ments in religion were strictly those of the venerable church, in whose communion both himself and his forefathers had been regularly trained; and to which he bore a faithful attachment, and yielded a filial obedience to the hour of his death. "He held and maintained, with a seriousness and constancy due to their importance in the Christian system, those doctrines which inculcate the corruption of our common nature, the atoning virtue of the death of Christ, and the sanctifying agency of the Holy Spirit. Such was his faith in sentiment and theory; and it wore a like orthodox and scriptural impress in every discovery which it made of itself in practice. For his creed and his conduct were of the same family; and what he professed to be in principle, that he was in example. "As a worshipper of God, he is entitled to honourable commemoration, both for the regularity of his attendance, and the becoming solemnity of his demeanour. The homage which he did to God, in this, as well as in every other act of duty, was not by constraint, but of a willing mind;' and was not therefore subject to the interruptions, too observable in that of many professing Christians, from coldness, caprice, or casual inconvenience. The truth was, he loved the means of grace, and the ordinances of God's appointment: and he resorted to them as to a festival for which his appetite was kindled, and in which he expected to find both a grateful and a nourishing repast. Hence he did not satisfy himself with the stinted measure of a single service on a Sabbath: but marked his regard, both for the day and for its duties, by repairing to the sanctuary as often as the doors were thrown open to receive him.” "For more than fourteen years, during which I have officiated in this place, such was the known regularity of his attendance upon the evening service, that his absence, CHRIST. OBS. App. when it occasionally happened, was matter of anxious inquiry to others, as it was of serious regret to himself." "His demeanour, while attending in the house of God, was characteristic of the man. Grave, watchful, and intent, he followed the service, with apt indications of seriousness, through all its several changes; sympathizing with the minister when he prayed, hanging on his lips when he discoursed; and manifesting, throughout the whole solemnity, the earnestness of one who came to profit, and was unwilling to lose, even in the most minute degree, the end for which he came." "But to view this part of his portrait complete, we must meet him at the altar, and see him kneeling, to receive the pledges he so dearly valued, of his Saviour's love. At this table, spread by the Lord of Glory, and covered with more than angels' food, he was a constant and a thankful guest. So highly did he deem the obligation and the benefit of this peculiarly Christian ordinance, that he lost no opportunity of celebrating it himself; and took no common pains to bring all the members of his household to be partakers with him." man "We have seen what this excellent was in the house of God; we shall find him the counterpart of all this if w we follow him into his own. "As a master, he presided over his household in the fear of God; blending, in his administration, the simplicity of the patriarch, with the suavity of the Christian. In him authority was so tempered by kindness, and command so softened by courtesy; that servitude lost, in his employment, both its pressure and its reproach: like those of the Master whom he served and copied→ his yoke was easy, and his burden light. Personally devout, and intent, for his own benefit and enjoyment, on the great and daily business of religion, he made the same sacred 5 N object a prevailing concern in the regulation of his domestic establishment. Having resolved, with the great authority of old, that he and his house should serve the Lord, he maintained, with regularity and seriousness, the nanch discredited, and almost exploded practice of family-worship." "But our venerable friend did not confine his care for the religious improvement of his household, to general appeals, and to services wherein the several members promiscuously engaged. He sought access to their consciences, by conversing with them individually and privately; endeavouring with the most affecting earnestness and condescension, to enlighten their ignorance, to remove their prejudices, and to impress their hearts with a serious sense of eternal things. Nor was he satisfied till he had persuaded; and, according to his best judgment, prepared every menial servant in his employ, to unite with him in a solemn act of self-dedication, at the table of their common Lord." "As a parent, he exemplified that happy union of feeling and discretion, which takes the strongest bond that can be given, to make paternal kindness safe, and filial obedience sure. And though it was the will of Providence, that only one out of many children should grow up under his care, and survive to receive his blessing, yet he found in this one the concentrated affection of all; and his resignation and enjoyment were proportional. "As a husband, he manifested all those kind and honourable attentions, which might be expected to flow from a feeling heart, a faithful attachment, an exquisite delicacy of sentiment, and the most liberal and cultivated manners." "But, perhaps, the brightest, certainly the most impressive as pect under which he could be viewed, was that of a brother. It was his happiness to have, under this relation, many objects of endearment; and, among them, some, between whom and himself, the ties of