Institution of Doddridge's Theological Academy; Early Pastorate at Northampton

The death of the Rev. John Jennings, who was greatly and deservedly lamented, created an important vacancy in the department of theological instruction among the Independents of England; and great diflBculty was apprehended in filling it to the satisfaction both of the more sternly Calvinistic and of the other portions of that body. Previous to his decease, Mr. Jennings had expressed to Doddridge, his most esteemed pupil, a strong desire that he would review the compendium of instruction pursued by hiip, with a view to render it more complete, and to supply it, from his reading and reflections, with more varied illustrations. The occasion of making this suggestion was the hope, that in the event of his own decease the appointment to his place might be secured for Doddridge, whom to a few individuals he had represented’ as better qualified than any other of his pupils to carry out effectively and satisfactorily the scheme which had been introduced and pursued in his academy. Doddridge was not apprized, however, of this design of Mr. Jennings, until communicated to him, after the decease of his venerated instructor. Yet for years he had been diligently acting upon the plan suggested, and the above letter to Mr. Saunders shows even in its abridged form an intimate acquaintance with the course of instruction through which he had passed, in preparing to preach. This letter was taken to London by the Rev. Mr. Some, and submitted to the Rev. Dr. Isaac “Watts, partly with a view to ascertain his opinion of the scheme, and to secure his nomination of a successor to Mr. Jennings.

Upon returning the letter to Mr. Some, Dr. Watts accompanied it with the following observations:

“1. How wonderful and extraordinary a man was the late Mr. John Jennings I The little acquaintance I had with him made me esteem and love him; but my love and esteem were vastly too low for so elevated a character. The world and the church know not the mournful vacancy which they sustain by his death.

“2. How necessary it is that two persons at least should be engaged to fill up all the parts of that office which the ingenious writer of this letter has made to devolve upon one. The diversity of genius, the variety of studies, the several intellectual, moral, and pious accomplishments, the constant daily and hourly’ labors necessary to fulfil such a post, can hardly be expected from any one person living.

“3. Yet if there be one person capable of such a post, perhaps it is the man who has so admira;bly described this scheme of education; and as he seems to have surveyed and engrossed the whole comprehensive view and design, together with its constant difficulties and accidental embarrassments, and yet supposed it to be practicable,- 1 am sure I can never think of any person more likely to execute it than himself; although if an older person joined with him, for the

HIS THEOLOGICAL ACADEMY. H5

reputation of the” matter at least, it would be -well. The beauties and congruities of the scheme are so many and various, that if I should have made any remarks .upon them — as I have done, en passant, upon some little improvables-r-I must have filled a quire instead of a sheet of paper.”

Having received unsolicited s6 favorable a testimony from Dr. Watts in favor of Poddridge, Mr. Some easily secured a public acknowledgment from ail the neighboring ministers, that his young friend was highly qualified to undertake the arduous post which now was to be occupied. Thereupon, at a general meeting of non-conformist ministers held at Tutterworth, April 10, 1729, to pray for a revival of religion, Mr. Some, having delivered an earnest public discourse upon the means best adapted to promote that object, suggested the expediency of establishing a theological academy at Harborough, and of placing it under the charge of Mr. Doddridge. The isuggestion was unanimously adopted; all due encouragement and assistance was promised; and during the summer the enterprise ws commenced, on a moderate scale, only a few being received of the pupils that were offered.

“While the question of entering upon it was yet in agitation, Doddridge wrote of the matter in the following just terms:

“I do most humbly refer ths great concern to God,, and am sincerely willing the scheme should be disappointed if it be not consistent with the greater purposes of his glory, yea, will not be remarkably subservient to them. I depend on him for direction in this affair, and assistance and success if I undertake it. “While I am waiting his determination, I would apply more diligently to my proper business, and act more steadily by the rules I have laid down for my conduct. May He grant that in all my schemes relating to public service, I may, as much as possible, divest myself of all regard to my own ease and reputation, and set myself seriously to consider what I can do for the honor of the Redeemer and the good of the world.”

As he was entering upon the undertaking, his reflections were exceedingly appropriate and impressive:” Providence is opening a prospect of much greater usefdlness than before, though attended with vast labor and difficulty. In divine strength I go forth to the work, and resolve upon the most careful and vigorous discharge of all the duties incumbent on me, to labor for the instruction and watch for the souls of my pupils. I intend to have some discourse with them on the Lord’s-day evenings on subjects of inward religion. I will endeavor to give a serious turn to our conversation at other times, and filways bear them on my heart before God with great tenderness and affection. I will labor to keep such an inspection over them as’ may be necessary to. discover flieir capacities, tempers, and failings, that I may behave in a suitable manner to them. In all, I wiH maintain a humble dependence on Divine influences, to lead me in the path of duty and prudence, and enabje me to behave in a way answerable to the character in which I appear, and those agreeable expectations which many of my friends have entertained of me.

“Considering the work before me, I -would set myself with peculiar diligence to maintain and increase the life of religion in my own soul, and a constant sense of the Divine presence and love; for I find, when this is maintained, nothing gives me any considerable disquiet, and I have vigor and resolution of spirit to carry me through my labors. When I am conscious of the want of this, and any inconsistency of behavior towards the divine Being, it throws a damp on my vigor and resolution; yea, on all the other pleasures of life. In order to maintain this habitual, delightful sense of God, I would frequently renew, my dedication to Him, in that covenant on which all my hopes depend, and my resolutions for universal, zealous obedience. I will study redeeminglove more, and habitually resign myself and all my concerns to the divine disposal. I am going to express and seal these resolutions at the TJord’s table; and may this be the happy period from which shall commence better days of religion and usefulness than I have ever yet known.”

Having entered upon the work with these comprehensive views and earnest dependence on God, he diligently reviewed his course of academical studies, he corresponded with Dr. Watts and other celebrated divines upon the subject, and gathered works on education which furnished him with instructive hints, which he reduced to writing; indeed, he employed every judicious method of improving his means of usefulness in this new direction of his active mind and devout heart.

It was about this time that a proposition was made to Mr. Doddridga to go to Northampton and take charge of the congregation meeting on Castle Hill. Of this, and of his settlement at Northampton, we here give a short account.. ’

The dissenting congregation worshipping at Castle Hill in Northampton, being destitute of a pastor,- Mr. Doddridge, with other neighboring ministers, occasionally supplied them; and so acceptable did his services prove, that the congregation were determined upon endeavoring to secure his removal from Harborough to Northampton. This was strongly opposed by his earnest friend the Rev. Mr: Some, who had been most active in locating the theological academy at Harborough, where he himself resided, and rejoiced in the socipty of Doddridge. He went to Northampton to endeavor to persuade the congration that it was not right for them to press their application for Doddridge’s pastoral services; but, during his visit, was so impressed with the earnest zeal of the people to secure this kdvantage, that he changed his views and acquiesced in the design. The following correspondence will set this matter in the best light, illustrating the careful and conscientious manner in which the young candidate for the place conducted his deliberations and decisions.

Frorii the Rev. David Some.

“October, 1729.

“I doubt not- that you are impatient to know the

result of my negotiations at Northafflipton. I preached

from these words: ‘Have salt in yourselves, and have

peace one with another.’ Mark 9: 50. I managed the argument in the best way I could, with a view to present circumstances. After the sermon we had a full vestry, when I Opened the debate with a frank acknowledgment of the warmth of my own temper, and begged that we might there consider one another as only provoked unto love and to good works. I represented the former scheme of the academy, and the engagements you were under, in the strongest light. Upon the whole, the hearts of the people are moved altogether as the trees of a wood when bent by the wind and they are under such strong impressions about your coming to them, that it is impossible for a man to converse with them without feeling something for them. The mentioning of your name diffuses life and spirit through the whole body, and nothing .can be heard but ‘Mr. Doddridge.’

“I find myself in the utmost perplexity, and know not what to say or do. I believe you will hear of them again in a little time. I apprehend that you will wonder at what I write, but I think I am like Saul among the prophets, and that the- same spirit which is in the people begins to seize me also. What shall I say? Is this a call from, God to break- former measures? or is it a divine rebuke upon you for too unguarded a way of talking? The matter requires the closest consideration.”

To the Rey. Dr. Wright.

“November 3, 1729.

“The affair of Northampton is now come to such

a crisis that I think it highly proper to lay~it before

you, and beg the favor of your advice upon it. The

congregation there, which is very numerous, has given me a unammous invitation to come to settle among them; and their conduct has been marked with every expression of affection that can be imagined, and the subject has been urged again and again, after repeated denials, with an importunity -which nothing could have supported but an apprehension that it was the will of God- that they should pursue this attempt to the utmost.

“They willingly consent to my bringing my .little academy with me, and engage to leave me my mornings and evenings to be employed in studying and in lecturing, Icontenting themselves with so much visiting as I can find time for in the afternoons. They make the most generous proposal to facilitate the circumstances of my removal, and cheerfully offer to indemnify Mrs. Jennings for any expense she may have been at, in providing for the accommodation of my pupils. They also urge that if I do not come they shall be utterly at a loss for a minister, and have no hope of joining so unanimously in any other person.

“On the other hand, there are several objections against accepting this call, which I cannot by any means get over, and which I desire you to take into most serious consideration, and I believe you will think them of considerable weight. I am not certain that I could conform myself so far to the taste of the people, which is very different from what I have been accustomed to, as to please them long either in conversation or in the pulpit’. Again, if there be any thing in my preaching which is above the lowest taste and genius, it will certainly be lost to nine parts out of ten of that auditory. But the grand objection, and that which weighs with me more than any other, is what relates to the academy. I have been several years preparing for the business of a tutor, and my full acquaintance with Mr. Jennings’ scheme seems to give me some advantages for pursuing it beyond some others who are much my superiors both in genius and in learning. I am now entered on a preparatory course with all the agreeable circumstances I could wish. Should I remove with my pupils to Northampton, the advantages peculiar to Harborough must not only be given up, but most of them must be exchanged for contrary circumstances.

“On the whole, sir, I do not ask you whether you would advise me to accept of Northampton and to lay down the business, of a tutor; for the great pleasure I find, in it, and my hope of much usefulness in that character, and my repeated engagements to devote myself to its duties, both in the pulpit and to those friends who have sent me their sons, prevent my entertaining a thought of that nature: the only question is, whether under present circumstances you would advise me to undertake both, or to send an absolute refusal to Northampton.

“I beg that you would communicate this letter to Dr. Calamy, and any other friend whom you may think it proper to consult. I desire the favor, of a speedy answer, and a continued remembrance in your prayers.”

The result of Mr. Doddridge’s correspondence and reflections upon this important question, will be seen in the following excellent letter.

To the Congregation at Northampton.

“December 6, 1729.” Mt deae Friends — After a serious and impartial consideration of your case, and repeated addresses to the great Father of light for his guidance and direction, I can at length assure you that I am determined, by his permission, to accept of your kind invitation, and undertake the pastoral care of you, with the most ardent feelings of sincere gratitude and affection.

“You will easily apprehend that I could not form this resolution without a great deal of anguish;’ both with regard to those friends whom I am called upon to resign, and in reference to that great and difficult work which lies before me, in’ the care of your large congregation and my academy. But I hope that I have sincerely devoted my soul to God and my Redeemer; ahd therefore I would humbly yield myself up to what, in present, circumstances, I apprehend to be his will. I take this important step with fear and trembling, yet with a humble confidence in Him, and with the hope that, in the midst of these great difficulties, he will not leave me entirely destitute of that presence which I desire to prefer to- every thing which life can bestow.

