-for his insolent invectives against his fellow-Protestants in this country, rather than for his sympathy with the fallen Church of France. Still, it must be concluded, that, like Mackintosh, he had somewhat changed his political views, undeceived by the terrific issue of those events which he had hailed as the downfal of an odious despotism; and we are led to presume, that these two eminent men must, when they met at Cambridge, have compared, and mutually reinforced their sentiments upon these topics. Mr. Mackintosh, we are told, continued to evince both the steadiness of his friendship for Mr. Hall, and the high value which he set upon this sermon, by frequently quoting and applying it to the elucidation of the topics introduced in his lectures at Lincoln's Inn. Many of his auditors were in consequence induced to visit Cambridge, to listen to the pulpit instructions of the individual of whom they heard so much; and no fewer than fifty or sixty members of the university might often be seen at the Baptist place of worship.

'None of these circumstances, however', says Dr. Gregory, were permitted to draw Mr. Hall aside from his ordinary course. His studies, his public duties, his pastoral visits, were each assigned their natural place as before. If there was any change, it was manifest in his increased watchfulness over himself, and, perhaps, in giving a rather more critical complexion than before to certain portions of his morning expositions, and in always concluding them with such strong practical appeals as might be suited to a congregation of mixed character.'

p. 67.

In this meridian of his fame, if not of his usefulness, a cloud arose, which for a while enveloped his faculties in the darkness of disease, and occasioned his disappearance from the scene of his celebrity. Early in 1803, the pain in his back increased both in intenseness and continuity, depriving him almost always of refreshing sleep, and depressing his spirits to an unusual degree. Horse exercise was recommended; but the benefit which he seemed at first to derive from it, was transient; and at length, a state of high nervous excitement was induced, the effect of bodily disorder acting upon a mind overstrained, which terminated in an awful eclipse of his reason. 'He who had so long been the theme of universal admiration, became the subject of as exten'sive a sympathy.' This event occurred in November, 1804. Mr. Hall was placed under the care of Dr. Arnold, of Leicester, whose attention, with the blessing of God, in about two months, restored him to society. In April, 1805, he resumed his ministerial functions; but a return of his old pain with aggravated severity, in the same year, was followed by a relapse, which again withdrew him from public duty. Under the judicious care of the late Dr. Cox, of Bristol, he soon regained the complete balance of his mental powers; but it was now deemed requisite to his

permanent recovery, that he should resign the pastoral office at Cambridge, and, for at least a year, abstain from preaching, and avoid all strong excitement. Thus terminated a connexion which had subsisted, with the happiest results, for fifteen years; but the mutual attachment between the pastor and his flock survived his removal, and remained undiminished till his death *.

The effect of these Divine chastisements upon Mr. Hall's feelings and character, the reader will anticipate; but we shall extract the statement of his friend and biographer.

Two visitations of so humiliating a calamity within the compass of a year, deeply affected Mr. Hall's mind. Happily, however, for himself and for the world, his spirits soon recovered their wonted tone; and the permanent impression on his character was exclusively religious. His own decided impression was, that, however vivid his convictions of religious truth and of the necessity of a consistent course of evangelical obedience had formerly been, and however correct his doctrinal sentiments during the last four or five years, yet, that he did not undergo a thorough transformation of character, a complete renewal of his heart and affections, until the first of these seizures. Some of his Cambridge friends, who visited him at Shelford, previously to his removal to Dr. Arnold's, and witnessed his deep prostration of soul while he read the fifty-first psalm, and made each verse the subject of penitent confession and of a distinct prayer, were rather inclined to concur with him as to the correctness of the opinion. Be this, however, as it may, (and the wonderful revelations of " the great day" can alone remove the doubt,) there can be no question that from this period he seemed more to live under the prevailing recollection of his entire dependence upon God; that his habits were more devotional than they had ever before been, his exercises more fervent and more elevated.

In a letter written to his friend Mr. Phillips, of Clapham, after his recovery, he thus adverts to his afflictions.

