quess. Some of the remarkable qualities so eminently displayed in after life by the son must have been discoverable in the father, or he would not have secured the notice and esteem of two such men as Bishop Law and Dr. Paley. In some particulars it might be thought, by a close observer of the late Vicar of Ashton, that he had formed his character on the pattern of Dr. Paley. He had the same versatility of talent, the same activity and energy, the same variety of pursuit, and the same steady cheerfulness of disposition. The incumbent of a Northern living, or even a Northern pluralist, is oftener burdened with professional duties than with adequate emoluments or rewards, and so it was with the Rev. John Sibson, our subject's father. He toiled laboriously in his arduous vocation, but his means did not enable him to give to his son the benefits of a complete education. Like Hooker of old, the son of this Northern shepherd was often set to watch the fold on the hills, and there, surrounded by nature's sentinels, the everlasting mountains, both the silence and the sounds of those scenes were suggestive to his thoughtful mind, and doubtless contributed to give it that sedate and contemplative character, which ever afterwards belonged to it. The learning which he acquired at home was scanty and imperfect, but when he left the North he brought with him a dauntless and courageous spirit, with which difficulty, and perseverance, and a resolution to turn every employment into duty, were congenial and familiar elements. How many of these resolute spirits, who have hard heads and minds of ethereal temper, has the northern part of this kingdom sent forth from time to time into the more southern regions of Britain, to shew the world what true and sturdy materials may be covered by a frieze coat. At the age of about twenty years, young Sibson left his father's house, and came into Lancashire, with the view of setting out on some career of usefulness. He brought with him at his coming a letter of introduction to the celebrated Dr. Dalton, who was born in the same or an adjoining parish, and with whom he formed an intimacy which continued to the Doctor's decease. He first settled at Darwen, near Bolton, at which place he was appointed to the mastership of a small school, of which the emoluments were also small. But Mr. Sibson had brought with him from the North a large share of prudence, a quality which he believed to lie at the root of all virtue, and his independence was not less than his prudence. He determined that his income should keep him, and that it might do so he practised an amount of self-de nial and self-sacrifice which has helped many a poor scholar, who has buffeted against difficulties with equal success, to come out purified by the encounter. Our young schoolmaster at his outset could not afford the luxury of a fire at night, but reading for the next day's teaching, for he was but a short distance in advance of his pupils, was an essential duty, and as the night was his only leisure, he frequently employed a great part of it over his books, seated in his cheerless room, and wrapped in a top-coat for necessary warmth. In this way did he pursue knowledge under difficulties, and whatever he learned he securely retained. In the course of a few years he was ordained to the curacy of Darwen, and in that situation his merits were discovered by the discriminating eye of the Rev. Geoffrey Hornby, the late Rector of Winwick, who in the year 1809 presented him to the living of Ashton, then a small unaugmented curacy, with no settled income except the house, and about ten pounds a-year, to which the generosity of Mr. Hornby contributed out of his own resources a voluntary allowance of 50%. a-year. Ashton is a considerable manufacturing village, having some celebrity for the making of hinges and nails, to which, of late years, has been added a considerable business in cotton. The population of the entire place amounted, before its recent division into two parishes, to upwards of 6000 souls. The new incumbent selected by Mr. Hornby was wholly unknown to the people, and he came originally amongst them with nothing to recommend him but his own intrinsic merits, which they had yet to learn. His manner was just that portion of the man to which he had paid the least amount of attention. Unselfish, generous, and benevolent, and conscious to himself of these feelings, he was attentive in his general conduct rather to the matter than the manner in all things and at all times. The consequence was that in his new sphere he did not immediately recommend himself to the good opinion of his flock, and it is the more wonderful therefore that in the end he should have succeeded in bringing the universal parish to appreciate his sterling excellence, so that at his death no person ever carried with him a sincerer or more heartfelt tribute of affection, regard, and esteem. No bier was ever bedewed with the tears of more genuine sorrow than were shed over the grave of their late minister, by his parishioners of Ashton. He seems to have come to Ashton like the pastor in Goldsmith's poem "Who ne'er had changed, nor wished to change his place." OBITUARY-Rev. Edmund Sibson. offer of promotion to a better benefice, losophical Society, shew his established For he resisted at least one advantageous to the Transactions of the Manchester Phiin the way of still higher preferment. For Transactions shew his industry and informwhich held out every promise of putting him reputation as a mathematician. The same means of supporting his numerous chari- well versed in the sciences of botany, geson increased his income, and obtained the his friends and the public, that he was some time after coming to Ashton, Mr. Sib- ation as an antiquary; while it is known to ties, by receiving into his house young ology, and entomology. His classical acgentlemen intended either for the profes- quirements were of no moderate order. sions, or for other liberal walks