"The predominant feature in the intellectual character of Mr. Fuller was the power of discrimination, by which he detected the minutest shades of difference among objects which most minds would confound." [p. 108.] - Jim Duvall
Andrew Fuller
MEMOIR OF REV. ANDREW FULLER
By Andrew Gunton FullerSECTION V. - 1814, 1815.
JOURNEYS INTO VARIOUS PARTS OF ENGLAND - ORDINATION OF MR. YATES AT LEICESTER - COMMENCEMENT OF LAST ILLNESS - ATTEMPTED EXCURSION TO THE NORTH OF ENGLAND - LAST VISIT TO LONDON - PUBLICATION OF SERMONS - PREPARATION OF MSS. ON THE REVELATION AND ON COMMUNION - RETURN OF DISORDER - ORDINATION OF MR. MACK - AGGRAVATED SYMPTOMS OF DISEASE - LAST SERMON, AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER - VISIT TO CHELTENHAM CONTEMPLATED AND RELINQUISHED - LAST LETTER TO DR. RYLAND - DYING EXPRESSIONS - CONCLUDING SCENE - FUNERAL - EXTRACT FROM MR. TOLLER'S SERMON - TESTIMONIES OF THE REV. R. HALL, DR. NEWMAN, AND BIBLE SOCIETY - MARBLE TABLET - LETTER OF MRS. FULLER TO DR. RYLAND - APPENDIX, CONTAINING NOTICES OF HIS FAMILY, &c.
UNDER the powerful impression of his favourite inspired maxim, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might," Mr. Fuller continued his unwearied efforts on behalf of the mission. He thus writes to Dr. Ryland on the 26th May, 1814 - "Between now and the first week in August I have no rest. I give you my routes, that you may write no letters to me at Kettering while I am out, and may write, if occasion should require, to other places. June 6, I set off for Essex, where I shall collect between the 8th and the 20th; thence I go to London, to the annual meeting, on the 22nd; come down to Kettering on the 24th or 25th; set off for the north of England on the 27th for five Lord's days. I expect to spend the first at Liverpool, the second at Manchester, the third at Leeds, the fourth at Newcastle, and the fifth at Hull."
The termination of his labours was, however, rapidly approaching, an event of which he had recently received repeated intimations, and to which he looked forward with feelings equally removed from ecstasy and dismay. In the summer of 1814 he travelled through several of the midland counties, attended the annual meeting of the mission in London, and, after paying the last tribute to the remains of his beloved friend at Olney, set off for Lancashire and the north of England. From Durham he addressed a request to the East India directors for the passage of Mr. Yates,1 a missionary to Serampore, when a contumacious opposition to the provisions of the new enactment compelled him, after repeated and respectful solicitations, to appeal to the Board of Control. For this purpose he again visited London, where he obtained an interview with the Earl of Buckinghamshire. This matter being satisfactorily adjusted, he returned home, and the following week attended the designation of Mr. Yates at Leicester. He preached with unusual solemnity and affection, but could not do as at other times. His debilitated frame sank under the fatigue of the engagements.
During his stay at Leicester he appeared so absorbed in the concerns of the
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1 Now the Rev. Dr. Yates, of Calcutta. - B.
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mission, that his friends enjoyed but little of his society. On parting with them he intimated that he was very ill, that he should probably see them no more, that his work was nearly done, but that he could not spare time to nurse himself, and must labour as long as he could.On Lord's day, Sept. 4, after preaching in the morning, he was taken seriously ill. On the 18th, addressing his friend Ryland, he says, "For the last fortnight I have been laid by and nearly confined to my bed. I know not when I have had so violent an attack of the bile. I had an inflammation about the liver, the effects of which are still upon me, so that I can scarcely walk. I hope to get out to meeting once to-day. I know not what to do with the missionary students, (from Olney,) being utterly unfit to entertain care of any kind. I thought it best to let them come to you. Here I must leave it. The writing of this letter has overcome me."
Having partially recovered, he proceeded with two friends on another journey to the north of England, to complete those engagements which had been abruptly broken off on his last excursion; but on reaching Newark he was compelled to return, leaving them to prosecute the object.
Writing to a friend soon after, he says, "I have preached only twice for the last five or six weeks, but am gradually though slowly recovering. Since I was laid by from preaching, I have written out my sermon, and drawn up a memoir for my dear brother Sutcliff. Your partiality for the memoir of dear Pearce will insure me one reader at least for that of Sutcliff. I hope the great and good Mr. Charles of Bala will find some one who will do justice to his memory. Mrs. Sutcliff died on the 3rd of September, less than eleven weeks after her husband. Death has swept away almost all my old friends, and I seem to stand expecting to be called for soon. It matters not when, so that we be found in Christ."
In another letter he says, "Brother Sutcliff's last end was enviable: may mine be like his! Death has been making havoc of late among us. Yesterday I preached a funeral sermon, if so it might be called, for three of the members of our church, lately deceased. I feel as one who has the sentence of death, and whose great concern it is whether my religion will bear the test! Almost all my old friends are dead, or dying. Well, I have a hope that bears me up; and it is through grace. In reviewing my life, I see much evil - God be merciful to me a sinner!"
In December, having somewhat recruited his strength, he paid another visit to London, on which occasion he delivered a powerful and animated discourse on behalf of the British and Foreign School Society.2 Though this was one of his happiest efforts, it was evident to his London friends that they could expect to see his face no more. He was strongly advised to try the air and waters of Cheltenham, but deferred it to a milder season, using the "salts" as a substitute in the interim.
It was during the numerous engagements and afflictions of this year that he published his "Sermons on Various Subjects." This work consisted of sixteen discourses, worthy of the talents and piety of the author, and will be found at p. 538 of these works.
In the commencement of 1815 he prepared for the press his "Exposition of the Revelation" and "Letters on Communion." The latter treatise he consigned to the care of his esteemed friend Dr. Newman, with a request to publish it, in
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2 A sketch of this sermon will be found in this volume, No. xxxix. - B.
