CHAPTER XVII
PROMOTION
During the last year of his life it was evident to all that “old Mr. Valiant-for-truth” as some one had aptly named him, was growing more feeble in body, and it was apparent that the end of his faithful warfare could not be far distant.
Some thought that he ought to resign and leave the parish in younger hands, but it was more generally felt that the grief of leaving his work would be too much for him, and many believed that he would be allowed to die in harness: and so it was.
At the Easter Vestry he spoke feelingly of his approaching end and his desire for a suitable successor, and when he thanked his hearers for what he described as their toleration of the failings of an old man who was doing all that his strength would allow, all present were visibly affected.
The next week he went for a few days to Eastbourne, and thence dictated the following letters. How descriptive were their closing words of the continual attitude of our beloved friend’s mind!
“Eastbourne, April 18th, 1894.
“We have had a comfortable night in our very comfortable quarters; I think you did indeed do well for us. I cannot imagine anything that would have suited us better.
“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. But at present our work consists in idleness, and I propose to devote myself to it with much diligence!
“All whom I have seen recommend a bath-chair, and I should not be surprised if I were to follow their advice before I go home, but I little know what is in store for me. Only let me enjoy the lovingkindness of my Heavenly Father, and we may safely leave the rest in His loving hand.”
To a friend who was in ill-health:—
“Eastbourne, April 21st, 1894.
“I can heartily sympathise with you in the pain of giving up one after another the different objects in which you have been interested, and I can feel for you the more as I have been lately passing through the same process.
“I am obliged to hand over to others a great deal of the work in which I used to take delight. But I believe it is good for us, and that the ties to earth are being loosened in order that we may be the more ready for the Lord’s summons when He shall call us to depart and to be with Christ.
“So let us think more of what we are likely to find in Heaven than of the pain of parting with those things which have been a joy to us upon earth. . . .
“E. Hoare.”
On Trinity Sunday, May 20th, he preached for the last time. The occasion was the anniversary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, of which, as we have seen, he was ever a staunch friend. At the close of the sermon he seemed to be rather exhausted, and his faithful parish clerk (who had served under him all through his ministry in Tunbridge Wells) hastened up the steps and helped him down. He never again entered that church where for forty-one years he had faithfully declared all the counsel of God. Of that ministry it may be truly said that its “record is on high.” Few men have had so many opportunities of preaching the Gospel, and few have used them as he did.
After this there was a marked decline in strength. He knew that the tabernacle was being taken down, and made preparations accordingly. Two of his brother-clergy were asked by him to pay a pastoral visit weekly, and they will always thank God for this privilege; it was beautiful to see the calm, steady trust—“I know whom I have believed.” On these occasions they received more than they gave, and as some passage of help or comfort was dwelt upon the old saint of God would himself go on, and bring out some new light upon the passage, for to the very last he was “mighty in the Scriptures.”
On St. Peter’s Day, a week before his death, when the Sunday School Teachers’ Association met as usual for their annual gathering in his garden, he saw them for a few minutes, and then from his room sent out this touching message: “Earthly pastors pass away, but remember Him of whom it is said, ‘He, because He abideth ever, hath His priesthood unchangeable.’” Surely this public testimony was a fitting sequel to his life’s ministry!
A few weeks of weariness, and then the end came. The usual “Good-night” was said the night before, and early in the morning of July 7th, as he slept peacefully, the brave and faithful spirit passed away.
When a man’s whole career has been given to God, we are not careful to ask for his last words, yet his were characteristic of the humble but unwavering trust that filled his heart. Replying to some inquiry he said, “I am perfectly at rest on every point.”
God had bestowed many privileges and honours upon His servant during his life; the greatest of all—even to be with Him—He granted during that quiet slumber, for “so He giveth unto His beloved in their sleep.”
CHAPTER XVIII
TRIBUTES
It is impossible to describe the feeling exhibited in Tunbridge Wells when it was known that Canon Hoare had passed away, and on the day of the funeral the town witnessed such a display of universal sorrow and respect as it had never seen before. To enumerate even the deputations from different parts of England and to describe the component parts of the huge procession of mourners would occupy pages of this book.
