1 841-1846.] 



SERVICES AT STAND. 



93 



drunkard. I wish I was a reformed man. 0 God, save me 

 from sin !" On another occasion : "It is certainly wonderful 

 how merciful God is to me ; it is for the sake of my father and 

 my people." 



He often notes a large attendance of strangers at the 

 chapel. Once there was " a great company from Dukinfield " 

 once "twenty from Newchurch, including a new-married 

 couple " — it was their wedding excursion, to hear their favourite 

 preacher ; but there was no large accession of seat-holders, 

 though there was a great increase in those whom he took under 

 his pastoral charge. He introduced the minister whom he 

 expected to be his successor to 240 families. Many of them 

 did not regard the Stand chapel as being "for the likes of 

 them," and at that time no special welcome was offered them. 

 The chapel-keeper was in the choir; and once Philip, seeing 

 from the pulpit some poor persons in the burial-ground, came 

 down himself to usher them in ! 



His influence was not to be measured by the size of his 

 congregation. He became " a living epistle of Christ, known 

 and read of all men " in that district. It was rare to find any 

 one who so unreservedly strove to live out his Christian convic- 

 tions, and showed their contrast with the customs of the world. 

 Many of the neighbouring ministers criticized his ways, but 

 they were often led by them to examine their own. The 

 general esteem in which he was held is shown by the compli- 

 ment paid him this summer by the Provincial Assembly.* His 

 services excited attention wherever he preached. Sunday-school 

 teachers f were especially drawn to him ; at their meetings, his 

 appeals stirred them " like the sound of a trumpet." The 

 students at Manchester College felt the warmth of his sympa- 



* The Provincial Assembly of Presbyterian (and Unitarian) Ministers 

 of Lancashire and Cheshire dates from 1645 5 a t their annual meeting, in 

 June, they ballot for a " supporter," who conducts the devotional service the 

 next year, and is the preacher in the year following. Philip asked to be 

 excused attendance in 1847 5 t> u t in 1848 he preached to a large and very 

 attentive congregation at Gee Cross, i ' Quench not the spirit." 



t At the request of the Bury teachers, he printed, just before leaving 

 Stand, his sermon, "What do ye more than others? An Address to 

 Christian Professors," which he had preached at several places. 



