace of Limerick. On the Con
tinent, the Herculean efforts of our general King were
being exerted against the common enemy, Louis the
Fourteenth. The youthful Watts must have given
some attention to such occurrences as the siege of

BURY STREET. 235
Londonderry, the battles of Landen and La Hogue,
the massacre of Glencoe, or on the side of Peace,
the founding of the Bank of England, and a thousand
other tMngs which happened while he was quietly
storing up Ms University learmng. The poet, we
know, was a.lways patriotic, and the remains of his
early days prove him to have been no less pains
taking and laborious as a student. He was not
even dismayed at the enormous application entailed
by abridging such authors as he or his tutor deemed
worthy of so particular a regard. Through life, in
deed, he habituaUy interleaved the books he perused,
and wrote notes on their margin.
In the early part of 1694 Watts completed his
coEege course, and retfred from the household of
Thomas Eowe. He now proved his classical pro
ficiency by complimenting Ms early tutor, John
Pinhorne, in some Latin verses. A Dr. Speed,
moreover, of Southampton, offered to place the
young poet at one of the universities, but the arti
cles of subscription contained sufficient excuse for
rejecting the temptation. From this date, till nearly
the end of 1696, he lived in seclusion beneath his.
father's roof, and assiduously applied himself to the
study of literature, or, as Dr. Gibbons says, " to.
reading, meditation, and prayer " — an expression not
to be too literally understood in the case of so young
a man. Only scanty particulars of this quiet period
in the poet's life are now obtainable, although it was
the period in which many of his Hymns were written.

236 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
The story has been often told, how the poverty of ex
pression and want of poetical fire, discoverable in the
pieces then popular among Dissenting congregations,
were so " little to the gust of Mr. Watts," that he
complained to his father, who counselled him to
" try and do better." Isaac accordingly did better,
until his efforts sufficed to fill a volume. While
thus employed, in the autumn of 1696, he was
invited by Sir John Hartopp, of Stoke Newington,
to remove into his family in the double capacity of
tutor and chaplain.
At that date Stoke Newington was entirely rural,
and had been one of those suburbs where tradesmen's
tokens were aUowed during the seventeenth century.
What the viUage was a hundred years earlier the
parish register of the days of Elizabeth will help us
to form an opinion. During certain specified years
only a single baptism in each occurred, while in
other years no marriages at all took place, or only
one ; and it was the same with burials. In the old
Manor House, then situated near the church, but
taken down after the Eevolution, tradition says the
Princess EUzabeth was occasionally concealed. Some
aged persons who were living a century ago were
wont to tell of an ancient tower — a relic of this
mansion — which they remembered having seen in
their youth. Even in 1793 Stoke Newington con
tained only 200 houses.
This rural suburb was the scene of Watts's en
trance upon the world. The Hartopps, with whom

BURY STREET. 237
he was now intimately connected, were an old
Leicestershire family of established repute who had
ably promoted the cause of freedom during the
troublous era of ci-vil war. Sir John had formerly
attended the ministrations of Owen at the old
meeting in LeadenhaU-street, and as an intense
admirer of that divine, he suppUed some important
manuscripts when the Doctor's works were collected
in 1721. The Hartopps were closely associated
¦with the leading famUies of the Commonwealth,
and even with the Protector himself They were
conspicuous sufferers for conscience' sake in the suc
ceeding persecution. They intermarried with the
Fleetwoods, who were residents at Stoke Newing
ton. General Fleetwood's wife was Ireton's -widow
and CromweU's daughter. The Nonconformity of
either family was of the most uncompromising type,
and both had been molested in common by the mili
tary agents of the now banished Stuarts. The
character of Sir John is portrayed by Watts in Mghly
flattering colours.
Watts preached his first sermon in July, 1698,
and was immediately afterwards elected to the lec
tureship at Mark-lane, under Dr. Chauncy. The
poet's entrance upon the ministry was attended by
a dangerous illness of several months' duration. Dr.
Chauncy ultimately resigned, and upon a momentous
day in the annals of England — March the 8th, 1 702,
when the spirit of William III. was passing away —
Watts accepted the pastoral office.

238 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
An afiSiction of another complexion was the death
¦of Lady Abney's brother, Thomas Gunston, and
Watts's bosom friend. TMs gentleman was about
rearing a sumptuous mansion at Stoke Ne-wington,
when his days were suddenly ended, and Ms depar
ture was commemorated in a poem by Watts. The
¦Gunstons were Ukewise decided Nonconformists,
who had ably served the Puritans in their season of
need. In the summer of 1702, after a pleasant visit to
Southampton, Watts was again prostrated by iUness,
which disabled him for a lengthened period. Then
the time came round for leaving the home of the
Hartopps, and Ms next residence was with "Mr.
Thomas HoUis, in the Minories." Whether in the
¦erection of chapels, schools, or almshouses, this last-
named gentleman was a generous benefactor to the
Nonconformists. Watts prolonged his stay with the
HoUis family till the end of 1710 — a dismal period
in our religious annals ; for the Establishment was
threatened by the inroads of Jacobitism, and a lati-
tudinariau sophistry, M'hile Nonconformity was en
dangered by rival Arian and Antinomian schemes.
During a portion of the time in question the poet's
constitutional weakness obliged a partial or total
abstinence from the burden of study ; and from this
date he appears to have provided himself with an
amanuensis. The people at Bury-street discovered
a laudable soUcitude for their pastor's comfort and
welfare by appointing Samuel Price to the lecturesMp,

BURY STREET. 239
in 1703 — a year made for ever memorable by the
great and unparaUeled storm which swept over and
desolated England. In 1705 Watts pubUshed his
Lyrics, and, two years later, the Hymns, the copy
right of the last having been disposed of for ten
guineas. The year which gave these spiritual songs
to the Church saw the Union completed between
England and Scotland, and the religious world some
what perplexed by the fantastic pretensions to in-
spfration of the sect caUed French Prophets. About
Christmas, 1710, the poet removed from the home
of his friend HoUis, and " went to live with Mr.
Bowes." This same year he begun to use a horse,
and witMn the space of a few weeks rode no less
than eight hundred mUes, including a journey to
Southampton. Although the Hymns appeared thus
•early, the version of the Psalms did not follow tiU
1719, in wMch year four thousand copies were sold.
WMle, therefore, the Hymns are the offspring of the
poet's youthful gemus, the Psalms must be regarded
as the work of his maturer days. The circulation of
these sacred pieces has far exceeded the bounds of
human comprehension, though, as a separate book,
thefr sale is now on the decline.
Alter separating from the HoUis family, Watts
probably remained in his new quarters about
two years. He was again laid low by fever and
nervous affection, to remain in a weakened condition
for a long and weaiy season, and never really
throughout life, perfectly to recover his wasted

240 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
vigour. The church at Bury-street showed their
sympathy, first, by promoting Samuel Price to the
ex-pastorate, and again by observing certain days of
special prayer on the poet's behalf It was also at
or about this date that Sir Thomas Abney invited
Watts to spend a week at Theobalds, where his
family mansion adjoined the royal estate. As all
know, the author's visit to Sir Thomas only ended
with his life — a space of six and thirty years. For
such a student and reader of nature the refined homes
of the Abneys at Stoke Newington and Theobalds,
with their spacious pleasure gardens, were congemal
retreats. Some seventy years ago the poet's favourite
summerhouse at the latter place, standing on the
edge of some artificial water, was pointed out as the
retreat where many of his versions of the psalms
were composed. The society of the neighbourhood
included Eichard Crom-w^ell, between whom and
Watts an unbroken friendship was sustained.
The Abnej^s were an ancient Derbyshire family,
whose original home was at WUlesby. Thomas, the
patron of Dr. Watts, was born there in 1639, and
lost his mother early in life. In the wars which
immediately ensued, the Abneys were considerable
sufferers on account of their espousing the cause of
freedom. Thomas was educated at Loughborough,
and, during his schoolboy days, benefited by the
virtuous solicitude of an aunt, and the adoption of
her instructions appears to have not a little conduced
to his after success. Eventually he embarked upon

BURY STREET. 241
the world as a London tradesman, to become sheriff
in 1693, alderman of Vintry-ward in the year fol
lowing, and lord mayor in 1700, when the honour
•of knighthood was conferred by William the Third.
An anecdote is told of Sir Thomas's retiring from
¦dinner — or "supper," as it was then more appro
priately called — on the mght of his installation, for
the purpose of conducting family prayer. To his
Mgh credit, he won the hatred of City Jacobites by
¦strenuously promoting the poUtics of the Eevolution.
The faction in question was especially chagrined by
a patriotic address transmitted to the King from the
Common CouncU, whUe the former was engaged in
the contmental wars — an action which some sup
posed to be worth more than a million of money to
the Protestant interest, because provincial corpora
tions, by foUowing in the wake of the capital, aided
the Pretender's abjuration and the establishment
of the Hanover Line. The language of Jeremiah
Smith, however, who preached Sir Thomas's funeral
sermon, may not be exempted from the charge of
extravagance when he proceeds to eulogise his sub
ject by making him the foremost promoter of the
Protestant succession.
The pastor's continued weakness necessitated
his continuance in the country air of Theobalds,
and prompted the Abneys to offer him a perma
nent home. Only a week's existence in the Lon
don atmosphere siifficed to provoke unfavourable
symptoms. Watts sought to make amends for Ms
16

242 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
pastoral inability by means of the press. In 1720
he published The Art of Eeading and Writing Eng
lish — written for the use of the Misses Abney, but
published to celebrate the opemng of the Cheshunt
Charity School, which the famUy founded. A volume
of sermons, dedicated to the church at Bury-street,
shortly foUowed. At length he again essayed to
preach, but found himself reduced by weakness to
a pitiable condition. He frequently retired from the
pulpit to a darkened room, where, in utter prostra
tion, he would await the partial recovery of Ms
excited nerves.
As Dr. Watts is known to most persons more by
his Hymns than aught beside, there is something to
be said about the endeavours made by Unitarians to
class the poet's name among their supporters. The
chief offenders are Belsham and Mrs. Barbauld. The
former, in his Memofrs of Lindsay, has done Ms
best to glorify his party at the expense of Watts's
reputation. The Hymns are represented as having
been written at an age of unformed judgment ; and,
on account of having disposed of the copyright, the
author was debarred from making amendments. The
book was circulated, we are therefore expected to
believe, with sentiments the writer would gladly
have altered "if he had been permitted by the
proprietors of the copyright, who knew their own
interest too well to admit the proposed improve
ment." For the correctness of so astounding a
statement, we have Belsham's unsupported testi-

BURY STREET. 243
mony, wMch we are assm-edly not prepared to ac
cept when it turns the balance against the honesty
of Watts. It is true that a correspondence took
place on the subject of doxologies between our
author and an Arian minister, Martin Tomkins ;
but the letters wiU abundantly prove the poet to
have remained sufficiently sound not to desire the
sUghtest alteration in the sentiments of his pub
lished works.
It has become fasMonable to speak of Watts's
poems for cMldren as Ms most humble endeavour ;
yet it may be fairly questioned if any one of the
author's works has enjoyed a more extensive in
fluence for good. It is quite impossible to form an
estimate of what may be the salutary effect of re
Ugious principles instUled into the juvenUe under
standing by means of beautiful couplets, so well
adapted to captivate the heart. No wonder the
work acMeved immediate popularity, or that large
editions only increased the demand for what the
present age has seen dispersed by milUons. In
regard to Mrs. Barbauld, before mentioned, we would
have the procedure to be held in abhorrence, which
has tampered with the handiwork of a dead author,
by making him the apparent exponent of doctrine,
such as his life condemned. In an edition of the
Songs for ChUdren, printed in 1785, we are in
formed that the editor has undertaken to alter
"some particular doctrines and phrases, which
(Watts's) better judgment would probably have
16*

244 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
corrected or expunged." What a labyrinth of
curiosities is the literary world ! Bunyan may be
encountered in a Puseyite guise ; and Watts must
rest contentedly whUe his matchless juvenile coup
lets are metamorphosed into Arian doggrel !
We have grown thoroughly accustomed to the
poet's numbers, and are consequently unable to
reaUse the delight by which they were haUed when
heard for the first time. In one of his letters,
Doddridge has testified to the almost magical effect
upon a rural congregation of
" Give me the wings of faith to rise," &c.
Emotion would scarcely aUow of the singing of the
lines ; and, on enquiry. Watts was found to be the
daily entertainer of such poor persons. " What if
Dr. Watts should come to Northampton ? " exclaimed
one. " The very sight of him would be like an or
dinance to me," was the reply of another. " I men
tion the thing," wrote Doddridge, "just as it was,
and am persuaded it is but a natural specimen of
what often occurs amongst a multitude of Christians
who never saw your face."
In 1719 disputes about subscribing to articles of
faith distracted the Three Denominations, and bred
divisions which many subsequent years sufficed not
to heal. With the laudable desire of restorinsr
union. Watts wrote on such mysteries enshadowing
the Godhead as are wisely hidden from the ken of
humanity. He incautiously advanced opinions which

BURY STREET. 245
were readily misinterpreted by Bradbury, of New-
court, Carey-street, the arch- champion of the Sub
scribing party. The latter would, even in the pulpit,
whether at Ms own chapel or at Pinners' Hall, de
scend to the use of defamatory language. " Jesus,
the searcher of hearts, knows," replied Watts, to
some reiterated charges of Socinianism, " with what
daUy labour and study, and with what constant ad
dresses to the Throne of Grace, I seek to support
the doctrine of His Deity as weU as you, and to
defend it in the best manner I am capable of"
Bradbury and Watts had formerly preserved the
closest friendsMp ; but the former was now bitterly
incensed against the poet, and even spoke con
temptuously of Ms Hymns as "garblings, mang-
lings, and transformings." He once startled a clerk,
in the act of giving one out, by teUing Mm, in sten
torian tones, to " let us have none of Mr. Watts's
Whims." It is painful, even at this distance of
time, to mark the differences wMch could separate
such excellent di-vines. Bradbury was well mean
ing, but excessively bold, and Ms conduct was not
always tempered by prudence. He has earned our
gratitude, however, by the intense zeal with which
he promoted the estabUshment of the Hanoverian
Succession, an action which ensured him the bitter
hatred of contemporary Jacobites. The Government
of Queen Anne, it was reported, proffered him a
bishopric by way of pacification, and, as may be
supposed, the bribe was contemptuously decUned

246 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
This old Independent was also a master at smart
repartee. At a certain crisis of the debate on the
Trimty at Salters' Hall, hisses were more than
usually abundant, which prompted Bradbury de
fiantly to call out, " It is not wonderful that the
seed of the serpent should hiss." The pamphlets
which emanated from his pen are characteristic of
an eager controvertist of the early Georgian era.
To Bradbury an opponent was " a sawcy villain,"
" a blaspheming wretch," or " a sorry buffoon." The
more amiable and timid Watts was quite outmatched
by this determined disputant. Bradbury headed
the Nonconformist deputation which congratulated
George the First on Ms accession to the throne.
" Pray, sir," asked a nobleman, alluding to the
sombre-looking cloaks then worn by Dissenting
ministers, " is this a funeral procession ? " " Yes,
my lord," was the response ; " it is the funeral of
the Schism BUl, and the resurrection of Liberty."
He was sometimes disagreeably sarcastic. Watts
was one day addressing a company of mimsters at
Dr. WiUiams's Library, when Ms voice showed
symptoms of weakness : " Brother Watts,'' cried
Bradbury, " shall I speak for you ? " " Brother
Bradbury," returned the poet, "you have often
spoken against me."
It will not be necessary to apologise for detaiUng
here some stray impressions of the times of Watts,
gathered form such scattered sources as the pamphlets
and periodicals of the era. During the reign of Anne,

BURY STREET.
the Established Church was notoriously Jacobitical,
and proved an obstinate and serious obstacle to the
Protestant Succession. The Jacobite faction, when
favoured by opportunities, even transformed the
parochial schools into poUtical seminaries, in wMch
the youth of England were corrupted by the instUla-
tion of traitorous sentiments. TMs dangerous and
intolerant party was characterised by "a bigoted zeal
for the word Church," and a hatred of Nonconformity.
Historians have scarcely revealed to what extent our
country is indebted to hearts so loyal to the House
of Hanover as Watts, Bradbury, Shower, and a
multitude more, whose names should not be for
gotten; and but for whose united action against a
treacherous conspfracy, the present Eoyal Line would
probably never have inherited the throne.
In those days the extreme party in reUgion and
poUtics endeavoured to make even the commotion of
the elements redound to the prosperity of the cause
uppermost in thefr affection. A contemporary writer
teUs us, that if it thundered, snowed or rained, it
thundered, snowed and rained for the Church. So
firmly persuaded were many, of heaven's vindicating
their cause, that they imagined the regim.ents would
be frozen to death whUe marching northward to
suppress the Pretender's insurrection. Of what the
teacMng dealt out to the humbler classes too often
consisted the foUowing will aid us to form an
estimate. In the autumn of 1710, a boy belonging
to a rural parish was kiUed by lightning. His

248 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
parents were Dissenters, and therefore when news of
the catastrophe came to the vicarage, the pastor
exclaimed, " It is what I always foretold, that that
boy would come to a dismal end : he went constantly
to a fanatical conventicle." Strangely enough, during
the same storm, another person was visited by the
Uke misfortune. This man had not only been an
uncompromising Churchman ; he had ever been the
most active in erecting maypoles, and directing
viUage pastimes. The vicar listened to the sad
narration and then ejaculated, " It is appointed unto
all men once to die." " What a pity it is," says a con
temporary author,"thatneither the clouds, nor the sun,
nor the moon, nor the stars, nor anything above them,
can be brought to favour the cause of the Church."
It is not easy to imagine the influence produced
among the peasantry by unprincipled Jacobites.
The whole strength of the party was exerted to
create a prejudice against the family of Brunswick ;
and no sin was committed, they taught, by killing
an enemy to the House of Stuart. The Hanoverians
were portrayed as literal cannibals. George the
First was a miserable being who had eaten up his
offspring, the Prince of Wales only excepted, and
rural boors were circumstantially acquainted with
the reasons of that exception. The clergy are
depicted as being " blasphemously loyal," and
preaching up the Queen to losing sight of Christ.
After the Sacheverel riots it was by no means an
uncommon occurrence for Anne to be surrounded

BURY STREET. 243
during her progresses by crowds of the lower
orders shouting, " God bless your Majesty and
the Church : we hope your Majesty is for Dr.
Sacheverel." Such popular enthusiasm has been
pronounced " a salutary attachment." WhUe we
may admit, however, that it is better for the
ignorant populace to be nominaUy attached to a
religious estabUshment than to show no signs of'
reUgion at aU, it is no favourable testimony to the
utUity of the State connection that, such blind
attachment could only manifest itself in an era of
gross darkness. The poor people were carefuUy
tutored in poUtics, wMle not possessing the ability
to read thefr Bibles. A gentleman who traveUed
into Somersetshfre, during the reign of George the
Ffrst, found the clergy there insulting the King by
preaching against foreign intruders. In the Ee
beUion of 1715, these reverend traitors were con
strained to draw some equivocal distinctions. A
foreigner, it was then maintained, if he came to save
the Church was worthy of succour. Brave accounts
were propagated of the Pretender's noble mien and
the gaUant bearing of his splendid retinue, his
Mgh-spirited and handsome cavaliers. The western
maidens even despafred of thefr charms ever winning
the notice of such pure-eyed and unselfish heroes.
" WiU such outlandish men," one Venus enquired,
" marry -with us poor EngUsh folk ? " The clergy
consigned Dissenters in general to the Gehenna of
schism; but were not unreasonably reproached by

250 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
the opposite party with going there first themselves
to say who were coming.
It was pre-eminently an age of pluralities — -of
luxury among the clergy on the one hand, and of
hard work aUied to poverty on the other. In the days
of George the First there Uved a certain vicar, whose
life-experience Ulustrated this proposition. Once a
year he traveUed do-wn to Ms country cure, visited
his curate, and paid him an annual dole. On such
occasions the pastor was not averse from preaching
a sermon, in the course of wMch he woiUd humbly
depict himseU as the Lord's ambassador. Sleeping
in church, on one of these occasions, were two boors,
both possessed of some native -wit, and each better
competent to digest material than mental fare.
Presently one awoke, and caught a sentence wMch
prompted Mm to nudge his stUl unconscious friend
with, " Tom, do it hear ? " " Aye, what ? " snored
Tom. "He says as how he's the Lord's hambas-
sador." " I think he's more likely the Lord's
receiver-general," returned the now awakened Tom,
" for he never comes but to take money."
The common people, during the first half of the
century, were in a state of ignorance bordering on
barbarism. The farmers at once imagined they
scented witchcraft when thefr cattle ,or children
were ailing. Old women, whose crimes against
society were represented by their years and ugly
features, if only suspected, would be suddenly
arrested by indignant neighbours, to be weighed

BURY STREET. 251
against a foUo Bible, wMch if they outweighed,
weU ; but aught otherwise was evidence of guilt.
A whole hamlet would sometimes rise, assemble at
the door of some decrepid dame, to drag her,
perhaps, from her bed, and throw her into the
nearest pond : if she sank, well : if she swam, she
was a -witch. Both men and women were thus
summarily discipUned by being sometimes beaten,
and sometimes branded.
Most elderly persons are strongly incUned to re
gard the times as having degenerated since the days
of thefr youth. The explanation of such a delusion
is not difficult. The subjects of it can no longer
sympathise with the predUections of their youthful
contemporaries ; and are, in consequence, disposed
to regard as foUy even such harmless pleasures and
pursmts as they themselves were wont to appreciate.
In George the Second's days a goodly number com
plained of the altered times, as they fondly caUed to
remembrance an era when an EngUshman's breakfast
consisted of ale, ham, and sirloin ; and his dinner of
plain joints, plainly dressed by gentlewomen, who
were superior economists and housewives to the de
generate daughters of their tenants' descendants. As
regards the moral condition of the capital, a contem
porary wrote : " Eiches are merit ; an estate learning ;
and South Sea Stock wit. Want is the only folly,
and poverty the only -vice." The number of footpads
about the City was inconveniently great ; and prudent
persons considered it unsafe to travel the town after

252 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
ten in the evening. Aristocratic journalists, who
were possibly the ancestors of Saturday reviewers,
were extending their patronage to the Bible — such
patronage probably being a more subtle form of
enmity. We find the Bible spoken of as a book
embodying " A great deal of morality and good
sense," and therefore worthy of respectful treatment
from gentlemen and scholars. Indeed the reUgious
and political state of the nation, at this conjuncture,
was gloomy to a degree which cannot now be con
templated without awakening the saddest emotions.
It is remarkable that during certain years of the
reign of George the First, a strange number of sui
cides occurred, and were prompted, as was supposed,
by the ruin attending the wUd speculations of 1720.
In one year — 1725 — a hundred and seventy-six
persons were found dead in London alone, the
majority of whom were self-murdered. Hence the
origin of Watts's sermon against so detestable a
crime, the salutary maxims of which were useful to;
many. The discourse on the death of George the
First is not free from the blemish of overdrawn
eulogy ; yet the elation engendered by the triumph
of the Protestant Succession must excuse that Non
conformist failing. At the same time, by a graceful
ode, the poet celebrated the accession of George the
Second. In the year ensuing. Watts was created
Doctor of Divimty by the Universities of Edinburgh
and Aberdeen. It was also about this date that the
ministers of the Three Denominations first formed

BURY STREET. 253
themselves into a Body, to act in concert upon public
questions. Thefr original rendezvous was the George
Inn, Ironmonger-lane. IMembers of the Associa
tion necessarUy Uved within a ten mUes' radius of
London. Watts's literary fame was now extending through
out the ci-viUsed world. In America he early became
a favourite, and, according to Neal, a volume of his
Hymns was among the earUest printed at Harvard-
coUege press.
At the era of Sylvanus Urban's entrance upon the
world of letters. Watts was enjoying one of the most
active and happy seasons of his life. In the summer
of 1733 he was gladdened for a season by the com
pany of Doddridge at Theobalds. In that year was
likewise published the volume of the Bury-street
¦Discourses, delivered and pubUshed at the expense
of Mr. Coward, nine of which were by Dr. Watts.
It does not, however, come within our present com
pass to detaU the long Ust of our author's publica
tions, nor to venture any critical opinion upon their
merits. In 1735 the Gentleman's jMagazine was in the
fifth year of its existence. Hitherto Edward Cave
the projector and editor, had made his venture
merely a faithful chronicle of contemporary events
and opinion. He now sought to extend its influence
by inserting original articles of a high standard of
literary excellence, for which premiums as large as
£50 were offered. With the utmost good humour

254 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Watts allowed himself to be pressed into the service
of adjudication. It is both amusing and interesting
to witness the acute disappointment wMch such
laudable endeavours brought home to Mr. Urban.
The more eminent among the literati turned scorn-
fuUy aside from the arena of competition. The
Uberal editor found he had completely nUsjudged
the world, for the gemuses of that un-reading age so
far rated their gifts above the golden aUurement that
they vented their contempt by ridiciiUng those whose
notions of Uterary decorum were less a source of
trouble, e.g. : —
" The Psalmist to a cave for refuge fled.
And vagrants foUowed him for want of bread.
Te highly gifted bards, would you -with plenty dweU ?
Ply to that best of Caves in ClerkenweU."
Although the competitors bore names of no repute
in the republic of letters, the pieces sent in were of
considerable merit. The impartiality with wMch
Watts fulfiUed the duties of his somewhat thankless
office afforded ample satisfection to aU concerned.*
Indeed, the critical acumen of Watts was held in
¦ ¦ * Concerning the Gentleman's Magazine, Cave, it would
seem, for years previously, entertained an idea of one day
commencing a periodical digest of the proceedings in ParUa
ment, though the scheme had not been encouraged by any
advisers to whom he had mentioned it. At this date ParUa
ment was extremely zealous in protecting its privUeges, and
regarded the sUghtest intrusion upon its privacy as a gross
aflEront. The pubUcation of the wished-for inteUigence,

BURY STREET. 255
Mgh veneration, and Ms judgment was relied upon
by the most eminent persons. He perused Blair's
poem. The Grave, before the author would venture
on publication. " I have a letter from the Doctor,"
wrote Blair to a friend, " signifying his approbation
of the piece in a manner most obliging. A great
deal less from him would have done me no small
honour. But, at the same time, he mentions to me
therefore, was beset both by difficulty and danger. During
the term of an engagement in the Post-office, Cave had con
trived to be a kind of editors' news-agent. Prom the coach-
guards he procured copies of the provincial journals, and sold
their fresh inteUigence to the London offices; whUe by
similar means he transmitted into the country the gossip of
the to^wn coffee-houses. This worUd chiefly consist of
extracts from manuscript parUamentary reports, which were
previously prepared for the pubUc rooms, before newspapers
were aUowed to pubUsh the speeches. As early as 1728, Cave
was arrested by the Serjeant-at-Arms for supplying the
Gloucester Journal ¦with this description of news, and
suffered several days' imprisonment for the offence. When
at length the Gentleman's Magazine was launched, the aim
of its projector was merely to make the work a reflection of
pubUc opinion. The early volumes contain Uttle besides
articles cuUed from the Craftsman, Peg's Journal, The
Universal Spectator, The Pree Briton, The DaUy Advertiser,
and others. That such an undertaking should at once succeed
and attract the attention of the learned world is perhaps
a Uttle remarkable. The circulation of 10,000 a month then
attained, was a fact which of itself sufficed to render the old
Gate an important object. In 1736 the long-cherished design
of puhUshing the debates was attempted. The narration of
the difficulties which had to be overcome sounds incredible
to modem ears. As a perUminary step, it was indispen-

256 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
that he had offered it to two booksellers of his own
acquaintance, who, he teUs me, did not care to run
the risk of pubUcation." Such gUmpses no less re
veal the poet's amiable bearing than the extreme
depression of the literary market. Of the many
critical or moral sayings which occurred in the
course of Watts's social life only a few have de-
•scended to us ; but these scanty remnants make us
•Tegret that such mental gold-dust was not preserved
in, larger quantities. Thus we find him evincing a
sable that' the doorkeepers of the House should be hand
somely bribed. On this being done, the editor and his party
were admitted secretly, and took hasty notes of what was
spoken. After they retired, the report would be amended at
a tavern. The materials thus obtained were collectively
handed over to a competent scribe, upon whom it devolved
to manufacture, from such odds and ends, a debate more
ingenious than ingenuous, which, on being distributed the
country over, was gravely regarded as genuine by rural
squires and London poUticians. All proceeded smoothly for
nearly two years, when, in the spring of 1738, an interrup
tion occurred by a threatening resolution passing the
Commons,, which denounced as an indignity offered to them
selves any publication of their august proceedings. Thus
warned, Mr. Urban showed himself not devoid of the genius
which eludes a danger and still pursues its object. Prom
this date the speeches were given as emanating from the
"Senate of LUliput;" and the further precaution was
observed of substituting the name of his nephew for his own
upon the cover of the Magazine. Shortly after, Guthrie,
who had hitherto prepared these papers, was dismissed to
make way for the rising star, Samuel Johnson, by whom,
they were continued for two or three years longer.

BURY STREET. 257
correct taste in art by dUating upon Eaphael's car
toon of Paul PreacMng at Athens. " I will teU you,"
one day cried Watts, when fascinated by the painter's
gemus, " what the Apostle is saying : — Behold, He
COMES." At another time he declared he would
rather be the author of Baxter's CaU to the Uncon
verted than of Paradise Lost Night Thoughts, he
imagined, had " too much of the darkness of night
in them." He ever showed a generous sympathy
with young mimsters and their early hardships.
On behalf of such beginners he advocated a pro
cedure which would now find but Uttle favour. He
thought young preachers should be aUowed to repeat
the sermon of another on one part of the Sabbath,
and so reduce thefr labour to the composition of one
weekly discourse.
Among the eminent persons who, in those days,
were the dite of Nonconformity, and the associates
of Watts, the name must be mentioned of John
Shute, Viscount Barrington, a celebrated lay Dis
senter of the century, who occupied a considerable
position on account of the works he published, and
the poUtical influence he exercised. He was under
going a preparation for the Bar when the Whig
mmistry of Queen Anne invited him to use his
authority with the Presbyterians in favour of the
Umon -with Scotland. That Union was eventuaUy
effected about the date of the removal of Watts's
congregation to the chapel in Bury-street. Shute
was rewarded with the Commissionership of Customs,
ir

258 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
a post he surrendered on the accession of the Tories
to power in 1711. From a Berkshire gentleman,
John Wildman, Mr. Shute inherited considerable
wealth, bequeathed to him merely through personal
esteem. He afterwards enjoyed the patrimony of a
relative, Francis Barrington, when he assumed the
family name, and was created a Viscount by George
the First
While strength and health permitted him. Watts
unflaggingly pursued his industrious course, even in
declining years. He was now, however, continuaUy
interrupted by the inroads of disease and nervous
affection ; and sometimes only half-an-hour's exer
tion in the pulpit would suffice to overpower him.
In 1743 he was again confined to Ms chamber by
Ms constitutional malady, which was aggravated by
an oft-recurring inability to sleep through several
consecutive nights. To this period does the anec
dote belong which Toplady communicated to the
Gospel Magazine in 1776. The Countess of
Huntingdon was one day visiting at Abney House,
and on approaching Watts, the Doctor exclaimed,
" Your ladyship is come to see me on a very
remarkable day." " Why is tMs day so remark
able ?" enquired the amiable visitor. " TMs very
day thirty years," continued the poet, " I came to
the house of my good friend. Sir Thomas Abney,
intending to spend but a single week, and I have
extended my visit to the length of thirty years."
Lady Abney, who was standing near, with a rarely

BURY STREET. 259
equaUed readiness of generous wit, repUed, " Sir,
what you term a long thirty years' visit I consider
as the shortest my family ever received."
We now come to the closing years of this great
man's life, wMch it is saddemng to find were
troubled by the unhandsome behaviour of certain
relatives, whose offences are described as " most
marveUous, infamous, enormous wickedness." The
offenders were Eichard Watts, and a person of the
name of Brackstone. The shock sustained by his
nervous system weU-nigh reduced the poet to a state
of stupefaction; and Ms Ufe would actually have
been endangered but for the watchful soUcitude of
Lady Abney, who, with true feminine dexterity,
kept the enemy at a becoming distance, and her
chaplain in ignorance of Ms macMnations. Dr.
Doddridge travelled from Bath to see his venerable
friend, and found Mm in a lamentable state of phy
sical and mental prostration. The sight of the most
loved or familiar face failed to arouse him, and, in
reply to enquiries as to how he fared, he would say,
-" Waiting God's leave to die." Some maUcious
reports gained currency that the poet had at last
lapsed into insanity ; and such rumours were aided
by the relatives above referred to, although totally
unfounded. The last two years of Watts's life were
nevertheless years of quiet retirement and cessation
from labour. Among Ms last visitors were Jabez
Erie, Joseph Stennett, and Mr. Onslow, Speaker of
the House of Commons. These one day rode ta
17*

260 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Abney House on a farewell visit to the poet and
Christian philosopher. Then came life's closing
days, in wMch the Doctor was constantly attended
by Ms faithful amanuensis, Joseph Parker. With
sleepless assiduity did Parker watch by his master's
dying couch. While easing the posture, or moisten
ing the Ups of the sinking sage, he would exclaim,
" You have taught us how to live, sir, and now you
are teaching us how to die." Thus, after passing a
life of eminent usefulness, died the amiable Isaac
Watts, on Friday, November the 25th, 1748.*
Of Samuel Price, Dr. Watts's coUeague, through
a very lengthened period, scarcely any particulars
can be suppUed, beyond the fact that, he was laid to
rest in BunhUl-fields, after having been engaged in
the mimstry at Bury-street during the space of fifty-
three years. " He was," we are told, " a man of
sound and solid sense, a judicious, usefiU preacher,
and eminent for his gift in prayer. He possessed
great sagacity, was very able, faitlfful, and ready to
advise and communicate his mind in serviceable
hints and cautions to his friends. His disposition
was friendly and peaceable, and he laid himself out
* The chief sources of information respecting Dr. Watts,
are the Memoirs of the Poet, by Johnson, Southey, Gibbons,
and MUner, and also the account prefixed to the quarto
edition of his works. Por many of the facts embodied in the
above, I am indebted to various pamphlets and periodicals
of the era ; Eobinson's History of Stoke Newington ; the
Biographia Britannica, &c.

BURY STREET. 261
to do good, in wMch he much delighted. He was
Mghly esteemed by his exceUent friend. Dr. Watts,
who in Ms wiU styles him ' his faithful friend and
companion in the labours of the ministry,' and men
tions a legacy he bequeaths him ' as only a smaU
testimony of Ms great affection for him on account
of his services of love durmg the many harmonious
years of thefr feUowsMp in the work of the Gospel' "
He died in AprU, 1756.
An assistant of Samuel Price was Meredith Town
shend. He removed from the church in Bury-street
to HuU, and thence to Stoke Newington. His
respectable talents and stainless character won him
a moderate share of popularity, and the esteem of a
wide cfrcle of acquamtances.
The coUeague and successor of Samuel Price was
Samuel Morton Savage, whose family originally
belonged to the county of York, and was connected
with the noble house of Elvers. The Savages were
nearly related, moreover, to Dr. Boulter, the Irish
Primate ; and, under the Archbishop's distinguished
patronage, young Morton woiUd have entered the
Established Church, had not Ms sympathies gone
¦strongly with the cause of the Dissenters, and made
him determine to cast in his lot with them. The
lad spent most of his youthful days with " Mr.
Toulmin, an eminent apothecary in Old Gravel-lane,
Wapping." For a time he Uved without any fixed
plan or purpose. At length he resolved on com-
jnunicating with Dr. Watts, to whom he fully

2t)?, ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
explained Ms Uteraiy and ministerial predUections.
Watts discovered in Savage some shining abUities,
and from that date the poet made it his busmess to
aid his protege in reaUsing Ms desfres. For a tutor
Savage had John Fames, and eventuaUy became an
assistant in the academj' under the succeeding pro
fessor. Dr. Jennings. When the coUege was ulti
mately removed to Hoxton, Morton Savage fiUed the
divinity chair, having for Ms colleagues Drs. Eees
and Kippis, Dr. Savage engaged himself at Bury-
street as early as 1742, and in 1756 acceded to the
pastorate on the death of Samuel Price. He con
tinued in the ministry tUl the end of 1787, ha-vdng
two years prior resigned Ms connection with the
academy. In addition to his regular duties. Dr.
Savage served on several lecturesMps, and was fore
most among the agitators who demanded the repeal
of the Test Act. As an acknowledgment of Ms
Worth and service in the cause of truth, the Umver
sity of Aberdeen conferred upon him the distinction
of Doctor of Divinity. LUie too many of Ms class,
our author, in Ms earUer days, injured Ms health by
midmght studies. His death was at length occa
sioned by a tMoat affection, wMch obstructed the
passage of nourisliment beyond a drop at once. He
died of sheer starvation, after having grown so ema
ciated that the bones protruded, and occasioned a
soreness of the skin. Yet, notwithstanding so sharp
an affliction, he continued in a resigned and happj'
frame of mind, and enjoyed the satisfaction of

BURY STREET. 263
offering up the famUy prayer of Ms household on
the Sabbath preceding his death, although necessarily
held in his chafr. The Doctor breathed his last in
AprU, 1791, and was long remembered in the circle
of Ms acquaintance as an able, di-vine, and Christian
gentleman.* Dr. Savage was succeeded by Thomas Beck, a
native of Southwark, and born in 1755. His
parents apprenticed Mm to trade without harbouring
the notion that he would ever adopt the ministerial
profession. Young Beck's predUections were of a
serious kind, and by foUowing the Wesleyan
preachers he became a local preacher himself, and
in that department of Christian work grew ex
tremely popular. According to his early inten
tions he was to have studied at the Countess
of Huntingdon's CoUege, at Trevecca — a design
wMch was never accomplished, and he never
enjoyed the advantage attending a theological curri
culum. He first settled in the ministry at Wapping,
where he remained a year, after wMch he became
closely associated with the people at Whitfield's
Tabernacle. For a whUe he preached in this con
nection, next removing to Gravesend, there to con
tinue for nine years. At Gravesend he pubUshed
Ms only printed piece, if we except his poetical
works. In 1788 he removed to Bury-street, but
found himself unable to restore a departed prosperity.
* Toulmin's Life of Savage ; WUson's Dissenting
Churches.

264 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Nevertheless, he displayed some spirit in fulfiUing
what he deemed to be his duty ; for he erected a
chapel in his private garden at Deptford for the use
of his poorer neighbours. The pastor was also one
of the projectors of the Evangelical Magazine. He
resigned Ms pulpit about 1820, and was succeeded
by Mr. Mummery. Three years later the members
forsook their ancient meeting-house, and settled in
Founders' HaU. Thence they finally removed to
Bethnal-green, and the Eev. Isaac Vale Mummery,
a son of the former pastor, is the present mmister.
This gentleman has our congratulations, seeing he
has become so worthily associated with that splendid
Nonconformist galaxy, which, by the writings of
Owen, Clarkson and Watts, wUl shed its reful
gence over unborn generations.

