THE subject of this brief sketch was so distinguished a member of the Congregational denomination, that we deeply regret the lack of materials for a more ample and characteristic notice. To the present generation little need be said to enhance the character of one "whose praise is in all the churches ;" but, as such instruments are of rare occurrence in the Christian world, it is eminently desirable that posterity should be made acquainted with their Christian virtues, and that their "work of faith and labour of love" should be held up to the imitation of generations yet unborn. It is, moreover, but a just homage to such a man from his contemporaries, that they should record their estimate of his worth and service, while memory retains his distinct image, and while those still survive who can verify the accuracy of the portrait drawn. It would be ungrateful on our part to pass over in silence the life and labours of such a man as Thomas Wilson; inasmuch as no single individual in our day has done more to promote the great cause

VOL. XXI.

of evangelization, to which the pages of our Magazine have been strenuously devoted for the space of half a century. On more occasions than one, we have been cheered in our work by the favourable estimates of the deceased, who, as recently as the fall of last year, declared, in a note to the Editor, that he regarded the Evangelical Magazine "as a real and extensive blessing to the church of Christ;" adding, with his characteristic quaintness, that "it must never be spoiled by fine writing, which only puzzles plain people, and does no good." In this opinion we quite accord, and hope to sustain the original character of the work, as a faithful advocate of evangelical truth, and a popular medium of religious intelligence.

In reviewing the auspices under which Mr. Wilson entered upon his career of usefulness, we are constrained to admire the wisdom and goodness of Divine Providence. He was the son of parents eminent for their personal godliness and steady attachment to the cause of Christ. His earliest associa2 Y

tions were connected with the interests of Protestant Nonconformity, and with that mighty movement of religious zeal which sprang up under the labours of Whitefield and Wesley. His honoured father, Thomas Wilson, Esq., a man of rare Christian graces, had trained his children in the principles of Nonconformity, and was, for many years, a deacon of the church under the pastoral care of the late Rev. Dr. Gibbons, of Haberdashers' Hall Meeting-house, Staining-lane, Cheapside. But, though a Congregationalist, he was no bigot, as appears from the fact that he entered into full sympathy with the labours of the immortal Whitefield, and attended his ministry at the Tabernacle, on the evenings of the Lord'sday.

To this circumstance, perhaps, may be traced much of his own zeal for the glory of God, and no inconsiderable portion of that public spirit which afterward distinguished his son Thomas, who well remembered being carried in his nurse's arms, in company with his parents, to the scene of Whitefield's ministry, and listening with such interest as one so young was likely to feel to a preacher of surpassing eloquence and power. Thus did he imbibe, in early life, a strong prepossession for animated pulpit address, which he never lost in after years, and which he never failed to urge upon all youthful candidates for the sacred office. As might have been expected, the Tabernacle became his sabbath home, where he was wont to listen to men of fervent eloquence and of purely evangelical sentiment. He entered, while very young, into communion with the church in that place, and afforded a pleasing example of early and consistent dedication to the service of Christ.

every prudent and winning method, to the house of God, and the faithful ministers of the cross.

Meanwhile, the deep interest which Mr. Wilson, sen., took in the progress of evangelical religion, and in the training of young men of promise for the work of the Christian ministry, pointed to him as a fit person to become the treasurer of that school of the prophets, which has prospered so eminently beneath the fostering care of his descendants. It was first established in 1778, at Mile End, under Dr. Addington : then removed to Hoxton Town; and subsequently, in 1825, to Highburyplace, Islington; and has been known to the churches by the several appellations of Mile End Academy, Hoxton Academy, and Highbury College. To the warm zeal which Mr. Wilson's father brought to bear upon this academic institution, it owed, under God, no inconsiderable portion of that hold on public opinion which it acquired at so early a period in its history. gently occupied in a large and respectable branch of silk manufacture, Mr. Wilson, sen., so ordered his worldly concerns as to devote a large portion of his time and attention to the important object of consolidating the interests of this theological seminary. He was a man of a truly devout mind, and of single purpose, who was greatly honoured in his day, and whose name will pass down to posterity as one of "the excellent of the earth." He finished his course with joy, and received his crown of life on March the 31st, 1794, in the sixty-fourth year of his age.

