During the earlier years of his ministry, he had looked with suspicion, though not with hostility, upon men of evangelical sentiments. Hence he stood aloof from the pious and venerable Mr. Robinson, of Leicester, and declined all participation in the religious institutions at that time exciting so deep an interest in society. But these prejudices gradually wore away; and in the year 1811 we find him subjected to the reproach of the world for studiously seeking the companionship of men of acknowledged piety. In this year, likewise, he presided at the annual meeting of the Leicester Auxiliary Bible Society, and in the strongest terms expressed his approbation of its principle and designs. Two years after this he preached in St. Mary's church, Leicester, on occasion of the sudden death of its revered pastor, Mr. Robinson, a sermon, in which he distinctly avows his own cordial reception of all the great fundamental doctrines of the Gospel, in a style and tone strikingly contrasted with some other sermons preached by him in the same town a few years before. It was at this period of his life, too, he commenced daily family prayer, and the reading of the Scriptures morning and evening. The change thus gradually produced in Mr. Ryder's mind had the happiest influence on his parochial ministrations; which were extended beyond the customary routine. His preaching was faithful, fervent, and affectionate, characterised by a prayerful spirit; and his very animated manner gave to a written sermon much of the air of an extemporaneous address. Besides a cottage lecture at Claybrook, he held a weekly lecture on the premises of a large manufactory at Lutterworth, with a particular view to the benefit of the persons employed in it; and such was the deep and lively interest he took in the instruction of the young, especially when preparing for con firmation, that many are now living who have reason to bless God they were the objects of his pastoral instruction, care, and love. About this time, this truly exemplary clergyman was raised to the deanery of Wells, which he exchanged a few years ago, from conscientious motives, for the less lucrative appointment to a prebendal stall in Westminster. He was also a canon of Windsor. Already eminent for his pulpit talents, his active zeal, and his genuine piety and liberality, he was raised in 1815 to the episcopal bench as Bishop of Gloucester, from which see he was translated in 1824 to that of Lichfield and Coventry. He adorned the mitre by his amiable virtues and personal sanctity, and was constantly distinguished by his unaffected courtesy and liberal feeling towards all sincere Christians. In the discharge of the ecclesiastical duties of his high station, his affability and condescension were truly admirable. On occasions which obliged him to oppose the wishes, or reprove the conduct, of those who appeared before him, the refusal lost half its sternness, and the reproof more than half its severity, in the mildness of his language and the unaffected gentleness of his deportment. He gave the most liberal pecuniary assistance to benevolent undertakings, especially in his own diocese, to the interests of which he was ever attentive; and his zeal and activity in the personal discharge of his episcopal functions were unwearied. During the last two or three years of his life, his lordship's health had been visibly declining. A total prostration of strength, accompanied with an organic affection of the heart, appeared to be the proximate causes of his death. A few days before this, even, he uttered with deep emotion, to one of his sons, a sentiment which was habitual to him: "Others may praise me, and speak of what I have done; but I wish you all to remember, that I look upon my best services as nothing, and worse than nothing; and that I desire to cast myself as a poor sinner at the foot of the Cross." He expired at Hastings, March 31st., 1836, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. In him the established church has lost one of its brightest ornaments, and our religious institutions one of their most catholic, right-minded, and zealous supporters. Of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in particular, he was a steady and most efficient patron and advocate-always listened to with pleasure and attention at its meetings, to which the admirable spirit of his addresses powerfully contributed to give a salutary tone. We could ill afford to lose one of the very few prelates who have, in recent years, stood by the principle of the Bible Society, and shewn, by so doing, their preference of the common interests and fundamental principles of vital Christianity, to the supposed interests of any denomination or party. THE DYING HINDU GIRL. It is a custom among the Hindu girls, to offer to the river Ganges little rafts, laden with flowers, and lighted with a small lamp; and these votive offerings may frequently be seen in the evenings, floating on its waters. This custom is alluded to in the following lines. AND I must die! though young flowers are springing And those dear fountains are for ever flinging Sweet dews, which cannot cool my burning brow. To die—to die! oh, thought of dread and sadness; Why, mighty Ganges!-why, celestial river! To me, thy trembling-suppliant child, denied? Did not my gleaming lamp burn pure and brightly? Q All, all is vain: thou heed'st not this fond clinging To life's dear haunts, so eager, so intense: No-though the hearts I love, with grief are wringing, We part-we part: I feel I must go hence. Then let me yet, beneath the pepul lying, yore; Look up to its green depths, as oft of And fill my lap with flowers,-such od'rous flowers With all around me I have loved so well. And wreathe, (oh, smile not) wreathe my drooping tresses Which fade and wither ere their beauty blesses There sought, that day, her lone, secluded dwelling Servant of God he was-His glory only He sought; all other aims and hopes resign'd: For this, in those dark realms, tho' sad and lonely, His gentle spirit toil'd, and ne'er repin'd. |