“After I leave England, I purpose giving one-seventh to poor-purse,
as my object in devoting one fifth was that I might more extensively
employ the poor about my premises, &c. &c. But as there is no want
of labour there, so large a proportion will not be needed: at least,
it so strikes me at present. Possibly, however, more will be needed
for the cause of God.”
One way in which employment was given to the poor at Hutton was, making a
side walk through the village, covered with white spar, which was
procured from the neighbouring hills, and was broken very small. His
rector, the Rev. Alfred Harford, shared in many of the plans which were
adopted for the benefit of the poor in Hutton.
Mr. Mortimer made a point of never being his own instrument in affording
pecuniary assistance to any of the persons he visited. If he noticed
that any persons were in distressed circumstances, or if any told him of
their difficulties, he would mention them to Mrs. Mortimer, and she would
do what was necessary to relieve them. Indeed, she was in every case his
almoner; for he never himself gave any money in charity. His reason for
this was, that the people might have no selfish aim in desiring his
visits, which he wished to be purely spiritual.
* * * * *
As a HUSBAND and a FATHER, Mr. Mortimer was a pattern of conjugal
tenderness and of parental kindness: there was a remarkable suavity in
his manners, which greatly endeared him to his family, and indeed to all
who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. If ever he said or wrote an
unkind word, he was the first to discover and acknowledge it, and to make
the most ample apology. His humility was so great that it might have
been suspected of disingenuousness, if those who knew him the most
intimately were not well assured of his Christian simplicity and
sincerity. His youngest daughter, writing to me, says, in reference to
this subject:—
“He kindly made me the companion of his drives before he began to
visit his people regularly, and he frequently talked to me more as if
I were his friend than his daughter; for he would speak of his
religious feelings, and even of his faults. He once said that he had
no wish to conceal his sins and failings here; for that they would
all be revealed before the assembled multitudes of men and angels at
the day of judgment. I frequently felt deeply humbled by the thought
that I was so unworthy of the feelings my beloved father entertained
towards me: but I was fully aware that it was his _own disposition_
to cause him to feel as he did towards me.”
My amiable young friend and god-daughter also writes, in reference to his
kindness to servants:—
“My dear father was the kindest and most considerate of MASTERS. He
was always anxious to promote the comfort and happiness of his
servants, and very careful not to wound their feelings, or to give
them unnecessary trouble or annoyance. He often expressed his
pleasure at seeing them seated by the fire at their needlework, or
enjoying the society of their relatives and friends, and would tell
them that he wished them to be as comfortable as he was himself. Nor
was he less mindful of their spiritual welfare, and took pains to
instruct them in the great duties of religion.”
For the foregoing particulars, illustrative of my friend’s character as a
Christian pastor, and in his domestic relations, with the exception of a
part of the article on the character of his preaching, attributed in a
note, to another friend, I am entirely indebted to his youngest daughter,
Miss Phebe Mortimer: nothing is due to myself except for the arrangement
of the materials with which I have been so kindly and so well furnished.
From the foregoing sketch, as well as from the general contents of the
volume, Mr. Mortimer’s character is clearly seen, and cannot fail to
excite admiration:—let every reader here add a prayer to be enabled to
imitate as well as to admire. That my friend was possessed of no
peculiarities, or of no defects, I do not affirm; but they were blended
with so much purity of motive, integrity of principle, and correctness of
conduct, that his general excellences were visible to all, his
peculiarities were known but to few. His _extreme carefulness_ in
expenditure, and his—seemingly, at least—_over anxiousness_ to preserve
unimpaired, if not to increase, his fortune, led him to the adoption of
some measures, which by many of his friends were thought questionable.
It is, however, exceedingly difficult to judge another in this matter,
or, indeed, to set up any precise and universal standard by which to form
a judgment in the case. So many among the clergy, it is to be feared,
err in the opposite extreme, and so much reproach has been brought upon
the Church and the clerical character, by the want of a sufficient
prudence and economy in secular affairs, to prevent pecuniary
embarrassment, that the error of too much care is much to be preferred to
that of a want of it, where it is attended by such counteracting
properties as marked Mr. Mortimer’s management of his income. His
systematic charity, his cheerful and bountiful liberality, and his strict
integrity, more than balance any defective peculiarity in his secular
matters.
If I might venture to sum up Mr. Mortimer’s character in a few words, I
should say that his whole life, from the time of his becoming a decided
Christian, was characterized by firm faith, deep humility, great
decision, steady consistency, self-denial, holy zeal, and patient
perseverance; and his manners were characterized by urbanity, kindness,
and sweetness of address peculiar to himself. As a pastor, as a private
Christian, as a relative, and as a friend, he has left an example worthy
of imitation. “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord: even so saith
the Spirit; for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow
them.”
Mr. Mortimer, just before his death, gave directions to destroy all his
papers and writings, and it does not appear that he kept any record of
the events of his life, or of his Christian experience: no specimen,
therefore, of his regular composition has come into the hands of the
writer. The following fragments or remains have been collected from
different sources, and show his opinions on the several subjects of them.