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348

Against a busy, talkative Spirit.

spirit you want to have cast out of you.

You must have

seen, in common life, that when a man has this turn he is neither wise nor useful in his discourse; he becomes tiresome to everybody, and never talks to the purpose, because always talking. I take you to have good parts, and an awakened sense of piety; but neither sense nor piety can bring forth their proper fruits when under the power of a talkative spirit. You tell me that the "greatest part of my Second Part of 'The Spirit of Prayer' gave you great consolation; that it contains that pure and Christian philosophy which leads the fallen man to find eternity in himself, and Jesus Christ the source of all true happiness." Oh, Sir! is it possible for you to

see and know

What has the

this, and yet make no better use of it? heart to wish or seek from men and books after such a philosophy as this is found? But now, instead of saying to yourself, as you should have done, "It is enough; the mystery of salvation is here opened; in this light will I thankfully give up myself to God for the remainder of my life"-instead of thus thinking, my book had not been published a week before you sent me word of a great fright you were in lest a certain notion there advanced should "give occasion to the enemy not only to cavil, but to blaspheme." But, my dear friend, this is again mere talk. You have no such fear; for, if you had this fear in the smallest degree, how could you possibly ask my leave to publish this very notion in a newspaper? In my book, grounded, guarded, and supported as it is, there is no room to be afraid of anyone's seeing it; but for a serious person to remove it out of its place, where it stands supported by a pure Christian philosophy, to place it among the trash and babble of a newspaper, is as wise a contrivance to preserve it from the ill use of the enemy as if it were to be placed at the end of a play-book.'.

Silence the Handmaid of Divine Wisdom. 349

Law then condescends to explain at great length the point at which Mr. Briggs had stumbled, and concludes his long letter thus: But I have done, and shall only desire you not to be offended at any freedom used in this letter; for it is a letter of true love to you, written in the same style I should have spoke to you had you been with me. I embrace you in the ardour of Christian love; I esteem you much, and should be heartily glad to cherish the good spark of Divine life that I know is in you. The activity of your nature will perhaps be still for making replies, and giving way to farther doubts. But choose silence, the handmaid to Divine wisdom, and give yourself to the spirit of prayer, and then the perfection both of the first and Second Adam will be opened in you, and become your song of praise to-day, to-morrow, and to all eternity. Dear friend, adieu. W. LAW.'

Mr. Briggs appears to have taken the significant hint contained in the last sentences of this letter, for we hear no more of him. In justice to Law it should be added that he very rarely mingled the vinegar with the oil in his correspondence; but, when he did, it was uncommonly pungent.

350

Law's Friends.-Mrs. Hutcheson.

CHAPTER XX.

LAW'S FRIENDS IN HIS LATER YEARS,

WHEN Mr. Law retired finally to King's Cliffe, he necessarily saw less of those friends who had been wont to visit him at Putney, and also formed a new circle of acquaintances. It is now purposed to describe briefly a few of the good people who were brought into contact with Law in his later years.

His fellow-inmates of the Hall Yard claim our first attention.

Of Mrs. Hutcheson, the elder of the two ladies who shared their house with him, little is known. She was twice a widow, and both her husbands were well connected and held a good position in life. The latter had been M.P. for Hastings. From one source or another Mrs. Hutcheson was in possession of a handsome income— about 2,000l. a year-and thus she contributed by far the largest share towards the frugal expenses and sumptuous charities of the simple household. But there does not appear to have arisen the slightest difficulty about the disproportionate share of her contribution. As a true disciple of Mr. Law she would of course feel that, whatever her income might be, she was bound to devote the surplus, after the necessaries of life were supplied, to charitable objects; if she possessed more than the other inmates, she would of course devote more, and there was an end of the matter. Her noble foundations of schools and almshouses have been already described. Tradition

Mrs. Hester Gibbon.

351

states that she was of a very gentle and lovable disposition; and this tradition is borne out by a letter from Mr. Langcake, who knew her well. Writing to Miss Gibbon, upon the death of Mrs. Hutcheson, he speaks of the 'dear departed saint in whose countenance, when living, childlike simplicity and Divine love sat smiling.' She lived to the great age of ninety. In her will she particularly recommended to Miss Gibbon (whom she left as trustee for several benevolent bequests) 'my god-daughter Elizabeth Law, and the rest of that family, out of the respect and regard which I bear to the memory of my late worthy friend the Rev. William Law.' It was at the sole expense of Mrs. Hutcheson that the imperfect but costly edition of Behmen's works, of which Law is erroneously said to have been the editor, was published.

The individuality of the other inmate of the Hall Yard, Miss, or, according to the custom of the time, Mrs., Hester Gibbon, is far more distinctly marked. The mere fact of her relationship to the greatest of English historians lends an interest to her which her own personal character would perhaps have scarcely commanded. We have, moreover, two or three graphic touches from the historian's own pen which bring his aunt vividly before us. 'A life,' he says, 'of devotion and celibacy was the choice of my aunt, Mrs. Hester Gibbon, who, at the age of eighty-five, still resides in a hermitage at Cliffe, in Northamptonshire, having long survived her spiritual guide and faithful companion, Mr. William Law, who, at an advanced age, about the year 1761, died in her house.' Mr. Law died in his own house; it did not become Miss Gibbon's until after Law's death, when she received it as a bequest, or rather a trust, from him; but this is of little importance. In 1774 (some twelve years before Gibbon wrote the above)

Memoirs of my Life and Writings, by E. Gibbon, p. 14.

352

Gibbon's Description of His Aunt.

he met his pious aunt in London, and described the meeting in a letter to his step-mother, in the following terms: 'Guess my surprise when Mrs. Gibbon, of Northamptonshire, suddenly communicated her arrival. I immediately went to Surrey Street, where she lodged; but, though it was no more than half-an-hour after nine, the Saint had finished her evening devotions, and was already retired to rest. Yesterday morning (by appointment) I breakfasted with her at eight o'clock; dined with her to-day, at two, in Newman Street, and am just returned from setting her down. She is, in truth, a very great curiosity. Her dress and figure exceed anything we had at the masquerade; her language and ideas belong to the last century. However, in point of religion she was rational; that is to say, silent. I do not believe that she asked a single question or said the least thing concerning it. To me she behaved with great cordiality, and, in her way, expressed a great regard.' The sneer at 'the saint having finished her devotions' is not only irreverent, but rather low; and the whole description is in very questionable taste. Gibbon's step-mother, who was connected with the Mallets, and had come indirectly or directly, as we shall see presently, into collision with Miss Gibbon, would perhaps relish the allusions. Fourteen years later we find Gibbon writing to his aunt herself in a very different strain-a strain, however, which reminds one rather painfully of certain passages in the 'Decline and Fall.' It appears that his aunt had refused to see him, on the ground of his religious opinions, but had expressed some 'kind anxiety at his leaving England.' 'But I need not remind you,' writes Gibbon, 'that all countries are under the care of the same Providence. Your good wishes and advice

But

'Letters to and from Edward Gibbon, Esquire, No. LII. Gibbon's 'Miscellaneous Works,' vol. i. p. 484.

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