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I am not inclined to make angels of them; you know I ever avoided transporting myself into raptures of friendship for them; but they do gradually steal upon my affection, and all that I hear from everybody nourishes the growing sentiment.

"April 10.-After attending in the morning to my little pupil, I rode through a succession of close, rugged, grotesque and almost impassable lanes to my friend Mower's, of the Woodseats.* The house stands on the edge of the Derbyshire moors, secluded from every strange eye, and the inmates seemed wild and fearful. With some difficulty I obtained admission, and was sorry to find my political friend confined to his room. He received me with a kind of enthusiasm. His physiognomy denotes both eccentricity and benevolence. I regretted not seeing his lady, who is very accomplished. He married her out of Dundas's, now Lord Melville's, family. Dined and slept at Meersbrook. Mr. Shore, Sen., is a truly respectable and pleasant gentleman. He has a large stock of knowledge, and, what is more, good principles. He is very candid, but at the same time ardent. Mrs. S. is perhaps my favourite, if I may

interesting narrative. Norton Hall, the park, demesne and manor, were assigned to Mrs. Shore. During her life, Norton Hall was their constant residence. She died there in 1781. On the marriage of his son, he removed to Meersbrook, which had been the abode of his father. In 1761, he served the office of highsheriff for the county of Derby. In early life, Mr. Shore acted as a magistrate of the West-Riding of the county of York; but when Parliament refused to listen to the application for a repeal of the Test Laws (a movement in which he had actively assisted), he felt it to be his duty to discontinue his magisterial services, and thus offered a dignified protest during the remainder of his days against the impolicy and injustice of the law excluding Protestant Dissenters from offices of trust and honour. He just lived to see the Test Act abolished, and his name (together with that of his son) appears in the list of Stewards of the Dinner to commemorate that great event which was held at the Freemasons' Hall, June 18, 1828, and presided over by the Duke of Sussex.

To Mr. Shore's varied services to the cause of liberal Dissent, this brief note will only allow a passing reference. He was the active and generous friend and patron of Mr. Lindsey and Dr. Priestley; the latter of whom dedicated to Mr. Shore his History of the Christian Church, as to one "whose conduct had long proved him to be a steady friend of Christianity, and whose object it had been to preserve it as unmixed as possible with every thing that has a tendency to corrupt and debase it."-The Mrs. Shore to whom Mr. Aspland refers in his diary was of course the second wife; she was the only daughter of Freeman Flower, Esq., of Clapham, in Surrey. The writer had the pleasure of visiting this venerable couple in the year 1825. They spoke with kindly interest and much freshness of recollection of Mr. Aspland's brief residence at Norton. Mr. Shore, notwithstanding his great age, retained not only polished manners, but intellectual vigour. As he stood for a moment beneath his own bust, sculptered by Chantrey (a native of Norton), with his silvery hair and finely moulded head, almost as white as the marble, the writer thought he saw the finest specimen he ever beheld of extreme age, and the happiest resemblance in marble of the human countenance. Mr. Shore died at Meersbrook, Nov. 16, 1828, in the 91st year of his age.-See M. Repos., 1829, and Rhodes's Peak Scenery, 8vo, p. 268. Samuel Shore, Esq., of Norton Hall, was the second son of Samuel Shore, Esq., of Meersbrook (the eldest son died in his eighth year), and was born 1762. He was a pupil first of Mr. Lowe and then of Mr. Holland at Bolton. In 1778, he entered the Warrington Academy. He subsequently studied at Geneva. Returning to England in 1782, he entered himself a member of Lincoln's Inn and kept the necessary terms. He married, 1788, Miss Foye, of Castle Hill, in the county of Dorset. He served the office of high-sheriff for Derbyshire in 1832, and died Nov. 1, 1836, in the 75th year of his age.-See Christ. Ref., 1836, p. 909.

* This gentleman had sought his correspondence and friendship, previous to all personal acquaintance, simply from political sympathy, excited by accidentally meeting with his Newport Fast Sermon.

use that term in relation to a family where there is not one whom I do not highly esteem. They are all considerately attentive. The house is being now thoroughly cleaned; the garden had been previously attended to. As to settling here, I feel little anxiety. Upon the whole, I incline to wish it; though I make no doubt of being able, if the Hackney people choose me, to accept an offer from them with honour.