"I cannot look back upon the events which have befallen me, without admiration and gratitude. I am a monument of the goodness and of the severity of God. My sufferings have been extreme, and the kindness of God, in interposing in my behalf, unspeakable. Pray for me, my dear friend, that I may retain an indelible sense of the mercies received, and that the inconceivable afflictions I have undergone, may work for me the peaceable fruits of righteousness.' I am often afraid lest it should be with me as with the ancient Israelites, who, after they had sung the praises of God, soon forgot his works.' O! that a life so signally redeemed from destruction, may be as signally employed in that which is alone the true end of life, the service of God. But my heart is like a deceitful bow,' continually prone to

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Among other substantial marks of their gratitude and attachment, his Cambridge friends purchased for him, during his illness, a liberal life annuity, and raised a further sum, to be at his own disposal at death.

turn aside; so that nothing but the powerful impulse of Divine grace can fix it in a right aim." pp. 78, 79.

After spending some months among his relatives and friends in Leicestershire, Mr. Hall fixed his residence for some time at Enderby, a sequestered village near Leicester, where he gradually regained his bodily health and a renewed capacity for public usefulness. He soon began to preach in some of the adjacent villages, and occasionally to a small congregation assembling in Harvey Lane, Leicester, which had, several years before, been under the care of Mr. (now Dr.) Carey, the eminent Missionary of Serampore. He at length received and accepted an invitation to become their stated pastor; and over this church, he presided for nearly twenty years, during which the attendance steadily increased, so that it was twice found necessary to enlarge the place of worship. In the year 1808, his marriage to a prudent and estimable woman, greatly added to his domestic comfort, and had a happy effect upon his spirits, while it contributed materially to promote the regularity of his habits. Altogether, his residence at Leicester, Dr. Gregory considers to have been undoubtedly the period in which Mr. Hall was most happy, active, and useful. His writings also, during this period, though by no means numerous, tended greatly to augment his influence upon society. The first of these, one of the most masterly of his productions, was his critique upon "Zeal without Innovation", published in the first series of the Eclectic Review. This article, which he undertook at the earnest entreaty of the late Mr. Robinson of Leicester, was attacked with much bitterness in the Christian Observer, and occasioned the first denunciation of clerical hostility against the journal in which it appeared. It obtained also a wide circulation in the form of a separate pamphlet. The sermon On the Discouragements and Supports of the Christian Ministry, the Address to Eustace Carey, and the Funeral Oration for the Princess Charlotte, which rank among the Author's most valuable and finished compositions, were also produced during his residence at Leicester; as well as various tracts, biographical sketches, reviews, and his polemical works relating to the Terms of Communion. His engagements for the press were not suffered, however, to draw him aside from his pastoral duties; nor did the almost constant pain which he suffered from his constitutional complaint, throughout the whole time of his residence at Leicester, diminish his mental energy. When it is known that, for more than twenty years, he was unable, through pain, to pass a whole night in bed, it will be thought surprising, Dr. Gregory remarks, that he wrote so much; nay, that he did not sink into premature dotage.

Mr. Hall had attained his sixty-second year, when the death of Dr. Ryland, in 1825, led to his being invited to succeed to

the pastoral charge over the Baptist church at Broadmead, Bristol,-the scene of his first continuous labours, and of his closing ministry. Some few of the friends of his early life survived to welcome his return among them; and every thing but the infirm state of his health, conspired to promote his own comfort there, as well as the prosperity of the society with which he had thus, after so long an interval, renewed a sacred connexion. As the indications of infirm age rapidly exhibited themselves, they were unaccompanied by a decaying mind or a querulous spirit. About six years before his death, he was attacked with a spasmodic affection of the chest, a plethoric habit having been induced by his inability to take regular exercise. This disorder gradually increased, occasioning several alarming attacks, till at length, on the 10th of February, 1831, he was seized with the first of a series of paroxysms which terminated in his dissolution. For ten days, he suffered, with short intervals, great physical torture, without a murmur, without an expression of irritability; employing the moments of comparative ease to express his thankfulness to God for his unspeakable mercies, his humble hope and entire submission,-his simple, unshaken reliance upon his Saviour,and his affectionate acknowledgements of the care and assiduities of his family and friends around him. He also exhorted both the members of his family and others occasionally present, to make religion their chief and incessant concern; urging especially upon some of the younger persons, the duty of openly professing their attachment to Christ and his cause.

