1

such a prospect, I cannot complain.' No, blessed | goodness of God, we safely arrived at Birmingham
be His dear name, who shed his blood for me, he on Friday evening, the 19th of July.
helps me to rejoice, at times, with joy unspeakable.
Now I see the value of the religion of the cross.
It is a religion for a dying sinner. It is all the most
guilty, the most wretched can desire. Yes, I taste
its sweetness, and enjoy its fulness, with all the
And far rather
gloom of a dying bed before me.
would I be the poor emaciated, and emaciating
creature that I am, than be an emperor, with every
earthly good about him.... but without a God!

"I was delighted the other day, in reperusing the Pilgrim's Progress, to observe that when Christian came to the top of the hill Difficulty, he was put to sleep in a chamber called Peace. Why, how good is the Lord of the way to me! said I; I have not reached the summit of the hill yet, but notwithstanding he puts me to sleep in the chamber of Peace every night. True, it is often a chamber of pain; but let pain be as formidable as it may, it 1 has never yet been able to expel that peace, which the great Guardian of Israel has appointed to keep my heart and mind through Christ Jesus.

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I have been laboring lately to exercise most love to God when I have been suffering most severely but, what shall I say? Alas! too often the sense of pain absorbs every other thought. Yet there have been seasons when I have been affected

with such a delightful sense of the loveliness of God as to ravish my soul, and give predominance to the sacred passion. It was never till to-day that I got any personal instruction from our Lord's telling Peter by what death he should glorify God. O what a satisfying thought is it, that God appoints those means of dissolution whereby he gets most glory to himself. It was the very thing I needed; for of all the ways of dying, that which I most dreaded was by a consumption; (in which it is now highly probable my disorder will issue.) But, O my dear Lord, if by this death I can most glorify thee, I prefer it to all others, and thank thee that by this mean thou art hastening my fuller enjoyment of thee in a purer world.

"A sinless state! 'O, 'tis a heaven worth dying for!' I cannot realize any thing about heaven, but the presence of Christ and his people, and a perfect deliverance from sin, and I want no more-I am sick of sinning-soon I shall be beyond its power. "O joyful hour! O blest abode! I shall be near and like my God!' I only thought of filling one side-and now have not left room to thank you and dear Mrs. Ryland for the minute, affectionate, and constant attentions you paid us in Bristol. May Our hearty love to all the Lord reward you. around, till we meet in heaven. Eternally yours in Christ,

TO MR. BIRT.

S. P."

Birmingham, July 26, 1799.

"It is not with common feelings that I begin a letter to you. Your name brings so many interesting circumstances of my life before me, in which your friendship has been so uniformly and eminently displayed, that now, amidst the imbecilities of sickness, and the serious prospect of another world, my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude, whilst it glows with affection-an affection which eternity shall not annihilate, but improve.

"We reached Bristol on the Friday after we parted from you, having suited our progress to my strength and spirits. We staid with Bristol friends, till Monday, when we pursued our journey, and went comfortably on, till the uncommonly rough road from Tewksbury to Evesham quite jaded me; and I have not yet recovered from the excessive fatigue of that miserable ride.

"I feel an undisturbed tranquillity of soul, and am cheerfully waiting the will of God. My voice is gone, so that I cannot whisper without pain; and of this circumstance I am at times mcst ready to complain. For, to see my dear and amiable Sarah look at me, and then at the children, and at length Yet the Lord bathe her face in tears, without my being able to say one word of comfort-Oh!!..... supports me under this also; and I trust will supS. P." port me to the end.

TO MR. ROCK.

July 28, 1799.

I am now to all appearance within a few steps of eternity. In Christ I am safe. In him I "S. P." am happy. I trust we shall meet in heaven.

TO R. BOWYER, ESQ.

Birmingham, August 1, 1799. "Much disappointed that I am not released from this world of sin, and put in possession of the pleasures enjoyed by the spirits of just men made perfect, I once more address my dear fellow heirs of that glory which ere long shall be revealed to us all.

