life was occasionally endangered, to general popularity; secret calumnies were whispered by those that dared not avow openly their enmity; but he lived down even these, and long before he left Battle was in peace with his neighbours, who, to their as well as promised that he would not renew it. The explanation of his brother was, "You must know that myself and several others, hearing that you were to preach to morrow were determined that you should not; or, at least, if you did, that we should have the gratification of seeing the parson with a pair of black eyes." One of the leaders of the opposition to Mr. Vidler, at Battle, was a shoemaker, of the name of Hayward, who in his language and profession was extremely irreligious. He had a ready wit, on which he prided himself and by which he had obtained an ascendancy over the rabble. The Methodists and their young minister served him for a never failing joke. Hay ward had carried his self-conceit into his business, and had issued an advertisement to all those who had suffered from ignorant pretenders to the "craft," that his boots and shoes and his only would "infallibly fit." Soon after this advertisement had been issued, on the day of the annual fair at Battle, he was standing at his shop door, surrounded by loose persons gaping for an opportunity to laugh, when to his great joy he espied Mr. Vidler coming down the street, on the opposite side of the way. The occasion was not to be resisted: his looks and attitudes prepared the by-standers for some very smart jest. On Mr. Vidler's arriving nearly opposite his deor, he stept gently across the street and pulling off his hat and making a profound bow, in a very audible and solemn voice he thus accosted him, "Good morning to you, Parson Brick-dust! I hope your reverence is well this morning, most Reverend Sir!" Having thus delivered himself, he retired a few paces, put his hat upon his head, and folding his arms waited triumphantly for a reply. He bad not long to wait. Mr. Vidler, perceiving how highly the people relished the joke, uncovered his head with great gravity, returned a still lower obeisance than he had received, and with great stateliness of manner replied, "Good morning to you, Mr. Hayward, Infallible Boot and Shoemaker: I hope I have the pleasure of seeing your excellency well this morning, most Infallible Sir!" This unexpected retort, in which the fool was answered according to his folly, disconcerted the scoffer, raised the laugh against himself, and fixed on him nickname of Mr. Infallible. own credit, rightly estimated his superior character. In such disadvantageous circumstances did Mr. Vidler form those habits of thinking and that manner of preaching which raised him to just distinction in the several bodies of Christians with whom he was successively connected. His serinons were studied for years in the midst of hard labour; his reading was chiefly by stealth. When he went out to work at a distance from home, he carried books amongst his tools that he might be provided with food for his mind in This the short intervals from work allotted to meals; and sometimes that he might escape observation he hired a labourer at two-pence a day to carry his books to and fro. He continued this course of regular labour and desultory study until a painful accident rendered him totally incapable of supplying the wants of a growing family by manual industry. event made him dependant for sup port upon his congregation, who though they were settled in a regular place of worship and increasing in numbers, did not feel themselves at first capable of giving him as a salary more than the scanty pittance of £17 per annum. The stipend was raised from time to time, as his wants or the more liberal offers of other congregations, particularly one from Ports mouth, in 1784, pointed out the necessity of augmentation, until it reached the sum of £50 per annum; when, as appears from his Diary, he was reproached, by the world at least, with oppressing his people and making a gain of godliness. His own reflections upon this occasion will best explain his condition and character: "If ever I sought ease or plenty by preaching the gospel, I have been sadly disappointed, for I have and do generally preach six times in a week, except when I administer the Lord's supper, which may be reckoned equal to preaching once: besides which, I often walk twenty and sometimes thirty miles a week, backward and forward, the places where preach being distant from each other. "The people of the world charge me with greatly oppressing the members of my church in temporal things, but I bless God, I am clear from one single instance of this, choosing ather to suffer need myself, than to oppress any, and have really suffered need and do so even to this day, in such a manner as but very few of my people do. And if any of my people have appeared to me to subscribe more to my support than their circumstances would well bear, I have desired my deacons to tell them to lessen their bounty. My God! Thou knowest I have not sought their's but them. "The world charges me with amassing a great deal of money which I privately put out to use, while I appear poor to hide my covetousness. But so far from this, I have never yet been able to keep myself quite level with