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    was very great , and after a short tiifte the whole weight of the business lay upon him . His active mind , notwithstanding , soared above every difficulty , and for several years he prosecuted a plan of study with diligence and success . Of this he writes as follows : * I rose at

    or . before five in the morning , and applied myself first to my classical studies and to the Hebrew language , afterwards to the different branches of mathematics and natural philosophy . 1 alsp practised music , with which I have occasionally amused myself for forty-six years . " His

    attention , however , was not confined to subject ^ of science . He devoted some portions of his time to the study of theology , both controversial and practical lie had attended the preaching of the Methodists with his mother , and Mr .

    Wesley being a fieguent visitor in the { famil y * he became decidedly attached to the doctrines of Christianity as taught by that extraordinary man and the liturgy of the Church of England . He closely studied the Calvinistic and Arui ' mian

    writers , particularly Mr . Toplady and Mr . Fletcher , the amiable incumbent of iladely . The Checks to Antinomiaaism which were penned by the latter writer * so confirmed him iia the doctrine of General . Redemption that be never afterwards had the least doubt on the -sub *

    ject . At an early period he received the communion at the Established Church and at Mr . Wesley ' s Chapels . He , however , never became a member © f the Methodist Society . About the 4 ; i « ae tliat Mr . Bicknell Beached the age of , puberty a most unhappy circumstance had nearly separated him from his mother * The

    remembrance t * f it gave ; him pain as long as he liveS . He relates this as follows : " A neighbour was very desirous to / obtain a lease from my mother of a . large pie ^ e of gro un d behind our ho use ,, and which I greatly valued for the recreation it afforded in the summer as a garden . My mother consulted me—I objected , and

    the applicant was positively refused again and again . I supposed the matter was ended . He * however , applied to . Mr , Wesley to interfere . He did ** o , and though I adhered to my former objection , my mother , unknown to me , granted a lease , at a small rent , for the whole term

    *> f the original lease . * ' This imprudent step , it appears , was a serious injury to the family many years afterwards , and strongly points out the great impropriety of ministers of the gospel using any undue influence with those thatthev m » v undue influence with those that they iway

    visit . Mr . Bicknell , though he always venerated Mr . Wesley ' s character , yet in this affair justly thought him greatly to blame . " This , " continues Mr . Bickuell , *' ¦ had so powerful an effect on njy

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    mind , that I $ t first determined to quit her hoase : it , however , so far separated us , that for a long tune after , although living under the same roof , we had not that harmonious intercourse with each otherwhichhad hitherto subsisted . I

    separated myself from my mother in her religious exercises with the family , aud continued to act this undutiful part for some time , though I often regretted that I had so done , being unhappy in my ^ mind when I seriously reflected on the impropriety , I may say the sinfulness , of my

    conduct ; but my proud heart was unwilling to acknowledge my fault . " " This absence was at length removed by my motier earnestl y inviting me to return to . my duty , a « d which oflfer I gladly acrcepted , after a painful absence of more than a year , I have often reflected ou this wilful act of disobedience to God

    and my dear parent , the best of mothers , I have always considered this as the greatest ski I ever committed in my life , and how many tears have 1 shed since that | ime , when I have coosidered the long Suffering of my heavenly Father during the period of my sinful obstinacy , in not cutting me off from the face of the

    earth , thus making me a dreadful example of his displeasure for my rebellion ! " This quotation may have appeared loag , but it so well shews what Mr . Bicknell was as a son , and what he was likely to become as a father and master of a famil y * that 1 could not persuade

    myself to abridge it . A confident dependence upon Divine Providence was always a strong feature in Jfa . TBUktuRPs faith and practice . If ordinary events are as really brought about by Ifrivioe agency as the more

    striking and uncommon , it becomes our duty to be habitually grateful for ordinary blessings , and to be specially regardful of signal favours and extraordinary deliverances , fie remarks in his memoirs * that in three memorable

    instances God ' s providence had protected him when his life was in the utmost jeopardy . The first instance was , when he was an infant he fell into the fire throu ^ n the absence of his n urse ; in the second , he was taken up by a bell-rope twisting about his neck ; aad in . the

    third , he was dragged for a considerable distance on the ground , having been thrown by a spirited * hor . se . " Oh that I may ever remember , " he observes , < c the goodness of God in thus preserving my life through these three dangerous calamities J" The death of his mother ,

    which happened in 1775 , greatly afflicted him . She was carried to the grave by a lingering and painful disorder , which she bore with that exemplary patience which distinguishes the Christian character .

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    fO 0 jt > ituaiy . —* Mr . IFiiliam Bkknelk

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1826, page 50, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2544/page/50/