Introduction

In publishing the following Memoir, the Editor feels it necessary to premise a few remarks respecting the documents intrusted to him for its compilation; and also to explain the circumstances under which he has yentored to engage in a work of so much responsibility.

Daring a season of indisposition and retirement from public duty in the summer of 1813, Mr. Simeon was induced to draw up a short sketch of his early life, together with a narrative of the chief incidents of his ministry. This he appears to have done, not in the least degree with a hew to its future publication, but solely to refute any erroneous statements which might be put forth respecting the course he had pursued amidst certain parochial difficulties which he had recently encountered. This Autobiogniphy is dated, Sandgate, July 21, 1813, and is prefSaced with the following observations: — Being here with a view to the re-establishment of my health, I feel a degree of leisure, to which I am unaccustomed at home, and whch admits of my turning my attention to things which I should not otherwise have thought of Hence, at the earnest solicitation of my dear friend, Mr. Venn, just deceased, I undertook to complete what he had begun of his Father’s life. The very high reverence which I feel for his honored father would have made this a delightful task, notwithstanding the utter insufficiency which I feel to perform it in a manner worthy of that blessed servant of God; but on examining the papers which were to form the groundwork of his life, I find that there are no documents to serve as a substratum for my work, nor any facts whereon to found my comments and observations. I iS constrained therefore yesterday to inform the family that I am

unable to proceed with the work

“Hence I have thought that I wOl recollect some circumstances in my own life; and to this I am rather inclined from the great

injury done by to the character of my dear honored friend,

Mr. Henry Venn, in the Memoir of him which has been prefixed to his ‘Complete Duty of Man.’ .... From such pieces of biography I learn; 1st, that what is really not true is often adduced through want of better information; 2nd, that truth is so often injudiciously stated, as to be almost as injurious as falsehood itself to the person referred to, and prejudicial rather than usefal to those who read it. What, if any one undertaking to write a memoir of me ehoold attempt to give an account of my private societies, either as conducted on my former plan, when 1 met my people all together, or as altered of later years to six smaller societies? All he could do would be to give his own views of those things: he could not give miTit seeing that there is not a man in the world, except Mr. Thomason, that is fully acquainted with them. Yet such is the taste of the present day for memoirs that it is difficult for a minister of any notoriety to escape without having them published respecting him even in his lifetime; and when he dies, he is sure to have the magazines filled with anecdotes respecting him, or delineations of his character I therefore commit some things to paper, to enable

my executor to determine how far the views which may be exhibited by others are correct or not.” From an early period of bis residence at the University, Mr. Simeon appears to have made occasional memoranda of important matters in which he was personally concerned, and generally to have kept copies of his correspondence on all subjects to which he might afterwards be likely to refer. These papers and books of memoranda at length accumulated to a great extent, and the letters alone towards the close of his life amounted to several thousands.* As he advanced in years and influence, and it became hopeless to expect that he could prevent the appearance of some kind of memoir after his decease, he was repeatedly advised to adopt such measures as would insure the publication of at least a faithful record of his sentiments and conduct. To this he was more particularly urged by his beloved and honored friend, Mr. Wilberforce: from whom he received the following suggestions, early in the spring of 1828: —

“As I have pen in hand, I will mention a Bubject, which after I had dispatched my last letter I regretted that I had omitted to notice. It is m wish that yoo would use some of your less occupied half-hours for the purpose of putting down notes, if yoohae not already done it, of such particulars as you had mentionea in one of your last letters; — I mean the comparative attendance at your church, or rather the comparative state of religion in general at Cambridge, in the beginning and at the end of your residence there. We may be sure that whenever it shall please Grod to close your mortal career f which for the sake of others will, I hope, be at a very distant period,) all such particulars will be laid before the public either in the way of Life, or in some other. If however I mistake not, there is but one person in the University at all qualified to supply the particulars I allude to, I mean Professor Parish. I therefore wish you to leave notes, or heads at least, if not more.”

Upon this letter Mr. Simeon made the following memorandum: — “I had oftifD had the idea suggested to me, but never could endure the thought of preparing materials for a memoir. But hateful as the task is, I here commence it, December ,15, 1829.”

