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    truths of religion with effect , to the convictrori and improvement of

    youth . But * ' though Paul may plant , and Apollos water , it is God that giveth the increase ; and he gives it , not by any supernatural interference , but by blessing the diligent use of our own powers , when sincerely exerted in the search of truth . In religion , as well as in science , those who would be educated well , must educate themselves . Having received the elements " of knowledge , they must combine , arrange , and improve them , till they are formed into consistent notions , and become

    leading principles ib the mind , impelling and regulating its movements , and producing that hacmony of action , which principle alone can ensure * This can be

    accomplished only by personal meditation and research ; by taking our creed , not from the authority of man , but from the word of God . Such was the course pursued by Mn Esdaile , who devoted a large

    portion of his leisure to theexamL nation . of the sacred volume , and has left ample proof , in his manuscript notes , of the diligence and impartiality , which he employed to discover and apply its genuine

    doctrines . The consequence was , that the devotional spirit , which he had so happily imbibed in his tender age , was enlightened and guided , as he advanced in years , by the most liberal views of the

    Christian dispensation , and settled into a habit of piety , uniformly cheerful ; equally remote from the coldness of formality , and the intemperance of fanaticism ; warm , but well regulated , and always connected in his mind with the formation of a virtuous character . This devotional spirit was accom-

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    panied ifi "Mr . Esdaile , as it generally is in minds of muck sensibility , by a congenial tasie for those beauties of nature , which eleya ^ e the soul set pleasingly to the fountain of beauty , and of all that exalts and delights the rational

    man . Whilst his jbody and his mind were in health , he always expressed the highest satisfaction , in surveying that sublim e and romantic scenery , which accords so well with pious feeling ,

    and disposes so much to a cordia acquiescence in all the -ways o * divine wisdom . This acquiescence was severely tried on different occasions ^ by domestic losses , peculiarly distressing ; and few men have ever discovered more than he

    < iid- « - of that genuine resignation , founded upon Christian principles , which , without outraging the feelings of nature , checks her murmurs , and enforces submission , even when she is deeply wounded in the tenderest part . —Mr .

    Esdaile was educated a dissenter ; and the habit of thinking for himself confirmed him in dissenting principles . He was fully alive to the importance of fixing the right of private judgment upon a wide and solid base : and when the

    interests of truth and freedom were at stake , no man was better disposed to come to their aid , both with his substance and his personal exertions . In the support and management of our charitable institutions , his advice and his

    exertions were prompt and disinterested ; and no support was ever less ostentatious , or Jess actuated by vaiir / glory . Fvt . a simplicity , bordering upon diffidence , was the basis of his mental cbn ^ titutipn ; and , thoughHei was active in encouraging land conducting public

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    l £ 4 Obituary . —James Esddile , Esq

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1812, page 194, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1746/page/58/