fraternal regard were drawn with unusual closeness. In their society his heart expanded, his countenance glowed, and his very infirmities seemed to forsake him; while he welcomed their cheering caresses, and devoured their edifying conversation." "Those who have mingled in the happy circle, of which this brother was the centre, will have learnt, with a degree of advantage peculiar to themselves, how plea sant a thing it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity;' and how much it conduces to happiness in every stage of life, for children' to love one another.' "To his friends and acquaintance, this excellent man was, in every view, an acquisition, and an ornament. He brought into society those qualities, both of mind and heart, that communicative freedom, and that companionable sweetness, which made his presence alone a source of good humour, and an occasion of improvement.” "Cheerfulness was a striking characteristic in his moral, as well as in his constitutional temperament. He was gifted with the rare endowment of being able to extract his pleasures from what was nearest at hand; and to find a recreation and a repast, where persons of fastidious minds would have pined in listlessness, or sickened with disgust. To him every creature of God was good, and he partook of it with temperance and thanksgiving." "To his observation, every scene presented some beauty, every occurrence offered some benefit: whatever bues they might take on, he was sure to find something in the one to excite, his admiration, something in the other to awaken his gratitude. I have had,' he would say, and that while smarting under the stroke which deprived him of his invalua ble sister, I have had a happy life; I am very thankful for it. "From natural constitution, and a sense of moral duty, he could not endure, under any circumstances, to be without employment : and, as the infirmity of his sight prevented him from ministering to his own entertainbooks of real excellence distinctly read to ment, he took an exquisite delight in hearing him. God has been very good to me. I have had nothing but pleasure, excepting the loss of my dear friends: if I had been permitted to choose for myself, I never could have chosen so well.' Thus was this good man accustomed, in reviewing the occupations, the comforts, and the vicissitudes of his past life, to abound in thanksgiving and praise; being thankful unto God, and speak--the more completely they engaged his ating good of his name. "To the poor he was a tender, condescending, and useful benefactor. He made their wants, their sufferings, and their feelings, his own: and, while he ministered freely to their necessities in all the ways of ordinary charity, he opened for them, in the gratuitous communication of his professional assistance, a most important source of consolation and relief. Compelled by infirmities, which ended in depriving him, to a great degree, both of his sight and hearing, to desist from practis ing for his own emolument, he would not be prevented from doing all he could for the benefit of others. That stock of knowledge which he had acquired by so many laborious years of study and experience, became a fund, on which the poor and needy were privileged to draw; and while the rich could not allure him to sell it, he imparted it cheerfully to his indigent neighbours, without money and without price. The va lue of kindness like this, can never be fully appreciated. To judge of it with any degree of accuracy, it would have been necessary to see the affectionate manner in which he imparted his advice, as well as to have watchen the operation of the advice itself." "I consider his hand,' said a friend, like the hand of an apostle: wherever it falls, it heals.' If this account be thought extravagant, I dare predict, that it will find an echo in the grateful feelings of many thousands throughout these kingdoms: and I am much deceived if those of the Royal bosom itself will not be among the number." Those books delighted him most, which treated of religious things; and the nearer they approached to what he considered the first and best of books-the Bible tention, and drew forth the warm emotions of his heart. That was the book, which, while it regulated his principles and his conduct, fixed, at the same time, the standard of his judgment and his taste. To the study of that, a portion of every day was conscien of the greatest enjoyment to him, in which tiously devoted; and the day was productive that portion had been the most considerable. In fact, religion was, according to his own estimation of it, always seasonable; nor did he ever appear to think, that he had heard enough, or could hear too much about it. I regard this state of mind a state which continued increasingly to the last-as no equivocal proof, that his heart was right with God; and that the change, by which alone we are qualified for the kingdom of God, had been wrought effectually in him. "Finally he loved affectionately all good men. The strictness of his Creed-for in this be never relaxed-in no degree interfered with the expansion of his heart. He bonoured the image of God, wherever he seemed to discover it; and rejoiced in every measure, which tended to bring within the bonds of brotherly love, the disunited mem bers of the Church of Christ. By this impulse of Christian charity, he was led to hail the establishment of that society*, which all former precedent, the accomplishment of promised to facilitate, in a degree beyond so desirable an end. He watched the progress of this Institution, while its line was going out