[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--

“Sweet was the hour, the minute sweet,” &c.

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--

“Captain of thine enlisted host,” &c.

was composed by one of the Battys; also the following, which are to be

found in many collections, with several others in general use:--

“What object’s this which meets my eyes,” &c.

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

“From Salem’s gate, advancing slow,

What object meets my eyes!

What means this majesty of wo?

What mean these mingled cries?” &c.

“Beloved Saviour, faithful Friend,” &c.

“O, my Lord! I’ve often mused,” &c.

“Saviour, canst thou love a traitor?” &c.

“O Lord, how great’s the favour,” &c.

“I wait the visits of thy grace,” &c.

“How blest are they whose feet have found,” &c.

“How shall I speak my Saviour’s worth?” &c.

“Strangers and sojourners below,” &c.

“Encouraged by the word of grace,” &c.

“The God of Salvation, Jehovah by name,” &c.

“Compassionate Bridegroom, my Shepherd and Friend,” &c.

“O Jesu, my God, come make thine abode,” &c.

“O Jesus, my Saviour, I fain would embrace,” &c.

“Sinner, attend! attend, I pray,” &c.

“See Jesus, our Deliv’rer great,” &c.

“Nothing in this world I want,” &c.

“The God whose smiles we court,” &c.

[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--

“Christ in me--my hope of glory,

Christ in me--my God of love.”

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--

“None but Christ for me;

No music like thy charming name,

Nor half so sweet can be.”

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.

[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:--

Two 15 x drops £400 0 0

Twenty-eight 13 x 2 90 0 0

Thirty-seven pearls, at 4_l._ 15_s._ each 175 15 0

Seed pearls 10 0 0

Gold box 23 0 0

----------

£698 15 0

[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 1,000_l._ 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.

[222] As early as the year 1757, her Ladyship engaged Mr. Madan to

itinerate through several parts of the kingdom, and preach, whenever an

opportunity offered, that Gospel which bringeth life and immortality to

light. Through Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, and Buckinghamshire, he was

accompanied by Mr. Romaine; and on their arrival in Warwickshire they

were joined by Mr. Talbot, then vicar of Kineton, in that county, from

whence they proceeded through Worcestershire into Gloucestershire.

[223] He had just been admitted into orders, and shortly afterwards

served us curate to Mr. Hervey, at Weston Favel.

[224] Articles intended to be proposed, mentioned in the foregoing

letter:--

_The work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of

righteousness quietness and assurance for ever._ (Isaiah

xxxii. 17).

Proposals of peace and union for the most universal spread of

the Gospel in the Connexion of the Rev. Mr. Rowlands, Mr. Hogg,

and Lady Huntingdon.

I. The Gloucestershire Connexion to deliver up to the Welsh

Association all light, power, or influence in Haverfordwest, or

elsewhere in Wales, held by them: thus having no preference.

II. That each Connexion take their own private cares and

expenses upon themselves; and that those ministers that have

been found most faithful to the Lord, and have been owned by

him in each Connexion, shall by the other Connexions ever be

accounted worthy of double honour, and be universally received

by the several Connexions, when applied to for their services.

III. When any minister or ministers are wanted, a letter to

be wrote to the immediate Connexion to which they belong,

requesting their assistance, and for what time, that the most

general help to the whole may be considered, and thus best and

most universally served.

IV. No minister or principal in any of the Connexions to

interfere in any other than their own, that no divisions may

arise, and that, if such are known, it ought to be mutually

agreed by all to discard such an one, and that all possible care

be taken to prevent perplexities to the people, and that mutual

love and unwearied diligence alike be expected, having this one

point only in view, viz., the enlargement of our precious Lord’s

kingdom, by the call of perishing souls all over England and

Wales.

V. In order that this may be best effected, four general

meetings in the year will be needful. To each of these a

deputation, agreed upon, should be sent of six chosen out of

each Connexion, to represent the bodies to which they belong,

and to give in such particulars as they may want to communicate,

and what mutual help from any quarter they may be best assisted

by. These meetings to be at Mr. Rowlands’ Association, the

College anniversary, the Gloucestershire Association, and

another in London once a year, to have a full account of the

last year’s success, and to agree upon the future steps for each

Connexion unitedly to follow the ensuing year.

_Memorandum._--These hints are given for the benefit of the

Gloucester Connexion, upon a supposition they act separately

from the Tabernacle and other Connexions; otherwise Lady

Huntingdon could not think of appearing to interfere with them,

or in the smallest degree to divide friends, having no other

meaning than those already mentioned, and to show by this her

readiness to serve and comply with the wishes of Mr. Hogg, Mr.