the world, which at times has been a great trouble to me, as I earnestly wish to owe no man any thing but love. "I am charged also with taking advantage of the religious zeal of my people in the ordinance of baptisin, so that after I have persuaded them that baptism is a duty, I make them pay me half a guinea or a guinea as they can afford it for being baptized. But, first, I never yet persuaded any person to be baptized, but I have baptized many, every one of whoin has requested me to do it, professing themselves to be scripturally convinced that it was their duty. 2dly, Of all those whom I have ever baptized, I never did receive the value of one penny for administering that ordinance to them, though I have several times refused presents which have been offered me on those occasions.” Worldly-mindedness was indeed so far from being the habit of Mr. Vidler's mind that he was careless of his own interests. He had few personal expences and he recommended frugality to his household; but he was confiding, generous and hospitable: we cannot wonder therefore that he was straitened in circumstances even with his enlarged income. He thus writes under date of 1787: "Upon a review of my temporal circumstances, I find them much deranged. During the last three years, I have had something above £50 per annum, and during the whole time I have had five in family, and for the last ten months six. I find it imposside to support my family with this income, and I think it impossible for my people to make any proper addition to it. "What is to be done concerning my temporal affairs? Am I not, O God! in that place and doing that work, both of which thou hast appointed for me? I dare appeal to thee that I am. Thou knowest that I have had the prospect of more honour inthe world and better temporal provision than I could ever hope for at Battle, if I would leave my people; and thou knowest also that nothing but a persuasion that I was in the path of duty, by stopping at Battle, has prevented my going elsewhere. Now, Lord, I have sacrificed my temporal interest to my duty, to thee, and permit me to ask with the deepest reverence, wilt thou permit me to suffer for so doing? Thy word tells me thou wilt not, and my faith tells me thou wilt not. Do, I beseecla thee, give me bread to eat and raiment to put on without going in debt for it. "As an encouragement to my faith." I will call to mind some of thy kind providences towards me. "1st. In general, thy dealing with me at Battle has been wonderful, for by increasing the number of my peɑ...› ple and blessing them in their circum stances, they have been able to raise my stipend from £17 to £50: and though upon trial this does not appearto be so much as I need, yet it is more than could ever have been expected at Battle. "2nd. In particular when I was once indebted to my butcher and baker fifteen pounds, and knew not how to pay it, thou Lord! that knew-" est what I had need of, didst send fae just fifteen pounds to pay it with, though I had told no mortal of my case. Now I am sure that thy hand was in this, for it was just the sum L needed, and came just in the time I needed it, and the person who was the chief instrument in doing it knew very little about me." On We have made these extracts from Mr. Vidler's diary partly to let him paint his own situation at the time they were written, and partly to shew how deeply his religious feelings mixed with all his reflections. the review of them in the latter period of his life, he must have smiled at the familiarity which he once allowed himself to indulge with Divine Providence, and at the simplicity withwhich he interpreted seasonable supplies of his wants, and happy turns in his affairs, as special interpositions of heaven. To make his income equal to his wants, he entered soon after the date of these memoranda into business, opening a shop at Battle for drugs, bookselling and stationery. This business he carried on until he removed to London; though it is doubted whether it were not upon the whole a loss rather than a profit. He was not inattentive to trade, but early education had not given him the habits of a shopkeeper, and he was not sufficiently sensible of the value of money to be on the alert to seize small profits, either in buying or in selling; besides that his mind was diverted from the pursuit of gain by his religious inquiries and studies, and that his growing popularity in his denomination frequently called him from home. In the villages around Battle, where he commenced his public labours, he continued to preach, and many persons in them were attracted by this means to the congregation at Battle, which was considered as the motherchurch. Some of these villages are still preaching stations for the Unitarian minister at Battle; the individuals who compose the small congregations which assemble in them having undergone the same changes of opinion as the original congregation. Mr. Vidler extended his village-preaching, in 1788, to Northiam, at the invitation of Mr. Samuel Luff, whose yard was the first place of worship which he occupied in this town. His visits were repeated every other week, and were so successful that a dissenting church was formed which continues to the present time, its religious history being much the same as