Cljaptn- VII.
LITTLE OAETEE LANE.
Cakter-lane, Doctors'-commons, is overshadowed by
St. Paul's. A -visit to this spot occasions some quaint
associations of the cathedral and its vicinity to crowd
into the mind. Here, for example, it is supposed a
demoUshed church of the Christian Britons testified
to the fury of the Diocletian persecution. Here also
was reared, at amazing cost, that fair structure which,
covering four acres of land, feU a T^vej to the flames
of 1666. In the olden time the bishop's palace
standing close to the church was Unked with some
important events in English Mstory; and the hum
and rattle of the modern street need not prevent the
old scenes from rising in our imagination. Thus
we seem to behold that ill-fated chUd, Edward the
Fifth, pass in at the great hall door just prior to his
death in the Tower. In the same manner we wit
ness the first meeting of Catherine of Arragon and
Prince Arthur, which took place in one of these
apartments. Perhaps of higher consequence stUl is
a lead-covered pulpit we discry in the distance ; for
Paul's-cross occupies a prominent place in the annals

266 ancient MEETING HOUSES.
of England and of the Eeformation. But such archaeo-
logical minutiae must give place to the object of our
visit — the Meeting-house in Carter-lane.
Many readers wdll remember the old chapeL "The
meeting-house in Carter-lane," says WUson, "is a
large, substantial brick buUding, of a square form,
and contains three gaUeries of very considerable
dimensions. The inside is finished with remarkable
neatness, and in point of workmanship is scarcely
equaUed by any place of worsMp among the Dis
senters in London. The sombre appearance it ex-
Mbits, arising partly from the colour of the pews and
gaUeries, immediately arrests the attention, and ap
pears much better suited to the solemmty of di-vine
worship than the theatrical style of decoration
adopted in many of our modern chapels."
Of Matthew Sylvester, the founder of this society
and the coUeague of Baxter, only few memorials sur
vive. During youth, and whUe possessing only slender
means, he found himself thrown upon the world.
Some friendly assistance enabled him to prosecute
Ms studies at Cambridge University; but he left Ms
college sooner than he would have done had he pos
sessed ampler means. Soon afterwards he was pre
ferred to the Uving of Gunnerly, in LincolnsMre ; and
was there sUenced by the Act of Umformity in 1 6 6 2.
Sylvester was Mghly esteemed by Ms diocesan. Dr.
Sanderson, who strongly persuaded him to conform ;
but "the unfeigned assent and consent that was re
quired of him were two things that he much stuck

little carter lane. 267
at." In the years immediately succeeding the Bar
tholomew secession, Sylvester led a life of ease with
some distinguished NottinghamsMre families. He
emerged from retfrement, and settled in London
wMle the City was suffering from the devastation
of fire and plague; and with exemplary bravery
espoused the cause of Nonconformity. It is gratify
ing to find that, whUe sUghting personal danger, he
never realised the miseries which were then so often
the penalties of a conscientious procedure. The har
mony characterismg the umted action of Sylvester
and Baxter was no less honourable than remarkable.
Indeed, the veneration of the former for his more
gifted coUeague almost exceeded aUowable bounds ;
for not-withstanding Ms constitutional shrinking from
death, Sylvester only desired to live and die with
Baxter. He survived Ms friend, however, about
seventeen years, having been suddenly taken to Ms
reward in the year 1708. " He was," says Calamy,
" an able divine, a good linguist, no mean scholar, an
exceUent casuist, an admirable textuary, and one of
uncommon divine eloquence in pleading at the throne
of grace." According to Calamy also, Sylvester was
a genius whom defective elocution alone prevented
from shining as one of the luminaries of his era.
The ancient borough of Kidderminster is situated
one hundred and twenty-four mUes north-west of
London, and was caUed by the Saxons, Chidermin-
ster — i.e., a church on the hiU-side with a stream at
its foot TMs town — so indissolubly associated

268 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
with the name and labours of Eichard Baxter —
oould boast of its prestige long ere the leaven of
Puritanism influenced English society. John Beau-
champ, domestic steward to Eichard the First, was
rewarded for services rendered to that monarch by
the barony of Kidderminster. About the middle of
the seventeenth century the poet WaUer, as lord of
the manor, disposed of his rights to discharge some
hea-vy political fines. In early times Kidderminster
returned its member to ParUament, but, by some
means unexplained, the burghers were deprived of a
privilege they re-inherited on the passing of the first
Eeform BUl. A charter, granted by Charles the
First, exempted the town from local magisterial in
terference. Then there are certain local customs,
inherited from a ruder age — in themselves quaintly
interesting, but the perpetuation of wMch refiects
little credit on modern intelligence. Thus, on elect
ing a bailiff in the olden time, the tovsmsmen mus
tered in the streets and waged a war of cabbage-
stalks ; but fortunately " the lawless hour " was re
stricted to the prescribed limits. Heralded by music,
the newly-chosen official and his attendant officers
then marched to the residence of the out-going
bailiff, and during their progress the populace were
¦expected to pelt them with apples. In former days
the town was extremely unhealthy, a fact accounted
for by the confinement necessitated by its staple
trade ; but, wMle fever and consumption were mak
ing unchecked ravages among the inhabitants, the

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 269
atmosphere was highly salubrious, as the more satis
factory condition of the suburban population plainly
proved. When Baxter flourished, the people har
boured a deeply-rooted horror of witchcraft; and
this prompted them summarily to impose a horse-
pond discipUne on the objects of their aversion.
The vicarage is now worth about £1,100 a-year,
but in the seventeenth century it had scarcely a fifth
of that amount attached to it. The impetus given
by Baxter to reUgion and phUanthropy would seem
to be yet benefiting the town — e.g., the number of
chapels, schools, and provident societies is far higher
than the average for a town of eighteen thousand
souls. Baxter was born in the year 1615, or about the
time that that courtly sycophant, Edward Villiers,
was rising into political ascendancy. The elder
Baxter was a gentleman of Shropshire, whose debts
by some considerable amount exceeded his estate.
Eichard first saw the Ught at the seat of his maternal
grandfather, Eichard Adinery, of Eowton, with whom
he spent the first decade of Ms existence, after
which he was taken to his parents at Eaton Con
stantine, a place of small note in the vicinity of
Shrewsbury. " His schoolmasters were both lewd
and ignorant" — a fact sufficient to account for his
defective education. Indeed, but for the grateful
assistance of John Owen, of Wroxeter, the youthful
Baxter would have fared worse than he did ; but
whUe Owen was serviceable in one direction, he

270 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
bears the blame of having deprived his prot4g6 of an
umversity training. His parents intended sending
Eichard to one of the great national coUeges, tUl,
diverted from, their plan by the counsel of Owen,
they placed bim with a neighbouring minister, whose
knowledge was stored upon his library shelves rather
than in his head. To general incompetence tMs tutor
added the sin of indolence, and Eichard was con
sequently allowed to roam at wiU among the books,
with neither assistance nor advice. But even thus
early he was animated by that amazing industry
which, in Ms case, was constitutional ; and there
fore, in spite of the difficulties of Ms situation, he
¦visibly improved in learning during Ms stay of
eighteen months. At this conjuncture Owen, be
cause dying of consumption, had Ms place for a
time filled by Baxter.
The insight into the moral and reUgious condi
tion of England at this era which Baxter affords us,
is shockingly interesting. Thus a description of a con-
fii-mation as then observed reveals some characteristics
of Laud's ascendancy. Such young parisMoners as
were wUling congregated in the churchyard, and the
bishop, -whUe hurriedly walking round, placed Ms
hands on the head of each, muttering the whUe some
indistinct sentences, which completed the ceremony.
In rural districts even bad sermons were at a pre
mium. In the parish where Baxter resided, the in
cumbent, being blind, was only competent to re
peat the prayers from memory, and consequently

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 271
a thatcher and a taUor were Mred to read the Scrip
tures. The vicar of Kidderminster was an iUiterate
¦drunkard, whose income was partly derived " from
the celebration of unlawful marriages." Patrons of
U-vings became Simomacs, and were not ashamed to
lease such parishes as were in their gift. As num
bers of the clergy were scarcely superior to their
plebeian neighbours, they occasionaUy supplemented
thefr stipends by such menial crafts as those of rope-
making and woodcutting.
The -vUlages around Shrewsbury, as they existed
in the time of Eichard's boyhood, may be taken as
fair samples of rural England in those days. Too
often the clergy were no less degraded than their
flocks, and the accounts of the condition to which
certain parishes degenerated sounds incredible when
xelated in modem ears. With some bright excep
tions, the clergy only seldom practised preaching.
In the place of study they unblushingly substituted
gaming, drinking, and vicious sports ; and the only
reverence sho-svn for the Sabbath was manifested by
their encouraging maypole dances, and sundry viUage
games, instead of honouring those dictates of religion
or even of morality in umson with the character of
the day of rest. Thus tutored by precept and ex
ample, the populace for the most part progressed in
debauchery tiU unable to appreciate the instructions
of grave and sober ministers. At Eaton Constantine,
where Baxter resided, a sermon was rarely heard in
the parish church, "and the service was run over

272 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
very cursorUy and irreverently, and when that was
done the rest of the Lord's-day was profanely spent
in dancing under a maypole and a great tree." In
the midst of such terrible surroundings, young Baxter
was preserved from serious contamination ; although
as a chUd he was addicted to lying and orchard-
robbing. The means of his conversion, which soon
after occurred, were the reading 'of Parson's Resolu
tions, and Sibbs's Bruised Reed.
The genius and industry of Baxter were suffi
ciently manifest in youth to attract the notice of
some influential neighbours well qualified to pro
mote his interests. Even at this conjuncture, that
" crazy body " restrained Ms ardour to a degree
which his spirit could scarcely endure. He was an
indefatigable student, and studied phUosophy under
Eichard Garbett, vicar of Wroxeter. Then came
life's changes, many of them fraught with danger.
During the domination of Laud, when the King was
hoping to impose prelacy on Scotland, some siren
charmers gained Baxter's inexperienced ear, and ad
vised his aspiring to the equivocal honours of a
courtier. His fond parents were aUured by the bait
and dazzled at the advantages the proposal promised.
He was, therefore, summarily despatched to White
hall, to be handsomely received by his patron. Sir
Henry Herbert; and Sir Henry would probably
have advanced his interests liad not the gUt-
tering world to which fortune had introduced him,
been at utter variance with Eichard's predUections.

LITTLE CARTER LjVNE. 2^ .i
A month at court was a complete surfeit. He re
turned to Eaton Constantine to become " more in
defatigable in the pursuit of knowledge than can
easily be imagined."
On attaining Ms majority, Baxter was suffering
from excessive weakness, rendered more alarming by
a strong cough and spitting of blood. That consump
tion would speedUy cut down Ms fragile body ap
peared an absolute certainty. For two years he
Temained afflicted by this extreme debUity, which all
supposed to be but the precursor of death. Not
withstanding such painful drawbacks, the young
scholar's longings were still for the Church; and a
desire to be useful even in the smallest degree, led
Mm to apply for ordination to the bishop of Wor
cester. Thus did Baxter inaugurate his ministry.
Baxter's splendid career — for so it may be truly
designated — commenced at Dudley, a notoriously
wicked place, which his ministry sUghtly benefited.
At tMs stage he was a zealous conformist ; but on
attending to the controversy between the Church of
England and the Puritans, some hitherto accepted
opinions were shaken, although he occasionally re
proved Nonconformists for what he termed their
want of charity. After staying nine months at
Dudley, he settled under William Madstard, who,
it is gratifying to learn, was " a grave and severe
ancient divine." For a manse Baxter appropriated
the neighbouring vicarage of Oldbury, a, parish which,
with some of its neighbours, enjoyed exemption from
18

274 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
prelatical interference, so that the mimsters were at
liberty to honour just what regime their consciences
prescribed. The two pastors were zealous evangeUsts
among an "ignorant and dead-hearted multitude."
The staple trade of the town seems to have been re
presented by the numerous alehouses ; and therefore,
it affords no matter for surprise, if the cMef obstacles
to the progress of good were " tippUng and iU com
pany." Meantime the precursors of civU war were appear
ing tMck and fast. By a resolution of Convocation
the bishops were requfred to impose the Etcoetera
oath, or to oblige the clergy to swear they would
never consent to the sUghtest alteration in the Eubric.
Next foUowed the imposition of prelacy upon Scot
land, with its attendant train of troubles. Then,
amid the prevailing discord, Ship-money became the
chief bone of contention; but the story of Ship-
money is too weU known to need recapitulating here.
When the Long Parliament assembled in November,
1640, Baxter and Madstard were stationed at Bridg
north. We are afforded a few glimpses into the old
town, and see something of the local contentions of
those troublous daj-s. Let us take this example.
On a certain Saturday afternoon the Lord President
of the Welsh Marches, (the Earl of Bridgwater)
passed through Bridgnorth, en route for London.
Many of the meaner sort among the parishioners
embraced this opportunity of impeaching their
ministers on the basis of Nonconformity. Neither

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 27 5
of them, it was truthfully averred, would wear a
surplice nor make the sign of the cross in baptism.
They obstinately refused to pray and declaim against
the Scots, as recently ordered by their diocesan. The
wary Bridgwater listened with cautious attentive-
ness, he attended church, and even gave the peti
tioners some general advice; but when he found
himself safely distant from the townsmen's impor-
tumty, he sent a message to declare that he had no
jurisdiction in the matter.
Among the flagrant abuses which invited the
attention of the Long Parliament, those of the
Church EstabUshment were not the least flagitious.
That Establishment was crowded with reverend
time-servers, whose notorious Ucentiousness or literary
incapacity bore testimony to their unfitness for the
office they usurped. FeeUng, therefore, that an era
of freedom was inaugurated, numbers of parishes
petitioned to be reUeved of pastors whose connection
with the Church was a disgrace to the Christian
profession. It was thus with Kidderminster ; and,
on account of the scandalous lives of the vicar and
curate, their supercession was allowed. Baxter took
possession of the parish, but the vicar retained his
dweUing-house and a principal share of the stipend.
Baxter's marveUous experience at Kidderminster
fills a page in the history of the Church as gladsome
as it is encouraging. What he really accomplished
is sufficiently wonderful, but its happy colours are
set off to greater advantage by the dark ground of
18*

276 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
an unpromising beginning. His entrance on the
work of transforming the parish was resented by the
passionate hatred of a revengeful populace, and,
therefore, Ms herculean achievement of conquering
the dissolute habits of a town wi\l proclaim to aU
time that, Ms fragUe body, which for half a century
people supposed was but stepping into the grave,
was inflamed by a zeal of enthusiasm ha-ving its
source in heaven. A programme of his pastoral
procedure has been bequeathed us. Besides the
heavy duties of each returmng Sabbath, he held
week-day meetings for common instruction and
prayer, for the catechising of famiUes, for discipUne,
and for ministerial intercommumcation. During Ms
connection with it, the church was enlarged by the
erection of five galleries ; and, from being one of the
most irreligious, Kidderminster came to be one of
the most Christian of EngUsh towns. As such it
was the wonder of visitors and the deUght of its
pastor. The shock of civU war disquieted the old borough
soon after Baxter's settlement, he being " a mournful
spectator of the public confusions." Such, however,
as desire to study his extraordinery career at Kid
derminster must peruse the narrative of Sylvester,
or its abridgment by Calamy. Understanding some
thing of physic, the indefatigable pastor exercised
that art for the benefit of his poorer people, till he
deemed it prudent to abandon the practice in favour
of a regular practitioner. He truly deUghted in

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 277
effecting good by any lawful means, no matter how
great the self-demal. We find, for example, that
the sixty or eighty pounds a-year, remitted him by
the pubUshers of his books, were charitably distri
buted, as also were other gains not absolutely re
qufred for bare subsistence. His beneficence at one
time would prompt the placing of a youth at the
university, or anon, it distributed books among the
poorer people ; and the latter class predominated at
Kidderminster, for few, if any, of the inhabitants
were wealthy. The leading manufacturers main
tained thefr commercial state on forty pounds a-year,
wMle the majority of master weavers lived as honest
citizens on only half such a revenue. The people in
general were extremely poor, and, to quote Baxter's
own expression, " Uved from hand to mouth."
On the raising of the standard of civU war persons
suspected of Puritamcal sympathies often risked im-
ininent danger of outrage, even of life itself, from the
"loyal" populace. Sometimes, while walking the
streets, such as presumed to wear short hair would
suddenly find themselves the objects of sudden and
ferocious attack. Among the profane, " Puritan "
was a contemptuous and reproachful term. Certain
of the bishops rose into popularity' by repressing too
strict notions of moraUty, and by openly countenan
cing the Book of Sports. While extending their
favour to the exhUarating pastime of Sabbath games,
these ecclesiastics despised the monotony of after
noon lectures. When we analyse the constituent

278 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
parts of the forces arrayed on the Eoyalist side, our
admiration strengthens for those who discerned the
signs of the times, and risked life, property, and aU
dear to them as freemen of England, rather than
succumb to the humiliation of seeing the iniquitous
cause of the King triumphant. In the City of London
men took their plate, and women their trinkets, to
the common treasury of the ParUament at Guildhall.
As a keen observer of his kind, Baxter noticed well
the elements which made up the contending parties.
The partisans of Charles were the upper classes and
their tenants ; the defenders of the ParUament in
cluded the smaller gentry, with such as more highly
valued religion and moraUty. In the main, Baxter
himself sided with the ParUament; but the town
and vicinity of Kidderminster adhered to the EoyaUst
standard. Some adventures, encountered about this
time, are illustrative of the state of EngUsh society
in that era of ceaseless commotion. Once, while
riding through the city of Worcester, his grave-look
ing mien and closely-cropped hair were noted by
certain passengers, who raised the usual cry of
" Down with the Eoundheads ! " but his fleet and
faithful steed helped Baxter out of this dUemma.
At Gloucester he enjoyed immunity from perU
because the town had gone over to the Parliament,
on which account, by contrasting with some neigh
bouring places, it appeared Uke another sphere. In
those eventful days our author's unsettled mode of
life was sufficiently diversified. At one time, whUe

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 279
the battle of EdgehiU was raging, we find him
preaching at Alcester, the church being shaken by
the vibration of distant artiUery. In the midst of
such alarms he Ukewise preached a sermon at Bridg
north on the death of Madstard, Ms former coUeague.
He boldly reproved the townspeople for so little pro
fiting by their pastor's ministrations, on which
account some judgment would surely visit their
homesteads. TMs prophecy was strangely verified.
Soon after, the forces of the King relentlessly de
stroyed both church and town, and by retiring
behind the castle ramparts, they were enabled to
defy their ParUamentary opponents. On peace
bemg restored, and the town rebuUt, Baxter, on a
memorable occasion, addressed the inhabitants, but
the emotion affecting both hearers and preacher
made the progress of the service a matter of diffi
culty. Kidderminster was roughly shaken by the war, so
that the pastor and a large portion of his flock were
constrained to take refuge at Coventry. Among
congemal society at Coventry, Baxter, who stayed
about a year, and acted in the capacity of garrison
chaplam, was lodged as a guest of Simon King, an
hospitable burgher.
In the estimation of Eoyalist generals, Puritanism
was the offence of offences, and the troopers, when
able, were allowed to take sanguinary vengeance on
such districts as sheltered so obnoxious a system oi
religion and morality. Thus, in common with

280 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
others, the house of the elder Baxter was cleared of
its goods, being left with " almost nothing but
lumber." Numerous fanjilies left their Kidder
minster homes to live a Ufe of temporary exile,
having for their chief means of support what
movable property they could carry away. If too
poor to command such a subsistence, the fugitives.
earned their bread by taking arms, choosing rather
to serve as soldiers among freemen than to retain
their hearths by violating conscience in obeying the
call of a law-breaking monarch.
We can see something of Coventry as it , reaUy
was during that year of tumult, 1643. England
was shaken by civil and miUtary discord, but
Coventry was tranquil. News of EdgehUl fight,
of CromweU's marches and manceuvres, or of
Hampden's death, was peacefully carried into that
quiet city, which is represented as having resembled
a dry house unharmed by distant storms. This
exemption from action, however, bred polemical con
tention; for the Presbyterians, headed by Baxter,
gave particular heed to " An Anabaptist taylor," the
result being a sharp controversy of small credit to
the combatants. The Baptists put on a very deter
mined front by sending to Bedford for Benjamia
Cox, a renowned champion of their denomination
and known to his contemporaries as "An old Ana
baptist minister, a bishop's son, and no mean
scholar." Other matters, nevertheless, demanded
Baxter's attention. He travelled with a regiment to

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 281
Wem, a short distance from Shrewsbury, and was.
there made the happy instrument of releasing his
father from prison. After living for two months in
the society of former friends and amid old associa
tions, the pastor returned to Coventry. Such minutiae-
may be accounted as trifles ; but let it be remembered
that, they are trifles in the life of Baxter.
Partial as he was to a studious retirement, and
loving as he did the functions of his sacred calling,
Baxter's aversion to party politics and the excitement
of war, would have prevented his enrolment among
the army chaplains had not the higher consideration
of duty overcome objections. He consented to travel
•with the forces, and Ms adventures included a wit-.
nessing of the siege of Worcester, also that of Ban
bury Castle, and the important capture of Bridgwater.
As we, at tMs distance of time, quietly note the
action of men who won freedom for themselves and
posterity, it strikes us as strange that such heroes
could, in reUgious controversy, drown the terrors of
war. The soldiers, by their interminable wranglings
concerMng doctrine and practice, occasioned their
chaplain serious inconvemence, for he would some
times spend an entfre day in promoting an amicable
settlement of a vexed dispute. The truth is, in those-
early years of the war the sects in general engrossed
too much of Baxter's attention. A well-meant oppo
sition to Seekers, Eanters, and' Quakers — who, he
said, were "Eanters reversed" — occupied hours
which he might have more profitably employed. But

282 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
the middle of the seventeenth century, it is only fair
to remember, was emphaticaUy an age of disagree
ment, and of an undue prominence being awarded to
minor matters. To illustrate this proposition, and
show with what zest the populace divided into parties,
it wUl be sufficient to mention that, on one memor-
able day, and before a crowded audience, Baxter and
Toombs argued the baptismal controversy from nine
in the mormng tUl five in the evening. The decision
•of character shown by the former was not less
apparent in politics than in reUgion. WMle strenu
ously opposing the policy of the Court, he could yet
exert his great influence against the Covenant ; and
he prevented that famous instrument from being
subscribed both in the town of Kidderminster and in
the county of Worcester.
Although Baxter and others declined subscribing
the Covenant, thej'- refused in after times to pray for
the success of CromweU's Scottish campaign. In
deed, these Presbyterian divines acted unfairly in
regard to Cromwell; for while benefiting by Ms
wholesome rule, they regarded him as a mere usurper.
We are, nevertheless, constrained to admire that
straightforward honesty with which such men, under
all skies and circumstances, uttered their sentiments.
Thus, wMle preaching before the Protector and his
retinue, Baxter denounced the sins of poUticians who
sought to promote their individual profit by taking
advantage of the public distractions. On another
occasion, he explained to CromweU his political views

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 283
in a conference of five hours' duration, and the pur
port of those -views was, that Englishmen still
prized their ancient monarchy. Like his too san
guine compeers, Baxter hailed the Eestoration with
many joyful anticipations, and, on the day pre
ceding the King's recall — AprU 30th, 1660 — ¦
preached before the Parliament.
At length the long-wished-for Eestoration was
consummated. The rude rejoicings of 1660 soon
proved themselves the precursors of national trouble
and of national humUiation. Baxter was speedUy
superseded by the sequestered vicar, and by the
¦vigUence of Ms enemy. Sir Ealph Clare, was expelled
the pulpit, notwithstanding that in the capacity of
curate he would gladly have laboured unremunerated.
By excluding Baxter from his diocese the Bishop of
Worcester earned the censure of posterity. The
parisMoners of Kidderminster were not slow at ex-
pressmg an admiration for their late pastor, and a
corresponding disgust at the action of their diocesan.
By -violent invective from the parish pulpit, a trial
was made to teach the people a more prelatical be-
ha-viour ; but these spasmodic reformers could only
evoke the derision of the townsmen. The people
stayed away from their parish church — a procedure
which prompted the rising party to resort to perse
cution. Eecusants, on refusing to conform, fared
very roughly ; for whUe some were despoiled of their
goods, others languished in the pestilent cells of the
county gaoL The tactics of the episcopal party

284 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
were characterised by neither principle nor honour;
Imaginary plots were concocted to impUcate the
more conspicuous Dissenters. Thus letters would
be forged purporting to be addressed by Baxter to
certain others, specifying that arms would be pro
vided at a given time and place. On such trumped^
up charges many worthy citizens were imprisoned.
The autumn of 1661 saw the Nonconformists in
a state of active vigilance. Venner's ill-timed and
Ul-fated plot — hatched at Limehouse, and acted out
in the city streets — was yet affectionately remem
bered by certain " phanatiques," who now systemati-
caUy opposed the re-introduction of the Common
Prayer. The seamen of Plymouth " determined that
the Common Prayer shall not come into Mr. Hughes's
church;" and this action, so the populace were made to
believe, originated with the Baptists and the Quakers.
The most sanguine of the disaffected, however,
entertained but a slender hope of securing toleration,
and so wisely provided a vessel for the common use
of such as preferred escaping to the Continent. By
such means Hanserd Knollys retired into HoUand,
to avoid , that official vengeance from which the
Baptists so pre-eminently suffered. At a meeting in
Southwark, convened by the latter denomination, the
speakers referred to the King as " the beast ;" and so
aggrieved did the Government consider themselves,
that one of CromweU's old Ueutenants, of the name
of Carter, was gravely charged with being "An
Anabaptist costermonger." InteUigence reached

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 285
WThitehaU of a coaUtion of Presbjiierians and Bap
tists, who were fermenting sedition and preparing to
repress the Government by force of arms. In the
spring of 1663, the fron rule imposed on the nation
began to bear its legitimate fruit, for many, who
were prisoners for conscience' sake, died of disease
and of suffocation in the overcrowded prisons. Thus,
¦on the Uberation of two hundred Quakers, twenty
were missing ; that is to say, twenty lay dead in
thefr cells. The Presbyterians made some sUght
show of conformity, but the spirit of resistance
ammating the Quakers and Baptists was not to be
subdued by the most relentless cruelty. The
majority of those by whom the ejected clergy were
superseded were quite unworthy of any sacred
trust, as their disorderly Uves and literary incom
petence abundantly proved. MeanwhUe, a bad
government, weakly administered, was disastrously
affecting trade. The mercantUe world had no con
fidence in rulers, who simultaneously repressed Dis
sent and encouraged Popery. Taking advantage of
the times, the Dutch used every art to aUure the
best of our EngUsh populace away. As regarded
the ejected pastors, " Some teach in schools, some
get into famiUes ; some cut tobacco and take up very
mean employments." CorneUus Burgess, a doctor
of di-vinity, whose income had been £1,000 a-year,
was among the number who begged their bread.
About this date Baxter and Calamy met with an
adventure which deserves recording. The two were

286 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
commanded to attend at Court. On proceeding to
Whitehall, they found the King in the best of
humours, and not inclined to spare his condolence.
With the true art of a royal dissembler, Charles
confessed his regret that such Ughts were not " pro
testing against Popery." As the divines were passing
to the reception-room, many in assumed superiority
enquired, " What do these Presbyters here ?" When
the fact of the royal complaisance became known, how
ever, this arrogance was superseded by " Your servant.
Dr. Calamy and Mr. Baxter." It is a curious dis
covery that, the more superstitious Dissenters as
cribed their troubles to the adverse action of the
stars. Such persons conversed in mysterious tones
about " a strange conjuncture of the planets called
Trigon," which occurred in December, 1662.*
Bigotry and intolerance bore their fruit in the Act
of Uniformity. Baxter preached his fareweU ser
mon in the EstabUshed Church on the last Sabbath
of May, 1662, and thus, for example's sake, adopted
the procedure of seceding three months prior to
Black Bartholomew. The Court seems to have been
really disturbed by the rumours of dissaffection
which the sUencing of so great a number of faithful
ministers awakened among the reUgious sections.
When the coaUtion of the Presbyterians and other
Nonconformists was talked about, the City was re-

* See Calendars of State Papers, Domestic Series, Charles
II., 1662, &c.

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 287
presented as being the refuge of disloyalty. The
King's uneasiness was increased by the return to
London of disbanded troops, and by the " Multiplying
of public and private lectures." The Conventicle Act,
passed in the summer of 1663, was partly the off
spring of these misgi-vings. While thus depressed
on aU hands, the Dissenters could not agree as to
the lawfulness of attending parish churches ; some
advocated an occasional support to the established
worship; others, demanding an entire separation,
assumed a braver attitude.
What the social and political condition of the
Dissenters actuaUy was, immediately after Black
Bartholomew, may be inferred from contemporary
letters and documents among the State Papers.
The Act of Uniformity was very rigorously enforced.
Cared for by Providence and approved by conscience,
stiU the excluded mimsters, in. their daUy wanderings,
were constramed to act with extreme caution, even
in life's commonest affairs. Great numbers of pastors
were crowded into the too narrow gaols; and, through
being closely huddled together with common criminals,
many were stifled by the pestUential atmosphere, or
wasted by the ravages of prison fever. As before
observed, the most determined stand taken against
the intolerance of the ascendant party was that as
sumed by the Baptists and Quakers. It were idle
to deny that, the ranks of Nonconformity in those
days included many fanatics ; but to assume that
they differed in this respect from their opponents is

288 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
an ungenerous, because an unfair assumption. Ac
counts are extant of the rumours which the oppressed
people industriously circulated ; e.g.. Providence was
appearmg ; was even then avenging the wrongs of
the elect. A certain clergyman had been smitten
by death after " Yielding to put on a surpUce."
Another, while on his way to conform, had fallen
from his horse and died. Such occurrences as these
were construed into the judgments of Heaven upon
faithless Amalekites. On the other hand, the popu
lace, intoxicated by loyalty, showed a supreme indif
ference to aU religion ; and churches attached to
extensive cures only attracted from ten to forty
communicants. In numberless instances, the clergy
were not only disgraced to their high profession, but
were a scandal to humanity. Because they only
gave a desultory attention to their duties, such men
were unheeded by the vulgar, and despised by the
discerning. Bands of devoted ones were found,
however, to perpetuate the principles and worsMp of
the Church. Such, indeed, often took advantage
of the gloom of night ; and became indebted to damp
cellars in obscure thoroughfares, or to the rural seclu
sion of suburban barns ; but amid such adverse sur
roundings, they strengthened one another in CMist ;
and whUe dispensing the commemorative Cup and the
Broken Bread, adjured their feUows to be faithful
unto death. To the Papists a far milder treatment
was meted out ; for they scarcely provoked any legal
interference. When it actuaUy occurred, the arrest

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 289
of Eomanists was a mere subterfuge ; and they were
commonly released without further trouble. As
had long been the case, the bishops were the uncom
promising opponents of a tolerant poUcy. In the
spring of 1663, for example, poUticians were broach
ing the subject of relaxing the persecuting laws ;
but the prelates at once communicated with the
commoners in the rural districts, and urged them to
defeat so pernicious a measure. Their excessive
grievances drove great numbers of Dissenters out of
England ; and their countr/s loss was the lasting
gain of HoUand and America.
It wiU scarcely amount to a digression, if, for
insertion here, we select some particulars of the
amiable Margaret Charlton, who eventually became
Mistress Baxter. With exquisite gracefulness, her
husband has deUneated her character ; and his picture
is not tinted with overdrawn panegyric. The Charltons
ranked among the county famUies of Worcestershire ;
and Margaret's father, who did not marry tUl his
locks were grey, held the office of Justice of the
Peace. On the breaking out of the civU war, the
family became poUtically di-vided; Mrs. Charlton
fortifying her mansion for the King, whUe her
brother-in-law fought on the ParUamentary side. As
wUl be imagined, feelings of iU-will and jealousy ¦
sprang up in the family ; and these were aggravated
by the fact, that Eobert Charlton was next heir-at-
law to the widow's only son. By connivance of the
former, his sister's seat was stormed and taken by
19

290 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
the popular party. After her son had settled in life,
Mrs. Charlton removed with her only daughter to
Kidderminster, the latter then being a handsome
maiden of the age of seventeen. These ladies, by
their kindness and charity, soon won the esteem of
their neighbours the weavers; for by what Baxter
caUs a " Manly patience," the matron subdued her
constitutional infirmity of temper.
During the summer of 1662 Baxter was the sub
ject of some curious enquiiy and witty comment.
Like certain others of his class, he had, in an un
guarded hour, extoUed celibacy as a more convement
state for Christian mimsters than wedlock ; and Uke
those others, whose experience was identical, Ms
unnatural arguments were the prelude to taking a
wife. The story is a pretty one ; and its beautiful
sequel pleasingly instructive.
Baxter may have been first drawn towards the
Charltons by their seconding his labours among the
parishioners of Kidderminster ; but in time, and by
almost imperceptible degrees, the sage found himself
in the power of a siren charmer, whose subtlety of
fascination he had hitherto Uttle suspected. He
chid himself, it would seem, on account of Ms natural
weakness, and resolved to exercise in future a more
becoming circumspection. In such matters, as all
know, it is far easier to resolve than to act, espe
cially when the fair object to be prudently avoided
appears week after week in the famUy pew with a
pensive paUor superseding her wonted rosiness. It

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 291
so happened with Baxter and Margaret Charlton, tiU
a mutual understanding was arranged which ended in
a life umon. The provisions of the marriage contract
retained in her own power the whole of Margaret's
fortune, which her lover would not deign to touch
for fear men, by calUng him a mercenary, should
bring dishonour on the Gospel. They were married
on September 10th, 1662, at St. Bennet-fink's
Church, London. The few spectators who con
gregated on that autumn mormng beheld a spectacle
rmique of its kind. The bridegroom was a poor
clerk -without a cure, with a prospect sufficiently
dismal stretching before Mm, although his path of
penury was a self-chosen path. The approval of
conscience was above money value; and Margaret,
with maidenly enthusiasm, admfred that exalted piety
and seK-denial which had rejected the highest pre
ferment for the sake of preser^dng an unsullied
rectitude ; and as a bride, was more than happy in
possessing the means of succouring the man of her
choice and veneration. Their after Ufe was a strange
experience of what may be termed joyous trouble.
They were compeUed frequently to remove from one
situation to another, and on this account alone
suffered much inconvemence amounting to real
hardsMp. But wherever Margaret was there also
was that lightsome cheerfulness only springing from
unwavering faith. " I know not," says Baxter, "that
she ever came to any place where she did not extra
ordinarily win the love of the inhabitants." Thefr
19*

292 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
first home was in Moorfields : thence they removed
to Acton, and there successively occupied several
houses. Margaret's chief temporal feUcity consisted
in promoting the welfare of others. Her liberal
charities and gentle mien greatly endeared her to
her poorer neighbours. Indeed, she so won the
affection of the inhabitants that when she removed
to a station ten miles distant the people of Acton
attempted to restore their favourite by offering to
subscribe the rent of a house. The presence of such
a ministering angel lightened the heaviest burden:
" She cheerfully went with me to prison," says her
husband. " She brought her test led thither."
For a short time this happy couple lived at Tot-
teridge. "The coal smoke so fiUed the room that
we all day sat in that it was as a cloud " — words
conveying a graphic insight into the everyday life
of an ejected minister. At first it was Margaret's
custom to dispense a tenth of her income to the
poor ; but at Baxter's suggestion the proportion was
largely augmented. An extraordinary zeal in
ministering to ' the poor occasionally exhausted her
resources ; but at such times she mortified her family
pride by accepting from others what was necessary
to sustain her beneficent action. She also derived
great pleasure from seeing youths in training for the
ministry, although none more heartUy despised a
student lacking " Good wits and parts."
Margaret died in June, 1681, at " a pleasant and
convenient house in Southampton-square," a house

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 293
she herself selected in her tender regard for her hus
band's health. On the departure into rest of this
estimable woman the poor of Saint James's and
Saint Martin's bewaUed her loss as that of a guar
dian angel. With many tears did Baxter deposit
her dear remains among the ridns of Christchurch ;
and probably he reaUsed a keenness of suffering he
had Uttle imagined possible when he found himself
separated for all time from the object of his purest
love. How did he carry with Mm to the grave
Margaret's dying words, " My mother is in heaven
 and thou and I shaU be in heaven." "The
Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away," exclaimed
the stricken husband ; "and he hath taken away, but
that upon my desert, which he had given me un
deservedly near nineteen years. Blessed be the
name of the Lord. I am waiting to be next. The
door is open. Death wiU quickly draw the veil,
and make us see how near we were to God and
one another, and did not (sufficiently) know it.
FareweU, vain world, and welcome true everlasting
Ufe." *
To return to our more immediate subject, we find
that Baxter on one occasion preached before Charles
the Second, in the capacity of chaplain-in-ordinary •
and had conscience permitted, he might have trans
ferred himself to the See of Hereford. As to other
events in his life at tMs time, there are many letters
* Vide the closing paragraph of A Breviate of the Life of
Margaret . . . Wife of Eichard Baxter.

