discontented; and his features so sharp, as to be almost repulsive. "His manner of preaching," continues Sir Jonah, "was of the French school: he was vehement for awhile, and then becoming, or affecting to become, exhausted, he held his handkerchief to his face: a dead silence ensued;-he had skill to perceive the precise moment to recommence.-Another blaze of declamation burst upon the congregation, and another fit of exhaustion was succeeded

by another pause. The men began to wonder at his eloquence; the women grew nervous at his denunciations. His tact rivalled his talent; and, at the conclusion of one of his finest sentences, a 'celestial exhaustion,' as I heard a lady call it, not unfrequently terminated his discourse-in general, abruptly." His charity sermons were so eminently effective, that, at a period of great national distress, the plates at the church doors, on some occasions, not only contained from one thousand to twelve hundred pounds in money, but the jewels and watches of many of his congregation. "I knew a gentleman myself," says Barrington, "who threw both his purse and watch into the plate." Mrs. Kirwan, in opposition to the writer last quoted, declares, that he was entirely free from vanity, though justly proud of his efforts; which, she adds, rendered him so popular as a pulpit orator, that, when he preached, it was necessary to keep off the crowd from the church doors by guards and palisadoes.

Of this extraordinary man, who received numerous complimentary addresses, and the freedom of many corporations, but no preferment beyond his deanery, Grattan thus spoke, in the Irish parliament, on the 19th of June, 1792:-" And what has the church to expect? What is the case of Dr. Kirwan? This man preferred our country and our religion, and brought to both, genius superior to what he found in either. He called forth the slumbering virtues of the human heart, and taught men to discover in themselves a latent mine of benevolence, of which the proprietors had been unconscious. In feeding the lamp of charity, he has almost exhausted the lamp of life. He came to interrupt the repose of the pulpit, and shakes one world with the thunder of the other. The preacher's desk becomes the throne of light. Round him a train attends,-not such as crouch and swagger at the levee of princes,-not such as form the procession of the viceroy,-horse, foot, and dragoons; but that wherewith a great genius peoples his own state:-charity in ecstasy, and vice in humiliation ;vanity, arrogance, and saucy, empty, pride,-appalled by the rebuke of the preacher, and cheated, for a moment, of their native improbity and insolence. What reward?-St. Nicholas Within, or St. Nicholas Without !-The curse of Swift is upon him:-to have been born an Irishman, and a man of genius, and to have used it for the good of his country."

Nottinghamshire, and that of Whitwell, in Derbyshire. In 1791, he was preferred to the deanery of Peterborough, and raised, on the death of Dr. Horne, to the bishopric of Norwich, when he resigned his minor benefices, and proceeded to the degree of D. D. In 1794, the deanery of Windsor was conferred upon him in commendam, and he took such signal advantage of the opportunity which this preferment afforded him, of winning the favour of

George the Third, that on the death of Dr. Moore, in 1805, notwithstanding the strong opposition of Pitt, who felt desirous of procuring for his tutor, Tomline, the vacant primacy, his majesty insisted that it should be conferred on the subject of our present notice.

Being decidedly hostile to the claims of the catholics, he opposed the motions brought forward in their favour in May, 1805; July, 1812; June, 1819; and June, 1828. Although, in 1823, he spoke and voted against the dissenters' marriage bill; yet, on some other occasions, they found in him one of their warmest advocates. In 1811, he supported the protestant dissenting ministers' bill; in 1824, the unitarian marriage relief bill, and subsequently voted, by proxy, for the repeal of the test and corporation acts. He officiated at the coronation of George the Fourth, and at the marriages of the Princess Charlotte, the Dukes of Clarence, Cumberland, Cambridge, Gloucester, and the Princess Elizabeth. In his hands, the revenue of the primacy was raised from twelve to twenty thousand pounds per annum. Previously to his elevation to the archiepiscopal see, he had become greatly embarrassed in his circumstances; but with so large an income, and the purchase-money of the palace at Croydon, which he was allowed, by act of parliament to sell, he soon became enabled to discharge the whole of his liabilities. At Addington park, which had been purchased for, and conferred upon him, by the legislature, he built an elegant mansion, and expended a considerable sum in beautifying the adjacent parish church. He made several important additions to the library at Lambeth, and printed a catalogue of its

contents, which he had caused to be properly classified by the Rev. Mr. Todd.

