his dear and honoured father, the manner of whose death rendered the affliction doubly painful. He had journeyed to Huddersfield the preceding week, accompanied by Mrs. Sargent, to pay their first visit at the house of their son. On the Monday following he left Huddersfield, by the Sheffield coach, in the company of six or eight other Wesleyan Ministers. When they had proceeded about six miles on their journey, the coach was overturned. Mr. Sargent fell under it. He and the Rev. Edward B. Lloyd were mortally injured. They were taken to separate cottages; and Mr. Sargent survived only two days. His wife and son were sent for immediately; but he was not able to recognise them. He often seemed to be engaged in prayer, and once or twice said, "Happy." He had been in the Wesleyan ministry thirty-three years. His conversion was remarkable. Residing at Rye, he had been led, by mere sympathy, and a sense of propriety, to visit two condemned prisoners in a neighbouring town. One of them was awakened to a sense of his sin and misery; and, through faith in the blood of Christ, obtained that enjoyment of pardon and peace, to which his instructer was himself a stranger. As a token of gratitude, this man gave Mr. Sargent a copy of Watts's Hymns. After the execution, Mr. Sargent, whose mind was deeply affected, began assiduously to attend the faithful ministrations of the Gospel. He was brought to the knowledge and faith of Christ; and, in due course of time, he entered upon that ministry which he greatly desired to exercise, and in which he was made a blessing to many. About the year 1791 he married Elizabeth, widow of Captain Chafer, who, with a surviving family of six sons and a daughter, was thus suddenly deprived of his protection. His widow still lives, a daughter of many sorrows, and many mercies.*

The subject of these memorials was, as already signified, their eldest son; and, from the time of the distressing event above related, he became the stay of the family. He was also, in his own family, and in that of his mother-in-law, the affectionate guide and counsellor, and the cheerful companion and friend; showing, by the most respectful and delicate attentions, his desire to serve and to please. As a proof of his pious, parental solicitude, it may not be unsuitable to insert the following extract from a letter to his only child, written at Blackpool, a few years ago, when she was at school. After various allusions to scenes and circumstances of interest connected with the place whence he wrote, he mentions the then recent death and funeral of the Rev. Dr. Boothroyd, of Huddersfield, a gentleman with whom he had a sincere friendship, and adds,

"MAY it please God to bless this additional proof of mortality to us all! Learning and piety, youth and age, must all submit to death,

A memoir of the Rev. George Sargent was inserted in the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine for February, 1824, pages 73–78.

the consequence of sin. To be well prepared for it, ought to be the great business of our lives. We ought to be ever viewing this short life as a state of probation, during which, as every needful help is afforded us, we should become fully fitted for that eternal state which awaits us. I think it is a very useful thought, that we have begun an existence that can never end,—do as we may or will, we must live for ever. The great question is, Shall we live in happiness and holiness for ever? or must it be in sin and misery? It must be one or the other. It is true, that what we call death, which is but a point of time, will only change the mode of our existence. But that point is the most awful of all; for then our eternal mode of existence will be for ever, for ever, for ever! ay, for ever and ever decided! How, then, shall we escape the misery sin has produced? How shall we ensure eternal felicity? What reasonable man, with his eyes open to the fact of his eternal duration either in happiness or misery, dares depend on a fellow-creature's answers to these inquiries? No; it is too important, too weighty, too interesting a subject to us personally. Then O what gratitude and thankfulness ought we to feel, that our Creator has condescended himself to answer the momentous inquiry; to make himself known to us; to make ourselves known to us! Had we choice, had it been possible for us to choose the period of time, from Adam to the present, during which we would have had our probation, could we have fixed upon a better than that we have? If David so highly esteemed the small portion of the Scriptures which he possessed, how ought we to exult in the possession of the completed volume! The more I read it, the more I wonder I have so little studied it. This is the book for answering questions; and the question is scarcely worth the asking, which this book will not answer; and that answer, if diligently sought, will be found clear, distinct, authoritative. Read it, then, my dear daughter, as if the blessed Spirit, who dictated it to holy men of old, had sent it personally to you. It concerns you as much as any human being: its commands, precepts, promises, prohibitions, warnings, threatenings, are as much yours as mine, as much yours as the letter I am now writing to you. It is God's gracious letter to you. And, especially, look upon the New Testament as our blessed Saviour's last will, in which you are particularly mentioned; (the word 'testament,' means a 'will;') and ask yourself, 'What has He left me?' If you first ask the aid of the Spirit to assist you in reading it, you will find such an abundance of legacies, so well suited to your wants, so rich in themselves, and so glorious in the anticipation, that gratitude, ardent and humble, will be the first feeling; and the next, a determination, by His aid, (which also is bequeathed,) to become possessed of all that is attainable here, and of a meetness for all that is promised hereafter. I must, however, just point out, that you will find every promise is made to character, if I may so express myself. The injunction is, 'Ask. The promise

