In these “Memoirs,” having traced the progress of a long, studious, and active life, it is now the melancholy task of the writer, to delineate its closing scene.
Dr. Parr had always the happiness to enjoy, with
little interruption, excellent health and spirits. His digestive powers were good; and,
though often severely tried, were found unfailing. Dr.
Middleton, who was for the last twenty years his household physician, in a
written communication, with which he has favoured the writer, states that, during the whole
period, till the year 1820, he was never in attendance upon Dr. Parr
himself more than twice; and, then, merely in cases of slight indisposition. He remarks
that, whatever might be the disordered action of the body, of which he sometimes
complained, or whatever the excitement of his mind, by which he was often painfully
oppressed—all gave way to the soothing influence of his pipe,—his never-failing resource,
on these as well as all other occasions. “It operated like
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In the early part of January, 1820, after spending, as he said, a happy day, in the company of Lord Blaney, at the Bedford hotel, in Leamington, Dr. Parr returned to Hatton, on a cold night, in an open carriage; and when he reached home, complained of being unwell. The next morning, he was worse: his physician was sent for; and he was found to be suffering under the influence of considerable fever, which was speedily followed by a violent attack of erysipelas. He was always subject to slight leprous affection about the nails of the hand; and the inflammation now extended over both the hands and wrists. It was at one time attended with symptoms, which excited much alarm; but the care of his medical attendants, and the strength of his constitution prevailed. After suffering much pain and inconvenience, he slowly recovered from this attack; though not, as he always thought, from its debilitating effects upon his bodily and mental vigour. “I shall never,” he said, “again be the man I was.”
During the progress of this painful disorder, the writer frequently visited
him; and always found him, not only patient, but even cheerful; and often gay and jovial.
He cannot easily forget the spirit and energy, with which he conversed upon all subjects:
nor the satisfaction with which he inhaled the fumes of his pipe, from which he could not
be separated; although, being unable to hold it himself, he was obliged to employ for the
purpose one of the village-boys. Indelibly impressed upon the writer’s remembrance,
especially, is the
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On the 26th January, 1820, Dr. Parr completed his seventy-third year; and, though suffering under the severity of his disorder, yet, in opposition to all the remonstrances of his physician, he determined that the day should be celebrated at Hatton, by a large party of friends, some from a great distance, whom he had previously invited. Thus cheerfully he writes to his friend, Mr. Parkes—
“My inflammation is abated: but still there is absolute
necessity for caution, and abstinence. My spirits are in good order for
Wednesday. We shall have good company, and good fare. I shall fast, while you
feast; and yet I shall be merry.—By the blessing of God, I have long had an
inward merriness. of heart, which looks to another world, and which this world
can neither give nor take away.—What a splendid list of contributors to our
banquet!—Duke of Sussex, turbot;
Duke of Bedford, game; Lord Tamworth, game; Lord Bishop of Worcester, venison; Mr.
Leigh, venison; Mr. Coke,
game;
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The company invited assembled at Hatton on the appointed day: among whom were the families of Stoneleigh Abbey, Guy’s-Cliff, Toddlington, Taddlethorpe, Alscote, Newbold, and Studley Castle: and, after a sumptuous dinner, when the cloth was drawn, Dr. Parr entered the room: his hands bound up; his face pale; his frame feeble; but his spirits full and flowing; and his joy, at the sight of so many friends, high and unbounded. For three or four hours he conversed with all his accustomed ardour and animation; his wit gay and sportive as ever; his language energetic, impassioned, often rising into strains of eloquence, worthy of his best days; and, after having, from a glass held to his lips, drank to the toasts, given according to a list prepared by himself, he retired. Of these toasts, some of the more striking and characteristic, were the following:—“Liberty to subjects, and independence to nations”—“The cause of Greece”—“May the lion of old England never crouch to the Russian bear or the French baboon”—“A patriot-king, and an uncorrupt parliament”—“May servility be far banished from our universities, and intolerance from our church.”
When recovered from this serious illness—with returning health, it was
thought that Dr. Parr returned too incautiously to
all the luxuries of the
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But the end of the longest life must come. On Sunday, January 17, 1825, Dr. Parr entered the pulpit, for the last time, in Hatton church. He appeared in much of his usual health; and delivered his discourse with more than his usual earnestness and energy, as was remarked by several persons present; though, in such cases, it must be owned, excited feelings are apt to magnify realities. After the morning service, he had still another duty to perform, which, to him, was always very affecting, in reading the burial-service over the grave of a parishioner. The air was keen; the wind boisterous; and Dr. Parr stood, though not wholly unprotected, in the church-yard. On returning home, and sitting down to dinner, he complained of cold and the loss of appetite: and, after taking two or three pipes, he went restless and shivering to bed.
