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an official letter to the church, as soon as I leave Dr. Cox, which, I believe, will be at the expiration of the quarter from my coming. My return to Cambridgeshire was, I am convinced, extremely ill judged; nor had I the smallest intention of doing it, until I was acquainted with the generous interposition of my friends, to which it appeared to me that my declining to live among them would appear a most ungrateful return. I most earnestly request that they will do me the justice to believe, the intention I have named, of declining the pastoral charge, does not proceed from any such motive, but from the exigences of my situation, and a sense of duty. I propose to lay aside preaching for at least a twelvemonth.

Please to remember me affectionately and respectfully to your cousin, and all inquiring friends, as if named.

I am, my dear Sir,

Your affectionate and obliged Friend,
ROBERT HALL.

P.S.-Please to present my best respects to Mrs. Hollick and your

daughter.

XVI.

TO THE REV. JAMES PHILLIPS.

Fishponds, Feb. 15, 1806.

Since I have been here, another stroke has befallen me under which my heart is bleeding. This is the death of my dear and only brother, two years older than myself, who died about ten days since, without a moment's warning. He was reaching something from the chimneypiece, and instantly dropped down, and expired. He had been for some years truly religious, so that I entertain pleasing views respecting his eternal state, which is my only consolation. I feel poignant regret at not having treated him with more tenderness. I longed to have an opportunity of convincing him of the ardour of my affection; which makes me feel most painfully, that in losing him I have lost the human being of all others the most dear to my heart. I hear a voice, in this most affecting providence, speaking to me aloud, "Be thou also ready." I follow the dear deceased in his mysterious journey, and seem to stand on the very boundary that divides two worlds from each other, [while the] emptiness and vanity of every thing besides [God] is deeply impressed on my heart, my hopes, of an earthly kind, are extinguished. I feel my emptiness; but, O, I long to be filled. To be convinced of the vanity of the creature is, I know, the first step to happiness but what can this avail, unless it be succeeded by a satisfying sense of the fulness and all-sufficiency of God! Through mercy, my health is perfectly restored.

VOL. III.-P

XVII.

TO THE CHURCH OF CHRIST OF THE BAPTIST PERSUASION IN CAMBRIDGE.

ON RESIGNING THE PASTORAL CHARGE.

My dear Brethren,

Leicester, March 4, 1806. A succession of afflictive dispensations has brought me to the resolution of resigning the pastoral office, which I have for a considerable number of years exercised among you.

I cannot reflect on the numberless and decisive proofs you have afforded me of your attachment during that period without the warmest gratitude; nor think of a final separation without regret. No people ever received the ministerial services of their pastor with more candour; or evinced, on every occasion, a greater solicitude to contribute to his happiness. It is not necessary to dwell at large on the circumstances which have determined me to relinquish the situation I have so long held. They are partly local, in the strictest sense of the word, and in part arise from my recent illness, which suggests the propriety of suspending the ministerial functions for the present.

The dissolution of that union which has subsisted with such uninterrupted harmony is the work of Providence, whose operations are often mysterious, but always infinitely wise and gracious. Permit me, my dear brethren, at parting with you, to express the deep and unalterable sense I shall ever feel of the candour, kindness, and generosity I have uniformly experienced at your hands. You will ever have a distinguished place in my affections and my prayers. It is my earnest prayer, that the truth it has been my humble endeavour to inculcate among you may take deeper and deeper root in your hearts and lives; that you may obey from the heart that form of doctrine into which you have been delivered. May our separation not be final and eternal; but may we be so preserved and sanctified, by the influence of divine grace, that, when the transitory days of our mortal pilgrimage are concluded, we may be permitted to spend a blissful eternity together! Let me make it my earnest request, that you will be careful to choose a minister whose heart is truly devoted to God, and who is determined, like the great apostle, "to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified."

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That your faith may increase exceedingly, and your love one towards another abound more and more, till you arrive "at the fulness of the stature of perfect men in Christ," and are presented before him unblameable in holiness," is the habitual and earnest prayer of Your late unworthy Pastor,

And affectionate Friend,

ROBERT HALL.

XVIII.

THE BAPTIST CHURCH AT CAMBRIDGE TO THE REV. ROBERT HALL.*

Dear Brother,

IN REPLY TO THE PRECEDING.

Though your letter containing your resignation of the pastoral office among us had been expected, in consequence of an intimation previously communicated by you, it was received by us with deep regret; yet, we trust, in the spirit of humble submission to that all-wise Providence which has seen fit to dissolve the union that has so long and so happily subsisted between us. Be assured, you will ever hold a distinguished place in our most affectionate remembrances; nor shall we forget you in our mingled supplications at the footstool of divine Mercy. We hope ever to preserve a grateful recollection of your long and faithful services. We bear you witness, that the prevailing desire of your heart, and the constant object of your labours, was to disseminate among us the knowledge of the true God, and of Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent; and to fit us, by divine grace, for the enjoyment of a future world. And we pray that the important truths which you have so repeatedly and energetically inculcated may constantly be adhered to by us. In the loss of such a pastor we have sustained a deprivation of no common magnitude; but while we lament the painful separation which has taken place, we desire to mingle with feelings of sorrow on our own account those of sincere thanksgiving on yours. We rejoice that God has restored you: and we pray that your health and strength may long be preserved; and that He who appoints the bounds of our habitation will direct you to whatever place may be most conducive to your permanent health and happiness. As frequently as possible, we hope you will favour us with your friendly visits. The real and ardent friendship which subsists between us it is our sincere desire should continue through our mortal existence, and gather fresh

