Hodgson Casson's ministry in North and South Shields, 1833-1835
Taken from:
Christianity in Earnest as exemplified in the life and labours of the Rev. Hodgson Casson
by A. Steele, published by Simpkin, Marshall & Co., London, 1853
Chapter 9, pages 151-168
In 1833 Mr. Casson was appointed to North and South Shields his residence being in the latter town. His fame in the north had now become so general, that his appointment to Circuits with large chapels and respectable congregations was sought for, and hailed with delight. Indeed, his pulpit ministrations were far from being of an inferior order; and, as an impression may possibly be entertained by those who had not the opportunity of knowing him, that his popularity arose entirely from his eccentricity, it may be a proper subject of contemplation to behold him in the pulpit.
“There stands the messenger of truth; there stands
The legate of the skies.”
With mildness in the eye, there is yet a play on the countenance, which indicates fixedness of purpose. His object is evidently to win souls. There is an earnestness in his manner, that marks the deep sense he entertains of the supreme importance of that truth of which he is the messenger. The conviction has taken possession of his heart, that he must secure the attention of his hearers; and, by one means or other, he will have it. His ingenious mind readily devises the method of accomplishing this. Already he has arrested that thoughtless sinner: some sudden flash of wit has surprised and interested him. With a half-vacant smile on his countenance, his eye is riveted on the preacher,—little suspecting that the arrow is prepared, and is even now on the string, awaiting a suitable moment to lodge itself in his heart. There is nothing studied, artificial, or ornamental in his style; he had a strong dislike to what he termed “dandy preaching.” It is after the old John Bunyan fashion; with a preponderance of racy Saxon words,—words fully understood by his hearers,—at once forcible and impressive. Then listen to the weighty matter of his discourses. He has clear views of Wesleyan theology. The cardinal doctrines of redemption through the Cross, justification by faith, the witness of the Spirit, and Christian holiness in all its branches,—are declared in his sermons with no uncertain sound. And then, the faithful, pointed, spirit stirring manner in which he applies the truth to the consciences of his hearers,—urging with all his power, their immediate decision on some important question affecting their everlasting interests,—impresses the conviction on the mind that he has entered the sacred place to transact some important business, and that he is not willing to retire until he has accomplished it. But above all, there is the unction,—the hallowing power of the Holy Spirit from on high, the melting influence of Divine love, the holy fire drawn down from the heavenly altar,—such as can only be commanded by the man whose frequent approaches there have communicated to him a mysterious power with God! Yet let it not be understood that the above description is applicable to all his pulpit ministrations: it must be admitted, that there were seasons when there was an undue predominance of humour and wit, as though he had given up the reins to his constitutional tendency, and suffered himself to be carried away with it. One of his judicious brethren remarks:—“I have heard him preach ably and impressively; yet a fling, a dash of his peculiarity, at the close of his discourse, seemed to be a sudden and unworthy coming down from the lofty and holy region in which he had been soaring.”
The biographer is not singular in expressing admiration of his pulpit exercises. The hundreds and thousands who continued, during the whole period of his ministry at Gateshead and Shields, to crowd the chapels there, to an extent which it is stated has not since been realised, must certainly be regarded as satisfactory evidence, that either in the matter or manner of his discourses, there was something that entitled them to a hearing. But the sentiments of his brethren in the ministry are well-deserving regard. When stationed in the Whitby District, he attended its Annual Meeting which was held that year in Stockton. His fame had gone forth, and both Preachers and people felt some curiosity to hear the singular man. He was appointed to preach at one o’clock; and notwithstanding the time in all ordinary cases is unseasonable, his name was sufficient to attract a numerous congregation. He preached an admirable sermon from Hebrews ii. 10:—“For it became Him, for whom are all things,” &c.; but it was much tinged with his peculiarities. On the re-assembling of the brethren, the Rev. A. Seckerson, the venerable chairman, said that they ought to give a vote of thanks to brother Casson for his very excellent sermon. The Rev. Robert Miller, distinguished for his shrewdness and penetration, rejoined, that “it was a good discourse, with the exception of some seven or eight expressions, which it would have been better to have withheld.” “Praise the Lord!” said Mr. Casson, “only seven or eight expressions to find fault with! There were more kept in than came out.” But though Mr. Miller refrained from giving the full meed of praise in his presence, he hesitated not to say at the tea-table, in the company of a few select friends, “That sermon had more sound divinity in it than all the sermons preached at this District-Meeting put together.”
