imprudence I cordially admit; and now see, with more clearness than I formerly did, that the imprudent should never come into company with the malicious.

"I had more to say; but have no room. I sincerely thank you for your letter, and shall always be extremely grateful for your correspondence, your good wishes, and your prayers. "Believe me, as ever, affectionately yours,

"R. HALL, junior."

These letters would not have been inserted after the lapse of fifty years, but for the salutary lesson which they supply. If Christian friendship always manifested itself in such fidelity as is here evinced, and uniformly experienced so kind and ingenuous a reception, what a different aspect, in a few years, would the Christian world assume !

When Mr. Hall was about twenty-three years of age, he had an opportunity of hearing Mr. Robinson, his predecessor at Cambridge, preach; and was so fascinated with his manner as to resolve to imitate it. But, after a few trials, he relinquished the attempt. The circumstance being afterward alluded to, he observed, "Why, sir, I was too proud to remain an imitator. After my second trial, as I was walking home, I heard one of the congregation say to another, Really, Mr. Hall did remind us of Mr. Robinson!' That, sir, was a knock-down blow to my vanity; and I at once resolved that if ever I did acquire reputation, it should be my own reputation, belonging to my own character, and not be that of a likeness. Besides, sir, if I had not been a foolish young man, I should have seen how ridiculous it was to imitate such a preacher as Mr. Robinson. He had a musical voice, and was master of all its intonations; he had wonderful self-possession, and could say what he pleased, when he pleased, and how he pleased; while my voice and manner were naturally bad; and far from having self-command, I never entered the pulpit without omitting to say something that I wished to say, and saying something that I wished unsaid: and besides all this, I ought to have known that for me to speak slow was ruin." "Why so?" "I wonder that you, a student of philosophy, should ask such a question. You know, sir, that force, or momentum, is conjointly as the body and velocity; therefore, as my voice is feeble, what is wanted in body must be made up in velocity, or there will not be, cannot be any impression."

This remark, though thrown off hastily, in unreserved conversation, presents the theory of one important cause of the success of his rapid eloquence.

Shortly after this, Mr. Hall was, for the first time, in Mr. Robinson's society; I believe in London. Mr. Robinson was affluent in flatteries for those who worshipped him, while Mr. Hall neither courted flattery nor scattered its incense upon others. In speaking of the Socinian controversy, the elder indulged in sarcasm upon "juvenile defenders of the faith," and made various efforts to "set the young man down," which tempted Mr. Hall to reply that "if he ever rode into the field of public controversy, he should not borrow Dr. Abbadie's boots." This enigmatical retortt Mr. Robinson understood, and probably felt more than Mr. Hall had anticipated; for he had about that time quitted the field, put off "the boots," and passed to the verge of Socinianism. In the course of some discussions that followed, Mr. Hall, as most of those

* Mr. Hall very frequently repeated the word sir in his conversation, especially if he became animated.

†The allusion was to the defence of the Divinity of our Lord, published in French, by Dr. Abbadie, in his "Vindication of the Truth of the Christian Religion" a work from which Mr. Robinson was thought to have borrowed many of the arguments in his "Plea for the Divinity," &c. without acknowledgment,

who were present thought, completely exposed the dangerous sophis try by which Mr. Robinson endeavoured to explain away some very mo mentous truths. Mr. Robinson, perceiving that the stream of opinion fell in with the arguments of his young opponent, and vexed at being thus foiled, lost his usual placidity and courtesy, and suddenly changed the topic of conversation, saying, "The company may be much better employed than by listening to a raw school-boy, whose head is crammed with Scotch metaphysics." Nothing but a consciousness that the "raw school-boy" had defeated him would have thus thrown him off his guard.

In 1788, Mr. Hall, weary of the solitude to which he was often subjected, as a mere lodger, and anticipating marriage in the course of a few months (an anticipation, however, which was not realized), hired a house; his sister Mary, afterward Mrs. James, kindly consenting to superintend his domestic concerns. From a letter which he then wrote to his father I extract a few passages.

