John Mockett Cramp
John Mockett Cramp [1]
an eminent Baptist educator and author, was born at St. Peter's, Isle of Thanet, England, July 25, 1791, and educated at Stepney College. He was successively pastor at Southwark, London, in 1818; St. Peter's, Isle of Thanet, from 1827 to 1842 (part of the time assisting his father, Reverend Thomas Cramp), and Hastings in 1842. In 1844 he assumed the presidency of an unsuccessful Baptist College in Montreal, Canada, which he held until 1849. He was editor, in that city, of The Register from 1844 to 1849, of The Colonial Protestant (With Reverend W. Taylor, D.D.) in 1848 and 1849, and of The Pilot from 1849 to 1851. In 1857 he became president of Acadia College, Wolfville, N.S., and the remainder of his busy life he devoted to furthering the cause of Baptist education and religion in the maritime provinces. Until he resigned his position in 1869, his influence was pre-eminent in all questions of denominational and educational politics. He found his college weak and poor; he left it on a firm foundation, with an able staff of instructors, and a good attendance of students. The home and foreign mission enterprise and the temperance movement shared his earnest support. He died at his home in Wolfville, December 7, 1881. Dr. Cramp was an eminent linguist and historian, a celebrated theologian, and as a patristic scholar and in Church history had few equals in the dominion. His works are, A Text-book of Popery; or, A History Of The Council Of Trent (Lond. 1831; enlarged. Lond. and N.Y. 1851, 8vo), a one-sided commentary on the history and decrees of the council, from the standpoint of a narrow and violent Protestantism; a valuable work, however, containing vast information: — The Reformation in Europe (Lond. 1844, 18mo): — Lectures for the Times (ibid. eod.): — Introductory Theological Address (Halifax, N.S., 1851): — Portraiture from Life, by a Bereaved Husband (ibid. 1862): — The Great Ejectment of 1862 (ibid. eod.): — Catechism of Christian Baptism (ibid. and Phila. 1865, 18mo), an able presentation, answered by Reverend D.D. Currie: — History of the Baptists from the Apostolic Times to the Close of the 18th Century (Lond. 1868, 8vo, which has been translated into German), a work whose value is lessened by its dogmatic spirit: Paul and Christ (ibid. and Halifax, 1873), a delightful and finely written book: — The Lamb of God (Edinb. 1874). His Memoirs of Madame Feller and of Dr. Cote are records of certain mission and educational work in the province of Quebec. See The Wesleyan, February 3, 1882; Morgan, Biblioth. Canadensis, s.v.