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case an anticipated production from the pen of Mr. Hall on the other side should seem to render it necessary. This publication, though not without marks of that shrewd and penetrating judgment which distinguished his controversial writings, is not remarkable for the most conclusive reasoning; and though it were too much to admit the justice of Mr. Hall's insinuation, that his mind was not fully made up on the subject, there is perhaps reason to suppose that a more ample discussion would have effected a considerable alteration in his views. The charge of bigotry, however, made against him, and others cherishing the same sentiments on this subject, says little for the understanding or charity of those who prefer it. True charity will never require the surrender of a man's principles as an evidence of his candour; and happy they who have learned that an honest refusal to unite in the partial use of some minor tokens of affection may consist with the exercise of the tenderest feelings of Christian love. Mr. Fuller describes a conversation with a Paedobaptist minister on this subject, which is highly creditable to both: - "I never saw more godliness, candour, or humility in any one. He talked with me, among other things, about baptism and strict communion. 'I think,' said he, before a number of his friends, 'you have a catholic heart: I should like to know the grounds on which you act; and I am almost sure they are not temper nor bigotry!' When I had stated them, he answered, 'Well; I think I can see the conscientiousness of your conduct, and am therefore glad I asked you.'"
In 1815, within three or four months of his decease, while labouring under the most depressed state of body and mind, occasioned by a disordered liver, he sat at his desk upwards of twelve hours a day.
On Feb. 1, he wrote to his brother at Isleliam as follows: ". . . Well; 'the Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock!' I am conscious of no wicked way in me; but I feel myself to be an unprofitable servant. We shall soon finish our course: may it be with joy! If I am able next summer, it is in my mind to take a tour eastward to Wisbeach, Lynn, Fakenham, Norwich, Yarmouth, and some other places in Norfolk and Suffolk, and return by Isleham and Soham; but perhaps I may prove like Samson, who went out to do as at other times, and moist not that his strength was departed from him." He was under the necessity of placing himself under medical direction, to enable him to fulfil an engagement at Clipstone, a few miles from home, where on the 29th of March he attended the ordination of the Rev. J. Mack. He addressed the church in a most impressive manner, from 2 John 8. On retiring from the pulpit, he said, in reply to the inquiries of his friends, "I am very ill - a dying man." On taking his leave, he said, "All is over - my work is nearly finished. I shall see you no more the blessing of the Lord attend you - farewell." There can be no doubt that this exercise contributed greatly to the aggravation of his disorder. The following sabbath, April 2, he delivered his last sermon, from Isaiah lxvi. 1, 2, "Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool," &c. His discourse on this occasion was marked by a peculiar earnestness, and his subsequent pathetic though short address at the Lord's table, interrupted by solemn pauses, conveyed to the minds of the communicants a powerful impression that they were receiving the memorials of a Saviour's love from his hands for the last time. He seemed absorbed in the contemplation of a crucified, risen, and exalted Redeemer, and quoted with peculiar emphasis those lines: -
"Jesus is gone above the skies," &c.
On the 9th, after sitting up in his bed, and speaking in affecting terms relative
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to some family affairs, he said, "I feel satisfaction in the thought that my times are in the Lord's hands. I have been importuning the Lord that whether I live it may be to him, or whether I die it may be to him. Flesh and heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."
April the 11th, be said, "Into thy hands I commit my spirit, my family, and my charge: I have done a little for God; but all that I have done needs forgiveness. I trust alone in sovereign grace and mercy. I could be glad to be favoured with some lively hopes before I depart hence. God, my supporter and my hope, I would say, 'Not my will, but thine be done!'
God is my soul's eternal rock,
The strength of every saint.'I am a poor sinner; but my hope is in the Saviour of sinners."
He now determined, by the advice of his physician, on going to Cheltenham; and his beloved flock, anxious that every possible accommodation should be afforded him, contributed most liberally to the supply of his wants. Writing to a friend in the town, who was prevented by illness from visiting him, he says - "April 19, I am ordered to go next Monday for Cheltenham. I should be happy to come and see you before I go; but whether the weather and my afflictions will permit I know not. When I shall return is uncertain. The Lord's supper must be suspended; my times are in the Lord's hand; but to me all is uncertain." On the following sabbath his disorder assumed a new and alarming appearance, and the journey was relinquished as impracticable.
"On the 28th of April, he dictated the following letter to Dr. Ryland, and subscribed it with his own hand: -
"MY DEAREST FRIEND, - "We have enjoyed much together, which I hope will prove an earnest of greater enjoyment in another world. We have also wrought together in the Lord's vineyard, and he has given us to reap together in his vintage. I expect this is nearly over; but I trust we shall meet, and part no more. I have very little hope of recovery; but I am satisfied to drink of the cup which my heavenly Father giveth me to drink. Without experience, no one can conceive of the depression of my spirits; yet I have no despondency. 'I know whom I have believed, and that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day.' I am a poor guilty creature; but Christ is an almighty Saviour. I have preached and written much against the abuse of the doctrine of grace; but that doctrine is all my salvation and all my desire. I have no other hope than from salvation by mere sovereign, efficacious grace, through the atonement of my Lord and Saviour. With this hope, I can go into eternity with composure. Come, Lord Jesus! Come when thou wilt! Here I am; let him do with me as seemeth him good!
"We have some who have been giving out, of late, that 'If Sutcliff and some others had preached more of Christ, and less of Jonathan Edwards, they would have been more useful.' If those who talked thus preached Christ half as much as Jonathan Edwards did, and were half as useful as he was, their usefulness would be double what it is. It is very singular that the mission to the East should have originated with men of these principles; and, without pretending to be a prophet, I may say, If ever it falls into the hands of men who talk in this strain, it will soon come to nothing.
"If I should never see your face in the flesh, I could wish one last testimony of brotherly love, and of the truth of the gospel, to be expressed by your coming
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over and preaching my funeral sermon, if it can be, from Romans viii. 10. I can dictate no more, but am ever yours,"A. F."
On the same day one of his deacons, to whom he expressed himself as in great depression of body, replied, "I do not know any person, sir, who is in a more enviable situation than yourself - a good man on the verge of a blessed immortality." He modestly assented, and lifting up his hands exclaimed, "If I am saved, it will be by great and sovereign grace - BY GREAT AND SOVEREIGN GRACE!" On attempting to raise himself in bed, he said, "All my feelings are sinking, dying feelings." Seeing his wife in tears, he said, "We shall meet again! It will be well." While in a bath, he observed to his medical attendant, "I never before recollect to have had such depression of animal spirits, accompanied with such calmness of mind." Though the disorder with which he was afflicted was such that many of the best regulated minds had been reduced almost to despair under its influence, he was frequently heard to say, "My mind is calm - no raptures, no despondency." And on one occasion he used the following emphatic expression, "My hope is such that I am not afraid to plunge into eternity!"
