Memoir of Rev. John Tennent
Birth — Religious Exercises and Conversion — Entrance into the ministry — Settlement at Freehold, Monmouth County — Great Success — Early Death.
Although John Tennent was younger than his brother William, being the third son of the Rev. William Tennent Sen.; yet, on several accounts, it seems expedient to place the short memoir of him, before that of his elder brother. It would seem from all that we can learn respecting these men, that John was licensed to preach the gospel before William. This was probably owing to the fact, that William Tennent, jr. suffered much loss of time by severe sickness, as will hereafter appear. Or, it may have been the case, that William was engaged longer than his brother, in assisting his father in teaching, in the Log College. But, whatever may have been the case, it is certain, that the Rev. John Tennent was settled in the ministry, some years before his brother; and that the Rev. William Tennent was not settled as a pastor, until after the death of his brother John, when he became his successor in the church at Freehold, as will appear when we give a memoir of him; and it is principally on this accomit that we place John, foremost.
The third son of the Rev. William Terment, sen., was born in the county of Armagh, in Ireland, in the year 1707, Nov. 12, and was therefore only nine years of age when his father came to America. The whole of his education he obtained under the paternal roof, and in the Log College which his father had founded at Neshaminy.
Of his conversion to God, we have an interesting narmtive, from the pen of his brother Gilbert, written after his death, and prefixed to some of his sermons, which were published in a prmphlet after his decease.
^’ His conviction of his sin, danger, and misery, was the most violent in degree, of any I ever saw. For several days and nights together, he was made to cry out in the most dolorous and affecting manner, almost every moment. The words which he used in his soul-agony were these, ’ 0 my bloody, lost «oul! What shall I do y Have mercy on me, 0 God, for Christs sake.’ Sometimes, he was brought to the very brink of despair, and would conclude, surely God would never have mercy on such a great sinner as he was.^ And yet his life was unstained with those scandalous extravagances, by which too many in their youth are ensnared. His natural predominant sin was rash angpr; and the worst I ever knew him guilty of, was, some indecent haste in this way, on account of which he was afterwards exceedingly humbled, and against which he became very watchful. His passionateness cost him many a deep sob, heavy groan, and salt tear-After it pleased God to confer his grace upon him, he was remarkably altered in this particular, and gained in a great measure, an ascendancy over his besetting sin. Whilst under conviction, his distress was such as to induce him to make an open confession of his sins to almost all that came near him, and also to beg their prayers in his behalf, at a throne of grace. And this he did in the most earnest, and beseeching manner. His dolorous groans, and vehement importunity were such, as greatly to affect even strangers who came to see him. And he earnestly and frequently begged of God, that He would humble him to the dust, and beneath the dust.
“One morning, about break of day, after great wrestling through the night and day preceding, he took occasion to speak as surprisingly as ever I heard any mortal, about the morning star, longing and praying that the blessed Jesus, the true, the bright, the beautiful morning Star, who brought the light and day into a dark world, would appear in mercy to his poor soul. And then, at the rising o the sun, he entreated that the Sun of righteousness might shine upon his disconsolate, dejected, wretched soul, with beams of mercy and salvation. His heart appeared to be sick, sore-sick, with panting after Christ; so as to be ready to burst in pieces. I have through the riches of free grace been favoured with the sight of many a convinced sinner, but never did I behold any other in such a rack of acute and continued anguish, under the dismal apprehensions of impending ruin and endless misery, from the vengeance of a just and holy God,
“Perceiving such evident signs of deep conviction, humiliation, and earnest desire, I offered to him for his comfort all the most encouraging invitations and promises, adapted to his case; and sometimes endeavoured to persuade him that he had an interest in these promises, since God had wrought in him those conditions on which the blessings were suspended. But although this would sometimes yield him a temporary relief; yet in a little while he would break forth again with the most doleful lamentations; complaining that no promise in the book of God belonged to him; and denying that any of those conditions to which the promises were made, had been wrought in him. The truth is, his wound was so deep that none but God’s arm could heal it. But it pleased God, after an agony almost uninterrupted for four days and four nights, during which he cried out incessantly as described above, that he would make his consolations as eminent and conspicuous as his convictions had been severe. It is worthy of remark, that for some time before it pleased the Almighty to shed abroad the beams of his love and mercy on his soul he was much exercised with sorrowful and piercing reflections on accomit of his hypocrisy. He judged himself to be at pharisee and a hypocrite for crying out as he had done; and yet the sharpness of his inward pain was such, that he could not prevent it, therefore, he would have all people out of the room, that he might pray and mourn, alone.
