Samuel Stennett was born in Exeter in western England in 1727.
In 1737, when he was about ten, the family moved to London where his father became
the pastor of Little Wild Street Baptist Church at Lincoln's-Inn-Fields. Not
long after that, he was "converted" and was baptized by his father. He
joined the Little Wild Street Baptist Church. Although he observed the seventh day
of the week as the Sabbath, he was always a member of this church. 001
Like his father, he received most of his education in London. He
did his preparatory studies for the ministry under Rev. John Hubbard and Dr. John
Walker, the latter a noted linguist. Hubbard was a pastor at Stepney and in the
period 1740-1743 he was also a theological tutor. Therefore, it is likely that
Samuel studied under Hubbard some time between the ages of thirteen and sixteen.
Thus for his studies under Hubbard, Samuel went about two miles east from
Lincoln's Inn Fields to Stepney which is in the east side of London, on the
north bank of the Thames and includes the historic Tower of London. These men, by
their teaching, produced many fine ministers who were "critical, learned, and
evangelical." 002
Stennett's education included Latin, Greek "and the Oriental tongues."
He had a wide knowledge of Church writers, literature, history, and government.
003
By the time he was about twenty, the church had "several
trials of the gifts of brother Samuel Stennett" and they heard him preach at an
evening service on July 30, 1747. At the church meeting which followed the same
evening, it was voted that he "be called out into the public service of the
ministry." The next summer, on July 24, after they had more opportunity
"to partake of the gifts bestowed on brother Samuel Stennett, it was thought
very advisable to call him to their service, as an assistant to the
pastor."
When this proposition was voted on, it passed unanimously. Thus
Samuel became an assistant to his father at almost exactly the same age as his
brother, Joseph Ill, had been when he was called to the same position. As far as I
know there had been no assistant minister during the six years between the moving of
Joseph III to Coate in Oxfordshire and the calling of Samuel. 004
In 1747 or 1748, Samuel, "being regularly called out to the
Ministry," was admitted to the Baptist Board (of ministers). 005; He was active in that society, and, for
example, on April 30, 1751, he was chosen secretary of the Board. 006
As Samuel Davies, one of the men representing Princeton College,
dined at Stennett's home of Saturday, March 16, 1753, 007 I suggest that Stennett's
employment as the assistant minister at Little Wild Street in 1748 had given him
sufficient income to be married and start a home. The couple's first child,
Master Haley Stennett, died about 1757. He was their only child at that
time. 008
On February 7, 1758, his father, Joseph II, died at Bath (a city in
western England). Accordingly, the church voted to call him to the full pastorate
and thirty-two of the men of the congregation signed the call. 009 On May 5, (1758) he replied to the call.
Even though he was about thirty-one years old, he considered the full spiritual care
of a congregation as a very serious business, and he was hesitant to accept the
call. Having a sense of duty toward God and knowing of congregation's approval
of his work and the unanimity of the call, he did accept 010 and he was ordained on June 1 of that year. Dr. John
Gill and Mr. Benjamin Wallin, fellow Baptist ministers, both preached at the ore.
011
Early in Samuel's ministry, through a misunderstanding, John
Wesley heard of him. About this time, a report had been circulated that Wesley had
recommended the use of a crucifix (a picture of Christ on the cross) by a man who
had been sentenced to death. John Wesley traced the report and found that it had
originated from "Dr. Stennett, an anabaptist teacher." Someone asked
Stennett about the report and he replied that he, too had visited this prisoner in
his cell . . . and I knew Mr. Wesley used to visit him: so I supposed he had brought
it." When the reply reached Wesley, he said in a Christian spirit: "This
is the whole of the matter. Dr. Stennett himself I never yet saw; nor did I ever see
such a picture in the cell: and I believe the tale is pure invention." 012
King George II was a favorite of the Dissenters for he would not
allow religious persecution. Although he was immoral, the most important thing was
that he was not belligerent toward the Dissenters! 013 Samuel Stennett, in his 1760 sermon
"occasioned" by the death of George II, compared George's thirty-three
year reign with David's thirty-three year reign over all Israel as recorded in
the Bible. 014 Stennett praises
George II for his championing of English "liberties, both civil and
religious," and for his "prudent and just care of his own dominions"
as well as the continental war of the Austrian Succession which Stennett said was an
act intended to extend liberty. 015
Samuel, like his father and grandfather before him, was a loyal supporter of the
government; the Protestant succession in the Royal house was vital to the Protestant
Dissenters. 016 The publication of
this sermon, reaching two editions in two months, started Samuel off in the
publishing world.
