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Untitled Article
than ten or twelve of these under his care . About this number he continued to instruct till the year 1800 , when he entirely gave up the engagements of a school , and devoted himself to the exercise of his ministerial
functions . These he continued to perform with great acceptahleness , till the summer of 1813 , when the infirmities of age led him to resign ( not without reluctance both to
himself and many of his hearers ) , a profession to which he had been strongly attached , and in the exercise of which he had ^ been a truly useful and highly respected character during a period of more than half a century .
He was immediately succeeded by the Rev . George Kenrick , ( now of Hull , ) , who , however , only remained at Chesterfield till the commencement of the year 1815 . From that time till September of the same year , when the Rev . Robert Wallace became their
pastor , the congregation at Chester-Held were for the most part supplied by ministers from a distance . But , occasionally during the interval , Mj \ Astley officiated amongst them with almost his wonted vigour and collectedness . The period of active
usefulness was , however , nearly past , and after a gradual arid silent decay of the powers of nature , he departed this life on the morning of the 15 th of October , 1817 , having completed his 79 th year . He was interred October 20 th , in the vault belonging to his
family , in the parish church of Chesterfield . On the following Sunday the Rev . Robert Wallace preached a sermon suited to the occasion , from which he has obligingly permitted the following extract to be added to the preceding imperfect sketch .
* ' From the few opportunities of intercourse with Mr . Astlev , which my recent removal to this place has afforded me , 1 am not prepared to enter into that minuteness of
description , in which I might otherwise have felt a melancholy pleasure : nor , indeed , is my testimony required to the uniform excellence of his private character , to his attainments as a scholar ,
jpr to h } & eminent qualifications as a publicteacher of religion . In thq capacity of a Christian minister , alj who knew him can bear witness to ^ e ^ . uncjpmino ^ faithfulness and diligence by which his life was d is tin-
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guished . ^ He attached a very high " degree of importance to scriptural studies ; and made all his attainments '
subservient to the elucidation of that sacred volume , which contains the words of everlasting life . Religion was with him a matter of the deepest persona ] interest ; and the opinions which he held on man y of the
disputed doctrines of Christianity , though differing widely from those entertained by the majority of his fellow-christians , were not embraced and acted upon till they had undergone a careful and minute examination . But , though much of his time and labour was
regularly devoted to the acquisition of Scriptural knowledge , he was far from being inattentive to the other duties connected with his profession . In preparing his pulpit exercises , he was
a model of regularity and accuracy . His subjects were happily chosen , arid the strain of his preaching was for the most part practical , though interwoven with occasional allusions t 6
that system of religious doctrine , which he had made the object of his early and deliberate choice , and in the belief of which he had been confirmed by the study and reflection of succeeding years . * His prayers were
highly animated and devotional ; free from all vain repetitions and affected phraseology . His piety was of a liberal and rational kind , and had its seat in the understanding and the heart . His charity for those who entertained views of Christianity different from his own was unlimited and universal . He
always made suitable allowances for the prejudices of education , and appreciated the good qualities of his friends , without regard to the distinctions of sect and party . Whenever there was talent or learning to excite admiration ; wherever there was virtue to secure respect ; wherever there was distress ; to call forth sorr < ow , ot
indigence to demand relief , the appeal was never made to his heart in vain . The meritorious always received from him their due meed of praise ; the ignorant uniformly profited by his counsel and experience ; the sons arid daughters of affliction derived consolation from his sympathy , and the
* " IWr . Ajstley ' s sentiments , with ' remrtf to religious doctrines , frere strictly Itniferian" ' ' ' ' " " ¦"" ' ' ' ' ^ '
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156 Memoir of the late Rev . Thonids Astley :
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1818, page 156, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2474/page/4/
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