VI. THE SIXTH PASTORATE. THE REV. ALEXANDER RALEIGH, D.D. 1875–1880.

No sooner had the vacancy occurred than the Church’s attention was directed to the Rev. G. S. Barrett, of Norwich, who had eminent qualifications for the Kensington pastorate. He was invited to preach before the end of April, and immediately after he had done so, steps were taken for calling the Church together. On the 13th of May a meeting followed, when it was resolved to invite Mr. Barrett to succeed Dr. Stoughton. The invitation was conveyed in the form of unanimous and cordial resolutions, to which Mr. Barrett replied before the end of the month, saying that if he felt it would be right to leave Norwich, Kensington would be an attractive sphere; but that after much consideration and prayer it appeared to him a duty to remain where he was.

The door being closed in that quarter, the deacons and the committee appointed to assist them turned their thoughts to the Rev. Dr. Raleigh, whom they were given to understand “might not be unwilling to remove from his present pastorate at Canonbury to that of Kensington.” The idea of securing so eminent a man animated all who became acquainted with it; and previously to laying this matter before the Church, the deacons and committee communicated with Dr. Raleigh. Delicacy and caution marked the communications on both sides, and the result was, that on hearing a report of the circumstances, the Church in August cordially invited Dr. Raleigh to accept the pastorate. Again the invitation was conveyed in the form of resolutions, and before the end of the month Dr. Raleigh returned his answer:—

“The resolutions which were passed unanimously at your meeting of the 5th of August, were presented to me on the following morning by your deacons, who also gave me in the frankest manner every explanation I could desire.

“Those resolutions constitute a call to take the pastoral oversight of you in the Lord. I have had this your desire and invitation very much in my thought since I received the intimation of them. I have had consultation with good men, whose judgment in the case is dispassionate and impartial, and I need not say that I have been asking God to ‘send forth His light and truth’ to make my way of duty plain. Nevertheless, I cannot say that the path of duty has been very easily found. The circumstances have been peculiar. The claims of the two congregations to whom it has for years been my privilege to minister have proved to be unexpectedly strong, and the mutual trial of affection in the thought of parting has been sometimes almost more than I could resist. Yet steadily, if slowly, the guiding light of God’s good providence has seemed to lead westwards. The reasons which made it possible for me to entertain the proposal from the time when it was mentioned to me have continued, as I knew they would do, and now, without specifying them particularly, it is my duty to announce to you the result to which they have led me; which is this, that I cordially accept your cordial call, and will endeavour in Divine strength to discharge, to the best of my ability, the duties of the sacred office to which I am thus called. May He who has watched over your interests as a Christian Church for many years, supplying you in successive pastorates with rich ministerial gift and grace, and who has also blessed my humble ministry thus far, make us blessings to each other, and in our associated capacity, to many around us.

“I cordially appreciate the mention of the name of Dr. Stoughton, lately your pastor, and long my friend. I do not lay claim to his many and high accomplishments as a scholar and a theologian; but I believe I agree with him pretty closely in doctrinal sentiment, in holding firmly ‘the faith once delivered to the saints,’ and in cherishing a generous and charitable temper towards all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity; and I must now make it my endeavour to emulate his practical care and zeal on your behalf in all faithfulness, diligence, watchfulness, and prayer.

“If I were only beginning the Christian ministry, I might think it necessary and appropriate to say something of the motives with which I undertake it, and of the spirit in which it ought to be conducted. But having been now for many years in the heat of the great strife, I must allow those years of toil now past to speak for me concerning what will be (‘if the Lord will’) the aims and labours of the future. May the blessing which has never been withheld from my humble ministry, attend it still, and through your prayers and co-operation be even more abundant than heretofore. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.”

A public recognition of the new pastor took place in Allen Street in the month of November, when Dr. Stoughton presided, and Dr. Allon, Dr. Punshon, Dr. Edmond, the Revs. J. C. Harrison, H. Simon, and W. Roberts, took part in the service.

Dr. Stoughton congratulated the Church on having such a pastor as they met to recognise, and the new pastor on having such a Church as was now assembled. He could testify that Dr. Raleigh would find at Kensington a united and peaceful Church, a people bound together by mutual affection, trained to work and accustomed to work, people who would never give their pastor any occasion for uneasiness, who would always respond to his appeal and co-operate with him in his work.

