Chapter III (1)

MEMORIALS OF THE INDEPENDENT CHURCH AT KETTERING.

There are some places which present no claim on public notice from anything remarkable in their situation, their population, or their buildings; yet attain celebrity from the character, talents, and services of certain individuals that have been connected with them. This is the case with the town of Kettering. It is a comparatively small town, containing about 5,000 inhabitants, standing about the centre of the northern division of the county of Northampton; but this place has attained to some considerable degree of renown, on account of the religious advantages with which it has been favoured. By some persons it may be thought of with interest, as the birth-place of Dr. Gill and Mr. Brine, eminent ministers of the Gospel in their day; but it is far more extensively known, as the place where a Toller and a Fuller, though of different denominations, laboured together in the same cause during a space of more than thirty years. No town probably, for its size, has been so distinguished, by having two ministers, of such a high standing, engaged for so long a period as stated pastors of two societies. Their talents and attainments were of a different order, but though different, equally eminent. Fuller was most extensively known on account of his services to the Baptist Mission, and his able and useful publications, whilst he was highly esteemed as a minister of the Gospel--Toller, as a preacher of original manner, and remarkable interest and power, was greatly valued, and will be long remembered.

But for a considerable period we find the town of Kettering distinguished by the faithful ministration of Gospel truth. The Puritans, in 1591, are said to have held several meetings here and in the neighbourhood. Two hundred years ago, Mr. Thomas Maidwell, an eminent minister of Christ, preached the Gospel here, having become rector of the parish about the year 1650. Mr. Maidwell was a native of Geddington, a village three miles from Kettering. He was educated at Cambridge, became a good scholar, an excellent preacher, and a man of eminent piety. In the year 1662 he was ejected from the living, and ranked among the devoted Nonconformists of the day. After his ejectment he frequently preached in his own house, and in other houses in the town; until at length he opened a Meeting House, which would hold from 300 to 400 hearers. In what year this took place is unknown. He lived for thirty years after his separation from the Church. Like many of his brethren in those days, he was tried by persecution. One H. Sawyer, Esq., a large landed proprietor in the parish, was a bitter enemy to the Nonconformists, and often tried to get Mr. Maidwell into his power. He frequently escaped with difficulty, sometimes in disguise. It is said that he was once cast into prison. He was also banished from his home by the "Five Mile Act," retiring for some time from Kettering, it is supposed to the house of H. Barwell, Esq.,[2] of Marston Trussell, near Market Harborough. From thence he wrote to his people at Kettering three very excellent pastoral letters, which have been preserved. An extract from the first of these will be sufficient to show something of the principles and spirit of this minister of Christ.

MY DEAR FRIENDS: Grace and peace be multiplied.--Since I heard of
the great distress you are in on several accounts, it cannot but
much affect and afflict me; and the rather, because my present
dangers and sufferings add to yours, which makes the burden heavier
to us both. But if our God, who directs, helps us to cast our burden
on him, he will sustain it, and us under it, as at present he doth,
blessed be his name! for though "we are troubled on every side, yet
we are not distressed; though perplexed, yet not in despair; though
persecuted, yet not forsaken; though cast down, yet not destroyed."
Though we bear in our outward man "the dying of the Lord Jesus," yet
if the life, spirit, and vigour of Christ be exercised in our inward
man, we shall live to him eternally hereafter, as spiritually here.
But the want of that divine vigour and true Christian magnanimity
fills most souls with despondency, bowels with sighs, and tongues
with complaints. Yet we have no reason to murmur against or complain
of our God, who doth all things justly, and wisely, and well, but of
ourselves, who neither know, do, nor suffer as we ought; but "in
many things we offend all," and therefore all suffer justly. It's
true, you will say--what is to be done under our present suffering?

[2] Mr. Edward Barwell was lord of the manor of Marston, when Bridges wrote his 'History of Northamptonshire.'

Then he goes on to give them most suitable and important directions; such as, "Let every one search his and her ways." "Let not self-examination be superficial, but special, thorough, affectionate, heart-melting, soul afflicting, extraordinary, becoming so dark a day." "Press after a personal, relative, thorough reformation of what is amiss in heart, tongue, and life." "Have a daily vigorous recourse by a lively faith unto Christ." "Let that faith, in the reality and eminence of it, be more and more manifested in our new obedience." He gives them directions as to the purity of their worship--their spirit towards each other--their sitting loose to the world--giving up themselves entirely to God--giving all diligence in their Christian course--seeking to attain joy and peace in believing--and then closes in these words:--

Thus, my dear hearts, I have answered your desires in your last I
received; heartily letting you know, that though I am absent in body
from you to my great grief, yet I am present with you in spirit,
daily praying for you, longing to see you, which I should have done
"once and again had not Satan hindered," which he will do till
Christ comes and binds him in chains and removes him out of the way,
and gives his people a quiet and full enjoyment of himself in each
other. Which, that he may, is the earnest prayer of your unworthy
pastor, solicitous for your souls' good.

I am, Sirs, &c.,
Communicate this to ours. T. M.

