[104] At one period, when Mr. Wesley was at Newcastle, he rode to Hexham, at the pressing request of Mr. Wardrobe and others. He preached at the market-place to a multitude of people, who stared at him, but behaved very quietly. Mr. Wardrobe preached in the Methodist Chapel, at Newcastle, in 1755, to the no small amazement and displeasure of some of his zealous countrymen. He died in 1786, and a very interesting account of his death has been preserved in a letter from Mr. Adams, of Falkirk, to Dr. Gillies, of Glasgow.

[105] Besides several single sermons, and the volume mentioned by Mr. Hervey, Mr. Hartley published a treatise on the Millennium, under the title of “Paradise Restored.” (one vol. 8vo.) He became an admirer of the Baron Swedenborg, and translated several of his works.

[106] Mr. Hervey’s work occurs in Mr. Bohn’s “Catalogue of the Library of the late Rev. and learned Dr. Samuel Parr,” with the following remarkable note attached to the volume—“This book was the delight of Dr. Parr when a boy, and, for some time, was the model on which he endeavoured to form a style.”

[107] The above was written by Mr. Joseph Smith, some time a preacher in Mr. Whitefield’s connexion, and addressed to the late Mr. Edwards, of Whitechapel, Leeds.

[108] He was himself a successful preacher, both at Lady Huntingdon’s house, before the nobility, and to a very opposite auditory on Garlick-hill, where he was stationed for some time. Among his converts was Mrs. Kent, of Edmonton, a venerable sister, aged 104.

[109] The trustees of the colony of Georgia made him rector of Savannah, and granted him 500 acres of land, whereon to erect an Orphan-house. To endow this institution he sought friends in England.

[110] The Bishop, who was a correspondent of Dr. Watts, and who remonstrated kindly with Mr. John and Mr. Charles Wesley, when complaints were made to him against them, often expressed his zeal for the interest of religion, as well among the Dissenters as within the Church. His dislike to masquerades offended the Court and stopped his preferment. He died in 1748. His daughter married Dr. Tyrwhitt, residentiary of St. Paul’s, Canon of Windsor, Archdeacon of London, and Rector of St. James’s—a pluralist indeed! This gentleman had a son, Mr. Tyrwhitt, who resigned a fellowship at Cambridge, and all his bright prospects, rather than subscribe to the Articles of the Church of England; he was one of the Feathers’ Tavern Divines, who, under the pretence of relief from subscription, set forth an opposition to the doctrine of the Trinity.

[111] The Rev. Bryan Broughton, in reply to a demand made on him to deny his pulpit, said, “Through Mr. Whitefield’s influence I obtained the living of St. Helen’s, and if he insists upon it he shall have my pulpit.” Mr. Whitefield did insist, and Mr. Broughton lost his lectureship.

[112] Both the Bishop of London and Dr. Trapp were answered by Mr. Whitefield, whose pamphlets were purchased with the greatest avidity. His portrait was multiplied by various competitors; and his journals were eagerly contended for by rival publishers. The Bishop, in a personal interview, charged the “Journals” with enthusiasm. Mr. Whitefield replied that they were written for himself and private friends, and were published without his consent.

[113] The Societies for the Reformation of Manners, which had been the soul of the Establishment, and had assisted Mr. Whitefield in various plans of great utility, now turned against him, and the new societies were founded with a view to something more than the Reformation of Manners. “Societies” and “congregations” became nearly synonymous terms.

[114] Henry, third Viscount Lonsdale, was a great patriot, and had been one of the Lords of the Bedchamber, Constable of the Tower, Lord Privy Seal, and Custos Rotulorum for Westmoreland. His Lordship was very intimate with Lady Huntingdon, and used to attend the preaching at her house. He died March 12, 1753.