“One morning, when I went to see him, I perceived a grat alteration in his countenance; for he, that an hour before had looked like a condemned man going to be put to some cruel death, now appeared with a cheerful, gladsome countenance, and spoke to me in these words, ’ 0 brother, the Lord Jesus has come in mercy to my soul. I was begging for a crumb of mercy with the dogs, and Christ has told me that he will give me a crumb.’ Then he desired me to thank God in prayer, which I did more than once. He also requested me to praise God by singing part of a psalm, which I complied with, and sang the 34th. It was, indeed, surprising to hear this person singing the praises of God with more clearness, energy, and joy, than any of the spectators who had crowded in, on this extraordinary and solemn occasion. And that, especially, when it is considered, that now it was ten o’clock in the forenoon, whereas, at three o’clock in the same morning, he was speechless for some minutes, and thought by all present to be expiring, in death. The consolations of God had such an influence upon him, that about an hour or two afterwards, he walked about thirty rods to see his brother William, who was then extremely sick, nigh unto death, and thought by most to be past all human hope of recovery. He said, he must see his brother, to tell him what God had done for his soul, that he might praise God on his account before he died. And when he entered the room where his brother was lying, his joy appeared to overflow, and he addressed him in the following words: ^0 brother, the Lord has looked with pity on my soul. Let the heavens, earth, and sea, and all that in them is, praise God.!^ But being exposed too soon to the cool air, he fell into a fever, and then called in question that eminent discovery of God’s love, which he had experienced. But it was not long before he was again comforted; and from this time, a great cnange in his conversation was manifest. And while he experienced many seasons of the sealing of God’s covenant love; yet in the intervals, he was often dejected, and distressed with doubts and fears, respecting his own State.
“He gave the best evidence of a change of heart in the conscientious and diligent performance of all Christian duties; even of those most opposite to our corrupt nature, such as secret prayer and fasting He was a tender-hearted courteous relative, and of a very sympathetic spirit. His respectful and affectionate treatment of his reverend and aged father and his kind mother, merits an honourable mention. His great soul disdained any thing that was mean, and inclined him to the most noble and generous actions that were within his power.
“He was endowed by his Creator with a natural quickness of apprehension, copiousness of fancy, and fluency of expression, which served to qualify him eminently for the office of a preacher. He had made no contemptible progress in the learned languages, and also in philosophical and theological studies; but he particularly excelled in the polemical and casuistical branches of divinity. He was well known to be an expert disputant and casuist; but that which crowned his other attainments, and made them appear with beauty and lustre, was, his unfeigned and eminent piety.
“His attainments in the Christian graces were eminently conspicuous in the following particulars. First, his humility. He was wont to speak of himself in the most abasing terms; saying, that he thought himself one of the worst creatures the creation bore. And on his dying bed ho desired his relations to forbear any funeral encomiums jupon him, when he was gone; for he declared with vehemence that he was not worthy of them. When admitted to preach, he would often, in his private studies, take the Bible in his hand, and would walk up and down the room weeping and mourning, that although there was a treasury of precious truth contained in that blessed book, he understood so little of them. A sense of the greatness of the ministerial work, and of his ignorance and unfitness for it, was often a very oppressive burden to him. It was a striking evidence of the low opinion which he entertained of himself, that he never could be persuaded that a holy God would bless the labours of a person every way so mean and so unworthy as he felt himself to be. And when informed that certain persons had been convinced under his ministry, he could not for some time believe that the work was genuine, until further conviction was afforded, by bright and incontestable evidences.
‘’ His love to Christ was manifest to all who had the opportunity of hearing his earnest and importunate prayers. Indeed, Christ and him crucified was the end at which he aimed, the sacred centre in which all the lines of his life terminated. Christ was the object of his supreme love, and highest admiration.
‘’ He possessed also a flaming zeal for the establishment and promotion of the Messiahs kingdom. It was his oft repeated petition, that God would make him serviceable to his church; and that he would not sufi*er him to live merely to devour the alms of the church, but that he would rather remove him to himself, before he became useless.”
