THE CONGREGATIONAL MAGAZINE.

MARCH, 1840.

MEMOIR

OF

THE REVEREND JOB WILSON,

LATE OF

NORTHWICH, CHESHIRE.

Ir is an error respecting biography to suppose that men who have occupied first-rate stations, in religious or civil life, are its only proper subjects. The rigid application of such a rule would deprive the bulk of mankind of many profitable examples, especially of religious excellence, which they may at once admire, and hope successfully to imitate. Goodness, in the christian sense of it, and even in its highest degree, is an attainment to which, by the divine grace and blessing, the most humble talents are equal; and characters in whom this important fact are exemplified are, or ought to be, of greatest and most extensive use to mankind.

These obvious truths have seldom been so fully illustrated as in the life and character of the Rev. Job Wilson, for forty-three years pastor of the congregational christian church at Northwich, Cheshire. Of him no superiority can be stated, either of birth, station, learning, intellect, or acquirements; yet in him, if his character and course could be correctly delineated, men of every class might find much to rouse and instruct them, in regard to matters of deepest interest, both to themselves and all connected with them. Mr. Wilson was born at Sowerby, a village near to Halifax, Yorkshire, on February 16th, 1765. He was the only child of parents devoted to agricultural pursuits, and occupying a respectable place in the middle class of society. Little is known of his earliest years, until, with the view of fitting him for some useful calling, he was sent, at the proper age, to the school at Sowerby, which boasts of having supplied the first rudiments of learning to the great Archbishop Tillotson, also a native of this village. The parents of Mr. W., like those of the Archbishop, were dissenters from the established church, but were less favoured, it should seem, than those of the prelate, in the character of the ministry upon which they attended. Their pastor,

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with whom they appear to have been upon terms of intimacy, had imbibed Arian sentiments; but, with the want of honesty, too common at that time, these tenets were held by him, without being distinctly avowed. In reference to this, Mr. Wilson has been often heard to relate a circumstance, of which he seems always to have retained a lively recollection. He accidentally heard the man, to whose care the spiritual interests of himself and his friends were committed, state to another minister, on a visit to him, that there was not a person in his congregation who knew his real sentiments on religious subjects. Mr. W. was at the time but seven years of age, and was at play with the minister's son in the room where the two divines held their confidential intercourse; but the strangeness of the statement he heard struck him too forcibly ever to be forgotten. The father of Mr. Wilson, however, of whom he always spoke as a truly good man, took him occasionally to hear better things than were to be expected from such a pastor. It appears that about this time they went together to hear Dr. Fawcett, who delivered lectures on the Lord's-day evenings in a large room, part of Brearley Hall, an ancient mansion, upon which that good man had recently entered, with his useful school establishment. But notwithstanding his advantages, the early years of Mr. Wilson only served to prove that "childhood and youth are vanity." It does not appear that he ever grieved his pious connexions by immorality of conduct; yet, according to his own maturer judgment, he was, at this period of his life, wholly averse to spiritual pursuits, and opposed in heart to the true principles of religion.

In 1785, when about twenty years of age, the situation of clerk in the great house of Peel, Yates, and Co. was procured for Mr. Wilson, in consequence of which he removed to Ramsbottom, near Bury, Lancashire. With this respectable firm he remained about two years, highly respected, especially by one of the partners, Mr. Henry Warren, a lover of good men, who often, at subsequent periods, expressed great esteem for him. In 1787 he entered into the relations of marriage with Miss Ann Rothwell, a descendant of the Rev. Edward Rothwell, formerly the holy and useful minister of the dissenting congregation at Dundee, near Ramsbottom. This worthy female still survives, though through disease so "feeble and sore broken" as to be dead to all realities of life, both in body and mind. Of Mrs. Wilson less cannot be said, in a memoir of her husband, than that for more than fifty years she was truly a help meet for him. The course which he took through life was, it will be seen, so greatly at variance with all ordinary notions of worldly policy, that it could scarcely have accorded, at all times, with the views of a thrifty housewife; yet it is not known that she ever contradicted him. In this, as in every thing else, Mrs. Wilson uniformly displayed "the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which, in the sight of God, is of great price."

