THE IMPERIAL MAGAZINE.

JUNE, 1833.

MEMOIR OF THE REV. ROWLAND HILL, M. A.

(With a Portrait.)

To record the praises of departed worth, and to preserve from oblivion the principal incidents in the lives of those whose example may benefit posterity, is the noblest use of biography. Much has already been written concerning the late popular minister of Surrey Chapel; and of this not a little of it needs correction.* The present sketch, brief as it must necessarily be, will at least have its use in curing this evil, and be entitled to the praise of fidelity.

ROWLAND HILL was a descendant of a family of great respectability in the county of Salop-the Hills of Hawkstone. Its antiquity can be traced back as far as the reign of our king Edward the First, (A. D. 1272,) at which period they became distinguished among the gentry of the north. From the marriage of Humphrey Hill with a daughter of John Bridde, Esq. maternally descended from the ancient earls of Chester, sprang several branches, which were dispersed into different parts of the kingdom. One of the younger sons of this prolific marriage, was father to Sir Rowland Hill, the first Protestant Lord Mayor of London-an office which he filled twice; first in the reign of Henry VIII. by whom he was knighted, and afterwards in the short reign of Edward VI.

During the reign of William the Third, (1700,) the Right Honourable Richard Hill was deputed to the embassy at Brussels, and appointed paymaster to the army in Flanders. He was afterwards sent on several embassies by Queen Anne; was made a Lord of the Treasury, one of the Council of Prince George of Denmark, and a member of the Privy Council of her Majesty. Surviving his royal mistress, he became a personal favourite with George I. who conferred the dignity of Baronet on his nephew and heir at law, Rowland Hill, the father of the venerable and benevolent minister of Surrey Chapel.

The Rev. ROWLAND HILL, the subject of this memoir, was the third of five brothers, Richard, John, Rowland, Brian, and Robert. The eldest of them, who succeeded his father in the title and estates, is still well remembered as Sir Richard Hill, Baronet of Hawkstone, who, in six successive parliaments, represented the county of Salop; and, dying without issue, was succeeded. in the family honours by his brother, the late Sir John Hill, the father of the present Lord Hill; an officer, who has gained for himself and his country unfading honours, in the late Peninsular war, and is now raised to the dignified rank of Commander-in-chief of the British army. Brian and Robert were both ministers of the established church.

Having thus briefly adverted to the lineage of the family, we now pass on to trace the history of the late highly respected minister of Surrey Chapel. He was born at Hawkstone, the family mansion, a few miles

The Georgian Era; Mr. Jay's Funeral Sermon; the Congregational Magazine; the Evangelical Register; the Patriot Newspaper; the Christian Advocate, &c. &c. have all fallen into mistakes, and some of a very glaring kind!

2D. SERIES, NO. 30.-VOL. III.

2 I

174.-VOL. XV.

66

from Shrewsbury, on the 23d of August, 1744. The rudiments of his education were acquired at the Grammar-school of that town, from whence, at a proper age, he was removed to Eton, where he continued about four years, after which he went to Cambridge, to perfect his studies, and entered a student of St. John's College, at which time he was just turned eighteen years of age. We have it from under his own hand, that he here commenced an acquaintance with the late Mr. Simpson, afterwards of Macclesfield, author of the "Plea for Religion and the Sacred Writings." 'Being of the same college," says Mr. Hill, "our custom was to read with each other the Greek Testament, and other evangelical publications; these meetings we always concluded with prayer. The University, then, was almost in total darkness. No wonder, therefore, if, for such exercises, and for some other strong symptoms of a methodistical bias, we were speedily marked, and had the honour of being pointed at as the curiosities of the day. This did good. Others soon joined us, to the number of ten or twelve. Some of them were Nicodemian disciples; others have proved bold and useful ministers; and some of them, I trust, have been taken to glory."*

It was during his residence at Eton, that Mr. Hill's mind was first seriously impressed with a due concern for his best interests; and Mr. Jay tells us, that it was occasioned by his brother Richard reading to him a sermon, by Bishop Beveridge, founded on John i. 29. "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." This important change led him to be much conversant with the writings of Hervey, Henry, Doddridge, and others of that class, and particularly with the Holy Scriptures, all of which tended to deepen his religious principles, and direct him in the way of truth and holiness. It was at this time (1762) that his brother Richard, who was eleven years older than himself, and decidedly evangelical in his sentiments, addressed to him a long and valuable epistle,+ which he preserved through life, as a kind of vade mecum. It is unquestionably an extraordinary production to come from such a quarter, and it tended greatly to establish his mind in the ways of righteousness. His residence at Eton was an important crisis of his life. It brought him into contact with the sons of many of our nobility; and it was in collision with these young men, that he attained the wit which ever afterwards enlivened his conversation. But, what was of more consequence to him and to the world, he at this juncture learnt to frown at folly and vice, without weakening his cause by intemperate anger at those who were guilty of them. This decision of mind, combined with a vivacity of manner and an archness of countenance, soon enabled him to overcome the embarrassment of an Eton initiation, and acquired for him the confidence and esteem of the sober-minded, of both tutors and students. The latter, generally, were far from being pleased with his strict notions of virtue, and the studied morality of his conduct. His growing regard to the doctrines of evangelical truth still more surprised and provoked them. But he soon began to blend with them so much wit, and advocate them with so much wisdom and warmth, that he often silenced where he could not convince; and conciliated the regard even of those who continued averse to the strictness of his maxims and morals. This will assist us in accounting for his conduct while finishing his education at the University of Cambridge.

