Edward Irving and James Hamilton. Dr. Hamilton came to Regent Square in the summer of 1841. The congregation, during the ten years which had elapsed from the time of their most painful separation from their pastor, Mr. Irving, had been in a very fluctuating condition. Some of the elders and leading members, as Mr. Nisbet, Mr. William Hamilton, Mr. Gillespie, Mr. John Thomson, and Mr. Blyth, stood firmly, as a tower of strength, by the Church which had been reared under such promising auspices, but whose prospects had become soon so much darkened; but affairs were not prosperous. One minister after another failed in his attempt to build up a congregation. The noble building, with its wide-spread arches and numerous seats, was not half nor a quarter filled, and the memory of the past, when every seat and passage were crowded, seemed but to add to the gloom and desolation of the present. In these circumstances, a young man of twenty-six years of age, of but feeble constitution, and weak though melodious voice, was invited to take the charge, and ventured to do so. In an "Historical Sketch" of the congregation, written some years ago, we believe by Mr. Gillespie, the following account is given of the call:-"It was in the spring of 1841 that an influential deputation came up from Scotland upon the affairs of the Church, and we determined to bring our case before them, stating that unless by their co-operation we succeeded in soon obtaining a suitable minister, we should really be forced to close the doors of the church. remember, one morning, that some of us went down to Craven-street, where we met, amongst others, Dr. Candlish, I Dr. Robert Buchanan, and Dr. Alexander Dunlop these friends expressed their sympathy with us, and saw the necessity of some decided action to help us out of our difficulties. Without, I think, mentioning any name, they stated that they had one young man in view, who, if he could be prevailed upon to come to us, would more than compensate for all the disappointments that we had experienced. They said, however, that there might be difficulty in the way, owing to his recent settlement in his present charge; but they promised to communicate with him immediately on their return to Edinburgh. They were as good as their word; and in the course of a few days we learnt that the Rev. James Hamilton, of Roxburgh Church, Edinburgh, would come up, but could remain with us for two Sabbaths only." The visit resulted in a unanimous call. The result abundantly justified the choice. The church began soon to fill; many strangers were brought by the fame of his imaginative powers; young Scotchmen, as they came to London, were attracted by the genial spirit of the pastor, as well as by the interest of his sermons; everything in the congregation was well organized, so that those introduced to the officebearers were sure of receiving proper attention and being drafted off into some society. The Young Men's Society, which has been of such great advantage to many, was established the very year that Dr. Hamilton entered upon his ministry. There were only 135 who signed the call, showing the weak state of the congregation at that period. In the last annual report the communicants were stated to be 650. Of the 135 communicants who invited James Hamilton to be their pastor in 1841 only eleven remain. When the disruption of the Church of Scotland took place in 1843, he headed the Evangelical party on this side the Tweed, in opposition to Dr. Cumming, who headed those who still adhered to the old Kirk. Of his London life since that period Mr. Peter Bayne says:-"Dr. Hamilton has not only been the presiding and guiding spirit in his denomination for the last quarter of a century, but has been in some sense the London representative and centre of Presbyterianism for the world. He was often half-jestingly referred to as the Presbyterian Bishop. His house in Euston-square was a point towards which Presbyterians, lay and clerical, alighting in London, naturally turned, and never did any one cross that threshold without hearing a kind word, and being cheered by the knowledge that in London he had found a friend. In the councils of the denomination, his mild wisdom, his deep sagacity, his genial energy, his felicitous tact, were of inestimable value. He was at all times ready to lend assistance to a brother, or to preach in vacant charges throughout the country, and wherever he came his presence was felt as an illumination. We cannot wish better for the Presbyterians of England than that the spirit of Hamilton may continue to rule among them. A kind of sacredness appears now to attach to his opinions on the prominent questions which interest Presbyterians. Again and again, within the last few years, he had declared it to be his firm conviction that, whatever might be said in relation to the Presbyterian Churches of Scotland and Ireland, it was a duty and a necessity for Presbyterians in England to unite. In doctrinal mat ters he never swerved from the orthodoxy of the Westminster divines, but, in his recent work on public worship and church music-a brief work, but very noble-he virtually though not formally abjures all that has been narrow, stunted, or mean in Puritan conceptions of Divine worship, and