complete; the pious living and the pious dead are still one family, under one head; and when he who is their life shall appear, then shall they also appear with him in glory.' The friendships which have had virtue and religion for their basis will survive all human ties, outlive the habitable globe, and form in all probability a principal part of the happiness of the blessed."

Early in June he attended an association of ministers at Kettering, where he delivered a glowing discourse from 1 Pet. i. 8, on the joy unspeakable and full of glory,' and was heard with unmingled satisfaction and delight. The christian's joy, unlike the guilty pleasures of worldly men, will bear the strictest investigation of reason and conscience, is independent of every other joy, existing amidst the greatest temporal destitution, is triumphant over all the evils of the present life, and even death itself. In laying open its sources he found it all to centre in an unseen Saviour, in the peculiar prerogatives with which he is invested, in the special interest he has in the Father's love, the tender relation he bears to those who believe in him, his ability and disposition to secure their happiness; the friendship subsisting between them is an undying friendship, and eventually they shall be with him where he is, to behold his glory.-After preaching, his conversation was remarkably lively and interesting; and being appealed to by several of the ministers present, who had been discussing an intricate point of ecclesiastical history, he approached

the subject with a degree of familiarity that created very general surprise.

Occupying a conspicuous situation in the immediate vicinage of a University, it could not be expected but that such a preacher as Mr. Hall would command very general attention, and that persons of the higher class, and of literary attainments, would be captivated with his eloquence. Many of the collegians, as has already been observed, frequented his ministry, and occasionally some of the principals of the university attended. It required no diviner or soothsayer to explain this phenomenon, nor any extraordinary penetration to account for such an unusual excitement. Mr. Hall's wellknown magnanimity and disinterestedness were amply sufficient to have protected him not only from the charge of sinister motives and party feelings, but from every breath of suspicion that he wanted to draw away disciples after him; for no man would have rejoiced more in the success of the gospel than himself, whether in or out of the Establishment. Yet there were some who, either unable to appreciate his abilities, or to bear the splendour which eclipsed every surrounding object, had the presumption to insinuate, in no very equivocal terms, the moral danger of such a proselyting ministry. Had the insinuation proceeded from ignorance of the true nature and genius of christianity, it might have been entitled to some excuse; but coming as it did from an enlightened and

*

popular clergyman, in other respects highly estimable, it brought with it all the rancour of envy, and all the bigotry of a distorted intellect.

The true sequel to this species of opposition, in this and in some other instances, will be found in the incomparable and unanswerable Apology for the Freedom of the press, which had by this time been widely circulated, and had made a powerful impression on the public mind. The undaunted manner in which the writer maintained the principles of general liberty, and demonstrated, not only the inutility of a national establishment for religious purposes, but its utter incongruity with the spirit of christianity, was adapted no doubt to rouse the easy believers in the divine right of episcopacy, and perhaps to arm them with prejudices against an author they were unable to confute; but the attempt at traducing character by the imputation of unacknowledged principles, instead of fairly meeting the force of an argument, is a proceeding that could not escape the severest censure.

The evils of a national establishment are too apparent in the alienation it produces between the wise and good, in the tendency it has to cherish a feeling of vanity and conceit, to give a lordly air of superiority, and a claim to the right of precedence among christian brethren, where nothing is entitled to that claim but superiority of talents and of piety. It stands directly across the path, to intercept that kindly intercourse, and those tender charities, which would do honour to the christian

· profession, and which all parties would be equally anxious to participate. Unsupported by public endowments and regal authority, episcopacy itself would be perfectly harmless, as it is in Holland and also in the American states; it is its secular alliance that has impregnated the mass of evil, armed it with hostility, and cut the christian world in twain. The pious clergyman, whose hauteur has given occasion to these remarks, had he been an episcopalian only, and not a member of a thronebegirt establishment, would gladly have hailed Mr. Hall as a christian brother, and have felt himself honoured by his friendship and support. There have indeed been some noble exceptions to this clerical conceit, fostered by an unmerited and artificial elevation, in men whose magnanimity has raised them above these pitiful distinctions, and placed them on the pinnacle of christian philanthropy, where they can see over churches and steeples with perfect ease; and no one will recollect the intimacy which at a subsequent period subsisted between Mr. Hall and the Vicar of St. Mary's at Leicester, without regretting that a feeling of hostility should have been cherished in presence of a University, many of whose distinguished members had paid their willing homage to one whose genius and moral worth had justly rendered him the object of their admiration.

Aware however of the blighting influence of calumny, as far as unsupported assertions could go, Mr. Hall felt himself called upon to clear his minis

trations from unmerited reproach, by an indignant refutation, which first appeared in a Cambridge weekly paper, and afterwards passed through two editions in another form, but is now entirely out of print. And as the public cannot afford to part with any of his compositions, or suffer them to pass into oblivion, it is deemed proper to preserve this, as an additional memento of the author's shrewdness and fidelity.

LETTER TO A CAMBRIDGE CLERGYMAN.

Rev. Sir,

August, 1795.

Altercation is at all times unpleasant, especially when occasions of disagreement arise between ministers of the gospel of peace, who reside in the same place. On this account no motive less powerful than self-defence, and the desire of vindicating aspersed innocence, could compel me to address you in this public manner, on the very extraordinary sermon you delivered last Sunday afternoon at your parish church. Not having had the satisfaction of hearing you, I am obliged to depend for my information on report; and I hope, if I am so unfortunate as to mistake or misrepresent your sentiments, you will be so kind as to set me right.

Your text I understand was Matt. vii. 15-20. 'Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?