‘”As for you, my brethren, let me entreat you, that if there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels of mercy, fulfil ye my joy. Let me beseech you to remember tha,t, by accepting your call, I have entrusted the happiness of my life into your hands. Prepare yourselves, therefore, to cover my many infirmities with the mantle of your love, and continue to treat me with the same kindness and gentleness as those dear and excellent friends have done whom I am now about to leave, in compassion to your souls; for God knows that no temporal advantage you could have offered’ would have engaged me to relinquish them.

“May my heavenly Father comfort my heart in what is now determined, by. giving an abundant success to my ministrations among you, so that a multitude of souls may have reason to praise him on that account; and let me beg that you will’ bear me daily on yur hearts before his throne in prayer, and seek for me that extraordinary assistance, without which I must infallibly sink under the great work I have thus undertaken.

“I shall continue to recommend you, my dearly beloved, to the grace of Almighty God, the great Shepherd of his sheep, with that affection which now so peculiarly becomes your most devoted friend and servant in the bonds of our common Lord, Only a few days before this letter was written, he had concluded to remain at Harborough, and yet felt it a duty “to lay down his good friends at Northampton as gently as he could.” Accordingly, he went over there and preached from the appropriate words, “And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying. The will of the Lord be done.” Acts 21: 14. By a providential circumstance he was detained there until the following Wednesday, during the whole of which interval, he says, “I was besieged by the friendly importunities of the congregation; and when, before I went away, the young people came to me in a body, and earnestly entreated me to come among them, promising’to submit-to all such, methods of instruction as I should think proper, I found my heart so much melted with their affectionate ferTor, that I was no longer master of myself, and agreed to take the affeiir into consideration again. Upon the whole I was persuaded in my conscience that it was my duty to accept their invitation; and God is my witness, that when I did accept it, which was on the Saturday night afterwards, it was Vith the utmost reluctance. I acted, indeed, without the advice of almost any of my friends, and directly contrary to that of some for whom I had a very high regard; but I thought myself obliged in conscience to act according to my own views, as it is certain I must answer for myself another day.”

At the time Mr. Doddridge was invited to Northampton, ‘that church was partly Presbyterian, and partly Congregational As the female members had no vote in the choice of a pastor, tradition has preserved the fact, that such was their desire to obtain his services, that before the brethren met to consider the matter, they held a solemn meeting for prayer, and sent two venerable ladies to the brethren to express their earnest and unanimous degire that a call should be sent to him. It is said that this circumstance solemnly impressed the minds of the brethren, and afterwards had considerable influence on the. decision of the pastor elect.

The diary of Doddridge says, “I began housekeeping about the 13th of January, and took possession of that character in which I hope to spend most of the remaining studious hours of my life.”

Oft this occasion he called together several of his friends to spend an evening in prayer for the presence and blessing of God in his new abode: he expounded to them Psalm 101; and made known his solemn purposes and resolutions respecting the government of his family.

He entered deeply into an examination of his own heart, and discovering that practical religion had therein declined, in consequence of the interruptions and anxieties attendant upon leaving Harborough, and preparing for a new scene of action, he addressed himself to the recovery of his spiritual strength and devotion. Among other methods adopted for this purpose, he set apart a day for fasting, humiliation, and prayer, to animate his own soul, and engage the Divine blfessing on his family, studies, and la,bors. “On such days of special devotion he proposed to himself the following course of action:

“The Saturday immediately preceding the Lord’s day on which the Lord’s supper is to be administered, I propose to spend as a day of extraordinary devotion. I will endeavor to have all my business dispatched, and whatever is necessary to my preparation for such a day, on Friday night; particularly I will look over my diary, and other memorandums, which may be of use to me in the fast itself. I will rise early j endeavor, while rising, to fix on my mind a sense of God and my own unworthiness, and will then solemnly address myself to God for his assistance in all the particular services of the day, of which I will form a more particular plan than this. I will then read, and afterwards expound in the family some portion of Scripture peculiarly suitable to such an occasion, and will make a collection of such lessons.

“After family worship, I will retire and pray, over the portion of Scripture I have been explaining. I will then set myself to revive the memory of my past Conduct, especially since the last season of -this kind. I will put such questions as these to myself: ‘What care have I taken in the exercises of devotion? What regard have I maintained to God in the intervals of it? What diligence have I used in regarding providence, and redeeming time? What command have I exercised over my appetites and passions? What concern have I had tg discharge relative duties? How have I relished the peculiar doctrines of the gospel? And upon the whole, how am I advancing in my journey to a better world?’ I will then record my sins with their peculiar aggravations, that I may humble myself before God. for them; and my mefcies, with the circumstances that set them off, that I may return fervent thanks for them. Having made a catalogue of hints on both these subjects, I will spend 6ome time in meditation upon them, and having read some psalms or hymns which speak the language of godly sorrow, I will go into the presence of God, particularly confessing my sins and the demerit of them, solemnly renouncing them, and renewing my covenant against them. I will then consider what methods are proper to b& taken, that I may avoid them in future. “A devotional lecture to my pupils will -be an important pa;rt of the work of this day. I will, after that, spend some time in prayer for them, my family, and people. The remainder of my work shall be praise, with which I think I ought to conclude even days of humiliation; though sometimes a larger or a smaller space of time shall be allotted to this work, as peculiar circumstances require. After a little refreshment, I will converse with some of my. pupils privately about inward religion, which I may do with some peculiar advantages, after having been lecturing them on such. a, subject, and so particularly praying for them. I woidd. spend the evening in grave- conversation with, some pious friends with whom I can use great freedom as to the state of their souls; and at night review the whole, and conclude the day with some religious exercises suited to the work in which I have been. engaged, and the frame of my own soul, and will keep an account of what paseeth at these seasons. My God, assist me in this important duty. Make it so comfortable and useful. to me, that I may have reason to praise thee that my thoughts were directed and my resolutions determined to it.”

In the review of all the circumstances attendant on this important removal, we are struck with Doddridge’s firm adherence to what he judged to be the path of duty. With this step the lady who for many years had bestowed upon him the fostering care of parental tenderness was much dissatisfied, and her daughter, in whom, with the conMing security of mutual affection, his future hopes of domestic happiness had fondly centred, united with her mother in opposition to it. Some of his endeared clerical -friends also, he says, “blamed me exceedingly; so that I j|j; never spent any days in my life in such deep, bitter, / uninterrupted anguish, as those which preceded my removal from Harborough.”

After his settlement, and previous to his ordinktion, with a view to prepare himself for the arduous pastoral work which he had undei’taken, he studied the best treatises relating to the qualifications and duties of pastors, such as “Chrysostom on the Priesthood,” “Bowies’ Pastor Evangelicus,” “Burnet on the -Pastoral Care,” and “Baxter’s Reformed Pastor.” He consulted the memoirs of distinguished ministers, and was particularly profited by that of Philip Henry. Prom these books he carefully selected and recorded, and often reviewed, the most important counsels, reflections, and motives of action which he found. He also collected various maxims of prudence and discretion, which, if acted upon, were adapted to promote a minister’s reputation and usefulness.

About two months after commencing his labors at Northampton, they were arrested by a severe and dangerous illness of several weeks. From this illness he had but partially recovered when the day arrived that had been fixed for his. ordination, the proceedings of which are preserved in the following account from his own pen:

“NoBTHAMPTON, Maroh 19, 1730.

“The afflicting hand of God upon me hindered me from making that preparation for the solemnities of this day, which I could- otherwise have desired. However, I hope it hath long been my sincere desire to dedicate myself to him in the work of the ministry; and that the vie-ws with which I determined to undertake the office, and which I this day solemnly professed, have long since been seriously impressed on my heart.

“The work of the day was fulfilled in a very honorable and agreeable manner. Mr. .Goodrich of Oundle commenced the service by prayer and reading the Scriptures. Mr. Dawson of Hinckley continued those exercises; and then Mr. Watson of Leicester preached a suitable sermon from 1 Tim. 3 1, ‘This is a true saying, If a man desire the ofllce of a bishop; he desireth a good work.’ After the sermon, Mr. Norris of Welford read the Call of the Church, of which I declared my acceptance: he then received my confession of faith and ordination vows, and proceeded to set me apart by prayer: Mr. Clarke of St. Albans gave the charge to me, and Mr. Saunders of Kettering the exhortation to the people; then Mr. Mattock of Daventry concluded the solemnity with prayer..

“I cannot but admire the goodness of God in thus accepting me in the office of a minister, while I do not deserve to be owned by him as one of the meanest of his servants. I firmly determine, in” the strength of divine grace, that I will be faithful to God and the souls committed to my charge, and thus perform what I have so solemnly sworn.

“The severe indisposition under which I labor gives me some apprehension that this settlement may be very short; but, through mercy, I am not anxious about it, for I have a cheerful hope that the God to whom I have this day devoted my services, with more solemnity than ever, will graciously accept them, either in this world or in a better, and I am not solicitoua where or how. If I know any thing of my heart, I trust I may adopt the words of the apostle, that it is ’ my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death;’ that ‘to me to live is Christ,’ -and to die would be an unspeakable gain.

“May this day never be forgotten by me, nor the dear people committed to my charge, whom- 1 would humbly recommend to the care of the great Shepherd.”

Here may be inserted the following letter, as it serves to illustrate some of the qualifications which Mr. Doddridge possessed, in so eminent a degree, for the pastoral office. It shows that he spared no pains in the endeavor to do good.

To Miss King,
[ Who was preparing for a voyage to India.]

“Northampton, Feb. 14, 1730.” Many of our foreign governors live in a kind of princely magnificence, so that you will really need almost as much wisdom as if you were going to court. You will at least hear a great deal of flattery, the shame of our sex, and too often the ruin of your own; but remember that the serpents which conceal the sharpest and most fatal stings, sometimes lurk beneath the sweetest flowers; and that the most designing enemy may accost you with the softest air, and the most smiling countenance. On the other hand, madam, it is very uncertain what advantages of a religious nature you may enjoy to counterbalance these ensnaring circumstances. Yet I think I may venture to say, that whithersoever you go, were it even in your own country, and much more in a foreign land, it is a thousand to one but that you exchange for the worse when you quit the ministry of Mr. Jennings, with whose excellent character I am well acquainted.

“When I consider these things I cannot but think that, humanly speaking, there is reason to fear that the impressions of a religious education- will wear off your mind, and the vain allurements of an ensnaring world possess themselves of your heart, till by insensible degrees your soul may be endangered. I say not these things to dissuade you from the v6yage, were it in my power; but I represent the case in all its dangerous circumstances, so far as I apprehend them, that you may be awakened to a proper care in providing against them. And here it is evident that your only security is in the protection of that God who has the elements under his command,’and who, by his secret but powerful influence on the mind, can preserve it in the midst of temptation and brighten it by trial. “My advice is, therefore, that before you -begin this important and doubtful voyage, you repeatedly examine into the state of your soul with’ regard to God and eternity. Let it be your, immediate and diligent inquiry, whether you have resolutely’ and eatirely devoted yourself to God, with a humble dependence on the merits of his Son, and the assistatfce of his Spirit, to form you to a holy temper, and animate you to a zealous discharge of the duties he requires. If you have not yet entered into this covenant, or are dubious whether you have done it, iet it now be your immediate care to do it with the most serious consideration, as knowing it to be absolutely necessary for your security and happiness in -the safest and most cheering circumstances of life, and how much more so in such as have been described. Permit me to advise you to ponfirm it in the most solemn manner at the table of the Lord. There commit your life and your hopes to his providential care. Open your heart to the influences of his grace, and publicly avow a determinate resolution’ that you will be the Lord’s; .that you will be constantly and eternally His; and that in the strength of his Spirit, neither life nor death shall separate you from him.