It is uncertain in what year the Church was formed, as the first entry in the oldest Church-book is without date. The following is the first statement: "An account of the names of those who are in Church fellowship at Kettering, and have engaged to walk together according to the rules of the Gospel, under the ministry of Mr. Maidwell, pastor there." Then follow the names of 95 members residing in Kettering, and 91 in other places in the vicinity: total number of members, 186.

The Church was formed on Congregational principles, with a pastor, two elders, and two deacons.

Mr. Maidwell continued his labours almost to the last, and died January 9th, 1692, about 80 years of age. He was buried in the chancel of the parish Church, a stone being placed over his grave, with a Latin inscription, now scarcely legible.

We are informed that "he was abundant in labours; never weary of his work, and seldom wearied in it: that he had the happy art of winning souls to Christ; that such was his peculiar aptitude for religious conversation, making a spiritual improvement of all earthly business and concerns he was engaged about, that it was considered a question, whether he did more good or converted more souls in the pulpit or out of it. He had an amiable temper, and breathed much of the spirit of his Divine Master, recommending continually the Gospel he preached by his lovely and consistent deportment." One "of whom the world was not worthy," but whose "memory is blessed." "He was a burning and shining light, and there were many who rejoiced to walk in his light."

After the death of Mr. Maidwell, Mr. Thomas Milway became pastor of the Church. The date of his settlement is not given, but it is supposed to have taken place between January, 1692, and June, 1694. It is supposed that he came from Bury to Kettering. His pastorate was but a short one, not more than four or five years. At the commencement of his ministry the Church numbered 167 members, and 61 were added while he was pastor. In the list of members at the commencement of Mr. Milway's labours, we find the name of John Gill, the father of the celebrated Dr. Gill, and the name of Elijah Brine, father of Mr. William Brine, a Baptist minister of some eminence, contemporary with Dr. Gill.

About the year 1696, Mr. William Wallis, a ruling elder in the Church, embraced the sentiments of the Baptists, and took upon him to baptize by immersion some of the members of the Church. This being brought forward in a Church assembly, in which it is said "to have been proved that he had no right or power to do so," he desired his dismission, which was granted him; after which he began to preach in another place in the town; and six or seven of the members, embracing the same sentiments, left the Church with Mr. Wallis, and thus he became the first pastor of the Baptist Church in Kettering.

From the parish register it is found that Mr. Milway was buried April 3rd, 1697.

In the 'Nonconformist Memorial,' mention is made of a Mr. Shepherd, as succeeding Mr. Maidwell at Kettering; but the evidence presented by the register of Mr. Shepherd's burial at Kettering shows that he must have immediately succeeded Mr. Milway, and that his labours here only continued for a few months, for he was buried March 21st, 1698. No account of his services is preserved in the records of this Church. We are informed that "he was a minister in the Established Church at Tilbrook, in Bedfordshire. When the "Bartholomew Act" passed, at first he conformed; continuing for some years in his living, a great blessing to the town and neighbourhood. He had the true spirit of his office; his preaching awful and affecting, and his life very holy. Being much followed from places around, the clergy greatly disliked him--used to reflect upon him at their visitations--looked upon him with an evil eye; so that at length, finding his situation very uncomfortable, he quitted his living, became pastor of a Dissenting congregation at Oundle, and came from thence to Kettering, where he died."

The next pastor of the Church was Mr. William Terry, supposed to have come from Hitchin to Kettering. He remained but a short time here, and then removed to London. During his ministry 36 persons were added to the Church. From the recollections of an aged intelligent woman it is stated, that Mr. Terry was popular as a preacher--that he had travelled in Holland and Germany, and did not seem inclined to settle long in any place.

In the year 1709 Mr. John Wills became pastor of the Church. It is stated concerning him, "that he was a gentlemanlike man, of popular talents." During the first three or four years of his ministry 27 members were added to the Church; but his conduct at length gave a great blow to the cause with which he had become connected. He acted in a manner so contrary to the Christian character, and so injured himself as a Christian minister, as to be discarded by the Church. Between the dates of August, 1712, and July, 1715, he was charged with notorious lying, and other scandalous sins, for which he was repeatedly admonished by the Church; but not giving satisfaction by his spirit and conduct, he was dismissed.

After this he remained in Kettering about four years; set up a separate interest; drew up a Church covenant, July 15th, 1715, in which mention is made of 46 members, most of whom had belonged to the other Church, having been drawn away by him, though most of them returned during the ministry of his successor. His bad conduct caused him to be soon rejected by the party that went off with him.

There was another part of his conduct towards his former charge which appears to have been very dishonourable. The people had raised a subscription, and purchased a dwelling-house for their minister, with a considerable garden. Mr. Wills occupied it as the minister, but wished to make some addition to it, and to secure himself prevailed on the people to have the house surrendered to him, which, from the regard they then had for him, they unwisely permitted to be done. Consequently, after the Church had dismissed him from his office, he still retained the house, and at length sold it, keeping the whole amount of the money, pleading as his excuse that it was but as much as he had laid out upon it, with other disadvantages that he had in removing. He went to Wellingham, Cambridgeshire.

Such things as these would present some serious hindrances to the advancement of religion among the people, while a man of this character sustained the office of pastor, and afterwards sought to draw away disciples after him.

