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THE

EVANGELICAL MAGAZINE.

APRIL, 1804.

MEMOIR

OF

THE LATE REV. RICHARD DENSHAM,

OF PETERSFIELD.

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No department of our Miscellany, we believe, is perused with more lively interest than the Biographical: there we behold Christianity embodied and animated, while, at the same time, the most painful emotions are excited by the loss of so many valuable servants of our Lord. This is particularly the case with the subject of this Memoir, whose very sudden and truly distressing death was announced in our Magazine for August last. By a paper in Mr. Densham's own hand-writing, it appears that, for near two years before he entered on his public ministry, he enjoyed so much of Heaven upon earth, that he thought he should not long survive; and, therefore, diligently employed himself in writing to all his friends, and even began a Memoir of his life. At his ordination, which took place in May, 1799, he delivered the substance of that paper, in the hearing of the writer of this Memoir; and in paying this tribute of affectionate respect to the memory of his dear departed friend, he conceives he cannot do better than present the reader with Mr. Denshain's account of himself, in his own words: "The occasion of our present meeting has filled my soul with more than usual solemnity; but encouraged by the divine word of truth, and called upon to give an account of the dealings of God with my soul and my call to the ministry, I shall endeavour to be as brief as possible on each. I was born on the 1st of January, 1767, at Crediton, in the county of Devon. My native place was not totally destitute of the gospel; but the power of it was known by very few. I might venture to say that, in a large parish, consisting of seve ral thousand inhabitants, not thirty even professed the gospel. There were a few Arians, and the rest were formalists. An honest tradesman, of the name of Hatch, seeing the Pharisaical spirit of his neighbours, preached in his own house; but we all looked upon him as some strange and dangerous kind of a

man; and he was accordingly treated with the most shameful contempt, and frequently disturbed in his worship. With respect to myself, I never had the privilege of hearing the gospel from him; my friends being professed Members of the Established Church, I was always taken regularly there. We thought all was well, and that we were all safe in the way to Heaven. In this awful state I continued, until I arrived at the age of fourteen, when the Lord removed me, in his providence, to Launceston, in Cornwall, as an apprentice. Here religion was in a more flourishing state, though the family with whom I lived were as destitute of it as my own. My master, however, willing to make things agreeable to me, considered who would be a proper companion for me; and, thro' the over-ruling providence of God, I was introduced to a young man of great seriousness, who invited me, the next Sabbath after my arrival, to go with him in the evening to hear the gospel, at meeting. This I had not been used to; but I accompanied him without hesitation. Mr. Saltren was the preacher: I was pleased with what I heard, went again the next Sabbath evening, and continued going for some time. At length I went to the Methodist-meeting; and frequently felt much comfort and flashes of joy. I found the doctrines preached by Mr. Wesley's preachers more agreeable to my own erroneous sentiments, as I could not then bear the doctrine of God's electing mercy and sovereign grace; not being able to reconcile them to my false and blind ideas of the justice of God's moral character. My young friend, as well as myself, attended at church constantly in the morning and afternoon, and at meeting in the evening; as I could not venture to go at any other time. Even in this partial attendance began to be opposed by my master; but, through the goodness of God and his preserving grace, I was enabled to act with diligence in my business, which frequently overcame the violence of the opposition. Notwithstanding my sensible enjoyments, my heart remained unchanged; and I had no experience of the evil of sin, though, I trust, this was a preparatory work. About. two or three years after, my friend joined the Society, which I then could not think of submitting to: I formed, on the con-. trary, new connections with other gay young men of the town, which diverted my attention from the main object in a great degree, though I could not be happy if at any time I neglectedto attend the preaching. Thus I went on halting between two opinions. Frequently I doubted the truth of my opinions, though I would not give up my favourite tenet of free-will.