“When this is done, you will be armed against the uncertaintieB of life, and the prospect of death in whatever form it may appear. Your soul may be calm in the midst of the tempest, when thunders roll, and the waves are foaming and roaring around you; when the hearts’ of the most experienced and courageous mariners are dismayed, you, with all the tenderness of your age and sex, may feel a sweet tranquillity, as the charge and favorite of Him who has universal nature under his control. Or should the dreadful moment of shipwreck come, while ungodly wretches are meeting the first death with unknown agony, as apprehending that, it will transmit them to the terrors of the second, you may smile with holy transport; and -when you see the jays of heavenly glory shooting through the gloomy passage, as Mr. Howe beautifully expresses it, ‘embrace the friendly wave which will land- you in heaven.’

“On the other hand, should Providence, according to my affectionate and repeated prayers, conduct you in safety to your intended harbor, your early and sincere devotedness to God will secure you in the midst of temptation — not indeed in the strength of your own virtue, but in the watchful care of the good Shepherd, who tenderly carries the lambs of his flock in his bosom: every thing splendid and pleasing around you, instead of alienating your heart from God, may be a means of raising it to him. The advantages of your circumstances may be improved to the noblest purposes, and you may appear in that conspicuous station, as raised by Providence to display the charms of virtue, and to recommend religion to others; as it cannot appear in a more amiable light, than when practised by the young who are surrounded with .the allurements of greatness.

“I hope that God will inspire you with a glorious ambition of being eminently honorable and useful in life. And for your assistance in this noble attempt, I will presume so far upon your patience as to offer you some more particular advice, submitting it to your deliberate reflection, that you may judge how far it is necessary or important*.

“As God is the support of the whole world, so I believe all who are experimentally acquainted with religion, will readily allow that a .proper and constant regard to God is their best support. I would therefore, madam, exhort you to the most diligent care in maintaining such regards. Let no day pass without some humble and affectionate visits to the throne of grace, and rejoice to think that whithersoever you go, you are still in a province of that universal empire over which He presides; and as He is your best friend, remember, I entreat you, that neither duty nor prudence will permit you to neglect him. Let secret prayer and reading the Scriptures always be attended to with great diligence; and, fix it as a maxim in your mind, that however other outward forms may be gone through, devotion is in effect neglected, if these duties are not seriously and heartily performed.

“Thankfully improve all those public advantages which you may there enjoy for the good of your soul; for I should be much concerned if you were to go abroad with a contempt for all religious opportunities which are not just such as you could wish. Though a form be probably less suited to your taste as well as to mine, than the prayers we have been accustomed to, yet the divine influence may make it very refreshing. I doubt not thaj many pious souls in the established church have daily converse with God in its offices, a thought in which I heartily rejoice. I hope Providence will so order it, that you may have the assistance of a clergyman- who will not only be careful to speak the words of soberness, but will, throughout the whple of his ministrations and conversation, be animated by a deep and lively sense of religion, an ardent zeal for the honor of God, and a tender concern for the salvation of souls. But if it should happen otherwise, endeavor to make the best of what you hear, and carry a few good books with you, which may, in part, make up for the. want of more suitable public assistance. You may thus have an opportunity of hearing, some of our preachers almost every day, and may be secure of meeting with some of the most valuable of their discourses. I “would on this occasion recommend to you ‘Dr. Watts’ Sermons,’ ‘Hymns, Psalms, and Lyric Poems;’ Dr. Evans’ ‘Christian Tefnper,’ and ‘Sermons to Young People,’ Stennett’s ‘Reasonableness of Early Piety,’ and, I had almost said above all the rest, Dr. Wright’s ‘Treatise on Regeneration,’ and of ‘The Deceitfulness of Sin.’ I see not well how any of these can be spared, and I shall desire you to accept of the two last, bound together, as a small testimony of my sincere friendship.

“Above all, I would earnestly entreat you to make the Scriptures very familiar to your mind. David’s Psalms, Solomon’s Proverbs and Ecolesiastes, and the New Testament, are the parts of Scripture which I would especially recommend; and I would entreat you to read them, not in a hasty and cursory manner, but with deep reflection, and earnest prayer to God for the assistance of his Spirit. On such a perusal, I am confident that you will find a spirit, a ‘beauty, and a glory in them, beyond what the generality of the world apprehend. This guide alone is incomparably preferable to all the books and the friends in the world without it. Follow it steadily and it will lead you to heaven.

“As to your behavior to your fellow-creatures, the directions of Scripture will be highly serviceable. In this most important article, your great care, madam, must be to accommodate your own particular circumstances to its general precepts, and you must beg that God would give you wisdom to do it.

“You cannot but knGw thai a young lady is exposed to a variety of temptations peculiar to her own age and sex, especially in the company of gentlemen whose professions and conditions in life may not incline them to the greatest sobriety of behavior; and it will require great prudence on your part to manage well here. Your principal difficulty will be to keep yourself free from those importunities which are on many accounts inconvenient. And here, madam, I would by no means advise you to put on an air of severity in the company of men, as if you were apprehensive of some criminal design in all they said or did. Such a behavior is so far from being ornamental, that I will frankly confess it appears to iqe not only offensive, but ridiculous and supercilious too. Yet there is, if one knew how to describe it, a kind of reserve mixed up with the most cheerful freedom; a chastened gayety. which inspires a reverence even for the most gentle charmer; and would make a man blush at the secret consciousness of an irregular thought with regard to so excellent, I had almost said, so sacred a creature.

“It would be an easy matter to insist more copiously upon these hints, but my letter is grown already to a very uncommon size; and what is omitted, if I judge aright of your character, your own good sense will supply, under the direction of the word of God, and the influence of his Spirit. Only let me entreat you to reflect frequently upon your conduct, for I am confident that the generality of mankind who are undone for time and eternity, perish’ not so much for want of knowing what is right, as through that failure of resolution in its pursuit, which is owing to a neglect of due reflection.

“My hearty prayers shall be frequently repeated, that a watchful Providence may continually surround you and give the winds and the seas a charge concerning you, and that the influences of His grace may secure you from temptation, and make you a lovely example of all the virtues and graces of Christianity; so that you may ultimately be restored to your native land in peace, with a” rich increase both of temporal and spiritual blessings.”

INTEODUCTION INTO DOMESTIC LIFE.

In the course of the summer Mr. Doddridge made an excursion into Worcestershire with a view to recreation, and there met a. young lady, Miss Mercy Maris, who possessed varied attractions so well adapted- to his tastes and to his judgment, that he commenced on his return home a correspondence which resulted in her acceptance of him as her future husband, and in their marriage on the 22d of December, 1730, a day which Doddridge afterwards with frequency and great fondness rfiferred to as the happiest of his life. “The lady,” according to Mr. Humphrey’s account, “was rather tall, and presented that free and flowing outline which painters love to copy. Her air and general carriage had the easy self-possession and confiding grace which inspire respect and bestow comfort. She dressed handsomely, but without assumption; and if she was a little too critical in that particular, the sense of formality was lost in the vivacity of her conversation, to which black eyes, raven hair, and the ardent tint which so often mantles in the cheeks of a brunette, gave a peculiar zest.”

It is not unusual that letters passing between those who are looking forward to wedded life are of but little value except to themselves. An extract from one written by Do’ddridge to the lady of his choice, about seven weeks before their marriage, will not lessen either party in the esteem of the Christian reader:

“I am but just now risen from the ‘table of the Lord, and I am sitting down to write to you. Nor does my conscience accuse me for such a’ transition. It would rather reproach me if I had fixed my affections upon a lady with whom I could not correspond in a strain agreeable to the solemnity of such an hour.

“I have been remembering a dying Redeemer, and I haye there been remembering, you, who, I can truly say, hold the next place in my heart. May it ever be only the next.

“I have been renewing the dedication of myself to God; and have been referring all the future events of ray life to Jiis care, and most particularly and expressly that dear concern with you, which is so highly important, and lies so near my heart. I persuade myself I am more likely to succeed, by submitting it to the all-wise and all-gracious disposal of our heavenly Father; and I rejoice to think, that as you will make my own house and table more delightful to me, so you will add a new pleasure to the house and table of my God. While I am thus near him, it rejoices my soul to think that he is giving me a companion in life, who, instead of separating me from him, will lead me nearer to him.”

In this year, 1730, a species of villany began to exhibit itself which had heretofore been unknown in England. Letters were sent to many persons demanding money, on the threat of reducing their houses to ashes, in case of their demands not being complied with. The evil existed in Northampton, and Doddridge wrote to Miss Maris, in his last letter. before marriage, “The incendiaries are come to Northampton. Should God permit them, they might ruin me in an hour. But I commit myself to a watchful and almighty Providence”

To the Rev. Isaac Watts, D. D.

“April 5,1731.

“With what sincere reverence and affection I can address you, I hope, sir, I need not express at large; for I cannot but think that whenever I have been so happy as to converse with you, my countenance must have discovered the inward pleasure which diffused itself over my mind on the occasion. I am deeply sensible of the favor you have done me, in joining with some other friends in recommending me as a tutor at your board. If 1 do not impose upon myself, my conscience witnesses for me in the sight of God, that the hope of usefulness, rather than the prospect of any secular advantage, has engaged me to undertake the work; and I persuade myself, sir, that your prayers are sometimes ascending with mine in supplication that the great Author of knowledge and grace may impart to me those talents and that piety which such an important station requires, and thus succeed my attempts for the edification of the church, and the glory of our common Lord. I hope indeed, if God should continue my life, to find in you a counsellor and a friend; and I cannot but admire Ms goodness in honoring me with the friendship of such a person. I can truly say, that your name was in the number of those dearest to me -long before I ever saw you; yet since I have known you, I cannot but find a still more tender pleasure in the thought of your valuable and successful services for the advancement of practical Christianity.

“An accident which happened here a few days ago, gave me a pleasure with regard to you, which is still so warm in my mind that I hope you will pardon my relating the circumstance. On Tuesday last I was preaching to a large assembly of plain country people at a village a few miles off, when, after a sermon from Hebrews 6: 12, we sang one of your hymns, which, if I remember right, was the 140th of the second book.”

Give me the wings of faith to rise

WithiQ the veil, and see
The saints above, how great their joys,

How bright their gloried be.

Once they were mourning here below,
And wet their couch with tears;

They wrestled hard, as we do now,
With sins, and doubts, and fears.

I ask them whence their victory came;

They, with united breath,
Ascribe their conquest to the Lamb,

Their triumph to his death — etc.

“In that part of the worship I had the satisfaction to observe tears in the eyes of several of the people; and after the service was over, some of them told me that they were not able to sing, so deeply were their minds affected”; the clerk in particular said he could hardly utter the words as he gave them out. They were most of them poor people, who work for their liring, yet on the mention of your name, I found that they had read several of your books with great delight; and that your psalms and hymns were almost their daily entertainment; and when one of the company said, ‘What if Dr. Watts should come down to Northampton I” another replied, with remarkable warmth, ‘The very sight, of him would be as good as an ordinance to me.’

“I mention the matter just as it occurred, and am persuaded that it is only a familiar and natural specimen of what often takes place among a multitude of Christians who never saw your face; nor do I by any means intend -it as a compliment to a genitis which has entertained, by the same compositions, the greatest and the meanest ‘of mankind; but rather to remind, you, dear sir, how .much you owe to Him who has honored you as the instrument of such extensive service.

