Memoirs of the Rev. Oliver Heywood, B. A.

Front matter

MEMOIRS

OP THE

REV. OLIVER HEYWOOD, B.A.

Contents

LIFE OF THE REV. O. HEYWOOD.

Preface to the Life of Mr. Hey wood - - - - -

PART I. Heywood Family— Birth of O. Heywood— His religious Convictions — Pious Education — Early Attachment to the Ministry — Entrance at the University — Spiritual Privileges there — Religious Society at Cambridge — Return Home — Settlement at Coley

Preface

The name of Oliveu Heywood has been long and deservedly held in high esteem, especially in the county of Lancashire, in which he was born, and in the W est Riding of Yorkshire, in T^hich he chiefly laboured. He was when living a man eminently honoured by God as the instrument of " turning many to righteousness" by his evangelical discourses, and apostolical labours in the cause of true godliness. Since his translation to the firmament of celestial glory, in which he shines as a star of the first magnitude, many sojourners in this vale of tears have been instructed and cheered in their passage towards the heavenly kingdom by the perusal of the works he left behind. He was called to bear his part in the common sufferings of those devoted ministers of Christ in England, who in the year 1662 relinquished their ecclesiastical benefices, and were prepared to lose all and suffer martyrdom itself, "rather than act contrary to conscience, or desert the cause of civil and religious liberty." The traditional accounts of some of those privations, and of the remarkable interpositions of Divine Providence on his behalf, have greatly contributed to the celebrity of his character. But his genuine piety, as well as his labours and sufferings, made him high\^ beloved by good men with whom he was per-

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PREFACE.

sonally acquainted, and has caused hi§ memory to be venerated in succeeding periods of the church of Christ, by those to whom he has been known only by report, or by his edifying publications.

A "Life of O. Heywood" was published many years since by the late, revered Dr. Fawcett, who when he wrote that account, possessed only two volumes of Mr. Heywood's private papers. Afterwards he sometimes entertained the idea of composing a new and an enlarged edition, having obtained much fuller information, but at last declined it on account of his other engagements and the increased infirmities of old age. A short time before his death, the venerable Doctor encouraged the writer of this Life to follow up the design, he having been favoured by Mr. Heywood's descendants and others, with upwards of twenty volumes of his private manuscripts

In compiling this Memoir, the writer has endeavoured to present to the world a faithful narrative of the Life of O. Heywood : an unexaggerated record of his labours and sufferings in the cause of Christ ; and a plain exhibition of the religious truths he received as " the glorious gospel of the blessed God," together with the influence of those truths on his public and private character. To render the narrative as interesting as possi-

* The Writer cheerfully embraces this opportunity of publicly acknowledging his special obligations to the late Rev. Dr. Fawcett, to Dr. Raffles, Liverpool, the Rev. Rich. Astley, Halifax, and Miss Heywood, Mansfield, for the loan of valuable MSS ; to the late Rev. Dr. Ryland, Bristol, for extracts from the Northowram Register; and to the Rev. Ml'. Hunter, Bath, for his useful aid in composing the Genealogical Table of the Heywood Family.

PllEFACE.

ble, it consists chiefly of extracts from Mr. Heywood's private papers, so that the work may be considered as a specimen of auto-biography. The manuscripts from which the selections have been made are the following :

A Relation"" of the most considerable passages of his Life from infancy till nearly the fortieth year of his age.

" Soliloquies'" on various occurrences of his life and the state of his mind, from May 1653 to Jvme 1682, a period comprising nearly the first thirty years of his ministry.

"Covenants'^ occasional and annual, from Feb. 167S to 1680.

from June 1685 to February 1702.

" Returns of Prayer,'^ from January 1672 to 1677. from 1682 to 1702.

" Self-Reflections," from November 1677 to 1700.

" Experiences with Reflections,'' from February 1680 to 1702. Diary," from its commencement in 1666 to 1673.

from July 1677 to May 1680.

from May 1682 to July 1686.

from March 1695 to June 1699.

from October 1699 to within five days of his

decease.