"We returned from Devon last Friday week. I My friends compelled was exceedingly weak, and for several days afterwards got rapidly worse. me to try another physician. I am still told that I Be that as it may, I wish to have shall recover. my own will annihilated, that the will of the Lord Through his abundant grace, I may be done. have been, and still am happy in my soul; and I trust my prevailing desire is, that living or dying I may be the Lord's.

TO DR. RYLAND.

S. P."

Birmingham, Lord's day evening, }

Aug.

"MY VERY DEAR BROTHER-Still, I trust, hastening to the land 'where there shall be no more curse,' I take this opportunity of talking a little with you on the road, for we are fellow-travellers, and a little conversation by the way will not lose me the privilege of getting first to the end of my journey.

"It is seventeen years within about a week since I first actually set out on my pilgrimage; and when I review the many dangers to which, during that time, I have been exposed, I am filled with conviction that I have all along been the care of Omnipotent love. Ah, how many Pliables, and Timorouses, and Talkatives have I seen, while my quivering heart said, 'Alas! I shall soon follow these sons of apostacy, prove a disgrace to religion, and have my portion with hypocrites at last.'

"These fears may have had their uses-may have made me more cautious, more distrustful of myself, and kept me more dependent on the Lord. Thus

'All that I've met has worked for my good.'

"With what intricacy, to our view, and yet with what actual skill and goodness, does the Lord draw his plans, and mark out our path! Here we wonder and complain.-Soon we shall all agree that it was a right path to the city of habitation; and what we now most deeply regret, shall become the subject of our warmest praises.

"I am afraid to come back again to life. O how many dangers await me! Perhaps I may be overcome of some fleshly lust-perhaps I may get proud and indolent, and be more of the priest than of the evangelist-surely I rejoice in feeling my outward At Alcester we man decay, and having the sentence of death in rested a day and a half, and, through the abundant myself. Ŏ what prospects are before me in the

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same by me. If he takes me, I shall not be lost, I shall only go a little before; we shall meet again, never to part."

After a violent fit of coughing he said, "It is all well; O what a good God is he! It is done by him, and it must be well-if I ever recover, I shall pity the sick more than ever, and if I do not, I shall go to sing delivering love; so you see it will be all well.-O for more patience! Well, my God is the God of patience, and he will give me all I need. I rejoice it is in my Jesus' hands to communicate, and it cannot be in better. It is my God who gives me patience to bear all his will."

CHAPTER V.

General Outlines of his Character.

To develop the character of any person, it is necessary to determine what was his governing principle. If this can be clearly ascertained, we shall easily account for the tenor of his conduct. The governing principle in Mr. Pearce, beyond all doubt, was HOLY LOVE.

To mention this is sufficient to prove it to all who knew him. His friends have often compared him to that disciple whom Jesus loved. His religion was that of the heart. Almost every thing he saw, or When after a restless night, Mrs. P. asked him, heard, or read, or studied, was converted to the what she should do for him? "You can do nothing feeding of this divine flame. Every subject that but pray for me, that I may have patience to bear passed through his hands seemed to have been cast all my Lord's will."-After taking a medicine he into this mould. Things, that to a merely specusaid, "If it be the Lord's will to bless it, for yourlative mind would have furnished matter only for sake, and for the sake of the dear children-but the curiosity, to him afforded materials for devotion. Lord's will be done. O, I fear I sin, I dishonor God His sermons were generally the effusions of his by impatience; but I would not for a thousand heart, and invariably aimed at the hearts of his worlds sin in a thought if I could avoid it." Mrs. hearers. P. replied, she trusted the Lord would still keep him; seeing he had brought him thus far, he would not desert him at last. "No, no," he said, "I hope he will not. As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Why do I complain? | My dear Jesus' sufferings were much sorer and more bitter than mine: And did he thus suffer, and shall I repine! No, I will cheerfully suffer my Fa

ther's will."

