> 
262 
i 
deferves. the attentive pervfal of the libe- 
-ral and candid of every fect. The au- 
thor has taken. large and comprehenfive 
views of his fubjeét ;“and has, in the dif- 
cuffion of it, difplayed great ingenuity 
and acutenefs—very extenfive reading— 
great variety and depth of learning—un- 
common vigour of thought and energy of 
diction.+ 
In purfuing his great work, Dr. Geddes 
intended next to have prefented the world 
with a new tranflation of the book of 
Pialms; but during the laft whele year of 
his life, his ftudies and literary labours 
were greatly interrupted by a long feries 
of painful affliftion: yet in every interval 
of eafe he applied to a work in which his 
heart was engaged. He had already 
printed in an oétavo fize one hundred and 
four of the Pfalms, and had prepared 
completely for the prefs as far as the one 
hundredth and eighteenth Pfalm, when-he 
was arrefted by a moft painful and excru- 
ciating diforder, which terminated his va- 
Iuable and important life on the 26th of 
February, 1802. . 
Thoughin that interefting moment, ** fome 
pious drops the clofing eye requires ;” 
yet it is to be regretted that Dr. Geddes 
could not experience the tender charities 
of domeftic affeétion, nor derive confola- 
tion from the kind and foothing attentions 
of any perfon nearly allied to him by the 
ties of confanguinity. 
He has left one brother, who is a Monk 
of the order of St. Bennet, and now re- 
fides at the Scotch Monaftery at’ Wurz- 
burg, in Franconia. 
On the following Thurfday, his re- 
bleffings of Britifh freedom—admit them to 
a participation of Britith privileges—open to 
them the way to meritorious preferment— 
humble them not by fpecial refri€tions—dif- 
grace them not by peculiar difabilities—put 
it in their power to blend with focicty in 
every place, and on all occafions, without 
marks of ignominy on their faces—and they 
will foon become as focial as any other mem- 
bers of fociety. 
will be foftened down to the common ftamp ; 
‘and Papift and Proteftant will, in, the inter- 
courfe of life, refemble one another fo much, 
that their refpetive peculiarities will hardly 
be difcernible.” : 
4+ The lighter works of Dr. Geddes, both 
poetical and fatyrical, are very numerous; 
but as they are not identified by his name, 
and as he exprefsly defired and intreated the 
public not to give him credit for any publica- 
tion to which his name is not affixed or pre- 
fixed, the writer of this article does not 
think himfelf juftified in giving a full lift of 
all the works generally fuppofed to be the 
Dogtor’s productions. 
e. i | 
Account of the late Dr. Geddes.’ 
Their prominent features 
~ Chaimers, 
[April §, 
mains, attended by anumber.of refpeét- 
able friends* zealoufly attached to Doétor 
Geddes during his life, were conveyed te 
Paddington church-yard, where they were 
depofited according to his awn wih. 
It was a {ubjeé& of melancholy pleafure 
to behold at this parting feene, perfons of 
different feéts, and attached to the oppofite 
prevailing political parties. Catholics 
ard Proteftants ;-Churchmen and Diffent- 
ers; Whigs and Tories} ail forgot their 
differences, and united to pay a common 
dnd unfeigned refpeét, to the memory of 
one whofe life had been confecrated, in a 
great meafure, to a labour_in which all are 
deeply interefied. 
We cannot better conclude this fketch 
than in the words of one of Dr. Geddes’s 
very intimate friends. ee 
«Tt muft’’,(fays he, )** be lamented ,that 
in the death of Dr. Geddes, the world has. 
loft the fervices of a man, who by his 
‘ 
acute and penetrating genius—his various, , 
profound, and extenfive erudition—his deep 
refearch—his indefatigable application— 
and his independent, dignified, and unfet- 
tered fpirit, rifmg fuperior to the preju- 
dices of education; nobly difdaining the 
fhackles of fyftem; fpurning the petty 
temporizing arts of unmanly accommoda- 
tion; and fetting at defiance all the ter- 
rors of malignity, bigotry, and intcle- 
rance, was fupereminently qualified for 
the great laborious and important work 
in which he had for a long. feries of years - 
been engaged, &f giving an Englilh ver- 
fion of the venerable literary remains of 
facred antiquity, the fcriptures of the 
Old and New Teftament. This was the 
-work and the labour of his life—the ob-— 
ject which he ever kept in view, and the 
purfuit from which he never deviated, but 
at fhort intervals, to relax and unbend his 
mind by lighter occupations, and ftudies 
lefwfevere; but ftill returning to his pro- 
per and favourite occupation with greater 
relith and delight. During his life, this 
undertaking did not meet with encourage- 
ment adequate to the magnitude of the 
defign; or, it may be added, to the merit 
of the execution. In this laft refpect, it- 
will be matter of furprize to all who are 
competent to judge of the nature of fuch 
an enterprize, how much has been done, 
* Among thefe were Mr. TimotTuy 
Brown, whofe fteady and generous patronage 
during the latter years of his life always oc- 
cafioned the Doétor to fpeak of him with 
the warmeft emotions of gratitude, and dee 
ferves in this place a diftinguifhed mno-- 
tice; alfo, Doétors Crombie, Calder, and 
Ditney; Mefirs, Ring, Good, Jervis, and 
] 
tand& 