"Particulars respecting Coley, collected by O. Heywood." A private Record of the members of the church at Northowram, containing also the church covenant, &c.

"The Heywood Family." Containing the Lives of Mr. Heywood's ancestors and pious relatives, written by himself. In this interesting volume, the history of the Family is continued to the present day by surviving relations.

i< The memoir, it is hoped, will be acceptable to the general Reader, particularly as it relates to one of the most eventful periods of English history. The Protestant Dissenter will be pleased to meet with some particulars concerning Mr. Heywood's companions

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PREFACE.

in tribulation and the general history of Nonconformity; he will be reminded what were the principles by which his forefathers and predecessors were influenced in separating from the Church of England, as by law established, and that English Dissent has not depended on the lives of the ejected ministers, but is founded on just and christian principles, and upheld by the mighty power of God ; and he will learn to cherish and propagate those sentiments which animated those Confessors, and to which he is so much indebted for that measure of civil and religious liberty he now enjoys. Pious Christians of various denominations will be gratified with the simple relation of religious experience, given by one of the most eminent servants of God. They will probably admire his diligence, zeal, devotedness, and success as a minister ; but when they follow him into the domestic scenes of his life, or the retirements of the closet, they will be able to converse with him as a fellow-believer, and more fully to sympathize with him in his anxieties and hopes, and sorrows, and joys as a Christian.

Had Mr. Heywood's manuscripts fallen into other hands, doubtless a memorial might have been raised to his memory more worthy of the distinguished subject whose life is recorded, and more deserving the attention of the public. Such, however, as it is, the Author commends it to the blessing of " the God of all grace," who sometimes accomplishes his purposes of mercy by the meanest instruments, the more effectually to promote his glory.

RICHARD SLATE.

MEMOIRS

OP THE

REVEREND OLIVER HEYWOOD, B.A.

Part The First

Hey wood Family — Birth of 0. Hey wood — His religious Convictions — Pious Education — Early Attachment to the Ministry — Entrance at the University — Spiritual Privileges there — Religious Society at Cambridge— 'Return Home — Settlement at Coley.

The pre-eminent usefulness, which in almost every age distinguishes a few highly honoured individuals, furnishes ample scope for the pen of the biographer; for however closely they may imitate Him, who did not cause " his voice to be heard in the street ;" their agency employed in producing the moral changes of a widely extended sphere cannot escape observation. When men have possessed a diversity of talents, which has occasioned a general interest in their favour, or when in the course of their lives, remarkable incidents have occurred, or when amidst dangers they have been peculiarly guarded, and wonderfully rescued by gracious and signal interpositions of Providence, biography in giving a portrait of them becomes interesting. The Rev. O. Heywood comes before the public, with no ordinary advantages. The eventful period in which he lived, and the singular piety with which report has

LIFE OF THE llEV. O. HEYWOOD.

adorned his character, as well as the unwearied efforts which, it is known, he made to do good, and the extensive usefulness which attended his exertions through the whole of his course, have created a predilection for him, and make it a gratifying task to trace his origin, and sketch the circumstances of his life.

" It is possible," says the pious subject of this memoir, " that we have sprung from some younger branch of the house of Heywood, of Heywood Hall, an ancient esquire's seat between Kochdale and Bury; for Mr. Robert Heywood, whom I knew, a pious, reverend, old gentleman, and an excellent poet, was wont to call my father cousin : but kinship grew out in process of time ; and it is not very material of what family we are, so that we be of the household of faith, and have God for our father, Christ for our elder brother, and grace flowing in our spiritual veins, disposing us to act for God." If he could not boast of descent from the great and noble of the earth, he could rejoice in the number of his relations distinguished for their piety. His grandfather, Oliver Heywood, after v/hom he was named, " was renowned for his zeal, meekness, humility, love, and growth in grace;" though not brought to a saving acquaintance with the gospel before the sixtieth year of his age. His father and mother, Richard and Alice Heywood, were both esteemed truly pious before marriage, and were much influenced by their attachment to true godliness in their choice of each other. It was a great privilege to be the son of such parents, and a great honour to be the parents of such a son. They had nine children ; John, who died in infancy, Hannah, Mary, John, Esther, Oliver, Alice,.- Nathaniel, and Josiah. Oliver Heywood was born March, 1629, in Little Lever, in the parish of Bolton, and was baptized at the parish

