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Although so diffident of his own powers, he was ever the encourager of others, 

 and often sacrificed his own desire for retirement for the sake of stimulating the 

 general zest for knowledge. His consent to take his turn in the Presidency over 

 the meetings of the Woolhope Club of Naturalists illustrates this part of his 

 character. Nor was his leisure engrossed by merely one branch of knowledge. 

 Cambridge, his alma mater, had given him a sufficient knowledge of mathematics 

 to fully appreciate the works of Newton, and the " Mechanique Celeste " of 

 La Place was studied by him with delight. 



It was, however, the observation of Nature, as exhibited in his every day 

 walks through his parish, that seemed to be his great source of enjoyment. It 

 was noticing this that led the author of the Silurian System to express a hope 

 (alas ! never realized) that " the application of his leisure hours to the cultivation 

 of the natural history of his neighbourhood may one day enable Mr. Lewis to 

 confer upon Aymestrey the celebrity which White has bequeathed to Selborne." 

 At the same time his taste for and knowledge of antiquities, and care as an editor, 

 admirably qualified him for the task of editing the " Letters of the Lady Brilliana 

 Harley " for the Camden Society, placed in his hands for that purpose by Lady 

 Frances Vernon Harcourt, and published in 1853. 



We trust no one who reads this notice will suppose for one moment that the 

 pursuits we have mentioned were permitted by Mr. Lewis to interfere with the 

 duties of a country clergyman. Those duties were performed in an exemplary 

 manner. At the time of the alteration in the administration of relief to the poor 

 Mr. Lewis worked hard, and with the greatest success, in reconcDing and adapting 

 the new system to the wants of his own district, giving prominence to the un- 

 doubted advantages of the new law, and smoothing the harder features of its 

 operation. The School and School-houses at Aymestrey and Bridstow, erected 

 through his personal exertions, however assisted by others, bear testimony to his 

 zeal for the Christian education of the children of his parishioners. While he held 

 his religious opinions firmly, he was unobtrusive and free from everything like 

 bigotry. Kind but discriminating in his charities, so gentle and affectionate, 

 reproving with firmness where reproof was needed, and commending whenever 

 he could do so with truth, Mr. Lewis's name (no less as a pastor, a neighbour, and 

 a friend, than as a natcialist) well deserves this slight tribute to its memory 

 at our hands. 



