effect in abating the pain, but at the same time his weakness kept increasing, whilst his appetite at length so totally failed him, that a little wine was the only sustenance he could be prevailed upon to take. Under these circumstances it was evident that the powers of life could not long be maintained: he soon after sank into an apparent insensibility, that continued to the last. In this state, to the surprise of his medical attendants, he continued for some days; his pulsation strong and regular, and his breathings free. Early, however, on the morning of the 21st of April it was discovered that his pulse had ceased to beat, and that his last breath was expired, though the actual termination of his life was so gentle, that it was not perceived.

The last act of his life, while a state of perfect consciousness remained, was an attempt to express himself in prayer; but the power of articulation was gone: nevertheless he was observed for some time after, with his hands folded upon his breast, to be ab

sorbed in fervent devotion; thus dying, as he had lived, with a mind directed towards God and another world*.

It would be unjust to close this account without subjoining the faithful and animated portrait of Mr. Walker, drawn by his friend the late Gilbert Wakefield; who, in characterizing the various individuals that had presided over the Warrington institution at different times, passes the following eulogium upon his talents and his virtues :

"The last whom I shall mention of this lau"dable fraternity, but not the least in love,

*He died at the house of his friend and former pupil, Henry Smith, Esq. M. P., whose kind attentions during the whole of his illness caused the absence of his relatives to be on no other account regretted by them, than as they were deprived of the soothing consolation of administering in person the same friendly and affectionate offices.

Mr. Walker had three children, two of whom survive him one married to Sir George Cayley, Bart. of Brompton House, near Scarborough: the other resides with his mother at Wavertree near Liverpool: the third died in its infancy..

"is the Rev. George Walker, dissenting mi"nister at Nottingham, a fellow of the Royal

66

Society. This gentleman, take him for all "in all, possesses the greatest variety of "knowledge with the most masculine un"derstanding of any man I ever knew. He "is in particular a mathematician of singular accomplishment. His treatise on the "Sphere long since published, and one upon "the Conic Sections, are the vouchers of my "assertions. His two volumes of Sermons are pregnant with the celestial fire of genius, and the vigour of noble sentiments. "His Appeal to the People of England upon "the Subject of the Test Laws would not "be much honoured by my testimony in "it's favour as the best pamphlet published

6

on that occasion; were not this judg"ment coincident with the decision of the "honourable Charles James. Fox, who has “declared to a friend of mine the same opi"nion of it's excellence.

"But these qualifications, great and esti

"mable as they are, constitute but a mean

cr

portion of his praise. Art thou looking, "reader! like Æsop in the fable, for a man? "Dost thou want an intrepid spirit in the "cause of truth, liberty, and virtue—an un"deviating rectitude of action-a bound"less hospitality-a mind, infinitely supe"rior to every sensation of malice and re"sentment a breast, susceptible of the

truest friendship, and overflowing with "the milk of human kindness—an ardour, "an enthusiasm, in laudable pursuits, cha"racteristic of magnanimity-an unwearied

assiduity, even to his own hinderance, in "public services? My experience can as"sure thee, that thy pursuit may cease, thy "doubts be banished, and thy hope be "realized: for this is the man.

"Who will now stay to compute the deduction, which must be made from this sum of excellence, for sallies of passion devoid of all malignity, and often excited "by a keen indignation against vice; and

"for

"for vehemence and pertinacity of disputa"tion? I have made the computation, and "it amounts to an infinitesimal of the lowest " order."

The following quotation also from the Rev. James Tayler's sermon published on the occasion of Mr. Walker's death, will prove acceptable to the reader, as accurately descriptive of his character:

"In the moral portraiture of your de❝ ceased pastor, the most striking features to me appear to have been disinterested be"nevolence and genuine simplicity of manners. To every sordid, selfish feeling, to every mean artifice and subterfuge, I be"lieve him to have been an utter stranger.

"The benevolence of his heart was dis"played not only in the zeal, with which he "engaged in, and promoted, every grand 66 measure, calculated to advance the present "comfort and the future welfare of his fel"low-creatures, but also, in the overflowing "of good will, which, upon ordinary oc<< casions,