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    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 . " ,, < >

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    , 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 . !• ' ' . ' ' ¦ ¦ ' ' ''

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    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/