HIS BIRTH AND EDUCATION.

church, the £9th of the same month. Respecting his birth-place, he observes : " it hath long been famous for glorious professors of the gospel, and powerful preachers ; and I take it as one of the great mercies of my life, that my nativity was in Goshen, under the star of Jacob's special influence."*

When a child, though under considerable restraints in his father's house, he complains of having indulged his depraved nature in sinful acts when he had opportunity. " When, says he, one of my sisters found fault with me for profane swearing, I replied, ' I had not sworn so much as a neighbour's child with whom I used to play ;' so foolish v/as I, and ignorant. How fond was I of trifles ! how backward to good exercises ! how forward to sinful practices ! how easily led to follow bad examples ! I may say, ' childhood and youth are vanity yea, next akin to brutish stupidity and atheistical blasphemy. * When I was a child, I spake as a child ;' yea, rather like a devil incarnate. O the desperate wickedness of my deceitful heart ! " But God, who had designs of mercy towards him, did not give him up to follow the corrupt inclinations of his heart. His pious parents, who kept a watchful and affectionate eye over him, frequently by love and awe checked his progress in sin, and these endeavours on their part were succeeded by powerful convictions of conscience from the Spirit of God. " Though some," he remarks, " can make punctual and particular state-

* The names of George Marsh andtTohn Bradford have long been distinguished among the first and warmest friends of the Reformation in England, and occupy no mean rank in the noble army of martyrs. Thomas Lever, an eloquent and popular preacher in the reign of Edward VI, was the faithful companion of their lives, though not a fellow- sufferer with them in death. The two former were born in the adjoining parishes^ and the lastmentioned in the same township as Mr. Heywood.

ments of the method, time, manner, and means of their regeneration, yet for my own part, I cannot give any such account of circumstances ; though I am fully satisfied the Lord hath been at work with my soul both in childhood and since. Many a time have I gone alone and been distressed, then I have fallen off again to carelessness ; but being awakened after backslidings, I have been so perplexed in spirit, that I have walked in the fields, sought where to weep, being ready to roar out in the bitterness of my soul, keeping up usually secret prayer and other duties. How often have I thought my condition in some i^espects to be worse than that of birds and beasts, trees and stones, because by sin, I am subject to eternal misery, of which they are not capable ! Sometimes I durst not pray, lest I should take God's name in vain. Thus I have had my inward troubles from fears and doubts. That which hath put me to a sad stand in my self-examining work hath been, lest all those shakings should be the fruit of education and the common workings of the Spirit." These fears are the common experience of niany who have been favoured with early religious instruction. Mr. Heywood was much encouraged under them, by hearing persons of whose conversion he was fully satisfied making the same complaints, by comparing his present experience and conduct with the past, and a persuasion that a man's safety does not depend on his being able to ascertain the precise period of his regeneration, but on his conformity to the image of Christ.

It was his happiness to have a mother willing and able to instruct him in the important concerns of his soul, and he thus affectionately and gratefully records her spiritual care over him : " I do with thankfulness to God remember that many a time my dear mother

HIS BIllTH AND EDUCATION.

