The life of Thomas Vasey. By his widow [M.J. Vasey].

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Preface

In introducing this book to the reader, we would say that it has been written with the simple desire to embalm the memory of a worthy and noble man for his own sake, and for the benefit of those who may be able and disposed to profit by a good example. And, though doubtless defective, let no one think that the portrait drawn is exaggerated. The concurrent testimony of a great number of witnesses, proves that the same high estimate has been formed of Mn Vasey by many men of many minds, looking from many stand points. And here we gratefully express our deep indebtedness to those who have assisted us to secure our object, by supplying us with notes both historical and critical, and to those also, who have aided us by their prayers.

With regard to the correspondence given, it is proper to state that several of the letters are printed at a considerable sacrifice of feeling, as the only vi PREFACE.

means of giving the necessary insight into his domestic sympathies. The few sermons inserted, have not been selected as the most striking specimens of his talents, but with a view to usefulness.

The key to Mr. Vasey's life is found in the simplicity and thoroughness of his Christianity. The first was a natural characteristic, and never wore off. The last, at which he always aimed, was gained after a hard struggle. This single-hearted thoroughness often put him in opposition to the spirit of an age, which becomes daily more complex in motive^ and more sophistical in reason; for he cared not that his rule of life was in some points old-fashioned, if he was sure that it was logically Christian. Few men so closely follow the line they have first laid down for themselves, especially when it involves so much self-abnegation ; and we have no hesitation in saying, that ere he died, Mr. Vasey's name would have been famous, and his death reckoned a great public loss, had he devoted himself either to the cultivation of his business talents, or his intellectual powers. But he chose a nobler calling, and determined to be nothing but a " preacher of the Gospel" and a " winner of souls."

We have persevered in striving to prepare this

PREFACE. vii

record in the midst of suffering and weakness, which have much delayed, and often threatened to put an end to, this labour of love, in the hope that the study of such a man, moved by such a spirit, might be made useful, not only to many of those who occupy the same position as that of Mr. Vasey, but to all who read this account. To the Triune Jehovah, who alone can accomplish this result, we dedicate it. May His blessing be added, and to His Name the glory shall be given. Amen.

Nov, ayth, 1873.

Preface To Second Edition

We are glad that the speedy sale of the first edition of this memoir affords us an opportunity to meet the demand for the issue of one in a cheaper form ; and take occasion to express our thankfulness for the universal acknowledgment of the " life-like," " fulllength" portraiture of the subject. To present this was our aim throughout ; and we venture to think that the plan adopted, of a free introduction of " testimonies and narrations," by different pens, has, with the Divine blessing, materially conduced to the accomplishment of this satisfactory. result

March uthi 1874.

Contents

CRAP. PAOF

I. — Birth and Boyhood i

II. — Spiritual Birth and Ministerial Call - • • 13

Chapter I. Birth And Boyhood

Thomas Vasey was born June 25th, 18 14, at Halifax, in Yorkshire, and was of Wesleyan ancestry on the paternal side.

In the family Bible of his grandparents, after the notices of the births of each of their children, there occurs the following prayer: — "Amen I May their names be registered in the Lamb's Book of Life, and their inheritance be among the sanctified by faith which is in Christ Jesus the Lord. So pray their father and mother, Thomas and Mary Vasey."

His grandmother Vasey was accustomed to attend the early morning preaching of Mr. Wesley, and would walk many miles to enjoy this privilege. She was a woman of strong faith in God, and, in a love-feast, expressed her confident hope of the final salvation of the whole of her family, thus: — "I have eight children, and, by the grace of God, the devil shall not get one of them." And it is to be remarked, that, though none of the family were possessed of the wealth of this world, they were all rich in faith, and all died in joyful hope of the resurrection unto eternal life.

Thomas Vasey, the eldest son of this godly woman, became a Wesleyan Minister. He was a holy and devoted man, and a zealous and successful minister. He is known to have made in writing a personal dedication of himself to God's service ; and the salvation of his family was to him a matter of anxious concern. He prepared a form

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2 CHAPTER I.

of covenant in which he entered the names of himself and his wife, and of each of his children, when born ; and, fearing lest the possession of riches might prove a snare to them, he prayed that they might not be rich.

He was seized with typhus fever (which proved fatal) while stationed at Colne. His death was a scene of holy triumph. He mentioned, with lively emotion, the doctrines of justification by faith, the direct witness of the Spirit, and of entire holiness, and declared he died "a witness of this great salvation." Some of his final words were : — " My faith has firm hold of Christ. I see a brightshining light from the throne of God directly on me — my way is quite plain into the holies, through the blood of Jesus." " Tell the unsaved penitents, as my last message, to believe in Christ and He will save them by thousands." He mentioned his five young children by name, and said, ''Tell them there are mansions I mansions I mansions!"

