[Picture: Rev. Robert Vaughan. D.D.]
IN the minutes that describe the events immediately succeeding the
resignation of Mr. Leifchild, in August, 1824, there are several
references to the institution of a Church Prayer Meeting. Such an
anxious period as inevitably follows the loss of a minister is often a
valuable discipline to a Church, as tending to throw the members back
upon the guidance of the Spirit of God. That the Church at Kensington
had realised the need to consult, not only with one another, but with the
All-wise, was the best possible augury of prosperity to come. And,
verily, God did choose for them. Dr. Robert Vaughan was a very different
man in many ways from Mr. Leifchild, but no one could have been more
admirably adapted to continue and develop the work that the Church had
hitherto been doing. He had all the instincts and tastes of a scholar;
and as a brilliant historical writer he exercised a wider ministry, and
influenced a larger circle, than if he had simply exercised his gifts as
a preacher in the Hornton Street pulpit. So considerable was his fame
that he was appointed Professor of Modern History at London University;
and, with the generosity which has always characterised the Kensington
congregation in such matters, his people spared him gladly much of the
labour of visitation, for the sake of the services he was thus able to
render to the rising generation of Londoners. Kensington was now
assuming the character it has ever since possessed, of a great
residential suburb for aristocratic and wealthy London. There was a
large circle of able and cultivated men and women to be reached and
influenced by the attraction of one, whose personal attainments and
powers were sufficiently remarkable to overcome the strong prejudices
against Dissenting meeting-places that have always existed in the minds
of such. This power Dr. Vaughan possessed and exercised: while at the
same time his personal elevation of character, and rare spiritual
earnestness, qualified him pre-eminently to be a guide to all who knew
him in “the deep things of God.” We are consequently quite prepared to
find that the little meeting-house in Hornton Street was a centre of
light and leading to a large number of men and women who occupied
prominent positions in society and in the professions. And yet the last
accusation that could be levelled against Dr. Vaughan was that of a
“tuft-hunter.” He did not _stoop_ to conquer, in the sense of descending
to any unworthy artifices: he flattered no one; and his reputation as one
of the great historians of Nonconformity is sufficient assurance that he
never betrayed his trust as a custodian of the sacred interests of
religious freedom.
One of the signs of the earnestness of the Church at this time, in
seeking to perpetuate the principles for which it stood, was the constant
interest manifested in the work of the British Schools, for which Dr.
Vaughan repeatedly preached special sermons. The school used to meet in
a building at the back of Hornton Street Chapel. No attempt was made to
indoctrinate the infant mind with denominational ideas; but, on the other
hand, such religious instruction was given as is clearly to be gathered
from the study of the Bible, and any child could be educated there
without being required to learn by heart the exceedingly questionable
teaching of the Church Catechism. For a long period of years these
schools remained in very close touch with the Congregational Church, and
were only eventually transferred to the management of the School Board
when the general scheme of religious education, under the Board, was seen
to be thoroughly in harmony with what had prevailed so long in the
British Schools.
It is by such simple notices as those concerning the British Schools, the
Missionary Society, the Sunday Schools, and other institutions, that we
can form our idea of the many interests that were beginning to take
possession of the hearts of the people. The records during Dr. Vaughan’s
ministry are singularly imperfect, and it is only quite incidentally that
we get some impression of the steadily increasing prosperity of the
cause. For eighteen years Dr. Vaughan continued his ministry, and there
is not a single evidence of a moment’s break in the harmony of the
Church. When, in 1843, Dr. Vaughan was honoured with an invitation to
become Principal of the Lancashire Independent College, the letters of
himself and of the Church were such as became those who had lived and
worked so long together in the most honourable spirit of Christian
fellowship. The letter of the Church is exceedingly touching in its
anxiety to express to the full its ardent and affectionate attachment to
Dr. Vaughan, and yet to do nothing to add to the necessary pain and
anxiety of his decision. Dr. Vaughan felt that the call to Lancashire
was of God, and he placed his resignation in the hands of the Church.
But even then, his interest in their welfare was unabated; and he knew
the perils of a time of unsettlement. There was one well known to him,
and to whom he was related by many affinities of thought and sympathy,
who was labouring at that time in a sphere of less influence at Windsor;
and, before he left Kensington, he approached Dr. John Stoughton, and
obtained from him the promise that he would consent to preach before the
Kensington congregation. Two months afterwards Dr. Stoughton accepted a
unanimous invitation from the Church, and commenced his ministry. Before
closing this chapter, one word must be added. There are many sacred
memories connected with Hornton Street Chapel, and those who used to
worship there; but none more sacred to all who honour those in whom pure
genius stands united to simple faith and devout spirituality, than those
associated with the name of Robert Alfred Vaughan. He was the beloved
son of Dr. Vaughan, and the highest hopes were cherished for him by a
large circle of religious and literary men. He entered the
Congregational ministry, and gave to the world a work of the greatest
promise, entitled “Hours with the Mystics.” His own beautiful spirit
breathed through every page. But his work was too arduous, and he died
in early manhood. It has been said that if he had avoided the fatigue of
constant pastoral duty, he might have lived on to do brilliant
intellectual work. It may be so. But perhaps he chose the better part,
and did the greater work, as will one day be known. At any rate, he has
left us his own answer, in what has been called his “Psalm of Life.”
“And thou canst not in life’s city
Rule thy course as in a cell:
There are others, all thy brothers,
Who have work to do as well.
“Some events that mar thy purpose
May light _them_ upon their way;
Our sun—shining, in declining—
Gives earth’s other side the day.
“Every star is drawn and draweth
’Mid the orbits of its peers;
And the blending thus unending
Makes the music of the spheres.”
Of Robert Alfred Vaughan we still love to conjecture what he _is_, or, as
some prefer to put it, what he would have been if he had lived. He was
the Arthur Hallam of Nonconformity.