We regret deeply to notice the death of the Archdeacon
of Calcutta, the Rev. J. H. Pratt, one of the few men who in India have honoured the English Church. A man of high mathematical attainments, a scholar, and a deeply-read divine, his personal character enabled hint to afford the most valuable assistance to successive Bishops. He knew the character, history, and qualifications of every chaplain in the vast diocese, throughout which we believe he had not an enemy. In personal faith he was an Evangelical of the very moderate, because learned type ; but he was able to serve men so different as Bishop Wilson, Bishop Cotton, and Bishop Milman, without sup- pressing any of his own convictions, and with a loyalty all the more remarkable because his own appointment as successor to Dr. Wilson was agreed on, or as some say, actually signed, when a new Secretary of State for India set it aside. The Calcutta Archdeacon is in practice the Bishop's Adlatus, rather than a mere supervisor of finance and buildings, and the difficulty of filling up the vacancy will be excessive.
Previous page
