Memorials of the Clayton family. With unpublished correspondence of the Countess of Huntingdon, Lady Glenorchy, the Revs. John Newton, A. Toplady, etc., etc., etc

Front matter

CORNELL

UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

Preface

It may appear somewliat out of date, to publish the Memoirs of a family, the eldest member of which — the principal personage introduced in this volume — was born more than a hundred years ago; somewhat strange to lead the reader back, along the beaten pathway of time, to the close of the reign of George the Second — to a period, fifteen years anterior to the birth of Napoleon and Wellington. Yet to recount the chief incidents in a good man's life,: — extending over eighty-nine years, and spent among the most stirring episodes in the world's history; and that man one who was intimately associated with those to whom, under God, was owing the revival of rehgion in this country, at the close of the last century, and who himself occupied a prominent and noticeable position among them, — may, I think, be justified on its own merits.

But Mr. Clayton was the father of three sons, who, like himself, won and maintained, to the last, an honourable place in the church of God ; and are worthy of a few flowers of remembrance. Several loving friends have brought their offerings, and I have striven, — it maj be with an unskilful hand, — to

VIll PEEFACE.

Amid evidences of human frailty, which are, of course, to be expected, an ineradicable conviction has wrought its6lf into my soul, that those, whose Memoirs are here presented, were pre-eminently men of God : and — for their devotion to the work of the Lord — their unfeigned and eminent piety — their steady adhesion to the great doctrines of Evangelical Truth — and the unswerving consistency with which their ecclesiastical principles were maintained, deserve to be held in loving and lasting remembrance.

Although nearly three generations have passed away, since Mr. Clayton, sen., began his career, I hope and believe that many still remain, to whom these pages, with all their imperfections, will prove acceptable ; especially do I anticipate this to be the case with the very large circle of friends, still surviving, with whom the sons were associated in the bonds of Christian fellowship and action. To them, and to the blessing of the Great Master, I earnestly desire to commend this volume; which has been prepared amid the pressure of heavy pastoral duties ; but which has afforded me, while writing it, not a few opportunities for profitable meditation, for both my own good, and that of the people of my charge. May similar opportunities be realized and enjoyed by all my readers!

THOMAS W. AYELING.

KiKGSLAiTD, April, 1867.