a city of the Austrian province of Tyrol. It is situated on the river Inn, which is thus far navigable for large vessels. It has a provincial mint, and a mining college. Near to it is worked a large mine of rock-salt, which, when melted and refined, yields annually about 300,000 quintals of salt. It contains 460 houses, with 4290 inhabitants.

**Hall**, or **Swabian Hall**, a city of the kingdom of Würtemberg, in the circle of the Jaxt, the capital of a bailiwick of the same name, which extends over 153 square miles, and contains a population of about 24,000 inhabitants. The city is built on both banks of the river Kocher, and, including its suburbs, is surrounded with strong walls, defended by lofty towers and ditches. It has a beautiful town-hall, a Gothic cathedral, and six other churches, and contains 740 houses and 6950 inhabitants. There is a gymnasium with nine professors and a good library. It is celebrated for its saline springs, from which, by thirty-two pans, nearly 100,000 quintals of culinary salt is annually made. Its chief trade consists in corn, wood, soap, starch, and cattle.

**Hall**, a city of the Austrian province of the Tyrol, in the circle of the Valley of the Lower Inn, on the left bank of which river it stands, and by which it has the benefit of a water communication with Vienna. It is situated between two picturesque mountains, and is surrounded with walls and adorned by a fine old Gothic church. In the city there is a very extensive salt work; the salt is made from a natural spring of brine, which is also used for salt-water bathing. The population consists of 4270 persons, some of whom are employed in spinning cotton, and in knitting hosiery goods.

**Hall**, in Architecture, a large room at the entrance of a fine house and palace. Vitruvius mentions three kinds of halls: the tetrastyle, with four columns supporting the platform or ceiling; the Corinthian, with columns all round let into the wall, and vaulted over; and the Egyptian, which had a peristyle of insulated Corinthian columns, bearing a second order with a ceiling.

**Hall** is also particularly used to signify a court of justice, or an edifice in which there is one or more tribunals. In Westminster Hall are held the great courts of England, viz., the King's Bench, Chancery, Common Pleas, and Exchequer. In adjoining apartments is likewise held the high court of parliament.

**Hall Joseph**, an eminent prelate of the church of England, was born in 1574, and educated at Cambridge. He became professor of rhetoric in that university, and was then successively made rector of Halsted in Suffolk, presented to the living of Waltham in Essex, made prebendary of Wolverhampton, dean of Worcester, bishop of Exeter, and, lastly, bishop of Norwich. His works testify his zeal against Catholicism, and are much esteemed. He lamented the divisions of the Protestants, and wrote concerning the means of putting an end to these schisms. In 1618, he accompanied the embassy of Lord Doncaster into France, and upon his return was appointed by his majesty one of the divines who should attend him into Scotland. In 1618 he was sent, with other divines, to the synod of Dort, and pitched upon to preach a Latin sermon before that assembly. But being obliged to return before the synod broke up, on account of his health, he was by the states presented with a gold medal. His works, consisting of Miscellaneous Epistles, *Mundus alter idem*, a just Censure of Travellers, the Christian Seneca, Satires, a Century of Meditations, and many other productions, were published at various periods in folio, quarto, and duodecimo. They have, however, been collected in a handsome, correct, and well-arranged edition, by the Reverend Josias Pratt, in ten vols. 8vo. As a moralist, Bishop Hall has been entitled the Christian Seneca. His knowledge of the world, depth of thought, and elegance of expression, place him nearer our own times than many of his contemporaries; whilst he adorned his own age by his learning, piety, and uniform exercise of all the Christian graces.

He died on the 8th of September 1656, in the eighty-second year of his age.

