was the eldest of three brothers, whose voluntary banishment from their native land rooted out my family from the county of Waterford. A considerable fortune enabled my ancestor to settle at Seville, where he was inscribed on the roll of the privileged gentry, and carried on extensive business as a merchant.

"My father was the first of his kindred that married into a Spanish family, and his early habits of exalted piety made him choose a wife whom few can equal in religious sincerity.

"At the age of fourteen, all the seeds of devotion, which had been assiduously sown in my heart, sprung up as it were spontaneously. The pious practices, which had hitherto been a task, were now the effect of my own choice. I became a constant attendant of the Congregation of the Oratory, where pious young men, intended for the church, generally had their spiritual directors. Dividing my time between study and devotion, I went through a course of philosophy and divinity at the university of Seville; at the end of which, I received the Roman Catholic order of Subdeacon. By that time I had obtained the degrees of Master of Arts and Bachelor of Divinity. Being elected a Fellow of the college of St. Mary a Jesu of Seville, when I was not of sufficient standing for the superior degree of Licentiate of Divinity, which the fellowship required, I took that degree at Osuna, where the statutes demand no interval between these academical honours. A year had scarcely elapsed since I received priest's orders, when, after a public examination, in competition with other candidates, I obtained the stall of Magistral, or Preacher, in the chapter of King's Chaplains, at Seville. Placed so young in a situation which my predecessor had obtained after many years' service as a vicar, in the same town, I conceived myself bound to devote my whole leisure to the study of religion. I need not say that I was fully conversant with the system of Catholic divinity; for I owed my preferment to a public display of theological knowledge; yet I wished to become acquainted with all kinds of works which might increase and perfect that knowledge.

My religious belief had hitherto been undisturbed; but light clouds of doubt began now to pass over my mind, which the warmth of devotion soon dissipated, yet they would gather again and again with an increased darkness, which prayer could scarcely dispel. That immorality and levity are always the source of unbelief, the experience of my own case, and my intimate acquaintance with many

others, enable me most positively to deny as to myself, I declare most solemnly that my rejection of Christianity took place at a period when my conscience could not reproach me with any open breach of duty but those committed several years before: that during the transition from religious belief to incredulity, the horror of sins against the faith deeply implanted by education in my soul, haunted me night and day; and that I exerted all the powers of my mind to counteract the involuntary doubts which were daily acquiring an irresistible strength. In this distress I brought to remembrance all my arguments for the truth of the Christian Religion, which I had studied in the French Apologists; I read other works of the same kind; and having to preach to the Royal brigade of Caribineers who came to worship the body of St. Ferdinand, preserved in the King's Chapel, I chose the subject of Infidelity, on which I delivered an elaborate discourse (which was published at Seville, at the expense of the brigade). But the fatal crisis was at hand. end of the year, from the preaching of this sermon,-the confession is painful, indeed, yet due to Religion itself,-I was bordering on Atheism."

At the

The writer continues his affecting narrative with a picture of a mind struggling in the toils of infidelity, yet discharging his ministerial functions, with no choice in his own country but death or hypocrisy ;-desirous of flying from both, yet restrained by his affection for his parents. Ten years were passed in this insufferable state, till the approach of the French troops to Seville enabled him to tear himself from this mental bondage, though at the heavy cost of quitting for ever his country and all that he loved. He found an asylum in England; and he proceeds with candour to relate the changes which operated upon his mind since his residence among us. The perusal of Paley's Natural Theology appears to have rescued him from an atheistical bias; and he states, " I had so long wandered from the Roman fold, that, when approaching the Church of England, both the absence of what had driven me from Catholicism, and the existence of all the other parts of that system, made me feel as if I were returning to the repaired home of my youth."

In 1814, Mr. White subscribed the Articles of the Church of England, and he "retired to Oxford, not to procure admission into the university, but to live privately in that great seat of learning, devoting my time exclusively to the study

of the Scriptures. I had resided a year in that place, when an English nobleman [we believe Lord Holland], who since he knew me in Spain has ever honoured me with his friendship, gave me the highest proof of his esteem by inviting me to become tutor to his son. I accepted the charge, which I discharged for two years to the best of my power.

"When I quitted my charge as tutor, 1 had begun a series of short lectures on religion, the first part of which I delivered to the young members of the family." They were published at Oxford in 1817, with the title of "Preparatory Observations on the Study of Religion, by a Clergyman of the Church of England."

