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    could have the means of forming only an imperfect estimate of what he was in the days of health and vigour . Yet enough remained to impress the * mind with the conviction , that the sufferer was no ordinary man * Betentiveness of memory , which hi occasional hours snat&hed from

    busitiess , dr from nightly rest , enabled him to fey tip a store of information that in a greaf ttie&stire compensated for the want of & liberal edtipation hi early Mfe , —vigour of judgment Which rendered that information

    Really useful , as the nreans of forming correct and enlarged opinions on the most interesting topics , —and a readiness and propriety of utterance , the sure indtcation of a ' . well-furnishVd atad

    wellordered mind , —were at all times disdoverable even in the latter days of our departed friend . In some respects , the calamities which pressed heavily upon him , were the means of exhibiting Ms irtle character . His unshaken firraaess

    of principle and power of endurance tonld ^ ilot otherwise have been so fully manifested ; nor , had his piety been spared the severity of the trial , could we have known the depth of his humility and the completeness of his resignaVion to the will of Heaven . Grievous

    indeed it Was to behold the indications of intense suffering , and yet it was often truly delightful and edifying to witness how Christian principles and hopes triumphed over all . We had thus a striking demonstration , that though the outward man failed 9 the inner man was renewed day tiy day , and that , as his life had been regulated by the gospel precepts , hrs latter days were cheered by its rich consolations . " YeoviL F .

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    Dec . 16 , at Collumpton , in Devonshire , the Rev . John Davis , Minister of the Unitarian congregation in that town * His death was sudden and unexpected , although he had for many years had but very delicate health . He preached twice the Sunday of the week in which he died ,

    visited a sick friend on Monday , taking a long walk for that purpose , and attended his pupils until the evening of Wednesday , and died the night of the following day at about 11 o ' clock , in the sixty-fifth year of his age . ft were improper , I think , to suffer such a man to sink into the

    grave without some statement of his character and conduct , which I presume to forward to you at the instance of Rome of his friends in Devonshire . —Mr . Davis , being a native of Wales , had his grammar education in Caennarthenshire , under the learned Mr . David Davis , who is still livdug ; and was sent at the usual ago to the

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    Dissenting Academy at Caermarthen , then nnder the care of the Rev . Robert Gentleman ; but not being satisfied with the opportunities there afforded for improvement , he soon afterwards entered at Daveritry , where the Rev . Thdinas Belsham was thin Tutor . There he continued two

    Or three years , where his Tutor testifies to his conduct being most exemplary . — Although brought up in the faith called Orthodox , whilst at Daventry he imbibed the principles of Umtarianism . This his excellent Tutor lamented a * the time ; yet he himself afterwards was led , by

    extended and temperate inquiry , to adopt the same opinions . When he left the Academy at Daventry , he settled in Cumberland for some years , where his conduct did him the highest honour . His congregation was , however , small , and not very harmonious , so that he at length judged

    it best to leave it . Whilst in Cumberland , he kept a school ; aiid it is no small proof how highly his pupils esteemed him , that one of them , now living at Cheshunt , for many years , and to the present time , never failed to remit him a very handsome and liberal donation twice in the

    year , lest his income should be too small for one in his delicate state of health » This friend of Mr . Davis , like himself , is a man of modest and retiring character , and best beloved by whom he is best

    known . Such was the delicacy he exercised in this affair , that he did not send Mr . Davis the monies directly from himself , but employed the agency of one who toas proud of being numbered amongst the friends of both . »— Mr . Davis was a

    man of sound learning and of great application ; but he never became a popular preacher . As to the arts of popularity , he abhorred the practice of them ; but neither his voice , manner nor action , was attractive , so that he was only admired by the judicious few . He carefully wrote

    his discourses ; and he had a habit , arising from his diffidence of himself , when he determined to compose a sermon , of reading some treatise on the subject ; Which 1 often lamented , thinking that he thus insensibly imbibed other men ' s thoughts , and relied too little on his own .

    It had been better , perhaps , to have written his discourse first , and then read on the subject the works of others . His favourite English author was Dr . Larduer ( and with whom , who ever read his works , is he not a favourite ?) . Of the

    writings of his contemporaries , he appeared to prefer those of Dr . Priestley , whose opinions he greatly approved , and in one particular whom he greatly resembled—a particular which many will regard as an excellence , and some as an infirmity— that was , the decisiveness of his

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    52 Obituary .- ** -Re % . John Davis .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1825, page 52, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2532/page/52/