Quid favor aut cætus, pleni quid honoribus anni
Profuerunt, sacris et vita quid artibus acta?
Abstulit una dies ævi decus, ictaque luctu
Conticuit Latiæ tristis facundia linguæ
Unica sollicitis quondam tutela salusque:
ille senatus
Vindex, ille fori, legum ritusque togæque.
CHAPTER LXVI.
Mild, pious, good, and amiable, beneficent almost beyond example, candid in the construction of error, lenient even to those whose conduct he disapproved, but strenuous, firm, and courageous, in his vindication of the causes of religion and loyalty; extensively, if not profoundly, learned himself, but vigilant in discovering merit, anxious and generous in the universal encouragement of science; active in promoting the cause of benevolence, steady in his friendships, constant in his engagements, extremely cautious of inspiring hopes which it was not his determined purpose to gratify—such was Bishop Porteus; such is the impression of his character and virtues in the breast of one who knew him, if it may be permitted so to say, with great intimacy for twenty years; saw him under different circumstances, which put his judgment, discernment, and temper to the proof, and who never knew him in the least defective in those essential qualities which ought to characterize a Christian Bishop.
Yet as all have their infirmities and failings, he was not without his. He was timid with respect to the general opinion, and was sometimes diverted from his purpose, by an impudent paragraph in a newspaper, or by an anonymous letter. Altercation and dispute were so abhorrent from his nature, that he has on certain occasions compromised his dignity, to avoid them. But let that pass—he had no other weakness. Nothing so delighted him as the communication of happiness, and the exercise of benevolence. He who writes this, had on various occasions the high honour of being his almoner; and it is really difficult to imagine, the remote situations, and various circumstances of indigence, to which the stream of his bounty was directed.