And while the Board view in this melancholy bereavement, the chastening hand of a merciful and gracious Father, who scourgeth every son whom he receiveth, they most sincerely beg to offer their condolence to the widow and family of their deceased brother, who, his warfare being accomplished, has been thus suddenly called from the Church militant to join the society of those who have departed hence in the faith and fear of the Lord.
(Signed) John Toronto.
(From the Bristol Journal.)
THE REV. GEORGE MORTIMER, M.A.
With deep regret and affectionate esteem, we record the death of one, whose memory (we are persuaded) is embalmed in the hearts of many among our fellow-citizens—the Rev. George Mortimer. In the midst of his ministerial usefulness in Upper Canada, whither he emigrated from this city about ten years ago, his valuable life was suddenly terminated by one of those mysterious dispensations of Infinite Wisdom, which, while they make us feel our deep ignorance, exercise at once reverential submission and Christian confidence. Thrown from an open carriage against the stump of a tree, he received a fatal injury on his chest; and having been carried to his home, and placed on his bed, he expired within two hours. It is remarkable that, as a fall, suffered in his infancy, had injured his growth, and distorted his person, a fall should have proved the occasion of his death. For several years (between 1826 and 1834) he resided in this neighbourhood; first at Horfield, when he officiated as evening preacher at St. Mary-le-Port, in this city; afterwards, as curate of the Rev. Alfred Harford, at Hutton, in Somerset. He was a man equally distinguished by his intellectual and Christian excellence. The strength and symmetry of his mental constitution presented a striking contrast and relief to the imperfection of his stature and his form—imperfection redeemed by a countenance eloquently expressive of benignity blended with intelligence. Those who enjoyed his personal intimacy will remember him long among the most instructive and interesting of companions—among the most kind and faithful of friends. As a preacher, he was eminently popular, powerful, and profitable; peculiarly excelling in accurate details of practical and social duty, and also in discriminative representations of the character and the heart. A mind acute, perspicuous, methodical, enriched with knowledge at once varied and exact; a natural unwritten eloquence, aided by a voice of peculiar and pathetic tone—imparted an extraordinary charm to those evening discourses, which, delivered to crowded auditories in St. Mary-le-Port Church, have left, we doubt not, vivid and valued impressions on the memory and the heart of many a surviving hearer. At this moment we well recollect particular passages of his preaching; and especially his farewell address, heard with mournful eagerness by an overflowing throng on the evening of the day preceding his departure for America: the text, “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve!”—the sermon, a masterpiece of comprehensive and momentous exhortation. On the next morning (Monday) in company with many of his attached friends and hearers, “we accompanied him to the ship, sorrowing most of all for this, that we should see his face no more.” (Acts, xx. 38.) Our Canadian colony, then the scene of large emigration, and greatly in need of able clergymen, rejoiced to receive the treasure which Bristol once enjoyed. By his natural and acquired endowments, Mr. Mortimer was singularly qualified for usefulness in the new field of his ministry. In his extensive parish of Thornhill, the parish church was considerably enlarged during the year preceding his last, towards which he contributed greatly; and also effected the establishment of two other churches, with clergymen attached to them, in the same extensive district. During a long course of years, Mr. M— had made it his rule to expend a tenth part of his income annually, on the various objects of Christian benevolence: his liberality must have proved doubly valuable, where, while numerous necessities demanded relief, the people are generally slow to give. In what high esteem he was held by his Canadian brethren, is sufficiently attested by the extraordinary honours of his funeral: the Bishop of Toronto, accompanied by more than forty clergymen, many from distant places, attended his remains to their sepulchral rest, with tears of mingled love and grief. He has left an excellent widow and six children to lament his loss, and cherish his memory. Of his sons, two are engaged in the ministry; one as a missionary among the Chippeway Indians, and the youngest is studying in the College of Toronto for the same sacred destination. May the spirit of their father be perpetuated in his children’s children.
T. G.
August 7, 1844.
TO MISS ELIZA FORD.
Thornhill, September 25, 1844.
My dear Madam,
In compliance with the wishes expressed in your letter to Mamma, and at her request, I proceed to retrace the latest years of my dear father’s life. Though it is in some respects a painful task, and one for which I feel myself incompetent, I shall be quite repaid if I afford any pleasure to the respected and valued friends of my late beloved father.