One morning after being asked how he felt, he replied, "I have but one severe pain about me! What a mercy! O how good a God to afford some intervals amidst so much pain! He is altogether good. Jesus lives, my dear, and that must be our consolation."-After taking a medicine which operated very powerfully, he said, "This will make me so much lower; well, let it be.. Multiply my pains, thou good God; so thou art but glorified, I care not what I suffer; all is right."

Being asked how he felt after a restless night, he replied, "I have so much weakness and pain, I have not had much enjoyment; but I have a full persuasion that the Lord is doing all these well. If it were not for strong confidence in a lovely God, I must sink; but all is well. O blessed God, I would not love thee less; O support a sinking worm! O what a mercy to be assured that all things are working together for good."

His last day, Oct. 10, was very happy; Mrs. P. repeated this verse,

For the justness of the above remarks, I might appeal not only to the letters which he addressed to his friends, but to those which his friends addressed to him. It is worthy of notice how much we are influenced in our correspondence by the turn of mind of the person we address. If we write to a humorous character, we shall generally find that what we write, perhaps without being conscious of it, will be interspersed with pleasantries: or if to one of a very serious cast, our letters will be more serious than usual. On this principle, it has been thought, we may form some judgment of our own spirit by the spirit in which our friends address us. These remarks will apply with singular propriety to the correspondence of Mr. Pearce. In looking over the first volume of Periodical Accounts of the Baptist Mission, the reader will easily perceive the most affectionate letters from the missionaries are those which are addressed to him.

It is not enough to say of this affectionate spirit, that it formed a prominent feature in his character it was rather the life-blood that animated the whole system. He seemed, as one of his friends observed, to be baptized in it. It was holy love that gave the tone to his general deportment: as a son, a subject, a neighbor, a Christian, a minister, a pastor, a friend, a husband, and a father, he was manifestly governed by this principle; and this it was that produced in him that lovely uniformity of character, which constitutes the true beauty of holiness.

Mrs. P. saying, If we must part, I trust the separation will not be for ever; "Ono," he replied, "we sorrow not as those who have no hope." She said, Then you can leave me and your dear children By the grace of God he was what he was; and to with resignation, can you? He answered, "My the honor of grace, and not for the glory of a sinheart was pierced through with many sorrows, be-ful worm, be it recorded. Like all other men, he fore I could give you and the dear children up; but was the subject of a depraved nature. He felt it, the Lord has heard me say, Thy will be done; and and lamented it, and longed to depart, that he might I now can say, blessed be his dear name, I have be freed from it: but certainly we have seldom seen none of my own.' a character, taking him altogether, "whose excellencies were so many, and so uniform, and whose imperfections were so few." We have seen men rise high in contemplation, who have abounded but little in action.. We have seen zeal mingled with bitterness, and candor degenerate into indifference; experimental religion mixed with a large portion of enthusiasm, and what is called rational religion, We have seen splendid talents tarnished with invoid of every thing that interests the heart of man. cheerfulness with levity, and great attainments in sufferable pride, seriousness with melancholy, religion with uncharitable censoriousness towards men of low degree: but we have not seen these things in our brother Pearce.

Since all that I meet shall work for my good,
The bitter is sweet, the med'cine is food,
Though painful at present, 'twill cease before long,
And then, O how pleasant the conqueror's song.
He repeated with an inexpressible smile, the last
line "The conqueror's song.'

He said once, "O my dear! what shall I do? But why do I complain? He makes all my bed in my sickness." She then repeated those lines,

Jesus can make a dying bed Feel soft as downy pillows are. "Yes," he replied, "he can; he does; I feel it."

