PORTRAIT OF DR. WATTS.
PRESENTED BY MISS ABNEY TO DR. WILLIAMS’ LIBRARY.
Isaac Watts;
His Life and Writings,
HIS HOMES AND FRIENDS.
“Few men have left behind such purity of character, or such monuments oflaborious piety. He has provided instruction for all ages, from those who arelisping their first lessons to the enlightened readers of Malebranche and Locke;he has left neither corporeal nor spiritual nature unexamined; he has taught theart of reasoning and the science of the stars.”—Dr. Johnson.
“The Independents, as represented by Dr. Watts, have a just claim to beconsidered the real founders of modern English hymnody.”—Lord Selborne.
LONDON:
THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY,
56, Paternoster Row; 65, St. Paul’s Churchyard;
and 164, Piccadilly.
MANCHESTER: CORPORATION STREET. BRIGHTON: WESTERN ROAD.
Most men who have left behind them a name souniversally honoured and beloved as that of IsaacWatts have shone in many biographies; he reverses therule, and really has more monuments in stone erected tohis memory than there have been readable biographies torecord the transactions of his life.
From time to time it seems necessary and naturalto attempt some fresh record of the memory of honouredmen; even the best biographies wear out, and succeedingages demand a tribute in harmony with varyingimpressions or increased information. The life of Wattswas one of the most quiet and equable of lives; itflowed on in almost unbroken tranquillity and peace;it was passed in much seclusion, neither his taste norhis health permitting him to come much personally intothe presence of the world. The authentic incidents ofhis career, of which we have any record, are, indeed, veryfew, yet, such as they are, they should surely be gatheredup, and put into some fitting memorial. Besides this,it is a life always good to contemplate. Acquaintanceseems to lift the reader almost into that regionwhose air the good man breathed so freely.
The object of the following pages will be to attempt todo some justice to the various attributes of his mental[v]character. His fame as a writer of hymns has, by itsvery brightness, obscured departments of work whichcost him far more labour. Watts was modest; in everyestimate of himself he disclaimed any title to the rankof a poet; but in truth his powers, as manifested in hiswritings, whether we regard him as a preacher, theologian,or metaphysician, are all equally luminous and instructive.Beyond all these, a character exalted by seraphicpiety and all-embracing charity makes the narrativeof such a life well worthy of the study