[115] Among these “others” were William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, youngest son of George II., and his brother Frederick, Prince of Wales; Charles, third Duke of Bolton, who had been thirty-eight years married to the Lady Anne Vaughan, daughter and sole heir to the Earl of Carbery, but from some unaccountable cause never lived with her, and who was afterwards married to the well-known actress, Mrs. Lavinia Beswick: [two of his illegitimate issue were clergymen—one rector of Itchen, Hants, and the other rector of Stoke, near Alresford, Hants;]—the celebrated Lord Hervey, who was so lashed by Pope, possessed, however, more than ordinary abilities, and much classical erudition; and who, for his political abilities, was raised to the post of Lord Privy Seal: [three of his Lordship’s sons were successively Earls of Bristol, and his second daughter, the excellent Lady Mary Fitzgerald, the correspondent of Lady Huntingdon, Mr. Wesley, Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Venn, &c.;]—Lord Sidney Beauclerk, fifth son of the Duke of St. Alban’s, styled by Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, “Worthless Sidney,” notorious for hunting after the fortunes of the old and childless; Lady Betty Germain, in her old age, was only dissuaded from marrying him by the Duke of Dorset and her relations: he failed in obtaining the fortune of Sir Thomas Reeve, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, but succeeded in inducing Mr. Topham, of Windsor, to leave his estate to him; he married a Miss Norris, and left a son, Topham Beauclerk, whose letters and other literary efforts are well known, and who married Lady Diana Spencer, sister to the Duke of Marlborough.

[116] See the “Diary and Correspondence” of Dr. Doddridge. The letter of Nathaniel Neale, Esq., whose father was the historian of the Puritans, deserves particular attention, for the severity and bitterness of its style. The Christian simplicity and gentle firmness displayed in the Doctor’s able and manly defence of himself and his pupils from the aspersions of their assailants, reflect the highest honour on his character.

[117] One one occasion, Dr. Doddridge being in London, he was invited, with Lady Huntingdon, to dine at Stoke Newington, at the house of Lady Abney, with whom Watts was resident. Lady Frances Gardiner, Dr. Gifford, Dr. Gibbons, the Rev. Samuel Price, Watts’s colleague, and Dr. Langford, pastor of the church at the Weigh House, were present. Lady Abney having mentioned the influence which appeared to attend the preaching of Messrs. Wesley and Whitefield, Dr. Watts said, it is a blessing of incalculable value that such men should have been raised up as ambassadors of Christ, to make known the great salvation to the minds of men. Lady Huntingdon instanced several remarkable effects of their powerful preaching, and the Doctor (Watts) added, “Such, my Lady, are the fruits that will ever follow the faithful proclamation of divine mercy; the Lord our God will crown his message with success, and give it an abundant entrance into the hearts of men.” At parting he took the Countess most affectionately by the hand, pronounced a paternal benediction, and concluded with a memorable remark on his approaching dissolution:—“I bless God (he said) that I can lie down to sleep in comfort, no way solicitous whether I awake in this world or another.”

When on his death-bed, Dr. Watts was visited by Mr. Whitefield, to whom he described himself as a “waiting servant of Christ.” Mr. Whitefield assisted in raising him to receive some medicine, and would doubtless have prolonged his visit could he have foreseen that his venerable friend was then within half an hour of glory.

The Doctor died at Stoke Newington, in the house of Lady Abney. “You have arrived on an extraordinary day (said he to Lady Huntingdon, on one of her visits), for on this day thirty years I came to the house of my good friend Sir Thomas Abney, intending to spend but a single week under his friendly roof, and I have extended my visit to the length of thirty years.” “I consider your visit, my dear Sir (said Lady Abney), as the shortest my family ever received.” “A coalition like this (says Dr. Johnson), a state in which the notions of patronage and dependence were overpowered by the perception of reciprocal benefits, deserves a particular memorial.”