"Feb. 10th, 1788.

"We have a great deal of talk here about the slave-trade; as I understand, from your letter, you have had too. A petition has been sent from hence to parliament for the abolishing it; and a committee is formed to co-operate with that in London, in any measures that may be taken to promote their purpose. At Bristol much opposition is made by the merchants and their dependants, who are many, perhaps most of them, engaged in it. Our petition was signed by eight hundred, or upwards; which, considering that no application has been made to any, we think a great number. Many things have been written in the papers on both sides: some pieces I have written myself, under the signature Britannicus,* which I purpose to get printed in a few pamphlets, and shall send one of them to you. The injustice and inhumanity of the trade are glaring, and upon this ground I mainly proceed: upon the policy of abolishing it I treat lightly, because I am dubious about it; nor can it be of great consequence to the question in hand; for, if it be proved cruel and unjust, it is impious to defend it.

"I am afraid the abolition will not take place speedily, if at all. The trad ing and mercantile interest will make great outcry; the scheme will be thought chimerical, and after producing a few warm speeches, will, I fear, die away."

"My own temper, I know, needs some correction, and it will be my daily endeavour to mend it: it wants gentleness. Mr. M- has done me much good by convincing me, from his own example, to what perfection a temper naturally keen and lofty may be carried."

"So far, I am happy that my duty and my gratification lie in the same direction: so that every step I take towards improvement may be a step towards real pleasure. One inconvenience, indeed, I labour under with respect to my temper, by being connected with my sister; and that is, she never tries it."

A serious trial of another kind now, however, awaited Mr. Hall-a painful misunderstanding between him and his friend and colleague Dr. Evans. It continued not only to disturb the minds of both, but, as might be expected, to create partisans among their respective friends, and indeed to endanger the peace of the church at Broadmead, for more than two years. I have read various written papers, and some pamphlets, which relate to this painful affair; and cannot but conclude that, like many others, it originated in such trifling misconceptions as, in more felicitous circumstances, neither party would have suffered to disturb his thoughts for an hour. A few hasty expressions, retorted by others both hasty and strong, tempted the doctor and his friends to

*These I have not been able to procure. It would be curious to compare them with his more mature sentiments on the subject, so admirably exhibited in vol. ii. p. 159-168.

VOL. III.-2

accuse Mr. Hall of ingratitude, and a want of deference to his superior in age and station; he, in his turn, repelled the accusation, in language too natural to a young man glowing with a lofty spirit of independence; and thus, new charges and fresh recriminations arose. The interposition of friends availed but little; for their unhallowed passions became ignited too. After many months spent in this unseemly strife, a meeting between the belligerent parties was held, in the presence of two friends of each, at the Mansion House, the Mayor of Bristol being one of the persons chosen by Dr. Evans. No beneficial effects resulted from this meeting; the individuals, who hoped by their interposition to ensure the restoration of amity, having long before ceased to be impartial judges in the affair. The parties on both sides, who were convened on this occasion, published their respective statements; from which it appears that one of them thought Mr. Hall justifiable, and censured Dr. Evans; while the other approved of the doctor's conduct, and condemned that of Mr. Hall.

It will not, then, be expected that I should draw from the obscurity which time has cast over them more particulars relating to this unhappy collision. Nor, indeed, should I have adverted to it, had it not operated strongly in preparing Mr. Hall for his removal from Bristol. Whatever regret it might occasion him, on subsequent meditation it excited no self-reproach, nor left any malevolent feeling. On the decease of Dr. Evans, which took place in 1791, his former colleague prepared an inscription for his monument; and he wrote the following letter to his brother-in-law, Mr. Isaac James, in reply to that which announced the doctor's death.

"DEAR BROTHer,

"Cambridge, Aug. 12, 1791.