is, 'Thou shalt be saved.' Who shall be saved?

Answer. The

believer. 'Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' Do not think too much of the pleasure of returning home. Mind your health. Guard your thoughts. Do not profess anything you do not possess. Let your conversation be such as you would not dislike me to hear. May God bless you, my dear child, with health of body, and with peace of mind, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

"Your affectionate father,
"GEORGE SARGENT."

On his return from Blackpool, whence the preceding letter is dated, Mr. Sargent was chosen to succeed Dr. Boothroyd, as joint-Secretary, with the Rev. W. C. Madden, to the Huddersfield Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society. He had previously become Treasurer of the Religious Tract Society, as also Treasurer to the Trustees of the Wesleyan chapel, Queen-street, Huddersfield; and of the Auxiliary Wesleyan Missionary Society for the Halifax District. He discharged the duties of these several offices with exemplary faithfulness and punctuality. When he consented to undertake them, he afforded a striking instance of the power by which Christian principle overcomes natural disinclination, and thus supplies one of the surest tests of its reality. He did not merely do good in his own way, but he went out of his way to do it. He was, by constitutional temperament, reserved, and averse from office. Sometimes, when urged to act in public, and for a public object, he would even attempt a vindication of his reluctance to comply, on the ground of professional engagements, and other claims. But, on careful self-inspection, he discovered that this was but a slender excuse, not a sufficient and satisfying reason,such as would approve itself to his enlightened conscience. He therefore kept that plea in abeyance; and as his love to God and man increased, he resigned himself, without reserve, to its influence: he denied himself, and sacrificed feeling, as well as time, that he might in any way promote the glory of God, and the good of his fellow-men. Pursuing his course of public usefulness, he took an active part in the establishment and support of the Huddersfield and Upper-Agbrigg Infirmary, and in every institution which aimed at the benefit, whether bodily or spiritual, of the distressed poor. But it was evident, that the object and constitution of the Bible Society rendered it preeminently dear to him. His efforts to accomplish a re-organization of the Ladies' Branch of that Society, in the year 1838, were very arduous; but they were equally delightful. He made a new division of all the districts, and studied the particular opportunities and obligations of each Agent, that he might thus render more effectual assistance to every one who co-operated with him in this work of charity. On the days appointed for the meeting of the Committees, he was accustomed to rise at an earlier hour than usual. He could, by this means, visit

his patients, and yet be present at the Committee in due time, without trespassing against that law of punctuality on which so much depends. He sometimes expressed his surprise, that any gentleman deputed to visit those meetings could absent himself: so far, in his estimation, did the pleasure counterbalance the trouble.

As a professional man he was greatly respected by his medical coadjutors, and was gratefully regarded by his patients. He endeared himself to the latter by his tenderness and sympathy, as well as by his skill. He possessed a delicacy of observation and feeling which enabled him to adapt himself to the nicest varieties of character and circumstances. Every one found him a faithful friend. His disinterestedness and generosity of spirit, accompanied with unsullied rectitude, gave a transparent lustre to his character, and at once inspired confidence. He carried his religion into every part of his professional occupations, and exhibited that which was not attributable to himself, but to "the grace of God which was with" him.