Vines, and Mr. Butler, as her own and Mr. Whitefield’s old

friends.

If the first article respecting Haverfordwest is not complied

with, the whole will drop.

[225] In the year 1807, an appeal was made to the liberality of the

religious world in behalf of a chapel intended to be erected at

Cheltenham, wherein the Gospel should be plainly preached, and the

mode of worship should, as much as possible, meet the prejudices

of all Christians, without invading the rights of conscience. The

service was to be conducted on the plan of Lady Huntingdon’s chapels;

the Liturgy to be read, and the pulpit open to ministers of various

denominations who embraced orthodox principles, and whose characters

were unblemished, till the congregation that might be gathered should

fix upon a settled minister of sound piety and approved and suitable

talents.

On the 5th of July, 1808, the foundation of this chapel was laid by

the Rev. Rowland Hill, who addressed a very numerous assembly of about

three thousand, in an energetic and appropriate speech; after which the

Rev. John Brown, then minister of Lady Huntingdon’s chapel at Ebley,

in Gloucestershire, concluded with prayer. On the 2nd of August, 1809,

the chapel, being entirely finished, was opened for public worship by

Mr. Hill, who preached in the morning, and Mr. Jay, of Bath, in the

evening, to very crowded congregations. A variety of ministers supplied

the chapel till the year 1813, when Mr. Brown, the present gifted and

respectable minister, commenced his pastoral charge.

In 1816, Robert Capper, Esq., having taken up his residence at

Cheltenham, built, at his own expense, a very handsome and commodious

place of worship, called “Portland Chapel,” which, in the year 1819,

he vested in the present trustees of Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion. This

neat and convenient chapel was opened for public worship on Sunday,

June 27th, 1819, by the Rev. James Sherman, now minister of Surrey

Chapel, who preached both morning and evening. Portland Chapel was

supplied by various ministers in the Connexion till the Rev. Elias

Parry, who had his education at Cheshunt College, was appointed

minister. On his removal to London, as minister of Northampton

Tabernacle, the chapel was supplied by the Rev. J. L. Wake, who

continues to be the minister.

Mr. Biddulph, when residing at Henwick Hill, within a mile of

Cheltenham, opened his house morning and evening for family prayer; the

faithful few who profited by this followed him to Tibberton church, and

when he went away from Worcester (1767), assembled in a garret of Mr.

Skinner’s warehouse. There Sir Richard Hill and his venerable brother,

the late Rev. Rowland Hill, often preached. A few years ago, the

latter, while passing with the present minister through the street in

which the old building stood, immediately recognized it, and said, in

a way peculiar to himself, “Why this is the place, is it not, where we

used to preach at Mr. Skinner’s? Yes, in Mr. Skinner’s _garret_!”

[226] As “a Methodist,” in the usual acceptation of the word--that is,

as applied, by the world indiscriminately to religious persons.

[227] See Nichols’s “Literary Anecdotes.”

[228] We have already noticed (see page 22) the intimacy of Lady

Huntingdon with Lord Bolingbroke; and from her frequent visits to

Twickenham, where her aunt, Lady Fanny Shirley, then resided [229], her

early acquaintance with Pope may be inferred.

[229] Lady Fanny Shirley, the aunt of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon,

had a house at Twickenham, very near the residence of Pope. Lady Fanny

was a reigning beauty of the Court of George I. Pope’s lines--

“Yes I beheld th’ Athenian Queen

Descend, in all her sober charms,”

were addressed to her in return for “a standish and two pens.” Lord

Chesterfield’s verses, commencing

“So the first man from Paradise was driven,”

were also written in celebration of Lady Fanny Shirley. To her were

addressed Hervey’s “Theron and Aspasia,” and his observations on

Bolingbroke’s “Use and Study of History.” Here it was that Lady

Huntingdon became intimate with the celebrated men of the day. The

house, which was left by Lady Fanny to her brother, the Hon. G.

Shirley, of Eatington Park, Warwickshire, is now one of the residences

of the present representative of that branch of the Shirley family,

Evelyn John Shirley, Esq., M.P. for South Warwickshire.

[230] When Mr. John Wesley was preaching at Bath, some time before

the coming of Charles, Beau Nash entered the room, and approaching

the preacher, demanded by what authority he was acting. Mr. Wesley

answered, “By that of Jesus Christ, conveyed to me by the present

Archbishop of Canterbury, when he laid his hands upon me and

said--‘_Take thou authority to preach the Gospel!_’” Nash then

affirmed that he was acting contrary to law. “Besides (said he), your

preaching frightens people out of their wits.” “Sir (replied Mr.

