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but he was doomed to bear at an early |) erlod severe worldly disappointments . These , however , were the occasion of his learning more both from books and luen . He undertook the education of the children of a respectable family , and in this relation began friendships , highly honourable to himself , which ceased not
but with his life . Whether as a tutor or a commercial ageut ( we are uncertain which ) , he visited Holland and France , and made some considerable stay in both those coutitries , where he formed acquaintances which contributed uot a little to his intellectual improvement and happiness . He was at Paris on the breaking out of the Freuch Revolution ,
which , in its beginnings , he hailed , with all the other friends of liberty , as the commencement of a new and auspicious era in human affairs . Deeply impressed with this persuasion , he returned to England , aud published his work on the French Revolution , which attracted a large share of public attention , and determined the bent of his future life . He
soon saw reason to renounce his confidence in some of the political leaders in France , but subsequent events only confirmed his admiration of the nob ! e principles asserted by the National Assembly . Haviug now assumed a political
character , he was encouraged to establish a liberal weekly newspaper at Cambridge . This periodical work , under the name of the Cambridge Intelligencer , was read all over the kingdom , aud is still remembered by many with affectionate interest , as the publicatiou that formed or
strengthened their attachment to public liberty . It waft , we believe , nearly the first provincial newspaper in England that denounced the war upon Republican France as absurd and wicked . It ) one respect , it was a novelty In the newspaper press , for it avowed tfhe principles of religious liberty in their fullest extent , and professed attachment to the cause of the Protestant Dissenters . This is now
common , but the boldness of such a profession at this period made the editor many bitter enemies , but at the same time gained him many cordial friends , whose sympathies never failed him . For one paragraph in the Cambridge
Intelligencer , reflecting upou the late Bishop Wat son * s political subserviency , he was visited with the vengeHttfe of the House of Lords In the year 17 ^ , and deprived for some months of hU liberty . Hie argument upon , this case in the Court of King ' s Bench , as well as in Parliament , forms part of the constitutional history of England . The Lords seemed to feel-that
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they had stretched their privileges against the people to the utmost , for they liberated Mr . Flower , upon making some formal submission , before the expiration of the session . This vexatious occurrence led to one of the happiest events of his life . He was visited in prison by a lady with whom he had some
previous acquaintance , who , on regaining his liberty , became his wife . This admira- ' ble woman , never called to mind by those that knew her without a tear , assisted Mr . Flower in his public usefulness , and ensured his happiness . Too soon for him , and too soon for the circle
( and not a small one ) of his and her friends , she was called away to a better world . ( See Mow , Repos . Vol . V . pp . 203 , &c ) Never was there a more sincere mourner , than he whom others are now called to mourn . His language on . that occasion was , aud it was not mere language ,
" When such friends part , 'tis the Survivor dies /' His consolations , next to those of religion , in which no man ever drank deeper , were in the affection of two daughters , then children , whom he had the happiness to see growing up in the spirit aud the form of their mother , and from whom , till the last moment of life , he was accustomed to receive all the
kindness that even filial love can offer . Before this period , Mr . Flower had removed from Cambi * idge to the pleasant village of Harlow , in Essex , where he established the printing business , and put to press many valuable works , particularly those of hi « early friend Robert Robinson , of whom he became the biographer . Here also he carried on a
monthly magazine , entitled the Political Register , which for some years , a period during which the feeling of public liberty was at a low ebb , maintained , thought with limited success , the principles Which are stamped in English political history with the name of Charles James Fox , who , amongst other great and good men of the same time , honoured Mr .
Flower with his correspondence . At Mariow he found some congenial minds who encouraged Ms labours in the public cause , and mitigated , by sharing , his disappointments . For the last few years , he lived h \ comparative retirement at Dalstou , never dropping his zeal for the cause of liberty and truth , but with an apparent conviction that Providence had committed their defeuce to other and younger hauds . Whilst he resided at Cambridge , Mr . Flower hat ! been accua- *
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Obituary , —Mr , Benjamin Flower . 211
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1829, page 211, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2570/page/59/
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