News of the Churches. NEW CHAPELS OPENED. Barmouth, N. Wales, April 1st. Hanley, Staffordshire, April 2nd. Hucknall Torkard, Nottingham, April 10th. Longton, Staffordshire, March 30th. INVITATIONS ACCEPTED. Aldis, jun., Rev. J. (Hitchin), Canterbury. Edwards, Rev. E. J. (Redruth), Dover. Gardner, Rev. D. (Bristol College), Stantonbury, Buckinghamshire. Griffiths, Rev. R. F. (Tarporley), Nottingham. Hamilton, Rev. D. R. (Rawdon College), Sabden. Hider, Rev. G. (Stogumber), Beckington, Somersetshire. Lardner, Rev. T. (Ulverstone), Battersea. Lewis, Rev. W. M. (Bridgewater), Carmarthen. Nash, Rev. S. (Sarratt, Hertfordshire), Prickwillow, Ely. Turner, Rev. J. (Tunbridge), Woolwich. RECOGNITION SERVICES. Barnet, New, Rev. M. Cumming, March 27th. Leeds, South Parade, Rev. G. Hill, March 22nd. Davies, Rev. T., Dorking. RESIGNATIONS. Masters, Rev. F. G., Bradninch, Devonshire. DEATHS. Jeffery, Rev. W., Bexley Heath, March 24th. Macalpine, Rev. T. W., Paisley, March 14th. Owen, Rev. Dr. J. G., Haverfordwest, March 21st, aged 62. Ware, Rev. B., formerly of Potter's Bar, at Hampstead, April 15th, aged 71. THE BAPTIST MAGAZINE. JUNE, 1877. Contemporary Preachers VI. MR. R. W. DALE, M.A. THE metropolis of the Midlands is not more renowned for its pre eminence in the "metallic arts" than for the almost unrivalled development of its political and religious life. It is difficult for us to conceive that two centuries ago its population did not amount to four thousand, and that the state of knowledge was so low that, in the language of Lord Macaulay," the place whence, two generations later, the magnificent editions of Baskerville went forth to astonish all the librarians of Europe, did not contain a single regular shop where a Bible or an almanack could be bought. On market-days a bookseller, named Michael Johnson, the father of the great Samuel Johnson, came over from Lichfield and opened a stall during a few hours. This supply of literature was long found equal to the demand." Since that time a marvellous transformation has been witnessed. The population of Birmingham now numbers about 350,000; its wealth has increased at a corresponding rate, and its educational, charitable, and religious institutions have not lagged behind. The annals of the town have been rendered illustrious by the names of such men-to take examples of a very diverse order-as Dr. Priestley, Joseph Sturge, and John Angell James. The fame which Birmingham achieved in the past and the preceding generations has in no sense diminished. Politically, it is the most influential of the provincial towns of England; the inaugurator of several movements which have given complexion to the legislation of recent years, while other measures, which its advanced leaders have sketched must before very long be placed on our Statute Book. Connected with Birmingham are men whose names are "known everywhere." The great English statesman, who in a well-remembered crisis was honoured by the grateful and enthusiastic confidence which returned him as member for Birmingham, is not more distinguished in one direction of public life than is the gentleman of whom we now propose to write in another. Mr. R. W. Dale has won for himself a more than national reputation, and it is difficult to say whether he has attained greater distinction as a preacher, an author, or a political and ecclesiastical leader. It is, of course, mainly as a preacher that he will come before us here. He was born in London in 1829, became a student of the Congregational College at Spring Hill, Birmingham, in 1847, and remained there for six years, taking his degree of M.A., at the University of London, in 1853. From his entrance into college as a youth of eighteen, Mr. Dale's life has been passed in Birmingham. We do not know whether in those early days he felt himself drawn "within a charmed circle," but it is certain that a number of the worthiest citizens felt in him a power which no other youth possessed, and were resolved that he should, if possible, be retained among them. So far as their esteem and affection were concerned, he could truthfully say of his first contact with the town in which he has since won his fame, Veni, vidi, vici. There is no more beautiful chapter in modern nonconformist history than that which narrates his relations with his illustrious colleague and predecessor, the Rev. John Angell James; and as that chapter is inseparably connected with Mr. Dale's ministerial life, and has had no small influence on his subsequent career, we need make no apology for a somewhat lengthened reference to it. Mr. Dale has himself told us that, from the commencement of his studies at Spring Hill, Mr. James manifested towards him great kindness. In the course of a few months, reports reached the venerable preacher which made him fear that his young friend was in danger of drifting away from evangelical truth into scepticism or heresy; and these reports led-not to an angry remonstrance or a censorious condemnation, but to a frank and generous discussion, in which Mr. James pointed out, "with admirable patience and wisdom,' what he believed to be "the spiritual and intellectual perils" of the young student, and displayed in regard to them a genuine and deep concern. The interview-so, at least, we infer-did not result in an immediate change of Mr. Dale's opinions, but it effected a complete revolution in his feelings towards Mr. James, the removal of all distrust, a veneration of his goodness, and an assurance that in any trouble he would be a most faithful friend, as, indeed, on more than one occasion and in many ways he proved. At the close of the summer vacation in 1849, and before Mr. Dale had entered the theological class, he was greatly surprised by an invitation to preach at Carr's Lane, but nevertheless complied with it, spent two or three days in Mr. James's house, and received during their conversation "many suggestions on the art of preaching, valuable for their good sense and practical wisdom." In the November of 1851, Mr. James proposed to Mr. Dale that, in the following session, he should render him occasional help in his ministerial duty, in the hope that, by the end of another year, he might, if he