**Hall Robert**, a distinguished writer and preacher, was born at Arnside, a small village about eight miles from Leicester, on the 2d of May 1764. His father, who had the pastoral charge of a Baptist congregation in this place, was a man of talents and piety, as well as an eloquent and successful preacher. Robert was the youngest of fourteen children; and, whilst an infant, his health was so delicate that slender hopes were entertained of his ever reaching manhood. A nurse was employed, whose duty it was to carry him about in the open air; but in the discharge of her duty she used to loiter in a burying-ground which lay in the vicinity of his father's house. It is worthy of notice, that amidst the memorials reared to commemorate the dead, and which, by reminding man of his mortality, tend to fill the mind with sentiments of religious awe, the future orator should have learned to articulate that language in which he was afterwards, with the most powerful eloquence, to bring home to the heart a conviction of the frail tenure by which we hold this life, and the certainty of that which is to come. The nurse, judging from the peculiar character and habits of the child, that he was desirous of knowing the meaning of the inscriptions and carved figures upon the tombstones, by their aid taught him the letters, and finally to speak and to read. This occurred before he had completed his third year; and being naturally of an inquisitive disposition, he was continually putting questions, and soon became a rapid talker, which he always continued to be. After receiving regular instructions from two female teachers, he was at six years of age placed under the master of a village school situated about four miles from Arnside. Previously to this arrangement, he had evinced an extraordinary thirst for knowledge, and had become a collector of books. He was in the habit of retiring to the church-yard with some favourite volume, spreading it out before him, and poring over it until the shades of evening reminded him of home. The course of instruction pursued at the village school was by no means extensive; and the ardent scholar found ample leisure to gratify his passion for reading. The books which he selected were not those of mere amusement, but such as required the exercise of deep and long-continued reflection. His favourite works were those of Jonathan Edwards on the Affections and on the Will, and Butler's Analogy. Before he was nine years of age, he had repeatedly perused these productions, had written several essays upon religious subjects, and was in the habit of calling together a juvenile congregation to hear him preach. Such indications as these are not to be mistaken; they indubitably presage future eminence. At eleven years of age, he was placed as a boarder at a school in the neighbouring town of Northampton, where he remained about a year and a half, and, according to his father's account, made great progress in Latin and Greek. After having for some time studied divinity and other collateral subjects, principally under the guidance of his father, he was, in his fifteenth year, sent to the Bristol Education Society, or academy for the instruction of young men preparing for the ministerial office amongst the Baptists. The system of tuition at this seminary comprehended not merely the learned languages and the rudiments of science, but a specific course of preparation for the ministerial office, including the writing of essays and the habit of public speaking. That the progress which young Hall made in his studies was rapid, is sufficiently attested by the fact, that on the 13th of August 1780, he was solemnly "set apart to public employ" as a preacher of the gospel, in connection with the body of dissenters to which his father belonged. In about a year after this event, he was sent to King's College, Aberdeen, where, amongst other friendships, he made that of Mr. afterwards Sir James Mackintosh. When these eminent individuals became first acquainted, Sir James was in his eighteenth year, and Mr Hall about a year older. Notwithstanding some differences of taste as well as of intellectual pursuits, a strong and mutual friendship commenced between the two students. They were almost inseparable, and read together much of Xenophon, Herodotus, and Plato; but the arena in which they most frequently met was that of morals and metaphysics, subjects which afforded ample opportunities for disputation. Many years afterwards, Sir James Mackintosh, in a letter to Mr Hall, thus alludes to their early attachment: "On the most impartial survey of my early life, I could see nothing which tended so much to excite and invigorate my understanding, and to direct it towards high, though perhaps scarcely accessible objects, as my intimacy with you. Five-and-twenty years are now past (the letter is dated Bombay, 1805) since first we met, yet hardly anything has occurred since which has left a deeper or more agreeable impression on my mind. I now remember the extraordinary union of brilliant fancy with acute intellect, which would have excited more admiration than it has done, if it had been dedicated to the amusement of the great and the learned, instead of being consecrated to the far more noble office of consoling, instructing, and reforming the poor and the forgotten." These distinguished individuals entertained a mutual esteem and veneration, which continued unabated till the close of life.

