The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-01-10 00:00:00

DEATH OF THE BISHOP OF LONDON,

The death of the Right Rev. John Jackson, D.D.,
Bishop of London, took place somewhat suddenly on
Tuesday morning at his residence, the Palace, Fulham.
The cause of death was heart disease. For some
mouths it has been evident that the venerable prelate's
strrngth has been gradually giving way. During the
last session of Parliament it was noticed by those
frequenting the House of Lords that whenever he
occupied his seat he was supporting his head with his
hand, and his weakness was so well-known and
recognised in the Upper House of Convocation
that for the last two sessions a reclining chair
has been proviiied for his use. In October his
lordship paid a visit to Gloucestershire, which
seemed to do him a great deal of good; and
since his return to London he has been
remarkably free from indisposition. On Sunday he
rose at his usual hour, and after breakfast proceeded
to the parish church, Fulham, to take part in the
morning service. On his way to church he was sud-
denly seized with an acute pain in the region of the
heart, and for a few minutes was unable to go on.
The spasm quickly passed away, however, and the
right rev, prelate had so completely recovered ere the
service was over that he adhered to his original inten-
tion and administered the Holy Sacrament. At
luncheon his appetite was in its usual condition. He
rested during the greater part of the afternoon, and
when he left Fulham in the evening to attend the
service at St. Paul's Cathedral, at which he was to
preach, he exhibited no signs of the attack
of the morning. On his return home he par-
took of supper at the accustomed hour, and
retired to rest shortly after ten o'clock. Nothing
more was heard of him until about twenty
minutes past four on Monday morning, when the
bishop's valet was aroused by the ringing of the bell
communicating with his room from that of his lord-
ship. The servant, on proceeding to his master's bed-
room, found that the venerable divine had risen from
bed and was seated in an armchair in his dressing-,
gown. He complained of great pain in his left side
and chest, and seemed to be suffering intense agony.
A mounted niesset;ger was at once sent for Dr. Sibley,
and pending th 6 arrival of the medical attendant,
Miss Jackson, who had been aroused, directed that
poultices should be applied. These remedies appeared
to give considerable relief, and when Dr. Sibley arrived
at Fulham at seven o'clock, he found his patient
much easier. Dr. Sibley expressed his entire approval
of the treatment which had been adopted, and after
remaining at the Palace about an hour
returned to town, having said there was no
immediate cause for apprehension, but the
symptoms were such as to give rise to serious anxiety.
At half-past four on Tuesday morning Miss Jackson
found her father to all appearances sleeping quietly
and calmly. About an hour later Miss Jackson
noticed that, although her father's face was un-
altered, he did not seem to be breathing. Placing
her hand on his heart, she found that the pulsation
had almost ceased. She at once summoned assist-
ance, restoratives were applied, and Mr. Woodhouse,
a medical practitioner residing a few hundred yards
from the palace, was sent for, Dr. Woodhouse
arrived at twenty minutes to EV.,X, but life was then
extinct. Dr. Sibley arrived at the palace at eight
o'clock, as arranged on the previous day, a
telegram announcing the death of his patient
having reached Harley-street after his departure.
Out of respect to the memory of the late
Bishop the bells of the West-end churches were
tolled, and the flag at Lambeth Palace, the London
residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, was at
half-mast. The news was made known at St. Paul's
Cathedral at nine o'clock on Tuesday morning, and
at the morning service the Dead March in " Saul "
was played upon the organ by Dr. Stainer, and again
at the: afternoon service. The great bell of St. Paul's
was tolled from eleven o'clock until twelve, and the
melancholy tidings soon became known throughout
the City. Preaching in the afternoon in the
cathedral, Prebendary Lees commenced his sermon
by saying that it would be unseemly to enter the
cathedral pulpit and make no reference to the
awfully sudden loss which had fallen upon that
church and diocese, and of which all of them must
have heard but a few hours before. The lamented
death of the Bishop of London created a void that
must be felt by everyone, but it was especially touch-
ing to them there, as he stood so recently in that
place, and was the last
.preacher to stand there.
Occurring also as it diet on the festival of the
Epiphany, it served to remind them more forcibly
than anything else of the reality and solemnity
of those truths which the season proclaimed,
and which to him had indeed been a season
of manifestation. An allusion was also made
to the bishop's death at Westminster Abbey.
R John Jacksor D.D the

The Right ,ev. ack. in, was _le son
of Mr. Henry Jackson, merchant, of London, and
was born on Feb. 11, 1811, so that he had nearly
completed his 74th year. He was educated at a
school at Islington, and subsequently at Reading
Grammar School under Dr. Yolpy and at Pembroke
College, Oxford,. where he graduated B.A. (First
class Lit. Hum.) In 1833. He was Ellerton Theolo-
gical Prize Essayist in 1834. He was ordained priest
in 1836 by the Bishop of Oxford, Dr. Law; was from
1836 to 1846, headmaster of the Proprietary
School, Islington, and was during part of that
time incumbent of St. James's, Muswell-hill ; was
appointed rector of St. James's, Piccadilly, in 1846,
and chaplain to the Queen in 1847. In 1852 he
was appointed canon residentiaq of Bristol, and in
the following year Bishop of Lincoln, which office he
held till his translation to the see of London on the
death of Archbishop Longley, and the succession of
Bishop Tait to the Primacy in 1869. He was several
times a select preacher before the University of Oxford
in 1845, 1850, 1862, and 1866; Boyle Lecturer in
1853; was dean of her Majesty's Chapel Royal, pro-
vincial dean of Canterbury, and a member of her
Majesty's Most Hon. Privy Council; and was like-
wise ah official trustee of the British Museum, and
official Governor of King's College.. Amongst the
works published by his lordship may be men-
tioned: "The Leading Points of the Christian
Character ;" "Sanctifying Grace and the Grace
of the Ministry," 1847; "The Day of Prayer
and the Day of Thanksgiving" (two sermons preached
on those days), 1849; "The Sinfulness of Little
Sins," J 849; "Rome and her Claims" (a sermon),
1850; "The Spirit of the World and the Spirit which
is God," 1850; " Repentance : Its Necessity, Nature,
and Aids" (a course of Lent Sermons), 1851; "An
Address to the Newly-confirmed Preparing for the
Holy Communion," 1852 ; " Sunday, a Day of Rest or a
Day of Work" (a few words to working men), 1853;
"War, its Evils and Duties" (a sermon), 1854; "The
Witness of the Spirit" (sermons preached before the
University of Oxford), 1854; "God's Word and Man's
Heart" (sermons preached before the University of
Oxford), &c. His lordship was also a contributor
to the "Speaker's Commentary," and other
works. His lordship also delivered his charge on Lis
visitation at St. Paul's during November last. The
See thus rendered vacant is one of the most important,
the patronage vested therein comprising no less than
two archdeaconries (London and Middlesex), one.
canonry, the chancellorship, precentorship, the 30
prebendal stalls in St. Paul's Cathedral, and over 160
livings. Dr. Jackson married, in 1838, Mary Ann,
daughter of Mr. Henry Browell, and had a family of
eleven sons and daughters, of whom nine survive.
Mrs. Jackson died in 1874. The Bishop's family have
taken, like himself, a warm interest in works of prac-
tical benevolence, and as one example it may be men-
tioned that the handsome cabmen's shelter in St.
James's-square was erected through the exertions of
Miss Jackson.