connected, by holding communion with them at convenient seasons: that in this respect, as the political grounds of dissent were of very little value in his esteem, he made no mental distinction between established and separate churches: that, having no conscientious objection to kneeling at the sacrament, and having resolved never to communicate even occasionally but where he had reason to believe the bulk of those who partook of the sacrament were real Christians, he felt no hesitation as to the propriety, while he could speak decidedly as to the comfort, of the course he had pursued. He stated, further, that with Richard Baxter he "disowned the principle of many who think their presence maketh them guilty of all that is faulty in the public worship and ministration: for this dissolveth all worshipping churches on earth, without exception;" that he considered Baxter's Refutation of Dr. Owen's arguments against occasional communion as complete; and that he would rather err in the spirit of Baxter and Howe, on such a question, than be right according to the narrow measures by which too many would enforce a contrary practice. Mr. Hall's reply, which is subjoined, exemplifies his usual manner of guarding against a misapprehension of the real extent of his agreement with another upon any disputed point.

"MY DEAR FRIEND,

"March 6, 1818.

"I am much obliged to you for the frankness with which you have answered my inquiries. Perhaps I may not be quite prepared to go with you the full extent of your moderation; though on this I have by no means made up my mind. I admire the spirit with which you are actuated, and esteem you more than ever for the part you have acted. I perfectly agree with you that the old grounds of dissent are the true ones, and that our recent apologists have mixed up too much of a political cast in their reasonings upon this subject. Though I should deprecate the founding of any established church, in the popular sense of that term, I think it very injudicious to lay that as the corner-stone of dissent. We have much stronger ground in the specific corruptions of the Church of England, ground which our pious ancestors occupied, and which may safely defy every attempt of the most powerful and acute minds to subvert. With respect to occasional conformity, I by no means think it involves an abandonment of dissent; and I am inclined to think that, were I in a private station (not a minister, I mean), I should, under certain circumstances, and in certain situations, be disposed to practise it; though nothing would induce me to acknowledge myself a permanent member of the Church of England.

"In regard to episcopacy, it appears to me entirely a human, though certainly a very early, invention. It was unknown, I believe, in the apostolical times; with the exception, probably, of the latter part of John's time. But, as it was practised in the second and third centuries, I should have no conscientious objection to it. As it subsists at present among us, I am sorry to say I can scarcely conceive a greater [abuse]. It subverts equally the rights of pastors and of people, and is nothing less than one of the worst relics of the papal hierarchy. Were every thing else what it ought to be in the established church, prelacy, as it now subsists, would make me a decided dissenter.

"I remain, my dear sir, with great esteem,
"Yours most affectionately,
"R. HALL."

Mr. Hall's engagements for the press, numerous and heavy as they were to one who wrote with so much difficulty and pain, did not draw him aside from pastoral watchfulness over his church and congregation; nor were they permitted to shorten those hours of retirement in which he sought "converse with God." Nothing, on the contrary, was more evident than his increased spirit of devotion as he advanced in life. About the year 1812, he commenced the practice of setting apart one

day in a month for especial prayer and fasting. On these occasions he retired into his study immediately after the morning domestic worship, and remained there until the evening. Finding this eminently conducive to his own comfort, at the end of about two years he recommended the church to hold quarterly fasts. They at once adopted the recommendation; and some of the members often speak of the first meeting for this purpose as a most extraordinary season of devout and solemn feeling.

About the same time, or somewhat earlier, he announced his opinion of the disadvantage arising from the presence of others besides the communicants on sacramental occasions. In a short address he explained the customs of the early Christians with regard to the Lord's Supper, and showed that the admission of spectators who were not members of the church during the celebration was comparatively a modern innovation. He pointed out the inconclusiveness of the ordinary arguments,-that spectators often receive benefit from the addresses of the ministers, and that therefore their exclusion was cutting them off from good, and that such exclusion was an infringement of religious liberty. He also stated that the presence of such spectators deprived him of much comfort during the communion service, and that he should regard their keeping away as a personal kindness to himself. His address was received with affectionate respect; and from that time, those who had previously remained to witness the administration discontinued the custom.

Some time after the conclusion of his part of the controversy on "Terms of Communion," he made an effort to persuade the church at Harvey-lane to adopt the practice of "mixed communion;" but finding that it would disturb the peace which had so long subsisted in the society, he relinquished his intention, and recommended the formation of a distinct church on the mixed communion principle, its sacramental service being held on the morning of the same Sabbath on which the "strict communion" church held its corresponding service in the afternoon. This plan was adopted and followed during Mr. Hall's continuance at Leicester, without causing any interruption of the harmony which prevailed among the different classes of worshippers.

