CHAPTER III.

His Ministerial Talents-Style of Preaching-Pastoral Labours— And general Usefulness.

THIS excellent and valuable man entered on the ministry in early life, as we have seen, with few advantages; his mind had received but little culture, and his unpolished appearance made no great impression in his favour. He had to encounter every difficulty by an effort of his own, and to trust more to his strong native sense, than to any auxiliary aid. His mental and moral improvement was rapid and extensive; and without waiting for the ordinary process, by which men attain to high degrees of eminence, he marched forward, and reached the goal in haste.

As a preacher he soon became popular, without any of the ordinary means of popularity. He had none of that easy elocution, none of that graceful fluency, which melts upon the ear, and captivates the attention of an auditor. His enunciation was laborious and slow; his voice strong and heavy; occasionally plaintive, and capable of an agreeable modulation. He had none of that eloquence which consists in a felicitous selection of terms, or in the harmonious construction of periods: he had a boldness in his manner, a masculine delivery, and great force of expression. His style was often deformed by colloquialisms and coarse provincials; but in the roughest of his compositions, "the bones of a giant might be seen."

In entering the pulpit he studied very little decorum, and often hastened out of it with an appearance of precipitation; but while there he seldom failed to acquit himself with honour and success. His attitude, too, was sufficiently negligent. Not aware of its awkwardness, in the course of his delivery he would insensibly place one hand upon his breast, or behind him, and gradually twist off a button from his coat, which some of his domestics had frequent occasion to replace. This habit was in process of time much corrected, and many other protuberances were smoothed away by the improvement of his taste, and the collisions of society; but certainly in these respects he was not the exact model of an orator.

His presence in the pulpit was imposing, grave, and manly; tending to inspire awe, rather than conciliate esteem. His general aspect was lowering and cloudy, giving

indications of a storm, rather than affording hopes of serenity. Yet there was nothing boisterous, loud, or declamatory; no intemperate warmth, or sallies of the passions; all was calm, pathetic, and argumentative, overcast with a kind of negligent grandeur. He was deeply impressed with his subject, and anxious to produce a similar impression on his hearers.

To an acute and vigorous understanding were united a rich and fertile imagination, an even flow of feeling, seldom rising to an ecstasy, and an awful sense of eternal realities; these, accompanied with an energetic manner of speaking, supplied every other defect, and gave to his ministry an unusual degree of interest. He could never be heard but with satisfaction: if the heart were not at all times affected, yet the judgment would be informed, and the taste gratified, by an unexpected display of some important truth, ingeniously stated, and powerfully applied. His own ideas were strong and lucid, and he had the faculty of placing them in the clearest light if he failed to produce conviction, he was rarely deficient in evidence.

Though his writings enter deeply into controversy, in his ministry it was far otherwise. There he took the high places of the field; here he tarried at home and divided the spoil. The least disputable points of religion, which are at all times the most essential, were the leading theme of his ministry. The cross of Christ was the doctrine that lay nearest his heart; this, in all its tendencies and bearings, in all its relations to the government of God and the salvation of the soul, he delighted to elucidate in every diversity of form, and on this he dwelt with growing zeal and ardour to the close of life. It was a subject that met him in every direction, that beautified and adorned every other topic, that lived and breathed in all his preaching, and laid the foundation of all his hopes.

As there are many who must have observed the concentrated effect of Mr. Fuller's sermons, it may not be amiss briefly to notice the principle on which they were avowedly constructed; if it do not excite to general emulation, it may afford to some, at least, a hint of instruction. One of the first books that Mr. Fuller read, after entering on the ministry, and which he frequently recommended to others, was CLAUDE'S ESSAY on the composition of a Sermon; and to that work he acknowledged himself indebted, for any just ideas which he entertained upon the subject. 'Uni

ty of design,' was apparent in all his discourses; there were no vagrant sentiments, nothing foreign or irrelevant; and though his preaching exhibited a rich variety of remark, all was made to bear upon one point, and to facilitate the end he had in view. His sermons were never destitute of what Aristotle requires in every discourse—a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Every intelligent hearer must also have noticed, with what admirable dexterity the preacher would avail himself of the attributes of his text,-time, place, persons, and other adventitious circumstances; with what care he would investigate its terms, ascertain its meaning, explore its recesses, mark its gradations, trace its connections, and poize its different parts; and how, when he had provided the repast, he would make a distribution like the master of a feast. The simplicity of his ideas, their correspondence with truth and nature, and the luminous order in which they were arranged, produce the effect of enchantment; every one beheld the beauties contained in Scripture, and were surprised that he did not discover them before.