When Mr. John Tennent had finished his preparatory studies in the Log College, he presented him« self to the presbytery of Philadelphia; and after passing with credit the usual trials he was licensed to preach the gospel.
Soon after Mr. Tennent’s licensure, he visited the congregation of Freehold, in the county of Monmouth, New Jersey; which was now without a pastor. This congregation owed its origin to some Scotch people who were cast on the Jersey shore; the vessel Caledonia, in which they sailed, having been stranded on our coast. These people, being thus by the Providence of God cast upon this land, determined to take up their abode in the country, near to the place where they reached the shore; and being Presbyterians, they were not content to live without the ordinances of public worship, according to the creed and usages of the church of Scotland. They, accordingly, set about building a house of worship 5 which was situated a few miles east of the present church of Freehold; where the remains of the old building, and a grave-yard, are yet to be seen. For some time, this congregation was supplied by the Rev. Joseph Morgan; but he having left them early in the year 1730, they invited young Mr. Tennent to preach to them, as a candidate. Being a young man of uncommon modesty and humility, he was very reluctant to go; and even after he had consented to visit them, as his brother
William, in his letter to Mr. Prince of Boston, informs us, he regretted the engagement very much; for it seemed to him, that they were a people whom God had given up for the abuse of the gospel. But though he went under this cloud of discouragement, his first labours among this people were remarkably blessed. On his first visit, he preached four or five Sabbaths, and found stirred up among the people a serious disposition to attend to the concerns of their souls, and to search the scriptures to see whether the things which they heard from the pulpit were so. And he was assisted to preach with so much freedom, that he told his brother William, that he was fully persuaded, that Christ Jesus had a large harvest to bring home, there; and though they were a poor broken people; yet if they called him he would go to them, though he should be under the necessity of begging his bread. On the 15th of April, 1730, they assembled and gave him an unanimous call, which he accepted, and was ordained, November 19th of the same year.
“His labours in this congregation,^^ according to his brother Gilbert,” were attended with three notable qualities, prudence, diligence, and success.’* Though the time was short which he was permitted to remain among them, yet his labours were abundant. His race was swift and vehement; and his heart was so fixed on the work of God, that he could
not be persuaded to desist from his public labours, even when his body was emaciated, and debilitated by a consumptive disease; and when, in the judgment of physicians, it was prejudicial to his broken constitution,
^’ In his public discourses, not to mention the justness of his method, the beauty of his style, and the fluency of his expression, by which he chained his not unwilling hearers to his lips, he was very awakening and terrible to unbelievers, in denouncing, and describing with the most vehement pathos and awful solemnity, the terrors of an offended Deity, the threats of a broken law, and the miseries of a sinful state. And this subject he insisted much upon, because, he with many others, found it the most effectual and successful means to alarm secure sinners. He used a close, distinguishing, and detecting method, in the application of his sermons; which, with his pungent mode of expression, was very piercing and solemn. But, as Dr. Watts observes of Mr. Gouge, he knew the pity of Emanuel’s heart, as well as the terrors of Jehovah’s hand.’’ He was as tender and compassionate in his addresses to gracious souls, as faithful to brandish and apply the law’s lancet to the secure: and he was as willing to do the one as the other. But indeed he was very cautious of misapplying the different portions of the word to his hearers; or of setting before them only a common mess, and leaving it to them to divide among themselves, as their fancy and humour directed them; for he well knew that was the bane of preaching.
“Once more; he was a successful preacher. When he was under trials for the ministry, he was much exercised with doubts, difficulties, and distresses about his call to this great and awful trust; but it pleased God to dissipate these clouds, and to afford to his perplexed and anxious mind abundant satis= faction respecting this matter, by the numerous seals which crowned his public labours: for as the famous Rutherford says, it is not probable that God would seal a blank.^ It may truly be said of hinij that he gained more poor sinners to Christ, in that little compass of time which he had to improve in the ministerial work, which was about three and a half years, than many in the space of twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty years. Many souls have, and will have reason, through eternity, to bless God that ever they saw him. But though he was thus honoured with the smiles of heaven upon his labours; and though favoured with the kind regards of a loving and generous people, who had it been possible would have plucked out their own eyes and have given them to him; so that no minister before was ever the object of a more respectful regard and sympathy; yet was he far from being exalted in his own mind, but through grace retained a just, grateful, and humble sense of God’s distinguishing goodness, and his own unworthiness.