When he was a little recovered from one of his severe paroxysms,' says his medical attendant, Mr. Chandler, 'I asked him, whether he felt much pain. He replied that his sufferings were great: "but what (he added) are my sufferings to the sufferings of Christ? His sufferings were infinitely greater: his sufferings were complicated. God has been very merciful to me-very merciful: I am a poor creature-an unworthy creature; but God has been very kind-very merciful." He then alluded to the character of the sufferings of crucifixion, remarking, how intense and insufferable they must have been, and asked many minute questions on what I might suppose was the process by which crucifixion brought about death. He particularly inquired respecting the effect of pain-the nervous irritation-the thirst-the oppression of breathing-the disturbance of the circulation -and the hurried action of the heart, till the conversation gradually brought him to a consideration of his own distress; when he again reverted to the lightness of his sufferings when contrasted with those of Christ. He spoke of our Lord's " enduring the contradiction of sinners against himself" of the ingratitude and unkindness he received from those for whom he went about doing good-of the combination of the mental and corporeal agonies sustained on the crossthe length of time during which our Lord hung-the exhaustion occasioned, &c. He then remarked how differently he had been si

tuated; that, though he had endured as much or more than fell to the lot of most men, yet all had been in mercy. I here remarked to him, that, with most persons, the days of ease and comfort were far more numerous than those of pain and sorrow. He replied: "But I have been a great sufferer in my time: it is, however, generally true: the dispensations of God have been merciful to me." He then observed, that a contemplation of the sufferings of Christ was the best antidote against impatience under any troubles we might experience; and recommended me to reflect much on this subject, when in pain or distress, or in expectation of death.' p, 112.

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In the last agony, his sufferings extorted the exclamation, O the sufferings of this body!' But are you comfortable in your mind?' asked Mrs. Hall. 'Very comfortable, very comfortable," was his reply; adding, Come, Lord Jesus, come-One of his daughters finished the imperfect sentence, by involuntarily supplying the word Quickly; on which her dying father gave her a look expressive of the most complacent delight. To the last moment, there was no failure of his mental vigour or composure; and almost his last articulate sentence intimated, with his accustomed courteousness, the fear that he should fatigue by his pressure the friend upon whom he leaned for support in wrestling with the last enemy. There was a terrible grandeur in the conflict. What a moment was that which succeeded to the final pang! *

We have not said a word about Mr. Foster's extremely interesting Observations, because we find we must reserve them as the subject of a distinct article, when we shall notice the sermons contained in the present volume.

Art. II. Sketches of Vesuvius, with Short Accounts of its Principal Eruptions, from the Commencement of the Christian Era to the present Time. By John Auldjo, Esq., F.G.S., Corr. Member of the Soc. Real Borbon, and of the Soc. Pontaniana, Naples. 8vo. pp. 93. 17 Plates. Lond. 1833.

MR. AULDJO, in 1827, accomplished the escalade of Mont Blanc; and by means of his pencil, he turned his perilous and otherwise unprofitable adventure to such good account, that his Narrative +, illustrated by a skilfully executed series of lithographic sketches of the scenery, enables the reader to perform the ascent with as much ease as Don Quixote performed his aërial journey on the wooden horse, and with much more advantage. In the present volume, he transports us to the shores

* Mr. Hall expired, Feb. 21, 1831, having not quite completed his sixty-seventh year.

+ See Ecl. Rev. Vol. XXX. p. 146.