Sir Thomas Abney was Lord Mayor of London, but his dignities did not seduce his heart from the duties of the unfashionable religion he had chosen; on the very day of his inauguration he left the mayoralty feast to read prayers in his own family. He died eight years after Watts had accepted a home in his house (on the 6th Feb. 1722). Lady Abney died one year after Watts (Jan. 12, 1750). Watts was resident in this hospitable mansion thirty-six years.

[118] Mr. Barnard was one of Mr. Whitefield’s early converts, and began his ministry among the Independent Dissenters. Afterwards, becoming acquainted with Mr. Sandeman, Mr. Pike, and others, he embraced the Sandemanian principles, was ordained an elder in their societies, and became an eloquent preacher. He died in 1805.

[119] Afterwards Bishop of Rochester—a man very celebrated in his day as a scholar and politician, and a determined opposer of Methodism.

[120] Mr. Hume (who took the name of Campbell, from his mother, daughter of Sir John Campbell, of Cessnock, Ayr) was brother of Lady Huntingdon’s friend, Lady Jane Nimmo. He was an eminent counsellor, solicitor to the Princess of Wales, Lord Clerk Registrar of Scotland, M.P. for Berwick in several Parliaments, an occasional hearer of Mr. Whitefield, and a liberal contributor to the Tottenham-court Chapel. He died at London, July 18, 1761.

[121] Robert, Earl of Holdernesse, chosen one of his Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State, July 12, 1751, in which office he was associated with Henry Fox, afterwards Lord Holland, and William Pitt, the celebrated Earl of Chatham.

[122] One of the threats against the life of Whitefield was contained in an anonymous letter, which the writer or his accomplices contrived to lay upon the cushion of his pulpit.

[123] Mr. Whitefield continued to preach occasionally at Long-acre Chapel, after his chapel in Tottenham-court-road was opened. In the year 1780 it was again used, and for many years the late Rev. Henry Forster was the licensed minister, in connexion with the late Rev. Richard Cecil; on whose removal to St. John’s, Bedford-row, Mr. Forster was associated with Mr. Cuthbert and Mr. Watkins, afterwards rector of St. Swithin, London-stone. In 1806 the Rev. John King became associated with Mr. Watkins in the pastoral services of Long-acre Chapel. To him succeeded the late Rev. Mr. Howells, who continued his useful ministry there till his death.

[124] Once a celebrated lawyer, but afterwards minister of the Lock Chapel, brother of the late Bishop of Peterborough, and cousin to Cowper, the poet.

[125] Tottenham-court Chapel, when first erected, was a double brick building, seventy feet square within the walls. Twelve almshouses and a chapel-house were added in 1758. But the chapel being too small for the accommodation of those who wished to attend, an octangular front was added to it in the winter of 1759–60. The lease granted by General George Fitzroy to Mr. Whitefield having expired in 1828, the chapel was closed until 1830, when the trustees purchased the freehold of it for fourteen thousand pounds, and laid out about six thousand more in repairs. It was re-opened October 27, 1831. The Rev. William Jay preached in the morning from Rev. xxi. 22; and the Rev. J. Parsons in the evening, from Jer. ix. 3. The chapel at present is a handsome building—the exterior coated with stucco and ornamented with pilasters having a boldly projecting moulding. The interior is neat and in good taste, the cupola being supported by twelve columns. The present pulpit is the same as that in which Mr. Whitefield preached. The length is one hundred and twenty-seven feet, the breadth seventy, and the height of the summit of the dome one hundred and fourteen feet. It will accommodate from three to four thousand persons, and very many of the seats are free. The voice of the preacher may be distinctly heard in every part of the building. Among the monumental tablets are memorials of Whitefield, Toplady, and Joss. And in the mausoleum are deposited the remains of several clergymen and Dissenting ministers.

