Cheapfide, and Mr. Jones very good-naturedly propofed fpeaking to his old acquaintance, and on getting up to him, he faid with a cheerful countenance, "Mr. Romaine, I do not know whether you recollect one William Jones, but I do know that I do not forget you.' To which Mr. Romaine made a laconic reply, which neither of the gentlemen diftinctly heard, but the words impreffed upon them at the moment were, "No, nor my Master, I hope;" and true it is, that Mr. Romaine, after

quently do to his moft intimate friends, as he had almost as great an averfion to ftop talking in the ftreet, as in the church, in the latter of which he was fo remarkable, and fo worthy of imitation. I conceive, Sir, it is a justice due to all parties to infert this, for the authenticity of which I am refponfible.

Blackfriars, March 23, 1796.

I am yours,

WILLIAM GOODE.

Why was not this letter inferted, or at least acknowledged? Should not a work, called " Evangelical," be careful to speak evil of no man? Should it not, if it accufe falfely, take the earliest opportunity of acknowledging its error? Is it fair to fuppofe that Mr. J.'s intimacy with Mr. Romaine fhould have been difcon tinued from an idea that it would obftruct his preferment in the world? Does not the character of Mr. J. as a scholar, a clergyman, and a christian, stand too high to be foiled by a paragraph in the Evangelical Magazine? Or is it to be inferred, from the general tenor and tendency of his life and writings, that the Judge of quick and dead will deny him at the great day, and include him in that awful fentence, Depart from me, I never knew you?

having

having made this anfwer, turned upon his heel, and croffed the street, leaving them not a little astonished at this unexpected reception. It might be unexpected to them, but it was not an uncommon reception for Mr. Romaine to give in the street to his moft intimate friends. He had a natural quicknefs, and fometimes roughnefs in his manner, which were often mistaken, when not meant, for anger and rudeness. He was feldom in the ftreet, but upon bufinefs; and being intent upon his engagement, and as frugal of his time as he was prodigal of his labour, he feldom faluted any man by the way, neither was it his custom to fall out by the way. It is probable that he meant to caft no reflection upon his old friend, but to fir up bis pure mind by way of remembrance, and to express a christian hope, that as he had recognized the fervant, he had not forgotten his Lord and Mafter. Nor is it likely that he should then treat one with contempt, with whom he had formerly lived in habits of friendship, and of whom he had always fpoken to others with refpect and affection. Mr. Jones could have had no thing in view but good will and good manners, and though he might have been hurt at this fort of reception from an old acquaintance, there is no reafon to think that he is now ill-affected towards him, or that he defigned any other than an honourable mention of him, after his decease, when he introduced his name into the life of Dr. Horne.

Juft however as the comparison may be between

the fpirit and fuccefs of Dr. Jonathan Swift and Mr. William Romaine, the causes in which they were engaged will admit of no comparison. Permiffion to an individual to coin halfpence may be productive of mifchief, as injurious to trade, and as exciting to envy; but an attempt to naturalize the outcasts of heaven, who have filled up the measure of their iniquities, in crucifying their King, was an attempt against the laws and authority of the Moft High, no lefs daring than that of the apoftate emperor to rebuild Jerufalem. It was an attempt which proved the infidelity of the times in which it was made, for had Mofes and the prophets been confulted, they had informed the world ages before, that the Jews should be a proverb, an astonishment, and an biffing, among all nations, until their converfion to God, and their acknowledgment of that fame Jefus, whom their fathers crucified, as LORD and CHRIST. As no act of parliament can convert, fo none can naturalize them. It is furprising that the fulfilment of the fcriptures in the difperfion and difgrace of that extraordinary people has not more effect than it feems to have upon fceptical minds. The veracity of the bible we cannot difpute, but the contents of it we cannot receive, as long as we are influenced by the fpirit of the world; nor will arguments or facts convince us, when our vices and inclinations oppose them.

It has been the opinion of thofe who have been beft acquainted with divine truth and human nature,

that

that the enmity of the one against the other is not fo much in the head as in the heart of man. The apostle indeed represents the heart as the feat of faith, and of infidelity; for as he tells us in one place, that with the heart man believeth unto righteoufness, fo he guards us in another against an evil beart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. I have been told (and I think by Mr. Romaine himself) that the late Rev. William Grimshaw, minifter of Haworth in Yorkshire, used to be much with lady Huntingdon when she was in that part of the world; and had frequent arguments with her fon, the late lord Huntingdon, upon the fubject of religion. In one of them he faid, "I perceive that your lordship's quar-, rel with religion is not in your head, but in your heart." His lordship was fo affected with the remark, that he never encountered that antagonist again.

As this Mr. Grimshaw was an eminently pious and laborious clergyman* (perhaps the most so of his own or any other time), fo he was among the particular friends of Mr. Romaine. Soon after his death, which happened in the year 1763, Mr. Romaine preached at Haworth. His text was that well chofen paffage, Acts xi. 23, Who, when he came, and bad feen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave

* I am happy to hear that his life is coming before the public, from the pen of a well-known, a moft able and ufeful writer.

unto the Lord. The diftrefs of the people for the lofs of fo valuable a man, and their anxiety about a fucceffor, were not to be described. The fermon was striking and impreffive, and had the good effect of putting them upon fervent and united prayers for the continuance of their fpiritual privileges, and the event answered their utmoft wishes. The clergyman who fucceeded was the Rev. John Richardfon, a perfon of an excellent fpirit, whofe views of divine truth were remarkably clear and evangelical, and whofe unaffected piety, and exemplary conduct, continued to be an ornament to the church of God, and a bleffing to that parifh, till the year 1791, when he was called to his everlasting rest *.

In February 1755 Mr. Romaine changed his condition by marrying Mifs Price, who now fits as a widow to lament the lofs of a most faithful, affectionate, and attentive husband; and to whom I take this opportunity of expreffing my thanks for many authentic communications concerning him. Upon leaving his fituation in St. George's, Hanover Square, or foon after, he became curate and morning preacher at St. Olave's, Southwark, upon which office he entered in the beginning of the year

* We are indebted for this account to Mr. Whitaker, now of Ringway in Cheshire, who was born in the parish of Haworth. "And though," fays he, "I did not hear Mr. Romaine preach, and was too young to have made any observations, yet I have often heard the people speak of it with the greatest fatisfaction and thankfulness."

1756,