"May the great Head of the Church grant that my acceptance of the call to Ramsgate may be overruled to accomplish his Divine counsel in the good of souls, in glory to his name, and in sacred prosperity to his cause! Even so, mighty Lord, grant it to us as a church and congregation! Oh that we may begin, go on, and end our days in God's delightful work, till admitted to spend an endless sabbath in the blissful courts above!"

He began his ministry at Ramsgate amidst many tokens of Divine approbation, and through a long public life continued to prove that God did not suffer him "to labour in vain, or to spend his strength for nought." Many were the fruits of his faithful ministry, and many doubtless are now the numbers who are his joy and crown of rejoicing. He had many trials and vicissitudes during his lengthened career of active service; but very few, perhaps, have laboured for so long a period among the same people with more abundant tokens of Divine approbation, with fewer crosses, and a larger measure of real comfort.

In the year 1797, he experienced an overwhelming domestic calamity, which greatly penetrated and afflicted his tender heart. While a malignant fever was raging in the town, it entered Mr. Townsend's happy dwelling, and in the short space of six weeks bereaved him and his beloved partner in life of four lovely children. Expecting himself every hour to become the victim of the same fatal malady which bore away his beloved offspring to the tomb, and anxious, if it should be the will of God to call him hence, to leave some memorial that might touch the hearts of his bereaved church, he penned the following striking letter, which has happily been preserved among his papers, and which shows how ready he was to live or die, and how greatly he rejoiced in the bliss of his departed infants.

TO THE CHURCH, ETC.

"Dearly beloved in the Lord,-As God is pleased to visit me with mercy, in so early translating mine to heaven and immortal glory, and so commanding me to await the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; in full hope of eternal life by this Divine Saviour, I think it needful to leave a word, as in view of an opening grave, and judgment bar, and above all, in expectation of perfect joy when I shall close my eyes in death.

"I would assure you that I die rejoicing in those precious doctrines which I have delivered unto you for many years,-Man's total fall in Adam, restoration in Christ, and regeneration by the Holy Ghost-Salvation by rich, free, electing, sovereign, unchangeable grace:-the doctrine of the saints' eternal re-union to, and interest in, the person and righteousness of Christ, is my glory and delight. May grace be given you to live a life of faith, in denial of all ungodliness and worldly lusts, that you, my beloved, may walk soberly, righteously, and godly, kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation.

"It has been with imperfection, but my chief object has been to study, preach, and advise you with singleness of eye. In my public services, I have sought your good, advising you ever to act as independent of the fear of man, and of self-interest. I entreat

you, my dearly beloved, to discharge your public and private duties as God in his word commands you. Study unity of spirit, in the bond of truth;' let your motto ever be, In honour preferring one another.' In your choice of a pastor, seek Divine direction, and may you choose one with life and zeal in the service of Christ, superior to any you ever had.

Pray earnestly to the Lord of glory to guide you with his word,-study that word, and prize it above gold, honour, and pleasure.

"Rejoice in a covenant God, as the fount and source of all good. Remember death is at hand, it will try all your graces. Trust him for a dying hour, but examine yourselves truly, whether you be in the faith; and make his glory the end of your every motive and action.

"I once again commend you to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, praying for you, that his grace may be sufficient for you; may your daily feast and concert of music be in the joyful sound of eternal salvation. This has been the cordial of my life, and will be my triumph through eternity.

And now farewell, my dearly beloved, may I meet you all on the great day, at the right hand of the Judge; for there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, and for you an inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled, that fadeth not away.

"June 15, 1797.

"Mr. Townsend," observes Mr. Bevis, "lived near to God, and was truly a man of prayer. The heart of every Christian shows itself in the prayers he offers for himself and others. In the family prayers he showed his deep sense of God's providential mercy; he thanked God with a marked earnestness every morning, that he and his family were on praying ground; many times in the day he used the ejaculatory prayer, 'Lord, increase our faith;' his heart was constantly lifted up in prayer to a throne of grace, he would sometimes audibly pray in sleep; and to show how thoroughly he had the habit of prayer, when he was once lying in the stupor usually consequent upon his attacks, and could recognize none of those around him, he said to his attendant, read me a psalm; she hesitated, believing his unconsciousness to everything else would prevent him from understanding it; he renewed his request, which being complied with, he said, now we will pray, and offered up clear and fervent petitions as if the family were present, after which he relapsed into his former insensibility.