“Had Providence cast my lot near you, I should gratefully embrace frequent opportunities of improving my understanding and warming my heart by your conversation, which would surely be greatly to my advantage as a tutor, a minister, and a Christian. As it is, I will not omit any opportunity that may fall in my way; and while I regret that I can enjoy no more of it here, I will ccmifort myself with the thought of that blessed state, when I hope to dwell with you for. ever,’ and to join in sweeter and sublimier songs than even those which yon have taught the church below. It is my desire aaid expectation that these and your other writings may be transmitted to the remotest generations, and that thousands yet unborn may have eternal reason to be thankful for them.”

The paternal character which was acquired October 7, 1731 i at the birth of his first child, soon developed itself very agreeably in letters to some of his friends, among which was the following.

To Uncle Ebenejer Hawkins.

/” October 9, 1731.

“It is a strange thing to me to find myself so fond of a little being who can. do nothing but sleep and cry, and when it would be remarkably witty and entertaining, open it9 eyes and stare. What I shall do when it can run aout” and prattle, I know not; but in short, I begin to suspect that I shall prove no wiser than some certain nameless persons whom I have secretly been ready to laugh at upon that head.

“I am a little angry that Upton does not lie within the. neighborhpod of Northampton; but I beg you would in part alleviate that misfortune by frequent visits and letters.”

To. Mrs. Doddridge.

“London, July 23, 1735. “Mt dearest and best baethly jot — I always rejoice to see. a letter from you; but that which I received this afternoon- has thrown me into a sad fit of the vapors. I am inexpressibly concerned to hear y6u have been so much indisposed; and as I have a thousand fears on account of your present circumstances, so I am grieved to think that at best I am likely to undergo the sad discipline of living a month without your company below stair’s; and no place is more a wilderness to me than my own house when you are absent.

“All my wisest and best friends approve my declining Salter’s Hall. It would indeed have ruined ,my academy to accept it. Mr. Jennings prefers me to print the sermon about the ‘One Thing Needflil,’ which Sir Henry Houghton desired to have; but I have not yet found time to transcribe a line of it, for I can write nothing but letters to you.

“I called just now to see Mr. Calamy, who is finely recovered. There I saw Saivage, the celebrated poet, who has lately been writing the Progress Of a Divine, in imitation of Hogarth’s Progress of a Rake: it is a desperate satire on the clergy.”

The domestic and social character of Dr. Doddridge will further appear in the reflections we find recorded in Ms diary upon the death of his eldest child.

“Sunday, Oct. 3, 1736. Pjq the 1st of October God was pleased by a most awful stroke to take away my eldest, dearest child, my lovely Betsey. She was formed to. strike my affection in the most powerful manner: such a person, genius, and temper, as I admired even; beyond their real importance, so that indeed I doated upon her, and was for many months before -her death in a great degree of bondage on her account. She was taken ill at Newport about the middle of June, and thence to the day of her death she was my continual thought and almost uninterrmpted care. God only knows with what earnestness and importunity I prostrated myself before him to beg her life, which I would have been willing almost to have purchased with my own. When reduced .to the lowest degree of languishment by consumption, I could not forbear looking in upon her almost every hour. I saw her with the strongest mixture of anguish and delight. No chemist ever watched his crucible with greater care, when he expected the production of the philosopher’s stone, than I watched her in all the various turns of her disease, which at last grew utterly hopeless, and then no language can express the agony into which it threw me.

“One remarkable circumstance I cannot but recollect: in praying most affectionately, perhaps too earnestly for her life, these words came into my mind with great power, [ Speak no more to me of this matter I was unwilling to take them, and went into the chamber to see my dear lamb, when instead of receiving me with her usual tenderness, she looked upon me with a stern air, and said. with a very remarkable determination of voice, ‘I have no more to say to you;’ and I think from that time, though she lived at least ten days, she seldom looked upon me with pleasure, or cared to suffer me to come near, her. But that I might feel all the bitterness of the afliction, Providence so ordered it that I came in when her sharpest agonies were upon her, and those words, ‘Oh dear. Oh dear, what shall I do?’ rung in my ears for succeeding hours and days. But God delivered her, and she without any violent pang in the article of her dissolution, quietly and sweetly fell asleep, as I hope, in Jesus, about ten at night, I being then at Maidwell. When I came home my mind was under a dark, cloud relating to her eternal state; but God was pleased graciously to remove it, and gave me comfortable hope, after having felt the most heart-rending sorrow. My dear wife bore the affliction in the most wonderful maimer, and discovered more wisdom and piety and steadiness of temper in a few days than I had ever in six years an opportunity of observing before. Oh my soul, Crod has blasted thy gourd; thy greatest earthly delight is gone: seek it in heaven, where I hope this dear babe is — where I am sure my Saviour is, and where I trust, through grace, notwithstanding all this irregularity of temper and of heart I shall shortly be. “!’ I had preached in the bitterness of my heart from these words, ‘Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child? and she said, It is well.’ I endeavored to show the reason there was to Say this; but surely there was never any dispensation of Providence in which I found it so hard, for my very soul had been overwhelmed within me; but it pleased God that in composing the sermon my mind became quieted, and I was brought into a more silent and cordial submission to the divine will.

“At the Lord’s table I discoursed on these words, ‘Although my house be not so with God,’ etc. I observed domestic calamities may befall good men in their ‘journey through life, and particularly in relation to their children, but that they have a refuge in God’s covenant: it is everlasting, it is sure, it is well-ordered; every provision is made according to our necessities, and it shall be all our salvation, as it is the object of our most affectionate regard.

“1 here solemnly recollected that I had in a former sacrament taken the cup with these words, ‘Lord, I take this cup as a public and solemn token that I will refuse no other cup which thou shalt put intg my hand.’ I mentioned this recollection, and charged it publicly on myself and my Christian friends. God has taken me at my word, but I do not retract it; I repeat it again with regard to every future cup#

.” I am just ‘come from the coflSn of my deaj?- child, who seems to be sweetly asleep there, with a serene, composed, delightful countenance, once how animated with double life. There, lo,. Oh my soul, lo, there is thine idol laid still in death: the creature which stood next to God in thy heart. Methinks I would learn to be dead with herT-de9,d to the world. Oh that I could be dead with her 1 not any further than that her dear memory may promote my living to God.

“I had a great deal of edifying conversation last night and this morning with my wife, whose wisdom does indeed make her face to shine under this affliction.. She is supported and animated with a courage which seems not at all natural to her; talks with the utmost freedom, and has really said many of the most useful things that ever were said to me by any person upon the earth, both as to consolation and admonition. This is to me very surprising when I consider her usual reserve. I have all imaginable reason to believe that God will make this affliction a great blessing to her, and I hope it may prove so to me. There as a fond complacence and delight which I took in Betsey beyond Eimy thing living. Although she had not a tenth part of that rational,. manly love “which I pay to her mamma and many surviving friends, yet it leaves a peculiar pain upon my heart, and it is alpaost as if my very gall were poured out. upon the -earth.. Yet much sweetness mingles itself with this bitter potion, chiefly in the views and hope of my speedy removal to, the eternal world. May not this be the beauty of Providence: instead of her living many years upon the earth, may not God have taken away my child that I might be fitted for and reconciled to my own dissolution, perhaps nearly approaching? I verily believe I shall meet her there, and enjoy much more of her in heaven than I should have done had she sui-vived me on earth. Lord, thy will be done: may my life be used for thy service while continued, and then put thou a period to it whenever thou pleasest.”

REFLECTIONS APTEE THE FUNEBAL OF HIS CHILD.

“Oct. 4, 1736. I have now been laying the delight of my eyeg in the dust, and it is for ever hidden from them. My heart was too full to” weep. We had a suitable sermon by Mr. Hunt, from the words, ‘Doest thou well to be angry because of the gourd?’ I hope God knows that I am not angry, but sorrowful he surely allows me to be. I bless God I have my hopes that, my child is lodged in the arms of Christ. Blessed God, hast thou not received her? I trust that thou hast, and pardoned the infirmities of her poor, short, childish, afflicted life. I hope, in some measure out of love to me as thy servant, thou hast done it for Christ’s sake; and I would comsider the very hope as an engagement to thy future. service. Lord, I love those who were kind to my child, and ‘those that wept with me for her; shall I not much more love thee, who, I hope, art this moment taking care of her, and opening her infant faculties for the duties and blessedness of heaven?

“Lord, I would consider myself as. a dying creature. My first-born is gone; my beloved child is laid, in bed before me. I have often jbllowed her to bed in a literal sense, and shortly shall follow her to that where we shall lie down together, and our rest shall be together in the dust. In a literal sense the grave is ready for me. My grave is made. I have looked into it a dear part of myself is already there; and when I stood at the Lord’s table I stood directly ov«r it. It is some pleasure to me to think that my dust will be lodged near that of my dear lamb; how much more to hope that my soul will rest with hers, and rejoice in her for ever. But Oh, let me not centre my thoughts even here; it is a rest with and in God, that is my -ultimate hope. Lord, may thy grace secure it to me, and in the mean time give me some holy acquiescence of soul in thee; and though my gourd be withered, yet shelter me under the shadow of thy wings.”

Before we pass from this mournful topic, we may remark that it was said the bereaved father wrote his funeral-sermon for this beloved daughter with his paper resting on her coffin; and that it was of this “lovely Betsey “the touching tale was told, that,.when she bad one day numbered up a long catalogue of friends, and she was asked why almost every one loved “her, her reply, with all the vivacity of childhood, was, “Every one loves Tetsy, because Tetsy loves every body.”

As illustrative of the character of the times, and as introducing to us one of the most lovely of Doddridge’s students, we may transcribe from his correspondence a brief narrative. Speaking of Brixworth, a village in the neighborhood of Northampton, he says,” A poor but honest man in that place had procured Mr. Darracott, one of my pupils, to come over and repetxt a sermon, [the recitation of a sermon written by another.] Before the congregation was come together, some of ’ the -baser sort,’ instigated by the steward of a lady of note in the town, attempted to disturb- them by throwing stones through the glass window, and huzzaing at the door; and the master of the house going out to quiet them, was assaulted, had a gun presented to his breast, and was driven in for shelter. Afterwards, however, he and Mr. Darracott ventured to go to the constables, who were then at the George Inn at a Court-leet; there they asked for help, but in vain; they were forcibly driven out of thp house, and pelted with dirt, stones, and sticks in their return, as they had been as they went. Afterwards Mr. Darracott being conveyed away from a house where he had taken shelter, they demanded him, as they said, that they might be the death of him; they seized Beck, almost smothered him in the mud, as they drew him through a horsepond, and at last tore his coat from

150 * PfilLIP DODDKIDGB.

his back. He then escaped into the house, and was in two hours after guarded home by the constables.

“The partifes came over to me the next day, and our justices granted a’;warrant, by virtue of which, four of the chief offenders were carried before Mr.

W, a toi-y justice in the neighborhood, who is

the fittest man I know in the world to act the part of Jeffries a second time, if a proper occasion offered. He treated Beck as if he had been a felon, laid all the blame upon him, declared it was impudence to call these things an assault, and forced him by threats of imprisonment to subscribe to a very defective information, against many articles of which he protested, and at last allowed him two shillings damages to mend his windows, and two for the warrant.”

To the fidelity and success of Mr. Darracott, who at this time had only arrived at the age of twenty years, we give the following testimony from the graphic pen of Dr. James Hamilton.