On the 11th of November, 1714, Mr. Thomas Milway, jun., the son of the former pastor of this name, was settled over them. At the time when his settlement took place, 112 persons are registered as belonging to the Church. During his ministry, which continued only for six years and a half, 48 members were admitted. He removed to Ipswich in March, 1721.

In reference to the removal of Mr. Milway from Kettering to Ipswich, we have received the following extracts from the Church records of the latter place:--

At a Church-meeting, the 26th of October, 1720, the Church gave a
call to Mr. Thomas Milway, at Kettering, to the pastoral office, in
the following words, and signed as underwritten by the brethren of
the Church:--

"_To the Rev. Mr. Thomas Milway, at Kettering._

"DEAR SIR,--The sovereign Lord of life and death having called to
rest from his labours and affliction here our late dear pastor, the
Rev. and worthy Mr. Benjamin Glandfield, the Congregational Church
of Christ at Ipswich are thereby left as sheep without a shepherd.
We, the members of the said Church, have humbled ourselves before
the Lord by fasting and prayer, imploring his direction under this
solemn dispensation, and do think our present duty is, the
endeavouring to fill up that relation by calling one duly qualified
for the pastoral office; and having several times had experience of
the excellent gifts and graces God in his mercy hath bestowed on
you, we cannot but acknowledge how generally acceptable they are to
this Church and auditory; and having had several informations of
your present circumstances at Kettering, and the way plain and easy
for a removal; and considering that your settlement with us in the
pastoral office is likely to be of great service to the interest of
Christ in these parts, and for the uniting and settling of this
Church, which otherwise is like to fall into great
confusions--therefore, we, the brethren of the Church aforesaid, at
a meeting this 26th of October, 1720, do hereby call and desire you
to take the pastoral office in this Church, praying the Lord, the
great Shepherd of the sheep, to direct, incline, and settle you with
us, unto whose divine providence we commit this great affair,
trusting the Lord will enable us to perform those duties required of
us. We desire you at a convenient time as possible to return answer
to our desires and call, which will greatly oblige, dear Sir, your
most affectionate friends and servants in one Lord,

(Signed) "Thos. Wyneall, }
"Joseph Wyatt, } Deacons.

"With many others, brethren of the Church."

In another page, in Mr. Milway's own handwriting, there are the names of the 41 brethren and the 79 sisters who joined in the call of Thomas Milway to the pastoral office. "All these distinctly," he observes, "and one by one, gave their consent to my taking the pastoral office. The 10th of August, 1721, was a day set apart for solemn prayer to implore a blessing upon my pastoral labours," when he records the names of the ministers who engaged and were present, and adds, "We have good grounds to hope the Lord was with us, and did assist in the work; and that a spirit of supplication was poured out upon us. For which, his abundant mercy, may we bless him for ever; and may a gracious God say to pastor and people, 'From this day will I bless you.' Amen and amen."

Short was the course of his ministry here; for we are further informed, that "the Rev. Thomas Milway died the Lord's-day, May 31st, 1724, in the morning, aged 47. He lies buried in the aisle, immediately in front of the pulpit, as does his wife, Mrs. Mary Milway, who died September 9th, 1751, aged 75. He appears to have been honoured and useful during his short ministry at Ipswich.

During this period, about the year 1715, the Meeting House at Kettering was threatened, and thought to be in danger of being pulled down by a lawless mob. The reaction that had taken place in favour of the Dissenters when they aided in effecting the glorious Revolution by William the Third, had now passed by. During the reign of Anne, the enemies of Dissent exerted themselves to abridge their liberties. The trial of Sacheveral, a high Church bigot, under the Whig ministry, and the triumph he obtained among the people, produced a great excitement. Mob violence was employed against the Dissenters, and many Meeting Houses were pulled down. The death of Anne, in 1714, was succeeded by the peaceful accession of the first monarch of the House of Hanover, who at once declared that "he was determined to adhere to the principles of toleration, and endeavour to unite all his Protestant subjects by affording them all equal protection."

But there were numbers who considered it hard not to be allowed to persecute by law, and who therefore determined to avenge themselves and their defeated party by setting the law at defiance, in order to enjoy the luxury of worrying Dissenters. Hence in many towns in England, during this year, Dissenters were insulted, and their places of worship pulled down or burned. But the Meeting House at Kettering, though threatened, was preserved. "The mob supposed that the building was well guarded within by people armed for the purpose, which prevented them from making the attempt. It is not known what defence was made, but no mischief was done."

At the time when Mr. Milway, junior, removed from Kettering, a small congregation of Dissenters in the noted town of Coventry had a Mr. Thomas Saunders preaching to them. He was a descendant from Lawrence Saunders, the martyr, who was burnt at Coventry in Queen Mary's days, 1555. The family had possessed a large estate at or near Bedworth, but lost the greater part of it on account of religion. A Mr. Julian Saunders, uncle of this Mr. Thomas Saunders, was a Nonconformist minister at Bedworth; and under him the nephew was educated for the ministry.