did zealously and familiarly press upon me truths of the greatest concern : as the preciousness of the soul — the misery of man by nature — the necessity of conversion — the brevity of life — and the importance of eternity. She used to take me along with her to hear Mr. Horrocks of Dean Church, Mr. Harrison of Walmsley, Mr. Johnson of Ellinborough, and sometimes to Denton, to hear Mr. Angier. I confess I took much delight in waiting upon her abroad, but what my ends were I cannot tell, yet this I believe, that God disposed of it for much good to my poor soul." Being expected to give an account of the sermons he heard, he was accustomed to take notes at the time of preaching, and when his notes and memory failed, he looked to his kind mother for help. Sometimes she would converse with him when returning home, on the subject they had been hearing. By these means he was early habituated to pay attention to God's word, and early impressions of divine truth were made on his mind. How much he felt himself indebted to his pious mother as the instrument of his conversion, may be learned from what he says in her life, which he afterwards wrote : " I may say, I owe much to her as the instrument under God, of that saving good I at first received ; and I hope I shall never forget the instructions of a mother." When only fourteen years of age, he was admitted into the company of some religious persons, among whom were several young people, who met once a fortnight during the winter evenings for spiritual conference and prayer, and at those meetings he was called on in his turn to exercise his gifts. Like Nicodemus, he evaded publicity as much as possible, lest he should meet with reproach from some of his former associates ; but he received great encouragement from his parents and others. About this time, he first par-

LIFE OF THE llEV. O. IIEYWOOD.

took of the ordinance of the Lord's supper at Bolton, and experienced the comfort of it, in the peaceful and happy frame of his mind both at the celebration and afterwards.

His inclination towards the ministry of the gospel, and his desire to engage in that sacred office were early discovered. " When a gracious old woman," he says, " observed that in reading, I had a strong voice, she asked me, if I would be a preacher ? my answer was, yes, if I may be a good one. I must confess, that since I had any understanding, I have held those in singular love and honour who have been pious ministers, and I have accounted those, wretched burdens of the earth and the worst of all men, who have been profane in that office ; and I am now more confirmed therein, that a wicked preacher doth most hurt among men, and will have the greatest torments amongst lost souls." Perceiving the bent of his mind, his friends gave him all the advantages of learning, the neighbourhood furnished ; but his progress at first was small. In reference to this subject, he observes, " I have sometimes wondered that I was never stopped by my masters, examiners, or parents, in consequence of my natural weakness and unfitness for that work, for none was more unlikely to make any figure in that calling than I, though my desire was so much carried out towards the great employment. Whatever my ends were, the Lord knows, but I have cause to fear they were mostly selfish. I used my utmost care to have my weakness covered, that I might not be detected and diverted to some other calling, which I could never bear to think of, and for which indeed in many respects I was not ftt. I now see, my God designed me for greater works and higher ends than worldly and cumbering trade, to which my mind was always much averse." After he

HIS BIRTH AND EDUCATION.

had been with a variety of teachers, he was at length put under the care of Mr. Rudal, who excelled in nothing hut literature, by whose instructions he was enabled to make considerable proficiency in human learning. " I look upon it," he says, " as an observable passage in my life, that I should in any degree suck the juice of the authors I read, and hear the instructions of masters that taught me, without woful contagion to my soul, from those pestilential vanities discoverable in both."

Having arrived at the eighteenth year of his age, and received the benefit of public and private instruction at home, it was resolved he should enter the University of Cambridge. Here he was placed under the care of Mr. Akhurst, who was considered a pious and exemplary man, though he afterwards embraced strange and extravagant notions, from which however he was reclaimed before his death. He was admitted at Trinity College July 9th, 1647 ; when Dr. Hill was the master. His excellent father, fully convinced of the importance of the step now taken, and aware of the dangers and temptations to which his youthful son would now be exposed, who had never before been long absent from a parent's eye, gave him very affectionate and suitable advice. " When my dear and honoured father," he says, " left me at Cambridge, he wrote down some serious and grave instructions, which he left with me, besides many others which he and my affectionate mother had frequently inculcated in their several conferences ; they were such as these, ' My son, labour above all things to make your peace with God, by humbling your soul evening and morning, and oftener before him, that you may know that God hath begun a good work of grace in your heart. Be very frequent in reading the scriptures, with knoAvledge and under-

LIFE OF THE REV. O. HEYWOOD.

standing, that you may be a good scribe, armed against temptation, and able to convince gainsay ers. Labour to get every day some sanctified thoughts, and spiritual meditations, which will be a heavenly life and walking with God, and write them in a book entitled, " The Meditations of my Youth." Take short notes of every sermon you hear, and write some fairly over for your loving mother. Often remember how short and precious your time is, and that upon it depends eternity. Keep a mean, as to society; neither be too solitary, lest you become melancholy ; nor too much desire company, lest you be drawn aside ; and, above all, beware of bad company, and seek out for good.' These rules I had often in my eye, and though, I confess I fell short in obedience, yet the outward part thereof I endeavoured to practise."