The composition of a sermon seldom cost Mr. Fuller much trouble; owing to his constant habits of thinking, it was generally the easiest part of all his labours. And though it would be highly improper to propose such an example for imitation, especially to young ministers, and those less competent to the undertaking, yet an hour or two at the close of the week would commonly be sufficient for his purpose; and when much pressed for time, as he often was, his preparations would be made on the Sabbath, during the intervals of preaching; yet it required more than common strength of mind to digest such discourses as he was in the habit of delivering. It should also be observed, that Mr. Fuller's sketches for the pulpit consisted only of a few brief outlines, committed to memory, and enlarged at the time of preaching. He never filled up any written discourse, except when it was intended for the press, and after it had been delivered.

Those who heard him only occasionally, or but seldom, did not hear him to the best advantage; for though he would often excel on great occasions, he was generally most happy at home with his own people. Having but little relish for a stale subject, it was seldom pleasant to him to deliver the same discourse twice over; he would rather come directly from his closet, and bring out of his treasury

things new as well as old. His mind retained a verdant freshness, capable of new productions; and his daily converse with the Scriptures rendered it an agreeable task, to combine the varieties of thought which they suggested. Several of his discourses on particular occasions were printed at the request of those who heard them; and had he listened to the solicitations of his friends, their number would have been greatly multiplied.

Expounding the Scriptures was an employment in which Mr. Fuller delighted, and in which he eminently excelled. He did not, however, undertake any thing like a critical exposition, nor did he profess himself a critic on any subject. Indeed, he had no great liking to the generality of critical commentators; and he sometimes expressed an opinion, that the practice of attempting to illustrate the Scriptures on the principles of philosophy, or by frequent allusions to natural history and eastern customs, in which coincidencies were imagined that never existed, tended to darken counsel by words without knowledge, and to betray, rather than support, the true interests of revelation.

The application of sound criticism, to obviate the difficulty and elucidate the meaning of some obscure passages, he approved as much as any one; but he had no idea that a right understanding of the scriptures in general was to be attained in that way, any more than that the principal facts in English history were to be decided by the help of a dictionary. It was not words so much as things to which he attended; and for a just conception of these he trusted more to common sense, well applied to the subject, and guided by moral feeling in a highly cultivated state, than to mere literary acquirements.

He greatly deprecated the learned trifling of some good men, who are said to have taken up more time in their addresses to a country congregation, in ascertaining the form and dimensions of an oriental tea-kettle, than in showing to men the way of salvation.* His contempt of such kind of learning might in some instances carry him too far ; but no man had a quicker discernment of its misapplication, or could judge more worthily of the proper objects of the Christian ministry. Instead of employing his time, or engaging the attention of his hearers, on the superficies of

* An anecdote to this effect was told him by the late Mr. Hickman of Wattesfield, in reference to his ingenious and learned predecessor, the celebrated writer on Oriental Customs.

a text, or its imaginary references, he was all intent on searching out its riches, sounding its depth, comparing it with the analogy of faith, pointing out its application, and deducing consequences, seldom obvious to the hearer, but meeting his judgment in all their force, and carrying conviction to the heart.

In this way he went over a great part of the scriptures, in a course of morning lectures for a number of years, taking first one book, and then another, without any regard to chronological order; and had his life been continued, he would, in all probability, have completed his exposition of the sacred volume. These lectures, as they were delivered from the pulpit, exhibited great variety and extent of observation, but as they were not composed with a view to publication, and were often delivered without any preparatory notes whatever, the greater proportion of them are lost beyond recovery; and little remains besides a few general outlines, which cannot be filled up to advantage by any other hand. All that is saved of this valuable store, consists of the Expository Discourses on the Book of Genesis, published in 1805; and which, though little more than a miniature of the living lectures, are likely to perpetuate the usefulness of their invaluable Author. The rest are buried in oblivion, except his Expository Lectures on the Book of Revelation, announced for publication after his decease, and which have since made their appearance in print.

In discharging the duties of the pastoral office, Mr. Fuller was not equally successful, nor in this did he excel. There was no want of diligence or fidelity; but his numerous, and, perhaps, still more important engagements, did not afford him sufficient opportunity; nor was his turn of mind adapted to that easy and gracious kind of intercourse which these duties would require. He was not backward in spiritual and edifying conversation; not unmindful of the poor, the sick, or the afflicted; nor inattentive to the welfare of individuals; but his element was in deep waters, and he seemed to demand a wider range for his faculties than the limits of an individual society. Those who wished for more of his pastoral advice, were fearful of breaking in upon his retirements, or of interrupting the career of his labours; while he himself often felt and lamented the necessity which required the suspension of several of the humbler duties of the christian minister. It might truly be said of him in measure, as of Paul: The Lord sent him not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.