A memoir of the Rev. Legh Richmond ...

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CLASS

BOOK VOL

Chapter I

Birth of Legli Richmond — his ancestry ; education ; and incidents of early years — Promise of talent — Completion of his education at school.

The Rev. Legh Richmond was descended from an ancestry highly respectable on the side of both his parents, each of whom was related to some of the principal families in the counties of Lancaster and Chester. He was the son of Henry Richmond Esq., M. D., who practised as a physician, first at Liverpool, and afterward at Bath, where he resided for several years previously to his death, which occurred at Stockport, in Cheshire, in the year 1806 ; of which place his father, the Rev. Legh Richmond, had been rector.

Dr. Henry Richmond, was the fifth in lineal male descent from Oliver Richmond Esq., of Ashton Keynes, in the county of Wilts, on which estate his ancestors had resided from the time of the Conquest.

The mother of Mr. Richmond, was the daughter of John Atherton Esq., of Walton Hall, near Liverpool, and by the maternal side first cousin to Dr. Henry Richmond. "

As some additional particulars of the family appear w the progress of this work, recorded by his own pen, any farther statement in this place is superfluous.

Mr. Richmond was born at Liverpool, on January 29th? 1772. It was his privilege to have a most estimable mother, endued with a superior understanding, which had been cultivated and improved by an excellent education and subsequent reading. In addition to her natural talents and acquirements, she was piously disposed.

This affectionate and conscientious parent anxiously instructed him, from his infancy, in the Holy Scriptures, and in the principles of true religion, according to the best of her ability; a debt, which was subsequently well repaid by her son, who became the happy and honoured instrument of imparting to his beloved mother clearer and more enlarged views of divine truth than were generally prevalent during the last generation. It seems highly probable that the seeds of piety were then sown, which in a future period, and under circumstances of a providential nature, were destined to produce a rich and abundant harvest.*

It was in the period of his childhood, that the accident occurred which occasioned the lameness to which he was subject during the remainder of his life. In leaping over a Avail, he fell with violence to the ground, and injured the left leg, so as to contract its growth, and afterward to impair its use. It is a remarkable coincidence, that somewhat of a similar occurrence befel one of his own sons, and was attended with precisely the same effects. It was in

* " Could we v/ithout sacrilege enter the sanctuary of a mother'* bosom, we might whisper a taie that would account for the distino-uished usefulness with which God has condescended to favour some of the best of men. Many a godly mother can say — I have had peculiar solicitudes respecting this child. Even before its birth, I dedicated it to the Lord ; and then engaged that it should be unreservedly devoted to his glory. And when the little immortal was committed to my arms, with many prayers and tears did I renew my engagements, till it was strongly impressed on my mind, that God had heard my cry 'and accepted my offering. — Springes Life of S. Y. Mills. A. E.

consequence of this accident, that Mr. Richmond received the rudiments of his early education under the sole tuition of his father, who was an excellent classical scholar, and well acquainted with literature in general.

In addition to his proficiency in classical and other elementary studies, he made considerable progress, during this period, in the science of music ; a predilection for which, he retained to the end of his life.

The activity of his mind soon began to develope itself Some specimens of the productions of his early years have been preserved, by the partiality of his friends ; and as youthful talent generally delights to assume a poetical form, his first eflTorts were devoted to the Muses.

The following parody on " Hamlet's Soliloquy" is one of the earliest of his juvenile compositions. It was written when he was only eleven years of age The occasion of its production was the general habit which then prevailed of wearing hair powder.

" To be, or not to be in powder? — This is the question : — Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to bear The plagues and torments of a powdered head, Or to take arms a.^ainst a round of fashions, And by opposing, end them ? — To pomatum — to daub — No more ; — and, by a daub, to say.

We end the bickerings and chattering?

Of a trifling world : — 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished for. — To powder — to pomatum — Perchance to spoil my hair : — aye, there's the rub ; For in that woiful ruin of my hair What dreadful consequences may ensue ! Yet, who can bear the whips and scorns of fashion I I'd spend my days beneath a barber's hands,- And breathe within a shower of falling powder ; But that the dread of something greater still — The certain ruin of my auburn hair.

