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after she had lost the light of her dwelling, thus writes to Job Orton, who was preparing his Memoirs :-"Some spice too, you will find, I have sent of his exact manner of keeping his accounts, to which permit me to add, that I have often heard him say, that during the years he was at school, and afterwards a pupil, he never contracted any debts, and though his income was small, he never wanted money, but at the close of every year had always some cash in hand-that he always made it a rule to content himself with the table kept for the family, and never spent any money either in wine or tea, or any other unnecessary expense.

Unaffected courtesy was blended with literary refinement, and the poor student could hardly be mistaken for anything but what he was,the polished gentleman. Overtaken one day by bad weather at Newport Pagnell, he called at the house of Mr. Hunt, the pastor of the dissenting church there, when his son, struck with the interesting appearance and bland manners of the visitor, offered him the loan of a great-coat. Mrs. Hunt, good careful soul, questioned the wisdom of putting such gene

* MS. letters in the possession of Charles Reed, Esq.

meanour.

rous confidence in an unaccredited stranger; but the son, who could read character better than the mother, replied, "I am sure he is a gentleman and a scholar." The answer was overheard by Doddridge, and he never forgot this expression of his new friend's trustfulness, and this reward of his own courteous deAn intimacy sprung up between him and young Hunt, who succeeded his father in the ministry at Newport. The town became a place of interest to Doddridge, and after he attained to celebrity an opportunity offered for showing a practical concern for the welfare of the church. "The meeting-house having been erected on an estate which was the property of one of the principal people in the congregation, no conveyance of the ground on which it stood had ever been made to proper trustees, and the owner of the estate becoming a bankrupt, it was seized by the creditors this was in 1740. Dr. Doddridge then generously came forward and purchased the meeting of them and conveyed it to proper trustees, and by his zeal and influence the money was soon raised."*

*Brief Narrative of the Independent Church at Newport Pagnell, by the Rev. T. P. Bull.

After being examined by Mr. Some, Mr. Bridger, and Mr. Norris, three neighbouring ministers remarkable alike for learning and good sense, as well as for candour and catholicity, Doddridge received a certificate of satisfaction, and in July 22nd, 1722, began to preach. The first sermon is a grand epoch in ministerial life, and in the case of a successful preacher is reviewed by himself and his friends with intense interest in all after years. The scene of early effort becomes clustered round with sacred associations; and if fruit speedily appear, "and the treader of grapes overtaketh him that soweth seed," sweet is the song and rich is the joy of the vintage. In the present instance we can picture the place and trace the result. Nichols, in his "History of Leicestershire," tells us of the old meeting-house at Hinckley, and states, that behind the pulpit, and on either side, are two small galleries not unlike the boxes of a playhouse, purposely designed for Mr. Jennings' pupils, the rest of the building being on the model of the old meeting-houses a hundred and thirty years ago. The building still exists. It is now occupied by Unitarians. There Doddridge first

preached the gospel from the words, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha." The result is recorded by himself:-"I find in his diary," says Orton, "that two persons ascribed their conversion to the blessing of God attending that sermon, with which he appears to have been much affected and encouraged."

As the termination of his studies at Hinckley approached, he had two settlements offered, one at Coventry, over a congregation of 1200 people, and one at Kibworth, over his tutor's former flock. He chose the latter. Orton justly observes, that ministers in general have been too unwilling, even at their entrance on their work, to live or preach in small country places; but Doddridge afterwards reflected with pleasure, that he had spent so many years in a country retirement. How very different might have been his career had he resolved to plunge at once into ministerial publicity, instead of laying up in retirement large stores for future usefulness. The professor, expositor, and divine might have been lost amidst a limited and ephemeral popularity.

In one of his merry moods he describes his

congregation as the most unpolite he ever knew, consisting of farmers and graziers, and their subaltern officers. "I have not," he adds, "so much as a tea table* in my whole diocese, although above eight miles in extent, and but one hoop petticoat within the whole circuit." In a graver hour, he tells a friend, "I am now with a plain, honest, serious, good-natured people; I heartily love them myself, and I meet with genuine expressions of an undissembled affection on their side. I would hope that God is among us, and I desire to mention it with a great deal of thankfulness, that I already see some encouraging effects of my poor attempts to serve them. I do not go very much abroad, and when I am at home I can conveniently spend twelve hours a day in my study. I have now many good books of my own, and my friends that are still better furnished, are very ready to oblige me with the use of theirs. As to the salary, though it does not certainly amount to forty pounds a year, it is a tolerable subsistence for a single man; and I believe I shall never marry while I stay here."

*The use of tea was a rare luxury in those days.

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