passed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us not be faint or weary in well-doing: soon we shall follow the ransomed of the Lord, and join in one unison before the unveiled Deity, salvation to God that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever! "IN VERITATE VICTORIA." CHAPTER LV. Cheshunt College-Mr. Nicholson-Opening of the College-Services on the occasion-Appeal to those educated at Cheshunt-Letter from Dr. HaweisLetter from Lady Huntingdon to a Student-List of Persons educated at Cheshunt-List of the Trustees to the present day-Lady Anne Erskine succeeds Lady Huntingdon Anecdote-her Early Piety-Last Illness and Death-Funeral-Epitaph. ON the death of Lady Huntingdon, in 1791, the four persons to whom she bequeathed her chapels, in the hope that they would take measures for carrying on the work of God in the same zealous and disinterested manner as she herself had done, seem to have thought it best to consign this difficult task chiefly to the superintendance of one of their number, Lady Anne Agnes Erskine. Early in the period when her Ladyship was called on to superintend the affairs of the Connexion, a most important step was taken by its friends, that of establishing a place for the education of pious young men for the ministry of the Gospel, at Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire, instead of the Čollege at Trevecca, in Wales, the lease of which had expired. Prejudices have been entertained by some serious persons against a well-educated and learned ministry; they have observed that a great proportion of the men eminent for science, are far from being conspicuous for piety; and hence, have been tempted to imagine, that grace and education are inimical to each other. They have observed, also, that some very highlyhonoured men-men whose ministry God has signally blessed,have been such as could make but little pretensions to literature; and from this circumstance they have deduced the conclusion, that learning is not of much importance to the Christian ministry. These ideas were probably more prevalent some years ago than they are at present; the lives of such men as Henry Martyn, have shown that the simplicity and humility of a little child, united to the fervour of a martyr, may well consist with high eminence in learning and superior vigour of intellect; and have impressed many minds with a conviction that learning, when sanctified, is a powerful auxiliary to ministerial usefulness. The extraordinary attention, too, which, since the establishment of the British and Foreign Bible Society, has been paid to the translation of the sacred Scriptures into different languages, a task which, it is evident, could not possibly be well performed without a considerable share of biblical and philological knowledge, must satisfy even the most prejudiced, that, since the original languages of the Scriptures have ceased to be vernacular, God has himself ordained that the nations of the earth should be indebted to sanctified learning for the very key of knowledge; not to insist on the awful fact, that infidelity has of late years, with Satanic ingenuity, set in array against God's Holy Book a variety of engines, which can only be destroyed, so far as human agency is concerned, by the researches of learned men.* The situation of Cheshunt College appears to have been fixed on, under the directing hand of that God whose glory was sincerely sought by its founders. Being about twelve miles from London, it was placed beyond the polluting exhalations of that city, and yet not so far from the residences of its friends as to prevent their frequent visits, or the exercise of their vigilant care. The buildings and grounds purchased for this purpose are delightfully situated near the banks of the New River. May the Lord himself write over its gates "Jehovah Shammah”—the Lord is there-fit designation for those shady walks and sequestered chambers, where, already many a youth has met with God and enjoyed his special presence. O, Cheshunt, dear to memory still-peace be within thy walls, prosperity within thy palaces; for our brethren and companions' sakes will we now say, Peace be within thee! A sum of money, amounting to several hundred pounds, had been collected, towards the close of Lady Huntingdon's life, with the anticipation of removing the students from Trevecca to some other situation, and the premises at Cheshunt were opened as a place of religious education on the 24th of August, 1792, being the anniversary of the opening of Trevecca College, and also of the birth-day of its revered and lamented foundress. The seminary at Trevecca was supported at the sole expense A remarkable illustration of this observation has lately occurred in a reply, by the eminently learned and candid Dr. Pye Smith, drawn up at the request of the London Christian Instruction Society, in answer to a blasphemous infidel manifesto. of the Countess, till it pleased God to take her home to himself. About four years previous to that event, a few friends to the Gospel, reflecting on the great utility of the institution, the many faithful and eminent servants of Christ it had produced, and the probable want of a fund to carry it on when deprived of the support of its noble foundress, formed the design of continuing and perpetuating the same by subscription. Their intention. being communicated to the Countess, she most cordially approved thereof. Rules and regulations were drawn up, and signed by her Ladyship and the friends who assisted in the design. Seven trustees were chosen, on whom the future care of the College, after her Ladyship's decease, was to devolve, with power to choose successors. The next concern, and the most important, was to procure a gentleman