some men of genius is to be considered as a painful proof that their genius was not complete, that there was a weak part in the soul to which it did not extend and which was the cause of the eccentricity. If this will not satisfy, then it may be asserted, that some men to whom genius has been given, not having it under the guidance of wisdom, become odd and eccentric, and sink beneath the dignity of that rank in the intellectual and moral world, in which they were entitled to stand.

Mr. Robinson's talents as a public teacher, were of the highest order. He knew how to draw every ear to attention, and his dominion over his audience was absolute. Had he retained the piety which he appeared to have, the humility, the zeal, and the evangelical principles of his younger years, there would have been few more useful, as there were few more able ministers in England. His influence over a multitude of well-educated and well-principled youth among the dissenters was powerful and extensive. If the effect of his instructions had been to make them docile, humble, lovers of the pure Gospel of Christ, and devoted to God, thousands of parents would have risen up to bless him, But if the usual result was, that they despised their former creed and teachers, became proud of their own understanding, speculative, sceptical, and undevout, praise must be withheld, and blessings not poured upon his name.

That Mr. Robinson should quit the camp of the orthodox, will not excite surprise in those who have observed his spirit in the course of the preceding narrative. That unbounded self-conceit and more than sovereign contempt of others, which he frequently betrayed, expose a heart already removed

from under the influence of evangelical truth, and fully prepared to drink the cup of socinianism to the very dregs.

JOHN RYLAND, A. M.

This eccentric man was born in 1723, and before he became solicitous for his eternal welfare, shewed the characteristic ardour of his mind in the eager pursuit of worldly follies. But in the spring of 1741, he was one among forty persons who were all, about the same time, gathered into the church under the ministry of Benjamin Beddome, at Bourton-on-thewater, in Gloucestershire. Mr. Beddome perceiving something extraordinary in this youth, introduced him to the academy at Bristol, under Mr. Bernard Foskett, where his intense application to learning was impeded by the mental conflicts he endured. - His first pastoral charge was at Warwick, in which town he was ordained over the baptist church in 1750; but removed, after nine years, to Northampten. Here his labours were eminently successful; for the church, which consisted of no more than thirty members when he took the charge of it, received, under him, an addition of three hundred and twenty persons. But some pecuniary embarrassments occa

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< Perplexed with doubts concerning the existence of God and his own eternal safety, he wrote the following resolution, which admirably displays his peculiarity of mind: June 25, 1744, æt. twenty years. If there is ever a God in heaven or earth, I vow and protest in his strength, or that God permitting me, I'll find him out, and I'll know whether he loves or hates me, or I'll die and perish, soul and body, in the pursuit and search Witness John Collett Ryland."

sioned his removal, in the year 1786, to Enfield. where he had a flourishing school and preached only occasionally. He was removed, however, to a heavenly mansion July 24, 1792, in his sixty-ninth year. His body was interred at Northampton, the scene of his most successful labours, where his son, Dr. Ryland afterwards preached, till he was called to take charge of the baptist academy at Bristol.

The eccentricities of his mind and manner, have often been the theme of anecdotes", which his surviving relatives say were not always true. The warmth of his disposition appeared indeed principally in a noble ardour for the divine glory and the diffusion of evangelical truth; but it sometimes produced effects over which he mourned. In his personal religion, he christianised the heathen's maxim by beginning

When he was dangerously ill, the people of the town, as they passed by the corner of his house would exclaim, "God send that man may live; if there is a good man in the town, he is one." At this general concern for his recovery, one poor profane creature was so provoked, that hearing the ejaculations of others for his safety, he wished on the contrary that he might die and be damned. He uttered this imprecation as he passed through the church-yard, which was near the parsonage-house where Mr, Ryland then lived. But he recovered, and was the instrument of that man's conver sion, who was perhaps the only person in the town who had wished for his death. For, some time afterward, this man courted a young woman who attended at the baptist meeting, and expressed his determination to obtain her in marriage, though he vowed he would cut off her legs but he would prevent her going to meeting. He used, therefore, to wait for her on the back hills near the meetinghouse, and then go home with her. But one evening, after standing about the door pretty early, he felt himself inclined to go in, and look at the place, when others following him into the gallery, before he was aware, he found it difficult to make his retreat; he was obliged therefore, contrary to his intention, to stay and hear the sermon: he heard it, was pierced to the heart, and was after wards added to the church,

with God, whose word he studied early every morning, and in the pulpit he was always lively, generally striking, frequently eccentric, and sometimes sublime and impressive beyond description.

SAMUEL STENNETT, D. D,

To be not only a minister of superior talents and virtues, but the son of a minister of superior endowments; and he too the son of a minister of superior eminence, is an honour which falls to the lot of few: it was however a distinction which Dr. Stennett enjoyed. He was born at Exeter, where his father Dr. Joseph Stennett officiated for many years as pastor of the baptist church in that city; and who afterwards removed to London to take charge of the congregation at Wild-street, Lincoln's-inn-fields. Samuel was his younger son, and having early discovered a pious disposition, he was admitted a member of his father's church. The work of the ministry was his choice, and he received an academical education under Mr. Hubbard, at Stepney. Most of the eminent baptist ministers of that period were educated at the semina ries of the independents.

His talents as a preacher meeting the approbation of the church to which he belonged, he was appointed assistant to his father, at whose death he was chosen the successor, and was ordained in the year 1758. From that time he continued to labour there all his days, dispensing the ordinances of religion with great acceptance, with success, and with an eminent degree of mutual affection. In 1763 he received unsolicited, his biographer says, the degree of D. D.

from Aberdeen, which he asserts did not make him proud; and we can easily give full credit to his testimony.

Dr. Stennett's natural talents were good, and highly improved by assiduous and extensive study. He possessed a respectable portion of classical knowledge, and he paid considerable attention to modern literature. As a preacher he greatly excelled. The pure principles of the Gospel he exhibited with great clearness and precision, so as to attract the attention and engage the mind to receive the truth with pleasure. In elocution he was superior to most of his denomination, and possessed the enviable art of addressing the heart and carrying it along with him in a stream of warm affections. His eloquence was not of the ardent and vehement kind-he was no Demosthenes; but in a soft, tender, insinuating persuasion and influence he was a master. In the private duties of the pastoral office he exhibited a becoming example of diligence and zeal.

Such a man, it may naturally be supposed, made. a conspicuous figure among the dissenters. In whatever related to the cause of religious liberty, he felt himself deeply interested, and ever afforded his most vigorous exertions. To his own denomination he was a most active and zealous friend. He was perhaps the last of the dissenting ministers who cultivated social intercourse with the great; a practice common in the former generation, and conceived to be beneficial to the body. In private life Dr. Stennett was remarkably amiable and engaging, and in the performance of relative duties highly exemplary. As a minister, a Christian, and a man, Dr. Stennett was very highly esteemed, and the pleasing lustre