[166] Mr. Wren’s original scene of duty was in Wales, and it was because his health appeared to have sunk beneath his labours there that her Ladyship recommended a tour in England. “Now, Wren (says the Countess), I charge you to be faithful, and to deliver a faithful message in all the congregations.” “My Lady (said Wren), they will not bear it.” She rejoined “I will stand by you.” His tour was marked by the seal of utility, especially at Oxford and at Grimsby, where, being overtaken by a shower of rain, he took shelter in a wayside house, in which many labourers had assembled to take refuge from the rain. Hearing them swear, he went out of the parlour to them, and upon the promise of giving them half-a-crown, obtained their attention while he read two sermons to them, and spoke urgently as to the state of their souls. On his return, he found that two of these men had, by his means, been awakened to a due sense of their eternal interests. He was invited to remain at York, which Lady Huntingdon not approving, he withdrew from the Connexion of his noble patroness in the year 1780. On the 4th August, 1784, in his 34th year, he fell asleep in the Lord. He died at Scarborough, but was buried at York, in the chapel which Mr. Batty built, and where he, too, was interred.

In his doctrine, Mr. Wren was strictly Calvinistic. His manner of preaching was warm and fervid, and but that his voice was sometimes pitched too loudly, he might have been called an orator of nature’s making. Seeing the people inattentive to one of his unprepared discourses, he hastily descended from the pulpit, and walking rapidly towards that part of the congregation that betrayed neglect, addressed them with the Spirit and with power, and the Lord blessed the word. In Wales, hearing of the reputed efficacy of St. Govin’s well in the cure of bodily diseases, he resolved to carry thither his medicines for the bruised spirit. The Welsh Bethsaida stands at the foot of immense rocks, quite open to the sea, and far from any town. Multitudes assembled in so strange a scene whom he addressed from the words, “Rocks, fall on us,” &c. (Rev. vi. 16, 17). One man, who had opposed the dedication of a place of worship, was convinced, and immediately appropriated the place to its purpose.

[167] A respectable surgeon, with whom Mr, Wren resided till his marriage.

[168] Among his then congregation was the late Mr. Tuppen, predecessor of Mr. Jay, at Bath. He was brought up by a pious mother in strict observance of the externals of religion; but at eighteen years of age, when he first heard Mr. Whitefield, he was ignorant of its essentials. He attended from curiosity, ready to stone this second Stephen, or to hold the clothes of those who did; but the words, “Turn ye, turn ye,” were not lost upon him, but became the means of grace to his soul.

Another convert gained on this spot was Mr. Edward Gadsby, who was now first called from darkness to light: during his after life he realized the venerable Newton’s picture of a true saint; and when he died, on the 9th April, 1785, the Rev. Cradock Glasscott preached at Lady Huntingdon’s a powerful sermon, from the words—“Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace.”

[169] The following account of her Ladyship’s jewels sold for this purpose was found amongst the papers of a lady who had resided a considerable time with her, and was well acquainted with her concerns:—

[170] Sir Anthony Shirley, the original proprietor of Oathall, was one of the gallant adventurers who went to annoy the Spaniards in their settlements in the West Indies. He afterwards travelled to Persia, and returned to England in the quality of Ambassador from the Sophi, when he published an account of his travels. The Emperor of Germany raised him to the dignity of a Count, and the King of Spain made him Admiral of the Levant Sea. He died in Spain. A spirit of adventure ran through the family of the Shirleys. Sir Anthony had two brothers, who were noted adventurers. Sir Francis, the elder brother, was unfortunate. Sir Robert was introduced to the Persian Court by his brother, Sir Anthony, and was also sent Ambassador from the Sophi to the Court of England. According to some accounts, he married a near relation of the Sophi of Persia; according to others, a Circassian. Lady Shirley was confirmed in England, to whom the Queen stood godmother and Prince Henry godfather. Her portrait was painted by Vandyck, from which a print was taken, that is now very scarce.

William Shirley, of Oathall, emigrated to America, and was Governor of the province of Massachusetts Bay and of the Bahama Islands. He visited England in 1760, where he remained some years, but returned to America, where he died in 1771. His only surviving son was Governor of the Leeward Islands, a Major-General in the army. He was created a Baronet in 1786. His son was named Sir William Warden Shirley, on whose death, in 1815, the title became extinct.

[171] The apostolic Griffith Jones, rector of Llandowrer, in Carmarthenshire.