There have been few men in whom has been united a greater portion of the contemplative and the active; holy zeal and genuine candor; spiritu

ality and rationality; talents that attracted almost universal applause, and the most unaffected modesty: faithfulness in bearing testimony against evil, with the tenderest compassion to the soul of the evil doer; fortitude that would encounter any difficulty in the way of duty, without any thing boisterous, noisy, or overbearing; deep seriousness, with habitual cheerfulness; and a constant aim to promote the highest degrees of piety in himself and others, with a readiness to hope the best of the lowest; not breaking the bruised reed nor quenching the smoking flax.

He loved the Divine character as rerealed in the Scriptures. To adore God, to contemplate his glorious perfections, to enjoy his favor, and to submit to his disposal, were his highest delight. "I felt," says he, when contemplating the hardships of a missionary life, "that were the universe destroyed, and I the only being in it besides God, HE is fully adequate to my complete happiness; and had I been in an African wood, surrounded with venomous serpents, devouring beasts, and savage men, in such a frame, I should be the subject of perfect peace and exalted joy. Yes, O my God! thou hast taught me that thou alone art worthy of my confidence; and with this sentiment fixed in my heart. I am freed from all solicitude about my temporal concerns. If thy presence be enjoyed, poverty shall be riches, darkness light, affliction prosperity, reproach my honor, and fatigue my rest!"

He loved the gospel. The truths which he believed and taught, dwelt richly in him, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. The reader will recollect how he went over the great principles of Christianity, examining the grounds on which he rested, in the first of those days which he devoted to solemn fasting and player in reference to his becoming a missionary; and with what ardent affection he set his sea! anew to every part of divine truth as he went along.

If salvation had been of works, few men, according to our way of estimating characters, had a fairer claim: but, as he himself has related, he could not meet the king of terrors in this armor.t So far was he from placing any dependence on his own works, that the more he did for God, the less he thought of it in such a way. "All the satisfaction I wish for here," says he, "is to be doing my heavenly Father's will. I hope I have found it my meat and drink to do his work; and can set to my seal, that the purest pleasures of human life spring from the humble obedience of faith. It is a good saying, 'We cannot do too much for God, nor trust in what we do too little.' I find a growing conviction of the necessity of a free salvation. The more I do for God, the less I think of it; and am progressively ashamed that I do no more."

Now I see the value of the religion of the cross. It is a religion for a dying sinner. It is all the most guilty and the most wretched can desire. Yes, I taste its sweetness and enjoy its fulness, with all the gloom of a dying bed before me; and far rather would I be the poor emaciated and emaciating creature that I am, than be an emperor with every earthly good about him, but without a God.”

Notwithstanding this, however, there were those in Birmingham, and other places, who would not allow that he preached the gospel. And if by the gospel were meant the doctrine taught by Mr. Huntington, Mr. Bradford, and others, who fellow hard after them, it must be granted he did not. If the fall and depravity of man operate to destroy his accountableness to his Creator; if his inability to obey the law, or comply with the gospel, be of such a nature as to excuse him in the neglect of either; or if not, yet, if Christ's coming under the law frees believers from all obligation to obey its precepts; if gospel invitations are addressed only to the regenerate; if the illuminating influences of the Holy Spirit consist in revealing to us the secret purposes of God concerning us, or impressing us with the idea that we are the favorites of Heaven; if believing such impressions be Christian farh, and doubting of their validity, unbelief; if there be no such thing as progressive sanctification, nor any sanctification inherent, except that of the illumination before described; if wicked men are not obliged to do any thing beyond what they can find in their hearts to do, nor good men to be holy beyond what they actually are; and if these things consu tute the gospel, Mr. Pearce certainly did not preach it. But if man, whatever be his depravity, be ne cessarily a free agent, and accountable for all his dispositions and actions; if gospel invitations be addressed to men not as elect, nor as non-elect, bat as sinners exposed to the righteous displeasure of God; if Christ's obedience and death rather increase than diminish our obligations to love God and one another; if faith in Christ be a falling in with God's way of salvation, and unbelief a falling out with it; if sanctification be a progressive work, and so essential a branch of our salvation, as that without it no man shall see the Lord; if the Holy Spirit instruct us in nothing by his illuminating influences but what was already revealed in the Seriptures, and which we should have perceived but for that we loved darkness rather than light; and if he inclines us to nothing but what was antecedently right, or to such a spirit as every intelligent creature ought at all times to have possessed-then Mr. Pearce did preach the gospel; and that which his accusers call by this name is another gospel, and not the gospel of Christ.