Mr. H. Wright laid a full statement before the congregation of circumstances which led to the proceedings of that evening, after which the chairman said, when the President of the Wesleyan Conference made way for his successor, he did so by handing over the seals of office. He had nothing of that sort to offer now, but if Dr. Raleigh would accept his predecessor’s hand, there it was, not empty, but with a heart in it. Dr. Raleigh delivered an appropriate address. Dr. Punshon, Mr. Harrison, Dr. Edmond, and Mr. Simon followed, expressing their affection for the new pastor and his flock.

An election of new deacons had repeatedly occurred under the former pastorate; and in the first year of the new administration vacancies had to be filled up by ballot. The choice of the members fell on Messrs. Cozens-Hardy, Plater, Spicer, Fordham, White, and Watson,—the last being son of the late senior deacon, whose death just before Dr. Stoughton’s retirement was a heavy loss, deeply lamented by his old friend and by the Church at large. Messrs. Fordham, Cozens-Hardy, and George White declined the office, from inability to give time for its duties. The rest accepted the Church’s request. True to the sympathy and love so often expressed, the friends at Kensington were mindful of the retired minister when he lost his beloved wife, and the following entry occurs in the Church Book:—

“On Sunday morning, 23rd November, 1879, a solemn memorial service was conducted by the pastor, Rev. A. Raleigh, D.D., suggested by the death of Mrs. Stoughton, on the 11th of November, at Ealing.

“The sermon was based on the passage (2 Cor. v. 9): ‘Willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord,’ Dr. Stoughton and his family being among the worshippers. The Church wish, moreover, to record their deep sympathy with Dr. Stoughton, in his sad bereavement, and cherish the memory of Mrs. Stoughton as one who, during her husband’s long pastorate of thirty-two years at Kensington Chapel, co-operated with him in all his work for the heavenly Master, and endeared herself to many as a bright example to the flock.”

I shall be pardoned for the insertion of a single paragraph from the beautiful sermon delivered by Dr. Raleigh on that affecting occasion. It is no less true than beautiful:—

“Fitted by education and culture for any place in social life, it might have been thought by some that she would be among the foremost always in visible activities and good works. She was indeed always active, and was always engaged in doing good; but always as much as possible in silent and unseen ways. She was not one who could say, in view of the many things that might be done by one in her position, of a more or less public kind, ‘therefore being always confident.’ Rather she loved and sought the shade; if a sweet and calm and all-helpful domestic life may be called the shade, to a lady of deep piety and high culture. She strove to make home good and happy, and succeeded; every child following father and mother in Divine ways, and into the Church of God; and then she strove to extend the blessedness to as many other homes as possible. I know not that we could have a much nobler ideal and pattern of a woman’s life. I have it on the best authority, that of a ministerial friend who was like a brother in the house, that many and many a poor minister’s home in the country was made warmer and brighter, and more what home ought to be, by her generous persistence of care for them, and by the gentle importunity of her letters to others on their behalf. Her power of letter-writing was unique; all who were privileged to receive these letters, on any subject, but especially on Divine and spiritual subjects, felt the charm, and valued the more the friendship of one who could write so for God and for men. Her last years were weighted with deepening affliction; yet were they calm and peaceful years to the last. For months she waited on the border land, looking heavenwards, thinking often no doubt of the loved ones who had gone before, and who, as I have been told by one who well knows, often seemed very near to her. The few who saw her felt that they had been nearer heaven by only looking on her face and listening to the few words she might say. These words were words of thankfulness for all past mercies, of humble but firm faith in the Saviour, and of calm, confident hope as to the future.

“These words were found afterwards in her own handwriting:

‘Father, take my hand; quickly and straight Lead to heaven’s gate Thy child.’

‘Quickly and straight,’ even as she desired, the gate was opened; and the Father’s child went in, went home.”