[172] The worthy doctor was not without his singularities. He would never preach in any pulpit but his own, not even when nominated expressly by his diocesan to preach in another church, and it was very rarely that his most intimate friends could engage him to lead in family worship at their homes. A continual hurry and flutter of spirits, to which he was unaccountably subject, thus contracted his usefulness. The sight even of a stranger in his church would disconcert him, especially if he thought him a minister. He used to say to Mr. Thornton, “If you expect any blessing under my ministry, I beg you will not bring so many black coats with you.”

[173] The ninth Earl. Theophilus, the eleventh Earl, was the eldest brother of Colonel Hastings; he was the godson of the ninth Earl, and educated by him. He took orders, and obtained the family livings of Great and Little Beke, Osgathorp, and Belton. He was twice married, but died without issue. His first wife, Miss Pratt, died soon after her marriage. His second wife was Betsy Warner, a domestic of Donnington Park, with whom having had some dalliance in his youth, and having promised her marriage as soon as he should get the living of Beke, was reminded of his promise thirty years after it was made. Astonished, but not ashamed of his early choice, he enquired into her character, and finding that clear, he kept his promise. He himself published, in his own village church, the bans between the Rev. Theophilus Hastings and Betsy Warner. “My name (exclaimed the lady from an adjoining pew) is Elizabeth!” And they were married accordingly. He had never legally claimed the title, which, however, he had personally assumed, and to which he had an undoubted right. He died in 1804, in the 76th year of his age.

[174] Mr. Hudson was brother to one of Mr. Venn’s most valued and faithful friends and correspondents, who married, in 1768, the Rev. John Ryland, then curate of Huddersfield, and afterwards successively minister of St. Mary’s, Birmingham, and rector of Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire. See some letters to Miss Hudson, on the death of her brother, in Mr. Venn’s Life and Correspondence.

[175] Rev. George Dyer, then resident minister at Tottenham Chapel, and lecturer of St. George the Martyr, Southwark.

[176] Rev. John Green, formerly curate of Thurnscoe, in Yorkshire.

[177] Messrs. Madan and Haweis.

[178] Mr. Romaine.

[179] Dr. Venn’s son, Edward Venn, Esq., married his cousin, Charlotte Mary, eldest daughter of William James Gambier, Esq., of the family of Lord Gambier.

[180] One of the first lay preachers—one of the first who visited Ireland, and was included in the memorable presentation of the grand jury of Cork, in 1749. He afterwards obtained Episcopal ordination, and was for some years minister of Magdalene Hospital. Here, however, the governors forbade his preaching after his own manner, and constrained him to read from time to time a sermon of Archbishop Tillotson. When he became a lecturer of Whitechapel his ministry was more popular and useful, and he often preached at Brighton, Oathall, Everton, &c., with success.

[181] The predecessor of Mr. Romaine was Dr. Terrick, afterwards Bishop of Peterborough: he held two lectureships in the same church—one a common parish lectureship, supported by voluntary contribution—the other founded and endowed by Dr. White, for the use of Benchers of the Temple. Mr. Romaine had been elected to both, but Lord Mansfield’s decision deprived him of the parish lectureship, while it confirmed him in that of Dr. White.

[182] His allusion to this complaint, and the admirable answer to it in his probation sermon, we think it right to extract:—“Some have intimated that it was from pride that I would not go about the parish from house to house, canvassing for votes; but truly it was another motive. I could not see how this could promote the glory of God. How can it be for the honour of Jesus, that his ministers, who have renounced fame, and riches, and ease, should be most anxious and earnest in the pursuit of those very things which they have renounced? Surely this would be getting into a worldly spirit, as much as the spirit of parliamenteering. And as this method of canvassing cannot be for Jesus’ sake, so neither is it for our honour: it is far beneath our function. Nor is it for your profit. What good is it to your souls? what compliment to your understandings? what advantage to you, in any shape, to be directed and applied to by every person with whom you have any connexion, or on whom you have any dependence? Is not this depriving you of the freedom of your choice? Determined by these motives, when my friends, of their own accord, put me up as a candidate, to whom I have to this hour made no application, directly or indirectly, I left you to yourselves. If you choose me, I desire to be your servant for Jesus’ sake; and if you do not, the will of the Lord be done.”

[183] The letter from which this extract is made is dated Ipswich, May 8, 1765. The Rev. David Edwards was originally fixed at St. Neot’s, near Everton and Golling, where he became the friend and correspondent of Mr. Berridge and Mr. Venn. He went to Ipswich, and remained there till 1791, and died at Walton-under-Edge, 1795.