Although Samuel is only thirty-seven years old in 1763, the
honorary degree, Doctor of Divinity, was conferred on him by the King's College
and University of Aberdeen! As we look back on it, we realize that his greatest fame
and practically all his publications come later. The degree was, of course,
unsolicited by him, so I would say that the university conferred its honorary
degrees very freely. 017
Samuel Stennett, like his father, grandfather and
great-grandfather, observed the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath. 018 He found himself in a position to aid
the Seventh Day Baptists more than his father had. Rev. Edmund Townsend died in
1763. Townsend was the pastor of the remnant of the Seventh Day Particular Baptist
Church which Joseph Stennett had once served. According to the record book, after
this
the Rev. & Dr. Samuel Stennett . . . freely and cheerfully
offered his services till such time as the church could obtain . . . [a pastor] of
its own. Accordingly he preached constantly in the morning, administering the
ordinances [communion and baptism] &c; four other ministers (of the first day) .
. . officiated in the afternoons.
Virtually uninterrupted, Samuel served the church on a part
time basis until 1785; he declined, however, to serve it as full time pastor. This
quotation makes it quite clear that Samuel, however, Recognized that some man might
choose to become its pastor on a full time basis. Samuel's serving this church
was certainly a magnanimous effort his part, since he already had a full-time
pastorate. 019
In 1764, he preached one of his greatest sermons. Samuel preached
on June 13 to an assembly of "the Ministers and Messengers of several
Associated churches in Gloucester. is west of London, almost to Bristol and Bath.
His sermon title was, The Various Use of Authority and Experience in Matters of
Religion. He spoke from John 4 which tells of Jesus talking w ith the Samaritan
woman at the well. When she left, She told her friends about Jesus and the came to
see and hear him. Afterward they told her, "Now we believe, not because of thy
saying; for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ,
the Savior of the world." (Verses 41 f.) Her friends had expressed "an
unwillingness to rest their faith merely on her authority, so she had invited them
to come to the well" to see Jesus. 020
Stennett says that men often accept the Christian faith on the
basis that it was the family habit to profess to believe in Christianity, or the
minister or some friend recommended that they believe in Christianity. This would be
accepting of Christian faith by tradition of the authority of men. Samuel says that
men should let the Holy Spirit operate in their minds and truly come to experience
God. 021 Experiencing God has
produced
very opposite effects to those . . . of an historical and
traditional faith, Instead of making them thoughtless and indolent, it made them
inquisitive and diligent. Instead of puffing them up with pride and conceit, it
rendered them humble and teachable. And instead of infusing into them a severe,
uncharitable and persevere humility and love. 022
A man who professes faith because of the "authority"
of someone else in reality has a "faith" that is not likely to be
maintained "any longer than custom, prejudice, and interest are favorable to
his profession." 023 A faith built on
Authority is "most absurd, unsafe, and groundless; a faith based "upon
reflection" is "most rational, scriptural, and satisfactory."
024 "That firm assent of the mind to
the truth of religion which is the result of an experimental acquaintance with. it,
is highly pleasing to God; as it owes its origin to the influence and grace of his
Spirit." 025
Samuel realizes, that men in their own search for religious
knowledge may "substitute the reversible of their own distempered imaginations
in the room of real religion." 026
But he says that
a little reflection will enable a good man to perceive a
substantial difference, between the whims and transports of an enthusiastic mind,
and the sober exercises of genuine and spiritual religion. Nor is any one in danger
of being led aside by such a deception who makes a due use of that reason which God
has given him. 027
True religion should come from reverence for God, not dread of
men; copying the Christianity of another man is to flatter the pride of men (rather
than to respect the Holy Spirit):
a religion which owes its origin to Authority, must needs be
ineffectual to any and valuable purposes. It can never be acceptable to God: for it
arises not out of reverence for him. but out of a servile dread or at best an undue
affection for a fellow creature; and of consequence the main end it proposes, is to
flatter the pride of men, thereby to gain their favor and esteem . . .. 028
He says that human authority, and I think he would say the
Scriptural authority, is good in that it should
withhold persons from absolute denial and insolent abuse of the religion they are
taught 'till their judgements and consciences are arrived at . . . maturity . .
