and honestly my due, and I might reasonably expect that thereyou would willingly pay me the same. fore But, however, seeing you are pleased to inquire on what terms I would settle with you? I reply, that provided you have come to a peaceable settlement of the said principal, I consent, for peace' sake, to forego the interest of the said sum, which I compute, after your interest is taken out, to be £5300 (errors excepted). If you say you don't look on this as any favour, in answer to it, let me say I am much mistaken if in the civil law damages will not come into consideration, seeing I have not been wanting, in years past, to put the parish in mind of fulfilling their contract. But, however, I can't but think if you will, as it becomes Christians, reason calmly upon the matter, and without any bias upon your minds, you will then judge that the interest of the deficient parts of my salary is, in the Court of Conscience, or by the natural law of equity, my due, as well as the deficient parts themselves, because the parish in general, though often called upon, yet through their neglect has, as I conceive, had the improvement of so much of my property. You can't but know that it had been much better for me to have had my salary paid me from year to year, according to the honest and true intent of the contract, than to take it now with simple interest, because then I might have improved the interest as well as the principal. "And now, brethren, as to the principal. If you will now vote to continue my salary at seventy pounds lawful money annually, during my continuance in the ministry among you, then I will abate on that consideration out of the said sum (how short soever my life may be (seven hundred pounds in Old Tenor. And as to my firewood, although I have all along looked upon it as properly belonging to the parish to provide the same, because I declared my expectation of and dependence upon it before my settlement, but was told that there was no need of having a meeting about it, for the people would bring it gratis; and I was not so critical in that day as to insist on a vote for it; but if you will now pass a vote to provide at the parsonage house a sufficiency of firewood annually during my continuance in the ministry among you, then, notwithstanding the aforesaid engagement, I will abate, on that consideration, the sum of three hundred pounds in Old Tenor. "So, then, there will remain, if you now comply with the said proposals, the sum of £2954 in O. T. And if you now vote me the said sum, or, in case of my decease, to be paid to my heirs, I will oblige myself and them to give you a full discharge at the payment of the same; and this will disable both me and them from demanding any more of said arrearages in time to come. "I am not ignorant, Brethren, of the ability of the parish to pay their just debts; and therefore what I purpose to give as a free donation out of said principal, I think it most proper, and I hope you are of the same mind, that I give it to the poorer sort, viz., to offset the whole or some part of their share in the said arrears; but as for such who plead that they are not in debt on the account of the said arrears, if they have anything material to offer, I think it proper that they make application to the parish, and not to me. "And finally, my dear Brethren, if after all that has been said you do rather incline to defer the said settlement, and shall choose to go on still in love, as you have done of late, viz., to allow me £70 lawful money and my firewood annually, I shall submit to your pleasure in that matter. And to conclude, study, I beseech you, the things which make for peace, and whereby one may edify another, which is the unfeigned desire of your friend and servant, 66 Andover, dated as above. "S. PHILLIPS. "P.S.-If you have any proposal to make consistent with honour and equity, I am willing to hear and consider it.—I remain, "S. P." * The parish chose "to go on still in love, and to defer the said settlement," for after adjourning their meeting till the next spring, they simply chose a committee "to reckon up the overplus that hath been paid to the Rev. Mr. Samuel Phillips over and above his stated salary, and to take a receipt of him for the same." But justice came at last, though tardily indeed, for fifteen days before his death he dictates the following letter: * Mrs. H. B. Stowe's History of the Church at Andover. "To the South Parish in Andover, convened this 21st day of May, Anno Dom. 1771. "MY DEAR BRETHREN,-I am informed by your committee that you have this day voted to pay me the sum of four hundred and ten pounds seven shillings and tenpence two farthings, as in full the arrears of my salary due to me in the former years of my ministry among you. I thank you for this fresh instance of your regard to me; and as a token of my gratitude, I consent that the sum of one hundred pounds lawful money be abated of said sum, to be improved for such purposes as the parish shall please to direct. And now, heartily entreating your prayers for me, I remain, Brethren, your afflicted friend and servant, "SAMUEL PHILLIPS." To Samuel Phillips, the son of this worthy man, and the founder of the Academy at Andover, we must refer a little further on. CHAPTER XVI. Newton at Olney. NEWTON Commenced his work at Olney under favourable circumstances, notwithstanding the coolness of his clerical brethren. His stipend as curate in charge was only small; but John Thornton, a wealthy merchant, after reading the "narrative" of his life sent him a handsome present, and on visiting him shortly after, left with him a sum of money to meet his own expenses, and for the relief of the poor. "Be hospitable," said the princely donor, "and keep an open house for such as are worthy of entertainment; help the poor and needy; I will statedly allow you two hundred pounds a year, and readily send whatever you have occasion to draw for more." * Amongst the Dissenters the new curate found hearty co-workers. The difficulty he felt in reading the Burial Service on some occasions, was obviated by the omission of the passages deemed inappropriate. In the ordinary services of the Church he could not have found sufficient scope for his efforts to form and instruct a "Congregation of faithful men,' but what was lacking in this respect he supplied in * During his stay at Olney, Newton received from Mr. Thornton three thousand pounds. William meetings, held in a commodious building hired for the purpose, called the "Great House," containing a parlour that would conveniently accommodate one hundred and thirty people. WILLIAM COWPER was a near neighbour, and to facilitate his visits. Cowper. to the vicarage a private path across a croft was allowed for a small consideration. The curate and his friend, the Christian poet, conjointly wrote the Olney Hymns. At the opening service in the Great Hall, Newton wrote the 43rd Hymn of the Selection, beginning " O Lord, our languid frames inspire," and Cowper the 44th Hymn-" Jesus, where'er Thy people meet." At the meetings none who engaged in prayer more interested the people than Cowper. Edwards of Leeds, Symonds of Bedford, William Bull of Newport Pagnell, and other Nonconformist ministers, were invited to preach in the Great House, and when on special occasions ministers came from a distance to the anniversary services in the meeting-houses, the service at the parish Church was given up that all the people might attend. Hall of Arnsby, Bradbury, and others, were invited to the vicarage, and Newton expresses the pleasure he had in their company. Of Bradbury he says: "I liked his spirit well." In return for these Christian courtesies, the Dissenting ministers in the neighbouring towns attended the parish churches, where Newton was allowed to preach in them, and if the clergy refused their pulpits Newton conducted religious services in the private houses of his Dissenting friends, though at some hazard, for he was closely watched, and in the case of his friend David |