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    by depth of thought or elegaiiee of style / bat they unifonrrf ^ display the sound judgment and ardent piety which so strikingly : characterised their author . His character is 6 een to great

    advantage in these letters , which , if destitute of the charms ; of composition , possess ,, as the editor j , itstly remarks ^ " a peculiar degree of ease and familiarity /* f

    Mr . Orton can be viewed only in ofie light , that of a Christian minister . He devoted himself wholly to his profession . Neither politics nor literature seem to have been able to draw aside his attention from it . He was an adenrer and an imitator of the eafly and more rigid Non-conformists ^ and jnay , indeed , be denominated not improperly the last of the puritans ^ . The incidents of his life were few and unvaried . We shall

    abstract the outlines of his history and character from the " Memoirs " drawn up by the able pen of Mr . Palrjnter . He was born at Shrewsbury x Sept . 4 , 1717 , and was edu ~ cated in the grammar scliool of that place * He was bound apprentice to . fits father , who was a grocer in his native town ; but feeling a strong inclination to the ministry , he wa& put , ix *

    May 1733 , under the care © f Dr . Charles Owen , a dissenting minister at Warrington , who had usually two or three young men witfi him , etfgagecTin studies preparatory to the ministry * and who was a man of good learning , and an armrable ancf re spectable character . Having spent a year in this situation , he removed , in August 1734-, to Northampton , to be under the

    tuition of Dr . Doddridge . Here his virtues and talents raised him into notice , and in March 1739 he was chosen

    assistant to the Doctor in his academy . He preached his first sermop at Welford in Northamptonshire , April 15 , 1739 , on these \ jrojrds , . 'Paul , a servant of Jesus Christ ;" . . and from that tiiwe statedly assi&ted Dr . Doddridge the first Lord ' s day in evenr

    month . His preaching was in the highest degree satisfactory , and he soon received invitations from various congregations to undertake the pastoral charge . He relinquished his situatiotv under Dr . Docfdridge , in October 1741 , being prevailed upon by a singular and honourable invitation from the two

    congregation 9 ( Presbyterian and Independent ) of his native town , which being deprived of their ministers , at the savine time ^ by death , agreed to unite under him as their pastor . In the next year , tfee infirm statq of his health obliged him to employ art assistant , Mr * Francis Boult first filled this office ; next * Mr . Moses Carter ; and lastly , Mr ; Joseph Fownes , who afterwards

    became co-pastor with i > m > > and wixo survived him . He was several times tempted by lucrative apd honorable offers to xjwit Shrewsbury ; but his attachment tqthe place * and his aflfecti p ^ for his congregation , added , perhaps , to the weatfdy st ? te of

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    35 S Or toft's Lettei ^ .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1806, page 258, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1724/page/34/