.. 029
As adults, people must rely completely on their personal
choices in arriving at Christian faith. Even great religious thinkers should be
respected but not copied.
Can I persuade myself to think that because this or that man is
entitled to my esteem on account of his wisdom and probity (integrity), therefore I
am obliged to yield to his decisions, in points of such moment as affect my
everlasting interests? If this be a just way of reasoning, then two principles which
are directly opposite to each other must both of them be true. 030
The authority of the Scripture is also useful in that it is so
impressive that it should "awaken our serious concern about" religion and
"put us upon a diligent examination of it." 031 When man comes into contact with the Holy Spirit in
"experience," he is bringing the various elements of Christianity to
"trial, in order to ascertain the true nature and true value of" them.
032 Samuel recognizes that a doctrine such
as
the resurrection of the body, tho' a doctrine clearly revealed in the word of
the God, yet has not such an immediate connection with the inward sense and feeling
of the heart . . . as to be capable of being proved thereby. 033
"Experience," however does serve as a demonstration
to his own mind of the truth of such a doctrine as "the whole world is become
guilty before God. 034
The search for truth is never static; because of that, men must be
humble
Instead of shutting up every avenue to further knowledge and
conviction, it [experience] will burst the bonds of ignorance and prejudice, and
inspire the mind with a noble freedom arid vigor in the pursuit of divine truth; so
that, in the language of Scripture, it 'will follow on to know the Lord.'
(Hos. 6: 3) And as pride and confidence are ever inseparably connected with servile
and slothful subjection to human Authority; so humility and self diffidence will
ever be the ornament of a truly Christian faith. 035
A personal grasp of religion, says Samuel, leads to a
recognition that men reason differently and that personal religious experience is
valid. Incipient in this idea are (1) the freedom to hold conclusions that differ
from those of other people (not just to differ in method) and (2) true religious
tolerance. He does not state explicitly at this time the incipient
conclusions.
Religion is a personal thing, an affair wherein none are
concerned but God and ourselves. What therefore hath passed on the heart of one man
can be no argument to convince another. To suppose it should, would be not only to
reason very absurdly, but in effect to vacate the necessity of personal Experience,
and to establish human Authority in the room of it, the great evil of which has, I
hope, been satisfactorily shown. 036
And tho' you are sensible that no happy Experience of which
you may possessed, can have sufficient force to convince others; let it
never-the-less be your constant concern, by the purity of your lives, to oblige them
'to take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus.' (Acts 4: 13).
037
Samuel is making use of the demand his family had made for
three generations that Christians should personally encounter God; Christianity
should be experiential. Samuel is going a step beyond his great-grandfather. Edward
Stennett had used the experience of drawing close to God as a time to view Scripture
objectively; it was a time to work with the doctrines that had been set down in the
Bible, a time to discover Biblical Dogma. Samuel, in his encounter with God, is not
so much concerned with Scripture texts as he is with basic experiencing of God. Thus
he tends to move back from the Bible which is a record of revelation to the
encounter with God which preceded the written record. A corollary of this is that
his father Joseph II emphasizes doctrinal correctness, practically a rational
communication of proper doctrine, while Samuel is much more interested in personal
religious experience
The Scriptural method of arriving at beliefs is Experience, which
is
a personal and practical acquaintance with religion, which is
clearly distinguishable from enthusiasm and passion, furnished a man himself with a
sufficient and satisfactory evidence of the truth of it. So that a faith tried by
this measure, and supported with this kind of proof, is most rational and
scriptural, is effectual to the best and noblest purposes, and will certainly
endure. 038
Effective Christianity comes only from religious
experience.
Rest not . in any thing short of a real Experience of Religion.