through all the earth, and its words to the end of the world; promoted its interests by all the powers which remained to him, both of body and mind; and honoured its anniversaries by the countenance of his venerable presence, and by the applauding testimony of his tears. Five of these festi of his heart-were it consistent with that vals he had witnessed: and it was the desire will, to which he was always resigned-to witness a sixth. But he had another, and a better destination: for, ere that era should "British and Foreign Bible Society." arrive, he was to take his place in a higher region; and to celebrate the triumphs of Christian faith and love, in a larger and more august assembly. possession of all his faculties, manifested the smallest anxiety about his daughter, his brother, or any member of his family. He thought, however, of God, and his soul; and called repeatedly for the offices of prayer, in which he joined, as often and as well as his infirmities would allow. At length, after a struggle of five days with the remainder of bodily strength, towards the close of which, he bequeathed his blessing, with patriarchal simplicity, and apostelical fervour, to me and "His many and increasing infirmities, had gradually prepared both himself and his friends for the event of his dissolution." "The stroke, which severed from him unexpectedly his beloved sister, appears to have given a shock to his bodily frame, from which it never recovered. He bore up against this heavy bereavement, with every demonstration of Christian submission; heard her funeral discourse delivered in this place; sealed his resignation to the divine will, by af terwards receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper; and conversed, on many sub-morable day, which would, har he lived, have sequent occasions, with much apparent composure, respecting her tranquil departure, and his expectation of speedily rejoining her in a separate state. God be thanked,' said he, when I visited him after the funeral of his sister; and found him, as usual, listening while the Bible was read to him- God be thanked!—my dear sister suffered no pain. My turn will soon come; and we shall be happy together. Whether our happiness will begin immediately after death, we cannot tell; but it will be as God pleases; and I am sure we shall be very happy.' But with all his efforts at resignation, there is reason to believe, that his sorrow for this loss -a loss, the magnitude of which those only can estimate, who know how much he loved that excellent sister, and how many comforts he derived from her affectionate attendance upon him-was rather stifled, than subdued. "For having, in the course of the Sunday evening preceding his death, repeatedly felt his daughter's pulse, at that time accelerated to a high degree of fever; and finding, upon taking his leave of her for the night, that its quickness was in no degree abated; he re tired in silence to his chamber; and then broke forth into an agony of grief, and the most copious effusion of tears. His heart was doubtless full before; and wanted only the drop, which anxiety for a truly valuable life produced, to make it overflow. When this paroxysm, which continued for many hours, had subsided, his nature seemed exhausted; and as if the springs of feeling were utterly drained, he never after, though in full mine--he obtained his release from the burden of the flesh,' and entered upon ⚫ joy and felicity. His remains were deposited by those of the sister, whom he so tenderly loved, and so speedily followed, on the me completed his eighty-first year. His obse quies were honoured with those testimonies of sorrow, which form the best funeral culo gy; and his memory will be cherished by those who enjoyed the privilege of his friendship, for the delight and improvement of themselves and their children, to the latest generation." MISS ELIZABETH SCHIMMELPENNING. DIED lately, at the house of the Rev. shire, where she was on a visit, Miss Mr. Barnes, at Colyton, DevonElizabeth Schimmelpenning. To a fine natural understanding and an elegant mind, she added a highly cultivated taste and a familiar acquaintance with various departments of literature. But she possessed attainments of a still more valuable kind; she was a sincere, soberminded Christian. Her piety was equally exempt from formality and enthusiasm. She will be long remembered by her friends and acquaintance, and will be most regretted by those who knew her best; by those who were most capable of appreciating her intellectual acquirements, her amiable manners, her correct regard to truth, her purity of heart, and her genuine piety. TO THE ESSAYS, INTELLIGENCE, OCCURRENCES, &c. ABOLITION of the Slave Trade, Poems on.. .... Bullion Committee, its Report ...... 655 Cambridge University Intell. 54, 118, 317, ..164, 220 Slave Trade..... African Institution .. Amelia, Princess, her Death Antigua, Relig. Intelligence Antiquity of Infant Baptism Article, Greek Asia, Religious Intelligence Atheism Atonement, Practical View of and Sacrifice... ... ..... Authority of LXX. (see Septuagint). ...... 181 125 Emancipation....171, 248, 397 and Socrates compared Sufferings of Churches used for Musical Exhibitions -- Church, its Complaint.. 551 Causes of religious Decay 740 Cecil, Rev. R. his Death Christ, Denial of 477 272 621 --'s Nativity, Sermon for 672 24 ........ 289. Churching in certain Cases.. 758 Public Administration of.. 77 Bastiles, Bonaparte's 187 Clergy, Education of 705 Battle of Talavera, Poem on 151 Baxter's Review of his own Opinions, 65, Increase of their Livings.... 395 526 |