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Location: Derby, Derbyshire, England
Surnames/tags: madeley swedenborg
Rev. Edward Madeley (1778-1827)
Died at his house, Burton Road, Derby, on Sunday, the 25th of November, 1827, after a short illness, in the 50th year of his age, the Reverend Edward Madeley, Minister of the New Jerusalem Temple, Derby. The removal of this most excellent man from the church on earth, to whose service his active life was devoted, will long be felt by the members of the New Jerusalem as a severe privation. That the ways of providence are inscrutable to man, and that our limited knowledge cannot always discover ultimate benefit by immediate consequence, is a truth of which we are frequently assured, and which is acknowledged by all who have been awakened by religion, or instructed by experience. Under this belief we live: but there are some events which give it a more peculiar force and illustration; and among these, none can operate more solemnly in the feelings and understanding, than the removal of those whose kindness was endeared and whose counsel and activity have assisted. It is, indeed, certain, that all earthly associations must be suspended by the intervention of death. But when the moment of separation has arrived; when he whose life has been devoted to religion, benevolence, and usefulness, is removed from our present sphere of existence, we naturally experience a regret, which the light and influence of anxiety alone can soothe to composure, and enliven to hope. Such must be the feelings of all who were acquainted with the late Mr. Madeley, whose death is now as generally known as it is deeply lamented, and whose removal, as far as human foresight can discover, has occasioned a vacancy which will not soon or easily be filled.
But it will be profitable and interesting if we endeavour to trace his progress through life; and this we are considerably enabled to accomplish from the assistance of his early friend, Mr. Dawes, who has favoured us with the following memoir:-
- From the services rendered to the New Church by Mr. E. Madeley, some account of his first reception of the writings of the Honourable Emanuel Swedenborg, may not be unacceptable. Mr. Madeley being a native of the same village as myself, (Yoxall in Staffordshire,) I am able to send you the following account.--The family of the Madeleys have resided in our village for many generations; the grandfather of the late Mr. Madeley occupied a considerable farm in the parish, and was a very respectable and pious man; but Mr. Madeley's father, through a law suit, and other misfortunes was brought into great difficulties, and his younger son Edward was cast upon the world at a very early period, to obtain a livelyhood how he could, and perhaps during his boyhood, few young men suffered more than he did: but as he grew up to youth and manhood he was respected and beloved wherever he served.
- I first became acquainted with Mr. Madeley in the year 1802; he was then in the employ of my father, in his tape manufactory at Yoxall, and he brought me the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, which he said my father had lent him, and he said it was a very good book; but it did not appear to have made much impression on his mind, for he was then falling fast into the fashionable doctrine of Justification by Faith alone, and was much caressed by the evangelical clergymen of the village. Mr. Madeley with a few others occasionally met together to pray, and by this means he acquired a method of speaking very fluently, and I could perceive his great desire to preach. In 1803 this propensity increased upon him, and he left our employ, and engaged himself in a cotton mill in an adjoining parish, where was a Methodist Society, in order that he might become a local Preacher. But as he had much engaged my attention and regard, I resolved to endeavour to introduce to him more correct religious sentiments than those he was about to adopt and promulge: I therefore applied to the owner of the mill, and informed him that he had not used us well, by employing one of our people, without first acquainting me; he replied he only filled a very subordinate situation, which he could replace without any inconvenience, and he was ordered back to Yoxall; having secured my man, I used every argument I could find out, to recommend the new doctrines, and he at length consented to examine the True Christian Religion, and he first fixed on the chapter which treats on the Word. He compared Swedenborg's explanation of various passages with the explanation given by Burkit, and he told me he found so much more light in what Swedenborg said, in comparison with Burkit, that he laid by Burkit, and gradually adopted all Swedenborg had written. He then communicated his new sentiments to his companions, who immediately told the clergyman, and he brought three other clergymen with him to overwhelm him with argument and influence; one was the Rev. Mr. Grisborn of Yoxall Lodge, another the Rev. Mr. Cooper, Rector of Hamstall and Yoxall, both these gentlemen are well known from the various works they have published; but all their arguments and influence, promises, &c. were of no avail, he perservered in the doctrines to his dying day. Soon after his reception of the doctrines which was in 1804, he made a very useful discovery in our business, and I applied to some other manufacturers in our line, and we obtained a reward for him; with this sum and a little of my assistance, he was enabled to begin a shop, being placed also at the head of our factories, and having had the good fortune to make choice of a very prudent and excellent woman for a wife, by their mutual industry they began to accumulate property. He now endeavoured to raise a New Church Society in our village, but the sphere was too small, there were not minds in sufficient number to be found, who were capable to enter into the New Church, and a handsome offer being made by a gentleman of Derby, if he would join him in a new establishment then erecting in that town, he consulted me on the business, and I advised him by all means to embrace it, although it gave me much pain to lose him, this took place in 1809. On his arrival at Derby, he first held a meeting in his own house, and when this overflowed, he adjourned his meeting to the factory, and when this became too small, they took a large Room in Full Street, in the year 1814, which had formerly been a silk mill; his subsequent exertions, such as erecting a noble building for public worship, his unwearied endeavours to obtain a conference deed, also to establish a Missionary Society, and other plans for promoting the New Church; I must leave to those other gentlemen who are better informed on these subjects than I am.