of life. As a tutor he not only succeeded in im- music, and he relished poetry as keenly gained the affectionate regard of the young Theimaginative faculty in Mr. Sibson seems there are few of those who enjoyed the owing to this circumstance, so rare in comobjects of his care, and it is believed that to have been strong; and it was probably benefit of his instruction who did not in bination with mathematical genius, that he feelings of reverence and affection. His and other scholars, a strong belief in ghosts after-life look back upon their tutor with entertained, in common with Dr. Johnson instruct at the same time, and if he had the visible world, and if it should please one, for he understood how to amuse and wont to say, is peopled more thickly than art of imparting instruction was a happy and apparitions. The unseen world, he was lived in the time of the old philosophers, the Creator to withdraw the veil that sepahe would have been ranked amongst the rates the one from the other, we should wisdom and instruction from the objects are about us, without our being conscious Peripatetics, for it was his delight to draw be surprised at the number of beings who coming before him in his daily walks. of their presence. But Mr. Sibson was pathy with the young in all their pursuits, ceased to remember that whilst looking at He had, moreover, an extraordinary sym- essentially a practical person, and he never He had himself known the difficulties, and time at least our business must be on the and especially in the pursuit of knowledge. the stars we must not forget that for a that had taught him to feel for others. earth. Mr. Sibson was one of those who seem grievances which asked for a remedy. to have the happy art of multiplying time, Great, indeed, must have been the powers for, engrossing and harassing as the busi- of his concentration of mind, which could ness of teaching is, he found time for all descend from Newton or Laplace, listen to the other duties of his parish, and had, and redress some village complaint, and moreover, leisure to devote to the culti- then, without difficulty, resume an intervation of many branches of science and rupted problem. He did not forget that literature. With the mathematics in their a special blessing is promised to the peacehighest branches he was intimately fami- maker, and that character seemed to be liar; and a friend happening to call upon his especial object of emulation. The him a few years ago, found him finishing sense entertained of his love of justice frenism of the Heavens, in which he had him in matters of law, and very many are the perusal of Mrs. Somerville's Mecha- quently brought both parties to appeal to in order to test their correctness. His mentality, and to the benefit, if not the various contributions in this department satisfaction of the parties, have been with The drawn from the courts of law. In some cases the friend who writes this is fully aware that nothing but the weight of Mr. Sibson's character could have prevailed over the feelings of the angry disputants, and have induced them to submit the decision of some very intricate matter to the Vicar's decision; and he is also aware that the decisions of a court, in such a case, would have been infinitely more expensive and heart-burning without being more just. There is no mode of proving to the poor that your interest in them is sincere, without administering in some degree to their temporal wants. The late Vicar of Ashton fully understood this, and was at all times ready with his substantial sympathy in the bodily sufferings of the poor of his flock, but it was in the early periods of his ministry a source of wonder whence came the funds for his liberality, which always flowing, was yet never dry. Two causes were the secret of his success in this matter, his simple and self-denying habits, and his prudence and economy in the management of his pecuniary concerns. cruise of oil wasted not while it was demanded for the support of the widow and the orphan. Talents and acquirements like Mr. Sibson's sometimes make their possessor forget their immediate purpose, and inflate him with an ideal self-sufficiency and importance. It was not so however with him, and he seemed in an eminent degree to possess the faculty, not only of being willing, but also of being able, to subordinate talents of the highest order to the daily and hourly duties of life, and, accordingly, from a sense of duty, all his intellectual strength and all his acquired mental stores were but a possession to be used for furthering his Master's ends. The delivery of ten talents was felt by him as a call to greater responsibility, and to increased devotion to duty. nearly forty years that he continued the minister of Ashton, Mr. Sibson kept a minute record of all the visits he paid to the sick members of his flock, and this record forms a piece of instructive moral teaching, derived not from theory, but from actual example. But the brightest portion of Mr. Sibson's character, and that indeed without which the whole building would want life, remains to be told: we have not yet spoken of his faith. true son of the Church of England, he loved her formularies, and revered her articles, not no much for themselves, as because they were based upon the sure word of Revelation. This made him zealous at all times to retain his flock within the lawful fold, and to guard them against being led away by either error or unsound doctrine. He was at once loyal to his For A own principles, and at the same time tolerant of others; and in the memorable controversy in which he was engaged with the Roman Catholics, he was acting in selfdefence, but he abundantly proved by his successful correspondence, that when necessary he could wield the sword as well as the shield. This controversy, which was carried on unostentatiously for some time, and at length printed obscurely, attracted the attention and obtained the commendation of Bishop Blomfield, at