294 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
among the State papers containing allusions to Mm
which deserve attention. According to t?ie effusion
of an informer, one Edmund Potter, the Dissenters
boasted of their perfect acquaintance with Court
proceedings ; and derisively spoke of the Eoyal
forces, which 50,000 patriots in London alone
could annihilate. A Colonel Hunt is mentioned
as a leader of the revolutionary party. Every Tues
day Hunt kept open house, and gave a " parson's
ordinary" to the Nonconformists. Another man
sion, seventeen miles down the Western-road, was a
notorious Dissenting rendezvous, and the company
often included Baxter, Manton, and their compamons.
The councils were strictly private, the women of the
household being rigidly excluded. Such materials
as these should be used by the historian with much
discrimination, and the wheat carefuUy sifted from
the chaff. For example, it is satisfactory to learn,
even from such sources, that the Nonconformist
leaders were occasionally entrusted with large sums
of money, wherewith to succour their poorer brethren.
We are informed, moreover, of the more prominent
Dissenting stations. At the home of Hampden, in
Buckinghamshire, Baxter often preached. Another
refuge was the Countess of Exeter's mansion, in
Little-Britain, where the most eminent Puritans
were wont to officiate.
Then followed a time of anguish and of desola-
lation, in which the irreligious populace were con
strained to share. They were truly days of terrible

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 295
national trial. But equal to the crisis there
emerged from a Mtherto enforced seclusion such
spfrits as Janeway, Chester, Vincent, and others.
Like true spfritual heroes, these boldly entered the
stricken city to attend the sick, to console the
dying, and to preach the Gospel to flocks now for
saken by thefr affrighted pastors. Many sad
remimscences might be collected of that fearful
-ordeal tMough wMch England passed. On returning
to Ms Acton lodgings, Baxter found his friends of
the household stiU aUve, but the churchyard
resembled a " Plow'd field -with graves." Eespecting
the Plague and the Fire, a few facts are obtainable
from our author's Ufe. The citizens, we learn,
watched the flames with speechless misery, their
useless engines standing by the whUe. Then, in a
.sudden and mysterious manner, the fire ceased its
ravages. The vaults of Old St. Paul's suggested
themselves to the stationers as a safe asylum for
those Uterary treasures with which the vicinity
abounded. But, alas ! the books shared destruction
with the sanctuary. The King, attended by a staff
of nobles, rode about in great consternation, and as
impotent to check the relentless fire as was the
least important among the spectators. A more sig-
Mficant fact was the appearance on the scene of the
Nonconformist leaders as already referred to. Taking
advantage of the confusion, they showed a magnani
mous disregard of law, opened their meeting-houses,
and entered on pastoral work. Indeed, about this

296 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
time or soon after, the Dissenters' hopes were in the
ascendant by reason of the fall of Clarendon and the
rise of Buckingham. The latter was influenced by
more liberal principles, and for the time religion
seems to have benefited by his accession to power.
Some were even sufficiently sanguine to talk of a
scheme of Comprehension.
During Baxter's residence at Acton he instituted
in his own home a meeting for Christian instruction.
The statutes against Dissent were so strmgently
enforced that only a scanty assembly was attracted,
although Ms neighbours held their distingiushed
townsman in high veneration, and correspondingly
valued his counsels. When the laws for a season
were somewhat relaxed, however, Baxter was quite
overwhelmed with enquirers anxious to profit by his
able teachings. The Vicar of Acton was a zealous-
bigot, employing for a curate " a weak, dull young
man, that spent most of his time in alehouses."
Baxter attended church for example's sake, but was-
no less on that account an eyesore to the worthless
clergy. These "loyal" divines could little brook
the presence of their iUustrious parishioner, and so
proceeded to concoct some heavy charges against
him, which were presented to the King. Charles
never cared to have Ms pleasure interrupted by
clerical petitions ; and at once rid himself of the
present intruders by referring them to the Bishop of
London — the sequel being that, as a Nonconformist
recusant, Baxter was committed to ClerkenweU GaoL

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 297
All tMs occurred in 1670 ; but Ms imprisonment, it
is pleasing to find, occasioned our author only sUght
inconvemence. He was respectfully and even con
siderately treated, and in addition to the use of a
garden, enjoyed a comfortable apartment, while
friends without plentifuUy suppUed Mm with the
necessaries of Ufe. Infamous as were the times,
the arrest of such a man drew do-wn on the heads
of those in power an inconvement amount of odium.
The efforts of friends at Court to obtain a release
were seconded by Buckingham, who represented to
Charles how such proceedings damaged his Majesty's
reputation. Brought up by a writ of habeas carpus,
the prisoner was acquitted by the Court of Common
Pleas. A short time after the above episode, Baxter lost
a thousand pounds by the closing of the Exchequer ;,
but a mere loss of wealth only sUghtly concerned
him. In 1672 he took advantage of the Indulgence,,
and took out a preacher's Ucence. In that same
year was founded the Merchants' Lecture ; and who-
more fitting than Baxter to assist in inaugurating
that famous institution, notwithstanding that the
first sermon he preached in the course was denounced
as Armiman by a certain faction of the citizens ?
He also served on another lecture in Fetter-lane ;
but in a sketch Uke the present it wUl be impossible
completely to foUow the thread of so diversified a
career. When his heart and home were desolated
by the removal of Margaret, Ms inward bit-

298 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
terness was supplemented by the persecution
wMch about that time broke out with renewed
virulence. Under the provisions of the Five Mile
Act, he was once more suddenly arrested, and, as he
had lately preached four times, the fines amounted to
two hundred pounds. His strength was now reduced
by age and disease ; yet he was only saved from the
hardships pecuUar to felons by the interposition of a
friend, who publicly certified that the proceedings
were endangering the pastor's life ; and such really
being the case, Baxter was aUowed to return to his
bed. The King interfered in Baxter's favour, and
the suit was abandoned ; but notwithstanding the
royal infiuence, the latter lost the chief portion of
his books and furniture — a loss which compelled
him to relinquish housekeeping and to retfre into
lodgings. We are assisted in forming an estimate of the
state of public affairs at this date (1683) by many
stray facts drawn from various sources. It was the
year of the judicial murder of Eussell and Sydney.
Government informers were animated by a relentless
industry; for they even pounced on such mere
youths and maidens as were found at Nonconformist
meetings. In numerous instances very young per
sons were convicted of rioting on evidence no more
satisfactory than that of having attended conventicles.
Of these some were fined, some were imprisoned,
and others were doomed to beat hemp at BrideweU.
Other facts rise to the surface proving the un-

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 299
principled Government to have been as devoid of
honour as of charity. A certain clergyman, for
example, bequeathed six hundred pounds for distri
bution among sixty Bartholomew confessors, but the
Lord ChanceUor ruled the bequest to be illegal, and
the money was not recovered untU after the Eevolu
tion. A list was made of a thousand persons
suspected of dangerous practices ; and in the estima
tion of the authors, such a galaxy necessarily in
cluded Baxter. On the appearance of a company
of officers to arrest Mm, our divine retired to Ms
study ; and as locks could not be broken with im-
pumty, his enemies determmed to aUow him neither
sleep nor refreshment; and to effect their design,
six men were stationed throughout the night at the
chamber door. After being arraigned three times
before the sessions, the old man was bound over in
heavy amounts to keep the peace. Pitiable to the
last degree must have been the' condition of England,
and degraded indeed her Government, when the dan
gerous classes were made to include the devoted
and laborious Baxter.
Thus days and years flew on, and time brought
its wonted round of adventure. As regarded Eichard
Baxter, the succeeding and iniquitous reign of James
the Second was destined to witness the perpetration of
a crowning piece of judicial folly. Jefireys being now
in the ascendant, he proved Mmself a worthy agent
of a perfidious master. Immediately after the death
of Charles, Baxter was indicted for calumniating

300 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
the bishops in his paraphrase on the New Testament.
As all concerned knew perfectly weU, the aUusions
complained of referred to certain ancient pastors ;
but the Government were glad of a lame excuse for
denouncing the book as " scandalous and seditious,"
since such a procedure promised to punish the
writer. The case came on in May, 1685, when
Baxter was in so weakly a condition that his counsel
endeavoured to get the trial postponed : " I wUl not
give another minute to save Ms life," roared Jeffreys.
" We have had to do with other sorts of persons ;
but now we have a saint to deal with, and I know
how to deal with saints as weU as sinners." Just
at that moment a neighbouring pUlory was fittingly
occupied by Dr. Gates ; and the wit of the judge
prompted a paraUel between the plotter and the
divine : " He," cried his lordship, referring to the
lying informer, and pointing to the court-yard, " He
suffers for the truth ; but if Baxter did but stand on
the other side of the piUory with Mm, I would say
two of the greatest rogues in the kingdom stood
there." On the day of trial Baxter entered the court at
GuildhaU, with a mien betokening serene com
posure, such as a sense of innocence, and of the
injustice awarded him only could have engendered.
He was attended by Sir Henry Ashurst and Dr.
Bates ; for now that dear ministering angel, whose
gentle heroism had so often encouraged Mm, was
aiding the joy of other spheres. On all sides.

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 301
«minent persons thronged the court. Many con
flicting sympatMes were represented; but perhaps
none sanctioned that native insolence of the monster
who presided, and who disgraced in common both
Ms species and the bench of justice. The first case
of the day being concluded, the clerk proceeded to
call another, when he suddenly heard himself re
proved in savage but familiar tones : " You BLOCK
HEAD ; the next case is between Eichard Baxter
and the King." Accordingly the differences be
tween the divine and the Crown were entered into ;
and the obnoxious passages — the aUeged refiections
on the EngUsh prelates — were read. The solicitude
of Sir Henry Ashurst had pro-vided for the defence
the ablest counsel the town afforded, in the persons
of Wallop and PoUexfen ; * and one of these gentle
men now essayed to address the court : " My Lord,
I humbly conceive the bishops Mr. Baxter speaks of
were the plagues of the church and of the world."
* PoHexfen opened the defence. " When the trial came
on at Gruildhall, a crowd of those who loved and honoured
Baxter filled the court. At his side stood Dr. William Bates,
one of the most eminent of the Nonconformist divines. Two
Whig barristers of great note Pollexfen and Wallop appeared
for the defendant. Pollexfen had scarcely begun his address
to the jury, when the Chief Justice broke forth, 'PoUexfen,
I know you well, I -will set a mark on you. Tou are the
patron of the faction. This is an old rogue, a schismatical
knave, a hypocritical -villain. He /hates the Liturgy. He
would have nothing but long-winded cant -without book : '
and then his Lordship turned up his eyes, clasped his hands.

302 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
" Mr. Wallop," screamed Jeffreys, " I observe you
are in all these dirty causes, and were it not for you
gentlemen of the long robe that hold up these
factious knaves by the chin we should not be at the
pass we are." "My Lord," returned Wallop, "I
humbly conceive that the passages accused are
natural deductions from the text." " You humbly
conceive," Jeffreys again bellowed, " and I humbly
conceive. Swear him. Swear him." Wallop how
ever, was too accustomed to such legal routine to be
readUy cowed. " My Lord," he said, " I am counsel
for the defendant, and if I understand either Latin
or English the mformation now brought against Mr.
Baxter upon such slight ground is a greater reflec
tion upon the Church of England than anything
contained in the book." But the lawyer was no-
match for his ferocious opponent. " Sometimes you
humbly conceive," now cried the latter, " and some
times you are very positive. You talk of your skUl
and began to sing through his nose, in imitation of what he
supposed to be Baxter's style of praying, ' Lord, we are thy
people, thy dear people, thy peculiar people." Pollexfen
gently reminded the Court that his late majesty had thought
Baxter deserving of a bishopric. ' And what ailed the old
blockhead then,' cried Jeffreys, ' that he did not take it ? ' His
fury now almost rose to madness. He called Baxter a dog, and
swore that it would be no more than justice to whip such a
villain through the whole City.'" — Macaulay's Hist. Eng.,
chap. iv. To Pollexfen the credit belongs of halving given a
smart repartee to the judge's indecent mimicry: — "My Lord,
some will think it hard measure to stop these men's mouths, and-
not let them speak through their noses."

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 303
in church Mstory, and of your understanding Latin
and English. I tMnk I understand something of
them as weU as you ; but in short, must tell you
that if you don't understand your duty better I
shall teach it you." Soon after Jeffreys was heard
denouncing Baxter " as an enemy to the name of
thing, the office and person of bishops." It was next
argued that in certain passages of the Paraphrase,
bishops were respectfuUy aUuded to. Then Baxter
Mmself attempted to get a hearing. "My Lord, I
have been so moderate with respect to the church, that
I have incurred the censure of many of the Dissenters
on that account." "Baxter for bishops," retorted
the judge, " that's a merry conceit indeed ; turn to
it ; turn to it." An advocate immediately took the
volume and read : " Great respect is due to those
truly caUed to be bishops " — " Ay," interrupted
Jeffreys, -with one of Ms savagest expressions, " Ay,
that's Mmself, and such rascals caUed to be bishops
of Kidderminster and other such places. Bishops
set apart by such factious, smvelUng Presbyterians
as himself. A Kidderminster bishop he means,
according to the saying of a late learned author,
'everyparish shaUmaintam a tithe-pig metropolitan.'"
Another endeavour on Baxter's part to make himself'
heard provoked the weU-known outburst, " Eichard,
Eichard, dost thou think we'U hear thee poison the
court ? Eichard, thou art an old feUow, an old
knave. Thou hast written books enough to load a
cart, everyone as fuU of sedition (I might say

304 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
treason) as an egg is full of meat ... I know
thou hast a mighty party, and I see a great many
of the brotherhood in corners waiting to see what
will become of their mighty donne ; but ... I
will crush you all." On what was supposed to be
the conclusion of the evidence Baxter ventured to
ask, " Does your Lordship tMnk any jury wiU
pretend to pass a verdict upon me after such a
trial ? " " I'll warrant you, Mr. Baxter," was the
rejoinder; "don't you trouble yourself about that"
While walking from the court, accompanied by Sir
Henry Ashurst, the defendant turned on the wicked
judge and told him, that a predecessor of his would
have acted differently. "There is not an honest
man in England," was the reply, " but takes you for
a great rogue." -When judgment was given, on a
future day, the author was ordered to forfeit five
hundred marks.
As Baxter had but recently lost a thousand
pounds by the closing of the Exchequer, the fine
was not discharged, and he was, therefore, im
prisoned in the King's Bench as a defaulter.* Soon
-after he was set at liberty and allowed to live in
* The sympathy Baxter's trials drew forth must have
greatly cheered him. At this date young Matthew Henry was
a student at Gray's Inn. The future commentator visited
the Puritan leader in his confinement, and gracefully offered
him a gift of money from Philip Henry ; but, as the latter
was an ejected minister, Richard could not be prevailed upon
to accept the present by all the powers of persuasion the
youthful Matthew could command.

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 305
London, notwthstanding the provisions to the con
trary of the Oxford Act. He now removed to
Charterhouse-square, Ms last eartMy home, and
about the same time undertook to assist Matthew
Sylvester at Eutland House. The depression of
weakness and infirmity, however, told Mm that he
had reached the last stage of his mortal pilgrimage,
and he died on the 8th of November, 1691. His
character has been so often delineated, that any at
tempt of the kind in tMs place would be superfluous.
"The Industrious InvaUd," "the Shakespeare and
Demosthenes of English Theology," and "the
Augustme of Nonconformity," are famUiar terms to
every Baxterian bibUographer.
Although linked with Kidderminster, Baxter's
life and labours also pre-eminently belong to
London, and are associated with many of the
buUdings yet remaimng in the old city. At St.
Margaret's, Westminster, we find traces of him as
we fancy ourselves Ustemng to Ms sermon before
the ParUament, just prior to the Eestoration. We
can enter St. Dunstan's, Fleet-street, and there
imagine ourselves witnessing a panic in the congre
gation, occasioned by an alarm that the buUding was
faUing down ; and we may proflt by the wise reproof
and ready improvement which the preacher utters.
At Oxenden-street we see him expeUed from a
chapel reared by the munificence of Mistress
Margaret, but in which the devoted husband was
only permitted to officiate once. At SwaUow-street, 20

306 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
near at hand, and at Maid-lane, Southwark, we
imagine ourselves to be a part of that great crowd
of citizens who learned wisdom at the feet of tMs
Puritan Demosthenes. At the Savoy, at Sion Col
lege, at St. Bride's, at St. Paul's, and at Whitehall,
this same fragile form of Eichard Baxter, even as a
spectral chUd of fancy, rebukes us for so slightly
improving life's fleeting hours, and for making so
faint an impression for good on our generation.
Noble Baxter ! When compared with you, and with
other Uke stars of the seventeenth century galaxy,
what diminutive tapers do the majority of us appear!
And how contemptibly poor and abject are they who
live merely for earthly wealth and for eartMy honour.
Almost well, he repUed, when at Ms death one
asked him, " How are you ? " We take our leave
of him at Charterhouse-square, unless, indeed, we
foUow his Ufeless clay to its sepulchre in Christ-
church, where it rests beside the body of his beloved
Margaret. Noble Baxter ! How plainly manifest is
it to you now that, notwithstanding all its painful
privations, your lot on earth was a blessed lot. We
admiringly contemplate your work, but cannot de
scribe your reward. To do so we should need your
own, or even an angel's powers. Our incapacity to
catch the light and music of sinless spheres is only
equaUed by the readiness with which your sanctified
genius reflected the one and appropriated the other,
to transfer them to the luminous pages of your
immortal Saints^ Rest ; and the blessedness of your

little carter LANE. 307
present condition you have yourself described in
that greatest of aU your writings: — 0, wliat a
mighty change is this ! . . . Farewell, sin and
suffering. . . . Welcome, most holy heavenly
nature.* Connected with tMs important Society at Little
Carter-lane at the time of his outset in life appears
Edmund Calamy, the celebrated author of the Ac
count of Ejected Ministers. His ministry under
Matthew Sylvester lasted only four years ; but a
sketch of his life may with propriety be given in
connection with the Society, since Calamy after
wards became a prominent leader of the Noncon
formists. His family claimed a good descent, their
ancestors having migrated from Guernsey, whither
tradition says, they were driven in the days of per
secution under Charles IX. of France. Amid the
poUtical and reUgious troubles of the Civil Wars
* The principal sources of information for the above
have been the Calendars of State Papers, Domestic Series,
Charles H.; the Life of Baxter, by himself, Sylvester's
edition ; and also Calamy's Abridgment ; Bates' Sermon on
the death of Eichard Baxter ; Baxter's Memoir of his Wife ;
several of his minor pieces, e. g.. The Quaker's Catechism,
and his Letter to the People of Kidderminster ; Wilson's
Dissenting Churches, &c., &c. Baxter wrote between one
and two hundred separate works, of which there are about
one hundred in Dr. Williams's Library. An imperfect list by
Calamy occupies twelve octavo pages. A selection from his
political -writings were publicly burned at Oxford on the day
of EusseU's death, in the summer of 1683.
20*

308 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
the Doctor's grandfather enjoyed the powerful pro
tection of the Earl of Essex whUe settled at Eoch-
ford, and on removing to London he succeeded Dr.
Stoughton at Aldermanbury, where he metamor
phosed the rectory into a Puritan city rendezvous.
Calamy exercised a vast influence over the Presby
terians — a power he exerted in favour of the Eestora
tion; so that for a season after the King's return
the divine was something thought of at Court. How
well the Government could remember such services
Calamy's subsequent arrest and imprisonment served
to testify. On account of this injustice the con
science of Charles accused him, and he arranged to
hold an inter-view with the Puritan confessor, which
was made the occasion of proffering him the See of
Lichfield, on condition of his conforming. The royal
offer was refused, and Calamy died soon after the
Fire of London. His sons, James and Benjamin,
both conformed at the Eestoration. Edmund, the
eldest, was the silenced minister of Moreton, in
Essex, and the founder of the Nonconformist Society
in the Old Jewry. Benjamin, as a protege of Jeffreys,
became an uncompronusing partisan of Episcopacy.
He pubUshed a treatise in defence of the last-named
regimen, and openly challenged a gainsaying of his
arguments. Those arguments were refuted by
Delaune, whose moral courage and literary skiU
cost him an imprisonment in Newgate for the
remainder of his life. A notable inhabitant of
Calamy's father's parish was that victim of kingcraft.

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 309
Alderman Cornish. Young Calamy happened to be
walking up Milk-street on the day of the alderman's
execution, and he there encountered his uncle Ben
jamin, looking as though he would sink through the
pavement. Edmund was judiciously trained during early Ufe ;
those Uberal and tolerant principles being also care
fuUy instUled into his mind, v/-hich in an age of
controversial violence characterised Ms sire. His
father was a staunch Nonconformist, who never
depreciated the EstabUshed Church. His wife was
a compamon worthy of his amiable and gentle
nature. During his chUdhood she was to her son
an efficient tutor. She it was who taught him to
read, and when that art was fairly mastered, she
honoured a good old Presbyterian custom by sending
Edmund each Saturday afternoon to Dyers' HaU, so
that he might take his place among the catechumens
of pastor Lye.
A very pleasant and peaceful home was that of
the Calamys in Aldermanbury, and very profitable
was the social intercourse between divines of all de
nominations, wMch its ever-aiUng master loved to
encourage. No higher fortune could have befaUen a
youth Uke Edmund the younger than that of having
for daUy examples those who were Ms home pre
ceptors. But the time arrived when the boy needed
to benefit by a higher curriculum than his mother's
system embraced. In those days, as in ours, the
duties of curates were heavier than their stipends ;

;;iO ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
of this class was one Nelson — a resident of Alder
manbury — who fitted up, till it resembled a school-
house, the vestry of St. Alphage, and there in the
capacity of parish tutor supplemented a scanty in
come ; his array of scholars, meanwhile, including
Edmund Calamy. As the latter- made only little
progress under curate Nelson, he was ultimately
placed with " a kind of Fifth Monarchy man, caUed
Yewell, at Epsom ;" but even at Epsom his physical
improvement became more apparent than his mental
progress. It must be mentioned to his honour,
however, that Yewell's crude opinions on religion and
politics sufficed not to conceal his genial disposition.
He evinced a tender concern for his boys, and even
incurred the expense of providing a Loudon minister
to preach to them weekly. But as something more
than kindness and improved health was necessary,
¦young Edmund was recaUed to London, there to
attend another academy in the neighbourliood of
Pinners' Hall. He now made satisfactory progress.
Mormng and evening he crossed the City, and was
wont at times to encounter a citizen of so great an
age, that his lore included a story of his having
witnessed Ehzabeth's entry into London, on her
accession to the throne, in 1558.
On that tumult subsiding which the alleged
popish plot awakened, the Court promoted a reac
tion of public feeling. The excuses offered for the
rigorous treatment of the Dissenters wore more of a
poUtical than a reUgious complexion. The Non-

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 311
conformists are said to have resembled the crown
jewels, because pawned at pleasure to a vindictive
ParUament when supplies were needed, to be par
tiaUy released on a dissolution. The year 1681
was a time of severe hardship to our Christian
fathers. Throughout England the Nonconformist
pulpits were vacant, not on account of faint-hearted
shrinkings from duty, but because the' pastors
were languishing in county gaols. Calamy carried
with Mm to the verge of Iffe many personal remi
niscences of those never-to-be-forgotten days. Even
as early as Ms tenth year the sight of his child's
face often gladdened the solitude of such prisoners
as were confined for conscience' sake, or in other
words, he was frequently the almoner of persons
whose S}Tnpathy prompted them to reUeve by such
an agency the men of whom England was then un
worthy. From many such did young Edmund
Calamy receive a blessing. His father eluded im
prisonment, and did so by a dexterous adroitness
with wMch the agents of the law were unable to
cope. He was continually being sought, but by now
assuming one disguise, and anon another, and by a
frequent change of residence, he escaped the vigi
lance of Ms enemies. They who convened the
Nonconformist meetings were constrained to act
with severest caution. As a mere child, Edmund
was often present at the proscribed assemblies, and
at such times he would ask himself the puzzling
question. Why could not men whose whole demeanour

312 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
was self-denying and peaceful, live on unmolested ?
He was present on two occasions when miUtary
intruders from WMtehall suddenly disturbed the
services. Notwithstanding the roughness of the times,
Edmund received the best training his parents were
able to afford. Thus, in addition to the educational
advantages already specified, he resided for a time
at Islington, in the house of Thomas DooUttle, and
was there in the society of youths who were destined
to achieve eminence in their several professions.
This school was broken up by the Government agents,
and DooUttle retired to Battersea.
Then came the winter of 1684, -remarkable for
its severe frost. The river Thames was completely
frozen; and, on account of the staUs and booths
erected on its surface, it more resembled a street
through a fair than its wonted famiUar aspect.
Boats being superseded by coaches, the novelty of
the innovation attracted abundance of traffic. Very
vividly did the scene impress itself upon young
Calamy's imagination ; and he tells us of the multi
farious sports — e.g., fox-hunting, bear and bull-
baiting, which the hundreds of booths and shop
keepers did their best to encourage. There was, of
course, the roasted ox — the first thing suggested to
our fathers by such a scene as the frozen Thames.
For two months the citizens uninterruptedly enjoyed
their winter sports ; and the events of that clear, dry
Christmas had only just become events of history.

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 313
Tvhen Charles the Second was no more. Young
Edmund stood in Wood-street, one dismal February
morning, to hear the heralds proclaim the accession
of James the Second to the throne of England. Bad
as he had been, the populace retamed an affection
for the late monarch, and some tears were shed at
the mention of the name and title of the new King.
In tMs memorable spring of 1685, the elder Calamy
also died. His constitution had never been robust ;
and, although treated by the most eminent phy
sicians, he died of consumption at Totteridge, near
Bamet, whither he had gone for change of air. His
remains, on being brought to London, were deposited
in the church at Aldermanbury.
The now fatherless Edmund continued his educa
tion at JMerchant Taylors' School, and subsequently
had several tutors, the most noteworthy of whom
was Samuel Cradock, the conductor of an academy
for university learning near Newmarket. Calamy
retained some pleasant reminiscences of the days he
passed in the home of Samuel Cradock. The latter
not only attended to his classes, but ministered to a
congregation at his own house on Sabbath days, and
did so -without a stipend. After leaving this pre
ceptor, Calamy returned to his former tutor, Thomas
DooUttle, whose meeting was in MonkweU-street,
but whose manse was overshadowed by the now
classical shrine of Sylvanus Urban, at ClerkenweU.
The young scholar formed many valuable acquaint
ances — e.g.. Shower, Howe, Taylor, and others, and

314 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
he acted on the advice of such able counsellors when
he ultimately embarked for Holland to read theology
at the Dutch universities.*
After going through his continental curriculum,
Calamy returned home with some highly flattering
testimonials from foreign professors. Prior to his
settlement he travelled about England, and we are
enabled to follow him in some of his wanderings.

¦&'-

* While Calamy was studying on the Continent he
obtained some information of a certain Mrs. Schurman, who,
besides her high literary attainments, possessed an exquisite
skill in painting glass and china. One piece, in particular,
on which she had only worked when in her best mood, was
a specimen of consummate art. Her excessive pains did not
go unrewarded; for many competent judges ventured an
opinion that the glass in question was the finest thing of the-
kind extant. As the lady was well known, families of dis
tinction, while passing through the district, usuaUy made a
point of inspecting her treasures, principal among which was
the trifle referred to. Such callers were invariably very
politely received. On one occasion, the "visitor being a lady,
the hostess pressed her to drink -wine from the much-prized
glass ; and, accordingly, that article was handed over to a
maid to be washed. In her nervous carefulness, the girl
broke the cup, and, kno-wing too well the nature of the
mischief she had done, she ran and hid herself. When
obliged to restore the broken pieces, she exclaimed in terror,
" I could not help it ! indeed, madam, I could not help it ! "
Instead of upbraiding her maiden, this sage-like matron
returned to her visitor to exclaim, in the language of truest
-wisdom: " I hope I shall learn from this passage to set more
value upon my time for the future, than to throw away so.
much upon so brittle a trifle."
Another remarkable story of these times is supported by

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 315
He visited Oxford, and, whUe there, received an in
vitation to visit the people of Whitchurch, where
the Nonconformists' pulpit was vacant. The mes
senger was accompanied by a horse, upon which
Calamy returned, as desired. At Whitchurch a
weU-to-do tradesman of Andover was encountered,
who, by way of addition to his compUments, re
quested that a young scholar bearing so eminent a
name would also visit Andover. Accordingly^, on
the testimony of Calamy. During the civU wars, a certain
youth determined to join the Parliamentary ranks, and
adhered to his resolution, although parents and friends
dissuaded him fi-om it. TTia resolve was so finnly rooted as
to be proof against either entreaty or reason. His friends at
last delighted him by giving their reluctant consent. In one
of the sanguinary battles that followed, this youth was
severely wounded; and, through neglect, mortification
ensued. He progressed from bad to worse, until the surgeons
decided on sacrificing the limb. The doctor, who attended
the patient on the night preceding the day appointed for the
amputation, carelessly left a bottle of dressing liquor and a
flask of refreshing cordial standing together by the bedside.
In the course of the night the invalid drank a large draught
of the cauterising fluid, and his immediate sensations were
those of being internally on flre. To all appearances he soon
lapsed into a dying state, and on the folio-wing mormng his
body was in an intense heat, his eyes resembling baUs of flre.
Under circumstances so distressing, the surgeons decided on
not proceeding -with the amputation, but allowed their
patient unlimited quantities of drink. The sequel was most
extraordinary ; for on examination, the injured limb was
found to have recovered from the mortifloation, and in a
brief space the youth was again abroad and in his usual
health.

"316 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
the Thursday following, Calamy and his host rode
over to this hospitable merchant's house. A wel
come not less abundant than the dinner which fol
lowed awaited them, and, during the progress of the
meal, the host, in the course of Ms pleasant conver
sation, astonished his visitors by quietly remarking,
¦" I have no doubt there will be a good congregation
this evening." On finding himself thus fairly en
trapped young Edmund experienced some chagrin;
and his humour was not improved by the discovery
that a messenger was abroad collecting an audience ;
for he " thought this sort of management pretty
particular." The Andover of those days had its
;separate Nonconformist societies, but they had only
a single meeting-house between them. The Presby
terians and Independents worked harmoniously to
gether; and, at tMs conjuncture, the last-named
section had lately lost their minister, Isaac Chauncy,
the predecessor of Doctor Watts in London.
This visit to Andover of a young divine bearing
so distinguished a name awakened unwonted ex
citement in the little republic. After concluding
his sermon, Calamy was abruptly addressed by a
¦dame wearing a high hat, and who was in all other
respects, picturesquely attired. She invited the
young orator to remain at Andover, whither, she
declared, Providence had directed him. WhUe
nearly losing command over his countenance,
¦Calamy replied that his youth would scarcely
warrant the immediate acceptance of so important

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 317
a charge, and, in addition to such considerations, he
knew Uttle of their disposition. Because he had
pleased them on a single occasion, it did not foUow
he should always succeed in doing so. WhUe pro
ceeding to strengthen the position she had assumed,,
the ancient dame extoUed the virtues of youthful
Christians, at the expense of those of riper years.
" Come, come, mother," interrupted Calamy, " do not
bear so hard on the old CMistians among us." He
also embraced the opportuMty of recommending the
Presbyterian minister, whose duties were then in
conveniently di-vided between Andover and Win
chester : " Fix Mm whoUy among you," cried he,
" and ease him of going in Ms advanced age to-
preach at Winchester once a fortnight." The old
lady happened to be a reUct of the extreme orthodox
Puritan school ; and her wrathful explosion now
startled the company: "What, Mr. Sprint," she
sMieked, " old Mr. Spruit ? Alas ! he is a Bax
terian ! He is a middle-way man ! He is an
occasional conformist ! He is neither fish nor flesh,
nor good red herring ! " Amid some glee, Calamy
endeavoured to soothe the singular human phenome
non before him ; but Ms words were to no purpose.
"Sfr," said the woman, as she stalked down the
aisle, " I -wish you a good mght."
Calamy returned to Oxford, and in that neigh
bourhood inaugurated his ministry. Soon after he
removed to London, where he accepted numerous
engagements. His now seemingly prosperous path

318 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
however, was not without its shades of sorrow ; for
about this time that bane of his kindred, consump
tion, cut short his sister's Ufe. Meantime a settle
ment had not been decided on. Eeceiving a call
from Bristol, he travelled thither to judge of the
prospects presenting themselves. The stipend was
aGlOO a year, with a house ; but for the sake of his
mother, who preferred remaining in London, this fair
opening was decUned. Immediately afterwards, by
settling with Matthew Sylvester at Blackfriars,
Calamy was honoured by next succeeding the
immortal Baxter.
We get many glimpses into a young minister's
diurpal experience in those distant days by atten
tively foUowing our author's voluminous narrative.
He lodged in Hoxton-square, and had Thomas
Eeynolds for a landlord and house compamon.
Their days glided happily on, for each was glad
dened by the other's presence. Neither was rich.
Eeynolds was pastor at the Weigh-house ; and as
for Calamy, he received from Matthew Sylvester a
quarterly allowance of ten pounds, the latter often
retaining a smaller amount for himself. As an
annual subscription of eighty pounds, however, was
insufficient for the maintenance of two, a separation
ensued, and Sylvester assumed the entire pastorate,
while his colleague engaged himself to Dr. Williams,
at Hand-alley, Bishopsgate. Calamy now gave
attention to a matter of a tenderer nature. From
the congregation of John Shower, in Jewin-street,

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 319
he selected Mary Watts, to whom he was united in
marriage in June, 1695. This happy union in no
way interfered with the domestic arrangements at
Hoxton, where the house was still shared by Thomas
Eeynolds. Even in the days under review, several years after
the Eevolution, the Dissenters, for political reasons,
avoided the ostentation of public ordinations ; and
made it their custom to hold such meetings in
private. Calamy determined if possible to establish
a more honourable precedent, and, with a view to
that end, consulted several eminent divines. Sin
gularly enough, both Bates and Howe shrank from
encouraging the innovation, through fear of awaken
ing Government suspicion. Nevertheless, others
were found -willing to conduct the solemnities of the
occasion. The meeting was convened at Little St.
Helen's, the service lasting eight hours, during
wMch seven persons were ordained. On several
accounts that longest summer day of 1694 was
memorable m the annals of Nonconformity.
Calamy rapidly rose into popularity, and was
elected to the Merchants' Lecture, at Salters' Hall,
in 1702, shortly prior to his accession to the pulpit
at Westminster. In tMs year he again visited
Oxford, and became intensely interested in dis
covering that Clarendon's History of the EebeUion
was passing through the Universit}"- Press. Calamy
was then engaged in preparing his Account of the
Ejected Ministers, and a strong curiosity prompted

320 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
him to obtain a sight of Clarendon's unpublishedl
sheets. He went to the printers ; but none of the-
employfe dared to respond to so strange a request ;
and our author returned to his lodging is a dis
consolate mood. Not despairing, he enquired of a
certain tradesman, if any persons were engaged at
the presses to whom a liberal donative would he-
acceptable. A being of the kind required — a poor
Dutchman — was ultimately found ; for he produced
with alacity what sheets were printed, and actuaUy
brought a portion of the manuscript also. By
reading throughout the night, Calamy enjoyed Ms-
stolen booty. He was deUghted by discovering
that in regard to facts. Clarendon and himself were
not materiaUy at variance. This method of gaining
his object cannot be commended as honourable. As-
regards Calamy's Account of the Bartholomew Con
fessors, its pubUcation aroused the fierce resentment
of the AngUcan priesthood. Some opponents pro
posed condemning the book by a formal vote of
Convention, but if such a design was ever seriously
entertained, its execution was balked by a too eager
appreciation of its probable effect on the sale of the
book ; for one of the publishers offered a purse of
gold to any who would ensure the passing of the
contemplated vote.
The first edition of Calamy's Abridgment of
Baxter's Life was published in 1702. This work
is a Defence of moderate Nonconformity ; and as
such became the spring-head of a controversy as-

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 321
it were, wMch in this place wiU not need any par
ticular aUusion. Several books were issued by the
contending parties. Calamy was arrayed against
Hoadly, OUyff, and Dorrmgton. We must make
due aUowances for the temper of those times, and
then the combatants wUl receive very Mgh com
mendation, Avhen we grant that they conducted their
literary skirmish with a kindliness of spfrit not at
all characteristic of the Augustan age.
In 1708 the religious pubUc was troubled by the
appearance in England of the sect caUed French
Prophets. The leaders of these fanatics laid claim
to inspfration, and were wont, besides, to go through
some strange performances. Calamy did Ms best to
promote their discomfiture by publishing his Caveat
against their doctrine and practice, for writing which
he received the thanks of the Queen. Our author's
next adventure was a pleasant tour into Scotland ;
and of that journey he has left us ample details. On
re-crossing the Border he carried with him the well-
merited distinction of Doctor of Divinity.
His time was now occupied with many busy pro
jects. In 1713 he published a revised edition of
his Account of Ejected Ministers, which the Non
conformists hailed as a seasonable memento of heroic
suffering, but wMch continued to excite the less
amiable attributes of the violent partisans of Church
and State. Of the latter party Dr. Walker assumed
the championship, and volunteered to counteract
what was deemed to be Calamy's pernicious in-
21

322 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
fluence. Circulars, containing a number of queries,
were dispersed among the clergy. The questions
principaUy related to those incumbents who were
sequestered during the Commonwealth for aUeged
incompetence, ignorance, or immoraUty. The
minutest particulars were eagerly sought after — e.g.,
of the rudeness of CromweU's Triers, and the violent
behaviour of their abettors ; and also of the successors
of the superseded pastors, and of the school of
fanaticism to which they speciaUy belonged; of
"their ridiculous praying or preaching, canting,
formal or immoral practices ; of the furious things
they did and said " against the Government, the
Church, and the State in general. The coUectors
of these historical materials were encouraged in their
researches by the smoothest compliments and by the
blandest assurances. Indeed, his grace the bishop
and their reverences the archdeacons of the diocese
highly approved the undertaking.
The above more particularly refers to the see of
Exeter, where the clergy showed no indolence in
doing as they were bidden, since the whole business
was sanctioned by " the right reverend father in
God, the lord bishop, and archdeacons of this dio
cese." It is true that the clergy encountered some
obstacles and checks in thefr invidious enqmries.
Thus, in a parish presided over by one of Dr.
Walker's disciples, there lived a venerable dame,
whose strength of body had decUned, but whose
wits were unimpafred by years. During the civU

LITTLE CARTER L.VNE. 323
wars her famUy espoused the Eoyalist side, and,
on that account, severely suffered. Her father,
it would seem, was superseded by those uncom
promising advocates of J)ure reUgion and a grave
deportment — CromweU's Triers. With some glee
the parson discovered in tMs old lady an agent com
petent to further Ms interest with Dr. Walker, and
with " the reverend father in God, the lord bishop,
and archdeacons of this diocese." Pocketing his
sheet of queries, our parson hasted to the cottage,
wMch he entered, and in the blandest of humours
commenced some such dialogue as the foUowing : —
" WeU, my good mistress, it rejoices my heart to see
you so blythe after aU your famUy troubles and with
your infirmities of age ; but I hope yet to see some
reparation made you for your losses in the late times
of cant and fanaticism." " I am content, parson,"
she repUed, "to let bygones be bygones, and go
quietly to heaven." On the business assuming
tMs unpromising aspect the chivalrous vicar chid
" her simpUcity, and told her he hoped she would
be wiser than to let sUp such an opportunity, and
presently falls to asking her questions out of his
paper concerning her father." The dame continuea
obstinate, and said such reminiscences " were better
forgotten." At tMs stage the parson lost his temper ;
questions and arguments were superseded by invec
tive, and he absolutely refused to stir without re-
cei-ving a full account of the -wrongs inflicted on the
sequestered vicar, the dame's father. The revelation
21*

324 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
made, only bred further disappointment, and increased
the clergyman's consternation, for the information'
" was not at all to Ms gust" Christian principle,
in the person of his informer, proved superior to
fiUal love. Vainly, by artful questions, did the
parson endeavour to elicit admissions from which
damaging conclusions could be drawn. He spoke at
random some spiteful things about the minister in
stalled by CromweU's Triers, but his auditor's reply
was a grateful acknowledgment of Ught received
from that Puritan pastor. Chagrined at his final
non-success, the parson " stormed and raged " with
disappointment, till, finding aU to no purpose, he
rushed from the cottage, forgetting to pocket Dr.
Walker's sheet of queries.
Circular letters were also dispatched into other
dioceses ; and shortly aiter the publication of Calamy's
Account, Walker's foUo was subscribed for by tMr-
teen hundred persons. The sheer absurdity of certain
details in the book excited some mirthful derision ;
but, on the other hand, the work was extolled as
the Anglican Book of Martyrs. Churchmen, how
ever, were not unanimous in admiring the monument
raised by Walker, and one of their number con
temptuously styled it " a farrago of false and sense
less legends." Posterity can estimate the author's
merit without being biassed by party rancour. Un
doubtedly, the Doctor has done his best to palliate
the odium of drunkenness, tavern-haunting, and
swearing, so inseparably associated with the clergy

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 325
of the Eestoration ; and any obstacles in the way of
vindication he thought he anmMlated by calUng
them " hackney imputations." Confusion of arrange
ment and mistakes in the text are also noteworthy
features of Walker's book. Many of his " martyrs "
could boast of attributes which degrade humanity
below the nature of brutes, and, moraUy speaking,
render man aU that is contemptible.
Walker's task was at the best an invidious under
taking. He attempted to weaken his opponent's
testimony by expressing suspicion that the Noncon
formists' faUings had been covered, or that at the
least they had been extenuated. He portrays as
worthy divines many whom Calamy in reply de
nounced as drunkards, profane swearers, rakes,
mockers, or wanton Uars — e.g., one Bilton, of Mex-
¦burgh, in Yorkshire, " was infamous for his impu
dence and impiety." He was chairman of a society
of rakes, and both by precept and example encouraged
.profanity and loose li-ving. Another star of Walker's
galaxy was " a drunken, profane wretch," who, not
satisfied with practising buffoonery in general, must
needs jest in his prayers. Another " worthy old
gentleman " — who, in the war time, chose to refuse
the sacrament to such as ad.hered to the Parliament
— was fined for drunkenness. Charles ChurcMll, of
Feniton, whom Walker eiUogises as learned, pious,
and loyal, was a mere jester on sacred themes,
since his own wife confessed " he teUs lies to make
gentlemen laugh." Many other reverend examples

326 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
might be brought forward who were "famous for-
nothing but vice." Many of these had been the
subjects of CromweU's discipline, but they received!
comfortable and considerable compensation. One
vicar is particularly mentioned, who had fifteen-
li-vings in Oxfordshire, in addition to the parish in
which he chose to reside.
One episode in Calamy's Ufe, belonging to these
times, deserves recording, as it reveals the art by
which authors sometimes introduced thefr wares to*
the world in that unreading age. The Church was-
then distracted by the question of subscription to
theological dogmas ; and Calamy published an octavo
volume, in defence of the Trimty, which he hoped
would tend to promote peace among the disputants..
His book, he supposed, would attract a wider notice
if permission were granted of inscribing it to the-
King ; and, by the agency of Lord Townshend, leave
was obtained to present a copy to George the First
in person. This occasion gave the monarch an
opportumty of expressing his respect for the Three-
Denominations ; they were, he felt assured, his stead
fast friends, and, as friends, he expected their
support in the forthcoming general election. At a
meeting of mimsters, convened on the day following,.
the honour of the royal confidence was acknow
ledged, and a message despatched to the palace to-
assure his Majesty that his expectations would not
be disappointed. Copies of this volume — interest
ing on account of these Mstorical minutiae connected

. LITTLE CARTER LANE. 327
with it — ^were presented to the Prince, the Princess
of Wales, and to the three Princesses. Calamy
received a government draft of the value of fifty
pounds. Having thus gone at some length into our author's
career, it wiU not be advisable to extend our notice
by gi-ving fuU particulars of his latter days. During
forty years he was an active London mimster and a
zealous advocate of the English Presbyterian order.
His connections included a wide circle of distin-
gmshed friends, by whom he was honoured as
the leader of the Nonconformists. Although his
personal character needs no eulogy, it may just be
mentioned that he was large-hearted, learned, pious,
and anUable. He preached Ms last sermon on one
of the opening Sabbaths of 1732, and died in the
June foUowing, in Ms sixty-second year, leaving a
-widow and six cMldren. The number of Ms sepa
rate pubUcations is thirty-nine. One of Ms sons,
Andrew Calamy, ably assisted Edward Cave in the
earUest days of the Gentleman's Magazine.*
Samuel Stephens, a young divine connected with
this society, was cut do-wn by fever in Ms twenty-
* Por Dr. Calamy see The Historical Account of his o-wn
Life, edited by J. T. Eutt, 2 vols. 8vo. ; Mayo's Puneral
Sermon, 1732 ; Calamy's Church and the Dissenters Com
pared, &c. ; Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy : Calamy's
Account of Ejected Ministers; The Biographia Britannica,
&c. Numberless references to the Doctor may also be found
in the periodicals, pamphlets, and other works of Ms time.

