SILVER-STREET.-Presbyterian, Extinct. of the greatest men of his age, and in a congregation of the most exemplary and judicious Christians, met with very great respect and encouragement, and yet he continued not above a year in that relation. His preaching was so acceptable in London, and drew so many hearers, that some of his friends thought two such ministers as Mr. Howe and Mr. Shower, though their talents were of a different kind, were too much to fall to the share of one people."* Mr. Borfet's congregation at Curriers'-Hall being at this time destitute, in consequence of the great indisposition of their minister, who was incapable of proceeding in his work, they agreed to give Mr. Shower a call to the pastoral office. "This invitation, (says Mr. Tong,) cost Mr. Shower some trouble, and many thoughts of heart. Mr. Howe was loath to part with him, and the honour he had for Mr. Howe made it very difficult to him to do any thing that would grieve him. Those of the congregation that had been so earnest and industrious to gain him from Rotterdam, took it unkindly that he should entertain any thoughts of leaving them, especially so soon after he was come among them. In a word, their affection for him and his ministry grew in some of them a little passionate under the apprehension of losing him, as it generally does in cases of that nature."+ But Mr. Shower being satisfied of his duty in this particular, accepted the call May 8, 1691, and continued with that people at Curriers'-Hall, and afterwards at the Old Jewry, till his death, in 1715, as we have seen under that article, where the reader will find a more particular account of him.‡ THOMAS REYNOLDS.-Upon Mr. Shower's removal, the vacancy in the congregation at Silver-street was very well filled by Mr. Thomas Reynolds, then a young man, and newly come from Holland. His labours here were very • Tong's Life of Shower, p. 61. † Ibid. p. 62. acceptable; and he behaved with so much prudence and modesty, as to gain a high interest in the esteem both of Mr. Howe and his people. But after about four years he accepted a call to take the pastoral charge of the congregation that had been under the ministry of Mr. Thomas Kentish; and in a little time had a new meeting-house built for him over the King's Weigh-House. There he continued to labour many years, much to his own reputation, as well as to the public benefit, as the reader will perceive by turning to his life under that article.* JOHN SPADEMAN, M. A.-This learned and pious Divine was son to the Rev. Thomas Spademan, who was ejected by the fatal Bartholomew Act, from the living of Authorpe, in Lincolnshire, and was afterwards pastor of a Presbyterian congregation at Boston, in the same county, where he died in 1678. His son, after previous studies, was entered of Magdalen College, in Cambridge, where he continued several years, and took the degree of Master of Arts. The improvements he made at the university, may be in some measure estimated by the character he afterwards maintained for learning, both at home and abroad. Having left the university, he at first conformed to the established church, and had the living of Swayton, in Lincolnshire, where he preached for some years after the act of Uniformity; but at length, being dissatisfied with the terms of subscription, he resigned his living, and took his lot with the Nonconformists. "The occasion of his dissent and leaving his parish, (says Mr. Rosewell,) I shall not at present inquire into; and it may be best it should be forgotten at this time of day, when, thanks be to God, things are so much better in several respects, than they were then." On quitting his living he went over to Holland, and be See Vol. i. p. 157. VOL. III. SILVER-STREET.Presbyterian, Extinct. came pastor of the English church at Rotterdam, where he was an acceptable preacher, and discharged the whole of his ministerial work with general approbation. He had there a numerous audience, who knew how to value him; and was held in general reputation by foreign Divines, no less for his great sincerity, than for his excellent attainments in literature. A worthy and reverend person, his neighbour, who was intimately acquainted with him for several years together, says of him, "That he was so much of a piece, the same sincere good man on this side the water, as when he lived there; that to know him there, or here, is much the same." While abroad he was singularly useful to his countrymen who pursued their studies at Leyden and Utrecht. He, also, diligently cultivated the stock of learning he had already acquired; continued a very close student, and increased his fund of knowledge, as well as his library. He was well read in philosophy and history; a good critic, and a solid Divine. He was so charitable as often to leave himself bare; very cordial in his friendships, and such a stranger to artifice and disguise, that