The late Rev. Joshua Fearnside, (whose judgment is entitled to the highest respect,) after hearing him preach in the open air, turned round to a friend near him, and said:—“If any person had been disposed to find fault with a sentiment or with an expression, I do not know where they could have found one.” One of his brethren, who repeatedly heard him during the time he was in the Shields Circuit, the Rev. Robert Cooke, has favoured the writer with the following communication:—“The ministry of Mr. Casson during this period was peculiarly spiritual and acceptable. It was often free from those eccentricities which characterised it at other times. He preached with power, and with success. Many of his sermons displayed considerable ingenuity, and breathed forth a yearning pity for mankind. His style of address was always earnest, simple, and impressive. He aimed at the great end of preaching,—the turning men ‘from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan to God.’ For this he lived, and prayed, and laboured. I have sometimes seen him in an agony of prayer, for the salvation of sinners. His illustrations, though occasionally offensive to good taste, were always designed to accomplish the all-absorbing desire of his heart,—the conversion of his hearers. Hence, when all were smiling around him, at the utterance of some homely expression or amusing illustration, he would appear quite grave and serious. His appeals to sinners were often searching, awakening, and irresistible. It was no uncommon sight to see men and women weep and tremble under his preaching. And with untiring energy and delight he would direct and encourage conscience-stricken and penitent sinners to ‘the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ His single aim was usefulness: he brought all his wit, and ingenuity, and labour, to bear on this point. Some of his illustrations were vivid and striking. For example:—he was preaching from Luke xiii.11—13. Whenever he took up a narrative like this, he usually appended a name to the person. He did so to this woman, who had been bowed down with ‘a spirit of infirmity eighteen years.’ After alluding to her unsuccessful applications to physicians and doctors for a cure, he said, ‘This woman, having been told that Jesus was to preach in the synagogue, went to hear him. When she got there, he was in the pulpit, and the Priest was beside him. No sooner had the Saviour commenced his sermon, than he immediately fixed his eye upon the woman. The Priest would not have noticed her; but Jesus saw her, and said unto her, ‘Woman, come forward!’ How she got along the aisle, I know not, for she would have to go on all-fours. However, she made the attempt; and when she reached the spot where Jesus was, he touched her, and said, ‘Thou art loosed from thy infirmity!’ and immediately she was made straight. Now, you see the benefit of penitent-forms. If this woman had not come forward, she would not have been healed.’ Aud then followed a happy and successful defence of penitent-forms and revival-meetings.
“In his preaching, he was not confined to one particular method. There were frequent variations. Occasionally he would stop in the midst of a sermon, and request the people to unite with him in prayer; when he would pour out the overflowings of a full and happy soul; and, rising from his knees, would commence singing an appropriate verse of a hymn.”
At other times, in the application of his discourse, in urging an inquiry, he would sit down in the pulpit for two or three minutes, to allow his hearers time for consideration and decision. A specimen from his manuscript sketches will illustrate this. The text is, Jeremiah viii. 22:—He proposes to show,—