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His eldest son, Thomas, who was born in 1764, was now in his thirtieth year, fully pledged to the cause of Christ, and nobly trained to active service in the work of God. It is not always that the eldest son of such a parent is prepared to follow in his footsteps. But no sooner had the pious and active treasurer of Hoxton Academy been gathered to his fathers, than the son of his hopes entered into his labours, and that with a degree of zeal and earnest

ness, which proved that he had not been neglectful of the pious example which had been set before him. From the moment he assumed the office of treasurer, to the hour of his death, a period of forty-nine years, he might be said to live for the benefit of the College. With what advantage to the institution he devoted himself to its interests may be seen, as a matter of history, in the high standing it has acquired among kindred seminaries, in the vast improvement of the College property, and in the increased number of students educated within its walls. Those who, like the writer, have marked the deep interest which he took in all that pertained to the well-being of the College, can bear ample testimony to the generous devotedness with which he consecrated his time, efforts, and property to the advancement of its momentous objects. If a correct estimate could be formed of the extensive correspondence he entered into on its behalf, of the number of miles he travelled for it, of the amount of thought he expended upon its pecuniary and other interests, and of the actual sum of property which he contributed to its funds, the energy of his character would be seen in an imposing light, and the formidable loss sustained by his death would be suitably felt by all the friends of the institution. But " verily he had

his reward." His "labour was not in vain in the Lord." He lived to see the College rise to the very first rank among our theological seminaries; and to find that hundreds of young men whom he had taken by the hand, and aided in their first efforts at mental improvement, were occupying spheres of commanding influence in the Christian church. By his munificent liberality, and influential connexion with the public, the present commodious, elegant, and airy building was erected at Highbury, and the number of students augmented to twice its original complement.

In the settlement of students educated in the College, he was known to take a lively interest. Possessing just

views of the adaptation of young men to particular spheres, he exerted himself to place them in appropriate stations; and not a few of the most eminent ministers trained in the College owe to him their first introductions to those fields of usefulness, where it has pleased the adored Head of the church to crown their labours with abundant

success.

Having had to watch over the characters, and to regulate the appointments of so many young men, of various complexions of mind, of different degrees of education, and of widely contrasted social and spiritual endowments, it is no matter of surprise if the late treasurer of Highbury College was not always equally successful in conciliating the good wishes of those whom he desired to serve; but it may be safely affirmed, that none but inferior or worthless minds have ever questioned the purity of his motives, or allowed themselves to doubt, except in some moment of personal irritation, that he desired to promote the glory of Christ, and the true sanctity, honour, and usefulness, of the Christian ministry.

The influential relation in which Mr. Wilson stood to Highbury College, and the number of new churches which he saw rising under its auspices, naturally suggested to him the vast importance of multiplying suitable places of worship among Nonconformists, especially in our great cities. On this subject his views were singularly judicious, and happy were it for the cause of evangelical Dissent, if all its wealthy members could be brought generally to sympathise with our departed friend on this subject of deep practical moment. His experience and observation fully convinced him, that to build genteel places of worship in populous districts, and to occupy their pulpits with popular and devoted ministers, was not only the best way to promote the salvation of souls, but the surest method of diffusing the blessings of Nonconformity, and of counteracting the practical evils which arise out of an overgrown and

menacing hierarchy. Assuredly, Mr. Wilson has set a noble example of chapel-building zeal to his contemporaries and posterity. To say nothing of many sanctuaries reared by him at his sole cost, and freely given up in trust for the benefit of the congrega tions which have been collected within their walls; he has, in the Metropolis alone, built five large and handsome places of worship, (viz., Hoxton Academy Chapel, Tonbridge Chapel, Paddington Chapel, Claremont Chapel, and Craven Chapel,) and never received, as we have reason to believe, a farthing of interest on the money expended in their erection; leaving the congregations, at the same time, to refund the principal as they could make it convenient; thus relieving infant causes from the serious embarrassment arising from borrowing money upon interest. Upon the five chapels named, capable of holding eight thousand persons, Mr. Wilson could not have expended less than thirty thousand pounds; and as the principal sums laid out returned to their proper owner, they were again employed upon similar objects.

It has been generally reported, that Mr. Wilson had a large sum intrusted to him for the express purpose of building places of worship; but in his funeral discourse for the deceased, Dr. Leifchild gives an authoritative contradiction to this statement, and shows that he never had more than from three to four thousand pounds thus confided to him, by the late Captain Scott, of Matlock. Surely, no better mode of employing a large capital could have been devised by a Christian man in estimating his responsibilities in the light of eternity. In the dying hour, how soothing to the deceased to reflect on thousands of immortal souls gathered into the fold of the good Shepherd, in the sanctuaries which had been erected by him in various districts of the Metropolis, and in other parts of the British empire. It was in strict keeping with Mr. Wilson's previous history, that, in the two last years of his life, he should be actively occupied