that of the other congregations connected with the parent society at Battle. Mr. Vidler now saw himself raised by the blessing of Providence upon his labours to be the head of a large body of closely-united, affectionate and zealous Christians. Between him and his flock there was a warm and growing attachment. They were mostly, in a religious sense, his children; they looked up to him with respect and confidence, and he watched over their spiritual prosperity with parental assiduity and tenderness. His house was ever open to his friends whom he received with Christ ian hospitality; and whatever might be his secret uneasiness or apprehension with regard to his worldly affairs, the smile of cheerfulness was always seen in his habitation. His domestic circle was enlarged and enlivened by his "taking to his own home" his wife's mother who was left by her husband in a totally destitute condition. The old lady was considered as one of the family and treated by the head of it with respectful and filial affection: if she were sad, he would direct his conversation to her, nor cease till he had raised her spirits; and if she expressed her apprehensions of being burdensome, he would dispel the unpleasant thought by relating and magnifying her services and by pointing out the various ways in which God had made her a blessing to the house. She was removed with the family to London and closed her eyes under Mr. Vidler's roof, after having been a part of his household for more than twenty years. Until the year 1791, the congregation at Battle had met in the place of worship which they occupied on their being first gathered together; but it had been for some time found to be too small for the increasing number of hearers and to be otherwise incommodious. In that year, therefore, they took into consideration the propriety of erecting a meeting-house more adequate to their wants and prospects. Their own pecuniary resources were small, but their hopes were large. It was the custom in their denomination, the Calvinistic Baptists, that poor churches should, in such cases, draw upon the li berality of the more wealthy. No reason appeared why they should not adopt a measure which had been sanctioned by general usage and had in cases less promising than their own been crowned with success. They confided in the zeal of their pastor, and reckoned that if he should go forth soliciting the aid of their brethren, his character and talents would procure him ready access to the principal pulpits in the connection, and his able discourses and popular manner of preaching would win the hearts of individuals and bespeak a hearty welcome to their fire-sides, where they knew by experience that his conversation, judicious, instructive, various, cheerful and good humoured, would be effectual to the utmost of of their wishes. Thus calculating, they resolved upon the proposed measure, and Mr. Vidler agreed to travel as their representative and solicitor to the churches. [To be continued.] Memoir of Ellis Bent, Esq. M. A. ELLIS BENT, Esq. M. A. died on Friday the 10th of November, 1815, at his house at Sydney, Judge Advocate of the Colony of New South Wales, which office he had filled for Dearly six years. The character of this justly lamented magistrate, who was removed from life at the early period of thirty-two years of age, by a disorder occasioned probably by the intenseness of his application to the arduous duties of his profession, was a character of no common interest, and which seems to have been formed by a combination of circumstances peculiar to himself. Distinguished during the course of the preparatory studies for his profession by unremitted attention, and the consequent attainment of literary eminence, and at the same time by a temper rather pensive and abstracted; he had not been called to the bar four years, when he was appointed to a situation, which, to such a mind as his, must have been, probably, the most interesting in which he could have been placed. The great principle which appears to have occupied his mind and to have animated his exertions, was the contemplation of an intellectual and moral process in which he himself was actively concerned, in the completion of which all the best interests of the human race were ultimately involved. Mr. Jadge Advocate Bent has left behind him a widow and five small children, one born since his death.' His father, Robert Bent, Esq. his mother, three sisters and his brother, Jefferey Bent, Esq. Judge of the Court of Equity, who attended his funeral as chief mourner, survive to lament his loss. As in domestic and social life he discharged every duty of the relation and the friend with a glow of affection which kindled a return of affection; so in public life he discharged the duties of his elevated and important situation with that up rightness of principle, and with that justice tempered with mercy, which rendered him the object of universal respect. The report of the committee of the House of Commons on the state of the colony of New South Wales; their approbation of the arrangements TOL. XII. which he suggested as necessary to be adopted in the legal department, and brother to the office of Judge in the the consequent appointment of his newly instituted Court of Equity, are which was formed