I. That all mankind are sick.
II. In every age there has been balm.
III. Notwithstanding the remedy, health is not recovered.
In urging the question, “Why?” he is very pointed in his application. “Why have so many of the human family been lost? Why BO many in hell?—why so many on their way thither? Why so many in this town more like human brutes, and incarnate devils, than rational beings? But though they may turn the inquiry into contempt, may I not expect a rational answer from you, who frequently attend God’s house? You have the appearance of rationality. You appear to be in your right mind—in your business, in your family. You are in the habit of close thinking about different things. Can you tell me why you are not healed? Why your souls are not converted? your sins not pardoned? Why the soul has so many deadly wounds upon it? Why you will not let the Great Physician heal you? I will sit down, and wait your answer.” * * * * “I say, Why? do think!” * * * * “No answer! All speechless! If you cannot answer a poor plain man, what will you do at the bar of Christ?” The effect of such appeals we need not depict. In a similar manner he was accustomed to enforce the inquiry, “Will ye also be his disciples?” (John ix. 27.) Urging their immediate decision, and sometimes requesting the people to testify their readiness to reply in the affirmative, by rising upon their feet. No doubt but these erratic deviations from the ordinary method of preaching, have tended to rivet more firmly on the minds of his hearers the recollection of his impassioned appeals at such seasons. The fact is, he preached to produce effect. The one object with him was, the sharpness of the sword, not the embellishment of the hilt. The harmony of his sentences, or the refined elegance of the expression, was not his especial study; he lost sight of minor considerations, in his zeal to save men. The following incident is characteristic. A young man in the Circuit, at whose father's house he was regularly entertained, was called out by the President of the Conference into the itinerant work. Accompanied by another Minister, Mr. Casson spent the afternoon with the family, the occasion presenting a seasonable opportunity for conversation on the responsibilities of the sacred office. Before taking leave, prayer, as was usual on such occasions, was proposed. And whilst their united petitions to the throne of grace were specially presented in behalf of their young friend, the Minister made use of a well-known phrase,—“Make him a polished shaft in thy quiver.” However appropriate the prayer really was, it struck Mr. Casson at the moment, as savouring too much of refinement; and he instantly exclaimed, “A besom-shank!—anything to be useful!” The exclamation, though uncouth, was the utterance of a heart jealous for the Divine glory, and desirous of hiding pride from man; and it expressed the feeling which pervaded his whole life—that he should be anything in God's hands, so that he might be the instrument of saving souls.
Soon after his entrance upon his new Circuit, he writes to his friend, Mr. John Steele, of Barnard Castle, as follows:—
“South-Shields, October 4th, 1833.
“DEAR BROTHER,
“YOURS of the 25th of last month arrived when I was from home: since it fell into my hands, it has been a subject of thinking, talking, and prayer. Your account of the revival at Manchester I read over at our lovefeast at South-Shields, last Sunday; and it produced a most blessed effect. “We had some saved,—but only in the retail way. However, expectation is raised, and prayer—all prayer—is daily made for the wholesale work. * * Of late, my health has scarcely been middling,—perhaps owing to some heavy lifts that had to betaken on ground where there seemed to be little movement. A fortnight last Sunday I was in Newcastle, and was witness to twenty-six souls converted to God; and often, in our own Circuit, have seen twos and threes, and hope soon it will be more general. We have plenty of ground to work on; it only wants cultivation.
“I am, in haste, your affectionate Brother
“In Jesus, everlastingly,
“HODGSON CASSON.”
These indications of spiritual prosperity were hailed by Mr. Casson with adoring gratitude; and, at the close of his year’s labours, he rejoiced in an accession to the church of seventy souls. He was thankful to report progress, if only in the “retail” way; although he was anxious to launch out into the “wholesale” work, so that souls might be brought to God by scores and hundreds, as his friend had informed him was the case in Manchester.
