Introduction to the American Edition, by Charles P. McIlvaine
It is at the particular desire of my much beloved and respected friend, Mr. Cams, by whom this Memoir was prepared, as well as from my great veneration for the character and labors of Mr. Simeon, that I have connected myself with the American edition of this truly edifying work. I know it will seem to any one who is acquainted with the extensive reputation of Mr. Simeon, among all descriptions of Evangelical Christians, and with his eminent usefulness during the many years of his devoted ministry, that a Memoir of him, and that prepared by a writer so nearly associated with him, while he lived, and so particularly competent to appreciate, and exJiibit, his character, now that he is gone, might well have been committed to the American press without the alliance of any additional name. An edition of three thousand copies in England, to begin with, shows what acceptance booksellers expect of it there, where the name of Simeon is identified in the minds.of hundreds of thousands of devout persons, in the Established Church, and among the Dissenting Churches, with all that is spiritually minded in personal character, and all that is admirable in the labors of a fervent and faithful minister of Christ.
It is not in the least from any Mea that the Memoir of that man of Grod can be materially aided in its circulation in this country, by my name going with it, that I am led to place it on the title page. Personal feeling has a great deal to do with the matter. The strong affection and reverence which I entertained for Mr. Simeon, while he was spared to the Church on earth, to afford us so eminent an example of the man who, according to the prayer of
St. Paul,* is “filled with the knowledge of God’s will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strength-^ ened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness f my admiration of what the grace of God made him in his office, a most single-minded, unwearied, undaunted, patient, wise, successful minister of the Grospel, induces me fondly to embrace this opportunity of rendering a heart-tribute to his memory. But in doing this, there is a strong auxiliary motive. It arises out of the humiliating controversy which, since the death of Mr. Simeon, has spread through the Church of England and the Episcopal Church in this country, (not to speak of its appearance, under a somewhat different guise, among other Christian communions,) unsettling the foundations of Gospel truth, bringing the great principles and the blessed fruits of the Protestant Reformation into contempt, till many have “turned away their ears from the truth, and are turned unto fables.” In view of all the reproach which the active promoters of these poisonous issues are continually casting upon evangelical views and measures, I feel great pleasure in doing homage to the ministry of Mr. Simeon. In all his views and feelings, and public work — in his whole constitution as a follower of Christ, as a theologiarl, as a preacher of the word; as a man laboring in every way to do good, and save the souls of men — lie was a most concentrated example of that in a minister, which the genius of Tractarianism most reviles and most earnestly labors to exterminate. What was meant by f7/^7’a-Protestant in the earlief developments of that 7ioic almost acknowledged Romanism, and what is now meant by Protestant in its later more honest avowals, may be seen in full manifestation, and may be accurately appreciated in Mr. Simeon. For the monstrous thing intended to be held up to public reprobation under the name, at first, of Ultra-Protestant, was not, as many were willing to suppose, the man of violent extremes in divinity, so fond of a few isolated points of Protestant faith as to reduce all other matters of religion into nonentity beside them; running away with
Coloesians i*, 9 — 11.
a few abstract questions of speculative importance, till the great matters of personal holiness were overlooked, and the Sacraments of Christ, and the ritual order of the Church, were treated with neglect Such men, if found in the Established Church of England, were too few to constitute a class, and too inconsiderable to be the objects of such a zealous crusade. It was a much more injBuential description of ministers, and I am happy to say, a much more numerous array, that excited an opposition so unsparing in the minds of Tractarians. It was the consistent follower of the Reformers; it was the man who most nearly walked in the steps, and enforced the doctrines, of those holy men who, at the expense of their lives, were God’s instruments in cleansing the* religion of England from the corruptions of Popery; it was the consistent holder and teacher of the Articles of the Church of England, referring himself, according to those Articles, for authority in matters of faith exclusively to the Scriptures, and utterly rejecting from all claim to the right of determining his cred, the writings or traditions of men; it was the man whose preaching was continually holding forth Christ, and not the Church, as the sinner’s refuge — the spirit of Christ, and not the offices of his ministers, as the sinner’s sanctification — the fruits of the Spirit in our habitual walk, and not the receiving of sacraments, as the only valid evidence of spiritual regeneration, and of all Christian character; it vras the man who drew a broad line between experimental religion and the relion of ordinances merely, keeping outward things in an outward place, and aiming, above all things, at the promotion, in the sinner’s heart, of a personal, direct living, by faith, upon Christ, for all hope and all holiness, suffering no human ministry, no sacraments, or rites, to have any part in mediating between his soul and his Saviour; yea, it was the mai in whom alj this was exhibited so completely and so earnestly, in the pulpit, at the fireside, in all his conversation, in all his writings, as in the fervent Simeon, that was the denounced Ultra-Protestant of the earlier Tractarian writings, and is now, under whatever name, the utter aversion of their disciples. Thus do I obtain the additional satisfaction in introducing this Memoir of Mr. Simeon, to the American reader.