About the same time Mr. W. removed to the neighbourhood of Bury; and as his mind had, up to this period, been much infected with Arian principles, he attended upon the ministry of the Rev. John Hughes, Presbyterian minister in that town, to whom a num

ber of the Rev. Job Orton's "Letters to Dissenting Ministers" are addressed. But circumstances shortly led him back to Holcome, in the neighbourhood of the chapel at Dundee; and here commenced what he always afterwards considered as his first profitable acquaintance with religious things. In 1788, a minister of whom little is now known, the Rev. W. Main, was introduced to the chapel at Dundee; and in that and the following year, powerful and extensive effects were produced by his preaching. A great revival took place, and a number of people, some of much respectability, and many among the young, were brought to serious concern respecting their eternal welfare. Among others, deep and, as the event proved, permanent impressions were made upon the mind of Mr. Wilson. It is to be regretted that more is not now to be gathered of this part of his life and religious experience. One, however, who knew him intimately at the time, and who still survives, says that his convictions of sin were poignant and deep, that he began to read his Bible more frequently, and with greater earnestness, and pray that God would lead him in the right way. Now, too, it appears, his mental trouble and anxiety were not a little increased by the Arian notions which he had formerly imbibed. But, by the good providence of God, a seasonable counsellor, "one of a thousand," was provided for him. This was Abraham Hamer, a man of whom a lively recollection is and will be long cherished in the neighbourhood of Ramsbottom and Dundee. He was a plain country man, ardently attached to religious principles and pursuits, so "mighty in the Scriptures," so gifted with sound understanding, and so holy in his spirit and life, that his counsel and example were a blessing to many; and this was the man raised up to expound to Mr. Wilson" the way of God more perfectly." Mr. Wilson was deeply sensible of his obligations to this good man for his scriptural instructions and advice, in allusion to which he has been more than once heard to say, "but for Abraham Hamer I had been a Socinian." A warm friendship ever afterwards subsisted between them; and in process of time, the funeral sermon of the venerable deacon of the church at Dundee, was preached by his theological pupil of former days, in pursuance of an agreement made by them thirty-five years before its delivery.

Mr. Wilson was a man who entered into nothing which he believed to be true and important but with his whole heart and soul, and most of all, it may be expected, that this would be the manner in which he would now take up the great subject of religion. He had new dis

coveries made to him respecting the glory of the Divine Saviour, and the worth of the human soul, as well as the need and importance of its salvation; and his views and impressions upon these subjects he would be anxious to communicate to others. At that time, as is well known, there was a great dearth of lively scriptural preaching in the parts in which Mr. W. resided; and, in these circumstances, he was, before long, led to give brief exhortations at prayer-meetings, and to preach occasionally in the neighbouring villages. It is remembered by his surviving acquaintances, and is worthy, perhaps, to be recorded, that his first sermon was preached in the pulpit of

the Baptist chapel at Accrington, Lancashire. Having the countenance and approbation of good men in these occasional exercises, he was led also to think of devoting himself entirely to the work of the ministry; and in this he was much influenced by what he considered to be indications of the will of God in the dealings of Providence with him. He observed, that to whatever he turned, in the way of business, his expectations were baffled and disappointed in a manner which appeared to him uncommon and remarkable. By the advice of friends, therefore, he entered into the Dissenting College then at Northowram, but did not remain there many weeks. The state of the institution was unfavourable to his continuance, and an application was made to it at the time by the Rev. Jonathan Scott, often called Captain Scott, for a preacher to labour in Cheshire, a county then very destitute of gospel light and instruction. By these means, in the spring of 1794, the steps of Mr. Wilson were led into the county in which he spent the rest of his days-an event attended with memorable consequences to the spiritual interests of many in that important part of the country.