On Lord's-day, May 21st, 1721, Mr. Saunders preached, we suppose for the first time, at Kettering. Such was the favourable impression produced by his services on that day, that he was thought by the congregation to be a proper person to become their pastor; and they immediately began to take steps towards bringing him into this relation to them. It was treated by both parties, the Church and the minister, as a matter of high importance. The society to which Mr. Saunders ministered at Coventry was very unwilling to part with him. The Church at Kettering was equally anxious to obtain his services; and then he states, as one great reason that influenced his decision, "he should have ten times the number of people to preach to that he had at Coventry." After a suitable time for further trial, for consultation, and prayer for divine direction, he at length accepted the invitation of the Church at Kettering, and entered on his stated engagements there September 14th, 1721. He was set apart to the pastoral office by solemn services on November 23rd of the same year. The following is the account Mr. Saunders gives of the services of the day:--

Thursday, November 23rd, 1721, was appointed a day of fasting and
prayer upon the account of our sitting down together. Mr.
Cartwright, of Buckby, begun with prayer, and prayed well. Mr. Some
read over the call of the Church, and asked my acceptance, and then
prayed, and indeed prayed in prayer. Mr. Tingey, of Northampton,
preached from 2 Chron. xv. 2. Mr. Jennings concluded with prayer,
and Mr. Norris prayed among us in the evening. And now to thee, O
God! must I give an account for this, and all my actions. I have
been persuaded in my own mind, and am still, that I ought to labour
where I can do most for God, and that thou, Lord, wilt take it well
at the hands of thy servants that study so to do. Let us be made
blessings to each other. Let us find thy presence and grace with us.
Let much be done for God amongst us, that may effectually answer the
clamour of malicious persons, and "put to silence the ignorance of
foolish men," as well as be made confirming to thy people here.
Propter Jesum Christum salvalorem nostrum, cui nunc et in secula
seculorum gloria. Amen.

"In his younger days," observes Mr. Some, in giving some account of Mr. Saunders, "he was much addicted to those amusements and diversions in which too many in the present day lavish away their precious time, while their best and most valuable interests are neglected. But "it pleased God," who designed him for eminent service, "to call him by his grace, and to reveal his Son in him," which effectually reclaimed him from the follies of youth, and led him afterwards frequently to drop a tear over them, praying that they might be remembered no more. As soon as he had received the grace of God, it was his great concern to watch against everything that might obstruct his progress in religion, and to use all proper means to promote and strengthen the Christian temper in all its branches. It was a strong desire to do good to the souls of men, by "teaching transgressors the ways of God, that sinners might be converted to him," which inclined him to devote himself to the work of the ministry. He found so much real satisfaction in religion, that he was willing others might taste its pleasures; and he saw so much danger in a course of sin, that he thought he could not do a kinder office than to warn men of it, that they might escape the pollution and condemnation to which it would expose them. He was not so early in his preparation for this holy employment as some others; but with the blessing of God on his great industry and indefatigable endeavours, he soon came forth qualified with such endowments which are of the greatest importance to render ministers useful to the Church of Christ. He became eminently qualified for the ministry of the Gospel, and his labours were greatly blest to his people, by whom he was held in the highest esteem.

The congregation so increased soon after Mr. Saunders came to Kettering, that it was found necessary to build a larger place of worship, which the congregation did in the year 1723. This building stands to this day, though it has undergone considerable alterations. It is 50-1/2 ft. by 45-1/2 within the walls, with three galleries. It is calculated to seat more than 800 hearers. At its erection some gentleman in or near London gave a handsome chandelier, with 24 sockets.

During the ministry of Mr. Saunders, Mr. William Hextal, son of Mr. Hextal, a farmer at Broughton, a village about three miles from Kettering, became a member of the Church, and studied under Mr. Saunders for a time, preparatory to his entering Doddridge's academy, with a view to the ministry. It is recorded in the Church-book--"At a Church-meeting held June 2nd, 1731, Mr. William Hextal was received into our communion; and as he is now engaged in learning for the work of the ministry, I gave him a solemn charge in relation to these things; and added several things that I apprehended he should practise as a Christian, in order to his being a minister." At the close of his academic course, Mr. Hextal was settled at Creaton, afterwards removed to Sudbury, and from thence to Northampton.

Mr. Saunders published a funeral sermon preached at Woodford, near Kettering, from Rev. xiii. 14, entitled 'The Blessedness of Pious Persons after Death considered.' Also, a letter was printed, which he wrote in his last illness to his people; which was, by his direction, publicly read to them after his funeral sermon. "Well worth the attention," it is said, "of all destitute Churches." He died in the midst of his life and usefulness, after an illness of some months, July 21st, 1736. In the records of the Church it is stated that "he was an evangelical preacher, had a very happy delivery, an agreeable temper, and graceful appearance; was much respected by the Church people, and much endeared to his own flock, who lamented their loss many years after." His funeral sermon was preached by Mr. Some, of Harborough, from a passage Mr. Saunders had chosen, 1 Cor. xv. 10--"Not I, but the grace of God that was with me." We shall quote some passages from this discourse, relating to the character and qualifications of Mr. Saunders:--

