10 INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. sanctified in past times, by its being the birth-place of the first British Congregational church; by the confessors and martyrs of Puritanism and Nonconformity being pursued within it to prison and to death; by its little Church receiving its first pastor from under the influence of ROBINSON,-—the founder of Independency, as purified from the excesses of Brownism, and inspired with a catholic spirit, the father of those who became the Pilgrim Fathers ; and by many from itself joining the Pilgrims in their distant home. "Of the constant, persecuted, and prolific Nonconformity of Southwark, the Union Street Church is the principal representative. The intention of this Church to erect what shall be at once a suitable home for itself, and a fitting MONUMENT to its noble ancestry, commends itself alike to the judgment and the heart. It must obtain sympathy and approval on all hands. It is adapted to excite interest on both sides of the Atlantic-it should attract aid from every part of the kingdom. Let the work be done, and done well. Let ministers and deacons-the members of our many churches and congregations-all, to whom Truth and Liberty are dear—let them patronize the object, and put a brick in the building. “In these days of revived ritualism, of excessive ecclesiastical pretensions and claims, of Popish inroads and Popish conversions, let there be in this great metropolis one structure, commanding and conspicuous, that shall commemorate the advocates of a simple polity and a Scriptural creed, and that may turn the attention of observers to the study of their history-a history more pregnant with instruction for these our times than any other in the world. "THOMAS BINNEY. "We, the undersigned, unite to commend the object of our James Bennett, D.D. | John Leifchild, D.D. | John Harris, D.D. LL.D. INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. James Carlile, D.D. William J. E. Richards. William Bean. John Adey. 11 Thomas Timpson. W. Spencer Edwards. D. Davies. Charles Fox Vardy, W. P. Davies. A. Good. John Hall. William Forster. The CONGREGATIONAL UNION of England and Wales considered the subject of sufficient importance to engage their consideration. At a meeting held in the year 1855, a motion, proposed by the late Rev. Dr. Harris, seconded by the Rev. J. Stoughton, and supported by several leading members of that body, was unanimously adopted, expressive of "deep interest in the project," and commending it "to the prompt and generous sympathy and support of the Christian public." ("Congregational Year Book," 1856, p. 67.) The intimate connection between the persecuted Separatists of Southwark and the founders of the first 12 INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. North American settlement, could not fail to interest the United States Ambassador to this country "with respect to the proposed memorial. The Honourable Abbott Lawrence accordingly addressed to Mr. Waddington, the pastor of the Church in Southwark, a letter which manifests the deep interest which was taken in the proposal by that lamented statesman. "In common," says he, "with most of my countrymen, I entertain the most profound and sincere reverence for the memory of the band of heroic Christians, who, in the face, in the Old World, of neglect and oppression; and, in the New, of terrific trials, of countless dangers, of death from cold, from starvation, and from a treacherous foe, founded a Christian colony, which has now grown into one of the great nations of the earth. If that nation has proved to the world that religious freedom and religious faith may flourish together, or that perfect liberty and perfect law are not incompatible, I attribute it, in no slight degree, to the deep and permanent influence which the principles of Brewster and Robinson, Carver and Bradford, and their little commonwealth, have had upon its character. "It seems superfluous to speak of this little community of men and women (NOBLE WOMEN, too), which has now become one of the admirations of the world, and which gathered within its ranks as great, I believe, if not greater, an amount of Christian faith, fortitude, endurance, and hope, than was ever found in a body of equal numbers on earth. The 'Rock of Plymouth,' where they finally made their home, has become our Mecca, to which we annually, on the wintry anniversary of their landing, make a pilgrimage, to renew our vows of fidelity to the principles of our forefathers, and offer up our thankful devotions to their and our God for the civil and religious liberty He has permitted us to inherit from them. Long may that rock remain-a monument to teach my countrymen'so to conduct the affairs of the present, that the future may not be unworthy of the past we have received. INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. 13 "The influence of their example is not confined to the land where it was displayed. Europe has begun to study their principles; and I think I see their influence increasing in this country. I am proud when I see efforts like the present to extend among the British people a just knowledge of these English men and women. You, too, may well be proud to be the pastor of a Church where they preached and worshipped, and may appeal without fear to our brethren, both in England and throughout the world, to come forward and erect a church in commemoration of an event, the effects of which, already deeply felt, are destined probably to influence the world more than any other in modern history.” Mr. Lawrence is not the only warm friend to the cause whom death has removed. The late respected and lamented Lord Mayor of London (Mr. Alderman Wire), to the time of his death, took a deep interest in the Memorial Church, and was most solicitous that it should be speedily completed. The LONDON CHAPEL BUILDING SOCIETY, constrained by their constitution and duties to take a merely local and strictly religious view of the proposal, have resolved to countenance the project so far as it contemplates provision for the ministrations of religion in a district containing a vast population very destitute of spiritual advantages, and have voted a liberal grant in aid. So much for the sanctions under which the suggestion has been inaugurated; sufficient, in my judgment, to warrant my treatment of it as a denominational object with the Congregational body, and to encourage 14 INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. me to anticipate their almost unanimous suffrages when I appeal to them to put a speedy finish to a work so worthy of their support. It may be necessary to state, for the information of some, that delay and disappointment, with consequent increase of outlay, have arisen from personal divergence of opinion and divided counsels on the part of those who, in time past, were engaged in giving direction to the undertaking. Had this not been so, it is reasonable to conclude that the matter would ere this have approached completion. Profitless is it to reopen a discussion now happily at rest, and vain the endeavour to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion as to the causes of disagreement. The object is, fortunately, not of personal, but of national-nay, of universal-interest. The principles involved rise superior to all minor considerations. They should neither be postponed nor set aside by merely personal and temporary hindrances, or by the infirmities of human agency their issues are world-wide and everlasting. To a rightly-constituted mind it will be refreshing to turn from personal considerations to principles. In this spirit, breathed in the admirable documents penned by Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Binney, let us set about redeeming the pledge given by the Congregational body. Those who have most regretted the interruption of the work will feel the liveliest interest (for the sake of the |