42 Obituary.-Character of the late Rev. Dr. Toulmin. from whom better things might have been expected. When, however, a violent party spirit, either in religion or politics, is excited, it is apt to blind the judgment and to rouse the irritable passions of persons who are generally mild, candid and amiable. This which drove that eminently pious philosopher and undaunted theologian Dr. Priestley, from Birmingham, his place of abode, and eventually from his native country, endangered in some degree the personal safety of his esteemed friend Dr. Toulmin, then residing at Taunton. They had, however, abundant sources of consolation in the testimony of an approving conscience, and were disposed to adopt the petition of their divine Master respecting their persecutors, on which the former published a sermon suited to the occasion, breathing the most truly Christian spirit, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' Let us, however, turn aside our views, my friends, from these melancholy scenes, so disgraceful to this age and country, with a fervent wish and ardent hope, that they may never more be repeated, and with sincere congratulation on the prevalence at present of a milder spirit, among both religious and political parties. Though to be zealous in what we deem a good cause is commendable, it should never be forgotten by us, that the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.' "By a mysterious, but no doubt wise and benevolent, dispensation of providence, Dr. Toulmin was visited with great relative afflictions. He was, however, supported under them by the animating principles of religion. These, notwithstanding the tenderness of his feelings, and an occasional depression of the animal spirits to which he was subject, enabled him to preserve a general composure, an habitual cheerfulness of mind, the offspring of true rational piety devoid of superstition, and of Christian hope with its eye fixed on heaven. "Our deceased friend was not only steadfast and unmoveable, but he also always abounded in the work of the Lord.' On this point, it is very difficult to do justice to his character. He was unwearied in his labours to promote the noble cause in which as a Christian minister he was engaged, and to advance the knowledge, holiness and happiness of his fellow-creatures. Besides his stated ministrations to his own congregation, he was often called on by other societies of protestant dissenters, sometimes to advocate the cause of Christian truth, and at others to plead for the relief of human distress, and few ministers were better qualified for either of these purposes. As he has occasionally officiated in this place, you cannot but recollect, my friends, the seriousness and decorum of his deportment in the pulpit, and the strain of rational, fervent, practical piety, scriptural argument, and Christian affection for the best interest of his hearers, by which his discourses were distinguished. He was, in the genuine sense of the term, an evangelical gospel preacher. His sermons were neither philosophical essays, unsuitable to the capacities and circumstances of men in general, nor wild incoherent rhapsodies, in which the hearers are treated as having passions only, and no understanding. When he entered the pulpit, he never forgot that he was a professed minister of the glorious gospel of Christ, and that the service required of Christians, is declared to be a reasonable service.' "His many publications on a great variety of subjects, chiefly religious, or connected with the history of religion, bear witness to his unwearied labours in the Lord. They bespeak an active mind, a sound judgment, a candid disposition, and a benevolent heart; all which were engaged in the daily investigation of some of the most important points of human inquiry. His acquisitions in theology and general literature, in ecclesiastical history, and biography, more especially, were very extensive, and few persons have applied the talents God has given them, and the learning, human and divine, they have acquired to a nobler and more useful purpose. Many a just tribute of respect and veneration will, no doubt, be paid to his memory. A valua ble correspondent* of mine who well knew his worth, thus characterizes him. 'Our excellent friend was' an Israelite indeed; a man of great simplicity and singleness of heart, of inflexible integrity, and one of the most active, zealous, able, useful and valuable men among us, whose memory is entitled to the highest esteem and regard of all the friends of truth, liberty and vir tne.' "We were favoured with an opportunity of hearing the instructions of Dr. Toulmin in this place, about the middle of the preceding year. From his age, and the distance of his residence from us, we had reason to apprehend it would be the last, and thus it has proved. It seems indeed as if he then came among us to bid his final adieu, and to pronounce the blessing of an aged minister and friend on this society, (for which he always professed great respect and fervent wishes for its prosperity,) before his eyes were closed and his tongue rendered silent, by the icy hand