In 1857 he was asked to come and live in town and devote his whole time to
his college work, and this he agreed to do. There were not then many
students, but among them were names which after years were destined to
make famous, and among these were Alexander Gordon, Estlin Carpenter, and
Philip Wicksteed.

In 1858 he was appointed minister to Little Portland Street Chapel.
Formerly the congregation belonging to the chapel were rigid, unbending
Unitarians. With the advent of Martineau began the newer, broader views of
Unitarianism. Throughout the years which now were to be passed in London,
Dr. Martineau's labours were unceasing as scholar, thinker, and
theologian. It is said that, though he wrote and taught so much, yet he
never let his reading be interfered with; he was always adding to his
stores of knowledge. For fifty years he was recognized as one of the most
profound thinkers of his day, as well as one of the finest writers.

The first letter from Francis Newman to Martineau, from which I quote, is
dated December, 1850, from Brighton:--


_Dr. Martineau from Newman._

"I seem to be out of joint with you in the two highest interests of man--
Religion and Politics ... I am ... become a Republican by principle, for
the continent Jefferson always held that constitutional monarchy was a
simple impossibility in a large continental country where great armies
were kept up; and I think the history of a millennium in Europe
demonstrates it. All royalties were in their origin constitutional; but in
the long run no dynasty ever resisted the temptation to overthrow the
barriers which fenced it in. _Our_ liberties seem to me rightly ascribed