The works of the Rev. Isaac Watts, D. D., Vol. 1 of 9
[Frontispiece: Isaac Watts, D.D.]
THE WORKS OF THE REV. ISAAC WATTS, D. D. IN _NINE VOLUMES_.
VOL. I.
CONTAINING
SERMONS.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW;
BAINES, ROBINSON AND SON, HARDCASTLE, AND HEATON, LEEDS,
By Edward Baines, Leeds.
1812.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
Memoirs of Dr. Watts ... iii
Dedication ... xxv
Preface ... xxix
FORTY-THREE SERMONS ON VARIOUS OCCASIONS.
SERM. 1, 2, 3. The Inward Witness to Christianity, 1 John v. 10. ... 1,
13, 25
SERM. 4. Flesh and Spirit; or, the Principles of Sin and Holiness, Rom.
viii. 1. ... 45
SERM. 5, 6. The Soul Drawing near to God in Prayer; Sins and Sorrows
spread before God, Job xxxiii. 3, 4. ... 64, 78
SERM. 7, 8. A Hopeful Youth falling Short of Heaven, Mark x. 21. ... 92,
107
SERM. 9, 10. The Hidden Life of a Christian, Col. iii. 3. ... 123, 141
SERM. 11. Nearness to God, the Felicity of Creatures, Ps. lxv. 4. ...
160
SERM. 12. The Scale of Blessedness: or, Blessed Saints, Blessed Saviour,
& Blessed Trinity, Ps. lxv. 4. ... 172
SERM. 13, 14. Appearance before God here and hereafter, Ps. xlii. 2. ...
187, 199
SERM. 15, 16, 17. A Rational Defence of the Gospel; Or, Courage in
Professing Christianity, Rom. i. 16. ... 211, 226, 238
SERM. 18, 19. Faith the Way to Salvation, and none excluded from Hope,
Rom. i. 16. ... 251, 263
SERM. 20, 21, 22. Christian Morality, _viz._ Truth, Sincerity, &c. Phil.
iv. 8. ... 276, 291, 303
SERM. 23. Christian Morality, _viz._ Gravity, Decency, &c. Phil. iv. 8.
... 318
SERM. 24, 25. Christian Morality, _viz._ Justice, Equity, and Truth,
Phil. iv. 8. ... 331, 344
SERM. 26, 27. Christian Morality, _viz._ Justice, Purity, Temperance,
Chastity, and Modesty, Phil. iv. 8. ... 357, 373
SERM. 28. Christian Morality, _viz._ a Lovely Carriage, &c. Phil. iv. 8.
... 382
SERM. 29. Christian Morality, _viz._ Things of Good Report, &c. Phil.
iv. 8. ... 399
SERM. 30. Christian Morality, _viz._ Courage and Honour, Virtue and
Praise, Phil. iv. 8. ... 413
SERM. 31, 32. Holy Fortitude, or Remedies against Fear, 1 Cor. xvi. 13.
... 425, 439
SERM. 33. The Universal Rule of Equity, Mat. vii. 12. ... 457
SERM. 34, 35, 36. The Atonement of Christ, Rom. iii. 25. ... 472, 486,
503
SERM. 37, 38. The Christian’s Treasure, 1 Cor. iii. 21. ... 518, 532
SERM. 39 The Right Improvement of Life, 1 Cor. iii. 22. ... 547
SERM. 40. The Privilege of the Living above the Dead, 1 Cor. iii. 22.
... 563
SERM. 41. Death improved to our Advantage, 1 Cor. iii. 22. ... 582
SERM. 42. The Death of Kindred improved, 1 Cor. iii. 22. ... 599
SERM. 43. Death a Blessing to the Saints, 1 Cor. iii. 22. ... 609
MEMOIRS OF _DOCTOR WATTS_.
It was a custom among the ancient Romans, to preserve in wax, the
figures of those among their ancestors, who were of noble birth; or had
been _more_ nobly advanced to the chair of honour by their personal
merits. Sallust relates that Scipio and other great men, by beholding
these likenesses, found enkindled in _their_ breasts, so ardent a thirst
after virtue, as could not be extinguished, till, by the glory of their
_own actions_, they had equalled the illustrious objects of their
emulation. But it is the happiness of _Christians_ to possess truer
notions of virtue, and to be governed by infinitely higher views. We
may, however, hence observe the force of example, which is peculiarly
operative in those who sincerely love God. They no sooner reflect on the
accounts given of such as have been eminent for their piety and zeal,
than they become desirous of imbibing the same spirit[1].
The advantages to be derived from theological biography, are too various
to be enumerated; and of such obvious importance, as to supersede all
studied encomiums. The sacred scriptures abound with relations of
extraordinary occurrences in the lives of men, who were distinguished in
their day by their virtues or their crimes: And, as if the Holy Spirit
designed to provide for our entertainment, and to gratify our curiosity;
there is not a beauty in this species of historical writing, of which we
have not some interesting example, in the inspired volume.
