SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

THEOLOGY AND BIOGRAPHY,

The Entire Works of the Rev. Robert Hall, A.M. ; with a brief Memoir of his Life, and a Critical Estimate of his Character and Writings. Published under the super- intendence of Olinthus Gregory, LL.D. F.R.A.S. Vol. L—V. Holdsworth and Ball. Reminiscences of the Rev. Robert Hall, A.M. late of Bristol ; and Sketches of his Sermons preached at Cambridge prior to 1806. By John Oreene, formerly resident at Cambridge Instley and Davis.

TRAVELS,

Journal of a Tour made in the years 1828-9, through Styria, Carniola. and Italy, whilst accompanying the late Sir Humphry Davy. By J. J. Tobin, M.D.... OM

FICTION, •

The Canterbury Tales. By Sophia and Harriet Lee. (Standard Novels, Vol. XII.)

Whims and Bentley.

WRITINGS AND REMINISCENCES OF ROBERT HALL.

THESE are the written works of ROBERT HALL, one of the finest theological orators that ever existed. His spoken works remain only in the frail memories of auditors, now passing away, and in the influence which he exerted, through the means of the purest eloquence, upon a portion of the Christian Church. This is the eommon condition of oratory, and we must not lament it : but in the case of ROBERT HALL, there is unusual reason to regret that more has not been caught from his inspired lips, because the ex- cellence of his compositions was but very little indebted to perish- able materials. It was not the voice, it was not the eye, nor the hand, nor the handkerchief, that raised him above all as the orator of the Church. Could his voice have sunk of itself into the tablets of the printer, as it did into those of the mind, we should have found a perfect and immortal production, the reader of which needed not to have exclaimed, Had I but heard him! It was rea- son, it was fancy, it was imagination, it was more than all these— his spirit was ethetialized ; his mind, raised from its sphere, di- vested of its :mortal incumbrances, seemed to sail into the 'heaven of heavens, and rejoice in the purity of its atmosphere, the splendour of its glories, the brightness of its intellectual joys. If ever man by mind was raised from and separated wholly from matter in this life, it was ROBERT HALL; and that not in the ac- customed hour of exhibition or public exertion, but habitually, by the course of his daily reflections, by the inward communings of his soul, by the faculties of his reason, by his power of mina flight. The occasion of the pulpit simply gave voice to the visions which were always passing before his mind, when he withdrew himself from the observation of worldly objects. They who saw him in the pulpit for the first time, said to themselves, Is this the great ROBERT HALL—he the fame of Whose glorious eloquence has spread as far as Christianity? They saw a plain and very simple. looking person, who began to enunciate a passage of Scripture with a feeble voice and in unimpassioned manner : they then heard him neatly and easily explain the divisions of his text; and might per- haps be arrested by some novelty of application, or the clear state- ment of some simple truth, that seemed to strike them for the first time—and that was all : soon, however, his tone would appear as get- ting elevated, his view's enlarging, and his manner and voice more -concentrated ; presently he would seem as withdrawing himself from his audience altogether—as if reading something written on 'the interior of his mind ; and a little hesitation would follow, or rather a little deliberation, as if 'carefully- marking out the traces of the finger-writing upon' his brain : and then, of a sudden, would burst out the glory of his vision—then would the rays of his inter- nal illumination fill the whole building, magnetize his hearers, and lift the imagination into realms of thought, and hope, and empy- real bliss such as bears no resemblance to the joys of earth. We :say of meteoric stones, if the materials are unknown on earth, that they are thrown from another sphere : so is it with eloquence. No one who has heard ROBERT HALL, can say that his eloquence resembled this or that manner of oratory ; no one can say, Such views have I read here or heard there : his was an imperial fancy, that took its figures and combinations from a mental ex- perience, for which perhaps no other man has been so moulded by the hand of God.

The manual occupation of writing interfered with the operations of the intellect. MALL thought almost too fast for utterance—far too fast for the pen ; and he wanted the power of regulating and slackening the pace of his fancy : the drag-chain of the mind had been lost, and the consequences were far more fatal than the mere .difficulty of registering his ideas. The car of his imagination was whirled through space with such infinite velocity, that the driver, reason, fell, the wheels took fire, and the machine was overthrown, shattered in a thousand pieces. Mr. HALL was removed from the pulpit to the madhouse ! This was about middle life. On the first attack, he was only seven weeks confined; but after his recovery, it always appeared to him to have been seven years. He thought he never fully recovered his faculty of imagination : when he again ascended the pulpit, the door of splendour appeared shut against him; he knocked, and the gates, which used to spring open at a touch, seemed barred and double locked; he came down dispirited and uncomforted. His imagination, he said, had been ,0Yerstretched. 'Clron with the rest of my friends tell me, that I was only seven weeks in confinement; and the date of the year corresponds, so that I am bound to believe you; but they have appeared to me like seven years. My mind was so excited, and my imagination so lively and active, that more ideas passed through my mind during those seven weeks, than in any seven years of my life. Whatever I had obtained from reading and re- 119ptimi, Irnm present to me." (Gmtinuc's Reminiscences, p. 50.) In a very admirable letter, written to Mr. HALL after his re-, covery, by Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH, his early friend and intimate companion, this awful visitation is Mentioned in terms o' great truth. Alluding to their early friendship; he says—, " It was then too early for me to discover that extreme purity Which, in mind preoccupied with the low realities of life, wouInave been no nalaral corn- pinion of so much activity and ardour, but which thorinighly detached you from the world, and made you the inhabitant of regions where alone it is possible t& be always active without impurity, and where the ardour sf your sensibilityhad unbounded scope, amidst the inexhaustible combinations of beauty and ex- cellence."

