On this page
-
Text (1)
-
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
in the management of children , whether with their parents or not , consisted in having their wills under proper restraint . The longer he remained a schoolmaster the more fully was he persuaded of this truth . Often has he been heard to say ,
that the great difficulty in education arose from the folly of parents in not properly directing the will of their children whilst at home . His punctual and serious manner in the performance of the religious duties of the family will be long remembered . From the earliest period
of his being a schoolmaster , he had been accustomed to meet his pupils on a Sunday evening for the purpose of religious instruction . Many will recollect the pa * ternal affection and importunate earnestness with which , from a family Bible , he was accustomed to address them . He
laboured to direct them to moral and religious principles . These services , however , were never tedious . His lectures and prayers were always short . Mr . Winchester frequently visited Ponder ' s End ; but his visits were not those of ceremonv . I well remember the interest
which he took in the school . Singing was always a part of the family devotion , accompanied by the organ . The hymns , however , in general , were but ill suited to young people . Mr . Winchester , at the desire of his friend , composed a number of hymns for young people , and which Mr . Bicknell afterwards printed for the use of the school . Mr .
Winchester was also an occasional correspondent of Mr . Bicknell ' s . I transcribe part of a letter from him dated the 3 d of September , 1793 : " We ( himself and Mrs . Winchester ) returned home last Friday , after an absence of four weeks from
London . Mr . Vidler , of Battle , in Sussex , supplied my place two Sundays during my absence , and gave universal satisfaction . He and his church have lately been cast out of their connexion for holding the doctrine of the universal restoration , of which he is a most able defender . I
have just reprinted the Outcasts Comforte ^ l , chiefly on his account , and have dedicated this third edition to him , and to his peopled In 1794 Mr . Winchester left England , and was succeeded by Mr . Vidler . Soon after this , some alteration began to take place iu the religious views of Mr . Bicknell . He had read Bishop Law ' s works , and entertained doubts as to the truth of a conscious slate between death and the resurrection . He also
sometimes attended the preaching of Mr . Vidler , whose sentiments , soon after he had settled in Londou , underwent a considerable change . Mr . Vidler , also , was an occasional visitor at Mr . Bicknell ' s house ; aud shortly after this time , he
Untitled Article
made an engagement to preaeh at Pow der's End every other Thursday evening Mr . Bicknell accordingly opened his house for preaching , the neighbourhood was invited to attend , and Mr * Vidler continued this for two or three years . The
conversations which Mr * Bicknell now had with Mr . Vidler tended very much to unsettle his mind in what he had hitherto received as the orthodox faith . He was however , at this time , unfriendly to the tenets of modern Unitariaus . He still continued a diligent reader of the New
Testament , as lie considered that that alone was a sufficient guide in all matters of revealed religion * He was very desirous of knowing the truth , bat was not very solicitous to read many books on
controversial subjects * I should alse > mention , that during these visits of Mr . Vidler the publication of a Magazine was first projected . Mr . Bicknell readily promised his assistance . 1 well remember that a number of Mr . Vidler's friends
met by appointment in the Strand , at the house of Mr . Nathaniel Scarlett , the Editor of a New Translation of the New Testament . Here the plan was matured , and the first number , under the title of
the Universalists * Miscellany , was published in 1797 , Of this work the Monthly Repository is a continuation . To both these , as well as to other periodical journals , Mr . Bicknell was an occasional contributor .
The serious and practical regard which Mr . Bicknell had for the doctrine of Dtvine Providence , joined with his . unremitting attention to the health of his pupils , may be well learnt from the foL lowing extract from his memoirs : * ' The next year ( 1802 ) was remarkable for
the prevalency of the typhus fever . The schools around London were in general infected , and in my neighbourhood not one escaped . Many died , and I believe there was not another school besides my own from which the pupils were not sent home . I had eight or ten slightly infected , who all
recovered excepting one : he was not worse than the rest ; but his friends removed him , and placed him under the care of a medical man , who immediately began by administering red port in plenty , and within a week he died . I do not , however , say tjiat he died by impropejr
treatment . My method was the same in tins as at the commencement of any fever : a gentle emetic , followed by some opening draught , and , if thirsty , plenty of weak liquor , as toast and water , apple-water ,
or any weak acidulated liquor . How little do they know about bringing up a family who cannot resort to means as safe aud effectual as these ! s ( My being thus preserved , " adds Mr . Bicknell , " from so dangerous a disease , 1 impute
Untitled Article
62 Obituary . —Mf . William Bicknell
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1826, page 52, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2544/page/52/
-