Watson, Richard (21, a Wcsleyan theologian, was born at Barton-upon-H umber, Lincolnshire, Feb. 22, 1781. Physically feeble, he had a precocious mind, and against poverty and great difficulties he bent his ener- gies to the acquisition of knowledge. He enjoyed no school advantages after he was fourteen, having at that age left the grammar-school in Lincoln. Wild and impious in youth, he was converted when about thir- teen; commenced to preach when fifteen; was received into the Wesleyan Methodist ministry in 1796 ; resigned under false imputation of heresy in 1801; entered the ministry of the Methodist New Connection in 1803; and was received again into the Wesleyan body, chiefly through the instrumentality of Jabez Bunting, in 1812. He was active in the formation of the Wesleyan Mis- sionary Society in 1813 (not formally inaugurated until 1817), and was made one of its secretaries in 1816, re- taining the oflnce for fourteen years. Besides attending ; to the duties of this oflnce, he devoted himself to the the-
WATSON
888
WATSON
olo^ical training of candidates for the mission work. In 182(5 he was elevated to the jjresidency of the Confer- ence, and in 1827 he resumed the ilineraiicy in iMan- chester. In 1830 he declined an invitation to the chair of belles-lettres anil moral philosophy in Wesleyan Uni- versity, Conn. AI)oiit this time W'at.son.wlio was strong- ly opiiosed to slavery and intimate with Buxton, Lush- ington, and other leaders in the antislavery movement, made some eloquent speeches in favor of negro-emanci- pation. In 18o2 lie was again appointed to the secreta- riate of missions. Hut his comrades were falling. Clarke had died on Aug. 2.3 of that year; Staidey sank to rest Oct. 9; and Watson's devoted eolle.-igue, .lames, passed away Nov. G. His own dissolution was not far off. Disease had been gnawing at his vitals all his life; but with devotion indomitable he still wrote. He died, af- ter intense suffering, Jan. 8. 1833.
Watson's character was one of great beauty. His humility and piety never shone brighter than at the time of his greatest popularity; and sympathy, tender- ness, and strength blended in a spirit purified by fire. How many felt the power of his presence! "A figure so tall and thin is seldom to be seen, yet there was something majestic in his gait and manner, and, when his head was bared, the outbeamings of intelligence be- spoke the genius which was concealed there, and a kind of awe was felt which indicated the presence of a supe- rior being" (Stevenson, Hist, of City Ruad Chapd, p. 564).
He was a man of elegant taste, of a remarkably tena- cious rriemory, great vigor of intellect, and unconquer- able application. His mind was versatile: his sympa- thies universal. He was at home in theology, metaphys- ics, politics, and domestic economy. As a preacher, great things are spoken of him. Xi/iil tetir/it quod non orna- vit. "He soars," says Robert Hall, "into regions of thought where no genius but his own can penetrate." " He led his hearers into realms of thought of which they had previously no conception ; and his tall and graceful form, his pallid countenance bearing marks of deep thought and of severe pain, and at the same time beaming with benignity and holy delight, served to deepen the impression of his incomparable discourses. The greatest charm of his preaching was its richness in evangelical truth and devotional feeling; and in those qualities it increased to the last" ( Wesl. Meth. Magazine, 1833, p. 151). " Watson had not the earnestness and force of Chalmers," says an elaborate and able article in the London Quarterh/ Beview, 1854, ii, 192 ; " but he pos- sessed much more thought, philosophy, calm ratiocina- tion, and harmonious fulness. He had not, perhaps, the metaphysical subtlety and rapid combination, the burn- ing affections and elegant diction of Hall; but he pos- sessed as keen a reason, a more loftv* imagination, an equal or superior power of painting, and, as we think, a much more vivid perception of the spiritual world, and a richer leaven of evangelical sentiment. Owen's oratory seemed to be more flowing, spontaneous, and impassioned than that of Watson; but the latter ex- ceeded Owen in stretch of thought, sublimity, beautiful imagerj-. and deep and touching pathos."
Watson gave the first systematic treatment of Wes- leyan theology. His Institutes, though not the legal, have been the moral and scientific, standard of INIeth- odist doctrine. Although the works of Profs. Pojie and Kaym<ind (ill a niche in the temple of more recent literature, which, of course, the Jnslitutis cannot fill, the latter work can never be superseded. The elder Hodge speaks of it as "excellent, and well worthy of its high repute among Methodists" {Systematic Theolor/y, iii, 190). In 1852 Dr. .John Brown, of Edinburgh, charac- terized Watson as "a prince in theology, and the Insti- tutes as the noblest work in ^Methodism, and truly valu- able." The late Dr. J. W. Alexander says, " Turretine is in theologj' instar omnium — that is, so far as Black- stone is in law. Making due allowance for difference in age, Watson, the Methodist, is the only systematizer,
within my knowledge, who approaches the same emi- nence ; of whom I use Addison's words, ' He reasons like l'ale3', and descants like Hall'" {Forty Years of Famil- iar Letters [letter of Dec. 26, 1831]). The Institutes have defects, however (see Stevens, Hist, of Methodism, iii, 479). Watson's Fxposition was written in sickness, left unfinished, and published ])osthumously. In the opinion of some, it is one of the finest specimens of such work in the English language. Although of ample yet modest learning, and eminently theological, it is beau- tiful and tender, and brings the heart nearer to God (see .Jackson, Life of Watson, p. 461).