ledge with a mixture of pleasure and surprise; pleased to obtain the approbation of the wise and good, and surprised that I have in any measure obtained it; but which I can attribute to nothing but that kindness and forbearance which have ever strongly marked your conduct.

A retired and private sphere would indeed be more on a level with my abilities, and congenial with my temper; yet I would willingly sacrifice my private inclinations to more important views, and lose sight of myself, if I could benefit others. My reluctance therefore to obey your call arises merely from a feeling of my weakness, and a secret fear lest you should hereafter have occasion to repent it. If you could have dispensed with my labours till the final close of my studies, I might then have hoped to have been more able to serve you; but if not, I submit. Let me crave your prayers, that as my day my strength may be.

Your welfare, honoured brethren, will ever lie near my heart. Numberless reflections concur with a thousand tender recollections of past kindness to keep it there; but these are not my only inducements to embrace your proposals. It is an additional pleasure to me, when I recollect with whom I have the honour to be connected,-with one whom I most sincerely reverence, and to whom I am bound by every tie of affection and gratitude. I hope I undertake this work in the fear of God, and look forward to that awful day when all these solemn transactions shall be reviewed, and every secret motive that entered into them will be brought to light.

Wishing you, dear brethren, all prosperity, and that you may be stedfast in that day,

I subscribe myself yours,

ROBERT HALL, Jun.

It was at length agreed, that at the end of another session Mr. Hall should again visit Bristol, and then return to complete his course at Aberdeen. In the spring of 1784 his health had suffered considerably from intense application to college duties, and his almost total seclusion from society, after his friend Sir James had left the university. On his arrival from the north he retired immediately to his native village, in the hope of being benefited by a change of air. While at Arnsby he fell ill of the measles, had the disorder in its worst possible form, and his life was despaired of for several days. To the effects of this epidemic he attributed the peculiar weakness of his voice, and the disorder which gradually accumulated in his chest, though it has since been ascertained that his chest was not naturally formed for stronger or deeper tones than those he actually possessed.

His health being somewhat reestablished he attended a ministers' meeting at Walgrave in the month of May, where he delivered an admirable discourse from the words of Solomon: He that encreaseth knowledge encreaseth sorrow.' Mr. Fuller heard this discourse with so much pleasure that he talked about it for sometime afterwards, and could not be satisfied till he had tried his hand upon the same subject, to see whether the rock would send forth its streams as it had done when smitten by the rod of Moses.

As far as can be ascertained his admirable essay on Philosophy and Poetry" was composed dur

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ing this interval, if not at an earlier date. The essay illustrates and explains with great felicity the different genius and opposite tendency of philosophy and poetry; the one the language of reason, the other of the passions; and closes with a masterly comparison of Homer and Milton, conceding to the Grecian a larger portion of poetic fire and greater fervour of description, but claiming for the English bard an unrivalled degree of sublimity and grandeur of conception. This appears to be the only fugitive piece to which the author's name was affixed; and at the solicitation of the editor, he permitted it to appear in one of the later Annuals.

Having completed his fourth year at the northern university, Mr. Hall returned to Bristol in the spring of 1785, to commence his stated labours at Broadmead, in conjunction with Dr. Caleb Evans, the pastor of the church. This auspicious connection afforded much satisfaction to all parties, who anticipated many years of uninterrupted peace and prosperity. Mr. Hall's brilliant abilities, aided by all the fire and energy of youth, excited very general attention, and the place of worship was often crowded to excess. Among his occasional hearers were several eminent clergymen, and persons of the highest distinction in the city and neighbourhood.

Mr. Hall likewise assisted in the classical department of the academy, which had been assigned

to Mr. Newton, but who was now in a declining state of health, and died a little while afterwards, when Mr. Hall succeeded to the office, which he

filled with great vigour and success. His pupils were exceedingly attached to him, were delighted with the affability of his deportment, and his evident devotedness to their interest. Some of them could never forget an incident which occurred at this distant period, at once illustrative of his sarcastic humour, and of the manner in which he exercised authority. An unhappy man, who had incurred the extreme penalty of the law, was left for execution at Bristol. The circumstances of the case were such as excited very general sympathy, and some of the students were desirous of witnessing the infliction of the awful sentence. Mr. Hall expressed much surprise at so extraordinary a request, and remonstrated on its impropriety. The applicants urged that the unfortunate man had given signs of late repentance, and was expected to deliver an appropriate address; they therefore wished to be present at his exit. The tutor replied, Certainly, gentlemen, that is a most important consideration, and I therefore allow you to go, that you may learn from his example how to conduct yourselves on such an occasion.

In addition to the two minor pieces already noticed, Mr. Hall amused himself in writing a

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Reverie," on the Miseries of Love, probably soon after he had begun to taste some of the 'miseries' of disappointment. This elegant effusion describes

the unhappy effects of love on the whole tribe of philosophers and astronomers, on men of business, and the numerous train of disappointed lovers, all of whom unite in a petition to the celestial powers for the removal of the goddess from the earth. The effects of her departure are pourtrayed in glowing language, with an invocation for her return, to bless once more the desolate abodes of men.—This singularly interesting piece was not written with a view to its being published, but a few friends having obtained a sight of it took care to copy it for private circulation, and its first appearance in print was in a provincial newspaper, in the year 1787, under the signature of Leptos.

In order to understand the earlier part of Mr. Hall's history it is necessary to observe, that when he entered upon his public ministry, the state of christian society was comparatively tranquil, and had not been agitated by any very important controversy; among dissenters there was a general concurrence in orthodox opinions, whatever might be said of the prevalence of genuine piety. Socinianism had but few adherents, and had grown up nearly unperceived, out of the congenial soil of Arianism and Infidelity; but it found at last an able champion in Dr. Priestley, the boldness of whose religious speculations roused the general torpor, and spread alarm in the camp of Israel. Not content with defensive operations,