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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Oft fehe 3 d of November , died at his house , in lissex Street , between the hours pf six and seven in the evening , in the 86 th year of his age , the Jtev . THEOPHILUS LINBSEY . former ? / vicar of Catterick , in Yorkshire . This living he resigned in the year 1773 , from a conviction $ h at the service of the
church of England , as far as it involves the doctrines of the Trinity , is repugnant to the precept's of our Saviour and Jiis apostles , and particularly to the great command of God solemnly promulgated to the J ews , and urged with the strongest emphasis hy our Saviour—T hpi * shalt have no other Gods but me . —In
consequence of this conviction , and the ineffectual attempts to obtain redress for the clergy in the subscription of * the thirty-nine articles ,- having resigned his living , and quitted Yorkshire ^ he came to London ; and in the year 1774 , encouraged by the application of several persons of high respectability , who were earnest in the same cause , he opened a room in Essei-house for the worship of
the onl y true God , in which he performed divine service , according to the liturgy of the church of England , reformed by the celebrated Dr . Clarke , with some variations adapted 'to his own improved views of the subject . Four years afterwards he prcuched a sermon on the opening of the chapel m Essex-house , which has since that time been
dedicated to Unitarian worship . Here his services as a minister were most acceptable to a numerous congregation ; arfd whatever disapprobation his opinions might excite among the uninformed of different denominations , even they could not but esteem a character of such benevolence ,
honesty and integrity . The attachment of those who were intimately acquainted with his virtues was unbounded , for seldom is to be found a man , who has fixed so deeply in his heart the grand characteristics bf the Christian religionlove to God and love to man . He
lamented the divisions among Christians , owing to the unreasonable adherence of many to tradition , merely of human or political authority , in opposition to the language of revelation . The whole
tenor of his preaching was benevolence , and the easy yoke of Christ , ardour in the study of the scriptures , humility in £ hc sight of God , and the rejection of that false piety , which lays undue stress f > n external circumstances , Jn these
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useful labours he was / engaged to the 70 th year of his age , when he resigned his pastoral office , dedicating the remainder of his life to the great objects of promoting scriptural truth , ip wh fch service he continued occasionally to employ his pen . No man was a more sincere friend to civil and religions liberty >
no one more Attached to those principles which placed the Brunswick family upon the throne . ' To these principles , be never failed , when a proper opportunity of fered , of bearing his testimony wfth consistent firmness and characteristic mildness ; for mildness , benevolence and humility , founded ^ on piety , and entire resignation to the will of God , and
combined with habitual cheerfulness , were the str&ing features in his character . During the latter part of his life , the infirmities of hi $ age gradually pressed upon him , but he bore them all without a murmur , and his favourite maxim , on which he dwelt emphatically almost in his last moments , an ^ d when utterance became difficult , was—What God wills is best .
On the Friday in the folio wing week , the remains of this venerable pastor were deposited in his otvn vault in Bunhill-fields . The funei a ! was , according to his directions , private . A hearse carried the body and one mourning coach followed it , but at the burial
ground several of his friends had met , to pay their last tribute of afFection and respect to him who had b ^ en their much loved friend or pastor , or the chief instrument in . their conversion from a false worship to that which is ordained by the scriptures . On the Sunday following , the pulpit and reading desk in Essex
Street chapel were covered with black , and a funeral sermon was preached by Mr . Belsham to a very numerous congregation , a very great majority of whom attended in mourning upon the occasion . Perhaps never was a sermon ,
in which reigned so great a sympathy between the preacher and his hearers . The great cause for which the deceased was so powerful a champion , was most ably set forth , and the effects of his pious zeal were manifest in the solemn
and impressive attention of the audience . At Hackney , also , the pulpit of the Unitarian church was arrayed likewise in black , and a funeral .- > cr » - mon was preached on the following Sunday by Mr . Applaud , who paicj
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1808, page 617, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2398/page/41/
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