Each character is drawn by the hand of impartiality and faithfulness; so
that we are in no danger of being deceived by the influence of any of
those passions, which so often degrade other relations of the same kind.
While compassion tempers the hatred of sin, the love of truth corrects
the ardor of _private_ gratitude, the usual partiality of friendship,
and the zeal of opinion. Here no excellence, which evidences them to be
the Sons of God, is exalted above its intrinsic value; nor is any
failing, common to them as the children of Adam, concealed or
extenuated.
Next to these divine records, our esteem is claimed by the many valuable
literary monuments which have been raised in all succeeding ages, by the
labours of piety and veneration, to the remembrance of those eminent
names, whom the unerring Judge of _true_ excellence _has delighted to
honour_.
The lives of men who have made themselves famous in the cabinet, or in
the field, may instruct and animate survivors of the same profession:
the intrigues of courts, the elevation and the fall of a statesman, the
manœuvres of generalship, the decision of a battle, are attended to with
a lively avidity by the sanguine politician: But if characters and
events in themselves little (if at all) adapted to the great purposes of
intellectual and moral improvement, can create such an interest in the
worldly mind, with what superior delight and advantage may the subjects
of the wisdom that is from above review the lives of those who (whatever
inauspicious circumstances may have attached to their origin, or to
their condition in life) have exemplified the beauties of unaffected
devotion, and shewn the way to true, to substantial happiness, and
immortal honour! “Such a man, although the meanest mechanic, who employs
his best affections upon the Author of his life and salvation, who loves
the good, compassionates the distressed, and breathes peace and
good-will to all; who abhors vice, and pities the vicious, who subdues
and triumphs over the unruly passions of his fallen nature; such a man
(however low his outward condition) is the best patriot, and has more
just pretensions to heroism, than he who makes the most glaring figure
in the eye of an injudicious world. He is like one of the fixed stars,
which through the _remoteness_ of its situation, may be thought very
inconsiderable and obscure by unskilful beholders, yet is as truly great
and glorious in itself, as those luminaries which, by being placed more
commodiously for our view, shine with more distinguished lustre[2].”
The christian will here see the excellence of genuine religion, in its
influence upon the mind and conduct through every department of life. In
the most afflicted state of the Saviour’s empire, he will find some
bright examples of decision, unshaken confidence, and undaunted zeal.
His faith in the doctrines of the gospel will be confirmed by observing
the god-like tempers, and the various lineaments of the divine character
produced by the sovereign virtues of those doctrines. In such memoirs,
he will learn more perfectly to distinguish between the realities and
the shadows of devotion; and to decide more satisfactorily on the state
of religion in his own mind; and while tracing the mysterious operations
of providence, in advancing the servants of God to prosperity and
happiness, by trivial and improbable means, new sources of admiration
and pleasure will continually open to his view. Here in the time of
difficulty, he may obtain well adapted directions for his conduct; he
may meet with salutary caution amidst the allurements of worldly
enjoyment; and in the prospect of suffering or dying, he may so far
enter into the spirit of the characters he contemplates, as more
effectually to secure the dignity of his own.
From the memorials of distinguished men, the student, who is seriously
engaged in the pursuit of knowledge, will renew his strength, to
surmount the hinderances incident to his labours, while he follows them,
whose admired _natural_ abilities have been cultivated to the highest
attainable state of perfection, or whose persevering application to the
means of improvement has brought to light hidden powers of genius; who
were insensible to the baits of pleasure, the contagious example of
indolence and vice, and the most discouraging difficulties; who were
superior to the obstinate prejudices which often persecute a low origin,
the disadvantages of indigence, a sickly constitution, natural
impediments, and whatever a supine and grovelling mind would pronounce
insuperable. While he keeps such a character in sight, he will assume
fresh courage in struggling to useful eminence; and every day his
success will be less dubious. The plans they adopted, the various helps
of which they availed themselves in their progress, their uniform
perseverance, their acquisitions and the application they made of them
to the service of the church and of civil society, cannot fail to
administer instruction. Every candidate for the work of the sanctuary,
who feels as he ought the importance of his designation, and who, having
finished his preparatory obligations, will owe much of his best
assistance to the light reflected upon him from these luminaries.
Some, if not all, of these advantages, will be obtained from the life of
Dr. Watts; if perused with such dispositions, as gave that life all its
lustre. What is said of another eminent man, will with equal truth apply
to him: As anatomy discovers all the curious contexture of our bodily
fabric, so here are vivid representations of faith, love, and an
heavenly mind; of humility, meekness, self-denial, entire resignation to
the will of God, in their first and continued motions; with whatever
parts and principles besides, compose the whole frame of the new
creature. Here it is as if we could perceive with our eyes, how the
blood circulates in an human body through all the veins and arteries;
how the heart beats, the animal spirits fly to and fro, and how each
nerve, tendon, fibre, and muscle, performs its several operations. Here
it may be seen, how an heart touched from above, works and tends
thitherward: how it depresses itself in humiliation, dilates itself in
love, exalts itself in praise, submits itself under chastisement, and
how it draws in its refreshments and succours as there is need. To many
who have seen so amiable a course of life, how grateful will it be to
behold the secret motions of those inward latent principles, from whence
all proceed! Though others would look no further than the advantages (in
external respects) that accrue from it. So some content themselves, to
know by a clock the hour of the day, or partake the beneficial use of
some rarer engine; the more curious, especially any that design
imitation, and to compose something of the same kind, would be much more
gratified, if through some pellucid enclosure, they could behold all the
inward work, and observe how every wheel, spring, or movement, perform
their several parts and offices, towards that common use[3].