[126] Foote was a native of Truro, in Cornwall, and in early life the school-fellow and companion of the late Dr. Haweis. His father was a justice of the peace, and his mother the sister of Sir John Dinely Goodere, who was murdered by his brother, Captain Goodere, in 1741. He had a most amazing talent for imitating, even to the very voice, those he intended to take off. For this species of amusement he had several actions brought against him, and was cast in heavy damages. One of his biographers tells us, that “very pressing embarrassments in his affairs compelled him to bring out his comedy of The Minor, in 1760, to ridicule Methodism, which, though successful, gave great offence, and was at last suppressed.” His talent for ridicule ultimately proved his destruction. In 1776 he drew a character of the celebrated Duchess of Kingston, then much talked of, who had influence enough to hinder his play from being represented. He then threatened to publish, and endeavoured to extort a considerable sum of money from the Duchess. The affair ripened at length into a legal charge, and the shock he received from this disgraceful exposure is believed to have had a fatal effect upon him. After a life of great vicissitude and irregularity, he died at Dover, in 1777.

[127] Her Grace, of whom there is such frequent mention in the Letters of Junius, was a daughter of Lord Ravensworth, and after the dissolution of her marriage, was united to the Earl of Upper Ossory, by whom she had two daughters, Lady Anne and Lady Gertrude Fitzpatrick. Lady Ossory died in 1804.

[128] Whilst in America at this time, Mr. Whitefield was presented with a portrait of himself, done by a painter at New York. He sent it to England by the Philadelphia packet, directed to Mr. Keene, and in the letter which accompanied it he says:—“The painter who gave it me having now the ague and fever, and living a hundred miles off, I must get you to have the drapery finished, and then, if judged proper, let it be put up in the Tabernacle parlour.”

[129] Mr. Matthias Peter Dupont, from the first opening of Spa-fields Chapel as a place of worship, was one of its managers. He was also a principal means of introducing the Gospel to Enfield and its neighbourhood, and of erecting a chapel in the Chase-side; and was one of the original trustees appointed by Lady Huntingdon for her College. He died at his house in Canonbury-lane, Islington, November 2, 1816, three weeks before his old and intimate friend, Mrs. Peckwell. He was in his seventieth year.

[130] Haweis’s “Church History.”

[131] We grieve to say, that this encomium must be qualified, as it respects the language of this great man, at one time of his life at least.—Ed.

[132] Now Attingham-house, a handsome modern mansion, on the right of the Wellington-road to Shrewsbury, at the confluence of the Tern and the Severn.

[133] One day Mr. Hill informed him that the living at Dunham, in Cheshire, then vacant, was at his service. “The parish (he continued) is small, the duty light, the income good (400l. per annum), and it is situated in a fine healthy sporting country.” After thanking Mr. Hill most cordially for his kindness, Mr. Fletcher added, “Alas! sir, Dunham will not suit me; there is too much money, and too little labour.” “Few clergymen make such objections (said Mr. Hill); it is a pity to decline such a living, as I do not know that I can find you another. What shall we do? Would you like Madely?” “That, sir, would be the very place for me.” “My object, Mr. Fletcher, is to make you comfortable in your own way. If you prefer Madely, I shall find no difficulty in persuading Chambers, the present vicar, to exchange it for Dunham, which is worth more than twice as much.” In this way he became vicar of Madely, with which he was so perfectly satisfied, that he never after sought any other honour or preferment.

[134] The elder of these pupils, the sons of Mr. Hill, died on coming of age; the younger became M.P. for Shrewsbury, afterwards for Shropshire, and at length took his seat in the House of Peers, as Baron Berwick, of Attingham-house.

[135] The family of the Delamottes, of Blendon, in Kent, were all converted by Mr. Ingham; and his son, William, a student at Cambridge, was the means of introducing to the University that zealous preacher, Mr. Lawrence Batty, of Catherine Hall, and his brother, who all became Mr. Ingham’s assistants in Yorkshire.

[136] It was by the advice of the Count and the Rev. Peter Boehler, of the University of Jena, that Mr. Ingham visited Germany. They both came to England in 1737, on business connected with the affairs of the Brotherhood in Georgia.