Addressing himself to one of his sons, he exclaimed, "All misery is concentrated in me!" - "Bodily misery only, father?" - "Yes, I can think of nothing else." More than once he said, "My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct."
On Lord's day, May the 7th, within an hour of his departure, overhearing the congregation singing in the chapel, which adjoined his house, be said to his daughter Sarah, "I wish I had strength enough." - "To do what, father?" He replied, "To worship, child;" and added, "my eyes are dim." On his daughter Mary entering the room, (the rest of the family surrounding the bed of their dying parent,) he said, "Come, Mary, come and help me." He was raised up in bed, and in that attitude continued for nearly half an hour, apparently joining in the devotions of his flock. The only words that could be distinctly heard were "help me," when, with his hands clasped and his eyes fixed upwards, he fell back, uttered two or three sighs, and expired. Thus died this devoted servant of Christ, May 7, 1815, in the sixty-second year of his age.
A letter from his colleague, the Rev. J. K. Hall, gives a further detail of the circumstances attendant on his death and funeral, of which the following are extracts: -
"I intend to fill this letter with news; though, as it will chiefly relate to Mr. Fuller's death, it will be news of a doleful kind. You have heard, I suppose, that this great and good man departed this life about half-past eleven, last Lord's-day morning. I was, at the time, preaching from Psalm xxiii. 4 - 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,' &c. He experienced what, at that moment, I was attempting to describe. Mr. Toller, the Independent minister, was, at the same time, preaching from Psalm lxxiii. 26 - 'My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.' As soon as we left our places of worship, every individual in the town probably heard the afflictive words, 'He is gone! He is gone!' and the melancholy news was soon despatched to different parts of the kingdom. As I had to preach in the afternoon, you may easily suppose that this circumstance would increase those feelings which I could not prevent on so solemn an occasion: I preached from Isaiah ix. 6 - 'And the government shall be upon his shoulder.' This was the text from which Mr. Fuller preached, when he returned from my grandfather's funeral."
After describing the particulars of his illness and death, he adds, "The funeral is to be next Monday. I shall not send this off till it is over. You know
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that Dr. Ryland, by Mr. Fuller's request, is to preach; and my uncle is to deliver the funeral oration."
"Tuesday Afternoon (May 16).
"Mr. Hall has resigned to me (says Mrs. Hall) the task of finishing this letter; but as the mail will leave Kettering very soon, I can do little more than just mention that the last sad tribute of respect was yesterday evening paid to the remains of the great and good Mr. Fuller. The crowd which attended was immense. All the ministers in the town were invited, both Churchmen and Dissenters - Mr. Toller, Mr. Hogg, Mr. Bugg, with Mr. Brown and Mr. Towers, the Methodist preachers.
No formal invitation was sent to any minister in the country, it being difficult to know where to draw the line; but numbers were attracted to the spot by motives of respect and affection. Mr. Grimshaw, a clergyman of the Establishment, came on purpose from Bedford. Mr. Hinton, of Oxford, and many others, with whom I was not acquainted, were there. I went to the meeting through Mr. Fuller's house (the doors not being open quite so soon) at three o'clock in the afternoon. About a quarter of an hour afterwards, the crowds assembled at the doors were admitted; the rush of people was astonishing; but no one, that I have heard of, received any injury. It was supposed there might be 2000 persons. The galleries were propped in several places, to prevent any accident; and, I am happy to say, there was not the slightest alarm. A quarter before five the funeral procession entered. The coffin was placed in the table-pew; the mourners in the seats on the right hand of the pulpit. Mr. J. H. first gave out a hymn. Mr. Teller then engaged in prayer, with great fervour and devotion: another hymn was sung. Dr. R. preached from Romans viii. 10, and Mr. Robert Hall, preceded by another hymn, delivered the funeral oration. The corpse was then carried out and interred. A few words only were spoken, by Dr. Ryland, after the body was put into the grave."
The following is an extract from a discourse delivered by Mr. Toller, the Independent minister, on the sabbath following the death of his friend, and subsequently to Mr. Fuller's congregation at their request. The text was chosen from 1 Kings xiii. 30, "Alas, my brother!"
"With regard to the much-respected friend and Christian minister lately removed, it might appear unbecoming and indelicate in me to enter far into his character and case; particularly as this will be done to so much greater advantage on the approaching day; but thus much I could hardly satisfy myself without advancing on this occasion.
"I trust I am sincerely disposed to join in the general and just tribute which his friends and the public are disposed to pay to his abilities, his sound sense, and solid understanding, and to his unwearied diligence and unconquerable ardour in supporting and pursuing the interests of the best of causes; and that not only in the common duties of his profession, but more particularly in the propagation of Christianity in the foreign climes of India. Perhaps no individual, next to the unequalled Carey, no individual, at least at home, has done so much to promote that cause; and, considering the few ad. vantages of early education which he enjoyed, the eminence to which he has risen, the influence he acquired, and the means of usefulness which he has collected and secured, are so much the more extraordinary, and reflect the greater credit on his memory. The variety and compass of his writings, though all bearing on one grand point, yet serve to show what sheer abilities, sound principle, ardent zeal, and persevering
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application can do. I have read his works (some of them more than once) with much satisfaction, and, I trust, some improvement: that that improvement has not amounted to more, ought to be attributed to myself. I have not a doubt but that they have been of real and extensive use in the Christian church, in support of the radical principles of evangelical religion, and will continue to be so after his dust shall mingle with the 'clods of the valley.' It is a satisfaction to me to reflect that, in the great leading views of vital Christianity, he expresses very nearly my own sentiments; though it is not to be expected that persons who think for themselves on sacred subjects should, in every point, 'see eye to eye.' You will not, therefore, expect that I should profess myself able to subscribe to every article in his theological creed: still, however, it is a pleasure to me to reflect now, that, differing only on points of subordinate importance, wherever that was the case we always agreed to differ.