Wesley), did you ever hear me preach?” “No,” said the Master of the

Ceremonies. “How, then, can you judge of what you never heard?” “By

common report,” replied Nash. “Sir (said Mr. Wesley), is not your name

Nash? I dare not judge of you by common report.” Nash, finding himself

a very different person in the meeting-house from what he was in the

pump-room, thought it best to withdraw.

Nash sometimes conversed with Lady Huntingdon on religious subjects,

and was once prevailed on to hear Mr. Whitefield at her house. Beau

Nash was congratulated on his conversion by his gay associates, who

failed not to rally him on his turning Methodist. Verses were written

on her Ladyship and Mr. Nash, which were fastened to the walls of the

pump-room and assembly-room; and printed notices were circulated in

every direction, one of which was shown to the writer, many years ago,

by Dr. Haweis, stating that “the Countess of Huntingdon, attended by

some saintly sister, purposed preaching at the pump-room the following

morning, and that Mr. Nash, henceforth to be known as the _Rev.

Richard Nash_,” was expected to preach in the evening at the

assembly-room. It was hoped that the audience would be numerous, as

a collection was intended for the late Master of the Ceremonies, who

was retiring from office. This profane raillery never discomposed the

Countess, but gave great offence to Mr. Nash; and no inducement could

ever after prevail upon him to go to Lady Huntingdon’s house.

This man of pleasure died as he lived--a monument of irreligion,

folly, and vice, in the year 1761, aged 87! He dreaded the approach

of death more than the generality of mankind; and sought refuge in

some fancied devotion while it threatened him. Though a complete

libertine in practice, none trembled more than he did. To embitter his

hopes, he found himself at last abandoned by the great, whom he had

long endeavoured to flatter and to serve, and was obliged to fly for

protection to those of humbler station, whom he had once affected to

despise. The corporation of Bath allowed him a scanty pittance, which

saved this miserable trifler from starvation in his last days.

[231] Mr. Larwood withdrew from Mr. Wesley’s Connexion about the

year 1753, at which time four others left the itinerant plan, and

established Independent congregations in different parts of the

kingdom. Mr. Larwood took an old Presbyterian chapel in the borough of

Southwark, called Zoar, where he continued to preach till God called

him hence, by a fever, in November, 1756.

[232] Of this gentleman, so distinguished for his zeal and imprudences

during the early struggles of Methodism, an ample account will be found

in the history of the Tabernacle at Norwich.

[233] Of this zealous itinerant, Mr. Wesley says, “He was an old

labourer, worn out in the service of his Master.” He finished his

course at Clones, in Ireland, in the year 1777.

[234] Herbert Jenkins joined Mr. Wesley’s society in 1743, and

itinerated for some years in that Connexion, with great zeal and

success. He afterwards joined Mr. Whitefield, and laboured in

conjunction with Mr. Cennick, Mr. Adams, Mr. Godwin, &c., in the

Tabernacle Connexion. He preached frequently for Mr. Kinsman, at

Plymouth, by whom he was highly esteemed. He also laboured much in

Wales; but when or where he finished his course we have not been able

to learn.

[235] Mr. Richards afterwards left Mr. Wesley’s society, and obtained

episcopal ordination through the interest of Lady Huntingdon. Mr.

Meyrick, who preached more frequently than the others at her Ladyship’s

residence, was a native of Cornwall, and brought up and educated

for the law. He was remarkably zealous in propagating divine truth,

and endured great persecutions in various parts of the kingdom.

Having obtained episcopal ordination, through the intervention of

Lady Huntingdon, he became curate of a small chapel in the parish

of Halifax, in Yorkshire. A short time before his death he was made

afternoon lecturer of the parish church of Halifax; and there he ended

his days about the year 1770. Mr. Moss resided for some time with her

Ladyship, who had a very sincere friendship for him, and showed him

many acts of kindness. He was afterwards ordained by the Bishop of

London, as a missionary for the Island of Providence, one of the Bahama

Islands, in the West Indies, where he preached the Gospel for several

years, in company with Mr. Tizzard, his fellow-labourer.

[236] Letters to and from Dr. Doddridge, edited by the Rev. Thomas

Stedman, vicar of St. Chad’s, Shrewsbury.

[237] Belsham’s “Life of Lindsay.”

[238] Afterwards the Rev. Sir James Stonhouse, Bart., rector of Great

and Little Cheveril, Wiltshire, the friend and correspondent of Lady

Huntingdon, Whitefield, &c.

