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Frederick W. Robertson
Frederick W. Robertson (February 3, 1816 – August 15, 1853) was an English preacher and Anglican clergyman whose brief but impactful ministry transformed pulpit oratory in Victorian England with its depth and humanity. Born in London, England, to Frederick Robertson, a retired army captain, and Mary Isabella Beatson, he was the eldest of six children in a military family that moved to Le Havre, France, in 1818, then settled near Cheltenham, England, by 1821. Educated privately due to frail health, he excelled at Brasenose College, Oxford (B.A. 1840), where he was influenced by evangelicalism and the Oxford Movement, ordained a deacon in 1840 and priest in 1841. Robertson’s preaching career began as curate in Winchester (1840) and Cheltenham (1842–1846), followed by a brief stint in Oxford (1846–1847), before his defining role as incumbent of Trinity Chapel, Brighton (1847–1853). His sermons—delivered to overflowing crowds of artisans, aristocrats, and doubters—blended intellectual rigor with emotional appeal, tackling faith, doubt, and social justice, later published posthumously as Sermons Preached at Brighton (1855–1872). Physically frail, he served as a military chaplain in Portugal (1841) and traveled Europe seeking health, but his Brighton tenure cemented his fame. Married to Helen Denys in 1842, daughter of a Cheltenham surgeon, they had three children—Helen, Frederick (died infancy), and Albert—before her death in childbirth in 1849. Robertson died at age 37 in Brighton, England, from a brain abscess.
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Frederick W. Robertson emphasizes the importance of integrity, defining it as entireness, wholeness, and soundness of character. He highlights that integrity is tested in small matters more than in great ones, revealing the true allegiance of the soul to truth. Robertson challenges the notion that integrity is merely about sincerity or honesty, pointing out that true integrity involves hating untruth for what it is, regardless of the harm it may or may not cause.
True Integrity
"But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity ..." (Ps. 26:11). The next qualification is integrity. But by integrity I do not mean simply sincerity or honesty; integrity rather according to the meaning of the word as its derivation interprets it--entireness--wholeness--soundness: that which Christ means when He says, "If thine eye be single or sound, thy whole body shall be full of light." This integrity extends through the entireness or wholeness of the character. It is found in small matters as well as great; for the allegiance of the soul to truth is tested by small things rather than by those which are more important. There is many a man who would lose his life rather than perjure himself in a court of justice, whose life is yet a tissue of small insincerities. We think that we hate falsehood when we are only hating the consequences of falsehood. We resent hypocrisy, and treachery and calumny, not because they are untrue, but because they harm us. We hate the false calumny, but we are half pleased with the false praise. It is evidently not the element of untruth here that is displeasing, but the element of harmfulness. Now he is a man of integrity who hates untruth as untruth: who resents the smooth and polished falsehood of society which does no harm: who turns in indignation from the glittering whitened lie of sepulchral Pharisaism which injures no one. Integrity recoils from deceptions which men would almost smile to hear called deception.
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Frederick W. Robertson (February 3, 1816 – August 15, 1853) was an English preacher and Anglican clergyman whose brief but impactful ministry transformed pulpit oratory in Victorian England with its depth and humanity. Born in London, England, to Frederick Robertson, a retired army captain, and Mary Isabella Beatson, he was the eldest of six children in a military family that moved to Le Havre, France, in 1818, then settled near Cheltenham, England, by 1821. Educated privately due to frail health, he excelled at Brasenose College, Oxford (B.A. 1840), where he was influenced by evangelicalism and the Oxford Movement, ordained a deacon in 1840 and priest in 1841. Robertson’s preaching career began as curate in Winchester (1840) and Cheltenham (1842–1846), followed by a brief stint in Oxford (1846–1847), before his defining role as incumbent of Trinity Chapel, Brighton (1847–1853). His sermons—delivered to overflowing crowds of artisans, aristocrats, and doubters—blended intellectual rigor with emotional appeal, tackling faith, doubt, and social justice, later published posthumously as Sermons Preached at Brighton (1855–1872). Physically frail, he served as a military chaplain in Portugal (1841) and traveled Europe seeking health, but his Brighton tenure cemented his fame. Married to Helen Denys in 1842, daughter of a Cheltenham surgeon, they had three children—Helen, Frederick (died infancy), and Albert—before her death in childbirth in 1849. Robertson died at age 37 in Brighton, England, from a brain abscess.