[184] Rev. G. Dyer, lecturer of St. George the Martyr.

[185] A traveller passing through the town saw, as he approached the market-place, a great concourse of people in bitter lamentation; some wringing their hands, others in a state of distraction, the tears running down their cheeks, and with all the evidences of an agony of distress. Enquiring into the cause of their affliction, the traveller learned with surprise that they were mourning over the irreparable loss they were about to sustain in the removal of their minister. Many of them declared that they would lay themselves along the road, and if he was determined to leave them, his carriage should drive over them.

[186] Thomas Powys, Esq., of Berwick, in Shropshire, was a gentleman of large fortune and of high connexions; he became very conspicuous about this period, in conjunction with Sir Richard Hill and Mr. Lee, of Cotery, in the same county for zeal in the cause of God and truth.

Mrs. Powys was daughter of —— Poole, Esq., of Radbourne, in the county of Derby. After the death of her husband (in 1775), she became (September 23, 1776) the second wife of Sir Rowland Hill, of Hawkestone, Bart. She died in 1790. The present representative of Lady Hill’s family is Sacheverel Chandos Pole, Esq., of Radbourne; whose daughter, Elizabeth Mary, married the present Lord Byron.

[187] Mr. Venn, Mr. Ryland, Dr. Conyers, and Mr. Powley, vicar of Dewsbury.

[188] It was not unusual with her Ladyship to anticipate the public prayers of her chaplains, by her own private intercessions for the congregation. Before the officiating minister entered upon the performance of his duty, it was her custom, knowing the awful responsibility of his situation, and the inestimable value of immortal souls, to request the Great Master of assemblies to furnish him with a subject adapted to the conditions of the people; at the same time earnestly soliciting for the preacher, wisdom, utterance, power, and fidelity; and for the hearers a serious frame, an unprejudiced mind, and a retentive heart. Whilst he was employed in proclaiming the glad tidings of salvation, she was engaged in pouring out her soul to the Great Shepherd and Bishop of souls to bless his own word; pleading that last great promise of her crucified Lord, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” And when the service of the sanctuary had ceased, she withdrew to her closet, and earnestly implored the benediction of the Spirit to accompany the labours of his servants, that many might be led to the knowledge of his grace and faith in Him. From year to year sinners were converted from the error of their ways, and believers were built up in their most holy faith; while she appeared among them as a happy mother rejoicing in their prosperity, and blessed in the blessings of her spiritual children. Thus the seed, which she had so often watered with her tears, and followed with her prayers, produced at length a plenteous harvest of immortal souls, redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

[189] He was the eldest son of Major-General Talbot, and grandson to the Bishop of Durham, and nephew of Lord Chancellor Talbot, and had just been presented to this living by the Lord Chancellor Bathurst.

[190] Lady Huntingdon, with that boundless generosity of heart which she possessed, wrote to this worthy man by return of post, enclosing a bank post bill for the supply of his temporal necessities. It was said by Captain Scott that her Ladyship was so generous and bountiful that she did actually give to every one who asked her, until her stock being exhausted, she was destitute. At length it became really necessary to conceal cases from her. On one occasion the Captain, with some other ministers, having a case presented to them, and believing that the good Countess would give, though she could ill afford to do so, resolved not to acquaint her with it. By some means, however, her Ladyship heard of the case, and likewise of the combination of the ministers to conceal it, with which conduct she was exceedingly grieved; and the moment she saw Captain Scott, said she could not have thought it of him. She burst into tears and exclaimed, “I have never taken anything ill at your hands before; but this I think is very unkind!” She then gave a hundred pounds to the case.

[191] Rev. Charles Wesley.

[192] Rev. John Wesley.

[193] Rev. G. Whitefield.

[194] The reader will form his own opinion on the propriety of such appeals to the Sortes Biblicæ. There is perhaps something too Delphic and oracular in the form for Christian practice.

[195] Mr Toplady’s style is said to have been admirably suited for the pulpit. His hearers were not puzzled with hard words. His references were in general short; and when they were long, the members were so constructed and arranged as to create no obscurity. There was at the same time a vivacity and animation in his manner which riveted the attention of his hearers.

