Now! Then! 2024! - Yorkshire On This Day

Excerpt

The description of the vessel in which he made his voyage, which is too ludicrous to appear among graver associations – his suddenly turning to the pulpit, and pointing to it as a model of the one in which he supposed himself to have preached – the familiarity of some of his comparisons, his views rising no higher, in reference to the gold characters, from his days having been spent mostly in the country, than some of the more costly sign boards of the tradesman – his grotesque figure, and still more characteristic action, for the latter of which he was not a little indebted to his trade, his arms being stretched out, with his hands locked in each other, while he elevated and lowered them, as though he had been engaged at the anvil; varying in his movements as he rose in zeal and quickened in delivery, becoming more and more emphatic – his tears – his smiles – his tenderness – his simplicity – the adroitness with which he turned upon the text, the effects of the sermon, etc. to strengthen his call to the work – the manner in which he brought the subject to bear upon the object of the meeting – and his offering himself in the fullness of his spirit at the close as a missionary, telling the people that his “heart was good,” his “health was good,” and his “appetite was good;” that he wanted not their money, but would bear his own expenses; and that sustaining his own burden, he should consider it, provided family connections would admit, the highest honour that could be conferred upon him; the whole, in short, produced both upon the platform and among the people an effect rarely witnessed, and a scene calculated to move on with the memory, and live as a distinct picture in the imagination.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations:

• ER: East Riding
• GM: Greater Manchester
• NR: North Riding
• NY: North Yorkshire
• SY: South Yorkshire
• WR: West Riding
• WY: West Yorkshire

Comment

Comment

Mark 1:

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

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Original

He appears to have exercised occasionally in public, prior to the revival of the work of God at Sturton Grange. Mr. Dawson remarks, that “he first engaged in the prayer-meetings, and next spoke a word by way of exhortation. The last was done like himself, and always gained the attention of his hearers.” Exclusive of a distinct impression upon his mind that it was his duty to call sinners to repentance, he was not a little influenced by a dream which he had, and to which he might be excused for paying the greater attention, as God employed a dream for the purpose of rousing him from spiritual slumber; and more especially might he be excused, when revelation warrants the belief, that “In a DREAM, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumbers upon the bed; then” God “openeth the ears of men, and SEALETH their INSTRUCTION.” The substance of it was this:- He dreamed one night that he set sail to the West Indies in the character of a missionary, to preach the gospel to the poor negroes – that, on his landing, he saw a pulpit, the stairs of which he ascended – and, on unfolding the leaves of the Bible, which was laid before him, a perfect blank was presented to his eye. “A pretty thing this,” said he to himself; – “a Bible, and not a text in it!” He turned over the leaves again and again, and suddenly on one of the white pages several beautiful gold letters sprung into form, and dazzled his sight. The words were “Prepare ye the way of the Lord,” &c. These he announced as his text, and began to preach. In the course of the sermon a poor woman was so affected while intently listening to him, and gazing upon him, that she cried aloud for mercy. He instantly quitted the pulpit, descended its steps, directed his way to the penitent, prayed with her, and soon had the unspeakable pleasure of hearing her proclaim the mercy of God in the forgiveness of her sins. From this (to him) pleasing dream he awoke; and under its warmest impression, exclaimed to his wife, accosting her by name, “Matty, I believe I am called to preach the gospel.” Martha, less awake to the subject than himself, requested him to go to sleep again, not a little infidel in her principles respecting it.

This relation was given in his own way, on a platform, at the first Wesleyan Missionary Meeting held at Selby, November 16th, 1814, before a crowded audience, when the writer of this memoir was present, together with Mr. Dawson and others, and for the first time was favoured with the sight of Samuel. The description of the vessel in which he made his voyage, which is too ludicrous to appear among graver associations – his suddenly turning to the pulpit, and pointing to it as a model of the one in which he supposed himself to have preached – the familiarity of some of his comparisons, his views rising no higher, in reference to the gold characters, from his days having been spent mostly in the country, than some of the more costly sign boards of the tradesman – his grotesque figure, and still more characteristic action, for the latter of which he was not a little indebted to his trade, his arms being stretched out, with his hands locked in each other, while he elevated and lowered them, as though he had been engaged at the anvil; varying in his movements as he rose in zeal and quickened in delivery, becoming more and more emphatic – his tears – his smiles – his tenderness – his simplicity – the adroitness with which he turned upon the text, the effects of the sermon, &c. to strengthen his call to the work – the manner in which he brought the subject to bear upon the object of the meeting – and his offering himself in the fulness of his spirit at the close as a missionary, telling the people that his “heart was good,” his “health was good,” and his “appetite was good;” that he wanted not their money, but would bear his own expenses; and that sustaining his own burden, he should consider it, provided family connexions would admit, the highest honour that could be conferred upon him; – the whole, in short, produced both upon the platform and among the people, an effect rarely witnessed, and a scene calculated to move on with the memory, and live as a distinct picture in the imagination.

765 words.

Tags

Tags are assigned inclusively on the basis of an entry’s original text and any comment. You may find this confusing if you only read an entry excerpt.

• Abolitionism in the United Kingdom (7), movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to end slavery in the United Kingdom, the British Empire and elsewhere ·
• Bible (15) ·
• Dream (2) ·
• Gospel of Mark (3) ·
• Hick, Samuel (1758-1829) (3) ·
• Methodism (38) ·
• Missionary (2) ·
• Nonconformism (47) ·
• Selby (8) ·
• Slavery (20) ·
• West Indies (8) ·

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