* Journal of a Tour to Scotland, p. iv.

+ This Letter will be found at length in the Memoir of Mr. Hill, prefixed to his "Fifteen Sermons," now being published by J. Bennett, Ivy Lane.

66

Before Mr. Hill had completed his collegiate studies, he had preached both in the prison, and in private houses in Cambridge, and in the Moorfields Tabernacle, and Chapel of Tottenham-court-road, London; the consequence of which uncanonical way of proceeding, may be gathered from the following lines written by himself. During my residence at this seat of learning, even drunkenness and whoredom were deemed less exceptionable practices in a candidate for the ministry, than visiting the sick and imprisoned, and expounding the Scriptures in private houses. For these last-mentioned offences, I met with no less than six refusals, before I gained admission into the ministry of the Established Church." However, he succeeded at last, being ordained a Deacon of the Church of England by Dr. Moss, then Bishop of Bath and Wells; having previously taken the degree of Master of Arts.

At the time Mr. Hill obtained ordination, and quitted the University, the celebrated George Whitefield was in the zenith of his popularity; but the impaired state of his health soon afterwards induced him to take repeated voyages across the Atlantic, and in 1770 he ended his days in that country. Mr. Hill had already preached in his chapels espoused his cause, and defended his character, through the medium of the press-and shewn a warm attachment to the interest of Calvinistic Methodism. His accession to it was courted by Mr. Whitefield's friends, and for some time it remained doubtful whether he would not ultimately fix his residence in that camp, and become Mr. Whitefield's successor. His own family, on the other hand, and his father in particular, discovered great aversion to this. Mr. Toplady, too, who had held him in high esteem, now began to shew both alarm and displeasure. They all pronounced his methodism to be very immethodical : they feared lest his eccentric spirit should lead him to a departure from the church altogether; and were displeased that he had so earnestly and so openly countenanced dissent from the Establishment. That the heedless zealot, as they called him, was not cut off as a hopeless branch, and left to take root and flourish where he could, or wither through the want of stability and support, has been ascribed to the earnest intercession of his brother Richard, whose devoted attachment to him, and whose hope of his ultimate success as a Christian minister, no deviation from canonical rules could have power to abate, much less finally extinguish.

At length an end was put to all further negociations between Mr. Hill and the Tabernacle managers, and in such a way as to decide the former in continuing to be nominally a clergyman of the church of England. And, now, for about a dozen years after Mr. Whitefield's death, he prosecuted his favourite plan of itineracy, preaching wherever he could gain an audience; resuming, at stated periods, the services of the London and Bristol tabernacles. "His condition in life," says Mr. Jay, "his youth, the sprightliness of his imagination, the earnestness of his address, produced an amazing attention and effect. He preached in the streets, on the quays, (of Bristol,) and at Kingswood among the colliers. He spread through the several neighbouring counties of Wiltshire, Somersetshire, and Gloucestershire. In the latter county many were awakened, and truly converted to God; where, by his labours also, several congregations, now large and flourishing, were founded. One of these was established at Wotton Underedge. This drew much of his regard. He there built a tabernacle, and attached to it a dwelling-house, which he always afterwards continued to occupy as the centre of his retreat and excursions when in the country."

Mr. Hill lost his father about the year 1780, and soon after he projected the

from Shrewsbury, on the 23d of August, 1744. The rudiments of his education were acquired at the Grammar-school of that town, from whence, at a proper age, he was removed to Eton, where he continued about four years, after which he went to Cambridge, to perfect his studies, and entered a student of St. John's College, at which time he was just turned eighteen years of age. We have it from under his own hand, that he here commenced an acquaintance with the late Mr. Simpson, afterwards of Macclesfield, author of the "Plea for Religion and the Sacred Writings." "Being of the same college," says Mr. Hill, “our custom was to read with each other the Greek Testament, and other evangelical publications; these meetings we always concluded with prayer. The University, then, was almost in total darkness. No wonder, therefore, if, for such exercises, and for some other strong symptoms of a methodistical bias, we were speedily marked, and had the honour of being pointed at as the curiosities of the day. This did good. Others soon joined us, to the number of ten or twelve. Some of them were Nicodemian disciples; others have proved bold and useful ministers; and some of them, I trust, have been taken to glory."*

