Chelsea in the olden & present times / by George Bryan.

  • Bryan, George.
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Chelsea in the olden & present times / by George Bryan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    continued in the curacy. A petition for tliis purpose was pre- sented to Mr. Cadogan, but it was rejected with strong marks of disapprobation. The old congregation therefore became dispersed. Some of them, under the patronage of the Countess of Huntingdon, opened a place for Divine worship for them- selves, while others, who were unwilling to leave the church altogether, thought that they perceived marks of sincerity in his conduct and preaching, attempted, by frequent admonitory letters, to convince Mr. Cadogan of what they considered to be his “ errors,” and to set him “right.” On this occasion several letters passed between him and Mrs. Talbot, the widow of the previous vicar, whose house was opened for religious e.xercises, and where prayer was occasionally offered up for his conversion. Mr. Cadogan is said to have been highly offended, but at length, humbled and subdued, he fell at the feet of accumulated kindness, and confessed to the last moment of his life, that “ Mrs. Talbot’s letters and e.xample were the principal means of leading him to the saving knowledge of Christ.” It produced, it appears, a great change in his manner of preaching, and led the way to his intimacy with the Rev. Mr. Hill, Mr. Romaine, and others, who were distinguished by the title of popular preachers. He likewise offered the curacy to Mr. Halward, who previously he had but “lightly esteemed,” but that gentleman had then accepted some preferment which prevented him from acceding to the offer. Mr. Cadogan divided his time between Chelsea and Reading; but finding his labours in both places too arduous, he let the reclory-house, and left Chelsea in charge of the Rev. Mr. Middleton, his curate, except at the season of Lent, and of the Sacrament, on which occasions the church was crowded. Mr. Cadogan was seized at Reading on a Thursday evening, after his lecture, with an inflammation of the bowels, and departed this life on the following Tuesday, expressing with his lips that which was his “ glorious theme, the unbounded love of Christ.” He died in 1797, aged 46. A monument, designed by Bacon, is erected in the church at Reading. Beneath the inscription are the crosier or pastoral staff; the rod of Aaron, which budded and yielded almonds ; and the book mentioned in the Revelations, as sealed with seven seals. The Rev. Charles Sturges was presented to this rectory in 1797. Respectful mention is made of him in Mrs. Trimmer's publication on the Sunday Schools of Old Brentford. He has a copy of Latin verses in the Musse Etonenses, and another in the Academice Cantabrigiensis Luctus, on the death of George II,