But to him whose _only_ object is entertainment, the subsequent Memoirs
will afford but little gratification. Extraordinary incidents, and
curious anecdotes, are not to be expected in the life of a man, whose
excursions were bounded by a few miles in the neighbourhood of the
metropolis; who had formed no domestic relations; whose bodily
afflictions, often and for long seasons, incapacitated him for every
duty, and for every pleasure, but such as were purely intellectual and
spiritual; and who, when in health, perhaps rather shunned social
intercourse, as incompatible with his literary pursuits and his
ministerial obligations. But whoever is capable of appreciating the
importance of learning and philosophy, when sanctified by an ardent zeal
for the glory of God, by gentleness, humility, and unremitted exertions
for the best interests of the world; or whoever possesses the noble
ambition of attaining such eminence in wisdom, piety, and usefulness,
and of imbibing any degree of that elevation of mind, so conspicuous in
this great man, may anticipate more substantial rarities, the zest of
which he will never lose, while he fields the aid of instruction, or the
animating influence of an example so full of grace and beauty.
ISAAC WATTS, the eldest of nine children, was born July 17, 1674, at
Southampton. If his family connections did not possess the advantages of
affluence, they were such as might have secured him against the
prejudice usually attached to a low origin, by the pride of fashionable
life. But had he descended (as was reported) from a poor mechanic, had
his parents lived in the utmost meanness, his name would be pronounced
with reverence; his character and writings would be held in the same
esteem and admiration by all who are capable of making a just estimate
of what is truly valuable in the existence of man. As princely grandeur
can never dignify ignorance and vice, so talents, learning, and piety,
are not to be degraded by any reverse. His father presided over a
boarding-school, at Southampton; of good reputation. He was a man of
lively devotion, and a decided non-conformist. But living under a reign,
the profligacy of which, gave the stamp of fashion to almost every vice;
a reign, the bigotry of which, fixed the odium of fanaticism, hypocrisy,
and sedition, upon every avowal of attachment to the pure religion of
the cross, he became a considerable sufferer, driven by the persecuting
emissaries of the prince of darkness, from the comforts of domestic
life, and the enjoyment of his religious privileges, he was doomed to
the degradation and hardships of a jail. During his confinement, his
wife would often sit on a stone at the door of the prison, with this
child of promise at her breast, revolving in deep affliction of mind,
the horrors of that tyranny by which they were deprived of their chief
earthly protection, and left alone to contend with the buffetings of
adversity.
In the morning of life, he gave the most promising indications of a
bright and useful day: Before he had well learned to speak, a book was
his greatest pleasure, and every little present of money, received
additional value in his esteem, as it applied to the gratification of
this early propensity. When a child he began to act the part of maturer
years, in attention to mental improvement, and in preparation for the
service and enjoyment of God. The true principles of wisdom and
spiritual understanding, which thus early began to bud, yielded, through
every succeeding period of his earthly pilgrimage, a rich variety of
fruit, pleasant to the sight, and good for food. Although naturally of a
temper remarkable for vivacity, he was a singular exception to the
vanity of childhood and youth. The hours devoted by other children to
play, he employed in reading, or in composing little poems to gratify
the fond expectations of his mother.
In his _fourteenth_ year, he entered upon the studies of the learned
languages, under the tuition of Mr. Pinhorn, a minister of the
established church, and master of the free grammar-school at
Southampton; a man of considerable reputation for learning and
respectability of character. Here our young student discovered such
avidity of application, and extent of capacity, and so distinguished
himself by the ease and celerity of his progress, that all who knew him,
anticipated with delight, the perfection he afterwards attained. His
whole deportment in this critical period of age, formed a happy contrast
with the prevailing spirit of some modern fashionable seminaries, where
the seeds of vice find a congenial soil, and often before the age of
manhood, produce a copious harvest of personal and relative evils. To
prepare himself for usefulness in the world, to secure the approbation
of heaven, realize the hopes of his friends, and to reward the labours
of his preceptor, by his continual diligence in improving the advantages
he enjoyed; in these points was all his ambition concentrated. In the
twentieth year of his age, he inscribed a latin ode to Mr. Pinhorn,
which is not more honourable, as a tribute of gratitude to the merit of
the master, than as a proof of uncommon proficiency in the scholar.