[196] Through the greater part of his life this good man was the subject of considerable weakness of body. This circumstance, in addition to his lameness, confined him much to his parish, where he constantly and faithfully performed the important duties of his function, till he was absolutely incapacitated by disease. He had occasionally preached for Lady Huntingdon at Bath; and with the hope of dispelling his nervous disorders, which were sometimes wrought up to a high pitch, she prevailed on him to take a journey to Brighton, where he preached the pure Gospel with the seriousness and earnestness of a man who had a deep conviction of its truth and value. He was a native of Oxford, and descended from a respectable family there. His father was Professor of Astronomy in the University. He was intimate with the Duke of Marlborough, and, being at Blenheim on one occasion, he was asked by the Duke to recommend a tutor for his son. The doctor at the moment cast his eye on a young Oxonian strolling in the park. He knew and recommended him. The tutor was received, and so much pleased the Duke that all his influence was exerted for his elevation, and he lived to be Archbishop of Canterbury.

[197] An eye-witness described the church at Everton as crowded with persons, from all the country round; “the windows being filled, within and without, and even the outside of the pulpit, to the very top, so that Mr. Berridge seemed almost stilled; yet feeble and sickly as he is, he was continually strengthened and his voice, for the most part, distinguishable in the midst of all the outcries.”

[198] On the 13th of July, Mr. Romaine and Mr. Madan went, with Mr. Berridge and Mr. Hicks, to Tablow, in Cambridgeshire. Great numbers, feeling the arrows of conviction, fell to the ground, some of whom seemed dead, and others in the agonies of death; the violence of their bodily convulsions exceeding all description. There was also a great crying and agonizing in prayer, mixed with deep and deadly groans on every side.

At Harlston, Mr. Berridge was greatly fatigued and dejected, and said, “I am now so weak, I must leave off field-preaching.” Nevertheless, he cast himself on the Lord, and preached with amazing energy to upwards of three thousand hearers. At Stapleford, where he had been curate for five or six years, at Grandchester, at Driplow, Orwell, and other places, the like effects followed. At Everton, the next Sunday, about two hundred persons, chiefly men, cried aloud for mercy; but many more were affected, perhaps as deeply, though in a calmer way.

On these extraordinary manifestations Mr. Ralph Erskine observes:—“What influence sudden and sharp awakenings may have upon the body I pretend not to explain. But I make no question Satan, so far as he gets power, may exert himself on such occasions, partly to hinder the good work in the persons who are thus touched with sharp arrows of conviction, and partly to disparage the work of God, as if it tended to lead the people to distraction.”

[199] Lord Hertford, at the head of the Governors, with white staves, met the Prince at the door, and conducted his Royal Highness into the chapel, where, before the altar, was an arm-chair for him, with a blue damask cushion, and a footstool of black cloth. Lady Huntingdon, Lord and Lady Dartmouth, Lady Fanny Shirley, Lady Gertrude Hotham, Lady Chesterfield, Lady Selina Hastings, and several persons of distinction, occupied forms near his Royal Highness.

[200] At the moment of the Prince’s departure, some nobleman observed to Lord Hertford that he thought the sermon savoured a good deal of Methodism. His Lordship was about to reply, when the Prince, who had overheard the remark, turned hastily round, and said, “Your Lordship must be fastidious indeed; I thought the discourse excellent; and well adapted to this most useful institution—a sentiment in which my Lady Huntingdon, I am most happy to say, most cordially coincides with me. Her Ladyship, I suspect, is much better versed in theology than either of us.” The astonished noble bowed, and the Prince withdrew. It should be noticed, that Dr. Dodd was at this time considered decidedly evangelical in his preaching, and there have been instances of persons called under his ministry to a saving acquaintance of divine things. This was some years before his awful fall.

[201] Page, a robber of extraordinary courage and singular adventures and escapes, had stopped Lord Ferrers. His Lordship pulled out a pistol, but while he held it, trembled violently. The robber laughed and took the weapon out of his hand, quietly observing, “I know, my Lord, you always carry more than one pistol about you, let’s have the rest.” At the trial Page pleaded that his Lordship was excommunicated, and could not give evidence. He was consequently acquitted.

[202] Mr. Johnson had been taken into the family of Lord Ferrers in his youth, and was then his Lordship’s land-steward. Hoping, probably, that he should have sufficient influence over him to have procured some deviation from his trust in his Lordship’s favour, he soon found that Mr. Johnson would not oblige him at the expense of his honesty. From that time he conceived an implacable resentment against him; and it is easy to conceive that every opposition to the will of a man so haughty, impetuous, and irascible, would produce the most disastrous effects. Mr. Johnson lived at the house belonging to the farm which he held under his Lordship, called Lount, about half a mile distant from Stanton.

