that hour A sunshine imperfect the rays may impart, That revives for a time the pale hope of the heart, But fleeting the beam, as in spring's chilly skies, And more desolate still is the soul when it flies. Yet there is a ray that illumes in the tomb, For the wand'rer, a day-star, in misery's gloom; Religion, 'tis thou! thy aid is above, VERSES Composed by a Lady at Bath, in a deep Consumption, to her Husband. Thou who dost all my worldly thoughts employ, Thou pleasing source of all my earthly joy, Thou tenderest husband and thou dearest friend, To thee this fond and last adieu I send. At length the conqueror Death asserts his right, And will for ever veil me from thy sight; He woos me to him with a cheerful grace And not one terror clouds his awful face. He promises a lasting rest from pain And shews that all life's pleasing dreams are vain : From haunts of man the beauteous form to chase; Or bind her, hopeless to a monarch's car; Arise!-thy warning shade shall best atone OBITUARY. 1821. Oct. 3, at Minal, the Rev. CHARLES FRANCIS, M. A., rector of that parish, and of CollingbourneDucis, both in Wilts, and one of the prebendaries of Sarum. The following bequests evince that his benevolence extended beyond the period of his life. He has enjoined £50 to be distributed among poor persons in each of the parishes of Minal and Collingbourne Ducis. To the poor of the parishes of West Tanfield and Wath, in Yorkshire, to which he was successively rector, nearly 40 years since, £100. To repair Minal Church, (on the beautifying of which he expended in his life between £1000 and £2000,) he has left the interest of £100 for ever; and the like to repair that of Collingbourne. To augment the small rectory of St. Peter's Marlborough, the interest of £200; and the small vicarage of St. Mary's, in that town, £100. To the Bath Infirmary, the Institution for the Instruction of Deaf and Dumb, and St. Luke's Hospital for the reception of Lunatics, £100 each. To the Salisbury Infirmary, £200. Towards the Edifice Funds for the repair of Salisbury Cathedral, £200. And the sum of £4000 to establish a Protestant Free-School in Minal; and the land on which it is to be built, this exemplary individual had (through the kindness of General Calcraft) purchased at a very easy rate, and duly enrolled during his life-time. All these legacies, as well as the provision made for his servants, Mr. Francis has directed to be paid clear of legacy duty. To the Bodleian Library at Oxford, of which University Mr. Francis was a member, he has bequeathed such of the oriental manuscripts and works purchased by him of the descendants of the late Professor Pococke, as do not form a part of that collection. making a fund to defray the expenses of a law-suit, about to be carried on in the ensuing term, against the Denny family, to open the borough of that town; and the overplus, if any, to form the commencement of a sinking fund, to secure the future independence of the borough, by defraying the expenses of the popular candidate at any future contested election, and thereby encouraging talents and independence in the country; and in case the inhabitants should decline prosecuting such suit, then the said sum to be applied in support of the different public institutions of the town, to be distributed as the grand jury shall think fit. The history of this man's life is as extraordinary as his bequest : In the early part of his career, he was for many years an attorney's clerk, in which situation, by persevering industry and rigid economy, he amassed a considerable sum of money, and, considering himself independent, he resolved to become a man of business. He did not hesitate long in making a choice; he commenced the trade of a stock-broker, or " advantageous money-lender," and in a few years his success outran his most sanguine expectations. At his death he had liens on the estates of several of the grandees in his neighbourhood. For the last twenty years he was the "collective wisdom" of the "western empire;" his house was at nights the resort of all the knowing ones; and, as he had no family, their nocturnal orgies were not interrupted by any apprehensions of a curtain lecture, or any anxiety for an offspring, whose provisions those revels might lessen. (Blackwood's Edinburgh Mag.) Oct. 21, at Aberdeen, in his 80th year, JOHN EWEN, Esq. With the exception of various sums left to the public charities of Aberdeen, he has bequeathed the bulk of his property (perhaps £15,000 or £16,000) to the magistrates and clergy of Montrose, for the purpose of founding an hospital similar to that of Gordon's Hos Oct. 16, in Tralee, Ireland, aged 75, after a protracted illness, JERRY SULLIVAN, leaving property to the amount of £20,000, which he bequeathed to the inhabitants of Tralee, to be added to the sums already sub-pital at Aberdeen. scribed by them, for the purpose of Nov. 27, at Glasgow, Mr. WILLIAM FRIEND DURANT, aged 19, the only son of the Rev. Thomas Durant, of Poole, in Dorsetshire. Universally esteemed and beloved, his death is deeply felt and regretted. The extraordinary powers of his highly-cultivated intellect, and the refined dispositions of his heart, both under the operative influence of the noblest principles, never failed to recommend him to the well-earned admiration and affectionate regard of all who enjoyed the privilege of his acquaintance. He had for the fourth time repaired to the university, in order this session to conclude his studies; but, alas! a premature death has put an end to a career which, however promising, was but just begun. The eulogies publicly passed on him since the mournful event by the professors of the several classes in which he had in preceding