The commencement of the second year of Mr Casson’s ministry in the Shields Circuit was marked by a painful dispensation of Divine Providence, similar to that which has been recorded in the preceding chapter. On the 16th of September, his excellent Superintendent, the Rev. Robert Nicholson, was suddenly removed from the field of labour to his eternal reward. He fell a victim to the same disease, the malignant cholera, which had deprived Mr. Casson of his former colleague, and the attack appears to have been equally as unexpected and decisive. On Saturday, the 13th, the first premonitory symptoms of the disorder appeared, and continued to increase during the day following. His sufferings gradually subsided, until about four o’clock on Tuesday morning, when he calmly entered into rest. At the commencement of the attack, he observed to his medical attendant, “I thank God, I have not to inquire, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ I have not religion to seek.” And in reply to some questions proposed to him the evening before he died, he said, “I have no doubt of obtaining the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” After the funeral, his brethren the Preachers endeavoured to improve this instructive and solemn event, by delivering suitable addresses in Howard-Street Chapel, North-Shields, to a deeply attentive congregation. To Mr. Casson, this dispensation would be peculiarly impressive; recalling to his recollection a similar occurrence, and reminding him forcibly of the immortal lines of the sainted Richard Baxter,—
“I preach as never sure to preach again,
And as a dying man to dying men.”
Upon the death of Mr. Nicholson, the Superintendency devolved on the Rev. Alexander Strachan. His other colleague was the Rev. Alexander Hume. Mr. Strachan was of the same Connexional standing as Mr. Casson; but, from his residence being in North-Shields, and from his longer experience in the administrative department of the work, he was certainly the best adapted to take the management of such an important Circuit. In fact, Mr. Casson rarely interfered with disciplinary matters; the Superintendency of a Circuit was never with him a matter of choice. When, in the order of Providence, it devolved upon him, he did the best he could. Preaching, and prayer-meetings, constituted his proper sphere; and of this he appeared so conscious, that he seldom took part in other operations.
One of the most important questions that is awakening the attention of the faithful Minister in the present day is this, How is the out-door population of our country to be reached? The erection of churches and chapels,—the increase of the number of those who are employed in the ministry,—its improved character,—the multiplication of Sabbath and day schools,—the extensive scattering abroad of religious tracts,—as well as various other agencies, have been brought into active operation; yet, after all, the sad state of demoralization,—the general neglect of attendance on Divine ordinances,—the prevalence of Sabbath-breaking,—and the comparative apathy of Christian congregations, (if we may not say their awful lethargy,)—present a fearful picture, calculated to appal the heart of the devoted servant of Christ, and excite the most gloomy forebodings. It is the opinion of those who best knew Mr. Casson, that his ministry was peculiarly adapted to this object, and it is a subject worthy the serious consideration of the Christian Minister, how far his projects are deserving of being copied. His open-air preaching,—his unwearied watchfulness in laying hold of every casual occurrence to awaken thoughtful consideration,—his pastoral visitations,—his faithful and serious reproof of the open violators of God’s law,—his never-ceasing intercessions at the throne of Divine grace,—his devotedness to God,—and other distinguishing traits in his character developed in the progress of this memoir,—all combined to draw down the peculiar unction of the Spirit upon the word, and rendered him a most successful preacher of the Cross of Christ. Dr. Adam Clarke has observed that, “from an indescribable law in the economy of the intellectual world, the spirit that acts upon another begets in it its own likeness.” The force of this remark was strikingly exhibited in the subject of this memoir. He had a peculiar tact for attracting the hearts of the people; he convinced them that he was in earnest, that he sought their best interests, ardently loved their souls, and was bent on promoting their salvation, whilst his fervent zeal,—his readiness ofexpression,—his scintillations of wit,—his fine musical voice,—all lent their aid to melt down his captivated hearers, and draw them to the Cross. One of the most steady lovers of Methodism in North-Shields, states that, “from his first entrance upon his duties in our Circuit, the chapel was crowded, and continued so the whole three years he was stationed here,—poor persons especially flocking to hear him. The finances were in a healthy state, and we had considerable additions to the Societies throughout the Circuit.” In every place, he had the happiness to see souls savingly brought to God; and, though a more obstinate resistance distinguished some places, particularly Cramlington Colliery, yet here also, in connection with his faithful and earnest expostulations, the awakening power of God came down. This gracious visitation commenced on a Christmas-eve, when he was accompanied to the place by one of his old friends, a Local-Preacher from the Penrith Circuit. During the prayer-meeting, after his friend had preached, he addressed one of his telling exhortations to the people, and seven or eight souls that day found peace with God.
