Charity sermons were one of the most familiar genres of sermons for Dissenting congregations during the first half of the eighteenth century. Dissenters routinely preached sermons to support charities. During the 1730s and 1740s, the variety of charity sermons increased with the founding of the Society for the Relief of the Widows and Orphans of Dissenting Ministers (SRWO), and some local charities such as charity houses. Sermons were regularly followed by collections for the charity, and preachers encouraged their hearers to make donations or become subscribers. Sometimes the sermons also were published to further promote and solicit funds. Scholars have extensively studied Anglican charity sermons during the eighteenth century, but they have paid much less attention to charity sermons by Dissenters. The few works on Dissenting charity sermons consider discourses by both Anglicans and Dissenters and often focus on charity school sermons. This relative neglect is perhaps unsurprising because Dissenters published significantly fewer charity sermons than Anglicans, likely due to the uncertain profitability of publishing these sermons, and much of the other evidence for these sermons is scattered in the records of individual Dissenting congregations, making these sermons less visible to scholars. This chapter considers the varieties of charity sermons preached by Dissenters; their use in fundraising for Dissenting charities; the arguments used by preachers to encourage support for the charities; and the trends in, and the economics of, the publication of charity sermons. Charity sermons were important for supporting the philanthropic causes of Dissenters and provide insight into the views of and the motivations for charitable giving during this period.

Dissenters’ charity sermons and fundraising Dissenting preachers addressed the important Christian duty of charity in their sermons on a variety of occasions. Sermons discussing charity would have been suitable before collections for the poor, which were common after the Lord’s Supper. Some congregations had annual sermons for local charities as well. For example, the Presbyterian meeting initially at Meeting House Court, and later at Carter Lane, London, had a sermon on 1 January for charity distributed by a religious society. Dissenters also heard sermons before collections to assist people in distress, both victims of local disasters and persecuted foreign Protestants.

Eighteenth-century London had a vibrant civic culture that provided many opportunities for people of all ranks to participate in meetings, activities and events which helped define the nature of metropolitan life. Londoners could have watched the grand ceremonies of the Corporation of London, attended the feasts of the livery companies, participated in their parishes' events and governance, or gone to the meetings of the numerous charities and societies in the capital. All of these occasions helped to provide a sense of identity and belonging within the various communities in London and also reinforced the central values of these communities. Many of the most important civic occasions included a sermon as part of the festivities or meetings. There was preaching at the election of the Lord Mayor; at the anniversary meetings of many of the livery companies, charities and societies; and at fast or feast days that were inspired by current or historical events in London. There also were regular charity sermons at many churches and meeting houses across the city. The clergy were expected to make their sermons relevant to the occasions on which they were delivered, so these preachers addressed many of the core civic values and commented on the aims and work of the various groups.

This chapter discusses the contributions of these preachers to London's civic culture. There have been a number of studies of these ‘civic’ sermons, but these have tended to focus on a particular type of sermon, such as charity sermons or sermons at a particular occasion or before a specific audience, so the similar function these sermons served in London life has not been considered.

Preaching was everywhere in eighteenth-century England. Sermons were an important part of the religious experience of the English people, who heard them at their parish churches and meeting houses on Sundays and religious holidays, and at funerals. Preaching was also expected at political anniversaries and elections, thanksgiving and fast days, and society and charity meetings, all of which were major occasions on the English political and social calendars. While sermons were a part of everyday life for many English people, the largest centre for preaching in the nation was, unquestionably, London. With its dozens of parish churches, chapels and meeting houses, the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, the capital city encompassed the most numerous and widest variety of preaching venues in the nation. Londoners, with the inclination and leisure, could have attended several sermons on Sunday and a number during the week, sampling the work of many preachers. Those people with less free time still might have heard two sermons on a Sunday, either attending both sermons at their church or hearing one there and then going to another church for a second sermon. The presence of the court, parliament and many societies and charities also provided further opportunities for preaching. Thus, there were numerous sermons delivered around the capital on any given day. Certainly, some of the larger urban centres offered a wide variety of sermons to their inhabitants, but none on the scale of London.

There can be little doubt of the importance of sermons to London life during the first sixty years of the eighteenth century. Preaching held a privileged position in the religious life of the many varied denominations in the community, including Anglicans, Dissenters, foreign Protestants and even Jews. The shared culture of preaching meant that the language and preoccupations of these various groups were strikingly similar. The capital offered a seemingly limitless supply of such discourses to the numerous sermon tasters, who frequented not only Sunday sermons but also weekly lectures. In fact, sermons were quite popular throughout the period, attracting the interest of the laity in the nature and quality of preaching, as well as their financial support for lectures and occasional sermons. Yet, sermons were not restricted to the religious sphere and were also central to many of the most important social occasions in London, such the spittal sermons and the meetings of the SPG, SRM, charity schools and the Sons of the Clergy, during which they were used as a form of entertainment, promotion and fundraising. Preaching was likewise showcased at significant civic occasions, such as the election of the Lord Mayor and the commemoration of important events in both the present and past of the capital, when ministers helped to define and reinforce the social order and reflected on life in the capital. Of course, national political occasions were also marked by sermons, as were moments of crisis, such as the Jacobite rebellions, foreign wars and natural disasters, and they served as an important forum for political debate and education throughout the period.

