4. SIR. WILLIAM JONES. "If in that frame no deathless spirit dwell, Why is their memory sacred to the heart ?"-CAMPBELL SIR WILLIAM JONES, an eminent lawyer, and most accomplished scholar, was born in London, in the year 1746. He lost his father when he was only three years of age; and the care of his education devolved on his mother, a woman of uncommon mental endowments. He was not one of those happy geniuses (if such there are) who can make brilliant acquisitions without pains. It was, on the contrary, by the most sedulous industry, and the renunciation of the usual diversions of a schoolboy, joined with the natural gift of a very retentive memory, that he was enabled to lay in those ample stores of knowledge, by which he became so highly distinguished. After graduating at Oxford, he pursued his professional studies at the Temple, and was admitted to the bar in 1774. And in 1783, he received the appointof a judge of the Supreme Court of judicature at Fort William, in Bengal; and at the same time the honour of knighthood was conferred upon him. The field of action and inquiry which opened to him in India, was immense. He planned the institution of a society in Calcutta, similar to the Royal Society of London; and the labours and discoveries of this institution have been very interesting and eminently useful. For his extensive researches into the history, laws, literature, and religion of India, the world is greatly indebted to him, and from them the cause of Christianity has derived no inconsiderable aid. This learned and excellent man was, in the prime of his days, and when apparently in good health, seized with a disorder which, in about a week, put a period to his valuable life. His biographer, Lord Teignmouth, observes, that "the progress of the complaint was uncommonly rapid, and terminated fatally on the 27th of April, 1794." As religion was the subject of his meditations in health, it was more forcibly impressed upon his mind during illness. He knew the duty of resignation to the will of his Maker, and of dependence on the merits of a Redeemer. These sentiments are expressed in a short prayer, which he composed during his indisposition in 1784, and which is in the following words : "O thou Bestower of all good! if it please thee to continue my easy tasks in this life, grant me strength to perform them as a faithful servant; but if thy wisdom hath willed to end them by this thy visitation, admit me, not weighing my unworthiness, but through thy mercy declared in Christ, into thy heavenly mansions, that I may continually advance in happiness, by advancing in true knowledge and awful love of thee. Thy will be done!" 5. SIR PHILIP SIDNEY. SIR PHILIP SIDNEY was born in Kent, in the year 1554. He possessed shining talents, was well educated, and at the early age of twenty-one was sent by Queen Elizabeth as her ambassador to the emperor of Germany. He is described by the writers of that age, as the finest model of an accomplished gentleman that could be formed, even in imagination. An amiable disposition, elegant erudition, and polite conversation, rendered him the ornament and delight of the English court. Lord Brooke so highly valued his friendship, that he directed to be inserted as part of his epitaph, "Here lies Sir Philip Sidney's friend." His fame was so widely spread, that, if he had chosen it, he might have obtained the crown of Poland. But the glory of this Marcellus of the English nation, was of short duration. He was wounded at the battle of Zutphen, and carried to Arnheim, where, after languishing about three weeks, he died, in the thirty-second year of his age. This accomplished person, at the solemn period of approaching death, when a just estimate of things is formed, and when the mind looks round for support and consolation, perceived that the greatest worldly honours are only splendid vanities, and have but a momentary duration. At this period, he was so dissatisfied with his "Arcadia," a romantic work, ill agreeing with his present serious views of things, that it is said he desired it might never be published. After he had received the fatal wound, and was brought into a tent, he piously raised his eyes towards heaven, and acknowledged the hand of God in this event. He confessed himself to be a sinner, and returned thanks to God, that "he had not struck him with death at once, but gave him space to seek repentance and reconciliation." Compared with his present views of religion, his former virtues seemed to be nothing. When it was observed to him, that good men, in the time of great affliction, found comfort and support in the recollection of those parts of their lives in which they had glorified God, he humbly replied: "It is not so with me. I have no comfort that way. All things in my former life have been vain." On being asked whether he did not desire life, merely to have it in his power to glorify God, he answered: "1 have vowed my life unto God; and if he cut me off, and suffer me to live no longer, I shall glorify him, and give up myself to his service." The nearer death approached, the more his consolation and hopes increased. A short time before his dissolution, he lifted up his eyes and hands, and uttered these words: "I would not change my joy for the empire of the world." His advice and observations, on taking the last leave of his deeply-afflicted brother, are worthy of remembrance. They appear to have been expressed with great seriousness and composure. "Love my memory; cherish my friends. Their fidelity to me may assure you that they are honest. But, above all, govern your will and affections by the will and word of your Creator. In me, behold the end of the world, and all its vanities." 6. LORD TEIGNMOUTH. "Time is eternity; Pregnant with all eternity can give, Pregnant with all that makes archangels smile."-YOUNG. In LORD TEIGNMOUTH is well known as having occupied, during a period of thirty years, the distinguished post of president of the "British and Foreign Bible Society." Some of the early days of his more active life were spent in India, where he held several appointments under the East India Company with honour and success. 1775 he was constituted governor of the Supreme Council at Fort William. The post of governor-general of Bengal was afterward forced upon him-then Sir John Shore-by Mr. Pitt's ministry. He entered upon this high office in the spirit of a Christian, and preserved the same unostentatious simplicity by which he had been ever characterized. Here he received the honour of a peerage, and soon after returned to England, spending his time in the society of his well-chosen friends, Grant, Wilberforce, Henry Thornton, and others, whose names have long been eminent for piety and philanthropy. In. 1804, the Bible Society was formed, and Lord Teignmouth became its first president, a position which he retained till his death. To the duties of this situation he devoted himself with the most ardent zeal and untiring energy, entering into a large correspondence on its behalf, and long preparing its annual reports. During many years of his life he devoted three hours a day to purposes of devotion. His closing scene was beautifully descriptive of the power of those Christian principles under the influence of which he had lived, and in the consolations of which he departed. To his old and faithful servants he said, "It is my duty to be as thankful for my sufferings as for my other mercies." The Rev. Henry Blunt frequently visited him in his last illness, and furnishes some notes of his lordship's conversations: : "I am anxious,' said his lordship, 'to know whether you think I am right. I depend upon nothing in myself. I know I am a poor, helpless sinner, and I trust entirely to my gracious Saviour. I depend only on what he has done for me. My whole life has been a life of mercies; I am surrounded by mercies. Few have spent so happy a life as mine has been; but I am not grateful enough for it. I feel an increasing dulness and coldness in my prayers. I cannot pray as I could wish. But the Lord will not visit this upon me. Do you think he will? God is not a hard task-master; he has always been most merciful to me, and I ought to trust him now. What wonderful preservations I have received from Him, particularly in India!' "The last time I saw Lord Teignmouth, almost as soon as I had sat down, he said, 'Mr. Blunt, I will tell |