He had a great gift in prayer, and could express himself very
copiously and pertinently in that sacred exercise, especially on
particular occasions. His preaching was plain, scriptural, and
experimental, in the good old puritanical strain. He did not affect
"the enticing words of man's wisdom," which please the fancy;
neither was he nicely curious in the form of his discourses; but it
was his endeavour to touch the conscience and impress the heart. He
insisted largely on the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, especially
on the atonement of Christ and the sanctifying influences of the
Spirit. He looked upon these as the two pillars in the New Testament
temple, without which the whole building would soon fall to the
ground. These were his favourite subjects, his delightful topics,
which triumphed in his sermons, and diffused themselves through all
his performances. He never failed to introduce them whenever the
argument in hand led to them; and sometimes, like holy Paul, with
whose writings he was so much delighted and edified, he did not
scruple a digression which might exalt the name and grace of a
Redeemer, and endear him to himself and his hearers. He was fully
persuaded that these were the essential parts of the Gospel scheme;
that they were clearly revealed in the holy Scriptures; that they
could not be dropt without giving up Christianity: and what he had
felt of the importance of them to himself was one great reason of
his inviolable attachment to them.

He was diligent in his work, and in labours more abundant. Besides
the care of his own congregation, which was very large, he
frequently visited his friends abroad; preached several lectures;
and was ready to lay hold on every opportunity to do good: and God
wonderfully owned and blessed his labours. There were many added to
the Church under his immediate care, and a promising harvest
appeared to be springing up there, even when God laid him aside and
called him to receive his reward. May it grow up to maturity, to the
joy of such as may enter on his labours. But his usefulness was not
confined to his own people: there are several in other places, both
in the great city and in the country, which have reason to bless God
for the benefit which they received by his ministry. His course was
short, but it was well run. He had not quite twenty years allowed
for public service in the Church of Christ; but there are few in
these later times that have done so much in so short a time.

He was a person of great moderation, and behaved with much decency
and candour towards those who differed from him. He claimed a
liberty of judging for himself in matters of religion, and as
readily granted the same to others; which did not proceed from a
coldness and indifference towards that which appeared to him to be
"the faith once delivered to the saints," but from an earnest desire
to secure and propagate it. It was his fixed and settled judgment
that the mind of man could not be forced; that things must be
received in the light in which they appear to the understanding;
that heat and passion eclipse the glory of Gospel truths; and that
severe censures, given out by fallible and uninspired men, would
prejudice persons against them.

To his own people he was a tender and affectionate shepherd,
sympathizing with them in their trials, counselling them in their
difficulties, relieving and supporting them in their straits, and
praying earnestly for them in all their troubles. So cordially was
he united in affection to them, that no solicitations could prevail
upon him to remove from them, though considerable offers were made
him from abroad, and great importunity used to prevail on him to
accept them. This endeared him very much to his flock, and did not a
little contribute to the success of his labours among them.

He met with many uncommon afflictions, under which he generally
appeared easy and cheerful. He did not burden his friends with long
and tedious complaints, but poured them out before that God who is
able to "help in every time of need"; and he was supported and
carried comfortably through several of them. They certainly gave him
uneasiness, and might impair his health; but they contributed very
much to the improvement of his better part: he came forth out of the
furnace as "gold tried in the fire"; and some of the best sermons he
ever preached were those which succeeded his severest exercises.
These led his thoughts very far into the mysteries of providence,
and enabled him to set many of its darkest scenes in a fair light,
that he might comfort those that were in any trouble by the comfort
wherewith he had been comforted of God.

The sentiments and counsels of dying Christians, especially of ministers who have been devoted to their work, have some peculiar solemnity and weight. On this account we shall give a few passages from a letter, written by Mr. Saunders to his flock during his last illness, which was by his direction publicly read to his people immediately after his funeral sermon.

DEARLY BELOVED IN THE LORD,--You well know that for a great while I
have laboured under the afflicting hand of God, during a
considerable part of which time I could not tell but I might be
again permitted to speak to you in his name; but when at length all
reasonable hopes of this kind were cut off, I began to think of
writing a few lines to leave with you. My weakness increasing put me
off those thoughts, until the importunity of a friend animated my
former resolution and set me upon it.

Providence favoured me with a station of service among you for
upwards of fourteen years, during which season I was led through a
great variety of trying afflictions; under which, as God was pleased
to direct and support me in a very surprising way, and at last
delivered me, so I must in justice say that you behaved to me in the
most affectionate and Christian manner. You were sharers with me in
my afflictions; your mouths, upon every emergency, were readily
opened unto God for me; you rejoiced with me in the removal of my
affliction and every favourable turn given to my affairs; and you
bore the many interruptions of my service with unparalleled patience
and cheerfulness. This could not fail of begetting in me the
greatest endearedness and tenderest affection for you; so that my
soul was knit to you. My great concern was to serve you; I never
thought myself so happy as when I was labouring among you; and often
begged that, if it were consistent with the will of God, I might
live and die amongst you. And I can now look back with pleasure, to
think that I was enabled to refuse all the solicitations I had to
leave you. God has been seen amongst us; there has been a glory upon
our assemblies; and the great ends of a Gospel ministry, such as the
conversion of some, and the training up of others for a better
world, I hope have been in some measure attained amongst us. But now
I speak no more, nor you hear me any more. And yet, though I am gone
from you, I persuade myself, from the cheerful attention you paid to
my services while among you, that you will at least lend an ear to
what in this manner I say to you. In this respect you may truly
apply that passage--"Being dead, he yet speaketh."