Having to a great extent arranged (with indices and observations) the voluminous mass of his papers, Mr. Simeon proposed to place them in the hands of his “most beloved friend,” the Rev. John Sargent, who on every ground was of all persons the Jbest qualified to undertake the work. But, to the great loss of the Church of Christ, Mr. Sargent was suddenly called to his rest at the very time he was preparing to visit Mr. Simeon for the purpose of receiving his papers. The following fetter, written by

* See Letter to Sir R. H. Inglis, p. 539.

Mr. Simeon on the oocasion, will show the repugnance he Btlll felt at making these preparations for a memoir of himself.

“June 1,1833.

“I think I have expressed to you the real ftelings of my heart in reference to

any Memoir of me after my death. Could entire silence respecting me be obtained,*

there is no price at which I would not purchase it. But of that I have no ho, where

(here are so many booksellers that will be clad of the work, and so many writers who

woiald be ready to execute it. But what do, or know of me 1 Nothing at

■U. I am not communicative of my feelings, or of my secret motives of action, unless to one with whom I have the closest communion, or who can, from somewhat of a similarity of mind, appreciate them. After Mr. Thomason, there was no man in the world who knew so much of me as our dear departed friend Mr. Sargent. In my correspondenee with Mr. Thomason, (which had been preserved entire for twenty years, he had a continuous view of all that had passed in my ministerial life, and not a little of what had passed in my heart; and he knew (as he has fully proved in his Biography of Martyn) what a Memoir should be.... He knew too what kind of observations would do gMxl in such a sphere as that in which it has been my lot to move....

On these grounds therefore I had desired my most beloved friend, Mr. Sargent, to ^rc-vent and prevent the attempts of others, who would do harm to religion by their iniudicious, though well-meant productions. And, that he might not be anticipated by others, he was actually engagea to come to me the very d{(y I set off to attend his funeral, to arrange some papers, which would have furnished materials for him to work upon for the first thirty or forty years of my ministrations.

Now let me say, that God having in his tender mercy spared my life to see my work edited, and having times without number heard me welcoming my dissolution any day or hour after that great work should be accomplished, I am expecting a summons from Ilim daily and hourly, (it will not come one hour the sooner for being looked for by me;) and therefore I have lost no time in requesting my beloved friend Mr. C. to stand

in the place of my departed friend He kAows, and will know more and more,

my abhorrence of lauaatory encomium.s — he knows what my idea of biography is....

I hate myself for the steps which I feel myself thus almost bound to taiie. I ftel that an injwJicious person might do great harm by statements on subjects, on which he was only partially and perhaps erroneously informed. This, so far as it respects myself, would be of no consequence, any more than it would be if two persons in China were either applauding or reviling me at this moment; but it may be of consequence to young men who may come to the University after I am gone to my great account. And thLj alone reconciles me to a measure, which on every other ground I should utterly abhor.”

Immediately after his return from the funeral of Mr. Sargent, Mr. ‘Simoon requested the Editor to undertake the work, which had been assigned to his deceased friend. On various grounds, however, on which it would be unbecoming here to enter, the task was respectfully declined; and it was only when urged by some important considerations of a public nature, that the Editor so far ventured to commit himself to the work, as to engage to examine the papers and prepare them for publication. But being solicited to the last to undertake the responsibility of editing thorn, and the whole of Mr. Simeon’s MSS. being bequeathed to him for this purpose, ho felt himself no longer at liberty to decline a duty thus fiolemnly imposed.

After examining and digesting the mass of papers confided to his care, (a work of no light labor and perplexity,) the Editor proposed to compile the Memoir in the usual historical form, connecting it, as might naturally be expected, with the religious events of the times: this course was recommended indeed by many of his friends, to whose judgment he would ever pay the greatest deference. But a difficulty, apparently insurmountable, soon presented itself: Mr. Simeon had given the strictest injunctions, that on no consideration whatever should the Memoir exceed the limits of “a single octavo volume” It was obvious, therefore, that to rednce witHin the prescribed compaju, the history, public and private, of an active life of more than seventy years, much of the most important part of the papers, viz., the Correspondence, must of necessity have been omitted. This plan, therefore, after much consideration, was ultimately abandoned.