- I have been informed that since the year 1814 he has preached upwards of 1700 Sermons, and from the account the medical gentlemen have given of the state of his lungs, he appears to have literally preached himself to death. There are some characters in the New Church, who appear to ripen much faster than others, our late friend Mr. Samuel Mottram of Manchester, was another character of this description; these two gentlemen would do as much for the New Church in ten years, as others could do in fifty, they therefore became ripe much earlier than other people, they attained the best possible state that could be given them, in a shorter time, and were taken away, like all others, when it was best for their eternal welfare; but be it recorded of these two excellent christians, who were two of my most intimate and best friends, that they possessed souls or minds who only desired to live for the benefit of others, they had no delight comparatively speaking, but in that of doing good, serving the Lord, and his church; I knew them for many years, and they were always the same.
I am, Gentlemen, your faithful correspondent, Thomas Dawes."
Shortly after his arrival in Derby, he began to teach the doctrines of our church in a Sunday school which he had established. He commenced his labours by delivering to the scholars short and easy lectures, which he endeavoured to adapt to their tender capacities; and soon after this time their parents attended the school room, to participate in the instruction and pleasure which had been communicated to their children. The result of these meetings was the formation of a regular society, whose numbers so increased that their leader determined to possess a suitable place of worship. About the year 1817 he purchased, at his own expence, a piece of freehold land, in the most desirable part of the town, on which he erected a commodious and elegant chapel. While thus engaged, an attack was made on our doctrines by a dissenting minister, Mr. Pike; his work excited a reply and refutation from the Rev. R. Hindmarsh, and likewise a mild expostulation from Mr. M. entitled Pastoral Instruction. In August, 1818, he was ordained at Derby, by the late Rev. J. Proud. Such are a few leading facts in the life of our departed and amiable friend, who, as far as human reason can ascertain, was an Israelite indeed. His virtuous character was known and appreciated by his fellow townsmen; while he appeared as the centre of the midland church: indeed, he was the father of the little societies in his neighbourhood - their guide, philosopher, and friend. As a proof of the estimation in which he was held in Derby, we may here relate, that when his funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. S. Noble, though only announced the previous Sunday from the desk, the chapel was completely filled. Eleven hundred persons were congregated, and it was calculated that some thousands were obliged to return, not being able to gain admission from want of room.
In his conversations, Mr. Madeley was simple, yet correct, and powerful, though mild and affectionate: and none could listen to him without receiving some spiritual or intellectual benefit. His predominating characteristic was - intense affection, and universal love for his fellow creatures. These were not in his conversation only; they continually went forth into activity; for he was not contented, as too many are, with the theory of benevolence, and to love an abstract neighbour with an abstract love. His generosity has frequently been the subject of remark and eulogium. It appeared in a state of constant readiness; and has indeed been spoken of as being too profuse and extensive. But those whose generosity cannot go from home till the hand of frigid prudence has cautiously opened the door, should remember that this a commendable defect in comparison with the other extreme. A generous man may be made frugal; but a miser cannot be made generous. As a minister; he was persuasive and energetic; he imparted truth through the gentle and endearing medium of affection. That we feel the emotions of regret in the removal of such a man,--a man who was radically a mass of christian love, humility, and usefulness, may be easily supposed. When informed by his medical friends what would be the result of his disorder, he received the intelligence with the utmost composure; and expressed his conviction that when he departed from this world, he should enter the heavenly one. That the All-wise Being who has transplanted him to the native clime of those graces which he so eminently possessed, will not let our holy cause suffer from the (to our comprehension) premature detrimental removal of one of its most zealous and efficient promoters, we humbly hope. Let us then, if we really feel solicitude for that cause, endeavour to imitate him who departure we lament, and remember, that the voice of truth and reason, bids us go and do likewise.
A Funeral Discourse, occasioned by the departure of our friend, was also delivered at the New Jerusalem Temple, Waterloo Road, London, on Sunday Evening, December 9th, by the Rev. Thomas Goyder, to a very crowded congregation.[1]
Sources
- ↑ The New Jerusalem Magazine and Theological Inspector for the year 1828, pp 28ff (Google Books)
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