On this page
-
Text (2)
-
Untitled Article
-
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
and obedient offspring , i » entitled to their warmest affection—to their unbounded gratitude and praise . To Hii »~ sfee-kad ta « i justly taught to ascribe everycexceHence and perfection ; and on tliis foundation was built her confidence in 4 he rectitude of bis government and the benevolence of his designs ; iier assurance
• of his complacency and delight in t $ w > se who endeavour to-imitate bis moral excell eoce , and her firm trust in his impartial and unbounded goodness . From these views she derived that perfect acquiescence in the wMi of "God ; that humi ) le and cheerful submission to his appointments ; and that settled conviction that every thing which he designs and
executes is wise , and merciful , and benevolent , and conducive to the well-being . and happiness of his creatures , which produced a calmness and fortitude in the near view of death which clearly evinced the power of religion , and its influence upon the mind . The sources of that firmness and tranquillity which she displayed must have been those just views which she entertained of the Divine
Being , of his government and providence , of the terras of acceptance with him , and of the conditions on which an interest jn his favour is to be secured—accompanied by the consciousness of a life devoted to the faithful discharge of duty , a conscience , void of offence , the
animating hope of everlasting life , and the joyful expectation of meeting iu a future world those attached and valued friends whose society and affection gave so much interest and attraction to the present . No one Who is acquainted with the circumstances in which the deceased was
called from the place which she held in society , in the eateejm and affection of her nearest relatives , and of all who JiHew her active beaevoleuce , or shared in her kind and ready assistance , can doubt that it required some effort of fortitude ao soon and so unexpectedly to bid adieu to every , thing which rendered the present life valuable , and the prospect of its rcontiuiifynce pleasing and
delightful . To those who had the opportunity of witnessing this fortitude , and the expression of these feelings , it must be a real consolation under their affliction and loss to know that it was "so perfect and / satisfactory \ and \ nXhn minds of all to ; whom it ia comiHimii ^ ted it must * awaken the feneut prayer of the veual , but iwtmis-judging prophet , M Let , i ¦ , ' i ¦ ¦ . ; i / I - ¦ ¦ - . ' ¦ ¦'• - i ! : )! i
medig tine . death of the righteous , and let my last « nd be like his . " ,, < >
Untitled Article
, Miss Catharine Astley , ' ^ Ocj ,, 4 * at ? Qh&etfb ^ iQitim * m 1 rEy tjhe youngest ; . surviving daughter of ,. * he late , Bev . Thomas AstJjey ^ Unitarian Minister there . A constitutional iu valid from almost
her earliest days , by much the greatest portion of her life , particularly of late years , was spent upon the bed of sickness ; and a more affecting picture of meek , placid resignation than she displayed , under sufferings of the most trying nature , has seldom been exhibited .
Whenever an intermission of her complaiuts would allow , however , the kmd and active interest which she took in the welfare and comfort of all within the reach of her good offices , was such as to render her peculiarly the object of affectionate attachment to those who knew
her ; whilst the good sense and delicate taste by which this kindness of disposition was at once ornamented and directed , gave proof that nothing was wanting but ampler powers of exertion to exhibit in her a character of the most exalted benevolence .
In the concerns of religion she observed an equal distance from hypocrisy and fanaticism on the one hand , and from luke-warm indifference on the other . She did not cherish its promises or practise its rites as a license for the neglect of the active duties of morality , nor for the sake of soothing with deceitful unction the uj > bnuttings of an accusing conscience * With her , ' religion was the incentive aud the solace of
virtue , not its substitute . In shorty if . to cultivate feelings of , lovei and' reneration towards the Author of nature , to study the precepts and strirei to asBinaiiare the character to that of the greati Founder of Christianity , to bold byianticipation spiritual communion with the happy society of anotheri and bcttei ] world , and thereby to strengthen : the aspiriagft'Of virtue * and
to confirm habits of benevolent-sympathy , to detach the affections itom objects of inferior iptei ^ eti and to fix- them upon pursuits more worthy > the * regard tof a candidate for , immortality ; if tbis be true religion , then was she not deficient in it , and the happy complacency of spirit with which she sustained her su fferings and met her end , b 6 r (? evidence that she had not ioug ^ it its , couaolationg in Vaiiw . ,. , i . iv . v / ,:., '» ' ' /;;\ j \ - t \ U "i- •!¦¦ > > rl \ ' ) ., I : ) ' - , i > l \ U -i . ( MM . !• ' ' . ' ' ¦ ¦ ' ' ''
Untitled Article
Obituary .--Mm Catharine Astley . 791
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1828, page 791, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2566/page/63/
-