Sir JAMES then continues, in reference to Mr. HALVs malady, in a strain of elevated reasoning, which we confess greatly raises the writer in our estimation. Observations so just and Wise were perhaps never before made on intellectual madness.

" It is not given to us to preserve an exact medium. Nothing is so difficult as to decide how much ideal models ought to be combined with experience. How much of the future should be let into the present, in the progress of the fiuman mind, and ennoble and purify without raising us above the sphere of oreeuse- fulness—to qualify us for what we ought to seek, Without unfitting us for that to which we must submit—are great and difficult problems, which can be but imperfectly solved. 'It is certain the child may be too manly, not only for his present enjoyment, but for his future progress. Perhaps, my good friend, you have fallen into this, • error of superior natures; from this error has, I think, arisen the calamity with: which it has pleased Providence to chasten you, which, to a mind less fortified with reason and religion, I should not dare to mention, hut which I really COR-

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eider in you as little more than the indignant struggle of a pure mind with the base realities which surround it—the fervent aspirations after regions more con- • genial to it—and a momentary blindness produced by the fixed contemplation of objects too bright for human vision. I may say in this case, in a far grander sense than that in which the words were originally spoken by the great poet- ' And yet the light which led astray was light from Heaven.'

" On your return to us, you insist surely have found consolation in the only terrestrial produce which is pure and truly exquisite; in the affections and at- • tachments which you have inspired, and which you were most worthy to in- ; spire, and which no human pollutions can rob of their heavenly nature. If I were to prosecute the reflections and indulge the feelings which at this moment fill my mind, I should soon venture to doubt whether, for a calamity derived from such a source, and attended with such consolations, I should yield so far to the views and opinions of men as to seek to condole with you. But I check myself, and I exhort you, my most worthy friend, to check your best propensi- - ties, for the sake of obtaining their object. " You cannot live for men, without living with them. Serve God by the active service of men. Contemplate more the good you can do, than the evil • which you can only lament. Allow yourself to see the great loveliness of human • virtue' amidst all its imperfections ; and employ your moral imagination not so much by bringing it into contrast with the model of ideal perketton, as in gently. - blending some of thefairer colours of the latter with the brighter lines areal experienced excellence, thus heightening the beauty instead of broadening the shade which must surround us till we waken from this dream on other spheres of existence. My habits of life have not been favourable to this train of medi- tation. I have been too busy or too trifling. My nature perhaps would have been better consulted if I had been placed in a quieter station, where speculation might have been my business, and visions of the fair and good my chief recrea- tion."

In private life, Mr. HALL was, like many other great men, distinguished by his child-like simplicity, playfulness, and ami- ability,—marked, however, by much practical shrewdness and de- cision, when called upon to act in a worldly affair of consequence. In politics he took a high tone; and his excellent writings in fa- - your of the broad principles of equal liberty, must have produced - a great effect, and probably have in no small degree contributed to the swelling of the tide which is now bearing us into sight of the haven. The volume of political tracts, containing, among others, the apology for the Freedom of the Press, is surpassed by no other on similar subjects, for its command of a free and ma- jestic style, its noble strain of feeling, and its abundance of sound and important opinions on the great questions of civil and religious liberty. HALL was throughout his life the advocate of every thing liberal in principle and tolerant in practice. Many of • his cogent and irresistible arguments in favour of Reform, pub- lished a quarter of a century ago, will astonish the reader by their vigour, freshness, and applicability to such times as the present. Mr. GREENE'S Rewiniseences of this admirable man form a pre- cious volume. The picture is complete—we want no more : we sit op- posite to the subject of the portrait; we grow intimate with him ; we smile at his simplicity, AN c venerate his wisdom ; we sympathize in his afflictions ; we share his high hopes, and seem to put in a claim to friendship and intimacy. Mr. GREENE was the adherent of RO- BERT HALL, in the Church and in the House, from early youth to advanced life ; was his friend in sickness and sorrow, rejoiced in the exertion of his power, and did his best to register its effects. Without a trace of meanness or servility, it is impossible for man to have had a warmer friend, or more assiduous admirer. His Reminiscences give us all that long and attached friendship leaves on the heart and the memory. We must conclude this notice of these invaluable volumes; by sonic brief but characteristic anecdotes of Mr. HALL, from the Reminiscences. From the Works we can make no selection : they ought to be in the hands of every liberal thinker.: in endeavour- ing to choose, from our inability to take much, we should have all the feelings of Aladdin amidst the subterranean treasures, which he could neither leave nor carry away. Of Mr. HALL'S application to study, and manner of life while minister at.Carabridge—.