[137] Mr. Lawrence Batty is said to have been an extremely eloquent preacher; but from intense study and violent exertion became weakened in his intellects. He was taken to London by his brother Christopher, for medical advice, and remained there some time. Some years after his return to Yorkshire he took a fever and died.

Mr. William Batty, the eldest brother, a popular preacher among the Inghamites. In 1760, he was ordained pastor of the church of Wheatley, in conjunction with the Rev. John Green, who afterwards removed to Nottingham, and became pastor of a congregation there in the same Connexion. His labours were entirely gratuitous, as his paternal inheritance was ample. In the year 1786 he was seized with fainting fits, and was ordered by medical men to desist from preaching; but this he refused. He died suddenly, without a sigh or a groan, December 12, 1787, aged 72.

Mr. Christopher Batty died at Kendal, in the county of Westmoreland, on the 19th of April, 1797, aged 82, and was buried in the ground adjoining the chapel, where there is a monument erected to his memory.

Alice, wife of the Rev. Christopher Batty, died March 29, 1794, aged 66. They had two sons, Giles, who died November 29, 1797, aged 32, and Christopher, who was bred to the profession of a surgeon, and died January 25, 1803, aged 40; also two daughters, Jane, wife of Mr. William Knipe, of Kirkland, died February 9, 1802, aged 45; and Alice, wife of Mr. John Brockbank, of Kendal, who died May 15, 1801.

The three brothers possessed considerable poetical talents, and some of their hymns are amongst the best and most poetical now in use. Mr. Christopher Batty composed the first hymn used among the Inghamites, soon after his conversion. It begins—

At an early period of this Connexion, a hymn-book was printed at Leeds, chiefly composed by the Messrs. Batty; from whence several hymns in the Tabernacle and Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion are taken. That well-known missionary hymn—

was composed by one of the Battys; also the following, which are to be found in many collections, with several others in general use:—

or, as it is altered in another edition, commencing thus—

[138] Tatler, No. 42, dated July 16, 1709.

[139] The half-brother and predecessor of Theophilus, husband of the Countess.

[140] Lady Betty bequeathed large sums of money for charitable purposes, and devised lands of considerable value to the Provost and Scholars of Queen’s College, Oxford, for the interest of twelve Northern Schools. In the “Historical Character” of her Ladyship, by the Rev. Thomas Bernard, Master of the Free School in Leeds, dedicated to Francis, Lord Hastings, then a youth at Westminster School (eldest son of Lady Huntingdon), there is a list of the lands given by Lady Betty in mortmain, and vested in trustees, for the maintenance of perpetual charities.

[141] See Memoirs of Mr. Grimshaw, by the Rev. J. Newton.

[142] The Wesleyans, therefore, err in claiming Mr. Grimshaw as exclusively connected with Mr. Wesley. Mr. Ingham had the priority; and as to his faith, if the doctrine which ascribes the whole of a sinner’s salvation, from the first dawn of light to the first motion of spiritual life in the heart, to its full accomplishment in victory over the last enemy, be Calvinism, we have his confession, sent to Mr. Romaine, to prove that Mr. Grimshaw was a Calvinist. Mr. Ingham had established seventy societies before he was invited by Mr. Wesley, and Mr. Grimshaw had preached at Haworth before either of the Wesleys reached Yorkshire.

[143] “It caused a sore temptation to arise in me (said John) to think that an ignorant, wicked man should thus torment me, and I able to tie his head and heels together. I found an old man’s bone in me; but the Lord lifted up a standard when anger was coming on like a cloud, else I should have wrung his neck to the ground, and set my foot upon him.”

[144] She was a Miss Titchborne, niece to Lord Farrand. Her sister married Daniel Pulteney, a statesman of some eminence, grandfather of the late Countess of Bath, and cousin to William Pulteney, Earl of Bath, of whom frequent mention is made in this work.