His unremitted diligence, and rapid progress at the grammar school, were
so conspicuous as to draw upon him the attention of some considerable
characters in the town and neighbourhood, engaged by the promising
appearances which he made of future celebrity in learning and religion:
And with a view to his adoption into the established church, they
proposed to support him at one of our English universities. But having
studied the principles of non-conformity, on which the sufferings of his
father had probably given him some useful lessons; and being satisfied
that these principles were most congenial with a kingdom not of this
world, he respectfully declined the flattering proposal, and declared
his resolution to take his lot with the dissenters.
Thus when youthful vanity and ambition are generally most alive to the
allurements of emolument and elevation, he sacrificed the fairest
prospects of earthly possessions in order to unite himself with a
people, branded with every opprobrious epithet; a people with whom, in
place of the ease, riches, and honours of clerical preferment, he must
substitute labour for the salvation of souls, and estimate his gains
only by his success.
The date of his spiritual life cannot be ascertained, but the fact was
indubitable from a very early period: Surely the consideration, that
such a christian as DR. WATTS, could make no reference to the particular
circumstances of time, place, or means, connected with his first
spiritual affections, ought to check the presumption of those, who would
limit the operations of grace, to the contracted sphere of their own
pre-conceptions. He who condescended to lay aside the scholar and the
philosopher, to direct the hosannas of our children, and to provide
systems of instruction adapted to their wants and capacities, was
himself discriminated in his early childhood, by hatred of evil and love
to the ways of God.
When only seven or eight years old, he composed some verses to gratify
the wishes of his mother; which, for clear views of scriptural truth,
and fervour of devotion, would have done honour to far more advanced
age. The natural vivacity of his youth was corrected and improved by a
deep sense of religion; convinced that no life can be pleasing to God,
that is not useful to man, he sanctified his best days, by a lively and
well-tempered zeal to do good. He sought and enjoyed communion with God,
in retirement from the world; and displayed, in his uniform deportment,
the inseparable connexion subsisting between strict religion and
substantial pleasure. In the depth of his humility, in the elevation of
his affection, he was superior to most of his cotemporaries. Before he
attained his twenty-second year, he had composed the greater part of his
hymns; in comparison with which, most compositions of the same kind are
frigid and lifeless. They may indeed in some instances, be thought too
appropriating and extatic for our mixed assemblies, and for the general
state of our religious joys: but such objections only confess the
sublimity of his devotion; and faithfully applied to the disparity of
our resemblance, will excite every sentiment of humility. As he advanced
from his childhood in his intimacy with heaven, and in his rapid
attainments of that knowledge, which too commonly inflates the mind with
pride, he was still further removed from the consciousness of his
superiority; and in proportion as he grew in favour with God, his meek
and lowly temper rendered him daily a greater favourite with man.
Decided in his views and experience of the doctrines of the gospel, the
discipline of the church, and in the choice of his religious connexions,
he repaired to an academy in London, in the year 1690, where he
prosecuted his studies under Mr. Thomas Rowe, at that time pastor of the
independent church-meeting, at Haberdasher’s-Hall. Three years afterward
this church had the honour of receiving him as a member. At the academy
Mr. Hughes, the poet, Dr. Hort, afterwards archbishop of Tuam, and Mr.
Say (the successor of Mr. Ed. Calamy) were his fellow-students; and, as
appears by their subsequent correspondence, they entertained a warm
friendship for him. Here he appears to have laboured with incessant
perseverance; not merely to pass with credit through the routine of
academical obligations, but to attain to eminent distinction in the
soundest qualifications for future usefulness. Very few, by a much
longer course of study, make any near approach to the extent of his
acquirements. In diligence he had no equal; in his attainments, he had
no competitor; and as his progress in the paths of learning was not
dishonoured by an ostentatious vanity, he won the esteem and admiration
of all who were connected with him in preparatory studies.
From the first general incorporation of the dissenting interest, by the
rigid persecutions of the hierarchy after the restoration of Charles II.
the body of non-conformists have always deemed it an important object,
to provide a succession of ministers competently qualified with divine
and human knowledge. Deprived of the splendid advantages of Oxford and
Cambridge, they have endeavoured, and with no inconsiderable success, to
supply the necessities of their churches, by seminaries of a more
private and humble kind. In every dissenting academy, founded on
evangelical principles, satisfactory evidence is always required, that
the candidates for admission have experienced the power of religion upon
their hearts, that they have suitable dispositions for the reception of
knowledge, and that they are possessed of qualifications adapted to the
service of the church. During their academical residence, vigilant
attention is paid to maintaining inviolate the honours of practical
godliness; and that residence would, in any instance, be terminated by
an act of immoral or scandalous conduct. In the whole course of study,
supreme homage is paid to the WORD OF GOD; and languages and sciences
are pursued with a constant reference to the increase of divine wisdom,
and general usefulness. When these advantages are duly considered,
dissenters have good reason to be thankfully reconciled to their
exclusion from the noble endowments, the magnificent libraries, and the
splendid honours of those universities. One of the best scholars and
ablest writers Oxford has produced, has made the following candid
remarks on this subject:
“I believe it to have been a very happy circumstance for Mr. Secker[4],
that he was educated in a dissenting academy, and under so good a tutor.
