18093) 
Oxford 5: where he sesideduntibhe received 
_the honorary degree of A:.M./;. when he went 
“to an academy at Angers, in France 3 and 
«after about one year’s residence. at,,that place, 
he made a tour of. the Southern parts of Eu- 
_ Tope, in company. with the late Earl of El- 
_ gin, aad then returmed to his native county. 
_ He was about twenty-four years of age before 
he had a religiousturnof mind; when he be- 
_ came known to the late reer, and aneenad 
Messrs. Romaine, Talbot, Stillingieet, H 
"Venn, Berridge, S. Walker, and others of the 
most pious and laborious clergy of the Church 
‘of England; whose acquaintance was particnlar- 
aly beneficial to him.Desirous of being useful in 
his’station, he published and distributed seve- 
ral religious Tracts, yisited and relieved the 
_ poor and afflicted, in-his neighbourhood, and 
“ exhorted them to repentance and newness of 
life. “His controversial writings in defence 
_ of the Six Students expelled the university of 
Oxford, and in defence of the Calvinistic Doc- 
trines of the Gospel, as held by and stated jn | 
the articles, Homilies,'and Liturgy of the 
Church of England, do honour to_his abilities 
as an able writer, and to his piety, zeal, and 
_ integrity as a christian, the polite gentleman, 
_ and scholar; but his reply to the Rev. Mr. 
* Madan, intitled, «* The Biessings of Poly- 
" gamy displayed,” gained him more credit 
thanany of his other publications. Sir Ri- 
chard, when but a young convert, became a 
zealous champion for the rdligious party to 
“which he had attached himself. ,It is well 
“known that. the great leaders of methodism, 
esley and Whitfield, adopted Opposite 
‘sentiments on the extent of salvation. The 
* former allowed that man isa free agent, and 
“that the satisfadtion of Christ.was made for 
all men. These points were flatly denied by 
‘ Whitfield and the calvinistical metliodists, 
‘who made man a passive i instrument till grace 
_ inSpired him with divine life ; and they con- 
‘ tended that the elect only, or those who 
"were predestinated from all eternity, shall 
be made partakers of the kingdom of heaven. 
A fierce contention arose among the metho- 
_ distical leaders upon these inscrutable topics, 
“and they almost proceeded to excommunicate 
_#ne another for heterodoxy. The Calvinists 
were by far the most violent, and the harsh- 
ness of their, creed inspired them with the 
“most intolerant sentiments. Sir Richard 
‘Hill waged war against the whole host of Ar- 
minians, and published several pamphlets 
bpon the doctrines in dispute, which exhibi- 
“ted considerable knowledge of the subject, 
and. evinced no sYual!l skill in” theological 
" controversy. About the same time, the 
aniversity of Oxford began to be jealous of 
the progress of metitodism, and finding that 
‘Edmund-hal! contsined some students who 
exercised their preaching talents before they 
were duly aukhurised, expelled them. This 
“cansed a “mighty outcry among the zealots ; 
“and several pieces were published against the 
ieondact ef Dr, Durel. and Dr. Noel oe other 
Tg 
' .Atcount of ihe late Sur 
Richard, Hill, Bart. 503 
heads of houses. who were engaged in that af 
fair.. Among the rest Sir Richard came for- 
wardas the champion of methocism, ina tract 
which was written with great shrewdness and 
spirit, entitled, . ‘¢,Pietas. Oxoniexsis.” Not 
long after this he engaged i in a paper war, with 
Dr. Adams,, rector of St..Chad’s,, Shrewsbu- 
ty, on the following occasion. . It, was the 
custom of the late Mr. Romaine, whom the 
Calvinists regarded as their prophet, to spend 
some of the summer months in) travelling, 
and in one of these excursions he was invited 
topreach at the doctor’s church, He aceepted 
the invitation ; but.his sermon was so little 
to the viear’s taste, thac he is said: to have 
treated him rather ‘rudely, and ever to have 
preached against him from the same pulpit. 
The doctor was soon after attacked ina printed 
letter with great warmth. by the, author of 
Pietes Oxoniensis, and the controversy we be- 
lieve was continued for sometime with no 
little heat on both sides; though the doctor 
did not scruple to confess. that his own doc- 
trines were not those of the Church of Eng- 
land, and upon this groundit was that his an- 
tagonist lad sogreat an advantage over him. 
But Mr, John Wesley, anda very pious mi- 
nister in. connection with that extragrdinary 
man, the Rey. Mr. John Fletcher, vicar, of 
Madely, were the_ principal antagonists, of 
Sir Richard. The whole field of controversy 
between Calvinism and Arminianism was 
traversed over and over again by these adroit 
polemics ; but there was one gentleman who 
had a manifest advantage overall the rest, 
and that was Mr. Augustus Toplady. He 
possessed a considerable degree of learning 
a great command of language, an extent of 
reading, and such a competency of metaphy- 
sics and logic, as enabled him to give to Cal- 
vanism. an attracting appearance. When 
that gentleman died, .it seems the Wesleyan 
methodists propagated some scandalous stories 
concerning, the manner of his departure, 2s 
that he had recanted his opinions, and expi- 
req distracted. In confatation of his slande- 
rous reproach, Sir Richard printed a smali 
pamphlet, which abundantly vindicated the 
consistent integrity of his. departed_ friend, 
and did honour to his own feelings. Since 
that time he has published.a few other pieces, 
some practical end others controversial, The 
chief of bis works, however, is ‘¢.An, Apo- 
logy for Brotherly Love, and for the Doc- 
trines of the Church of England,.in letters to 
the. Rev. Charles Daubeny; with a. Vindi- 
cation of such psits of Mr. Wilberforce’s 
Practical View as have been objected to by 
Mr. Daubeny in his ¢* Guide to the Church.” 
8yo. 1798. In this work Sir Richard evinces 
greater moderation than in his former pieces 5 
and it must be admitted that, so far as the 
faith of the Church of England is concerned, 
he encounters his adversary to great advantage. ~ 
Sir Richard was elected one of the knights of 
the shire for the county of Salop, in 1780, 
and continued its representative in fiz succes 
sive 