of distinguished piety and learning to superintend and direct the studies of such young men as should be received into this house of instruction, as there had not been any settled tutor at the College in Wales since the Countess's decease, or for a short time before. The person who first occupied that important station at Cheshunt College, was the Rev. Isaac Nicholson, a clergyman of the Church of England, and a man eminently qualified for the office, who proved an honour to the institution, a blessing to the students put under his care, and to the neighbourhood where he resided. The house at Trevecca was given up at Lady-day, 1792; the furniture of which, with the library and communion plate, having been bequeathed by Lady Huntingdon for the use of the College, were removed to Cheshunt, where Mr. Nicholson, the president, arrived the 13th of July, and the two first students, William Jones and William Kemp, were admitted the 1st of August; five others followed shortly after. The religious services which attended the opening of the College were peculiarly interesting. Four senior ministers, all of whom had been educated at Trevecca, conducted the services; viz., Rev. W. F. Platt, Rev. Anthony Crole, Rev. John Eyre, and Rev. Lemuel Kirkman. The great parlour of the College, an elegant room, twenty-nine feet long, and nineteen feet wide, now used as a chapel, having been previously furnished with seats for about one hundred and fifty persons, the Right Hon. Lady Anne Agnes Erskine, executrix and most intimate friend of the late Countess of Huntingdon, (the original foundress of the institution,) was seated as her representative, at the upper end of the room; from whence, in a line extending to the lower end, sat the treasurer, deputy treasurer, the rest of the trustees, (all of whom were present except Mr. Lloyd,) the president in VOL. II.-L L his gown and cassock, and the following seven students in proper students' gowns, namely, John Bickerdike, Robert Bradley, John Davies, William Jones, William Kemp, William Robertson, and Thomas Bevan Winter. The ministers were seated in a row at the upper end of the room: and the pulpit was removed to the third window, the sashes of which were taken out, for the convenience of seeing and hearing from the court-yard, where seats were erected, and where there was a much larger congregation than within the room, which was principally filled with ladies. Exactly at eleven o'clock the service began by singing the four first verses of the 245th Hymn in the Countess of Huntingdon's Collection, page 373, to the old 100th Psalm tune: "Jesus where'er thy people meet, Such ever bring Thee when they come, And bring all heaven before our eyes." The Rev. William Francis Platt, minister of Holywell-mount chapel, then stepped into the pulpit, and in a sweet, lively, fervent and energetic prayer solemnly dedicated the house, the institution, and all concerned therein, to the guidance, protection, and blessing of God, whose cause, whose honour and glory, was the perpetual aim and design of the noble foundress of the College; and is the grand object of the present trustees, chosen by her Ladyship, desire ever to have in view. After the prayer of dedication, two of the students, Kemp and Winter, went to the middle window, where a table was placed for the purpose, and read verse by verse, alternately, "O come, let us sing unto the Lord," &c., and the psalms selected for the occasion, viz., Psalm xix., lxviii., cxxxii., and cxxxiii. Another student, William Jones, then read the first lesson, Isaiah lv. Kemp and Winter read, "We praise thee, O God, we acknowledge," &c. Jones read the second lesson (Eph. iv.), to the end of verse 16. Kemp and Winter read, "O be joyful in the Lord all ye lands," &c. This being ended, the first and third verses of the 112 th Hymn were sung: "Peace be to this congregation, Give our raptur'd souls to prove Mr. Crole delivered a charge to the students in English, to the president in Latin, and again to the trustees in English, exhorting each and all to the performance of their duties. We make an extract from the first of these divisions : "Above all, the grace of God alive in your soul, an ardent desire to promote the honour of Jesus Christ, and a fervent love for the souls of others, are infinitely preferable; for a man possessed of all the former, yet destitute of these, is only as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. To all these you must add incessant and fervent prayer, a strict watch over your own spirits, a due use of all the advantages of much reading, writing, and college exercises. It is well observed by Lord Bacon, 'that much reading makes a full man, much writing makes a correct man, and much speaking makes a ready man;' you will improve the hint. A sacred regard to the discipline of the house, the authority of the President, and those studies appointed for your improvement, can never be dispensed with. For no man who has a character at stake, who means, or is capable of doing his duty, would undertake the superintendence of this place, without an entire authority both over your time and studies; hence carly rising, close application, and no absenting from the regular business of the College at any time without leave, will most undoubtedly be expected from you. Continuing to maintain the truth of the Gospel, and the honour of your own characters and connexion, our houses, our hearts, our pulpits, and our pockets will fly open for your use and encouragement: we intend to use you as Moses did his rod; whilst it continued a rod he held it in his hand, but when it became a serpent he fled from it. While you continue the instruments of Divine truth and power, we will hold you in our hands; but |