In the same preface Mr. White relates his subsequent inclination towards Unitarianism, but which he at that time found "a mighty work to little purpose; " and he adds that the work which mainly contributed to put an end to his trial, was Sumner's (the present Bishop of Chester) Evidences of Christianity.

Mr. Blanco White became first distinguished as an author in this country by the publication of his "Letters from Spain," under the assumed name of Don Leucadio Doblado; a review of which will be seen in our Magazine for Nov. 1822, p. 446.

In 1825 he published his "Practical and Internal Evidence against Catholicism, with occasional strictures on Mr. Butler's Book of the Roman Catholic Church," 8vo. and in the same year the Poor Man's Preservative against Popery, 12mo.

In 1826 the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him, by diploma, by the University of Oxford, "in consideration of his eminent talents and learning; but more especially on account of those able and well-timed publications, by which he has powerfully exposed the errors of the Church of Rome."

He subsequently published A Letter to Protestants converted from Romanism. Oxford, 1827. 8vo.

The Law of Anti-Religious Libel reconsidered. Dublin, 1834. 8vo.

Observations on Heresy and Orthodoxy. 1835. 4to.

In the last-named year his friends were grieved to find he had deserted the Church: a change which is recorded by " A Discourse occasioned by the Rev. J. Blanco White's profession of Unitarian Christianity. By the Rev. Edward Tagart, [Unitarian] Minister of the Octagon Chapel, Norwich. 1835."

REV. A. B. EVANS, M.A. June 28. In the Cloisters, Gloucester,

aged 82, the Rev. Arthur Benoni Evans, A.M. Rector of Coln Rogers, and Vicar of Barnwood, and for upwards of fifty years Head Master of the College School in that city.

:

He was the fifth son of the Rev. Thomas Evans, Vicar of Bassaleg, co. Monmouth, who had four other sons, all clergymen 1st. the Rev. James Evans, Vicar of Cowbridge, co. Glamorgan, who left a son, Thomas Evans, esq. the present Librarian to the Emperor of Russia 2nd. the Rev. John Evans, Vicar of St. Woolas, co. Monmouth, who left no issue: 3rd. the Rev. Lewis Evans, F.R.S. Vicar of Froxfield, co. Wilts, for many years Professor of Mathematics in the Royal Military College, Woolwich, who left two sons - 1st, Simpson Evans, LL.D. Professor of Mathematics in Christ's Hospital, London (who left a son, the Rev. Thomas Simpson Evans, present Rector of St. Leonard, Shoreditch); 2nd. the Rev. Arthur Benoni Evans, D.D. present Head Master of Market- Bosworth free school: 4th. the Rev. Thomas Evans, Rector of Chipping Norton, co. Oxford, who left a son, the Rev. Thomas Evans, present Head-Master of Gloucester Col. lege School, and a Minor Canon of Gloucester Cathedral.

The Rev. A.B. Evans was presented to the rectory of Coln Rogers by the Dean and Chapter of Gloucester in 1807, and to Barnwood by the same patrons in 1809.

From a character written by his nephew the Rev. Arthur Benoni Evans, D.D. we make the following extracts:

"In the death of this good and great man, society has lost, not merely an or nament, but an exalted model of piety, learning, and virtue. From a careful and conscientious economy of his time, and from the early love and unremitted habit of reading, accompanied by a sound judgment and tenacious memory, he had accumulated a vast fund of multifarious but valuable knowledge, with which he on all occasions enriched his conversation, and few persons have ever possessed more abundantly the means of instructive intercourse; and certainly none ever dispensed them more freely or agreeably. I have never witnessed the union of greater conversational powers and resources. what is more, it was his delight to convey to the young or inexperienced the accurate and well-digested results of his own maturer studies and reflection, without any assumption of superior intelligence, certainly without the offensiveness of pedantry or dogmatism.

And

"Of his high qualifications for his

laborious vocation, his pupils can furnish the best testimony; and not a few of them might be adduced as the living evidence. All of them well remember his minute and indefatigable process of teaching; none could forget whatever he had once so effectually inculcated. The early mental training and classical instruction of the present Bishop of Exeter (Dr. Philpotts) were from his hands and, splendid and extensive as the intellectual superstructure has been, to him must be attributed the solid foundation.