I attribute much of his future eminence to this circumstance, as well as
to the connection he fortunately formed there, that purity, that
dignity, that decency of character, which enabled him to fill the great
offices of the church with singular weight and efficacy. Educated in a
dissenting persuasion, and under dissenting tutors, he had paid less
attention to polite letters, and more to divinity, than is usually
bestowed by students in the universities. Young men in Oxford and
Cambridge, frequently arrive at an age for orders, and become successful
candidates for them, who have studied scarcely any other divinity, than
such as is to be found in Ovid’s Metamorphosis, and Tooke’s Pantheon.
Few regularly-bred divines, as they are termed, apply themselves to
divinity at so early an age; and, indeed, through the defect of a
knowledge, and of a taste for it, in youth, many, after obtaining
orders, still continue to study, if they study at all, the theology of
Athens and Rome. But the dissenters study divinity at an early age, and
if they had united the study of the belles lettres with it in due
proportion, I believe their divines would have made a still more
honourable appearance than they have done, though they are, and ever
have been, highly respectable[5].”
What Mr. Watts was as a _student_, the testimony of his tutor
sufficiently evinces: He never, Mr. Rowe declared, gave him any occasion
for reproof; but was so exemplary, that he often proposed him as a
pattern for the imitation of other pupils. The great ends of his studies
were fixed, and the subjects of them were substantial, he well knew the
value of his opportunities, nor was he at any loss as to the best means
of improving them. No time was given to vain amusements, or to
unnecessary indulgencies. The seasons of rest and exercise (so essential
to health) were curtailed, and so passionately was he devoted to the
increase of his knowledge, that he either laid the foundation of
disorders, which imbittered his future life, or, if latent, armed them
with the power which resisted all medical skill. The operations of his
own mind, his reading, his observation, and his social intercourse were
all made subservient to the great designs of his station. With the hands
of a Midas, he had the art of turning whatever he touched into gold: the
treasures of knowledge, both philosophical and theological, opened to
the world, so early after he left the academy, shew the intenseness of
his application, and the capaciousness of his mind during his residence
there. The most important works in every science engaged his attention;
and as he had no tedious hours to amuse, nor any fugitive curiosity to
gratify, his reading uniformly promoted the increase of his mental
riches. He did not rove about in the fields of science to gather
withering flowers, but the precious fruits _wherewith the mower filleth
his hand, and he that bindeth sheaves his bosom_. To impress upon his
memory the most important and interesting parts of the books he read, it
was his custom, to make judicious abridgements; and that he might
compose and digest the sentiments and arguments of his authors, in order
to render each in succession instrumental to the confirmation and
enlargement of his views, his principal books were interleaved.
The long silence of this excellent and accomplished youth, after he left
the academy, as to the primary object of all his studies, the preaching
of the gospel, affords considerable scope for conjecture: He was twenty
years old when he returned from London to Southampton; there he remained
two years; after which he went to reside in the family of Sir John
Hortopp, as tutor to his son, where he continued two years longer.
It is true he was but still a youth diffident of himself and deeply
affected with the importance of the ministry, under a sense of his
insufficiency and trembling lest he should go to the altar of God
uncalled. But after sixteen years spent in classical studies, after
uncommon proficiency in other parts of learning connected with the work
of the ministry, with every qualification for the sacred office, living
at a time when his public services were peculiarly needed and when he
was known and spoken of as promising celebrity in whatever profession he
might chuse, that with all these advantages he should continue in
retirement; is a fact difficult to account for, and for which only his
extreme diffidence can afford any apology.
But whatever were his reasons for so long a silence, his time was wisely
unproved; he gave himself up to reading, meditation, and prayer; and in
the family of his patron, besides discharging the duties of a tutor, he
was employed in several of his most useful and popular works,
particularly his Logic, Astronomy and Geography.
In the family of Sir John, he appears to have enjoyed, whatever was most
congenial with his views in friendship and devotion: his testimony in
his sermon on the death of Sir John is highly honourable to his virtue
and to the mingled respect, sorrow and gratitude of the preacher.
While he was increasing his mental treasures by study, and familiarising
the importance of these treasures to his pupil, he enjoyed opportunities
of conversing with the wise, the learned, and the devout, here his
thirst after knowledge increased daily and his ambition for usefulness.
The advantages of his situation, like the beams of light, fell upon an
object capable of reflecting them; and to this part of his life, may be
ascribed much of that superiority, by which he was afterwards
distinguished in the church; which still animates us in his writings,
and which amidst all the caprice of taste, or the revolutions of
opinions, will endear and perpetuate his remembrance.