In a further paragraph he states--

I have no other foundation for my own soul than what I have
represented unto you as the only foundation for you to build upon,
and that you know is God's everlasting love, displayed and drawn out
in the sending of his Son, and all that he has done, is doing, and
will do for us; and in the complete work of the Spirit in forming us
for, and bringing us unto, the full possession and enjoyment of all
at last. And what a glorious work, my friends, is this! You have it
in miniature when the soul is born again: there is then every
essential part; but there must be a great many perfecting strokes
before the piece will be complete, and fit to be set in the presence
chamber above. There are some sour and knotty pieces, that require
more hewing and polishing than others. In some, the constitutional
evil may perhaps not be removed, until the constitution itself be
broken; which may in some measure account for the difference of the
dispensations that good men pass through in this world.

After other weighty remarks, he gives them advice as to the choice of a successor:--

(1.) Don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together, to cry
unto the Lord of the harvest to send a labourer amongst you: a
loiterer will do you no good. Keep up, and all of you frequent,
prayer-meetings. "If you seek him, he will be found of you." Whilst
God is with and amongst you, all will be well. I have never yet
seen, but where Churches have waited upon God, and kept up their
application to him, they have succeeded well at last, though
sometimes it has been long first. "He has never said to the seed of
Jacob, Seek ye me, in vain."

(2.) Let your first views of the person you fix upon be, at what he
himself is: I mean, endeavour above all things to have a man of
religion, who shall be able to talk over the great things of God in
a feeling, experimental manner. If this be not the case, whatever
his gifts may be, and how popular soever his talents, vital religion
will dwindle under his ministrations; or, if you should maintain the
name, the thing will be lost. Neither the orthodoxy of his judgment
nor the popularity of his delivery will ever compensate the want of
this. Nor can you expect a blessing from heaven, and that success
should attend the service of that man that is not inward with God,
and hearty for him in what he does. "The tree is known by his
fruits."

(3.) When you have satisfied yourselves in the best manner you can
as to the religious part, then have regard to prudence and temper.
If a man have not prudence, what will he do that must necessarily be
concerned with so many different dispositions--families under a
great variety of circumstances, as well as those who are round about
them? And if he is not a man of temper, you will have the less
pleasure and advantage from his conversation. Some will neglect him;
others will be afraid to communicate their sentiments unto him. How
many, otherwise famous men, who seemed to be formed for considerable
service, have miscarried here!

(4.) Remember, you are in a state of imperfection yourselves; and
such, after all your care, will be the person you have to labour
among you: a man subject to like passions and infirmities with
yourselves--one who at times may need your pity and forbearance, as
you share in his. However, though this be a reason against being too
curious and tedious, yet, on the other hand, do not be too hasty in
your determination. "In the multitude of counsellors there is
safety." You are to make the choice and determine the affair; but,
in order to your doing this with steadiness and prudence, advise
with some grave, solid persons, that you know are concerned for your
welfare, and will give you the best direction they can.

(5.) I beseech and entreat you, that you "fall not out by the way,
seeing you are brethren." Be together as the primitive Church was,
with one accord as well as in one place. Oh, that of you it might be
said, as of them, that "the multitudes that believed were of one
heart and of one soul." Bury for ever--bury all former prejudices.
How would my soul have rejoiced to have seen that happy day! But I
please myself to think it will soon be, and therefore shall use the
Apostle's words (Phil. ii. 1, 2), "if there be any consolation in
Christ."

I had a design of saying something more; but He that has cut me
short in all the other parts of my work, has done so in this last
attempt of respect and labour of love: but they are the words of a
dying man, and the real sentiments of my heart. I shall leave that
passage with you (Acts xx. 32), "And now, brethren, I commend you to
God and to the word of his grace," &c.

In the year 1727, Mr. Saunders being in London, Doddridge supplied the pulpit at Kettering for a Sabbath, when he was minister of Kibworth. A letter Mr. Saunders wrote to Doddridge immediately after this will just serve to show that while Mr. Saunders was blessed with much comfort and usefulness, it was not every one of the members of his Church that had imbibed the spirit of their pastor.

_To Mr. Doddridge._
_June 1st, 1727._

MY VERY DEAR AND VALUABLE FRIEND,--I am extremely obliged to you for
your kind and consolatory epistle, and also for your kind services
last Lord's-day; but am very sorry that my clerk should abscond. I
suppose it was to give a specimen of his high orthodoxy, and for
fear his tender conscience should be defiled with some of good old
Mr. Baxter's divinity. Now this man, who is so much afraid for
himself, has lately put a son apprentice in London, where he
frequently hears swearing in the family, and is obliged to go to
church, and has not liberty so much as to come and hear me now I am
in town. But I always observed that the most highly orthodox, are
remarkably defective in some branch or other of the Christian
character. This is the man, too, who was so much offended because
Mr. Brock was not excommunicated for going to church, who has now
obliged his own child to attend it for seven years! I hope my very
good friend Doddridge will take no notice of his conduct, nor in the
least slight his friends at Kettering upon that account. There are
not many such as he, though I cannot say but there is more than one;
but were they generally of his mind, I would preach the Gospel to
the wild Indians before I would serve them. You have a great many
sincere friends in Kettering that love you well, and are always
pleased with your good services; and I may without compliment say,
when I am there, that you have one who esteems you according to your
desert, and that, in my opinion, is beyond any man of your standing
I ever knew.