"As to his general acquirements, in a brief notice, like the present, I can merely advert to his extensive acquaintance with European literature and language, more especially the German, with its cognate northern dialects; his correct and comprehensive knowledge of history, ancient and modern, and particularly of his own country; as well as his remarkable treasures from others' travels and his own. These, in addition to his stores of classical and philological erudition, while they exhibited the very retentive powers of his own mind, were constant sources of pleasure and information to all who enjoyed his intimacy, and peculiarly instructive to persons of similar pursuits and researches.

"But, after all, that which so endeared him to his many friends, and that which attaches the most enduring honour to his memory, that which makes him, though dead, still speak to us, still live in the hearts of all that knew him, was the strict and sterling sincerity, the steady and judicious but often retiring charity, the truly Christian consistency and integrity of his heart and life. To his support and parental superintendence of many of his relatives the writer can here barely make allusion, but it is with feelings of indelible gratitude. Warm and affectionate in feeling, simple and unsophisticated in his taste and habits, sturdily attached to principle, and venerating truth above every earthly treasure or consideration, his daily bearing in society was that of honest dignity, frankness, justice, punctuality, and kindness: so that it was impossible to know and not to respect him, to be intimate and not to reverence him. A marked and essential feature in his character was the utter impatience, the instinctive detestation, as it were, with which he regarded all duplicity, pretension, and hypocrisy. No man, perhaps, ever possessed a keener discernment of the limits and landmarks of enthusiasm: no man ever felt a stronger contempt for all intellectual arrogance, or literary empiricism, "La charlatanerie des savans.' In this, and indeed in several other re

spects, he bore a strong resemblance to his favourite German divine, John Joachim Spalding, whose excellent essay • On the value of Feelings in Religion,' he bas himself translated and published.

"His political predilections were soundly patriotic and purely English. He was ever proud and grateful to have lived, till of late years, under the blessings, the civil institutions and protection of a practically, I mean, experimentally, adjusted scheme of limited monarchy,' based upon the purest and most catholic form of Christian faith and worship in the whole world. In religion he was a conscientious and orthodox minister of Christ's holy church universal,' established in these realms."

THOMAS MERRIMAN, ESQ.

May 15. At the house of Dr. Merriman, in Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, Thomas Merriman, Esq. of Marlborough, Banker, having left his house at Lockeridge, near Marlborough, only four days before in perfect health. By his death the town and neighbourhood of Marlborough, indeed a large portion of the county of Wilts, have sustained a loss which will be long and severely felt.

He was the second son of Mr. Nathaniel Merriman, of Marlborough, who died in 1811, by Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Baverstock, esq. of Alton, Hants. He was born Dec. 26, 1771, and was educated at the Free Grammar School of Marlborough, and through life was always pleased with an opportunity of expressing his feelings of interest for, and devoted attachment to, that royal foundation. He was articled to the late universally respected John Ward, esq. Attorney-at-Law, and soon afterwards was received into partnership with him. Messrs. Ward and Merriman became connected with the Kennet and Avon Canal Company from the very commencement of that undertaking; and Mr. Merriman was in no slight degree instrumental in securing to the inhabitants of his native town the advantage of a drawback on the tonnage of the Canal, as a compensation for the loss they sustained by a deviation from the line as originally proposed and subscribed for. When Mr. Merriman a few years ago retired from the office of Principal Clerk of that Company, they presented him with a very handsome silver epergne, as a testimonial of the sense they entertained of the zeal with which he had performed the duties of his office, and be was immediately elected on the Committee of Management.

Mr. Merriman was for twenty years

Town Clerk of the Borough of Marlborough, and ceased to hold that office, when he was appointed Chief Magistrate in 1815, on which occasion a very handsome silver tureen was presented to him by the corporation and his fellow townsmen, as a mark of approbation of his conduct. At the time of his death he was the senior alderman and member of the Corporation. There is a very old usage in this corporation, that if the Mayor should have a son born to him during his mayoralty, he should be presented with a silver cradle. An opportunity of this kind had not occurred for a long series of years; but in 1822, when Mr. Merriman again served the office of Mayor, the old custom was revived, and a piece of plate, surmounted by a cradle, was presented to him on the birth of a

son.