[203] From this period, till he was arrested, Lord Ferrers continued to drink porter, and in proportion as it took effect, his passions became more tumultuous. Having shot the steward at three o’clock in the afternoon, he persecuted him till one in the morning, threatening to murder him, and attempting to tear off his bandages. The last time he went to him he pulled him by the wig, calling him villain; and it was with great difficulty that Miss Johnson and those about her father could prevent his Lordship from striking him. The poor man was so terrified by his outrageous conduct, that Dr. Kirkland at length succeeded in removing him in the middle of the night to his own house, where he languished till the next morning; and when the Earl heard the poor creature was dead, he said he gloried in having killed him.

[204] “His brothers (says Horace Walpole) were brought to his trial to prove lunacy against their own blood. One of them (Mr. Shirley) is a clergyman, suspended by the Bishop of London for being a Methodist.”

[205] “Many Peers (says Horace Walpole) were absent. Lord Foley and Lord Jersey attended only the first day; and Lord Huntingdon, and my nephew, Lord Orford (in compliment to his mother, as related to the prisoner), withdrew without voting. But never was a criminal more literally tried by his Peers; for the three persons who interested themselves most in the examination were at least as mad as he—Lord Ravenscroft, Lord Talbot, and Lord Fortescue. Indeed, the first was almost frantic. The seats of the Peeresses were not nearly full. Lady Coventry was there, I sat next but one to her, and would not have thought she had been ill; yet they are positive she has but a few weeks to live. Lady Augusta was in the same gallery; the Duke of York and his young brothers were in the Prince of Wales’s box, who was not there, no more than the Princess, Princess Emily, nor the Duke. It was an agreeable humanity in the Duke of York, who would not take his seat in the House before the trial, that he might not vote on it. There are so many young Peers, that the show was fine even in that respect. The Duke of Richmond was the finest figure; the Duke of Marlborough, with the best countenance in the world, looked clumsy in his robes; he had new ones, having given away his father’s. There were others not at all so indifferent about the antiquity of theirs. Lord Huntingdon’s, Lord Abervagenny’s, and Lord Castlehaven’s, scarcely hung on their backs; the two former, they pretend, were used at the trial of the Queen of Scots.”

Horace Walpole, in this note, refers to the mother of his nephew: she was Margaret, Countess Dowager of Orford, who had married the uncle of Lord Ferrers, the Hon. Sewallis Shirley, Comptroller of the Household to Queen Charlotte, and M.P. for Brackley and Callington. The Lady Coventry, to whose illness he refers, died on the 1st of October in the same year. (See Mason’s elegy on this celebrated beauty in his poems). She was the eldest daughter of John Gunning, Esq., and sister to the Duchess of Argyle. Lady Coventry left two daughters, who were both married, and, strange to say, both divorced on the ground of ill conduct.

[206] The Earl wanted much to see his mistress: my Lord Cornwallis consulted Lady Huntingdon whether he should permit it. “Oh! by no means (said the Countess); it would be letting him die in adultery.” He resolved not to take leave of his children, four girls, but on the scaffold, and then to read to them a very bitter paper he had drawn up against the Meredith family, and on the House of Lords, for their first interference in separating him from Lady Ferrers. This Lady Huntingdon, with her usual good sense, persuaded him to drop, and having brought his children to him, he took a cold farewell of them the day before. He had written two letters during the week to Lord Cornwallis on some of these requests: they were cool and rational, and concluded with desiring him not to mind the requests of his family in his behalf, which he considered extremely absurd.

[207] First went a large body of constables for the county of Middlesex, preceded by one of the high constables—a party of horse grenadiers and a party of foot—then Mr. Sheriff Errington in his chariot and six, the horses dressed with ribbons—next Lord Ferrers, in his own landau and six, escorted by parties of horse and foot—Mr. Sheriff Vaillant’s chariot, followed with the under-sheriff, Mr. Nicols—a mourning coach and six, with some of his Lordship’s friends—and a hearse and six, which was provided for the conveyance of the corpse from the place of execution to Surgeons’ Hall.

