gether many sacred and delightful evenings, the grateful remembrance of which I shall never lose.

His habits were very studious: I never knew any man that was so great a reader on all subjects. It is a mistaken notion that he was entirely indebted to genius; he possessed great industry and applica tion, united to which was a thirst for knowledge, and an ambition to excel in every thing which he undertook. Dissatisfied with present attainments, he frequently said, "Let your aim and standard be high, for you will always be below your standard; and if your standard is high, your attainments will be high also." He generally read from an early hour of the morning till eight o'clock in the evening, after which he visited either the sick or his friends. If one was engaged or from home, he went to another, and stayed till eleven o'clock-then returned to his rooms. It was pleasing, on such occasions, to witness this great man descend from the sublimest speculations, and mingle with the socialities of common life. There was no ostentatious display of learning; he endeared himself to all by the simplicity of his manners, the unaffected modesty and kindness of his disposition, and the interest which he took in their welfare. He was exceedingly fond of children, and frequently took the little ones in his arms, and appeared to enter into all their amusements. Under these circumstances, it will not appear surprising that his visits were anticipated with earnestness and delight.

In addition to the usual services at his own place, Mr. Hall frequently preached a third time on the Sabbath to the villagers near Cambridge. I can mention nothing which more clearly shows the state of things at this period than the benignted condition of these poor people. They were indeed ignorant and out of the way-without God, and without hope in the world. The ministers of Episcopacy of various orders were permitted to live in idleness and luxury, while the peasantry around them were perishing for lack of knowledge, and this, too, in the immediate neighbourhood of the schools of divinity and the storehouses of learning. I have frequently heard Mr. Hall preach in the cottages of these villagers, whose hearts burned within them while he opened to them the Scriptures.

I well remember walking on a Sunday evening with a friend to Coten, one mile from Cambridge, for the purpose of hearing Mr. Hall. On entering the village, we met a man (who, from his appearance, we concluded was a herdsman) driving his cows from the common. We inquired for the house where Mr. Hall was engaged to preach. He replied in a rude and surly manner. I afterward found that he was the rector of the parish, a fellow of Catharine Hall, Cumbridge, and one of his majesty's Whitehall preachers!

The members of the church at Cambridge were at this time nearly equally divided between Baptists and Pædobaptists. Mr. Hall's practice of open communion, and his want of zeal on the subject of baptism, were censured by some of his brethren of the stricter sort: this induced him, some years afterward, to enter largely into the controversy-Hall versus Kinghorn. As a powerful argument, however, in favour of the

liberal plan of mixed communion, I can certify that there never has been any unpleasant feeling in the church at Cambridge, arising from the union. When appealing to this, Mr. Hall frequently said, Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity He lived to see the practice more generally adopted in the Baptist churches.

This leads me to mention an anecdote which he related to me after dining with Dr. Porteus, the late Bishop of London, who had previously expressed to the Rev. John Owen, secretary to the Bible Society, a great desire to have an interview with Mr. Hall. The bishop, in the course of conversation, asked him what was the reason the members of his sect were called Anabaptists: Mr. Hall politely satisfied the bishop. In a subsequent conversation, Mr. H. observed to me, "Sir, I was surprised beyond measure that the bishop should put such a question to me; it was hardly courteous, and therefore difficult to answer with propriety: he ought to have known, from Church history, that it was a calumny and term of reproach first given to the Munster Baptists, on account of their excesses, which stigma we labour under from them: if not, his Greek should have informed him that ava denotes repetition. Now, sir, you know Baptists do not believe that infant sprinkling is any baptism at all; therefore it cannot be said that we baptize twice, or do the thing again." In every other respect he was much pleased with the piety and the kindness of the bishop; and the bishop ex. pressed to Mr. Owen, in the warmest terms, his admiration of the extraordinary talents of Mr. Hall.