His abilities, strict integrity, and knowledge of his profession, were universally admitted; a very retentive memory, a fund of anecdote, and a never-failing flow of spirits made him a most agreeable companion, and the life of society, which he enjoyed to the last. In political feelings Mr. Merriman was in early life and up to the agitation of the Reform Bill, a Whig of the old school; but he saw so much danger to the country in that measure, that he most strenuously opposed it, and on the first election of Members of Parliament, after it had become law, instead of listening to the suggestion of more timid minds, to adopt what was called a conciliatory course, and be content with returning one Conservative Member for the Borough, he boldly insisted on the necessity of electing two, and succeeded: and on the first election of the Town Council after the passing of the Municipal Reform Act, every Member chosen was a Conservative, and this principally through the zeal and energy of Mr. Merriman. The exertions necessary to carry these points severely affected his health at the time; but by these exertions, the future peace and quiet of the town were secured.

In domestic life, Mr. Merriman was an example to all: a staunch supporter of the Established Church; a conscientious observer of his religious duties; kind and charitable, in the most extensive sense of the terms; an affectionate husband, an indulgent father, a most warm. hearted friend, and a considerate master. He was buried in the ground adjoining the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Marlborough. The funeral was attended by eighteen of his family and relations, by the members of the Corporation, and by other friends. The numerous assem

blage of inhabitants in the church, and the closing of the shops throughout the town, testified how generally and sincerely his loss was felt. He married Nov. 14, 1801, Mary, daughter of the late William Clark, esq. of Greenham, Berks, who survives him, and by her he had fourteen children, eleven of whom are still living.

A portrait of Mr. Merriman, from a painting by Bridges, has been engraved by Lupton, and presents a very exact likeness, both of his countenance and man

ner.

CLERGY DECEASED.

At Temple Normanton, near Chesterfield, aged 63, the Rev. Robert Bromehead, Perpetual Curate of that parish. He was of St. John's college, Cambridge, B.A. 1802, M.A. 1816.

The Rev. T. Buchanan, Rector of Kilkenny.

Aged 74, the Rev. John Fisher, late Rector of Higham on the Hill, Leicestershire, and of Caldecote, co. Warwick. He was of Christ's college, Cambridge, B.A. 1794.

At Cork, the Rev. Thomas Kenny, Rector of Donoughmore.

At Stanford-on-Teme, Worcestershire, aged 49, the Rev. Charles Fox Winnington, Rector of that parish, and Vicar of Clifton-on-Teme, Worcestershire. He was the fifth and youngest son of Sir Edward Winnington, of Stanford Court, the second Baronet, by the Hon. Anne Foley, youngest daughter of Thomas Lord Foley. He took the degree of B. A. at Christ church, Oxford; was presented to both his livings by his brother, to Clifton in 1817, and to Stanford in 1822. He married in 1819 Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Robert Thornton Keysham, of Stagenhoe Park, co. Herts, esq. April 23. At West Wickham, Kent, aged 72, the Rev. Frederic Gildart, of Norton Hall, Staffordshire, and Rector of Spridlington, Lincolnshire. of Queen's college, Oxford, B.C.L. grand compounder July 12, 1797; and was instituted to Spridlington in 1822. Two-thirds of the manor of Nortonunder- Cannock was purchased in 1760 by Richard Gildart, esq. of Liverpool; Mr. Gildart inherited this estate, but resided principally at West Wickham. He married Anne-Elizabeth, only daughter of Edward Hussey, esq. of Scotney castle, Kent; she died Nov. 12, 1817.

He was

April 24. In Clifton-street, Finsbury, aged 58, the Rev. John Evans, M.Á. Vicar of Scalford, Leicestershire, and for 24 years Head Master of the grammar. school at Steyning, Sussex,

April 28. At Wootton Court, near Canterbury, the seat of Lady Bridges, aged 41, the Rev. Charles Raikes Kinleside, M. A. Vicar of Poling, Sussex He was of Emmanuel college, Cambridge, B.A. 1822, M. A. 1825; and succeeded to the vicarage of Poling on the death of the Rev. William Kinleside in 1836.

At Frampton Cotterell, Gloucestershire, aged 82, the Rev. Henry Shute, for fifty-six years Perpetual Curate of Stapleton in that county, and for thirtyseven Rector of Frampton Cotterell, and one of the Chaplains of his Grace the Duke of Beaufort. He was of Oriel college, Oxford, M. A. 1782; was presented to Stapleton in 1785 by Sir J. Smyth, Bart. and to Frampton Cotterell by the Duke of Beaufort in 1804. The recent decease of this gentleman's wife and daughter will be seen recorded in our Magazine for Feb. p. 220.