[145] This wretched enemy to all serious religion was educated at Douay, in France, for orders in the Church of Rome; but, upon his recantation, was noticed by Archbishop Potter, and by him recommended to the Vicar of Whalley, who appointed him Vicar of Colne. He was neither devoid of parts nor literature, but childishly ignorant of common life, and shamefully inattentive to his duty, which he frequently abandoned, for weeks together, to such accidental assistance as the parish could procure. On one occasion he is said to have read the funeral service more than twenty times in a single night over the dead that had been interred in his absence. With these glaring imperfections in his own character, he sought to distinguish himself by a riotous opposition to the Methodists. He was a notorious drunkard, and drank himself first into a gaol, and then into his grave. He was interred in his own church, April 29, 1751. It is reported and believed in the neighbourhood of Colne, that Mr. White, when on his dying bed, sent for Mr. Grimshaw, expressed his concern for having opposed him, being fully convinced of the impropriety of his former conduct, and begged the assistance of his instructions and prayers. See History of Whalley, part ii. 139, &c., by the Rev. T. D. Whitaker.

[146] This name he owed to his adoption (confirmed by an imperial diploma) by the Baron de Watteville.

[147] It was customary at these times to read the prayers in the church; they then went into the churchyard, and, upon a scaffold erected for that purpose, addressed listening thousands, who seemed to hear as for eternity. Having finished the discourse, they returned into the church, and administered the Lord’s Supper to as many as the church would contain; when these had received they withdrew, and the church filled again, and this was repeated until all had communicated. A succession of sermons were preached at short intervals, interspersed with appropriate hymns, and the people returned to their houses grateful and rejoicing in the love of the Lord.

[148] See page 149. Mr. Thorpe, after his conversion, joined the Wesleyans, and Mr. Wesley wisely stationed him at Rotherham. He afterwards withdrew from the Methodists and became the pastor of an Independent congregation. His son, the Rev. W. Thorpe, was minister of the Castle-green, at Bristol.

[149] “I lay under the scaffold (said the Rev. Dr. Fawcett, then a boy, but afterwards a distinguished preacher), and it appeared as if all his words were addressed to me, and as if he had known my most secret thoughts from ten years of age.” “As long as life remains (he would say) I shall remember both the text and the sermon.”

[150] Mr. Graves, the vicar of Clapham, Yorkshire, was now visited by Mr. Ingham; and now it was that Mr. Milner, incumbent of Chipping, near Bolton, in Lancashire, put his lips to the Gospel trumpet and proclaimed the truth in Yorkshire. “Mr. Graves (says he, in a letter to Mr. Wesley) is convinced of the truth, and preaches it with power, not only in church but also from house to house; but he has had much opposition from the Moravians on the one side, and the profane scoffers on the other.” He then goes on to deplore Mr. Ingham’s “entanglement” with the “still brethren,” and earnestly recommends to Mr. Wesley to conciliate Mr. Ingham, “who (he says), with all respect for you, thinks you have not done justice to Count Zinzendorff.” It was now, too, that the Rev. John Bennet, of Chinley, in Derbyshire, separated from Mr. Wesley, and a portion of his congregation taking part with him, a chapel was raised for him at Bolton, and the congregation organized on the plan of an Independent Church. Here he continued ministering until his death, in 1750. He was married, in the presence of Messrs. Wesley and Whitefield, at Newcastle, in 1749, to the celebrated Grace Murray, whose memoirs were published in 1804, by her son, the pastor of a Dissenting congregation in London.

[151] While he was absent, Mr. C. Wesley, who had been employed in York, not only in preaching, but of attending persons of learning and character, who were desirous of stating their objections to the doctrines and economy of the Methodists, and to hear his answers, went to Aberford. “I had the happiness (says he) of finding Lady Margaret Ingham at home, and their son, Ignatius. She informed me that Mr. Ingham’s circuit takes in about four hundred miles; that he has six fellow-labourers and several thousand persons in his societies, most of them converted. I rejoiced in his success. Ignatius would hardly be satisfied at my preaching.”