[239] Mrs. Scawen was the only daughter of Lord James Russell, fifth

son of William, first Duke of Bedford, and niece of the celebrated

Lady Rachel Russell, whose piety, virtue, and congenial affection have

immortalized her memory. Mrs. Scawen was introduced to the notice of

Lady Huntingdon by Dr. Doddridge, at a season of parental bereavement,

when, in almost hopeless anguish, she was lamenting the loss of a

child. The consolatory letters of Lady Huntingdon and of Dr. Doddridge

were of singular service in leading her to more correct views of God,

and the designs of Providence, in his afflicting dispensations.

[240] This gentleman was the very particular friend of Lady Huntingdon,

Mr. Whitefield, and Mr. Hervey. He was nephew to the Rev. Robert

Bragge, minister of an Independent congregation in Lime-street,

London. He was educated for, and called to the ministry, and preached

frequently in his uncle’s pulpit. Finding, however, that his conscience

would not permit him to believe the truths which he from time to

time delivered from the pulpit, he had the honesty to desist from

preaching, and, in process of time, was chosen the Lord Mayor’s Common

Hunt, a place of considerable profit. He possessed a large fortune,

a considerable portion of which he lost in the South-Sea Bubble. In

the fifty-second year of his age the Lord was pleased to pluck him as

a firebrand out of the burning, under the powerful ministry of Mr.

Cennick; in what manner he himself informs us, in the narrative of his

experience, delivered before Mr. Richardson’s church, at the time of

his being admitted a member, June 4, 1743, and afterwards published,

with a recommendation by Mr. Whitefield. He survived his conversion

upwards of twenty years, and during that time bore a noble testimony to

the truth and power of religion. He died happily, June 23, 1763, aged

seventy-three. When writing to Mr. Keene, Mr. Whitefield speaks thus of

his death:--“Mr. Cruttenden, I find, is gone. God be praised that he

went off so comfortably! May our expiring hour be like his.”--_See

Whitefield’s Letters, Brown’s Life of Hervey, and Porter’s Sermon on

the Death of Mr. Cruttenden._

[241] This gentleman was the son of the Rev. Dr. Neale, who, as a

historian, has obtained considerable celebrity. His son, Mr. Nathaniel

Neale, was an eminent attorney and secretary to the Million Bank. His

mother was a sister of the learned Dr. Nathaniel Lardner. He was also

secretary of Coward’s trustees, and wrote some insolent letters to Dr.

Doddridge, on account of his liberality towards the Methodists.

[242] Pope’s introducing Warburton to Mr. Allen led to his marriage

with Miss Gertrude Tucker. The splendid seat of Mr. Allen, Prior Park,

immediately became the residence, and afterwards the property, of

Warburton.

[243] Dr. Hartley was a man of genius, and had a wide acquaintance with

books, and a mind active and adventurous, eager to pursue knowledge,

and attentive to retain it; always investigating, always aspiring;

and therefore not easily silenced by the violence and arrogance of

Warburton. He received his academical education at Jesus College,

Cambridge, where he took his degree of A.M., being intended for the

Church, but having some scruples about subscribing to the Thirty-nine

Articles, turned his attention to the study of physic. He settled for

some time in London, from whence he removed to Bath, where he practised

with great reputation till his death, August 28, 1757, leaving two sons

and a daughter.--_See Hartley’s Life, by his son, who was M.P. for

Hull, 1766._

[244] This eminent physician, so celebrated in his day, had long

resided at Bath, where he had great practice, and acquired a large

fortune. Although he had long been intimate with Lady Huntingdon and

Dr. Stonehouse, after his conversion to Christianity, yet he remained a

most inveterate infidel till a short time before his death. In his last

illness the arrows of conviction stuck fast in him. Lady Huntingdon

said she never saw a person more thoroughly humbled, distressed, and

broken in heart. Visiting him a few days before he died, he lamented

not only his own past infidelity, but the zeal and success with which

he had endeavoured to infect the minds of others. “O that I could

undo the mischief I have done! I was more ardent (said he) to poison

people with the principles of irreligion and unbelief, than almost

any Christian can be to spread the doctrines of Christ!” “Cheer up!

(answered Lady Huntingdon). Jesus, the great sacrifice for sin, atoned

for the sins of the second table as well as for those of the first.”

“God (replied he) certainly can, but I fear he never will, pardon such

a wretch as I.” “You may fear it at present (rejoined her Ladyship),

but you and I shall most certainly meet each other in heaven.” The

Doctor then said, “O woman! great is thy faith! my faith cannot believe

that I shall ever be there.”

Soon after, the Lord lifted up the light of his countenance upon Dr.

Oliver’s soul, and he lay the rest of his time triumphing and praising

God for the free grace he had bestowed upon him.