I take pleasure in the opportunity of reiterating my protest against what I abhor. more and more, as the covert denial of the Gospel, and the very soul of the Romish Anti-Christ, by holding up such a character, such religious views, and such a ministry as his, for the imitation of all who, in the private walk of true piety, or the great duties of the Grospel-ministry, would glorify God and advance the salvation of men.
My attention was just now arrested by an expression of the learned Dr. Burgess, late Bishop of Salisbury, when near his end, as illustrating, in a few words, the leading peculiarity of those religious views, of which Mr. Simeon’s ministry was a constant expression, in contrast with tJiat system of manifold error mentioned above.
After expressing an humble sense of his unworthiness, and of the short-coming of his life, (unblamable as it was before men,) the dying bishop exclaimed:” Oh! what a comfort there is in looking to Christ! I scarcely like to use that expression, common as it is, of looking to tfie cross; it is a figurative term, whereas I want something substantial. I had rather make mention of him, xcho died than of the instrument by which he siiffered,^^’^
Looking to the cross, proper as the expression certainly is, in a certain use, typifies in a frequent use the characteristic feature of Tractarian religion. Looking to Christ equally expresses the antagonist. Figure instead of substance, the imagination stimulated by symbols, instead of the heart fed with Gospel-truth; human instruments conferring upon themselves the attention and reliance due only to the Divine Dispenser of all grace; sacraments, or their minister, or the Churchy or all, claiming to stand between the sinner and the Saviour, as- if there could be no meeting of the two without their mediation; the outward form cour founded with, and usurping the place of the indwelling power of godliness — signs converted into the things they stand for, such is Romanism, such is the essential character of its devout copyist, Tractarianism. On the other hand, looking to Christ directly, freely, anywhere, whenever and wherever we feel our need of him, at sacraments or away from them, by the aid, indeed, of the minister teaching and
* Life of Thomas Burgess, D.D., late Bishop of Salisbury, by John S. Harford.
exhorting; by the like aid of the Bible strengthening our faith with its precious promises, and by the similar aid of sacraments and other ordinances, setting before us the Lamb of God; but still looking unto Jesus as directly as the serpent-bitten Israelites looked unto the brazen serpent, his eminent type, each looking for himself, no man, especially no priesthood, representing him, or mediating between him and the wondrous remedy; looking unto Jesus as “made unto us of God, wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption” — all that a poor, depraved sinner, under the condemnation of the law, can need to make him spiritually wise, to renew his heart unto holiness, to invest him with complete justification before God, to bring him off at last, conqueror over every enemy; looking*unto Jesus for all this, with as little sense of one’s own righteousness to plead, and as deep a consciousness of heinous guilt, as the djring malefactor looked from his cross to the Saviour at his side; such is the very express image of the genuine Protestant manifestation of the Gospel. It is precisely what Bishop Burgess said of looking to Christy substantial. It meets at once the deep necessities of the soul. When the sinner asks bread, it does not give him a stone. The other mode is all figure. It seems to believe nothing real, but as it is symbolical; nothing genuine, but as it is mystical; nothing true, but so far as it is a matter of the imagination. The more formal anything in religion is, the more vital; the more it widens its surface, the more it deepens its channel. Like certain plants that are ever striving to get their roots above ground, till they perish by exposure and want, it manifests a wonderful disposition to get away from the ground of the heart, and have all its being in the surface, in a meiy ceremonial extemalism, till all remaining, vitality is exhausted in the effort to sustain a continually increasing formality, and at last, while there is a name to live, it is all dead. Many a dead tree have I seen, to whfch the green vines that drank up its life and killed it, and now entwined it, and held it together, gave all the appearance of being alive and full of healtlifid branches, till you got near and looked within at the rotten trunk. Nothing is life in religion, but in proportion as it gives the heart to God. Nothing is substantial in
XVi INTRODUCTION TO TrfE AMERICAN EDITION.
religion, but as it brings down Christ into our hearts. Nothing can meet the wants of that man whom the spirit of God has convinced of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment, but the unreserved presentation of the Saviour in all his fulness of grace. And the attempt to satisfy such a soul with ordinances, or any combination of human ministration or sacramental observances, as standing for Him, can only succeed in so far as it is effectual in quenching desires which God has implanted, and in deceiving a conscience which God has awakened.