328 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
eighth year. The sermon commemorating this
sad event. was Calamy's maiden publication: it is
a quaint-looking quarto, "Printed for Abraham
Chandler, at the Chyrurgeon's Arms, in Aldersgate-
street." Sylvester was foUowed by one destined to rise
into high repute among the Dissenters — ^viz., Samuel
Wright, with whose teaching the citizens were
famiUar, seeing he had afready estabUshed a claim
on their regard in the pulpit at Crosby HaU. Wright
was born in 1682, at Eitford in Nottinghamshire,
where his father held a good position in the Non
conformist mimstry. His parents, who gave due at
tention to their son's early training, both died during
Samuel's early childhood. It providentiaUy hap
pened that the orphan was weU cared for, and placed
in a school at AttercUffe, where he afterwards con
tinued Ms studies imder the famous Timothy JoUie.
On young Wright's leavmg the academy, his uncle
admitted him to his own home in the capacity of
famUy chaplain. Shortly after the uncle died, and
the nephew removed to London, his ministerial ex
perience as yet being extremely limited. At Saint
Giles's he found a home in the household of Thomas
Cotton, a Dissenting minister in that vicinity, who
engaged Wright as lecturer. The latter's next
remove was to Turnham-green, where he accepted a
chaplaincy in the establishment of Lady Lat A
rising, and therefore, a more important step, was his
settlement at Crosby Hall under Dr. Grosvenor,

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 329
Then on the death of Matthew Sylvester, in 1708,
Wright succeeded at Blackfriars, and in doing so re
linquished Ms other engagements, including a lec
ture in Southwark. At the time of his death
Sylvester's church was in a most improsperous
condition, having suffered a gradual decline since
the loss of Eichard Baxter. The accession of a
young and popular minister brought with it an
immediate revival, and the scanty audience grew
into one of the largest assembUes of the Presbyterians
in London. In 1710 the importance of tMs station
attracted the Sacheveral rioters, who destroyed the
chapel — a loss, however, which the Government
handsomely repaired. After this the pastor con
tinued to extend his influence till his emment services
by tongue and pen were rewarded by the Scottish
distinction of Doctor of Divimty. As an author,
he was occasionaUy extremely popular, his piece
on the New Birth having run tMough fifteen editions
during its writer's lifetime. His works, charac
terised by Doddridge as being " candid, rational,
and evangeUcal," are nearly fifty in number. But
notwithstanding Wright's celebrity in that long since
departed age, scarcely any particulars of Ms life are
kno-wn beyond what has been related, and that he
died at the age of sixty-four, in AprU, 1746. He
had an assistant, Jeremiah Burroughs, who " Was
xeckoned a polite and fasMonable preacher; but
about the year 1717 he quitted the mimstry, and
obtained a more beneficial post under the Govern-

330 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
ment." Another assistant was Thomas Ne-wman,
who finaUy succeeded his coUeague, and continued
in the pastorate forty years. His parents — citizens
of London — after having judiciously trained thefr
son, reaped the reward of seeing him rank among
the more eminent of his contemporaries. He died
in 1758. The sermon on his death, by Edward
Pickard, contains notMng noteworthy concerning its
subject. Edward Pickard next foUows. He remained at
Carter-lane tiU his death in 1778. Born at
Alcester, he was educated by successive tutors
at Birmingham, Stratford-on-Avon, and London.
He originally settled in the tovra of Shakspeare's
birth. Thence he removed to Southwark, and thence
again, in 1746, to Blackfriars, to take the lecturesMp
under Thomas Newman, whom he eventuaUy suc
ceeded. Although he unfortunately embraced the
tenets of Arius, he was much respected throughout
the City.
Pickard was assisted by John TaUor, a former
pupU of Doddridge at Northampton. After lea-ving
his amiable tutor, TaUor settled at Eochford, and
subsequently at Stowmarket. By the rural populace
he was so Mghly appreciated, that they gave him the
nom de plume of the Suffolk orator, but on remo-ving
to Carter-lane in 1760, he was unable to sustain tMs
country-achieved fame. WMle faUing to captivate
the more polished ears of a City audience, "His
presence in the pulpit was graceful, and his discourse

LITTLE CARTER LANE. 331
judicious." His theological tenets were of the lowest
standard, wMch may be partly accounted for by his
having been the intimate friend of Priestley, for with
Priestley he sympatMsed both in " thought and senti
ment on various topics of inquiry." TaUor died in
1766. Thomas Taylor came after Edward Pickard, and
remained in the pastorate for nearly half a century.
He was reared at Kidderminster, and educated by
Caleb Ashworth, Doddridge's next successor. At
one time Taylor had a prospect of settling over the
Nonconformist congregation in his native town, but
certain obstacles preventing tMs, he removed to
Stoke Newington, where by accepting a chaplaincy
in the Abney famUy, he became styled " A second
Dr. Watts." He earned the respect of the Lon
doners, and rose to some eminence in the Merchants'
LecturesMp at Salters' HaU ; but he did not retain
that prosperity which the church enjoyed under his
predecessors. We can only just mention the names
of later ministers. Joseph Barrett, one of Dr.
Enfield's students at Warrington, served from 1811
to 1823, when infirmity compeUed his retfrement.
Next foUo-wing came John Hoppus, who afterwards
accepted the professorship of logic and mental
phUosophy in the University of Edinburgh. Other
names belonging to Carter-lane are those of John
FuEer, George Levds, George Watson, John Scott
Porter, James Yates, Dr. James Hutton, and Henry
SoEy. The last was succeeded by Henry lerson.

532 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
who officiated at the last service held in the old
meeting house, on Sunday, October the 13t-h, 1861.
After the death of Dr. Wright tMs society
experienced a gradual decline of prosperity, stUl
further promoted by the election of John Tailor,
"The cordial friend of Dr. Priestley." Thus, by
their looseness of procedure, the members opened a
path for the humamtarianism of Yates and Hutton.
This is a sad ending to a story Uke that belonging
to Carter-lane, and only Uttle more remains to
be told. On the memorable day already mentioned, a
large concourse was attracted by the novelty of a last
-sermon in a buUding of so many great and dear asso
ciations. " It was perfectly understood," says The
Christian Eeformer, in allusion to this occasion, " that
the closing service would not be one of lamentation
over decay." Let us venture to hope, notwith
standing, that to many present the season was one of
momming ; for, although a new chapel has arisen at
Islington, the spectacle descried from our stand-point
is that of a noble barque wrecked on the breakers of
" unsound doctrine."

Cljajjler VIII.
THE EING'S WEIGH-HOUSE.
East-cheap has possessed attractions from time im
memorial. These sprang in ancient days from a
colony of cooks, the fame of whose dainty fare was
extended to the provinces by persons famous among
thefr feUows on account of ha^ving visited London.
From an old baUad which portrays a countryman's-
progress tMough the city, we learn that the appren
tices', " What d'ye lack," first drew attention to the
imer materials of wearing apparel. StiU progressing
from the west, the traveUer, in the vicimty of Corn
hUl, was tempted "with old clothes ; but on reacMng
Eastcheap, the cries resounding on all hands," Hotribs-
of beef rested ; pyes weU baked, and other victuals,"
were sweet music to the hungry, and such were the
deUcious odours that even uncompromising vege
tarians would almost have recanted at dinner-time.
On a certain occasion, the sons of Henry the Fourth
were dra-wn tMther by savoury temptations. During
one memorable mght in 1410, the princes supped
in Eastcheap, and on coming to high words with

334 ancient MEETING HOUSES.
the neighbours, a riot ensued, which the Lord Mayor
was caUed from his bed to suppress.
The King's Weigh-House originally stood in
CornhiU, but after the great fire it occupied the site
of the consumed church of Saint Andrew Hubbard.
In early times the Weigh-House was an institution
of considerable importance, and nothing prevented
the chief Weigher from being a member of the
Court of Aldermen. This personage employed four
officials, and these superintended several subordi
nates, while the entire establishment was governed
by the Grocers' Company. The business consisted
of weighing and marking packages brought from
vessels in the river. The fees varied from twopence
to three shUlings a draught, although for " A bagg of
hopps " merchants paid the uniform charge of six
pence. ParUament passed many acts for regulating
weights and measures. Foreigners disposing of mer
chandise in London were compeUed to weigh their
goods at the King's beam, and in the presence of
sworn officials — men whose duties disquaUfied them
for other business, and whose morality was guaran
teed by any swervings from rectitude entailing an
imprisonment of a year and a day. The custom of
weighing was graduaUy relinquished, when varying
standards were recogmsed in rural districts; and
because the vulgar would not be trammeUed by
fixed rules, seventeenth century mathematicians pro
vided their own measures. There are some quaint
and ancient sayings which imagination at least

THE KINGS WEIGH-HOUSE. 335
attaches to the King's Weigh-House; sayings belong
ing to days when thirty-two grains of wheat were
the legal weight of the EngUsh silver penny : e.g.,
¦"A pint's a pound aU the world round" — a popular
faUacy now rectified into " A pint of pure water
weighs a pound and a quarter." " Five score to the
hundred of men, money, and pins ; six score of aU
other things." *
The English Presbyterian society at the Weigh-
House was founded by Samuel Slater and Ms sup-
p)osed curate, Thomas Kentish, divines driven by
the Act of Uniformity from Saint Katherine's-in-
the-Tower. The Church as Nonconformists, assembled
for a time in the same neighbourhood, but subse
quently removed to Cannon-street and finaUy settled
in East-cheap. It is to be regretted that so little is
ino-wn of the first pastor, who died in 1670.
Morally he was a very brave man. Throughout an
industrious career considerations of ease or danger
never led him into neglect of duty. During the
dreadful plague visitation of 1625, which signalised
the accession of Charles the First and anmhilated a
third part of the London population. Slater highly
distinguished Mmself by faithfully and unflinchingly
discharging every Christian office.
Slater was succeeded by Thomas Kentish, a son
of the sUenced minister of Middleton, in Durham.
He studied at Cambridge Umversity, and was ejected
* Por further particulars see Stowe's Survey; and also
JMaitland's Seymour's and Pennant's Histories of London.

336 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
in 1662 from the parish of Overton, in Hampshire.
At the hands of the government he experienced very
rough treatment : whUe preaching for Janeway in
Southwark, some officers suddeMy dragged Mm
from the pulpit and threw him into prison. He
died in 1695. Of Ms private and public character
Dr. Calamy entertained the highest opimon.*
Thomas Kentish had for an assistant John
Knowles, who was born in the last year of the
sixteenth century,']" and educated at Cambridge
University. Eventually he accepted a tutorship
at Katherine HaU, and in the Commonwealth era
twelve of Ms former students were simultaneously
members of Parliament, while thfrty others held
eminent positions as Christian ministers. In 1635,
Knowles left the University to become lecturer to
the Corporation of Colchester, whither he found
Mmself followed by Laud's persecuting enmity.
An opportunity of prelatical spite occurred at the
death of the grammar school-master, WUUam Kempe,
who had served the town since the reign of EUza
beth. When the mayor and Ms coUeagues sought
thefr lecturer's advice about appointing a successor,
* See Calamy's Account, and Continuation: Wilson's
Dissenting Churches ; Nonconformists' Memorial, &c.
t That is in 1600. " Cromwell was born in the spring
of the last year of the sixteenth century," says Principal
Tulloch, in his admirable essay on the Protector. Accordiig
to this reckoning the sixteen centuries only contained 1593
years; for Cromwell was born on April 2oth, 1599.

THE king's ¦vteigh-house. 337
Knowles counseUed them to choose a scholar of the
name of Dugard, and a feUow of Sydney CoUege.
Accordingly, Dugard was installed in the situation,
and the wisdom of this choice became amply de
monstrated by the increased prosperity which the
school enjoyed. Nevertheless this independent ac
tion excited the fre of Laud, who, coveting the place
for a creature of his own nomination, with persever
ing maUce obUged the master to resign. Knowles
experienced intense disgust at these proceedings, and
ha-ving already given offence in the affafr of Dugard,
he was not surprised at being sharply reprimanded
for ha-ving sUghtly de-viated from the Eubric.
Taking warmng, Knowles saUed for New England ;
and there, on one occasion, narrowly escaped being
murdered by the Indians. When Cromwell restored
order, the di-vine returned to Ms native land, and to
a lecturesMp at Bristol Cathedral, an employment of
wMch he was deprived at the Eestoration. In Bristol
he held a position of useful popularity ; although
to some of the sects, and to Quakers * especially,
he proved Mmself an eyesore. The annoyances
wMch came from certain " Friends " were chiefly
* Once a term of reproach; but never so used in this work.
The Society of Priends has had too much to do -with securing
for England her present civil and religious Uberties to be
slightingly spoken of by any lover of his country. The
allusions to E. Marshall, which follow, illustrate the spirit
of those times. Such zealots were by no means confined to
Quakers.
22

338 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
oral rebukes during public service, and never ad
ministered in an under key. In one instance the
pastor's private door was flercely assailed by an
armed disciple of Fox, whose zeal apparently had
annihUated his peaceful principles. Another Friend,
EUzabeth MarshaU, was strongly prompted by duty
to visit "The Steeple House." The preacher's
aUeged heresy inflicted exquisite torture, compared
with which the lodging in Newgate entailed by her
temerity was feUcity itself. On the orator's coming
to his peroration, " She could not refrain no longer,
(sic) but cried out, ' This is the word of God — the
Lord to thee, Knowles ; I warn thee to repent, and
to mind the light of Christ on thy conscience.' "
On leaving Bristol, Knowles settled in London, there
to display heroic intrepidity in visiting during the
horrors of the plague. It was about the era of the
Indulgence of 1672, that Knowles connected himself
in labour with Thomas Kentish. Both of these
were very zealous evangeUsts, and excessive earnest
ness to propagate the faith became so apparent in
the former, that he would occasionally sink ex
hausted upon the ground. When persecution again
prevaUed Knowles, undaunted, still pursued his way,
openly declaring the while, how he preferred preach
ing the gospel in gaol to li-ving luxuriously at home.
He died in AprU, 1683.*
* Calamy's Account ; Nonconformists' Memorial ; the
Annals of Nonconformity in Essex; Wilson's Dissenting
Churches, &c.

THE king's WEIGH-HOUSE. 339
At this conjuncture, and although the church
showed a decline in prosperity, the members courage
ously in-vited to the pastorate Thomas Eeynolds, the
assistant of Howe. The Silver-street congregation
embraced the elite of Nonconformity, and, conse
quently, to be called from an important sphere to a
scanty gathering at Eastcheap was not likely to gain
consideration. But Eeynolds had proved himself to
be no ordmary man. Neither promises of advance
ment nor friendly warnings sufficed to deter him
from accepting the caU. Once settled, he acMeved
immediate success, in consequence of which the old
meeting room became inconvemently small, and
necessitated the erection of a chapel over the King's
Weigh-House. Thomas Eeynolds, as an elder son, was originally
intended by Ms parents for the legal profession, and
studied for some time at Oxford umversity. His
withdrawment from college ensued because of some
disagreement with his tutor; and returning to
London, Ms native city, the student found the flame
of persecution at its height, and the Dissenters'
chapels closed by a tyrannical Government. His
famUy pastor, John Howe, had already retired into
HoUand, many of his hearers, in the meantime,
worsMpping at Oripplegate church ; and it was
tMough attending divine service in that quaint
sanctuary that young Eeynolds was converted, and
had his first desfres awakened to enter the Christian
mimstry. His father, a pious and considerate man,
22*

340 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
amid happier circumstances would have been de
Ughted with those early predilections, but on realising
the desolation of the Dissenting interest, as seen in
the closed chapels, the exiled pastors, and the hatred
of the Court to all religion, he dissuaded his son
from venturing so hazardous an enterprise. But no
anticipation of hardships nor of difficulties can
subdue the ardour of youthful minds when enthu
siasm springs from higher sources than earthly con
siderations. Thomas was now placed with Charles
Morton, an eminent scholar, who in those unsettled
times maintained an academy at Newington-green.
When the times grew yet rougher, young Eeynolds
and others embarked for Germany, there to complete
their education. At Geneva he attended the lec
tures of Dr. Turretine, but ultimately removed to
Utrecht. We find that during the days of his pre
paratory study, Eeynolds's Ufe was clouded by sorrow
and dark spiritual visions, and these drove him on
to the border land of despair. Providence, however,
dispeUed the gloom of doubt and misgiving.
Eeynolds returned to London, and on commencing
to officiate in neighbouring pulpits, his superior
powers were quickly appreciated. Then came the
Eevolution to inaugurate happier times, and to
attract back to their native land numbers of refugees
then in HoUand. The rising fame of tMs young
divine brought him under the notice of Howe and
the Silver-street congregation. These weU-to-do
admirers had not long prevailed on Eeynolds to

THE king's WEIGH-HOUSE. 341
settle among them when there came a pressing call
from the destitute people of the late Thomas Kentish.
But all tMngs seemed to umte to detain the lecturer
in his first-chosen and more comfortable sphere. He
had not arrived at the age of experience. An in
fluential and poUte society aUowed him a handsome
salary. His own famUy opposed a removal; and
what appeared a stiU greater objection was the
smallness of the proposed charge, their church
members only amounting to seventeen. Eeynolds,
however, decided to remove, and the wisdom of his
procedure was evinced by the abundant prosperity
wMch immediately attended him. Although not
acquainted -with many particulars either of his
pastoral or private Ufe, we esteem his memory, for
he was one who pre-eminently answered the demands
of the Christian mimstry. "His thoughts were
clothed in a plain and manly dress ; he avoided the
extreme of an uncouth rusticity and a gaudy elo
quence." During the period of eight years, ranging from
1699 to 1707, the assistant at the Weigh-House
was Jabez Earle, who ultimately resigned in favour
of Hanover-street, Long-acre, where he continued
for sixty years. A young man, by name James
Eead, being next appointed lecturer, he discharged
that office satisfactorily tUl the Dissenters became
di-vided by the unseemly disputes at Exeter and
Salter's HaU in 1719. During that memorable
crisis Eead gave high offence by dividing with the

342 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
non- subscribers. The majority of Ms people voted
for his supercession, while the minority were
clamorous in his defence. In the angry controversy
which ensued, the coffee-house loungers took an
active share. Eead's admirers even presented him
with a silver medal. After suffering considerably
on account of supposed heterodoxy, he became
assistant to Dr. Evans, of Petty France, and, on suc
ceeding his colleague, remained there till his own
death, in 1755.
This unhappy episode in the life of Thomas Eey
nolds acted disastrously on his health and spirits,
and for a season threatened to be fatal. Unfortu
nately, four years later, he was assaUed by that
formidable opponent, Simon Browne, of the Old
Jewry, who revived the quarrel of the subscribers
and non-subscribers. For years prior to his death
Eejmolds suffered from the weakness of an impaired
constitution — a result of excessive application to
literary pursuits, and a somewhat hard usage from
his brethren. He died in the summer of 1727, one
of his last acts consisting in the offering of a prayer
for the weal of the Weigh-House society. During
his days of health and strength he had feared the
hour of death, but when overtaken by the last great
foe he declared that he was going to heaven on a
bed of roses.*
* Wood's Sermon on the death of T. Eeynolds ; a letter to
the Eev. T. Eeynolds by S. Browne ; An Answer to the Eev.
S. Bro-wne, &c., &o.

THE king's WEIGH-HOUSE. 343
It may be mentioned here that the eighteenth
century brought with it a controversy about publicly
singing the praises of the Deity ; and the Weigh-
House mimsters were early pledged to defend the
use of psalmody. A Friday evening lecture was
estabUshed partly for tMs special purpose. In the
year 1708 a volume of the sermons on this subject
was published " At the Golden Candlestick, at the
lower end of Cheapside." To this work * we are
indebted for information respecting those strange
objections with wMch the preachers found it neces
sary to deal.
Although constituting a digression, they will
scarcely be out of place, if, in connection with this
sketch of the Weigh-House meeting, are given some
reminiscences of Nonconformity during the fifty
years foUowing the Eevolution, our authorities
being the contemporary Uterature of the era and
later histories.
The Eevolution itseK had hardly been possible
but for the Dissenters' influence. By their coales
cence with the moderate party in the Church of
England against King James the Second and Popery,
the Nonconformists at the least saved their neigh
bours of the EstabUshment from a humiliating per
secution, if from nothing worse. It was a singular
* This was entitled Practical Discourses on Singing, and it
was followed by three companion volumes, one on Prayer,
1711 ; one on Hearing the Word, 1713 ; and one 031 Eeading
the Scriptures, 1717.

344 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
spectacle, and as interesting as its issues were im
portant, when the Eomamst chief of a Protestant
Church, by unkingly manoeuvres, sought to deliver
over to the common foe a hierarchy he had sworn
to protect ; and the noble ingenuousness characteristic
of our fathers during the nation's ordeal, and their
resistance of temptations to taste the sweets of re
venge, showed more conclusively than their oral
teacMngs that, their action partook of the spirit of
Christ. With the Dissenters lay the balance of
power ; and high and eager were the bids offered for
their influence by the Crown and by the Church.
With few exceptions. Dissent evinced to the world
that purity of faith was not to be sacrificed for re
taUation; and even they, who servilely addressed
the King on Ms iUegal indulgence, were victims of
mistaken policy rather than of bad intentions. The
day of danger came and went, but the Church, which
in her extremity had earnestly craved the alliance
of all Protestant sects, showed no desire to continue^
the acquaintance after the enemy retired. The^
sagacious WiUiam, it is true, with a wisdom and
UberaUty superior to his age, and incomprehensible^
to his advisers, would have conceded justice to Non
conformists had not his efforts and wishes beea
frustrated or overruled by ParUament. The King,.
who under Providence became the political saviour-
of England, and whose reign was one long struggle
for freedom against European despotism, could obtaini
notMng from his senators more worthy of the times

THE king's ¦WEIGH-HOUSE. 34&
than the Act of Toleration — a measure only extend
ing its pri-vUeges to such as subscribed the theological
articles of the Anglican Church.
Indeed, the WMgs at the Eevolution became so
intoxicated with their triumph, that they failed for
the time to see what Hume afterwards perceived
and honestly confessed, that Puritanism had a prin
cipal hand in preserving intact our EngUsh liberties.
Had the national Church embraced all the people, a
monarch of absolutist predUections would easUy have
overborne opposition and extinguished Uberty of
conscience. But the far-seeing poUticians of the
Eevolution did not fail to understand the crisis ; and
from tMs realisation of their true position sprang
the WMgs' opposition to Comprehension. What
could be more suicidal than embracing in one^
establishment those forces, which apart counteracted
one another's evU tendencies, but the alUance of
wMch would ensure the annihUation of the last
check to arbitrary power, and open a smooth way
for the triumph of absolutism ? By opposing Com
prehension, AngUcauism frittered away a golden
opportunity of extending its empire ; by an identical
poUcy certain of the Liberal party sought to preserve
intact the legitimate influence of Nonconformity.
The clergy as a class were the least satisfied with
the Eevolution. According to Burnet, a large^
proportion of the parish ministers, as Jacobitical
agitators, desired to rob Dissent of its newly-won
privUeges, because Dissent had become a formidable

346 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
obstacle to the cherished scheme of reinstating the
exiled Stuarts. But obscure rural clerks — the
nobodies of their regimen — were not the only
enemies of freedom. Several ecclesiastical digni
taries, some of them men of supposed moderation
and of sterling character, were favourable to the
suppression of Nonconformist academies. But all
were kept in subjection by the good sense of
WiUiam himself, so that the time of Ms death
was not only a gloomy season for England, but a
day of evil forboding for the future of her free
Churches. When the grave closed over the remains of King
WilUam the dominant class in Church and State
became more encroaching. They turned the acces
sion of a female Stuart into an opportunity for re
newing their attack on Dissenters' liberties. Thus
originated the Occasional Conformity BUl and the
Schism Bill, the agitation connected with which
continued through many successive years — years of
uncertainty, wherein the peers won our fathers'
gratitude, and that of all lovers of constitutional
government, by the policy of continually rejecting
the former, and so postponing its passing tiU its
apparent triumph came too late to be effective. In
the meantime, in remote districts, persons found it
difficult, if not impossible, to secure a righteous ad
ministration of the laws. In some instances Non
conformists were subjected to the violence of party
mobs and the injustice of party "justices."

THE king's weigii-house. 347
The controversy on the above-named Jacobitical
measures was not entirely fruitless. Jacobitism ex
posed its deformity tiU it ensured ultimate defeat by
sowing the seeds of its own ruin. In their rabid
earnestness to crush opponents, the friends of Charles
Edward were aided by scurrUous scribes, whose
-violent diatribes clearly showed that toleration
belonged not to the Stuarts' royal principles; and
those professing such Utopian principles were Ukely
to be obnoxious to the State under the proposed
new order of things. Places in the State of trust
and emolument were as much a Dissenter's birth
right as any other Englishman's ; but if their price
were to become a mortgaging of conscience, then
let them go as trifles in comparison. The Dissen
ters themselves regarded with disfavour those of
their brethren who communed in the EstabUshment
for official reasons. " 'Tis a novelty an abuse,"
observed one, " crept in among us, and we are glad
to have it condemned by authority." The discussion
yielded a fuU harvest of UbeUous pamphlets. One day
would bring forth a furious farrago on The Wolf stript
of Ms Clothing ; on another day would appear an
exposure of the interior of Dissenting academies.
The Sacheverel riots exercised a -wide-spread
and pernicious influence on the nation. Toryism
strengthened its hold on popular affection, and so
dismayed the WMgs that their abandonment of the
Dissenters was the price paid for the Earl of Not
tingham's apostasy from Ms party — a condition of

348 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
the coaUtion being the cessation of opposition to the
Occasional Conformity BUl. This was a remark
able instance of principle being sacrificed to party
interest. But perhaps the gravest crisis of those times —
a crisis imparting pecuUar interest to the closing
months of Anne's eventful reign — ^was the passing
of the Schism BUl, a measure wMch legaUy came
into force on the day of the Queen's decease. An
unholy phalanx of bishops, infidels, and renegades
promoted the fleeting triumph of tMs piece of in
tolerance. Dissenting schools and coUeges were to
be closed ; and parents were to be deprived of the
right to educate thefr offspring according to con
science. As the High Church or Jacobitical leaders grew
more sanguine of success, they would seem to have
imagined that tMngs in general were deUvered into
their keeping ; and the reign of Anne did not close
¦without -witnessing scenes of violence enacted at their
instigation. Many principal towns were shaken by
anti-Nonconformist riots; and at Oxford the Presby
terian meeting-house was destroyed. Then, ere
many weeks were passed, a retribution in various
forms overtook the reUgious zealots of that ill-timed
revolution. A Tyburn crowd enjoyed the rare treat
of seeing a clergyman hanged in fuU canonicals.
Of divers members of Oxford University, the
Government made severe examples. The Pretender
and his adherents at least proved to the world that

THE king's WEIGH-HOUSE. 349
the blows aimed at Nonconformity were really de
signed to prostrate the supporters of the Hanoverian
Succession. The Dissenters of Queen Anne's day had not
entirely discarded a predUection for Puritan cus
toms, then fast growing obsolete, since the fathers
who adopted them had nearly all passed from the
mortal stage. On the question of keeping Christ
mas, for example, there existed great diversity of
opinion.* The strictest of the Dissenters objected
to the observance of the 25th of December as a
festival. Thefr prejudice against the Common
Prayer was aggravated by the consideration that a
popish feast was associated with the nativity of
CMist The Churches of Scotland and of New
England suppUed arguments to strengthen the
position they assumed. If the Anglican, in reply,
ventured on adducing the example of Lutherans, his
opponent objected to having semi-papists introduced
in argument. No particular day, the Noncon
formist urged, should commemorate an event be
longing to the umverse and to all time. It could
not be proved that the Apostles ever honoured
Christmas, and the excesses of successive years
became crowning objections to its observance.-
Others were moved by far stronger antipathy. They
saw in Christmas a continuation of those heathen
* Dissenters generally, if not universally, objected to the
religious observance of Christmas Day, and had no service in
their chapels on that festival.

350 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
SaturnaUa, " those mad feasts in honour of Saturn
kept at the same time by the heathen as the Chris
tians." They discovered ' Carol ' to be derived from
' Ceres,' and 'Yule' from 'Aulos' — a hymn sung at
an idol's festival. Nevertheless, that extreme aver
sion to keeping Christmas, evinced by former genera
tions, had to a large extent died out with the Puri
tans, and the above remarks only apply to their
strictest descendants.
Among the denonunations, the Baptists were
least inclined to honour the festive season, but the-
Quakers being unanimous in contemptuously re-
jectmg a reUgious obligation imposed by authority,.
openly followed their common pursuits amid the
national rejoicings. Between Quakers and other-
Dissenters Uttle sympathy existed, for in a dialogue-
spoken by an Anglican and a Nonconformist, we
find Friends referred to by the latter as " A wUd
and enthusiastical sect, which had discarded the
badges of Christianity." Certain Presbyterians and
Independents, who attempted the innovation of
preaching on Christmas Day, did so without reward..
In one instance there was a large faUing off in pew-
rents, and in another the people refused to attend.
Even such as were partiaUy successful, observed a
discreet sUence about any connection between the
day and Christ's nativity. Some there were who-
preached on Christmas Day, as if to make an occa
sion of declaiming against its observance.
When at length George the First was triumphantly^

THE king's WEIGH-HOUSE. 351
installed, the Jacobitical clergy continued to do their
utmost to further the cause of treason, and the Pre
tender. BoUngbroke, who hated all reUgion, but the
reUgion of Dissent in particular, was shocked " for
at least two minutes " when dismissed from office,
and thus tried by wit to Mde his chagrin. Damaging
reports were circulated concermng the royal family.
Preachers, in hundreds of parish pulpits, unblush
ingly insulted the King, while many a rural clergy
man rivaUed the squire in the gust with which he
drank the Pretender's health. " They (the clergy),"
says a contemporary, " show themselves his most
violent enemies . . . with an enmity not only
particular and personal, but intemperate to the last
degree." Considering that the Church was the sanctuarium
of poUtical renegades, it is scarcely strange that the
accession of George the First should have been sig-
naUsed by the pubUcation of numerous seditious
pampMets, the itinerant vendors of wMch were sub
jected to a wholesome prison discipline, whUe the
authors were rebuked by Addison in his Tory Creed.
How consistent were Jacobitical professions, when
the professors were not avowed papists, is weU
kno-wn to the student of history. Men zealously
bigoted to the TMrty-nine Articles, sacrificed wealth
and honour to entMone a monarch whose principles
were subversive of the established religion.
The question. What were the customs of our
fathers as regards their religious services, if not of

352 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
paramount importance, yet possesses considerable
interest On Sabbath mornings the meeting-houses
opened at mne. The singing of the 100th psalm
or some similar piece commenced the service. TMee
prayers, reading, expounding, and a sermon an hour
long followed, the whole probably occupying about
double the time of its modern counterpart-. The
morning order was repeated in the afternoon; even
ing worsMp being superseded by catechetical exer
cises in the famUy. It became common for masters
of households to repeat such portions of the sermon
as memory or note-book suppUed, and frequently a
pastor Mmself passed pleasant Sabbath evenings in
the manse parlour, in company of those neighbours
who chose to attend.
In 1717 the Bangorian controversy irritated the
religious world — a dispute not so bare of fruit as
disputes in general, since it led to the curtailment
of the powers of Convocation. Benjamin Hoadley,
bishop of Bangor, although clear-headed in politics,
favoured the low Armimans in theology. He pub
Ushed a sermon on The Kingdom of Christ, the
political sentiments of which were what most would
now accept as in unison with Christiamty, but sen
timents now regarded as reasonable and scriptural,
in the days of George the First sufficed to awaken
Tory denunciations, since Tories could little brook
the idea that their own party was not created to
hold others in subjection. Words ran high. The
press yielded a harvest of pamphlets. The King

THE king's WEIGH-HOUSE. 353
ordered a prorogation of the ecclesiastical parUa-
ment, and it has never since regained its power.
As a matter of course the old Dissenters were
occasionally scandalised by renegades and black
sheep. Let one example suffice, the episode ha-ving
been reported by Mr. Urban in the first year of his
Uterary life, or in 1731. The minister of Nayland,
in Suffolk, resolved on conforming, smce by a
friendly agency he found an opportumty of being
introduced to the bishop of the diocese. TMs Dis
senting pastor's -wits may not have been of the
brightest, nor his learmng the most correct, and
because the bishop gave him no such encouragement
as the convert supposed his heroism merited, he
retired in disappointment. A man of resolution,
however, is not cowed by one failure. Another
bishop was sought, who happening to be from home,
the would-be convert concluded that fortune was
against him. He abandoned his design, returned in
repentant mood to Nayland, and as an auditor, -with
abashed face, took his place m the meeting on the
foUo-wing Sabbath morning. Ultimately he retfred,
to continue his humble vocation as a Nonconforrmst,
in a remote comer of England.
As years rolled on without bringing reUef, in
telligent Dissenters keenly realised that the Eevo
lution had left them shackled. Thus, on Lord
Mayor's Day, 1732, the then recently founded
Nonconformist rendezvous. Dr. WUUams's Library,
sheltered a meeting convened to discuss the expe-
23

854 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
diency of taking active measures for agitating the
repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts. A larger
meeting in Silver-street Chapel foUowed, at wMch
conflicting sentiments were freely vented. Some
even apprehended a breach of the peace if the pro
posed action were adopted, and the most sanguine
did not anticipate success. It would be both tedious
and out of keeping with this cursory sketch, were
the attempt made of furmshing a digest of our fore
fathers' debates on this great question. The subject
is mentioned here merely because at Christmas,
1732, Nonconformist grievances commanded a large
share of public attention, as a reference to the Utera
ture of the day -will discover. One class of writers
warned Dissenters to beware of heeding Jacobitical
bids for their influence. Let reforms come slowly,
they argued in effect, since the worthiest Church
men desired a repeal of the obnoxious statutes.
Liberal concession would strengthen the throne by
uniting various sections of the best affected English
men in one invincible Protestant phalanx. The
grievance complained of, it was confessed, had
originated under the Stuarts, as the fruit of Ja
cobitical machinations to weaken the Dissenters by
creating divisions. News-writers complimented the
Tliree Denominations on account of a self-denial
which prompted the bearing of a burden of wrong
rather than succumb to the common enemy. One
chronicler supposed injustice was perpetuated be
cause, that through the corruption of human nature,

THE king's WEIGH-HOUSE. 355
persecution is inherent in Established Churches.
On the contrary, other journalists declared that the
agitators would not rest until possessed of all the
churches in the empfre.
On the rise of Methodism its leaders became the
subjects of a widely-spread jealousy. Members of the
EstabUshment turned from them as from a species of
Dissenters. Dissenters generally looked with sus
picion on the new sect, because regarding Wesley's
regime as unfavourable to independence.
In the meantime, from the rigid exaction of tithes
there sprang much bitter feeling and opposition to
the State Church, if not to Christianity itself. Oc
casionally the peace of a district would be endan
gered by the rigorous enforcing of the law on the
part of clergymen ; and Quakers, as hereditary oppo
nents, were oftentimes very shamefully used, their
treatment being the more notoriously disgraceful
because they readily aUowed themselves to be dis
trained on for the amounts claimed. Many vindic
tive incumbents were not satisfied with a procedure
which would have insured them their legal dues.
Intense hatred of the Quakers' enUghtened poUtics
carried many a case into the ecclesiastical courts.
Eight hundred pounds, in one instance, were taken
from ten persons whose tithe in the aggregate
amounted to fifteen pounds. But some experienced
worse tMngs than pecuniary loss ; they languished
away their months in prison or even died in noisome
cells. In such business the Established Church was
23*

356 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
commonly the persecutor, for when a bill providing
for Friends' relief passed the Commons, prelatical
influence prevented its passage through the Lords.
Indignation engendered by unearthing these facts is
slightly solaced by the counter discovery that, the
tables were sometimes turned. When a Quaker farmer
had to be dealt with, tithes were more easily set down
on paper than realised in substance. Certain sturdy
agriculturists would render no account, while showing
equal determination in refusing to compound. Parsons
were left to garner their dues as best able, and were
made to smart for any illegal action.
We receive a more correct acquaintance with the
social condition and religious usages of byegone times
by searching for what general historians pass lightly
over. When, for example, we learn that England
abounded with "innumerable alehouses," and that
even many religious professors habituaUy gave their
evenings to the seductions of village hostelries, we
have a sad revelation of social delinquency, though
a profitable study, if by comparing such days with
our own, we learn gratitude, and discover how the
world progresses towards the goal of Good. Such
customs were largely the result of a dearth of -whole
some literature ; for all the information many re
ceived was what they got in tavern parlours. A
curious incident in the history of the Gloucester
Journal shows how uncultured they were who read at
all, and such were very visibly superior to the masses
who had not taken the first steps in knowledge.