[208] “This extraordinary history of Lord Ferrers is closed (says Horace Walpole to George Montague): he was executed yesterday. Madness, that in other countries is disorder, is here a systematic character: it does not hinder people from forming a plan of conduct, and from even dying agreeably to it. You remember how the last Ratcliffe died with the utmost propriety; so did this horrid lunatic, coolly and sensibly. His own and his wife’s relations had asserted that he would tremble at last. No such thing; he shamed heroes. With all his madness, he was not mad enough to be struck with Lady Huntingdon’s sermons. The Methodists have nothing to brag of his conversion, though Whitefield prayed for him and preached about him. I have not heard that Lady Fanny dabbled with his soul.”

[209] Widow of Henry Hastings, Esq., and mother of the Rev. Theophilus Henry Hastings, de jure 11th Earl of Huntingdon, and Colonel George Hastings, father of Hans Francis, the late Earl.

[210] That is, that some should remain regular, others irregular; some either of the two, and some again neither one nor the other.

[211] The remainder of this letter is like that addressed to the Evangelical clergy before alluded to, and which is so well known that we do not think it necessary to insert it at length.

[212] Sir Walter Scott, then a youth, heard him; but he remarks that Wesley was too colloquial for Sawney.

[213] Samson Occum, whom Lady Huntingdon considered one of the most interesting and extraordinary characters of her time, was born at Mohegan, near Norwich, Connecticut, about the year 1723. His parents, like other Indians, led a wandering life, depending chiefly upon hunting and fishing for subsistence. Not one then cultivated the land, and all dwelt in wigwams. None of them could read. During the religious excitement in America, about the year 1740, Mr. Whitefield, Mr. Gilbert Tennant, and several other ministers, visited these Mohegan Indians, after which many of them used to repair to the neighbouring churches. Occum, at this period, became the subject of religious impressions, and was soon desirous of becoming the teacher of his tribe. In a year or two he learned to read the Bible. At the age of nineteen he went to the Indian school of Dr. Wheeloch, of Lebanon, and remained with him four years. He afterwards kept a school amongst the Indians for ten or eleven years; and was eventually ordained by the Suffolk Presbytery, in 1759, after which he became very zealous in preaching amongst the scattered remnants of the Mohegan Indians.

[214] After his return to America he sometimes resided at Mohegan, and was often employed in missionary labours amongst distant Indians. In the latter years of his life he resided at New Stockbridge, near Brotherton, where he had collected a numerous congregation of the Mohegan root. He died in July, 1792. An excellent portrait of him was given in one of the early volumes of the Evangelical Magazine. He published a sermon preached at the execution of an Indian, in 1772. His sister, who was regarded as a pious woman, died at Mohegan, in June, 1830, aged 97. Samson Occum and his sister were descended, by their mother, from Uncas, chief of the Mohegans. The family have declined in power with the decay of the tribe. Isaiah Uncas attended Dr. Wheeloch’s school. About the year 1800, Noah and John Uncas were living: but the name is now extinct at Mohegan. The royal burial ground is not at Mohegan, but at Norwich city, a short distance from the falls of the Yantic. A few months after the death of Occum’s sister a Sunday-school was opened at her house, where three or four generations of her descendants lived; and this commencement of benevolent efforts for the remnant of a once powerful tribe has led to the erection of a commodious place of worship, and the establishment of a teacher among these Indians.

[215] “There are less than a hundred Mohegans (says a late American writer), including those of mixed blood, now remaining. The French and revolutionary wars, and, above all, the use of spirituous liquors, have nearly exterminated the tribe. However, there is now reason to hope for amendment. They retain of their large territory 2,700 acres of good land, and have several houses, which they rent to white men. They have now schools and a preacher. If they renounce strong drink and cultivate their remaining land diligently, and especially if the power of religion should ever be felt among them, they will become a respectable and happy community.”