These, and the two preceding letters to Mr. W. Hollick, will serve to correct the misstatement which has appeared in two or three periodical and other publications: "The intervention of malady separated him from a congregation which he had multiplied in number and elevated in character; and when he unexpectedly recovered, he found that his office was filled by another." Nothing can be more inaccurate than this assertion; nothing more unjust. The church and congregation, during Mr. Hall's separation from them in consequence of his indisposition, evinced the utmost solicitude on his account. They made arrangements to receive weekly communications as to his progress towards recovery; which were read publicly to the assembled congregation every Sunday. On the permanent dissolution of their connexion, to which the above letters so affectingly allude, they did not content themselves with bewailing his loss; but they exerted themselves most actively and successfully in raising a sufficient sum to purchase for him a handsome annuity, and otherwise to contribute effectually to his comfort. During the quarter of a century which intervened between his removal from Cambridge and his death, they continued to manifest for him the most cordial affection and the highest veneration. His periodical visits to them were seasons of real delight, diffusing (shall I say?) a gleam of pious hilarity and intellectual and spiritual refreshment over all. And more than once has Mr. Hall assured me, that every such visit produced the most unequivocal proofs of their undiminished esteern and friendship. I feel it due to my old and valued friends at Cambridge, a sense of whose kindness, intelligence, and excellence the lapse of nearly thirty years has not effaced, to record this my humble testimony to their delicately grateful and gen erous conduct towards their former invaluable pastor.-ED.

strength by every future interview; and we feel no hesitation in believing, that it will survive the grave, and be perpetuated to immortal ages.

In the choice of your successor we wish to be guided by the motives you recommend, and the principles you have so frequently inculcated; and we entreat an interest in your prayers, that the great Head of the Church will supply us with one zealous for his honour, and qualified to feed the people of his charge with the bread of immortal life.

Now, dear brother, with the greatest affection, "we commend you to God, and to the good word of his grace."

Signed at the desire, and on behalf, of the whole church, this 16th day of March, 1806.

XIX.

WILLIAM HOLLICK.

TO MR. NEWTON BOSWORTH, CAMBRIDGE.

My dear Friend, Leicester, August 26, 1806. · My long silence will naturally surprise you, till you hear the reason of it. The box which contained your letter has remained at Bristol, unopened, till last week; nor did I receive your very kind favour until a few days since. This is the true state of the case, and must plead my apology for a silence which must otherwise appear so unkind and unnatural.

Permit me to express my acknowledgments for the expressions of regard contained in your letter, of the reality and warmth of which I cannot entertain a moment's hesitation, as they are so perfectly in unison with every part of your conduct during all the years I have had the happiness of knowing you. Your congratulations on my recovery affect and humble me, as I am perfectly conscious of my not deserving the hundredth part of the esteem they imply. If my ministry has been at all blessed, as the means of spiritual good to your soul, God alone is entitled to the praise. I have been, in every sense of the word, an unprofitable servant. When I consider the value of souls, the preciousness of the blood of Christ, and the weight of eternal things, I am ashamed and astonished to think I could have spoken of such subjects with so little impression, and that I did not travail in birth more, till Christ was formed in my hearers. I have no plea for my negligence, no hope of pardon, but what is founded on that atonement and intercession I have endeavoured, though so very faintly, to recommend to others. Every fresh experience of life convinces me more and more of the truth and importance of the doctrines I have preached; and, blessed be God! I am sometimes favoured with some experimental taste of their sweetness. As often as I look back on such seasons, I am ready to exclaim,

"Where can such sweetness be, As I have tasted in thy love,

As I have found in thee ?"

O, my dear friend, let us press towards the mark.

We know where

true happiness is to be found. Let the dead bury their dead; but let us follow Christ, and aspire, with an intense and increasing ardour, to the heavenly kingdom. Happy shall we be if we can habitually act as becomes those who are but a few steps from heaven.

I rejoice in your domestic felicity. May it long be continued, and, if possible, increased, without being permitted (and God can attemper all things) to abate your ardour after heavenly enjoyments.

Your account of the reception of Mr. Gregory's book on Mechanics gives me great pleasure. He

thus affording a demonstration that the highest scientific attainments are by no means incompatible with the simplicity of the gospel. Please to remember me affectionately to him when you write. May God long preserve and bless him!

I thank you sincerely for your proffered assistance in packing up my books, which I shall probably shortly need; for I am tired of wandering, and propose soon to fix upon some place where I may have my books about me.

Remember me to Mrs. Bosworth, and all other friends, as if named. Pray let me hear from you soon and often.

I am, dear Sir,

Yours most affectionately,

ROBERT HALL.

XX.

TO THE REV. JAMES PHILLIPS.

My dear friend Phillips,

Leicester, Jan. 2, 1807. I ought long since to have written to you, but you know what a poor correspondent I am, and how reluctant to write letters. I feel myself much obliged by your kind favour. Your letter, like many things else in human life, contained a mixture of what excited melancholy with what produced pleasing emotions. The succession of calamitous accidents which befell our friends in your neighbourhood is truly singular and affecting. I am happy to hear every one of the sufferers is doing well. I hope it will have the right impression on their minds, by bringing them nearer [to God;] and they will have abundant occasion for thankfulness, even if their respective calamities had been worse. Present my kind and sympathizing respects to each of them, the first opportunity. Your account of Ireland interested me much. The state of the class of inhabitants you describe is truly

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