It is enough to say that everything which could be done by the Mayor and Corporation and inhabitants of the town to declare their loss and emphasise their respect was done. More than one Bishop and over a hundred clergy walked in the ranks of the mourners.
All testified as with one voice: “A prince and a great man is fallen this day in Israel.”
His mortal remains were laid beside those of his beloved wife, and he who in those thirty-one years of bereavement used sometimes to say, “In spirit we have never been parted,” was now in spirit reunited to her, and that for ever.
* * * * *
A little book published at this time [268] contains in full all that was said and done with reference to him who had passed away. There are to be found in it the funeral sermons preached all over the town, in church and chapel alike, as well as sketches of his character and career in their special bearing upon the town, whose particular reputation had been so much formed by him. It is a touching tribute of affection and respect, and is well worthy of perusal.
Hundreds of letters poured in upon the bereaved family, from all parts of England, and indeed from the ends of the earth. Extracts from these interesting tributes of affection would form of themselves a volume; it is therefore impossible to give them to the reader, but all testified with one voice to the esteem and admiration in which he was held by those who differed from him, and to the warm love and devotion which he inspired in all who knew him, and whom he had guided into the ways of peace. One expression may be mentioned which was overheard in the conversation of two gentlemen on the day of the funeral (one of them a man of light and leading in the world). Said the first, “We ne’er shall look upon his like again,” to which the other made reply, “Did we ever see his like before?”
The beautiful letters which follow, written on the day of Canon Hoare’s death, speak for themselves:—
“Lambeth Palace, S.E., July 7th, 1894.
“My dear Miss Hoare,—One word only of intense sympathy; but intense in something which swallows up sorrow.
“No one will ever have looked more joyfully on the face of Christ in Paradise.
“Sincerely yours,
“E. W. Cantuar.”
“Lambeth Palace, S.E., July 7th.
“My dear Miss Hoare,—The news has this moment reached us, and I cannot resist sending you one word of deepest sympathy. I know the Archbishop will write for himself, but the thought of the beauty into which that holy and beautiful spirit has entered lives in one so, and in spite of all your personal sorrow and loss I cannot help feeling that you are living in that thought now.
“You know how we loved him—how could we help it!—and that we do know something of all he was and is and how the joy of the Lord has been the breath of his life; and so we may give thanks with you, may we not? though the heart must ache and the grief be keen. I must not trouble you more—God bless and keep you.
“Affectionately yours,
“Mary Benson.”
Notices of Canon Hoare’s death and sketches of his life, longer or shorter, appeared in countless newspapers in England, America, and Australia. The Record published several articles upon his career and influence in the Church of England. One of the most happily written appeared in the columns of the Guardian under the familiar initials “B. F. S.”
Few in the diocese of Canterbury had better knowledge of the man whom he described than the dignitary who penned those lines.
(From “The Guardian”)
In Memoriam.
Edward Hoare.
“By the death of Canon Hoare the Evangelical party in the Church of England loses, perhaps, its doughtiest champion in our generation. But long before his death experience and advancing years had so suffused his views with catholicity that he was even more conspicuous as a pillar of his Church than as the leader of a party.
“Born in a family in which piety was a tradition, and predisposed by his Quaker blood to think little of public opinion where it came into conflict with convictions, he inherited a vigour of mind and body of which he early gave proof when, as stroke of the Second Trinity boat, he raised it to the head of the river, and became a high Wrangler. But though a Fellowship at Trinity was fairly within his reach, he entered at once into the active duties of the ministry to which he had devoted himself, and thenceforth his energies were wholly bent on pastoral work, though not to the exclusion of the Mission cause abroad and the furtherance in England of those views which he believed most faithfully to reflect the mind of its Church. To the successful study of mathematics he doubtless owed the habit of boldly pressing his principles to their logical conclusions, undisturbed by those many side-issues which often perplex minds less vigorously trained in the exact sciences; though in his case a sturdy common sense and native shrewdness did not suffer him to be betrayed thereby into practical mistakes, while his large and loving heart would never permit the strongest of his opinions to impair his affection for men whose conclusions differed from his own, if they were otherwise worthy of it.