Puzzles the will, and racks the tortured brain — Oh, dreadful thought ! It sinks the rising courage, And of my pride the current turns away. Powder — pomatum — barbers — all, adieu !"

J MEMOIRS OF THE

Lines written about the same period :

" Before the €»arth and sea to man were given, Or stars were spotted o'er the crystal heaven ; The face of Nature was throu«^hout the same — A rugged heap, and Chaos was its name ; Nor any thing, but piled up heaps were the. e, And earth and sea were mixed with fire and air : No radiant sun by day afforded light, Nor wani.'g Phoebe shone in midst of night; Nor the earth self-poised in fluid air was placed, Or sea, with circling arms, the earth embraced,"

The next specimen of versification, was written at the ac[e of twelve.

ON THE MORNING.

*' Behold, the earth is clad in sober gray, And twinkling stars foretell the approach of day. The hare runs timid o'er the bladed grass, And early shepherds on the meadows pass. In splendid majesty the morning star Welcomes Aurora, in her rosy car.

The lark, the early herald of the morn, Whose tender sides soft gentle plumes adorn, Flies from her nest above all human sight. And to the skies sublime she bends her flight. Her pleasing notes the ambient hills repeat. And day o'er half the world resumes its seat ; Th*^ splendent sun's ethereal light appears. And Nature wipes away her dewy tears.—"

The following lines in imitation of Pope, may be considered as no unsuccessful illustration of the poet's rule :

' 'Tis not enough, no harshness gives offence, The sound should seem an echo to the sense,' —

*♦ The line should soften when the bleat of sheep, And gentle zephyrs sooth to placid sleep ; When din of rattling thunderbolts is heard, The roughest words to softer are preferred. When purling rivulets translucent glide, The liquid letters then should form a tide.

REV. LEGH RICHMONJ). O

Within a labyrinth, the line seems vext,

But when the rou§;her storms fierce rag^e on high,

And heave the angry billows to the sky ;

When rattling rain comes hissing down in showers,

And to the whirlpool in a torrent pours ;

The line should rage, and every letter move,

As if great Jove was storming from above."

In the year 1784, when Mr. Richmond was twelve years of age, he was placed under the care of Mr. Breach, of Reading, for the purpose of obtaining further assistance on account of his lameness, as well as to pursue the course of his education.

Mr. Richmond was subsequently removed to Blandford, in Dorsetshire, under the care and tuition of the Rev. Mr. Jones, vicar of Loders and curate of Blandford ; and having made a very creditable proficiency in his studies, and completed his education at school, he was finally sent, in the year 1789, being then seventeen years of age, to the university of Cambridge.

fi MExMOIRS OF THE

Chapter II

Comprising the period from his entrance at the University y. till his marriage and acceptance of the curacy of Brading in the Isle of Wight,

Mr. Richsiond was entered at Trinity College^ Cambridge, in the month of August 1789. The following particulars have been communicated in a letter from the Reverend A. J. Crespin, vicar of Renhold, Bedfordshire, a cotemporary of his in the University, and with whom he formed an intimate friendship, which continued to the period of his death.

'<I perfectly well remember, that our dear departed friend came to Cambridge for admission about Midsunmfier, in the year 1789. I was just one year his senior. It was then the custom at Trinity College, that one of the under graduates should take the candidate for admission to the dean, and to one or two others, and then to the master, for examination It fell to my lot to perform this office for Legh Richmond, and thus our friendship commenced. He came into residence, according to the usual plan, in the following October ; we were both among the candidates for foundation scholarships, and after a public examination of two or three days, we were happy on finding our names among the successful candidates ; and as we afterward dined every day at the same table, the bands of our friendship were drawn still closer. * *

" I can with perfect truth affirm, that during the undergraduateship of Mr. Richmond, he applied himself closely to his studies, and was considered and acknowledged by all. to be a young man of great abilities and correct conduct/'

A letter from the Rev. William Tate, Chaplain of the Dock-yard, Portsmouth, and tutor of the Naval Academy, contains a further and more detailed account of Mr. Richmond's residence at college.