"Though living in the same town, engaged in the same profession, and that under the banners of different denominations, for about thirty years, I do not recollect that ever an angry word passed between us, or a single jar occurred, by our means, among our respective connexions. At the same time, I would not mention this in the spirit of a vain compliment, either to him or to myself; but desire to be deeply sensible of a thousand deficiencies and errors in other respects; nor would I be understood, in a servile spirit of fulsome flattery, as representing him as a faultless character, or holding him up, in all respects, as a model of the Christian temper and disposition; for, alas! of whom can you say, 'Be ye followers of him,' unless you insert the restrictive clause - so far as he was 'a follower of Christ?
"While, then, I think him an eminent loss to his family, a general loss to society and the church of Christ, and perhaps an irreparable loss to his own denomination, I trust I can, with truly Christian cordiality, follow him up to the footstool of his Master's throne, and congratulate him on that 'Well done, good and faithful servant,' which, I have no doubt, he has received.
"I conclude with remarking that, in no one point, either from his writings, which I have read, or the sermons I have heard from him, or the interviews and conversations I have had with him, - in nothing can I so fully join issue with him as in the manner of his dying. Had he gone off full of rapture and transport, I might have said, 'O let me die the triumphant death of the righteous!' but it would have been far more than I could have realized or expected in my own case: but the state of his mind towards the last appears to have been, if I may so express it, 'after my own heart.' He died as a penitent sinner at the foot of the cross. At my last parting with him I shook hands with him twice, and observed, with some emotion, not expecting to see him more, 'We have lived harmoniously, many years, in the same place: I trust we shall, one day, meet above.' I think the last religious sentence he dropped to me was, 'Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.' He said to a young minister, 'I have no religious joys; but I have a hope, in the strength of which I think I could plunge into eternity.'
"Being reminded of his missionary labours, he replied, 'Ah! the object was unquestionably good;' but adverted to the mixture of motives to the influence of which we are liable in supporting the best of causes. To another friend, who was congratulating him in a similar style, he replied, 'I have been a great sinner; and, if I am saved at all, it must be by great and sovereign grace.' Here the dying minister - the dying friend, speaks all my heart; here, I come nearer to him at his death than I have ever done through the whole course of his life.
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The testimony of a Christian conscience is, at all times, invaluable; but, in the dying moments of a fallen creature, it can afford no more than auxiliary support; the grand prominent hold of the trembling soul must be 'the golden chain that comes down from heaven.' It is the immediate, personal, realizing application; it is the broad palpable hope of salvation for penitent sinners, through the riches of Divine grace in Christ Jesus our Lord, that throws every thing else into shades. It is not the voice of congratulation on the best-spent life, however just, that is most acceptable, in those awful moments, to pious minds: that is often heard with trembling diffidence and conscious apprehension of contaminating motives and counteracting defects. The sweetest music, in the ears of expiring piety, must be struck from another string: 'This is the record, that God bath given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.'
"In all probability, my bones will be deposited not far from his; God grant that I may die in the same temper and the same hope; and that our spirits may be united in the day of the Lord! Amen."
A tomb was erected over the remains of Mr. Fuller, in the burial-ground adjoining his place of worship, and a tablet to his memory is placed by the side of the pulpit, with this inscription: - IN MEMORY OF THEIR REVERED AND BELOVED PASTOR,
THE REVEREND ANDREW FULLER,
THE CHURCH AND CONGREGATION HAVE ERECTED THIS TABLET.
HIS ARDENT PIETY,
THE STRENGTH AND SOUNDNESS OF HIS JUDGMENT,
HIS INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE HUMAN HEART,
AND HIS PROFOUND ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE SCRIPTURES,
EMINENTLY QUALIFIED HIM FOR THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE,
WHICH HE SUSTAINED AMONGST THEM THIRTY-TWO YEARS.
THE FORCE AND ORIGINALITY OF HIS GENIUS,
AIDED BY UNDAUNTED FIRMNESS,
RAISED HIM FROM OBSCURITY
TO HIGH DISTINCTION IN THE RELIGIOUS WORLD.
BY THE WISDOM OF HIS PLANS,
AND BY HIS UNWEARIED DILIGENCE IN EXECUTING THEM,
HE RENDERED THE MOST IMPORTANT SERVICES
TO THE BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY;
OF WHICH HE WAS THE SECRETARY FROM ITS COMMENCEMENT,
AND TO THE PROSPERITY OF WHICH HE DEVOTED HIS LIFE.
IN ADDITION TO HIS OTHER LABOURS,
HIS WRITINGS ARE NUMEROUS AND CELEBRATED.
HE DIED MAY 7TH, 1815, AGED 61.3
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3 Perhaps this is the proper place to introduce a general view of Mr. Fuller's person habits, and character, which I regret that my valued brother has not incorporated in the memoir.
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No man knew Mr. Fuller better than his earliest biographer, the Rev. J. W. Morris. He says: --
"In person, he was above the middle stature, tall, stout, and muscular; his sombre aspect impressive of fear, and repulsive to approach. And being, as he said, 'of an athletic frame, and of a daring spirit, he was often in early life engaged in such exercises and exploits as might have issued in death, if the good hand of God had not preserved him.' Alluding to those days of vanity he would quote with sensible emotions, the words of the prophet, 'let not the mighty man glory in his might;' but having been a famous wrestler
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The following testimonies will show the general estimation in which the character of the deceased was held. The first is from the pen of the late Rev. Robert Hall, A. M. [Note: The continuation of the long footnote (#3) fills most of this page and the next page. - jrd]
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is his youth, he seldom met with a stout man without making an ideal comparison of strength, and possessiug some of his former feelings in reference to its exercise. If necessity required, he was still by no means deficient in courage, of which some evidence was given after he removed to Kettering. When his rest was disturbed by the conduct of disorderly persons, he would sometimes rise in the night, rush alone into the street, half-dressed, aud quell the disturbance, without any apprehension of danger.