he appeared to all who knew him to be made up of sincerity. After the Revolution he left Holland, and coming over to England, became co-pastor with the great Mr. John Howe, whose congregation then met in Silver-street. Upon Mr. Howe's death he succeeded him in his charge, but did not long survive him. To the duties of the ministerial office he likewise joined those of a tutor; and associated himself with two other learned and pious Divines, Mr. William Lorimer, and Dr. Joshua Oldfield. They kept their academy in Hoxton-square; and there was no house in England among the Dissenters which had such great advantages, and where three such learned persons were joined together, so eminently qualified for the several parts allotted them. After Mr. Spademan's death, his place was filled by Mr. Capel, who SILVER-STREET.-Presbyterian, Extinct. had been Prefessor of Hebrew in the University of Samur, before the persecution in France. As a tutor, Mr. Spademan was every way qualified for the great and honourable work in which he was engaged. He had laid in a rich treasure of human learning; being well versed in philosophy, history, polemical divinity, &c. and for skill in the learned languages he had few equals. He was well acquainted with the best scripture critics, and was himself an excellent critic in the original languages of the Old and New Testament. He had also acquired a competent acquaintance with the French, Dutch, and Italien, and was making some progress in the Spanish; for he expected to find something that would reward his pains at that time of day in some of the authors of that country.. The excellent furniture he had acquired fitted him in an eminent degree to instruct others, and while he was thus employed, he discharged his trust with admirable skill and accuracy. He was an utter enemy to the practice of illiterate and unqualified persons, in assuming to themselves the work of the ministry, whom he could never account called, or sent, by God; and, therefore, was the more concerned to communicate useful knowledge to such as were under his care with that design. His eminent attainments in human literature qualified him to appear with considerable reputation in the character of a Divine. With respect to that great part of a minister's work, the preaching of the gospel, he was indeed a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. The subjects he chiefly insisted on from time to time, were neither light nor trivial; nor did he embroil his people in intricate disputes, or fruitless controversies about lesser matters; but entertained them with the most substantial and weighty truths of the gospel. Neither did he confine his labours to the Sabbath-day, but preached also a lecture on Fridays, and was called frequently to exercise his talents on other special occasions. SILVER-STREET.—Presbyterian, Extinct. His method was easy and plain, and remarkable for its justness and accuracy, and a close connexion of things. His style was not laboured, but yet far from a vulgar meanness, and therefore above contempt. He scorned any thing like an affected pomp of words, and all those meaner turns of expression, that some perhaps would have pass for rhetoric, but which is falsely so called. He possessed the happy art of illustrating divine truths in an apt and agreable manner; but a solid judgment was what he approved and discovered, without aiming at flights of fancy. It is also worthy of observation, that together with so good a judgment, he was blessed with a strong and retentive memory ; so that he mostly delivered his sermons without the use of He had a natural fervency of spirit, which he frequently discovered in preaching, as well as in familiar discourse; by which he exactly answered that character given to Cicero, that he was quasi pugnax in loquendo; which some competent judges approve as highly commendable upon proper occasions. notes. The infinitely wise Creator serves his great designs by the different constitutions and tempers of men. In their very formation, and by the various turns of their minds, he qualifies them for this or the other part of service, and those particular circumstances he has designed for them in the world. The very temper of Mr. Spademan's mind fitted him to admonish and reprove with great faithfulness and authority. He was an excellent expositor of the sacred text, easily discovering its genuine sense, and raising pertinent and profitable remarks. In public prayer he was very serious, oftentimes very pathetic and moving, and always methodical, and to the purpose; by which he gave abundant evidence how unjust and unreasonable is the slander cast upon extempore prayer, as though it were always chargeable with blasphemy, or at least with nonsense. He was unweariedly assiduous in his ministerial work, and that even after he was taken ill, and his friends saw reason to dissuade him from |