"In the domestic circle, Mr. Townsend was a father and a friend; he fervently loved his children, and committed them daily to God in prayer; whenever he expressed affection for any of them, he would usually say, Ah, my dear, I have offered up a thousand prayers for you.' He said on a late occasion to one of his daughters, I cannot leave you silver and gold, but I have lodged thousands of prayers for you in the treasury of Heaven.'

"He was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost. There was great honesty and simplicity about him; his character was transparent, and his countenance was an index of the purity and benevolence of his mind. He had a great dislike to scandal; he would say to his children, or to any who told him of the faults of others, Have you weeded your own garden this morning? I have so many weeds to root out of mine, that I have not time to point out those of my neighbours.' He had a just sense of the nearness of eternity; on winding up his watch, he would quote the words of Lord Russell, ⚫ I shall soon have done with time, and welcome eternity.' He lived on friendly terms with those from whom he conscientiously differed, and by the consistency of his life commanded the respect of all who knew him. He was a cheerful Christian: to use his own language, he was 'cheerfully pious, and piously cheerful.'

"He was an honourable specimen of the orthodox ministers of the old school: there was no indecision, compromise, or accommodation in his preaching; he was sound in the faith; his ministry commended itself to every man's conscience; there was no approximation to the modern style of preaching; he did not delight in abstruse speculations, or a metaphysical way of expressing himself; he had too much reverence for the gospel thus to handle it."

In his funeral oration, which was equally just and eloquent,

Mr. Bevis made suitable reference to Mr. Townsend's connection with the London Missionary Society:

"He was," said he, "one of the Founders of the London Missionary Society. Our fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?' It is no little honour to have been engaged in the foundation of such a society; the names of those worthies will be handed down to our children's children; their memory will be embalmed in the grateful remembrance of the church in ages yet to come. They cast their bread upon the waters-we find it after many days. They gave a mighty impetus to the chariot of the gospel, and sent it to and fro through the earth. They blew such a powerful blast with the silver trumpet of the gospel, that its music floated o'er the waters of the South Seas; it has reached the interior of China; it has been heard on the plains of India, and the mountains of Greenland; it shall float on the breezes till the whole family of man have heard its joyful sound.

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They planted the tree of life in the wilderness, and nourished it with their prayers and tears; and it sent out its boughs unto the sea, and its branches unto the river; beneath its wide-spreading shadow are gathered together a multitude which no man can number, out of every kindred, people, and tongue; and they all unite in ascribing salvation to God and the Lamb for ever.

"How great the honour of laying the foundation-stone of that mighty, that spiritual temple, whose boundaries shall be the east and west, the north and south!--on the foundation-stone is engraved the name of GEORGE TOWNSEND.

"In consequence of age and infirmity, he resigned the pastoral office in the year 1830. He was the honoured instrument of effecting much good; one hundred and seventyseven members were added to the church, and the beneficial results of his labours have likewise been apparent in the addition of several who have since attributed their conversion to his ministry. He departed this life the 5th of June, 1837, in the 87th year of his age. The greatest possible respect for his memory was evinced by the inhabitants of Ramsgate; he was followed to the grave by ministers of all denominations, and a procession comprising most of the gentry and tradesmen of the place. The flags in the royal harbour, and on the churches of St. George and St. Lawrence, were hoisted halfmast high; and whilst the body was being conveyed to the chapel, the bells of the churches were tolled. He lies buried in the centre of the new burial-ground belonging to the chapel.

"The oration was delivered by the present minister, and the funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. W. Chapman, of Greenwich. A sketch of his life is contained in the oration, and the funeral sermon preached on the following Sabbath evening by the minister of the chapel, and published by request."

The amiable and learned son of the deceased, the Rev. George Townsend, A.M., one of the prebends of Durham, and author of an admirable and useful work on the Scriptures, was present at his father's funeral, and evinced that filial tenderness, which none could witness without emotion, and which spoke volumes as to the real character both of the departed Nonconforming pastor, and the surviving dignitary of the Episcopal Church.

495

MEMOIR

OF THE LATE

REV. JOSEPII BROOKSBANK,

FORTY YEARS PASTOR OF THE INDEPENDENT CHURCH ASSEMBLING AT
HABERDASHERS' HALL, LONDON.

