MEMOIRS OF MR. SHRUBSOLE.

REV. SIR,

THE

HE Biographical Repofitory in the Evangelical Magazine prefents fuch an excellent exhibition of Chriftian character and conqueft, as the Great Apostle of the Gentiles pointed at when he thus addreffed the believing Hebrews," Be ye followers of them who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises."

It is with a very mournful pleasure that, agreeably to the request of many friends, I am about to add to the lift of venerable names which adorn your Mifcellany, and to the teftimonies of eminent piety and usefulness which delight your readers, the name, and a few memoirs, of the late Rev. William Shrubfole, of Sheernefs. He once accounted it an honour to be enrolled among the Patrons of this Magazine, and with pleasure affifted to fupport it: It is therefore but juft, that the work, which has been often indebted to him for his benevolent exertions, fhould now gratefully record the memorial of his piety and virtue.

MR. SHRUESOLE was born at Sandwich, on the 7th of April, 1729. His parents were honeft and induftrious. When he was about eight years of age they placed him in the Town School, and, after a few years inftruction, he was taken from thence to work at his father's bufinefs, making malt. In February, 1743, he was apprenticed to Mr. George Cook, a fhipwright at Sheernefs; and Divine Providence fo directed that this important engagement was concluded without the ufual time of trial. Had it been otherwife, he has often remarked he should certainly have returned to his parents, as his grief at parting was exceffive.

Mr. S. was early inclined to reading, efpecially of voyages, travels, and romances: He was alfo much addicted to playing at cards, and other games of chance. Thefe difpofitions he brought with him to Sheernefs; and, as the means of indulging them were greater than at Sandwich, they were fought after with keener avidity, and enjoyed with increasing delight.

His career in vice foon became very rapid and alarming; but it was attended with fuch checks of confcience, and fuch reflections on eternity, as frequently made him tremble. When in bed this awful fubject would strongly imprefs his.

mind. At fuch times he would fay to himfelf, "What! never any more Sheernefs !-No more fhipping!-No more the pleasures and occupations of life! What, never! never ! never!" Thus he reflected, till his foul was filled with confufion and terror; and he would then shrink down into his bed, feek for fleep, and earnestly wish for the morning, that he might renew his bufinefs and lofe his dreadful apprehenfions.

He had several narrow escapes from fudden and violent death. Once he fell from the fide of a fhip then on the ftocks, and was preferved by a scaffold, at fome distance from the ground. At another time, he fell headlong from the fide of a wharf into a dock, among feveral boats and lighters : Had he ftruck against any of them, he must have been instantly killed; but he fell between them into the water. Thefe, and feveral other deliverances of a fimilar nature, he experi enced; but the goodness of God made no impreffion on his mind, nor did the uneasiness and terror he felt, when reflecting on eternity, produce any conviction of fin.

Thus he continued, ftained with many black spots of daring tranfgreffion, till God, who preferves before he calls, was pleafed to fhew him the vanity and uncertainty of worldly connexions, by removing from Sheernefs, in the fummer of 1749, a young woman who was the idol of his affections.

About this time, on a holiday, he cafually took up a folio volume, written by Ifaac Ambrofe; He opened it and began to read that part of it, which treats of "looking to Jesus," as carrying on the work of man's falvation in his death. He was much affected at the relation of the fufferings of Chrift, and fenfibly interested at the enquiry which the author makes, Who were the perfons that brought the divine Sufferer into fo much diftrefs? "I was convinced," he faid, "that I was deeply concerned in that horrid tranfaction; and from this time I date, the Lord firft penetrated my dark mind, with the dawn of heavenly light and falvation."

After this, he was frequently in tears under a sense of Jefus' love, and began earneftly to pray for the pardon of his fins. The firft text of Scripture that was impreffed on his mind was, "For unto us a child is born," &c. These words afforded him heavenly peace; his fears were all calmed, and his foul filled with animating hope. He immediately relinquished his finful companions, and carnal pleafures became infipid. He now spent his time in reading, meditation and prayer. So confcientious was he in the latter exercife, that if he happened to fleep too long in the morning, and was therefore obliged to go to the public of

fice without performing his accustomed worship, he would afterwards either return to his chamber, or shut himself among fhavings and chips, to bow his knee to God, and to beg his bleffing for the day.

Though his affections were fo tender, and his piety fo warm, yet his judgment was very weak and erroneous concerning fome of the doctrines of the Gofpel. In a dispute which he held with one of his friends, he endeavored to reconcile the feeming difference between St. Paul and St. James, by ftrenuously afferting, "That we were juftified by faith, and fanctified by works :" But the reading of Luther on the Galatians deeply humbled him for his ignorance, and led him to pray earneftly to God for His profitable teaching. He foon affociated with a few pious perfons, who used to meet on a Sunday afternoon to read and pray; and immediately began to tafte thofe facred pleafures which he afterwards more fully enjoyed in religious fociety. Besides this, a foundation was here laid for that eminent and extenfive usefulness, which, in his ministerial capacity, he afterwards fo remarkably attainded to.

