of the unity, supremacy, and unpurchasable goodness of our Heavenly Father, and the glorious doctrine of forgiveness and immortality as revealed by Christ. These had been the consolation of her widowed and afflicted years; they were the joy of her declining days, and her stay in death.

August 27, at Umberslade, Warwickshire, in the 76th year of his age, JOHN GREAVES, Esq., of Radford, near Leamington, after a short illness, and in the hope of a resurrection to the blessed life revealed by our Lord Jesus Christ.

The best notice that we are able to

present of this estimable man is the concluding part of the sermon delivered on the Sunday after his interment, by the Rev. T. L. Marshall, in the Highstreet chapel, Warwick.

The text selected was from Proverbs

x. 7, "The memory of the just is bless ed." Having discoursed on the spiritual remembrance which the departed righteous leave behind them, firmly impressed on the minds and hearts of their surviving friends and relatives, and described the character of the just man according to the scriptural idea, the preacher addressed the congregation in the following manner :

"Before concluding this solemn service, I should not do justice to my own feelings nor to those of my stated hearers, if I were to omit paying a tribute of high respect and affection to the memory of him who so lately departed from the midst of

us.

"It belongs not to this holy place to speak of the dead in the language of empty eulogy. And of him a far worthier, a more enduring memorial is left, in a life which was marked with traits that secured him the respect and esteem of all who had the privilege of his acquaintance.

"Our departed friend and fellow-worshiper was a just man, in the comprehensive meaning that word is intended to have in the text, and which has been given to it in this discourse. The integrity of his conscience and the integrity of his life were with him 'the pearls of great price' which he preserved at all hazards by an undeviating adherence to what he believed to be right and true. Honour

able and upright in all his intercourse with his fellow-men, his character was plain, straightforward, open as the day to all the world.

"He was eminently kind, sympathizing and benevolent; and there can be few in this congregation who are unaware of the

deep interest he manifested in all the generous and liberal movements of the age, in all that tended to promote the great cause of the social and moral improvement of the human race. He felt it just and right that he should love and do good to others as he had opportunity, that he should exercise compassion towards the wretched, charity to the weak and destitute, condescension and kindness to the lowly. He felt that justice required him to sympathize with man, and to remember that the poor, the ignorant and depraved, who throng the by-paths of life,

were sharers with him in a common nature, beings equally precious in the impartial regards of the Universal Father. Mindful, therefore, of the uses and responsibilities of wealth, he was never backward to relieve the wants of the poor and aid judicious plans for the benefit of

others.

"Although he made no ostentatious profession of religious sentiments, I believe him to have been a truly devout and religious man. In the maturity of life, private reading and reflection led him the principles of Unitarian Christianity, and for a long series of years he regularly worshiped within the walls of this chapel, and deeply interested himself in the prosperity of our religious society. While firmly attached to what he believed to be Christian truth, he was eminently unsectarian in spirit. While he scorned to make any concealment of his own principles, his mind soared beyond the narrow limits of sect and party, learned to respect the sincere convictions of the members of other churches, and to appreciate goodness, truth, piety, wherever they might be found. These he knew were the allessential requisites of religion; and where these were discerned, there he rejoiced to recognize the true disciples of Christ and the members of his Holy Catholic Church.

to a sincere and conscientious belief in

"In a word, his generous heart was `animated with sentiments of the most enlarged charity and benevolence; and the principles of truth, honour and justice, spoke from his lips and had a noble fulfilment in his life.

"I rejoice in being able to confirm my own imperfect impressions of the character of our departed friend by the words of one who knew him from an early period of his life, and who in a voluntary communication pens the following just and appropriate tribute of respect:

"I had long enjoyed the privilege of knowing your deceased friend and fellowworshiper, and have uniformly admired

and esteemed his character. With excellent good sense he combined, in no ordinary degree, kindness of temper and manners, and a steady attachment to the interests of freedom, truth, justice-in a word, to the highest welfare of his race. He was eminently honest; but while he never compromised his own principles, he was at the same time considerate of the situation and feelings of other men. He was greatly and deservedly valued through no limited sphere. It is, however, in the home which he adorned and blessed that he will be most of all missed.'

Sept. 6, at Godley, near Hyde, in the 81st year of his age, Mr. RANDAL HIBᏴᎬᎡᎢ. The memory of this venerable and upright man is entitled to something more than a passing obituary notice, although his simple and unostentatious life was not marked by any uncommon events. He was born in 1769, on Godley Hill. His father belonged to the class of English yeomen, and was a member of the Church of England.* His mother was a firm Presbyterian, and a member of the congregation at Gee Cross, of which

* John Hibbert appears in his conformity to have departed from the principles of his family, for there are traces in the register of Dukinfield chapel of the Hibberts having been amongst the earliest Nonconformists of this part of Cheshire. The chapel at Hyde was erected in 1708, and the name of a lineal ancestor of Randal Hibbert appears as a trustee in the first deedthe name of Hibbert appears in every deed of the chapel hitherto made. Had Mr. Hibbert lived a few weeks longer, his own name would have appeared in a third deed; he outlived two generations of trustees. By the genealogical investigations of Dorning Hibbert, Esq., Barrister-at-law, it appears that the Hibberts of Godley were a branch of a family of the name of Hibbert or Hubert, settled at Marple, a neighbouring township of Cheshire, as far back as the reign of Edward IV. They were joint lords of the manor with the Bradshaws, from whom sprang the regicide President.

