Separatists from the Church of England had existed from the days of Queen Elizabeth. They were, as we have already seen, either Baptists or Independents (Congregationalists). When the Act of Uniformity came into force (see page 220), two thousand non-conforming clergymen who held Puritan views were driven out of the Establishment. This blow, which impoverished the Church of England, enriched the Dissenters. The form of worship of the three main bodies differed very little in practice; a vast variety of sects did not then exist. These Non-Conformists, being excluded from the universities, set up higher educational establishments of their own, called academies. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, there existed about twenty such institutions, where the standard of teaching was excellent and they had a sound Christian background. To one of these, at Kibworth Harcourt, Philip Doddridge was admitted in 1719. He might be called the last of the Puritans, for in his lifetime the characteristics of that movement, which was slowly losing its force, were superseded by the mighty tide of the evangelical revival. Doddridge was a man of great natural ability who had studied hard and whose heart God had touched so early in life that we have no record of his conversion. Acquainted with the gospel from childhood, he had nothing to unlearn. His maternal grandfather had been driven from Bohemia for the sake of the gospel. The reality of his faith even as a boy is witnessed to by an entry made in his journal at thirteen years of age when his father died. “God is an immortal Father. My soul rejoiceth in Him; He has hitherto helped me and provided for me. May it be my study to approve myself a more affectionate, grateful and dutiful child.”
The head of the Kibworth Academy was John Jennings, a man of faith and culture, and it was his desire that Doddridge should succeed him as principal, which he did, but not at Kibworth, for when the time came, it was transferred to Northampton. At the pressing invitation of the Independent Church in that town, Doddridge became their minister and at the same time principal of the Academy. He was then twenty-eight years of age. “His settlement at Northampton marked a new era in the life of Doddridge. About this time his soul came of age. All that was especially exalted or memorable in his ministry now began. He devoted himself to the service of the Saviour with such startled energy and intense concentration, was such a wonderful and manifold worker, and seemed to live so many lives at a time that from this point,” says one of his biographers, “we can only try to show what he was and what he did at the same period in different departments.” These details we cannot follow here, but we have a remarkable testimony from a friend and admirer named Barker who wrote to him, not long before he died, the following touching lines, which not only reveal the character of the man and his service, but give some idea of how he was valued by his contemporaries. The latter part of the letter, too, shows the deep spiritual sensibilities of the writer, who, while clinging with pathetic affections to a beloved leader, was prepared to say, “The will of the Lord be done” (Acts 21:14).
“Who shall instruct our youth, fill our vacant churches, animate our associations, and diffuse a spirit of piety, moderation, candor and charity through our villages and churches and a spirit of prayer and supplication into our towns and cities when thou art removed from us? Especially who shall unfold the sacred oracles, teach us the meaning and use of our Bibles, rescue us from the bondage of systems, party opinions, empty, useless speculations and fashionable forms and phrases, and point out to us the simple, intelligible, consistent and uniform religion of our Lord and Saviour? ... But I am silenced by the voice of Him who says, ‘Shall I not do what I will with My own? Is it not My prerogative to take and leave as seemeth to Me good? ... Both the vineyard and the laborers are Mine. I set them in work, and when I please, I call them and give them their hire.’ With these thoughts my passions subside; my mind is softened and satisfied. I resign thee, myself, and all to God, saying, ‘Thy will be done.’”
In the closing years of his life, he had grieved much over the lack of progress in his own sphere of labor. Yet he gladly recognized the rising tide of revival all around and wondered if God was pointing out some other sphere of labor, or “perhaps,” he said, “I am leaving the world, and God is weaning me from it.” This seems to have been the case, for not long after, he was advised to go to Portugal for his health, but soon after his arrival at Lisbon, in October 1751, the Lord took him to be with Himself. He was then only in his fiftieth year. Beside his pastoral work and his teaching, he left behind a number of writings, including the Family Expositor. Above all, he is best remembered by his hymns. He supported and unselfishly cooperated with the men God was using so mightily at that time in the evangelical revival.
Isaac Watts (16741748), a contemporary of Doddridge, is justly remembered for his hymns. The Calvinistic Churches, following Calvin’s own dictum, confined their singing to metrical versions of the Psalms, and the Church of England followed a similar rule. It is noteworthy that it was among those who preached the gospel of divine grace that hymns found their place. They began to be used at the beginning of the eighteenth century among Dissenters in Britain. They were already widely used among the Moravians. Every revival in the Church seems to have been accompanied by an outburst of spiritual song. It was so in Germany, in Luther’s day, and it is said that Luther’s hymns were a potent factor in the Reformation in Germany. Calvin, however, as we have noted, put an embargo on compositions outside the Scripture. The sole use of the Psalms produced a Jewish strain in Christian worship, which did not make sufficient room for the Spirit of the New Covenant which characterizes Christianity.
Watts broke away from tradition in this respect, and though some of his hymns are based on the Psalms, they are paraphrased in the light of the New Testament. Watts was a native of Southampton. His father was an Independent who suffered imprisonment for his faith on more than one occasion. Watts’ hymns were a great stimulus in his own generation and have been sung by untold thousands ever since. Among the best known are “When I survey the wondrous cross,” “Come let us join our cheerful songs” and “O God, our help in ages past.”