“It was on a foundation thus broad and solid that his commanding personality was built up, becoming a tower of strength to those who resigned themselves to his religious guidance, and attaching marvellously by its strength and sweetness converts to the religious principles which he held and advocated. How important a place he held at his best in the esteem of his neighbours those will remember who witnessed the universal demonstrations of sympathy when his life was in danger from Roman fever, and the whole town was quivering with anxiety lest they should lose one whom they could so ill spare. And though the wane of his physical powers and the inevitable changes of a watering-place population may have narrowed the circle of his influence towards the last, the striking demonstrations of respect which marked his funeral bore witness not only to the deep attachment of his own congregation, but also to the widespread conviction of his brother-clergy and of all the country-side that a shining light had been quenched, whose witness for God had penetrated far beyond the range of his personal ministrations.
“Of the endeared relations between him and his congregation, who had looked up to him for spiritual direction for over forty years, only those within the magic circle of that pastoral connection could form an idea. The well-spring of personal affection which flowed forth from his loving heart towards the humblest of his flock was repaid by a personal devotion which might have proved injurious to a weaker character, less firmly rooted on the rock of truth. But there was an element of generous appreciation in a remark let fall at his funeral, that there was probably no more ‘personally conducted’ congregation in England than that of Trinity Church, Tunbridge Wells.
“But on wider platforms Canon Hoare’s ascendency of character had been in his time not less conspicuous. In his own ruri-decanal meetings, in which he continued to take part up to within a few weeks of his death; in the diocesan conferences, at which only a year ago he bore his solemn and memorable testimony to the value of Church Schools; and at Church Congresses, where he was ever ready to step gallantly into the breach in defence of the principles of the Church which he thought to be assailed,—in these various fields of encounter the manliness of his advocacy, set off by his manifest sincerity, and by his charity towards those who differed from him, commended itself to the admiration even of those who remained unconvinced by his arguments.
“But his own pulpit was undoubtedly the vantage-ground from which he most effectively did battle for his Master’s cause. Armed with a forcible, lucid, and winning mode of address, with an incomparable command of Holy Scriptures, transparently in earnest, and known of all men to live the life he preached, by the elevation of his religious character no less than by voice and gesture, ‘he drew his audience upward to the sky.’ Even after his eyesight failed him, and he could with difficulty mount the pulpit steps, he continued to the last, like the Apostle of love, to deliver his Master’s message. And who shall say in how many hearts it found an echo among that changeful congregation, and in what remote parts of the world a generation which knew him not have been taught by their parents to call his name blessed? His beloved Mother Church has lost no more loyal, wise, persuasive, heavenly-minded son and servant—no more trusty guide of souls from earth to heaven—than our modern ‘Greatheart,’ Edward Hoare.”
“The Record” Friday, July
13th.
Canon Hoare.
