On this page
-
Text (2)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
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
to the feelings of others , either in word or deed , which too frequently blemish the intercourse of society . The moral ^ xcellericies now mentioned were the result of a benevolent heart and a well-disciplined mind , * but they rested on that basis which was deemed by their
possessor the surest foundation of virtue - *—a principle of religion . The Christian dispensation he regarded as a beautiful and salutary code of laws and scheme of moral govern meat , admirably adapted to the wants and character of man in his passage through this world , but that dispensation was received with peculiar joy ,
as bringing life sind immortality to light by the resurrection of Christ , which wa » considered as affording the sole ground for hope to mankind of a future exist * ence . The leading feature of his religious character was a desire to inculcate mutual charity and forbearance among the professors of Christianity . He was the
firm opponent of theological rancour , whether manifesting itself in those who wear the sacerdotal robe or in the breasts of laymen . He did not , with the mistaken disciples , imprecate the fire of heaven on those who differed from him in religious principle , or ask , with Othello , whether there are no stones but such as
serve for thunder . Being a Dissenter himself ; and , therefore , differing from the majority of his countrymen , he thought that sectarians in particular should allow to each other the same privilege Which they themselves claim by separating from the established hierarchy , Religious persecution for conscience' sake , was , in Mr . Butler ' s opinion , the deepest of moral iniquities .
Mr . Butler , in October 1821 , reached his 74 th year . His labours had continued more than half a century , and during that long period he had enjoyed , with a brief exception , an unclouded day of health . His constitution , which was among the choicest gifts of nature , had been improved by exercise , by temperate habits , and by " that souVs refreshing
green , " a cheerful and good temper . The apparently unimpaired state of his health during the last year , justified the expectation that he would be yet spared many years to the world , and that death would arrive at last , not through any specific malady , but by the springs of life being gradually worn out . But He who wisely as well as benevolently determines the bounds of mortal habitation and existence
decreed otherwise . On the 13 th of May , after having in the morning attended a school in which he had taught forty-nine years , Mr . Butler was attacked by a painful disorder incident to age , and which finally terminated his existence , August
Untitled Article
1 , 1822 . If his days of activity had been eminently bright and useful , hia last hours gave a new lustre and efficacy to bis character . The severity of his complaint was borne with fortitude , composure and exemplary patience . Folly aware throughout of the approach of dissolution , he
looked forward to that awful event with tranquil acquiescence : the moments that were spared from suffering were anxiously employed in affectionate concern for the Interest of others , and more especially in those serious contemplations and religious
exercises which became his situation * His two favourite portions of Scripture * the 1 lth of John , and that sublime and consolatory chapter , the 15 th of Coritu thians , were frequently read to him ;—their promises cheered the valley of the shadow of death .
In estimating the value of such a man as Mr . Butler , it will appear from what has been said that we should combine his moral priuciple with kis literary employ * ments ; these were formed by him into duties , which he most conscientiously discharged : and though he did not create new systems of science , he wUl long be
remembered in a large and respectable circle of pupils , to whom he communi * cated solid information , examples of virtue , aud the means of happiness , and who , in an age fruitful of knowledge , has by his writings instructed , and will still continue to instruct , the rising generation , and benefit mankind . He was one of
those men the remembrance of whom will be always agreeable , and whose virtues will live and have a force beyond the grave , " It will be an interesting occupation of the pensive hour to recount the advantages Which we have received from beings who have left the world , and to reinforce our virtues from the dust ot those who first taught them . " *
Untitled Article
574 Obituary * ~~ Mias Maria Marg&r&ta Parker .
Untitled Article
On July the 16 th were corn in } t ted to " the house appointed for all ' the living , " the remains of Maria Margaretta Parker , eldest daughter of the Rev . Samuel Parker , of Stockport , Cheshire . Could a Christian mind admit
any thing to be premature which takes place under the direction of an infinitely wise and just Being , or suppose death not to be the appointment of that gracious Power who gave Hfe- —Purely it
must be at a time like the present , when called upon to weep over the grave of otic so young , so affectionate , so reflective and so pious \ But the beams ox divine truth at once dispel the mist of scepticism . Its celestial light penetrating —— ; •¦¦ ; ¦ /" ¦ f ; ¦¦¦ r •¦ - ; ' \ -- " * ' ~" » F 9 &ter ' & Essays .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1822, page 574, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2516/page/54/
-