On his birth-day 1698, he preached his first sermon; “Probably
considering _that_ as the day of a _second_ nativity, by which he
entered into a new period of existence.” Sometime in the course of this
year he was chosen assistant to Dr. Isaac Chauncy, pastor of the
Independant church then meeting in Mark-lane, and such was his
acceptance and success, that in January 1701-2, he succeeded Dr. Chauncy
in the pastoral office. The day on which he accepted his invitation to
this charge was distinguished by an event peculiarly interesting to the
friends of religious liberty. The death of King William III. brought a
cloud over the prospects of the dissenters; which in the close of the
succeeding reign, was ready to burst in showers of calamity, and which
was only dispelled, by the critical interposition of divine providence
in the death of queen Anne.
Mr. Watts, who had not entered upon the service of God without duly
counting the cost, was not to be discouraged by difficulties, nor
deterred by opposition. He had “engaged in a sacred work, where the
harvest is great, and the labourers are but few; while he had left the
field of ambition, where the labourers are many, and the harvest not
worth carrying away.”[6] His views were directed to right objects, his
principles invigorated his exertions, and the power with which he was
endowed from on high, enabled him to speak with irresistible wisdom. The
same month in which he assented to the unanimous call of the church, he
was solemnly set apart to the important relationship; and never did any
young man assume the pastoral office with higher qualifications, with
deeper humility, or with more ardent desires for the eternal welfare of
men. His public declaration of acquiescence in the choice of the church
(of which some abstracts are here subjoined) while it illustrates the
truth of these observations, will gratify every reader of spiritual
discernment.
“Brethren,
“You know the constant aversion I have had to any proposals of a
pastoral office for these three years. You know also, that since you
have given me an unanimous call thereto, I have proposed several methods
for your settlement without me, but your choice and your affections
seemed to be still unmoved. I have objected my own indisposition of
body, and I have pointed to three divines, members of this church, whose
gifts might render them more proper for instruction, and their age for
government. These things I have urged till I have provoked you to sorrow
and tears, and till I myself have been almost ashamed. But your
perseverance in your choice, your constant profession of edification by
my ministry, the great probability you shew me of building up this
famous and decayed church of Christ, and your prevailing fears of its
dissolution, if I refuse, have given me ground to believe, that the
voice of this church is the voice of Christ; and to answer this call, I
have not consulted with flesh and blood: I have laid aside the thoughts
of myself to serve the interest of our Lord. I give up my own ease for
your spiritual profit and your increase. I submit my inclinations to my
duty, and in hopes of being made an instrument to build up this ancient
church, I return this solemn answer to your call, that, with a great
sense of my own inability in mind and body to discharge the duties of so
sacred an office, I do, in the strength of Christ, venture upon it, and
in his name I accept your call, promising in the presence of God and his
saints, my utmost diligence in all the duties of a pastor, so far as God
shall enlighten and strengthen me; and I leave this promise in the bands
of Christ our Mediator, to see it performed by me unto you, through the
assistance of his grace and Spirit.”
These professions and promises were followed by corresponding diligence
and holy zeal. The number and variety of his writings, the frequency and
excellence of his preaching, his exact attention to the spiritual
affairs of his flock by domestic visits, when not confined by illness,
shew the intenseness of his industry, and a laborious piety, as uncommon
to others as they were honourable to himself. The younger members of his
church were peculiarly interested in his affection and zeal. For them he
was always forming plans of religious improvement, and when he could no
longer be useful to them in the pulpit, he was solicitous for them in
his afflicting confinement. To promote their prosperity and happiness in
the momentous concerns of a future world, he formed a society from this
class of his charge, for prayer and spiritual conference. In this
society the substance of his Guide to Prayer was originally delivered.
In visiting the families of his congregation, he was always careful to
leave a savour of divine truth upon their minds; and as his own piety
was chearful, he endeavoured to diffuse its benign influences wherever
he went: Walking or riding, in company or in retirement, he was either
improving himself or others. He was never so much at home as in his
study, nor ever more in his element than when engaged in performing the
works of mercy and the labours of love.
His tempers were such as became his character, and secured to him the
veneration and esteem of those who most materially differed from him in
points of faith. To say he had his imperfections is only to assert, that
he was a man and not an angel. If his natural tempers were hasty, and he
occasionally expressed himself with a keenness bordering on resentment,
he was habitually meek and lowly.
With a mind eminently susceptible of the emotions of friendship and
gratitude, he was superior to the contracted views, and the untempered
zeal of the bigot. “It was not only in his book but in his mind that
orthodoxy was united with charity.” He knew how to sustain injurious
treatment without retaliating. His meekness of opposition was
remarkable, and the good he performed was unclouded by pharisaical
ostentation. His popularity was duly tempered by his low opinion of
himself, and his afflictions were sanctified by patient submission to
the unerring will of heaven. The love of money in a minister of Christ,
he looked on with contempt and detestation. A third part of his income
he devoted to the purposes of charity, and when he was incapable of his
public labours he refused to receive his salary. Happy will be that
reader whose mind is disposed, by his writings, to copy his benevolence
to man and his reverence to God.