In 1783, Mr Hall received an invitation from the church at Broadmead in Bristol, to associate himself with Dr Evans, as assistant pastor. This offer he accepted after much hesitation; and it was finally arranged, that during the interval between the college sessions of 1784 and 1785, Mr Hall should reside at Bristol, and then return to Aberdeen to complete his studies. In the course of his last session he applied himself with much assiduity, especially to the study of the Greek language, moral philosophy, and metaphysics in general, as well as to other branches of learning more immediately connected with theology. After completing his academical career, which was a bright one, and calculated to raise the highest expectations, Mr Hall entered upon his pastoral avocations. The life of a divine situated as Mr Hall was, is little distinguished by those incidents which give attraction to biography. The events are in general few in number, and possess a sameness which deprives them of interest. From the commencement of his ministrations, Mr Hall's preaching attracted an unusual degree of attention; and if he was not listened to by such multitudes as surrounded Whitfield and Wesley, he found fit audience though few in the great and distinguished men of the day. His eloquence, remarkable alike for its brilliancy and its force, was a general theme of praise; and by his instructive and fascinating conversation in private he called forth equal admiration. Besides his clerical duties, he had to perform those of classical tutor in the Bristol Academy; an appointment which was conferred upon him shortly after his arrival in the place, and which he held for more than five years, labouring with active zeal and with commensurate success. At this period of his life, Mr Hall was distinguished for the dexterity with which he wielded the weapons of wit and raillery; and it would appear that the religious opinions he entertained, and which in private, though never in the pulpit, he professed to hold, were considered as somewhat latitudinarian by individuals of the persuasion to which he belonged. Certain it is, indeed, that it was not until many years afterwards that his mind became fairly settled with regard to some of the most important doctrines of Christianity. On several momentous points he was considered as deviating considerably from the accredited standards of even moderate orthodoxy. In 1790, when he was on the eve of dissolving his connection with the church in Bristol, he addressed to his congregation a frank exposition of his opinions; and, amongst other startling notions, he confessed that he held that of materialism. In a letter to his congregation, there is the following passage: "My opinion however upon this head is, that the nature of man is simple and uniform; that the thinking powers and faculties are the result of a certain organization of matter; and that after death he ceases to be conscious until the resurrection." To those who are acquainted with the general character of English dissenters, and their strict adherence to what are denominated the evangelical doctrines of Christianity, it will not be matter of surprise, that the individual who entertained such notions, and who could support them with such metaphysical acumen and powerful eloquence, was a pastor rather to be admired for his genius than implicitly relied on as a spiritual guide. It is not however to be inferred from this that he promulgated error from the pulpit; on the contrary, he was careful to exclude such doubtful speculations from his discourses; but it seems certain that they gave rise to vexations and perplexities, which, with other circumstances, induced him to accept of an invitation to take the pastoral charge of a church at Cambridge. He entered on the new scene of his labours in 1791. In the same year he lost his father, an event which made a deep impression upon his mind, and wrought a considerable change in him relative to some of his doctrinal sentiments. Amongst other things, he renounced materialism, which he often afterwards declared he had buried in his father's grave.

The congregation with which Mr Hall was now associated had considerably declined from the orthodox standard of their church with reference to some important doctrines of Christianity. Their former pastor, from the profession of orthodox opinions, had become more lax in his views, which gradually degenerated into Socinianism, if not for a time into infidelity itself. The contagion was communicated to the members of the church, not a few of whom adopted the opinions of their spiritual guide. The faithfulness with which Mr Hall discharged his ministerial duties under such disadvantages, is sufficiently attested by the fact, that in a short time he succeeded in reclaiming from their errors the greater proportion of his flock. About this period Mr Hall published a pamphlet entitled An Apology for the Freedom of the Press. The author's object was a vindication of the principles maintained by the friends of liberty, especially by those who avowed evangelical sentiments; and although, in a spirit of self-depreciation, in which Mr Hall always indulged with regard to his own writings, he did not place a very high value upon this production, it was received with marked favour by the public. Several editions were rapidly sold off, and it was largely quoted by the periodicals of the day. The celebrity which Mr Hall now enjoyed gave rise to inconveniences which interfered with the more solemn duties of his calling. It withdrew him from study, and induced individuals whose conduct and character he could not approve, to intrude on his retirement. He therefore resolved, without retracting his principles, to embark no more on the stormy element of political debate. His next publication was in more perfect keeping with the sacred office which he held, being a sermon, entitled Modern Infidelity considered with respect to its Influence on Society. It appeared in the year 1800, and was at once acknowledged as a masterpiece of eloquence and reasoning. It is a rare felicity of circumstances that a work which has excited unusual attention is allowed to enjoy popular favour without censure or interruption. The sermon on Modern Infidelity formed no exception to the general rule; and a controversy ensued, in which insidious attempts were made to misinterpret the motives of the author, and even to depreciate his character. Detraction, however, originating with such individuals as now at- tacked him had little effect, and the petty clamour was drowned in the general applause. The critical journals of the day were lavish of their praise, and some of the most distinguished men of the time paid their tribute of approbation to the author. The reputation of Mr Hall as a profound thinker and eloquent writer was now completely established; and his church became a place of frequent resort to many members of the university. His next production was a sermon entitled Reflections on War, which was preached on the occasion of a general thanksgiving for the peace of Amiens, celebrated on the 1st of June 1802. This suspension of arms, as is well known, was of short duration; and war having been again declared in the following year, Mr Hall evinced his patriotism and love of country by publishing a sermon entitled The Sentiments proper to the Present Crisis. It was preached on the 19th of October 1803, being the day appointed for a general fast. This sermon perhaps excited still more universal admiration than any of the author's previous productions; and the latter part of it was considered by the most competent judges, amongst whom was Mr Pitt, as fully equal in genuine eloquence to any passage of the same length in ancient or modern orations.