** Mr. Richmond and myself were of the same year at Cambridge, and had the same college tutor, the late Rev. Thomas Jones. We were not, however, in the same lecture room till within a year of our going out A. B. ; hence, our intimacy did not commence till about the beginning of 1793. Mr. Richmond came to college with a high character for his proficiency, both in classics and mathematics. In fact, I often heard him spoken of as hkely to be one of the third or fourth highest wranglers. At the annual college examination in May, he was each year in the first class, and consequently was a prize-man I do not recollect that he ever was a candidate for a University prize ; indeed I think that although he was an extremely good classic, he did not consider himself sufficiently practised in writing Greek or Latin verse, to venture a competition in this respect with the distinguished men from the great public schools

" That he had a great fondness for social life is not to be wondered at, as he was so well informed on most subjects, and had such a fluency of language that conversation with him never flagged, and his company was generally acceptable. He visited at the Lodge, Dr. Postlethwaith being then master, and was noticed by some of the senior fellows, in consequence, I presume, of their having been friends of his father. Dr. Richmond, who had himself been a fellow of the college, and whose name stands m the Tripos as having been the tenth senior optime, in January 1764.

*« Mr. Richmond's great recreation was music, in which I suppose you are aware he was eminently skilled. He always had a piano-forte in his room, and played on the organ also. To any tune he could, as he played, make an extempore thorough bass. His musical talents gave rise to a great intimacy and friendship with the late Dr. Hague, the professor of music, and also with Dr. Jowett, then tutor of Trinity Hall, who used to have frequent musical parties at his apartments, at which I believe Mr. Richmond was generally present. He was at all times attentive to the studies of the University, and preserved, throughout, the character of a reading man. Mr. Copley (now the Lord Chancellor) had apartments directly under those of Mr, Richmond, and as they were both reading hard, they commonly, for some months before taking the degree of A. B. had coffee together after midnight. He went through the public exercises of the schools, preparatory to his degree, with great credit and he was accordingly placed by the moderator in the first class. He did not however, go into the senate-house to stand the final examination, owing to ill health.

Mr. Richmond for some years was collecting materials for a great work, which he intended to publish, on the theory as well as history of music. After taking his dcr gree, he applied himself with great ardour to his favourite study, and took much pains to provide materials for his intended musical publication, which he hoped might be ready for the press in the course of two or three years. I have frequently sat with him, while, for hours together, he was making experiments with his musical plates, of which he had a great number made, some of glass and some of copper, of all the common regular forms ; as circles, ellipses, squares, rhombuses, pentagons, &.c. These he screwed down at a particular point, so as to be perfectly horizontal ; and then, having sprinkled fine sand over the surface, the bow of a fiddle w^as drawn across the edge, so as to bring out a musical note ; and, by the vibration thus caused, the sand was shaken from the vibrating parts, and became collected in one line or more, formed by the quiescent points. It seems very remarkable, that whenever that particular note which was the fundamental of any plate was sounded by it, the sand invariably took the form of a cross, having its centre in the centre of the plate. All other notes which could be sounded by the same plate, diverged from the fundamental note, according to a certain scale ; and every one caused the sand to take a different form. Sometimes it seemed to take the figure of two opposite hyperbolas ; but in whatever form it rested, the figures on the different sides of a straight hue, drawn through the centre of the plate> were exactly the counterparts of each other. The lines formed by the quiescent points, in the vibration of such plates, were calculated by Euler, as may be seen by the Transactions of the Imperial Society of Petersburgh (^Acta PetropoUtana ;) but the results are little satisfactory, being commonly expressed in hyperbolic forms, and not assuming a tangible shape.