with the affairs of Westminster Chapel, and with those of the new chapel at Somerstown. To both places of worship he was a generous contributor. But though the main energies of the deceased were spent in watching over the interests of Highbury College, and in providing chapel accommodation for an overgrown and neglected population, yet there were other objects of benevolence which engaged a measure of his attention. While his strength permitted, he was always in his place, as Treasurer of the London Missionary Society, attending its various sub-committees, and aiding the institution by the suggestions of his matured experience. He was one of the founders of the society, and continued its steady friend and supporter through the whole of his public life. In looking at the early records of the Tract Society, British and Foreign Bible Society, Irish Evangelical Society, and Hibernian Society, we find that the name of Thomas Wilson frequently occurs in their annual reports. To the Metropolis Chapel Building Fund, and to the Associate Fund, for the relief of poor ministers, he was warmly attached; and felt no small disappointment that the former institution had been so slenderly patronized by the great body of evangelical Dissenters. We would ven. ture to hope, that a voice will yet be heard from the tomb of this devoted man, inviting and constraining many, who look at the monuments of his Christian zeal, to follow in his footsteps, and to devote a portion of their substance in providing for the spiritual wants of thousands, in our great cities, who are perishing for lack of knowledge.

In looking back on that active course which is now finished, we are constrained to bless God for giving such a man as Thomas Wilson to the church. Few men have lived less to themselves, or more for Christ. He retired early from lucrative mercantile pursuits, that he might devote himself to the more congenial occupation of doing good to the souls of men. He had no taste for the splendour of life; but lived plainly and

simply, that the surplus of his income might be devoted to the highest objects of Christian beneficence.

Yet few men had a happier or more cheerful home. His fireside was the constant scene of domestic confidence and love. In his marriage relation he was greatly blessed; having been favoured with a companion beloved by all who knew her, and pre-eminently adapted to his peculiar cast of mind. There was great piety in his house. In his domestic worship, which was never tedious, he was wont to expound portions of the chapters read, in a brief and pointed manner, interesting to children and domestics. His conversation was facetious, without any thing bordering on levity. No one who observed him in his own house could doubt the sincerity or depth of his religious feelings.

One interesting feature in his character we must not omit to notice; viz., his marked attachment to a plain, practical, and evangelical style of pulpit address. He was literally intolerant of every other kind of preaching; and read many a severe lecture to young ministers, who, in the indulgence of their imagination, lost sight of "the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus." Sometimes, indeed, he would censure without sufficient cause; but, generally speaking, we may affirm of him, that he was an admirable judge of that kind of preaching which interests and does good. We have often heard him utter sentiments on the subject of preaching which we would never wish to forget. If he did not always convey his strictures in the most persuasive tone, he gave wholesome counsel to young men who knew how to receive it.

We are not, however, of that class of Mr. Wilson's admirers, who could see no fault in him. He had his own share of human imperfection. There was a little too much of dogmatism in asserting and maintaining his own opinions; and too little deference for the opinion of others. At times, his fidelity to what he regarded to be truth bordered on severity, and called forth

resentment in the breasts of others. We think we have seen instances of rash judgments in the deceased, both on the favourable and unfavourable side. Designing persons could easily practise upon him; and worthy men had difficulty, at times, in possessing him with the real merits of a case. But when he was convinced that he had formed an erroneous or unjust judgment, he could display that magnanimity which consisted in acknowledging his error. He had substantially a kind heart; and many there are still living who can bear witness to his assiduity in endeavouring to promote their best interests. For our own part, we are of opinion, that the very failings of Mr. Wilson leaned to virtue's side. He was a man of great integrity and purity of character, and when he perceived any thing in an individual antagonist to these qualities, he was prone to lean more to the side of justice than mercy. From his very temperament he was in danger of being a little too sensitive of personal injuries and insults. But he had many provocations from men whom he had aimed to serve, but who had forgotten to be grateful. And we have known splendid instances in which he has buried the most painful remembrances, and acted with a noble generosity of forgiveness. He was a man of extremely simple manners, and single purpose, who lived to form and execute plans of usefulness, and who was willing to spend and be spent for Christ.

It is pleasing to reflect, that the end of our departed friend was peace. During the last two years of his existence he suffered much from a malady, which affected his general health, and rendered his declining years less tranquil than they would otherwise have been. But he never murmured at the Divine dispensations, but waited, in meek resignation, all his appointed time till his change came. He was not in the habit of communicating freely on the subject of his own personal feelings in religion; but the objects which had occupied his more active years were the