TWENTY-ONE

SERMONS

BY THE LATE

REV. THOMAS SPENCER,

OF LIVERPOOL.

FROM HIS OWN MANUSCRIPTS.,

Religious Tract Society,

Instituted 1799;

PUBLISHED AND SOLD AT THE DEPOSITORY, 56, PATER-

NOSTER-ROW; BY J. NISBET, 21, BERNERS

STREET; AND OTHER BOOKSELLERS.

PREFACE.

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THE REV. Thomas Spencer was born at Hertford, January 21, 1791. Even when a child, preachers and preaching seemed to occupy nearly all his thoughts. The manuscript of a sermon, written when he was about twelve years old, is still preserved, which shows the early bias of his mind, and indicates his future superiority.

In 1806, when he was about fifteen, he was placed by Thomas Wilson, Esq. under the care of the Rev. William Hordle, of Harwich, to enter on his preparatory studies. In January, 1807, when he was sixteen, he was admitted into Hoxton College. During the vacation in the following Midsummer, he preached his first sermon in public, at Collier's-End, a small village near Hertford. This sermon is the first in the present volume, and was preached July the 5th, 1807: the two following sermons were also delivered in the same month. The dates affixed to the ensuing discourses, will show Mr. Spencer's age when they were preached.

In the Midsummer vacation of 1810, he was appointed to preach to a congregation at Liverpool. His sermons excited extraordinary attention, and he was invited to the pastoral office.

On Sunday, the 3d of February, 1811, Mr. Spencer commenced his stated engagements at Liverpool, just after he had attained his twentieth year. His preaching attracted such overflowing congregations, that in a few months it was found