Dr. Oliver’s second daughter, Charlotte, married Sir John Pringle,

Bart., a celebrated physician, philosopher, and president of the Royal

Society. He favoured the public with many useful works, some of which

are translated into several of the European languages. On the accession

of George III., Sir John Pringle was appointed physician to the Queen’s

household. For many years he constantly attended Lady Huntingdon,

and entertained a high veneration for her Ladyship. He died, greatly

beloved and respected, Jan. 18, 1782.

[245] Aunt of the late General Grinfield and the Rev. Thomas Grinfield,

of Kensington, who espoused Anne, daughter of Joseph Forster, Esq.,

youngest son of Colonel John Forster, of the island of Jamaica, who

afterwards assumed the surname of Barham.

[246] But Mrs. Grinfield continued her intimacy with Lady Huntingdon

and her friendship for Mr. Whitefield, and when the Tabernacle-house

at Bristol was without a servant, she lent her own, Mrs. Elizabeth

King, for that purpose. This respectable woman afterwards kept the

Tabernacle-house in London, and found at last shelter in the house of

the Rev. Dr. Winter, enjoying a pension for her services, and blessed

with the means of grace as long as she could use them.

[247] Mrs. Bevan was a daughter and co-heiress of Mr. Vaughan, of

Derllysg, in the parish of Merthyr, Carmarthenshire, and received her

first serious impressions under the apostolic ministry of Griffith

Jones, rector of Llandowvor. She was very handsome, sensible,

and accomplished. Her husband, Arthur Bevan, Esq., of Langharne,

was rector of the county-borough of Carmarthen, and for fourteen

years its representative in Parliament; his public conduct was at

once dignified and endearing, and he died March 6, 1745, aged 56,

beloved and lamented. To Mr. Jones, Mrs. Bevan was ever grateful

and affectionate, attended his ministry at Llandowvor and Llandilo,

powerfully assisted his efforts in establishing that blessing to the

poor of the principality, the Welsh Circulating Charity-schools; and

at last, in 1761, it was in her house at Langharne that he died, and

at her own expense she erected a monument to his memory in the parish

church he had so faithfully served. For twenty years after his death

she continued his schools, and in her will left 10,000_l._ to

perpetuate their good effects. The executrix, Lady Stepney, disputed

the legacy, and it was thrown into Chancery, whence, in 1808, it came,

increased to a vast sum, and was applied to the purposes willed by

the testatrix. At every visit of Mr. Whitefield to Bath he preached

in Mrs. Bevan’s house, and at the period of which we speak the

Earls of Chesterfield and Huntingdon, and Mrs. Stanhope, were among

the distinguished auditory. Mrs. Bevan’s elegant and accomplished

manners attracted Lord Chesterfield’s attention, and having studied

the Deistical writers of the age, she was enabled to give all her

eminent ability and clearness to the discussion of the topics he was

fond of introducing. She easily and solidly refuted his plausible

objections to revealed religion. “Lord Chesterfield’s inclination to

subvert Christianity (she writes to Lady Huntingdon) has involved

me in many inconsistencies. A greater proof of his prejudices and

his being reduced to the last distress in point of argument is his

general clamours and invectives against _all_ historical evidence,

as absolutely uncertain; and it is not so much the corruptions

of Christianity that his Lordship finds fault with, as with the

Christian revelation itself, which he does not scruple to represent

as the product of enthusiasm or imposture. Yet, at other times, he

will agree with me, that never were there any facts that had clearer

and more convincing evidence attending them than the extraordinary

and miraculous facts whereby the divine original and authority of

the Christian revelation was attested and confirmed. This strange

fluctuation of opinion I can account for only on this ground--that the

incontrovertible and undeniable evidence of these facts has overcome

the notions and prejudices with which his mind has been so strongly

prepossessed; and it is this shaking of the Babel of unbelief that

fills me with hope that the Great Dispenser of spiritual benefits will,

of his free grace and mercy, reveal to his Lordship’s mind the grand

and harmonious system of revealed truth, the several parts of which are

like so many links of a beautiful chain, one part answering to another,

and all concurring to exhibit an admirable plan, in which the wisdom,

the grace and goodness, and the righteousness of God most eminently

shine forth. Your Ladyship’s great intimacy with and friendship for

Lord Chesterfield has induced me to be thus minute in what related to

him. Of Lord Huntingdon I have not had much opportunity of forming an

opinion; but I hear from good Lady Gertrude, that Sir Charles and his

Lordship are inseparable, and have long and animated discussions on the

most interesting topics. He has called frequently on Mrs. Grinfield,

with whom he seems much pleased. Your Ladyship is well assured she will

not lose a favourable opportunity of speaking a word in season.”

[248] At the moment of Miss Hotham’s triumphant departure, Mr.

