880 
His aim was : 
<< To raife the genius, and to mend the heart.” 
Mr. Scholefield had not purfued this plan 
Jong in Whitehaven, before he was folicited 
to refide in Birmingham, to the fincere regret ° 
o* a‘) his acquaintance, efpecially of thofe per- 
fons who had entruited their fons to his care; 
bat fuch was their confidence in his fatherly 
kindnefs to his pupils, that feveral accompa- 
nied him into Warwickthire ; and he had af- 
erwards the gratification of receiving fcholars 
from a much greater diftance. With no one 
could fucha tru be more advantageeufly 
depofited ; for, though Mr. Scholefield was 
fully fenfible of the true ftandard of tafte, 
and the noble fentiments to be acquired by 
ftudying ‘the ancient authors; yet literature 
and fcholattic lore, too often made the main 
objeGs of purfuit, were by him, juftly ef- 
teemed of fubordinate confideration to the 
ualifications of the heart: he was well 
aware that 
«Qui proficit in literis et deficit in-moribus, 
Non proficit, fed deficit, bi 
Towards the clofe of the year 1772, Mr. 
Scholefield took upon him the whole paftoral 
charge of the Old Meeting in Birmingham, 
and for feven years folely difcharged the la- 
bortous duties ‘thereof, to one of the larget 
congregations of proteftant diffenters in Eng- 
Jand. At the end of that time Mr. Schole- 
field was feverely attacked by the gour, 
which foon fo impaired his health and 
firength, as to render an affiftant neceflary. 
For near twenty years after Mr. Scholefield 
had fettled in Birmingham, the baneful ef- 
fe&s of religious diffentions were unknown 
in that peaceable town: all party diftin&ticns 
were funk in oblivion; and the Church and 
the Differters dwelt together in the bond of 
Charity. How direful was the change, ef- 
feéted in the fummer of 1791, by a hateful 
fpirit of perfecution fuitable only to the dark 
ages of Vandalic barbarifm! For the honor 
of this country let the fubje& be but flightly 
named, and oniy as Jeading us to contemplate™ 
the purer fpirit of Ch rifianity, which co that 
occafion was difplayed by fome tew of Mr. 
Scholefield’s forgiving temper. His difcourfe 
on ** Love to Enemies,”* delivered on the 
feventh of Auguft, 1791, was publiffed at 
the-earneift requeft of his numerous hearers, 
and will long fiand in evidence of thofe fen- 
timents of benevolence and forgivenefs of 
injuries that made fo fhining a feature in his 
Mr. Scholefield. 
[ Nov. 45 
own chara&ter, and which he faboured to 
ftrengthen in the minds of his perfecuted 
brethren. Truly might he be faid to ¢¢ pof- 
fefs that calm tranquillity which is a perpetual 
feaft. Indeed, he enjoyed a noble triumph 
over all the meaner, paffions of the mind. 
In the year 1798 Mr. Scholefield found the 
tafk of education too fatiguing to his debili- 
tated frame ; and fevere attacks of the gout 
rapidly fucceeding each other, he was obliged, 
fhortly after, to decline the minifterial func- 
tion. On that occafion, the congregation, 
which he had fo long benefited by precept 
and example, requefted his acceptance of a 
continued falary. The laf three. years of 
Mr. Scholefield’s life were devoted to a variety 
of rational ftudies, and a proportionate enjoy- 
meni of the fociety of the many friends who 
knew how to appretiate fo valuable a charac- 
ter. It might be faid, with truth, that on 
moit occafions, no one could be in his com- 
pany without feeling himfelf improved in 
knowledge or virtue. Mr. Scholefield’s read- 
ing had been very extenfive ; and his philofo- 
phical refearches were fufficiently deep to en- 
able him to enjoy the fublime ftudies of na- 
ture. On theologic4i fubje&s his converfa- 
tion glowed with ‘peculiar animation; and of- 
ten has he been known to contemplate. with 
enthuGafm, the wide, the unbounded, profpect 
of futurity; to feel the divinity ftir within | 
him, and excite the §¢ longing’ after immor- 
tality" "The termination of Mr. Schole- 
field’s carécr in this world was like the whole 
tenor of it, patient and ferene. He had 
fpent the eighteenth cf June laft, at the houfe 
of one of his former pupils in the country, 
in his ufual Rate of health and fpirits ; but, 
towards evening, fome fymptoms of ap- 
proaching diffotution were difcernible. Hay- 
ing returned home, in the courfe of the night 
he was attacked by a paralytic ftroke; and 
this 2fc@ioa returning, om the evening of. 
the twenty-firft, in the feventieth year of 
his age, deprived the world of one of i its pureft 
charaéters, a truly d: vout and corfcienticus, 
man, In perfon Mr. Schoiefield was tall, and. 
upright; his appearance was’ _venerable, 
theugh habitually frong and ative for {a 
advanced an age, He never married; but. 
had lived almo‘t from infancy with an only 
fifter, by whom his every wilh was aatici- 
pated: and to her the lofs of fuch a brother 
can only be fupported by the exgrcife of 
Chriftian patience, and the confideration that, 
though left lonely in the vale of years, 
<< Congenial fpirits part to meet again!””] 
SOCIETY FOR SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION, 7 
We have received fo many communications relative to the Plan of a Suciety for scientific 
Infermation, that we are unable to infert the whol- of them. 
effect to the wiihes of fo many refpectable perfons, 
But, as a means of giving 
Mir. PHILLIPS, the proprietor of this | 
Magzz: ne, Aby the defire of feveral friends to the plan, refident in London,) has agreed to” 
receive the names of all gentlemen. who may be difpoted to become members 3 Bad if a 
number, of fufficient refpectability, fhould be received, it is intended to make the necgflary 
arrangements ior the immediate formation of the Society on a liberal and extenlive pian. 
PROVINCIAL 