This, and this only, will give life and vigor to your profession; inspire your
hearts with a noble resolution, amidst the attacks of infidelity and temptation;
render the path of duty, in some degree at least, easy and pleasant; and yield you
substantial comfort in that tremendous hour, when all the feeble supports Authority
can afford, will sink under the ruins of dissolving nature. 039
Two years later, on March 31, 1766, Samuel preached a sermon
entitled "The Indispensable Importance of real Religion." This sermon may
have some similarity to the previous sermon. This Sermon was not reprinted in his
Works in 1824 and to the best of my present knowledge, no copy is available in this
country. 040
An event the next year tells either how small the Baptist
denomination was or else how active the Stennetts were in Baptist activity. As I
have said before, Joseph Stennett II, Daniel Turner, and Samuel Wilson were at
Reading in 1749 to help ordain Thomas Whitewood to the Ministry. (Whitewood
succeeded Turner who had already begun his long pastorate at Abingdon.) In 1766,
Whitewood came into London and became pastor of the Seventh Day Particular Baptist
Church. This was the remnant of the old Bampfield-Stennett church. (Samuel Stennett
had been preaching to them on Sabbath mornings.) Whitewood's pastorate was very
short, for he died "a few weeks after he had been chosen pastor." Then
Samuel Stennett began preaching on Sabbath mornings again and several "first
day" ministers preached in the afternoon. 041
When Samuel's brother Joseph III died at Coate on Oxfordshire,
it was Daniel Turner who preached his funeral sermon on June 4,1769. The next month
Samuel Stennett and Turner have contact again when Turner wrote a letter to
Stennett. Turner's letter is about a subject which I suppose was a common
concern to them both; he says:
useful learning is rather discouraged amongst us. A confident
assurance goes further with many, even well meaning people, than good sense,
learning and piety. A zeal without knowledge that flashes upon your Imagination
carries them away, from all attention to the simplicity of the gospel. This may do
for a while, but there is no Foundation for long standing.
That is practically the same as Stennett's 1764 sermon on
the Various use of Authority and Experience in Religion! 042
In 1767, we also learn of the "Kings Bounty" (Regium
Donum). The King, George III, provided an annual grant of about a thousand pounds
which was given out to poor Dissenter (Presbyterian, Independent and Baptist)
ministers in doles of no more than five pounds each. At a meeting of the General
Baptists in 1767, there was an inquiry as to how to get assistance from that fund.
The case was referred to "Dr. Stennett one of seven ministers (and nine laymen)
who administered the fund." 043 Thus
Samuel was already, at forty years of age, a leading Baptist minister in London.
Besides helping to administer the Regium Donum, Samuel was also
active in the Baptist denomination. The Seventh Day Particular Baptist Church at
which Samuel was preaching met in Curriers' Hall. Besides this, there was a
Particular Baptist church meeting there on Sunday. On October 2, 1766, Samuel was at
the service of the latter church in which John Reynolds was ordained; Stennett
offered a prayer at the ordination service. 044
A year later, on August 18, 1767, Samuel attended the Ordination
of Caleb Evans to the ministry at Broadmead, Bristol. Evans had been a member of the
Little Wild Street Church, as I have said before, in the time of Joseph Stennett II.
Samuel charges the candidate
To preach the word, that is the doctrines and duties of natural
and revealed religion . . . to explain defend and improve, taking your arguments and
motives chiefly from the sacred scriptures let your reasoning be clear and your
language be plain and familiar, and your addresses serious and pathetic [moving] . .
. Treat doctrines practically, and duties evening. Adapt your discourses to every
possible case; at the same time keeping the particular mistakes of individuals out
of your view. 045
He also speaks in regard to the relationship of a minister to
the church in an administrative capacity. The minister is to "preside in the
House of God," but he does not
have an authority to enact new law, or to govern arbitrarily
and independently of the people. - No, their office is to explain the laws of
Christ, to preside in the discipline of the and in a due and orderly manner to
execute those commands which are clearly laid down in the word of God relative to
it. 046
That is an eighteenth century concept of the power of a
minister in a Baptist church.
