named, to the assistance of seven charities which he specified. With the same view, he gave a sum of money to the Corporation of Bristol, to augment a fund, of which that body has the application, for relieving blind persons, by granting £10 a year to each recipient. The charity which for a long time occupied his attention, is worthy of its advocate: it was to raise a sum of money to enable all the inhabitants in the almshouses of Bristol to receive at present equal to the intention of the founders of the several almshouses, or to grant 55. per week to each of them. It is unnecessary to add, that his own contributions were suited to the magnitude of the design. To him the Samaritan Society owes its origin. Its object is to relieve those cases, which other charities could not assist. Many persons who have been patients in the Infirmary, many who are recovering from sickness, many who have been recalled from vicious habits, and have formed virtuous resolutions, often suffer greatly before they can gain employment, or pursue their former avocations with effect. Through want of temporary aid lasting difficulties frequently arise. To bestow this aid, and to lead the members of a society to do what their Saviour hath commanded, was the intention of the Institution, which bears the name its founder justly inerited, the Samaritan.

Hence it will appear that although Mr. Reynolds was solicitous to avoid praise, he was not inactive, or merely following the suggestions of the well disposed. He was ever ready to excite others to fulfil the trust committed to their care. His manner of appeal in behalf of the distressed did not derive its only force from his own example. There was an appeal to the judgment and to the heart which could scarcely be resisted. On one occasion of this kind, it is said, that when addressing a gentleman whom he supposed to be rich, in order to stimulate his exertions, he remarked, "When gold encircles the heart it contracts to such a degree that no good can issue from it, but when the pure gold of faith and love gets into the heart it expands it, and causes each drop of blood to flow through the channels of benevolence." In his life was witnessed the truth of the remark," When the eye saw him it was glad, when the ear heard him it

rejoiced." But it must be left to Clarkson to recount his services towards the abolition of the Slave Trade, and ameliorating the condition of the op pressed Negro: it must be left to an Allen to tell what he hath done for the education of the poor: it must be left to an Owen to enumerate his benefactions to the British and Foreign Bible Society: and to an Harrison, or some other member of the Society of Friends, to enumerate Mr. Reynolds's gifts to the various charitable institutions belonging to that respectable class of Christians. Mr. Reynolds continued a zealous and consistent member of the society in which he was born and educated. In him they have lost a burning and shining light of faith, hope, and charity-in him a firm and consistent supporter of one of their fundamental principles, that all wars are unjust, impolitic, and unchristian: in him they have lost one, who was ever_calling them to use their utmost efforts to ameliorate the condition of the distressed, whether Indian, African, or Briton. Mr. Reynolds embraced with ardour the hope that our penal statutes would become less sanguinary-and that capital punishments would be removed from our code. When the citizens of his native place had determined upon building a new gaol, Mr. R. was peculiarly solicitous that the improve ments upon the plans of a Howard, in Munich, America and other countries, might be concentered in Bristol. He wished for the moral and religious improvement of those who had violated the laws of their country; and considered it incumbent to apply kindness. instruction and the motives of industry, to recal the offender to the paths of integrity. To trace the more public acts of this philanthropist would oecupy the whole of the pages of a periodical publication: but to enume rate his private exertions to comfort the widow, to help the fatherless, to raise the desponding, to encourage the industrious and to reward the deserving, would require a volume, and even then the language of the queen of Sheba, when she had witnessed the wisdom of Solomon, might be employed, “Not half hath been told me." He now rests from his labours, but his works shall follow him.

The closing scenes of his life were in unison with his former conduct. I

the spring of this year he began to decline. He was advised in August to try the waters of Cheltenham. This was done evidently to satisfy his friends. He did not expect to recover from the attack, but was perfectly resigned to what Divine mercy should ordain. He continued from the 7th of August to the 6th of September with little variation. During his illness he was exceedingly placid and kind to every one: his conduct and countenance in dicating that all within was peace. A short time before his death, when an endeared female friend had been administering to him some religious cousolation, he said, My faith and hope are, as they have long been, on the mercy of God, through Jesus Christ, who was the propitiation for my sins, and not for mine only, but for the sins of the whole world.' He closed his earthly career at Cheltenham, Sept. the 10th, in the 81st year of his age. His children, grand children, and many beloved friends were present when this great man in Israel fell.