[152] On one of his excursions into Yorkshire, being at Leeds, Mr. Newton was requested by the Rev. Mr. Edwards to preach for him at White Chapel. He met a party of religious friends at Mr. Edwards’s house, which adjoined the chapel, and took his tea (of which he was remarkably fond) with them. When the hour of preaching approached, Mr. Edwards intimated to him that if he was desirous to retire before the service (as was then customary with most serious ministers) there was a room for his reception; but Mr. Newton declined this, saying he was so well pleased with his company, that he was unwilling to leave it; and added, “I am prepared.” At the appointed time the service commenced, and after prayer Mr. Newton read his text, which was, “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” He began fluently; but in a few minutes he lost all recollection of his plan; was confused, stopped, and desired Mr. Edwards to come up and finish the service. Mr. Edwards urged him to proceed; but Mr. Newton left the pulpit, which Mr. Edwards ascended, and concluded with an address to the audience on the importance of the Spirit’s agency to help our infirmities. Such was the confusion occasioned by the young preacher’s failure, that for some time after he could not see two or three persons standing together in the street without suspecting that he himself must be the subject of their conversation. From this mortification, doubtless, he learned the important lesson, to put his trust not in his memory or preparation, but in the Lord alone. See some admirable “Thoughts on the Snares and Difficulties attending the Ministry of the Gospel”—Omicron’s Letters—Letter V.

[153] It was customary for those who desired to be admitted into Church fellowship to declare their experience publicly; when any difference of opinion took place about the reception of any member, it was referred to the lot; and all other matters, where unanimity could not be obtained, were likewise decided by lot. Elders were ordained by the holding up of hands.

[154] The Rev. G. Burnett was early impressed with a deep sense of divine things by Mr. Walker, of Truro. On his ordination he became curate to the Rev. Mr. Rawlings, of Padstow, whence he came to Yorkshire, and remained there two years. He then resided about half that time in Kent, and by the presentation of Dr. Leigh was ultimately seated at the vicarage of Elland, in Yorkshire. In this parish he spent his large fortune in works of charity, and his exertions in acts of grace, until, after a life of indefatigable labour, he gave up the ghost, in the 59th year of his age, July 8, 1793.

[155] After such insults, the Doctor, instead of spending the afternoon with his reverend brethren, dined with a party of friends at another inn. His brother-in-law, the well-known Mr. Thornton, of Clapham, was of this number, who, while sitting by him, slipped the sermon from his pocket, and printed and dispersed it about the country. This was the only production of the Doctor’s that ever appeared from the press.

[156] Mr. Knight’s ministry was blessed; his congregation continually increasing, it soon became necessary to erect a gallery as large as the building would admit, then a larger and more commodious house became rather desirable than attainable. At length, however, it was cordially set about, and a very spacious and elegant structure completed, which was opened in May, 1772. Here he exercised his public ministrations to very large congregations, till it pleased the Lord to incapacitate him for public service; and, to use his own expression, to reduce him from a working to a waiting servant. Mr. Knight was released from the burden of the flesh, and removed to a better and indissoluble mansion, March 2, 1793. In 1766 he published a volume of sermons, an elegy on Mr. Whitefield’s death, and a few single sermons and pamphlets.

[157] A dear old friend of his, Mr. Jeremiah Robertshaw, called to see him. When they parted, Mr. Grimshaw took hold of his hand and said, “The Lord bless you, Jerry; I will pray for you as long as I live; and if there be such a thing as praying in heaven, I will pray for you there also.” His last words were, “Here goes an unprofitable servant!” Mr. Robertshaw was one of the first race of Methodist preachers: he travelled twenty-six years with an unblameable character, and died at Bradford, in February, 1788.