Printed sermons were ubiquitous in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England. Dozens of sermons were printed each year between 1700 and 1760, and contemporaries noted that booksellers' shelves simply groaned with sermons. Sermons from a wide variety of occasions and before a range of audiences were printed, and these discourses made up a significant proportion of the publications from this period, constituting an important and distinct genre. They also reached a broad audience, providing them with current, topical and relevant commentary on many of the most important issues of the day, and presented the public face of the various religious denominations in England. The importance and significance of sermons has been increasingly recognised by scholars. However, despite the frequent reliance of these studies on printed sermons, until relatively recently, little attention has been paid to the specific genre of printed sermons, and there have been few attempts to survey the genre as a whole.

This chapter aims to begin to fill this gap by providing an overview of printed London sermons, particularly those that were printed soon after being preached, which were both numerous and influential. This analysis includes not only Anglican sermons, but also those of Dissenters and preachers of foreign denominations in London to provide a comprehensive overview of sermon culture in the capital. It situates this important medium in the cultural life of the capital and examines the nature of these discourses, including the most important venues, occasions and audiences, as well as the range of preachers and denominations publishing sermons in the capital between 1700 and 1760.

In the realm of eighteenth-century print, sermons were one of the most popular and accessible genres. Scholars have suggested that sermons accounted for as many as one in every fourteen titles, which meant that about two or three sermons a week came off the presses during the eighteenth century. The vast majority of single sermons were printed in a cheap, unbound, octavo format, which cost from 1d to 1s and would have been affordable for most people. Sermons by a wide range of preachers and on an almost unlimited selection of texts and subjects were available in print, such that a variety of guides to printed sermons were published for the aid of students, clergy and other avid sermon readers. Many booksellers put their names to at least one sermon during the course of their career, and sermons were profitable enough for some printers and booksellers to specialise in sermons, particularly those whose shops were located near St Paul's Cathedral, where religious bookselling dominated. Printed sermons were so prevalent that at times preachers felt that they were in competition with discourses in print, for some people seemed to prefer reading a selection of excellent published sermons to actually coming to church to hear a preacher. In 1722, William Berriman chastised such parishioners who thought they could excuse themselves from church by arguing that they were ‘reading better Sermons at home than they can hear at Church’.

Adams, John, A Sermon Preach'd in Lambeth Chapel June the 6th, 1708. At the Consecration of the Right Reverend Father in God, William Lord Bishop of St. Asaph (1708).

Adams, Thomas, The Believer's Knowledge of a Living Redeemer. In a Funeral Sermon, Occasioned by the Death of Mr. Thomas Meredith (1755).

Allen, John, The Nature and Danger of Despising Repeated Reproofs, Considered; in a Sermon Preached at Hanover-Street, Long-Acre, March 11. 1749-50. On Occasion of the Two Late Earthquakes (1750).

Allen, Joshua, Uniform and Sincere Obedience Our Indispensable Duty. A Sermon on James II.10. Preached at St. Paul's Covent-Garden in the Year 1736. In Which Is Shewn, the True Notion of Christian Perfection. And a Preface Concerning the Grounds of Moral Obligation (1738).

Amory, Thomas, God Crowneth the Year with His Goodness. A Sermon Preached at St. Thomas's, January 1, 1760. For the Benefit of the Charity-School in Gravel-Lane, Southwark (1760).

Anderson, James, No King-Killers. A Sermon Preach'd in Swallow-Street, St. James's, on January 30. 1714/15 (1715).

Ashton, Thomas, A Sermon Preached in the Parish-Church of Christ-Church, London, on Wednesday May the 14th, 1760: Being the Time of the Yearly Meeting of the Children Educated in the Charity-Schools, in and About the Cities of London and Westminster (1760).

Atkinson, Benjamin Andrewes, A Sermon Preach'd to the Societies for Reformation of Manners at Salter's-Hall, on Monday, June 29, 1726 (1726).

As these two nonconformist preachers noted in the 1720s, there was a broad range of worship and preaching in London, which reflected the diverse and vibrant religious culture of the city. The metropolis was home for a wide variety of Christians, where Anglican churches, Dissenting meeting houses, foreign Protestant churches and even Catholic chapels were all nestled together, providing a great diversity of worship that would cater for virtually any religious preference. Sermons played a central role in the religious services of all the various religious groups in London, but also were preached on a much wider range of occasions to various groups in the capital. Some people in London, residents and visitors alike, revelled in this diversity of preaching.