SEBASTIAN STEWART DICKINSON.

[1815-1878.]

BOUT the year 1850 an English gentleman, in the prime of life, and practising with great success in the Law Courts of Bombay, was writing to his friends in England as to his prospects and future plans. The strain of his letters was by no means of an ordinary character. "I have no ambitious views myself," he wrote, "and think that there are higher objects in life than professional fame and the. acquisition of money. I do not contemplate remaining in India any longer than will be necessary to secure a competency, with some surplus, which may be available to benefit those on whom fortune has smiled less prosperously; and I sometimes. look forward to the exercise of the charities of life, not in giving pecuniary assistance, but by personal intercourse with the more destitute members of the human family-as a fit occupation for declining years."

"I feel so satisfied," he wrote on another occasion, "that as we advance in life the world takes more hold of us than in our earlier years, and if we indulge that desire to be always. occupied with business, in other words, money-making-for it chiefly resolves itself into this-death finds us, at whatever age, if our faculties continue, exercising those faculties not in. the active service of Christian charity, but in assisting in plans and schemes which have only this world's progress. for their object."

To those who knew the writer these were weighty words. Thirty-five years of age he was not indulging in the amiable dreams of enthusiastic youth. Calm and judicial in his.

habits of mind he was not looking at life in false lights; while steady of purpose as he was high of aim, he was not likely to swerve from the course he was marking out.

In the closing summer of 1878 there was sincere and wide-spread sorrow in the Borough of Stroud and other parts of Gloucestershire over the death of a well-known public man. He was laid to rest in Painswick Cemetery, mourned by rich and poor; men of all sects and parties were of one heart and mind in acknowledging his worth and testifying their respect to his memory. The public press bore witness to the usefulness of his life, and the loss which the County had suffered by his death. While the termination of his official services, in which his legal experience, ripe judgment, and great capacity for work, had been so valuable, was lamented, the cessation of his philanthropic efforts was equally mourned. From the pulpit, in many a church and chapel, there were eloquent references to his Christian character; and though sorrow was expressed for his departure, thanks were given for the life he had lived and the good he had wrought. "He is gone now;" said one preacher, "his task is over, his work accomplished, his battle fought. We thank God for him."

The desires cherished amidst the activities of his professional career in Bombay and the purposes then formed, had to a great extent been carried into effect in the subsequent life of the writer of the letters quoted-SEBASTIAN STEWART DICKINSON.

The early life of this excellent man may be briefly told. His grandfather was Captain Thomas Dickinson, R.N., who in 1781 had married Frances de Brissac, a lady of Huguenot descent. His father, also named Thomas, was their second son. He was for nearly forty years in India, holding, during the greater part of that time, the position of Chief Engineer of the H.E.I. Company's Engineer Corps, at Bombay. In 1808, he married Miss Catherine Dean.

Sebastian Stewart, the subject of this memoir, was born 25th March, 1815. He was the fourth of their family of

eight children, all of whom were early consigned to the care of relatives in England, for the sake of health and education. Sebastian had the good fortune to find a home with his paternal grandparents then residing at Bramblebury, near Woolwich, where Captain Dickinson held a post in the Ordnance. Under his grandmother he had the most careful training. The fine qualities of her Huguenot ancestry ran in her veins. She is described as a woman of unusual energy,

66

a foe to all sloth, self-indulgence, and extravagance, and a strict adherent to whatever she considered her duty." This with "a warm heart, strong will, and sound sense," well fitted her for the charge she had undertaken. The boy was very dear to her. His very name touched her; it was that of a beloved son, a young Engineer officer, who had fallen at the siege of Badajoz. She was loved and reverenced by the boy, who in after years always recurred with gratitude to her training.

At twelve years old he was sent to Eton, and afterwards to a tutor at Amiens, where he soon acquired fluency in French, and worked well, in the College, at mathematics and physics. He was eventually articled to a solicitor in London. His conduct was exemplary, and gained the esteem and confidence of the gentleman with whom he was placed. He pursued his further legal studies under counsel eminent in every department of the profession.

