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LETTER OF LORD DARTMOUTH.

from a wrong principle, and only tends to bolster up the soul in self-deceit and estrange it farther from God."

This letter bears no date in Mr. Hill's copy, from which it is taken, nor does a letter from Lord Dartmouth in his own hand-writing, which seems to be a reply to it. It is either an answer to this, or his Lordship had been consulted by Mr. Hill respecting the account of his conversion and experience, included in the first chapter. Whether it alludes to one or the other is of no consequence; it is a proof of their Christian intercourse, and of the basis on which their friendship rested.

MY DEAR MR. HILL,

As often as you have any such accounts to give of the experience of a soul made subject to the power of divine grace, any such indisputable instances to produce of the Holy Spirit's agency upon the soul during its abode in the flesh, your time cannot be thrown away in committing it to paper, both for the satisfaction of your friends and the benefit of those who may be inclined to dispute the reality of such communications. In return, I can send nothing more agreeable to you, than that I left our friends in Yorkshire well the beginning of last week. Mr. Mr. was there; he had lately been a progress with Mr. Venn into the northern parts of the county, where they saw nothing that gave them so much delight as did the company and conversation of Mr. Conyers, Minister of Helmsley, of whose uncommon zeal and extraordinary love to the people who have been converted under him, they give a wonderful account. 'You,' says Mr. Venn, ' who are a husband and a father, may know something of the love that he bears to his

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people, by what you feel towards your wife and children.' Till these gentlemen came within his doors, he had never seen the face of a Gospel minister, nor heard a Gospel sermon, but from a curate whom he has himself instructed, and to whom his instructions have been blessed. You may guess, then, what was his rapture at the sight of them. He accosted them in the most devout and serious manner, with blessed be my God that hath sent you to me: who am I that I should be thus highly favoured?' Mr. Venn he had corresponded with, but such was his retirement from the converse of the world, that he had not so much as heard of Mr. till very lately. The great man of his parish is Mr. Duncombe, who is extremely kind to him, though not yet himself effectually persuaded of the necessity of placing his happiness in things unseen and eternal. There seems, however, to be room for hope both of him and Lady Die. They both attended the Lock Chapel last winter, and brought Mr. Conyers Mr.'s hymns to teach his people. Mr. Venn inquired much after you, and wished I could have persuaded you to have taken the journey with me. Indeed your time would not have been thrown away. Besides the two gentlemen I have mentioned, I saw six others equally distinguished by the grace which God has been pleased to bestow upon them. Their names are Richardson, Furley, Burnet, Adam, Ingham, and Clarke, late Curate at Amersham, and Caton's friend. I could name three or four more not far distant from them. How is that county blessed with faithful laborers. Mr. Stillingfleet set out the beginning of this week upon a very long journey, even to Truro, where he cannot fail to receive both delight and benefit from the

Another proof of what I have often asserted, that the number of evangelical regulars in those days has been underrated.

conversation of dear Mr. Walker's spiritual children, who continue, I hear, to adorn their profession. A letter of yours for him has been brought to me, and I have sent it forward. Be assured, my dear Mr. Hill, that I shall be extremely glad to see both you and Mr. Tudway in your way to London. At the time you mention, it is highly probable we shall be quite alone. On my return from Yorkshire, at Lichfield, I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Powys. They were coming to Birmingham, and brought me a few miles in their coach. I should have persuaded them to have made this their inn, had not Lord and Lady Willoughby been here. Lady D. and the fireside are well, and desire to be remembered. My best respects attend the family at Hawkstone. I am, dear Sir, with unfeigned affection,

Yours, in the bonds, I trust, of Christian love,

D.

These letters unquestionably convey assurance of the piety of their two estimable writers. The temperament of Mr. Hill was far more sanguine than that of his noble correspondent, but they were both equally desirous of giving every possible encouragement to the zeal for the gospel, which was now beginning to manifest itself around them. Yorkshire was indeed highly favoured; and the half dozen names mentioned in Lord Dartmouth's letter, include three of eminent and well-known piety. Mr. Richardson was a most efficient clergyman, and is the author of some valuable remarks on the career of Mr. Walker, of Truro, published by way of preface to the letters of that eminent minister, sent by him some years ago to the Christian Observer.' The characters of Mr. Adam, whose Private Thoughts are so well known to the

1 See Christian Observer, 1802.

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Christian world, and of his friend Mr. Burnet, Mr. Venn's pious Curate at Huddersfield, have often been of late brought before the public. Mr. Adam and he were much attached to each other, and their mutual regard was cemented by Mr. Walker, who held Mr. Burnet and his young associate, Mr. Haweis, afterwards the celebrated chaplain of Lady Huntingdon, in the highest esteem. Mr. Adam was reported to have been deeply imbued with sentiments bordering on what is called the highest high Calvinism. Nay, Wesley declared them to be the essence of Antinomianism,' and observed, that he did not wonder at his rod not blossoming-alluding to his want of success in his parish at Wintringham. An authentic anecdote, however, utterly refutes this rumour. Once, when he was very ill, Mr. Burnet went to Wintringham on purpose to see him, and found him confined to his bed. He inquired as to his feelings at the apparent nearness of death, upon which Mr. Adam replied, that he was not without comfort; but how,' said he, should I feel at this moment if I believed that there was a decree against me?' There certainly was no good ground for what was imputed to him by J. Wesley, who was too ready to give the same opinion of all who opposed his schemes of separation and lay-preaching.

Mr. Burnet was a man of a very tender, conscientious spirit, which he carried almost to an extreme, yet it was an extreme much to be admired. An instance of it occurred one day as he was riding with Mr. Richardson and another friend, in the neighbourhood of York. When they came near a turnpike gate, a few miles from the city, they turned their horses round with a view of See the Life of Mr. Venn. Also Westoby's Memoir of Mr. Adam.

proceeding home. Mr. Burnet rode up to Mr. Richardson, and said with a very serious air, 'Do you think now, that it is right to have used so much of the road without paying the toll?' Whatever may be thought of this story, it should serve to awaken in the minds of inconsistent professors of religion, a proper inquiry as to the effect of conscience upon all their actions, and the duty of letting their light shine before men. The Church of Christ can never suffer so much from the storm without, as by the disfiguring smoke within, from the oil of lamp-bearers which burns not clearly and brightly.1

The period to which the correspondence of Lord Dartmouth and Mr. Hill referred, was one of the most remarkable in our religious history, and to those who know how to appreciate it, every monument thereof is precious. An age of a similar kind will not return again, nor men like the revivalists who were formed by it, and whose frequent singularity of manner arose out of the circumstances in which they were involved. We shall see no more patrons of devoted men similarly circumstanced with the two now before us, nor any more such instruments as Wesley, Whitfield, Romaine, Berridge, &c., with all their characteristic peculiarities, both of thought and action. But, notwithstanding their various eccentricities, we owe them an eternal debt of gratitude; and above all to those regular clergymen who, though fervent in spirit, checked a reckless deviation from rule that would soon have ended in wild disorder. Yet we must be

A lady, once much prejudiced against a particular ministry, became greatly devoted to it, and died rejoicing in what she had learned of her Redeemer. A friend, who knew her former sentiments, asked her, Were your prejudices removed by your minister's preaching?" 'Partly,' she answered, but by observing his life more.' We have a lesson here.