saw fit, be wholly an assistant to him. To this proposal Mr. Dale could not give an unhesitating assent. He could not, of course, be indifferent to the honour which it conferred on him, or to the advantages of which it was a pledge. "But this settlement at Carr's-lane," he writes, "would cross some of my most cherished plans. It had been my intention to study in Germany for a few sessions after leaving Spring Hill; this would have to be abandoned. Like most students, I had my visions of the kind of congregation to which it was my ambition to minister, and those visions were very unlike the reality which now seemed inevitable. The movement to evangelise the irreligious masses of our manufacturing population was at that time gathering great strength; and, supposing my vocation lay in that direction, my scheme was to find a small congregation of poor people in the heart of a manufacturing district, and to make it the pivot and centre of an active system of evangelistic labour among the surrounding myriads of working people. This dream too had to be abandoned, and it was abandoned very reluctantly." Mr. Dale, however, thought, after mature consideration, that no choice was left him, and it was accordingly arranged that he should preach for Mr. James on the first Sunday morning of every month, and occasionally at other times. This arrangement continued until the close of his college course, when the church was asked to sanction his appointment as assistant minister, which it did with the utmost cordiality and unanimity. At the close of the year's assistantship, Mr. James requested the church to "consider the expediency of inviting the assistant minister to the co-pastorate." The evening on which the meeting called for this purpose was held was "most unpropitious, as it poured with rain. But the enthusiasm of the church" (we quote from Mr. James's account) "was not to be extinguished by torrents; it was actuated by a love that many waters could not quench.' When the resolution was put, "there flew up in an instant a little forest of hands and arms, for the brethren were not content with lifting up the former, but, to give emphatic expression to their suffrages, held up their arms, and seemed to me to give their hands a shake, as if to say, 'Let that be taken for the lifting-up of our hearts, our whole hearts.' Then came the call for the negative, if any. I looked round; not a hand was to be seen.... Never was there such a church meeting before. It was full to overflowing with holy joy and thanksgiving.' The existence of so hearty and unanimous an enthusiasm in a church which numbered upwards of a thousand members, and in which a minister of Mr. James's reputation and influence still laboured, was a fine testimony to Mr. Dale's power. When he entered on the co-pastorate he was but twenty-five years of age, and he was the colleague of one of the then greatest preachers in England. And yet he was welcomed to the post with the sincerest confidence and delight. Nor was that confidence misplaced. The man to whom it was given was in every sense worthy of it, and every succeeding year of his life has strengthened and confirmed it. There was, indeed, at one time some little disquietude felt by many members of the church, in consequence of opinions which Mr. Dale had expressed on an important theological subject; but it was of short duration. These opinions were not substantially unlike those held by Mr. James himself, and the divergence was mainly in the modes of statement. It was well, however, for Mr. Dale, as it would be well for other young ministers in similar difficulties, that he had so wise a counsellor and so true a friend as his venerable colleague. "His conduct throughout that time of disquietude was singularly noble. Without compromising his own convictions, the whole of his personal influence was exerted to soothe and tranquillise the agitation and excitement." Respect for the judgment and authority of Mr. James, combined with a sense of Mr. Dale's transparent honesty and nobleness of character, speedily restored the confidence which had been for a moment interrupted, and the first love never waxed cold. Not on this ground only, but on various others, are we convinced that students from our colleges, after completing their ordinary curriculum, would derive incalculable gain from one or two years' association in practical pastoral work with the ministers of our larger churches. Notwithstanding the original strength of his mind, the thoroughness of his intellectual culture, and his glowing enthusiasm, Mr. Dale has been rendered a wiser, abler, and inore useful preacher by the generous and helpful influence of his predecessor. The two worked together with the most perfect harmony, and their relations were never clouded even by a passing shadow of unkindliness. "In his heart of hearts, the aged minister loved and trusted his younger colleague; was his generous, unflinching champion against all suspicion and unjust censure; was ingenious in his devices to secure for him public respect and honour; was open and frank in the private discussion of questions on which they disagreed; never suggested, because he never supposed, that the authority of his own age, reputation, and experience could justify him in requiring the younger minister to sacrifice or trifle with his convictions of truth or duty. In one word, Mr. James had a noble, generous temper, and in all his conduct towards me there was never the faintest trace of suspicion or selfishness." The position of an assistant minister is, of course, different from that of a co-pastor, and only in a few cases can the one relation pass into the other; but the same principles will regulate both, and the advantages to be derived from them are practically identical. Men of Mr. James's position and character can give to candidates for the ministry a kind of training which it is impossible for them to receive in college, but which we hold to be of the highest worth. The work of the college regarded either as a mental discipline or as furnishing stores of knowledge is, indeed, indispensable. Those who have availed themselves of its aid know that its importance cannot be over-estimated, |