With regard to Dr. Raleigh’s ministry at Kensington, I cannot do better than quote the following words of his beloved wife:—

“There is little to record of the years at Kensington. Like those of his first ministry at Rotherham, they flowed evenly and sweetly; but many hearts hold them as a sacred memory, and to himself they were years of much happiness. He was able to work with vigour, and his people came around him with growing affection. To none was his ministry more dear than to those engaged in direct Christian work. He clasped hands with them as fellow-workers; the fervour of his zeal kindled theirs, and as he spoke of the great harvest to come, earthly honours seemed to grow poor compared with the honour of bearing and sowing the precious seed of God. ‘By kindness, by love unfeigned,’ he won his way to the affections of his people. And he gave them as he had promised, ‘good work,’ work which cost him laborious days, and to which he brought all the treasures of his long experience. His sermons were less ornate, perhaps, than those of an earlier time, but they were more definite in aim, more unencumbered in utterance, as if knowing that his time was short, he had laid ‘aside every weight,’ that the simple truth might have free course. His teaching began to be regarded with quick appreciation, and some of his hearers, men in busy life, acknowledged that ‘the whole week was different and better because of the thoughts with which it was begun.’

“‘These Sundays at Kensington,’ writes one of his people, ‘were times of refreshment from the presence of the Lord. The sound of his fervid utterances of heavenly truth seem still to linger on the ear. We bless God that He sent him to us, and for all the messages of love He enabled him to declare, and for the glimpses of heaven he seemed to open to our sight.’

“Throughout his teaching and in his own heart, the mystic attraction of heaven was always strong. But especially was this a very pronounced feature of his latest ministry. He hardly preached a sermon in which he did not lift up his eyes to the ‘everlasting hills.’

“It is a blessed thing that sin has never effaced the deep home-longings of human hearts, and no words were more welcome than those in which he told of that world, ‘where prayer is answered, and toil is recompensed, and love claims her own.’ Or of ‘the open pathway, stretching upward and afar, for home-going saints and holy angels.’ Or of ‘the banquet’ where, ‘in its earthly beginning we may wet our bread with tears as we eat it, but whence we shall go to the higher and better, God has in reserve, as we pass along to meet all the good of every age, and to see Him in His glory at the banquet, and in the fellowship of heaven.’

“He had himself got to the heavenward side of life. He was as busy as he had ever been, entering fully into the work, thinking and planning about it, as if he were still young, and life all before him, and his interest in public and passing events continued unquenched. Yet, and this is no fancy, a deep peace seemed to have come down upon him, with silent expectancy in it, as if he stood at the meeting-place of the two worlds and took both into his field of vision. The depressions of former years were gone, and but that our ‘eyes were holden’ by a merciful blindness, we might have known that the Master’s coming was at hand.”

The population in South Kensington by this time had enormously increased. The relics of rural life repeatedly noticed in this volume disappeared, and the crowded neighbourhood called for spiritual provision. At a social meeting in January, 1879, a resolution was passed expressive of gratitude for the goodness of God, and of a conviction that the time had come for making a vigorous effort to extend to one of the newly-peopled districts in the neighbourhood some of the privileges which the Church had so long enjoyed; and a year afterwards, at a similar meeting, joy was expressed that a good site had been found in West Kensington, together with a determination to erect on it a chapel worthy of the neighbourhood.

It is sad to record what follows. Dr. Raleigh removed to Kensington at the close of the year 1875, early in 1880 he was laid aside. On the 10th of March he sent to his “Flock and Friends” this touching letter:—

“I must try to write a line to tell you what a great grief it is to me that I am still prevented from meeting you ‘face to face.’ Pain and weariness have been my portion during these last weeks. But God has upheld me by His great goodness, and enabled me to cast all my care upon Him, and to commit all my ways to Him. Indeed, I may say I have but one serious care, the care that arises in my heart when I think of you and of your interests in the Gospel, which I can at present do little or nothing to promote. I know you are being well instructed by other servants of the Master, and that the Chief Shepherd Himself never ceases to have you in His care. Nor can I doubt that this unexpected and undesired illness of your pastor is among the ‘all things’ which may work together for your good. With prayer and patience on your part and on mine it will certainly be so, and our God will supply all our need according to His glorious riches by Christ Jesus.