" About this time Mr, Richmond was member of a small club, formed by six or eight Trinity men, for the discussion of phih)sophical subjects They met once a week, at each other's rooms ; and, to prevent expense in giving suppers, nothing more was to be provided than red-herrings, bread, cheese, and beer. .Hence they called this society the " Red-herring Club." The respectability of the members appears from this circumstance, that nearly every one obtained a fellowship. Mr. Richmond took a leading part at this time in another small society, which was named *' The Harmonic Society." The members were musical amateurs, who, in turn, gave a concert every fortnight, at which, with the help of two or three hired musicians, they performed pieces out of Handel and other celebrated composers, together with catches, glees &c. In 1796 was published, by Mr. Dixon, a townsman of Cambridge, and one of the members of the Harmonic Society, a collection of glees and rounds, for three, four, and five voices, composed by the members of that society. In this publication, out of seventeen pieces, seven were contributed by Mr. Richmond.

"In 1796, Mr. Richmond began seriously to think of taking orders, and of marrying on a curacy. In that situation, he intended conscientiously to do his duty, though he had not the deep sense he afterward entertained of the vast importance and responsibility of the charge he was about to undertake."

The important period to which Mr. Tate alludes was now arrived, when it became necessary that he should no lonfi^er delay his choice of a profession, — that choice, which exercises so powerful an influence over all the events and circumstances of future life, and in which our usefulness and moral responsibility are so deeply involved.

It was the wish and intention of Mr. Richmond's father that he should embrace the profession of the law, with the view of being called to the bar ; but after taking his degree, the predominant views of his mind are thus expressed in the following letter : —

'^ Cambridge, Feb. IStk, 1794.

« My dear Father,

'' It has long been my wish to write to you on the subject which has occupied so much of my attention of late ; and on w^hich, during the solemn interval of my confinement, I had more frequent opportunities of meditating than on any former occasion. I hope and trust that I have thought more seriously on this subject, and have pursued a more regular train of sound reasoning and self-examination on account of my illness, than if 1 had enjoyed an uninterrupted series of good health. The time is now arrived when, after having passed through the regular forms of an academic education, it is expected that a young.man should select his profession ; and on the foundation (which he either has, or ought to have laid in the university) of sound learning and good morals, should begin to raise a superstructure of such materials as may render him an ornament to his profession and a satisfaction to his friends.

" I should here feel myself guilty of much ingratitude, or at least of much unpardonable neglect, if I did not, at this period of my life, return you my most sincere and unfeigned thanks for the repeated testimonies of aflection and generosity, which I have experienced for upwards of twoand-twenty years at your hands : more especially do I feel myself indebted to you, during the last four years, for placing me in a situation in which I have enjoyed numberless happy hours ; have formed friendships and connexions, v/hich are a source of honest pride and satisfaction ; and have had an opportunity (which I hope I have not entirely thrown away) of making great proficiency in such studies and acquirements, as must and will be the chief basis of my future usefulness and happiness. If such be the obligations which I owe to your kindness, what must be my insensibility to every tie of affection, and to every principle of honourable feeling, were I deficient in my expressions of gratitude to the benevolent author of so many blessings. No, sir, I am neither ungrateful nor insensible It has not been my custom, hitherto, to make long professions, nor to enter into a detail of my internal feehngs ; and, perhaps, owing to a deficiency of this kind, I may have suffered in your opinion, on some particular occasions, more than I deserved. It now appears, therefore, to be the more advisable to unfold myself at large, observing, at the same time, that the cliief faults and errors of which I hitherto have been, and of which I am still, I fear, too susceptible, have not arisen from any source of moral depravity, or innate viciousness ; but from an evil, which I see much too prevalent among young men, and from the contagion of which I have not been entirely able to escape ; I mean, the want of resolution to resist temptation, when it is opposed to their better convictions. A very moderate acquaintance with the younger part at least, of mankind, will convince any observer, that a certain degree of irresolution is by no means inconsistent with many better qualities, and often has its origin rather in the influence of external example, than in any real viciousness of the heart. But I can truly say that I am very desirous of becoming such as your most sanguine washes could expect, and I look up to a superior Power for assistance not to violate these my resolutions.