THE king's ¦\veigh-hous-k 357
The Gloucester Journal was one of the most widely
circulated papers of the early Georgian era. Mes
sengers regularly appointed, carried it into neigh
bouring counties and also into the PrincipaUty. On
the occasion of some riots occurring in WUtshfre the
editors made them a text for a leading article, and
proposed to establish the innovation by giving from
time to time other pieces by able writers on con
temporary events. It speedUy transpired that the
large constituency of the journal failed to appreciate
anything so inteUectual. Protests were uttered by
a crowd of readers, by whom the change was re
garded as but an editorial device to deprive them of
their customary news ; and, in consequence, prudence
dictated the abandoning of the "leader" scheme.
The dense ignorance of the people pained the more
.zealous of the Nonconformists ; and from these times
many of our schools date their origin.
During the years under notice the stipends of
mimsters were low ; but in numbers of instances,
and in towns especially, their duties may have been
comparatively Ught, as co-pastors were more common
than at present, or at least they were so in London
and in great towns. At one time we find the
opinion gaining ground against aUowing pastors stated
salaries — a faUacy ably combatted by Keach in his
Ufetime. But this degression is already too lengthy.*
It is time we returned to the King's Weigh-House.
* Por the facts embodied in the above I am indebted to a
jHimber pjf .contemporary j)amphlet^; such,a,s ilip l^a^wfijln-eff.

358 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
During the four years from 1732 to 1736, the
assistant lecturer was Samuel Sanderson, whose life-
work is commemorated in a sennon by Palmer,
editor of the Nonconformists' Memorial Bom at
Sheffield in 1702, Sanderson enjoyed the tutorship
of Timothy Jollie, of AttercUffe, and John Fames, of
London. Having completed Ms college course, he
accepted a chaplaincy in a family of distinction, and
preached as opportunities offered in the vicimty of
the metropoUs. He settled at the Weigh-House as-
lecturer, and ultimately reUnquished that office in
favour of Bedford, where throughout the rest of his
life he remained in connection with John Bunyan's
chapel. Sanderson and Ebenezer Chandler — the
allegorist's next successor — achieved a success in
the town weU merited by the harmony which cha
racterised their labours. Their pastoral industry
and amiable character won the sympathy of alL
parties, while their own church enjoyed uninter
rupted prosperity. Sanderson preached regularly
three times a week, besides devoting Saturday after
noons to catechising young persons. He assiduously-
aimed at fulfiUing his duty with credit to himself,
profit to others, and, above aU, he sought to honour
his Master. His mortal iUness — a nervous fever —
and Eight Manner of Keeping Christmas, 1710. The danger
of Disobliging the Clergy, &c., &c. Also to the earlier-
volumes of The Gentleman's Magazine ; Bogue and Bennett's-.
History of Dissent ; Wilson's Dissenting Churches, Appen
dix, &c.

THE king's weigh-house. 359
only disabled him for a single Sabbath. Q'he pastor
likewise laudably exerted Mmself in assisting minis
terial candidates, many of whom he instructed in
grammar learmng, besides collecting funds to aid
their future progress. A Ufe so earnest and useful
doubtless abounded with events of interest fraught
with profitable instruction, but the details were sup
pressed in accordance with Sanderson's own desire.
Dymg rather suddenly, in January, 1 76 6, his remains
were interred in the graveyard adjoining John Bun
yan's chapel at Bedford. *
On the resignation of Samuel Sanderson, Dr.
WiUiam Langford, of SUver-street, became assistant
lecturer. Educated at Glasgow Umversity, he first
settled in the ministry at Gravesend, but resigned
Ms rural charge in order to become co-pastor of the
church wMch had been under the charge of John
Howe in London. He engaged himself to the
Weigh-House Society in 1736, eventually to assume
the pastorate. The Doctor ably discharged his office
tUl his seventieth year, when many infirmities inci
dental to nature disabled Mm. Death quickly suc
ceeded, to find him happy in Christian assurance.
In the spring of 1775, on a Saturday afternoon, he
went to Croydon on a visit to a friend, intending to
reap benefit by change of air ; but at six o'clock on
the foUowing mormng he died. His last recorded
words issued from a weU-spring of comfort within,
* See the Theological and BibHcal Magazine, AprU, 1806 ;
Palmer's Sermon on the Death of Samuel Sanderson, &c.

360 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
" I have been in pain through unbelief, but now all
is removed by faith." He pubUshed eleven single
sermons. *
Dr. Langford had an assistant in Samuel Palmer,
of Hackney — a name famUiar to many through his
editing the Nonconformists' Memorial. Being a
native of Bedford, Palmer in his youthful days en
joyed the privUege of attending Sanderson's ministry,
and subsequently of studying under Dr. Ashworth
at Daventry Academy, whence he removed to
Hackney. On the decease of his colleague, in
1766, Palmer succeeded Mm, resigned his office
at the Weigh-House, and spent his remaining days
in a sphere in which Bates and Henry had already
laboured. He died in 1813, and his remains lie
in the graveyard adjoining St. Thomas's-square
Chapel, Hackney. Another Weigh-House lecturer,
and a son-in-law of Dr. Langford, was Edward
Vennor, who removed to Ware, and laboured in
that town for a great number of years.
Dr. Langford was succeeded by Samuel Wilton,
a native of London ; and, although only in his thirtieth
year, a doctor of divinity — an American honour he
specially prized on account of his being an enthu
siastic apologist for the War of Independence. This
divine, who spent Ms early years at Hackney, was
* Gibbons's Sermon on the Death of Dr. Langford;
Wilson's Dissenting Churches, &c.
t Thomas Toiler's Sermon on the Death of Samuel Palmer,
&o.

THE king's WEIGH-HOUSE. 361
educated at Christ's Hospital, whence he removed
into Hoxton CoUege to study under Drs. Kippis,
Savage, and Eees. Even in youth, Wilton's amiable
manners and Uterary culture rendered him a general
favourite with the accomplished society entertained
at his father's house. When he inaugurated his
mimstry by settUng at Tooting, the widow of his
predecessor celebrated the event by rebuUding the
chapel at her sole expense. The Doctor remaiued
at Tooting about nine years, happy, industrious, and
successful. Although his private means were ample,
he studied frugality so that more of his substance
might succour the needy ; and, in addition to this
flow of charity, his genial nature made him delight
to entertain at his board Ms Nonconformist brethren,
the majority of whom were poorer than himself.
Evemng service was then comparatively rare ; but,
in the case of Dr. Wilton, zeal in the work of evan-
geUsation prompted the estabUshment of a Sabbath-
evening lecture at Mortlake. A man Uke Wilton
Uved to nurture Nonconformity, and to advance the
cause of Uberty ; but, whUe he would strenuously
defend his denominational principles, he valued many
friends witMn the Anglican pale. On removing
to London he preferred a rural manse at Hackney
to the house in Eood-lane, which had sheltered his
predecessor Eeynolds, for Hackney contained his
best friends and earliest acquaintances. Under Dr.
Wilton's mimstry its former prosperity was restored
to the Church ; and his labours were bearing abun-

362 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
dant fruit when death cut dovm the labourer in
April, 1778. He preached his last sermon in Mare-
street meeting-house, and died a few days after of a
fever caught while visiting a family in the district.
Having immediately before his departure sent for
Samuel Palmer, the latter exclaimed, as he ap
proached his dying friend, " This is the most painful
meeting we have had." "We shaU soon meet
again," replied Wilton cheerfuUy. His spirit fled
just as the hour-hand pointed to midnight, on April
the 3rd, 1778.
The fact deserves honourable mention that, al
though he studied under some Arian professors,*
Dr. Wilton during life consistently adhered to the
orthodox standard. He preferred the Independent
to the Presbyterian system. His method of study and
Ms pulpit habits were peculiar. A rapid utterance,
evincing a great command of language, early engen
dered contempt for written discourses. His deU
very was not controUed by any oratorical art ; for
the preacher usuaUy stood m the pulpit qmte motion
less, and with Ms eyes riveted on the bare Bible,
as though he were closely perusing a manuscript.
In his study were found numbers of sermons clearly
written, from wMch his surviving relatives would
have pubUshed a selection, but for the author's
express directions to the contrary. Dr. Wilton ob
served two fasts in every year — one on his ordina-
* This remark only refers to Drs. Eees and Kippis. Dr.
Savage, the theological tutor, remained sound.

THE king's WEIGH-HOUSE. 363
tion day, the other in commemoration of his provi
dential escape from death by drowmng on an occasion
when his horse plunged into some deep water whUe
traveUing near Tooting.*
At tMs stage an unsuccessful endeavour was made
to induce Eobert Gentleman, of Shrewsbury, to
accept the pastorate. Subsequently, John Clayton
* Samuel Palmer's Sermon on the death of Dr. WUton ;
Wilson's Dissenting Churches. See also The Theological Maga
zine for 1801, andThe Protestant Dissenters' Magazine, vol. vij
The follo^wing is taken from the appendix to Orton's Letters to
Dissenting MLnisters : " He (Dr. Wilton) had the fullest claim
to their esteem and love, for he was most exemplary for his
assiduity and attainments, for a respectful attention to his tu
tors, and for his courteousness and unaffected kindness to his
feUow-pupils. One trait, in particular, of his disposition to
wards them is worthy of being recorded. His ardour in the per-
suit of knowledge, and of every qualification for the important
work to which he had consecrated himself, was entirely free
from jealousy and selfishness. He was solicitous to excite
and cherish the same ardour in his associates. He was at
that early period of his life, modestly communicative, and a
zealous promoter of useful conversation. At his father's house,
and at the apartments of his fellow students, he would join
¦with them in reading the classics, and in pursuing other
branches of literature ; and though a reciprocal communica
tion was the idea under which he represented the design of
those meetings, his liberality in imparting information was
equal to his superior abilities and furniture. On such occa
sions, too, and at every suitable opportunity, he would, in
the most amiable and ¦unoflPending manner possible, suggest
hints respecting the spirit, conduct, and views, which became
those who were under a course of education for the Christian
ministry.

¦364 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
was chosen in October, 1779, being then in the
ttwenty-fifth year of Ms age.
The venerable form of John Clayton is stiU
remembered by many. There is no reason to doubt
that, by his teaching he permanently benefited the
¦church at the Weigh-House during Ms pastorate,
although occasionally his teachings, as in the case of
his sermon on the Birmingham riots, were the oppo
site of judicious. To go back to the days of Clayton's
youth carries us far into the last century, when
people lived and worked much as their fathers had
done before them for more than one generation. In
the middle of the century there lived at a place
called West End Farm, in the county of Lancashire,
a cotton bleacher, whose life of sober industry won
the esteem of the neighbours. The family was
large, and John, our present subject, being the only
son of his parents, became somewhat over-indulged
iby his mother.
John Clayton's education commenced at a grammar-
school in the neighbourhood of his home, where he
,and his companions enlivened the monotony of a
village curriculum by dividing into religious and
political parties ; and, because fitted both by nature
and prejudice for the office, the embryo divine as-
^sluned the championship of the Protestant party. His
family not being Dissenters, John was reared with-
iin the pale of the EstabUshment ; but although he
appears to liave been serious, he possessed but little
genuine JtruDwledge of Christianity at confirmation.

THE king's WEIGH-HOUSE. 365
and he was not reaUy converted until circumstances
brought him under the ministry of Eomaine.
Intending John for a chemist, his parents ap
prenticed him to that profession ; and although Ms
after life became different from the course planned,
much useful knowledge of practical value was gained
under the pharmaceutist. This employment he sud
denly forsook, disposed of a borrowed gun, and ap
peared in London, much to the surprise and annoy
ance of Ms then more sober relatives. This exploit,
bad in itseU, had one good result — it became the
indfrect means of introducing young Clayton to the
Countess of Huntingdon ; and Ms entrance into her
ladysMp's college at Trevecca influenced the whole
course of Ms life. The patronage of the estimable
Countess was an honour which one of superior rank
and inteUectual strength to John Clayton might have
coveted. Her widowhood of forty-six years she
employed in ceaseless endeavours to disseminate the
Gospel. The theological institution at Trevecca she
estabUshed at great personal sacrifice, and there, as
the foundress, she deUghted to be found employing
herself promoting the comfort of the students with a
mother's soUcitude. Because her ladyship for the
most part was her own secretary, several hours
a-day were occasionally occupied in attending to a
large correspondence. She evinced excessive anxiety
for the weUare of her fellow-creatures, and well
would it be were her example of self-denial oftener
exhibited. In the hospitable Welsh academy, the

366 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
students enjoyed every requisite which conduces to
mental progress and domestic comfort. Able pro
fessors and a good Ubrary were provided. Each
-student had a private study and a separate garden ;
besides conveniences for batMng and recreation, with
aU other necessaries. The visible solicitude of the
Countess for the eternal weal of man would deeply
affect both tutors and students, and during family
prayer the group were frequently found in tears. So
remarkable was her earnestness that one who com
memorated her life in a funeral sermon declared that,
she would have derived more pleasure from benefit
ing one soul than from the sudden inheritance of a
large fortune. The blessing of heaven rested upon
the college till it became a centre of Gospel influ
ence — a source of Ufe to the Church during the
retrogressive Georgian era. The flaming zeal of the
matron infected the inmates tUl sometimes they
devoted half the night to earnestly praying for the
conversion of mankind. No Mgher fortune could
have befallen John Clayton than to find such a
training-school, and to have for a counsellor the
inestimable Countess of Huntingdon. He had the
additional fortune to rise into high favour with his
patroness, as she proved by many motherly actions.
At one time, because he gave symptoms of weakness
she sent him to Tunbridge Wells ; and her ladyship's
letters of 1777 show the anxiety she experienced on
-account of Clayton's health.
A large proportion of the discipUne at Trevecca

THE king's weigh-house. 367
was actual preaching. So heavily did the work
press on young Clayton that we find him complain
ing that his too-frequent preachings left him but
little time for the self-culture so necessary for secur
ing future usefuMess. Then, moreover, preaching
students in the reign of George the Third traversed
a rough path, as can be demonstrated by an anecdote
illustrative of Clayton's early ministry. Once he
conducted an outdoor service in the neighbourhood
of Christchurch, news of which coming to the ears
of certain lovers of sport, a lad of their number
spent a morning in coUecting rotten eggs wherewith
to pelt the preacher and entertain the crowd. As
the ser-vice proceeded Clayton presented an appear
ance as strikingly odd to spectators as disagreeable
to himself; but cfrcumstances did not prevent his
praying for these pitiable assaUants. The episode
passed away not to be remembered as anything
extraordinary untU thirty-six years after, when a
gentleman caUed the occurrence to remembrance by
craving the forgiveness of the Weigh-House pastor
for having been ringleader in the Christchurch
outrage. During his stay with the Countess of Huntingdon,
Clayton had no idea of one day gracing the Noncon-
fornust ministry, for it is doubtful if he would ever
have been a Dissenter had not the Bishops of Llan-
daff and Lincoln acted as the instruments of break
ing off Ms affection from the Establishment. In
those days Lady Huntingdon's Connexion was par-

368 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
ticularly obnoxious to those easy-living churchmen,
who combined Tory politics with Arminian theology.
The quibbles of one bishop were echoed by another,
untU Clayton resolved to make no further effort to
enter the Church of England ; and happening, about
the same time, to read Towgood's Letters on Dissent,
his Nonconformist principles became finaUy settled.
This unexpected turn in the tide of events disap
pointed the Countess, and she expressed her dis
approval of Nonconformity in a lengthy letter.
WhUe itinerating for Lady Huntingdon, Clajrton
became acquainted with a young man of ancient
family — the notorious Sir H. Trelawney. As
their friendship strengthened, the Nonconformist
principles of the student may have influenced the
baronet till he decided on treading a like path of
self-denial. However that may have been, the
ordination of Sir Harry at Southampton was long
remembered as one of the most strikingly pompous
services ever known among Dissenters. Passing
months seemed only to knit together in yet closer
friendship the student and Ms titled companion, and
for a time they lived together at the ancestral seat
of the Trela-wneys at Looe. They were also one in
labour, striving to dispel that gross spiritual dark
ness which then, in a greater degree than now,
overhung the county of Cornwall. Their combined
action in evangelisation won the applause of philan-
tMopic people no less than the gratitude of those
whom they benefited.

THE king's WEIGH-HOUSE. 369
The life-story of Sfr H. Trelawney abounds with
sad passages. WhUe provmg Mmself a man of
honour, he lacked that strength of character so in
dispensable to men of rank who set thefr face
against the foUies of fasMon. But as he belongs
not to the Weigh-House, he may be dismissed with
an anecdote concermng Ms marriage, wMch occurred
in 1778. For his bride he took a beautiful gfrl,
who, apparently without her lover's knowledge, an-
nuUed a prior engagement in order to please her
parents by securing for herself a more splendid
station. The spectacle was a gay one, when, after
thefr honeymoon. Sir Harry and his wife returned
to his seat at Looe, to be welcomed home by Ms
friend Clayton and the servants of the establish
ment. The young baronet proceeded to open a
number of letters, and during the perusal of one in
particular his countenance changed, betokening some
shock sustained by his nervous system. Evening
wore into night, but he would neither eat nor con
verse. At length he confessed to Clayton that he
had received an affecting expostulation from Ms
wife's former lover, who had written, wMle ignorant
of the marriage, calUng on Trelawney as a gentle
man to -withdraw his claims on the lady's affections.
This affafr is supposed to have influenced Sir Harry
more or less tUl the end of Ms days, although Ms
married life contmued to flow on happUy. He
became very changeable, and jomed the " Eational "
party. He and Clayton soon after separated, and
24

370 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
do not appear to have corresponded during the last
forty years of their lives.
John Clayton's introduction to the Weigh-House
was effected by means of a gentleman who encoun
tered the young preacher in Cornwall. The Church
voted unanimously for his settlement, with the ex
ception of a lady who refused to vote, and she after
wards became Mrs. Clayton. The ordination took
place on the 25th of November, 1778. Fostered
by his ministry, the Church by an increased pros
perity showed that her interests were in competent
hands. The pastor's rising popularity prompted the
Lady Glenorchy to invite him to Edinburgh, under
her ladyship's patronage — an offer he respectfuUy
declined. One result of these changes at the Weigh-
House was the diversion of aU coUections from the
Presbyterian Fund, on account of the low doctrine
into which many of its members had lapsed. From
this date the society has ranked with the Inde
pendents. On settling in London, Clayton persevered tUl he
achieved a respectable reputation in his profession.
He exercised considerable influence in his own
limited sphere, which might have been wider, had
not his crude political creed prevented his becoming
a representative Nonconformist, although by some
in power he appears to have been mistaken for such
a person. In Ms sermon on the Birmingham riots,
sentiments were advanced which hitherto had been
strange to the Dissenting pulpit, but the numerous

THE king's WEIGH-HOUSE. 371
contemptuous repUes testify to this day that, the
Three Denominations disowned the performance as
presumptuous and insidting. But consolation was
not wanting, for " JMr. Clayton's weak and malignant
invectives," as Eobert HaU styled his arguments,
drew from the greatest pulpit orator of Ms time that
masterly work, Christiamty Consistent with a Love
of Freedom. The Weigh-House pastor could coolly
confess he had never read this remarkable treatise 1
Eemarkable as is the book, this admission of John
Clayton is even more remarkable.
John Clayton's marriage was in all respects a
happy umon. He showed sufficient worldly wisdom
to select a wealthy bride — Miss Flower, the daughter
of a city merchant. Although the sequel proved
MgMy satisfactory to all concerned, the family at
first regarded the reverend suitor with iU-concealed
aversion; the mother, in particular, contemptuously
spoke of him as " a penniless parson."
The pastor was elected a member of the Eclectic
Society, and he accepted the Merchants' LecturesMp
at New Broad-street, and also another in Fetter-lane.
As regards his life-work in London, to describe one
week wiU be to describe the whole, for he succeeded,
more than any other quotable example, in rendering
every seven days a panorama of his entire career.
Usually he chose Ms texts on Monday; Tuesday was
devoted to pastoral visiting, and principaUy in the
City ; Wednesday and Thursday were study days ;
on Friday visitors were received ; and on Saturday
24*

372 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
he enjoyed some recreation, such as walking or
driving, giving the evemng to prayer and medita
tion. His punctuality could not have been more
marked had Ms movements been regulated by clock
work. At eight each morning he took his place at
family prayer, and he is not supposed to have been
two minutes out of time during a space of forty
years. This excessive love of order, as a second
nature, characterised all he did ; but whether the
habit of working with the regularity of a macMne
is worthy of imitation or admiration, we will not
venture an opimon, for most people wUl not attempt
an impossible discipline. It is admirable to see
men, and especially divines, penurious of their fleet
ing hours, but many have exceUed in redeemmg
time without making their life a monotonous round.
What John Clayton may have found a profitable
procedure, others would feel to be an unnecessary
burden. As a pastor, John Clayton may have had his
faults, but he laboriously and conscientiously dis
charged his duties. As a pubUc man, in a political
sense, he only represented a single household in
Highbury-place, for his poUtical opinions were not
worthy of being identified with Nonconformity. In
the famUy he enforced so strict a discipline that the
wonder is he did not spoil his chUdren and de
pendents by too much of a good thing. Assuredly
the picture given us of this painfully neat divine as
he ruled in his household excites our awe if it does

THE king's WEIGH-HOUSE. 373
not command our love. Such caUers as entered the
pastor's study would probably feel iU at ease, lest by
stepping on the carpet, or by sitting in a chair, they
should disturb the reigning order, for the very dust
seemed to keep off the shelves, and the well-swept
fire-place appeared as though it directly sympathised
with the scrupulously clean secretaire and its tidily-
arranged drawers. One piece of furmture in tMs
sanctuarium would now suffice to shock our notions
of parental kindness, although its mention is quite
necessary to complete a true portrait of what John
Clayton was at home. This was " The sUver- headed
momtor," otherwise a hea-\ry whip, hanging over his
study door. Indeed, the pastor's stern nature would
seem to have resembled the nature of those heroes
of the civU wars who quoted Scriptiu-e over the
opponents they chastised, for whenever the young
Claytons earned a horsewMpping it was heralded by
a reading and an expounding — an unlovely pro
cedure, calculated rather to breed contempt for the
Bible than respect for the flogging. Punishment
was likewise deferred, to show that it emanated from
principle. Most young persons if subjected to such
a discipline would probably recognise the "prin
ciple" wMch corrected them, without discovering
the existence of parental feeUng.
The pubUc ministrations of John Clayton are
thus aUuded to by his biographer : " His preacMng
was characterised by the compass and variety of Ms
subjects; by its adaptation to passing events and

374 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
occurrences ; by accurate discrimination of the states
and characters of his hearers ; by warm affection,
tender sympathy, and impassioned expostulation,
and by an ob-vious concern to give to all classes
their portion in due season. His manner was grave,
but not dull ; familiar, but not colloquial ; plain,
but never coarse ; pointed, without being personal,
and in no instance that can be remembered, anec
dotal, or approaching to wit or droUery."*
Thus did John Clayton pursue a prosperous course.
Eobert Hall spoke of him as "The most favoured
man I ever saw, or ever heard of." In the year
1821, symptoms of failing strength were manifest;
and an assistant — ^E. Parsons — was engaged. Five
years later the pastor resigned, and the people
showed their appreciation of his worth by pre
senting Mm with a testimonial of the value of
£228. He retired to Gaines, near Upminster, and
there he died, at the age of eighty-nine, in Septem
ber, 1843.-f-
John Clayton's successor, Thomas Binney, has
just closed a pastorate of forty years' duration. J
But it is foreign to our purpose to write about
* Memorials of the Clayton Pamily.
t Por a more ample account of John Clayton see
Memorials of the Clayton Pamily ; many facts concerning the
Countess of Huntingdon -will be found in the Sermons
preached on the occasion of her funeral by various di-vines.
J See Mr. Binney's Sermon at the King's Weigh-House ;
A Porty Years' Eeview, &c.

THE king's WEIGH-HOUSE. 375
living divines. It will suffice to say, that, under
Providence, the Pastor's life-work has greatly bene
fited those intelUgent classes with whom his peculiar
talents have brought him in contact. His pastorate
has certainly proved the most auspicious of any
connected with the Weigh-House Church, and pro
bably has not been surpassed in usefulness by any
divine who, since the Puritan era, has laboured in
London.

^l^aptcr IX.
SALTEES' HALL.
The Worshipful Company of Salters of London en
joys the distinction of being ranked among those
twelve ancient livery fratermties of the City wMch
pride themselves m their royaUy-granted privileges
and abundant wealth, a due proportion of wMch is
dispensed in charity. From various English monarchs,
ranging from Edward the Third to James the Ffrst,
this guild received eight charters. EUzabeth, on
ascending the throne, fuUy confirmed their pos
session of certain privileges, and since that date
the Salters have been an incorporated company of
the metropoUs. At consecutive periods they have
occupied five haUs. The original building stood in
Bread-street, and was erected in the middle of the
fifteenth century. From the reign of the Sixth to that
of the Eighth Henry, this hall continued in use, and
after existing a century, was damaged by fire, re
built, and had an addition made to it of several
almshouses for the use of such reduced members as
might n,-^^d 9,ccQiamodation. In 1598 the premises.

SALTEES' HALL. 377'
were again destroyed by the flames, and the Com--
pany subsequently purchased a noble mansion near
London-Stone, known as Oxford House, which, how
ever, shared with its neighbours the common desola
tion of 1666. A large room of this house was
frequently the scene of political discussion during
the sitting of the Long Parliament. In the seven
teenth century, likewise, two Salters, who were raised.
to the mayoralty, celebrated on this spot their term
of office. The structure wMch succeeded the great-
fire had attached to it large and luxuriant pleasure-
grounds, MgMy valued by the citizens, because-
adormng the centre of the City. The famous-
meeting-house, rented from the Salters by the Dis
senter,?, was a portion of the same estate. The-
commercial prosperity early enjoyed by this honour
able brotherhood, encouraged them, it would seem,
to acMeve a prestige for hospitality. A bill of fare,
dated 1506, contains a Ust of viands then sufficing
to feast fifty persons, and although the Salters of
old times may not by eating have endeavoured to
encourage their traffic, yet the proofs, in the docu
ment referred to, are abundant that they inherited
prodigious appetites. In the summer of 1821 the
hall was taken down, and the present magnificent
structure completed six years later.
The Church, which for so long made " Salters'
HaU " famiUar as " household words " in Dissenters'
ears, was gathered at the era of the Eestoration, and
originally assembled at Buckingham House, College-

378 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
hUl — a mansion deriving its name from its proffigate
owner, George VUUers. It is unknown who first
marshaUed this Nonconformist band, but Eichard
Mayo, who died in 1695, was the first minister
about whom any particulars have descended. The
chief source of information respecting this old Pres
byterian, is a funeral sermon printed in small
quarto, and " Sold at the Three Legs, over against the
Stocks' Market." Mayo was born in or about the year
1631. He pursued his preparatory studies in London
under John Singleton, a celebrated scholar, by whom
he was thoroughly grounded in general knowledge,
and in those great principles of religious and moral
rectitude from which in after-Ufe he never deviated.
When, during the Commonwealth, Presbyterianism
and Independency were in the ascendant, M.ayo was
preferred to the living of Kingston-upon-Thames,
although he may have occupied another sphere in
previous years. In addition to Ms duties at King
ston, the pastor sustained a weekly lecture in White
chapel. He achieved such singular popularity as
¦could only have sprung from burning zeal and rare
¦oratorical power. On the occasion of each -visit
the interior of the church was closely packed by
the overflowing audience which pressed into the
too limited area, and every position, where a glimpse
of the lecturer could be obtained, or a note of his
voice heard, was eagerly occupied. The windows
oven were frequently darkened by the numbers of
persons who clung about their vicinity. This mani-

SALTEES' HALL. 379
fest anxiety of the multitude to hear the Word ap
parently inspired the preacher by imparting fresh
animation, till as though pulpit and pew were united
by an electric current, orators and hearers glowed
with a common enthusiasm. On seceding with the
two thousand confessors of 1662, Mayo was in due
course elected to the pastorate at CoUege-hiU.
In the happier days of WiUiam the TMrd, the
Church erected the meeting-house at Salters' Hall, but
the pastor's after career proved only a brief one. Till
the end of Ms days. Mayo was esteemed a man of
ermnent piety, to wMch he joined a rare amiabUity
of disposition and a dUigent performance of Ms
duties. He rose habitually at five on Sabbath
morm'ngs, so that he might devote the day's earliest
hours to prayer and meditation. Several of Ms
sermons are extant, from wMch a tolerably correct esti
mate of thefr author's mental caUbre may be formed.
A contemporary described Ms preaching as " methodi
cal, clear, and generaUy derived from his text, like
ripe and fafr fruit that drops from the bough whereon
it naturally grew."
In the year 1688, Nathamel Taylor was chosen
assistant lecturer, and he remained -with the people
untU Ms death in 1702. In later years he suffered
very severely from bodUy affliction, having been
occasionaUy necessitated to enter the pulpit upon
his knees. Taylor was trained by the indefatigable
Edward Veale, at whose house he had John Shower
for a fellow student. Those young scholars were in

380 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
the habit of walking from Wapping to Bishopsgate,
in order to attend the lectures of Charnocke, in
Crosby Hall. A brief insight is obtained into that
eminent Puritan's genial nature, by discovering what
interest he took in the progress of the young men.
He gave them his valuable advice, and for thefr
benefit, critically listened to thefr early sermons. It
is remarkable that each protigi of so distinguished a
patron, occupied in succeeding life a foremost place
in his denomination — the one having been stationed
in Salters' HaU, and the other at the Old Jewry.
Taylor displayed superior talents ; yet, durmg the
opening years of Ms mmistry, he only appears to
have served some country congregation; and, event
ually when he removed to London, he did so to
succeed his college compamon, John Shower, as
lecturer at Westminster, under Vincent Alsop. He _
held this position for , or about, five years, and was
at last driven into Holland by the prevaUing perse-
secution. On returning from the Continent in
quieter times, he was engaged as lecturer at CoUege-
hiU. Hard study impaired his constitution and
brought on premature decay. Added to personal
suffering was the affliction of an invalided -wife,
whose death preceded that of her husband's about a
year. Taylor's severe suffering probably awakened a
feeling of sympathy for Mm throughout the City,
and increasingly endeared him to Ms own people.
The pastor earned the general esteem of his contem
poraries, who revered him as an accomplished

SALTEES' HALL. 381
•Christian scholar. He exceUed in a knowledge of
•several sciences ; and after a lengthened and
laborious investigation of the basis of a Christian's
belief, Taylor was wont to teach his hearers, that no
better reason for accepting a tenet can be given than
that of finding it in the Bible. While vigour lasted
he possessed a fine voice and a bright imagination,
and was, in consequence, a powerful expounder of
sacred truth. He manifested much fondness for little
children — a pleasing trait in a good man's character.
Anxiety for the welfare of youth taught him to give
special attention to catechising, and he fulfilled his
office so winningly and affectionately as to render
himself extremely popular among an unusually
large number of the youth of London, whom he led
in regular order over the Assembly's Catechism.
Taylor's course was at length unexpectedly termin
ated in rather a sudden manner ; but his happy
departure was a befitting sequel to the career he
had run.* " He was a man," says Matthew Henry,
" of great -wit, worth, and courage ; not much older
than myseU." " The Dissenting South," wrote
Doddridge, " There is vast wit and great strength of
expression in all he wrote. His language is re
markably proper and beautiful." f
* Puneral Sermons by John Shower and John Ne-wman
on the death of Nathaniel Taylor ; Calamy's Continuation ;
Wilson's History of the Dissenting Churches.
t " He (Thomas Taylor) was the father of Mr. Nathaniel
Taylor of Salters' HaU, who was so well known and so much

382 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Sixteen hundred and sixty-two threw its shade
into many succeeding years, and over many manly
hearts, aching by reason of domestic desolation, and
re-wounded by witnessing the hardsMp which tender
women were constrained to bear for conscience' sake.
Ministers whose natal day occurred about the time
of this great crisis, usually referred to the fact with
complacent satisfaction, and regarded their advent
into the world at that particular period, as traceable'
to Providence. It was thus with Matthew Henry,
and also with WiUiam Tong, the commentator's
excellent biographer. The last-named, in the year
following Taylor's decease, succeeded at Salters'
Hall. The fanUly to which he belonged had for
merly settled at Eccles, in Yorkshire. He was very
early deprived of his father's counsel by death ; but-
he possessed a mother equal to the task of starting
him in life. She was a noble specimen of the old
stock of Puritans, then fast dimimshing; and was,
moreover, an uncompromising Nonconformist. To
this superior woman's watchfulness and prudence,
esteemed in this City. He gave him the name of Kathaniel
out of his great respect for the honourable Nathaniel
Piennes, Esq. , of Ne-wton Tony ; who, though he himself'
lived not to be Viscount Sa,y and Sele, yet was the son, the
brother, and the father of those who bore that title. This
noble gentleman, and after his death, his religious lady, were
very kind to several Nonconformists in this county, and.
particularly to Mr. Taylor, who without such generous help,
would very difficultly have been able to support, or bring up-
a numerous family." — Calamy's Contimiation, p. 867, ed. 1727^

SALTEES' HALL. 383
Tong became immensely indebted, and whenever he
afterwards referred to his mother's character, he
naturaUy did so with sincerest veneration. To her,
under Providence, it was mainly owing that he
entered the mimstry, Ms early predilections having
leaned towards the legal profession. During the years
immediately preceding the death of Charles the Second,
a celebrated Presbyterian professor read lectures be
fore a small cluster of youths, whose studies he
dfrected, and who shared Ms quiet home at Natland,
in Westmoreland. Under this tutor, Eichard
Franldand,* Tong pursued his academical studies,
having already enjoyed the advantage of a superior
preliminary education. A somewhat correct estimate
of the noble lessons inculcated at Frankland's re
treat, may be drawn from the fact that, William
Tong, on finishing his course, went forth to preach
about the country, although such a practice entailed
serious personal danger. The young scholar's heroic
action, however, faUed to involve him in any of the
then penalties of moral bravery.
When at length Tong commenced his regular
mimstry in the neighbourhood of Chester, he at
once rose into a popular preacher, and could have
accepted a station in the Establishment had he
chosen to conform, but he was proof against such
temptations. He, nevertheless, in Ms younger days,
used portions of the Common Prayer, and had thereby
* Prankland educated three hundred youths, most of whom
became ministers.

'384 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
-greatly shocked a certain parson, who complained
to his diocesan, and so occasioned Tong to abandon
the practice for ever after. When, in 1687, by
reason of the Indulgence, the Nonconformists re
opened their meeting-houses, this young divine was
occupying the pulpit at Chester, to which Matthew
Henry immediately succeeded. During his stay
in that quaint town, Tong found a valuable friend in
Anthony Henthorne, a gentleman of fortune, who
prior to presenting the congregation with a chapel,
•opened his own mansion for reUgious services, and
sustained the minister as a member of Ms own
family. The various denominations then assembUng
in Chester, worked harmomously together for the
common good. Settled in the town were two
Anglican divines, whose ministrations were so highly-
appreciated, that the townspeople attended the
Churches during canonical hours, and, between those
hours, gathered in crowds at the Nonconformist
- meetings. While engaged in working so delightful a field of
Christian labour, Tong became afflicted with what
¦Ms friends judged to be a decline, tUl he unex
pectedly recovered. On account of not being per
manently settled at Chester, he listened to a caU
- from the principal inhabitants of Knutsford to plant
a Nonconformist interest in that town. The late
clergyman of the parish the people had esteemed as
. a pattern of rarest sanctity. Throughout the district
'the pastor had won so high a reputation for holiness

SALTEES' HALL. 385
that even the Dissenters thought themselves privUeged
to attend Ms ministry. On this good man's removal,
however, a strong party desired for their rector one
who would advocate a less rigid discipUne, and whose
general views of reUgion would sanction a wider
Ucense in worldly matters. The inhabitants in
herited the legal right of choice, and therefore the
High Church party ultimately prevailed in electing
a minister of their own school. As a result, the
more conscientious church people alUed themselves
with Dissent for the purpose of planting a church of
the Presbyterian order, and of calUng Tong to the
pastorate. This programme succeeding months saw
fully accompUshed, although about two years after,
the pastor removed to a more extensive sphere of
usefuMess at Coventry; and it is interesting to
know that many free churches of the surrounding
country were originaUy the preaching-stations of
WUUam Tong. In subsequent times, when the
eighteenth century had far advanced, old persons
were often encountered who remembered, and loved
to speak of the Presbyterian pastor's indefatigable
labours, for, in addition to other tMngs, he main
tained an academy for mmisterial students.
On the decease of Nathamel Taylor, in 1702,
Tong succeeded at Salters' HaU. This step added
to Ms reputation, and, by placmg him in a station
of wider influence, enabled Mm directly and indirectly
to act as a benefactor to his poorer compeers in the
distance. Tong was properly an EngUsh Presby-
25-

386 ANCIENT ¦ MEETING HOUSES.
terian, but his sympathies were divided between his
own people and Independency. He freely mixed
with the sister denonunation tiU Ms death in the
spring of 1727. Durmg his twenty-four years'
term of offlce a large and prosperous congregation
was maintained. In London, as elsewhere, he en
gaged in many works apart from Ms stated duties.
As an author he was Mghly esteemed, much that he
wrote being still valued, as, for example. The Notes
on Hebrews and the Eevelation in Matthew Henry's
Commentary. He has likewise bequeathed us me
moirs both of the commentator and of John Shower,
of the Old Jewry. As a vmter aU may judge of
him; and as to the rest, Newman in his funeral
sermon has styled him " the prince of preachers."
Tong merited tMs high distinction in. consequence of
the ready facUity with which he iUustrated Gospel
truth by striking ideas, whUe clothing the whole in
the common Saxon of the EngUsh people. He be
trayed in later years a sUght decline of inteUectual
vigour; and when he departed into rest it was
abundantly mamfest to survivmg friends that Tong's
mortal frame had gone to the grave worn out with
ceaseless labour. His charity to the poor, it may be
mentioned, often necessitated something stricter than
charity nearer home.*
English Presbyteriamsm has in some respects a
melancholy history, for Ariamsm was early imbibed
¦* Ne-wman's Sermon on the Death of William Tong;
Wilson's History of the Dissenting Churches.

