Page:Our Hymns.djvu/252

 232 OUR HYMNS :

This is erroneously attributed to Toplady : it is by Cennick ; vide under Cennick, p 167.

BICHAKD DE COURCY. 1743_1803.

BORN in Ireland, in 1743, Bichard de Courcy was of good family, and possessed of talents of a high order. He received his edu cation at Trinity College, Dublin ; and, in 1767, having entered the Church, became curate to the Rev. Walter Shirley : but his evangelical doctrines made him enemies in those cold and formal times, and when on one occasion he was about to preach at St. Andrew s, Dublin, he received an inhibition from the Metro politan, Dr. Smythe. Undismayed by this painful circumstance, he announced to the congregation that, not being allowed to ad dress them in the church, he should deliver his discourse in the churchyard ; and the crowd soon gathered around him there.

But Mr. De Courcy found himself a marked man, and was refused a licence and priest s orders. At this juncture the Countess of Huntingdon invited Mr. De Courcy to England. On his arrival he met with encouragement from Mr. Whitefield and others, and preached with much success as a minister of the Countess s Connexion. He also obtained ordination from the Bishop of Lichfield, and he afterwards preached in Lady Glenorchy s chapel, in Edinburgh. In &quot;1770, he became curate of Shawbury, near Hawkstone, Salop, and in 1774 received from Lord Dartmouth, the Lord Chancellor, the vicarage of Aldwinkle, near Shrewsbury. In 1776, during his absence, some of his congregation attended the Baptist chapel. In consequence, he wrote &quot;A Letter to a Baptist Minister,&quot; which drew forth a spirited reply.

Mr. De Courcy suffered from a weakness in the chest, and as he approached his sixtieth year he was greatly affected by the loss of his youngest son. A cold, taken on the fast-day in 1803, aggravated his disorder, and he died on the following day, the 4th

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