Departed Merit.
On Sunday, October the 29th, 1820, died, after a long and painful illness, in the 77th year of his age, Mr. THOMAS BARRITT, of Hanging-Ditch, Manchester, Saddler; but better known, and in a far more expanded field, as an ANTIQUARY of no common acquirements; as a man to whom the first scholars in the kingdom (although he was almost self-educated) have often applied for information, and have bowed to his opinions; for on subjects connected with general and local antiquities, Genealogy and Heraldry, he might at any time be quoted as most respectable authority. His taste for the science in which he so much delighted, seems to have been co-existent with his breath; in very early life it became visible in the result of his incessant enquiries and research, and in the collection of rare coins, medals, arms, and armour, and other relics of antiquity, to which he continued to make additions as well as to his stock of knowledge on the subject,to the last week of his life. But in the accumulation of this knowledge, and the many rare and curious articles of which his collection consisted, he sacrificed no other duty-for he was a good husband, a good father, an industrious tradesman, an upright, honest, and honourable man, and a truly good and pious Christian. He was , previous to his death, the oldest member of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, to whose Memoirs he contributed several ingenious papers; and it has often been matter of wonder, that the Antiquarian Societies of London and Edinburgh did not do themselves honour by electing him an honorary member of their respective bodies. His death will be regretted by all ranks of life; for he had justly to boast of very many tokens of personal respect which he had experienced from persons who have a right to value themselves for their learning, their genius, their fortune, their rank, and their titles. It was respect honourably due, and as honourably paid to a man of superior merit, whose comparatively humble situation in life was forgotten in the contemplation of his virtues and mental acquirements. The following tribute to the persevering industry and talents of Mr. BARRITT, was paid to him, nearly twenty years ago, by one who knew him well, who valued his friendship, and who now mourns his death. It has, at least, the merit of presenting a faithful picture of his habits and pursuits; and whilst the portrait, lately engraved by Pye, and the rude engraving on wood annexed, (by many esteemed extremely faithful in its delineation,) preserve the recollection of his exterior, the lines will serve to illustrate the character of the man. They originally spoke of him in the past tense, to give them the air of antiquity, which their author aimed at, in preference to poetical beauty, as more in unison with their subject; and the very few copies which were then printed, (which were only presented to particular friends,) were, for the same reason, in the old black character.

"In MANCVNIVM, lived a man who knew
Much of old times, and much of ancient lore;
Strange and scarce books had he, and curious coins,
Medals, and painted glass, and pondrous arms,
Helmets and breast-plates, gauntlets vast, and shields
Of many kinds, proof against bloody War;
Swords without number, of all murdering shpaes;
And one, which erst had grac'd a Prince's thigh,
More valued than the rest--and more rever'd
By him who owned it, and by all his friends.--
He was vers'd in heraldry, and could tell
How all the thanes, and all the knights, and squires,
Within his shire, had sprung from times remote.
And famed too, was he, for his industry;
For aye at Work, for much his business call'd;
And yet full many a picture did he paint,
Pedigrees copied, branch and root, and carvings made
Of antique shapes; and, almost beyond belief,
Helmets and shields, to rival Greece and Rome;
Stealing from sleep the time to give them form:
Nay, once, grappling Patience, he made a suit of mail,
With thousands upon thousand links, for the love
He bore to ancient arms; for he was curious
As the searching air, which pries, without a blush,
Into things scarce, or sacred, or profane."

The Funeral of this estimable and extraordinary man took place on Friday, the 3d of November, 1820. It was a funeral honourable to his memory, because it marked the sense his fellow-townsmen entertained of his merit. Between thirty and forty gentlemen, each self-porvided with silk hat-bands and gloves, attended, uninvited, to evince their respect for a lost ornament of the town; they walked before his bier in solemn procession, from his late habitation, preceded by tow of the town's beadles, to the Collegiate Church, where the body was received into the choir by a solemn dirge, performed by Mr. Sudlow. It was the hour for evening prayers, which, previously to the awful form appointed by the Church for the burial of the dead, were read, with more than a common degree of impressiveness, by the Rev. C.D. Wray; and the Psalms, the "Magnificat", and "Nunc dimittis", were chanted (accompanied by the organ) in the minor key. The effect was impressively solemn; and even the proper lessons for the day, seemed to bear peculiarly on the melancholy occasion, which had so overflowingly filled the stalls of the choir, (that beautiful monument of the piety of our ancestors,) with persons in mourning habits. The whole seemed appropriately preparative to the last rites; and accident gave addition to the solemnity. At this time of the year the Evening Service is performed in the choir by candle light; and before the lesson appointed for the burial service was concluded, the whole Church, except what was illumined by the few candles in the choir, was enveloped in darkness. At the conclusion of the soothing assurances of St. Paul, that Death has lost its sting, and the Grave its victory, the choristers, wearing their surplices, took each a light, and preceded the corpse (followed by the mourners and attending friends) through the east end of the choir, down the north aisle of the venerable building, which had so often been an object of admiration to the deceased. On the arrival of the procession in the west aisle, the four choristers placed themselves at the angles of the grave. Their lights were just sufficient to illuminate, to solemn gloominess, a small portion of the Church whilst the last sad rites were rendered. The effect was awfully fine. It presented a scene at once sublime and picturesque;--it was worthy of and pencil. The open grave was surrounded by a circle of friends (scarcely distinguished in feature from each other in the paucity of light), who knew how to appreciate the value of the deceased, and to estimate the loss which society has sustained in his death; whilst the prayers of the officiating Minister seemed to reverberate from the walls, as a requiem of more than common solemnity. It was such a funeral as such a man as the decease might be supposed to have coveted. The respectability of the procession afforded the most unequivocal testimony of the estimation in which he was held by the town; and the manner in which his remains were consigned to their resting place, was such as good Christians delight to contemplate.