.  .  .  This  one  thing  gratitude  requires  me  to  say,  that  the
good  providence  of  God  has,  in  some  way  and  degree,  sup-
plied my  manifold  defects;  enabling  us  at  the  end  of  this
stage  of  our  career  to  look  round  on  a  Society,  not  weak-
ened in  numbers,  or,  I  trust,  degenerate  in  spirit."

It  had  been  arranged  that  Mr.  Martineau  was  to  have,
during  the  building  of  the  church,  a  much-needed  leave  of
absence  for  a  year,  which  he  intended  to  spend  with  his
family  in  Germany.  On  the  21st  of  September,  1847,  he
addressed  a  letter  to  the  Chapel  Committee,  asking  for  a
year's  absence.  He  was  beginning  to  feel  that  continuous
mental  exertion  in  the  same  direction,  year  after  year,  was
producing  some  lassitude  and  anxiety,  which  could  be  easily
dissipated  by  withdrawing  the  pressure  for  a  v/hile.  "  I
sincerely  believe,"  he  wrote,  "  that  a  year's  absence,  espe-
cially if  passed  amid  new  scenes,  and  in  the  unusual  attitude
of  learning  rather  than  teaching,  would  enable  me  to  begin
work  in  the  new  Chapel  with  powers  refreshed ;  and  render
the  remainder  of  my  life  a  less  worthless  offering  than  it
would  otherwise  become."  He  offered  to  bear  the  cost  of
providing  the  most  acceptable  substitute  that  could  be  in-
duced to  undertake  a  temporary  engagement;  but  the  con-
gregation, in  granting  his  request,  took  this  burden  on
themselves,  and  the  Rev.  Joseph  Henry  Hutton  was  en-
gaged to  occupy  the  vacant  pulpit.
More  even  than  of  recruited  strength  he  felt  the  want  of
enlarged  study  for  his  Academic  work;  and,  recognising
the  reasonableness  of  this  feeling,  the  College  also  had  con-
sented to  dispense  with  his  services  for  a  session.
