DODDRIDGE. 



25 



Doddridge. to the house of his sister, who had married Mr John 

 ''"" ""V" ' Nettleton, a dissenting minister at Ongar in Essex ; and 

 there employed himself in seriously deliberating upon 

 his future profession. He was strongly inclined to the 

 office of the ministry ; but the narrowness of his cir- 

 cumstances presented little prospect of his wishes being 

 accomplished. The Duchess of Bedford; who enter- 

 tained a regard for his family, offered to support the 

 expences of his education at either of the universities, 

 and afterwards to provide for him in the church of Eng- 

 land ; but, as he could not conscientiously comply with 

 the terms of conformity, he declined the proposal with 

 the utmost gratitude and respect. Others among his 

 friends advised him to pursue the study of the law, and 

 very favourable offers were made to him by a gentle- 

 man of that profession ; but while he was deliberating 

 ujxm the subject with devout applications for divine 

 direction, he received a letter from Dr Clerk, proposing 

 to take him under his care if he chose the ministry upon 

 Christian principles. Thankfully embracing this offer, 

 he returned to the house of his friend at St Albans, 

 where he was furnished with books nnd directions in 

 his studies; and, in October 171 9> was placed under 

 the tuition of the Rev. John Jennings, in the Academy 

 at Kibworth, in Leicestershire. Under the direction of 

 this gentleman, he prosecuted his studies with uncom- 

 mon diligence ; and besides perusing with close atten- 

 tion the most valuable theological works, he greatly in- 

 creased his acquaintance with classical literature, es- 

 pecially with the Greek writers, upon many of which 

 he wrote observations to a considerable extent. Nor 

 was he, at this time, attentive merely to the acquisition 

 of useful and ornamental knowledge ; but was equally 

 ardent in the cultivation of personal religion, as appears 

 from the rules which he drew up for the regulation of 

 his temper and conduct. In 1722, having been pre- 

 viously examined by a committee of ministers, and hav- 

 ing received an ample testimonial of his qualifications, 

 he preached his first sermon at Hinckley, whither Mr 

 Jennings had removed. After continuing to pursue 

 his studies another year, he received, much about the 

 same time, an invitation from a small dissenting con- 

 gregation at Kibworth, and an application from the city 

 of Coventry to be assistant to Mr Warren ; but prefer- 

 red the former situation, partly on account of his youth, 

 and also of the opportunity which the retirement of an 

 obscure village afforded for the farther acquisition of 

 knowledge. It was during his residence at this place, 

 from June 1723 to October 1725, that he more especial- 

 ly excelled as a preacher. He was remarkably careful 

 in his preparations for the pulpit, drawing up both his 

 sermons and expositions with great exactness of method, 

 and expressing his sentiments in language at once cor- 

 rect and elegant, and yet plain and easily understood. 

 He w;is also regularly employed in the serious perusal 

 of writers on practical divinity ; and among these his 

 favourite authors were Tillotson, Baxter, and Howe. 

 N'or amidst his more serious pursuits, did he discontinue 

 his attention to polite literature ; but frequently read 

 the more elegant writers of the French nation. He 

 particularly admired Fenelon and Racine ; and among 

 their sermon-writers, whom, however, he did not gene- 

 rally esteem, he gave the preference to Superville and 

 Saurin. While thus solicitous to enrich his mind with 

 various acquirements, he was duly attentive to the pri- 

 vate duties of his station ; and equally careful to adapt 

 himself in conversation to the capacities of the humble 

 people under his care. From the tinie that he entered 



101.. VIII. PABT I. 



upon the ministerial office, he received several invita- Doddridge. 

 tions to more numerous congregations than his first '-Y"""' 

 settlement, particularly to a large society of dissenters 

 in London, and to two similar associations in Notting- 

 ham ; but after mature deliberation, he adhered to his 

 plan of prosecuting his own improvement in a more re- 

 tired residence. In 1729, he was chosen assistant to 

 Mr Some at Market-Harborough, where he had chiefly 

 resided during the four preceding years ; but he still 

 continued to preach alternately to his people at Kib- 

 worth. Mr Jennings considering Mr Docldridge as the 

 most likely of all his pupils to carry on and complete 

 the plan which he had formed for conducting a theo- 

 logical academy, had earnestly advised him, but with- 

 out mentioning his motive, to keep in view the im- 

 provement of the course of lectures which he had at- 

 tended. Agreeably to this advice, he had carefully 

 reviewed the compendium which he had made of 

 these lectures ; and having had occasion to draw up, 

 at the request of a friend, a plan of conducting the 

 studies of young men intended for the ministry, his own 

 qualifications for the office of a tutor became more ge- 

 nerally known. His plan had been shewn to Dr Watts, 

 who not only expressed his approbation, but concurred 

 with many others in the opinion, that the person who 

 had devised was the best qualified to execute the scheme ; 

 and the matter having been proposed by Mr Some to a 

 meeting of dissenting ministers at Lutterworth, Mr 

 Doddridge was unanimously solicited to undertake the 

 office of a theological tutor. After much hesitation, and 

 with the utmost diffidence, he at length gave his con- 

 sent ; and having availed himself of all the information 

 which he could derive from the best treatises on the 

 education of youth, and the communications of his 

 numerous frends, he opened his academy at Market- 

 Harborough in the summer of 1729 ; but he had scarce- 

 ly continued a few months in this employment, when 

 he was invited to undertake the pastoral charge of a 

 congregation at Northampton. To this place he re- 

 moved at the close of the same year ; and for the space 

 of twenty-one years, continued faithfully to discharge 

 the duties of his pastoral office, and to conduct the busi- 

 ness of his theological academy. At first, after his re- 

 moval to Northampton, the number of students under 

 his care was very limited ; but gradually increased every 

 year, so as to render it necessary for him to employ a 

 stated assistant to superintend the junior pupils. Du- 

 ring the 22 years that he exercised the office of a tutor, 

 about 200 young men were placed under his care ; and 

 of that number 120 afterwards entered upon the minis- 

 try. In 1730, he married Mrs Mercy Maris, a native 

 of Worcester, who possessed every qualification that 

 could minister to his happiness, and to whom he uni- 

 formly testified the greatest tenderness and affection. 

 From his settlement at Northampton in 1729, to the 

 commencement of his last illness in 1750, he produced 

 a succession of the most valuable works, of which an 

 account will afterwards be given, and which have pro- 

 ved instrumental of the highest benefit to the best in- 

 terests of the human race. By these fruits of his pen, 

 his name became more extensively celebrated ; and in 

 \736, the colleges of Aberdeen united in conferring 

 upon him the title of Doctor in Divinity. Upon this oc- 

 casion his pupils testified their respect by offering their 

 congratulations in a body ; but he said to them in re- 

 ply, " that their learning, piety, and zeal, would be 

 more to his honour, and give him a thousand times 

 more pleasure, than his degree, or any other token of 