Is it wonderful that the news of his death excited general regret in Bristol And its neighbourhood? Is it surprising that the melancholy event created a gloom from the peasant's cot to the extensive mansion? Is it singular that a chasm should be contemplated when he was removed who for many years had bestowed upwards of £10,000 per annum in relieving the distress of others? Was it not to be expected that men of all classes and of all opinions should unite to request to shew the last sad tribute of respect, y following to the grave the remains of one who had practised pure and undefiled religion, who had employed self-denial that he might bestow liberally on others, who refused the indulgences of affluence that he might lessen the miseries of his brethren; who ordered his household with economy that he might give to him that was in want-who had cherished a zeal for godliness free from bigotry, and in exercising the right of private judgment himself, had still an ardent affection for those from whom he differed? No contrasted view of Divine mercy dwelt in his soul; and whilst he considered himself a debtor to the Jew and to the Greek, to the bond and to the free, he embraced all. men with affection who strove to preserve the unity of the faith in the

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bonds of peace and righteousness of life.

Such was Richard Reynolds. His corpse was followed to the grave by deputations from the several charities in Bristol, to which he belonged. The Committee of the Bible Society took the precedence, and was in close train with the long string of weeping relatives. It was composed of aldermen, clergymen, and dissenting ministers of all denominations. The greatest decorum was observed, though the crowd of spectators surpassed calculation. In the Square in which the deceased had resided, the children of the several charity-schools to which he had been a generous patron, were arranged. The shops were shut in the streets through which the procession passed, and the toll of bells from several churches announced, that one was carried to the grave, who bore with him the affections of the living. On the Sunday following, funeral sermons were preached at most of the places of worship in Bristol and its neighbourhood. But the respect of survivors did not terminate with these marks of their regard. A public meet ing was convened at the Guildhall, on October the 3d, at which the, mayor presided, to consider of the most effecual method of supplying the great loss the city of Bristol had sustained, and of perpetuating the memory of Mr. Reynolds. On that occasion it was unanimously resolved to form a new society, called Reynolds's Com memoration Society, to keep up his subscriptions to the charities in Bristol to which he was a public contributor, and especially to cherish and strengthen the Samaritan, of which he was the founder. At the public meeting, various proofs were adduced of the distinguished excellence of the deceased, by the Rev. T. Biddulph, the Rev. W. Thorpe, the Rev. W. Day, the Rev. Mr. Simeon, of Cambridge, and the Rev. M. Maurice. At the same time, appropriate addresses were delivered by R. H. Davis, Esq. M. P. H. Davis, Esq. M. P. J. Butterworth, Esq. M. P. the Sheriffs of Bristol, Alderman Birch, Dr. Pole, Dr. Stock and Counsellor Smith, by whom the business was ably introduced and forcibly recommended.

May the mantle of Elijah fall on his descendants! May the chasm that has been made be filled up by the efforts of many! May the spirit of he

Unitarian Fund Lectures, in the Presbyterian Meeting-House, Hanover-Strect, Long Acre.

Lectures will be carried on in the above Place of Worship on the Sunday and Tuesday Evenings, during the Winter Season, 1816--17, to commence on Sunday Evening, Nov. 10.

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Lancashire Presbyterian Quarterly Meeting.

SIR,

The last Quarterly Meeting of Ministers, generally denominated Presbyterian, was held at Chewbent, on the 2d instant. The Rev. Mr. Ashton conducted the devotional parts of the service, and the Rev. Mr. Brettell preached from Matt. vi. 9, a very useful and acceptable discourse on the pa-. ternal character of God. The extreme wetness of the day precluded the attendance of all distant friends, and must have considerably lessened the attendance at the chapel, which, nevertheless, was not inconsiderable. Between twenty and thirty persons dined together after the service, and spent the afternoon in a manner not unworthy of the occasion; and in the evening the greater part of the company retired to the hospitable mansion of a valuable member of the congregation, and a steady friend to the interests of religious truth and liberty. On some occasions, the attendance at the chapel has disappointed the expec-tation of the members of the Quarterly Meeting, but at Chewbent, the reporter can say with great truth, that they are always gratified with beholding a numerous and devout congregation of Christian worshipW. J. pers.

Manchester, Oct. 14, 1816.