that time Bishop of Chester, and Mr. Sibson's diocesan. One habit of Mr. Sibson in reference to his Sunday-school, is deserving of especial notice. Every year he published and circulated through his parish a minute statement of the receipts and expences of the school, and on the back of this account he printed a paper, written by himself, on some leading doctrine of our holy faith. A series of these papers are in the writer's possession, and form an excellent summary of Christian doctrine, while at the same time they shew both the author's soundness of faith, and his ability to communicate clearly his own views on its most important articles. The papers thus circulated seem to have been very generally read and attentively considered in the parish, and have been one means amongst others of enabling the members of his flock, more especially the young, to give a reason of the hope that is in them. a proof of Mr. Sibson's varied talent, it may be mentioned that he was well versed in ecclesiastical law, and had a tolerable knowledge of the art of medicine. He was able in consequence at times to give useful advice on both these subjects. For more than thirty years after Mr. Sibson's coming to Ashton, there existed in the place no church but his own, and he of course had the care of the whole population, which was spread over a very extensive area. The generosity of Mr. Hornby, the present Rector of Winwick, a few years ago, added a new church to the district, and Mr. Sibson was at that time relieved froma part of his district, and made Vicar of the remainder. During the progress of this new church, Mr. Sibson exercised most useful superintendence over the building, and contributed somewhat towards its completion out of his own resources. No man was more regardless of self than Mr. Sibson. Mr. Sibson's exercise of body must be considered to have excessive, and it may fairly be inferred, that his frequent long walks without food or support, and his excessive exertions, have had some share in bringing to a premature termination a frame of body which promised to all human view an extended period of life. Not many months As ago, this was the work of a single Sunday : -at eight o'clock he married a couple; he then walked a mile to his school at Haydock, where he catechised the children for an hour, and afterwards returned to his church, where at 10 o'clock he married another couple, and then catechised his children until the commencement of morning service. He then read the service and preached, and afterwards baptized an adult. At half-past two in the afternoon he again read prayers and preached, after which he baptized three children, and interred two corpses, and then finished his day's duty by again catechising the children for one hour. Hospitable to an extreme at his own house, Mr. Sibson could with difficulty be induced to partake of refreshment except at home, and in his frequent long walks to Warrington, a distance of eight miles from his own house, it was rarely that he could be induced to take food. No man was more approachable than Mr. Sibson, and he had the happy art of understanding and making himself understood by all. His sympathies indeed were like the mantle of charity, wide and broad-and the poorest person found not only ready access to, but a patient hearer and a sound adviser in Mr. Sibson. To his friends he was no friend by halves. The same vigour and warmth distinguished him in this relation as in others, and he scrupled at no trouble and avoided no labour, but, on the contrary, applied his whole heart to every matter calculated to serve his friend's interest. Age did not cool this feeling in him. In bodily presence Mr. Sibson was tall and robust, and his ruddy and healthful countenance indicated great bodily vigour, and a constitution of extra ordinary strength. His motto, however, would seem to have been that of another great and good man, that it is better to wear out than rust out; and it is to be feared that his life has been shortened in his too earnest devotion to his daily duties, and in his indifference to the care of self. But the rewards of a good man we are told follow him, and, with a faith sound like our departed friend's, and fruits so abundant as the root produced in him, our hopes are turned into assured faith and confidence that he has now entered into his Lord's rest. Mr. Sibson was sixty-five years of age, and the immediate cause of the illness which terminated his valuable life, is said to have been a cold caught in attending the funeral of his friend Dr. Holme, of Manchester. But the fatigues to which allusion has been made, must have induced the weakness which unhappily proved so fatal. Mr. Sibson married Miss Brandwood, 12 of Darwen, about the time he came to Ashton, and his widow and an only daughter survive to lament his loss. REV. THOMAS RUSSELL, M.A. The paternal name of this gentleman was Clout. He was born at Marden, in Kent, and received his education at Hoxton Academy, which he left in 1803 for Tunbridge, in his native county. In 1806, he received a call from the Congregational church in Pell-street, Ratcliffe-highway. They had assembled in Nightingale-lane, but, their old meeting-house having been East Smithfield, for more than a century; pulled down, with many neighbouring dwellings, to give a site for the London Docks, they erected, in 1805, a small chapel in Pell-street, and Mr. Clout was ordained their pastor, Sept. 5th, 1806. On the failure of this church at Pellstreet, Mr. Russell became minister of the dissenting congregation assembling at Baker-street, Enfield, and which office he retained until his death. In 1823, he obtained the King's royal licence and authority to change his patronymic for that of Russell. As the ministerial success of Mr. Russell was not considerable, he early devoted himself to the laborious and useful duties of an editor. In 1823 he commenced the arduous task of editing the works of Dr. John Owen, which he for the first