It would be no easy task to convey to the public mind an adequate idea of the real amount of service rendered by this good and amiable man to the objects and interests of the London Missionary Society. Seldom, indeed, did he appear on its behalf in the character of a public advocate; but by an unwearied attention, for a series of years, to the business of its committees, by the aid which he afforded to Dr. Haweis and others, at the time when the ship Duff proceeded to the islands of the South Seas, by his uniform friendship to its devoted missionaries, and by granting the use of his place of worship for the first missionary communion, and for the early anniversaries of the institution, he earned for himself the confidence and esteem of all the best friends of the cause.

Joseph Brooksbank was born at Thornton, a village near Bradford, in Yorkshire, Feb. 21, 1762. His father was a respectable farmer, in easy, not to say affluent, circumstances. His choice, then, of the Christian ministry as a profession, was dictated by inclination and deliberate preference, and not by any hope of bettering his worldly prospects. He was not one of those who thrust themselves into the "priest's office for a morsel of bread."

He received his early education in the grammar-school of his native place, where he continued to prosecute his studies till the age of seventeen, and where he made very respectable progress in the elements of classical and general knowledge. His religious impressions commenced with the dawn of reason; for at the tender age of nine he was a child of prayer and of Christian hope. It would appear that he owed, instrumentally, his first

feelings of piety to the prayers and conversations of an aged female of the name of Coulter, who knew her Saviour, and who was wont to speak of his love and kindness to her youthful friend. The impressions he thus received were neither effaced from his mind by subsequent temptations, nor were they suffered to lie dormant in a heart which God had quickened by his sovereign grace. In the bloom of youth his soul was animated by love to God, and benevolent concern for the salvation of his fellow-men; and so rapidly and vigorously did his youthful piety develop itself, that at the early age of eighteen his Christian friends prepared the way for his entrance upon studies introductory to the work of the sacred office.

"In September, 1780," observes his son,* "he went to the Old College, Homerton, for the purpose of pursuing his studies, as preparatory to the work of the ministry, upon which his judgment and his affections were alike fixed. That ancient academy, always, distinguished for its learning and utility, was under the superintendence of Drs. Gibbon Mayo, and Fisher. The first of these, after having finished his academical course with great credit to himself, and not less satisfaction to his tutors, he succeeded in the pastoral office at Haberdashers' Hall Chapel, Staining-lane, Cheapside. The Independent church in that place, which succeeded the Presbyterian congregation dissolved in 1734, was of very considerable antiquity, having been first formed by the Rev. William Strong, in the year 1650, before Cromwell attained his supremacy, and met in Westminster Abbey. The church-meetings were originally held in the House of Peers. While he was a student, it appears that Dr. Watts was a member of the church.

"In 1785, Dr. Gibbons entered on his rest, and in September of the same year Mr. Brooksbank was ordained pastor over this society; on which occasion the Rev. John Clayton, sen. gave the charge; Dr. Davies preached to the people; Dr. Fisher offered the ordination-prayer; and Mr. Hamilton read the hymns. Of these, the first only remains, full of years and of honours, bearing on his head the almond blossoms of immortality; giving thus the sign of an approaching, spring, which can never fade. The rest have received their palms and their crowns, and have entered into the joy of their Lord. †

"On the 1st of January, 1788, Mr. Brooksbank married Miss Shrimpton, daughter of Thomas Shrimpton, Esq., a lady of whom it is not too much to say, in respect of her intellectual endowments, that had she turned her attentiou to literature as a distinct pursuit, enough yet remains of her casual compositions to prove that she would not have fallen short of the highest attainments of her sex, to whom the world is so much indebted, in any department which she might have chosen for herself. She was pre-eminently distinguished for her love to her husband and to her children. In June, 1805, she left him a widower indeed, and them orphans !"

Mr. Brooksbank's ministry, in the metropolis, opened amidst all the symptoms of a marked popularity. In his own place of worship, and elsewhere, he was followed by crowds of attentive listeners, who flocked to hear the young divine. Though he retained much of his Yorkshire accent, and was by no means remarkable for the easy or elegant flow of his diction, he drew

In a Memoir of Mr. Brooksbank, by his son Mr. Brooksbank, of Edmonton, which appeared in the Evangelical Magazine for August, 1825.

Since the above was penned, Mr. Clayton has entered on his blessed reward.