the Rev. George Checkley was then the pastor. It was arranged between this worthy couple that the sons should be educated in the religion of their father, and the daughters in that of their mother. Probably under the influence of a strong attachment to his mother, Randal Hibbert shewed in early boyhood so strong an aversion to the service of the church at Mottram, where his father was in the habit of attending, that the good man of his own accord proposed that the agreement should be waived, and that the boy should be brought up a Presbyterian. This arrangement was accordingly carried into effect; and never was a religious profession more marked by constancy and regularity than his. He was apprenticed to a woollen clothier at Stayley; and notwithstanding rough roads and bad weather, and many intervening miles, he was enabled in after life to say, that during the seven years of his apprenticeship he only once omitted attending the services at Gee-Cross chapel. From an early period of his life he took an active part in the affairs of the congregation, and by assisting the choir, and various other ways, manifested his interest in the principles which were the bond of union to the English Presbyterians. In the year 1789, the Hyde congregation joined in the attempt made by the Protestant Dissenters of England to obtain the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts. Public meetings were held in central places, to which delegates were sent from the surrounding congregations. Thus at Nottingham, the delegates of the counties of Nottingham and Derby assembled under the presidency of Rev. George Walker; atWakefield, the ministers of the West-Riding of Yorkshire met under the presidency of Rev. W. Wood; and the delegates of the congregations of Lancashire and Cheshire assembled at Warrington. In these proceedings Mr. Hibbert, then in his twentieth or twenty-first year, took part; and his name is found in a list, still in existence, of twenty members of the Hyde congregation who subscribed towards defraying the expenses of the application to Parliament. Throughout life, Mr. Hibbert was ready with his voice and purse to aid the cause of civil and religious liberty. Not less zealous was he in promoting the cause of education. Of Sunday-schools he was an early and, according to his means, generous friend. At the recent anniversary sermon preached in behalf

of the Sunday-schools at Dukinfield, by Rev. Dr. Montgomery, Mr. Hibbert attended, and stated the remarkable fact that he had been present at every anniversary sermon preached for those schools since their original establishment, by Rev. James Hawkes, in the year 1800. In addition to supporting the Sunday-school connected with his own and other places of worship, Mr. Hibbert joined with his sons in establishing both a Day and Sunday-school near his own residence, and erected not merely commodious school-rooms, but also a suitable residence for the master and mistress of the establishment. Latterly, he took a very lively interest in the success of the plans adopted for instructing the people in the science and practice of music; and it was a pleasant sight to behold this venerable old man attending night after night, encouraging by his presence, and sometimes by his hearty applause, the young people of the place-many of them his own workpeople-in their efforts to improve themselves in the charming accomplishment of vocal and instrumental music. To these and other philanthropic undertakings he was incited by a strong sense of justice. He felt that he was bound to do what he could for the welfare and improvement of those by means of whose industry he had acquired a competency. Under a plain, if not blunt exterior, there was a kind and compassionate heart. His sympathy was always with the weak and unprotected. În his temper he was warm, but his resentments were always short-lived, and his friendships were firm and unfailing. No one that knew him ever doubted his sincerity. He did not follow the business to which he was apprenticed; but, by the death of his grandfather (his father died when he was young), coming into possession of the small family estate, he turned his attention to farming. He married Sarah, the daughter of Mr. Thomas Turner, of Godley, who proved a most affectionate partner whilst she lived, and who, after her departure, was mourned by him with sincere and lasting sorrow. She bore him fourteen children, of whom twelve grew to man and womanhood, and eleven survived him.-Mr. Hibbert was one of the first to observe the capabilities which the neighbourhood of Hyde presented for the conduct of the cotton business; and about fifty years ago he built a small mill, which he let to his friends, the late Messrs. Ashton. In this mill they laid the foun

dations of the extensive manufacturing establishments which have so enriched the neighbourhood. At the termination of their lease, Mr. Hibbert himself became a manufacturer, but never gave up his farm or felt diminished interest in it.-Few have been permitted by a gracious Providence to live a happier life than the subject of this brief memoir. He enjoyed to the last almost uninterrupted health, never remembering, previous to his last seizure, having been confined to bed an entire day by illness. His hearing was latterly somewhat affected, but he could to the last read with ease and enjoyment. On the last Sunday of his life he appeared unusually well, attended his accustomed place of worship, both morning and afternoon, visited the grave in which the remains of his beloved wife slept, gave directions for the stone being cleaned, and spent the evening surrounded by his family, talking with more than his usual animation and benevolence of old times, and persons long passed away. The next morning he was struck with apoplexy, and except for a short interval or two, during one of which he expressed his belief that his summons was nigh, he did not again awake to conscious life. His spirit passed away without a groan, on the third day after his seizure. Never did a more gentle dismissal close a life of tranquil enjoyment. He was followed to his grave by his six sons, and numerous other relatives and descendants. On the following Sunday, the Rev. James Brooks paid a just and affecting tribute to the memory of his friend, the last survivor of the heads of the congregation who invited him to undertake the ministry amongst them 44 years ago! Seldom, he observed, had it been permitted to any minister to address the same hearer so frequently, and never, probably, had one individual attended the same house of prayer with regularity and frequency equal to that of his deceased friend, who had worshiped in that spot for seventy-five years. Mr. Brooks's discourse was founded on Gen. xv. 15, "Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, thou shalt be buried in a good old age.' The chapel, notwithstanding a very wet day, was filled by a large congregation, including many members of neighbouring congregations. The choir of the chapel paid a spontaneous and gratifying tribute to the memory of a kind and constant friend by appearing in mourning.