"His nerves were uniformly so firm, that he seemed to be made almost without fear; and such was his invincibility and perfect self-command, that it may be doubted whether he was ever seen in a state of agitation. Often would he divert himself with the saying of old lady Huntingdon, who, on noticing the effeminacy of modern times, would 'thank God that she was born before nerves were in fashion;' and whether Mr. Fuller also enjoyed this felicity or not, no man was less troubled with nervous sensibilities than himself. About the year 1793, the shock of an earthquake was felt across the kingdom, a little before eleven o'clock at night. Mr. Fuller had preached that evening at Braybrook, a few miles from Kettering, and had just retired to rest. The friend at whose house he lodged, being much alarmed, awoke him, by reporting the dreadful tidings of an earthquake! 'Very well!' said he, 'I must sleep,' and settled down to rest, while the frightened family were penetrated with dread and consternation.
"His mode of living had an air of patriarchal sjmplicity; he seldom indulged in any thing more than the plainest food, and was very moderate in the use of fermented liquor. He carried his idea of economy to an extreme, deeming it scarcely allowable to eat animal food more than once a day: and when he occasionally departed from this rule, he would remark that it was a luxury somewhat like that of the prophet, who had 'bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening.' * * * "He was generally regular in his hours of rest, and possessed an even flow of spirits, bordering upon cheerfulness. Being requested to publish something upon religious melancholy, for the relief of persons afflicted with it, he replied, 'I know little or nothing about it; and what could any body write on such a subject?' In the early part of life, when in company with a chosen friend, he was fond of 'the heel of an evening;' and while engaged on religious topics, he would sometimes indulge in close and ardent conversation till the dawning of the day. He seldom allowed himself in night studies, or made any great efforts in early rising. He was the disciple of nature, and loved the order established in her empire. When some persons wondered how he wrote so much, preached so often, and entered upon such a multiplicity of engagements, he used very pleasantly to tell a tale about Dr. Gill. A gentleman having heard of his great learning and voluminous writings, called upon him to inquire by what extraordillnry means he had achieved so much, and wherein his peculiar habits consisted. The doctor answered, that he did not know there was any thing extraordinary ahout it; for he ate, and drank, and slept, and rose like other people. And though Mr. Fuller may be said to have done the work of almost ten men, he never seemed to be hurried, or to use any extraordinary means to accomplish it.
"In domestic life, he was calm and tranquil, reposing in the bosom of his family with great contentment and satisfaction. No man more enjoyed the softened pleasures of 'home, sweet home,' or entered with greater feeling into its interests and concerns; yet he never returned from his numerous fatiguing journeys to indulge himself in ease, or like one who sought a refuge from the intensity of labour, but solely with the view of renewing and multiplying his efforts in another form. Instead of requiring a total seclusion from every interruption, or burying himself six feet deep in his study, in order to prepare the numerous publications, which in one shape or other were constantly issuing from his pen, he generally sat at his desk, surrounded with the members of his family, in their common sitting-room, where, with astonishing rapidity, he composed his various papers for the press, and maintained at the same time a most extensive and unremitted correspondence with the four quarters of the globe. He needed no excuse for delay, nor had any one cause to complain of his want of punctuality."
Dr. Cox, in sketching the character of Mr. Fuller, in his excellent History of the Baptist Missionary Society, says: --
"Fuller was a kind of oak of the forest, -- sturdy, unbending, athletic, both in body and mind. His general aspect and manner were forbidding; and throughout life he was rather dominant than attractive. His perceptions were clear; his conduct decided. He was a man of whom advice would naturally be asked in the ordinary affairs of life; but especially so on great occasions. The value of his opinions would never fail to compensate for the repulsiveness of his manner; and yet that repulsiveness was exceedingly ameliorated in the free intercourse of friendship; when, indeed, he would sometimes appear to have changed his nature, exhibiting extreme sensibility and softness. The author has repeatedly seen him melted down into kindness, so that he could he as gentle as a lamb; but whenever truth required it, his unyielding integrity uniting with the harsher elements of his spirit, made him bold as a lion.
"He had not, like Carey, to use a favourite phrase of his own, a turn for languages; but, notwithstanding the deficiencies of his education, he applied to them with some success,
[p. 107]
"I cannot refrain from expressing, in a few words, the sentiments of affectionate veneration with which I always regarded that excellent person while living, and cherish his memory now that he is no more; a man whose sagacity enabled him to penetrate to the depths of every subject he explored, whose conceptions were so powerful and luminous, that what was recondite and original [Note: the continuation of the long footnote (#3) fills most of this page. - jrd]
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so as to be able to understand the Greek Testament, and form a good idea of the merits of a criticism; but he was not attracted by the study, and had he even possessed leisure, probably would never have pursued it to any great extent. Yet he had a mind aud a heart to appreciate the literary efforts of others; entering into their design with much acuteness and discrimination.
"He was less qualified for the missionary field than for the missionary cabinet. He seemed to be made for the niche he occupied. His forte was to maintain important points by deliberate inquiry and discussion, and he gained support to the mission no less by the celebrity of his name than by the force of his appeals. He was slow in coming to a conclusion, chiefly because judgment rather than imagination or passion predominated; nor, till he had frequently revised his thoughts, did he sufficiently feel his competency to give an opinion, or undertake a course of action; but having once decided, he was the most immovable of men. Give him time and space, he was an admirable controversialist; but he was not ready as a reasoner, and therefore would not have been able, with the best advantage, to encounter the dexterous evasions and extemporaneous plausibilities of the more learned or witty of the oriental disputants. The author was present at a vehement discussiou between him and Robert Hall. The latter, with his characteristic acuteness and volubility, fairly perplexed, and not a little displeased his antagonist. Fuller's replies ,vere slowly conceived, as well as slowly uttered; and stood little chance before the never-ceasing torrent of powerful reasoning, or confusing eloquence, rapid words, and pungent satire of his friend. He was at length compelled, in his own emphatic manner, to exclaim, -- 'Well, brother Hall, I cannot answer you off-hand; but put it down on paper and I will meet you.'