[158] At his own desire, his remains were brought to Ewood, the farm-house, in the parish of Halifax, where his son resided, and from thence they were followed to Luddenden chapel, near Halifax, by great numbers, who, with intermingled sighs and tears, sang, at his dying request, all the way from the house to the chapel. They lie near the communion-table, without any monumental record, except his name, &c., on the stone which covers his grave. Mr. Venn preached his funeral sermon, in the churchyard at Luddenden, the church itself not being sufficiently large to hold the congregation; and the next day (being Sunday) at Haworth, to a numerous and deeply-affected assembly, many of whom came from a great distance to testify their respect and veneration for their departed minister. This sermon was afterwards published, and contains the earliest and most authentic account of him. Mr. Romaine also preached a sermon on the occasion of his death ten days after his decease, at St. Dunstan’s in the West, London, from Phil. i. 21—“For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Both Mr. Venn and Mr. Romaine fixed upon a text which had been peculiarly precious to him, and of which his life had been a bright illustration.”

[159] One time, after Shent had been preaching in Mr. Grimshaw’s kitchen, that good man fell down before the humble itinerant, saying, “I am not worthy to stand in your presence.” Shent suffered many hardships, and was pressed for a soldier, but was set at liberty through the interest of Lady Huntingdon, who frequently called him the “guileless Israelite.”

[160] Notwithstanding this direct assertion, we are greatly mistaken if this pious lady did not often attend the preaching of the Rev. W. Jay, and occasionally receive at his hands the Lord’s Supper!

[161] James Ireland, Esq., of Brislington.

[162] Afterwards Sir Richard Hill, Bart.

[163] Lady Irvine is said to have been a woman of great excellence, and at one period of her life much impressed with divine things. To her intercourse with Lady Huntingdon was attributed that clear and comprehensive view of the plan of redemption which she attained; and the influence of the great truths of the Gospel in all the relations of life shone conspicuous. Her Ladyship survived Lord Irvine nearly thirty years, and died at Temple Newson, November 20, 1807, in the 74th year of her age, much regretted. She outlived the death of her dear old friend and relative, Mrs. Deane, about nine months. Her charities were as extensive as her rank was elevated; and by her death the poor of the surrounding villages lost a munificent benefactress. Lord Irvine dying without male issue, the title became extinct, after it had been possessed by nine individuals in the period of one hundred and seventeen years, making the small average of thirteen years to each. Lady Irvine was the grandmother of the present Marquis of Hertford, to whom descended a great portion of the estates of the Ingram family.

Mrs. Deane lived near nine years of that period when even a “man’s strength is labour and sorrow.” She was, however, no worse than usual till the morning of February 3rd, 1807, and then the springs of life began to ebb in death. She repeated often that morning—

She seemed to have a presentiment of her approaching change, breathing out for some time, “Dear Jesus, be with me to my journey’s end, which I believe will not be long.” On being asked if she wanted anything, she answered—

About three hours before her dissolution, as if gazing on celestial glories and listening to angelic praises, completely victorious over the last enemy, she cried out, “Glory! glory! glory!—Hallelujah! hallelujah! hallelujah! to God and the Lamb for ever, and ever, and ever!” The powers of language never failed, and she gradually sunk into the arms of death, falling asleep in Jesus, the 4th of February, aged 88 years and nine months.

[164] Dr. Isaac Milner, Dean of Carlisle, Master of Queen’s College, Cambridge, and Vice-Chancellor of the University.

[165] If Mr. Venn, of Holloway, Islington, had been acquainted with this true history of the gradual change wrought in the mind of Mr. Milner, he would not have asserted, as we find he has done, in the Life of his grandfather, that “Mr. Milner was one of those evangelical labourers who derived their view of the truth directly from the word of God, who were independent of the Methodists, and nearly contemporaneous with them, and whose labours had an immediate and remarkable influence upon the clergy of the Church of England.” This is not the only error Mr. Venn commits in the long list of names prefixed to his grandfather’s correspondence. It would be easy to prove that the light which then fell upon the Church was poured through the channel of Methodism.