At his first coming into Cheshire, Mr. W. did not immediately settle down at any particular place. He paid a visit of four or five weeks to Northwich, in the summer of 1794; but he did not commence his stated ministry there until nearly twelve months afterwards. Part of the intermediate time was spent with the people at Townley Street Chapel, Macclesfield, and part at Nantwich and other places. It was in June, 1795, that he consented to make Northwich his permanent home. A state of things more discouraging than that upon which he now entered can scarcely be conceived. The chapel at Northwich was small and singularly inconvenient, and the people connected with it were few, and principally of the lowest and poorest classes. The prejudices of the public against both the people and the place were unusually strong; and, it must be confessed, that these had been in no degree conciliated by the character and conduct of Mr. Wilson's predecessor. As a part also of his regular charge, Mr. Wilson undertook to minister to a small congregation meeting in a very inconvenient chapel at Middlewich, where he continued to preach for a number of years, on one part of the Lord's-day, although it was six miles distant from Northwich. In these circumstances he commenced the honourable, disinterested labours which were continued to the close of his life.

Mr. Wilson was publicly ordained to the pastoral office in the month of October, 1797, when the several parts of the services of the day were conducted by Mr. Smith, of Leek; Mr. Reece, of Sheffield; Mr. Lewis, of Wrexham; Mr. Scott, of Matlock; Mr. Holmes, of Holcome; and Mr. Roby, of Manchester. Of the cast of his public ministrations at this time, as well as of the impression made by his general character, the following just and discriminating account is given by an eminent minister of the present day. "I well remember," he says, "his first visit to Q S- about the time

of his settlement at Northwich. His discourses were certainly inferior to what they were when his mind was more cultured, and his views of divine truth were more matured and extended; but what

ever might have been some peculiarity of manner, resulting from early habits and defective education, he rose greatly above those disadvantages by assiduous self-improvement; and his discourses were generally marked by their accurate discrimination, their rich vein of spiritual feeling and sound principles, and the impression they always gave of the honesty and fervour of the preacher. No one could hear him, and still less know him, without feeling confidence in his integrity and trustworthiness; and this, connected as it was with his great prudence and consistency, was the evident cause of that uniform and universal esteem which he secured in all the circles of civil life and religious fellowship in which he moved."

The discouraging state of things existing at Northwich at the time of Mr. Wilson's settlement, continued, with but little amendment, for a number of years. It is remarkable that, for a great part of this time, he was, as he afterwards stated to a friend, entirely ignorant of some hidden hindrances to the prosperity of his labours, which, had he been aware of them, might have led him utterly to despair of final success. During this time his income from the people was incredibly small. In a letter, written at a late stage of his life, to an old and valued friend, he says, "I was here twelve years before the people at Northwich raised twenty pounds a year for every thing." How he managed to subsist in such circumstances is a problem which cannot now be fully solved. It is certain, however, that he made no clamour to the public about his difficulties, nor sought to relieve himself by becoming a burthen to others; but, on the contrary, it is known that, even at this time, he was a helper to the distressed. He was possessed of property to a small amount, and, with the great objects before him to which he had devoted himself, he was willing to trench upon this, and actually did so until the encroachments made upon it threatened its utter extinction, before there was such a reflux in his affairs as enabled him to "live of the gospel." Had Northwich alone been his sphere of usefulness, he might, throughout this period, have appeared to live and labour to little purpose; but the case was indeed much otherwise. The state of things in Cheshire, in regard to religious matters, was then such, that the appearance of a man like Mr. Wilson was a manifest and merciful interference of the good providence of God. A number of the churches of his denomination were destitute of pastors, and were in so depressed a state, that the ministry of the gospel was with difficulty preserved among them. There were also a number of places where a few religious people were found, who appeared to the eye of faith, as exercised by such a man as Mr. Wilson, to be the seeds of future churches, and, in fact, turned out to be so in process of time. Many places, too, which were entirely destitute of gospel light, presented themselves to his view, and excited his zeal by their deplorable condition.

In these circumstances, Mr. Wilson's natural disposition, sanctified as it was to useful purposes by the grace of God, was exactly the thing that was needed. So long as his health and vigour were preserved, he was essentially itinerant; it was his disposition, as he now saw it his duty, to go "about doing good," and in pursuing