" It appears to me, that in reviewing the respective merits of the different professions, and in determining upon one of them, a very intimate self-examination is requisite, previous to the formation of any fixed resolution. It has been my endeavour for five months past to pursue this difiicult undertaking ; and I hope I have not failed in the attempt. The church and the law are the two subjects to which I have directed my attention. I have consulted my own inclinations, abilities, deficiencies, merits, and demerits, and examined them in as many points of view as I have been able, in order to determine which of those professions was the best calculated to promote my own, and the welfare of others. My present determination is in favour of the former, principally from the following considerations. The sacred profession is in itself without doubt the most respectable and the most useful in which any man of principle and education can possibly be engaged. The benefits which it is the province of the clergyman to bestow on his fellow creatures are more widely disseminated, and are in themselves more intrinsically valuable, than those of every other profession or employment united together. To a conscientious mind, therefore, that line of life appears to be the most eligible, in which he may be enabled to do the most solid good to mankind.

'* One very strong argument with myself for prefening the church to the law is, that I have found, firom four years' experience, a strong inclination to study several branches of literature, which are far more connected with the church than with the law, as neither their nature nor the time requisite to be bestowed upon them would allow the lawyer to exercise himself in them. What these are shall be the subject of future information to you. At present, my desire of becoming a very good general scholar is so much stronger than that of becoming an extremely good particular one, that I am convinced I could not throw aside the hopes of pursuing my favourite views in that way, and dedicating myself solely to one, and that perhaps not the most inviting, without the utmost regret.

" Your aflTectionate son,

In these views, the father of Mr. Richmond ultimately expressed his acquiescence, though his own wishes inclined him to recommend the choice of the bar ; and thus was the profession of the church determined upon, for which he afterwards proved to be so singularly quahfied, and where his influence and services were so widely felt and acknowledged.

He continued to reside at Cambridge till the end of the Midsummer term, in 1797, pursuing those studies which were more immediately connected with his future destination.

The following letter, the last that he wrote from college to his father, expresses his sentiments more fully on the subject of the ministry, and his preparation for those duties, on which he was now on the eve of entering. It is dated June 30th, 1797 :—

'• My dear Father,

"I take this opportunity of returning you my most hearty and sincere thanks for all your kindness to me during my stay at Cambridge, for the last (nearly) eight years. I look back on the time which I have there spent, with a considerable mixture of pain and pleasure. That I have done things which I ought not to have done, and neglected to do things which I ought to have done, is most true : yet have I added very considerably to my stock of literary information — have gained the good-will and approbation of many respectable and good men — have made acquaintances and friends of several literary and worthv characters — have enabled myself, I trust, by the improvement of my abilities, such as they are, hereafter to maintain myself. I have also had an opportunity of contemplating men, manners and morals to a very extensive degree ; and finally, in an age of much infidelity, and surrounded by many, whose principles savoured strongly of irreligion, I have built up a fabric of confidence in, and love for, that holy religion of which I am now a professor. To this I ultimately look as my future guide through life, and hope it will enable me to bear with fortitude those evils, which may be .in store for me ; for who can expect exemption ? In return for these advantages, I have only to offer you my gratitude- and my affection ; and let what will hereafter become of me^ laear in mind that it is not in the power of any thing human to lessen, either the one or the other. I am now preparing to undertake what I cannot hut consider as a most serious and weighty charge — the sole responsibility, as resident clergyman, of two parishes. So far as information is required, I hope I have not laboured in vain ; so far as good resolution is concerned, I trust, I am not deficient : as regards my success and future conduct in this important calling, I pray God's assistance to enable me to do my duty^ and to become a worthy member of the Established Church ; a church founded on the purest and most exalted principles of unsophisticated Christianity, as delivered by its divine author himself, and confirmed and explained by his inspired successors. The character of a fashionable parson is my aversion ; that of an ignorant or careless one, I see with pity and contempt ; that of a dissipated one with shame ; and that of an unbelieving one with horror. I am very busy preparing sermons for my future flock. It requires much practice to write with fluency and ease. Believe me to be, with every sentiment of regard and affection,