In the year 1823, the minister of a Unitarian congregation at Leicester, having delivered a series of what are usually denominated "challenge lectures," in defence of his own opinions, to hear which individuals of other persuasions were publicly invited, Mr. Hall felt it to be his duty to offer a timely antidote to the evil. He therefore preached twelve lectures on the points at issue, and had the happiness to know that they were serviceable in checking the diffusion of Socinian error. His concise outline of these lectures, as well as fuller notes of two or three, are inserted in the present volume. He was strongly urged by several members of his congregation, and by various neighbouring ministers, to publish the whole; but uniformly replied, that though he believed they had been beneficial, he was conscious they contained nothing that could be regarded as really new in the controversy; and that Dr. Wardlaw had so admirably occupied the ground in his sermons, already before the public, that any thing which he could offer in print would only be regarded as an impertinent intrusion.

Throughout the whole of Mr. Hall's residence at Leicester, he suffered much from his constitutional complaint; and neither his habit of smoking, nor that of taking laudanum,* seemed effectually to alle

In 1812 he took from fifty to one hundred drops every night. Before 1826 the quantity had increased to one thousand drops.

viate his sufferings. It was truly surprising that this constant severe pain, and the means adopted to mitigate it, did not in any measure diminish his mental energy. A little difference was, perhaps, discernible in the vivacity of his conversation; but his preaching had, as yet, lost nothing of its force. In letters to his friends he expressed a hope that "a greater savour of Jesus Christ accompanied his ministry;" and remarked, that "his strain of preaching was much less elegant, but more intended for instruction, for awakening conviction, and carrying home truth with power to the heart." And thus it was found, that, as he advanced in years, though there might be a little less of elaboration and polish, there was more of spiritual feeling, more of tender and earnest expostulation, and of that pungency of application to the heart and conscience, which resulted from an enlarged acquaintance with human character, and a deeper knowledge of "the things of God." That the Divine blessing accompanied these labours, and in many cases rendered the impression permanent, the history of the church and congregation abundantly proves.

The death of Dr. Ryland in 1825 led to Mr. Hall's invitation to take the pastoral office over the church at Broadmead, Bristol, an office which had been long and honourably sustained by that excellent individual. After some months spent in anxious deliberation, in advising with his friends, and seeking counsel from above, from the dread he felt lest he "should rush into a sphere of action to which he was not called, and offend God by deserting his proper post," he at length decided to dissolve his long and happy connexion with the church at Leicester. The day of separation, the last sacrament Sabbath, March 26th, 1826, was a day of anguish to him and them, of which I shall not attempt the description. Suffice it to say, that he went through the ordinary public duties of the day with tolerable composure;* but at the sacramental service he strove in vain to conceal his emotion. In one of his addresses to the members of the church, on adverting to the pain of separation, he was so much affected that he sat down, covered his face with his hands, and wept; they, sharing in his distress, gave unequivocal signs of the deepest feeling. Mr. Eustace Carey, who was present, continued the devotional part of the service, until Mr. Hall was sufficiently recovered to proceed. At the close of the solemnity the weeping became again universal, and they parted "sorrowing most of all that they should see his face no more.'

Very shortly afterward the church received from Mr. Hall the following letter of resignation.

"TO THE CHURCH OF CHRIST MEETING IN HARVEY-LANE, LEICESTer. "MY DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS,

"3d April, 1826.

"I take this opportunity of solemnly and affectionately resigning the pastoral charge which I have long sustained among you, and of expressing, at the same time, the deep sense I shall ever retain of the marks of affection and esteem with which, both collectively and individually, you have honoured me.

"Though the providence of God has, as I conceive, called me to labour in another part of his vineyard, my solicitude for your spiritual welfare will ever remain unimpaired, nor will any thing give me more joy than to hear of your growth in grace, peace, and prosperity. My prayer will never cease to ascend to the God of all comfort, that he will establish your hearts in love, unite you more and more in the fellowship of saints, and make you fruitful in every good work.

In order that neither his feelings nor those of the congregation might be too severely tried during the public services, he preached two sermons for the Baptist Mission: that in the morning from Ephes. iii. 8, "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ," that in the evening from Matt. vi. 10, “Thy kingdom come."

"Let me earnestly entreat you to guard most anxiously against whatever may tend to weaken your union, diminish your affection, or imbitter your spirits against each other. Let brotherly love continue:' seek peace and pursue it; and 'may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus Christ, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, stablish, strengthen, settle, and make you perfect.' "I hope that, in the choice of a successor, you will earnestly and anxiously seek Divine direction; prefer the useful to the splendid; the solid to the glittering and showy; and be supplied with a pastor who will, in doctrine, exhibit uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, and sound speech which cannot be condemned,' and be in manner and behaviour a pattern to believers.

"Permit me, on this occasion, to return you my sincere acknowledgments for the uniform kindness with which you have treated me, the respectful attention you have paid to my ministry, and the candour with which you have borne my infirmities.

"With my most earnest prayers for your spiritual and eternal welfare, I remain, "My dear brethren and sisters,

"Your obliged and affectionate friend and brother,
"ROBERT HALL."