After the death of Mr. Saunders the Church wished to have Mr. Wood, afterwards Dr. Wood, of Norwich, to be their pastor, but he declined acceding to their request. Mr. Benjamin Boyce, then a student at Northampton, under Dr. Doddridge, was invited on probation; and on May 7, 1740, he was ordained. Of the ordination service Mr. Boyce gives the following account:--

Mr. Julius Saunders, of Denton, introduced the solemnity with a very
serious and suitable prayer; after which Mr. Floyd more fully
engaged in prayer, with great copiousness of expression, and I hope
with great fervency. Mr. Simson preached a very plain and
evangelical sermon from 2 Cor. iv. 7--"We have this treasure in
earthen vessels," &c. Mr. Goodrich read the invitation of the
Church, to which the deacons present expressed their consent in the
name of the Church by lifting up their hands, with which I declared
my determination to comply. The same person received my confession
of faith, which I publicly read; and after asking me several
questions usual upon such an occasion, prayed over me. Dr. Doddridge
gave me a very affectionate and important charge, which I desire
never to forget; and to the people, a very free and affectionate
exhortation. The whole solemnity was concluded by Mr. Dorsley in
prayer.

Oh that God would make his strength perfect in my weakness, and his
grace in my unworthiness! Oh that a double portion of his blessed
Spirit may be poured upon me, who am so weak an instrument! and that
such grace may be given me, who am less than the least of all
saints, that I may "preach the unsearchable riches of Christ," and
may be owned of him in my sincere desires and mean endeavours, if it
is agreeable to the purpose of his grace, to fit and prepare many
souls, that are either brought home or are yet strangers to him, by
faith and holiness, for the complete enjoyment of "the inheritance
of the saints in light." Thus may the Church of God be daily
increased and edified, till all its pastors and all its members
shall meet together to ascribe glory and grace to Him that sits on
the throne and the Lamb for ever. Amen.

Mr. Boyce continued his ministry for 30 years over this people. During that period 161 members were added to the Church, and at his death the Church numbered 120 members. He died October 24th, 1770, aged 54 years. "Mr. Boyce was a native of Coventry, educated for the ministry at Northampton; in size rather under the middle stature. He was a close student, a practical and experimental preacher."

The Meeting House was new roofed soon after the commencement of his ministry, which indicates that it could not have been done well at the first, as it had only been built about 18 years. Several new pews were made over the stairs leading to the galleries, and where forms had before been set; which pews were immediately filled, and continued so, as did all the others, until his death. He was buried in the aisle before the pulpit, where his wife also, and mother, and two children were interred; and a handsome stone, with a suitable inscription, was placed in the front of the desk. "He lived much beloved, and died much lamented." Robert Hall observes, "that Mr. Boyce sustained the pastoral office for a long series of years with the highest reputation and success; and his death was deplored as an irreparable calamity, leaving it very improbable that a successor could be speedily found capable of uniting the suffrages of a people whose confidence and esteem he had so long exclusively enjoyed. Such is the imperfection of the present state, that the possession of a more than ordinary portion of felicity is the usual forerunner of a correspondent degree of privation and distress; and the removal of a pastor who has long been the object of veneration generally places a Church in a critical situation, exposed to feuds and dissensions arising out of the necessity of a new choice." This appeared in the case of Mr. Boyce's immediate successor.

Mr. Addington, of Harborough, delivered the funeral oration at the interment of Mr. Boyce, and Mr. Gregson, of Rowell, preached the funeral sermon, from 1 Thess. iv. 13, 14. In the closing part of that sermon we find the following statements in the account given of Mr. Boyce:--