In company he assumed no superiority, nor could any wise and good man
feel his superiority with other sentiments than such as were mutually
honourable. His conversation betrayed none of the weakness of egotism,
nor the malevolence of detraction. He could be entertaining without
levity, and serious without austerity. With a natural easy flow of
thought he combined aptness, purity, and elegance of expression; so
affable and engaging was his deportment wherever he went, that the
enquiring virtuous mind was always gratified, while the gay and
thoughtless were fixed in attentive veneration, and so conspicuously
were the beauties of sincerity delineated in his social character that
he was not more admired as a man of talents and learning, than he was
sought, loved and trusted as a faithful friend.
As a preacher, Dr. Watts ranks with the most eminent: His published
sermons afford a happy specimen of the spirit which pervaded his pulpit
exercises. Here is no trimming, no disguise of sentiment, all is
transparent and clear as crystal. He thought with the humility that
becomes a fallible man, but he spoke with all the perspicuity, decision,
and boldness, of an honest man. What is said of Mr. Philip Henry is not
less applicable to him. He was admired and loved, because, though so
excellent a scholar and so polite an orator, he became so profitable and
powerful a preacher, and so readily laid aside the enticing words of
man’s wisdom, which were so easy to him. While he avoided whatsoever
could disgust the learned and polite he was equally cautious not to soar
above the illiterate. In his sermons dignity and simplicity are so
conspicuous that every one sees he only wished to gain access to the
passions through the medium of the understanding. Sometimes he thought
he descended too low in accommodating his style to ignorance and dulness
of apprehension. In his discourse on Humility, represented in the
character of St. Paul, he makes this apology for descending to familiar
and low scenes of life. I almost reprove myself here, and suspect my
friends will reprove me too for introducing such low scenes of life, and
such trivial occurrences into a grave discourse. I have put the matter
into the balances as well as I can, and weighed the case, and the result
is this: General and distant declamations seldom strike the conscience
with such conviction as particular representations do; and since this
iniquity often betrays itself in these trivial instances, it is better
perhaps to set them forth in their full and proper light, than that the
guilty should never feel a reproof, who, by the very nature of their
distemper, are unwilling to see or learn their own folly, unless it is
set in a glaring view[7].
But as his great aim was to be understood, and to supply his hearers
with suitable matter for holy meditation in private; as he watched for
souls like one that was to give an account, a divine solemnity
accompanied all he said. The frivolous, jocular disposition of some
modern pulpit orators, never degraded his character, never insulted the
decency of public worship, or mocked the expectations of the devout
mind. Where is the expression that could raise the faintest blush upon
the cheek of modesty, or irritate the risibility of the most puerile?
In his personal appearance there was little that could interest the
admirers of external comeliness. He was low of stature, and his bodily
presence was weak; yet there was a certain dignity in his countenance,
and such piercing expression in his eyes, as commanded attention and
awe. His manner was animated; but not boisterous; the self-possession he
enjoyed was inspired by confidence in God; and therefore, discovered
nothing but respect and affection for his hearers. When Dr. Gibbons
asked him, if he did not find himself sometimes too much awed by his
auditory, he replied, That when such a gentleman, of eminent abilities
and learning, has come into the assembly, and taken his eye, he felt
something like a momentary tremor, but that he recovered himself by
remembering what God said to the Prophet Jeremiah, “Be not dismayed at
their faces, lest I confound thee before them.” In preparation for his
ministry, he wrote and committed to memory, the leading features of his
cursory sermons; the rest he trusted to his extemporary powers, and the
promised assistance of the Holy Spirit; and he never failed to acquit
himself with credit. “His reading had made him a full man, conference a
ready man, writing an exact man[8],” and his free access to the fulness
of Christ made him an essentially profitable man. At the conclusion of
weighty sentences it was his custom to pause, that he might quicken the
attention and more solemnly impress the realities of the gospel upon the
mind. He had cultivated with care and singular success the graces of
language. The correctness of his pronunciation, the elegance of his
diction, and the grandeur of his sentiments, obtained him an uncommon
share of popularity. I once mentioned, says Dr. Johnson, the reputation
which Mr. Foster had gained by his proper delivery to my friend Mr.
Hawkesworth, who told me, that in the art of pronunciation he was far
inferior to Dr. Watts.
His ambition of usefulness was confined to no time or place; such was
his love to the Head of the church, and his compassion for the fallen
children of men, that he was eager to seize every opportunity of
glorifying him, and administering the word of salvation to them, as the
subsequent anecdote, communicated by Mr. Kingsbury, of Southampton, to
Dr. Gibbons, will testify:—“Mr. Richard Ellcock was a servant in old Mr.
Watts’s family. Dr. Watts going to London after the last time of his
visiting his father at Southampton, Richard Ellcock was ordered to go
with him a day’s journey. The Doctor entered into serious discourse with
him, which made a deep and lasting impression on his heart and was the
means of his sound and saving conversion. After the Doctor came to
London, he wrote to his father, recommending the servant to his
particular regard, for that he doubted not he would make an eminent
christian, and so he lived and died, leaving an honourable character for
piety and uprightness behind him.”