Mr. Hall was in his sixty-second year when he removed to Bristol, the scene of his first continuous labours, and now to become the scene of his closing ministry. Some of the friends of his early life still survived to welcome his return among them; and many others, who had profited by his pulpit exertions on his periodical visits to Bristol, congratulated themselves that he to whom, under God, they owed so much had become their pastor. All things, indeed, except his infirm state of health, seemed to conspire in promoting his own happiness as well as the prosperity of the church with which he had again connected himself.

The church and congregation soon received numerous accessions. In writing to a friend, early in 1829, he says, “I continue to be very happy with my people, from whom I daily receive every demonstration of affection and respect. Our attendance is as good as I could wish; and we have added to the Baptist church, during the last year, twentyseven, and six are standing candidates for baptism. For these tokens of the Divine presence I desire to be thankful."

His heavenly Father, during the concluding years of his life, made a rich provision for his social enjoyments, both in his family and among his friends. Besides the comfort of frequent association with many of his own flock, his pleasures were greatly heightened by intercourse with Mr. Foster, and the tutors of the Baptist Academy, as well as with several clergymen and other ministers and laymen, residing in Bristol and its vicinity. It is true, that wherever he went, or in whatever he engaged, he carried with him the complaint from which he had suffered so much and so long. It had become, as his esteemed friend Mr. Addington termed it, an internal apparatus of torture;" yet, such was the peculiar structure of his mind, doubtless fortified and prepared for patient endurance by an energy imparted from above, that though his appointment by day and by night was incessant pain, yet high enjoyment was, notwithstanding, the law of his existence.

Between his final removal to Bristol and his death, he visited his friends at Cambridge twice, namely, in 1827 and 1829. These visits were undertaken with the sense of responsibility of one who had formerly been their pastor: and he made it a rule so to arrange his time while there as to see, converse with, and exhort every member of the church, and a great proportion of the congregation. He paid also one visit to his recently-quitted flock at Leicester; and two to his friends in London. On these occasions the anxiety to hear him preach

was as great as it had ever been; while his sermons were characterized in a high degree by the qualities that had long distinguished them,with the addition of a stronger manifestation of religious and benevolent affections, a still more touching persuasiveness of manner, continued with an increasing intensity of feeling, with deeper and deeper solemnity of appeal; the entire effect being greatly augmented by the sudden introduction, just as the last sentence seemed dropping from his lips, of some new topic of application or of caution, most urgently pressed; as though he could not cease to invite, to warn, to expostulate, until the "Great Master of assemblies" vouchsafed to him the assurance that he had not been pleading his cause in vain.*

Mr. Hall's increasing infirmities did not extinguish his literary ardour, or abate his love of reading. Except during the first years of his residence at Cambridge, reading, and the thinking it called forth, were his incessant occupation to the very close of life; and both the pursuit and its application to the benefit of others yielded him the highest delight. In his early life, as I have already mentioned, it was common with him to carry on five or six different courses of study simultaneously. But for the last ten or twelve years, he mostly confined himself to one book at a time, and read it to the end. His reading continued to be very extensive and varied (for it was his decided opinion that every species of knowledge might be rendered subservient to religion), but his predilection, next to the Scriptures, was for works of clear, strong, and conclusive reasoning, though conveyed in language far from elevated, and sometimes perhaps obscure. Thus he, for full sixty years, read Jonathan Edwards's writings with undiminished pleasure. And of Chillingworth's "Religion of Protestants" he has often been known to say, "It is just like reading a novel :" which, indeed, was his usual expression of commendation with regard to such works of a dry or abstract nature as discovered subtilty, depth, or vigour of thought. In this class he placed the works of Jeremy Bentham, for whom he entertained the highest estimation, as an original, profound, and accurate thinker; observing often, that in the particular province of his speculations, the science of legislation, he had advanced to the limits of reason; and that if he were compelled to legislate for the world upon uninspired principles, "he should take Bentham, and go from state to state with as firm a step as though he walked upon a pavement of adamant."+

If, at any time, he could not settle a point of interest without studying a language of which he was ignorant, that constituted no impediment. Shortly before he quitted Leicester, a friend found him one morning, very early, lying on the carpet, with an Italian dictionary and a volume of Dante before him. Being about to quit the room, he said, "No, sir, don't go. I will tell you what I have been about for some weeks. A short time since I was greatly delighted with a parallel between the Paradise Lost and the Divine Comedy of Dante which I read in the Edinburgh Review. But in matters of taste, as well as others, I always like to judge for myself; and so I have been studying Italian. I have caught the idiom, and am reading Dante with great relish; though I cannot yet say, with Milton,—

* It was seldom that the friends who attempted to take down Mr. Hall's sermons did not unconsciously relinquish writing as he approached the close. The reader, however, who never had the privilege of hearing him preach, will be able to form some conception of his impressive terminations from the last five pages of the sermon in the present volume on "the Glory of God in concealing," He always recommended those who were likely to be offended with the strangeness of Bentham's style to study his principles through the medium of his elegant French commentator, M. Dumont.

VOL. III.-5