SALTEES' HALL. 387
by large numbers of that great denomination ; and
the defection proved to be a prelude to Socimanism.
At first the enemy's stealthy encroachments remained
unobserved, or Ms gradual advances were not re
garded with sufficient concern to attract any serious
notice. But soon after the Brunswick family acceded
to the English crovra, the friends of Nonconformity
realised -with some alarm the grave nature of the
situation. The facts about the disputes at Salters'
HaU, in 1719, respectmg subscription to articles of
faith are not sufficiently known to render superfluous
a brief recital of an unfortunate quarrel. Upon the
city of Exeter the odium is attached of having
originated the ferment. In the summer of 1718
several ministers of the West observed with much
concern, that strange doctrines were making progress
among them. They convened a meeting, at which
they conferred about the means likely to arrest the
progress of the e-viL In the flrst instance the one
best plan to adopt, they imagined, would be to allow
the new notions to burn themselves out, or to let
them die of exhaustion. Any hopes founded on
such a basis ere long turned out iUusory, for the
abettors of Arianism continued industriously to pro
pagate their tenets, and to accompany their endea
vours with profuse avowals of liberalism and charity.
The London numsters, so these itinerants assured the
country people, held and taught opimons identical
with thefr own. The effect of such efforts among
the people was only too soon apparent. On all
25*

388 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
hands vulgar and iUiterate disputants quarreUed
about Christian doctrine till Exeter was scan
dalised by the unseemly Uberty such debaters took
with truths at once sacred and momentous. Mean
whUe the defection deepened its roots and widened
the area of its influence. WhUe thus strengthening
in growth among the vulgar, the boldness of the in
fected party visibly increased, as first one pastor and
anon others foUowing, were found to declare for
Arianism. Such preachers commonly perplexed
their hearers by rejectmg this text or that as no
part of the canonical Bible. The controversy thus
hotly maintained in meeting-houses, the streets, and
market-places, penetrated even to the judicial bench,
for while country women carried home in their
baskets on Saturday afternoons, tracts overflowing
with incomprehensible opimons retailed from Emlyn
and WMston, a judge on his circuit publicly rebuked
the abounding errors. The Anglican clergy exerted
all their power to make capital out of the crisis, and
their pulpits, from the cathedral downwards, rang
with denunciations and urgent warnings against
contracting contamination from Nonconformists,
who — the preachers averred — had denied their Lord,
and by the press were sowing broadcast their blas
phemies respecting Him. A conclave in the town
passed resolutions wMch invited the pastors in
general to declare from their pulpits against the
obnoxious tenets. Among the four Presbyterian
leaders who then presided over three congregations

SALTEES' HALL. 389
in Exeter, James Pierce stood forth as the champion.
With much assurance Pierce reduced the Doxology
do-wn to the standard of his own belief. Alarmed
at the turn affairs were taking, several ministers met
together and dispatched a message to London for
advice. This letter eUcited a reply from the metro-
poUtan pastors, which included some general Chris
tian counsel and protestations against the innovating
doctrines. This, however, sufficed not to soothe
men's passions, and the warfare in consequence pro
ceeded apace.
In those days the Western Presbyterians held
both spring and autumn gatherings. In the Sep
tember meeting of 1718, the disputed dogmas fur
nished a text for a most intemperate debate, in the
course of wMch the pastors present were required
to express their doctrinal beUef. Many gladly tes
tified to thefr continued attachment to the pure old
gospel; others wavered, or embodied their answers
in umnterpreted scriptural phrases. Many, however,
boldly avowed the Arian tenets. The vote taken
showed that some leading men were with the latter
party — the younger ministers being especiaUy af
fected. The time-honoured custom was, for a umted
service to precede and foUow those half-yearly
synods. In the present instance the several gather
ings in the town were attended by much excitement.
PampMets swarmed from the presses of the opposing
sections. Some -writers fiercely assailed old opimons,
and tried every manoeuvre which promised to ad-

390 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
vance their cause. Their pubUcations were dis
tributed through the post-office, or were gratuitously
suppUed to the farmers who frequented Exeter
Market The housemaids and apprentices, who, as
usual, rose at sunrise on those autumnal mornings,
were wont to find in shutter chinks, or underneath
doors, treatises on the Teinity, or the mysteries
centring around the Person of Christ. By such
agencies the controversy reached the humblest mem
bers of the denominations. Many of the pamphlets
emanated from mere wanton scribblers of neither
abiUty nor reputation, but others proceeded from
eminent authors. At this stage of the dispute, the
Churches of Exeter sought the advice of five lead
ing London divines. Overwhelmed and perplexed by
what was really a grave emergency, the mimsters
referred to, decided on calling a synod of the Three
Denominations at Salters' Hall, to meet on February
the 19th, 1719.
Meanwhile, inteUigence arrived from Exeter that
the orthodox ministers had passed resolutions re
specting errors to be withstood at any hazard ; and
denial of the divinity of Christ was classed among
defections which warranted a Church in refusing a
pastor's ministrations. But by this time the con
tagion had reached the metropolis, and examples
might be adduced of the Western principles having
been carried out, whether as respects ministers
ejected, or members expeUed. The Stoke Newington
minister, Martin Tompkins, was visited by the first-

salters' hall. 391
named discipUne, and on retiring to Hackney to live
as a private gentleman, he injudiciously pubUshed a
tedious narration of his trials.
The object of the celebrated Synod of 1719 was
primarily to adopt some plan for restoring peace.
The meetings opened on Monday, February the
19th, on wMch day the discussion was adjourned
tiU the Friday foUowing. The postponed debate had
its progress interrupted by a proposal from Thomas
Bradbury, of New-court, to annex a declaration on.
the doctrine of the Teinitt to the contemplated ad
vices for the Western Churches. This drew forth
the most determmed opposition. Mark Key, of
DevonsMre-square, and his coUeague, both attended,
but neither they nor thefr brethren of corresponding
faith could assay to speak without being con
temptuously snubbed as " Anabaptist teachers."
From aU parts of the room there came hisses for
Bradbury, to wMch the old Independent rejoined
with stmging sarcasm. From this stage the pro
ceedings were unexampled on account of the strange
rudeness and insult with which opposing sections
assaUed each other. On a show of hands being
taken, Bradbury's party claimed a majority, but
thefr opponents demanded a legal division. Ac
cordingly the Non-subscribers retired to the gaUery,
caUing out the wMle, "You that are against perse
cution, come upstafrs ; " to wMch Bradbury himself
repUed, " Tou that are for declaring your faith in the
doctrme of the Trimty, stay below." The Subscribers

392 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
were fifty-three, their opponents were fifty-seven;
thus, by what was called a " scandalous majority "
of four, the Synod decided not to interpret theo
logical articles. Some mmor facts connected with
the conference are amusing — e.g.. Pastor Nesbitt, of
Hare-court, and Ms assistant, John Conder, both
attended. The former voted with the Subscribers,
but even grave Presbyterians grew merry, and the
outer world laughed derisively at the pastor's eccen
tric colleague, who naively severed the gordian knot
by signing for subscription, and dividing with its op
ponents. One aged pastor inadvertently signed the
Subscribers' roU, and produced a marked effect
by repairing his error with tearful congratulations
on the noble stand then taken for Uberty of con
science. Meanwhile, exaggerated reports were current, which
lost nothing by being retailed about the town by coffee
house loungers. The late majority soon tasted the
results of their action. On the next day of meet
ing, March the 3rd, they loudly complained of being
charged with having reUnquished the orthodox tenets.
One other endeavour was made to persuade them to
subscribe the first of the Thirty-nine Articles, but
on this proposal being rejected, the party from wMch
it emanated walked away in a body, and at a sub
sequent conference, affixed their signatures, to the
number of sixty, to the first article of the AngUcan
Church. Although the fifty ministers now remain
ing constituted a minority, they proceeded to draw

SALTEES' HALL. 393
up ad\'ices for the Exeter Churches. Dr. Oldfield,
the moderator, requested the Subscribers to return,
and at the same time desired to be informed if they
intended remaining separate. The answer returned
by the seceders was, that they were completing some
business on hand, and, havmg subscribed to the first
Article of the AngUcan Church, and the fifth answer
of the Assembly's CatecMsm, they invited their
brethren to follow the example. Dr. Oldfield again
rejomed, that no notice could be taken of what was
done privately, but he once more desired the se
ceders to return to their places. A brief interval
ha-ving elapsed, the Subscribers replied : they had
done in private what they had declared in pubUc,
and furthermore they regarded themselves as the
Body of London ministers. The assembly was now
spUt into opposing sections, each of which com
plained of the other's want of order. Each party
held their procedure to be legal, and each remitted
advices to Exeter.
The non-subscribers'were chiefly Presbyterians, and
did for the most part conscientiously adhere to the or
thodox tenets. They strongly protested against any en
deavours to fasten upon them the odium of heterodoxy.
The action they adopted was, nevertheless, sincerely
regretted by many on account of its supposed disas
trous influence on the Dissenting interest. Numbers
imagined that had the whole body of ministers at Sal
ters' HaU boldly subscribed what they already beUeved,
a most salutary check would have been administered to

394 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Arianism. The congregations of the West anxiously
awaited the result of the London Conference. Their
worst fears were reaUsed. The Non-subscribers re
pelled with indignation the sUghtest imputation of
heresy. A number among them could refer both to
oral and written denunciations of Arian opimons.
Tenets of Divine origin, they argued, human testimony
could not strengthen, nor could a ministerial reputa
tion be heightened by subscription; for persons already
classed among Arians would be designated hypo
crites on attempting to remove the stigma. In the
advices despatched to Exeter by these divines, there
is Uttle, if anytMng, to wMch exception can be
taken. The document differs from that of the other
party chiefly in tMs, that there is an absence of
any declaration respecting our Lord's divinity. The
accompanying letter is written in a strain of un
exceptionable orthodoxy, The combatants main
tained a war of pamphlets through many subsequent
years, and the controvertists have bequeathed us
some literary curiosities. One -writer on the non-
subscribers' side averred himself to be inspired by
Dr. Calamy, who had lately arrived from the moon.
This class of -writers were headed by Pierce, and
refused even to subscribe to the fact that three and
two make five. Spiritual creeds, they declared, were
mental fetters, no more to be imposed on the con
science than irons on the body. The orthodox
party are represented as standing in Mgh favour
among lunar circles. Creed-makers, who upon earth

SALTEES' HALL. 395
merely infested the Church, enjoyed in the moon a
grateful retreat amid congenial spirit.s. The locality
appropriated by this fratermty had been strangely
mistaken by astronomers for a volcanic crater,
whereas it now revealed itself to be a distinct
colony, with a celestial convocation house — a lunar
Salters' HaU. A chemist in the sateUite had dis
covered a drug caUed Potestas Sacerdetis — an extract
from papal buUs, Assembly's Catechisms, Lessons,
and HomUies. When skilfully mixed, this essence
was extremely potent — a drop taken at bed-time
freeing the mind in a few hours from all rational
moderation. Such authors reproached the sub
scribers with charges of bigotry and retrogression,
and so endeavoured to repay insinuations of heresy
from wMch they themselves had suffered. Brad
bury, however, repeUed the enemy as though he
regarded them as very smaU fry. They were a set
of scribblers in ambuscade, whose ra-vings and
despisings he regarded as a favourable omen that
alarm existed in darker regions.
As misrepresentations became more numerous,
each party hastened to publish a version of the
quarrel. In the heat of controversy, it may be
feared, aU concerned, acted unfairly. WhUe the
matter was thus progressing in London, the Dissen
ters of Exeter, by locking their chapel- doors, ejected
tMee of thefr ministers. The indefatigable Pierce
pubUshed several pampMets, and detaUed the hard
ships borne by himself and brethren. He was

396 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
replied to by a work called Arius Detected and
Eefuted, which, with the rejoinder it provoked.
Plain Christianity Defended, created additional
bickerings. Another important work on the Trinity,
emanating from the subscribing section, was written
by Tong, of Salters' HaU; Eobinson, of Little St.
Helens ; Smith, of Silver Street ; and Eeynolds, of
the Weigh-House. In connection with the disputes
the names of Calamy, Watts, and a number
more, do not appear. They are reported to have
walked from the meeting at an early stage of the
proceedings. At the sign of The Bible and Crown, in the
Poultry, was found the common literary store-house
of both parties. John Clarke, the publisher, dealt
largely with Nonconformist authors. From Ms house,
smaU works, wherein the vexed question was viewed
from various standpoints, issued forth in shoals. The
pamphlets abound with scandal and counter scandal ;
with hard hits aimed at opponents, as payment in
kind. Indeed, Clark printed so many books for
nonconforming clients, that the Anglicans had thefr
spleen excited, and attached to him the reputation
of being a two-faced oracle. The publisher's pro
cedure made the imputations on his honesty appear
apparently reasonable. Among the Salters' HaU
coUection is a printed letter, circulated to expose
Clark's unfairness. His offence in our day would
scarce rank as a breach of Uterary etiquette. The
above is an outline of a quarrel, the effects of which

SALTEES' HALL. 397
extended through a long course of subsequent
years.* Joint pastor at Salters' Hall with WiUiam Tong,
and one of the subscribing ministers, was John
Newman, who was born in or about the year 1676.
In common with so many of his contemporaries,
Newman studied in youth under working pastors,
Ms first tutor having been Samuel Chapman, the
ejected vicar of Yoxford. The embryo divine early
appeared by that fondness which Ne-wman mani
fested for catechising his schoolfeUows. He after
wards made further progress under John Woodhouse,
a LeicestersMre scholar. Such was Ms proficiency,
that he was judged competent to engage in pubUc
duties before he attained Ms twentieth year. On
settling in London, he accepted a lectureship under
Joseph Eead, of Bloomsbury. While at tMs station
Newman proved Ms possession of superior abUities,
so that on the death of Eichard Mayo, he suc
ceeded to the lectureship at Salters' HaU. At this
early date the young divme was only Uttle known
in the MetropoUs, and accordingly, an Alderman of
' Case of the ministers ejected at Oxon ; A Defence of the
Case, &c. ; A True Eolation of some Proceedings at Salters'
HaU ; A Vindication of the Subscribing Ministers ; Plain
and Paithful Narrative of the Differences among the
Dissenters at Exeter; Anatomy of the Heretical Synod at
Salters' HaU ; An Account of the late Proceedings, &c. ; An
Authentic Account, -with resons for not Subscribing ; The
Doctrine of the Ever-blessed Trinity Stated, &c.

398 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
the congregation introduced him to his new friends,
and this ci-vic patronage influenced the members in
their choice. The connection of pastor and people
through many succeeding years, became a source of
common satisfaction. Being weU served by a power
ful memory, Newman from the first practised
extemporaneous preaching. He achieved such high
excellence that during the closing years of WiUiam's
reign he was as much esteemeed as any London
minister. His term of service extended over a period
of nearly half a century, his death havmg occurred
on Saturday, July 25th, 1741. Dr. Doddridge being
then in London, attended the funeral in BunMU
Fields, and deUvered a graceful oration at the
grave.* Six years prior to his o-wn departure, Nevraian
experienced a great sorrow in the loss of his son
Samuel, a promising preacher, who died in the midst
of work and usefulness, in his tMrtieth year, on the
last day of May, 1735. Having been born and
educated in the City, he belonged pre-eminently to
Salters' Hall ; for there the sabbaths of his youth
were spent As a boy he scarcely went for his
education beyond the bound of the Loi:d Mayor's
jurisdiction, those two eminent scholars. Fames and
Eidgely, having then flourished in close proximity to
the Newmans' home. By paternal care, Samuel was
* Barker's Puneral Sermon for John Ne-wman ; WUson's
Dissenting Churches.

salters' hall. 399
sMelded from worldly contamination, and escaped
those vices of large to-wns to which many are too
openly exposed. He was thus well trained for the
duties of life, and showed Ms appreciation of the
advantages enjoyed by manifesting predUections for
the course Ms friends desfred Mm to pursue. On
being, whUe yet young, honourably passed by the
examining minimsters, he became assistant to his
father at Salters' HaU, but after seven years he died,
to the great grief of Ms friends and congregation.
The vacancy was fiUed by Jerenuah Tidcomb, of
EadcUffe; but Ms decease occurring shortly be
fore that of the elder Ne-wman, the pulpit became
entirely vacant when the latter was taken.
The death of Matthew Henry, whUe journeying
homewards in June, 1714, occasioned the settlement
at Hackney of one destined to assume in after years
a Mgh position among the Presbyterians, and to be
come closely connected with Salters' HaU. WhUe
seeking a successor to thefr late pastor, the Hackney
Dissenters found John Barker, then an assistant of
Dr. Grosvenor at Crosby HaU. The early years of
this eminent man's life are veUed in obscurity, Uttle
or notMng being known of Ms birthplace or of his
parents. A Matthew Barker was the ejected mims
ter of St. Leonard, Eastcheap, and he, it is imagined,
may have been related to our present subject. At
that date conflictmg theological opinions found a
home in Hackney, and in the year of Henry's death,
Ms people were unsettled. The high prestige of the

400 ancient meeting houses.
commentator sufficed to keep the threatening symp-
tons in abeyance ; but after his death the question
of choosing a successor spUt the congregation
into rival parties, whose colUsion was sufficiently
alarming to threaten a breach of the peace. When,
eventuaUy, a majority elected Barker to the pastorate,
their decision awakened a cUmax of disorder ; and
the chagrin of the minority so rougUy vented itself,
that a temporary guard about fhe chapel became a
necessity. These unpleasant and unseemly occur
rences only subsided when one party withdrew to
estabUsh elsewhere a rival pulpit. By this secession
was originated the Old Gravel Pit Chapel, and the
separatists are still represented by the Umtarian
Society in Paradise Fields. Those of the members
who remained pursued thefr way in undinUmshed
strength and influence after this division. The pas
tor grew in popularity tiU he achieved a foremost
place among Ms evangelical contemporaries; and
when five years later, the Western disputes culmi
nated in the London Synod, he not only divided with
the Subscribers at Salters' Hall, but in common with
many others, made strenuous endeavours to confirm
Ms people in the orthodox tenets. Through fifteen
years Barker sustained the pastorate unaided, an
unusual procedure in those days among the larger
Presbyterian Churches. In 1729 he found a col
league in PhUUp Gibbs, who after staying eight
years at Hackney, resigned on account of changing
his beUef Ultimately Barker himself acted on this

salters' hall. 401
example by reUnquishing Ms charge. He deviated,
it would seem, from the strict letter of Calvinism,
though he probably lapsed no lower than the
Baxterian standard. In 1738 he retfred, and sought
at Epsom the seclusion he loved. During many
years following he only preached occasionaUy ; but
the death of John Newman in 1 741, terminated his
rural leisure, for Barker received an earnest caU to
the pastorate at Salters' HaU. He shrank from
assuming so onerous a responsibility; yet earnest
anxiety for the welfare of others prompted his
using every means to serve the bereaved church,
whether by pubUc mimstrations or by private visit
ing. He likewise consented to fill the vacancy of
the Merchants' LecturesMp at Salters' HaU. It is
pleasing to discover, that, between two such spirits
as Barker and Doddridge, the closest friendsMp was
maintained. In the coUected correspondence of the
Northampton sage are some letters from Barker,
wMch discover the writer's anxiety for Salters' HaU,
and Ms desire to secure a suitable pastor. Eegard-
ing the tie of affection between Doddridge and
Barker, one affecting incident may be related.
The former, wMle on his last journey, received at
Shrewsbury a letter from the London pastor, where
in he so forcibly expressed Ms Christian soUcitude,
that the invaUd was overcome by emotion till ap
prehensions were actuaUy felt of fatal consequences.
Barker only survived the amiable doctor about
twelve years. He retired to Walthamstow, and
26

402 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
ultimately to Clapham, and there devoted his
evening of life to the preparation of several pieces
for publication, such as selections from Ms sermons,
which the readers of those days weU appreciated.
In later years. Barker mamfested considerable con
cern at the Unitarian invasion of Nonconformity.
He comforted himself that the people were not so
far gone as their leaders ; and if such a calamity
should ever be reaUsed, he thought the Dissenting
interest would cease to be worth being anxious
about. He used every influence to discourage those
teachers who already were sufficiently advanced to
leave out Christ in their discourses. He was wont
to look fondly back on times when Dissenters were
wellnigh universaUy famed for warmth of love and
abundant faith. John Barker lived out a course of
eighty years, and died in May, 1762.*
Francis SpUsbury, whose connection with Salters'
Hall dates from 1742, belonged to a famUy justly
renowned in the annals of Dissent. His grand
father had been the ejected minister of Bromsgrove,
Worcestershire, and the old man carried with him to
the grave some marks of that treatment wMcli his
adherence to principle entailed. This old Puritan
wedded a sister of Bishop Hall, and left an only
son, who inherited Ms father's virtue. That son was
* Our information respecting John Barker is very slender.
A sketch of his life and labours -wiU be found in Wilson ;
and several of his letters are included in the Doddridge
correspondence.

salters' hall. 403
John Spilsbury, who settled at Kidderminster, in
days when the effects of Baxter's labours were not
effaced from the town by time. Here, in 1706,
Francis first saw the light As Ms predilections
sympatMsed with his father's desire, he in due
course entered on the work of the ministry. He
studied for four years under Dr. Latham, of Findern,
Derbyshire. Thence he removed to Glasgow Uni
versity in preference to that of Leydon, on account
of the bad moral repute to which the Dutch schools
had then attained. On completing his- academical
course, SpUsbury returned to a desolate home, his
father and two sisters havmg departed ere he could
reach thefr dying chambers. He then accepted
a lecturesMp under Matthew Bradshaw, of Kidder
minster, whence after a short stay he removed
to Bromsgrove, and from Bromsgrove he went to
Worcester, there to labour during seven years. At
each station the pastor enjoyed the happy conscious
ness of ha-ving achieved success. He was subjected
to strong temptations to conform, principle on one
occasion ha-ving compeUed Ms refusing the living of
Ashby-de-la-Zouch. SpUsbury's intioduction to the people at Salters'
HaU was effected in a very remarkable manner.
During the summer of 1741 he visited London,
hoping to enjoy some brief relaxation from labour,
and a season of friendly intercourse with his vener
able brother, John Newman. On arriving in town,
Spilsbury was shocked at finding his host not
26*

404 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
only seriously ill, but actuaUy dying. Of necessity
the visitor supplied the pulpit on the two succeeding
sabbaths. Dr. Harris, of Crutched-friars, it appears,
had some time previously, ad-vised the people respect
ing SpUsbury — " Choose him, for he will wear weU."
As circumstances favoured a settlement, he accepted
an invitation to assume the pastorate, and through
the succeeding twenty years worked conjomtly with
John Barker. The last-named resigned in 1762.
Our divine maintained his reputation and usefulness
through forty years in London, Ms Ufe havmg been
that of a laborious and painstaking student. His
theological sentiments were Baxterian, while Ms
natural disposition was of the most amiable type,
seeing that one who knew Mm has testified to SpU-
buiy's inabiUty to be harsh or unkind. He never
achieved what is commonly understood by popu
larity, although he ably sustained an important
position, and by a careful discharge of duties apart
from the pulpit, as visiting the sick and needy, he
gained and merited a large share of popular affec
tion. He was caUed to rest on the communion
Sabbath morning of March, 1782.*
Another eminent man, once associated with
Salters' HaU, was Hugh Farmer, who, although of
the independent order, sustained the afternoon lec
tureship from 1761 to 1772. Farmer was born m
the neighbourhood of Shrewsbury, in 1714. His
* Worthington's Sermon on the Death of Prancis
SpUsbury ; Wilson's Dissenting Churches, &c.

salters' HALL. 405
maternal grandfather, Hugh Owen, was the ejected
minister of Bronyclydwr. The parents of the
younger Hugh set him apart at an early age for the
Nonconformist ministry, and carefuUy prepared him
for that work by first placing Mm in an academy at
Uanegrm, and subsequently at Warrington, under
Dr. Charles Owen. The far-famed tutor, how
ever, to whom Farmer became especiaUy indebted,
was Philip Doddridge, who about this time founded
a coUege at Northampton, having for a first student
this afterwards celebrated di-raie. Imagination readUy
transfers us to that bygone age, and into the shoe-
making metropolis, where the good doctor, happy
among Ms scholars, -with quick eye perceived in
young Farmer those manifestations of genius which
his ready judgment pronounced the precursors of
fame. The interior of tMs academy, as it was when
Hugh removed from Warrington, affords an interest
ing glimpse of student Ufe in the days when BoUng
broke wrote for the Craftsman, and when Sylvanus
Urban was settling down in Ms " Strong Tower " at
ClerkenweU. At Northampton, Farmer, in common
with Ms feUows, paid sixteen pounds a-year for
board, and four pounds for tmtion. Although wash
ing was done from home, bed-linen entaUed an addi
tional charge of a gidnea per annum. Another
guinea went for the rent of a study, and yet another
was expected for the Ubrary fund. Such as gave
any attention to experimental phUosophy subscribed
towards the expense of the apparatus. TMs curri-

406 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
culum, which sufficed for so many eminent mimsters
of the last century, cost about thfrty pounds a-year.
Nevertheless, it does not appear to have been very
eagerly taken advantage of, for we learn on the
authority of the Doctor MmseU that, in 1739, there
were vacancies for " two or three more." Farmer
left Northampton to settle at Walthamstow as chap
lam to the eccentric Mr. Coward. This patron, as
a leading Nonconformist of those times, erected a
chapel, in which his protege preached, the congrega
tion enjoying the repute of being one of the most
wealthy and genteel societies of any then assembling
around the metropoUs. As many as forty carriages,
we are told, were commonly counted at the meeting
house doors after morning service. On account of
certain odd tMngs he practised, joined to extreme
opimons concerning trifles, the gentleman with
whom the pastor resided enjoyed a widely-spread
celebrity among the country people. The house
hold regime — most rigorously carried out — ^included
the bolting and locking of doors and fastening of
¦windows at six o'clock in the evening, an extra hour
being allowed during the summer months. But,
whether in June or December, after the specified
time, no person's ingress or exit was under any cir
cumstances tolerated. No statute of the Medes and
Persians was ever more irrevocable than the bye-
laws of this domestic autocrat ; for had his own lady
appeared at the outer gate a minute later than the
fatal chime, she would probably have found her

SALTEES' HALL. 407
spouse as inexorable as his favourite locks and bars.
Certain is it that, on a particular occasion, the
pastor and chaplain imprudently stayed out untU
after the clock had struck, say, seven in the evening.
As he may possibly have anticipated. Farmer's case
presented an aspect sufficiently gloomy. The only
way out of the dUemma was to seek a lodging at
the home of a less scrupulous famUy. The pastor
accordingly caUed at a mansion inhabited by a then
eminent soUcitor of the name of Snell. The sequel
was pleasing, and coincided with the experience of
Dr. Watts in another instance. Instead of remaimng
only a single night. Farmer remained during tMrty
years, and in elegant retirement produced the works
on wMch his Uterary reputation is based. WhUe
strength remained he busUy pursued a course of
authorsMp — Ms exposition of Demonology and
Mfracles, meantime, creatmg some sharp controversy.
Although so fuUy engrossed by other matters, he
sustained unaided the pastorate at Walthamstow
untU 1761, when the engagement at Salters' HaU
necessitated the appointment of an assistant. During
those ten years of City labour Farmer attracted the
largest afternoon congregation of any among the
Presbyterians of London. Besides his numerous
other occupations, he preached in turn the Mer
chants' Lecture at Salters' HaU, and also served on
Dr. WUUams's Trust His several appointments
were one by one relinquished on account of the
advances of age and weakness. In 1785 he became

408 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
nearly deprived of sight, and two years subsequently
he died, having attained to the seventy-third year of
Ms age. According to the strict directions of his
will, a quantity of valuable manuscripts were ruth
lessly destroyed, and the editors of the Biographia
Britannica had their reasonable vexation awakened
by the scrupulous rigour with wMch the executors
obeyed their injunction.*
Hugh Farmer was succeeded in the aitemoon
lectureship by Hugh Worthington, who eventually
assumed the pastorate at the date of Spilsbuiy's de
cease. After serving the Church through a period
of forty years, he died in July, 1813. He was a
native of Leicester, where his father officiated as the
Presbyterian mimster for more than half a century.
This old divine presided over the congregation as
sembUng in the old meeting-house, as the towns
people called it, situated at Butt's Close, Saint Mar
garet's, Leicester. This society had been gathered
in the year 1680, but the chapel was erected
twenty-eight years later, with seat accommodation
for eight hundred persons. For a lengthened term
the society enjoyed the reputation of being the most
important and influential body of Christians in the
district, not excepting the Establishment. The
pastor, who died in the autumn of 1797, Uved to be
eighty- six, his tenure of office havmg extended from
his thirtieth year. His cfrcle of friends included
* Biographia Britannica; Nichols's Literary Anecdotes
of the Eighteenth Century.

SALTEES' HALL. 409
the best famiUes of the neighbourhood, by whom he
was regarded as a man of amiable and benevolent
disposition, joined to respectable abiUties.
Amid such scenes the younger Hugh was reared,
whUe he found m his father an able preceptor. He
ultimately removed to Daventry Academy, there to
study under Dr. Ashworth. The young scholar had
scarcely completed his teens ere his principal en
listed Ms assistance in the work of tuition. In his
twenty-second year Worthington visited London,
and on one occasion preached at Salters' HaU, and
so edified the people that they invited Mm to accept
the recently vacated lecturship. During his
lengthened connection with the old meeting-house
the pastor earned the respect of a large proportion of
the citizens, whUe many of his more private friends
bore eminent names in the repubUc of letters. It
was Worthington's original intention to have resigned
Ms office on completmg a term of forty years' ser
vice. It strangely happened that, on the day pre
ceding Ms death he was employed in preparing a
discourse wMch he intended should celebrate his
relinquishment of active duty. Death, however,
suddenly carried Mm hence on Monday, July 25th,
1813, and after he had attended at Salters' HaU
the day before. He died in the sixty-first year of
his age. He was eulogised by the Gentleman's
Magazine as " A man of sound understanding, con
siderable learning, eloquent in his delivery, happy
in Ms choice of language, and clear and perspicuous

410 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
in Ms elucidations." To what degree he advanced
in those " rational " sentiments wMch so disastrously
affected his denomination, it would be difficult to
determine. It may, nevertheless, be mentioned that,
James Lindsey, who preached Worthington's funeral
sermon, awakened Ms hearers' indignation by re
marking en passant that, he and his late friend had
been agreed so far as Gospel doctrine was con
cerned. Such a fact tells favourably in Worthington's
favour. He may possibly have been a high Arian,
but if so he deviated from the faith of Ms prede
cessors, none of whom lapsed lower than the Baxterian
standard.* Worthington was successively assisted by several
lecturers. In 1782 he had Eobert Jacomb, who,
after eight years' service, resigned in favour of
Wellingborough. Thence he removed to Leicester,
and acted as the colleague of the elder Worthington,
whom he succeeded in the pastorate. He finaUy
retired to Bath without any charge. Eobert Winter,
of Hammersmith, Ukewise assisted at Salters' HaU,
as did also John SavUle, of Homerton Academy.
But by this time the glory of the old sanctuary had
departed, and ere long it was forsaken by its ancient
occupants, the Presbyterians. Some people now
obtained possession of the premises, who styled the
' Lindsey's Sermon on the Death of Hugh Worthington ;
Eees' Encyclopaedia; Wilson's History of the Dissenting
Churches; Gentleman's Magazine, vol. Ixxxiii; Nichols's
Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century.

salters' hall. 411
haU The Acopagus, and themselves The Christian
Evidence Society. TMs experiment in fanaticism
proved an unsuccessful adventure, and its champion
sank into bankruptcy. The Baptists next entered
on the field in 1827, to re-open the hall in the pre
sence of a noble band of celebrities. Within the
last few years the meeting-house has disappeared.
The society has removed to a northern suburb, and
now meet in a newly-erected chapel worthy of bear-
insr the name it retains of Salters' Hall. The
pastor may be congratulated on inheriting a pulpit
so closely Unked with our old City Mstory and its
Nonconformist associations.

POOTPEINTS OP THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON.
The reflection is certainly fraught with sadness, cal
culated to stir up mournful emotions, that Christian
Churches after once planting, slioiUd faU to reflect
the Saviour's glory by ceasing to disseminate, the
news of the Cross. Numberless sanctuaries of Old
London have passed away before the remorseless en
croachments of commerce. The last traces of many
ancient chapels are now completely effaced by capa
cious ware-rooms, cranes, and counting-houses. Con
cerning this subject, divers questions crowd into the
mind, and there remain unanswered. What occa
sioned the extinction of these Christian institutions ?
Was their Ufe-vigour forfeited like that of the barren
fig-tree, because of fruitlessness ? Did their light
burn lower and lower with the roU of years, for lack
of sustaining faith ? Did slothful pastors encourage
lukewarmness in the flock, or did the cause of decay
lie beyond the remedial reach of either ? What man
can teU ? Nevertheless, if the old landmarks have
been removed, their sites retain an interest and a

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 413
sacredness wMch no modern surroundings are able
to dispel.
One of these spots is Crutched-friars. A visit to
the neighbourhood awakens memories of an era of
gloomy superstition, when England was darkened by
the shades of ignorance. In those days the brothers,
from whom the nomenclature is derived, were wont
to emerge from tMs sombre haunt into the City
thoroughfares, each betokemng his order by display
ing a blood-red cross upon his habit, and by carrying
in his hand a cruciflx of iron or of silver. The
monastery regime included the daily invocation of
blessings upon the capital As it came to pass in
the majority of instances, so did it happen in
Crutched-friars — increase of wealth fostered cor
ruption, tiU the scandal of the monks' dissolute
Uves hastened the conflscation of their patrimony.
Henry the Eighth conferred the estate on Sir Thomas
Wyatt, who made it a site for Ms town mansion. In
after years the premises were metamorphosed into a
glass manufactory, wMch was destroyed by fire in
the days of EU^iabeth.
Some few years after the accession of the Stuarts,
one of the earUest distmct societies of Baptists pos
sessed a meeting-house in Crutched-friars. The
chapel was opened by the separatists from Lathop's
congregation of " Independents " — ^the most cele
brated seceder being WUUam Kiffen. Second only
to the hero of Devonshire-square was Paid Hobson,
who took a leading share in establishing the Baptists

414 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
as a denomination. He "joined with Mr. Green
and Captam Spencer," says the trustworthy Crosby,
"who raised a Baptist Church in Crutched-friars."
The persons referred to were at that time the leaders
of their brethren in London. Hobson assumed the
honours and duties of the pastorate, and, on the
outbreak of civil war, his functions as a divine in
no way interfered vTith his seizing a sword to fight
as a captain in the Parliamentary aimy. None
understood better than did Paul Hobson how to
shout defiance at cavaUers, and to frown withering
contempt upon servants of Baal. The fury -with
which in the field he sought the annihUation of
maUgnants, corresponded with those other attributes
of the religious zealot which he mamfested wMle
preaching or disputing. His perseverance in de
nouncing other sects, allied to a violent abuse of the
Commons, became at length an excuse for lodging
Hobson in Newport PagneU gaol, the agent being
Sir Samuel Luke, alias Sir Hudibras. Hobson re
turned to London in custody, but, through the
aid of influential connections, his incarceration
soon became a thing of history. On regaining
his liberty, this miUtary divine resumed preach
ing, " to the great mortification of his persecutors,"
and formidable either in soldierly or polemical
art, he for a time sustained a meeting in Moor
fields. Subsequently he accepted the chaplaincy of
Eton School, whence he was ejected at the Eestora
tion.

FOOTPEINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 415
The neighbourhood of Mark Lane is rich in Non
conformist associations. Here that poet of the
Universal Church — Isaac Watts — inaugurated his
London ministry. In the parlour of a private citi
zen, wherein his congregation assembled, we may
fafrly suppose that many of Watts's hymns were first
introduced to the Christian world.* In Eood-lane —
close at hand — in the olden time, the Weigh-House
pastor was content to own a manse. Not far distant
— in PhUpot-lane — there formerly stood one of
those old halls, wMch, belonging to the City guilds,
so frequently served as Dissenting Chapels. The
buUdmg now particularly alluded to, but long since
demoUshed, was the property of the Worshipful
Company of Turners. Like the Stationers, who of
old possessed a haU in this -vicinity, the Turners
provided more sumptuous premises elsewhere. The
buUdmg in PhUpot-lane had a very chequered
Mstory. In the Eevolution year the Baptists were
its tenants. Then the Quakers came into possession.
The Quakers were succeeded by the Independents ;
* Just to show what popular admiration this great and
amiable man commanded, the verse below is taken from a
poem, on Nonconformity in London, which appeared in the
Gentleman's Magazine for July, 1736, and -written, as some
suppose, by Eichard Savage : —
" . . . The gentle Watts, in him we find
The fairest picture of an humble mind ;
In him the softest, meekest virtues dweU —
As mUd as light, as soft as evening gale."

416 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
then came the Baptists again ; and finally, the In
dependents were its last inhabitants.
In the revolution era, a controversy regarding the
Imposition of Hands divided the London Baptists.
The Arminian section strongly advocated the custom,
scarcely rating its importance below any Christian
ordinance. A society of this strict class established
themselves in the locaUty in question, the chapel
being situated in White's-aUey. These people sepa
rated from their pastor, Eichard Allen, when he
relinquished their favourite tenet — a division ori
ginating the Church in Turners' Hall.
If he did not correspond with what would now be
called a popular preacher, Eichard Allen sustained a
fair reputation, besides earning the merited esteem
of contemporary Nonconformists. He owed neither
Uterary acquirements nor means of usefuMess to any
academical institution ; but such disadvantages the
mdomitable perseverance of maturer years fully re
paired ; and he lived to rival the ablest of his
compeers, either in general knowledge or in phUo
logical lore. In the days of Charles the Second,
Allen manfully resisted the forces of persecution tUl
few exceUed him in moral bravery. His everyday
experience included the roughest discipUne. He
knew what it was to be interrupted, even in a week-
night service ; and to be carried thence to prison by
military intruders. Other events of Ms history graph
ically illustrate London pastoral life two hundred j'^ears
ago. For an example take the foUowing: — Allen

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 417
and his people have assembled for worship at five
o'clock on a Sabbath morning. With apparent
reason the worshippers expect, that at so early an
hour they wiU enjoy immunity from legal inter
ference. They are destined to suffer grievous dis
appointment. While the service progresses, soldiers
rush into the apartment, and their inhuman roughness
and coarse speeches strangely contrast with the
reverential mien of the preacher, who placidly sees
the miUtary rabble tear down the galleries and
abuse the people. Anon, a certain son of Mars
seizes a form, sends it whirling across the chapel,
and although, by taldng a false aim, he misses the
Pastor's head, he unmistakably demonstrates to the
spectators that Ms arms are stronger than his wits.
What injury was done to the people on this occasion
does not transpfre. The meeting-house was damaged
to the value of fifty pounds.
WhUe composed of General Baptists, the Church
in Turners' HaU scarcely differed in faith from the
sister societies professing Particular Eedemption; for
the people's reUgion being of an evangelical type
their pastor freely associated with divines of the
Calvinistic school. This Church was one of the
earUest to introduce singing into public worship;
but a lively controversy was sustained through many
years ere the prejudices of the stricter sort could be
overcome. After the Eevolution, when the "Augustan
age " had set in, and when every clique possessed
its pubUc haunt, the ministers of the Baptist denomi-

418 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
nation met weekly at the Hanover Coffee House,
Finch-lane. Of this club AUen became a leading mem
ber, and as such won the high esteem of the sedate
conclave, and in 1704, he and his followers were
admitted into the London Association of Baptist
Churches. When the pastor died in February, 1707,
he left a large congregation.
Turners' Hall being vacated in 1695, the people
removed to Barbican, and their old quarters were
now used for less honourable purposes. One George
Keith attracted a number of hearers, who assembling
here, accepted as spiritual fare, his eccentric harangues.
He boasted of being a " reformed Quaker ;" such
reformation consisting in uniting the faith of Bunyan
to the eccentricities of Penn. The " Church " was
attacked by a writer, who shielded by his non de
plume of Calvin Philanax, made the congregation a
laughing-stock by exposing their fantasies. Keith
appears to be identical with the George Keith, of
whom Noble gives a sketch in the continuation of
Granger's Biographical History ; if so, he ultimately
found a home in the Fleet, whUe there to be ex
communicated by his diocesan, on account of profli
gate effrontery.
A man who completely outstripped all predecessors
in singularity now occupied Turners' Hall. This
was Joseph Jacob. Eeared a Quaker and a linen-
draper, neither the religion nor the trade of his
fathers discovered to him a sphere worthy of his
genius and tasteful to his eccentric predUections.

FOOTPEINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 419
Therefore he sought other avenues wherein to exer
cise his abUities. It is satisfactory to find, how
ever, that Jacob was sufficiently patriotic to gallop
westward, in 1688, for the purpose of sharing the
national greeting to William the Third. Beginning
as a preacher in a meetmg-house in Thames-street,
Jacob ere long offended his audience by the severity
with which he condemned the actions of persons
eminent in station and influence. His congrega
tion included a member of Parliament, Shallet by
name ; and by Shallet's exertion, Jacob was finally
ejected from the pulpit On retiring from this
sphere of labour, Jacob manifested a contempt for
Ms enemies by UteraUy shaking the dust from his
shoes. After lea-ving Thames-street, Jacob provided a
chapel in Southwark, where he continued Ms
mimstrations to the " Eeformed Church." The
society rejoiced in a straitlaced discipline ; and
candidates for admission to communion were re
qufred to conform to the articles of government,
and to affix their signatures as pledges of honour.
Of what the pastor's vagaries consisted it were use
less to explam. Although an enthusiast, he may not
be charged -with any endeavours to anticipate either
the dreams of Swedenborg or many other heresies
which are flaunted in these later times. Never
theless, Jacob exercised a jurisdiction over his flock
which to us appears sufficiently singular. Certainly
a similar reformer would occasion considerable con-
27*

420 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
sternation among the too -fashionably- appareUed
Christians of to-day.
Nevertheless, posterity has partly sanctioned the
innovations conceived in the fertile brain of Jacob
— e.g., standing during the singing of praise, and
the cultivation of " whiskers upon the upper lip,"
both of which he rigidly enforced. A salutary code
was also prepared for the becoming control of female
attire ; but none will regret that the custom of so
onerous an oversight died with its originator. The
" reformed " people never worshipped with others of
a different order ; and they engaged not to marry
without the pale of their society — Joseph Jacob
only being competent to tie the hymenial knot.
Notwithstanding the benefits attached to the dis
cipline described, it proved a weariness to the flesh.
The congregation gradually dwindled away ; but still
undaunted, Jacob removed into the City to settle in
Turners' HaU. He laboured on a few years longer,
till in 1722, the "reformed church'' died with its
pastor — the remains of the latter finding a resting-
place in the old graveyard of BunhUl-fields.
In 1704 the Baptists again made a home of this
time-honoured meeting-place. In Spitalfields there
existed an old society which had just lost its pastor,
William Collins. The members resolved on migrat
ing Citywards for the purpose of amalgamating with
others of corresponding faith who met in Lorimers'
HaU. The majority decided on introducing- psal
mody, -while the minority protested against the in-

FOOTPEINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 421
novation, and retired into Turners' Hall. They found
a pastor in Ebenezer Wilson, son-in-law to the heroic
Fownes, of Broadmead, Bristol, and father of the weU-
known Samuel WUson. Ebenezer, who died in 1 7 14,
was an able divine and a reputable scholar. He
never acMeved popularity, but many of his hearers
bemg wealthy, he was handsomely provided for.
WUson's successor, Thomas Dewhurst — about
whom scarcely anything is known — was a native
of North Britain. FoUowing, in 1725, came the
learned physician. Dr. Eudd, but having already
given particulars of this divine, any further refer
ence is rendered superfluous. He and his people
removed to Devonshfre-square in 1727, when the
entfre premises were deUvered up to them ; con
sequently the congregation at DevonsMre-square
Chapel are Uneal descendants of the church in
Turners' HaU. After the Baptists had finaUy for
saken this last-named place, some persons caUmg
themselves Independents entered into possession;
they do not appear to have been recognised by that
denomination. One day, M September, 1739, John Wesley
preached in Turners' HaU ; and, during the ser-
¦vice, the beams supportmg the floor, having their
strength overtaxed by the weight of two thousand
auditors, suddenly gave way, to the consternation of
everybody present. Fortunately, however, the ceUars
beneath had recently been stored with casks of
tobacco, and these supporting the sinking floor, the

422 ANCIENT JIEETING HOUSES.
people were rejoiced at finding themselves more
alarmed than injured. As it was, says Wesley, the
boards sank " a foot or two, and I went on without
interruption." The efforts our fathers put forth to meet the re
ligious necessities of the era they Uved in, if not so
energetic as they should have been, were not so
disproportionate to their abiUties as we, in these
happier days of improved opportumties, may imagine.
Londoners of the seventeenth century supposed
themselves to be living in a city as populous as the
modern metropolis. The intelligent portion of the
Christian community, through indulging such a de
lusion, must have been deeply impressed by the little
progress that religion, and more especiaUy religion
as represented by Nonconformity, made among such
imagined crowds. The notions of our ancestors re
specting the magnitude of London fitly corresponded
with their calculations regarding the City's future
growth. In the time of Charles the Second, Sir W.
Petty, as a member of the Eoyal Society, published
some carefully-compiled tables relating to the popu
lation. His ingenious reasomngs tended more to
wards alarming than edifying his hearers when he
explained what London would expand to in their
own time ; equally fitted to awaken consternation
was Sir W. Petty's portrayal of London as it wmUd
be. In the year 1800, the inhabitants would num
ber five millions three hundred and fifty-mne thou
sand. In 1840 — so exact was Sir W. Petty that

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 423
he reckoned to ten souls — the number would increase
to ten mUUons seven hundred and eighteen thousand
eight hundred and eighty. Vast, therefore, as is our
present capital, it has little more than a quarter of
the importance to which our Puritan ancestors sup
posed it would attain.
Such trifles are merely by the way. We proceed
onward to Gracechurch-street, there to find some
legible footprints of the Puritan Baptists. If the
exact site of their settlement cannot be pointed out,
the fact is owing to the historian's remissness, for
Crosby is addicted to the vice of breaking off his
narrative just when and where his readers would
know more. The case of Gracechurch-street is no
exception to his wonted procedure.
A meeting-house once existed in Gracechurch-
stieet, and in Puritan times it was associated with
an able physician and Baptist minister. Dr. Carolus
INIaria Du Veil. His conversion from Judaism to
Christianity excited the revengeful passions of Jewish
connexions — an experience analogous to what others
have suffered under similar cfrcumstances. The elder
Du Veil mamfested his abhorrence of the Christian
tenets by attacking his converted son with a sword.
On first receiving the Gospel, Carolus could only grope
his way into the shades of Eoman Catholicism. With
their usual readiness at making all events, if possible,
redound to the extension of their system, his new
allies sought to use the abilities of so able a convert
against the Huguenots. The researches entaUed by

424 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
the allotted task brought other truths to light, which
making an immediate impression on the unbiassed
student's heart, led him to reUnquish popery for the
purer communion of Anglicanism. On coming to
England he made friends of TUlotson, StiUingfieet,
and a number of others. He took holy orders, ac
cepted a chaplaincy in a nobleman's family, and lived
among the best society.
This last change in Du VeU's life occurred in
1677. Amid his new surroundings, his chief busi
ness was the study of English ; but he never suffi
ciently mastered the pronunciation of our language
to acquire a fluency in public speaking. He closely
applied himself to the study of English literature ;
and in the library of Bishop Compton, of London, he
perused for the first time the publications of the Bap
tists. These books more than interested him — they
bred desire for an interview with the denominational
leaders. There was then Uving in the household of
Dr. TUlotson a maid-servant who communed with a
neighbouring Baptist society, and whose faith drew
forth many banterings from her fellow- workers. Du
Veil expressed to this girl the longing he had for an
interview with Hanserd Knollys. "The sequel was,
that the two eventuaUy met at the mansion of .a
nobleman in the vicinity where Knollys was occa
sionally entertained. The latter, after this, intro
duced his newly-made acquaintance to the noble
galaxy of his compeers — Kiffen, Keach, Gosnold,
and others — who were fathers in their denomina-

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 425
tion. Delighted -With his new associates, Du Veil
began diligently to examine the differences separating
such men from other Christian bodies, the result
being Ms acceptance of the tenet of Believers' Bap
tism. The thorough honesty of the man's convic
tions and motives cannot be doubted, for the im
mediate temporal loss his conversion occasioned him,
constituted Uttle less than pecuniary ruin. If Ave
except the amiable TiUotson, Du Veil was forsaken
by his friends, and therefore he now divided his time
between Uterary pursuits and the practice of physic.
At or about this time the Baptists in Gracechurch-
street lost thefr pastor. In an evU hour he quailed
before the persecution of the Eestoration, and through
fear had given place to the enemy by relinquishing
Ms beUef. This action occasioned remorse so intense
that the unhappy subject of it, by taking his own
life, escaped from a world where each day was but
a round of horror. The afflicted congregation invited
Du VeU to take them m charge, and he consented.
Because only able to speak English veiy brokenly,
Ms immense acqufrements never won the pastor any
lasting popiUarity ; and the church ceased to exist
as a separate society at the pastor's death, or at the
close of the seventeenth century. Du Veil's writings
are chiefly commentaries on various books of the
Bible. He wrote with correctness in Latin and Eng
lish. May this recutting of his almost forgotten
name not prove altogether unprofitable labour.
Hitherto the labour of portraying the customs.

420 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
sufferings, and victories of the Nonconformists in old
London, has proved a task of pleasure, and the hope
is entertained that these histories and word-pictures
have not overtaxed the reader's patience. Each
spot connected with these reminiscences has many
memories hanging around it — welcome treasures to
a Dissenting archaeologist. Such must experience a
pensive pleasure in holding up to the light of modern
times the sayings and actions of men by whose pre
cepts and example our fathers were instructed, and
by whom they were directed to a better inheritance.
Where now is that great motley crowd wMch of yore
enlivened these identical streets? Where, alas !
" For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn.
Or busy house^wife ply her evening care ;
No children run to lisp their sire's return,
Or cHmb his knee, the envied kiss to share."
Their lives have been stereotyped by the hand of
time, and as the trees have fallen, so do they lie.
What should prompt the eschewing of evil more
than this awful fact : our words and actions are
impressed on the days in which they were spoken or
performed ? While scrutinising the lives of workers
who preceded us, let this truth exercise its legitimate
influence, that as regards ourselves also, father Time
will prove MmseK to be an unflinching and impartial
witness. Eightly to understand what a sacrifice Du Veil
voluntarily made by embracing Nonconformity, it is
necessary to know something of party warfare, or

FOOTPEINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 427
more properly of reUgious warfare, in the Puritan
era. Numbers of the lampoons on Dissenting leaders
are either too absurd or too indecent for quotation.
Such pamphlets, usually emanating from foes to all
reUgion, will not repay attention ; but the Uterary
offspring of various party zealots, oftentimes written
in strains of ferocious satire, is more interesting.
In 1681 a poetical broadside, purporting to be a
faithful description of the Dissenting preachers, was
circiUated in London. It belonged to a department
in our Uterature now happily extinct, but which was
-vigorously maintained in those never-to-be-forgotten
times, when the political horizon grew darker daily,
when Episcopacy was at last apparently triumphant,
when Liberty was driven from her natural home,
and when Nonconformists could under no circum
stances safely assemble. The spectacle of England's
humUiation, to High Church bigots, to Court trim
mers, to beUevers in the divine right of kings, was
a landscape tinged with paradisaical hues. The
voice of mourning from closed meeting-houses, and
the despair of homeless ejected ministers, were
replied to by our poet :
' ' What ! shall a glorious nation be o'erthro^wn
By troops of sneaking rascals of our own ?"
He also describes the Nonconformist preacher : —
" He's one that scarcely can be called a man.
And yet's a pious holy Christian,
He's big -with sa-ving faith (he says), yet he
Has not one spark of common charity."

428 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Dissenters, it plainly appeared, were despisers of
reason — a fact which accounted for their rejecting
Episcopacy, and for their refusal to honour bishops.
All, however, was easily comprehended ; Eeason dis
countenanced their dark designs. Nonconformist
preachers are portrayed as immoral livers, and their
prayers as insults to the Deity. As for their
sermons, " Tou'U quickly find sedition is hid there."
Then follows a descriptive touch of the Three De
nominations : —
' ' They all mankind except themselves despise ;
Chiefly the great, for being good and -wise.
Some subtle have, and some have giddy souls ;
Some fools, some knaves, and some are knaves and fools.
These vermin would even the best things command,
And suck up all the sweetness of the land."
At the Eevolution, poetasters of another school reached
down their lyres from the willows, and Church and
State was roughly handled in the sheets of doggrel
they scattered among the people. One author deals
some telling blows at the enemy. The High Church
Bully, in a sheet of that name, e.^'.; —
"Eome, whose footsteps you so closely tread.
Great Eome ! thy mother Church and darling head."
Then follows a graphic description of an AngUcan's
sermon. If heated by the fumes of his own poU
tical or theological diatribes, the pulpit creaks by
reason of blows received from the fists of its sub-

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 429
stantial orator. His fiery nonsense echoes down the
ancient aisles tiU the auditors imagine themselves
overtaken by a tempest of thunder and Ughtning.
The exceUence of arbitrary laws is insisted on,
whUe moderation is proved no less unscriptural
than the Hanoverian succession. Throughout, the
harangue " Mightily extols all High Church ranters.
Now lashes all false brethren and Dissenters."
On the proclamation of the Indulgence of 1687, the
Nonconformist press once more worked unrestricted.
An anonymous author m a quarto pamphlet detailed
the Dissenters' suffermgs. Although written some
years pre-viously, the manuscript had been laid aside
in consequence of the danger attending the dissemi
nation of such pubUcations. One minister (Delaune)
had died in Newgate for the offence of having com
posed a simUar treatise. IMany others who may not
have actually died m their cells were scarcely less
fortunate, since they faUed to leave their loath
some confinement untU the germs of mortal diseases
were sown in their constitutions. Only by a strong
mental effort can we reaUse the sufferings of these
confessors. Their personal pains were a heavy
cross, but to bodily anguish were often added many
agonising reflections — that a wife was sinkmg under
hardsMp ; that daughters were exposed to privation ;
or that sons, on whom the father had fondly centred
his hopes, were constrained to earn a pittance by
wheeUng a barrow, or by driving a cart.

430 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
The curious pedestrian, whose antiquarian tastes
may occasionally prompt an exploration of our old
City's secluded nooks, will be weU aware of the
archaeological attractions attached to St. Helen's,
Bishopsgate. The rural dress of the graveyard sur
rounding the quaintly-interesting church, pleasantly
contrasts with the neighbouring crowded thorough
fare. St. Helen's is one of the few city churches
which escaped the fire of 1656. On its erection in
the twelfth century, its pious founders dedicated
their work to the mother of Constantine, and se
cured for the foundation some important pri-vdleges.
The sanctuary was inherited by the neighbouring
priory, the nuns assembUng for prayers in a portion
of the present building, then separated by a partition
from the portion allotted for public service. The
partition was removed on the dissolution of the
nunnery in the reign of Henry the Eighth.
No less a person than Hanserd Knollys preached
in Great St. Helen's. Possessing a chapel of very
respectable dimensions, he attracted a thousand
hearers. Hitherto KnoUys had officiatad in parish
churches whenever faciUties for so doing occurred.
His most Uvely enemies were the Presbyterians, and
probably at their instigation the landlord of the
meeting-house refused to allow the Baptists to con
tinue in possession. Moreover, a committee of
divines, who sat during the Commonwealth, evinced
an effrontery quite uncharacteristic of their modern
representatives, by ordering KnoUys to preach no

FOOTPEINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 431
more — an injunction he was scarcely the kind of
being to honour with attention. The pastor, how
ever, removed with his foUowers to Newgate-street.
The chapel in Great St. Helen's disappeared, and
regarding either its site or fate, history is silent.
East-cheap was the cooks' quarter in ancient
London. Through a long period there flourished
here a leading society of the Baptist denomination.
Doubtless the spot has a narrative belonging to it,
abounding -with interesting histories, could the
records be recovered. Baptists have certainly been
remiss in the matter of bequeathing history to pos
terity, and accordingly but few particulars of Great
East-cheap are now obtamable. Wilson supposes,
that after Du Veil's removal, Ms people were ab
sorbed by a congregation which met in Tallow-
chandlers' HaU, Dowgate-hUl. This united body
eventuaUy removed to Maidenhead- court. Great
East-cheap, but when the lease of this chapel ex
pired in 1760, the members dispersed themselves
among various societies. In this old meeting-house
a Wednesday-evenmg lecture was established, which
Dr. GiU sustained for thirty years. This sermon
was continued at Oripplegate, Little St. Helen's, and
Devonshire-square. The first pastor, John Noble, was born about the
time of the Eestoration. Some particulars of his
life are preserved in a funeral discourse, the quaint
title of wMch is emblazoned with a death's head,
a skeleton's limbs, and the implements of grave-

432 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
digging. The sermon, by Edward WalUn, was
preached on the longest day of 1730.
During his early years Noble tasted a full share
of the prevaUing persecution. A common experience
made his parents and their children, familiar -with the
routine of prison discipline — a discipline, however,
which never sufficed to suppress their courage, nor
to annihilate their determination to persevere in
righteousness. WhUe in captivity, the prison cell
served young Noble as a study, and on regaining
his liberty he set up a school, and laboured as a
Gospel mimster. He was sufficiently successful in
the country for news of his fame to reach the
capital. Two London Churches simultaneously in-
^ited him to take them in charge, and of that both
might enjoy his ministry, they united. As a theo
logian. Noble prominently expounded certain fa
vourite tenets, till many accused him of teaching
Antinomianism. However this may have been, he
was " A man of learning and exceUent parts." In
circles outside his immediate connection the pastor
was regarded as a man of uncharitable proclivities
and harsh demeanour. Crosby thinks these failings
were more apparent than real, or, even if real, Avere
only manifested at Eastcheap. When presiding at
the monthly assembly of denominational representa
tives. Noble's moderation of speech and becoming
mien excited the surprise of observers famiUar with
their brother's more disagreeable attributes. A
memorable iUustration of this occurred at John

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 433
GUI's ordination in 1719. Noble vehemently op
posed the custom of laying on of hands, but he
preached the sermon on the day in question, although
the obnoxious custom was observed. He died in
June, 1730, to the intense grief of his people, who
interred Ms remains in Southwark Park.
This period Ui the history of the denomination,
and of England, appears to have been one of those
cabns which sometimes, in the national as in in-
di-vidual Ufe, or in the political no less than in the
natural world, precede and foUow change and com
motion. Sfr Eobert Walpole controUed pubUc af
fairs. The country was quietly enjoying a term of
peace. The contemporary press represents the nation
as ha-ving reached a height of happiness above the
average, wMch sprang from a full tide of commer
cial prosperity. If such pictures of England as she
existed a century and a half ago, are sUghtly
exaggerated, the colouring has tinges of truthful
ness. Fifteen years had flown since the Pretender's
Ul-fated adventure ; and whUe his EngUsh supporters
were growMg fewer, Ms adherents on the Continent
were dying in exUe. Old-fashioned opponents of
the Hanoverian succession were fast dimmishing.
The Tories, or Jacobites, by a salutary experience,
were being taught sometMng of reason. Trade
being good and money abundant, the consumption
of articles of luxury by the common people was
daUy increasing. In this era, moreover, a new
page was turned in EngUsh Uterature, for a nota-
28

434 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
bility rose whose celebrity is even yet sustained,
although his career has far extended into the
second century of its duration. Our aUusion is to
Sylvanus Urbon, who now took possession of St.
John's Gate, ClerkenweU, and published Number
One, price sixpence, of the Gentleman's Maga
zine. Noble's assistants were Samuel Wilson, who re
moved to Goodman's Fields, and Peter Davenport,
the probable founder of the Church at Liverpool,
but about whom little only is known. The im
mediate successor of John Noble was Samuel Dew,
a native of Michel Dean, in Gloucestershire. Of
an humble origin, his parents destined him for
notMng more pretentious than the stone-cutting
craft. While earning Ms bread by this latter occu
pation. Dean's leisure hours were devoted to learning
— a course in which he persevered until his minis
trations became acceptable to a body of Christians
in his native town, and this led to his settlement
according to the Nonconformist order. His acces
sion to the pulpit at East-cheap occurred in 1731.
As a country pastor, Dew pursued a course of use
fulness and popularity, but to the more cultivated
members of a City audience his homely discourses
were not so acceptable, so that his foUowers were
chiefly partisans of the extreme Calvinistic school.
In 1760 the congregation had sufficiently declined
to render unadvisable a renewal of the lease of the
chapel. The members dissolved their umon, and

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 435
whUe some settled under Dr. Gill, others retired to
Devonshire-square. The old meeting-house then passed through a few
more stages — ominous of approaching demoUtion.
Among those who successively held possession were
the Swedenborgians and the German-Lutherans.
About seventy years ago the building was removed ;
not even a trace of the site it occupied is now
discoverable anUd the surrounding commercial ac-
ti-vity. TaUow-chandlers' HaU has some remimscences
belongmg to it separate from those afready aUuded
to. Elias, a son of Benjamin Keach, gathered a
congregation at Wapping, and after their pastor's
death, the people removed into the City and
a-ssembled m the TaUow-melters' HalL Thence they
migrated to Angel-aUey, WMtechapel.
To turn aside into Thames-street is again to find
ourselves standing upon Mteresting Mstorical ground.
Prior to the erection either of the Tower or London
Bridge, a battlemented wall protected the southern
boundary of the river — a fortification which re
mained intact t-iU the encroaching waters under
mined its foundations. In the reign of Henry the
Sixth the Warwick famUy possessed a mansion in
Thames-stieet — the Earl having, as is supposed,
wrested the property from its rightful owner.
Here, in the olden time, and in the hall of the
Jomers' Company, a fraternity of Baptists congre
gated. During its prosperity this society was one
28*

436 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
of the wealthiest in the denomination, but unfor
tunately its history cannot be traced to its original
planting. The first pastor of whom any accounts
survive, is John Harris, who died in 1691, and who
was simultaneously assisted by two coUeagues ; a fact
in itself testifying to the importance of the station.
This trio are found to have signed the Confession of
Faith of 1689.
Joseph Maisters, a native of Kingsdown, Somer
set, appears as a preacMng elder of this society.
He was born in the memorable November of 1640.
In his sixteenth year he entered Magdalen College,
but when at the Eestoration, practices were mtro-
duced among the Fellows which Maisters deemed
objectionable, he took up his quarters in Magdalen
HaU. As a penalty for Nonconformity, he was
refused his degree of Bachelor of Arts, although he
had fairly won that distinction. Disappointed,
though adhering to principle, he alUed himself to
the Dissenters, and in 1667, was ordained pastor
over a people both few and small, at Theobalds, in
Hertfordshfre. The times were gloomy and dis
heartening. Numberless annoyances and difficulties
springing from persecution had necessarily to be
endured and overcome. None but candidates of
the truest Christian type were then found seeking
admission to Nonconformist communion. Very
strong, therefore, was the umting tie wMch bound a
persecuted pastor to a persecuted people ; the Church
at Theobalds being no singular example of the

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 437
truth of this remark. When Maisters became in
vited by the rich and influential company in Thames-
street to settle in London, no persuasives could
make him entirely foi-sake his rural foUowers. His
country hearers were received into commumon at
Joiners' HaU, and on removing thither, the pastor
reserved one Sabbath in every month to minister to
Ms Hertfordshfre flock. The chm-ch soon after re
moved into Pinners' HaU, and by permission of the
Independents — the lease-holders — held their services
on Sabbath afternoons. As a preacher, Maisters
enjoyed a fair reputation ; but he never ventured on
puhUshing a single piece. He died in 1717, and
Ues in BunhiU-fields. Jeremiah Hunt, the Inde
pendent mimster at Pinners' Hall, celebrated the
pastor's memory and Christian attainments in an
appropriate funeral discourse. Maisters was a Cal-
vinist ; Ms eulogist was an Arian. Notwithstanding
so awkward a discrepancy, Crosby's complaisance
designates the latter " a shining Ught."
In the days of Thomas Eichardson, 1718-30,
who next succeeded, the Church removed to Devon
shfre- square. The last mimster, Clendon Dawkes, a
native of WelUngborough, was a divine of con
siderable learmng, and of respectable powers. He
continued Ms pastorate untU 1751, when, on account
of diminished numerical strength, this once pros
perous society voluntarily dissolved its umon, and
Dawkes settied at Hemel Hempstead, where, seven
years later, he died.

438 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
One other renUniscence of Thames-street may be
here introduced. In Elizabeth's reign the vicinity
was remarkable for its brewhouse, whence the citi
zens cMefly derived their supplies of beer. TMs
institution stood at Broken Wharf Near at hand
was an "ancient great hall," belonging to the City
Water Works of the sixteenth century. TMs
estate had formerly been the site of the Duke of
Norfolk's town mansion. Some footprints of the
Baptists are found here, for here preached Hanserd
Knollys. In 1691, he and his congregation left
the meeting-house to settle in Newgate-street, and
afterwards to find a home in Curriers' HaU.
When, after the Bartholomew massacre of 1572,
the Huguenot subjects of that royal assassin, Charles
the Ninth of France, sought an asylum in England,
a number of them settled in London, when the
citzens gave their colony the expressive sobriquet of
Petty France. TMs neighbourhood, the aspect of
which has been entirely changed by the formation of
new streets, occupied the area between Bishopsgate
and Mqorfields. The thoroughfares of Petty France
were interestmg by reason of many sacred associations.
They contained the homes of many whom duty had
required to encounter the Papacy in the full vigour
of its treacherous power : that apostate church, whose
abettors, through being too meanly subtle to risk
honest controversy, or honourable war, have been
wont to promote their iniquitous designs by poUtical
dissembUng, assassination and priestcraft.

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 439
On some uncertain site in Petty France stood a
meeting-house of the Baptist denomination. The
Church thus situated in the heart of the City, found
itself fuUy exposed to the persecution of the Eestora
tion. It formed one of the more conspicuous butts
whereat the Government aimed their vengeful shafts,
whUe manifesting their infaUibiUty and hatred of
Dissent. The worshippers, who, in those dreary
days, attended meetmgs in Petty France, could
never calculate whether it avouM be their fortune
peaceably to separate, or whether they would
be maimed, and carried away to prison. Their
ser-vdces were often interrupted by military intruders,
Charles the Second's soldiers being experienced
adepts in the valorous exploits of destroying pews
and of frightening women. Apparently the accounts
of the earUer pastors in this district have perished ;
for the " very learned and judicious " WiUiam CoUins
is the first of the Ust whom the somewhat capricious
Crosby deigns to mention. That honest historian
manifested predUections by no means singular, when
he preferred giving unreadable dissertations rather
than Mstory ; for John Piggott, in a funeral sermon,
professed to give an account of ColUns ; and, in
doing so, has taken considerable pains to multiply
words without knowledge, carefully omitting to
mention either the time or place of his subject's
birth. Some facts, however, are given by Crosby —
who always interests us when he ceases arguing
— from wMch we infer that Collins was a scion of

440 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
some considerable famUy. After receiving a superior
education, he set off on his travels; and in those
days, for a student to make a tour through Europe
the sequel to Ms coUege course, was quite uncom
mon. While enjoying these perambulations, neither
theology nor general Uterature was neglected ; and in
phUology and medical science Ms attainments were more
than respectable. From some of his Mgh connections
there came aUuring proffers of AngUcan preferment ;
but such temptations were manfully repelled. On
returning to England, ColUns entered the ranks of
Nonconformity. Difficulties vexed him as they
vexed others under similar circumstances. Now
his way is clouded by perplexity until the path of
duty is not clearly discoverable. One whole day is
set apart for seeking divine direction with fastmg
and prayer. These exercises are scarcely concluded,
when there arrives what CoUins's simple faith accepts
as an answer to his heart's request — a call to settle
in London from "The baptised Church in Petty
France." Only Uttle besides the above is known
about this divine. Here he laboured, and here he
died. In addition to being an excellent philologist,
he inherited a natural capacity for extempore
preaching ; a practice which from time immemorial
has found high favour among the EngUsh Baptists.
His humiUty and moderation were generally admired.
Then at length, when his labours were closing, and
the going down of his earthly sun was the earnest
of approaching repose, the good hope became beauti-

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 441
fully manifest as the crowning triumph of his
Christian life. In September, 1702, CoUins lies
languishing upon Ms dying couch ; a friend steps to
his side, and, in reverential tones befitting the
occasion, enqufres, " Sfr, I hope you are not afraid
to die ?" " I bless God," rejoins the pastor, " I have
not been afraid to die these forty years."
The "learned and judicious" Nehemiah Cox
assisted CoUins at Petty France ; and, whether we
regard him as a shoemaker or as a doctor of divinity,
he is an interesting member of the Baptist galaxy
of Old London. One of his supposed ancestors — a
bishop under Queen Elizabeth — had been roughly
handled for promulgating unepiscopal views con
cermng infant baptism. Nehemiah was born and
reared at Bedford, where his famUy went with the
Dissenters, and where young Cox, durmg his youth,
benefited by the counsel and friendsMp of Bunyan.
He was, doubtless, advised by the latter, when he
bravely volunteered, in the midst of prevaUing per
secution, to enter the Usts as an evangelist, in 1671.
Like a sincere worker, who realised the importance
of Ms message. Cox persevered in a rough and
difficult path, wherem he encountered his share of
Government opposition. On one occasion and before
Ms brethren, he pemtentiaUy confessed to some mis
carriages; but probably these were nothing more
hemous than some unpalatable censures of Church
officers, wMch, on consideration, were manfuUy re
tracted as uncharitable. Prior to removing to London,

442 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
in 1675, Cox was settled at Cranfield — a sphere
where he necessarily supplemented a scanty stipend
by working at the shoemakmg craft. EventuaUy,
the doctor was arraigned before the judges at
Bedford assizes ; and, throughout his defence, which
he conducted himself and unassisted, he occasioned
the lawyers unusual and extreme inconvenience, by
arguing, as inclination prompted, or perhaps, as it
suited the subject, at one time in Greek, and at
another time in Hebrew. The presiding judge
listened in some amazement, while again inspecting
the indictment to get assured, if possible, that
neither eyes nor ears were playing deceit. The
prisoner legally claimed the right of pleading in
such tongues as suited his humour, notwithstanding
that none were competent to reply to the strange
sounds he uttered. Mr. Justice promoted the popu
lar merriment by remarking to his bewigged and
chagrined satellites, the counsel for the cro-wn,
" WeU, gentleman, the cordwamer has wound you all
up." Necessarily, the prisoner got sent about his
business; for in that era, a preaching shoemaker,
whose harangues in the dead languages were umn-
telUgible to benchers and members of Inns of Court,
was similar to a more modern example, when one of
our magistrates lately released a prisoner because
"too contemptible for pumshment." Dr. Cox died
in the same year as his preceptor, Bunyan — that
year of liberty, 1688.
Mention is made of Thomas Harrison, another

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 443
assistant of WiUiam CoUins, who ultimately re
moved to Lorimers' HaU, to be cut off, while yet
yoimg, in the midst of Ms usefulness. In 1701,
on the meetmg-house in Petty France being forsaken
in favour of a chapel in Artillery-street, the people
retfred from a spot closely associated with the heroic
period of their history. With the various phases
wMch that heroism assumed we can never be ac
quainted. They had frequently been illtreated with
savage ferocity, and once had had their premised
taken from them. They could now afford volun-
tarUy to resign, beneath the benign rule of WiUiam,
what, during the ascendancy of the perfidious Stuarts,
they had climg to with the tenacity of Ufe.
In the days we are speaking of, the City attracted
crowds of Sabbath worsMppers from neighbouring
districts, and in many mstances the London societies
became the parents of suburban churches. A chapel
in Hart-street, Bow-street, was an example of this
outgro-wth. Between 1691 and 1729 the General
Baptists were stationed in tMs -vicinity. The sanc
tuary — ^long since removed — stood, as usual, se
cluded from the notice of casual passengers. Its
records have perished, what little we know having
descended through the parent Church in White's-
aUey, PhUpot-lane. The society in Hart-street was
formed for the convenience of those strict disciples
of western London, who refused to commune with
professors honouring a less rigorous regime. The
tenet they held in pecuUar estimation was the Im-

444 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
position of Hands upon newly-received members.
Manifesting an excessive reverence for this custom,
the people walked long distances to worship, M pre
ference to attending a ministry where the practice
was dishonoured. The old General Baptists, how
ever, who retained their purity of faith, were zealous
promoters of Christianity. They were animated by
the purest motives, and honestly endeavoured to ac
complish their sacred mission, but this Hart-street
scion of so honourable a house grew weary of the
control of its City parent and early preceptors.
Disagreement and consequent disorder completed
the extinction of the society about forty years after
its inauguration.
The Commonwealth days were remarkable for a
prolific harvest of controversial tracts, and many of
these, directed against the Baptists, are -written in
strains of virulent contempt. Some were serious,
another class were satirical, and others, by reason of
their quaint and obsolete style, cannot fail to prove
to modern readers a weU-spring of facetiae. One
set of authors showed strong predUections for ac
cumulating offensive details connected with the
pranks and heresies of certain fanatics, who, arising
in Germany, were called Anabaptists, because to
their mad vagaries and practices, they added adult
baptism by immersion. To the satisfaction of large
numbers of readers. Baptists in general were proved
to be dangerous theologically, poUtically, and morally.
In the spring of 1649 there appeared a pamphlet

FOOTPEINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 445
entitled, England's New Chains Discovered. In the
opinion of the House of Commons, the author had
committed a grave offence, and they ominously ex
pressed their indignation. Some fanatical partisans
were looking on who sought to turn this irritation
of ParUament to their own advantage. Efforts were
made to throw upon the Baptist denomination the
odium of havmg produced this poUtical squib — a
manoeuvre partiaUy successful, because the paper
had been pubUcly read by its zealous abettors in
several of the London chapels. Perceiving what
injury thefr principles were likely to sustain in the
estimation of spectators, Kiffen, supported by others,
prepared a petition for presentation to the Commons.
On Monday, AprU the 2nd, the petitioners appeared
at Westmmster, and, among other things, complained
that, " TMough the injustice of historians, or the
headiness of some unruly men formerly in Germany,
caUed Anabaptists, our righteous profession hereto
fore hath been, and now may be made odious, as if
it were the fountain source of aU disobedience, pre
sumption, self-wUl, contempt of rulers, digmties, and
civU government whatsoever." The deputation dis
claimed having aided the circulation of the offensive
paper. WMle the clerk read their loyal address,
Kiffen and his companions waited without the Par
liamentary chamber. On being called to the bar
of the Commons, the Fisher's-foUy pastor, as the
mouth-piece of his brethren in London, made a
graceful oration, the exact words of which have

446 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
descended to posterity.* The Speaker, in handsome
terms, acknowledged both speech and petition. The
Baptist galaxy were assured that Parliament accepted
their loyal sentiments as no less Christian than rea
sonable. In return for the satisfaction thefr petition
had afforded, the petitioners were permitted to print
their paper, and they departed with the assurance
that their rights of conscience would be guaranteed.
The satire and opposition which Puritanism pro
voked and encountered, mainly sprang from the
hatred of our fallen nature to the severe morality
which the Puritan discipUne alone sanctioned. Doubt
less the Puritans themselves too frequently erred
on the side of eccentricity ; nevertheless, it is not
easy to understand why, what at the worst, was
only reUgious carefulness, in every way commend
able, should have awakened contemptuous aversion
so widely spread. That this was the case, however,
is well-known. How Puritanism was misrepresented
and -villified by licentious writers may be learned
* Kiffen spoke as follows: "Mr Speaker, we have not
troubled this honourable House -with any petition, nor had
done it now, had' we not been necessitated thereto by a late
paper caUed England's Second Chains, brought to our con
gregations, and publiquely read in some of our publique
meetings, -without our consent or approbation, being there
openly opposed by us ; and we could do no less, in conscience
of our duty to God and you, than discover it and disavow it."
Vide The Humble Petition and Eepresentation of several
Churches of God in London, commonly (tltough falsely) called
Anabaptists. London, April 3, 1649.

FOOTPEINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 447
from the multitude of tracts, composed by authors,
who supposed their thoughts on religious matters
to be of sufficient importance for bequeathment to
posterity. " Envy wiU merit as its shade pursue."
The aphorism is pecuUarly appUcable to the era of
Owen and Baxter.*
Ehyme was a favourite medium among aU classes
for the conveyance of sentiment. Many whose
mental weakness prevented their concocting rh3rth-
mic-al prose, found it comparatively easy to produce
any number of doggrel couplets, which the class for
whom they were written read with admiration. On
the breaking out of the civil wars this kind of
* In 1647 there appeared a satire on Puritanism called the
Bro^wnist's Conventicle. This black-letter pamphlet is a
dish of delectable s. Among other things, there are printed
specimens of graces before and after meat in the aUeged
Puritan fashion. The modem reader wUl scarcely complete
the perusal of this squib -without coming to the irresistible
conclusion that, after all, it was manifestly the luxuriant
parterre in which onr sturdy fathers thrived which excited
the envious spleen of their opponents. In ¦witness we give
this extract — and only an exti-aot — from the grace before
dinner, delivered, of course, with a nasal twang and tumed-
up eyes: — "I beseech thee good Pather make us thankfull
for all these thy bountiful blessings upon our boord. Let
this dish of chickens put us in mind of our Saviour, who
would have gathered Hienisalem together as an hen gathereth
her chickens, but she would not ; but let us praise God for
these chickens being six; in number. Let this leg of mutton
call us to remembrance that King Da-vid was once a shepherd.
. . . Here is an excellent loyne of veale, let it prompt us

4 48 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
literature was dispersed among the troops. In " A
Spiritual Song of Comfort or Incouragement to the
Souldiers that are gone forth in the Cause of
Christ," we read : —
" Though some in horses put their trust.
And others in chariots take delight,
'Tis not their might, nor ¦with their power.
But -with His spirit we doe fight."
At or about the time of the assembUng of the
Long ParUament, in 1640, a more pretentious
poetaster obUged the world with The Lofty Bishop,
The Lazie Brownist, and The Loyal Author. Each
to remember the parable of prodigall child, whom to welcome
home, the father caused the calfe to bekiUed, which I thinke
could not yeeld a better rump and kidney than is now before
our eyes. . . . By this cramm'd and weU-fed capon, let
us be mindfull of the cock which crowed three times 
What see I there ? A potato pye and a sallad of sparagus.
. . . When that Westphalia bacon comes to be cut up, let
us think of the herd of s^wine. . . . Make us thankfull
for thy bounty sent us from the sea ; and first for this jole
of sturgeon, and let it so far edifie us, as to think, how great
that whale's head was which swallowed up the prophet Jonas.
And, though those lobsters seeme to be in red coats like car
dinals, having clawes like usurers, and more bones than the
Beast of Eome. . . Yet, ha^ving ¦taken off their papesticall
capes and cases, let us freely feed upon what is ¦within. . . .
I conclude ¦with the fruit. . . . These pippins may put
us m mind of the forbidden tree  Had she not,
¦wild wretch, eaten ye forbidden apple, aE our crabs had been
very good pippins, and all our thistles very good harti-

FOOTPEINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 449
member of the trio is supposed to sing his speech,
and the Churchman begins : 
What would yee lazie Brownists have ?
Tou rage and run away.
And cry us downe, our Church and eke,
And forme therein we praj'.
Oh, monsters great ! abortive sonnes,
Tour mothers to forsake.
To church you doe restrain to come
Tour prayers there to make."
The bishop's song occupies thirty-two lines. The
Brownist sings an identical number in response : —
" Tour lofty Lordshipp tearmes us lazie.
And runagadoes too ;
But I could ¦wish you bishops would
But labour as we do.
The apostles of our Saviour Christ
Tou plead you doe succeed.
And yet would starve those soules which they
Did labour for to feed.
MeanwMle, the author, in censorious mood, has
weighed the demerits of either side. At length he
also speaks, and in words v/hich representatives of
choaks. . . Thus as briefly as I can I have gone through
every dish on the boord. Let us fall to and feed exceedingly,
that after a full repast we may the better prophesie." In the
grace after dinner mention is made of some distinguished
Puritan names. One is a button maker, and another a felt
worker; but more important than aU is Master How the
cobbler. 29

450 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Ms class of to-day would designate "withering
satire," exclaims : —
" The Brownists' noses want a ring
(To draw them -svith a. rope),
' The prelates' -wings do cutting need,
(Lest they fly to the Pope)."
Such fantasies of the seventeenth century will
always retain their freshness of interest for Mstorical
students. Any moderate acquaintance with the
Uterature of the CromweUian era must tend to
heigMen our contentment with these happier times.
It wiU do sometMng besides. It wUl convince us
that the history of the age in question has yet to be
written. If we credit the City chroniclers, we shall beUeve
that the nomenclature of Houndsditch is derived
from an open sewer which formerly ran in that
direction. TMs ditch was one of the pestilence
breeders of ancient London. Its contents included
the miscellaneous refuse of the neighbourhood — a
neighbourhood, it may be well to remember, cele
brated for its dead dogs. The street, by its name,
even yet commemorates the fate of these unfortunate
hounds. In the sixteenth century the nuisance was
partially compensated for by some neighbouring re
creation grounds, the pleasant area of which covered
several acres. Prior to Henry the Eighth's seizure
of it, this estate surrounded the monastery of the
Holy Trinity. After dispersing the brotherhood.

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 451
Henry bestowed their patrimony on Sir Thomas
Audley. At a former period, the beneficence of a
certain prior found exercise in erecting several
cottages for invaUds near at hand, and in laying
out thefr little gardens. UsuaUy the inhabitants of
this hospitable refuge were persons hopelessly bed
ridden. In keeping -with the founder's wishes, the
custom was for these poor people to open their case
ments on Friday mornings, not forgetting to exhibit
wMte napkfris on their window-sills. Then it hap
pened, that the charitable and pious who walked that
way remembered the poor by laying down their alms
as they passed.
In Houndsditch or its immediate vicinity a con
gregation of Baptists formerly assembled. At or
about the era of the Eestoration the pastor was the
distinguished Henry Danvers — a political and theo
logical celebrity whose character his contemporaries
extoUed as belonging to an able divine and a dis-
cermng controvertist, whose private worth corres
ponded with an unspotted public career. Modern
times have seen the old Baptist's character depre
ciated. According to a great Mstorian, Danvers was
a reckless but cowardly bravado, whose spirit sufficed
to carry Mm to the brink of action, but whose craven
heart always prompted a retreat. A man whose
cowardice made Mm forsake his friends when dangers
threatened, andwhosewantof courage only exempted
him from the scaffold upon which many of those
friends expired. "Danvers was .... hot-headed,
29*

452 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
but faint-hearted," we are told; "constantly urged
to the brink of danger by enthusiasm, and constantly
stopped on that brink by cowardice  In every
age the vUest specimens of human nature are to be
found among demagogues." Presently we wUl
examine the basis on which these aspersions rest.
Another historian — our old friend Crosby — caUs
" Henry Danvers a worthy man, of an unspotted life
and conversation."
It is a matter for regret that Crosby has only left
us a very meagre and confused account of this sin
gular person — singular, if we merely consider him
as the author of some thousand pages in defence of
BeUevers' Baptism, thereby provoking the opposition
of a Psedobaptist galaxy, of which Baxter was the
leader. In the truest sense was Danvers a remark
able man. His congregation was supposed by Wilson
to have been identical with the one in Crutched-
friars ; if so, he had a predecessor in the redoubtable
Paul Hobson.
At one period during the unsettled times of the
civil wars Danvers was governor of Stafford. At
Stafford he appears to have embraced some of the
less harmless tenets of the Fifth Monarchists, although
he never sanctioned the fantasies of the extreme
fanatics. As a provincial governor, he enjoyed aU
the advantages springing from the hereditary prestige
of a good family. The common people are no des
picable judges of character in high places ; and by
the common people Danvers was esteemed as one

FOOTPEINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 453
devoted to his duty, and a man not to be corrupted
by bribes. As it happened with so many of his
compeers, so fair a reputation availed Mm nothing
after the Eestoration. He belonged to a party of
too-enlightened politics, and professed a theology
too seK-denying, to find favour with king or para
site m that " golden age of the coward, the bigot,
and the slave." Danvers's reUgious sympathies and
his extiaordmary zeal in defending a distinguishing
tenet of Ms denomination drew upon him consider
able odium. Numbers of enthusiasts, because slightly
differing from Mm in beUef, regarded the Baptist
with spiteful enmity. Time-serving cavaliers laughed
in derision. At length Danvers's enemies, by con-
spfring together, contrived to get him imprisoned in
the Tower ; but Ms wife, a lady of position, possessed
considerable influence at Court, and so obtained her
husband's Uberation. This favourable turn of events
sadly disconcerted a host of opponents of various
parties, for Danvers's political patriotism was only
equaUed by Ms evangelistic earnestness. He heartily
sympatMsed with Monmouth's Ul-fated enterprise,
and in consequence of having shared that hazardous
business was compeUed to take refuge m HoUand.
In that asylum he died m 1686.
The meeting-house in London wherein Danvers
officiated was pointed at by Edwards in the third
part of Gangrsena. That unamiable Presbyterian
caUed Ms readers' attention to the fanaticism of the
congregation. Hanserd KjioUys and others had pre-

454 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
sumed to anoint a blmd woman's eyes, and to ac
company the action with prayers for her restoration.
Danvers was a very industrious author. His
writings, which for the most part are controversial,
chiefly relate to that distmguishing tenet of Ms de
nomination, BeUevers' Baptism. His pampMets
awakened a vindictive opposition of more than
average violence, even in an age when polemics
of every school indulged in unseemly personalities.
HappUy for this more enUghtened era, the literary
freedoms of the seventeenth century have for ever
passed out of fashion. The opposition encountered
by Danvers, however, Crosby describes as " haughty,
bitter, wrathful, and provoking." The Mstorian's
language is no exaggeration ; yet we shaU not do weU
if we allow such expressions to depreciate the able
men who entered the arena as the author's opponents.
AU parties in those days adopted a rude address, as
though uncouthness imparted argumentative strength.
It would be too much to expect that the pamphlets
of the indefatigable Danvers were free from the
common disfigurement. Nevertheless they were
partially successful, if success may be measured
by the able answers they provoked. One of the
combatants raised a cry of dishonesty. Danvers, he
declared, misquoted authorities and garbled extracts.
This charge of literary dishonesty was closely pressed,
tin the denominational leaders in London testified im
a printed paper to the spotless character and -valuable
¦writings of their uncompromising champion. Yet

FOOTPEINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 455
not only in such polemical fencing did Danvers exer
cise his skiU and prowess; he has left fruits of other
accomplishments than those belonging to the mere
disputant. For example, he arranged "Solomon's
Proverbs M EngUsh and Latin, alphabetically . . ,
for the help of memory" — a little performance well
deserving of a reprint in fac simile*
EngUshmen in these days will scarcely aUow that
a man's character is necessarily forfeited, because,
whUe opposing a government and family, whose
crimes provoked a revolution, he took some extra
precautions to preserve Ms Ufe. That Danvers wa.°
* This work was published in 1676, and its ingenious
editor intended it to serve as an educational text-book, The
English and Latin are upon opposite pages in each opening.
The metrical infa-oduction is in the quaint Puritan style —
v.g. many less instructive delineations of folly have been
dra-wn by more ambitious poets than these lines : —
" Or whaf s a fool that is -with riches graced ?
A swine in whose foul snout a gem is placed..
Or what's a fool on whom honour doth wait ?
A long-ear'd ass, sitting in a chair of state;.
The miser's a fool, and so is he
That spends his wealth in prodigality ;:
Whom, if they went to "wisdom, she would sho^w
A fair and middle path wherein to go.
And art thou great ? be not a fool ;
Por thou thou'lt make thy folly more conspicuous.
Acquaint thyself ¦with ¦wisdom, wait upon her.
And she -will add true glory to thine honour.
By her king's reign ; and princes do decree.
By her advice, justice and equity.

456 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
a political plotter none wiU venture on denying.
WilUam EusseU and Algernon Sydney were also
political plotters, and the heart of Danvers beat
with theirs when they sought to check the encroach
ments of kingcraft. He was arraigned for an
aUeged share in the Eye House Plot,* and, as we
learn from Spratt's True (?) Account, he )was only
released on bail. At that conjuncture the English
seemed bent on spilUng the best of English blood; and,
A fool, that is in honour, doth but show
Himself to be a fool in folio.
Justly might -wisdom then preferred be
By Solomon, 'bove wealth and dignity.
A sacred flame it is which ne'er shall die.
But ev'n now burns for us to warm us by.
A flame that gives not only heat but light,
Not only warms the heart, but guides the sight."
* Danvers is several times mentioned in the account pre
pared by Lord Grey for the use of James the Second ; and
his name occurs in a manner which shows him to have been
an important conspirator in Monmouth's insurrection.
Danvers, it appears, had to exert all his influence to prevent
a rising in the City on the occasion of James's coronation —
e. g., " Mr. Smith came to us from England, the exact time I
know not ; but I remember he gave us a particular account
of your Majesty's coronation, and said if it had not been for
the great industry of Colonel Danvers, and others of our
friends in the City, there had been a rising at that time,
which was designed by some hot-headed men in London,
who had dra^wn many of their friends from Hertfordshire and
Essex to London to the number of 500, ¦with intention to
oppose your Majesty's coronation." We read again : "Pour
men came to us from our friends in London. . . . Their

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 457
therefore, when a prisoner was discharged by the
craven judges, it amounted to an admission of inno
cence. Shortly after this adventure, Danvers retired
mto seclusion, " on account," says Lord Macaulay,
" of a grossly calumnious paper, of which the
government had discovered him to be the author."
This " calumnious " tract is styled " a malicious
Ubel," by that courtly trimmer. Bishop Sprat, of
Eochester. The historians in general avoid de-
scribmg the purport of this pamphlet, or even
mentionmg its title.* It belonged to a class of
political squibs then not uncommon, but to circulate
which was to entail considerable danger. This one,
m particular, attempted to prove the Earl of Essex
to have been guUtless of suicide, and to have been
foully dealt with by his enemies. On finding them
selves thus openly accused of an execrable .assassi
nation, the King and his ministers were greatly
business was to acquaint the Duke of Monmouth that several
thousands were enlisted in London, and were to be under the
command of Colonel Danvers, unless his Grace appointed
another head." Monmouth replied, " That as for Colonel
Danvers, he thought hi-m a proper person to command
them." — Grey's Secret History of the Eye House Plot, etc.
* The title reads thus : ' ' Murder wiU out ; or, a clear and
full discovery that the Earl of Essex did not feloniously
murder himself, but was barbarously murdered by others,
both by undeniable circumstances and positive proofs." This
curious piece was published immediately after the Ee
volution. On the title-page the author is styled "Henry
Danvers, Esq."

458 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
enraged. Possibly some humUating remembrances
mingled with and embittered their chagrin, wMle
they recalled the doings of that dark Friday in
July, 1683, when, as EusseU's trial proceeded,
London was suddenly horror-stricken by inteUigence
of the Earl's untimely fate. Whatever may have
been their feeUngs in the matter, those M authority
made strenuous endeavours to trace the vrriter of
the obnoxious missUe. Success only attended them
to the discovery of his name. A reward of one
hundred pounds was immediately offered for Danvers'
apprehension, and he was advertised for in the
London Gazette.*
Now as regards this paper, the Government may
* The advertisement is as follows: — "Whitehall, Jan. 4.
Whereas, Henry Danvers, commonly called Colonel Danvers,
late of Ne^wington, in the county of Middlesex, stands accused
upon oath of several treasonable and traitorous practices
against his Majesty, and is fled from justice. His Majesty has
commanded notice to be given, that whosoever shall apprehend
the said Henry Danvers, and cause him to be delivered into
safe custody, that he may be proceeded against according to
law, shall receive a reward of one hundred pounds, which his
Majesty hath ordered to be forth^with paid by the Lords
Commissioners of the Treasury." — London Gazette, Monday,
January 5, 1684-5.
The above was repeated in the issue of the Thursday fol
lowing. In the number of the paper for July 27th there was
a royal proclamation, calling on Danvers and others to sur
render ¦within twenty-one day^. Our divine, it is needless to
say, had not sufficient politeness to prompt compliance ynth.
the King's commands.

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 459
be excused for having experienced some chagrin at
so venomous an attack on thefr honour and
humamty. So likewise must Danvers be exonerated
from the odium attached to dishonest motives ; for
that he reaUy beUeved Essex owed his death to
treachery cannot fairiy be doubted. Nor, indeed,
did he stand alone in entertaining that opinion.
Calamy quotes a passage from Eapin, wherein that
historian says, Essex left a son, who always beUeved
his father to have been murdered. Although pos
terity has arrived at different conclusions, it would
not be difficult to show, that Danvers merely circu
lated a version of a catastrophe wMch numbers
regarded as the offsprmg of Eomish machina
tions.* An examination of the authorities whence a low
estimation of Danver's character is drawn, will
prove thefr umted testimony to be of only little
value. First, and most pretentious, comes Arch
deacon Echard. Durmg the reign of George the
Ffrst, Echard acMeved en-viable success in history
writing; but those modern readers lose but little
who seldom disturb his long since forgotten volumes.
Being himself a comfortable pluraUst, Echard pleaded
for the interest of Church and State by expounding
that poUcy wMch execrates " The Grand EebelUon,"
* See Calamy's Autobigraphy, I., 110. Essex hadaPrench
servant, who attended him during his imprisonment in the
Tower. This man's sudden disappearance immediately after
the Earl's death awakened many su^icions.

460 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
or the days when Hanserd Knollys could officiate in
Bow Church. From tMs writer's pages we learn
that Cromwell was a dissembler, a hypocrite, and a
cunning schemer. On the eve of the battle of
Worcester, this monster of Independency made a
contract with the powers of darkness, the Enemy
of Man, being described by the witness, supplying
the information, as " a grave, elderly gentleman, with
a roll of parchment in his hand." A writer who,
under whatever circumstances, and with whatever
quaUfications, could venture on intruding such
rubbish as this into a history of his country,
scarcely deserves that contempt usually awarded to
literary pettifoggers. But Echard was apologist in
general to the enemies of English liberty. Thus
the cruel and mean-spirited Laud is glorified as
"the greatest benefactor to all pubUc designs of
piety and charity." The Scottish nation, the Non
conformists, and the patriots EusseU and Sydney,
are maligned in common. The author professedly
rejoiced in the Eevolution, but gave what promi
nence he dared to Jacobitical politics, and the
doctrine of passive obedience.
Such a writer, among Dissenters at any rate,
will not rank highly as a trustworthy historian.
A century and a half ago, our fathers com
plained of his facts and misrepresentations. To
others, Ms awkward manner of citing autho
rities occasioned constant perplexity. Even learned
readers found it difficult to separate what was

FOOTPEINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 461
Echard's own from what belonged to somebody
else. *
Now, the chief authority which historians can
adduce in substantiation of aspersions on the fame
* In 1718 Dr. Calamy pubUshed " ALetter to Archdeacon
Echard upon the occasion of his History of England, wherein
the principles of the Eevolution are defended, the Whigs and
Dissenters vindicated, several persons of distinction cleared
from aspersion, and a number of historical mistakes recti
fied." This piece is a pamphlet of 128 pages. Calamy allows
to Echard the possession of that necessary genius for ¦writing
history ; and a good work of the kind had long been a
desideratum. Echard's labours in ecclesiastical research,
however, had already been too extravagantly lauded. The
English history in consequence met with a generous accept
ance ; and the Dissenters deemed it an imperative duty to
refute its errors and to expose its calumnies. Calamy volun
teered to complete this uncongenial task. Echard manifested
a strong disUke for Puritans of every party, and accordingly
most bearing that name are maligned as soon as they appear
upon the scene. Nonconformists and Jesuits are placed on
a level as common foes to that polity which aUowed Echard
to ¦write books at his ease, wlule growing rich by the revenues
of distant cures. One old clergyman rebuked this slander
by sho^wingthe vital difference between Nonconformists who
would merely put aside the surplice, &c., and Jesuits who
would suppress the Bible. With an able hand, Calamy
dissects his opponent's shortcomings. Echard is plainly told,
" Many of the authors cited by you have so little credit in
the world as to be far from giving sufficient warrant to justify
your inserting things from them into a history." The arch
deacon excluded or made use of matter as it suited his
capriciousness or the temper of the intolerant party to which
he belonged.

462 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
of Henry Danvers, is a manuscript quoted by
Echard, and written by the notorious Eobert
Ferguson — a poUtical recusant, whose memory all
parties in common agree to execrate. Whether
Ferguson be regarded as a trimmer, a turncoat, a
Uar, or a knave in general, his character wUl show
itself to have been as repulsive as his personal
appearance.* Echard himself entertained the lowest
opinion of this audacious pedant, to whom he was
indebted for the filling of a few columns. Ferguson
strove hard but successfuUy, to earn the weU-merited
contempt of every religious and poUtical section.
WhUe probably thriving on gumeas transmitted from
Whitehall, apparently he promoted the Eevolution.
That sturdy exponent of Whiggism, and hero of the
Dunciad, Oldmoxon, denounces Ferguson as an
arch-traitor and a villam. Burnet beUeved him to
be simply a knave. Even the opinion of Lord
Macaulay is not less decisive, for in the fifth chap
ter of the History of England, Ferguson is por
trayed as "a cast-ont Presbyterian and a mere
swmdler. He lived' among UbeUers and false
witnesses." He was also " violent, maUgnant,
. . . . delighting in intrigue, in tumult, in mis-
* Perguson is thus described:— "A taU lean man, dark
bro^wn hair, a great Eoman nose, thin jaw'd, heat in face,
speaks in the Scotch tone, a sharp, piercing eye, stoops a
little in the shoulders ; he hath a shuffiing gait, that differs
fi-om all men, wears his perri-wig almost over his eyes, about
forty-five years oi age."— Echard, Hist. Eng. 1064.

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 463
chief for its own sake." This Ferguson was born a
plotter. He plotted against James during James's
ascendancy ; but plotted for James when James be
came an exUe. After havmg aided the Eevolution,
he espoused the opposite extreme, and even con-
spfred against the peace of Queen Anne. A
poUtical renegade by profession, was it wonderful,
when such a creature experienced pleasure in con-
coctmg and circulating falsehoods about such former
associates as, unfortunately for themselves, had been
parties to his unprincipled machinations? J
It was necessary thus far to detail the character
of Eobert Ferguson, because our present complaint
is that, on the authority of such an outcast, sanc
tioned by such an Mstorian as Echard, the reputa
tion of an old Nonconformist military hero is made
to suffer. With a prescience uncharacteristic of
honest writers, Ferguson prefaced his farrago by
affirming " There stands notMng in it but what is
exactly true." Among the phenomena of social life
we occasionaUy find that slanderous trifles are vera-
ciously mtroduced. Upright persons expect their
* Perguson went over to the Jacobites in 1690, on which
circumstance Macaulay observes: — "Por his apostacy he
could not plead even the miserable excuse that he had been
neglected. The ignominious services which he had formerly
rendered to his party as a spy, a raiser of riots, a dispenser
of bribes, a writer of libels, a prompter of false -witnesses,
had been rewarded only too prodigally for the honour of the
new government." — Hist. JEng., chap. xxv.

464 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
word to be taken without such introductions. Fer
guson, on the contrary, was strongly suspicious that
posterity would refuse him a hearing.*
Seeing, then, that the aspersions cast by Lord
Macaulay on the fame of Danvers are only sup
ported by a witness whom the immitable historian
himself denounces as a worthless UbeUer, exception
to them may fairly be taken. Eegard for truth, and
English love of fair-play, will not sanction our
taking it for granted that, tMs Baptist minister
and parUamentary colonel was either " hotheaded "
or " craven-hearted," nor that he was one of those
viler curiosities of humanity " usually found among
demagogues." If these things cannot be proved, neither can
another assertion of Lord Macaulay : Danvers " had
drawn on Mmself the severe censures of the most
respectable Puritans by attempting to palliate the
crimes of Matthias and John of Leyden." Any
slight examination of the accused man's writings
will clearly prove that, he never did attempt to
* It may not be generally known that Perguson was the
ejected minister of Godmersham, Kent.' In London he was
a predecessor of Dr. Watts. He gave the most ferocious
counsels to his brother conspirators of the Eye-House plot-
Not only were the King and Duke to be assassinated ;
malignant judges and sheriffs — had Perguson's ad-vice been
acted on — would have had their skins hung up in West
minster Hall. At another time he advised the blo^wing-up
of a theatre, with its entire audience, when Charles and hi
brother should be present.

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 465
excuse the enormities said to have been committed
by the fanatics named. He did doubt, however,
whether the outrageous wickedness had been enacted
as alleged. To doubt the correctness of certain
relations very widely differs from a palUation of
the crimes such accounts may include. Then again,
" the censure of the most respectable Puritans "
reaUy emanated from Obadiah WiUs, a fierce par
tisan -writer, who laboured to identify the principle
of Danvers's denonunation with the atrocities of
German enthusiasts.*
Now, so far is the assertion from truth of Danvers
ha-ving provoked a general Puritan censure, that a
number of leading Puritans voluntarily signed a
paper drawn up for the express purpose of clearing
thefr compeer from WiUs's unfounded calummes.
WUls accused his opponent of Uterary dishonesty,
and appealed to the Baptists in general to say if the
charge could be disproved. On being appointed to
* According to Wills, Baptists were animated by " prin
ciples of darkness upon which many black characters are
¦writ." The crimes aUuded to by this ¦writer, and associated
¦with the siege of Munster in 1535, Danvers, like all reason
able men, held in abhorrence. He "supposed there was
cause to doubt of the truth of those monstious villanyes acted
in their communities in the latter part of the siege as men
tioned by their mafitious enemies the Papists, and many of
their inveterate enemies the Protestants." Our author's
opinion was strengthened by things quite as odious having
been circulated about Calvin and Luther. — Vide Innacency
and Truth Vindicated, chap. iv. SO

466 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
examine this matter, such judges as Knollys and
Kiffen exonerated their brother from aU discreditable
action. Crosby was in a position to write with
some authority, and Crosby declares the old contro
vertist to have been " a worthy man, of an unspotted
life and conversation." Probably only few wUl ques
tion Crosby's historical integrity.
Therefore it naturally foUows, whUe no worthy
evidence can be adduced to warrant our fornung a
degrading estimate of Danvers's mien and profession,
we have strong reasons for supposing him not to have
been worse than what Crosby describes. His con
troversial writings survive to testify to their author's
abilities. Echard and Ferguson may be dismissed
as untrustworthy witnesses, and Obadiah WiUs as a
blinded partisan whose zeal exceeded his justice.
The testimony of more charitable men remains —
testimony sustaimng the inference, that after living
a patriot's life, his zeal for the Liberties of England
brought Danvers to an exile's grave.
Having enjoyed under Cromwell abundant pros
perity, the Baptists bitterly reaUsed the calamities of
the Eestoration. In 1660 the London churches ad
dressed Charles the Second in a paper purporting
to give an humble account of their situation and
grievances, and printed copies were circulated among
the various congregations. Apology is offered for not
addressing the monarch by those titles of honour
usually awarded — an omission not springing from
any lack of loyalty and respect. This petition bore

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 467
the signatures of twenty-six denominational elders.
A perusal shows us how unpopular were the anti-
pEedobaptists during that summer of mad loyalty.
Church-members were frequently arrested even while
attending their daUy business. Vexed on the one
hand by the imqmtous government of a profligate
ruler, on the other hand. Dissenters' lives were
endangered by the boisterous and ignorant king-
worsMp of the streets.
A few weeks prior to Charles's installation there
appeared a squib called The Anabaptists' Eecanta-
tion. The denominational cMefs are made to con
fess ha-\ring Mtherto been " a seduced and misled
people ... a wretched and confused multi
tude." Kiffen is a "sweet preacher upon Solo
mon's Canticles," and ParUament is besought to
grant him " Uberty to make Ms recantation in Ms
own synagogue." Kiffen's able coUeague, Thomas
Patient, is " our orthodox preacMng taylor." Then
foUow confessions of desperate endeavours to un
dermine the foundations of Church and State, of
futile efforts to frustrate the Eestoration by pri
vately " seizmg the honourable City of London."
The petitioners are made to assume a show of peni
tence for ha-vdng planned the burning of churches,
and the suppression of preaching by the " conceited
doctrme " of thefr own tenets. How such equivocal
compliments were appreciated, and how ably they
were answered, another squib. The Asse's Complaint
against Balaam, wiU help us to judge. The folr
30*

468 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
lowing couplets have reference to the Anglican
clergy : —
" Por we are burdened -with our old Sir Johns,
Who, when we ask for bread, do give us stones ;
And only cant a homily or two.
Which daws and parrots may be taught to doe.
Drunkards cannonicall, unhallow'd bears.
That name God oftener in their oaths than prayers."
In the neighbourhood of St. John's Gate — a rare,
quaint, and interesting mediaeval reUc, and a shrine
around which was once supposed to flit an airy
shape (the shade of Sylvanus Urban) — are discover
able some faint traces of the Puritan Baptists. The
gate, erected many centuries ago, but stiU so com
pletely preserved, was of old the southern entrance
to the chief monastery of the miUtary monks of St.
John of Jerusalem. In after-times these fightmg
churchmen became possessed of an enormous in
heritance ; but their glory faded and their wealth
departed amid the happier light of the Eeformation.
The materials of its magnificent chapel were taken
to the Strand to be used in the erection of old
Somerset House. Towards the close of the last
century, and whUe the workmen were digging the
foundations of the present St. John's Church, was
discovered the coffin of WUUam Weston, the last
prior, who died in 1540.
Near this spot, so rich in reUgious and Uterary
remimscences, there stood in olden times an ancient
mansion, built of wood and stone, and belonging to

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 469
the priory of Sempringham, LincolnsMre. Shortly
after the Eestoration, the Nonconformists took pos
session of these premises ; and to John Yoxley, the
ejected mfrUster of I^bworth, the credit belongs of
ha-ving here gathered a congregation of Independents,
who became extmct about the end of the same cen
tury. The vacated apartment was next occupied by
the Baptists, who removed from • another station.
Thefr mimster was Dr. WUUam Eussel, an able
physician and member of Cambridge University.
To Eussel the chief deUght of existence was contro
versy. He loved to exert the powers of Ms strong
mteUect in conducting oral and written disputations.
We read of a grand debate on baptism which was
held at Portsmouth, according to royal license, in
1699, Eussel being a leading combatant. On
separatmg after their unprofitable encounter, each
polemical warrior claimed the victory, which really
belonged to none of them. Eussel wrote prodi
giously on BeUevers' Baptism, and other subjects.
Among the " Friends " he was exceedmgly unpopular;
and a treatise he pubUshed — Quakerism is Paganism
— may have blighted the last hopes of reconciUation.
Although both he and his books are forgotten, the
pastor did not live in vain ; and Crosby wrote less
Uke a partisan than a lover of justice when he sup
pUed materials whence we infer, that Eussel was a
scholar, an orator, and a Christian.
The Old Jewry is a spot abounding in Jewish
and Christian associations. Prior to their banish-

470 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
ment from England, in the days of Henry the Third,
tMs was the Hebrews' chosen quarter in London.
How severely these old inhabitants suffered from
the fanaticism of a superstitious populace, and from
the dishonest exactions of a nonUnaUy Christian
government, wiU not need to be explained. During
the eighteenth century the Old Jewry possessed the
attraction of the famous meeting-house elsewhere
described. In this interesting vicinity the Baptists
estabUshed themselves in Puritan times, having for
a pastor Jeremiah Ives, about whom we can learn
but Uttle. Neither of predecessor, nor of successor,
if such there was, can any particulars be related.
Ives himself was earnest, able, and industrious, but
evinced a lively abhorrence of both Quakers and
Papists. His polemical taste keenly reUshed a bap
tismal combat with Presbyterians, for in such encounters
he seems to have proved himself the AchiUes of the
capital. On the fame of Jeremiah's prowess reacMng
WhitehaU, Charles sought to diversify the monotony
of a royal life by witnessing an argumentative con
test between an ordained Eomanist and pastor Ives,
" disguised in the habit of a clergyman." The mer
riment of the distinguished audience reached its
height when a singular turn in the proceedings sud
denly terminated the discussion. The skilful dis
putants were fencing over the question of apostolical
succession. With an air of triumph, the priest avers
that Ives' reasomngs weigh as heavily against infant
baptism as against the tenet m hand, but the readi-

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 471
ness with which the truth of this proposition is
aUowed opens the eyes of the sharp-witted papist.
Sorely is he chagrined at finding he has argued,
not with an AngUcan vicar, as imagined, but with
a veritable Baptist mimster — brimming over with
satisfaction at the discomfiture Ms subtlety has
occasioned to a cub of the Beast of Babylon.
Not many paces from the Old Jewry is BasinghaU-
street, formerly containing the hall of the Worshipful
Company of Lorimers. Connected with this place
belong several Nonconformist histories, unfortunately
for the most part wanting. The General Baptists,
who came into possession m 1699, seceded from
a neighbourmg society which had excluded thefr
pastor, Joseph Taylor. Taylor embraced the tenets
of Cal-vmism, an example his foUowers quickly fol
lowed. Joseph Harrison, Taylor's successor, was still
a young man when removed by death immediately
after Ms settlement in 1702, and during that year
the people left the haU and migrated to Spitalfields.
The sanctuary was next taken possession of by the
Independents. Neal, the historian of the Puritans,
it may be mentioned en passant, was ordained at
Lorimers' HaU. In after years, the Wesleyans, and
the Countess of Huntingdon's connection, successively
used the time-honoured buUding which has long
since passed away.
We should evmce an unbecoming and repre
hensible lack of complaisance did we visit Eed
Cross-street without paying our compliments at

472 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
Dr. Williams's Library. But, alas ! to the sore
inconvenience of its studious visitors, the old insti
tution has been swept away to clear an area for
the very unornamental tunnels of the Metro-
poUtan EaUway; and, if report speaks truly, the
compensation has been unworthy of the havoc
occasioned. The nucleus of the present fine coUection of books
and pictures in the Library was formed from a three
fold source. First were the Uterary treasures belong
ing to the founder himself ; secondly, there was the
Ubrary of Dr. Bates, who died at Hackney in 1699.
To these were added the coUection of Dr. Harris,
who, in the first part of the last century, was the
Presbyterian mmister at Crutched-friars. The
original catalogue of 1727 appeared two years
prior to the opening of the library. A new list
of the books came out in 1801. That in present
use was pubUshed forty years later. The annual
surplus yielded by the Trust estates, is devoted to
the enricMng of the collection, which now is de
posited in a private house in Queen-square, and the
facUities for study and reference enjoyed by the
visitors cannot be too higMy commended.
Nearly opposite the library — in Meeting-house-
aUey — stood an old chapel, which descended from
the Independents to the Baptists, in 1760. The
mimster, Thomas Craner, had previously profited by
a pastoral experience in Bedfordshire. His rural
followers were wont to honour a custom — happUy

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 473
peculiar to themselves — of assenting and {dissenting
to the orally-expressed sentiments of their pastor by
remaimng silent, or by stampmg on the floor, the
latter being the sign of disapprobation. One aged
member, in partictdar, enjoyed a widely-spread
notoriety on account of the strength animating his
legs in spite of many tokens of declining vigour.
Very natiirally, divers perplexities crowded into the
pastor's mind whUe he sought- some honest method
of checking the weekly annoyance ; and the course
ultimately adopted Ulustrated the working of an in-
gemous mind, sufficiently amusing, although the
precedent may prove comparatively valueless in this
peace-lo-ving era. On a certain Sabbath, the dis
affected mustered strongly, and proved more than
ordinarily troublesome. But salutary surprise
awaited the congregation. The venerable offender
afready aUuded to was suddenly and effectually
cowed by being given pubUcly to understand, that
only considerable amendments in his behaviour
would exempt Ms nasal organ from an infliction
not sanctioned by the laws of Nonconformity, but
wMch he could see referred to in Proverbs thirty
and tMrty-thfrd. In other words, Craner assured
his noisy auditor, that unless he improved in manners
he would find himself the object of pastoral discipline,
and be led by the nose from his pew to the street.
The divine escaped from these disagreeable people in
1756, and settled inLondon, where he died in 1773.
He has been depicted as "a drawling, inanimate

474 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
preacher, very high in his notions upon some doc
trinal points."
A man of singular temperament, by name Augustus
Clarke, succeeded Craner. Having received ordina
tion at the hands of a Greek bishop, he claimed the
right of officiating in the EngUsh EstabUshment.
Eventually he relinquished Psedobaptism, and settled
at Eedcross-street, his election meanwhUe dividing
the congregation. By actively sharing in the anti-
Eomanist riots of 1780, Clarke further estranged Ms
people; and when, shortly after, he resigned, the
church was dissolved. The old chapel was succes
sively occupied by Scotch seceders. Independents,
and Baptist Sandemamans.
There was another chapel m Eedcross-street, buUt
by a Mrs. Masters, and in that lady's Ufetime occu
pied by John Stevens, the expelled pastor of Devon
sMre-square. After the death of Stevens, his office
remained vacant tUl 1781, when Thomas Mabbott,
of Digby, in Lincolnshire, succeeded. Born in 1 742,
he suffered aU the disadvantages springing from
poverty and an ill-traimng. At length he was
diverted from a plebeian career by one of Wesley's
preachers, and one of Bunyan's books. EeUgion
created a thfrst for learning, and after some perse
verance in study he commenced preaching. He
settled in Eedcross-street, but removed to Hoddes-
don in 1791. When depressed by the weakness of
decUning years, Mabbott could only ascend the
pulpit slowly and painfully. Nevertheless, his ser-

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 475
mons were deUvered with a strong and earnest
utterance. He died in December, 1800.
From Eedcross-street to Aldermanbury is only a
few paces, and Aldermanbury is a classical spot in
the annals of Nonconformity. Here, in bygone cen
turies, was situated the ancient hall wherein the
GuUds assembled for the transaction of civic busi
ness. The street is also associated with two other
jivents, as -widely different as two extremes, but
each retaining its peculiar mterest — the ejectment
from the U-nng in 1662, of Edmund Calamy; and
the mysterious tragedy of Elizabeth Canning, in
1753 — ^the simple housemaid, whose aUeged adven
tures rivaUed the stories of cMvalry, enchamed
pubUc attention, and produced numbers of pam
pMets on either side of a dispute, the mystery of
wMch, time has faUed to solve. The fine old Saxon
chm-ch destroyed in the great fire, had attached to
it several Puritan memories. In Aldermanbury a
son of the rector just aUuded to, and himself an
ejected minister, by in-viting divers Christians to
meet for worship m Ms parlour, formed the nucleus
of the celebrated Presbyterian Church in the Old
Jewiy, as already shown. Also, in Alderman
bury, some dim traces are found of the seventeenth-
century Baptists. Where their station was, or
who mimstered to them, history does not in
form us. Near tMs place, moreover, the Baptists
had another congregation whose records are un
fortunately wanting. These people met in Brewers'

476 ANCIENT MEETING HOUSES.
HaU, Addle-street, in the days of George the
Second.* In the meantime our peregrinations about these
noisy streets have taught us this cheering lesson :
The silence of history is its better portion. The
progress of merely human events, or the working
of the kingdom of darkness, is heralded by ostenta
tious parade. Heaven's achievements are effected
more quietly. It happens, therefore, that although
Good proceeds so noiselessy, it is yet making
greater conquests than we oftentimes dare to hope.
We are dazzled by false glitter ; deceived by shouts
of mock victories : and our mundane nature is fas
cinated by the triumphal arches which brazen-faced
wickedness erects, tUl even our religion becomes
earthy, and the truth is forgotten, that the Kingdom
of God Cometh not with observation. What crowds
of Christian workers have Uved, laboured, and died
in London! While unable in so many instances,
even to point out the sites of their chapels, much
less their place of sepulture, who would dare to
' Here is a quaint scrap belonging to Brewers' HaU. : —
" The annual feast for the natives of the parish of St. Giles's,
Cripplegate, ¦will be held at Brewers' HaU, Addle-street, on
Monday the 3rd of August next. Those gentlemen who are
natives of that parish may be furnished ¦with tickets by John
Pine, clerk of the above said parish, living ¦within three doors
of the parish church, and are desired to indorse their names
and places of abode on the backsides of their tickets for the
better sending to them for the future." — London Gazette,
Thursday, July 16, 1685.

FOOTPRINTS OF THE BAPTISTS IN OLD LONDON. 477
estimate the importance of their humble endeavours
to promote the Gospel of Christ ! WhUe the his
tories of such remain unwritten, what pains have
been taken to cMoMcle regal banquets and imposing
processions ! But God wiU remember His servants.
The forgetfuMess of man can never dimimsh their
reward. How abundantly wUl tMs be proved on
the mormng of that Day of days, when the dark
est secrets of time shall be revealed to assembled
worlds.

AND AT CHUECH PASSASE, CHAKCEUT LANS.

NONCONFOEMITY IN SOUTHWAEK.

IX PREPAEATION,
Uniform with "ANCIENT MEETING-HOUSES,"
THE
METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE;
OK,
AJN HISTOEICAL ACCOUNT OE THE SOCIETY FROM
ITS FIEST PLANTING IN THE PURITAN ERA
TO THE PRESENT TIME,

Wl'l'H OTHEE SKETCHES KELATINO TO THE KISE, GKOWTH, AND
CDSTOMS OF NONCONFOEMITT IN" SOTITHWAKK.

BT
GODFEEY HOLDEN PIKE.
WITH iN INTRODUCTION BT
THE "EEV. C. H. SPUEGEON.

¦W" O I?. I^ s
FBINTED AND PUBLISHED BY

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