Samuel, his eldest son, who was then at Woodhouse Grove School, returning home for the funeral, took the fever, and died a month after his father.

Thomas his second boy — the subject of this biography — was only four years old when deprived of his father by death ; but he cherished for his memory, through life, the deepest reverence. Thomas's earliest recollections were of the long crowd of mourners at the interment, of his mother rocking him in her grief, and of home struggles with insufficient means.

His mother was not an ordinary woman, and to her, no doubt, he owed much, both mentally and spiritually. She was possessed of great intellectual powers and energy of character, and to these she added a firm faith in God, and a warm attachment to the Methodist people, but for whom (she was wont to say) she would have died in her sins, though she had sat regularly under the ministry of another Church. She was brought to the knowledge of salvation, through faith in Christ, by means of an old nurse attached to the family, who took her to hear Mr. Wesley preach. Henceforth her whole heart was yielded up to God, and her life devoted to His service.

She maintained the simplicity in dress of the first Methodists ; visited the sick, the widow, and the fatherless, and was instrumental in leading* many from a death in sin to a life in holiness.

After her husband's death, Mrs. Vasey returned to Sunderland, the place of her birth, from whence she had been married, and applied herself to the task of training four young children to tread in the steps of their sainted father.

Her son Thomas required some management. He was a delicate, sensitive child, and very strong-willed. The energy which distinguished him in later life was not wanting at this early period, and rendered it a task of no small difficulty to restrain and guide him. There was in Thomas Vasey then., as afterwards, an unquenchable hatred to anythinj^ that savoured of oppression ; and this often stirred in him a spirit of resistance which his mother alone could quell. She early led him, aided by the Holy Spirit, to see the deceitfulness of sin and the plague of his own heart ; and he would tremble, and pray earnestly to be forgiven, when betrayed into a fit of passion.

That she had also early taught him to pray is evi« denced by the following incident, which occurred to him when a little boy : —

Whilst playing at the back of Sans-street, Sunderland, he fell into a saw-pit. He was taken up, bleeding from a deep wound in the forehead, and insensible. The doctor feared fracture of the skifll, and that, should he recover, his reason would be gone. For many hours he lay unconscious. At length he opened his eyes and said :— *' Mother, I have forgotten to say my prayers." " Praise the Lord!" exclaimed his thankful mother; thou's not cracked yet, Tom I " The scar occasioned by this accident remained through life, and probably his constitution was permanently enfeebled. by loss of blood.

His indifference to danger led him, shortly after this occurrence, again to imminent risk of his life; on this occasion, through the careless use of gunpowder, which resulted in an explosion, and but for the special care of

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4 CHAPTER I.

divine Providence, the life which afterwards proved so valuable would have been sacrificed.

At quite an early ag-e Thomas Vasey was accustomed to attend Sabbath-school, and his sisters remember how ^ carefully he treasured the little reward-books given him by his teacher, who took special interest in his small pupil.

When eight years old, he was sent to Woodhouse Grove School. We insert with pleasure extracts from reminiscences of his school days, furnished by Mr. J. T. Slugg, an old school companion — one who worked side by side with Thomas Vasey, and between whom and himself the most intimate friendship existed.

Mr. Slug-g- commences his sketch with a short reference to " Woodhouse Grove," which will not, we think, be uninteresting : —

" A traveller on the short branch of the Midland line of rails, from Bradford to Leeds, will find the train stopping at the picturesque little station of Apperley Bridge. If he alight here, and ascend into the high road, he will find himself in the neighbourhood of what appears to be a large mansion, situated amidst its grounds. The house itself will not be seen at first. If he desire to visit it, he must pass through the Lodge gates, and, taking the carriage drive to the right, will have to his left a hill, covered with trees, forming a small wood or grove; and the first sound that greets him will be the cawing of rooks. As he proceeds through the trees on the summit of the hill, he will perceive a square tower, rising to a considerable elevation.

** Before he reaches the end of the carriage drive, if it should be a little after twelve o'clock, his ears will be greeted further by the sound of the merry and boisterous voices of youths ; at length he will come in sight of the mansion, with its lawn in fcont, sloping down to the river side, which flows at a little distance. He will notice that the original building has had wings added, and will, on inquiry, ascertain that what was once a gentleman's mansion, most delightfully situated, is now a large scholastic establishment for the sons of Wesleyan ministers, known as Woodhouse Grove School.