Soon after he had entered upon his pastoral labours, he was visited with
illness, which threatened all the sanguine hopes of his people with an
early period to his usefulness. His confinement was long, his recovery
slow, and his constitution considerably impaired. Under these
circumstances, the Rev. Samuel Price was chosen to assist him in the
duties of his office. However, his exertions were renewed with his
strength, and his sufferings enabled him to preach more than ever to the
instruction and delight of his hearers. In the prosecution of his
various plans of usefulness, he met with no material interruption till
September, 1712, when he was seized with a fever of such violence, that
it brought a debility upon his nerves, for which time afforded no
remedy, and which entirely laid him aside from the exercise of his
ministry more than four years. How inscrutable are the dispensations of
providence, when men who, for disseminating the doctrines of the cross,
possess the first qualifications, are laid aside or cut off in the
flower of their age, while others, far below mediocrity, live till they
become useless and burdensome!
Of the affectionate solicitude of his people for the restoration of his
health he was honoured with the best evidence by their unceasing prayers
to God for him in this season of trouble. Particular days were set apart
for this purpose, in which many of his brethren in the ministry united
as men deeply impressed with the importance of his life; and their
prayers were answered. Mr. Price, his assistant, was now, at Mr. Watts’s
own desire, elected to be joint pastor with him; and he was accordingly
ordained to this office, March 3, 1713. Between these two
fellow-labourers there subsisted, till death, an inviolable friendship.
The amiable subject of our memoirs speaks of Mr. Price as his faithful
friend and companion in the ministry; and mentions a legacy that he
leaves him, “as only a small testimony of his great affection for him,
on account of his services of love during the many harmonious years of
their fellowship in the work of the gospel.” When the preachers of
religion, whether they sustain such immediate relationship or not, thus
live superior to the meanness and guilt of depreciating and envying each
others reputation, talents, and services in the church; when the
despicable spirit of competition, and variance, of cold civility, and
jealousy is absorbed in brotherly love, and in generous exertions for
the just honour of each other, then they will furnish an effectual
confutation to the ignorant clamours of infidelity against priest-craft,
and as was the case with these two excellent men, the friendship they
exercise will return seven-fold into their own bosoms.
The afflicting state to which Mr. Watts was reduced by this sickness,
inspired his friends with a tender and becoming sympathy, and
particularly engaged the benevolent attention of Sir Thos. Abney, at
that time an alderman of London, and afterwards one of its
representatives in parliament: A man of eminent piety and zeal, a
blessing to his country and the church of God. He died in the year 1722,
deeply regretted by all the friends who were contemporary with him and
acquainted with his worth, and no less respectfully remembered wherever
the works of Dr. Watts are read, by the monuments of his friendship for
the author; a friendship pure and uniform, without the usual pride of
patronage, or the obsequiousness of timid submission. In this family he
found an asylum from the anxieties of dependance, and that still more
endeared by the perception of reciprocal benefits. Here he experienced
all the tenderness and care that the languishing state of his health
required.
Whatever riches and munificence could supply, or respect and affection
suggest to alleviate these painful vicissitudes, he enjoyed to the full
extent of his wishes, and to the happy event of his introduction into
this benevolent family may be ascribed the prolongation of a life the
value of which may be estimated by the many excellent works which he
published, during his long residence with them. The same respect and
friendship shewn him by Sir Thomas Abney were perpetuated by his lady
and their daughter till his days were numbered and finished. Lady Abney
died about a year after him. She was endowed with every virtue essential
to an illustrious example.
The following anecdote, communicated to the late Mr. Toplady by the
Countess of Huntingdon, will serve to confirm what is said of the happy
terms upon which he lived with this house. The Countess being on a visit
to Dr. Watts at Stoke-Newington, was thus accosted by him: Your ladyship
is come to see me, on a very remarkable day. “Why is this day so
remarkable?” answered the Countess. “This very day thirty years,”
replied the Doctor, “I came to the house of my good friend Sir Thomas
Abney, intending to spend but a single week under his friendly roof: and
I have extended my visit to the length of thirty years:” Lady Abney who
was present, immediately said, Sir what you term a long thirty years
visit I consider as the shortest visit my family ever received. His
gratitude, in the review of his obligations during a thirty-six years
residence with her ladyship, is strongly marked in a passage of his
will, where he speaks of the generous and tender care shewn him by her
ladyship and her family in his long illness, many years ago when he was
capable of no service, and also her eminent friendship and goodness
during his continuance in the family ever since.
The various stories circulated of his strange nervous affections, or
father it should be said, of his intellectual derangement, appear to
have been the fabrications of the designing, and only to have obtained
belief with the credulous. “I take upon me, and feel myself happy,” says
his biographer and friend, Dr. Gibbons, “to aver, that these reports
were utterly false, and I do this from my own knowledge of him for
several years, and some of them the years of his decay; from the express
declaration of his amanuensis, who was ever with him, and above all from
that of Mrs. Elizabeth Abney, who lived in the same family with him
thirty-six years.”