Moreover if the doctrine taught by Mr. Pearce Christ crucified was his darling theme, from first be not the gospel of Christ, and that which is to last. This was the subject on which he dwelt at taught by the above writers and their adherents be, the outset of his ministry among the Coldford col- it may be expected that the effects produced will in liers, when "He could scarcely speak for weeping, some degree correspond with this representation nor they hear for interrupting sighs and sobs;" this and, is it evident to all men who are acquainted was the burden of the song when addressing the with both, and who judge impartially, that the docmore polished and crowded audiences at Birming- trine taught by Mr. Pearce is productive of hatred, ham, London, and Dublin; this was the grand mo- variance, emulations, wrath, strife, railings, evil surtive exhibited in sermons for the promotion of pub-misings, and perverse disputings; that it renders lic charities; and this was the rock on which he those who embrace it lovers of their own selves, covetrested all his hopes, in the prospect of death. It is ous, boasters, proud, false accusers, fierce, despisers true, as we have seen, he was shaken for a time by of those that are good; while that of his adversaries the writings of a Whitby and of a Priestley; but this promotes love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentlenes, transient hesitation, by the overruling grace of God, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance? Why eres tended only to establish him more firmly in the end. of yourselves judge ye not what is right? Ye shal "Blessed be his dear name," says he, under his know them by their fruits! last affliction, "who shed his blood for me. He helps me to rejoice at times with joy unspeakable.

Mr. Pearce's ideas of preaching human obligation may be seen in the following extract from a letter addressed to a young minister who was sent out of the church of which he was pastor. "You re

