THOMAS ANDREW KNIGHT, ESQ. 41 



self, but he paid great attention to the cultivation of his estate 

 by his tenantry ; and though he was on all occasions a most 

 liberal and indulgent landlord, and ever ready to afford encou- 

 ragement and assistance to active and intelligent tenants, he 

 was firm in insisting on the adoption of a proper course of 

 management. 



He was happy in his home, and beloved by all about him ; and 

 his healthful and peaceful occupations, while they supplied 

 never-ceasing employment for his active mind, kept him free 

 from the mortifications and disappointments which are too fre- 

 quently attendant on a life of public service, or a course of 

 ambition. 



On the 29th of November 1827, Mr. Knight was unhappily 

 called upon to sustain the heaviest affliction that can fall on a 

 father, in the death of his only son, by a blow as unexpected as 

 it was overwhelming. 



The following account of this singularly promising young 

 man, extracted from a memoir written by one of his friends* 

 soon after his death, will show as far as words can do, how irre- 

 parable was the loss of such a son and brother, to a family 

 whose hearts were only too strongly fixed upon him. 



" The dreadful accident which cut off in the prime of life an 

 only son, and one who was even less the object of the admira- 

 tion of his family for his talents than he was of their affection 

 for his amiable qualities, took place at his father's house 

 on the 29th of November, 1827- Mr. Knight was shooting, in 

 the company of two gentlemen, in the woods at Downton 

 Castle, when a casual shot struck him in the eye, and passed 

 into the brain. He met the blow with fortitude and resigna- 

 tion not a reproach escaped him. He was immediately con- 

 veyed to an adjoining cottage, where he soon fell into a state 

 of insensibility, having exerted himself, as long as his faculties 

 remained to him, in endeavouring to alleviate the misery of his 

 unfortunate companion who had inflicted the blow. Medical 



* The Rev. Thomas Salwey, Vicar of Oswestry. 