April 29. Aged 63, the Rev. George Gould, Vicar of Fleet, Dorsetshire, to which he was instituted, on his own petition, in 1802. The Pedigree of Mr. Gould's Family is given in Hutchins's "Dorsetshire," 2d edit. II. 378.

May 1. At his residence in Twickenham Meadows, aged 85, the Rev. George Owen Cambridge, a Prebendary of Ely, and Rector of Elme, Cambridgeshire; formerly Archdeacon of Middlesex. He was the son of Richard Owen Cambridge, esq. well known in the literary world, and of whom a memoir will be found in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1802, p. 977.

The Archdeacon was a member of Merton college, Oxford, where he took the degree of M.A. in 1781. He was collated to the rectory of Elme (value 16417.) in 1793 by Dr. Yorke, then Bp. of Ely; by the same prelate to a prebendal stall at Ely in 1795; and became Archdeacon of Middlesex in 1806.

May 6. At Stillington vicarage, Yorkshire, aged 35, the Rev. R. Handasyde.

The Rev. Charles Bardin, D.D. Rector of Derryloran, co. Tyrone.

May 9. At Aigburth, the Rev. John Smith, M.A. Incumbent of St. James's, Toxteth Park, Liverpool.

He

May 10. Aged 38, the Rev. Henry Thomas Dyke, Vicar of Pelynt, Cornwall, and a magistrate for that county. was presented to Pelynt by J. W. Buller, esq. in 1829.

May 13. The Rev. George Messenger, Perpetual Curate of Barton St. David's, Somersetshire. He was presented to this church in 1831 by the Rev. H. Pepys, Prebendary of Barton David in the cathedral of Wells.

May 18. At Liverpool, aged 29, the Rev. John Dwerryhouse Prior, B.A., late Curate of West Houghton, Lanca

shire, and formerly of Queen's college, Cambridge, son of the late Mr. Richard Prior, of Liverpool.

May 21. In London, aged 68, the Rev. William Horne, M. A., of Gore Court, Kent, Rector of Otham in that county, which was in his own patronage. He was of Magdalen college, Oxford, M. A. 1796.

May 22. At Stow in the Wold, the Rev. John Allen, Vicar of Bladington, Gloucestershire. He was of Christ church, Oxford, M. A. 1717, and was presented to his living by the Dean and Chapter of that cathedral in 1799.

May 26. Aged 70, the Rev. Richard Bawden, Rector of Workleigh, Devonshire. He was of Exeter college, Oxford, M.A. 1795, and was instituted to Workleigh in the same year.

May 27. At his residence, Cartha Martha, Lezant, Cornwall, aged 66, the Rev. Thomas Meyrick, B.A., Rector of Covenham St. Mary's, Lincolnshire, to which church he was presented by Lord Chancellor Eldon in 1810.

May 28. At Burnchurch, co. Kilkenny, the Rev. Dr. Butler, brother to the late General Butler.

At Boston, in the United States, after a residence of twenty-five years in that country, the Rev. Thomas Aubery Grantham, M. A., second son of the late John Grantham, esq. of Croydon, Surrey. In 1816 he was appointed by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge in Foreign Parts, to be one of their ministers, and stationed at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

At Stony Stratford, Bucks, aged 72, the Rev. Charles Kipling, Vicar of that parish, and Rector of Coston, Leicestershire. He was of Wadham college, Oxford, B.C.L. 1809, and was presented to Coston by the Lord Chancellor.

May 29. At Lakesland Grove, Devon, aged 68, the Rev. Robert Savage, Rector of Harford in that county. He was of Pembroke college, Oxford, M.A. 1797; and was presented to his living in 1802.

May 31. In Queen-street, May-fair, aged 30, the Hon. and Rev. Thomas Manners Rous, late of Balliol college, Oxford, youngest brother of the Earl of Stradbroke.

June 2. At Kensington, aged 46, the Rev. William White, M. A., Vicar of Stradbroke, Suffolk, to which he was collated in 1823 by Dr. Sparke, then Bishop of Ely.

June 3. At Woolfardisworthy, Devon, aged 78, the Rev. John Hole, for fiftythree years Rector of that parish, (in his own patronage), and for many years an active magistrate for that county.

In Gloucester Place, New Road, the