It should be known that he feared the Lord, like good Obadiah,
greatly, from his youth. He gave himself up to the Church of Christ
under the pastoral care of Mr. Simpson, of Coventry, when he was 16
years of age. He acquired a rich stock of useful and valuable
knowledge from those who were admirably capable of imparting from
their rich treasures. Thus furnished, he began the sacred work of
the ministry before he was 21 years of age, and has told you, in the
last letter he will ever write, "It was the determination with which
I preached my first sermon among you, to know nothing comparatively,
but Jesus Christ, and him crucified; and I trust it has been my
sincere concern to continue in that resolution to the last,
testifying repentance towards God, and faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ." You are his witnesses, my dear brethren, how well, through
divine grace, he abode by his determination, and you well know that
the doctrines of the rich, free, and sovereign grace of God were his
delight to study and to preach; and you must know how wisely and
judiciously he stated them--with what caution, guarding against
every extreme, and every abuse of those great and glorious truths.
You cannot but know with what discreet zeal, with what plainness and
fidelity, he published the grace of God in the ever-blessed and
glorious Redeemer. Was not this the chief topic he delighted to
insist upon? and particularly to show what holy, divine, and
heavenly influence it ought to have upon the hearts and lives of
men? and did he not do this in a very persuasive and pathetic
manner? Did he not preach Christ Jesus the Lord, and constantly in
his ministrations lay no other foundation than Christ Jesus, which
God has laid in Zion, for your faith and hope to build and rest your
eternal concerns upon? How has he declared in that very serious and
affectionate epistle he sent you, "I know no other foundation that
God has laid in Zion; and the more I survey the excellence of it,
as given us in the Scriptures, the more I can say it is tried and
precious. Nothing else will do to support the stress of our eternal
hope, or indeed the pressure of painful afflictions. Blessed be God,
here is support! here is consolation! it rejoices me to think that
there are so many that can add the testimony of their experience to
mine." The great God had blessed him with a happy temper and amiable
carriage and behaviour. He knew how to weep with those that weep,
and to rejoice with those that rejoice. He abhorred the mean conduct
of too many in this degenerate world, the speaking evil of others;
and was he not an example to believers in word, in conversation, in
charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity, and in prudence, for almost
thirty-three years (which was almost double the number of the years
of his predecessor), amongst you, the people of his charge? Oh how
comfortable and delightful was the frame of his mind in this his
last illness, which suddenly came on him, made rapid progress in
extinguishing such a useful and precious light in this our Israel!
On the last Saturday se'nnight, being the 20th of October, when he
lay down upon his dying bed, he found great comfort from those
words, in Romans viii., former part of the 34th verse: "Who is he
that condemneth? it is Christ that died." He spake these words with
tears of joy. His language was, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and
there is none upon earth I desire beside thee." When he was asked
how he did by one of his friends, he answered, "I am well, for the
consolations of God are neither few nor small; God has not left me,
nor will he leave me." When I asked him how it was with him with
respect to a better world, his answer was, with great pleasure in
his countenance, "I can cheerfully trust my good God." He seemed
always, during the intervals of his wanderings, to be praying, and
before he died was very sensible; and, as far as can be learned, he
spent his last breath in committing you, his dear people, to God in
prayer (in which he had an excellent gift), and then sweetly fell
asleep in Jesus, after having finished his appointed work and
service.

Mrs. Boyce died little more than six months after the death of her husband, and that shortly after giving birth to an infant. From her funeral sermon, preserved in manuscript among the records of the Church, we present the following extract:--

After having summoned the tender and happy husband from the amiable
partner of his joys and cares, and left her in widowhood to mourn
his absence for awhile, he calls her to follow him--takes her away
from all her new-formed and pleasing connexions, and (affecting
consideration!) takes her likewise from her new-born babe. Methinks
I could now take the dear little forsaken stranger, and present it
to you in my arms (in the arms of my affection I do)--hear it
saying, in accents truly tender and striking, "Pity me, pity me, O
my friends, all ye my late worthy father's friends, my dear mother's
friends, for the hand of the Lord hath bereaved me; those who might
have been the guides of my youth he has taken away." Say you
not?--yes, I think I read the language in some of your countenances,
and in your tears--"Though father and though mother, dear babe, have
forsaken thee, the Lord take thee up."

Referring to the death of Mr. Boyce, the preacher observes--

Though, as a congregation, he has taken away from you an able,
faithful, useful shepherd, who watched for your souls as one that
must give an account--even under a trial and loss great as that is,
it becomes you not to censure or complain. Our good friend who is
now taken away manifested the happy influence of the Gospel hope in
the composure of her spirit under that great loss which she lately
sustained, and through the afflictions by which she was removed,
thankfully embracing and sweetly relying upon the Redeemer's
consolation to his disciples in John xiv. 2-4, "In my Father's house
are many mansions," &c. Referring to him who has recently been taken
away from her and from you, she said, with apparent pleasure, in her
last illness, "I shall soon be with the good man in glory"; speaking
in joyful terms of being taken to sing praises with the saints in
glory, for ever and ever.

In the month of April, 1771, an invitation was given to Mr. John Fuller to remain amongst them twelve months on trial, with a view to his becoming the pastor. At the expiration of that time a unanimous invitation was given to him. Mr. Fuller was ordained August 6th, 1772, when we find Messrs. Denny, Wright, King, Gregson, Dr. Ashworth, Addington, Hextal, and Dowley, were engaged. Mr. Fuller had been a member of the Church in Gravel Lane, London, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Noah Hill.

But in little more than two years from this time, dissatisfaction arose in the Church with the ministry of Mr. Fuller. It is stated, that "several persons proposed an assistant to Mr. Fuller, but the proposal was rejected by Mr. Fuller and his friends." The assistant proposed was a Mr. Richard Fuller, cousin to the pastor.

Under date of August 14th, 1774, we are informed "that a dissatisfaction having arisen in the minds of some of the Church members and subscribers with Mr. Fuller's preaching, and there being no prospect of peace and happiness, he this day declared his resigning his charge as minister and pastor; but supplied the congregation by others until Michaelmas, always behaving with a good temper and spirit, although his ministry was not by several approved." In our early days we have heard from some of the older members of the Church that the text of Mr. Fuller's farewell sermon was (Gen. xlv. 24) Joseph's counsel to his brethren, "See that ye fall not out by the way."