Mr Hall had been for some time afflicted with a pain in his back, and in 1803 it had increased to such a degree, that, in order to enjoy exercise, it was found advisable to remove to a place a few miles distant from Cambridge. This arrangement was not ultimately productive of beneficial results; on the contrary, a severe calamity which overtook him may in part be attributed to it. He had always been remarkable for his love of solitary study, and frequently remained for more than twelve hours together wrapt in abstract thought. The effects of this violent infringement of the physical laws of our nature were in some measure alleviated at Cambridge, by the pretty regular habit which he had of spending his evenings in the society of the intelligent classes of his congregation. Such a source of relief from severe study was denied him in the place to which he had removed; and he was likewise cut off from the tender sympathies of his flock, by whom he was much beloved. The consequence was, that being left too much alone, and exposed to the morbid influences of a diseased body and an overwrought mind, the latter lost its equilibrium; and he who had so long been the theme of universal admiration now became the object of as extensive sympathy. This afflicting event occurred in November 1804; but it was of short duration; for, by the assiduous care of his medical adviser, he was in about two months restored to mental and bodily health. About twelve months afterwards a recurrence of the same malady again laid him aside from public duty. He soon, however, recovered; but it was deemed essential to his complete restoration to health and vigour that he should resign his pastoral charge at Cambridge, abstain from preaching, and avoid as far as possible all strong excitement.

It may be well believed that two visitations of a calamity so humiliating were calculated to make a powerful impression upon a mind so alive to religious influences as that of Mr Hall. Without dwelling upon this theme, it is sufficient to state in what light they were regarded by the sufferer himself. He was persuaded that, however strong his religious convictions, and however correct his doctrinal sentiments had hitherto been, yet that he had not undergone a thorough transformation of character until the first of these attacks. The permanent impression upon his character was hence exclusively religious. His piety assumed a more exalted tone, his habits became more strictly devotional, and his exercises more fervent and elevated, than they had ever hitherto been; and he watched with jealous care over the whole tenor of his conduct, as well as every movement of his heart.

