Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Obiuary.
OBIUARY .
ON the 9 th of Julv , at'his seat near Beaconsfield , Bucks , in his 68 lh year , after a long and painful illness , which he bore with a pious fortitude truly worthy of his character , the Right Honourable Edmund Burke . His end was suited to the simple greatness of mind which he displayed through life ,
every way unaffected , without levity , without ostentation , full of natural grace and dignity . He appeared neither to wish nor to dread , but patiently and placidly to await the appointed hour of his dissolution . He had been listening to some Essays of Addison , in which he ever took delight ; he had
recommended himself in many affectionate messages to the remembrance of those absent friends whom he had never ceased to love ; he had con ' , ersed some time , with his accustomed force of thought and expression , on the awful situation of his country , for the -welfare of which his heart was interested to the last beat ; he had given , with steady composure ; some private direction in contemplation of
his approaching death ; when , as his attendants were conveying him to his bed , he sunk . down , and after a short struggle passed quietly , and without a groan , to eternal rest in that mercy , which , as he had just declared , he had long sought with unfeigned humiliation , and lo which he looked with a
trembling hope . Of his talents and acquirements in general it is unnecessary to speak : lhey were long the glory of his country , and the admiration of Europe ; they might have been ( had it so consisted with the inscrutable counsels of Divine Providence ) the salvation of both . If not ' the most
accomplished orator , yet the most eloquent man of his age ; perhaps second to none in any age : he had still more wisdom than eloquence . He diligently collected from the wise of all times ; but what he had so obtained he enriched from the vast treasury of his own observation ; and his intellect , active , vigorous , comprehensive , trained in the discipline of true philosophy , Jo whatever subject be applied it ,
penetrated at once through the surface into the essential forms of things . With a fancy singularly vivid , he , least of all men in his time , indulged in splendid theories . With more ample materials of every kind than any of his contemporaries , he was the least confident in his own skill to innovate .
A statesman of the most enlarged views , in all his policy he was strictly practical ; and in his practice he always regarded with holy reverence the institutions and manners derived from our ancestors . If seemed as if he had been endowed with such transcendent powers , and informed with such
extensive knowledge , only to bear the more striking testimony , in these days of rash presumption , how much the greatest mind is singly inferior to the accumulated efforts of innumerable minds m the long flow of centuries , Flis priva ' e conversation had the same tincture with his public eloquence . H e sometimes adorned and dignified it with philosophy ; but he never lost the charm of natural ease . There was
no subject so trivial which he did not transiently illuminate with the brilliancy of his imagination . In writing , in speaking , in the senate , or round the table , it was easy to trace the operations of the same genius . To the Protestant religion , as by law . established , he was attached from
sincere conviction ; nor was his a barren relief without influence on his moral conduct . He was rigid in the system of duties by which he regulated his owiF actions ; liberal in constructing those of all other men ; warm , but placable , resenting more the offences committed against those who were dear
to him , than against himself ; vehement and indignant only where he thought public justice insulted , or the public safety betrayed ; compassionate to private distress ; lenient even to suffering guilt . As a friend , he was perhaps too partial to those whom he esteemed
; over- rating every little merit , overlooking all their defects ; indefatigable in serving them , straining in their favour whatever influence he ?
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Obiuary.
OBIUARY .
ON the 9 th of Julv , at'his seat near Beaconsfield , Bucks , in his 68 lh year , after a long and painful illness , which he bore with a pious fortitude truly worthy of his character , the Right Honourable Edmund Burke . His end was suited to the simple greatness of mind which he displayed through life ,
every way unaffected , without levity , without ostentation , full of natural grace and dignity . He appeared neither to wish nor to dread , but patiently and placidly to await the appointed hour of his dissolution . He had been listening to some Essays of Addison , in which he ever took delight ; he had
recommended himself in many affectionate messages to the remembrance of those absent friends whom he had never ceased to love ; he had con ' , ersed some time , with his accustomed force of thought and expression , on the awful situation of his country , for the -welfare of which his heart was interested to the last beat ; he had given , with steady composure ; some private direction in contemplation of
his approaching death ; when , as his attendants were conveying him to his bed , he sunk . down , and after a short struggle passed quietly , and without a groan , to eternal rest in that mercy , which , as he had just declared , he had long sought with unfeigned humiliation , and lo which he looked with a
trembling hope . Of his talents and acquirements in general it is unnecessary to speak : lhey were long the glory of his country , and the admiration of Europe ; they might have been ( had it so consisted with the inscrutable counsels of Divine Providence ) the salvation of both . If not ' the most
accomplished orator , yet the most eloquent man of his age ; perhaps second to none in any age : he had still more wisdom than eloquence . He diligently collected from the wise of all times ; but what he had so obtained he enriched from the vast treasury of his own observation ; and his intellect , active , vigorous , comprehensive , trained in the discipline of true philosophy , Jo whatever subject be applied it ,
penetrated at once through the surface into the essential forms of things . With a fancy singularly vivid , he , least of all men in his time , indulged in splendid theories . With more ample materials of every kind than any of his contemporaries , he was the least confident in his own skill to innovate .
A statesman of the most enlarged views , in all his policy he was strictly practical ; and in his practice he always regarded with holy reverence the institutions and manners derived from our ancestors . If seemed as if he had been endowed with such transcendent powers , and informed with such
extensive knowledge , only to bear the more striking testimony , in these days of rash presumption , how much the greatest mind is singly inferior to the accumulated efforts of innumerable minds m the long flow of centuries , Flis priva ' e conversation had the same tincture with his public eloquence . H e sometimes adorned and dignified it with philosophy ; but he never lost the charm of natural ease . There was
no subject so trivial which he did not transiently illuminate with the brilliancy of his imagination . In writing , in speaking , in the senate , or round the table , it was easy to trace the operations of the same genius . To the Protestant religion , as by law . established , he was attached from
sincere conviction ; nor was his a barren relief without influence on his moral conduct . He was rigid in the system of duties by which he regulated his owiF actions ; liberal in constructing those of all other men ; warm , but placable , resenting more the offences committed against those who were dear
to him , than against himself ; vehement and indignant only where he thought public justice insulted , or the public safety betrayed ; compassionate to private distress ; lenient even to suffering guilt . As a friend , he was perhaps too partial to those whom he esteemed
; over- rating every little merit , overlooking all their defects ; indefatigable in serving them , straining in their favour whatever influence he ?