“When his college course was ended, and in all the freshness of youth, he was invited to become the minister of the Presbyterian congregation at Wellington, in Somersetshire. This little town was just the sort of place where ordinary zeal would have dwindled down to decency, and where caged ambition would have fretted at the smallness of its sphere. But Darracott’s was more than common zeal; and so long as there were thousands of unconverted men in Wellington, there were abundant objects for his ambition. Accordingly, commencing with a communion-roll of twenty-eight, he began to preach with as much warmth and energy as if the entire town were resorting to his ministry. With moderate scholarship, and with nothing brilliant in’his thoughts, his eager aspect and glowing countenance gave to truths ofttold a freshness equal to originality, and even to the coarsest minds there was something irresistibly captivating in the suavity of his spirit, and the refinement of the Christian gentleman; and as the gospel which he preached had a constant exponent in an eye ever beaming, and in a frame ever bounding with active benevolence, it is not wonderful that ’ the common people heard him gladly.’ When he perceived any one unusually attentive or solemnized, ‘it was his plan to write a letter, or pay an early visit, in order to urge the impression home; and he was unwearied in his efforts to bring, amiable or awakened hearers to the grand decision which divides the church from the world, and formality from faith. His paramount zeal for his Master was nobly displayed in his anxiety to bring to Wellington preachers more powerful than himself, and a visit which he secured from Whitefield was the means of a memorable and salutary excitement in that little town. It was chiefly among the poor and’ illiterate that Mr. Darracott’s ministry prospered-; but among poachers and vagrants, foreign mountebanks and clodpoUs, who could not read the alphabet, as well as among farmers and tradesmen, he saw many triumphs of the all-transforming gospel. Among his forays in the surrounding villages, one hamlet is specified as a singular trophy of his fervent ministry. So addicted to drunkenness, rioting, and fighting was Rogue’s Green, that it had become the Nazareth of that neighborhood. However, inta this den of deprsfvity Mr. Darracott found his way, and the result of his labors was, that,in a hamlet where there had not been a single worshipper, there remained soaircely a single house in which the evening traveller would not hear the voice of prayer and praise. And -when, after eighteen years of unflagging toil, this good man died his blessed death, instead of twenty-eight, he left a church of three hundred members. One of the last cordials vouchsafed to Doddridge before he left his native land, was a sight of this beloved pupil in the very zenith of his usefulness. A week before he embarked for Lisbon he spent a night at Wellington, and on the morning of his departure told his young friend that his joys were now too much for his enfeebled body to sustain.”

The language of Dr. Hamilton in this description of Mr. Darracott is strong, but not more so than was that of Doddridge himself, who visited him in 1741, and thus wrote to Mrs. Doddridge: “Mr. Darracott is in all respects a most happy man, and absolutely the most successful minister I have known among us for many years. He prayed last night in a manner which approached as nearly to inspiration as any thing I have heard, or ever expect to hear.”

To Mrs. Doddridge. -

“Kensington, Mrs. Seaman’s, Feb. 3, 1738.

“My dear Cebatuee — I walked hither, and had

the great satisfaction to find the good Mrs. Godwin,

whose life was almost despaired of, most charmingly

recovered. We took a walk together of at least a mile, and saw, I need not tell you with what emotion, a house in which the’ blessed Queen Mary, consort of William III, and good Mr. Addison lived. It is one of the most romantic and antique I anywhere remember. Coming back too late to go home safely to-night, I accepted the kind proposal of my friends to lodge here, and take this time-from their conversation, agreeable as it is, to converse with the best of. my human friends. Oh, my dear, how eagerly do I wish it were not in this distant, ftis laborious, this imperfect manner, but as the Hebrews most emphatically say, ‘mouth to month.’

“I have just before me a fine picture of Lucretia dying with a dagger in her breast; in the next room there is one of Susannah and the two elders; but I do not now like to see such things, for every beautiful object reminds me of you. I will not say you have all the charihs of Eve, and all the virtues, of her lovely daughters united in yourself; but I can truly say, you have enough for me, and too much to leave me any possibility of forgetting you for one waking hour, or of enjoying any thing with full satisfaction till I can return to you.”

To the Same.

“Cambeidge, June 18, 1741.” As agreeable as I find this seat of the Muses, I must needs forget every other amusement for a little while, that I may indulge myself in the pleasure of conversing with you, and may continue the history of my travels. My last was dated on Monday, from St. IveS) from whence on- Tuesday morning we went over to Abbot’s Ripton, where good Mr. Jones received us with his usual good-humor and friendship. Mrs. Bonfoy immediately sent for me and all my friends, and we really spent the day delightftilly, in the midst of all the pleasure which a very agreeable house, handsome entertainment, lively yet serious conTersation, and the most frank and generdus respect and friendship could afford us; I indeed quitted the family in the evening with great regret.

“As for the town where I now am, it is in itself a very sorry kind of place, if you except the colleges and the public buildings belonging to them. King’s college and Tiinity are both charming, and I think beyond any thing in Oxford. I have seen several great curiosities in the libraries, to which I found a ready access through the complaisance of the students and fellows, and sometimes by Mr. Jones’ means. I waited yesterday on Dr. Middleton, who showed me the fine University library, and some of the most curious manuscripts in the world. I was most courteously entertained by Dr. Newcomb, master of St. John’s; and though I have, to my great grief, been so unfortunate as to miss of Mr. Warburton, I have met with Mr. Caryl, a particular friend of his, a fellow of Jesus college, and a very worthy gentleman; he supped with me last night, and invited me and all my company to dine with him to-day. Mr. Henchett was so complaisant as to attend me hither, or rather indeed having met me at St. Ives, came hither before me, and we were yesterday his guests. I assure you every thing here is exceedingly good in its kind, and I met with very few places in our long journey wjiere the accommodation was any thing comparable to what I meet with at this good house, which though it be the Cardinal’s Hat, will always be sure of my good word. I hope this will not be thought further argument of my being turned papist, though I really think it one of the best that can be produced.* And now,’ my dear, I beg you would -accept of the united compliments of the chancellor and vice-chancellor of this ancient and celebrated uniTcrsity, as also of those of many of the heads and fellows of the respectiTe colleges.”

To the Same.

“BuEY, June 20, 1741.” I cannot in reason expect many days of my life in which I am absent from you to be so entertaining to me as last Thursday was, for I ‘spent all the morning with a very learned and ingenious friend of Mr. Warburton’s, who is a fellow of Jesus college, and who invited ‘me and Mr. Jennings, Mr. Parminter, and Mr. Notcutt, the dissenting minister there, to dine with him; to which he added a most pressing invitation to me to come and spend a fortnight or more as I pleased with him in the college. He carried me to several other colleges, where I was very respectfully received, and then drank tea with Dr. Middleton at his house. He showed me several very fine curiosities, and I, on the other hand, had the pleasure of informing him of several very curious and valuable manuscripts in the library of which he has charge, of which neither the doctor himself, nor any of the gentlemen

* A preposterous report that the doctor was a Jesuit in disguise was raised in consequence of the Christian charity which he had shown in the case dfpoor Connell. of the uniyersity had even so much as heard, though they are the oldest monuments relating to the churches of Italy which continued uncorrupted in the great darkness of Popery, between six and seven hundred years ago; and it is most astonishing to me that the university should know nothing of them: perhaps it might be because Cromwell lodged them there; and indeed, their libraries want some of the best books which have of late appeared among us, being written by dissenters, nor did my learned friends there so much as know that such books were ever published.

“A young poet of great character in the University supped with me, and it was not till eleven yesterday morning that I could get to CamjDridge. The rain caught us, so that we were forced to lie by several hours, but we got well to Bury last night about seven o’clock, and have here met with a very -kind reception. Mr. Steward’s company is very entertaining and improving and good. Mr. Webb is a generous, pious, and obliging friend, with whom I could be glad to spend a -great deal more time than I must allow myself here.”

From the Rev. W. Waiburton, D. D.

“London, June 25, 1741. “When your last kind letters with the discourse came to London, J was on a ramble with Mr. Pope up and down, and among other places, at Oxford; from whence I am but just returned. I have read over your fine abstract with great pleasure. It is too good for the journal. I shall reserve it fox use when I recapitulate my” long general argument at the end of the third, volume, where it will be of use to me.

“My worthy friend Mr. Caryl, master of Jesus college, tells me you have been at Cambridge; and is so won with his new acquaintance that he expresses himself to me in these words, which for once I will not scruple to transcribe from his letter:

“‘Dr. Doddridge spent a couple of days here last week. I showed him all the civility I could; at first indeed merely as a friend of yours, but it “Soon became the result of my own inclinations. He favored me with much curious conversation, and if I judge right, is a man of great parts and learning, and of a candid ’ and communicative temper. I now reckon him among my acquaintance, and thank you for him.’

“You see what a liberty I have taken with my friend’s letter; but the pleasure I had in receiving it made me, think his words as well as his sentiments my property.”

To Mrs. Doddridge.

“Taemodth, July 2, 1741.” At length, my dearest, though not without some difficulty, I am broken away from Norwich. I felt that separation the lesS” as I brought away ‘with me Mr. Scott and his inost agreeable daughter. We spent Tuesday at Denton, and it was one of the most delightful days of my whole life. Seveliteen ministers were there, of which eight 6fBciated indeed exceedingly well. ‘We held a kind of council afterwards concerning the methods to be taken for the revival of religion, and I hope I have set them on work to soEfie purpose; on the whole I had such communion with God, in all the duties of the day, and saw all things so well conducted in it, that I should have thought all the labors of the journey well repaid by it. The respect and tenderness -with which I was treated by all the ministers confounded me in some measure, as well as delighted me.”

To the Same.

“TivEETON, June 25, 1742. “On Saturday I arrived at Exeter, where I found a whole synod of minister-s ready to receive me; and such a feast prepared as put me out of countenance, which is, alas, my daily exercise. Mr. Tozer is a charming man, and I never saw so many fine women of any one family. They all treat me with the kindness of sisters, and multiply their favors upon me beyond all I can easily express. Entertainments have been daily -provided for me by the principal families, and I have seen that noble palace which once belonged to my family. [This was the favorite residence of Sir John Doddridge.] My arms are there curiously carved over the great .mantle-piece in the dining-room, which is quite a room of state; and in several other places, particularly in a great upper room one hundred and twenty feet long, which is surrounded with the arms of all the nobility and gentry in these parts. I assure you, my dear, I saw this without any regret; and I hope I have a much nobler mansion reserved for me in my Father’s house above; and in the meantime am incomparably happier with you in my present circumstances, than such a seat and all the estate once belonging to Mount Radford could make me without you, or without my dear charge at Northampton.”

To the Same.

“NOBTHAMPTON, Oct. 13, 1742.

“I cannot express the concern with which I hear by good Mr. Osten that you are worse; that you are obliged to leave off the Bath waters, to consult Dr. Oliver, etc. It would really wound me to the heart if my expectations should be disappointed, and you were to come back worse than you went.

“I dare not even think of the consequences; our meeting would be so distressful, that so far as personal satisfaction was concerned, I should be glad to hide myself in the grave from the bitterness and agony of such an interview. Indeed, my dear, I love you too well; and though I sometimes admire myself wonderfully for being able to sleep, ,and study, and go cheerfully through my business, though you be not here, yet when sudi a shocking idea as this arises I find my heart is a great hypocrite, and that much of its tranquillity was owing to the sweet hope that you were all this while growing better, and that it was indeed little more than the generosity of the miser who can part with his money for a while, and be pretty easy though it is out of sight, when he expects to receive it quickly with larger interest.”

