William Hazlitt (Unitarian minister)

{{Short description|Unitarian minister and author (1737{{ndash}}1820)}}

{{Short description|Unitarian minister and author (1737{{ndash}}1820)}}

{{About|William Hazlitt (1737–1820), a Unitarian minister and author|other persons named Hazlitt|Hazlitt (name)}}

{{About|William Hazlitt (1737–1820), a Unitarian minister and author|other persons named Hazlitt|Hazlitt (name)}}

{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}}

{{Infobox writer

{{Infobox writer

| name = William Hazlitt

| name = William Hazlitt

Despite achieving some success as a writer, Hazlitt was unable to secure a permanent post, and in 1786 he returned to England. After failing to obtain a steady income in London, Hazlitt settled with his family at [[Wem]] in Shropshire. Hazlitt ministered at a dissenting [[meeting house]] in the town, for which he received a meagre annual [[stipend]] of £30, and ran the local school.Grayling 2000, pp. 9–12. He devoted much attention to the education of his son, William, with the intention that he would also become a Unitarian minister. While the Reverend William Hazlitt's intensive tutoring of his son may explain in part the brilliance of the latter's subsequent writings, it was also responsible for his physical and mental breakdown under the strain of his father's expectations.Wu 2008, pp. 43, 49. When the younger Hazlitt left the [[New College at Hackney]] after only two years, thereby signalling that he would never follow his father into the Unitarian ministry, the latter was bitterly disappointed.Grayling 2000, pp. 41–2. In 1798, [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]] visited Hazlitt at Wem – an encounter which was later described by Hazlitt's son in the essay "My First Acquaintance with Poets". In the essay, Hazlitt's life at Wem is described as follows:

Despite achieving some success as a writer, Hazlitt was unable to secure a permanent post, and in 1786 he returned to England. After failing to obtain a steady income in London, Hazlitt settled with his family at [[Wem]] in Shropshire. Hazlitt ministered at a dissenting [[meeting house]] in the town, for which he received a meagre annual [[stipend]] of £30, and ran the local school.Grayling 2000, pp. 9–12. He devoted much attention to the education of his son, William, with the intention that he would also become a Unitarian minister. While the Reverend William Hazlitt's intensive tutoring of his son may explain in part the brilliance of the latter's subsequent writings, it was also responsible for his physical and mental breakdown under the strain of his father's expectations.Wu 2008, pp. 43, 49. When the younger Hazlitt left the [[New College at Hackney]] after only two years, thereby signalling that he would never follow his father into the Unitarian ministry, the latter was bitterly disappointed.Grayling 2000, pp. 41–2. In 1798, [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]] visited Hazlitt at Wem – an encounter which was later described by Hazlitt's son in the essay "My First Acquaintance with Poets". In the essay, Hazlitt's life at Wem is described as follows:

{{quote |text=After being tossed about from congregation to congregation in the heats of the Unitarian controversy, and squabbles about the American war, he had been relegated to an obscure village, where he was to spend the last thirty years of his life, far from the only converse that he loved, the talk about disputed texts of Scripture, and the cause of civil and religious liberty. Here he passed his days, repining, but resigned, in the study of the Bible and the perusal of the Commentators – huge folios, not easily got through, one of which would outlast a winter! ... My father's life was comparatively a dream; but it was a dream of infinity and eternity, of death, the resurrection, and a judgment to come!{{ws |[[s:My First Acquaintance with Poets|"My First Acquaintance with Poets" (1823)]]}}}}

{{blockquote |text=After being tossed about from congregation to congregation in the heats of the Unitarian controversy, and squabbles about the American war, he had been relegated to an obscure village, where he was to spend the last thirty years of his life, far from the only converse that he loved, the talk about disputed texts of Scripture, and the cause of civil and religious liberty. Here he passed his days, repining, but resigned, in the study of the Bible and the perusal of the Commentators – huge folios, not easily got through, one of which would outlast a winter! ... My father's life was comparatively a dream; but it was a dream of infinity and eternity, of death, the resurrection, and a judgment to come!{{ws |[[s:My First Acquaintance with Poets|"My First Acquaintance with Poets" (1823)]]}}}}

While Hazlitt's failure to secure a powerful position in the Unitarian ministry may have been a source of disappointment for him, he continued to participate in Unitarian debate on a national level. In addition to producing three volumes of sermons while living at Wem, he was a regular contributor to periodicals such as the ''Protestant Dissenter's Magazine'' and the ''Universal Theological Magazine''.Burley 2010, pp. 9–10.

While Hazlitt's failure to secure a powerful position in the Unitarian ministry may have been a source of disappointment for him, he continued to participate in Unitarian debate on a national level. In addition to producing three volumes of sermons while living at Wem, he was a regular contributor to periodicals such as the ''Protestant Dissenter's Magazine'' and the ''Universal Theological Magazine''.Burley 2010, pp. 9–10.