[Picture: Rev. Dr. Raleigh. By kind permission of Messrs. Elliot & Fry]
A DISTINGUISHED living preacher once said to his congregation that his
work would only be done when he had taught them to do without him. It is
a true test of the soundness of a minister’s work when the congregation
does not break up, nor even suffer loss at his withdrawal, but, in the
spirit of faith and prayer and counsel, addresses itself to the delicate
work of seeking a successor. A congregation, that for thirty-two years
had enjoyed the ministry of so able a man as Dr. Stoughton, might have
almost been forgiven, had it manifested some indecision when his guidance
was withdrawn. But a true Independent Church is trained to habits of
self-government; and at the critical periods of its history these habits
are its protection and salvation. After unavailing efforts had been made
to induce the Rev. G. S. Barrett, B.A., of Norwich, to accept the
pastorate, the thought of the Church was directed to one whose name will
ever be fragrant in the memory of the Church of Christ, Dr. Alexander
Raleigh. At this time Dr. Raleigh was exercising his ministry in
connection with two associated churches in Highbury; and only the strain
of this exceptional work upon one of his advancing years could justify
him in listening to any proposals that he should move westward. The work
at Highbury was in the highest degree fruitful: but it was evident that
Dr. Raleigh’s health was on the verge of breaking down; and when the
cordial and unanimous call of the Kensington Church reached him he gave
it earnest and anxious consideration, and finally determined to accept
it.
In this way there was consummated a union of which those who were
privileged to share in it speak to this day in the most tender and
grateful terms. One feels that the very chapel has been hallowed and
consecrated by the closing years of a beautiful ministry—years which
brought with them all the radiant hues and tints of autumn. The story of
these years, as, indeed, of the whole life of Alexander Raleigh, has been
so inimitably written by his wife, that it has become a classic among
Nonconformist biographies; and there are few libraries among us on the
shelves of which there are not to be found “Quiet Resting-places,” “The
Little Sanctuary,” “The Book of Esther,” or some other volume of those
exquisitely finished and spiritual sermons which will embody the spirit
of Alexander Raleigh for all future generations. Dr. Raleigh, especially
at this period of his life, had an indefinable grace of spiritual repose
and inward peace, which communicated itself to those who came under his
influence. Not that he was a Quietist. He was an ardent politician, and
never ceased to take a profound and practical interest in questions of
national importance. He was an impassioned preacher of righteousness;
and a robust and uncompromising Nonconformist. But controversy did not
disturb his deep inward peace of spirit; and while it is true that, like
the great Independent of earlier days,
“His heart
The lowliest duties on herself did lay”;
it could also be said of him,
“Thy soul was like a star and dwelt apart.”
But it would be impossible to speak of Dr. Raleigh’s work at Kensington
without speaking of Mrs. Raleigh’s work also. It is still a red-letter
day in the experience of many at Kensington Chapel when Mrs. Raleigh
revisits those in whose hearts she has so large a place, and to many of
whom she made real the most sacred beliefs of Christianity. Mrs. Raleigh
gathered a large Bible Class, which still continues to assemble in the
Deacons’ Vestry on Sunday afternoons, and comprises not only elder girls
and young women, but those who would not be offended if they were called
elderly. The character of her influence over this class, and over all in
the congregation who knew her—and who did not?—needs to be actually known
to be adequately appreciated.
The congregations, under Dr. Raleigh’s inspiring ministry, filled the
large chapel in every part. And, with this growth in the congregation,
it must have been very encouraging, to all who were interested, to mark
the growth in the Church. At one time forty-three members are recorded
as having joined the Church, at another time thirty, at another
twenty-five, and so on. Many who were of Scotch extraction found their
patriotism too strong even for denominational preferences, and came great
distances to hear “Raleigh” at Kensington. Brief as his ministry was—too
brief, we say, with our imperfect conceptions—it was yet long enough to
leave an indelible impression on numbers of his hearers, who will bear
the marks of his fashioning to all eternity. His successors in the
ministry here alone know, perhaps, how deep and abiding was the spiritual
work done in those five years.
That, in the enjoyment of these rare spiritual privileges, the Church did
not become self-centred, is manifest, not only in the steady interest in
missionary and philanthropic work, but in the initiation of a movement,
which was not realised until later, for planting a new church at West
Kensington. With characteristic generosity Dr. Raleigh welcomed the
proposal, but it was not given to him to do more than “greet the promise
afar.” The shadow was even now beginning to fall upon him; yet those who
had been most apprehensive of a serious breakdown in his health learned
with something of stupefaction the doctors’ verdict that recovery was
impossible. There is a deeply pathetic suggestiveness associated with
the fact that the last sermon he preached was from the text, “And Enoch
walked with God: and he was not, for God took him.” Possibly some
premonition of the end had come to him; possibly a Higher than he had put
the words into his heart for his final address to his beloved people.
For the touching story of his last days, we shall still turn to the
beautiful narrative of Mrs. Raleigh. It is not too much to say that not
only all Congregationalists everywhere kept sympathetic watch, as it
were, around the sick-bed; but the larger Church of Christ listened
anxiously for tidings of the progress of the invalid. And progress it
was, but progress heavenward. Shortly after noon on Monday, April 19th,
1880, he passed away; and, for the first time in its history, Death had
sealed the ministry of a pastor of the Kensington Church while he was
still in its service. There is a holy discipline for a Church in such a
deep common sorrow, such as not the most eloquent preaching can convey.
The “still” voice speaks louder even than the strong full voice of life.
It is good sometimes for the soul of a people to be humbled by a great
grief. At no past time had an experience so searching as this come to
the Church at Kensington. Its pastors had left it for other work and
other spheres. But this one had died among them; in the very ripeness of
his powers he had passed away. All the demonstrations of their sorrow
were but a weak expression of what they felt. And yet there was a
meaning in the visitation; and one cannot doubt that out of their
minister’s cheerful serenity, and calm and tranquil “exodus,” God wrought
for them a quickening of faith. For of Alexander Raleigh it might well
be said that the “manner of his passing” was an “evidence of the things
unseen.”