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April 11.-Dined at Dr. Bagshawe's, with Mr. Ward, of Sheffield, and Mr. Calton. Home to Meersbrook about nine. Glorious decision in the House of Commons in the case of Lord Melville!

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April 24.-Letter to-day from Mr. Rutt. The Hackney business proceeds."

The purport of this letter was to inform him that the Gravel-Pit congregation had all but unanimously decided, on the previous Sunday, to invite him to preach for two Sundays on probation, assuring him, at the same time, that this was a mere form, and on his compliance with which he would certainly be elected; and stating that Mr. Belsham strongly hoped he would comply with the invitation.

A few days after, being at Meersbrook, his kind friend Mr. Shore, "looking benevolence itself," entered the room where he was, and said, "Here are two letters which I feel it my duty to lay before you. The one from Mr. Belsham I should have shewn you before; but I waited in expectation of the other, which, however, did not arrive till this morning. My son and I have nothing more to say than that we wish you to consider yourself at perfect liberty to act as you think proper."

The writer cannot pass by the name of this good man without offering a humble tribute of reverence for his memory. He was foremost amongst the members of the congregation who desired Mr. Aspland's settlement at Hackney, and for five-and-thirty years he continued to render him unfailing service. Mr. Rutt had lived through evil times, and had an enthusiastic and high-toned love of liberty, civil and religious, the ardour of which men of the present age can scarcely understand. The personal friend of Price and Priestley and Wakefield, even if he had no other claims upon us, would be an object of our respect. But as the biographer of Wakefield (in conjunction with Mr. Arnold Wainewright) and the editor of Dr. Priestley's Works, Mr. Rutt has achieved a permanent place for himself in the annals of religious literature. He edited and enriched with his annotations the long-neglected Life of Calamy. A similar service he rendered to Burton's Cromwellian Diary, and he also edited the "Correspondence of Samuel Pepys." Of his contributions to the periodical literature of the Unitarians, occasion will hereafter arise in this Memoir of speaking. His conversational powers were great; his utterance rapid, emphatic and distinct. His memory was retentive and accurate; and he poured forth even in ordinary conversation, with admirable profusion, the varied stores of his well-furnished mind. In addition to all this, he had a good Christian heart, which warmed to every kind and virtuous sympathy. Early in life he promoted with great zeal "the Jennerian discovery of vaccine inoculation." In age, he gave his aid and blessing to the Domestic Mission established in Spicer Street, Spitalfields. Those who enjoyed familiar intercourse with Mr. Rutt, either at Bromley or Clapton, could not but be pleasantly impressed with the patriarchal simplicity and affectionateness with which he presided over a large and very interesting family. It is certainly to be regretted that no extended memoir of Mr. Rutt has been given to the public. "Memorials" of him have indeed been printed, but they have been strictly limited to "private circulation." It is beautifully remarked in the Preface, that though "too much divorced from learning by fortune, he still loved it; his ardent desires for the advancement of his species in knowledge or freedom, did not interfere with his fond love of all the vestiges of the past; and his humanity, though embracing all varieties of sect, colour and climate, had its deep-rooted centre in his own home."

The second letter was from Mr. Ronalds, the Treasurer of the GravelPit congregation.

Rev. Thomas Belsham to Samuel Shore, Esq.

The probation sermons are little more than matter of form, and will, to a moral certainty, be followed with an almost, if not altogether, unanimous invitation to him to become the morning preacher. It is not, my dear Sir, for me to prescribe to you or to Mr. S. Shore what part you should take in these circumstances. If it appear to you both that by removing to Hackney, Mr. Aspland's usefulness may be greatly increased, and that his distinguished talents, activity and zeal, may be rendered greatly instrumental in promoting Christian truth, piety and virtue, I have no doubt that with this (prospect?) both yourself and Mr. S. Shore would be ready to make a sacrifice of your own views and wishes (however painful or unexpected) to the public good. Of the probability of this result you are fully competent to judge."