"The contents of your letter received this day have affected me more than almost any thing of the kind I ever met with in my life. It is in all points of view a most solemn event; but, from obvious circumstances, to me it cannot fail of being peculiarly so. It is truly affecting to recollect the friendship that so long subsisted between us, and that it should end so unhappily in a breach that admits of no repair, no remedy! Yet, though I feel most pungently upon this occasion, I am happy to be able to join with you in declaring that my conscience is not loaded with guilt. Abating too much of an unhappy violence, I have the mens conscia recti. Were the circumstances to occur again, a breach would, as before, be inevitable. But though, in justice to myself, I say thus much, there is no one more disposed to lament the deceased than myself, or who has a truer sensibility of the real virtues of his character. I have written to Mr. Higgs, and therefore I need say the less to you upon these melancholy topics. The chief purpose, indeed, of my troubling you at present is to request you will be so kind as to give me the earliest and most particular account of every thing that passes at his funeral; the persons present, the sermon, the impression of the event, deep no doubt and awful, the whole state of things at Bristol, their future prospects and intentions, every thing relating to these matters that you know. The situation of the family and the church, though I doubt not I am the object of their joint abhorrence, I most sincerely compassionate. May God guide and comfort them. think you and all my friends ought now to bury all that is past, and renew a connexion with the church, if their temper will permit you. My friends will most oblige me by carrying it respectfully to the doctor's family and memory. • Anger may glance into the bosom of a wise man, but it rests only in the bosom of fools;' and our best improvement of the death of this useful servant of God will be to imitate his excellences and forget his errors. Pray write as soon as possible. I shall be extremely impatient till I hear. I am, dear brother,

"To Mr. Isaac James."

"Your affectionate brother,

"R. HALL."

I

Before this time it was generally apprehended that Mr. Hall's senti

ments had, on some momentous points, deviated considerably from the accredited standards of even moderate orthodoxy; and he had given much pain to some of his Baptist friends on account of his views with regard to rebaptizing. Some correspondence took place between him and the Broadmead church on these subjects: and, as well that the sentiments he then really held may be known, as that the extent of his declension into positive error may be judged of from his own language, I shall here insert the frank exposition of his opinions, which he addressed to the church when he was on the eve of dissolving his connexion with it.

"MY DEAR Brethren,

"Thursday, Dec. 9th, 1790,

"Every token of your respect and attachment sensibly affects me; and, as you have requested me to explain myself on those sentiments to which I alluded as reasons of separation, I think it a duty I owe to myself and to you to give you all the satisfaction in my power.

"1st. In the first place, I am a firm believer in the proper divinity of Jesus Christ; in the merits of Christ as the sole ground of acceptance in the sight of God, without admitting works to have any share in the great business of justification; and in the necessity of Divine influence to regenerate and sanctify the mind of every man, in order to his becoming a real Christian. Thus far in the affirmative.

"2dly. In the second place, I am not a Calvinist, in the strict and proper sense of that term. I do not maintain the federal headship of Adam, as it is called, or the imputation of his sin to his posterity; and this doctrine I have always considered, and do still consider, as the foundation of that system. I believe we have received from our first parents, together with various outward ills, a corrupt and irregular bias of mind; but, at the same time, it is my firm opinion that we are liable to condemnation only for our own actions, and that guilt is a personal and individual thing. I believe in the doctrine of the Divine decrees, and of course in the predestination of all events, of which the number of the finally saved is one. But this appears to me a different thing from the doctrine of absolute clection and reprobation, as it has ever been explained by Calvinists, which does not meet my approbation. Without going into a large field of metaphysical discussion, this is all I think it requisite to say respecting my orthodoxy; but there are two other points which have occasioned a good deal of conversation, and from some quarters a good deal of censure; upon which I shall therefore beg leave to explain myself in a few words.

"3dly. I am, and have been for a long time, a materialist, though I have never drawn your attention to this subject in my preaching: because I have always considered it myself, and wished you to consider it, as a mere metaphysical specu lation. My opinion, however, upon this head is, that the nature of man is simple and uniform; that the thinking powers and faculties are the result of a certain organization of matter; and that after death he ceases to be conscious until the resurrection."