Mr. Hall was at this time a bachelor, between thirty and forty years of age, - and occupied two rooms belonging to Mr. Lucas Ray, in the Petty Cury, which he held till about 1803. His sitting-room, which was also his study, was un- usually large; I think about forty feet by twenty-five, and very lofty. It had two large windows looking into St. Andrew's churchyard, with the tower op- posite, Which was unfortunate for his peculiar turn of mind. In this room we

have spent together many sacred and delightful evenings, the grateful remem- brance of which I shall never lose.

His habits were very studious : I never knew any man that was so great a reader on all subjects. It is a mistaken notion that he was entirely indebted to' genius ; he possesied great industry and application, . united to which was a thirst for knowledge, and an ambition to. excel in every thing which he under- took. Dissatisfied. with present attainnaents, he frequently said, " Let your aim and standard be high, for you will always he below your standard ; and if your standard is high, your attainments will be high also." He generally read from morning till eight o'clock in the evening; after which he visited either the sick or ins friends. If one was engaged or from home, he went to another, and staid till eleven o'clock ; then returned to his rooms. • It was pleasing on such occasions to witueas this great man descend from the sublimest speculations, and mingle with the socialities of common life. There was no ostentatious dis- play of learning ; he endeared himself to all by the simplicity of his manners, and the unaffected modesty and kindness of his disposition. lie was exceedingly fond of children, and frequently took the little ones in his arms, and appeared to enter into all their amusements. Under these circumstances, it will not appear surprising, that his visits were anticipated with earnestness and delight.

Mr. HALL'S description of another preacher, Mr. TOLLER- I shall never forget the enthusiasm with which he spoke of a sermon preached at Bedford by Mr. Toiler, from 2 Pet. i. 12-15. " Sir," said he, " if the Angel Gabriel had come down from heaven on purpose, he could not have preached a more solemn and impressive discourse ; it was like a dying minister preaching his last sermon ;—it quite overcame me—there was scarcely a dry eye to be seen in the place." In a memoir of Mr. Toiler, written some years after, he thus refers to this ser- vice—" The aspect of the preacher, pale, emaciated, standing apparently on the verge of eternity; the simplicity and majesty of his sentiments ; the sepulchral solemnity, of a voice which seemed to issue from the shades, combined with the intrinsic dignity of the subject, perfectly quelled the audience with tenderness and terror, and produced such a scene of audible weeping as was perhaps never surpassed. All other emotions were absorbed in devotional feeling it seemed to us as though we were permitted for a short space to look into eternity, and every sublunary object vanished before the powers of the world to come," Sze. ;cc. Mr. Hall was greatly disappointed with the sermon as printed from Mr. Toiler's notes—such is the disadvantage of posthumous publications.

The following is a slight specimen of Mr. HALL'S satirical style in the pulpit; a very unusual vein with him— In reference to many of these persecuting" Church and-King" men, we have frequently observed to each other, For yet a little while and the wicked shall not be ; yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. Many an imperious University man, who, by his look of contempt, appeared to expect that every Dissenter should do him homage, and who spoke of Mr. Hall as one Hall preaching in a conventicle, has departed from the place into a state of ob- scurity awl insignificance. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay-tree ; yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not; yea, I sought hint, but lie could not be found. This has frequently reminded me of a fine stroke of satire given us by Mr. Hall, when expounding that part of the Acts of the Apostles which refers to Festus's declaration of Paul's case to Agrippa, Acts xxv. 19. -But had certain questions against him of their own superstitions and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. "Observe," said Mr. Hall, "the contemptuous manner in which this Festus speaks of the Saviour of the world, as 'one Jesus' which was dead. It is very remarkable that this one Festus owes all his celebrity to this one Jesus; for had it not been for this one Jesus, we should never have heard any thing of this one Festus, for his name is never mentioned in profane history."