Immediately following the passage quoted above from the life of Bishop Burgess, I find it recorded of that excellent man, that, when near his end, the account of the last illness and death of Mr. Simeon, which had then just appeared in the London Christian Observer, was read to him. “He listened to it with marked interest, and desired to hear some parts of it a second time. Soon afterwards, while slowly pacing his room, he was heard repeating, in a low but emphatic voice, and as if applying the words to himself, some of the most striking expressions of humility, faith, and hope uttered on the occasion referred to by that eminent Christian.”
Let the reader of this Memoir direct his attention very particularly to Simeon’s last hours. He will not wonder that the humility, faith, and hope which shone so beautifully as the aged pilgrim and the good soldier of Christ, having on the whole armor of God, was stepping down into the valley and shadow of death, fearing no evil, leaning on the staff, and guided by the rod of the Good Shepherd, should have seemed to Bishop Burgess “profitable for instruction in righteousness,” when he himself was about descending the same rojd. There was something peculiarly edifying in the death of Simeon. Never have I read the narrative of a Christian minister’s last hours, with more disposition to say,” let my last end be like his.^^ What child-like resting upon the Saviour; what composed, tranquil, ready waiting the will of God; what fear of self, and desire to have Christ all and in all; what a sweet, humble, quiet, sure, full hope, fed directly upon the sincere milk of the word; and all the while, what a solemn sense of death as being still awful, though its sting be lost, and its power upon the soul abolished; what an abiding appreciation of the ineffable seriousness of the hour in which a sinner, however perfect his hope, is going to meet his God! And when the places that knew the aged servant’s familiar walk so long, knew him no more, what a contrast there was in the affectionate and universal homage paid by the town and University of Cambridge, to his usefulness and excellence, as that long train of gownsmen and citizens followed his body to its grave in the noble chapel of his own college; what a contrast to the contempt and persecution with which, during many years of his ministry, he was treated in that same town and University, to such a degree that the passenger in the street, who treated him respectfully, made himself singular. The change of feeling towards Mr. Simeon, as thus displayed, was no other than a change of feeling towards those evangelical views which he always unchangeably taught. It was but an example of the Uke change in regard to the same views, which Mr. Simeon lived to see extended widely over the Church of England, and numbering thousands of clergymen, as their advocates, where he in the beginning of his labors, could hardly find out ten.
It was not long before Mr. Simeon’s death that, in company with Mr. Carus, I had the pleasure of renewing an acquaintance with him, which had been formed during a previous visit to England. Deep was the impression made on my mind by that intercourse. I enjoyed his society alone, as well as in one of those parties of pious men at his rooms, in which so much of his usefulness had been accomplished. I heard him in his own pulpit. The account contained in this volume by thejate eminent member of the (Quaker’s Society in England,. Mr. Gurney, of a visit he made Mr. Simeon, expresses hiuch that I would say, were I to attempt a description of him. J was exceedingly struck with the flow of devout joy in God, positive, heavenly happiness, which seemed to be all the while possessing his soul, making his mouth, out of the abundance of the heart, always full of the precious things of the Gospel, and communicating to all his manner, to his every look and action, the most engaging expression of Christian love.
The reader will allow me here to copy an extract from my jomnal, written at that time, as the best evidence I can give of what I then thought, when I had no idea of ever publishing anything concerning Mr. Simeon.
“Cambridge, Mfirch —, 1836. — Went, with Mr. Cams, to pay my respects to Mr. Simeon. The old man was yet alive, indeed, as vigorous and sprightly in spirit, as when I saw him five years since. He seemed as young and fresh in mind, as if the joys of religion were new every day, and every step towards the grave were revealing to his eyes some new beauty of the heavenly inheritance. His greeting was most affectionate and cordial; his conversation full of the love of Christ and his word. He seemed constantly, and most happily to himself, to realize the presence, the loving, parental presence of God, and to have continually in sight,. the nearness, the blessedness, the assurance of heaven. A Christian so bright in grace, so simple in spirit, so abounding in love, so full of joy and peace in believing, I know not that I ever saw before. His presence was a sermon. I could not but feel humbled, exhorted and animated in his society.”
