The National Register. — London, England, 1813-08-22 00:00:00

34ff )11 E 0 141, NATto BIOVIZ-41 1 41C,11. AND CRITICAL, - OF THE REVEREND HUGH WORTHINGTON, ft • LATE MINISTER OF SACTEItS! HALL MEETING. For the godly inirsi ceaseth: for the fail fu! fail from among the chil dren of 1 3 b Atm s 1';!. 1. ord rfic , rn the fitt.e eef the: ; hit, can ye not discern the Signs o f i M TII LW 'l6. S. • f rf Salters' 1-Tall will long have to regret the loss of its late Rigor. lie had earnestirsolfete . d . the best gifts"; and was so eminently endwed, as alninst 10 preclude his bereaved con gretatiertf:from the In,pe ornding any one speedily qua- Tif f e44, like him, tir animate their devotions,, eddy their understandings,- re( t4y tf!eir consciences, and regulate their fieinirtinent. - • pt caching penetrated their hearts, so kis evimple thek lives. He has now ascended; howpver, tai tis hither, and their Father; to his God, and their God ! His ga'n is, never theless, to - their • guild man, and Mil!hta in the Scriptures, this man was in se.ructed in Melva,/ of the Lord; and, being fervent in the spirit,. he spake and trinkrht diligently the things of the Lord. But .affairs will resume their common course. Either the stated healers at Salters' hall will in time become from neces sitv reconciled to the privation und , ir which they at present mourn ; or another generation _of our species rising up, stiangeis to the worth of their late pastor, will be satisfied with the ministry fan individual of inferior latent. Such, indecd, is the paucity of ability within the religious circle to who h the subject of this memoir more particularly belonged, that some years will in all human'•probability elapse, perhaps an arc, before they can expect_to Meet with the minister who shall in 211 respects he qualified to fill the' station which he occupied among them. HUGH WoRTHINGTON, of whom it is easier to lament the lo , s than to dew , the the woi th, was born on June the 21st, in the veal 175 i, old style. His father, after whom be was named, w,s firty years Minister of the Presbyterian Congregation at Leicester, where he died ; his remains being deposited in the Meeting-House ground, aud a grave-stone elected, with a suitable inscription to his memory. During his life-time there appeared one volume of - his Sermons ; and another volame, with an account of his life, drawn up by his son, had been some time in the press, and was nearly ready for publication, when the latter was suddenly removed to the house appointed for 'all living, to that place where there is ' , either work nor device. Having imbibed the rudiments of education from his father, for whom he invariably entertained the .most affec tionate respect, and discovering an cat ly disposition to piety, Hugh Worthington, at the age of sixteen, was• sent from home to the Academy at Daventry, in Northumberland, then under the superintendatice of the Rev. Dr. Caleb Ashworth. Here his lite: - ary progress was so quick, and so satisfact , ry to all, that, before he was of age, •he became an As,is:ant to Ins able and excellent tutor. Repaiiing to London, for the purpose of 'visiting some ftiviii;s, about this period, the Rev. Hugh Worthington incidentary preached at Salters' Hall Meeting, of which the Rev. Spi:sbury was then pastor. This accidental intro ducTiou led to his permanent acceptance here. Some time in the year 1775, and when scat cely twenty-three years old, he w i ,s invited to be Alternate Preacher with the Ilev. Mr. Spilsbury ; and upon his death, which took place in 1781, . . - . ~~ • the Rev. Hugh successor. _ . AUGUST gt 'orthington was unanimously chosen a. his The eloquence of this eminent preacher soon excil e d interest in the religious world. It was neve to hearers, be. cause it was his own. He affected no man's manner; pur. loined no man's thoughts ; assumed no man's style: . He disdaimA to s'rut in borrowed plumes.. Mr. Worthington's services were not altogether confined to Salters' Hall. During the space of ten years, at least, his valued labours were extended to Ilanover-street Meeting, Long Acre, in conjunction with the Rev. Dr. Winter, and the Rev. Dr. Philips. . In 1786, Mr. Wouthington accepted the office of Classical Tutor to the Old College at Hackney, which was opened in September that year; but he relinquished this enzagernent before the expiration of the ensuing year. He was heuein academically associated with Drs.Price, Kippis, and Rees; of whom the latter alone has survived him. His constitution was not originally strong. Many years anterior to the approach of that illness .which indicated the close of life, he felt frequently hu t ill capable of sustaining the physical fatigue that was induced by his pulpit exertions, in which the ardour of his spirit prompted him to efforts far beyond what his bodily strength was calculated to sup - port. Salters' Hall.tberefore, latterly, engrossed his talents. He preached there, however, only or, the afternoon of the sab bath ; excepting on the first Sunday in each month, when, conformably with bis designation, he officiated during the entire day. Feeling his health much on the decline, he, at length, adopted an advised excursion to Worthing, in the hope of re-invigorating his strength ; but he found the heat of sum mer, even here, not less injurious than the cold had proved to him during tht winter. Cold pinched his frame, and heat oppressed him, still he was enabled outwardly to bear up; so that he attended the public worship of God, for which he was a strenuous advocate to the last, the very day previous to his decease. Ile delighted in the services of the sanctuary, with an exceeding joy. The writer of this me moir still distinctly remembers the .unusual energy with which he thanked the Divine Being, during one of his prayers, some few years since, that our Sabbaths had not been exchanged for Decades ! Intending; to have resigned his pastoral charge, at the end of the fortieth year during which he had held it, he was me ditating what to deliver by way of Farewel to his Congre gation, whom he loved at heart, on the evening that pre ceded the morning of his dissolution. Heaven designed otherwise ! He whose thoughts are not as our thoughts, and whose ways are not ac our ways, could then.see that his work was done. Monday, July the 26th, therefore, he closed his life, after short but fervent prayer; and rested from his la hours ! He literally • fell asleep,' and was thus gathered to his fathers,' having eminently served his generation.' •• Character of Mr. Worthington, in conclusion ; c o n. nected with some nbservafions upon the Bev. Dr. Lindsey's Funeral Sermon for him, preached at Salters' Hall, on Sun day afternoon, the Bth instant. An awful visitation, in the case of a sudden death, occurred en Tuesday, in the church of Bodmin. On the anival of the Jude,ut' Sic V. Gibbs and Mr. Baron Graham, to hear Divine Service. the Clergy man. the Rev Dr. Pomeroy, was nut in his place. The Captain of the Javelinmen was therefore dispatched for him, and he arrived atter the Judges had been about I'2 minutes waiting for him. The Chaplain of the Sheriff helped him on with his gown ; he went into thet desk, and opened the book, but be had scarcely turned over two or three leaves, when he fell down and suddcnly expued. He was about sixty-four years of age.