Rev. Robert Aspland to Mrs. Aspland.

"Meersbrook, April 27, 1805.

What, you will ask, are my views and feelings? To be frank, they are not discordant with those of our friends in Town. The zealous attachment of the Gravel-Pit society affects me with like sentiments. The advantages of Hackney are in themselves great, and the situation becomes doubly desirable on account of its being so gratifying to our friends in St. Martin's Lane, and so likely to administer to the comfort of my mother." (After describing the interview with Mr. Shore, the letter proceeds)" I could say nothing; but I endeavoured to look gratitude. The upshot of the business, I can now say, will be my settling at Hackney. Thus, my dear love, is our lot about to be fixed. What do we not owe to that indulgent Being who is favouring your husband and friend so far beyond his deserts! God grant that his mercies may never fail to impress us with the liveliest gratitude!"

The diary has this entry under May 1:

"To receive the Kirkpatricks" (pupils who it was at one time proposed should follow him from Newport to Norton). "So it was to be; but true is it, we know not what a day may bring forth. Now, it seems, I shall scarcely settle here myself. By another May-day what greater changes may not occur! Last year at this time, let me remember, my dear father was living, and we were expecting with all the impatience of affection to meet in the ensuing month!"

He stayed at Norton and Meersbrook till the middle of May, accompanying Mr. Shore and his son in a visit to Wakefield, where they went to attend a meeting of the Trustees of Lady Hewley's charities.* Upon this occasion he had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of the Rev. William Wood, of Leeds, and the Rev. Thomas Johnston, of Wakefield. He left his generous friends at Norton and Meersbrook with feelings of regret, and often in after periods of life spoke of them with affectionate respect, and dwelt on the pleasures of his brief residence in Derbyshire.

The "probation" Sundays at Hackney were May 26 and June 2. If they had their anxieties, they were not without their pleasures; for of the former day portions were spent in the society of Rev. John Kentish, Mr. Marsom and Mr. Rutt; and of the latter, in that of Mr.

They spent two evenings, in going to and returning from Wakefield, at Mr. Edmunds', of Worsborough, near Barnsley. Mr. Edmunds had married the younger Miss Offley, and took the Brampton estate. Mrs. Edmunds died a little before this.

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Belsham and of Mr. William Smith. At the conclusion of his secondservice, the Committee met and resolved, by an unanimous vote, to recommend him to the choice of the congregation; and on the following Sunday, the election was confirmed by an equally unanimous vote on the part of the congregation.

John Towill Rutt, Esq. to Rev. Robert Aspland.

"London, June 14, 1805. "Dear Sir, I was sorry to understand to-day that Mr. Ronalds had not written to you, from his not having taken your direction. I am the more vexed at this, because I am a little implicated in some neglect as to furnishing him with it. As I have not seen Mr. R. to-day, lest he should not write officially to-night, I trouble you with this letter to say that the business was finished on Sunday last as I expected, and I think as satisfactorily as you would desire. Mr. Johnston and Mr. Travers, at their own suggestion, moved and seconded the resolution to agree with the Committee in the choice of you as pastor and morning preacher. I was authorized to state the full concurrence of Dr. Pett, who was absent on a journey, and of Mr. Christie, who was detained from attendance by the indisposition of his family. It is wished that you would commence as early as possible.

*

"Should you not immediately find a house to suit you at Hackney, I wish you would inform me before you engage any temporary residence. • We design to spend the months of August and September at a house of Mrs. R.'s father's by the sea. We shall take all the family except one servant, who with our house would be at your, Mrs. A.'s and your family's service, should you not be more agreeably provided. We might possibly leave Hackney the last week in July.

"I remain, dear Sir, yours sincerely,

J. T. RUTT."

Of those members of the Gravel-Pit congregation that joined in this election of a pastor, a few venerable friends survive. One of them, Mr. John Christie, has favoured the writer with his reminiscences on the subject, which shew that there were not wanting some out of the congregation who thought the election a hazardous experiment.

