calling upon him, from all parts of the kingdom, scarcely leaving him an hour to himself, so that he was oftentimes obliged to retire to the room of some friend, to prepare his discourses for the pulpit. The first dwelling he occupied on his coming to Leicester was in the immediate vicinity of Harvey Lane, and near to St. Nicholas's church. Wanting a retired walk, amidst a dense population, he frequently rose early on a winter's morning to indulge his solitary musings, in perambulating the neighbouring churchyard, and stumbling over the graves, while the darkness still rested upon the domains of death. A friend having expressed some surprise at so extraordinary a habit, he replied that it afforded him the most solemn satisfaction to meditate frequently on death, to approach the spot where so many human remains were deposited, to dwell on the stupendous effects of a future resurrection, and follow in imagination the present state of departed spirits. In reply to other objections, he said that no preternatural appearance would give him any alarm whatever; that he believed he could sleep with as much composure in a sepulchre as in his own bed, and saw no reason for apprehension. His thoughts were indeed so familiarised with this awfully mysterious subject, that he courted rather than avoided a spiritual visitation; and believed as firmly as ever Milton did, that

"Myriads of spirits walk the earth unseen,
Both when we wake, and when we sleep.'

About this time however he left this visionary spot, and retired a little out of town to avoid the perpetual intrusions to which he had been liable. The first winter after his removal he met with a still more disagreeable annoyance, which he encountered with singular courage and fortitude. Some burglars entered his new dwelling in the night, and carried off all the articles in one of the lower rooms. Mr. Hall immediately armed himself with a brace of pistols; and imagining he heard a second attempt another night, he instantly rose, fired from his bedroom window, and afterwards searched the premises throughout. For several evenings following he watched round his dwelling, with fearful notes of preparation, till the robbers were deterred from any farther attempt.

Courage was indeed one of the distinguishing properties of his great mind, and scarcely in any instance was he apprehensive of personal danger. A stranger having come one day from the country to visit a servant of the family, was permitted for awhile to remain in the kitchen, and ordered to depart in the evening, but was clandestinely concealed in the house for suspicious purposes. After the family had retired to rest, some footsteps were heard upon the staircase. Mr. Hall immediately sprang out of bed, seized the man on the top of the stairs, collared and dragged him down, and held him with a giant's grasp, exclaiming all the while, Who are you-where do you come from what do you do here! Nor did he release his prisoner till he had

Y

placed him in safe custody for the remainder of the night. The stranger having offered some apology, and pleaded for mercy, Mr. Hall set him at liberty in the morning with a severe rebuke, and at the same time dismissed the treacherous servant who had been accessary to his intrusion.

A practice having been introduced into the neighbourhood of Leicester, of teaching sunday-school children to write, as well as to read on the sabbath day, his friend, Rev. Edward Morgan, Vicar of Syston,* solicited Mr. Hall's opinion on the subject. His answer to that gentleman was, that he considered such a practice incompatible with the religious observance of the Lord's day. This opinion having been widely propagated, and meeting with objections in some congregations where the practice prevailed, Mr. Hall was requested to give more at large, the reasons on which his opinion was founded, seeing it was alleged that writing as well as reading might be conducive to that improvement which it was the object of this charitable institution to promote. The following is Mr. Hall's second and more enlarged reply, on the

INEXPEDIENCY OF TEACHING TO WRITE IN SUNDAY

SCHOOLS.

In considering this question, the obligation of a religious observance of the Lord's day must be assumed, as it is a principle not disputed among the

*Author of Memoirs of the Rev. T. Charles, of Bala.

parties whom this discussion concerns. I know not how a religious observance of the Lord's day can be defined, but by saying, It is an exemption of it from every employment not strictly religious, works of the last necessity and mercy excepted. Now writing, it is undeniable, is not a religious employment, nor can learning to write be so denominated. It seems therefore to be excluded by the definition we have laid down. It is altogether a secular employment, which may occasionally be rendered subservient to the purposes of piety, as may every other attainment; but it partakes not of the nature of religion.

Once break down the barrier between a sacred and civil employment of time, and the sanctity of the sabbath is violated; nor is it possible to know where to stop. A principle is broken in upon which is plain and determinable, nor will it be possible to assign any consistent reason for resisting a second or third encroachment, which will not equally prohibit the first. If the qualifying of persons for civil departments be alleged, other branches of knowledge, arithmetic for example, must be introduced, for there are abundance of situations where the art of computation would not be less useful than that of writing. Thus Sunday schools would become schools of general instruction, and the sanctification of the sabbath be completely lost sight of.

When young persons have been sanctioned by their superiors, in devoting a part of the sabbath to exercises of a purely secular nature; what shall

restrain the more studious part of them, at a subsequent period, from pursuing grammar, geography, or arithmetic on the Lord's day, which are as much connected with religion as the acquisition pleaded for; and when we recollect the tenacity of early impressions, and the tendency of depraved nature to a progressive deviation from rectitude, these and much greater evils may be expected to ensue.

The relaxation of the rule contended for in the present instance, will naturally destroy in youthful minds a reverence for the sabbath; and thus one of the elements of impiety will be imbibed in a seminary established for religious instruction. The rules of duty are never successfully inculcated on children, except in an absolute form; the limitations and occasional exceptions to which they are liable, are best left to be learned by subsequent experience and enquiry. Children are utterly incapable of comprehending nice and subtle distinctions; and a very refined one indeed is necessary to ascertain the difference in a moral view, betwixt teaching the art of writing and other branches of knowledge.

I am aware of but one objection to which this reasoning is liable. It may be said, that learning to read is no more a part of religion than learning to write. But here lies an important difference. Though reading is not, in itself considered, a part of religion, it is a necessary instrument of religion. The word of God is not accessible without it. It is unquestionably the will of the supreme Being that the sacred oracles should be perused, or they