On April 24 of the next year, 1768, Samuel preached the funeral
sermon at Goodmans' Fields for Rev. Samuel Burford. Burford had followed Samuel
Wilson as pastor of this church. 047 At
Burford's funeral, Stennett speaks of friendships as being the best part of life
in this world. 048 As he drew his text
from the story of the resurrection of Lazarus, Stennett has to take into account the
lack of physical resurrections today.
But such miraculous appearances we are not now to expect. Our
departed friends are not thus to be restored to us again, It were presumptuous to
wish it. Nor have we any occasion for such attestations as these to the truth. Yet
the same Jesus still lives; still exercised a tender compassion for the mourning
relatives of his dead disciples; and still assures them that 'they who sleep in
Jesus, God will' another day 'bring with him.' (I Thessalonians 4: 14).
049
The Baptist church in Goodmans' Fields in London had
Stennett come back the next year (February 16, 1769) to participate in the
ordination service for its new minister. The new man, Abraham Booth, and Stennett
became the leading Baptist ministers later in the century. At this ordination
Stennett preached the sermon directed to the congregation. The congregation should
encourage the minister: "Be assisting to his improvements in knowledge. Stir up
the gift that is in him." As he is "'to teach the good knowledge of
the Lord,"'
Be diligent therefore, faithful and regular in your attendance
on public worship. Let not every little trifling excuse., either of weather or
bodily indisposition, keep you from the house of God . . . . Join, not in the form
only, but in the spirit of public prayer . . . . Receive the truth in the love of
it. When any thing drops from the speaker in the form of reproof, which is
particularly applicable to your circumstances, don't admit the insidious
suspicion that any personal reflection was intended, when you are not so entertained
and profited as you could wish, lay not all the blame on the preacher, but in
charity to him, take a part of it upon yourselves. Don't hear him as critics but
as christians; not as those who come to be amused, but to be saved. 050
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001 Rippon, op. cit. , 1794-97, P. 380 -- this
biography is drawn up chiefly by Dr. Joseph Jenkins, and it was reprinted in Samuel
Stennett, Discourses on the Parables of the Sower (Bridgeton, N. J.: 1823);
Henry C. Vedder, The Baptists (New York, Baker and Taylor, 1903), p. 123;
Cathart, op. cit. , p.1102.
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002 Rippon, op. cit. , 1794-97, p. 381; H.
McLachlan, English Education under the Test Acts (Manchester: 1931), p. 176;
Encyclopaedia Britannica XXI, 388.
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003 Rippon, op. cit. , 1794-97, pp. 381 f.
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004 Samuel Stennett, op. cit. , I, ix -- this is
the biography of Samuel which is prefaced to his works and was probably written by
the editor, Win. Jones; Iviney, op. cit. , IV, 351.
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005 Transactions of the British Baptist Historical
Society , V (1916-17), 229.
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006 Ibid. , VI (1918-19), 72.
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007 The Sabbath Recorder , Aug. 2, 1855, p.
29.
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008 The Protestant Dissenter's Magazine ,
VI (London: 1799), 223 mentions the death of Haley when it tells of a letter Joseph
II had written from Bath to the Little Wild Street Church in London on Nov. 30,
1757; cf. Ivimey, op. cit. , III, 583-7. (Samuel's wife died on March 16,
1795 and they had been married for more than forty years [Rippon, op. cit. ,
1794-97, pp. 385f.].)
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009 Ivimey, op. cit. , IV, 351; 111, 590f.
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010 Ibid. , IV, 351; Samuel Stennett,
Works , I, xff., Samuel wrote the letter from Bartholomew Close.
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011 Ibid. , I xii; Ivimey, op. cit. ,
iv, 355.
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012 The Journal of the Rev. John Wesley , A.
M., ed. by Nehemiah Curnock (New York: Eaton and Mains, 1909), V, 264n.; The
Letters of the Rev. John Wesley , ed. by John Telford (London: Epworth, 1931),
V, 89. Wesly wrote about the incident in a letter dated May 23, 1768. He does
not specify whether it is Joseph Stennett II or Samuel Stennett. in The
Letters ., the editor mentions the "father of Dr. Joseph Stennett,
jun." so I suppose he thought it was Joseph II who was involved in the
incident. However, Because Wesly in 1768 had "never yet" seen Stennett,
and Joseph II died in 1758, I am inclined to think it was Samuel who was involved in
the incident.