"I have thought it right to give you these few facts, as many judicious and respectable individuals, at the time your worthy father became our minister, wondered at our congregation, an old Presbyterian society, choosing a minister so very young, preaching to a Baptist connection, and immediately following such venerable and distinguished men as Belsham, Priestley and Price. The truth is, the congregation was inquiring and intelligent, and they reckoned that in having Mr. Aspland as their minister, they would have a man of great talent and extensive usefulness, or, as he would have phrased it, serviceableness' (for that was his favourite word in such a connection). And the congregation was neither mistaken nor disappointed in their choice, as the experience of forty years demonstrated."

In compliance with the earnest wish of the Committee, he entered with little delay on the duties of his office. His initiatory service at the Gravel-Pit took place on Sunday, July 7, 1805. The devotional and sacramental services were (as was then his custom) extempore. He selected as the subject of his first sermon, the Liberal Spirit of the Apostles and the Benevolent Design of the Christian Ministry, taking for his text 2 Cor. i. 24: Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy. In a contemporary letter, written by a hearer of this sermon, it is observed, "The composition and delivery were quite satisfactory: at the pathetic parts, Mr. Aspland's voice was

just altered enough to indicate his sensibility without endangering his self-possession."

How deeply his mind was impressed with the weight of responsibility resting on him, as the successor of the distinguished men who had preceded him in the Hackney pulpit, several passages in the sermon express. He describes them as "men of irreproachable virtue, enlightened and steady devotion, laborious inquiry, fearless attachment to truth, deep and extensive knowledge, philosophic liberality and unbounded benevolence."

"I still hear their instructions reverberating within these walls; I see the images of their minds in the surviving attendants on their instructions; I am encompassed with a thousand recollections which tell me that the place whereon I stand is holy ground: I consider myself as occupying, alas! how unequally, the place to which these messengers of God ascended, to improve you with their wisdom, and to delight you with their eloquence; and from which they descended to dignify private life by their virtues, to bless the domestic circle by their kind affections, and to ameliorate society by their useful inquiries: with Jacob at Bethel, I am afraid, and say, how dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

Towards Mr. Belsham he thus expressed his feelings of respect and gratitude :

"To my immediate predecessor, I am prompted, no less by my unbiassed esteem of his character, than by private friendship, (if he will pardon my speaking thus publicly of the favours which he has conferred upon me,) to offer the tribute of my feeble praise. Cheerfully do I join with you, brethren, in admiration of the profundity of his theological researches, of the clearness and solidity of his reasonings, of the manliness and perspicuity of his writings, of his apostolic zeal for the unsophisticated truths of the gospel, of his equable temper, and affable manners. Long may he continue to display, in another place, the same talents and excellencies, which for a series of years edified and charmed this congregation!-may his abilities and virtues be as properly estimated there, as they were here!-and may a good Providence crown his labours with its blessing, and make him, in the midst of a dark and erroneous age, a burning and a shining light!"

In this fervid strain did he apostrophize his two most distinguished predecessors, Price and Priestley:

"Standing in a situation where I am so forcibly reminded of their characters, may I be indulged likewise, in expressing my high veneration of the two philosophical friends, the equal champions of rational religion, who in succession, and within the memory of most of you, asserted from this place the claims of religion, and the rights of human kind! Noble and generous spirits! accept our reverence and gratitude! Though dead, ye yet speak! Your memory lives among us; your virtues constrain our homage; your sufferings awaken our sympathy; your instructions, immortal as your names, enlarge the sphere of our knowledge, amplify and elevate our conceptions, exalt and invigorate our virtuous ambition, liberalize our faith, extend the boundaries of our charity, and evangelize and quicken our hope. Dying in Jesus, your slumbers are blessed, and your works follow you. Oh! that a portion, however small, of your spirit might descend upon one of the least in the train of your successors, who now invokes your remembrance; and that all who witnessed your example, and enjoyed your labours, may partake of your dignities in the resurrection of the just, and prove your hope, your joy, your crown of rejoicing, in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming!"

In complying with the request of the congregation that he would

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