Mr. Saint on the Chapel at Southampton. ŞIR,

I have long been expecting to see, through the medium of your valuable Miscellany, a statement of the sums raised by different congregations, in aid of the Unitarian cause at Southampton. From what I have heard within the last few weeks, I fear indisposition is the cause of the delay. I sincerely

past Six o'clock.

friends, who are in possession of the documents, will for the satisfaction of those persons who have subscribed, lay an early ́ ́ statement before the public, through the medium of the Monthly Repository. I am the more earnest in this request, because I am myself in some small degree connected in the collections made in behalf of that interest, (though at the time I was so engaged, I was not fully aware of the tenure by which the Chapel was held,) which induced me to decline accepting the invitation given me by the people at Southampton to become their minister.. If I could have

seen a prospect of the Society raising the rent, and other expences, I would have given my services gratis for twelve months with pleasure: but finding that even this was not in the power of the Society to perform, I thought it advisable to leave the affair in the hands of those who were its first projectors, and have accepted an invitation from the small Society of Unitarians in this place, where I bope to be the means under Providence, of raising this drooping Society to its former health and vigour.

However we may fail in the object of our wishes, or however unfortunate we may be in our speculations, it is a duty which we owe to our friends, and to ourselves, to lay a statement of all mouies collected, and to express our thanks to those persons who have assisted us.

I sincerely hope, notwithstanding the situation of the Chapel at Southampton, arrangements will be made by our Unitarian friends in the South, to keep up Unitarian worship in that town. I trust that this Southampton speculation will not fail of answering some useful purpose, that of leading those who profess a rational religion, to exercise reason in building their places of public wowing.

Your giving this a place in the next Numher of your valuable Repository, will much oblige Your Constant Reader, C. N. SAINT. Alcester, Warwickshire, Oct. 14, 1816.

Oldbury Double Lecture.

On Tuesday September 10th, 1816, was the Anniversary of the Double Lecture, at Oldbury, in Shropshire. The Rev. John Kentish, of Birmingham, conducted the devotional service: the Rev. John Corrie, of Handsworth, and the Rev. Thomas Bowen, of Walsall, preached-the former on Matt. xiii. 24―30.—The parable of the tares in the field*—the latter on 2 Cor. iv. 13.-"We also believe, and therefore speak."

* May the reporter be excused if be here expresses his high admiration of the acuteness with which Archdeacon Blackburne has availed himself of this parable, in his Remarks on Johnson's Life of Milton.

The Doctor, speaking of Milton's Areopagitica, says, "the danger of such unbounded liberty [of unlicensed printing,] and the danger of bounding it, have produced a problem in the science of govern'ment, which human understanding seems ́unable to solve.”

Let us then have recourse to a Divine understanding for the solution of it. Let "both the tares and the wheat grow together till the harvest, lest, while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Remarks, page 39.

Mr Corrie introduced his discourse with observing that the parable teaches a lesson of forbearance, of forbearance even to these who will hereafter receive from the all-seeing and unerring Judge, the just punishment their crimes have merited. And this forbearance, we should remember, may be shown not merely by the magistrate or his tribunal, but by every individual in the formation of his own opinions, and the guidance of his own conduct-in that kind feeling and that proneness to support or to relieve, which attaches to those whose ebaracters we respect and love, and which should never be withdrawn except in cases in which it is morally impossible to confound the innocent with the guilty.

This interpretation of the parable harmonizes with the whole tenor of the gospel, with all that is recorded of our Saviour's conduct and all that is preserved of his discourses." And here," said Mr. Corrie, "I think we may justly feel surprised that any who have professed themselves to be the disciples of Christ should have preached or practised persecution.

Viewing the subject, moreover, as we do, in all the light that has been poured upon it by powerful and sagacious writers, we must be allowed to feel still more surprised that mankind should have been so slow to learn that the most perfect toleration in religion is not more the doctrine of the gospel than the dictate of the soundest human policy.

And our surprise is still augmented, when we consider what those offences have been which have provoked the rod of the persecutor, and could be expiated only by the severest punishment: for those offences have been differences of opinion in the interpretation of what is, in some respects, most obscure volume, and upon subjects which it confessedly exceeds the most vigorous grasp of the buman faculties perfectly to comprehend, and all the powers of human language adequately to express. Yet there is scarcely an exposition of those mysterious doctrines that might not bare been written in the blood of some virtuous and learned martyr who has died in its defence.

The eloquent preacher then proceeded to recommend unlimited toleratión in religion, on the following grounds:

1. From the nature of the subjects which have generally been made the occasions of persecution—the doctrines of the Trinity, of the atonement, and of original sin-doctrines confessed, on all hands, to be very abstruse and far removed from the apprehension of the mind.

II. From the nature of the evidence to which all must alike appeal in support of their opinions. Under this bead, Mr. Corrie pointed out the difficulties attendant on a critical examination of the Scriptures.