Whitefield was at Portsmouth, and, as soon as he received the

intelligence, he wrote an affecting letter to Lady Gertrude. On

his return to town he preached a funeral sermon at the Tabernacle

on the death of Miss Hotham, to an overflowing and deeply-affected

congregation; and, having heard from Lady Huntingdon of the Christian

fortitude with which Lady Gertrude supported her deprivation, he wrote

a kind and consoling letter to the bereaved mother, who was greatly

comforted by religious resignation and the sympathies of tender friends.

[249] See, in the second volume of Mr. Whitefield’s Letters, a

narrative of his last interview with Miss Hotham, addressed to Lady

Elizabeth Hastings, afterwards Countess of Moira, the eldest daughter

of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon.

[250] This interesting account of the death of the good and pious Lady

Gertrude Hotham the writer received from the lips of Lady Maxwell, of

Edinburgh, one well acquainted with the leading worthies mentioned in

these memoirs. The reader is referred to a letter from Mr. Venn to

Mrs. Ryland, Lady Huntingdon and Mr. Venn’s friend and correspondent,

wife of the Rev. John Ryland, formerly curate of Huddersfield, and

afterwards minister of St. Mary’s, Birmingham, and rector of Sutton

Coldfield, Warwickshire, who died in 1822.

[251] We have elsewhere adverted to Mr. Lindsay. His mother had lived

many years in the family of Frances, Countess-Dowager of Huntingdon.

The Earl was his godfather, and gave him the name of Theophilus. By

the kindness of Lady Betty and Lady Anne Hastings, he was placed at

the Free Grammar School at Leeds, under the Rev. Mr. Barnard (the

biographer of Lady Betty), and his vacations were spent at the house

of his noble patrons. With them, too, his mother and only sister

continued to find a shelter after the death of his father. The mother

died in 1747, and over her remains was erected a stone, on which we

read, that “while a child she had been the playfellow, and when a widow

the friend, of Lady Anne Hastings, who erected that monument to her

memory, and was a sincere and affectionate mourner for her death.” The

Rev. Theophilus Lindsay was appointed by Lord Huntingdon to the living

of Piddletown, in Dorsetshire, which he exchanged for the vicarage of

Catterick. Afterwards he seceded from the Established Church, and the

personal intercourse with his noble patron was suspended. Yet in 1786,

when he visited Trevecca, the Countess gave orders that all attention

should he shown him, and received himself and wife “most graciously, as

usual,” as he himself has recorded. _Much and earnest conversation

passed between the Lady Selina and Mr. Lindsay on the subject of the

Earl, her son._ Mr. Lindsay hinted, that possibly the state of

future punishment might be only a process of severe discipline, and

that the greatest sinners might ultimately find mercy. These words sank

deep into her heart. “Some good, I hope, is done (says Mr. Lindsay),

where much is intended by this praiseworthy lady, who has _for full

forty years_ devoted her fortune, time, and labour to promote what

she believes to be the truth.”

[252] A Danish Count, brother to the ambassador, who was a constant

attendant on Mr. Whitefield’s preaching at Lady Huntingdon’s.

[253] Her Ladyship sent for Mr. Rowland Hill, but Lord Chesterfield

refused to see him. After his Lordship’s death this reverend gentleman

became chaplain to Lady Chesterfield; and she, like Lady Huntingdon,

used to open her splendid mansion for the preaching of the Gospel.

[254] Lord Chesterfield’s character is too well known to require much

comment.

[255] The Countess of Bath was one of the daughters and co-heiresses

of Colonel Gumley, so frequently mentioned in these memoirs. Horace

Walpole, writing to George Montague, says--“Gumley, whom you know,

has grown Methodist. His wit is at its wit’s end. Whitefield preaches

continually at Lady Huntingdon’s, at Chelsea. Lord Chesterfield, Lord

Bath, Lady Townsend, Lady Thanet, and others, have been to hear him;

nor shall I wonder if, next winter, he is run after instead of Garrick!”

[256] The letters of Mr. Romaine to Mrs. Medhurst, of Kippax, published

by her brother-in-law, the Rev. Thomas Wills, refer to this period

and to his preaching at Derby, both at the great church and at St.

Werburgh’s. “Fifteen pulpits (he says) were open, and showers of grace

came down; but Mrs. Wordsworth was taken ill and obliged to go to Bath,

and this broke up the party.” The late Zachary Shrapnell (a man of

great piety, and the intimate friend of Lady Huntingdon) was then at

the Park. In his rambles he met with a poor cottager, whose account of

her own conversion, by Mr. Romaine, produced a very powerful impression

on his mind. “Some time ago (she said) there was a famous man down

in this country, called Mr. Romaine; he preached some miles off, and

many of the neighbours went to hear him, so I thought I would go too.