" Fuller was an extraordinary preacher; plain, practical, judicious, full of rich scriptural illustrations; in manner slow and solemn. The influence which he acquired by his talents in the pulpit, and by his clear illustrations of divine truth through the press, fitted him to take a lead in the conduct of the mission. He was exactly adapted to remove objections, to afford lucid statements, to urge the important claims of the object upon a yet inactive community, to raise contributions at home, and to give counsels abroad. He was just the man to direct the minds of a committee, to appreciate and examine candidates for foreign lahour, to take a comprehensive view of what might be accomplished, and to plead the cause, when needful, before friends and foes. Having once embarked, and taken the helm, he was ever at his post, watchful, firm, and persevering, at all seasons; joyous, but never careless when skies were bright; fearless amidst storms. As a man, a minister, a theological writer, an acute controversialist, as one of the founders, but especially as secretary of the Baptist Missionary Society, his name will be transmitted with distinguished honour to admiring generations."
The following paragraphs, written by the editor of these volumes, and printed several years since, may be allowed to close this long note.
"More than a quarter of a century has elapsed since Mr. Fuller was called from a life of extraordinary labour to his rest and reward; but I seem yet to have before me his commanding person, and to hear the deep-toned sounds of his voice. No one who ever listened to him as a preacher can ever forget him.
"Imagine a tall and somewhat corpulent man, with gait and manners, though heavy and unpolished, not without dignity, ascending the pulpit to address his fellow immortals on the great themes of life and salvation. His authoritative look and grave deportment claim your attention. You could not be careless if you would; and you would have no disposition to be so, even if you might. He commences his sermon, and presents to you a plan, combining in a singular manner the topical and textual methods of preaching, and proceeds to illustrate his subject, and enforce its claims on your regard. You are struck with the clearness of his statements; every text is held up before your view so as to become transparent; the preacher has clearly got the correct sense of the passage, and you wonder that you never saw it before as he now presents it; he proceeds, and you are surprised at the power of his argument, which appears to you irresistible. You are melted by his pathos, and seem to have found a man in whom are united the clearness of Barrow, the scriptural theology of Owen, and the subduing tenderness of Baxter or Flavel.
"Andrew Fuller was providentially raised up at a period when coldness benumbed some parts of the Christian church, and errors obscured the glory of others. Untaught in the schools, he had to work his way through all kinds of difficulty; to assume the attitude of a controversalist even against his own section of the church, as well as against the enemies of the common faith; and to contend against prejudices of every sort, that truth might spread, and Christian zeal be roused into action. The wonder rather is, that one short life should have accomplished so much, than that so little was effected." -- B.
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appeared familiar; what was intricate, easy and perspicuous in his hands; equally successful in enforcing the practical, in stating the theoretical, and discussing the polemical branches of theology: without the advantages of early education, he rose to high distinction among the religious writers of his day, and, in the midst of a most active and laborious life, left monuments of his piety and genius which will survive to distant posterity. Were I making his eulogium, I should necessarily dwell on the spotless integrity of his private life, his fidelity in friendship, his neglect of self-interest, his ardent attachment to truth, and especially the series of unceasing labours and exertions, in superintending the mission to India, to which he most probably fell a victim. He had nothing feeble or undecisive in his character; but, to every undertaking in which he engaged, he brought all the powers of his understanding, all the energies of his heart; and if he were less distinguished by the comprehension than the acumen and solidity of his thoughts - less eminent for the gentler graces than for stern integrity and native grandeur of mind, we have only to remember the necessary limitation of human excellence. While he endeared himself to his denomination by a long course of most useful labour, by his excellent works on the Socinian and deistical controversies, as well as his devotion to the cause of missions, he laid the world under lasting obligations."
The same eloquent writer, in his brief memoir of Mr. Toller, has sketched, with a masterly hand, a comparative delineation of the peculiar excellences of both his friends.
"It has rarely been the privilege of one town, and that not of considerable extent, to possess at the same time, and for so long a period, two such eminent men as Mr. Toller and Mr. Fuller. Their merits as Christian ministers were so equal, and yet so different, that the exercise of their religious functions in the same place was as little adapted to produce jealousy as if they had moved in distant spheres. The predominant feature in the intellectual character of Mr. Fuller was the power of discrimination, by which he detected the minutest shades of difference among objects which most minds would confound. Mr. Toller excelled in exhibiting the common sense of mankind in a new and impressive form. Mr. Fuller never appeared to so much advantage as when occupied in detecting sophistry, repelling objections, and ascertaining, with a microscopic accuracy, the exact boundaries of truth and error: Mr. Toller attached his attention chiefly to those parts of Christianity which come most into contact with the imagination and the feelings, over which he exerted a sovereign ascendency. Mr. Fuller convinced by his arguments, Mr. Toller subdued by his pathos; the former made his hearers feel the grasp of his intellect, the latter the contagion of his sensibility. Mr. Fuller's discourses identified themselves after they were heard with trains of thought; Mr. Toller's with trains of emotion. The illustrations employed by Mr. Fuller (for he also excelled in illustration) were generally made to subserve the clearer comprehension of his subject; those of Mr. Toller consisted chiefly of appeals to the imagination and the heart. Mr. Fuller's ministry was peculiarly adapted to detect hypocrites, to expose fallacious pretensions to religion, and to separate the precious from the vile; he sat as 'the refiner's fire, and the fuller's soap.' Mr. Toller was most in his element when exhibiting the consolations of Christ, dispelling the fears of death, and painting the prospects of eternity. Both were original; but the originality of Mr. Fuller appeared chiefly in his doctrinal statements, that of Mr. Toller in his practical remarks. The former was unquestionably
[p. 109]
most conversant with speculative truth, the latter possessed, perhaps, the deeper insight into the human heart.
"Nor were the characters of these eminent men, within the limits of that moral excellence which was the attribute of both, less diversified than their mental endowments. Mr. Fuller was chiefly distinguished by the qualities that command veneration; Mr. Toller by those which excite love. Laborious, zealous, intrepid, Mr. Fuller passed through a thousand obstacles in the pursuit of objects of public interest and utility: Mr. Toller loved to repose, delighting and delighted, in the shade of domestic privacy. The one lived for the world; the other for the promotion of the good of his congregation, his family, and friends. An intense zeal for the advancement of the kingdom of Christ, sustained by industry that never tired, a resolution not to be shaken, and integrity incapable of being warped, conjoined to a certain austerity of manner, were the leading characteristics of Mr. Fuller; gentleness, humility, and modesty those of Mr. Toller. The secretary of the Baptist Mission attached, in my opinion, too much importance to a speculative accuracy of sentiment; while the subject of this memoir leaned to the contrary extreme. Mr. Fuller was too prone to infer the character of men from their creed; Mr. Toller to lose sight of their creed in their character.