The work was then for some time entirely suspended; ana for various reasons, some of a public and others of a more private nature, it was thought desirable, for a season at least, to postpone its publication. When at length the Editor felt himself at liberty to resume the task, his intention was, for the present, merely to print the Autobiography, together with such a selection, from Mr. Simeon’s writings and correspondence as would give a general view of his character and sentiments; and then to append to the work a narrative of his last illness and death; adding in conclusion the valuable ^’ Recollections,” which had been kindly furnished by the Bishop of Calcutta.

The whole of the Autobiography, with the exception of a few words, has been printed without abridgment or alteration, and is introduce under the term Memoir. The opinion of some indeed was, that it should have been published as it was written, viz., without any interruption; and then have been followed by the Correspondence and other details, in chronological order. But as the history was in many respects incomplete, and in one instance passed over a period of fifteen years, with scarcely any allusion to the important matters which occurred during the interval, it was found to be almost necessary to break up the Memoir into short Chapters, according to* the natural division of the subject, and then to append to each Chapter such contemporaneous matter as might be either interesting in itself, or desirable to fill up the narrative. As this was done during the progress of the work through the press, the volume at length increased so much beyond expectation, that it was necessary at the conclusion of the Autobiography to discontinue the historical form altogether; or else the Correspondence must have been seriously abridged. The selection, however, of extracts from Mr. Simeon’s letters and memoranda, will present, it is hoped, a sufficiently connected view both of his proceedings and sentiments to the close of his life. Many topics, indeed, of interest and common report, which may probably be looked for in this work, have been omitted; partly owing to the manner of its composition, and partly becaose in some instances it would have been necessary to allude to persons still living more than would be becoming. It has been the earnest desire of the Editor to omit, as far as was consistent with fidelity, every expression which might cause pain to the survivors of Mr. Simeon: and if occasionally, to preserve any useful observations, he has permitted some stringent remarks to appear, he hopes, by suppressing the names of the parties under review, effectually to prevent their being recognized. And as regards the painful comments upon a former state of affairs at Trinity Church, the Editor feels it only due to the present congregation to state here distinctly, that there is no one naw living in Cambridge to whom those censures refer.

To avoid these and other difficulties, he would gladly have postponed the publication of the work to a still more distant period: he feels that the life of a public man can scarcely be written with the completeness which is desirable till some considerable time after his decease. But to meet the wishes of his friends so urgently repeated, and under the hope

IITTRODnCTlON. XXV

of rendering some present servioe to the Church of Christ, he has ventured at length to send forth the Memoir in its present form.

In making the selection from the Letters, Diaries, and Memoranda, the Editor has kept the following objects in view: first, to introduce whatever might host illustrate Mr. Simeon’s ministerial life and character — his religious sentiments and doctrines; and next, to present such incidents or ohservations, (some of them apparently trifling,) as would give the most natural and familiar view of his private life, and exhibit in detail his temper and spirit, as well as his feelings and habits. Hence it did not appear consistent with fidelity to suppress occasional expressions or statements, which betray symptoms of vanity, or other infirmities. For the same reason, strong but characteristic remarks have been allowed to stand unaltered; and observations and sentiments, which the Editor might perhaps be inclined to dissent from, and in some cases would gladly ilaos omiUed he has suffered to remain without abridgment or comment He has wished to abstain equally from censure and eulogy. His almost filial affection and reverence for the subject of this Memoir would restrain him from venturing on the former, as it makes him obviously too partial to attempt the latter. He feels, however, that happily he has not to discharge the office of a critic, but solely of a compiler: and he has been confirmed in the propriety of this course by Mr. Simeon’s own observatioDs in the following letter, on the publication of the Correspondence of the Bev. J. Newton.

5 o’clock on Sunday Horning,

‘<K. C, Feb. 31, 1808.

