LETTER TO HIS BROTHER ROWLAND.

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To Rowland Hill, Esq. St. John's College, Cambridge.

Hawkstone, Dec. 17, 1764.

MY VERY DEAR BROTHER,

I think I cannot begin my letter with a more acceptable piece of news, than that of dear little Brian's' safe recovery from the small-pox, with which distemper he was seized the fifth of this month. By the blessing of God, it has had a safe turn, which began on Wednesday, and he is now getting better fast.

You say that as you have about five weeks' vacation at Christmas, you should be very happy to spend it with my sister T. [udway] in London; and indeed I should be very glad to have you there, both because I have daily more and more reason to hope the Lord is at work with her soul, and because you would there enjoy so many blessed opportunities of hearing the Gospel and of conversing with the people of God; but as my brother Tudway and she do not leave Hawkstone till some time next month, your vacation would be nearly over before they reach town, otherwise the shortness of your purse should have been no hindrance to your journey, and as you will have about a fortnight's vacation at Easter, if they give you an invitation to come up then, I will gladly defray all your expenses.

I rejoice at the account you send me of your Eton companions, and of their zeal for God; may he continue to prosper their endeavours for the good of souls more and more, and enable them by their own lives and conversation, to bring honour to the name of Christ in this perverse and crooked generation, which I am sorry

1 Their younger brother, afterwards the Rev. Brian Hill.

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LETTER TO HIS BROTHER ROWLAND.

to say so few professors do. It is easy enough to talk and pass as a Christian, but to be a Christian altogether is indeed a very great thing. A Christian is light in darkness; a city set on a hill. A Christian is the salt of the earth. A Christian is chosen out of the world. A Christian's body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. A Christian is born again of the Spirit, and made partaker of the divine nature. A Christian is one with Christ, and Christ is one with him. A Christian is a member of Christ's body, of his blood, and of his bones. There is a stronger union between a Christian and Christ, than between a vine and the branches, a husband and wife, food and the eater, a building and every stone that belongs to it. A Christian is a servant of God, a child of God, a friend of God, a co-heir with Christ, a brother of Christ, the spouse of Christ. And wherefore all this, but that he should show forth the praises of Him who hath called him out of darkness into the marvellous light of God's dear son? A Christian, then, should make the glory of God the end of all his actions. He must not be conformed to this world, nor even venture to the utmost brink of his liberty; for if he does, says dear Archbishop Leighton, he will be in danger of going beyond it. A Christian's life ought to be a continual sermon. He ought never to countenance the carnal world in those things wherein their carnal hearts are engaged, however innocent they may be in themselves; for that which is lawful, is not always expedient, and the pomps and vanities of this world, as well as the sinful lusts of the flesh, must be renounced. Oh! we none of us consider sufficiently how great a thing it is to be a Christian.

Though you will receive this some days before Christmas, yet as that blessed festival is now approaching, I am naturally led to say something relative to the

LETTER TO HIS BROTHER ROWLAND.

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season, and to express my sincere wishes that you may really spend a joyful Christmas and a happy new year happy and joyful, not in the common acceptation of these epithets as usually annexed to this wish, and implying an abundance of feasting, rioting, and carnal mirth-horrid profanation !-but happy and joyful in the best and scriptural sense of the words, with a calm, holy, spiritual joy! May all the great and glorious ends of our Immanuel's incarnation be answered in you and by you, and may you indeed find him unto you a Saviour, even Christ the Lord.

Again, with regard to the approaching new year, what better questions can we put to ourselves than some such as these? I see that time flies swiftly away. I see days and years pass over my head like the vanishing smoke. I see that I am hasting to eternity faster than even the wings of the wind could carry me, and know not but this hour may finish my course. To eternity! where, if I am found in Christ, endless happiness waits my departing soul. If not, what have I to expect but blackness of darkness for ever, in that lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched, where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth? What effect have these awful considerations had upon me? Am I more given up to God this year, than I was the last? Am I waiting for the bridegroom's call, having my loins girt, my lamp trimmed, and my oil burning? Does my faith shew itself in my fruitfulness in all good works? Are the divine graces of hope and love kindled in my heart, and am I bringing these graces into action by purifying and cleansing myself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God? Is pride and every other evil temper become more mortified? Is my zeal for the glory of the

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LETTER TO HIS BROTHER ROWLAND.

Redeemer, and for the increase of his kingdom in the hearts of sinners, more lively and active than it was the last year? Are my chief companions and friends those who love and fear God; or, if I am situated where none such are to be found, is it the grief and burden of my soul to see the Gospel salvation so sadly slighted and neglected? In a word, is Christ more precious and is sin more odious to me now, than they were this day twelvemonth? Or is the matter quite otherwise with me? Do I see time advancing, life advancing, everything in creation advancing towards its period, and that which ought to advance the fastest, viz., the true interest of my immortal soul, alone standing still, or, what is worse, advancing towards destruction?

These, or such like inquiries, I would often put closely home to my own heart, particularly at the commencement of every new year, as a spur to my growth in grace with my growth in age, and as motives to convince me more experimentally of the vanity of time and the importance of eternity.

I know it will give you true satisfaction to hear of the progress of God's work in these parts. Miss and Miss have set up a weekly meeting for women, which is very well attended, and Mr. has set up a meeting for men, at which there are always about sixty or seventy persons present. One night Mr.- prayed and expounded there, whereupon the devil stirred up Mr.

to oppose very much, and to threaten to commence a prosecution against Mr., but how the affair will end I know not; certain it is, there is nothing can be done without God's permission.

And now with my sincere wishes and prayers for your

A BIBLE IN THE SERVANTS' HALL.

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swift advancement in your learning, but particularly for your advancement in the school of Christ,

I conclude myself,

Your most affectionate brother,

Both by nature and grace,

R. H.

The great interest which the energetic career of Mr. Rowland Hill excited, during a ministry of sixty years' never-failing popularity, will render these letters particularly acceptable to all who are capable of appreciating their intrinsic excellence, and know the circumstances under which they were written. The last of them is dated the day before Mr. Berridge wrote young Rowland the singular but affectionate note soliciting his acquaintance, which I have inserted in his life. The letters of such a brother as Mr. Richard Hill, must have been to him consolations beyond all value at that time, for he was surrounded by opposition from every possible quarter. Probably, also, the exhortations thus given him, were the cause of his being found in the list of honors on proceeding to his B.A. degree; for his monitor, while he did not discourage his well-known activity in preaching and visiting the gaol and cottages, at Cambridge, most wisely urged him to suffer nothing to induce him to neglect his studies.

Not only did Mr. Richard Hill thus affectionately excite his brothers Robert and Rowland to a care for their souls, but he likewise directed his exertions to all with whom he was in any way connected. The tenantry on his father's estate, and the servants of the family, were the especial objects of his attention. A Bible was placed by him in the servants' hall—a rare thing in those days—