While at Cambridge he had opportunities of attending the powerful preaching of Mr. afterwards Dr. Hammond, preacher at St. Giles's church, whose ministry was abundantly blessed to the good, not only of his parishioners, but also of the students in the several Colleges. " I must confess," Mr. H. says, " my heart was many a time very much affected under the ordinances at St. Giles's, and I cannot but with thankfulness acknowledge him, (Dr. Hammond) as a profitable instrument of much good to my soul. Though the work might be wrought before, yet I am sure it was then much revived and cleared, and many mistakes removed. O with what a frame of spirit have I come from that place ! I usually met with a suitable searching word, that warmed my heart. I also met with some ingenuous and gracious scholars, with whom I had intimate familiarity, and was furthered by them in the ways of God. I look upon it as an admirable mercy, that I was preserved from those wicked and idle com-

HIS BIRTH AND EDUCATION.

panions that might have prevailed for the utter undoing of my soul and body, for my nature was too pliable, and my heart inclinable to sin and vanity. Though I have cause to lament loss of time there, which should have been a harvest for laying in treasures of human and divine knowledge, that I might as a good householder, bring out things new and old for benefiting the souls of others, had I been as careful as I might and ought ; yet it is a mercy that I lost not, but gained something for my soul ; for I have observed many persons very hopeful at their first arrival there, that went away empty of goodness, and instructed in artificial contrivances of wickedness. All the time I was in the University my heart was much deadened in philosophical studies, nor could I, as I desired, apply my mind so closely to human literature, though I prize learning above all sublunary excellencies ; I might have been more useful, had I improved my time better therein. My time and thoughts were most employed on practical divinity, and experimental truths were most vivifying to my soul : I preferred Perkins, Bolton, Preston, and Sibbs, far above Aristotle, Plato, &c."

It was the happiness of Mr. H. to enjoy the frequent company and conversation of several pious youths then at College, who often met for mutual edification in spiritual and experimental religion. Among these was the Rev. Thos. Jollie,* afterwards ejected from Altham in Lancashire, with whom he formed an endeared friendship, which continued without any breach above fifty years. They were companions through life, in tribulation, and labours, and both died in the seventieth year of their age, and within twelve months of each other. Mr. H. refers to the time they spent together at

* See Memoirs and Sermons of Mr. Thos. JoUie, in " Select Nonconformists' Remains/' by R. Slate.

Cambridge^ in a letter written to Mr. Jollie when they were not far from the end of their christian race, in which he says, " I do hereby give you my hearty thanks for your loving letters sent to me, which further endear my heart to you in friendship, which first commenced at Cambridge, where you were pleased to take notice of, and take into your society, such a simple raw lad as O. H. I oft reflect with comfort and gratitude on the sweet opportunities we had in your garret-chamber, and the heart-meltings under Mr. Hammond's ministry, with whom I conversed a fortnight before he died at Hackney, whom we shall never see more in this world."

With the design of lessening his father's burden of supporting him at Cambridge, he endeavoured to obtain a scholarship, and most likely would have succeeded, but for a fever which attacked him with such violence that for a time he was not expected to live. Great attention was paid by those about him, and by the blessing of God he was restored. In this sickness he solemnly vowed, that if it pleased the Lord to spare his life, he would devote himself entirely to the service of the sanctuary. God was gracious to him, and, in dependance on divine grace, he performed his vow with the earnest desire, as he observes, " of promoting the glory of God in winning souls to Jesus Christ." Having lost this opportunity of obtaining a scholarship, and his brother Nathaniel by this time being also sent to the University, he remained only till he had taken his degree of Bachelor of Arts, and then returned to his father's house. Here he continued his studies, waiting an opportunity of residing, for a season, in some pious minister's family, before he fully entered on the public work on which his heart was fixed.