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013 Anthony Lincoln, Some Political and Social Ideas
of English Dissent 1763-1800 (Cambridge: 1938), p. 23; Brendy, op.cit. ,
p. 158.
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014 A Sermon occasioned by the Death of His Most
Sacred Majesty King George the Second (preached in Little Wild Street, Nov. 2,
1760) (London: 1760), p. 1. (This sermon is also in his Works III, 177-198.)
(This sermon title will be abbreviated, Sermon ... Death of George II . Other
sermon titles will also be abbreviated after their initial use.)
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015 Sermon ... Death of George II , pp. 2, 3,
30, 36 ( Works , Ill, 179f., 192, 195).
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016 Sermon ... Death of George II , p. 34 (
Works , III, 194).
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017 Rippon, op. cit. , 1794-97, p. 382. Cf.
Lincoln, op. cit. , pp. 73f.: By the close of the eighteenth century, the
giving of honorary ministerial degrees "had become so common as to be
disreputable; when Robert Robertson was offered a Doctorate of Divinity from
Edinburgh he considered that `so many egregious dunces have been made D. D.s both in
English as well as Scotch and American Univesities, that he declined the
compliment."
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018 John Evans Sermon ... in Memory of Rev. Samuel
... (London: Ca. 1795), p. iv.
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019 Pinners' Hall Record Book , p. 128; cf.
Whitley, The Babtists of London , p. 119; The Sabbath Recorder, Oct. 3, 1844,
p. lvimey, op. cit. , IV, 326.
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020 The Various Use of Authority and Experience in
Matters of Religion (London: 1764), pp. 10, 6 (This is also in Works ,
III, 206, 203).
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021 The Various Use ... , pp. 42f. (
Works , III, 223).
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022 The Various Use ... , p. 15 ( Works
, III, 208).
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023 The Various Use ... , pp. 27f. (
Works , III, 215).
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024 The Various Use ... , p. 40f. (
Works , III, 223).
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025 The Various Use ... , p. 43. ( Works
, III, 223).
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026 The Various Use ... , p. 47 ( Works
, III, 225).
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027 The Various Use ... , p. 48 ( Works
, III, 226).
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028 The Various Use ... , pp. 26f. (
Works , III, 214).
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029 The Various Use ... , p. 19.( Works
, III, 211).
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030 The Various Use ... , pp. 25f. (
Works , III, 214).
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031 The Various Use ... , p. 20 ( Works
, III, 211).
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032 The Various Use ... , p. 30 ( Works
, III, 216).
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033 The Various Use ... , p. 33 Works ,
III, 218)
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034 The Various Use ... , p. 34 ( Works
, III, 219)
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035 The Various Use ... , p.45 ( Works ,
III, 224)
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036 The Various Use ... , p. 50 ( Works
, III, 227)
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037 The Various Use ... , p. 52 ( Works
, III, 230)
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038 The Various Use ... , p. 50 ( Works
, III, 227)
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039 The Various Use ... , p. 54 ( Works
, III, 229)
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040 This sermon was preached at "Shakespear's
Walk" and the text was Luke 10:42. The British Museum -- Catalog of Printed
Books mentions two editions in 1766; Whitley, A Baptist Bibliography
mentions there were three impressions in 1766.
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041 Payne, Baptists of Berkshire , p. 90. The
Pinners' Hall Record Book (p. 128) says of the Stennett Sabbath morning
supply and of the several ministers who supplied in the afternoon: "This state
of things continued during upwards of the twenty years, allowing for the short
interim from the occupancies by the Rev. Thomas Whitewood's Ministry, who died a
few weeks after he was chosen pastor." The Sabbath Recorder (Oct. 3,
1344) says, "the church gave itself to the pastoral care of Edmund Townsend,
who continued until his death in 1765. Mr. Thomas Whitewood succeeded him, but only
preached three times before he was removed by death. For nearly twenty years after
the death of Mr. Whitewood, Dr. Samuel Stennett ..." This account is in error
in at least two ways: (1) Townsend died in 1763 according to the record book and (2)
Stennett preached four years before Whitewood's ministry as well as the nearly
twenty years afterwards. SDBs in EA says that Whitewood began his ministry in
June and died in October (I, 54).