For some time Mr Hall enjoyed in his native village, and other places, an exemption from active duty, during which period his attention was engaged in biblical study, and in other pious and literary occupations, which could be abandoned or resumed at pleasure. He also preached occasionally, especially at Leicester; and from a church in this place he accepted of an invitation to become its stated pastor. Over this congregation he presided twenty years; a period undistinguished by any incident of particular moment excepting his marriage, which took place in March 1808. This was a fortunate event for Mr Hall; for, whilst it called into livelier activity those sympathies with which his mind was richly fraught, and thus gave greater variety to the exercise of his mental powers, it likewise reclaimed him from those habits of abstract speculation, the indulgence in which had already proved so pernicious, and rendered him more familiar with the everyday events of life, and the common feelings, aims, and pursuits of human nature. The endearments of domestic life also served to compensate the physical pain to which he was doomed to be a martyr till the close of his career, whilst they deepened his impressions of tenderness, benevolence, and sympathy. In proof of this, his biographer, Dr Olinthus Gregory, produces a beautiful instance. "Not long after his marriage," says he, "when his own pecuniary resources were much restricted, he proposed to fast on certain days, that he might have it in his power to distribute more among the needy; and he thought it wrong to have more than two coats, when so many persons around him were clothed in rags." During his residence at Leicester, Mr Hall gave to the world several valuable productions, which extended his fame and his influence over society. He occasionally appeared as a critic in the Eclectic Review and other periodicals, and published various sermons, of which that on the death of the Princess Charlotte in 1817 is allowed to surpass all that were produced upon the occasion, if not to stand unrivalled as a model of pulpit eloquence. A controversy on what is called The Terms of Communion, engaged some share of his attention. The Baptists as a body were, and still are, very strict in their administration of the Lord's Supper. Mr Hall, with his usual energy and eloquence, and with considerable success, advocated the principle of more open communion. In the year 1823 he engaged in a controversy of another description, with a Unitarian preacher, who had provoked him to the contest by delivering what are usually denominated challenge lectures. Mr Hall preached twelve lectures, which were serviceable in checking the diffusion of Socinianism. These compositions, however, were not published, although he was strongly urged to take this step; but a concise outline of them has been given in his works. By his constitutional complaint Mr Hall was subjected to severe suffering, which increased so much with his growing years, that, to alleviate the pain, he was compelled to take copious draughts of laudanum. His mental vigour, however, was but slightly impaired; yet a little difference was discernible in his conversation, which had always been remarkable for its brilliancy and vivacity.

In 1825 Mr Hall received an invitation to assume the pastoral charge of the church at Broadmead, Bristol. This he accepted; and after taking a touching farewell of his Leicester friends, he removed in 1826 to Bristol, the place where his ministerial career began, and where it was destined soon to come to a close. Reading and study, which had always been at once his bane and antidote, suffered no abatement on account of his increasing infirmities. His opinion was, that every species of knowledge might be rendered subservient to religion; and works of almost every description he laid under contribution. When above sixty years of age he commenced the study of the Italian language, of which he had been before ignorant, in order to settle a point of interest relative to the Divina Comedia of Dante. His pastoral duties were discharged with his usual faithfulness; but the decay of locomotive power, which age brought in the train of its infirmities, was a source of much uneasiness to his mind, as it prevented him from associating privately with his flock. Besides his old disease, indications of a plethoric habit of body became more and more apparent, until in 1830 he was compelled to try a change of air and scene. No ultimate benefit was derived from this treatment, and after suffering severely from a complication of disorders, he departed this life on the 21st of February 1831. By his marriage Mr Hall had five children, of whom four, with their mother, survived him.

Mr Hall was not only the most distinguished ornament of the Christian body to which he belonged, but as a preacher his claims to pre-eminence were acknowledged by the ablest judges of every creed. Dr Parr has drawn his character in language strong, concise, and comprehensive. "Mr Hall," says he, "has, like Bishop Taylor, the eloquence of an orator, the fancy of a poet, the acuteness of a schoolman, the profoundness of a philosopher, and the piety of a saint." "As a preacher," says Mr John Foster, who knew him intimately, "none of those contemporaries who have not seen him in the pulpit, or of his readers in another age, will be able to conceive an adequate idea of Mr Hall. His personal appearance was in striking conformity to the structure and temper of his mind. A large-built, robust figure, was in perfect keeping with a countenance formed as if on purpose for the most declared manifestation of internal power; a power impregnable in its own strength, as in a fortress, and constantly, without an effort, in a state for action. That countenance was usually of a cool unmoved mien at the beginning of the public service; and sometimes, when he was not greatly excited by his subject, or was repressed by pain, would not acquire a great degree of temporary expression during the whole discourse. At other times it would kindle into an ardent aspect as he went on, and toward the conclusion become lighted up almost into a glare."