“As he drew nearer to his end, his love for his people, and concern for their welfare increased. He would often express himself to one of his brothers in such language as the following, ‘I am grieved for my people, for I fear they will be left to wander as sheep without a shepherd; or get one that will pull down what I have poorly endeavoured to build up.’ His brother, who watched with him in his sickness, has frequently overheard him in the deep silence of the night, wrestling with God by prayer, with sobs and tears, for his people. Yea, when so reduced by consumption that he could scarce walk alone, he bore the pains of this lingering disease with unbroken patience, and silent submission to his Father’s pleasure, until it pleased God to open a door of escape to his captive soul, through the ruins of his decayed frame.
“On Saturday evening — the last evening of his life — he was seized with a violent pang of death which was thought by his attendants to be the last; from which unexpectedly recovering, and observing a confusion among them, he addressed one, whom he saw uncommonly affected, with a cheerful countenance, in the following words, ‘I would not have you think the worse of the ways of holiness, because you see me in such agonies of distress, for I know there is a crown of glory in heaven for me, which I shall shortly wear.’ Afterwards, in the night, he often prayed, Come Lord Jesus! — 0 Jesus why dost thou linger?’ Some time before day, he repeated with humble confidence the last words of David, ‘Although my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure; for this is all my salvation, and all my desire.’ — 2 Sam. xxiii. 5.
“About the break of day, he called his brother William to prayer, and earnestly desired him to implore Heaven for his speedy removal, for, he said, he longed to be gone. About eight or nine o’- clock of the next day, which was the Sabbath, his desire was granted; when it pleased his Master to translate him to that great assembly of the just, the church of the firstborn, there to celebrate an eternal Sabbath, in praises and songs of triumph.
“A few minutes before he expired, holding his brother William by the hand, he broke out into the following rapturous expressions; ‘Farewell, my brethren, farewell father and mother; farewell world, with all thy vain delights. Welcome, God and Father — welcome, sweet Lord Jesus! Wei’ come death — welcome eternity. Amen! Then, with a low voice, he said, ‘Lord Jesus, come Lord Jesus!’ And so he fell asleep in Christ, and obtained an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of his God and Saviour.”
He was buried in the grave-yard near to the church, where he preached, and where his tombstone may yet be seen. The Rev. Jonathan Dickinson of Elizabethtown composed for his tomb-stone, the following epitaph:
“Who quick grew old in learning, virtue, grace, Quick finished, well-yielded to death’s embrace: Whose mouldered dust, this cabinet contains, Whose soul triumphant, with bright seraphs reigns; Waiting the time ‘till heaven’s bright concave flame, And the last trump repairs his ruined frame.”
Much praise cannot be awarded to the poetry of the foregoing epitaph, but it serves to show in what estimation Mr. Tennent was held by one of the most eminent theologians of his day.
His death occurred on the 23d day of April, 1732, in the twenty-fifth year of his age.
Mr. Gilbert Tennent, with the memoir of his brother John, published also one of his sermons. The subject is” Regeneration;’^ and is treated in a clear, discriminating manner.
As far as can be judged from the accounts which have come down to us, respecting this young pastor, and from the aforesaid discourse, there is reason to conclude, that both in piety and talents, he was not inferior to any one of his brothers; and that if he had lived to the usual period of human life, he would have been” a burning and a shining light’^ in the church.
The people of his charge were greatly attached to him, and exceedingly lamented his death. There is still extant, the fragment of an old manuscript book, kept by the session of his church, in which is contained the following entry:
“A mournful providence and cause of great humiliation to this poor congregation, to be bereaved, in the flower of youth, of the most laborious, successful, well-qualified, and pious pastor, this age afforded; though but a youth of twenty-four years five months and eleven days/^ In this record, he is called,” the reverend and dear Mr. John Tennent.^^
It may be gratifying to some to know the names of some of the principal families which constituted the congregation of Freehold, which have been taken from the record before mentioned. Among them we find Ker, Craig, Forman, Anderson, Newall, Gordon, Lloyd, Crawford, Henderson, Robinson, Rhea, Watson, Wilson, Campbell, Covenhoven, Little, Cumming, English, &c.