THE HON. AND REV. BAPTIST W. NOEL, M.A.

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 409, 16 March 1850, Page 3

THE HON. AND REV. BAPTIST W. NOEL, M.A.

This gentleman, since his secession from the Church of England, having obtained a European fame, and his celebrated work on Church and State having been eagerly read by many of the colonists, we give the following extract of his public lifd, from the Illustrated London News, which no doubt will be acceptable to some of our readers : Baptist Wriotheiley Noel is descended from or connected with ancient Scotch families, maternally derived from a distinguished one in Kincardinshire, and paternally related to the noble house of Hamilton. " It would be impossible to write (says a biographer in the Christian Times) a little romance of a certain Charles Middleton, born in Scotland in 1726, who entered the Navy, rose in his profession, and pushed his fortunes till he was created a peer by the title of Lord Barham, was made a member of his Majesty' 9 Privy Council, and First Lord of the Admiralty from May, 1805, to February, 1806, during which short administration not fewer than four memorable victories were gained over the French. " Lord Barham had one child, a daughter, the wife of Sir Gerard Noel, great-grandson of the fourth Duke of Hamilton, who became Lady Barbam in her own right ; her eldest son succeeding to the title, which has since been changed by his obtaining a step in the Peerage to that of the Earl of Gainsborough. Lady Barham, the solitary child of her father, bore to Sir Gerard Noel eighteen children, of whom Baptist is the sixteenth child and eleventh son, born at Leichmont, near Leith, N. B. } July 10, 1799. Mr. Noel was educated partly at Westminstrr and partly at a private school, took hii degrees at Cambridge, and studied for the Law. He was thus engaged when, in May, 1824, at the Anniversary Meeting of the London Missionary Society, held in the Weileyan Chapel, Great Queen-street, Lincolna-inn-fields, Mr. Noel first appeared in public life. He is desciibed to have been for some time firm and decided in his religious character and views, and was already identified With religious men and religious movements, evangelical in character and spirit. " Mr. Noel's youthful appearance," sayi the biographer already quoted, who witnessed the scene he describes, " his elegant and gentlemanly bearing, the polish of his language, and the grace and propriety of his manner, combined with his quiet but deep and vivid enthusiasm, his freshness as a public speaker, and the exciting nature of his theme (the martyred missionary Smith), together with the power and directness of his appeal, all tended to give inteiest and memorableness to his entrance on public life, and to raise the feeling and expectation of his auditors to the highest pitch.' 1 Very soon after this event Mr. Noel took orders ; we are not aware on what title, nor whether he sustained any pastoral charge previous to his undertaking St. John's Chapel, as minister of which he has been for so many years known to the public. "Asapreicher Mr. Noel soon became popular—* though rather by richness of fancy and copiousness of language, than by originality or profundity of thought, compact or convincing argument, or imaginative reasoning. His views settled at once into the evangelical form : his sermons, therefore, were always distinguished by the prominence given in them to the Gospel, as emphatically the truth, by his allusions to the inward life of the believer, and by his earnest appeals to the worldly and unconverted, He was devoted, as a pastor, to the interests of his flock, especially of the young ; and hit Bible- clasies, and other modes of pastoral occupation, are thought to have rendered him occasionally less effective in the pulpit ; yet when he girded himself up for any theme, few men could handle it with more vigour, clearnesi or closeness, either of thought, reasoning, or application. Mr. Noel's merits as a speaker at public meetings are of a high order. "He is always self-posiessed— calm, terious, flowing, elegant— risiug at times into eloquence and passion. He delights in itatiitics, numbers, particulars, facts, and would seem often to have very carefully prepared and arranged these before hand, though he may have left his language a good deal to the prompting of the moment. Few men have done more than Mr, Nosl to make the platform respectable to the minister, or through it to promote everything connected with religion and philanthropy." As an author Mr. Noel has been frequently before the public, and in various characters. He has pub* Imbed a " Journey in Switzerland," and " Notes of a Tour though Ireland in 1836," both interesting for their information, tone and tendency, His religious works range from " Infant Piety, a Book foi Little Children," to two volumes of eeimons, preached in the Chapel Royal by Mr. Noel, as Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen. The second of these volumes was published last year, and is characterised by earnest evangelical spirit, elevated thought, and other marks of accomplished writing. Mr: Noel has taken part in controversial topics oftener than has been gratifying to his admirers. He prominently advocated the exclusion of Sociniam from membership and office in the Bible Society, from which he withdrew ; but afterwards reviewed his opinions, and returned. In the agitation upon • Church Reform' tome sixteen years since, Mr. Noel stood up for a sweeping modification of the Episcopacy of the Establishment. He next lent his impressive aid to the building and endowment by public money of a very large number of new churches. " The Case of the Free Church of Scotland," in book and lecture illustration, has also been taken up by Mr. Noel, as well as the position of the Irish Church ; and during the agitation for the Repeal of the Corn Laws, Mr. Noel published a powerful tract entitled " A Plea for the Poor," of which nearly 50,003 copies were circulated. Mr. Noel has also materially aided in the foundation of the " Evangelical Alliance." Mr. Noel's recent secession from the Establishment could scarcely have surprised the attentive readers of h's works, which are remarkable for anything but strict conformity with clerical regime' This was followed by the publication of his " Esiay on the Union of the Church with the State," of which a large edition was 8 Id within a few days. To Mr. Noel's recent baptism we need only briefly revert : the ceremony took place on Thuraday evening tie 9th August, in the Rev. Mr. Evans chapel, Johnstreet, Bedfori Row. Mr. Noel married, in 1826, the eldest daughter of Peter Baillie, E>:q , of Docufour, by whom he hat o nunQerou« family.