Of Mr. HALL'S second attack of insanity— Our fears were unhappily realized. He entered the meeting in the afternoon about ten minutes after the time. As he walked up the aisle, he turned to look at the clock. I knew, by the wildness of his appearance, that it was all over. He went into the Vestry ; from thence, with a hurried step, into the pulpit. He gave out the hymn, read the Scriptures, and prayed very coherently, but in a strange and hurried manner. He then gave out the second hymn and selected for his text Heb. xii. 2—Looking unto Jesus the author and hymn, of our faith ; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God:

He appeared tolerably collected till he commenced the second part of the sub- ject—the particular seasons in which it was peculiarly necessary to look unto Jesus. The first was in the period of temptation, under Satanic influence—" For that there is a Devil," said he, "who, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may: devour, is as true from the word of God as that there is a God. I say there is a Devil, and there are many Devils." Then he became quite inco- herent. The effect on his audience cannot be described; we looked one to an- other with surprise, not knowing what to do. As a junior, I looked to the senior deacons, expecting that one of them would go to the pulpit and request him to come down ; but the general feeling was—let him alone. In a few mi- nutes, he recovered himself, raised his hand to his forehead, stopped, and said, "My friends, I beg pardon ; my head is very bad this afternoon "—dropped the subject of temptation, went on with the other division of his subject connectedly, and closed; gave out the third hymn, and concluded with prayer and the bene- diction.

The place was crowded; there were more young Noblemen, Fellow-Com- moners, and Under-Graduates, who witnessed the scene, than lever remember to have seen before or since. He immediately came downrand went into the Ves- try; no one went to him, not knowing what to do, as it was ordinance-day. The congregation had dispersed ; the members of the church waited in silent suspense. He ordered the cloth to be laid, and the elements to be brought out as usual ; then entered the table-seat more composed, and administered the Sa- crament to us in a solemn and collected manner—pronounced the benediction, and dismissed us. Just as we were leaving our seats, he called out vehemently, "Stop ! stop ! my friends; I have something very important to communicate to you. I have to inform you that the Millennium is come !—that period which we have been waiting for, hoping for, and praying for so long, is at length come ; let us all kneel down and bless God that we have lived to see this day." He then offered up a prayer, in a strain of the wildest sublimity.

Of his objection to writing, and his simplicity in matters of worldly concernment— Mr. Hall informed me of the loss he had sustained by a London bookseller, to the amount of several hundred pounds, which were part of the profits arising from Ins publications. He was perfectly tranquil, and pitied rather than condemned the person. This afforded me an opportunity of requesting him to repair the loss, by publishing a volume of sermons. I suggested two or three favourite dis- courses to him. "0, Sir," he replied, "it would be a great undertaking for me: there would be not only the manual labour of writing, and preparing them for the press, but I have great difficulty in pleasing myself I have ideas, Sir, that I cannot express in any language, so as to give another person an adequate conce_ption of them. I never write any thing, Sir, for the press, without Dr. Johnson's large Dictionary on the table, as that is the standard, you know, Sir, of the English language : by this means I get the proper acceptation of the words, in order to convey my meaning:" I said, "But, Sir, you never have this difficulty in the pulpit, in the choice of expressions. Your friends always admire your peculiar felicity in the choice of words and the adaptation of them to the precise ideas. We have frequently remarked, that if it were pos- sible to take your sermons as .delivered extempore, they might be immediately printed. I assure you, Sir, without the least flattery, I have heard sermons from you, superior to any you have published." "No, Sir," he replied, "that is impossible ; it is onlY your partiality : they cannot be so correct- and finished as when they are prepared in the closet. Besides, Sir, yon. must remember that the eye and the ear are very different critics : what will pass on hearing, the eye would immediately detect." " Yes, Sir," I replied ; "but, on the other band, you must recollect there is the fire of the sanctuary, and the enthusiasm kindled by the subject, and the excitement of an audience,—all calculated to produce strains of eloquence which cannot be recalled or inVented, in retire- ment. However, I am not singular in this opinion, Sir; our friend, Dr. Gregory, has frequently made similar remarks." "Well, Sir; there may be something in what you say, but he is partial too." I begged that, he would pardon the suggestion, and reminded him of the claims of his rising family; adding, "Now, Sir, if you will prepare one volume of sermons for the press, I will engage to give you a thousand pounds immediately. for it, and you shall have no further trouble With printers or booksellers." " Ah, Sir," he replied, "you talk like a man of business, who has been accustomed to work for money.. Why, Sir, I could not write for money : impossible ! L should continually be thinking of the rule of three. If a volume of sermons would fetch a thou- sand pounds, how much would it be for a sermon? and bow much for a page ? and how much for a line? Why, Sir, it would so engross any imagination, I could not get on at all ; the very process would absolutely stultify me."

The Works of HALL are to be comprised in six octavo volumes: five have already appeared. They comprise all the writings which the author published in his lifetime in detached forms, together with Sermons from his own manuscripts, and- a selection of his Letters. The sixth volume is to contain Sermons, from notes taken while they were preached ; a Memoir of the author, by Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH; and a Review of his Writings, by Dr. Omrrritus GREGORY. When completed, the work will be a treasure Of theo- logical and political knowledge.