" One fine summer's day, in the month of August, 1 862, a greater number of travellers than usual alighted at the Apperley Bridge station, and the quiet and somewhat monotonous routine of school life, was interrupted at the Grove, where preparations had been going on for some coming event. By noon, two or three hundred strangers had arrived. There was the Attorney- General (the late Sir William Atherton), four ex-presidents of the Conference, and the governor of the school, the Rev. John Farrar, and numbers of others, both ministers and laity. What meant this assemblage, and this unusual stir ? It was a gathering of old Grove boys, who had come to celebrate its jubilee, the school having been opened in 1812. And a high day — a red letter day — it was for those who met on that occasion.

" Some had not seen the dear old spot since they left it years and years ago. Old school-fellows met who had not seen each other for an equally long time. Amongst the throng of that day was one who quickly stole away to the tower on the hill spoken of, known as the 'Observatory.' There, under the first flight of stairs, on a wooden partition, he found his name engraved, and with it the name of * T. Vasey 1' How his heart throbbed with emotion, whilst he looked at these two names thus united, as those of David and Jonathan, cannot now be stated. It was, at least, thirty-four years since they were cut together by the two boys in token of friendship.

" Unfortunately * T. Vasey ' was not present at the gathering of that joyous day. The owner of the other name lives this day, and finds pleasure in the endeavour to gather together some remembrances of the school days of his dear old schoolfellow, Tom Vasey, which were spent at this hallowed spot.

" We were at Woodhouse Grove together from June, 1822, to 1828. Hence, cis the school was opened in January, 1812, Vasey belonged to the third generation

O CHAPTER Z.

of Grove boys. Then the preacher's sons were admitted at eight years of age, but were not allowed to remain after they were fourteen ; so that Vasey enjoyed the fullest advantage which was then attainable as to time. During the first two years of his school days, the governor was the Rev. Miles Martindale, who, though he wielded the birch rod rather freely, was, on the whole, a great favourite with the lads. He was succeeded by the Rev. John Stamp, a disciplinarian of the strictest sort. Though I believe Vasey never came directly under any pains and penalties of his infliction, yet had he to suffer, in conjunction with the other boys. One occasion I will instance : — On two mornings a week the boys had oatmeal porridge for breakfast, It was prepared in a large boiler in the scullery ; near to this boiler stood that useful receptacle, known as the swill tub. One of the boys, having occasion to pass through the scullery, made it known in the school that he had seen the wooden ladle, with which the porridge was served out, in the said tub. Great was the indignation. To think of eating porridge served out with such a ladle I It must not be submitted to. A spirit of rebellion soon spread through the school ; and it was rashly resolved on the next porridge morning no one should eat it. Accordingly, when the monitors, bringing a plateful in each hand, presented them to the first boys — *Not any for me,' was the response, and so on to the youngest. The foolish lads supposed that the only result would be they would have to go minus a breakfast ; but, to their astonishment, the porridge was again brought in at dinner-time, to be again refused, and so at the six o'clock meal, known as supper, the poor lads went hungry to bed. The next morning they were summoned to prayers at eight o'clock. The boys were accustomed to repeat the Lord's Prayer audibly after the governor; on this occasion, however, not a single voice was heard until he came to the petition, ' Give us this day our daily bread,' when was heard such a loud, hearty utterance, as was fairly startling. But it was not until the middle of the second day that the lads gave in. In all this Vasey stood by his companions, and showed as much pluck as any of them.

" The headmaster of the school, during* the whole of the six years, was Samuel Ebenezer Parker, a genius and a scholar, and an extraordinary man. He could be severe when a boy needed it, but at other times was the opposite. His devotion to the welfare of the boys was great. Under his guidance, before he was fourteen years of age, Vasey had read Virgil, Cicero's Orations, Ovid, Horace, Zenophon, and the Greek Testament. More than this, Mr. Parker was a very efficient science teacher. During the last two years of Vasey's residence at the Grove, he was thus privileged in receiving lessons from Mr. Parker in chemistry, optics, astronomy, mechanics, hydrostatics, hydraulics, pneumatics, <S:c. ; and those were not the only advantages which he, with his compeers, derived from the tutorship of Samuel Parker. The latter took a very active interest in the spiritual welfare of the boys.