[216] We have already adverted to the expulsion of Dr. Haweis from Oxford, and we ought now to state that it was through the absurd authority of Hume, Bishop of that See, in whose eyes it was a crime to attract a great auditory, and be blessed in the conversion of many. His Grace of Canterbury (Seeker), of whom Dr. Haweis begged a fair investigation of his case, offering for inspection three hundred of his sermons, and courting enquiry into his life and actions, coldly said—“Sir, whether you gave the offence, or they took it, I shall not take it upon myself to determine.” In this way was Dr. Haweis deprived of his curacy without redress; yet he had influence, and was of a good family, long resident in Cornwall, and well known as Haweis of St. Coose. His mother, Miss Bridgeman Willyams, was the only daughter of John Willyams, Esq., of Carmanton, by the youngest daughter and co-heir of Colonel Humphrey Noy, whose father was attorney-general to Charles I. Her mother was a sister of the last Baron Sandys, of the Vine, on whose death, without issue, the title fell into abeyance among his sisters. Mr. Willyams (the father of Mrs. Haweis), of St. Coose, was conspicuous for his active and zealous adherence to the Stuarts, and suffered much persecution for his attachment to that unfortunate house. He was deprived, during the reign of William and Mary, of his commission of the peace, but was restored soon after the accession of Anne. When the old mansion was taken down, some ninety years ago, a fine picture of James II. was found curiously concealed in the roof. This valuable Jacobite relic is now at Carmanton.

Hester, the eldest sister of the Lord Sandys above referred to, was granddaughter and heiress of Lady Sandys, daughter of Edmund Brydges, second Lord Chandos. She was the great grandmother of Dr. Haweis, and her direct descendant is Davies Giddy, Esq. (now Davies Gilbert, F. R. S.), late M.P. for Bodmin, who is co-heir to the Barony of Sandys, of the Vine, in Hampshire.

John Oliver Willyams, a cousin of Dr. Haweis, married Charlotte, daughter of Chauncey Townsend, Esq., M.P. for London, sister to Mrs. Biddulph, whose son, Mr. Biddulph, is minister of St. James’s, Bristol. Another of his cousins became the wife of Lord James O’Brien, brother to the Marquis of Thomond. She died at Clifton, of consumption, leaving no child.

[217] However severe might be her Ladyship’s opinion of this transaction at the moment, she had always entertained a high opinion of the piety and moral worth of Dr. Haweis: he became one of her preachers, then her chaplain, and he was appointed in her will one of the chief managers of her chapels.

[218] The publication of these narratives produced two pamphlets from Mr. Brewer—the first entitled, “An Exact Copy of an Epistolary Correspondence between the Rev. Mr. Madan and the Rev. Samuel Brewer, concerning the living of Aldwincle; before the publication of either Mr. Kimpton’s or Mr. Madan’s narratives; with a design and desire of gratifying the public, answerable to their repeated demands on that unpleasant subject.” The second was published soon after, and entitled, “A Supplement; or the Second Part of an Epistolary Correspondence relative to the living of Aldwincle; containing several important letters, now forced to be made public to vindicate injured character and to undeceive the friends of religion.” From which publications it appears that Mr. Brewer thought with Mr. Kimpton on the subject. Captain Alexander Clunie, a hearer of Mr. Brewer’s, and his friend Mr. West, exerted themselves with great zeal to prevent these contradictory publications, and to reconcile Mr. Madan and Mr. Brewer without either appearing in print. “Mr. Madan (says Captain Clunie) told me he did not mind 1,000l. if Kimpton had a claim upon him; but to give one penny as hush-money was what he neither could nor would consent to.” Mr. Mays, one of Mr. Kimpton’s friends, published a pamphlet which Mr. Madan’s advisers thought libellous; and Mr. Madan’s brother, William Hale, Esq., of Kingswald, the candidate for Hertford, advised a prosecution.

[219] This letter enclosed a copy of an advertisement, which her Ladyship wished Messrs. Madan and Haweis to sign and insert in the papers of the day. The following is a copy. It was drawn up by the Countess herself:—“As the public have received much offence by our mutual transactions in the affair of the living of Aldwincle, we take this method of informing them that we are assured that Mr. Kimpton is honourably satisfied by the purchase of the advowson, unknown to us or our friends, and an end put to any further altercation on this subject; so we are desirous of saying that anything which might appear in our conduct contrary to the spirit of Christianity, through the weakness and various temptations attending this severe attack upon the honour and honesty belonging to Christian ministers, we think ourselves bound, from the grief occasioned to the religious world through our mistakes, or the willing prejudices of others against our characters, as ministers of Christ, to give every future proof which (notwithstanding so many unfortunate and various difficulties) shall in the issue convince even our worst enemies we have no meaning but to be found faithful messengers of peace, by the dispensation of that Gospel which renders this submission the consistent as well as genuine fruits of it.”

