THE 
 
 SUBSTANCE 
 
 OF AN 
 
 ORATION 
 
 DELIVERED IN 
 
 A SOCIETY for LITERARY DISCUSSION, 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. JOHN EVANS, 
 
 TFIE DEATH 
 
 OF 
 
 William -peter lUmell, 
 
 Born September 8, 1784; 
 Died October 21, 1811. 
 
 Qitis desiderio sitpudor , aut modus 
 'Tam chart capitis / Horace. 
 
 Why should we stop the tender tear — 
 Why blush to weep for one so dear * 
 
 Francis. 
 
 23^toI : 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE USE OF THE SOCIETY, 
 11 y Evans § Grabharn. 
 
 1811. 
 
At a meeting of the Society , Oct. 24, 1811, the Secretary 
 informed the President , Charles Lee, Esq. of the death 
 of W. P. Lunell, Jun. Esq. upon which the Society 
 resolved unanimously , that out of respect to its deceased 
 associate , no discussion should he entered into on that evening. 
 
 An address was delivered hy the Rev. John Evans., and is 
 printed hy the unanimous order of the Society, for the use of 
 its members . 
 
AN 
 
 ORATION. 
 
 Manibus (late lilia plenis, 
 
 Purpureos spargam flores, animamque nepotis 
 His saltern adcumulem donis, et fungar inani 
 Munere. 
 
 Bring fragrant flowers, the whitest lilies bring, 
 
 With all the purple beauties of the spring! 
 
 These gifts at least, these honours 1*11 bestow 
 On the dear youth, to please his shade below. 
 
 Mr. President, 
 
 To preserve the memory of distinguished 
 excellence is acknowledged to be the sacred duty 
 of friendship ; and the discharge of this duty, 
 while it soothes the mourner’s anguish, may ex- 
 cite a spirit of emulation to repair the loss which 
 the community inevitably sustains by the prema- 
 ture removal of talents and worth. It is prin- 
 cipally for this reason. Sir, that I presume to 
 claim your indulgence for a few minutes, while 
 I direct the attention of the Society to a rapid 
 sketch of the leading features in the intel- 
 lectual and moral character of the gentleman 
 whose much-lamented death has affected us 
 
4 
 
 as individuals, and as a Society, with the deepest 
 sorrow. 
 
 You need not be informed, Sir, that the 
 gentleman whose early loss -we have to deplore 
 became a member of this society at the time of its 
 formation ; and a reference to your minute-book 
 will ascertain, that during its infancy, his exer- 
 tions for its prosperity were as uniform as they 
 were zealous. It will confirm this assertion, and 
 at the same time constitute the clearest indica- 
 tion of the peculiar direction of his habits of 
 thinking, if you will permit me to lay before you 
 the several subjects he has proposed for the 
 society’s discussion, in conformity with the object 
 for which it was instituted. These are, 
 
 c The influence of Commerce upon Civiliza- 
 tion 
 
 c Is it probable that men without the aid of 
 Revelation would have formed a rational expec- 
 tation of a future existence ?’ 
 
 f Are the responses given by the ancient 
 Oracles to be ascribed to supernatural agency, 
 or to priestcraft ?' 
 
5 
 
 ‘ Is it probable that Wars will ever cease ? and 
 if it be, what will be the causes of their cessation ?* 
 
 ‘ What is Conscience, and what is its origin ?* 
 
 1 Which is the most valuable of the Senses ?* 
 
 1 . i. 
 
 c Is Alphabetical Writing to be ascribed to a 
 human or a divine origin?* 
 
 I have laid these extracts from your minutes 
 before you, because they appear to me to form 
 an outline from which the mental portrait of our 
 deceased friend might be delineated with equal 
 strength and fidelity^. 
 
 His discussion of these questions was uniformly 
 distinguished by a solid judgment, which gene- 
 rally enabled him to detect every semblance of 
 fallacy, however disguised by sophistry or em- 
 bellished by eloquence. His opinions, however, 
 were never delivered with the slightest degree of 
 dogmatism, but were always maintained with the 
 candourand liberality which are inseparable from 
 superior minds.' 
 
6 
 
 His education was finished at the school of the 
 late Rev. Thomas Eden, of Whitehall; where 
 he acquired a knowledge of the Latin classics, 
 and imbibed a taste for their beauties. His ac- 
 quaintance with French was extensive ; and of 
 Greek he knew sufficient to peruse the New 
 Testament in the original, and was thus enabled 
 to draw his theological opinions from that source 
 over which error and prejudice have obtained 
 the least influence. 
 
 From the earliest period in which he began to 
 read and investigate, the philosophy of mind 
 was his favorite subject; and you will allow me, Sir, 
 to add, that the authors he most highly esteemed 
 were Butler, for his Analogy, and Hartley, for 
 his Observations on Man. He ranked Bishop 
 Butler in the first class of eminent men, and con- 
 sidered the Analogy one of the best books which 
 genius or industry has produced. Next to the 
 philosophy of mind, he was most attached to 
 history and antiquities, in which his reading 
 had been considerable, and invariably directed by 
 judgment and taste. 
 
 He had cultivated his imagination sufficiently 
 to render poetry a source of pure and rational 
 
7 
 
 enjoyment in the moments of leisure ; the gra- 
 tification derived from which he occasionally 
 varied by original effusions. These, it is true, 
 he held in little estimation; but I have deemed it 
 incumbent upon me to mention the fact, because 
 it is essential to complete the sketch I have 
 undertaken to trace, which I am equally anxious 
 should neither derive any colouring from friend- 
 ship, nor bear any impression except that of 
 truth. 
 
 His moral character was peculiarly marked 
 by an ardour of benevolence which not only 
 prompted him to alleviate infelicity under what- 
 ever form it was presented to his notice, but 
 dictated a delicate attention to the feelings of 
 others — which deserves the higher estimation 
 because not always found allied to the greatest 
 moral worth. His sensibility was at once genuine 
 and manly, because it sprung from a genuine and 
 enlarged philanthropy. 
 
 That benevolence which uniformly guided 
 his conduct formed his manners to an engaging 
 suavity, which derived peculiar interest from 
 having its origin in simplicity of heart — a quality 
 which he possessed in a very eminent degree, and 
 
which, Sir, I feel confident you unite with me in 
 considering his distinguishing characteristic. 
 
 I might enlarge upon the punctuality, the 
 integrity and the enterprise which he evinced 
 as a merchant ; but this. Sir, I fear would be to 
 trespass upon your indulgence. I shall therefore 
 only add, that the premature removal of so much 
 intellectual and moral excellence is a perfect 
 anomaly, absolutely irreconcileable. with the 
 attributes of Deity upon any other supposition 
 than that of a future state. It was an animated 
 hope of this which directed him in life and in- 
 spired him with serenity in the prospect of death ; 
 and if his removal from this state of vicissitude 
 detach us from the world, refine our virtue, and 
 invigorate our faith, the purposes of Infinite 
 Wisdom will in part be accomplished, j* and 
 we shall rejoin him in a better world, in which 
 our progress towards intellectual and moral 
 perfection will never be interrupted. 
 
 f Per varies casus, per tot discrimina rerum 
 Tendinnis in Lalium ; sedes ubi fata quiet as 
 Osteiidunt. 
 
 “ Through various calamities and through so many vicissitudes 
 we are going”— to the regions of peace. 
 
 Evans t$ Grabham, Printers.