ly smitten. The charms of Clio and Sabrina, and
every former flame, were merged in the rising glories of Clarinda--as by
a classical apotheosis Miss Kitty was now known to his entranced
imagination; and in every vision of future enjoyment Clarinda was the
beatific angel. But when he decided in favor of Northampton, Miss
Jennings showed a will of her own, and absolutely refused to go with
him. To the romantic lover the disappointment was all the more severe,
because he had made so sure of the young lady's affection; nor was it
mitigated by the mode in which Miss Jennings conveyed her declinature.
However, her scorn, if not an excellent oil, was a very good eyesalve.
It disenchanted her admirer, and made him wonder how a reverend divine
could ever fancy a spoiled child, who had scarcely matured into a
petulant girl. And as the mirage melted, and Clarinda again resolved
into Kitty, other realities began to show themselves in a sedater and
truer light to the awakened dreamer. As an excuse for an attachment at
which Doddridge himself soon learned to smile, it is fair to add that
love was in this instance prophetic. Clarinda turned out a remarkable
woman. She married an eminent dissenting minister, and became the mother
of Dr. John Aiken and Mrs. Barbauld, and in her granddaughter, Lucy
Aiken, her matrimonial name still survives; so that the curious in such
matters may speculate how far the instructions of Doddridge contributed
to produce the "Universal Biography," "Evenings at Home," and "Memoirs
of the Courts of the Stuarts."

His biographers do not mark it, but his arrival at Northampton is the
real date of Doddridge's memorable ministry. He then woke up to the full
import of his high calling, and never went to sleep again. The sickness,
the wounded spirit, the altered scene, and we may add seclusion from the
society of formal religionists, had each its wholesome influence; and,
finding how much was required of him as a pastor and a tutor, he set to
work with the concentration and energy of a startled man, and the first
true rest he took was twenty years after, when he turned aside to die.

Glorying in such names as Goodwin, and Charnock, and Owen, it was the
ambition of the early Nonconformists of England to perpetuate among
themselves a learned ministry. But the stern exclusiveness of the
English Universities rendered the attainment of this object very
difficult. It may be questioned whether it is right in any establishe