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MEMORIALS

OF THE LATE

REV. RICHARD WATSON:

INCLUDING

THE FUNERAL SERMON,

PREACHED IN THE CITY-ROAD CHAPEL, LONDON,

ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 1833;

AN

ENLARGED ACCOUNT OF HIS CHARACTER AND DEATH;

66

AND

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

BY JABEZ BUNTING.

"PRAIS'D, WEPTt, and honoureD BY the friends HE LOV'D!"

HEU! QUANTÒ MINUS EST CUM RELIQUIS VERSARI, QUAM TUI MEMINISSE,"

LONDON:

PUBLISHED BY JOHN MASON, 14, CITY-ROAD,
AND 66, PATERNOSTER-ROW;

SOLD ALSO BY KAYE, LIVERPOOL; EVERETT, MANCHESTER,

AND

CULLINGWORTH AND SPINK, LEEDS.

1833.

PRICE 2s.

Br 6323.25.85

HARVARD

COLLEGE

Sine 3.1429
LIBRARY

Clapp fund

T. KAYE, PRINTER, CASTLE-STREET, LIVERPOOL.

To JAMES WOOD, Esq., OF GROVE-HOUSE,

MANCHESTER.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

THE last act of the distinguished man whose death has occasioned the following pages, in the last interview with him which I had the privilege of enjoying, was to place in my hands a letter addressed to you. And the last sentence I ever heard him utter was in reference to the subject of that letter, and expressed the pleasure which he anticipated in becoming once more your visitor and inmate, should he be spared to attend the next Wesleyan Conference in Manchester.

This incident, though chiefly interesting to myself alone, has suggested the thought, that I might not improperly use it as an apology for respectfully inscribing to you this humble memorial of departed worth and genius. I gladly take the opportunity of testifying the high value which I place upon your long-tried and faithful friendship, and the affectionate esteem with which, during an uninterrupted intimacy of nearly forty years, I have never ceased to regard your general character, and your christian virtues.

The circle of our earthly friendships is rapidly contracting, by the continual removal to "a better country, that is, an heavenly," of those who were once its lights and ornaments, and with whom we have profitably and delightfully held communion. The loss of so many, who are gone home to God, cannot but make us feel that our surviving friends, and especially those who were loved in early life, are now additionally dear and valuable. May it also have the effect of stimulating us to increasing piety and devotedness in the work and cause of CHRIST; So that, when we too shall be withdrawn from all the cares and all the pleasures of this lower world, we may, through his infinite mercy and merits, be found ready for the society of the Blessed, and for the everlasting vision and fruition of GOD!

Excuse the liberty which I have taken with your name, in venturing thus to prefix it to the present publication; and believe me to be always, with the greatest respect and love, and with the best wishes for and for all that are yours,

you,

Your obliged and faithful friend,

JABEZ BUNTING.

Liverpool, April 10, 1833.

A SERMON, &c.

"VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, IF A MAN KEEP MY SAYING, HE SHALL NEVER SEE DEATH"-John viii, 51.

I MAY perhaps be allowed to state to you, my Christian friends, with all sincerity, that, in reference to the solemn service assigned to me this morning, I shall greatly need your prayers, and your utmost candour and indulgence. The letters which at once summoned me to this duty, and announced the mournful event which has called for it, overtook me in the course of a long journey, in a very distant part of the kingdom; from which, without returning home, I have hastened by the nearest route to this metropolis, that I might follow to their last earthly abode the mortal remains of my dear and honoured friend. That special and deliberate preparation which ought, under other circumstances, to have preceded an engagement like the present, has been, in my case, quite impracticable. The request, however, of MR. WATSON'S family, and of the Wesleyan Missionary Sub-Committee, connected with what my own heart told me were the imperative claims of an old and cherished friendship, has prevailed against all feelings of reluctance, whether arising from the sense of my utter inadequacy to do justice at any time to the subject and the occasion, or from the peculiar disadvantages under which I now appear before you.

B

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