To the Sam’e.

“Northampton, Oct. 31, 1742. “I question not, my dear, that you and Miss Rappit are both wishing yourselves with us, and we should greatly rejoice in your beiAg so; and yet I hope it will be some comfort to you to think that we shall remember you at the Lord’s table, and recommend you to the divine support during your absence. And I hope, my dear, you will not be offended when I tell you that I am — what I hardly thought it possible, without a miracle, that I should have been — very easy and happy without you. My days begin, pass, and end in pleasure, and seem short because they are so delightful.

“It may seem strange to say it, but really so it is, I hardly feel that I want any thing. I often think of you, and pray for you, and bless God on your account, and please myself with the hope of many comfortable days and weeks and years with you; yet I am not at all anxious about your return, or indeed about any thing else. And the reason, the great and sufiBcient reason is, that I have more of the presence of God with me than I remember ever to have enjoyed in any one month of my life. He enables me to live for him and to live with him.

“When I awake in the morning, which is always before it is light, I address myself to Him, and converse with .him, speak to him when I am lighting my candle and putting on my clothes, and have often more delight before coming out of my chamber, though it be hardly a quarter of an hour after awaking, than I have enjoyed for whole days, or perhaps weeks of my life. He meets me in my study, in secret, and in family devotion. It is pleasant to read, pleasant to compose, pleasant to converse with my friends at home, pleasant to visit those abroad — the poor, the sick; pleasant to write letters of necessary business by which any g(Jod can be done; pleasant to go out and preach the gospel to poor souls, some of whom are thirsting for it, and others dying without it; pleasant in the week-day to think how near another Sabbath is; but Oh, much more pleasant to think how near eternity is, and how short the journey through this wilderness, and that it is but a step from earth to heaven.

.” I cannot forbear in these circumstances pausing a little, and considering whence this happy scene just at this time arises, and -whither it tends. Whether God is about to bring upon me any peculiar trial, for which this is to prepare me; whether he is shortly about to remove me from the earth, and so is giving me more sensible prelibatioas of heaven, to prepare me for it; or whether he intends to do some peculiar services by me just at this time, which many other circumstances lead me sometimes to. hope; or whether it be, that in answer to your prayers, and in compassion to that distress which I must otherwise have felt in the absence and illness of her who has been so exceedingly dear to me, and was never more- sensibly dear to me than now, he is pleased to favor me with this experience; in consequence of which I freely own I am less afraid than ever of any event that can possibly arise consistent with his nearness to my heart and the tokens of his paternal and covenant love. I will muse no further on the cause. It is enough the effect is so blessed.

“Since I began this letter I have attended family prayer. I wish I could communicate to you and dear Miss Rappit the pleasure I found, in reading the Promises in Mr. Clarke’s Collection, pages 106, 107, and singing the eighty-ninth Psalm.

“But the post calls, and I must therefore conclude, wishing you all the happiness I feel, and more if your heart could contain it.”

To the Same.

“Northampton, ‘Metrch. 6, 1743.

“If with your last charming letter did not hurt yourself I am glad you sent it, for it came most seasonably, and produced a very agreeable effect. You knew, .my dearest, it would arrive on Lord’s-day mght: it was on sacrament-day; and indeed it was a most comfortable one to me: my joy at that ordinance was so great that I could’ not well contain it. I’ had much ado to forbtear telling to all about me as Well as I could, for it would have been but in a very imperfect manner, what a divine flame I felt in my soul, wMch indeed put me greatly in mind of Mr. Howe’s ‘full stream of rays.’. Were it possible to carry such impressions through life, it would give the soul a kind of independence far too high for a mortal existence. It was indeed, in the most literal and proper sense, ’ a joy unspeakable and full of glory.’ I doubt not, my dearest earthly friend, that it was in a considerable measure in answer to your prayers. I had promised myself that we should then have been together, but God was pleased to give me so much, that he left no room to complain of what he withheld. You may be assured, however, that I could not fail to remember you in such circumstances.’

“The bell rings for prayer, so I must conclude abruptly. I am pleased tQ think what a meeting good Mrs. Howe has had with that glorious spirit above whose memory is so precious to us both.* Oh, what are dukes or princes when compared with such persons? May not you and I, my dearest, hope for such a meeting tod? How much beyond that which the fondness of our hearts leads us to expect at Northampton.”

‘To the Same.

“BuBY, June 26,1744.

“As I have this morning, the anniversary of the day which brought me into the world, been reflecting seriously on the mercies of our gracious God which have attended me here, I could not but think of you among the chief of them; and have been unfeignedly addressing my praises to him for givinme, in so near and important a relation, so prudent and tender, so faithful and pious a friend, who has every quality that can be imagined to recommend her to my esteem. I have been blessing him for restoring you so often from languishing and dangerous illness, and therein giving me a new life; and I have been entreating him to continue so invaluable a blessing, and to give me wisdom to prize it as I ought.

“And now, my dearest, I renew my thanks to you for all your care of me and goodness to me, which I pray God abundantly to repay you, as I believe and hope he will, since I persuade myself that religion as well as friendship has its part in the many good offices you are continually “doing me. I long, as you

* “Mrs. Howe, widow of the great and pious John Howe, died here last week; a good woman, fiilLof years, being near ninety: and last night died thef’poor Duke of Hamilton.” From a letter of Mrs. Doddridge, dated Bath,- March 2, 1743. „ may easily believe, to see you again; nor does my birthday, amid all the congratulations and kindnesBes of my friends, give me a complete pleasure while I am separated from the better half of myself.

“Greet my friends and children, but accept of the best greetings yourself from him vrho is entirely and affectionately yours.”

To Miss Doddridge, at Mis. Linton’s, Worcester.

“Northampton, May 1, 1748.

“My dear Child — I cannot let the anniversary of your birthday.pass without one line of most affectionate congratulation. I have been blessing God for his goodness to you, my lovely girl, and to me and your mamma in you. I have been earnestly recommending you to the divine blessing, and praying that the years of your life may be multiplied long beyond the boundaries of mine, and that they may all be crowned with loving-kindness and tender mercy. And now, my dear, let me tell you, if a hasty word can tell you, .how much I love you, how much I delight in you, how earnestly I long to see you, how much pleasure I take even in every expense- which may contribute to your improvement and satisfaction.

“Indeed, I believe there have been few instances in which a child has been dearer to her parents, or has deserved to be dearer. You have, from your very infancy, been all duty and tenderness, and we ought to thank God, and to thank you, for the comfort we have had in you. Above all, does it delight us to think’ there is room to” hope that you are a child of God, that you love him as a father, and have sought and found that salvation in Christ which is more than ten thousand worlds. It is this, my dear love, that comforts my heart in the midst of that solicitude which so much affection as it feels would inspire, when I think of the tenderness of your constitution, and of the possibility there is, at least, that you may be taken away from us in early life: a thought which would otherwise distress me extremely; but I have given you to God: I hope you have given yourself to him, and that you will quickly do it at his table. Think of it, however, and pray that you may be advancing in fitness for that great honor and privilege; and renew the dedication of yourself to God every day, and labor to approve every action and every thought to him. I hope, my dear, your determinate and established piety will be a blessing to the younger children of the family, and a joy to us to the latest day of our lives.

“May you see many of these days, and may they be days of growing comfort and usefulness: forgive me, if I say, may you see many of them with us or near us, for truly I long to have you near us again; and have found your absence the only part of the price of your education which I have thought dear. I rejoice to think I am likely, if Providence spare our lives — yet how precarious are they — to see you, and my other much-loved children, so soon. Yet, to a papa that loves you so well, even these few weeks will seem long. You must therefore, on receiving this letter, indulge me in the pleasure of a line, and write me your heart, and I will not.stand with you for the elegance of the hand. Above all, pray for us every day. Your sisters and your brother are well: he grows a fine scholar, and will, I hope, be worthy to be called the brother of so amiable a girl.

“I wish I could conT’ey any little present on the agreeable” occasion of my writing tp-day; but take our love and our ,blessing, anS any thing else will fdllow as we have opportunity. Farewell, my dear child, and believe that I shall think myself happy in any occasion of showing you. bow much I am your affectionate papa.”,

Miss Doddj-idge subsequently was married to John Humphreys, ‘Esq., of Tewksbury, an attorney of high rank at that tinie, and having extensive practice. She died June 8, 1799, at the age of sixty-six. She is represented to have been a woman of affectionate tenderness, ardent piety, enlarged benevolence, and Christian liberality.

Her beautiful character is said to be faithfully delineated in the following lines by Mrs. Barbauld, on the death of her grandmother, the Mrs. Jennings who is often referred to in the earlier portion of this volume.

“‘Tib past: dear venerable shade, farewell 1 Thy blameless life, thy peaceful death shall teU, The truesjfc praise was hers — a cheerful hea,rt, Prone to enjoy and ready to impart. An Israelite indeed, and free from guile, She showed that piety and age could smile. Religion had her heart, her cares, her voice — ‘Twas her last refuge, as her eairliest choice. To holy Anna’s spirit not more dear The church of Israel and the house of prayer: Matilred at length for some more perfect scene, Her hopes all bright, her prospects all serene, Each part of life sustained with equal wortH, And not a wish lefE unfulfilled on earth, Like a tried traveller, with sleep oppressed, Within her children’s arms she dropped to rest. Farewell! thy rtierished image, ever dear. Shall many a heart with pious love revere.’’

To Miss Doddridge. *

“WiLTHAMSTON, Jidy 31, 1749.

“My lovely Giel — Your dear mamma, for being related” to whom both you and I shall have reason to bless God as long as we live, will, I am sure, have the goodness to excuse me, that I fail writing to her this post, that I may pay my respects to you and relieve her from the trouble of answering. this, which will naturally fall to your share. As I have but little time, it happens very well that I have not much to say, more than to assm’e you of my tenderest love, and great’ joy that you are, through the divine goodness, so well recovered. Indeed, you are so dear to me, that every thing which looks like danger to you afflicts me sensibly in its most distant approach.

- “It has pleased God so to form my heart that I question whether any man living feels more exquisitely on such occasions. The life of either of my children, and of such a child, is more to me than the treasures of a kingdom; and there is hardly any thing in which your excellent mamma is not -immediately concerned, which I so much desire, as that you may all live to bless the world many years after I have left it. Now, when I feel this tender affection so warm in my heart, it is a great pleasure to me, as it should be to. you, to reflect that ’ as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.’

“My dear child, you live by the divine compassion to you and to me, indeed, I may say, to both your parents, for you are exceedingly dear to us both. Let me earnestly entreat, you to bear the sense of it upon your heart, and to consider that every instance in vrhich God is pleased to afflict you, or to remove the stroke of his hand, calls for serious recollection as well as grateful acknowledgment. It calls for a solemn inquiry into the reasons of the divine conduct: wherefore it is that God contends with us, and what returns he expects from us when he delivers us from going down to the grave.

“It gives me, my dear, unutterable joy to think that you have deliberately chosen the service of God, and solemnly given yourself up to Christ at his table; that you have there taken refuge and sanctuary in his blood, and entered yourself into the number of those who profess themselves his faithful disciples. I pray God you may be ever faithful. I would not flatter any one, especially my child; and I hope I do -not flatter myself in the many good things I think of you. I truly think -that you have -many excellent dispositions by nature, if I may be allowed the expression: great humanity, great sweetness of iemper, and tenderness of conscience, ready compassion for the distressed, a remarkable willingness to oblige others, and a grateful sense of obligations to them, adorned with native modesty and humility, which really add a great lustre to all. These are lovely qualities, and I bless God who hath given you so much of them, and, I trust, sanctified them all by his grace.

