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the i ^ preseiita tfetr e ^ f Norwich . My father Md Ircea wartirfy and actively employed % i procuring his return in 1790 . Since ^ that time Mr . Windfcam bad deserted the principles to which he had formerly towed unalterable attachment , and enlisted under Burke in his fanatical
and mischievous crusade against Jiberty . Mr . Windham had heen in the habit of visiting my father in the most friendly way . His conversation wag always anU mating aud delightful ; but upon the sutn ject of the French Revolution he was insane . His conduct to same of his old
friends ( especially to Mark Wilks ) was disgraceful : it was not of a piece with his usual character , which was open and honest . On this occasion the opposition to him was unsuccessful , though his opponent , Mr . Bartlett Gurney , foa ^ d a majority of more than 100 resident votes .
About this time a periodical work , entitled " The Cabinet , " was published in Norwich . Its main object \ y _ as tp diffuse correct political views ajid political information ; but Mrs . Opie occasion ally enlivened its pages with her poetry , and there are some pieces of Dr . Eniield ' s
written in his happiest style . To this work my father was only a poetical con * tributor ; and the pieces ; which he did faraish were said Jo he " found in clearing an old garret in Prince ' s Inn , " a house of considerable antiquity at
Norwich . The pretended date of these poems was about the time of the civil wars , and fhe style , character and orthography of the period are very faithfully preserved . Most of the subjects have a reference to local events , which his accurate
acquaintance with tbe history of bis native city enabled him to give with singular fidelity . One of the poems , in praise of Bishop Corbet , who was buried in Nprwich Cathedral m 1635 , was prefixed to Gilcbrist ' s ^ edition of the Bishop ' s Poems , and is transferred iiUo Chalmers ' s Poets , Vol . V . Another , ori Martinmas Day ,
is crted ia Times' Telescope for 1814 , P . 286 , as if it were an anciejit authority , for the way in which Martini as day was kept io times of yor , e . In the same ^ ar , Dr . Enfield published bis Selection of Hymns , to which my father contributed fcfteeii . These are chiefly peculiar metres , which were chosen in order to
introduce some favourite tune that otherwise could not have been used in th £ chapel choir . These were afterwards copied fnto Mr . Aspland ' s Collection , published >» 1810 , with the addition of ten , which appeare d for the first time in that work . ^ ost af them were also adopted , by tbe compilers of tlHj Loo dog , Liverpool , JExefw a * d New York Collections . iii 1797 , he had tojqroent the de&th of *** excellent and highly-valued friend Dr .
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Etffield . Most cordial $ ad ino ^ t tffrcere was their friendship ; and the loss tp My father * at the age at which he ; % s , imw arrived , was irreparable . There w $ s no
probability of rilling up tfyftt void which the death of Dr . Enfield made- ^ an ct it never was filled up . The congregation elected Mr . P . Houghton their sole minister , aud he conti nued to rill that situation till his first removal , which was to Prince ' s Street , Westminster , iq 1 & 08 «
Just prior to Dr . Enfield s death , my father completed a work which had , at intervals , engaged his attention for several years . Thi ^ was ^ History © f $ he Churcb assembling at the Octagon Chapel . Such a record was the more wanted , and it was the more difficult of compilation , fronr the circumstance of there being no church book ( at least none in existence ) up to . the time at which he became one of the
deacons of the society . The early part of the work traces the history of Nonconformity in Norwich up to the time when Dr . Collinge , the Vicar of St . Stephens parish , was ejected from his living , and founded the first Presbyterian Church there . Many of the particulars he derived from family documents in his own
possession , or from the information of some old members of the society . These materials , but for his care , would have been irrecoverably lost . The history is written with singular beauty of penmanship , and illustrated with . portraits of some of the ministers of the place , copied in some instances by himself , as well as
by plans , &c , both of the old and the new chapeU He never cojptiaued the history further than the death of Dr . I 5 niield , but by a careful preservation of documents , and a full and regular record of all the proceedings of the church , he has provided ample means for that purpose . In Nov . 1800 , the death of Mrs . Martincau took place . u She was a
woman , " says my father , " whose head and heart procured her the respect and esteena of all her family and friends . She possessed a strong discrimination of character , and there were few persons whose
soundness of judgment better qualified them to give advice . Her affections were warm , and her piety fervent yet rational . " The following lines are extracted from a tribute of singular beauty and of sincere affection " to her honoured friends of
the families of Martineau and Taylor ^ by their affectionate A . L . Barhauld /' " No bitter drop , ' midst nature ' s kind relief , Sheds gall into tbe foqnt ^ ip of your
grief ; / , Mo t e ^ urs you shqd fyr f p £ fient lmeftr ^ used , And counsel scor .. ne { l / . pjnd ) i \ p& r ^ r ^ jms refused .
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Q bUmrg . —Afr * Joh n TQylor . 4 & i
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1826, page 487, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2551/page/43/
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