Although at the time of his death, which took place on the 21st of July, 1828, his personal property alone amounted to no less than £180,000, he had exerted his powerful interest at the very close of his life, to secure to his family, by act of parliament, the valuable nomination to the registry of the prerogative court. He married early in life, and left a son, speaker of the house of commons, and eight other children.

D'Israeli says of him, "He is a prelate, whose amiable demeanour, useful learning, and conciliatory habits of life, particularly recommend his episcopal character;" and one of his biographers describes him as having been a man of great learning, sound judgment, and much eloquence; tall and dignified in person, distinct and unaffected in his elocution; liberal in his expences, although temperate and abstemious in his habits; eminently charitable, diligent in the performance of his duties as a prelate, and exemplary in all the relations of private life. This estimate of his character appears, however, to be, in some respects, too laudatory. Neither his learning nor his eloquence much exceeded mediocrity; and he was certainly indebted for his rise in the church, to the accidental advantage of high birth, and the obstinate predilection of George the Third in his favour, rather than to his natural abilities or theological acquirements. His printed productions apparently consist of two single sermons, on public occasions, and a paper, relative to five species of the Orobanche, which appeared in the fourth Volume of the Transactions of the Linnæan Society.

His

classical acquirements, at this time, were far from extensive; but natural abilities, and unremitting application, soon raised him to a par with his collegiate cotemporaries; and, in 1802, he gained the university prize for a copy of Latin hexameters. In the spring of 1803, he wrote his celebrated poem of Palestine; for which, in that

year, he also obtained a prize. It is related, that, on ascending the rostrum to recite this beautiful composition, perceiving two ladies, of Jewish extraction, among his auditory, he determined on altering some lines, in which he had reflected severely on their race; but that not having an opportunity to communicate his intention to the prompter, the latter checked him, on his attempting to deliver the passage in the manner he wished; and he was, consequently, obliged to pronounce it as it had been originally written. The applause with which he was greeted, on this occasion, is reported to have produced a serious effect on his venerable father, who, it is stated, may almost be said to have died with joy, shortly after witnessing his son's triumph. On retiring from the theatre, Heber escaped from the congratulations of his friends, to thank the Almighty in solitude; "not so much for his talents," says Mrs. Heber, "as that those talents had enabled him to give unmixed happiness to his parents."

He now applied himself to the study of mathematics, and the higher classics; and his diligence was rewarded with extraordinary success. In 1805, he took the degree of B. A., and soon afterwards gained a third university prize, for an Essay on the Sense of Honour. After having been elected a fellow of All Souls, he quitted Oxford, and proceeded on a tour through Germany, Russia, and the Crimea; during which, he made several excellent notes, which were afterwards appended to the Travels of Dr. Clarke.

On his return to England, in 1808, he proceeded M. A.; and, shortly afterwards, published a political poem, entitled, Europe:-Lines on the present War. He now retired, with his wife, a daughter of Dr. Shipley, Dean of St. Asaph, to the living of Hodnet, to which he had recently been presented; and, for some time, wholly devoted himself to the humble but important duties of his station. In 1815, he preached, at the Bampton lecture, a series of sermons, which he published in the following year, On the Personality and Office of the Christian Comforter. About the same time, he composed several articles for a Dictionary of the Bible; and printed a discourse,

which he had delivered before the Bishop of Chester. In 1820, his life was endangered by a malignant fever with which he had been infected, by fearlessly visiting some of his sick parishioners. In 1822, he was appointed preacher at Lincoln's inn; and produced a life of Jeremy Taylor, prefixed

to a new edition of that eminent writer's productions. Soon afterwards, he was offered the bishopric of Calcutta; which, after twice refusing, he, at length, on the suggestion of his wife, consented to accept; and embarked for the East Indies, in June, 1823. In the preceding April, he had preached an affecting farewell sermon to his parishioners; who, on his departure from Hodnet, had presented him with a piece of plate, as a memorial of their gratitude and esteem.

