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death , our Christian church assembling around the table of the Lord has lost a firm and consistent member , onr society and congregation a sincere and practical believer in the great truths of the gospel . 'An Israelite , indeed , ( as an affectionate son writes ot" him to a
brother , ) in whom there was no guile . ' He ofien expressed , with a sort of conscious pride and pleasure , that he was the oldest Unitarian in Sheffield ; aiid such were his habits of regularity , that from the periodf of Ms childhood to t&e Sabbath previous to the attack of the * last enemy , ' he had uniformly occupied the same seat in the s ' atfctuary of
Ood , never absenting himself , but for some necessary and unavoidable cause . He deemed such an example to be of indispensable importance in every head of a family who has at heart ( as every Christian parent ought to have ) the spiritual improvement of his children ; but his was more than a mere formal attendance on public worship . He
delighted to converse on what he had heard , and practically to enforce and apply it in his family , fie loved also and revered his minister , and was at all times anxious to protect his privileges and to secure his peace . Never shall I forget the feelings of regret with which , at the distance of forty years , lie
expressed his sense of the marked ueglect and ill usage shewn to a faithful , virttious , and aged minister long since dead , not to mention our present pastor . " Modest and unassuming , he sought not to push himself forward tx > public notice ; but ? thoiigft he \ vas naturally retiring and averse to pnblte business , he was nevertheless the Uniform advocate
of civil and religious hberty , of national as well as individual fights . And he was spared to see those rights recognized and granted to a very great extent , with the promise of a still greater extension , even to a limit far exceeding his most sanguine expectations . " From these reflections we derive much
comfort on the review of our aged friend ' s disposition and character . There is' then no grouud for sorrbw as those who have no satisfaction and hope ; for though we hare lost one of the most excellent of friends and Christian professors , we are assured , with him , that
there is a future state of * being , where virtuous friendships shall be renewed and- endearing connexions revived . I ^ et it be our greatest aim' so to live , that death utay pfbve biU tne riietfhiiri of admiaaioii into the society of the just made perfecft , ' into ei > mmi * nfcu v * ith Jesus the
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Mediator of the new covenant , and with God the Father and the Judge of all . Amen .
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Rev . Wiuliam JoiiNsrov . April 6 , at Lewes , the Rev . WiltiAM Johnston , in the 87 th year of his age . In recording the death of this venerable man and truly Christian minister , the biographer has but little to note ; but the f riend may be allowed to dwell for a brief space upon his pore and blameless life , and upon his peaceful and
happy end . He was born at LevveS in 1744 , where his father , the Rev . E , Johnston , officiated as minister to the Protestant Dissenting congregation assembling at West-Gate Meering , for more that forty years . His mother was the daughter of Mr . Richard Ridge , of Tulley ' s-Well . He was himself brought up to the
miuistry , and finished his education at the Dissenting academy at Hoxton . In 1764 , he was ordained pastor of the congregation of Protestant Dissenters at Christchurch , Hants , and soon after married the daughter of Mr . Slade , of that place . This lady did not live more than one year , and he never formed any other couuexion . At Christchurch he remained for about ten years , and then removed to Brighton , where he pre- '
sided as minister for twenty-three years * . From that period to 1811 he resided in the neighbourhood of London , where he had many friends , much and most deservedly attached to him . The first in this number was assuredly his brother , Mr . E . Johnston , between whom and the subject of this memoir a friendship existed such as is rarely to be found iu this changing scene , and which only terminated in the lamented death of the
younger brother , which took place m 1 & 26 , an event which cast a gloom over the few remaining years of the life of our lately departed friend , which religion alone could alleviate , but which nothing could remove . The removal of Mr . E . Johnston to Lewes , which was his native
place , induced his brother to accept the charge of the congregation over Which his father had for so many years presided , and he continued its pastor till 1819 , when he resigned , but occasionally preached till within a very few years of his death .
Thus peacefully passed his life , and in Ms death he was blessed . When aware that his end approached , he expressed him keif perfectly resigned to the will bT his Maker ; add said , My earnest prayer for those dear to me . is , that on their death-bed they may feel as happy aV I
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Obituary . —Rev . William Johnston . 411
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1831, page 411, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2598/page/51/
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