March 13th, 1817. Sir William had then fully completed his 100th year; and the title was generally supposed to be extinct: but a respectable gentleman of Bamffshire, where his ancestors had considerable possessions, lately laid claim to this title; and presented such an uniform and authentic series of documents, that a jury, of which the Right Hon. James Earl of Fife was chancellor, to adopt the language of the Scottish law, "unanimously served him heir to the title."

No. XLV.

RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH, Esq.

OF EDGEWORTH TOWN, IN IRELAND.

THIS gentleman greatly distinguished himself as a man of letters, and was fortunate in possessing a daughter worthy of himself. He died at his seat in the sister island, June 13, 1817, at the age of seventy-four.

[We intend to give a detailed account of Mr. Edgeworth's life and labours, in our next volume, for which materials are now collecting.]

No. XLVI.

THE REV. ROBERT TYRWHITT.

LATE FELLOW OF JESUS-COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

THE HE Tyrwhitts spring from an ancient and respectable family which has been long settled in the west of England. The subject of the present article is descended from, and actually was representative of them, being uncle of the Right Hon. Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, who has been in succession Private Secretary, and Secretary Extraordinary to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, Auditor and Lord Warden of the Stannaries, Steward of the Duchy of Cornwall, Vice-Admiral of the same, one of the members of parliament for Plymouth, &c.

The late Mr. Robert Tyrwhitt was the son of a Residentiary of St. Paul's; and his maternal grandfather, Dr. Gibson, was Bishop of London. After receiving a prefatory education, he was sent to Jesus-College, Cambridge, where he soon distinguished himself, not only by his talents and application, but also by a certain seriousness of speech, conduct, and behaviour, that gained him the esteem of all. Ecclesiastical honours and preferment now lay before him, but he refused them all.

"With such connections as his," observes one of his friends," he had every reason to expect high preferment in the church; but his conscience forbad him to make use of such advantages, and he resigned his fellowship, and all his expectations from the church, on the deliberate conviction of his mind, that one God only-who is emphatically stiled in Scripture the Father and the God and Father of our Lord

Jesus Christ, is the only object of religious worship. On the resignation of his fellowship he was reduced to a very narrow income, on which he lived cheerfully and contentedly; but by the death of his brother, clerk to the House of Commons, he came into possession of a property which enabled him to act up to the dictates of a generous heart.

"It will be incredible to the generality of readers how little he spent upon himself, and how much upon others. In every profession, divinity, law, physic, navy, army, are many to lament his loss, and to remember the kindness of a most liberal benefactor. His benevolence was not confined to any sect or party. He looked upon all as children of one common parent, and himself as a steward merely, under Providence, for what remained to him after the gratification of his natural wants, and very moderate desires.

"Notwithstanding his separation from the church, he lived in College, highly respected by that society, and by the most distinguished members of the university. For the last eight or ten years he was confined by the gout chiefly to his rooms, and he had not slept out of College for twenty or thirty years. He was particularly well acquainted with the Statutes of the University, was associated with Jebb in his plan for the improvement of education, was a friend of the late Bishops Law and Watson; and a more strenuous advocate for liberty, civil and religious, as distinguished from anarchy and misrule, never existed. He published two sermons, preached before the University of Cambridge, the one on the Baptismal Form*, the other on the Creation of all things by Jesus Christ; and whoever reads them will lament that the author has not explained his sentiments more fully on many parts of Scripture."

Mr. Tyrwhitt expired in so easy a manner, as almost to be imperceptible to his attendants, at his apartments in Jesus College, Cambridge, March 25th, 1817.

No. XLVII.

THE REV. THOMAS COBB, M. A.

PREBENDARY OF CHICHESTER.

THIS Clergyman was born in 1773, and educated at Canterbury, in the public grammar-school of that city, founded by Henry VIII. out of the spoils of the church and monasteries. While there, he acquired some credit by his early proficiency, and was sent hence to Oxford, with the express view of quali fying himself for the church. At Oriel College he first took the degree of B. A. and then proceeded M. A., soon after which he obtained Priest's Orders.

In consequence of a marriage with Miss Wyatt*, a lady who brought him a large estate, by way of dower, he settled as an ecclesiastic. His first preferment was the vicarage of Sittingborne, presented to him by Dr. Moore, late Archbishop of Canterbury, some time previously to the demise of that very learned and respectable prelate. He afterwards obtained a prebend at Chichester.

On the presentation of the late Colonel James, of IghthamCourt-Lodge, in the county of Kent, he became Rector of Ightham, on the death of the incumbent, in 1791. On this occasion, Mr. Cobb determined to render the Parsonagehouse, in which he was destined to reside, not only comfortable but respectable. He accordingly laid out a large sum of money on alterations and additions; after which he enclosed it within a paddock. This place afterwards became the scene of his hospitalities; while his large fortune, at the same time, enabled him to administer liberally to the numerous poor around him, at whose sick beds he was a frequent visitor.

* On the demise of her uncle, Samuel Wyatt, Esq. she inherited his property, which was very considerable.

As a magistrate for the county, he proved exemplary in point of attendance, as well as minute in investigation; and he deserves great credit for the zeal with which he lately interposed on the breaking out of a typhus fever in the jail of Maidstone. The steps taken on this occasion, prevented the spread of the contagion.

Mr. Cobb is represented also to have been exemplary in the various duties and relations of life, viz. as a son, brother, husband, and parent. He died in Albemarle-street, whither he had repaired to try the skill of the London physicians, on November 26, 1817, in the 44th year of his age. The disorder that proved fatal, was of so obscure and occult a nature as not only to bid defiance to the talents, but even the nomenclature of the medical profession.