It was during his residence at Eton, that Mr. Hill's mind was first seriously impressed with a due concern for his best interests; and Mr. Jay tells us, that it was occasioned by his brother Richard reading to him a sermon, by Bishop Beveridge, founded on John i. 29. "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." This important change led him to be much conversant with the writings of Hervey, Henry, Doddridge, and others of that class, and particularly with the Holy Scriptures, all of which tended to deepen his religious principles, and direct him in the way of truth and holiness. It was at this time (1762) that his brother Richard, who was eleven years older than himself, and decidedly evangelical in his sentiments, addressed to him a long and valuable epistle,† which he preserved through life, as a kind of vade mecum. It is unquestionably an extraordinary production to come from such a quarter, and it tended greatly to establish his mind in the ways of righteousness. His residence at Eton was an important crisis of his life. It brought him into contact with the sons of many of our nobility; and it was in collision with these young men, that he attained the wit which ever afterwards enlivened his conversation. But, what was of more consequence to him and to the world, he at this juncture learnt to frown at folly and vice, without weakening his cause by intemperate anger at those who were guilty of them. This decision of mind, combined with a vivacity of manner and an archness of countenance, soon enabled him to overcome the embarrassment of an Eton initiation, and acquired for him the confidence and esteem of the sober-minded, of both tutors and students. The latter, generally, were far from being pleased with his strict notions of virtue, and the studied morality of his conduct. His growing regard to the doctrines of evangelical truth still more surprised and provoked them. But he soon began to blend with them so much wit, and advocate them with so much wisdom and warmth, that he often silenced where he could not convince; and conciliated the regard even of those who continued averse to the strictness of his maxims and morals. This will assist us in accounting for his conduct while finishing his education at the University of Cambridge.

* Journal of a Tour to Scotland, p. iv.

+ This Letter will be found at length in the Memoir of Mr. Hill, prefixed to his "Fifteen Sermons," now being published by J. Bennett, Ivy Lane.

Before Mr. Hill had completed his collegiate studies, he had preached both in the prison, and in private houses in Cambridge, and in the Moorfields Tabernacle, and Chapel of Tottenham-court-road, London; the consequence of which uncanonical way of proceeding, may be gathered from the following lines written by himself." During my residence at this seat of learning, even drunkenness and whoredom were deemed less exceptionable practices in a candidate for the ministry, than visiting the sick and imprisoned, and expounding the Scriptures in private houses. For these last-mentioned offences, I met with no less than six refusals, before I gained admission into the ministry of the Established Church." However, he succeeded at last, being ordained a Deacon of the Church of England by Dr. Moss, then Bishop of Bath and Wells; having previously taken the degree of Master of Arts.

At the time Mr. Hill obtained ordination, and quitted the University, the celebrated George Whitefield was in the zenith of his popularity; but the impaired state of his health soon afterwards induced him to take repeated voyages across the Atlantic, and in 1770 he ended his days in that country. Mr. Hill had already preached in his chapels espoused his cause, and defended his character, through the medium of the press-and shewn a warm attachment to the interest of Calvinistic Methodism. His accession to it was courted by Mr. Whitefield's friends, and for some time it remained doubtful whether he would not ultimately fix his residence in that camp, and become Mr. Whitefield's successor. His own family, on the other hand, and his father in particular, discovered great aversion to this. Mr. Toplady, too, who had held him in high esteem, now began to shew both alarm and displeasure. They all pronounced his methodism to be very immethodical : they feared lest his eccentric spirit should lead him to a departure from the church altogether; and were displeased that he had so earnestly and so openly countenanced dissent from the Establishment. That the heedless zealot, as they called him, was not cut off as a hopeless branch, and left to take root and flourish where he could, or wither through the want of stability and support, has been ascribed to the earnest intercession of his brother Richard, whose devoted attachment to him, and whose hope of his ultimate success as a Christian minister, no deviation from canonical rules could have power to abate, much less finally extinguish.

At length an end was put to all further negociations between Mr. Hill and the Tabernacle managers, and in such a way as to decide the former in continuing to be nominally a clergyman of the church of England. And, now, for about a dozen years after Mr. Whitefield's death, he prosecuted his favourite plan of itineracy, preaching wherever he could gain an audience; resuming, at stated periods, the services of the London and Bristol tabernacles. "His condition in life," says Mr. Jay, "his youth, the sprightliness of his imagination, the earnestness of his address, produced an amazing attention and effect. He preached in the streets, on the quays, (of Bristol,) and at Kingswood among the colliers. He spread through the several neighbouring counties of Wiltshire, Somersetshire, and Gloucestershire. In the latter county many were awakened, and truly converted to God; where, by his labours also, several congregations, now large and flourishing, were founded. One of these was established at Wotton Underedge. This drew much of his regard. He there built a tabernacle, and attached to it a dwelling-house, which he always afterwards continued to occupy as the centre of his retreat and excursions when in the country.

Mr. Hill lost his father about the year 1780, and soon after he projected the