" Your son,

L. RiCIOIOiND."

« To Dr. Richmond, Grecian Coffee House, London.^''

Mr. Richmond was ordained deacon in the month of June, 1797, and proceeded to the degree of M. A., the begining of July, in the same year. On the 22d of the same month, he was married to Mary, only daughter of James William Chambers, Esq., of the city of Bath ; immediately after w^hich, he proceeded to the Isle of Wight, and entered upon the curacies of the adjoining parishes of Brading and Yaverland, on the 24th of July. He was ordained priest in February, 1798.

CH\PTER III.

His entrance on his professional duties — RemarJcable change in his views and conduct, and the incident that occasioned it — Reflections on the foregoing event.

Mr. Richmond appears to have entered on the ministry with the desire and aim of discharging its important duties in a conscientious and consistent manner ; and manifested such propriety of conduct in his moral deportment, and in the general duties of his new charge, as to procure for him the character of a highly respectable and useful young clergyman. After he had resided at Bradi'ig about two years, a most imf)ortant revolution took place in his views and sentiments, which produced a striking and prominent change in the manner and matter of his preaching, as well as in the general tenor and conduct of his life. The change referred to, was not a conversion from immorality to morality ; for he was strictly moral in the usual acceptation of the term Neither was it a conversion from heterodoxy to orthodoxy ; but it was a conversion from orthodoxy, in name and profession, to orthodoxy, in its spirit, tendency, and influence. But before we indulge in any further remarks it is necessary to record the occurrence to which we have alluded. About two years after he had entered on his curacies, one of his college friends was on the eve of taking holy orders, to whom a near relative had sent Mr. Wilberforce's "Practical Christianity." This thoughtless candidate for the momentous charge of the Christian ministry, forwarded the book to Mr. Richmond, requesting him to o^ive it a perusal, and to inform him what he must say respecting its contents In compliance with this request, he Ijegan to read the book, and found himself »o deeply interested in its contents, that the volume was not laid down before the perusal of it was completed The night w^as spent in readinsr, and reflecting upon the important truths contained in this valuable and impressive work.

In the course of his employment, the soul of the reader was penetrated to its inmost recesses ; and the effect produced by the book of God, in innumerable instances, was in this case accomplished by means of a human composition. From that period his mind received a powerful impulse, and was no longer ahle to rest under its former impressions. A change was effected in his views of divine truth, as derided as it was influential. He was no longer satisfied with the creed of the speculatist — he felt a conviction of his own state as a guilty and condemned sinner,^ and under that conviction, he sought mercy at the cross of the Saviour. There arose in his mind a solemn consciousness that, however outwardly moral and apparently irreproachable his conduct might aj>|)ear to men ; yet within, there was wanting that entire surrender of the heart, that ascendency of God m the soul, and that devotedness of life and conduct, winch distinguishes morality from holiness — an assent to divine truth, from its cordial reception into the heart ; and the externa! profession of religion, from its inward and translorming power. The impressions awakened were theiefore followed by a transfer of his lime, his talent^^ and his affections^ to the service of his God and Saviour, and to the spiritual welfare of the flock committed to his care. But while his mind was undergoing this inward process, it is necessary to state how laborious he was in his search aOer truth The Bible became the frequent and earnest subject of his examination, prayer and meditation. His object was fontes hanrire sacros-^io exphne truth at its fountain head or, in tl e emphatic language of Scripture, to '* draw water out of the wells of salvation " — Isa. xii 3. From the study of the Bible, he proceeded to a minute examination of the writings of the Reformers, which, by a singular coincidence, came into his possession shortly after this [)eriod ; and having from these various sources acquired increasing certainty as to the correctness of his recent convictions, and stability in holding them, he found what the sincere, and conscientious inquirer will always find, the I'ruth ; and his heart being interested, he learnt truth through the heart, and believed it, because he felt it.