quest my thoughts how a minister should preach | for usefulness more extensive than ever: I long to human obligation. I would reply, do it exten- become an apostle to the word!" The errors and sively, do it constantly; but withal, do it affection- sins of men wrought much in him in a way of ately and evangelically. I think, considering the pity. He knew that they were culpable in the sight general character of our hearers, and the state of God: but he knew also that he himself was a of their mental improvement, it would be time lost sinner, and felt that they were entitled to his comto argue much from the data of natural religion. passion. His zeal for the divinity and atonement The best way is, perhaps, to express duties in Scrip- of his Saviour, never appeared to have operated in ture language, and enforce them by evangelical a way of unchristian bitterness against those who motives; as, the example of Christ-the ends of his rejected these important doctrines; and though he suffering and death-the consciousness of his ap- was shamefully traduced by professors of another probation-the assistance he has promised--the in- description as a mere legal preacher, and his minisfluence of a holy conversation on God's people, and try held up as affording no food for the souls of beon the people of the world-the small returns we at lievers, and could not but feel the injury of such best can make for the love of Jesus-and the hope misrepresentations; yet he does not appear to have of eternal holiness. These form a body of argu- cherished unchristian resentment; but would at ments, which the most simple may understand, and any time have laid himself out for the good of his the most dull may feel. Yet I would not neglect on worst enemies. It was his constant endeavor to some occasions to show the obligations of man to promote as good an understanding between the diflove his Creator-the reasonableness of the divine ferent congregations in the town as the nature of law-and the natural tendency of its commands to their different religious sentiments would admit. promote our own comfort, the good of society, and The cruel bitterness of many people against Dr. the glory of God. These will serve to illuminate, Priestley and his friends, at and after the Birming. but, after all, it is the gospel of the grace of God that ham riots, was affecting to his mind. Such mewill most effectually animate and impel to action."thods of opposing error he abhorred. His regard Mr. Pearce's affection to the doctrine of the cross to mankind made him lament the consequences of was not merely nor principally on account of its war: but while he wished and prayed for peace to being a system which secured his own safety. Had the nations, and especially to his native country, this been the case, he might, like others, whose re- he had no idea of turbulently contending for it. ligion originates and terminates in self-love, have Though friendly to civil and religious liberty, he been delighted with the idea of the grace of the stood aloof from the fire of political contention. Son, but it would have been at the expense of all In an excellent Circular Letter to the churches of complacency in the righteous government of the the Midland Association in 1794, of which he was Father. He might have admired something which the writer, he thus expresses himself "Have as he accounted the gospel, as saving him from misery; little as possible to do with the world. Meddle not but he could have discerned no loveliness in the di- with political controversies. An inordinate pursuit vine law as being holy, just, and good, nor in the of these, we are sorry to observe, has been as a mediation of Christ as doing honor to it. That canker-worm at the root of vital piety; and caused which in his view constituted the glory of the gos- the love of many, formerly zealous professors, to pel was, that God is therein revealed as the just wax cold. The Lord reigneth, it is our place to reGod and the Saviour-just, and the justifier of him joice in his government, and quietly wait for the salthat believeth in Jesus. vation of God. The establishment of his kingdom He was a lover of good men.-He was never more will be the ultimate end of all those national comin his element than when joining with them in spi- motions which terrify the earth. The wrath of man ritual conversation, prayer, and praise. His heart shall praise him, and the remainder of wrath he will was tenderly attached to the people of his charge; restrain." If he could write in this manner in and it was one of the bitterest ingredients in his 1794, his seeing a hopeful undertaking, in which he cup, during his long affliction, to be cut off from their had taken a more than common interest, blasted society. When in the neighborhood of Plymouth, by this species of folly in 1796, would not lessen his he thus writes to Mr. King, one of the deacons aversion to it. From this time more than ever, he "Give my love to all the dear people. O pray that turned his whole attention to the promoting of the He who afflicts would give me patience to endure. kingdom of Christ, cherishing and recommending Indeed, the state of suspense in which I have been a spirit of contentment and gratitude for the civil kept so long, requires much of it; and I often ex- and religious advantages that we enjoyed. Such claim, ere I am aware, O my dear people! O my were the sentiments inculcated in the last sermor dear family, when shall I return to you again!" that he printed, and the last but one that he preached. He conscientiously dissented from the church of (See Note at page 396.) His dear young friends England, and from every other national establish- who are gone to India will never forget how earment of religion, as inconsistent with what he nestly he charged them by letter, when confined at judged the scriptural account of the nature of Plymouth, to conduct themselves in all civil matChrist's kingdom: nor was he less conscientious inters as peaceable and obedient subjects to the gohis rejection of infant baptism, considering it as having no foundation in the Holy Scriptures, and as tending to confound the church and the world; yet he embraced with brotherly affection great numbers of godly men both in and out of the establishment. His spirit was truly catholic: he loved all who loved our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. "Let us pray," said he in a letter to a friend, "for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper who love not this part, or the other, but who love—HER -that is, the whole body of Christ."

He bare good will to all mankind.-It was from this principle that he so ardently desired to go and preach the gospel to the heathen. And even under his long affliction, when at times he entertained hopes of recovery, he would say, "My soul pants

vernment under which they lived, in whatever country it might be their lot to reside.

It was love that tempered his faithfulness with so large a portion of tender concern for the good of those whose conduct he was obliged to censure.-He could not bear them that were evil, but would set himself against them with the greatest firmness; yet it was easy to discover the pain of mind with which this necessary part of duty was discharged. It is well remembered how he conducted himself towards certain preachers in the neighborhood, who, wandering from place to place, corrupted and embroiled the churches; whose conduct he knew to be as dishonorable as their principles were loose and unscriptural: and when requested to recite particulars in his own defence, his fear and tender