In 1839 he was called to the Bar. His professional friends predicted a successful career for him in the English Courts, but there being a good opening for a young barrister at Bombay, which his father-Colonel Dickinson-wished him. to avail himself of, he sailed for India, and in 1840 commenced practice there. After a year or two of quiet progress, his career at the Bar was remarkable for the rapidity with which he won his way to the front. Working steadily, never shrinking from trouble in mastering details, and never allowing amusement to interfere with duty, in twelve years he acquired a considerable fortune; and had he chosen to

continue in the profession he might have reached the highest offices. This great success, while partly resulting from favouring circumstances, was chiefly due to his own ability, and to the thorough knowledge he had gained of the native dialects, thus enabling the litigious princes to explain their cases to him in person. Temperate in all his habits, and regularly adhering to certain hours for exercise and recreation, he preserved his health, and at the end of twelve years returned to England as strong a man as he left it.

His letters during his stay in India were of a deeply thoughtful aud affectionate character. Whether writing to his venerable grandmother, his sisters, or other relatives, the sentiments were elevated and the tone tender. To the death of his youngest brother, Alexander Wedderburn Dickinson, at Bombay, and that of his brother-in-law, Major Wemyss, at Portsmouth, both in June, 1848, he refers in terms beautifully pathetic and impressively solemn.

While in the fulness of health and professional prosperity he carried out his resolve and returned to England, hoping "to do some good in his time and generation," while living on a moderate competence. He arrived in 1853, and in the autumn of that year again returned to the East, making a rapid journey to meet another widowed sister, whose husband, Major Fulljames, had been cut off while pursuing a successful course in India. On his return, circumstances drew him, in 1854, to Brown's Hill, near Pitchcombe, where with his sister, Mrs. Wemyss, and her family, he established himself in a delightfully situated home; and thus that picturesque locality was destined to be the chief sphere of his future activities.

It could not be long
neighbourhood, and his
His services were soon
public offices, and work upon work devolved upon him.

before his presence was felt in the
capacity for usefulness discerned.
sought; he was placed in various

In any record of his labours the promotion of Education should have a first place, as it was one to which he applied himself with greatest zeal and pleasure. As a member of

i

the Committee of the National Schools at Painswick, to which he was elected in 1854, and as Chairman of the new School Board of that parish in 1877, he took a warm and practical interest in the schools, contributing greatly to their efficiency. “The Gloucestershire School Prize Association as at first established, so strongly commended itself to him, both as supplying a want and as founded on broad unsectarian principles, that he undertook the Secretaryship, and entered heartily into the working of the plan. At the time Science and Art Classes, in connection with South Kensington, were becoming general Mr. Dickinson succeeded in establishing a Branch School of Art at Stroud, and continued as long as he lived to manage all the business connected with it. In addition to all this he contributed to the diffusion of knowledge, and to the intellectual entertainment of the people by frequent lectures on various subjects.

His entire freedom from a spirit of sectarianism was a marked and pleasing feature of his character. Though a member of the Church of England, he was always willing to aid any efforts for good from whatever denomination they might proceed. This greatly contributed to secure for him that confidence and esteem in which he was held by the Nonconformists of the district.

On the resignation in 1856, of Mr. David Ricardo, who had filled the office of Chairman of the Board of Guardians for many years, the Board through their Vice-Chairman, the late Mr. Thomas Skinner, invited Mr. W. H. Hyett to become his successor. Mr. Hyett declined the office, but in doing so directed attention to Mr. Dickinson as well fitted to fill it. He was accordingly first chosen as a Guardian, and then unanimously appointed by the Board as their Chairman. For twenty-two years he held this responsible position with satisfaction to all concerned. He was a most diligent visitor at the Workhouse, and was familiar with all the details of the work there.

One or two facts will illustrate the watchful care and