Accordingly away I trudged; and he had no sooner begun his discourse,

but it seemed all directed to me: he opened the depravity of my heart

and nature, convinced my conscience of the awful condition in which I

had been living, showed me the wages of sin which was due to me, the

truth of which I felt in my own soul. He then spoke of the fulness and

glory of Christ, described his sufferings and passion, and the design

of them, displayed the riches of his grace to the miserable and the

desperate, and invited them to embrace it and be blessed. Sir, you

cannot think the instantaneous and wonderful effect it had upon me.

I was convinced of sin, justified by faith, and came home rejoicing;

and from that day to this have never lost the sweet savour of the

truths I then embraced. How I should long to hear the gentleman! Do

you know him? I think they said he came from London.” Mr. Shrapnell,

who was himself a convert of Romaine, was proportionately affected by

this singular proof of God’s grace to him and Lady Huntingdon, and

of his blessing on their endeavours. Mr. Shrapnell was the father of

Major-General Henry Shrapnell, and Miss Rachael Shrapnell, who married

the Rev. Thomas Tregenna Biddulph, minister of St. James’s, Bristol.

The Rev. Thomas Shrapnell Biddulph, eldest son of the last-named, is a

prebendary of Brecon, and a magistrate of the counties of Carmarthen

and Pembroke. He married a daughter of the Rev. James Stillingfleet,

prebendary of Worcester, the intimate friend of Lady Huntingdon.

[257] Relict of John Wordsworth, Esq., of the Isle of Thanet, to whom

she was united in 1758. She was sister to Mr. Townsend, rector of

Pewsey, in Wiltshire, was a woman of talent, and for many years the

intimate friend and correspondent of Mr. Romaine. In January, 1771,

she became the wife of Dr. Haweis, rector of Aldwincle. She was a

good Hebraist, and the _Clavis Hebraica_ of Julius Bates was Mr.

Romaine’s present to her at her wedding.

[258] The Duchess-Countess of Sutherland died in London, in February,

1839. Her remains were conveyed (in a steam-boat) to Aberdeen, to be

deposited in the vault of her ancestors.

[259] Margaret Rolle, a great Devonshire heiress, the wife of Robert

Lord Walpole, afterwards Earl of Orford, separated from her husband

and quarrelled violently with his whole family. On the death of Lord

Orford she married the Hon. Sewallis Shirley, uncle to Lady Huntingdon,

from whom she also separated in 1754. She affected, at times, great

friendship for Lady Huntingdon, and often attended her chapels and the

preaching at her house. She was a woman of very singular character,

and considered half mad; this last quality she communicated to her

unfortunate son, George, third Earl of Orford, the nephew of Horace

Walpole. In 1751 she succeeded, in her own right, to the baronies of

Clinton and Say, on the death of Hugh, Earl Clinton. She died at Pisa,

in Italy, in 1781, and was buried at Leghorn.

[260] There was something else which Walpole did not know of--a seat

for Bishops. It was often occupied too! The witty and eccentric

Lady Betty Cobbe, daughter-in-law of Dr. Charles Cobbe, Archbishop

of Dublin, was cousin-german to Lady Huntingdon. Her influence was

extensive, and frequently exerted in bringing Bishops to the chapel,

whom she always contrived to _smuggle_ into the _curtained

seats_ immediataly inside the door, where they heard without

undergoing the dreadful disgrace of being seen in such a place. This

seat Lady Betty facetiously termed “_Nicodemus’s corner!_”

[261] Amongst the number of the great and honourable who at that

period frequented her Ladyship’s chapel was to be found Dr. William

Barnard, formerly Dean of Rochester, but at that time Bishop of Derry,

a man advanced in years, and one who professed a friendship for

those who were stigmatized with the name of Methodist. It was at the

recommendation of Mr. Wesley that his Lordship ordained Mr. Maxwell,

the _first_ Methodist lay-preacher. Increasing infirmities obliged

his Lordship to reside at Bath, where he had frequent opportunities

of enjoying the society of Lady Huntingdon, to whom he was introduced

by Lady Betty Cobbe. The Bishop frequently accompanied Lady Betty

to hear the Methodists unseen, and was always very friendly towards

the ministers who supplied the chapel. On one occasion Mr. Wesley

says--“In the evening I left London, and reached Bath on Tuesday, in

the afternoon, time enough to wait on that memorable man, the Bishop of

Londonderry. After spending an agreeable and profitable hour with him,

my brother read prayers, and I preached in Lady Huntingdon’s chapel.

