VOL. I. d
lii MEMOIR OF RICHARD SIBBES, D.D.
Preston, then a fellow of Queen's College in Cambridge, and of great note in the university, came to hear Mr Cotton, with the same " itching ears " as others were then led withal. For some good while after the beginning of the sermon, his frustrated ex- pectation caused him to manifest his uneasiness all the ways that were then possible ; but before the sermon was ended, like one of Peter's hearers, he found himself "pierced at the heart." His heart within him was now struck with such resentment of his own interior state before the God of heaven, that he could have no peace in his soul, till, with a " wounded soul," he had repaired unto Mr Cotton, from whom he received those further assistances wherein he became a " spiritual father " unto one of the greatest men in his age.'*
These were men who believed in a ' living,' presiding God, and who were not ashamed to recognise, nor afraid to avouch, ' the finger of God,' the very interference of God, as real as when the Lord met Saul of Tarsus, in the turning of a human soul to Himself. They saw in Sibbes reaching the conscience of John Cotton, and in John Cotton touching the heart of Dr Preston, so many links of the mighty chain of predestination, whose last link is fast to the throne of the Eternal. They are weaker and not wiser men who scorn such faith. It is not to be wondered at, then, that in the correspondence of the Puritans in Cambridge of this j)eriod, it was felt to be ' of God,' that quick as one preacher of the word, in its blessed height and depth, breadth and length, was removed thence, another succeeded. William Perkins was taken away, but Paul Bayne was ' sent' in his room. Paul Bayne was removed, and Sibbes was sent ; Sibbes was ' outed,' and John Preston took his place ; and now while the Master of Emmanuel was longing for one who might be a fellow-helper with him, again came Eichard Sibbes. The hearts of the praying few were cheered, and under the awakening, rich, full, grand, proclamations of the ' grace of God that bringeth salvation,' all Cambridge was moved. Preston was from day to day at Emmanuel and Trinity, and Sibbes from day to day at Catharine Hall, preaching as ' dying men to dying men ;' knowing nothing among them save Jesus Christ and him crucified, yea, regarding the demand of the ' wits' for ' polite' preaching as but an awful echo of the olden cry, ' Let him come down from the cross and we will believe him.'
From tiiie title-pages of the early editions of their Sermons, we find that they were, again and again, appointed to preach at St Mary's, the church of the whole University. On these occasions * Magnalia, as ante page 16.
MEJIOIB OF KICHAED SIBBES, D.D. Uii
there was such a galaxy of men assembled as could not have been seen elsewhere in all the world. The effect was electric, among gentle as among simple. It rejoices one to scan the roll of the names of those who were then Masters, Fellows, and Students, and all of whom were found in attendance on the preaching of Sibbes and Preston. With relation to Sibbes, we read ' The Saint's Safety' and ' Christ is Best," ' Christ's Sufferings for Man's Sin' and ' The Church's Visitation,' and 'The Saints' Hiding-place,' with deepened interest, as, turning to the original title-pages, we find they were addressed to auditories that included the foremost names of the age. The dates inform us that these sermons, which are almost unrivalled for largeness, I might even say grandeur, of thought, rich- ness of gospel statement, impressiveness and pungency of application, and music of diction, were delivered when the several colleges sent to St Mary's names such as these. Foremost stands John Milton, then at Christ's, and himself WTiting sonnets on the very themes of Sibbes's discourses. Next comes Jeremy Taylor, just entered 'pauper sclio- laris,' as Sibbes assumed the Mastership. Behind him, already renowned as a ' public orator,' mark George Herbert. Side by side with him rises the girlish face, with its strange shadow of sorrow, of Matthew Wren, destined to belie God's handwriting in that face, by becoming a ' persecutor.' Very different is the next that meets our eye, William Gouge, of King's. And beside him is one who will be the preacher's successor at Catharine Hall, Kalph Brownrig, looking wistfully upward with his large, beaming eyes. Snug in some sequestered pew, taking keen note of all in that marvellous memory of his, see Thomas Fuller. Worn and weary, yet moved to listen, picture Edmund Castell and Abraham Whelock. Sitting at the foot of the pulpit stairs are Charles Chauncy and Richard Holdsworth, and dreamy Peter Sterry from Emmanuel. Taking notes, and wishing the hour-glass were turned again, is Joseph Mede. Fronting the preacher, and intent as any, lo ! the young Lord Wriothesly, son of Shakespeare's Earl of Southampton, and young Sir Dudley North, son of Lord North of Kirkling, both of Sibbes's OAvn college, St John's. Linking himself arm-in-arm with the preacher as he descends, mark stormy John Williams, after- wards Bishop and ' Lord Keeper.' And thus might be recounted, almost by the hundred, names that still shine like a winter's night of stars. St Mary's pews and lobbies, crowded, above and below, with such hearers, to such preachers, is a noticeable mark of progress.* Perhaps I cannot better illustrate the advance of Puritanism