“I have risen to prepare for the servioe of my God; but I cannot sit down to other work till I have discharged my conscience towards you as an Executor of Mr. Newton. Tou are commissioned to publish his papers, and those in particular which he has pointed out; and you submit them to the judgment of myself and two other ministers, who, in point of Christian experience, are mere babes to him. In consequence of this, because we cannot descend into his depths, we must bring him into our shallows, and reduce this and that expression to our standard. This is an injustice to him and to the world. We have not ability to sit in judgment upon such a man, any more than babes just beginning to see the truth are to sit in judgment upon us. And my decided opinion 18, that there should be no modifying of his expressions at all. Had the letters been written in his very advanced age, I might have thought otherwise; but at the age of forty-five or fifty he surely knew his own experience better than we can do. We may be better men than he; and, having less corruption in our hearts, may be unable to go all lengths with him in his expressions; but if he was so vile, and had humility enough to publish it, let God have the glory and men the benefit of his fidelity. What good has not been done by Augustine’s confessions 1 When therefore Mr. Newton speaks of being shunned as a wild beast, I would not alter an iota of it. There certainly is one person living who can or rather who must go all lengths with him; and who is comforted by knowing that suchamanit himself so vile as he knows himself to be. Such a thing as the recital of a story may be omitted; because judgment alone oin determine that; but, when he declares his own experience, I think it wrong to alter a syllable: it is like the Jesuits concealing the Crucifbdon of the Lord for fear of its giving offence to the Ohineee: and I am sore that the disposition to alter his words would have induoed ns to correct the Apostle Paul, if we had been at his elbow, when he wrote the 7th of the Romans: or if we had been left his executors to publish his papers.

I have thus expressed my mind, and unburthened my conscience, and endeavored to approve myself, what I most truly am,

“X our very affectionate friend and humble servant,

«C. Simeon.

P. S. Bemember that I speak only of those passages where he relates his own experience; but in any passage I would be fdlly convinced that it needed alteration before I would suffer it to be altered. My rule should be, ‘What would Mr. Newton do if he himself, in the fullest exercise of all his Acuities, were present ‘V That only would I do, or advise any one else to do. He has spoken for himself when living; and he should do the same when dead; and thai too wtthovt arty apologies for him, either in notes or in a preface. If the Editor or Editors do not agree with him, they have no need to publish their names; they are mere executors of Mr. N.’s will. Let us get nearer to God, and have more of the mind of Gh)d than he, and then let us sit in judgment on him, and make apologies for him ] till then, let us sit at his feet and learn.”

Upon this principle it has been the Editor’s endeavor to compile the following Memoir. His constant desire has been to act with fideuty and candor, not attemptiDg to display the graces, nor yet to conceal the fiiil* ings of the man; out so to set forth tibe truth respecting him, and as he would himself have published it, that (to adopt his own language) “Gkpd may have the glory, and men the benefit of his fidelity.”

No one can be more sensible than the Editor is himself of the imperfection of the work as it is at length sent forth to the public. He can only say that, during his short intervals of leisure from collegiate and parochial duties, and often after protracted periods of necessary attention to other engagements, he has devoted to it all the thought and care in his power: and he trusts, that in complying with the earnest wishes of his friends to publish this Memoir without farther delay, he shall meet with their kind indulgence, if he is unable at present to offer it to them in a form more worthy of their acceptance.

And now he would humbly commend his work to the Giver of all good, with the earnest hope that the Divine blessing may accompany its perusal. And he would feel himself amply rewarded for all his anxious labor in compiling it, if happily it should prove instrumental to the diffusion of that same ’ spirit of love, and of power, and of a sound mind,^ with which Mr. Simeon was so eminently endued: and thus be the means of advancing those high and holy objects, the promotion of which was the unceasing effort of his long and laborious life.

Trihitt College,

Feb. 18, 1847.

For the various contributions to this work, which the Editor has received from many kind friends, he takes this public opportunity of offering his grateful acknowledgments.

nmtoDucrnoH* xxvu

More partioolarly he wishes to ezpiess his obligations to the Lord Bishop of Galontta, for permitting him to reprint the Becollections of Mr. Simeon, originally nnblishc in India: — to Sir Biohard Simeon, Bart., for the hirioal notices of his fAmilr prefixed to the Mehoie: — to the Rev. M. M. Preston, for the use of his interesting and important Hekoranba: — and to the Bev. Henry Venn, for a large and Talnableeollection of Letters, and other doonments with whioh the earlier part of tioB work has been enriohed.

MEMOIR

OF

THE BEY. CHARLES SIMEON.

■^>/V%//N/>/>/>^Si»/VN/>iA/Vi-