The Bengal obituary, or, A record to perpetuate the memory of departed worth : being a compilation of tablets and monumental inscriptions from various parts of the Bengal and Agra Presidencies : to which is added biographical sketches and memoirs of such as have pre-eminently distinguished themselves in the history of British India, since the formation of the European settlement to the present time / by Holmes and Co.
- Holmes and Co. (Calcutta)
- Date:
- 1851
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The Bengal obituary, or, A record to perpetuate the memory of departed worth : being a compilation of tablets and monumental inscriptions from various parts of the Bengal and Agra Presidencies : to which is added biographical sketches and memoirs of such as have pre-eminently distinguished themselves in the history of British India, since the formation of the European settlement to the present time / by Holmes and Co. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
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![Reginald, the lamented subject of this memoir, was born April 21st 1783, at Malpas in the county of Chester, of which his father was for many years co-rector. His early childhood was distinguished by mildness of disposition, obedience to his parents, consideration for the feelings of those around him, and by that trust in God’s providence which formed, through life, so prominent a part of his character. When little more than two years old, he was dangerously ill with the hooping cough, for which he was ordered to be bled ; his mother took him on her knees, saying, “ Ur. Currie wished you to loose a little blood, 1 hope you will not object;” his answer was, “ 1 will do whatever you please, Mama.” On the nurse screaming out that they were going to murder her child, “ poor ,” Reginald said, “ let her go down stairs.” The apothecary then took hold of his arm, on which he exclaimed, “ do not hold me when assured that if he moved he would be much mgre hurt, “ I wont stir,” he replied, and steadily held out his arm, looking the whole time at the operation. The following year when travelling with his parents in a very stormy day across the mountainous country between Ripon and Craven, his mother was much alarmed and proposed to leave the carriage and walk. Reginald, sitting on her knee, said—“ Don’t be afraid, Mama, God will take care of us.” These words spoken, as she herself expressed it, by the infant monitor, carried with them conviction to her heart which forty-three years of joy and sorrow had not effaced. In ] 787, he had an attack of in- flammation of the lungs, and was very dangerously ill. The severe remedies to which he was forced to submit, were borne without a murmur, and his patience was so remarkable, that on his father’s asking the physician, whether there was any hope of saving his life. Dr. Currie answered, “ if he were not the most tractable child I ever saw, there would be none, but I think he will recover.” In childhood he suffered much from inflammatory disorders ; but the hours of convalescence were invariably employed in endeavouring to acquire information ; and at six years old, after an attack of typhus fever, which again nearly brought him to the grave, the first indulgence for which he pleaded was to learn the Latin grammar, that he might have some employment, while lying in bed ; he could read the Bible with fluency at five years old, and even then was remarkable for me avidity with which he studied it, and for his accurate knowledge of its contents. About this time a discussion arose one day, during his absence, between his father and some friends as to the book in the old Testament, in which a particular passage was to be found. On Reginald’s entering the room, his father referred the question to him, when he at once named both the book and the chapter. It was by Mr. Heber’s direction that the Bible was first put into his hands in preference to any abridgment of it, in order that he might become more familiar with its beautiful language and more ready in applying it to the memory with which he was singularly endowed. He greatly profited by this system, and its effects were visible in the piety winch marked his youth and became his distinguishing characteristic through life. He very early became sensible of the necessity and importance of praying, and was frequently over- heard praying aloud in his own room, when he little thought himself within reach of observation. His sense of entire dependence upon God and of thankfulness for the mercies which he received was deep and almost instinctive. In joy, as in sorrow, his heart was ever lifted up in thankfulness for the goodness of his Maker, or bowed in resignation to his chastisements, and his first impulse, when afflicted or rejoicing, was to fall on his knees in thanksgiving, or in intercession for himself and for those he loved, through the mediation of his Saviour. He had a considerable taste for drawings, especially for architectural designs, and the favourite sketches almost entirely from fancy, which have been preserved by his family, bear strong marks of genius and bore promise of the superiority which, with little or no instruction, he afterwards attained in that art. The study of natural liistory was also a favourite pursuit, and he was fond of exercising his powers of observation in watching the changes of insects and the various habits of animals and birds ; but the kindness of his heart would never permit him to keep any creatures in confinement, far less to gratify his curiosity at the expense of their sufferings. When his little sister had a squirrel given her, he persuaded her to set it at liberty, taking her to a tree that she might see the animal’s joy at being restored to freedom. His mind seemed never to be at rest, and occa- sionally, when with his piay-fellows, he would remain silent, absorbed in his own meditations, and insen- sible so every thing around him, as his memory retained the information he acquired from every possible source, as his understanding strengthened, he corrected the errors into which his almost unassisted researches in various branches of knowledge naturally led him. From a child he was inquisitive, and always eager to obtain instruction, and never above asking the opinions of others, but with a modesty of manner, and an evident anxiety to acquire knowledge, which prevented his being thought intrusive, and insured him the attention of those with whom he conversed. In this habit he persevered through life, and to it he attributed much of the desultory knowledge which he had attained. It was a common saying among the servants of the family, that Mr. Reginald never was in a passion. It is not of course intended to assert that he was insensible to the natural emotions of anger, but that, even in childhood, he had so completely acquired the habit of subduing the outward expression of this feeling, that he was never heard to raise his voice in anger or to use an impatient expression. Reading was his principal amusement from the time he knew his letters ; his elder brother, (to whose affectionate superintendence through life of his graver studies, he justly considered himself much indebted,) used to say, “ Reginald did more than read books, he devoured them.” And when thus occupied, it was with difficulty that his attention could be withdrawn. After prosecuting his studies for some time at Dr. Bristow’s Academy, in the neighbourhood of London, he was entered at Brazenose College, Oxford, and in 1802, he gained the University prize for a copy of Latin hexameters. In the spring of 1803 he wrote his celebrated Poem of Palestine, for which in that year, he also obtained a prize. In 1805, he took the degree of B.A. and soon afterwards gained a third University prize for an essay on the Sense of Honour, after having been elected a Fellow of All Souls, he quitted Oxford, and proceeded on a tour through Germany, Russia and the Crimea; during which he made several excellent notes, afterwards appended to the travels of Dr. Clarke. On his return to England in 1808, he published a Political Poem entitled “ Europelines on the pre-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28035264_0030.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