“The death of Canon Hoare removes from the front rank of Evangelical Churchmen a conspicuous and commanding figure. He took his degree in 1834—Fifth Wrangler. He was ordained deacon in 1837, [273] the year, it will be remembered, of the Queen’s accession. His jubilee coincided with that of the Sovereign whom he so truly honoured; and it is neither fanciful nor fulsome to say that he held a kind of sovereign rank amongst the Evangelical clergy. One of their kings is dead. It happens sometimes to all parties to lose a man who was much more to them than to the Church at large. We do not deny that this was the case with Canon Hoare. In spite of his conspicuousness, he was not naturally the sort of man who loves to be conspicuous. He grew to greatness amongst his fellows by the influence of character alone. His abilities were considerable; his training was excellent; his family traditions were of the best that the eighteenth century in its ripe benevolence handed on to the young religious energy of the nineteenth. That bright benevolence and beneficence shone in his face, unmingled with the eagerness of the combatant or the push and pressure of the ambitious candidate for leadership. His attitude to the Church of England at large was one of admiring loyalty, but he had no self-seeking thoughts. He dwelt, and loved to dwell, among his own people. He took his share, an honourable share, in the struggles of his own times; but the part which he took was, when it led him to scenes of controversy, always a strange and unwelcome work. But none the less, perhaps all the more for that, he did it well. The nephew of Joseph John Gurney and of Elizabeth Fry was not without a strong element of what is sturdy and staunch. That side of his character found useful expression when, at the Church Congress at Derby in 1882, he was suddenly called upon to meet the suggestion of Lord Halifax that the Bishops should allow the alternative use at the Holy Communion office in the Prayer-Book of 1549. Then, in his own name and in the name of the Evangelical party, he spoke his apologia. . . . That scene illustrates the man; and though a good deal has happened since, and the Lambeth Judgment must not be forgotten, yet that interpretation of the signs of the times remains the only reasonable reading of them, and the alternative—the Reformers or Rome—is still the only possible alternative if England is to remain a Christian country. And yet, as we have said, this was an incident.
“His work, his real work, was of another kind. Perhaps no other position in England would have suited him quite as well as the post he held at Tunbridge Wells. 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. ‘I am but one of yourselves, a presbyter,’ said Newman in his first tract. So, in his last tract, might Canon Hoare have said. 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. There was a time, indeed, when week by week two able men came up to Salisbury Square, each in his own way exercising a powerful influence upon the Cabinet deliberations. One was the pen more than the voice, the other the voice more than the pen, of missionary counsel. But those were the days of Henry Venn, and in his days counsellors for the most part found themselves anticipated. But when those days had passed away, and the increasing missionary activity of the Church brought new conditions, new problems, new agencies, new methods into view, then came a time in which counsellors who had within them a living spring of energy, readiness of mind, elasticity, hopefulness, breadth of view, a firm belief in the future as well as a firm grip upon the past, were invaluable, and such a man was Canon Hoare. Things new and old were in him, as they always are in the men who by the force of character become guides of their fellows. The man of routine, the mere pedant, the mere deprecator of mistakes, asks always for a precedent. He does well to ask for it; it is a finger-post to him. The man of wisdom makes precedents, founding them on principles of which he is sure. 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. It was his privilege to touch the life of his times at many points: in the abundance of his interests he multiplied himself.
“Happy in his family, in the narrower and the wider sense of the word, happy in his friendships, happy in his opportunities, happy in his wide sympathies with humanity, his heart went out expansively to all who challenged his attention. The world became one wide field, to which he gave himself, his children, his substance, his time, his prayers. He was heart and soul an Evangelical. But we are greatly mistaken if the Church of England generally does not recognise in Canon Hoare one of her truest children, not the less for that which was part of his inheritance, the knowledge that Christ our Lord has other sheep, not of the fold in which he was so distinguished an under-shepherd.”
The Church Missionary Society.
The following minute, which was passed by the Committee of the above body at their first meeting after Canon Hoare’s death, records, as far as words can do so, the deep loss that the Society has sustained by this event:—
“In addition to the deaths of long-honoured and attached friends of the Society within the last few weeks, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, Canon Lord Forster, Lord Charles Russell, and Howard Gill, the Committee record with affectionate and thankful remembrance a life consecrated to the service of our Divine Master in the removal of their beloved brother Canon Edward Hoare.