His voice was somewhat feeble, but his articulation was distinct, although he spoke with great rapidity. At the commencement of his discourse attention was secured by the simplicity and solemnity of the speaker's deportment; and as he advanced and became animated with his subject, such was the impression which he produced, that his auditors one by one rose from their seats, "until," says Dr Gregory, "long before the close of the sermon, it often happened that a considerable portion of the congregation were seen standing." His mental endowments were of the highest order, and his excellency consisted not in the predominance of one, but in the exquisite proportion and harmony of all his powers. A mind naturally of great capacity had been enriched by a course of reading which extended nearly to the limits of human investigation, and he was thus enabled to draw his illustrations from an infinite variety of sources. He also possessed a wonderful ability for comprehensive reasoning; whilst his quickness of apprehension, his powers of analysing a subject, and seizing on the most essential points, and of placing in a clear, intelligible light, what was before obscure or perplexed, were of the very highest order. His oratory was brilliant, but not unnecessarily showy; or encumbered with poetical images. The works of this great preacher display a union of elevation with elegance, to which it will be difficult to find a parallel amongst the works of divines. With high excursive powers of imagination, and an equal talent for close reasoning and metaphysical speculation, he neither indulged in meretricious ornament or rhetorical flourishes, nor perplexed his hearers with subtle distinctions. No writer ever displayed more taste and discrimination in the choice of language, and he formed for himself an ideal standard of excellence which could not be reached. His style is at once clear and simple; and the construction of his sentences is characterised by ease, united with strength and compactness. There is no pomp of words in his most magnificent excursions of fancy, and he rises to the summit of eloquence without the least effort or appearance of straining after greatness. He is elaborately correct, yet perfectly inartificial, and free from antithesis; pregnant with weighty meaning, yet easily understood. In him are united richness with simplicity, transparency with depth, and symmetry with strength. The reader of his works frequently meets with passages of extraordinary beauty; but these will in no instance be found to have been introduced simply for effect; they are inseparably connected with the subject, and, seeming to grow out of it, appear with all the appropriateness of a natural relation. "He displayed in a most eminent degree," says Mr Foster, "the rare excellence of a perfect conception and expression of every thought, however rapid the succession. There were no half-formed ideas, no misty semblances of a meaning, no momentary lapses of intellect into an utterance at hazard, no sentences without a distinct object, and serving merely for the contiguity of speaking; every sentiment had at once a palpable shape, and an appropriateness to the immediate purpose." If such was a characteristic of his preaching, part of which was extemporaneous, it is almost unnecessary to say that the same excellence distinguishes the sermons which he prepared for the press. He surpasses perhaps all preachers of modern times in having always a definite purpose, a distinct assignable object in view in his discourses. Hence each of them affords a fine specimen of a comprehensive and perfect whole. The piety of Mr Hall was pure, sincere, exalted, and untainted by bigotry or intolerance. As a pastor he was zealous, affectionate, and indefatigable in the discharge of his duties. His fame as an orator receives additional lustre from the excellence of his moral nature. In him benevolence and humility were conspicuous, and his affections were as warm as his intellect was strong. In social life he was open, communicative, sincere, unostentatious. His conversation was on a level with his preaching, and displayed the same varied excellences. He had, however, an inclination to sarcasm, which in some of his earlier productions he allowed to poison the edge of his polemical weapon. Occasionally, also, he argued more perhaps for victory than for truth; but he never voluntarily chose the wrong side of a question, or allowed himself to tamper with the sanctities of religion. Mr Hall took the degree of A. M. at King's College, Aberdeen; and that of doctor in divinity was conferred on him unsolicited by Marischal College; but, either from his humility, or from some scruples as to propriety, he never assumed the title.

Mr Hall's works consist of: 1. Christianity consistent with the Love of Freedom, being an Answer to a Sermon by the Rev. John Clayton, 1791, 8vo; 2. Apology for the Freedom of the Press, and for general Liberry, with Remarks on Bishop Horsley's Sermon, preached 13th January 1793, 8vo; 3. Modern Infidelity considered with respect to its Influence on Society; a Sermon preached at Cambridge, 1800, 8vo; 4. Reflections on War, a Sermon on June 1, 1802, being the Day of Thanksgiving for a General Peace; 5. The Sentiments proper to the present Crisis, a Fast Sermon at Bristol, October 19, 1803; 6. The Effects of Civilization on the People in European States, 1805; 7. The Advantages of Knowledge to the Lower Classes; a Sermon at Leicester, 1810; 8. The Discouragements and Supports of the Christian Minister, an Ordination Sermon, 1812; 9. The Character of the late Rev. Thomas Robinson, Vicar of St Mary's, Leicester, 1813; 10. Address to the Public on an important Subject connected with the Renewal of the Charter of the East India Company, 1813;