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    and active disposition . He was a cheerful contributor to useful institutions , those which were formed for the relief of the distressed under various descriptions , and those which had for their object the instruction of children of the lower classes . He was t * benefactor to the schools at

    Ditchlingo The meetings there he always attended as long as his health permitted , and more than once occupied the chair . For the office of Chairman he was particularly well qualified , and was therefore frequently voted into it in London before his retirement into the country , and received the approbation of the mosi

    respectable meetings * His disposition displayed blended energy and tenderness * His own corporeal sufferings seemed to have increased his native compassion A tale of woe he would hear with strong emotion , and give directions for quickly sending some needed relief . He observed the decencies of life , but affected nothing

    splendid . His habits and usual mode of living were economical , but his economy was quite remote from sordid selfishness . By adapting and pursuing it he was the better enabled to be useful by a great uumfyer—a greater number than is gene ~ rally apprehended—of liberal subscriptions and contributions in aid of laudable designs . His we 11-informed conscience dictated utility in preference to ostentatious cVt / ttxr

    An attendance on public worship was congenial to his spirit ; he delighted in It . After having been a stated hearer of Dr . Savage in Bury Street , and of the Doctors Fordyce and James Lindsay in Monkwell Street , he at length became , and continued till his removal to Lewes , a member of the Gravel-Pit Society at Hackney . About

    this time he began to approve the Unitarian tenets , and this new connexion tended to establish , his adoption and avowal of them , la this society he thought he possessed excellent means of intellectual and spiritual

    improvement . His example of cheerful piety was attractive and edifying . By a succession of excellent men , and their constant hearers , lie was valued as a very useful member . And he highly appreciated the labours of those Unitarian

    ministers whom he was accustomed to hear , and gave proof of the efficacy of * heir tenets , which in the main ware beco me his own , amidst the bustle of tade and busJB ) essp to ensure a diligent attention to the culture of the mind and

    heart , and to preserve a sacred internal Peace amidst the- most afflicting family bereavements . When he occasionally heard persons of different lepets from bjs own , lt l ^ y appeared to hz animatedby ' a fervcity conceri > . for , the general interests of

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    religion and men ' s Salvation , be withheld not the expressions of his approbation * , He highly valued the practical instructions of various writers , some of whose doctrinal sentiments were different from his own . In this view , for iustance , Dr . Lucas was one of his most favourite authors . He

    owned no earthly dominion over his faith , but judged and decided for himself after a conscientious application of his mind to the authentic and authoritative word and testimony . With regard to his religious tenets it may suffice to repeat , that those of the Unitarians were his . It occurs to the writer ' s recollection ) , that he agreed

    with those who favour the doctrine of final restitutiono His prevailing idea seemed to be , that this doctrine is agreeable to Scripture interpreted according to the rules of sound criticism , and a consequence of the essential attributes of

    God ; a concern for whose honour in the renovation and happiness of his rational creation , caused him to prefer it to any other hypothesis respecting God ' s future dealings with those who leave the present world in a state of impenitence .

    After his removal to Lewes he was zealous and active in promoting the interests of the religious society there ^ with which he had a kind of natural connexion . He of tew expressed great satisfaction in the ministrations of Mro Horsfield , the Pastor of what may be denominated the United Congregation , a

    junction having lately taken place between the Westgate Society and the Southover Baptist Society ; and he was also formerly accustomed to declare himself pleased with the public services of Mr . Housfield's immediate predecessor ^ ( the writer of this unavoidably hasty account , ) which may be ascribed to the

    partiality of an affectionate brother . — As long as he was able , he gave his personal attendance at the chapel . He did so to his power ^ and even beyond his power , as it were , making his friends uneasily apprehensive that he would exasperate his grievous complaint . But he thought it his duty , all things considered , and therefore would not be dissuaded .

    He was burled in St . Michael's churchyard at Lewes , and in the afternoon of the Sunday next succeding the funeral ^ Mr . Horsfield preached on the melancholy and affecting occasion of his death from Job xiv . 14 : " If a man die , ahall

    he live again ? " < 8 tc . At the close of the discourse he gave an honourable character of the deceased . The brief eulogium was highly merited , and was listened to with lively interest by a respectable audience , i Notwithstanding the uumeiou « affairs In which his active-mind led Jnuvto en-

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    Qbifoarstir-Ebenezer J < ohnston 9 Esq B 299

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1826, page 299, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2548/page/47/