the spirit of christian union and affection, excites his indignation, he rebukes with a cutting severity: and I feel no inclination to deny, that, in a few cases, he has suffered himself to indulge in terms of sarcasm, if not of contempt, that add nothing to his argument, and had been better spared. Yet, as one of his bitterest opponents has declared, "it was seldom "that his thunder was heard, but the bolt was felt; and both "were exercised on the side of truth and virtue." In these, as in others of his controversial pieces, the reader may safely reckon upon much that is eloquent, and impressive, apart from what immediately relates to the questions under debate. Among which may be specified the remarks on excommunication, the beautiful delineation of the conduct of our Lord, the passages distinguishing between conditions of salvation and meritorious conditions, and those in which he discriminates between the atonement contemplated as a fact, and as a doctrine, and thence infers the "peculiar glory of the gospel in contradistinction from the law of Moses*." About this time + Mr. Hall had a correspondence with a friend on a kindred subject, that of occasional communion. That individual, though a decided baptist, and long a member of a dissenting church, was in the habit of occasional communion with an episcopalian chapel in his neighbourhood, of which the minister held evangelical sentiments. Mr. Hall expressed a desire to be acquainted with his reasons for this practice. In reply, he informed Mr. Hall that he thought those reasons flowed obviously from the principles for which he himself was so earnestly and successfully contending: that one of the highest enjoyments of a man who humbly hoped he constituted a part of the church universal, was to testify his feeling of brotherhood with other assemblies of orthodox christians, than that with which he was immediately 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 See Vol. II. pp. 122, 123; 167-169; 204-213; 229–232. + Nearly at this time, also, viz. in September, 1817, the faculty of Marischal College, Aberdeen, at the instance of their late learned principal, Dr. W. L. Brown, conferred upon Mr. Hall the degree of D. D. in testimony of their high admiration of his talents and character. He felt much gratified by this mark of their good opinion; but, having a conscientious objection to the title of Doctor of Divinity, he never adopted it. 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, farther, 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, "6 March, 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, It was unknown, I though certainly a very early, invention. 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, "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 66 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 shewed 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 fifth 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 alleviate 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. 66 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 • In 1812 he took from fifty to one hundred drops every night. Before 1826 the quantity had increased to one thousand drops. + 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." |