As his time was generally occupied, I was fearful of encroaching by too frequently calling without a previous invitation. Scarcely a fortnight elapsed, however, without his inviting me to visit him at eight or nine o'clock, "to eat a bit of bread and cheese." After an hour's conversation on general subjects, on the books I had read, or the sermons I had heard, he reached down a favourite author, and read aloud a few of the finest passages, in order to awaken curiosity, or excite a taste for reading. Among others, I may mention more particularly the works of Bourdalou, Massillon, and Bossuet. As I was ignorant of the original, he translated it into beautiful English, page after page, without the least hesitation; then, as if conscious of having performed a feat, he laughed heartily, and appeared pleased with my expressions of astonishment and delight. He also directed my attention to books suitable for my perusal, in English. Among others which he lent me were Lord Bacon's Essays. After reading the preface, he made comments: "There, sir, no man but Lord Bacon could say this: As to the Latin edition of these Essays, it will last as long as books last.' Why, sir, it would be the greatest vanity and presumption in any other man to say this of his own work." Then he read the following striking passage from the first Essay, on Truth: "It is a pleasure to stand on the shore, and to see ships tossed upon the sea: a pleasure to stand in the window of a castle, and to see a battle, and the adventurers thereof, below: but no pleasure is comparable to the standing on the vantage ground of truth (a hill not to be commanded, and where the

1

air is always clear and serene), and to see the errors, and wanderings, and mists, and tempests in the vale below; so always that this prospect be with pity, and not with swelling or pride. Certainly it is heaven upon earth to have a man's mind move in charity, rest in Providence, and turn upon the poles of truth." He repeated the last sentence, "Turn upon the poles of truth! How beautiful! There, sir, I will lend you that; but remember, you must not keep Lord Bacon more than a fortnight, for there is scarcely a week in which I do not want to consult or refer to him." Another work which he recommended was Jeremy Taylor's Holy Living and Dying. After having read to me some of the most beautiful passages, he again limited the time, assigning the same reason as before. He also lent to me the original edition of Baxter's Saint's Rest, with Howe's Blessedness of the Righteous, and urgently recommended Dr. Doddridge's Sermon to Young People, "Christ formed in the soul as the only and eternal hope of glory." Indeed, so high was his opinion of this discourse, that he once actually delivered it publicly from memory on a Sabbath afternoon.

Mr. Hall considered that Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations was founded on sure principles, which every man of business ought to study. He used to say, "Task yourself to fifty pages a day, sir, and secure the interstices of your time, and you will be astonished how much reading you will get through in a year." Another maxim which Mr. Hall frequently urged was, "Do a thing well, whatever it may be, and then learn to do it in the least possible time." And farther," Whatever bad habit you have acquired, practise the opposite, and you will soon find the good principle increase from the exercise."

Another work which he recommended was Doddridge's Evidences of Christianity; this he considered a better book, in some respects, than Paley's, particularly for young persons who had some religious knowledge. He would not allow of indiscriminate reading on the Sabbath, but prescribed, in addition to the Bible, what may be called Sunday books, such as were either devotional, or had an aspect and bearing upon religion: Barrow's Sermons, Saurin's, &c.; the Evidences of Christianity, Church History, and Religious Biography. Mr. Hall's plan of reading was different from that of Dr. Johnson and some other great men. He generally read regularly through a book, but with great rapidity. Speaking to him one day on the comparative merits of the Rambler and the Spectator, I expressed my preference for the Rambler. "Yes, sir, so do most young persons; but when you arrive at my age you will prefer the Spectator; there is a pomp and swell in the rounded periods of Johnson, but a beauty, simplicity, and true taste in Addison."

About this time I studied Gurney's System of Short Hand, which enabled me to furnish Mr. Hall with an account of any minister who supplied the pulpit during his absence. On his return, he usually inquired what had been the text, in what manner it had been divided, &c., &c., and then added a few remarks, either in commendation or otherwise, frequently suggesting improvements, and stating the man

ner in which he would have treated the subject. Mr. Hall was a very candid hearer, being always more inclined to approve than to censure. He considered that the late Rev. T. N. Toller and the Rev. A. Fuller, of Kettering, were the two best preachers of the age. I shall never forget the enthusiasm with which he spoke of a sermon preached at Bedford by Mr. Toller, from 2 Pet., i., 12-15. "Sir," said he, "if the Angel Gabriel had come down from heaven on purpose, he could not have preached a more solemn and impressive discourse; it was like a dying minister preaching his last sermon; it quite overcame me-there was scarcely a dry eye to be seen in the place."*

When at Cambridge, Mr. Hall generally expounded the Scriptures on a Sabbath morning, and preached from a single text in the afternoon; the exposition generally suggested a subject for the sermon. I found him expounding the Gospel of John, afterward the Acts of the Apostles, then he went to the Epistle to the Philippians, and the two Epistles of Peter; the three Epistles of John closed his labours at Cambridge, previously to his indisposition. I preserved the leading ideas in his exposition of the Epistle to the Philippians, making more than one hundred pages of post paper, since written out into long hand, which I consider a great treasure. I inquired his reason for omitting the Epistle to the Romans; he replied, "I do not under stand it, sir. The Apostle Peter says, there are many things hard to be understood: I shall reserve the exposition of that Epistle for the last work of my life."

