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the congregation of General Baptists , Blackfrwtrs , Canterbury , . presented this piece of plate to their pastor , the Rev ? . Sampson Kingsford ^ ou the completion of t&e / ifiie £ h ;< year of his public ministry among them . ' I thank my God upon every remembrance of you , Phil , i . 3 /!'
From the Introduction to his , Jubilee Sermon , it is evident that , though he had readied the age of man , yet feeling himself so trell , he reckoned on a- few years longer ; but , alas \ the Supreme Disposer of events had otherwise determined conceriiing him . This was his last annlver ^ - sary . His work was finished , his labours
were soon closed- , Early in the spring he begaa to complain of indisposition > which gradually increased upon hini , irradiated by occasional but slender hopes of recovery . He was unwell at the last Assembly . Returning home he was still capable of attending to business and to the duties of the ministry . During my stay in the
country I received a long and . excellent epistle from him in reply to a letter of my own , inquiring concerning his health . An extract describing his own case shall be transcribed , and will evince the composure with which he wrote on the subject . It is dated July 21 , 1821 : "I hardly know when so much debility has
been upon me . The pulpit has not been occupied by me for the three Sundays past , nor do 1 know that I shall be able to preach to-morrow . I am much fallen away , except in my face , and my flesh hangs very loosely on my bones . My complaint ( excessive thirst ) was not taken in hand soon , and medicines did not
perfectly suit ; yet throughout the whole I have kept on in the usual routine of business . I feel better this morning , and have been drinking of our chalybeate springs . I think bathing in the sea would be bracing to me . . Timbridge Wells also might give relaxation and strength . " He did preach the next day , and was not , he
said , the worse for it . He then touches on the state of the religious world in his neighbourhood , with his usual good sense and Freedom . " The new sect of Byrantdrs are very zealous . They attempt preaching in almost every village . It is said they have sixteen women preachers .
The peculiarity of their sentiments I cannot learn , unless it be Methodism running , mad . Madness in religion makes , as 1 conceive , the half mad become the more sound and sober . So . it often is , that good Ms ! educed out of evil ; but we are not to dolcvii . that good may come . "
He concludes with mentioning his own religious connexion , the General Baptists ; fotf ibe eyer liad at / heart . their , welfare and prosperity . " Cannot your son come and : give us a sermon at Canterbury ? We should he glad , to * hear hua . None
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of the young students ( of the General Baptist Education Society ) have been with us this vacation . We should have some of the : first-fruits . In fact * should I be able to preach * my wish is , at my age , to be relieved from the work . Fifty years is a long perie $ to be stationed at
one place , yet such is the paucity of preachers , that it still remains for every one to do what he can /* Thus it may be perceived his heart was in the work to the very last . And it is pleasing to remark his disposition to cherish firs ^ -fraits , when aged fruit was maturing and about to be gathered into the garner by the great Master of the vineyard . ,
After writing this letter his indisposition did not abate , for he continued to decline , yet he still clung to the work of the sanctuary . On the * first Sunday in August he administered the Lord ' s Supper , for the last time , in much weakness , and not without a depression of spirits . He began the service with the declaration of the Saviour , Luke xxii . 15 : "With desire I have desired to eat this pas&over
with you before I suffer , which : in his circumstances must have had a reference to himself . There was a visible sympathy throughout the whole congregation . Indeed he seemed apprehensive that he was taking leave of his beloved flock ,
agreeably to the solemn assurance of our Lord : ' * I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine , until that day when I chink it new with you in my Father's kingdom . " The good and amiable Dr . Doddridge was similarly affected on a similar
occa-* Our deceased friettd afterwards somewhat revived , for the death of his worthy brother-in-law , the Rev . Stephen Philpot , of Saffron Walden , had affected him . They had begun their ministerial career together , and almost together they
finished their course . Every thing that the faculty could devise , and the tenderest attention from his'family could suggest , proved unavailable . His strength progressively declined , till at length he breathed his last , without a struggle , August 27 th , in the 71 st year of his age .
The best , the dearest favourite of the *> fcy » Must taste of death— for man is born to die ! " Mark the perfect man and behold the upright , for the end of that man is notion t" i
peace On Monday , Septeinber ^ ,. J > e was interred in the family yaufc * ip M % i c m ~ tery belonging to the . ^ rfhB ^ t Chapel , BJackfriar ^; fo | lqwgg m ± * J ?} f train of weeping ^ relatives Bn » P vffWW * who fel > t -k m ^ c ^ ly ^ ^ ti ^ ckt ^ ^ paying tlij * valedictory tpke , a of regara
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4 * 58 O 6 itwrffi *—TAe Rev * Sampson Kingsford .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1821, page 558, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2504/page/54/
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