"Between persons so dissimilar, it was next to impossible a very close and confidential intimacy should subsist: a sincere admiration of each other's talents, and esteem for the virtues which equally adorned them both, secured, without interruption, for more than thirty years, those habits of kind and respectful intercourse which had the happiest effect in promoting the harmony of their connexions, and the credit of religion.
"Much as Mr. Fuller was lamented by the religious public in general, and especially in his own denomination, I have reason to believe there was not a single individual, out of the circle of his immediate relatives, who was more deeply affected by his death than Mr. Toller. From that moment he felt himself nearer to eternity; he accepted the event as a most impressive warning of his own dissolution; and, while a thousand solemn and affecting recollections accompanied the retrospect of a connexion which had so long and so happily subsisted, one of his favourite occupations was to revive a mental intercourse, by the frequent perusal of the sermons of his deceased friend. It is thus that the friendship of high and sanctified spirits loses nothing by death but its alloy; failings disappear, and the virtues of those whose 'faces we shall behold no more' appear greater and more sacred when beheld through the shades of the sepulchre."
"It is pleasing to reflect," observes Dr. Newman, "that a spontaneous homage was paid to him by persons of all ranks and degrees. Men of education and learning, men of distinction in wealth and office, the poor and illiterate, Christians in the Establishment and out of it, of all denominations, hung delighted on his lips."
The Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in a minute dated May 22, 1815, testify their estimate of his worth in the following terms: "This Committee learn, with deep regret, the decease of the late Rev. Andrew Fuller, secretary to the Baptist Missionary Society; and, impressed with a sense of the valuable services rendered by that excellent individual, in promoting the translation and publication of the sacred Scriptures in the East, desire to unite their condolence on this afflictive event with that of their Baptist brethren, to whom he was more particularly allied, and of the Christian world,
[p. 110]
by whom his memory will deserve to be held in affectionate and grateful veneration." 4
To these public testimonies may be added one relative to his domestic virtues, from his bereaved widow, who thus writes to Dr. Ryland: -
"I think, dear sir, there was no one better acquainted with the dear deceased, in his public character, than yourself: we can, therefore, give you no information on that head; but far he it from me to wish it to be held up in the style of panegyric. I am certain that would have ill accorded with his sentiments and feelings; and I know that this may be safely left to your discretion. But I cannot forebear adding my testimony to my late dear husband's conduct in his domestic character; which, so far as his mind was at liberty to indulge in such enjoyments, I must testify to have been, ever since I had the happiness of being united to him, of the most amiable and endearing kind. But to so great a degree was he absorbed in his work as scarcely to allow himself any leisure or relaxation from the severest application; especially since, of late years, his work so accumulated on his hands. I was sometimes used to remark, how much we were occupied; (for, indeed, I had no small share of care devolved upon me in consequence;) his reply usually was, 'Ah, my dear, the way for us to have any joy is to rejoice in all our labour, and then we shall have plenty of joy.' If I complained that he allowed himself no time for recreation, he would answer, 'Oh no: all my recreation is a change of work.' If I expressed an apprehension that he would soon wear himself out, he would reply, 'I cannot be worn out in a better cause. We must work while it is day;' or, 'Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might.'
"There was a degree of bluntness in his manner; which yet did not arise from an unsociable or churlish disposition, but from an impatience of interruption in the grand object of his pursuit.5 In this sense, he seemed not to know his relations or friends. Often, when a friend or an acquaintance on a journey has called, when they had exchanged a few words, he would ask, 'Have you any thing more to say?' - or something to that effect - 'if not, I must beg to be excused;' at the same time, asking them to stay and take some refreshment, if they chose. Yet, you know, dear sir, he had a heart formed for the warmest and sincerest friendship with those whose minds were congenial with his own, and who were engaged in similar pursuits; and I never knew him to be weary of their company. I am fully persuaded that my dear husband fell a sacrifice to his unremitting application to the concerns of the mission; but I dare not murmur. The Lord has done as it pleased him; and I know that whatever he does is right."
The following anecdotes will illustrate some of the most distinguishing features of Mr. Fuller's character. Among these none was more conspicuous than his originality, which is thus referred to by himself, in a conversation with a friend on the philosophical character of Dr. Franklin: "Well, said Mr. Fuller, what
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4 Alas that this Society, as well as the American Bible Society, should have since descended from the high ground they once occupied, and after more than twenty years co-operation with the Baptist Missionaries in India, should have withheld their support, because they translated the words relating to baptism. - B.5 Morris mentions this same trait of Mr. Fuller's character, in his Memoirs. He says, "Having been often reminded of his stern behaviour, which had become rather a general subject of complaint, he ventured one day to mention it in a company of ministers, by way of appeal. One of them replied, 'Why, sir, you do not appear likely to make war without some just occasion; but it is pretty evident, (pointing to his eyebrows) that you keep up a formidable peace establishment.' The company of course enjoyed the pleasantry of this remark, till another of them perceiving the effect it was likely to prodnce, added, 'We had hetter retreat; or we shall be in danger of putting brother Fuller's troops into motion.'" - B.
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do you call a philosopher, or in what respect was he one?" "Oh! he seems to have made rules for himself in childhood, which regulated him even in old age." Mr. Fuller replied, "If this be any mark of a philosopher, you will make me one. - My father was a farmer, and in my younger days it was one great boast among the ploughmen that they could plough a straight line across the furrows or ridges of a field. I thought I could do this as well as any of them. One day, I saw such a line, which had just been drawn, and I thought, Now I have it. Accordingly, I laid hold of the plough, and, putting one of the horses into the furrow which had been made, I resolved to keep him walking in it, and thus secure a parallel line. By and by, however, I observed that there were what might be called wriggles in this furrow; and, when I came to them, they turned out to be larger in mine than in the original. On perceiving this, I threw the plough aside, and determined never to be an imitator."