years distinguished himself by the brilliancy of his genius and the fruits of his industry, sufficiently exhibit the light in which he was held by them. The students of the Natural-Philosophy Class expressed their respect for the memory of their deeply-lamented friend and fellow-student in an address of condolence which they unanimously voted to his bereaved and agonized parent. Mr. W. F. Durant was intended for the English bar, and by his death, in the words of one of his professors,* "not only the college has lost one of its brightest ornaments, but the nation, and even the world, may be said to have sustained a very considerable loss.” Dec. 5, at Woodbridge, LAURA, the youngest daughter of Mr. Thomas GILES, much lamented. -6, at his father's house at Islington, after only four days' illness, the Rev. CALEB ÉVANS. The Rev. James Gilchrist delivered a pathetic address at the interment, which took place at Worship Street on the succeeding Wednesday. At the same place, on Sunday, Dec. 16, Mr. David Eaton preached the funeral sermon to a very crowded and respectable audience, from Psalm xxxix. 5: " Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth, and mine age is as nothing before thee;" in which, after judiciously expatiating on the vanity and brevity of life, and the glorious hopes and consolations afforded by the gospel, the preacher thus characterized the lamented deceased: "It now remains for me to say something of the character of the excellent young minister whose premature decease we now honour and deplore. The Rev. Caleb Evans was born in 1801; so that at his death he had not attained the age of 21 years. He was the third son of the Rev. Dr. Evans, who has been the respected minister of this Christian society for upwards of 30 years; your esteem for whom, both as a minister and a friend, is so well known, that it would be impertinent in me to attempt any eulogy on his character. Our deceased friend was instructed under the affectionate care of his father until it was deemed proper to send him to Edinburgh to finish his education, where he attended the College for two years. On his return, he became a principal assistant in the respectable seminary at Islington, which his worthy father has successfully conducted for upwards of 20 years, in connexion with which occupation, after much serious inquiry and deliberation, the ministry of the gospel was the profession to which he devoted himself. With what ardour, satisfaction and success he began his public services in this place, you, who witnessed them, need not to be told. "The melancholy fact, however, is worthy of observation, that this very day twelve months he preached his first sermon, on the Parable of the Sower, in this pulpit, when he evinced, for one so young, so much under standing, and displayed talents so well adapted for public usefulness, as excited the highest expectations of his family and friends. Alas! little did they think on that hopeful occasion that the revolution of one short year would terminate his labours and his life, and summon them to follow him to the tomb! How awful the event! How solemn the thought! A young man of strong and cultivated mind,of pious and religious habits and disposition, just entering upon public life, full of health and zeal and high expectation, that a long and successful career lay before him of ministerial labours and of Christian exertion and duty; when suddenly his gilded prospects were closed, his fond and ardent anticipations were blighted, and he is gone! like the early floweret of the spring, unfolding its blossoms to a bright but unsettled sky, when a rude and chilling blast suddenly destroys its vigour, and lays its sweetness in the dust. "As a proof, if any were wanting, of the powers of mind and of the very respectable talents of our departed friend, we ought to mention, that he frequently officiated with great acceptance in the most respectable and intelligent congregations in the Metropolis and its neighbourhood. But the denomination of Christians with which he connected himself was the General Baptist a denomination which, however liberal their sentiments, and whatever great names they could formerly boast of, is certainly in the present day neither distinguish ed for popularity nor numbers. Considerations like these, however, had no influence upon his pure and disinterested mind. He was aware of the sacred obligation which he was under to follow the dictates of integrity and of his conscience; hence he was devoted to the love of truth and of free inquiry. He cherished a laudable and sturdy independence of thinking and acting for himself-a disposition which, in religious inquiries, and in a young mind, cannot be too much praised. No sentiment or doctrine, therefore, which did not approve itself to the clear and honest conviction of his mind, received his sanction. But while he maintained a scrupulous independence of thinking and inquiry on one hand, he was equally cautious and candid on the other. He freely confessed that on some disputed points, and on some highly interesting subjects, he could not make up his mind, and waited before he did so for greater light and evidence. In corroboration of this statement, we shall mention, that only six or seven weeks ago he was, along with his elder brother, publicly baptized in this chapel by immersion. But before he submitted to this rite, he not only read the most able modern writers on both sides of the question, but also consulted the writings of the fathers, before he decided that to us Christians there is now, as at the first, but One Lord, one Faith, and one. Baptism.' In a manuscript which he has left, and in which he details the conclusions at