shows that in his idea of what the public service of God ought to be, as in his personal religion, the Good and the True were associated with the Beautiful. "But it was not alone within the Presbyterian pale that Dr. Hamilton was known and loved. There was no Evangelical denomination with which he did not sympathize and co-operate in Christian work. Who that has been in the way of attending anniversary and similar meetings in the metropolis can have forgotten those little speeches, marvels of geniality, brilliancy, wit, and wisdom, which became more marvellously charming from the radiance which sparkled in his eye, and played in rare, bright, boylike humour about his lip? With the true spell of genius he could command the mood of his audience, and the smile or the tear obeyed his touch as if he were a spiritual enchanter. Still, the main impression always was of love for the man, and you felt inclined to rush up to the platform and embrace him. His sympathies were wonderfully large, and his courage was as true as his sympathy was wide." Some months ago Dr. Hamilton had a seizure, of the precise nature of which it appears that medical men held different opinions. But there is little doubt that it was of the nature of paralysis. His death took place on the 24th of November, 1867, when he was within three days of complet ing the fifty-third year of his age. The following characteristic message from his deathbed was delivered by Dr. Candlish in the funeral sermon:"Love to the Session and congregation," to some by name, and many more. "If any inquire the ground of my confidence, it is not that I have been a minister of the Gospel, or have been kept from some sins; for I feel utterly unworthy. My hope is in the mercy of God, through Jesus Christ, and in that blood which cleanseth from all sin. And I wish to go into God's presence as the rest have gone a sinner saved by grace—a sinner saved by grace." His brother, the Rev. William Hamilton, Free Church minister of Stonehouse, reports the following conversation with him shortly before his death. "He was no way surprised at seeing me step into his room, and welcomed me in his own peculiar manner:-'My dear William, how glad I am to see you! How kind of you to come so far!' 'I have just come,' was the reply, to let you know, dear James, how many of us are envying you your happiness at being so near home.' 'I sometimes hope it may be so,' is the rejoinder; and yet I may perhaps be disappointed.' 'No, James, dear, you won't be disappointed in this, for you cannot be long here; you will be at home in a day or two, or perhaps in a few hours.' He then brightened up, and gave me such a loving look, 'Ch, William, you have brought me good news indeed! How kind of you to tell me this!' After a short silence, the conversation was resumed. 'I have been preaching lately from these words, "Whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord;" and I have been much interested in finding in the Greek the expression in the next verse, "To be absent from the body, and present with the Lord," may be rendered, "at home with the Lord;" at home, because of His being there; at home, because the family are gathered together.' Oh, how beautiful! how beautiful! And that is the meaning of "Igo to prepare a place for you!" I go to make it a home for you.' Then after a pause, 'Oh, William, you are a happy man. You are strong and well, and you have the wondrous privilege of preaching the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ.' Asking for his brother's wife and children, and being told that they all sent their love to him, he said, 'Oh, do you know I am lying in love, and hemmed in by love on every side; there is nothing but love around me; I don't say within me, for I am not so full of love as I should be.' Here his voice failed." "Is not this James Hamilton all over?" said Dr. Candlish. Lying in love; hemmed in by love on every side; nothing but love around me; only too little love within me!' What genuine thankfulness and humility! It was the very fulness of his love that made him feel a shortcoming; he had so much that he never could be satisfied that he loved enough. And there was no weakness in his love; it was not feeble sentiment, but strong, manly affection; for it was love in the truth-in the truth of Godthe truth as it is in Jesus. Never was there any compromise of principle on his side, or any indulgent softness towards error or sin; but he loved to find the substance of the truth where others might have failed to see it, among all sorts of men holding the Head, which is Christ Jesus our Lord." One other indication has been given to the public of the abundant entrance which this good and honoured man received into the heavenly kingdom. At his funeral a beautiful hymn* was sung, founded on the last words of Samuel Rutherford, "Glory, glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land." When announcing it Dr. W. Chalmers intimated that three or four days before his death Dr. Hamilton asked that it should be read to him, and that it should be sung by his family assembled around his bedside, and that in a faltering voice, as it was being sung, he joined in the strains. The hymn begins "The sands of time are sinking, The dawn of heaven breaks, The