There were times when he could appreciate and enjoy the works of art, but these were evidently made to yield to matters of higher moment; and what was observed of John Howard, by an eloquent living writer, was equally true of Mr. Fuller, that 'as invisible spirits, who fulfil their commission of philanthropy among mortals, do not care about pictures, statues, and sumptuous buildings; no more did he, when the time in which he must have inspected and admired them would have been taken from the work to which he had consecrated his life." A friend, conducting Mr. F. through the University of Oxford, pointed out an object of peculiar interest among the splendid edifices that surrounded them: "Brother, replied he, I think there is one question which, after all that has been written on it, has not been yet answered: - What is justification?" His friend proposed to return home and discuss the subject; to which Mr. F. readily agreed, adding, "that inquiry is far more to me than all these fine buildings."
Though rarely accustomed to obtrude himself on the attention of strangers, no man could more admirably preserve the consistency of his character in all companies. On one occasion, travelling in the Portsmouth mail, he was much annoyed by the profane conversation of two young men who sat opposite. After a time, one of them, observing his gravity, accosted him with an air of impertinence, inquiring, in rude and indelicate language, whether on his arrival at Portsmouth he should not indulge himself in a manner evidently corresponding with their own intentions: Mr. Fuller, lowering his ample brows, and looking the inquirer full in the face, replied in measured tones, "Sir, I am a man that fears God." Scarcely a word was uttered during the remainder of the journey.
"His aversion to display, and especially of attainments to which he could lay but a moderate claim, is remarkable in his disclaimer of any thing approaching to erudition; and though his remarks on the English Translation of the Scriptures evince a shrewd perception of its merits, and those on the proper and improper use of terms discover an equal acquaintance with the general principles of language, it is observable that he more freely availed himself of the use of critical comment in one page of his "Letters of Agnostos," where he was concealed from public view, than in all the rest of his works united.
Under the influence of those pensive feelings to which he was subject, especially in later life, he would often sing, to a tune remarkable for its plaintive simplicity, a hymn commencing with the following stanzas: -
"I sojourn in a vale of tears,
Alas, how can I sing? My harp doth on the willows hang,
Distuned in every string:
[p. 112]"My music is a captive's chain;
Harsh sounds my ears do fill: How can I sing sweet Zion's song On this side Zion's hill?"
One evening, having composed a tune, not remarkable for its scientific structure, he carried it for the inspection of a musical friend. "It's in a flat key, sir," observed his friend. - "Very likely," replied Mr. F. in a plaintive tone, "very likely; I was born in a flat key." His ideas of psalmody, which will be found among his miscellaneous pieces, are singular and not unworthy of attention. His mode of living was characterized by simplicity, and he would frequently remark that the great difference between the comfort of one man and another often depended on the fact, that the one simplified his wants - the other multiplied them. Though his manners were occasionally harsh, and there were times in which he might be betrayed into needless severity, it was less attributable to a morose disposition than to an unpolished manner, of which his intercourse with society never entirely divested him. No man more sincerely estimated the importance of what he emphatically termed "Christian politeness," which he esteemed as equally removed from the heartless complaisance of a Chesterfield and the affected moroseness of a Johnson.6
Mr. Fuller excelled principally as a writer, yet his preaching was exceedingly interesting and instructive. His phraseology, though occasionally quaint, was, for the most part, clear, dignified, and emphatic. His arrangement was comprehensive, and he was remarkable for a felicitous discovery and a happy application of all the attributes of his subject and the terms of his text. Exposition was a favourite exercise; and he was accustomed to regard a ministry in which this occupied a subordinate place as equally wanting in Scriptural authority and practical advantage. He expounded a large portion of the books of the Old and New Testament. Such of these as are not published were left in short-hand, in an unfinished state, and part of them perished by fire.
Mr. Fuller was succeeded by his colleague, the Rev. John Keen Hall, M.A.,
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6 There certainly were times when Mr. Fuller could be sufficiently severe, even in the domestic circle, and when he could give reproof in a manner not easily forgotten. He was once spending a few days in a family where the husband and wife were not very happy together, and where the lady was not remarkable for her kindness to her lord. One evening, after Mr. F. had been preaching, and forcibly urging Christian duty, the good woman, according to the fashion of the school to which she belonged, remarked, "Ah, sir, we are poor creatures, and can do nothing." "You are quite mistaken, madam," replied he, "you can do a great deal." "Why, what can I do?" asked the lady, somewhat excited. "Why, madam, " replied he, with a tone and manner which can only be imagined by those who knew him, "you can quarrel with your husband." The lady said no more.
I may here copy from Dr. Cox's history of the first fifty years of the Baptist Missionary Society, already referred to, another anecdote of the same general character. The reader will not be displeased that it gives him a view also of the amiable Sutcliff.
"Having been engaged," says the Dr., "in a double lecture with Mr. Fuller, at Walgrave, the ministers were taking their places at dinner afterwards, when it was usual for those who had preached to sit at the top of the table. Being then very young, and somewhat overawed by the seniors present, the position was timidly declined. Mr. Fuller knitted his brows, and said, in a manner no one would wish to tempt a second time, 'Come, sir, I like every man to take his proper place; what do you hesitate for?' At the end of the repast, Mr. Sutcliff, with a gentle tap on the shoulder, whispered, 'I want to speak with you.' We accordingly retired; when, in his softest manner, he said, 'My dear young brother Cox, I see that my brother Fuller has somewhat hurt your mind;' it was admitted. 'Well,' said he, 'don't be disconcerted or discouraged. It is his manner; he does not mean any thing unkind; he really loves you. My brother Fuller sometimes serves me just the same: he speaks, on a sudden, perhaps very harshly; but I know him, and let it pass; and he will soon be as confiding and affectionate as ever.' Here were the men; -- Fuller, severe, prone to command, little disposed to make even proper allowances, yet capable of strong attachment; Sutcliff, kind, peaceful, humble, generous-hearted, and wise." - B.
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who, after sustaining the pastoral office fourteen years, during which he was greatly endeared to his people, was suddenly called to his reward, in the prime of life, a few weeks after his second marriage; and was succeeded by the Rev. J. Robinson, the present pastor.============== [From Joseph Belcher, editor, The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller, Volume I, 1845, reprint, 1988; pp. 98-113. Document provided by David Oldfield, Post Falls, ID. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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