"Much has been said upon my opinions respecting baptism, and I am happy to have this opportunity of explaining my sentiments on that subject in particular, as it affects, not only the propriety of my former relation to this church, but of any future connexion I may form with any other Christian society. On this point much mistake, much misrepresentation, I hope not voluntary, has taken place; and on this account I trust you will excuse my dwelling upon it a little more particu larly than its importance in other respects might seem to justify. It has been held out to the world by some that I am not a Baptist. I am, both in respect to the subject and to the mode of this institution, a Baptist. To apply this ordinance to infants appears to me a perversion of the intention of the sacred institution; and the primitive, the regular, and proper mode of administration I take to be immersion. Still it appears to me that sprinkling, though an innovation, does not deprive baptism of its essential validity, so as to put the person that has been sprinkled in adult age upon a footing with the unbaptized. The whole of my sen

timents amounts to this, I would not myself baptize in any other manner than by immersion, because I look upon immersion as the ancient mode, that it best represents the meaning of the original term employed, and the substantial import of this institution; and because I should think it right to guard against the spirit of innovation, which in positive rites is always dangerous and progressive: but I should not think myself authorized to rebaptize any one who has been sprinkled in adult age. I shall only remark, in addition to what I have already said upon this point, that if it be a sufficient objection to my union with a Baptist congregation; then, as all Christendom is composed of Baptists or Pedobaptists, it amounts to my exclusion, as a minister, from every Christian society throughout the whole earth an interdict equally absurd and inhuman, founded upon a conduct merely negative in chimerical situations seldom or never likely to occur.

"I have thus, in compliance with your wishes, and with all the perspicuity in my power, in a few words explained to you my religious opinions, with a more particular view to the subjects on which I may be supposed most to err; and this avowal I have made, partly as a testimony of the respect I bear you, and partly to vindicate my character from any suspicion of ambiguity or reserve; but not at all with the remotest wish to win popularity or to court your suffrages; for at present it is as little in my power to accept any invitation to continue, as it may be in your inclination to give it, as I hold myself engaged in honour as a probationer for six months to a respectable society at Cambridge. May peace and prosperity attend you. "I am, your friend and brother, "With the greatest respect,

"R. HALL."

The vexations and perplexities in which Mr. Hall had been for some time involved doubtless facilitated his removal to another sphere of action. And he who duly meditates upon the way in which the great Head of the church renders the movements of his providence subservient to his merciful purposes in redemption, will, I am persuaded, trace the superintending hand on this occasion.

Mr. Robinson, the pastor of the church at Cambridge with which Mr. Hall was now about to be connected, was a man of extensive powers, of some genius, and of considerable industry and research. Fascinating as a preacher, delightful as a companion, perseveringly skilful in the insinuation of his sentiments, his influence could not but be great. From the profession of orthodox opinions, he had passed by a rather rapid transition, not to Socinianism, but far beyond, to the very borders of infidelity; such, at least, was the substance of his declaration to Dr. Priestley, whom he thanked for preserving him from that awful gulf. Vain speculation was substituted for knowledge, faith, and experience; confession and prayer but seldom made a part of the public worship which he conducted, his effusions before sermon consisting almost altogether of ascriptions of praise; and the congregation became so transformed and deteriorated in consequence, that among the more intelligent classes, with only two or three exceptions, "he was esteemed the best Christian who was most skilled in disputation," not he who evinced most of the "spirit of Christ." The majority of the poorer members, however, escaped the contagion, and were ready to co-operate with the late Mr. Foster, who was then the senior deacon, and another of the deacons, who equally deplored the evils which had fallen upon them. Cordially attached to those doctrines which they regarded as fundamental, and therefore as constituting the basis of church union, they were preparing to call upon the whole body to consider the expediency of requesting Mr. Robinson to resign, when his sudden death at Birmingham, just after he had been preaching in Dr. Priestley's pulpit, rendered such a measure unnecessary. On the news of this event reaching Cambridge, Mr. Foster, who was then on his death-bed, made it his