“Trained in the days of the Evangelical revival at Cambridge under Simeon, Scholefield, and Carus, Edward Hoare commenced his ministry in 1836 as curate to the Rev. Francis Cunningham, at Pakefield, where he found the genial and warm sympathy of those who were at the time engaged in the religious movement, and where he gave early evidence of the bright living missionary spirit which was so prominent a feature of his ministry in his after-life at Richmond, Ramsgate, and, finally, at Tunbridge Wells; where, for forty-one years, he was by the grace of God ever at the front of all missionary work both at home and abroad. The remarkable position of influence which he attained was not from his gifts, which were considerable, but from his grace. The features of his character may be briefly summed up as they were known in his private life, in his parochial work, in the pulpit, on the platform, and in the Committee-room of the Church Missionary Society: godly simplicity and unflinching courage, clearness of judgment and expression, loving sympathy and consideration for others, unfailing diligence and soundness in the Faith, and supreme reverence for and delight in the Word of God. These gracious qualities made his counsels and co-operation wise, weighty, and practical. He was in the highest sense a faithful witness to the principles of the Reformation and the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England, and a zealous, popular, and attractive advocate at all times of the work of his beloved Church Missionary Society.
“The Committee commend the members of his family, especially those who are in the Mission-field, to the very special prayers of the Church, in the hope that a double portion of his spirit may be imparted to his successors.”
* * * * *
The beloved son in the Mission-field was the only one absent when the aged father was laid to rest. His visit with his wife and children, three and a half years before, had been an unspeakable joy in the old home. During Canon Hoare’s latter years all who knew him remember the interest and delight that he took in the work at Ningpo, and how continually his thoughts turned to those dear ones who had dedicated themselves to labour for God in China. Yet—who can tell?—perhaps when the River has been crossed time and distance have ceased to be, and the blessed dead, being with Christ, are nearer those who are in Christ than when they moved among us here on earth.
* * * * *
“After this it was noised abroad that Mr. Valiant-for-truth was taken with a summons by the same post as the other, and had this for a token that the summons was true, ‘that his pitcher was broken at the fountain’ (Eccles. xii. 6). When he understood it he called for his friends and told them of it. Then said he: ‘I am going to my Father’s; and though with great difficulty I have got hither, yet now do I not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles who now will be my rewarder.’
“When the day that he must go hence was come many accompanied him to the river-side, into which as he went down he said, ‘Death, where is thy sting?’ and as he went down deeper, he said, ‘Grave, where is thy victory?’
“So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him at the other side.”
* * * * *
“I passed from them, but I found Him whom my soul loveth” (Canticles iii. 4).
APPENDIX.
As an illustration of the hold which the name of Canon Hoare has upon the Church at large, it may be mentioned that when the suggestion was made to call the proposed New Wing of the South-Eastern College at Ramsgate after him, and to erect it as a memorial of his principles and the teaching of his life, the proposal was warmly received; contributions flowed in from India and the Antipodes, as well as from England, and in about ten months’ time the needed sum of £5,000 was in the Treasurer’s hands.
Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.
ADVERTISEMENTS.
Crown 8vo, Cloth, 3s. 6d.
SPIRAL STAIRS
OR
THE HEAVENWARD COURSE OF THE
CHURCH SEASONS
A Series of Devotional Studies on the Christian Life
By the Rev. J. H. TOWNSEND, D.D.
Vicar of Broadwater Down, Tunbridge Wells
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE
REV. HANDLEY C. G. MOULE, D.D.
Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge
Dr. Moule says:—
“I think your chapters delightful, with their clear exposition, their bright and, so to speak, friendly style, and above all with their fulness of witness to the Lord Jesus.”
“A volume of which it is impossible to speak too highly. . . . Dr. Townsend has a cultured and refined style. . . . We heartily recommend this volume, particularly to the younger clergy.”—Record.
“A series of striking chapters. . . . Eminently comprehensive. . . . Scriptural and spiritual are the two characteristic qualities of Dr. Townsend’s teaching. At the same time intellectual force and apt illustration give an added weight to the lessons drawn. . . . The thoughtful reader will find the ascent of the ‘Spiral Stairs’ a happy and most helpful exercise through the coming year.”—The News.
“Expository in method and Evangelical in outlook. . . Not merely earnest and thoughtful, but well-reasoned appeals to the heart and conscience.”—The Speaker.
