Edward Hoare

“ I see dear young men, full of zeal and holy earnestness, who seem, indeed, so zealous that they cannot wait to study; and they are to my mind like men who are in such haste to fire their guns that they cannot wait to put any shot in them! The result is that, when they are sent forth as ministers of the Gospel and as teachers of the truth, they are themselves ignorant of the clear definitions of the truth they are going to teach, and, while they can make fervent appeals, are utterly unable to build up others in great fundamental truths of the Gospel. ”

“ He did not say ‘we think,’ or ‘we hope,’ but ‘we know,’ thereby expressing the full persuasion of his soul in the infinite love and perfect power of our blessed Saviour in combining all things so that they may work together for our good. I delight in the thought that it is our privilege to rest in that full, calm, deliberate persuasion, and that, looking away from everything in ourselves, we may look to Him in peaceful trust, as an eternal object that will not vary with our own variations of thought and feeling. May He keep you in His own right hand, and raise you up if it be His will ”

“ In such a man the inner sight is clear, the eye is single. When he speaks there is the ring of authority in what he says, the highest expression of the common sense of men.
“Who shall estimate the value of such a career? Who shall gauge the loss to the commonwealth of the Church of one such counsellor? It is pleasant to think that, priceless as Canon Hoare was to his party, and thoroughly as he was in sympathy with its aims and sentiments, there is no deduction to be made for bitterness, for narrowness, for sour alienation from human interests. ”

“ There was a most marked and unmistakable difference between the converted and the unconverted, so that it was impossible for a young man to go from house to house without seeing with his own eyes the manifest results of a faithful Evangelical ministry. I have no words to express what the benefit was to myself. I learnt in that village what I was to expect, as well as what I was to do.
I saw in Mrs. Cunningham the most beautiful example of a clergyman’s wife, and I saw in numbers of young women of the parish the conspicuous evidence of God’s blessing on her work amongst them. ”

“ I am rejoiced to hear of your happy visit to that dear home at Canterbury. I cannot say with what thankfulness I think on all the grace which our God and Saviour has shown there, and how delighted I am that you all should have the unspeakable joy of being employed as the Lord’s agents for conveying the glad tidings of life to precious souls. ”

“ I am every day more and more happy in the thought of my marriage, and more and more thankful for the prospect of a wife who, I fully believe, has given herself to God. There is not a single feature in the whole thing that I could wish otherwise, and, besides all living circumstances, the recollection of my dearest mother’s wish makes the connection to my own mind quite a hallowed one. I only hope that we may be enabled to devote ourselves unitedly, as we have desired to do separately, to the service of that Heavenly Father who has laden us with so many blessings. ”

“ The great, grand old ruins stand out as magnificent as ever, speaking witnesses to the failure of the world’s greatness. ‘Broken greatness’ seems written on them all. And modern Popery goes on its way, I should really think, more idolatrous than ever—the most vulgar, tawdry travesty of the simple Christianity of the Catacombs. But I am not going to write a book, so hoping that God has been teaching you at church as I believe He has been teaching me at home, and wishing you every one every possible blessing,
“I remain, etc.,
“E. Hoare.” ”

“ I consider, therefore, that an immense benefit has been conferred upon the Church of England by the foundation of Ridley Hall at Cambridge, and Wycliffe Hall at Oxford. How thankful should I have been myself to have been under the teaching of either of the two able Principals of those Halls; and how earnest should we all be to secure to our young men the benefit of these institutions, and not to let them go forth as evangelists or scripture-readers, to be giving out before they have taken in, and to be teaching others before they have learnt themselves. ”

“ From that I have never been absent, except when detained by severe illness, and nothing can exceed the sacred privilege which I have enjoyed in those happy gatherings. We have met as brethren in the Lord Jesus, as one in the great privileges in which we live, as fellow-labourers in our happy ministry, and as fellow-partakers of the grace of God. We have often taken counsel together, and though in the course of thirty-four years almost all the original founders have passed away, there is still the same spirit of brotherly harmony, and the same loving interest in each other’s welfare. ”

“ I trust God will bless them with His own rich and abundant blessing. They have a noble work before them, not merely in spreading the Gospel amongst the heathen, but in uplifting the banner of truth at home, and I trust it may never happen again that dear brethren, in their earnestness for the maintenance of a pure Gospel, will ever think of weakening the Church Missionary Society by forsaking it, and so rejoicing the heart of the great adversary of souls. ”

“ What may be the best course for you to pursue I have not made up my mind, but as you are at Cambridge it is as well to remind you that a man may be happy without mathematics, and that the glory of being Senior Wrangler (supposing the possibility of such an event) may be purchased at too high a price. I attribute the greatest proportion of your late honours to solid understanding and reading, some part to good luck or accident. Had you not then better see the result of the class examination before you take the plunge? ”

“ I have no doubt that the change of ministry is likely to prove a real refreshment to your people, and I should not be surprised if it were to be the means of calling out some, and leading to true conversions. You must not let all the ladies turn Frank’s head by flattery, of which there always appears to me great danger for young clergymen, for good people seem to suppose that religious interest gives a licence which is allowed in nothing else, and make the Gospel an occasion, rather than a check, for unwholesome conversation. ”

“ This is a cause of great sorrow to me, and the more so because I fear it may be in a great measure explained by a want of spirituality in myself. There is a wonderfully close communion between the power of preaching and the power of feeling, and when a man’s own heart is very dead, he is not likely to produce much life in others. I think, moreover, there is great danger of spending our energy on our machinery. I am doing all I can to work the parish efficiently, and set all the machine in active operation, and I feel the effect of it in a forgetfulness of the spiritual end of the whole. ”