In the midst of his multiplied engagements, he found time for the cultivation of his own mind. He was extremely fond of books, and very judicious in his selection of them. As his reading was extensive and various, it greatly enriched his conversation. He was an engaging and instructive companion, enlivening his discourse with a natural playfulness and humour which made it exceedingly agreeable. But in his tongue was the law of kindness, and everything was chastened by its influence he might otherwise have been a severe and formidable critic. His elevated tone of mind, and his keen sense of honour, would have roused him to speak of meanness with indignation; while his information and acquirements would have led him to treat the selfsufficient with contempt. But he was intent on Christian self-government; and he cautiously abstained from giving unnecessary, or what might seem to be unnecessary, pain.

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"Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth;" and he was pleased to visit Mr. Sargent with lengthened chastisement. He placed his servant in the furnace of affliction; but he sat over him as "a refiner and purifier of silver." Grace was given, until the tried one became a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work." From the frequent attacks of affliction which Mr. Sargent had experienced, it may not seem surprising that he should so soon be removed to that abode, for the sublime and spiritual enjoyments of which he was graciously prepared. So long ago as the year 1826 he expressed his conviction, that, should even nothing unexpected intervene, his constitution was not likely to sustain life for more than ten years. What may be termed his last illness occurred in June, 1839. He had felt a lively interest in the establishment of the Huddersfield College; but had declined taking any other office in it, than that of one of the Members of its Council, chiefly that he might never be called upon to preside at any of its pub

lic meetings. But, at the time above named, he was induced, with great reluctance on his own part, to occupy the chair, in the Philosophical Hall, at the first half-yearly examination of the pupils. In the midst of this pleasing, but too exciting, engagement, his head became distressingly affected, and he was obliged to return home. Medical aid was obtained; but he became unconscious for some hours; and, as the needful remedies could not be administered, little hope was entertained of his recovery.

Fervent prayer was offered to God in his behalf; and it was mercifully heard but his sufferings were long and acute. As soon as he was able to go abroad, he and his family paid a visit to his mother, who resided with one of her sons and her daughter at Byerly, near Bradford. After remaining some time there, in quiet seclusion, he was advised to try the benefit of a retired spot on the sea-coast. He spent a few weeks near his native place, in Lincolnshire, with some of his relations in that county; and then sojourned, with his wife and daughter, at Scarborough, until the end of October. Separation from home, and the necessary interruption of his professional duties, occasioned him some perplexity, as well as sacrifice. But he was uniformly placid and cheerful; and he greatly enjoyed the company and public services of an esteemed Christian Minister at Scarborough. He was also revived and solaced by the society of friends and kindred, who were at that time visiters there. This lengthened absence from Huddersfield was very contrary to his previous arrangements. He was in the habit of spending a few weeks from home every summer : but, on account of the infirm health of his mother-in-law, Mrs. Houghton, to whom he always paid the most filial attention, he had kindly expressed his purpose of not being away more than one or two nights this year. But it pleased God to appoint otherwise.

Hopes were entertained, both by himself and his friends, that, after the season of repose which he had now enjoyed, he would be able to resume his wonted engagements: but they were all, in this respect, disappointed. He found it necessary to relinquish his public offices; and at length, with great difficulty, he summoned resolution to decline the visitation of patients. The reluctance which he felt on this latter subject arose, not from a regard to self-interest, or from an unsubmissive resistance to the will of God, but from the kindliness of his disposition. His patients were his friends; and his calls upon them proved occasions of mutual pleasure. But he meekly yielded to the dispensation of One higher than he; and so far was he from betraying any symptom of dissatisfaction or discontent, that he afterwards appeared to be even more than usually cheerful. His last days were eminently days of peace.

It is not known that he had any premonition of his approaching end. A poem on the intermediate state of happy spirits, by J. Shepperd, Esq., of Frome, had been lent him before the time of his illness: