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    a ad feeling , in favour of its important design ; and this honourable effort of hi-s zeal in the cause of God and religion , may be justly said to have contributed to gild the horizon of his setting sun , which , in various'respects , went down amidst an effulgence of glory , to rise again in unclouded and everlasting

    splendour . In his private character the Rev . Dr . Barnes was truly amiable and exemplary . The most distinguishing feature of it was his fervent piety ; and to this were added the strictest integrity and uprightness , both of mind and conduct , great disinterestedness , and an ardent , active benevolence , which made

    him always ready to every service by which he could either benefit or oblige others . He was particularly liberal in the relief of the poor with whose necessities he was acquainted . In his general disposition he had great natural

    vivacity , as well as an habitual cheerfulness , founded upon religious principles , and hopes constantly influencing his mind ; and his manners were remarkably conciliating ; such as actually engaged the esteem and affection of all who had

    the happiness of knowing him . His conversation was peculiarly interesting and entertaining , yet always of a perfectly innocent , and generally of a profitable nature and tendency . He exceedingly disapproved of all ludicrous allusions to the

    holy scriptures , in particular , and of a light way of speaking of sacred things , in general ; and he was himself scrupulously careful never to open his lips upon any serious subject , and , especially , never to mention the name of God

    without a becoming seriousness and reverence . In his habits of life , he was very abstemious , eating only plain food with great moderation , and never tasting any spirituous or fermented liquors ; but he enjoyed , in general , a sound state of health , and an equal flow of spirits , such as few have the happiness to experience * His

    constitution was naturally strong and good , though he had from his birth , an enlarged arm , which might appear to a stranger to indicate some " original malady or unhealthy tendency of his bodily frame . His natural vigour , however ,

    began visibly to decline , at least a year before hi * death ; though he continued to perform his usual labours , and went through tl > ejn with apparent ease to himself , till within p . few of the kst naonths . An a ^ matical affection , which ha 4 manifest itself £° some

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    time , and been gradually increasing , then began to assume a very serious and alarming appearance , attended at the same time , with some paralytic symptoms ; in consequence of which , it became necessary for him to desist from all public duty . Upon this , he retired to his country-house at Ferney side , near

    Bolton , where he was regularly visited by his medical friends and former pupils at the Academy , Dr . Holme and Dr . Henry , as well as by his old and much esteemed friend Mr . Henry , the father of the latter gentleman ; and every assistance was afforded him which medical skill and the kind attention of

    his friends could yield ; notwithstanding which he rapidly sunk iinder his disorder , till it terminated fatally about midnight , between the 27 th and a 8 th of last June . In the near view of death , the feelings of the late Rev . Dr . Barnes were not merely those of serenity and peace , but of joy and exultation , grounded upon the animating hope and assurance of a blessdd

    immortality which awaited him . He ¦ uniformly discovered the most perfect patience and submission to the will of God under the distressing sufferings which he experienced , particularly from the difficulty of respiration ; was often repeating passages of scripture expressive of this temper , as well as of his firm hope and confidence in God ; and giving , in the most tender and 1 affect ion ate

    manner , pious and good advice to his friends around him , particularly recommending to them a serious attention to religion , as the most important of all concerns . At times , his mind was almost overpowered by the feelings of rapturous delight which he experienced in the prospect of his approaching removal to a

    better world , and particularly in that of a speedy union with all the pious and the good of every former age , as "well as with those that were gone before him ,, whose friendship he had cultivated and enjoyed upon earth . During a few of the last days of his life , his understanding became less clear and collected , through

    increasing weakness ; but , at the same time , his friends had the satisfaction of observing that his bodily sufferings greatly abated ; and , at last , he expired in the most easy manner , without a struggle or a groan , in the sixty-fourth year of his age , and the forty-second of bis stated Qlxrisfian ministry . His remains were interred at Manchester on the Monday morning foUowiag , which was the

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    Obituary . —Rev . Dr . Barnes . 411

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1810, page 411, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2407/page/35/