summer morn I've sighed for, The fair sweet morn awakes: Dark, dark hath been the midnight, But day-spring is at hand, And glory, glory dwelleth In Immanuel's land." It was on a Sabbath morning he entered "Immanuel's land." And we cannot help thinking, to use the words of Mr. Peter Bayne, "that if he had been asked to say at what period of the day or week it would be most to his mind to die, he would have named the Sabbath, and the Sabbath morning." CONGREGATIONALISM IN ESSEX. By the Reb. T. M. Dabids, Colchester. CONGREGATIONALISM in Essex seems to date from the times of the Wycliffeites. The little communities of" Gospellers " who were detected at Witham, Braintree, Colchester, Birdbrook, Boxted, Billericay, Bumpstead, and other places in the county, at the commencement of the sixteenth century, were evidently Congregational in their polity; as also were others of which we discover traces in the reigns of Edward VI. and Mary, at Bocking, Colchester, and elsewhere. Frequent references to the "Brownists" occur in the parish registers, the Archidiaconal Act Books, and other documents, of the reign of Elizabeth; there are also distinct evidences of churches of that order at Rochford, Romford, and other places at that date. William Ames, afterwards so wellknown at the Hague, Franeker, and *The poem from which this hymn is taken, containing eighteen double stanzas, was published in the "Christian Witness" in April, 1865. Rotterdam, and who was chosen by the Bailiffs and Corporation of Colchester as their "town preacher," in 1609, was an “Independent"; and from the circumstances under which his election to that then influential post took place, it would appear that those who sympathised with his opinions in the town were very numerous. From a MS. in the possession of the writer, entitled, "Catechisme of the Groundes of Religion, by way of Question and Answer," written by Francis Liddal, who was Town Preacher at Colchester, from 1619 to 1628, it should seem that he also held similar views of ecclesiastical polity to those of his illustrious predecessor. William Bridge, who was 66 "Town preacher" at the same place in 1631, and had previously held a living in another part of the county, was the well-known minister of that name, who afterwards distinguished himself as a Congregationalist in the Assembly of Divines; and several of his Essex contemporaries were also his companions in tribulation for the same opinions; as Thomas Weld, then vicar of Terling; Thomas Hooker, lecturer at Chelmsford; John Eliot, Hooker's assistant during his residence at Baddow; Thomas Shepard, lecturer at Earl's Colne; John Norton, curate at Arkesden; George Philips, of Boxted, and Nathaniel, son of John Rogers, of Dedham; all of whom were afterwards conspicuous among the founders of Congregationalism in New England. John Knowles, another of the Colchester town preachers,-from 1635 to 1639, was also a Congregationalist, and afterwards distinguished himself as such, both during his exile in New England and, after his return to England, in the metropolis. John Stalham, who succeeded Weld at Terling, early formed a Congregationalist church in that parish; of which he continued to be the pastor until his ejection by the Act of Uniformity, in 1662. John Owen formed another at Fordham soon after 1642, and a second at Coggeshall, shortly afterwards. There were also several other Congregationalists labouring in the county at that date, as there were several afterwards, during the Commonwealth; as William Sparrow, of Halsted; Samuel Crossman, of Henney; Thomas Horrocks, of Romford, Stapleford Tawny, and Maldon; John Reeve, Springfield; Jeremiah Dyke, of Parndon; George Moxon, of Radwinter; John Bulkley, of Fordham : John Sams, of Kelvedon and Coggeshall; Richard Rand, of Marks Tey; Thomas Lawson, of Fingringhoe; Thomas Lowry, of Braxted; Thomas Mall, of Thaxted; Lemuel Tuke, of Steeple and Raine; Benjamin Way, of Barking; Thomas Waterhouse, Owen Stockton, and George Downe, of Colchester; and John Westley, of Stanway, the great-grandfather of the Methodist of that name; all of whom, with the exception of Dyke, survived the Restoration, and like Bridge, Knowles, Weld, Stalham, and Owen, were ejected from their livings by the Acts of 1660-1662 : Lowry at Market Harborough, Mall at Exeter, Tuke at Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottingham, Waterhouse at Ash, in Suffolk, Way at Stafford, Dorset, Westley at Winterbourne, Dorset, and the others in Essex. Besides these, there was another distinguished Congregationalist who laboured in Essex from 1640 to 1644. This was John Ward, the fellow sufferer of William Bridge, at Norwich, where it would appear that he was "parish chaplain" at St. Bennet's, in that city. On his suspension by Matthew Wren, Ward accompanied his friend Bridge to Holland, where they became co-pastors of the church which had been founded at Rotterdam by William Ames. In 1640 he, like his friend, returned to England, and was called' to Colchester, and became incumbent of St. Botolph's, in that town. Ward also was a member of the Assembly of Divines, but died before the discussions arose in which the "dissenting brethren" took so prominent a part; and was buried at St. Botolph's, 12th May, 1644. |