of death. We shall now see him no more in this world. No more shall we converse with this intelligent and cheerful companion, this humble and affectionate friend. No more shall we hear the words of heavenly wisdom drop from his lips; but though dead, he yet speaketh.' He speaketh by the exemplary character he has left behind him. He speaketh by the many useful *The Rev. Thomas Jervis, of Leeds. Obituary-Mrs. Mary Gibbs. writings which were dictated by his pious and enlightened mind. Though his revered head now lies low in the dust, we may still have him for our instructor in useful knowledge, and what is of most importance, in the way of Christian truth and holiness which leads to immortal bliss. Neither are we to entertain the gloomy idea of an eternal separation. If the junction of virtuous friends hereafter be not a pleasing delusion, but sanctioned by reason and confirmed by the Christian revelation, (as I think it is,) we may hope, if we are diligent and faithful in our master's service, to renew our delightful intercourse with this eminent servant of God, at the illustrious period when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, and all his true followers shall appear with him in glory."" On Sunday the 24th of December, 1815, died at St. Ives, Cornwall, in the 65th year of her age, Mrs. MARY GIBBS, wife of Mr. Silvanus Gibbs of that town, to whom she was united nearly forty years, and by him had five children, two only of whom survive to lament her loss. Her illness was of short duration: and though her health had been rather indifferent for the last eleven or twelve years, she encountered a journey, forwards and backwards, of 148 miles, about four months since, with little difficulty, in order to visit (and, as the event has proved, take her final adieu of,) the writer of this article. The Monday evening preceding her dissolution, she was seized with a violent pain in her stomach, and shortly afterwards brought up a quantity of blood. Five years before she was attacked in a similar manner; and has been frequently subject to pain in the stomach, though she had experienced nothing of the kind in the course of the last two months. Tuesday and Wednesday she became worse, and, at different times, emitted six or seven quarts of blood; but towards the close of Wednesday the medicine prescribed, for the time, prevented any farther evacuation; and, notwithstanding her feeble and low state, she seemed to be getting better. Most unfortunately, however, a fire happened in the town that night, and the alarm excited by it so overpowered her spirits, that, from this moment, she grew progressively worse, but suffering little pain; and about 7 o'clock on the ensuing Sanday morning, she yielded up her life, with perfect resignation, into the 43 hands of her Creator, without a struggle or a groan! Happy are those who die in the Lord; they rest from their labours and their works follow them. "So fades a summer cloud away; So sinks the gale when storms are o'er; So gently shuts the eye of day; So dies a wave along the shore." How mysterious to us are the dispensations of Providence: let us learn submission to its will! When our kindred and friends are separated from us by the awful hand of death, it surely ought to stimulate us to closely exa mine our own hearts, and thoroughly prepare them for that solemn period to which we are all rapidly hastening; for "the Son of man cometh at an hour when we think not-and happy will be those whom, when he cometh, he shall find watching. The venerated person who has just left us, never affected any singularity on the score of religion; nor was she particularly attached to any system. She believed that holiness of heart and life are, in the estimation of the Almighty, of far superior importance to those disputed points of doctrine which have severed the Christian world into so many sects and parties. It was her opinion that "whatsoever a man soweth, that he will also reap; that he who soweth to his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but he who soweth to the spirit, from the spirit will reap everlasting life:" and that "the hour cometh, in which all that are in their graves shall come forth; they that have done good, to the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation." From her youth, she regularly attended divine worship in the chapel belonging to the Weslean Methodists; though, I believe, she never enrolled herself as a member of that community. Her attachment to this people was doubtlessly much strengthened in consequence of her father, and some of her other relations, having been among the first of the inhabitants of St. Ives who joined the cause of Mr. Wesley; and who always continued his warmest admirers and most steady friends. In times of persecution, that gentleman and his colleagues uniformly found an asylum among her relatives: a minister, at one time, lay concealed for several weeks in her father's house, when closely sought after by an infa mous press-gang! The early Metho 44 Obituary. Mrs. Mary Gibbs.