In these days, the Scriptures were very precious to him. He viewed them as fields of delight, and valued them as mines of treasure. His meditations were frequent and fweet, and he began to write down his thoughts on different paffages. In this practice he found great enlargement of heart, and warm affection to Chrift and heavenly things. He also began to keep a diary, that he might particularly remark God's gracious dealings with him, which he continued from July 1750 to March 1752. From this journal it appears, that in his converfation the Lord was pleafed to open his heart, as he did Lydia's and firft to blefs him with many gracious manifeftations of his love, before he fhewed him the defperate wickednefs of his heart and the awful depravity of his nature. Thefe, however, were afterwards. fhewn him in fuch a convincing nanner, that he almost fainted at the fight and defpaired of deliverance: Yet he was enabled to believe that God had certainly began a good work in him; and to conclude that he would carry it on and finish it, in his own time, and for his own glory.

In the year 1752, he was much importuned by the fmall Society, before spoken of, to pray among them; and foon afterwards was appointed to read a fermon, in public, on Sunday mornings and evenings, in a large room, which was appropriated to the worship of God. This, his humble entrance on public work, was attended with great inward conflict, arifing principally from his natural timidity, which

VOL. I.

was fo great, that he used to think he fhould never fo furmount it as to be able to perform any public exercise with freedom and propriety. Fearing that this weakness would greatly difconcert him, if not quite prevent his proceeding, he determined to begin with a form of prayer; which he actually made and used, from the prayers of the Established Church and other books of devotion. But after fome time, his trembling fits abating, he began to depend lefs on his forms; and at last quite threw them afide.

The places in which divine worship had been carried on, having been found incommodious in their capacity, and precarious in their tenure, the Society determined to build a meeting; and in 1763 a house for God was erected and opened, which would conveniently hold three hundred perfons. In this place, when no fupply of Minifters could be obtained, Mr. S. continued to read and pray till 1766; and, though frequently importuned, it is probable he would not have proceeded any farther in the Minifterial work, but for the prefumptuous and violent oppofition which himself and the Society met with from a preacher in Mr. Wesley's connexion; who, even from the pulpit, preferred charges against them, of a nature exceedingly injurious to their credit as men, and their characters as Chriftians.

Mr. S. feems to have been roufed by this treatment to affert the purity of his principles and the rectitude of his practice, in a more public and decifive way than he had ever before done: Yet, he entered on his Ministerial course with that modesty and humility which distinguished all his conduct. His firft effay was to explain to the Society, St. Paul's Epiftle to the Galatians; and this exercife met with fo much encouragement, that they were not contented to hear him in private, but earnestly befought him to expound publickly on Sunday mornings: This requeft, however, greatly embarraffed him, as he feared that the prefence of a large congregation would quite confound him; and that by fo public a procedure he fhould for ever forfeit the promotion which he expected in the dock-yard.

While thefe things agitated his mind, Providence was pleased to give him a fpecimen of its regard for his temporal intereft: He obtained the promotion which he fought for, fo that his fears of this nature were removed; but his timidity made him refift the most importunate defires of the Society for fome time. At length he confented to preach on the Lord's day mornings, but begged that he might read a fermon in the evenings, as the congregation was by much the largest at thofe feafons. Thus diffidently and gradually

he proceeded, till, being encouraged by increafing appro bation, and animated by evident fuccefs, he fpake both mornings and evenings, and read the fermons of others no longer.

He proceeded in a public course of preaching the Gospel with great freedom, and very foon received invitations to vifit Chatham, Gravefend, and other places in Kent. Thus his fphere of action was greatly enlarged, and the Lord gave many teftimonies that his endeavours to be useful in his caufe were acceptable and fuccefsful. Yet he was often difheartened with apprehenfions that he was fet too forward in the minifterial office, and was not called of God to preach his Gospel. Thefe reflections much oppreffed his mind, one Sabbath evening, after having preached at Gravefend, and as he was walking from thence to Chatham. While he was on the road, he was overtaken by a person, who accofted him with much refpect, and who feemed greatly pleased at having an opportunity of converfing with him. Mr. S. made a return of civility to the gentleman, adding that he did not know him. "But, fir," faid the ftranger, "I know you well. You were made the means, under God, of my foul's obtaining a great bleffing when you laft preached at Chatham." This declaration, coming fo opportunely, was of great fervice to filence his cavils, and make the remainder of his walk quite comfortable.

As his reading became more general, he was much infefted with deistical thoughts; and though he had preached the word of God for fome years, he was often terribly affaulted with doubts of the truth of the Chriftian religion. This conflict occafioned him to feel the keenest agonies of foul; and he has well defcribed what he felt at these feafons in his Chriftian Memoirs, where Probus is confined in the Castle of Scepticifm. To remedy this evil he had recourfe to the best authors, and well confidered the arguments that were used on both fides of the question: This foon convinced his judgment of the weakness of the freethinking caufe, but his faith was not fufficiently ftrong to improve the conviction for the peace of his mind. Then, with many tears, he ufed to cry, "Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief!" And it pleafed God fo to fhine on his understanding, and to influence his foul, that his faith grew ftrong and folid; and, except in the inftance now about to be mentioned, thefe fceptical notions gave him no more uneasiness.

In September 1769, Mr. S. was feized with a fever of the most fevere and afflictive kind. In the early part of