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    &eQiem *> r—Beu . J . Johns ' * Funeral friseowrsefor Mrs . Davy . 559

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    Art . Ill . ^ r- ^ Wuneral Discourse , delivered at Crediton , Devon , June 2 Q , 1824 , on Occasion of the Death of Mrs . Davy . By J . Johns .

    » Jpb xiv . 14 . THIS is a discourse , short indeed * but of a very superior character : and if the gentleman who delivered it have a * s much eloquence on his tongue as he haa shewn with his pen , in the composition of this tribute of respect to the pious dead , it cannot have been , heard without the deepest feelings of

    sensibility mingle ^ with Christian hope and joy ; nor can we wonder that these pages have met the public eye * f at the particular request of the family . " The subject of death is in every Christian pulpit of necessity a thread-worn subject ; and where the

    congregation is numerous , it is no * in every one ' s power to offer that which is new and Striking upon these , solepin occasions . We are Usually indebted to the tender $ tQt& of thft feeling * , \ yltj& / wWch , tfre , society enteu t , he ch ^ r p ^ 6 ^ tl * e wc ^ siqn ' of a , f ^ neral discourse , far mprc tUw t $ exc ^ Uface . of the add&pa or

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    the novelty of the matter , fot that favourable view which is generally t&ken of funeral discourses . They are then , in general , interesting when the character of the dead affords a pecu liarly instructive lesson to the jiving . The present discourse shall shew its piyn merits , and relate the circumstances under which it was delivered :

    C Although , my felJow-christfans and friends , the services of this morning have already spoken the solemn farewell of religion over the dust which we have so lately committed to the ground *—there are those present who may well claim from me , that I too should apt pass over

    this dispensation in silence : and after What is passed , it would be doing violence alike to their feelings and ray owql were I to touch this day upon a chord le ^ s solemn . I feel that I apeak in the midst of friends , who will be gratified by

    this passing tribute to thje mempry of the dead ; and who will hear me with their accustomed indulgence and attention , while I endeavour , however imperfectl y ^ to speak to their hearts the voice of the grave /*

    After referring to the appeal which death , even in ordinary cases , makes to the living , he proceeds , c € But the present ; is no ordinary occasion , and it ought to be met with no ordinary feelings . The sepulchre is at all times expanding , before , around , and ( let us never forget ) beneath us too : but there is seldom laid low a tree so full of

    the good fruits of time , as that which has so recently felt the axe of the spoiler . Ninety long years of active , pious and honourable life , is not a sacrifice which is every day offered upon , the funeral

    altar to the Searcher of hearts ; and it was to make this mournful but majestic offeripg , that the g ^ tes of the tomb have again been opened , to enclose ouce for all the mortal relics of her , who now only lives to God . "

    Then stating s&me qf the curcum * stances of her life , in which «* phe had supplied to he * family a fathers un-~ . > T-i * f . " .. < rl J . k .. JJ'U—I II luH'll . W i ' » II — * As thia venerable lady had always conscientiously adhered to , the principles of Caivinistic dissent , it became the office <» f her ; respected pastor to notice her loss

    to ma congregation . Bui as it was escp ^ cfsd that , a greater number would at * tend than their place of worship would convenieotly contain ^ application was m $ de far the . use of the Unitarian Chapel , io whichr the service was performed iu tho moriuiHt by Mr , Dalies .

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    matter of serious reflection " and vwr * thy of more attention than they have probably ever been induced to give to the subject . Both unbelievers &nd the sincere but misguided advocates of ijitolerance may learn from it , that

    true reHgion , though it may suffer persecutipin ,, never persecutes ; and that all attempts to suppress opiujons by force , only tend to augment the evil \ yhich they are intended to re * medv .

    We have not space for more than a short extract . In the following passage , the most effectual means of counteracting the efforts of infidelity , are well though , briefly described ;

    c If checked at all , it must be by the same means by which it will ultimately be vanquished : it must be by a decided , but unpstentatipus display of primitive religion . Let the spirit of Christ actuate his ministers ; let the regulations of

    Christ govern his churches ; le % the doc- * trine and precepts of Christianity con-r troul the hearts and lives of its professors ; apd Infidelity will soon hide its blank and gloomy countenance , ashamed of the contrast between itself and the genuine , uncorrupted religion of the Re- * deemer . "

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1824, page 559, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2528/page/47/