of his ability and standing testimonials of the opinion integrity; and the grief which was the account which is given in the occasioned by his death, appears by Sydney Gazette of his funeral, which officers civil and military, and indeed was attended by the governor, the by the general population of the place. The following is extracted from a Ser- AS King David' said of Abner, so I had almost said irreparable. The decease of a personage so exalted and' so honourable, we ought most af fectionately to remember and most piously improve.. He who lately dwelt among us, distinguished by rank and learning, revered for pr dence and moderation, beloved and esteemed for sweetness of disposition, amiableness of manners and uprightness of conduct, he is gone! He is gone! no more to return! and the place which knew him here, shall know him no more! For the loss of such a one it behoves us to take up a lamentation and to mourn, because on a similar occasion, even "Jesus wept." He alas! who but a little, while ago was in the prime and vigour of his days, and in the ample enjoyment of health and wealth, and whatever earth could afford to make him happy and respected, is now the prisoner of the grave! The days of his youth are shortened, his life is cut off in the midst! and oh! how many purposes are broken! how many cheering hopes are blasted! how many delightful prospects have vanished like the morning cloud! What a melancholy change from yonder elegant mansion and pleasant apartments, to the house of darkness and the chambers of silence! from the soul-reviving converse of a kind brother, an affectionate wife and four lovely childrento say to corruption thou art my father, and to the worm thou art my mother and my sister! In circumstances like these, tears so far from being an unmanly weakness, exhibit one of the most amiable parts of our nature; they are the very essence of commiseration, and when seasonably poured forth, may revive the drooping spirit of the little helpless orphan, and cause even the widow's heart to dance for joy. And this leads me briefly to observe, that our much esteemed and lamented friend did not fail to leave behind him a testimony in favour of the Christian religion. He was indeed no fanatic or enthusiast, but I hope he was a sober and rational and thinking believer in the Son of God. And in deed he assured me, that from his early days, at different periods and on many occasions, he had been accustomed to think very seriously about an eternal world and the doctrines of the Bible, which he believed were perfectly correct, unspeakably excellent, and inviolably true. On the Holy Scriptures he would invariably speak with the utmost reverence and esteem. In them he discovered such transcendant excellency and great goodness-such sublimity of sentiment and elegance of style, such godly love, truth, and faithfulness-such angelic purity and heavenly piety, as constrained him with seriousness and affection to join the devout Psalmist, and say, "Thy testimonies, O Lord, are wonderful! I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes." Yea his chief delight (for the time before mentioned) seemed to be the law of the Lord, for in that law, especially in the psalms, the gospels and the epistles, "he did meditate day and night." And the day before his death he assured ine that not from any composition of man, or from any one text or passage in the Bible, but from devoutly meditating upon the various portions of God's word, which he had read and heard, were his knowledge of salvation and the hope of a blessed acceptance through Jesus Christ derived. Prayer he considered as the most direct, effectual, and rational means of obtaining the blessing of the Lord: he would often therefore in fervency of spirit utter the most devout ejaculations. He also read prayers and prayed without a form. Piety, clarity, and resignation, were strikingly visible in his close. Such was the end of that great, honourable, and worthy man. I have said nothing of his domestic and private virtues. As a husband, a parent, a brother and a friend, ye all know the excellency of his example. Let us see that none of us come short in these things. O may we by faith and prayer follow those who now inherit the promises. Over the tomb of Lazarus Jesus wept; like him we also may weep; but, my brethren, we cannot like Jesus raise the dead, and restore our departed friend to his disconsolate family-his mourning brother-widow and fatherless children. Yet, if permitted, and we feel so disposed, can we not shew kindness to the living, and erect a monument of praise to the memory of him who is among us no more? "Blessed of the Lord is he who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead." Such was the conduct of our blessed Lord. He wept over the deceased and comforted the surviving; and as he is not one who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, when on the removal of those who were most dear to our souls, our heart is overwhelmed within us, let us, with Martha and Mary, tell all our grief to him who is a friend that loveth at all times, and sticketh closer than a brother, a husband, or a son, so shall we receive from him everlasting consolation. For he hath said, come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” |