When my apprenticeship expired, I came to London; and was with Mr. G. Adains, for improvement in making mathematical instruments; but at first, being exposed to worldly people, I was kept at a distance from God; though having tasted some sweetness in the preaching of the gospel, I could te hain wor

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not keep wholly away from it. Thus I went on, without ats tending at any one fixed place, but sometimes at one place, and then at another; still, however, entangled with worldly company. The Spirit of God was still at work upon my conscience, and I used sometimes to lament my situation; but at other times I omitted secret, prayer, though not habitually. Thus I went on until 1791, when God, in his kind providence, sent me another young friend, who took me one Sunday even ing to Bow Church, Cheapside. Mr. Abdy preached a sermon on prayer, which was blessed to me in a peculiar manner. The words which impressed my mind were these: "A prayerless soul is a Christless soul, and a Christless soul is a hopeless soul." Although I do not date this as the time of my first conversion to God, he having been, as I have mentioned, gradually at work upon my heart for some years, yet to, this L ascribe, in the hands of the Spirit, my being brought to live, nearer to God in a constant uniform attention to the blessed, exercise of secret prayer. Sometime after this, I was obliged to remove from Fleet Street to a little distance over Blackfriars Bridge, for the benefit of a change of air; which gave me an opportunity of hearing dear Mr. Rowland Hill. Finding his ministry much blessed to me, after a little time I joined in communion with him; and experienced such nearness to God, that for nearly two years I enjoyed Heaven upon earth! My closet was truly my Heaven; and I fully expected God would soon take me up to be for ever with himself: :- so great were my sensible comforts, that I was forced to pray to be kept capable of attending to my worldly business. Previous to my discovery of the depravity of my heart, I thought none were so good and holy; and I remember with grief, the Pharisee's language was mine. But when the Spirit convinced me of sin, I thought none so bad; and the apostle's language was now mine," The chief of sinners." During my enjoyment of the Lord's peculiar manifestations, I was very diligent in keeping a Diary; in writing to all my friends;, telling them how they were lost, and pointing them to the Lord Jesus Christ; and I have reason to hope that my efforts were not altogether in vain.

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"I continued a member of Mr. Hill's congregation till I was called in providence to speak in the name of the Lord. I will now relate some of the circumstances attending my call to the ministry of the word. I had long felt in my soul a pity for poor perishing sinners, and would willingly have spoken, to warn them to flee from the wrath to come; but a sense of my own insufficiency, and the importance of the work, prevented me. The first time I ever attempted to speak for God, was in a meeting in my native town. Being with my friends on a visit, I went there on Sunday evening; but the riotous conduct of the people was so bad, that my spirit was stirred within me;

and when the prayer was over, I stood up quite unexpectedly and addressed them, and gained their attention; after which, the minister preached in peace. My mind was still impressed with the importance of the work, and the necessity of activity and zeal; but I fought hard against it; and, to divert my mind, I engaged more in business, which had the effect for a time; but in a little while the impresssions returned. I would not venture to speak of it to any one; but in the midst of my perplexity, the Lord in providence decided the point. Mr. Flint, of Camberwell, came to my house, and told me, he should expect me to give an exhortation in his hall on the next Sunday morning. I remonstrated, saying, I had never spoken in public. However, he would not be refused. I committed myself to the Lord, and went with great timidity; and although much discouraged in myself, was requested to speak again and again. Amidst all these conflicting fears, I had strong impressions of my call to speak for the Lord Jesus, or to do at least something for the extension of his kingdom. My views were directed chiefly to the dark villages round London; the miserable state of so many souls within our reach scemed to call aloud for pity. I did not communicate with any body for some time. At length, I spoke of it to two of my Christian friends, one of whom (Brother Youl) is now on his voyage as a Missionary to Otaheite. He approving of my design, we called a few of our friends together, and entered into a Society, subscribing, according to our power, to support the preaching of the gospel in the villages. We first procured some of the students from Hoxton academy for two villages. After some little time, I was entreated to help; which, after much reluctance, 1 engaged to do, and continued with the Society, preaching on the Sabbath days, and occasionally on week evenings; which, together with the private business of the Society, took up so much of my time, as to prevent my paying that attention to business which it required. But after the Society was become more respectable, and a secretary was appointed, my time was not so much occupied.

About this time I was much perplexed what to do. The providences of God seemed to make against me; my business required much more attention, and I thought of banishing all thoughts of the ministry, and following my worldly business with greater avidity, as I was recommended to a good situation that promised well; but my heart was not in it. I consulted several serious judicious friends, who were all decidedly averse to it, and advised me to wait the Lord's leisure in my present situation. Soon after the door opened to my present situation at Petersfield, where I was sent by my respected father (Mr. Eye, who is now present) to labour as an itinerant. My friends all earnestly pressed me to go, as it would convince me whether any call to the ministry were from God or not. After much deliberation and prayer, I gave up my business and went.

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