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friend informed him of the distress of a number of persons confined in prison for small debts; he cleared the whole of their debts; and swept the miserable mansion of all its wretched tenants. But it may be thought, that although he endeavoured to veil such munificence from the eyes of man, he deemed that he was arrogating to himself merit in the eyes of Heaven. Let facts speak for themselves. When a lady applied to him for charity in behalf of an orphan, and he had liberally contributed, "When he is old enough," exclaimed the lady, "I will teach him to thank his benefactor." "Stop," replied this good man, "thou art mistaken; we do not thank the clouds for rain; teach him to look higher, and to thank him who giveth both the clouds and the rain. My talent," said he, "is the meanest of all talents, a little sordid dust; but the man in the parable who had but one talent, was accountable; for the talent that I possess, I am accountable to the great Lord of all." His charitable distributions amounted to two hundred thousand pounds. That his benevolence was confined to no sect or party, will be evident from the following affecting testimony of respect to his memory :

"At a general meeting of the inhabitants of Bristol, held in the Guildhall of that city, on Wednesday, the 2nd of October, the right worshipful the Mayor in the chair:

"It was unanimously resolved-That in consequence of the severe loss which society had sustained by the death of the venerable Richard Reynolds, and in order to perpetuate, as far as may be, the great and important benefits be has conferred upon the city of Bristol and its vicinity, and to excite others to imitate the example of

the departed philanthropist, an association be formed under the designation of

"Reynolds' Commemoration Society."

"That the members of the society do consist of life subscribers of ten guineas or upwards, and annual subscribers of one guinea or upwards; and that the object of this society be, to grant relief to persons in necessitous circumstances, and also occasional assistance to other benevolent institutions in or near the city, to enable them to continue or increase their usefulness, and that special regard be had to the Samaritan Society, of which Richard Reynolds was the founder.

"That the cases to be assisted and relieved, be entirely at the discretion of the committee; but it is recommended to them, not to grant any relief or assistance without a careful investigation of the circumstances of each case; and that in imitation of the example of the individual whom this society is designed to commemorate, it be considered as a sacred duty of the committee, to the latest period of its existence, to be wholly uninfluenced in the distribution of its funds, by any considerations of sect or party."

Thus lived, and thus died, in the most emphatic sense of the term, a good man; he was alarmed at the detection of his own benevolence, and blushed when he was rewarded by the approbation of his fellow men; he shrunk from the spectacle of his own glory, satisfied that the presence of the Deity was to be found, not in the "whirlwind of popular applause," but "in the small still voice of his own conscience,"

MARINERS IN DISTRESS.

A VESSEL bound to Greenock, was, in a severe gale, blown among the western isles, and was so long detained there, as to be entirely run out of provisions. In this dilemma it became necessary for some of the crew to go ashore for a supply; but as there were only English sailors on board, none of them would go from fear of being plundered, an occurrence which too often happens when ships run ashore in distress, in some places on the western coast of our islands. They therefore cast lots among the whole of the people on board, both passengers and sailors; and one of the lots fell on a man of fortune who had been in the West Indies. He accordingly, along with some others, took the boat, and venturing to land, proceeded to a small cottage, where he found a poor woman, who, for want of chairs, was sitting on the side of a bed, spinning at her wheel. He immediately informed her of the situation of the ship's crew, when, instead of showing any reluctance, she with the greatest alacrity offered them some potatoes, and what else was in the house for their relief. She had a pot of potatoes boiling on the fire, which she put upon a plate, and presented to the gentleman, who partook of them with the greatest relish. They observed abundance of game on the island, and went immediately to the proprietor, requesting permission to shoot for the supply of the crew. The gentleman in question received them with the greatest kindness and hospitality, gave them liberty to kill as much game as they chose, and sent an invitation to all the passengers to dine with him. They received a very sumptuous entertainment; and the gentleman from the West Indies found, in the course of conversation, that their landlord

was proprietor of some estates there, with which he was well acquainted. Thus, in place of the barbarity and plunder which they had been afraid of, they met with the most polite attention, and left Jura with the liveliest impression of gratitude, for the generosity and kindness with which they had been treated.

THE PRINCE REGENT.

A CAPTAIN Finucane, of the Gloucestershire Militia, died at Brighton in the autumn of 1800. The troops stationed there attended his funeral, and nothing could be more mournfully impressive than the procession to his grave.

The chief mourner walked with a charming boy in each hand, the one seven, the other eight years old, sons of the deceased. Fortunately for these infants, and the disconsolate mother, the Prince of Wales happened to be a spectator of the touching scene. His highness felt like a man for their bereavement, and like a prince he endeavoured to assuage its bitterness by adopting the boys as his own.

BISHOP OF MARSEILLES.

"Why drew Marseilles' good Bishop purer breath,
When nature sickened and each gale was death?"

POPE:

M. de Belsunce, Bishop of Marseilles, so distinguished

himself for his humanity during the plague which raged in that city in 1720, that the Regent of France offered him the richer and more honourable see of Laon in Picardy; but he refused it, saying he should be unwilling to leave a flock that had been endeared to him by their sufferings. His pious and intrepid labours are commemorated in a picture in the town-hall of Marseilles, in which he is represented in his episcopal habit, attended by his almoners, giving his benediction to the dying and the dead that are at his feet. Father Vanniere, in his Prædium Rusticum, alludes to the good Bishop in these lines:

-Vitæ qui Præsul et auri

Prodigus, assiduis animos et corpora curis
Sustinuit, mortem visus calcare metumque,
Intrepido vadens per strata cadavera passu.

Profuse of life, and prodigal of gold,
The sacred pastor tends his sick'ning fold;
Repose of body and of mind disdains,
To calm their woes and mitigate their pains;
Bravely despises death and every fear,
With holy rites their drooping hearts to cheer;
Vast heaps of dead without dismay he views,
And with firm step his gen'rous way pursues.

But perhaps the most touching picture extant of the bishop's humane labours, is to be found in a letter of his own, written to the Bishop of Soissons, Sept. 27, 1720. "Never," he says, "was desolation greater, nor was ever any thing like this. Here have been many cruel plagues, but none was ever more cruel: to be sick and

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