which he had arrived in this inquiry, and his reasons for determining to subunit to the rite, he observes, I however shall consider that I leave a duty undischarged if I do not give the subject a more extensive examination when my opportunities become enlarged. This memorandum will be a bond upon my conscience. The pious mind humbly submits and adores God in the inscrutable ways of his providence, trusting that whatever he does, he does for good. "What greatly heightens our regret at the loss of our lamented friend, is, that in the midst of firm health and good spirits, he lost his life apparently by the most trifling accident. But a letter (dated the day following his decease) which I will read to you details the particulars of it. I received it from his brother John, whose truly. brotherly, affectionate exertions on this very painful occasion, as well, indeed, as those of all his family, with whom he lived in the greatest love. and harmony, are deserving of the greatest praise: "My dear brother complained first of illness on Saturday evening, and his disorder appeared to those about him dangerous on Monday. Pain in his bowels was the complaint. He himself refrained from expressing any thing like a feeling of danger, evidently from a fear of alarming us, but his manner convinced us that he did not anticipate a recovery. Dr. Southwood Smith, for whom he entertained the most sincere regard, was with us all Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and we can never forget his attention. The medicine my poor brother took found no passage, and though he gradually became relieved from pain, yet his strength rapidly left him. Yesterday morning, after the last efforts had been made to save him, he seemed to collect his thoughts about an hour before his death, and called me by name to his bed-side. He then expressed his conviction that he was dying; thanked me and his other brothers by name for those attentions which our duty had required of us, and expressed himself most thankfully to Dr. Smith. He then dwelt on the love he bore his parents and friends, many of whom he mentioned by name. True to those principles which you have heard him dilate upon so enthusiastically, he spoke of the goodness which directed all here, and expressed himself as humbly thankful to God for the great share of happiness he had experienced during life. He said he only regretted he had been able to do so little for religion and for Christianity he rejoiced that the last act of his life was doing good (alluding to the two charity sermons which he had nearly completed, and was to have delivered at Maidstone next Sunday). He then stated that, though he had enjoyed so much happiness during life, he was still content to die, and felt no pain in dying, and made an allusion to a future state of happiness, where all friends will be re-united. His death was truly consistent with his life, and of that you are well able to form an estimate. Yesterday afternoon he was opened at the particular request of Dr. Smith, and the cause of the complaint was ascertained to be a most singular one-a scarlet bean was discovered to have lodged itself in a cavity of the intestines, in one of those few parts of the human body of which no use has hitherto been discovered. It is supposed that he must have inadvertently swallowed the bean the day before his illness commenced. On such trifles do our lives depend! Such apparently insignificant means are made use of by that All-wise Being who governs life and death, and whose beneficent providence is, we trust, acting still consistently, however mysteriously, in the present mournful event!' "On an event so sudden and un looked for, it is easier to imagine than to describe the distress and sorrow of his family and friends, by all of whom he was tenderly beloved for his virtues and engaging manners. His worthy parents, however, though they have all the tender feelings of humanity, have behaved like Christians. They sorrow not as those who have no hope. They, indeed, suffer and lament, but they are resigned to the will of God. May they partake largely of the consolations of the gospel! What has tended greatly to alleviate their sorrow under so great a bereavement, is the kindness of their numerous friends, whose soothing and sympathising attentions they have most sensibly experienced, and to whom it may be gratifying to know, that their affectionate regards so seasonably evinced have been useful in the highest degree. "We cannot but consider the death of this young minister as a loss, not only to his family and to society at large, but also, in a public point of view, to the General Baptists, amongst whom he laboured, and intended to labour, in the ministry of the gospel; who hailed his rising merits, and who trusted that his abilities and exertions would revive and extend their drooping cause. But the great Arbiter of life and death had otherwise ordained. To his mandate we bow, and may his will be done on earth as it is in heaven! "He fill'd his space with worthy deeds, And not with lingering years." Mr. Eaton introduced a quotation from one of the unfinished sermons referred to in the foregoing letter, being the last sentences on which the lamented deceased employed his pen a quotation which it is unnecessary here to repeat, as Dr. Southwood Smith, who is in every respect well qualified for the task, has undertaken to draw up a short memoir of the character of his young and beloved friend, with extracts from the few sermons produced during that brief year which comprehended the commencement and the termination of his ministry. Lately, at Whitehaven, in his 91st year, M. PIPER, of the Society of Friends. He had amassed a conside |