intending the studies of a few young men in the thrifty borough of Shrewsbury, which we cannot help linking with the name of Orton, Doddridge's biographer:-and Caleb Rotherham was just beginning the same kind of work at Kendal; while many honourable compeers were scattered up and down the country, including Moore, of Bridgewater, and his namesake at Watterfield; Towgood, of Shepton Mallett; Owen, of Warrington; and Hill, of Findern, a village in Derbyshire. In the Metropolis there were at that time two academies-one existed, even then, amidst the very unacademic scenes of Hoxton- - under the care of Dr. Oldfield, Mr. Lorimer, and Mr. Capel. Another was conducted by Dr. Ridgely, the famous author of a "Body of Divinity," and by John Eames, a fellow of the Royal Society a friend of Sir Isaac Newton, and the subject of an eulogium by Watts, who pronounced him the most learned man he ever knew. A third was commenced some years later, by Dr. Abraham Taylor. In addition to all the rest, there was one in the county of Northampton, in the quiet village of Kibworth, more quiet now than ever, since railways have drawn away its intermitting streams of coach and waggon traffic. The master of the seminary was John Jennings, brother of David Jennings, of Jewish antiquarian renown-himself a man of considerable attainments and highly cultivated taste, whose "Two Discourses on Preaching Christ," were thought worthy by two English prelates of a public recommendation in their charges to their clergy.* In the straggling street of Kib * The original edition of these sermons was published in 1723, with a preface by Dr. Watts, from which the following passage is well worthy of being transcribed:-"Let us consider how little hath been our success in comparison of the multitudes converted by our fathers in the days of their ministry. Hath not this been matter of sore complaint these many years past? Now it is worth our inquiry, whether it may not be ascribed to the absence of Christ in our sermons? And what reason indeed can we have to expect the presence and influence of the Spirit of Christ, if we have his person, his offices, his grace, and his gospel, out of our discourses, or give but a slight and casual hint at these glorious subjects, which ought to be our daily theme? This is what our author would put us in mind of in his first discourse. And perhaps another cause of our want of success has been this-that we have too much left off the way of our forefathers, in distinguishing the character of our hearers, and dividing the word aright to saints and sinners, to the stupid and the profane, the awakened and convinced, the mournful and penitent, the presumptuous and obstinate, the deserted and despairing. This method appears eminently in the labours of a former age. This is a great part of what the second discourse here recommends to us, under the title of Experimental Preaching." Doddridge, no doubt, owed much to a tutor so evangelical. worth, where, amidst rustic dwellings, a few aristocratic abodes lifted up their heads, there stood, on the site of the present Crown Inn, the academic dwelling of Mr. Jennings; close to which, now within the yard of the hostelry, is the site of what was a place of worship-probably some barn-like structure, which was burnt down in 1759. There Jennings preached to his pupils, and to the rustic church and congregation of which he was pastor. Thither Doddridge travelled from St. Albans, as the brown leaves were falling in the October of 1719, and there we see him warmly welcomed, and established as a student in what he calls his "dear light garret at Kibworth," commanding a lovely prospect of fields from which had just been reaped the fruits of Leicestershire husbandry. Mr. Jennings remained at Kibworth only three years after Doddridge was placed under his care, and then accepted a call from the church at Hinckley. The academy was removed with its tutor, and in the month of September, 1722, we find the young student lamenting the change of scene, especially the loss of the agreeable retirements, "the meadows and arbours" of his former abode; for Mr. Jennings was a man of taste in horticulture as well as literature, and had made the garden at Kibworth "a right pleasant place," according to the fashion of the times. But in January of the next year, we see the young student snugly ensconced by the fireside in the best chamber of the new house, dotting down, in one of his letters, an inventory of his furniture-" a blue camlet bed"- 66 an elbow chair". -"half a dozen little ones"-" a black table, a chest of drawers, and a large looking-glass." He is dressed in a dark "blue calimanco gown," of "eighteen pence a yard," which has "lasted a couple of years," and been "turned and mended a good many times." He has just exchanged an old Hebrew Bible, in a very tattered and scurvy condition, for a perfect copy, which, with Spanheim's "Eleuchus," and Dupin's "Ecclesiastical History," also newly added to his little book stock, is gladdening his heart as with the joy of one who findeth spoil. A most indefatigable pupil in his academic preparations; studying the classics, and the original Scriptures, with taste and accuracy; commenting upon Homer, and annotating on the Testaments New and Old, he also manages to read, in the short space of six months, as many as sixty volumes, including Patrick's "Commentary," Tillotson's Works, and the "Boyle Lectures." And, for the comfort now of poor students be it told, he is far from being flush with money, and sorrowfully records how four guineas have just melted away-the half gone in articles of dress-the greatest part of another in necessary journeys, one to Leicester, to take the oaths, and subscribe the articles, which cost six shillings, and another to Mount Sorrel to a meeting of ministers. But Doddridge, while in circumstances he answered the description, in spirit practised the advice of the Roman poet "Rebus angustis animosus atque He bore up against pecuniary difficulties: and, what is especially worthy of note, he so husbanded with wise economy his little stores, as to avoid the burden, and escape the disgrace, of debts he could not pay. Of his student life he would often talk, in after days, to Mrs. Doddridge, in the quiet parlour at Northampton, by the snug fire on a winter's night, and she, treasuring up all such precious reminiscences, |