During his voyage, he occupied himself in studying Hindostanee and Persian; feeling satisfied, as he expressed himself, that, if he did not know them both, in a year or two, at least as well as he knew French and German, that the fault would be in his capacity, and not in his diligence. On the 10th of October, he landed at Calcutta, and immediately exerted himself, with great anxiety, to compose some clerical differences that had arisen in the diocese. No sooner was this great object effected, than he commenced a series of laborious progresses through his extensive bishopric; during which, he consecrated several churches, and signalized himself, by his pious endeavours to diffuse Christianity among the Hindoos. His last visitation was to the presidency of Madras. At Trinchinopoly, on the 3rd of April, 1826, after having greatly fatigued himself in the discharge of his episcopal duties, he retired to his chamber, and imprudently plunged into a cold bath; at the bottom of which, he was found, quite dead, about half an hour afterwards, by one of his servants. His remains were interred at St. John's church, Trinchinopoly ; and a subscription was opened, soon after his death, for the erection of a monument to his memory, at Madras.

In person, he was tall, and rather thin; his hair was dark, his countenance pale, the expression of his features intellectual, and his deportment dignified. He appears to have had

no enemies; whoever mentions his name, more or less eulogizes his character. He possessed great talents, considerable eloquence, and a most amiable disposition. Though anxious to exert himself in the diffusion of Christian knowledge, he sought not to extend the sphere of his influence,

either by adulation or intrigue. He embarked in no controversy, shared in no dispute, but lived in perfect charity with all men. Peace and good-will attended him wheresoever he went : he was enthusiastically admired during his pious career, and generally lamented at its close.

was

THIS eminent prelate, the son of a schoolmaster, was born in or about the year 1785, at Bury St. Edmund's, in Suffolk, and acquired the rudiments of learning under the tuition of his father. In 1803, or 1804, he sent to Trinity college, Cambridge, where, in 1805, he obtained the prize medal, for the best Latin ode after the manner of Horace. In the following year, a second medal was awarded to him for the best Greek ode, in the style of Sappho; and, about the same time, he obtained the high distinction of being elected first Craven university scholar. On taking his degree of B. A. in 1808, he gained the third honour in the mathematical tripos; and was, soon after, declared first chancellor's medallist. In the following year he gained the second member's prize; and, in a short time, became a fellow of his college. He proceeded to the degree of M. A. in 1811; to that of B. D. in 1818; and to that of D. D. in 1823. After having greatly distinguished himself as an author and a divine, and officiated, for some time, as archdeacon of Colchester, he was raised, in 1824, to the see of Chester; from which his translation to that of London took place, on the elevation of Dr. Howley to the primacy, in 1828.

Dr. Blomfield ranks deservedly high as a classical critic: in 1814, he published the Persæ of Eschylus, with emendations, &c.; in 1815, a valuable edition of Callimachus; in 1817, the Septem contra Thebas, and, in 1818, the Agamemnon, of Eschylus, each with notes and a glossary. He has also printed A Visitation Sermon on the Responsibleness of the Senatorial Office; A Discourse on the peculiar

Claims the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge has upon the Liberality of Churchmen; An Anniversary Sermon preached before the Stewards of the Sons of the Clergy, on the 23d of May, 1822; A Charge to the Clergy of Colchester, delivered on his primary visitation to the archdeaconry; A Charge to the Clergy in the diocese of Chester; An Answer to Charles Butler's work in favour of the Catholics; A Sermon preached in 1827, for the benefit of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge; Twelve Lectures on the Acts of the Apostles, with Five others on the Gospel of St. John; A Reply to a Correspondent of the John Bull Newspaper, by whom his character had been impeached; and A Letter on the present Neglect of the Lord's Day, addressed to the Inhabitants of London and Westminster.

As a preacher and a parliamentary orator, Dr. Blomfield is dignified and impressive; his acquirements are extensive, and his abilities solid, but not brilliant. He has constantly opposed concession, either to dissenters or catholics. In doctrinal points he is strictly orthodox, although more evangelical, perhaps, than most of his right reverend cotemporaries. The desire which he has constantly evinced, since his elevation to the episcopal bench, to enforce a strict observance of their parochial duties by his clergy, has rendered him somewhat unpopular as a diocesan; while, in his letter on the neglect of the Lord's day, he is accused of having passed by the shops which administer to the indulgence of the wealthy, and directed his indignation against the markets which supply the necessities of the poor.