-Rev. Christopher Lake Moody.. dists underwent considerable persecution in that place; and once had their little chapel demolished by an ignorant, infatuated mob, headed by some of the Corporation, who ought to have known and respected the sacred rights and liberties of Englishmen! But, poor deluded souls, they considered themselves staunch members and champions of the Established Church, and thought, by such a procedure, they were rendering her an important service!!! At present, the major part of the inhabitants are either Methodists or favourably disposed towards them: so great is the change wrought there, as well as in other parts of the kingdom, in favour of the liberties of conscience. Though the writer is obliged, after much reading and reflection on the subject, to dissent from some doctrines which are held by the Methodists as essential to salvation, (and which he himself once believed to be so,) yet he cannot withhold his tribute of praise justly due to their labours and indefatigable exertions in Cornwall, in civilizing and christianizing the rude parts of the county, and in exciting a taste for reading and obtaining usesul knowledge; which has, of late years, produced a considerable spirit of religious inquiry among the inhabitants in general, and will, no doubt, eventually lead to their embracing and openly professing purer and more dignified sentiments of the gospel. In the excellent subject of this article, society has lost one of its most amiable and most worthy members; and her family their steady counsellor and most affection friend. As a wife, she was truly industrious, economical, neat, discreet and prudent; as a parent, she bore a tender regard to her offspring, and was ever solicitous to inculcate in them habits of usefulness, decency, sobriety and virtuous dispositions; and as a member of society, she was mild and affable in her demeanour, and universally esteemed by all who knew her.-Peace be to her memory. Perhaps the following tribute of real affection, which was composed shortly after the writer was made acquainted with the death of his beloved parent, may not be an unsuitable appendage to what precedes: And must I think it! is she gone, My secret heart's exulting boast? And does she heedless hear my groan? Those records dear of transports past; Ah! little thought we 'twas our last! Dearest of earthly comforts! art thou fled? Thy radiant smile I shall no more behold, free. Though troubles dire I many years have Thy sympathizing heart was ever warm more! gracious Heav'n! thy consolation send, come! This world, with all its cares, will pass away, And that succeed with bright and spotless day. eyes In that pure region, may those weeping The holy calm which saints shall there en- O sov'reign balm for my deep wounded To join her there, and never, never part! scene: With all our friends Jehovah's name adore, Plymouth-Dock, Jan. 7, 1816. Rev. CHRISTOPHER LAKE MOODY, At Turnham Green, aged 62, the LL. D. greatly respected by all who knew him, for his estimable virtues, his social qualities, his native talents and his literary acquirements. Intelligence.-Persecution of the French Protestants. The late Dr. Zouch (whose death was recently announced) was a gentleman, of considerable literary attainments. He was of Trinity College, Cambridge-took his B. A. degree 1761, and was third Wrangler of the year-proceeded to M. A. 1764, and D. D. 1802. In 1765 he gained the Seatonian Prize, The Crucifixion. 45 About thirty years ago he published an enlarged edition of "Walton's Lives of Donne, Wotton," &c. in 4to; and in 1808, "The Life of Sir Philip Sidney."-It is said the Doctor refused a Bishopric some years ago, on account of his age and bodily infirmities. He was uncle to the Earl of Lonsdale. INTELLIGENCE. Persecution of the French Protestants. Library, Redcross Street, Tuesday, Nov. 21, 1815. At an Extraordinary Meeting of the General Body of Protestant Dissenting Ministers of the Three Denominations, summoned to take into consideration the propriety of applying to his Majesty's Government to interpose their good offices with the Government of France, for the Protection of the French Protestants, who appear to be suffering the most violent and inhuman persecution on account of their attachment to that Religion, in defence of which our Forefathers shed their blood, Rev. D. TAYLOR, in the Chair, It was unanimously resolved, 1. That we have learned from our holy religion, and from happy experience that liberty of conscience and of religious worship, is one of the best blessings of the Almighty Creator. 2. That enjoying this inestimable blessing ourselves through the signal mercy of Divine Providence, and the equity and liberality of the legislature and government of these realms, we cannot but desire its universal extension. 3. That we are prompted by the liveliest sympathy to take an interest in the condition of our Protestant brethren on the Continent of Europe, whose fathers, in concert with our own, at the period of the Reformation, recovered the precious rights of conscience at the expence of their property and lives. 4. That we had hoped from the experience of the inefficacy, impolicy and impiety of persecution, and from the spread of knowledge throughout Europe, that the time was at length come when religious liberty was universally acknowledged to be the inalienable birth-right of every human being. 5. That we have learned with astonishment and grief the state of our Protestant brethren in the South of France, who are suffering under the horrors of persecution-their dwellings and property ravaged or consumed, numbers of them driven into exile, their pastors silenced, their temples shut up, their children dragged from the arms of their parents, in order to be re-baptized according to the Roman Catholic ritual, and whole families brutally massacred. 6. That our surprise and horror at these merciless deeds are aggravated by the recollection that the present government of France has been in a great measure restored_and sustained by British treasure, British valour, and British blood, exertions and sacrifices, which his Majesty's government has avowedly made for the promotion and preservation of the peace, independence and happiness of all Europe, and which must be considered as made in vain, if our French Protestant brethren be not protected by the restored government of France, from the fury of savage persecutors, whether single or combined. 7. That we are not uninformed, that the events which we behold, with so much concern and alarm, are attempted to be accounted for and excused by the state of political parties in France-but that whilst, as ministers of religion, we hold it to be a sacred duty to stand aloof from all political factions, whether at home or abroad, we cannot suffer this pretext to deaden our sympathy with our suffering Protestant brethren-because the history of persecution in all ages shews, that 46 Intelligence.-Persecution of the French Protestants. persecutors have done homage to liberty and charity, by disguising their cruelty under political pretences-and because, in the present instance, it appears that the Protestants of France, have been, and are, as much divided in their political opinions and predilections as any other body of Frenchmen-that the rage of the persecutors has been directed against Protestants without distinction, and that Protestants only appear to be the objects of their unchristian resentment and vengeance. 8. That the British government has often distinguished itself by using its power and influence with due respect to the independence of other nations, on behalf of the injured and oppressed for conscience sake,—and that the august House of Brunswick have been justly and honourably considered, from the era of their happy accession to the throne of these realms, as the Protectors of the Protestant interest of Europe. 9. That it appears to us that never was there a more urgent call for the interposition of the government of the United Kingdom, than in the present instance, when persecution is raging in France against such as hold the same religious faith which is professed by Britons, and that under the reign of a monarch, who owes his restoration to the supreme power-to the energy-valour and perseverance of the arms of this Protestant Empire. 10. That on these grounds a deputation be appointed to represent our sentiments to his Majesty's government, and to express our confidence that the ministers of his royal highness the Prince Regent will employ their good offices with the Court of France, in obtaining for our suffering Protestant brethren immediate relief and permanent security. 11. That such deputation consist of the Rev. Robert Áspland, the Rev. Mark Wilks, the Rev. William Newman, and the Rev. Thomas Morgan, Librarian and Secretary. DAN. TAYLOR, Chairman. 12. That the thanks of this body be given to the Chairman, for his conduct in the Chair. T. MORGAN, Secretary. Library, Redcross Street, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 1815. At an Extraordinary Meeting of the General Body of Protestant Dis- Rev. A. REES, D. D. F. R. S. It was unanimously Resolved, 2. That deeply compassionating the case of our French Protestant brethren, who have been despoiled of their goods, and deprived of their houses of prayer, we recommend it to our brethren, and our congregations throughout the United Kingdom, to raise pecuniary contributions for the relief of these sufferers for conscience sake. 3. That a Committee of inquiry, superintendance and distribution, consisting of six members of each denomination, be appointed to correspond with our brethren in the country on the subject of the foregoing resolution, and otherwise to carry the said resolution into effect. 4. That the following gentlemen constitute the said Committee : The Rev. R. Aspland, J. Barrett, T. Belsham, G. Burder, J. Coates, T. Cloutt, F. Cox, S. Evans, J. Hawkesley, J. Hughes, Dr. Lindsay, W. Newman, Dr. Rees, Dr. Rippon, G. Smallfield, Dr. Smith, J. Townsend, D. Taylor, Dr. Waugh, Mark Wilks, Dr. Winter. 5. That with the consent of the trustees of the late Dr. Williams, the Meetings of the Committee be held at the Library, Redcross Street, where all communications and contributions will be received by the Rev. Thomas Morgan, the Librarian and Secretary to the three denominations. |