On this page

• Text (1)

  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.

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • 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.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    children- Nor is it merely in the relation of mother and < £ uld that the influence is perceived 2 the character of the domestics will greatly depend upon the character of the mistress . "—Let it also be recollected , that history , hoth sacred and profane , triumphantly records the

    influence of maternal precept and example . Of the young Evangelist it is said , that he imbibed the elements of religious knowledge from Lois and Eunice , and no brighter fact adorns the splendid page of the Roman annals than that of Cornelia claiming her children as the richest

    ornaments of her life . When , therefore , the extent , the duration , and the object of Mr . Butler ' s services are considered , he may be . said to have exerted a moral and intellectual influence of great and durable importance to mankind- He was a blessing in his generation *

    Through the whole of life , Mr . Butler was actuated by those sentiments which draw a strong line of demarcation between the useless and the valuable member of society . He began his career with a resolution to be eminent and to do good : " To add something to the system

    of life , and to leave mankind wiser and better for his existence , " was , as-he expressed himself , the great principle which inspired his' conduct . The means by which he determined to accomplish the laudable purposes of his ambition were , a rigid economy and improvement of time , and a steadiness of pursuit

    energetically directed to one object . To say that he was diligent , when compared with those who neither spin nor toil , and that time was not wasted in folly or vice , is mere negative praise . He was the most industrious of the most industrious .

    Regarding employment as the best security for virtue and happiness , * every moment was occupied . As the goldsmith collects the filings and small dust of the precious metals , so Mr . Butler gathered up and preserved the very fragments and minutest

    * St . Anthony the Great found it so diilicult to maintain the combat with his own heart , that in an hour of distress he cried to the Lord , asking how he should be saved . Presently , says the legend , he saw one in the likeness of himself who SM at worky and anon rose from his work and prayed , and then sat down to

    twist a rope of the film of the palm , and after a while rose * ami prayed agaiu . It was the angel of the Lord . " Do this , " said the angel , " and thou shalt be saved . " The advice offered to the Saint accorded with that given by an old divine , whose receipt for success in life is , to work hard , to live Jiard , nhd to pray hard .

    Untitled Article

    particles of time , and which , though sfttatfr as p&rtfc , yet as an aggregate became important . Through the greater part of hi& life : he Tose at five o ' clock , both in winter and summer ; and he often said , that during his very extensive range of bio--graphical readiug , he had met with buk

    few instances of an eminent character who did not rise early . Tb@ utmost punctuality was observed in every engagement : every thing was systematized and planned . In whatever was read or done , * his thoughts were perpetually employed in searching out every principle that could enable him to reach excellence ia .

    his , line . He had the h $ ppy faculty of bringing the ample stores of knowledge ; with which his mind was enriched to bear on those subjects immediately connected with it ; all mental acquisitions were made subservient to this view * Early in life he read much in

    controversial divinity ; it was afterwards laid aside as productive of little practical utility . For the same reason he carefully avoided that delightful walk of literature which is decorated with the flowers of romance , which , however attractive for their beauty , and fragrance , rarely yield substantial benefit to their admirers . Common sense

    was truly his distinguishing mental fa * eulty : " whatever was beyond it was re ~ jected" He possessed , in an eminent degree , that sound judgment which never

    grasps at improbabilities , or forms visionary schemes ; but which , knowing the intimate union between cause and effect , foresees consequences , and therefore selects the best means of securing a desireable end .

    Highly as this excellent man was esteemed for his unwearied public services and intellectual attainments , the sentiment of love and respect was further strengthened by the qualities which

    embellished his moral character . He was eminently distinguished by a strict probity , an inviolable regard to truth , and an honourable independence of mind . He was a generous benefactor to others ; ; u \ d his diffusive benevolence was as much

    an impulse of nature as a sense of duty * inferiors were treated with kindness and affability ; and great anxiety was shewn not to say or do any thing which could render their situation as dependents painful to their feelings ; and no inferior wa » ever suffered to perform the least service

    unrequited . Whatever was mean ^ ipjust and dishonourable , excited warm | ndig ~ nation . . His sense of the least ^ propriety of conduct being keen antl vivid , it extended not only to the more glaring acts of wrong which disgrace individuals , but to those minuter dencieuces of behaviour , and to that absence of attention

    Untitled Article

    Obituarp . ~<~ Mrr tPitUam ( Butler . % 373 f

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1822, page 573, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2516/page/53/