" As headmaster, he resided at some distance from the school, and was not expected to overlook the boys when in the playground after school. It was his custom, however, to remain for an hour or more after his duties (which terminated at five o'clock in summer) were over, to hold a prayer meeting in the chapel with as many of the boys as would attend. He had great power in prayer, and many of the boys seemed to catch his fervour. During the last two years of Vasey's schooldays, he was found frequently at these meetings, and there received impressions which never left him probably, Parker encouraged those boys, who were at any time under religious impressions, to open their minds to him, and write letters to him. I do not remember that Vasey professed to have been converted at the Grove ; but that he was brought under religious impressions, through the instrumentality of Mr. Parker, is certain.

" Frequently the preparation of our lessons would not occupy all the time allowed for it, and the spare time

8 CHAPTER I.

was employed, boy-fashion, in trying" to amuse one another ; but Vasey would never indulge in any occupation till the lesson was well mastered.

" He had a fertile imagination, and possessed the inventive faculty very largely. After we had mastered our lessons, we used to try to amuse each other by the narration of original tales, full of the marvellous, &c. In this he was very successful. I remember how I used to wonder however he conjured up all the wonderful things he narrated; and how ashamed I was at the feebleness of my own efforts, after his. He was particularly fond of this exercise."

Mr. Slugg continues : — " No wonder that Mr. Vasey became a successful advocate of Christian Missions, since he made his first Missionary speech when he was little more than thirteen years of age.

*' I have now before me a manuscript book (the book made and the contents written by myself whilst at the school), containing a verbatim report of a Missionary meeting held in the then dining-room of Woodhouse Grove, in November, 1827. The chair was taken by the junior master, Mr. John Meek. There were, besides the vote of thanks to the chairman, five resolutions, in support of each of which three boys spoke. The fifteen speakers, giving their names in the order in which they spoke, were : Chas. Pemnan, T. Lee, David McNicoU, Thomas Vasey, Wm. France, J. Neap, Joshua Crowther (a son of the first Jonathan Crowther, the friend and coadjutor of Wesley), Jas. Evans, Jos. Manor, Josiah I. Slugg, Rd. Davies, James Vasey, Thos. Padman, Wm. Meek, J. France.

" My manuscript commences thus : — ' The report having been read, and Jno. Meek having taken the chair at the request of the secretary, Tommy Vasey, the boys proceeded thus.' I find at the end of my manuscript a table of the time each boy took in delivering his speech. From this table I see that Vasey's speech occupied ten minutes, being, with the exception of one which occupied thirteen minutes, the longest of the fifteen.

I may quote the first and last sentences of Vasey's speech. It commences : —

" * It is with feelings of deepest interest I now rise to speak a few words on behalf of this important cause — a cause which has long had the sanction and blessing of that God who has said, " I will give the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession." And indeed who can for a moment think without pity on the many thousands of our fellow- creatures in the West Indies, who, though descended from the same stock as ourselves, and only differing from us by some slight shades of complexion, are, notwithstanding, doomed to suffer the rigours of a hard and perpetual slavery.' "

Mr. Slugg says : — " I ought to have said that Vasey moved the second resolution, which was : ' That the moral degradation of the many thousands of the subjects of the British, both in the East and West Indies, has an urgent claim on the prayers and benevolence of every real Christian.' He closes thus : ' Let us ascend the high ground of prophecy, to derive from its assurances the materials for our prayers, and the motives for our efforts. The Son of God must and shall destroy the works of the devil. Falsehood, sensuality, and cruelty must be banished from our world by the truth, purity, and benevolence of the Gospel. The Shaster must vanish before the Bible, the Crescent fade before the Cross, and the banner of the Redeemer wave in triumph over scenes polluted by superstition and darkened by ignorance. If the Missionary cause be the cause of God, it must be supported. The obligation is personal, and if not discharged will prove a weight of aggravation, which will sink us lower and lower in the abyss of hell.'

" I am bound in all honesty, in reference to the composition of the fifteen speeches, to acknowledge that the Wesleyan magazines were accessible to the boys, and that for some weeks previous to the meeting the intended speakers were often seen conning over the lO CHAPTER I.

various Missionary addresses reported in them. These speeches were all written and committed to memory. Hence my verbatim report was got together by borrowing the copies of the speeches.

" It was during our last twelve months at the Grove that the closest intimacy existed between Vasey and myself. During the whole of that time I cannot remember a word or an action of his which was not consistent with the strictest propriety. His conduct was strictly moral. He had, for a boy, a high sense of honour, and the natural disposition of his mind seemed to be raised above everything mean or low. His mother was a widow, and I well remember the terms of solicitude and affection in which he used to speak of her. In this, as in some other things, he seemed to be above his years.