London: HODDER & STOUGHTON, 27, Paternoster Row.
GREAT PRINCIPLES OF
DIVINE TRUTH
BY THE
LATE
Rev. EDWARD HOARE, M.A.
Vicar of Holy Trinity, Tunbridge Wells, and Hon. Canon of Canterbury
EDITED BY THE
Rev. J. GURNEY HOARE, M.A.
Vicar of Aylsham
With Portrait. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s.
CONTENTS—
I.—THE SOURCE OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF DIVINE TRUTH. |
||
1. |
The Holy Scripture. Its Inspiration, Supremacy, and Sufficiency. |
|
2. |
,, ,, Inspiration. Its Nature and Extent. |
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3. |
,, ,, The Study and Use of. |
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II.—CHRIST AND THE SINNER. |
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4. |
Propitiation. |
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5. |
Redemption and Salvation. |
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6. |
Repentance. |
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7. |
Justification. |
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8. |
Forgiveness. |
No. 1.—Judicial and Parental. |
9. |
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No. 2.—Present. |
10. |
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No. 3.—Application of. |
11. |
The Connexion of Holiness with Atonement. |
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12. |
Nothing between. |
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13. |
Personal Religion. |
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14. |
Present Privileges of the Justified. |
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15. |
The Joy of the Lord. |
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III.—THE HOLY SPIRIT. |
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16. |
The Personality of the Holy Spirit and His Present Work in the Administration of the Church. |
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17. |
New Birth. |
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18. |
Holiness of Heart and Life. |
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IV.—WORSHIP. |
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19. |
The Holy Spirit the Author of Acceptable Worship. |
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20. |
The Province of the Emotions in the Worship of God. |
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London: J. NISBET & CO.
Footnotes
[2] Sister of Mrs. Elizabeth Fry, the famous Christian philanthropist.—Ed.
[15] The late Duke of Abercorn, one of his fellow-pupils.
[17] Himself.
[24] Killed by lightning.
[26] In later years so well known as a Vice-President of the British and Foreign Bible Society.
[27] Afterwards Lady Parry.
[66] An old friend relates that, when he was going to be ordained Deacon at Ely, Edward Hoare, with whom he was not then acquainted, was to receive Priest’s Orders at the same time, and as they passed into the Cathedral he heard young Hoare say with great solemnity, “Now may the Holy Ghost fill this place!” The words and tone made a profound impression upon the younger man.—Ed.
[77] Wilberforce.
[78] Maria Eliza, only daughter of Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie, Bart., the eminent surgeon. Her mother, Lady Brodie, was Ann, youngest daughter of Serjeant Sellon.—Ed.
[98] The eminent Roman Catholic architect.—Ed.
[137] The Very Rev. Horace Townsend Newman.
[151] Trinity Church being temporarily closed for repairs.
[153] The Right Rev. Samuel Crowther, D.D.
[157] A subject on which he had been approached by the Committee.
[158a] Nottingham Church Congress.
[158b] An invitation from some of the Australian Bishops to undertake a series of Missions in their dioceses.
[174] Over the door in the vestry there hung the well-known lines:—
“I’ll preach as though I ne’er should preach again,
And as a dying man to dying men.”
[190] Of his son the Rev. J. Gurney Hoare.
[193] The Bishop of Dover.
[195] The Rev. Canon Money, who took charge of the parish during the summer.
[201] The title of the paper was “The Effect of the Externals of Religion on Public Worship.”
[202] Exeter.
[204a] Two of the most advanced men of the opposite party.
[204b] The words used by one (accompanied by a cordial grasp of the hand) were, “You little know how much I owe to you; I thank God for truths which you have taught me”—words that reflected equal lustre upon the speaker and him to whom they were addressed.
[209] On “Helps and Hindrances to the Spiritual Life.”
[268] “In Memoriam: Rev. Canon Hoare.” Courier Office, Tunbridge Wells. Price 6d.
[273] He was ordained priest in 1837—Ed.