pressed their conviction that, however painful, duty demanded the sacrifice.* He removed to Bristol, * Mr. Fuller, who perhaps felt more than any one, the loss of personal intercourse with his friend, expressed his acquiescence in ~ a letter which has already appeared in print. (Vide his Life, by Dr. R. p. 225, Second edition.) Mr. Newton, in a letter, dated April 30, 1792, thus writes: "For myself I have nothing to say further, to what I offered in a general view. I think the removal of ministers from places where they are acceptable and useful is often hazardous, but not always improper. There are some situations to which a young man cannot be supposed to be competent, and he must therefore serve an apprenticeship in an inferior post, till age and experience have qualified him for one more important.--Mr. Booth says, that if you consult only your personal ease and comfort, you will stay where you are, for you will probably meet with more difficulties and exercises at Bristol; but if you regard the good of the whole, and the fairest opportunity of preventing evil, and promoting the common cause, you must and will go. Of this, he is a better judge than I; but you must at last judge for yourself. I give you full credit for the simplicity and disinterestedness of your views, and your desire to do the Lord's will; and therefore I believe he on whom you depend, and whom you wish to please, will guide your determination to that which is right. When our hearts are upright, he will permit us to make no mistakes but what he will overrule for good. I neither advise nor dissuade; but I seem to think you will go. You need not apologize for Mr. expression. Undoubtedly, the interest of the gospel is as much the interest of Christ, among the Baptists, as in any other denomination. S "Poor Northampton! and poor Omicron, if you are away when he goes there! With sincere prayers for your guidance, "I remain, your affectionate friend and brother, "JOHN NEWTON." A respectable minister, of another denomination, who is still living, also urged his compliance in the following liberal and friendly manner :--“ It gave me no small degree of pleasure when I first heard you were invited to Broadmead, and equal pain when you with his family, in December, 1793, and on the 15th of May following, a public service, recognizing his union with the church at Broadmead, was held, in which Messrs. Francis of Horsley, Kingdon of declined accepting the call. I have since heard of a second application, and fearing it would share the fate of the former, I have presumed to step down from my observatory, to intreat you not to reject it hastily. It is my lot to be frequently in Bristol, and my honour to be acquainted with many of the Broadmead people. From long observation, I flatter myself I have a tolerably competent knowledge of their complexion. From all I can gather, you are not only the man of their choice, but I believe their choice is most judiciously made; and I fear, most sincerely fear, that your second refusal will involve not only that church, but the Baptist cause, in circumstances far from pleasant to forebode; and when they arrive, far from pleasant for you to reflect upon. That church requires a pastor of determined sentiment, of real Christian catholicism, of a conciliating disposition, and of a fatherly share of divine experience in the progress of religion on the mind. And does not the Academy require such a man to preside in it? Do not say you are not the man; you are not to be sole judge in this matter, any more than Moses was of the majestic lustre of his face. "I would not have you to surmise the hand of Joab to be in this epistle. It is the sole effusion of my own mind, resulting from cool observation, and from a regard to the whole Baptist cause; for though I do not belong to their society, and suppose I never shall, yet I think that they are an association of Christians, which every good man ought to love and bid God speed to. "I sincerely condole with you on the loss of the man who gave you being, and set you that Christian pattern, which no doubt often had good effects on your heart. You are not the only loser. The world has lost an upright, honest man; an inviolable friend to the cause of Jesus; a man, whom I not only loved ardently, but in many things admired, and whose memory I shall revere while I have a being. Would God all his children were like him; and all mine too." One Frome, and Clarke of Exeter, took part. minister only survives who united in that service, the Rev. Joseph Hughes of Battersea, who, for upwards of two years, shared in the ministerial and academical engagements; and for him it was reserved to attend the funeral of his venerable friend, in the very place where more than thirty years before he had implored the divine benediction on his labours. Soon after Dr. Ryland's settlement, he preached before the Baptist Western Association at Chard, a discourse, afterwards published, on "The Certain Increase and Glory of the Kingdom of Christ;" in which, by an energetic survey of the prophetic declarations, and of the prospects then opening on the world, he attempted to rouse their attention to missionary efforts. Subsequently, he preached on various public occasions, and in proportion as he became known to his brethren, rose in their respect and esteem, and gradually acquired an ascendency of the purest kind; which, so far from its being an object of solicitude on his part, his modesty and total freedom from the lust of power would have rendered him unconscious of, had it not necessarily involved a frequent reference for his counsels and assistance, which, as applicable to a very extensive district, would have allowed him to adopt St. Paul's language, The care of all the churches is upon me. In addition to his labours in the Academy and the Church, various benevolent Institutions in Bristol occupied no small share of his attention, particularly the Penitentiary and Religious Tract Society, in originating which he was intimately concerned. During Mr. Fuller's life time, there was no other individual who received so large a proportion of the contributions to the Mission. No one, however, was less disposed to encourage a spurious liberality, by employing any motives not accordant with genuine piety, or tinctured with ostentation and party feeling. In the years 1811 and 1816, he undertook journeys to Scotland on its behalf, and returned deeply impressed with the generosity shown by various denominations of Christians, and by the many marks he received of personal kindness and hospitality. The pleasure afforded by these visits, however, was sensibly diminished, by the previous decease of his highly-esteemed friend, Dr. John Erskine, with whom he had corresponded for about twenty years, and who first made him acquainted with the works of Edwards and other Transatlantic divines. In 1813, he was actively engaged with other friends of Missions, in preparing Petitions to Parliament on the renewal of the Charter of the East India Company. Though averse to appear as a speaker on public occasions, yet his deep interest in the subject induced him to yield to the solicitations of his friends, to take part in a meeting held at the Guildhall, where he was listened to with the most marked and respectful attention. During the previous consultations which were held on this business, he communicated the outline of a petition to a gentleman of great respectability and influence, a member of the Establishment, and accompanied it with the following remarks :-" I cannot tell whether the enclosed would satisfy yourself or your connexions in this city. You may think it your duty to ask for a regular Establishment, and that upon a more extensive scale than has been already proposed. To this I have no inclination to make any opposition, provided it should be attended with liberty to other denominations. I wish our Episcopalian brethren to enjoy every advantage which can naturally result from their numbers, their wealth, their learning, piety, and zeal; and if all this will not suffice, without such direct aid from the State as may raise them in the eyes of the surrounding population of India, though I cannot directly join in promoting it, yet I have nothing to do in |