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042 Payne, Baptist of Berkshire , p. 79.
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043 Minutes of the General Assembly of the General
Baptist Churches In England , II, 133.
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044 SDBs in EA , I, 53; Wilson, op. cit.
, II, 581.
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045 A Charge Delivered At The Ordination of the
Rev. Caleb Evans , p.46. This was published and went into a second edition this
same year.
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046 Ibid. , p. 48.
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047 Samuel Stennett, A Sermon Occasioned by the
Death of the Rev. Samuel Burford (London: 1768, second ed.). I am using the
pagination that is in his Works: III, 363.
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048 Ibid. , III, 347ff.
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049 Ibid. , III, 344.
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050 Samuel Stennett, A Sermon Preached at the
Ordination of the Rev. Abraham Booth (published in 1769), pp. 78ff. Works
, III, 386f.
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N01 Samuel Stennett, Works , I (London, 1824),
pp. x-xii.
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N02 John Stanley, The church in the hop garden
(London: Kingsgate Press, 1935?), p. 166; Stanley does have some degree of confusion
so should be relied only with caution.
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N03 E. J. Tongue, Dr. John Ward's Trust
(London: Carey Kingsgate Press, 1951), p. 15.
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N04 Transactions of the Baptist Historical
Society , VI (1918-19), p. 85.
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N05 A brief history of the Baptist church in Little
Wild Street (London: G. Wightman, 1835), p. 11.
back.
N06 Stanley, op. cit. , p. 168.
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N07 Deed is at the Baptist Union Corp., Didcot,
Oxfordshire; the Stennett residence is noted in Stennett, op. cit. , p.
xvi.
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N08 Gentleman's magazine , June 1791,
583.
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N09 Little Wild Street Church book , 1726-1805;
this was at the Baptist Church House (in London as of 1981) but the book presumably
has been moved to Regent's Park College, Oxford.
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N010 John Rippon, The Baptist annual register ,
[III] (1798-1801), 117.
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N011 BQ, 16 (1955-6), 328.
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N012 John Stanley, The church in the hop garden
(London: Kingsgate Press, 1935?), pp. 166-173.
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N013 Transactions of the Baptist Historical
Society , VII, no. 3-4 (1921), p. 231.
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N014 Stanley, op. cit. , 127.
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N015 lvan George Sparkes, Introducing Farington
Baptist Church. 1657-1957 ... (Tuckaway, Baringon, Berks., W. G. Berry, 1957) (a
typescript), title page verso.
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N016 Church in the Hop Garden , p. 169.
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N017 National Library of Wales, Isaac Mann's letter
collection; summarized in Baptist quarterly , VI (1932-33), p. 223.
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N018 Baptist annual register , ed. by John
Rippon, III (1798-1801), pp. 1097-1099.
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N019 National Library of Wales, Isaac Mann letter
collection; summarized in the Baptist quarterly , VI (1932-33), p. 277.
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N020 Yale University, Osborn Collection, Mann box.
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N021 Church book 1817 of the Zion Strict or
Particular Baptist chapel.
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N022 Robert W. Oliver, The chapels of Wiltshire
... (London: Strict Baptist Historical Society, 1968) ( The Strict Baptist
chapels of England , v. 5), p. 48.
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N023 1655 to 1955; the Lord hath done great things
... ([Calne] Castle Street Baptist Church, 1955), p. 7; Roger Hayden,
Evangelical Calvinism (Ph. D. dissertation, Univ. of Keele), 412.
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N024 Norfolk Record Office, Ms. 4344, "The Baptist
Denomination in Norfolk and the Baptist Church at Ingham Founded in 1653,"
evidently by W. H. Cooke, f. 9.
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N025 Letter of Robert Burnside to Dr. Samuel Stennett,
Dec. 23, 1779, in BQ IX (1938-39), p. 426; Burnside letter of July 13, 1818 (Seventh
Day Baptist Historical Society), to American Seventh Day Baptists.
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