“I am assured by the deacons, both for themselves and for you, that I may go on in the use of the best means for recovery with a quiet mind, and in the confidence that you will willingly and prayerfully wait for my restoration to strength, and for what—if God graciously gives it—will certainly be to me, even more than to you, a happy return to my work. Of course all waiting of this kind must have reasonable limits; but I think you may be assured that I am not likely to forget them. I thank God that I have so much reason to wish, I hope before very long, to be able to put my hand again to a work which, in some ways at least, has prospered so well. That this our mutual desire may be accomplished, I cast myself with confidence on your sympathy; and still more earnestly I make appeal to you for your prayers, that I may be kept in unfailing trust, and that I may be restored to you the sooner.

“And for you, dear brethren, with all my heart I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified. The Shepherd of Israel have you in His care.

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”

Dr. Raleigh’s last hours are thus described by his wife in her beautiful memoirs of him:—

“Throughout the night of 17th April he was very restless, and said, ‘I have not been able for two days to think any religious thoughts, but I know that I am His.’ When the morning came (Sunday) his countenance wore the changed look we learn to know too well, and he spoke of his departure as at hand, as indeed he felt it was. His wife, wishing as usual to send a message to be read to his people, asked him what it should be. He hesitated, saying, ‘I do not want to alarm them, and it looks as if I were of such importance if I send a message.’ He consented, however, and dictated a few words. Many things were talked over, and last words spoken during the day. The wrench of parting was still hard to him, and the spring sunshine seemed too glad for dying eyes. ‘Everything is as bright as if I were well,’ he said; but looked an earnest assent when reminded that in this lay the hidden promise of a better spring-time. Some food being brought him, of which he tried in vain to partake, he put it gently aside, saying, ‘The Bread of Life is near.’ Again: ‘I should like to go to-day; it is my day.’ His whispered words to his children; his expressed thoughts and cares about their future; his last looks of love and welcome, are laid up in the sacred silence of the heart ‘till the day dawn.’

“As the evening drew on he became restless with the restlessness so common at the approach of death. The weary spirit, finding home no longer in the dissolving body, was struggling to break the chain and enter into the life of liberty. The eyes, always so responsive to the light, grew dim, unconsciousness fell gradually over him, and before we knew it he was away beyond reach of loving word or touch of ours; but we believe he was not beyond the reach of higher ministries. As the long night passed, and the slow dawn found him still waiting at the gate, perhaps there came to his spirit the first whispers of heavenly fellowship. Perhaps ‘Jesus Himself drew near and went with him.’ Shortly after noon on Monday, 19th of April, 1880, he entered calmly into rest.”

It was the first time that Death had laid his hand on any of the Kensington pastors until after their removal from the neighbourhood, and the new visitation was keenly felt. This was testified in many ways, especially by the public funeral on the 24th of April, 1880. A service was held in the chapel, attended by a large concourse of ministerial and other friends. The Rev. J. G. Rogers delivered a funeral oration, dwelling upon the character of his deceased friend and fellow-student. The procession afterwards wound its solemn way to Abney Park. “When the cortége approached, all were hushed to silence and many an eye was wet with tears. The line of spectators stretched from the Church Street entrance gates, past the open grave, and overlapping but not surrounding it. Hardly a sound was heard but the grating of the footsteps of the bearers of the coffin and the procession on the gravel. Preceded by the Rev. Henry Allon, D.D.; the Rev. J. Guinness Rogers; the Rev. Mr. Glyn, Vicar of Kensington; and the Rev. W. M. Statham; and followed by all Dr. Raleigh’s children (except the eldest) and other members of his family, and various friends and delegates, the coffin, literally covered and re-covered with flowers, was borne to the tomb. Then Dr. Allon conducted the solemn service, in which the Rev. Mr. Glyn took part; after which all who desired had an opportunity of taking a last look at the grave, and many deposited there their offering of flowers—their symbol of affection. Presently the earth would be covered in, and all would be over.”

Funeral sermons were preached at Kensington Chapel on the following Sunday by Dr. Allon and Mr. Rogers.

To resume the mode of expression adopted in the earlier portion of this volume, and only dropped in describing the pastorate preceding that of Dr. Raleigh, I shall ever deeply regret that, through absence from England, I was unable to take any part in these solemnities. I was not aware of his serious illness until the fact was communicated to me in Rome, and scarcely had I received the sad intimation when the news of his death arrived; and I was shocked to find that the dear Kensington Church was again destitute, and that I had lost an honoured friend.