His uniform prosperity received but one shock. The chapel in Titchfield
Street, which he had raised from the ground and carried up into the
air, when ground-room was wanting, was burnt down. This was thought by
some of Huntington's followers to be a judgment upon him for having
inclosed the free seats, and "laid out the whole chapel in boxes like
an opera house." But Huntington looked at this misfortune otherwise.
Writing to one of his friends, he says: "Such a stroke as this
twenty-seven years ago would have caused our hope to give up the ghost;
but being a little stronger in the Lord, faith has heavier burdens laid
on. The temple built by Solomon, and that built by Cyrus, were both
burnt. It will cause a little rejoicing among the Philistines, as has
been the case often: they once triumphed gloriously, when the ark of
God was taken, supposing that Dagon had overcome the God of Israel;
but their joy was short. This I know, that it shall work for our good,
but how I know not; if I did, I must walk by sight, and not by faith."
He then held out a sort of threat of removing into the country; but
his London followers were presently in motion, "some looking out for
a spot of ground, some bringing their offerings, others wishing the
glory of the latter house may exceed that of the former." "But," says
he, "it is to bear the same name: this I gave them to understand from
the pulpit, and assigned the following reasons for it:--that unless
God provided men to work, and money to pay them, and materials to
work with, no chapel could be erected; and, if he provided all these,
Providence must be its name." The chapel, accordingly, was built in
Gray's Inn Lane, and upon a larger scale than the last: taught by his
former experience, Huntington took care not to make himself responsible
for any of the expenses, and when it was finished, managed matters so
well with his obedient flock, that the chapel was made over to him as
his own, for he is said to have refused to preach in it on any other
conditions.[28]
[28] Selected and abridged from an excellent paper on Huntington's
Works and Life, attributed to Southey; _Quarterly Review_, No. 48.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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