" Although he was not a rough, romping boy, always maintaining, as compared with other boys, a certain sobriety and refinement of behaviour, yet he was very spirited and fond of fun, and in those early days enjoyed a quiet joke. He happened to be four days older than myself, and often teased me ; playfully accounting for his being four days older, on the ground that he was attracted into the world by the music which was being played in the streets at the time, in celebration of the Peace just declared.

" He displayed great earnestness of purpose. This quality, I call to mind, used to manifest itselt in his conversation as to his future career. At the very early age of thirteen or fourteen he seemed to entertain more sober views of the realities of life, and its battles and toils, than is usual with boys of his age. He appeared even then to be resolved, that to whatever pursuit he should be devoted, he would try to raise himself in it."

Mr. J. T. Waterhouse, Honolulu, another schoolfellow and friend, writes : — " My recollections of Thomas Vasey are very vivid and fragrant. He was an honest, truthful, frank, whole-souled boy, and a model of propriety, as well as of industry, at his studies.

BIRTH AND BOYHOOD. I I

" In playing" at cricket, racing, and jumping, he would strug'gle to be first, and the same applied to his race in mental attainments. With such an iron will, it is no wonder he obtained the highest position in school.

" I shall never forget, while memory lasts, the sensation produced on myself, and I think the whole school, at his narrow escape from death. Shortly after the vacation of 1825, when the lads were bathing in the River Aire, a sudden rush of water in the stream took his brother James out of his depth. Thomas plunged after him, and got into the same critical position. They were drowning, when the Rev. John Farrar took off his coat, and just as he was, gave an immense leap over many of our heads into the water, and rescued them from certain death. My thankfulness at the time for this deliverance appears as fresh as if it were yesterday, although forty-six years have since then rolled into eternity. I remember its effects well ; for it was my first home-thrust, ' Prepare to meet thy God.' "

Other characteristics of the school life of Thomas Vasey may be mentioned, viz., his habit of defending* the younger and weaker portion of his associates, and his readiness to show fight when occasion offered. He was accustomed to recount to his own children his exploits at the Grove with a dagger, which he had made and smeared with his own blood for the purpose. Nor did he conceal that occasionally he came into dire collision with his masters during the earlier years of his school career. A blow from a cane would in a moment rouse all the rebellion in his nature, which sometimes made itself both seen and felt. It would not seem, however, that punishment on his part was often required.

He also related how he first acquired the power of self-denial, which, though he exemplified it so habitually and strikingly throughout the whole of his future^ life, was not natural to him.

Whilst at school, he was one day enjoying greatly a cake given him, when he observed one of his companions eyeing him wistfully. After an internal struggle.

CHAPTER I.

the cake was divided, and from that time it was his principle to deny himself for the benefit of others.

The fact, that for two years he occupied the position of head boy at Woodhouse Grove, is significant of his persevering diligence and talents as a student. And that he left with a high character, is indicated by an entry in the School Register, which he lighted upon thirty years afterwards whilst Secretary to the Woodhouse Grove Com- 'mittee. It was to this effect: after his own name and the date of his leaving " the Grove," was added by the pen of the Governor, the Rev. John Stamp, "With much credit to himself."

We think no one can read these notices of the childhood and schooldays of Thomas Vasey without marking the gradual unfolding of those qualities of heart and mind which disposed and also empowered him to turn to good account the advantages with which he was favoured at that period ; and which being in later years sanctified by the grace of the Lord Jesus, and unreservedly dedicated to his service, constituted him a minister "thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

Chapter II. Spiritual Birth And Ministerial Call

At fourteen, Thomas Vasey became a clerk in the office of Mr. Hugh Panton, Sunderland, a gentleman engaged in many branches of business. And soon his capabilities were taxed by duties previously discharged by a clever adult person. But, with characteristic energy and decision, he applied himself to the mastery of the difficulties which met him in his new position; and by the exercise of his persevering, self-reliant spirit, and the faithful use of his talents, he was enabled to acquit himself to the complete satisfaction of his employer, and thus gained an aptitude for general business, which was invaluable to him in the emergencies of his future life.

At the termination of his school career, he had made the heroic determination to maintain himself independently of aid from his widowed mother ; and as his income was small, the carrying out of this resolve involved no trifling amount of self-denial. From this, however, there was no shrinking. He contented himself with frugal fare, and submitted to that which was infinitely more trying, viz., the wearing of clothes (which then included corduroys) provided by " the Grove " to leaving boys, much beyond the usual time of service. In later life, Mr. Vasey was accustomed to tell his own children, he did not cost his mother a penny after leaving school, and to refer to the deep mortification he endured when he could ^ not afford to dress like his companions, his rule being to wear no article of clothing until paid for.