“ But that was not all that happened to me at Pakefield; for while I was there it pleased God to take home to Himself my dearest mother. My dear brother Sam had died of consumption in the year 1833, and she deeply mourned his loss—nor could we wonder, for he was a noble young man, full of high principles, dutiful to his father and mother, and devoted to the Lord. His influence over us his younger brothers was of infinite value to us all, as we had ever before us a spotless example. ”

“ But as the greater part of mankind is not remarkable, I think it just possible that some may be interested, and possibly some profited, by a few details of the life of one whose life has not been marked by incident so much as by abundant mercy, who has been led on step by step in the happy life of a parochial clergyman, and who at the close of it can say with reference to the past, “Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life,” and can add with reference to the future the blessed hope and determination of David, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” ”

“ Storr,—I wonder whether there is any information respecting the things of this world given to those who are at rest with their Saviour? If there is ‘joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth,’ may we not believe that there is also joy when the Lord’s work is prospered among His people that are on earth? ”

“ My very dear Friend,—I cannot tell you how much I have felt about dear Carus. When we think of his age we cannot be surprised, and when we think of his love, his fidelity, his maintenance of the truth, and his great attractiveness we know not how to part with so valuable and pleasant a companion. ”

“ Although the autobiography contains but a brief reference to his career at Cambridge, it seems a pity to pass too hastily over this most important time of a young man’s life. A great many of his letters to his mother were written at this period, and, like his boyish letters, they are all carefully stitched up into a series of sets, as if his parent foresaw that one day they would be valued by others. They form delightful reading, and it is unfortunate that want of space forbids more than a summarising of their contents and a few extracts. ”

“ He made Tunbridge Wells the Canterbury of West Kent, and he was the unofficial primate. For forty years this watering-place, the once fashionable and frivolous resort of people half whose complaints were due to the too easy conditions of their life, has come more and more to be the home of people whose leading purpose is to find out how to do most for the Kingdom of God, and have found there that a plain English clergyman was for the most part at the back of all its missionary energies. ”

“ For forty fruitful years the overshadowing influence of a good man’s life has been a kind of visible sign of a yet higher overshadowing. Prayers and alms have marked the life of the place, and, whatever the future may have in store, there has been peace and truth in Tunbridge Wells in Canon Hoare’s days. Outside his own parish, his next most influential place was, no doubt, the Committee-room of the Church Missionary Society. ”

“ Another great object of interest at Ramsgate was the conflict with Rome. I had had some little experience in the controversy when at Richmond, as a zealous man had given some controversial lectures there in favour of Romanism, and so compelled me to get up the subject. This had led me to preach a course of Sunday Evening Lectures, which I afterwards published under the title of “Our Protestant Church.” I have had reason to believe, with great thanksgiving, that God has made them useful to others, as, I thank God, He made the study of the subject exceedingly useful to myself. ”

“ But do you not think God is teaching us a lesson? Are not His waiting children taught by all this to rally round their risen and reigning Lord, and to cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils? Is not the Church always exposed either to pressure from without or delusion within? And are not those the two great instruments by which He keeps His elect people pure? Oh, may God grant that we may be amongst the Lamb’s faithful followers! . . .
“In our parish we have had but little visible encouragement since our return from Norfolk. ”

“ Truly we are living on the brink of eternity, and a few hours may find us in the midst of it. May the Lord keep us with our loins girt and our lamps burning, and we ourselves as those that wait for their Lord. I am thankful to say I have got on very comfortably, but I am too old to talk all day, and nothing suits me so well as home. ”

“ I consider that as dear girls grow up they become not merely the children, but the companions and fellow-helpers with their parents, and therefore I rejoice at all that brings us together, as I believe the Confirmation has done, and as I believe that our uniting together in the Lord’s Supper will yet further tend to do. I cannot tell you with what a deep feeling of interest I look forward to the joy of receiving you as a Communicant on Sunday next. ”

“ I have seldom known a more solemn and sacred service than when we all knelt together in one spirit, if not in one tongue, to commemorate the dying love of that blessed Saviour who shed His precious blood that whosoever believeth in Him should receive remission of sins. ”

“ HOLLOWAY AND RAMSGATE
In the year 1846 the time came for a change. My friend the Rev. Daniel Wilson wrote to invite me to the Incumbency of St. John’s, Holloway, about to be vacated by my dear and honoured friend the Rev. Henry Venn, one of the wisest, the ablest, and the most trustworthy men I have ever known in this life; and there were many circumstances, amongst others the illness of my beloved father residing at Hampstead, that led both of us to the conclusion that we ought to accept the offer. ”

“ Both these journals are now in different hands, but it is a humiliating thought that one who had done so much for Evangelical truth should have been thus treated by those who professed to aid its progress. It has often been noticed that a lofty mountain seems nothing very remarkable when you stand at its base, but as the traveller departs and it recedes from sight, it towers above the lesser peaks and almost seems to stand alone. So the character of a truly great man, although valued, cannot be measured during his life ”

“ The day seems most beautiful, the sun shining brightly; those we love most hearty in their welcome, and everything cheerful all around us, so that I hope we may go home at the end of our week refreshed and invigorated for any work that the Lord may have in store for us. ”

“ It has been without doubt the most encouraging in my whole ministry. I never knew so many persons awakened under my sermons in so short a time, and I am thankful to say that many of them, and many more who have been previously anxious, have been brought to see the way of life in Christ Jesus their Saviour. I cannot say how deeply I thank God for it, or how it has stirred me up to look out more hopefully for a great blessing at home, and also amongst the young men at Cambridge. ”