“Your next question will naturally be, ‘And Tirhat do I want to complete my character ?- Shall I, my dear, tell ybu plainly? I think it is resolution, diligence, and activity.^ Indolence and a disposition to trifle seem to me your great snares. You will therefore, not only to oblige- your parents, but to please God, and in some measure to repay his benefits, guard against them. Remember, my love, I entreat you, that we were all made to do good; and though that gracious Being who knows our frame and our circumstances, requires no more than he has given us a capacity to perform, yet he requires that, even in the most private station of life.

“You will, I hope, often remember — what indeed, my dear, you sometimes seem to” forget, more than, from your natural good sense, I should expect — that the years of childhood are now past, and that you have entered upon the responsibility of rational life; and you will, I persuade myself, be solicitous that you may act wisefy, of which you have daily before you a most amiable and edifying example in your dear mamma, from whom all who are about her may learn every thing that can, in private life, adorn religion and make those around us happy. Endeavor therefore, like her, to divide your time in a proper proportion between devotion, reading, working, and improving conversation: not overburdening your delicate frame, for that would grieve me much, but always aiming at something that is right and good; in the “pursuit of which, that strong understanding with which it has pleased God to bless you, will direct you, and which you will find a thousand tifnes more pleasant than a life of indolence can possibly be; especially when you consider that every capacity of doing good is a talent which God hath committed to us, and for which we are accountable.

“These, my dear girl, are hints which I have often given you, and I now give them in writing, that you jnay review them at your leisure, and communicate them, whenever you think it necessary, to your sisters, that you and they may see how very near your interest lies to my heart. I must now conclude, only adding, that through the divine goodness I am perfectly well, and as happy in the friends now about me as I can be, while absent from those who must be dearest of all. I please myself with the hope that a few weeks will bring me back to you again, and that the day of my return comes nearer every hour. In the meantime, you and your dear mamma and sisters may assure yourselves that you freely divide my heart among you, in such a manner as that each has at least as large a share as she ought, and it is well if each has not a larger; and the necessary consequence is, that you share my prayers too, in which respect I hope you will endeavor to balance accounts with, my dear child, your ever affectionate papa.”

The domestic letters of thd preceding pages exhibit so fully and so beautifully the private character of Doddridge, as a husband and a father, that no comment is needed. Among his papers stands this record-:

“s a husband, it shall be my daily care to keep up the spirit of religion in my conversation with my wife; to recommend her to the divine blessing; to manifest an oMiging, tender disposition towards her; and particularly to avoid every thing which has the appearance of pettishness, to which, amid my various cares and labors, I may in some unguarded moments “be liable.”

It is said that he took a deep interest in promoting also the interests of her relatives, when they were in circumstances of destitution and aflliction.

His multiplied and incessant-engagements as a pastor and tutor, while they allowed him almost no time for the literary instruction of his children, did not prevent him from having a daily regard to their religious culture and general habits. Among his recorded resolutions concerning his children, the following illustrates his paternal regard for their highest interests:

“As a father, it shall be my care to intercede for, my children daily; to converse with them often on some religious ‘subject; to drop some short hints of a serious kind, when there is not room for -large discourse; to pray sometimes with them separately; to endeavor to bring them early to communion with the church; to study to oblige them and secure their affection.”

He directed his attention with special care to the cultivation in them of a kind, liberal, and .charitable spirit, as needful both to their own comfort and to their usefulness and esteem in the world. He had remarked that “too many from their tenderest years have been taught to place a part of their religion in the severijiy with which they censure their brethren; and that a peccant humor, so early wrought into the constitution, will not easily be subdued by the most sovereign medicines.” He’ guarded himself, therefore, against exciting in their youthful minds prejudices and unkind sentiments towards Christians of other denominations and peculiarities; and taught them to reverence true Christianity wherever it existed, and to discriminate between essentials and circumstantials in their estimate of the religious character of others. JVbr were the servants of the household overlooked. Towards them he was invariably affable and kind. Severity of reproof he never indulged in; but when any gross misconduct had occurred, it was his practice to argufe the matter calmly with them, to admonish them, and to pray with them. He labored especially for their conversion to Christ, furnishing them with the Bible and other religious books; and on. Sabbath evenings, to all his other duties, added the labor of discoursing with them apart upon religious subjects, and of praying with them. Nothing severe, sour, or peevish was seen in his deportment to any of his domestics. He considered them all as his children, and endeavored to draw them to their duty with the cords of love.

In his character as a friend, Dr. Doddridge shines preeminent. All his letters to his friends breathe the spirit of an elevated and disinterested friendship. Some of those already copied finely illustrate this remark. He was accustomed to say, “Blessfed be God for friendship, and the hope of its being perfected and eternal above. If it be so delightful on earth amid our mutual imperfections, what will it lie in heaven!” His letter to Miss Clarke, under date of January 5, 1723, on a preceding page, may in this connection be read with interest.

To his friend the Rev. Mr. Hughes he wrote, Nov. 25, 1726, “I entreat you, by all the tenderness of friendship, to come; and lest there should be any hinderance, I will most cheerfully defray the charges of your journey, which, if you come on horseback, cannot be great. You will- have our company, my chamber, my books, my purse, as freely as you ever could your own; nor would you question it, if you knew how entirely you command in my heart.. Yes, my dear friend, I esteem you more than I can express. Your society would add a new relish to every enjoyment of life; and to say as much as I possibly can, I am persuaded I shall take as uiuch pleasure in serving you as you could in serving me.”

Such being the amiable habit of Dr. Doddridge’s mind and heart, added to other qualities” of great worth, it is not surprising that he should have been honored with the esteeiji and love of many valued and valuable friends, ampng whom were many persons of rank and of high culture and respectability. His correspondence was extensive with the clergy and laity, in which the greatest respect is expressed for himself and his published writings. This high and general esteem he owed, not to his position, but to his personal merit as a man and as an author. His acquaintance with persons of great opulence and of distinction was often turned to the benefit of persons in distress, in whose behalf he sought the bestowment of needed favors; but he never solicited favors for himself.

lU PHILIP DODDRIDGE.

Alluding, as he sometimes did, to Ms distinguished friends and correspondents, he remarked, “Though I do not merit such friends, I know how to value them, and I bless God for them. I am not insensible of the blessing, and I hope ingratitude does not secretly lurk in any corner of my heart.”

His Mends were not forgotten in his secret devotions. On days of extraordinary prayer they were individually commended to God, when the circumstances of any seemed to require such particular regard. He looked upon intercession as a valuable proof and an admirable support of friendship. Hence he often asked for it, and regarded it as an invaluable treasure.

Another expression of friendship which he greatly esteemed and employed, was the endeavor to improve the character and increase the usefulness of his friends, and to seek from them similar improvement of his own. He often spoke of it as a great blessing of his life, that God had provided him, in successive periods of life, with judicious, learned, faithful, and pious friends, by whose seasonable cautions and admonitions he had been preserved from many temptations and indiscretions, to which, in the earlier portions of life especially, his natural gayety and vif a city of temper had exposed him. Such friends he highly regarded, and thanked God for the beneficial influence of their faithful Earnings. To one of his friends, who made an apology for the use of freedom in some suggestion for his benefit, he with great sincerity replied, “I thank God I have not that delicacy of temper that a friend .should need to make an apology for saying and doing a kind and proper thing, when there is, what the foolish taste of the present age may sometimes call, a freedom taken in it. Freedom in friendship is the very soul of it, and its necessary test and support.” His own correspondence shows that he always endeavored to promote a pious disposition in those to whom he wrote, and to engage them in more earnest exertions for extending religion in the world. He often sought opportunities for personal religious conversation with them, for mutual benefit and enjoyment. He was accustomed to speak of the great pleasure which he found in the society of his friends, as affording him a delightful foretaste of the happiness of the heavenly world; and he referred to the snares and afflictions which arose even from friendship, as increasing his desire for that perfect state of being.

His correspondence furnishes abundant illustrations of the above remarks; The following letters are of this character:

To the !Rev. Samuel Clarke, P. D. “From the Lodge in Whittlebiuy Forest, May 8, 1737.

“I take so much pleasure in corresponding with you, that when a moment of leisure coincides with an opportunity of sending a line, I hardly know how to let it pass, and therefore I write now, though I have little particular to say.

“My wife and I eloped yesterday, at the request of a very agreeable and excellent lady, and are arrived at a most elegant and rural retreat, where, in such company, especially if yours were added, I could delightfully spend more days than my engagements at home will allow me hours. The house is a pretty, well-furnished box, just in the centre of a fine forest, and all that shady lawns and woodland ridings can do to beautify and adorn it, is done. The birds, and sportive deer come and pay their attendance, as if it were their very business to divert us.’ I am delighted to see how hdppily they all live, and have already contracted a kind of friendship for them, which makes me wish the lodges were nearer home, that I might now and then steal out and leave all my cares behind me, to come and wander a few hours in these lovely solitudes.

“Many ojccasiona have called me out of late; and the fine country around us affords such a variety of entert§,ining scenes, that I cannot forbear pitying nobles and princes ho are confined to a town in such a charming season, and I think the shepherd and the husbandman ha,ppier than they. In the meantime I open my heart as widely as 1 can, to take in the innocent pleasure which arises from a friendly sympathy, not only with the lowest of my fellow-creatures, but even with the brutes themselves, in the ample provision that an indulgent Providence has made for their delight; and I cannot but often reflect on such occasions, that if this earth, the seat of a degenerate race of creatures, and under so many tokens of the Divine displeasure, be thus enriched and embellished, what must those regions be which God has prepared for the final abode of his dear children in their perfected state?

“I must quickly return; but it is my great comfort, that as I am to carry one very agreeable companion with me, so I shall find many more at Northampton, and that I return to a scene of business which affords me pleasure; for the sake of which it is well worth my while to relinquish the simple delights of this little paradise.

“I bless God that the plantation under my, care does in some degree flourish. My students behave with great regularity, and generally apply to their studies with diligence and success. They keep up four or five repetitions — [the reading of a sermon composed by another person, in some cases by -Dr. Doddridge] — in the neighboring towns. I have, dear sir, many things to talk over with you, but must defer them till we meet at St. Albans, where my wife and I propose to spend three or four days on our return from London. In the meantime we unite in humble services to you and Mrs., Clarke, the dear children, and all friends; and join in assuring you, that if we reserve our visit to you for one” of the last, it is for this reason, among others, that there are few in which we expect equal .pleasure.”

, To the Rev. Samuel Ward.

“NoETHAMPTON, April 19, 1745.. “There is hardly any thing that, when I reflect upon it, gives me so lively an idea of the manner in which I am pressed with my various engagements, as the dates of some unanswered letters from those whom, of all persons in the world, I most value, and particularly of yours, one of January 25, and the other February 21, and those too, such letters as I am sure I never deserved, nor ever shall deserve to receive, so full of cordial love, expressed in the most pathetic and endearing language, such indeed as. hardly any one but yourself could write; and mingled with such esteem too as I am, from my.Tery heart, conscious to myself to be most undeserving of.