I know not when I have seen a more serious, a more deeply attentive

congregation. Is it possible? Can the Gospel have place where Satan’s

throne is?”

[262] One proof of his cheerfulness may take the form of an

anecdote:--Passing through Towcester, in one of his preaching

excursions for Lady Huntingdon, he asked the innkeeper where he put

up, it being Saturday morning, who was the vicar, and, as he should

stay the next day, whether he would be glad of assistance? “Oh! yes

(said the landlord), I dare say, Sir, he will be glad to have his duty

done.” “Then carry my compliments, and say a clergyman out of Yorkshire

is passing, and will stay to-morrow at the inn, and is ready to read

or preach for him, if he needs assistance.” Away went the innkeeper,

with what he thought welcome intelligence, to the parson. “Gladly (said

the vicar); but what sort of a man is the Yorkshire clergyman? There

are Methodist vagrants you know--eh!” The innkeeper laughed, shook his

head, and replied, “Ah! Sir, only look at his face and nose, and you

will see he is not one of that sort.” In truth, a rubicundity of face

and rotundity of form gave Mr. Venn no very Methodistical appearance.

“Well (said the vicar), let him come to me in the morning, and then I

will see whether I like him to preach or pray.” The landlord returned

with the message, and the next morning Mr. Venn waited on his reverend

brother. “Sir (says he, after the first bows), you are from Yorkshire?”

“I am.” “Will you drink a dram this morning?” “I have no objection.”

The bottle came from the closet, and Mr. Venn took a sip. His character

was now decided. “Sir, you will preach for me this morning?” “With

pleasure.” Robed and ready, they parted to the church, and Mr. Venn to

the pulpit. There, his Bible no sooner opened, than the congregation

stared, and the vicar hid his face in the surplice. The energetic truth

awakened up an attention to which that congregation had been little

accustomed. The vicar was done, and left Mr. Venn to retire to his inn

alone. A very similar incident occurred during this visit to Bath, and

is given in Mr. Venn’s Life, by his grandson. The anecdote we have just

related is given verbatim from the mouth of Dr. Haweis.

[263] The Rev. John Andrews was originally of St. Mary’s Hall, Oxford,

where he took the degree of LL.B. He resided in America for some years,

but was obliged to return to England on account of the bad state of his

health. The Archbishop of Canterbury offered him, on his coming over,

a living of eighty pounds a year; but, alarmed at the laborious duties

of the parish, he requested the Archbishop to give him the living of

Stinchcombe, of thirty-six pounds a year, in the diocese of Gloucester,

and in the Bishop’s patronage. The see of Gloucester was at that time

vacant, and his Grace asked the living of the Lord Chancellor, who

presented it to Mr. Andrews. In the parish of Mr. Andrews lived a

Mrs. Brown, who used to exhort the people every Sunday evening in the

parsonage-house, and, according to high authority, with very great

power.

[264] Although the living was given to Mr. Andrews by the Lord

Chancellor before Warburton was appointed to the see of Gloucester, yet

he calls himself his _patron_!

[265] As he was walking early on a Lord’s-day to preach, he was

accosted on the road by a clergyman on horseback, who was on the

same errand, but from a different motive. The latter gentleman was

complaining that the drudgery of his profession was unprofitable,

for he never could get above half-a-guinea for preaching. The honest

Welshman replied, that he preached for a crown. The hireling retorted

and said, “You are a disgrace to the cloth.” “Perhaps (said Mr. Davies)

I shall be held in greater disgrace, in your estimation, when I inform

you that I am now going nine miles to preach, and have but sevenpence

in my pocket to bear my expenses out and in, and do not expect the

poor pittance remitted that I am now in possession of. But I look

forward for that _crown of glory_ which my Lord and Saviour will

freely bestow upon me, when he makes his appearance before an assembled

world.” In the same way Mr. Venn, in one of his excursions to preach

for the Countess of Huntingdon, while riding on the road, fell in

company with a person who had the appearance of a clergyman. After

riding together for some time, conversing on different subjects, the

stranger, looking in his face, said, “Sir, I think you are on the wrong

side of fifty?” “On the wrong side of fifty! (answered Mr. Venn)--no,

Sir, I am on the right side of fifty.” “Surely (the clergyman replied)

you must be turned of fifty?” “Yes, Sir (added Mr. Venn), but I am

on the right side of fifty, for I am nearer my crown of glory!” This

unexpected explanation damped the conversation on the part of the

stranger, whilst it strikingly evinced the happy state of Mr. Venn’s

mind.

Transcriber’s Notes:

1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been

corrected silently.

2. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have

been retained as in the original.

3. Italics are shown as _xxx_.