He had only one service during the week at Cambridge, which was held between the hours of seven and eight on Thursday evenings. His custom was to sit in an arm-chair in the vestry, to read a hymn, which was sung; then he requested one of the members of the church to pray after this, name another hymn, and make some observations on one or more verses from the Scripture, for about twenty minutes, he then concluded the service himself by a short prayer. He fre. quently read the following hymn from Dr. Doddridge at the com. mencement of these services:

The sentiment expressed in the two last lines he experienced in his dying moments. He literally" hailed the sharpest pangs of death, to

break his way to God."

Another of his favourite hymns or these occasions was Dr. Watts's hymn which commences thus:

See Mr. Hall's own account of this sermon in his Memoir of Mr. Toller, vol. ii., p. 394, 395, in this edition of his works.-B.

VOL. IV.-C

"Thy favours, Lord, surprise our souls;
Will the Eternal dwell with us?
What canst thou find beneath the poles

To tempt thy chariot downward thus ?"

At this period he frequently lost sight of the lecture. After waiting some time, I have often left the vestry, and ran to his rooms to fetch him; on entering, I found him in the midst of his books. Instantly after an "How do you do, sir?" I said, " It is Thursday evening, sir, and the people are waiting for you at the vestry." "Oh no, it is impossible, sir; it cannot be Thursday." "Indeed it is, sir." Then, rising up, "Well, how strange it is, sir, that I cannot remember the days of the week; they are all alike to me, sir; I have nothing to mark and distinguish them." The distance from his rooms was not five minutes' walk from the meeting-house; he usually found that one of the deacons had commenced so that not much time was lost.

I shall now briefly notice the peculiar situation in which the Dissenters were placed, and the difficulties they then had to encounter. They were at this period very unpopular, from their decided attachment to the great principles of civil and religious liberty, and their opposition to the Pitt administration and to the French war. There was the University on the one side, with Mr. Pitt for its representative, and a corrupt corporation on the other, with the Duke of Rutland at the head, both of which were leagued together to put down the principles of liberty, and to support corruption and war, while the Dissenters were contending for peace and reform. The contest was so unequal, that it seemed at one time almost impossible that we should keep our ground, much less that we should finally triumph. We were assailed from every quarter with accusations of disloyalty, and of being enemies to "Church and State." This was carried so far as to insult us when we walked the streets. Though a small band, we were, however, firm and united: there was not a single individual in the whole congregation who did not warmly espouse the "good old cause." This, with such a powerful advocate and leader as Mr. Hall, ensured for us the victory; especially as many of the Dissenters were men of the largest property, as well as of talent and respectability, in the town. Thus we kept bigotry and intolerance at bay. Mr. Hall, however, never introduced his politics into the pulpit, although he was falsely charged with doing so by a clergyman of the University, who had the mortification, to my certain knowledge, afterward to make the amende honorable. His printed letter to Mr. Simeon, as well as his letter to Mr. Clayton,* and his Apology for the Freedom of the Press, will show how firmly he embraced and

* The reference here made by Mr. Greene is to the first article in the second volume of this edi tion of Mr. Hall's works. Mr. Clayton, for very many years, was pastor of the Weigh House Congregational Church in the city of London, over which the Rev. Thomas Binney at present ably presides. Mr. Clayton was so ill-advised as to print, in 1790, a sermon far more suitable for a dignitary of an established church, and a follower of Sacheverel, to deliver than an humble dissenting minister. It is truly gratifying to me to add, that this venerable minister of Christ lived to see and to regret his former mistakes, and to give full evidence of possessing more enlightened views of freedom than those he once cherished. He died in 1843, at the advanced age of more than ninety years.-B.