76. To D. Parken. On theatrical representations 77. To Walter Sheppard, Esq. Consolatory suggestions 78. To the Rev. John Fawcett. Recollections of ancient friendship- 79. To D. Parken, Esq. Quarterly Review on Spanish affairs-Sou they's review on missions-Eclectic review of Hannah More- New Annual Register on the French Revolution 80. To D. Parken, Esq. On the phrase "gnashing of teeth"-Refer- ences to the Evil Spirit-Coleridge's "Friend”—The "four snpporters" of the Eclectic Review in great peril-by whom and 82. To the Rev. Joseph Hughes. Accountability for the right use of 83. To the Rev. Joseph Hughes. Mr. Foster's son-Preaching at 84. To John Sheppard, Esq. One best possible state of character and 85. To D. Parken, Esq. On the legal profession compared with devo- 87. To the Rev. Dr. Ryland. Translation of oriental works, by the Serampore missionaries-Their absolute value-Dr. Marshman's Chinese version of the Scriptures 88. To D. Parken, Esq. On Cobbett's writings 89. To the Rev. Joseph Hughes. Bible society-Mock eloquence at Collections at Bourton to repair the loss of the Serampore printing-office-Mr. Foster's sermon on the occasion 91. To his Parents. Serampore missionaries-The doctrine of Divine 92. To his Mother. On the death of aged Christians-Visit to Kidder- minster-Baxter's Pulpit-Iron-works 93. To his Mother. Mental character of the agricultural population compared with that of the manufacturing districts-Necessity of divine influence-Salutary effects of education and the circula- 95. To Mrs. Bunn. Preachers at Bath-Coleridge's Lectures on 96. To his Mother. Indifference of Monarchs to human life-The magnificence of Nature-Uses of picturesque scenery for the 97. To Miss B. Mr. Hart Davis's collection of paintings-Bristol City Library-Mr. Cottle's collection of letters by Southey and Coleridge-Hall's speech for the British and Foreign School Society-His sermon on "Hast thou made all men in vain ?"— His treatise on "Terms of Communion" 98. To his Mother. Heyne's Virgil-Review of Past life-Resolves 99. To his Mother. Views of the universe-The Omniscience and goodness of the Divine Being-Lay preachers 100. To his Mother. Visit to Worcester-Reflections on passing 104. To his Mother. Account of the exhumation of several human MEMOIR. CHAPTER I. FARENTAGE AND BIRTH-EARLY CHARACTER AND OCCUPATIONSBREARLEY HALL-BRISTOL. 1770-1792. JOHN and ANN FOSTER, the parents of the subject of this memoir, occupied, at the time of his birth, a small farm-house in the parish of Halifax, between Wainsgate and Hebden-bridge.* In addition to the labors of the farm, they devoted part of their time to weav ing. Mr. Foster was a strong-minded man, and so addicted to reading and meditation, that on this account principally he deferred involving himself in the cares of a family till upwards of forty. He received his permanent convictions of Christian truth from that model of apostolic zeal, Mr. Grimshaw, of Haworth; but subsequently joined a small Baptist church at Wainsgate. Though a person of retired habits,† and averse from mix. ing in society further than a sense of duty required, he possessed great cheerfulness and enlarged views. "I remember," a valued correspondent observes, "seeing him in company with a dear relative at the time when the British and Foreign Bible Society was first formed, and it is impossible for me to forget the devout exhilaration of the venerable Christian as he conversed on the subject, and indulged in bright visions of hope in reference to the world he was leaving." His acquaintance with theological writers was extensive. His conversation was generally full of * The name of the locality, which frequently occurs in the correspondence, was Wadsworth Lanes; the latter term is intended to describe a township road, in which a considerable number of other roads or lanes meet. † A secluded spot at the bottom of a wood near Hebden-bridge, and adjoining the river Hebden, with a projecting rock, whither the good man used to retire for prayer and meditation, is still known by the name of John Foster's cave. instruction, and showed an acute and discriminating mind. In the society of which he was so valuable a member, he took a leading part; and on the decease of their pastor, read at their meetings every alternate Sunday, "Gurnal's Christian Armor.” It is said that when any passage struck him as peculiarly excellent, he would pause and express his approbation by exclaiming, "Author, I am of thy opinion." "That's sound divinity.' In Mrs. Foster he found a partner of congenial taste, and his counterpart in soundness of understanding, integrity, and piety. They both lived to a very advanced age, but suffered much from bodily affliction during the latter part of their course. The following characteristic inscription was placed on Mr. Foster's tomb-stone, by his own desire. "John Foster exchanged this life for a better, March 21, 1814, in the eighty-eighth year of his age, and the sixty-third after God had fully assured him that he was one of his sons.' Mrs. Foster survived her husband nearly three years, and died December 19, 1816. Their eldest son, JOHN FOSTER, was born September 17, 1770. When not twelve years old, he had (to use his own words) “ a painful sense of an awkward but entire individuality." This was apparent in his manners and language. His observations on characters and events resembled those of a person arrived at maturity, and obtained for him from the neighbors the appellation of "old-fashioned." Thoughtful and silent, he shunned the companionship of boys whose vivacity was merely physical and uninspired by sentiment. His natural tendency to reserve was increased by the want of juvenile associates at home; for his only brother, Thomas, was four years younger than himself, and they had no sisters. His parents, partly from the lateness of their marriage, had acquired habits of too fixed a gravity to admit of that confiding intercourse which is adapted to promote the healthy exercise of the affections. Had a freer interchange of feeling existed, it might have rendered less intense (though it could not have removed) that constitutional pensiveness of Foster's mind, which at times induced "a recoil from human beings into a cold interior retirement," where he felt as if "dissociated from the whole creation." But emotion and sentiment being thus repressed, his outward life was marked by a timidity that amounted to "infinite shyness." A very large proportion of his feelings were so much his own, that he either "felt precisely that they could not be communicated, or he did not feel that they could." His |