The Rev. Robert Cooke has supplied some interesting incidents connected with this period, which we shall avail ourselves of the opportunity of transcribing:—
“Mr. Casson was instant in season and out of season, always watching for an opportunity to do good. He was ready to ‘sow beside all waters.’ One afternoon, when he was walking down the railway to Howden, where he had to preach in the evening, he came up to three or four men, who were endeavouring to lift an empty coal-waggon on the line. When Mr. Casson approached them, the men were shouting, '’Now, all together!’ at the same time putting all their force to lift the waggon, but they could not effect it. ‘You want this waggon put upon the line?’ asked Mr. Casson. ‘Yes,’ was the reply. ‘Very well,’ said he, ‘then let us all lift together.’ He laid down his umbrella, and, taking hold of one end of the waggon, and the men the other, he shouted, ‘Now, all together,’ and it was instantly upon the line. Turning to the men, he said, ‘Now you see the benefit of unity. If we had not lifted all together, the waggon would have been off the line yet; but you see by our united exertions, it is put right. Now, you must all go together to hear Casson preach to-night; you must all meet in class together; and you must all go to heaven together.’ As a companion, Mr. Casson was always cheerful and interesting. He was fond of singing, and could catch a tune and adapt it to a hymn with remarkable quickness. Immediately after dinner or tea, he would invite the friends to unite with him in singing the praises of God, when he would commence with one of his favourite hymns, to which he had affixed some lively, cheerful tune, such as—
‘How happy are we, who in Jesus agree,
To expect his return from above;
We sit under his vine, and delightfully join
In the praise of his excellent love:’
the little party all following him in his rapid melodious strains. Then he would offer up prayer, followed by one or two more, until all seemed to imbibe the fervent and happy spirit of the man of God. On some occasions the room seemed to be filled with God.
“Some of his sayings are remembered from their quaintness. One time when he was requested to conduct the devotional exercises at the commencement of the Missionary meeting at Gateshead, at the conclusion of a prayer full of power and unction, he closed it with this petition, ‘The Lord grant that every heart may be filled, and every pocket emptied, for Christ's sake. Amen.’
“Mr. Casson was a man of very fine feeling. He had a deep sympathy with suffering humanity. When visiting the sick he felt acutely for those who were suffering, so that I have known him hesitate to go and see such persons, lest his feelings should overcome him. His remarks, on these occasions, were generally to the point, and displayed considerable discrimination. Entering the cottage of a good woman, one day, he kindly inquired how she was. ‘O, Sir,’ she replied, ‘I have a bad head-ache.’ ‘That,’ said he, ‘we will leave to the doctor. If you have got the heart-ache, I have a cure for it,—the love of God.’ Upon the whole, there was much in Mr. Casson’s spirit and conduct to admire and imitate. I have seen him in the pulpit, I have laboured with him in the prayer-meeting, I have observed him in private life, and I have no hesitation in asserting that he was a lively, devoted servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. ‘One thing I do,’ was his motto. The conversion of sinners was his single purpose, and the burthen of his prayers. All his movements were directed to this end, the ‘turning of men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.’ His ‘record is on high.’ It is believed that hundreds of souls, brought to a knowledge of the truth through his instrumentality, will be ‘the crown of his rejoicing in the day of the Lord.’ He was ‘a burning and a shining light, and many rejoiced in that light.’ He ‘walked with God.’ Piety was the great business of life; it pervaded all his movements. There was piety in his look, piety in his conversation, and piety fully exhibited in his life.”
After spending three years in this locality also, marked by unwearied diligence, and ardent exertion in prosecuting the work to which his life was devoted, he bade an affectionate farewell to his friends in the north, and removed to a somewhat more southerly climate.
Back to Cumberland Hodge and his fights with the devil
Back to Revival in the North-East of England