ADDRESS TO HIS PARISHIONERS. 325 Bishop Kidder was not able to pronounce whether Dr. Horneck "did move these young men at first to enter into such societies, or whether they first applied to him, and he only gave them rules to govern themselves by." But the cautious manner in which he here provided for the cultivation of brotherly-kindness, humility, candour, and the spirit of meekness, will commend his regulations to the admiration of all, particularly of those who are aware that consequences of an opposite nature have unhappily grown out of societies formed for the same important purposes, but conducted with less wisdom and foresight. This sketch of Dr. Horneck's ministerial character would be incomplete without an extract from an address to his "beloved parishioners," prefixed to his The Fire of the Altar, a work designed to assist the devout communicant*. There is nothing I am more afraid of, than that the generality of you, both young and old, either have not, or will not have, right apprehensions of that christian religion you profess; some being apt to place it in a careless, customary belief of the doctrine; some in leaving a few notorious sins; others, in saying their prayers; others in doing nobody wrong; others, again, in having good desires and pious inclinations: all which opinions are notorious mistakes of the nature and temper of christianity, which imports a change of nature, [and] disposition, and acting contrary to the humours, passions, manners, customs, and deportment of the world; and this is it I must see and perceive in you, before I can conclude that my pains and labours among you have not been in vain. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for you is, that you might be saved. I will assure you this is no compliment, no form of speech, no words in course, but the ardent wish of my soul, and my fervent prayers day and night; this is the desire of my soul in private and in public: for this I fill my mouth with arguments to that God who heareth prayers, even then when you do not think of me; for this I * The subjoined passage is transcribed from the 14th edition of that work. study and take pains, and am willing to spend myself and be spent; and your salvation is the great object of my care: for this end I venture your anger, and caress your love: for this end I walk blameless among you, and am tender of your welfare; for this end I reprove, and exhort, and entreat you, and run, and spend my breath, and all that you may be saved. I am not ignorant of the devil's devices; I am sensible of the nature of sin, how apt it is to deceive you; and though I am not with you in all places, I see by the effects how the enemy of your souls deals with you, and what will be the issue of a careless life. I consider the shrieks of the damned in hell, and would fain keep you from that dangerous gulf. I see you stand upon the brink of destruction, and cannot forbear calling to you! O! do yourselves no harm! The greatest kindness you can do me, the greatest gratitude you can express, the greatest civility and respect you can show me, is to do according to the wholesome counsels I do give you. Whatever construction some of you may put upon these adjurations, the Searcher of all hearts knows this to be true, that I will rejoice in nothing so much as in your obedience to the gospel. I would fain rejoice with you in the great day of the Lord Jesus; I would fain see you glorious saints in the everlasting mansions; I would fain see you shine as the stars in the firmament of heaven; I would see you triumph with angels, sing with cherubims, and join the celestial choir in eternal praise. Think what a dismal sight it will be in that day, to see some of you weeping and howling in the burning lake, that might have feasted with the Son of God in his Father's kingdom. We that meet together in the church militant here, what a happy, what a glorious sight would it be, to meet all in the church triumphant, when these bodies do drop from us! 327 CHAPTER II. HIS PRIVATE LIFE AND VIRTUES; DEATH AND CHARACTER. Ask him indeed what trophies he has raised, COWPER'S Task. "THE good example of the preacher," says Jeremy Taylor, "is always the most prevailing homily, his life is the best sermon." In examining Dr. Horneck's private character, we find that he lived as he preached. The sincerity and piety which were so manifest in his discharge of the duties of the pastoral care, are not less worthy of imitation, when we follow him from his parish and his church into the family circle, or the most secret place of his solitary devotions. "I must not," he says, "tell the people of one way, and go another;" we must not only pretend to religion, but practise it; not only talk and dispute, and entertain ourselves with speculations and discourses about it, but live up to its holy rules." ... 66 He was a bright and consistent example of personal religion; and of this we have abundant testimony. Bishop Kidder, after declaring that no partiality for his friend could induce him to "exceed in his commendation," thus describes the way in which he walked with God. "His religion had its full power and force upon him; it transformed him into the image and likeness of God. It hath always been esteemed safe advice to imitate Him whom we worship; he worshipped the true and living God, the holy and merciful, the God of truth and righteousness, and not only the greatest and most powerful, but the best of beings. He was a follower of God, and his divine image was fairly stamped and impressed upon his soul. He imitated God in those two things, which one of the ancients tells us will make us like God; viz., speaking truth, and bestowing benefits. "A man of greater simplicity and veracity I never knew, and there are multitudes that will witness that he went about doing good. He did vow in his baptism to renounce the devil, the world and the flesh. Some men go no further; all their religion comes from the font. But this good man performed his vow, he cast out of himself the evil one*, and renounced all his works; overcame the world in the noblest sense, and zubdued and mortified all the sinful desires of the flesh. He was a conqueror, and more than a conqueror. He devoted himself entirely, and without reservation, to the service of his God. It was not only his business, but his choice and delight, his meat and drink. I need not say that he was much in prayers and fastings, in meditation and heavenly discourse, very frequent in devout communion, in reading and hearing the word, in watchings and great austerities. He wisely considered that these were the means, not the end of religion, that these are not godliness, but only helps, and the way to it. And he arrived at the end of these things. 'He had an ardent love of God, a great faith in Him, and was resigned to his will; he had an unspeakable zeal for his honour, a profound regard to his word, and to his worship, and to all that had the nearest relation to Him, or did most partake of his image and likeness. He was a man after God's own heart. "He lived under a most grateful sense of God's mercies, he was governed by his fear, and had a lively sense of his especial care and providence. He had that sense of God's mercy in giving us his Son to die for us, that it was observed of him, that when he discoursed of that argument, he used no measure, no bounds, or limits of his discourse; his heart was so affected with that argument, that he could not put a stop to himself. Jesus was his Lord and Master, and He had His life and * Dr. Horneck entertained some notions, not peculiar in those times, with regard to the agency of the devil. He conceived that extraordinary powers might be attained through satanic influence. In short, he was not proof against well-attested stories of witchcraft, as appears from his postscript to Glanvil's work on that subject. example always before him, and conformed himself to it in the whole tenour and course of his life. His religion was unaffected and substantial, it was genuine and primitive; and so great a pattern he was, that he might have passed for a saint, even in the first and best times of christianity." The writings of such a man may fairly be quoted, as expressing the genuine sentiments of his heart, and illustrating his spirit and character; bishop Kidder assures us that they do so, and therefore we shall not hesitate, in the remainder of this memoir, to mingle some extracts from his works, with the other particulars which we are enabled to furnish from our other resources. He kept a continual watch over his soul, examining minutely its principles and the conduct which it dictated. A diary was found after his death, from which it appeared that he called himself to a strict account every night, for the thoughts, words, and actions of the day past. If he had done any good that day, he gave God the praise for it before he slept; "and few men that lived," says the bishop, "passed fewer days, if he passed any such, without doing good." But when any words or thoughts, which he could recall to his memory, seemed to betray a want of care and consideration, he reproached himself severely before he lay down to rest. Easily as he could forgive his enemies, he was slow to excuse himself, and while he was to others one of the kindest of men, to himself he was strict and severe. He looked upon this practice of daily self-examination as highly conducive to a christian's growth in grace, and pronounced it to be "the best preservative against the infection of any sin whatsoever." In his writings, he suggests several outlines of self-examination, of which there can be no doubt that he made use himself. He advises the christian to inquire into the use he has made of his several faculties and senses; or to try himself by the spirit as well as the letter of the ten commandments; -or to call his heart to account by questions framed out |