“My dear brother, I am ashamed and confoundedashamed that you should think thus of me, and that I have not long since told you how I was overwhelmed, even to tears, with the affection which every line of your letters discovers. I will say nothing of my business, as you partly know-it; though the preparing of Acts for the press before the vacation, a second edition of the ‘Rise and Progress’ corrected with some small additions, and the reading and exhibiting of a course of experimental philosophy, at the rate of three lectures in a week, added to urgent and constant business, are circumstances which you could hardly, however, have thought of if not mentioned; nor eighteen letters sent away in two days, some of them pretty large. Oh, with what delight could I, however weakened by my late illness, have poured out my heart to dear Mr. Ward in a whole sheet, and then have complained that I had room to empty no more of it in answer to the first or second alone.

“You know not what a burden and grief it is to me to think that such and Such a friend, as Mr. Ward, Mr. Barker, Mr. Scott, Dr. Clarke, Dr. Watts, or Col. Gardiner, -is neglected this post and the next, and yet the next devoted, perhaps, to persons with whom I have no intimate friendship, and to whom I have no peculiar obligations, but because business, duty, or charity urge, and there can be no delay. What then? Do I forget those dear delightful names?-

PASTORAfE AT NORTHAMPTON. It9

Rather let me forge’t my food, my children, every thing but my Master. No, my heart bears them before Him, though in too contracted words, yet cordially, tenderly, almost -daily; so that it is one of my evening questions. Have I prayed for those friends this day?

“I wish, you could see my inmost sentiments in this respect; you would not then need letters to tell you that I esteem you in the bowels of Christ as one of his dearest servants, as one of my dearest brethren, as one with whom I could greatly rejoice, had such been the divine will, to have shared every day of life, and alternately to have attended and ministered to, in all the services of the house Of my God. And indeed a friendship like that which I feel for you, dear sir, and a few such as you — ‘Oh that there were very many — would oppress my spirit even beneath its own weight, if I did not assuredly hope to satiate it all in spending an eternity with you. ‘Let this, my worthy brother, be the interpreter of my heart to you as long as we live; for I look not upon it as a supposable case that our love can be broken. I think I cannot be so base as to deserve it; and I am sure you are too generous to leave me any apprehension on the other side.

“Write as often as you can, and be sure that every letter will cheer and quicken me; but should this lie over for many months unanswered, though I should be in pain for your health, and- long to hear of you and your amiable consort and child, yet I would never wrong our friendship by suspecting that you ceased to love and pray for me; and however business, or a regard to health, which will not permit me always to hang OTer my desk, as, alas, I am forced too much to do, may occasion, as it universally does, delays which grieve me more than they can. my friends j be assumed that if any occasion arise in which I can serve you by an immediate answer, I will not delay it one post, but would, as I have in other instances been forced to do, dictate from a bed of sickness, and would sign it, though it were with a dying hand. Thus much for delays past and future.

“And now what room is there for an answer? I hope to see you at Norwich about the 20th of June, and then I will get an hour, if possible, to tell you all the story of my sickness and recovery. In the general, I can only say, that God even astonished me with his tender mercies j and that the gospel, the pure, uncorrupted, scriptural gospel, without the aid or encumbrance of human schemes, is become dearer than ever to my soul; nor the less so for a certain /ecy, which, inter nos, for I always write to you with entire confidence, seems broken in the. lock. I wish, some skilful hand like yours would take it out and show how wrong the wards are, and how badly tempered the metal, notwithstanding all the labor and polish.

“In your success and the growth of your church I rejoice beyond expression. God has given me back my wife and eldest most delightful child in wonderful mercy, from great danger, especially the last. I long to, see your pretty little Latin scholar, to whom, with her dear mamma and your good self, my wife and I join in our best services. My wife, if able to undertake the journey, pleases herself much with the hope of seeing you both at Norwich. I shall rejoice to serve good Mr. Scott .in any future instance. I grieye for the decline of our interest, under such excellent men too as those fixed in some of the places you mention. God is gracious to us here in strengthening us all around. You shall know more of the state of my academy “when I see you. May your church, your family, and your soul, be like a watered garden.”

About this period the Rev. Dr. Taylor of Norwich, a gentleman distinguished for great talents and learning, published “A Key to the Romans,” a work designed to illustrate the doctrines of the apostle Paul, but which was unhappily, more than slightly tinged with Unitarian errors. This fact will explain a passage in the foregoing letter, written to a minister who resided in the same city.

We may add here, that Dr. Taylor was at one period a tutor of a small dissenting college at Warrington, and once expressed his surprise that many of his students became Deists; so little did he seem aware of the natural tendency of his own views. It is said that he once observed that if what are termed the doctrines of grace were in the epistle to the Romans, it was. remarkable he could not see them there; on which the- excellent John Newton remarked to him, “I am not surprised at this. I once went to light my candle with the extinguisher on it. It is not enough that you bring the candle, you must remove the extinguisher.” Some of the errors of Dr. Taylor were very strenuously and successfully opposed by the elder President Edwards, as may be seen in his works.

To the Rev. John ‘Wesley.

“Northampton, July 29, 1746.

“I”am truly glad that the long letter I last sent you was agreeable to you. I bless God that my prejudices against the writers of the Establishment were so early removed. And I I’ejoice greatly when I see that prejudices against their brethren of any denomination are likewise subsided in those whom, upon other accounts, I most highly esteem as the excellent of the earth, and that we are coming nearer to the harmony in which I hope we shall ever bb one in Christ Jesus.

“I have always esteemed it to be the truest act of friendship, to use our mutuarl endeavors td render the characters of each other as blameless and as valuable as possible; and I have never felt a more affectionate sense of my obligations, than when tho se worthy persons who have honored me with their affection and correspondence, have freely told me what they thought amiss in my temper and conduct. This therefore, dear sir, is an office you might reasonably expect from me if I had for some time enjoyed an intimate knowledge of you. But it has always been a maxim with me not to believe any” flying story to the prejudice of those whom I had apparent reason, from what I knew of them, to esteem; and consequently as I should never make this a foundation, you must be contented to wait longer before you receive that office of paternal love which you ask.

“Your caution has suggested a thought to me, whether it be modest to call ourselves humble. If the expression means a real readiness to serve in love in any thing low, as in washing the feet of another, I hope I cjan say, ‘I am your hmnble servant;’ but if it mean one who is in all respects as humble as he could wish, God forbid I should arrogate so proud a title. In what can I say I have already attained? only, in that I love my divine Master, and would not have a thought in my heart that He should disapprove. I feel a sweetness in being assuredly in his gracious hand, which all the world cannot possibly afford; and which I really think would make me happier in-a dark dungeon, than ten thousand worldscould render me without It; and therefore I love every creature on the earth that bears his image; and I do not except those whd through ignorance, rashness, or prejudice, have greatly injured me.”

From the Rev. John Jones.

“January 25, 1736. “The first thing I have to say to you is, that I thank you most cordially for your late most friendly visit, which delighted, exhilarated, and improved me more than any which I have received for some time. But do not think I can be content with having thanked you once for your visit. No, I must thank you again; and when I have done all, the gratitude of my -heart will still remain unexpressed; for, believe me, my friend, nothing can exhibit the sweet joy I felt within me while you were with me, and which I feel on every remembrance of the entertainment which your society gave me. But would you believe it, sir even when you left me I was also in joy: not because you were gone, for I should delight to dwell with you for ever; and. I hope one day I shall dwell with you, without the fear of a separation. Was it because you gave me hopes of seeing you soon again? No, though I earnestly wish it had been so; and yet yoil did not leave me without giving me some encouragement of the kind. But what made me continue in so joyful a mood after you had left me? Well, I will leave, a friend to judge of the affections of a friend by his own. There could be no other cause than the delight inspired by your conversation, whereby you raised new sentiments in my soul, and infused into it an unknown sweetness; and that in so powerful a manner as to make it impossible that the impression should immediately wear off, and I trust that it never will. I have on other occasions frequently found myself in a situation much less agreeable, when my friends have left me, or on my leaving them; for a sudden damp hath sometimes seized my mind whto we parted: but when Dr. Doddridge left me, I was almost surprised as much as I was pleased, to find a continuance of that satisfaction which I expected would vanish with his departure. my dear friend, there is surely something divine in the presence and conversation of a good man, which leaves behind it a sweet and lasting energy. And I humbly hope that the divinity, in one sense, was with us; and in us, while we conversed together, and wiU- still continue to enliven us while we are absent from each other; but let not that absence continue long, for you have left other friends here besides me, who will be glad to see you, and to improve by your Christian conversation whenever you can come.,

“Tell Mr. JenBings I heartily thank him for his visit, and the more for its being in company with his tutor. May God prosper him when he enters upon his ministry, and make him an instrument towards rooting out bigotry in a divided people; for there are those on both sides in that town who, I have reason to believe, have not yet attained to a full measure of the Christian spirit. Will he labor, under God, to introduce it? Will he show a meek disposition by 34 attractive behavior? If I am not mistaken in him, he will. He seems to promise so much. Nor can I think that any who have had. their education under you, will do. otherwise. May the same good spirit which I find in my friend, animate the breast of all who are under his care, and may they diffuse Christian sentiments, and promote a Christian practice, wherever they go. May schism and division, and the alienation of hearts, vanish from henceforth. May universal amity prevail, alid truth for ever triumph over error, in men of all” persuasions. What Christian heart can refuse joiijing with me in these sentiments and prayers?”

Dr. Doddridge seems to have possessed in a wonderful degree the happy art of administering reproof in a gentle but effectual manner to persons in high life, a service of true friendship requiring equal tact and resolution. He attained his object usually by noticing some good quality in them, while he referred to their irregularities. A fine example is furnished in the next letter.

To Sir John E-

“Northampton, Deo. 8, 1742.

“Deae Sib John — Permit me frankly to speak my mind to you on a head on which I fear to be silent, lest I should fail in gratitude to a gentleman to whom I think myself much obliged, and whom I would gladly serve to the best of my ability.

“Be not angry when I tell you I was heartily grieved at the liberties you took last night in using the venerable name of the ever blessed God in so light a manner; and in th’e needless appeals which you made to Him as to matters which would have been believed on much less evidence than the word of Sir John R n.

“I have not for some years heard so much language of that kind, except when passing by people of low education in the streets; whether it be owing to the complaisance with which gentlemen commonly treat our profession, or, as I rather hope, to a sense of what is in itself reasonable and decent.

“I am sure, sir, that your knowledge of men and things is capable of making conversation pleasant and improving, without those dreadful expletives; for dreadful I must call them, when considered in a view to that strict account which must so certainly and so quickly be rendered up to God, for all our words as well as our actions.

“I was the more solicitous, sir, .to mention the affair to you, in consideration of your office as a magistrate; the dignity of which would certainly be most effectually supported by avoiding whatever it might require you to punish in others. In this view, permit me to entreat you to join your efforts with those of all other wise and good men to discountenance, and, if possible, to drive out of the world this unprofitable enormity of swearing in common conversation; concerning the evil of which I am sure it is not necessary to enlarge, when addressing myself to a gentleman of ybur-understanding.

“I conclude, sir, with my most affectionate good wishes -and prayers for you, that the whole of your .conduct, in every circumstance of life, may be such as will yield the most pleasing reflections in the awful hour of death, and the most comfortable account before that divine tribunal to which we are all hastening; and in the serious expectation of which, I have presumed to give you this trouble, hoping that you will esteem it, as it undoubtedly is, a proof that I am, with great sincerity,

“Your most faithful and obedient servant, Dr. Doddridge’s diary contains- the following entiy in reference to the above letter: “I thought it

more respectful to write to Sir John R n on this

occasion, than to speak to him before the company; but it is a law I lay down to myself to do the one or the other, lest I should seem too indifferent to the honor of God, ajid the good of my friends, and of the world about them.”