[220] Among his converts was an old innkeeper, who, having been a good customer to his own barrel, had carbuncled his nose into the sign of his calling. He was from nature and interest averse to the Methodists, and could not see what all the world, in his part, had to run after at Aldwincle church. Being fond of music, however, and hearing that the singing was admirable, he contrived, at the next feast-day, to go six miles, avoid a drinking party, and squeeze himself into a pew somewhat too narrow for his portly person, where he listened with delight to the hymns, but stopped his ears to the prayer. Heated and fatigued, he closed his eyes too, till a fly stinging his nose, he took his hands from the side of his head to punish the intruder; just then the preacher, in a voice that sounded like thunder, gave out the text—“He that hath ears to hear let him hear!” The impression was irresistible; his hand no longer covered his organs of hearing; a new sense was awakened within; it was the beginning of days to him. No more swearing, no more drunkenness, but prayer and hearing occupied his time, and he died after eighteen years walking with God, rejoicing in hope, and blessing the instrument of his conversion.

[221] Mr. Jones was originally a hair-dresser, and a letter was produced among the evidence on this occasion, in which the writer stated that Mr. Jones had made a very good periwig for him only two years before. The fact was, however, that he had left the business at seventeen years of age, four years before he went to College. He had resided some time with Mr. Newton, then curate of Olney, and under his instruction made considerable progress in acquiring a knowledge, grammatical and critical, of the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures. His moral character was unimpeached even by his accusers, and the charges against him were chiefly that he had been brought up to a trade, and had been guilty of praying, singing hymns, and expounding the Scriptures in private houses. After his expulsion he was much noticed by Lady Huntingdon, was ordained, became curate of Clifton, near Birmingham, married the sister of Cowper’s friend, the Lady Austin, and died rather suddenly several years ago.

Mr. Kay was of respectable family, and an excellent scholar. He was bible clerk at St. Edmund’s, and had an exhibition, paid by the Ironmongers’ Company.

Mr. Grove had been admitted in 1767, and was twenty-one years of age. He was expelled for barn preaching, a new crime, of which, however, there was no proof. In a petition to the Archbishop of Canterbury he acknowledged that his zeal had led him into certain irregularities, but he was not aware that they violated any statute. The Chancellor consented to his re-admission, but the Vice-Chancellor and his assessors refused, even after he had declared his willingness to make submission for irregularity.

Mr. Matthews was charged with having been instructed by Mr. Fletcher, a declared Methodist, of associating with known Methodists, and of attending illicit conventicles. He was afterwards received into Lady Huntingdon’s College, at Trevecca.

Mr. Middleton was accused of preaching at Cheveley, in Berkshire, not being in orders. This occurred three years before he entered the University, for which “daring impiety,” as Mr. Durrell called it, he was expelled by those who looked over a charge of blasphemy against Mr. Welling, on the ground that he was in drink when the blasphemy was uttered. But Mr. Middleton was further charged with having refused ordination from the Bishop of Hereford, and attaching himself to Mr. Haweis, who had boasted that he could get him into orders. Erasmus Middleton was, perhaps, the most distinguished of those persecuted students. He was supported at Cambridge by Fuller, the banker, a Dissenter, and ordained in Ireland by the Bishop of Down. In Scotland he married a branch of the ducal family of Gordon. In London he was curate to Romaine and Cadogan, and there he wrote his “Biographia Evangelica.” In his old age he was presented, by the Fuller family, with the living of Turvey, in Bedfordshire.

The accusations Mr. Shipman had to sustain were similar, and equally unfounded. He was, after his expulsion, admitted to the College of Trevecca.

The morality, then, of the students was not impugned. They were arraigned and expelled because they met together at Mrs. Durbridge’s, to read and expound the Scriptures, sing hymns, and pray extempore. This was construed into “attending an illicit conventicle;” but surely the words of the canon, of the University statute, and of the preamble to the Act of Parliament, plainly define a conventicle to be a meeting contrary to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England, or dangerous to the public peace; whereas the writing at Oxford were of persons whose attachment to the doctrines of the Church, attendance upon her worship, and subscription to all her Articles were manifest and undeniable. Very similar were the charges of associating with Stillingfleet, Fletcher, Haweis, Venn, Newton, and other excellent persons. But the chief cause of the displeasure of their judges was the doctrine of these pious men. At that time their tenets were considered hostile to the Church to which they belonged; but time has done them justice, and the Church of England is daily adding to the number of her zealous and active ministers men who consider their doctrines not at variance with her Liturgy and Articles, and who, without any infringement of her rules, are preaching salvation through faith alone, and whose works are an answer to those who insinuate that they lay no stress upon them as evidences of their belief.