He continued at home about half a year, and did not

HIS BIllTH AND EDUCATION.

venture to engage in preaching, that passage being much on his mind: "Who is sufficient for these things?" His first attempt to preach was in some obscure place near Preston, when on a visit to some friends in that neighbourhood, and, afterwards on a similar occasion at Carleton, and Skipton in Yorkshire. His uncle Francis Critchlaw, being on a visit to some friends at Coley, near Halifax, and finding they were destitute of a minister at that place, mentioned that he had a nephew, a young man just returned from Cambridge, who had lately commenced occasional preaching. Receiving a favourable account of him, the Chapelry deputed two persons to wait on him, and bring him over with them. Upon Mr. Heywood's return home from Skipton, he found them waiting for him at Bolton. He consented to go and supply for them one Lord's day,* and the people were so much pleased with his services, that before he came away, they began to express a desire for his settlement among them. Such a proposition being quite unexpected at that time, and a way being opened for his admission into Mr. Angler's family at Denton, to receive instructions in religious knowledge from that holy man, he was unable to give them an answer, but promised to supply them another day. Having a previous engagement to go into Wales, on a visit to his uncle Kalph Critchlaw, who resided at Wrexham, and was at that time a justice of the peace, several Lord's days intervened before he could perform his engagement at Coley. During this period another person had been engaged as a supply, with whom the people had nearly agreed for his continuance, only some refused their consent, expecting Mr. H. would fulfil his promise of a second visit. Accordingly he went, and they renewed their solicitations. Several days were set apart for * This was about Michaelmas, in 1650.

16 LIFE OF THE llEV. O. HEVWOOD.

seeking God by prayer, and, for Consulting friends on this important subject ; and, on Nov. 26th, 1650, in the 22nd year of his age, he agreed to supply the place for six months.

At the close of this period, he was earnestly pressed to accept an invitation to Houghton Chapel, in Lancashire, to succeed good Mr. Horrocks, who was lately deceased. This situation had many attractions : it was not far from his native place and pious kindred ; it was a place where his income would be greater than at Coley, and his esteemed and reverend friend, Mr. Tilsley, of Dean Church, was very urgent in persuading him to comply. But he had now been a sufficient length of time at Coley, to gain the affections of the people, and to entertain pleasing hopes of usefulness ; and therefore concluded it was the will of God he should remain there. His decision was honourable to his character, a presage of his future conduct, and a happy earnest that as he sought the glory of God, and not his own ease and comfort in his settlement, so God would not refuse him the blessed reward he desired — the conversion of many souls to Christ. Had his people rightly estimated his conduct in his determination to abide with them, when so powerful a temptation was laid in his way, at a time too, when he could have complied without vialating the principles of justice or honour, (his engagement with, them being fulfilled,) it would have disarmed them of that opposition he afterwards met with, from some of their number. If a minister cheerfully makes sacrifices for the good of his people, they ought in return to make his comfort and welfare objects of their peculiar attention.

Part II

History of Coley — Ministers at Coley — Commencement of Mr. Heywood's Ministry there — His Ordination — Reflections on his Settlement at Coley — His Lodgings — Sickness — Disappointments — Marriage — Birth of his Son John— Parental Affection — Birth of his Son Eliezer — Death of Mr. Heywood's Mother — Preparatioti for Troubles — Neglect of the Lord's Slipper and Discipline at Coley — Ordinances restored — His Joy on the Occasion — Opposition —Public Calamities — Cheshire Rising — Birth and Death of Mr. Heywood's Son Nathaniel — Conduct qf Mr. Heywood's Oppo7ients — His hivitation to Preston — The Restoration of Charles II — Death of Mrs, Hey wood — A faithful Servant.