time collected and published, in twenty-one volumes octavo, and which were completed in about three years. He was also engaged as editor of a portion of the Works of Richard Baxter; and on him devolved the melancholy duty of revising the two last sheets of the Memoir of the Life and Times of Richard Baxter, which were left uncorrected by their lamented author, the Rev. William Orme. writings of the most eminent English and In 1813 it was proposed to republish the Scottish Reformers, under the editorship of Mr. Russell. Three octavo volumes, containing the writings of William Tyndale and John Frith, appeared; but the undertaking was then abandoned. Mr. Russell published a selection of Hymns, supplementary to Dr. Watts's, which passed through many editions, and would have obtained extensive use, but for the frequent and great alterations which he thought it necessary to make in successive impressions. Mr. Russell enjoyed the confidence and respect of many. He was appointed to the responsible duties of a trustee to the charitable property of William Coward, esq. which gave him an important share in the government of Coward college; and also to that of Dr. Daniel Williams, and the Library at Redcross-street. He was also Secretary to the Society for the Relief of Aged Ministers, &c. His last days were imbittered by private losses, but he professed a calm submission to the will of God, and died in the hope of his mercy. -(Congregational Year-Book.) MR. ALDERMAN M. P. LUCAS. Jan. 2. At Wateringbury Place, Kent, of influenza, aged 86, Matthias Prime Lucas, esq. Alderman of London. Mr. Lucas was a native of London, and served his time to his father as a lighterman; for many years he toiled as hard as any member of the class to which he belonged, and through his industrial habits and success in business he realised an immense fortune. When Napoleon projected the invasion of this country, he was very active in the raising a body of "River Fencibles," of which he was appointed Commodore; and in that capacity one act of his deserves notice. When the fleet which was destined to attack Denmark was being got ready, there was a difficulty to man it, when Commodore Lucas so forcibly represented the necessity of the fleet being fully equipped, that he succeeded in getting nearly the whole body of the Fencibles to volunteer, and to the bravery of the London watermen and lightermen were the country indebted for those brilliant victories of Copenhagen, the Nile, and Trafalgar. It laid the foundation of an intimate friendship with the naval heroes of the day; and on each anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar, Mr. Lucas always entertained those living who commanded in those conflicts: the entertainment usually took place at Portsmouth, and which the venerable Alderman continued up to the last year of his exist ence. Being intimately connected with Tower Ward by his shipping and mercantile transactions, upon the death of Sir William Curtis, in 1821, he was unanimously elected to the vacant aldermanic gown. He served the office of Sheriff in 1822, and in 1827 became Lord Mayor. During the year of his mayoralty the presidency of Bartholomew's Hospital became vacant, to which he succeeded, and retained up to his death. He was also Prime Warden of the Watermen's Company, and twice Master of the worshipful Company of Vintners. By the governors and others of Bartholomew's Hospital, on the completion of his 85th year, two magnificent silver salvers were presented to the deceased. To the poor of Wateringbury his GENT. MAG. VOL. XXIX. loss will be irreparable; the whole of which parish he purchased some years since for about 80,000l. and on which he has expended about 140,000. He carried out in the full sense of the word the Old English Gentleman, entertaining strong Conservative principles. He was born on the 6th Nov. 1761, and was in the full enjoyment of his health and faculties until within a few days of his decease. PETER FINCH MARTINEAU, Esq. Dec. 2. At his residence, Brixton-hill, in his 93d year, Peter Finch Martineau, esq. He was a native of Norwich, and about 1790 became a partner with his brothers in the brewery at Lambeth, since united with that of Whitbread and Co.; after which he resided for some years at St. Alban's, as a partner in the bank there. Coupling his age with that of one of his progenitors, the Rev. Peter Finch, during whose life-time he was born, their lives embrace the whole period from the passing of the Act of Uniformity in 1662, to the end of 1847: Mr. Finch having been born during the year when his father was ejected from his vicarage in Lancashire, and lived to the age of 93. Mr. Martineau's paternal ancestors had suffered in the cause of religious liberty in France, and settled at Norwich on the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes; whilst on the maternal side he was descended from two clergymen of the diocese of Norwich, Mr. John Meadows, and Mr. John Fairfax, who, like Mr. Finch, his father's maternal grandsire, were deprived of their livings by the Act of Uniformity. To the principles which he inherited as to the rights of conscience, Mr. Martineau steadily adhered; and to those views in politics which are their usual concomitants he was warmly attached. His character was distinguished by generosity, courtesy, cheerfulness, and active benevolence; and he enjoyed life to the last, diffusing enjoyment amongst all who knew him, both young and old. THOMAS CADDICK, Esq. Lately. At Tewkesbury, in his 85th year, Thomas Caddick, esq. He was the son of a respectable Staffordshire farmer, and born at Clyangor, between Walsall and Lichfield, on the 18th of February, 1763. In the latter part of 1789 he established himself in Tewkesbury as a druggist, tea-dealer, and grocer, and remained in the same house, near the bottom of High-street, until his retirement from trade. He continued in business for 30 years, during which time he was absent from his counter only one 2 E |