I well remember the peculiar feelings I had during that visit. After a good deal of conversation, Mr. Cams having left us, Mr. Simeon went out of the room for something he wished to show me. While he was out and. I alone, I was sensible of an impression on my mind of a very unusual kind. It was one which I had never been conscious of before, from the conversation of man. I asked myself what it was and whence it came. It partook of the solemnity which one would feel in the presence of a spirit come down from heaven; though I know that such a description will, to many, seem extravagant. But so it was, and I could then explain it only as arising out of the sense I had, when conversing with that holy man, that in a very unusual degree, he xcalked with €roa,’ and was very near God, and belonged a great deal more to the heavenly world, than tg this.
The Sunday night meetings, so often mentioned in this volume, at which Mr. Simeon was accustomed to receive, at his rooms, the young men of the University who were seriously disposed, and pray with them, hearing and answering questions on points of personal religion, were at that time, I forget for what reason, suspended. A meeting at the rooms of Mr. Carus, in Trinity College, seemed to be their substitute. It was my privilege, one Sunday evening, to attend that meeting, and expound the Scriptures to about one hundred young men, assembled simply for the word of God and prayer. A more simple-hearted, affectionate congregation, one that seemed to be more in the spirit of that which Peter found in the house of Cornelius, when they said, “Now are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God,” I never beheld. That meeting, still kept up, in the same rooms, (rooms, by the way, which Sir Isaac Newton lived in, and over which had remained till recently, the observatory in which he was accustomed to work,) that meeting cultivating a knowledge of the heavens, by means of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ, seen through the glass of His own word, was one of the fruits of Mr. Simeon’s labors in the University. A recent letter from Mr. Carus, adverting to it as still very interesting, says, “We are more prospered of God than ever. Generally two hundred and fifty, or more, young men are at my rooms on Sunday evening.”
That is certainly a goodly number for a private meeting, alter all the usual public services of Sunday, and where the only things to attract the minds of young men are prayer, one ,with another, connected with a simple, familiar exposition of Scripture. It surely speaks encouragingly for the state of scriptural piety and sound doctrine in that venerable University, in these days, when the open attack, and the sapping and mining of Tractarian war, leagued with the secret intrigues of Romish Jesuitism, are directed so mightily against those very views of the Gospel, of which such a meeting may be regarded as an expressive type. That meeting, with its hundreds of devout gownsmen sitting thus at the feet of the simple expositor of the Bible, is a precious monument to the memory of that faithful laborer who sowed so long in tears, and now reaps in joy, who was first led to hold a meeting in a private house in Cambridge, by the wardens of his parish church locking its doors and taking away the keys, to prevent him from preaching on Sunday night; whose subsequent usefulness was probably, in no one branch of his many labors, so great or so productive of lasting blessings to the
Church, as in his familiar conferences with the young men of the University, meeting him amidst the kind hospitalities of his colle-rooms. Happy the young men at Cambridge, who, both in the parish of Trinity Church, and in the more retired walks of college association, have, in Mr. Cams, a successor to Mr. Simeon, so much after his own spirit, and so well qualified to carry on the modes of usefulness which he began.
Mr. Carus was left, by Mr. Simeon’s own act, the possessor of the mass of materials out of which he has composed this Memoir. At the same time that so much tempting manuscript was consigned to his hands, his venerable friend restricted him in the use of it, to the publication of a Memoir occupying a single volume. The Editor was thus obliged to forego the pleasure of presenting a vast amount of matter which would have been of great interest to the reader. But in the selection before us, he has evinced a sound judgment, and has given us a book which, like the biographies of those eminent missionary spirits, who received so much of their spiritual training at Simeon’s hands, Buchanan, and Martyn, and Thomason — or like the Memoir of that admirable minister of the Gospel, who was in Christ before him, and was often his counsellor, the venerable Venn, will warm the hearts of thousands of Christian people, and will make these relics of Simeon efficacious, under the blessing of Him who alone giveth life, in quickening anew the graces of his people.
In a recent letter from Mr. Carus, he expresses his great pleasure and thankfulness in being permitted, at last, to complete and give to the public this memorial of the good man whom he loves to honor. With similar feelings have I set on foot its republication in this country, confident that much of the blessing which went with Mr. Simeon, when he was permitted to go in and out amongst men, “preaching and teaching Jesus Christ,” will go with these his remains, in which, though he be dead, he yet speaketh everywhere of the same, glorious theme.
CHAS. P. McILVAINE.
Cincinnati, April 21, 1847.