The next morning it was thought necessary to
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Dr. Parr’s last illness was long-protracted:
and, during the course of it, appearances were, more than once, so flattering, as to excite
in the minds of his family and his physicians the strongest hopes of his recovery; and to
diffuse, through a large circle of those who loved and honoured him, a joy, proportioned to
the distress which melancholy forebodings had previously produced. But about twelve or
fourteen days before his death, the last lingering hope took its flight. From that time, he
gradually and almost imperceptibly declined: and at seven o’clock in the evening of
Sunday, March 6,
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His mind, whenever it was self-possessed, during the solemn closing period, was calm, patient, resigned, and overflowing with benevolence. It was most gratifying, said his weeping relatives and attendants, to hear, coming from his lips, mingled with the devoutest breathings of pious acquiescence in the will of Providence, the fervid and glowing expressions of the same generous concern, which he had ever felt for the welfare of his friends, of his country, and of all mankind. Even in his last hours, it seemed to be still his delight, as it ever was in life, to range, with the joy of a benignant spirit, through the whole compass of rational creation; extending his kindest thoughts and wishes to all human beings. If a newspaper was read to him, or any public occurrence mentioned in his hearing, he still discovered the same deep-felt interest as ever, in each event, near or distant, which bore a favourable aspect on human improvement and happiness. Thus he died, as he had lived, possessed and animated with that high religious sentiment, with those elevating Christian hopes, and with that warm and diffusive benevolence, which shed over his character a brighter effulgence, than all the splendour of his talents, his learning, or his fame.
“More perfect composure of mind, more entire submission to a
higher will, less anxious attention to self, and more kind concern for others, on a
dying bed, I have never seen,”—says Dr.
Middleton, in his written communication to the author, who often attended
him for many hours in the day,
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Long habituated to look, with the eye of calm anticipation, to the
appointed end of all human beings, in his later years Dr.
Parr repeatedly wrote “directions for his funeral;” of which the
last bear date March 17, 1824; and these, in the same year, were followed by some
“additional directions.” In them, he minutely describes the hour and the place
of interment, the order of the procession, the manner of preparing the church, for the
occasion, and the mode of conducting the service: he enumerates the clerical friends to be
invited, and mentions the persons to be engaged as the bearers of the body: he describes
the very ornaments of the coffin, and names the persons to be
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“I lay particular stress upon the following directions: My hands must be bound by the crape hatband which I wore at the burial of my daughter Catherine: upon my breast must be placed a piece of flannel which Catherine wore at her dying moments at Teignmouth. There must be a lock of Madelina’s hair enclosed in silk, and wrapped in paper, bearing her name: there must be a lock of Catherine’s hair in silk, and paper with her name: there must be a lock of my late wife’s hair, preserved in the same way: there must be a lock of Sarah Wynne’s hair, preserved in the same way. All these, locks of hair must be laid on my bosom, as carefully as possible, covered and fastened with a piece of black silk to keep them together.”
Among the persons selected for the melancholy honour of bearing his pall,
Dr. Parr had long fixed his choice upon the
writer of these volumes, not only as being his neighbour and his friend, but also expressly
as being the member of a religious community different from his own. “His reason
for this choice,” as he repeatedly declared, “was to proclaim to the
world, that the same sentiments of religious candour, which influenced him through
life, were strong in death.” Dr. Parr’s
considerate care—more, it appeared, than necessary—to secure
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The morning of the funeral was announced by the tolling of the great bell in Hatton church; which continued its solemn knell till, at the appointed hour of one, the procession began to move; when, in an instant, the sounds from the gray tower changed; and successive peals of soft and cheerful melody were heard. This was done according to the directions of the deceased, with an intention to produce, in the minds of his funeral attendants, the same happy frame with which his hearers had been accustomed to enter with him into the house of prayer; and, at the same time, to proclaim to all, that death to the Christian is no subject of grief, but rather of joy—that “to die, to him, is not loss, but gain.”
Leaving the parsonage-house, the procession moved on foot, exactly in the order, prescribed by the deceased, amidst crowds of spectators, consisting of his own parishioners, and of persons of all descriptions from the surrounding country. The two officiating ministers, the venerable Archdeacon Butler and the Reverend Rann Kennedy, leading the way, were followed by the Rev. Mr. Laugharne, Dr. Parr’s curate, and Mr. Blen-
1 New Monthly Mag. May, 1826. |
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Three times the procession rested, in its way to the church, in places fixed by the deceased himself, with the kind intention of relieving the fatigue of those, who were to bear his remains. On entering the church, which was darkened, the first appearance to the view of the spectator was that of a capacious funereal vault: but as the eye, passing from the glare of day, gradually adapted itself to the dimmer light of the numerous wax tapers, the form and the decorations of the building, and the marble monuments, with which its walls are adorned, distinctly appeared.
As soon as the mourning company were seated, and the officiating ministers
had taken their places, the doors were thrown open, and the surrounding
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On the following Sunday a funeral-sermon was preached in the morning at St. Nicholas Church, and another in the evening at the High-street Chapel, Warwick.
A mural monument, prepared under the direction of Dr. Parr in his lifetime, has since his death been erected in Hatton Church, and placed next to those of his own family, on which appears the
1 See Birmingham Chronicle, March 17th, 1825. |
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On the north side of this Chancel lieth the Body
of Mrs. JANE PARR,
who died at Teignmouth, Devon, April 9th, in the year 1810,
Aged 63:
And next are deposited the remains of her Husband,
who for 39 years was resident and officiating Minister of this
Parish,
and who died on the 6th of March in the year 1825,
Aged 78.
Christian Reader!
What doth the Lord require of you but to do justice,
to love mercy, to be in charity with your neighbours,
to reverence your holy Redeemer, and to walk humbly
with your God?
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