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of his works ; and whether he was contemplating the simple wild flower or jthe resplendent firmament , he would point to Jbe hand of Omnipotence in both . But his enjoyments at this time greatl y depended upon his dear boy's being able to participate in them . If Willy drooped , his spirits were gone , and nature lost its power to charm , i think he was gradually declining in liis own health , though he did not complain . He was watching the decay of his beloved son , while his own frame was giving way . " We " returned home in October , with no material benefit to our dear
invalid ; and in January , I 8 l ? 5 , after a happy and even triumphant experience of the power of religion , my brother breathed his last gentle sigh in the arms of his afflicted father , who had been , in God ' s hands , his sole teacher , comforter , and supporter . He was ever at the dying pillow of his suffering child , reading , praying , and comforting him , by day and by night . Before us he appeared composed and tranquil , but , in his retired moments , I have heard him give vent to his feelings , ' with strong crying and tears . ' I
remember , on the evening of Wilberforce ' s death , after he had yielded to the first burst of grief , he clasped the inanimate form to his heart , laid it down , dried his tears , and , collecting us together fin the study , he knelt down and uttered only the language of praise and gratitude . For a little moment he seemed not only to follow , but to realize , his child's flight and welcome to the realms of glory . His whole conduct seemed to express , ' Though I should see his hand lifted up to slay me , yet from that same hand will I look for salvation / " -
His own closing scene drew near . Prematurely worn out by great exertions and a state of constant excitement , his bodily frame was wholly unfit to bear the trials laid upon him . His latter days were , for the most part , serious , even to dejection . Is it not greatly to be questioned whether a mistake about the nature and degree of service required by the Divine Being from his servants may not create as real an opposition to his benevolent designs as the evils which zeal would remove ? A restless activity at one period of life is too often succeeded by morbid feelings , by questioning
anxiety , and real distress of mind . In most of these cases it may be feared that too great a degree of importance has been attached by the individual to his own deeds ; and that a more imperious duty than any we owe to our fellow-creatures , that of maintaining a peaceful , gentle frame of mind , and a heart unburthened by care , has been postponed to the consideration of schemes whose utility is uncertain ; while the internal composure and selfdevotion of tne spirit is essential to the attainment of a really religious
frame . Remarks like these may be perverted by the indolent to their own selfish purposes ; the indifferent may think they tend to excuse man from a part of his service ; and the zealous may draw his own inference , and pronounce condemning sentence upon us accordingly . Yet it is not calculating prudence , but a serious regard to the spirit of religion , which we have in view . If , in our application of them to the case of Mr . Richmond , any who knew him deem us in error , that is another matter . To us it
certainly seems that he courted excitation , when the dictates of religion itself would have prescribed rest , and wore himself out by too tenacious a pursuit of what he persuaded himself was his principal dujfy . It strikes us , too , that he meditated too much upcjn his own personal concern in tne great scheme of religion ; and that anxiety wasr / qpt ' wit ^^^ ^ ' fally showed vp in love and gratitude as ; \ i ipight mv&li&n * "j ^ libef $ been less of personality in his private reflections . Still , this is pier ^ inference from the records of his life now before us , and can deduc ^ nothing frqm the value of his example , wherever it appears clearl y to have teen that of a pious Christian , and a worthy member of the social state . '
Untitled Article
? 56 Legh Richmond .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1828, page 756, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2566/page/28/
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