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tian principles would allow Mrs. Cappe
to be an inactive member of society.
Her history, from the time of her set-
tling at York, is the narration of in-
cessant literary and philanthropic la-
bours, her literary pursuits being in
fact philanthropic. Two whole chap-
ters (34 and 35) of the Memoirs are
taken up with the History of a de-
serted Young Irishwoman whom she
patronized; and the tale, which is
interesting of itself, exhibits the wri-
ter's character, ever forward to shew
sympathy with the oppressed, and
bold and unceremonious in rebuke of
vice and cruelty. There is a species
of feminine delicacy which all good
men must approve, but this becomes
a weakness that is to be pitied when
it shrinks from the more hardy duties
of human life. We admire the fe-
male, who like Mrs. Cappe, sensible
of her own intellectual superiority,
and a stranger to all but Christian
views, steps forth from the privacy of
domestic life at the call of charity,
and exposes herself fearlessly to the
observation of the world in the per-
formance of acts of unquestionable
humanity. All women are not to be
blamed for not copying in this respect
the example of Mrs. Cappe; but, on
the other hand, let not her be tried
by a common standard. By a differ-
ence of talent, temperament and con-
dition, Providence determines some
persons to privacy and others to pub-
licity; and, pursuing conscientiously
the path marked out for them by the
Disposer of human life, all may obtain,
though in very different ways, satis-
faction of mind, and entitle them-
selves equally to the approbation of
society, as the earnest of the blessing
of Almighty God.

Of the death of her excellent husband Mrs. Cappe writes in language which is alike honourable to them both. On this melancholy occasion, Mrs. Lindsey wrote a truly characteristic letter of condolence to the widow, of which the following is an extract:

"You are now under the severest trial of your fortitude and resignation that you ever experienced, in the loss of the object of your tenderest and best affections, and who was so truly worthy of

them. That he suffered no more, nor longer, is some consolation; that his mind was more sensible than his body,

and alive to the feelings of friendship to the last; and possessed of the divine composure of a true Christian about to enter into the joy of his Lord,' for the interval will not be perceived.

"Indeed, you have every thing that can comfort you, having for so many years niinistered in every possible way to his relief under great infirmities; and trying, by engaging his attention to the decyphering his previous valuable labours, to afford him all the pleasure disease left him, of being useful to others, which was always his delight. That he knew your value, and was full of affection and gratitude, I have no doubt that your love of his talents and virtues flowed over to those who were very dear to him, and whose esteem and affection will now contribute to your ease and comfort, (for they are all good,) and thereby will shew the stability of their tender dutiful attachment to so excellent a father. But whatever sources of human consolation may belong to you, there is one omnipotent Protector, whose favour and support no time or circumstance can withdraw from those who sincerely desire and endeavour to serve and obey him; and there our chief confidence lies.

"All things have for a long time had a tendency to moderate your hopes of any great comfort in his living, or any great length of life; yet, even the absence of that tender, anxious attention and soothing, night and day, to so amiable an object, will leave a painful chasm, which only time and a sense of dutiful submission to the appointment of God will fill up, with the occupations and demands of general benevolence, such as you have

been in the habit of exercising.

"I write more to relieve my own mind than to impress yours; we have all a manner of feeling peculiar to ourselves, and have points of consolation and regret to which others must be strangers; but the voice of friendship cannot be silent or uninterested under the events which break the affections and habits of those one loves."-Pp. 310–312.

Many passages, and even entire chapters of the Memoirs, testify Mrs. Cappe's maternal affection to her husband's children by a former marriage; which we take notice of in order to remark, that hers was a case in which public spirit and an honourable desire of literary distinction were found quite consistent with the most regular and faithful observance of the domestic duties.

Mrs. Cappe's life was connected by her warm feelings of Christian charity with all the principal events of her

time. These she sometimes records, with sensible and amiable reflections. Having related the establishment of the Bible Society, she says,

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"For my own part, I can truly say, that in the course of a long life, not wholly spent without observation, I have never yet seen an instance, where the Bible has been habitually read, though the understanding respecting the genuine import of many passages may not always have been much informed, that the heart has not been made wiser and better; that many evil passions have not been corrected, although perhaps not wholly subdued; and the pious and benevolent affections further cultivated, improved and enlarged. Say then, if it be not true, that the gospel is indeed the pearl of great price,' for which the enlightened merchant-man' would cheerfully sell all that he hath' to make the purchase? "Nor does the importance of the British and Foreign Bible Society appear diminished, or its value inferior, when we witness the subordinate happy effects resulting from it; softening the animosities of discordant, contending sects and parties, by demonstrating, that there is one object at least, and that a most important one, in which all may most cordially unite. With what delight, upon this occasion, have I seen the friends with whom I am in more immediate communion, join heart and hand with some other excellent persons, who are our friends also, but whose speculative opinions, on some points, differ widely from ours giving thus a sort of happy foretaste of that delightful harmony which shall hereafter obtain, when all that is imperfect shall be done away; when we shall no longer see as through a glass darkly,

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but shall know even as we are known!" Pp. 376, 377.

title to Unitarian patronage. Her name will be enrolled at the head of the benefactors to the institution, for there may be benefactions without large ing recollection for its conductors and pecuniary assistance, and it is a pleassupporters, that her co-operation with them, according to her means, in this important work, constituted one of the greatest pleasures of her later years.

All persons who were acquainted with Mrs. Cappe, we may say all those that have perused the former volumes of our work, know the deep interest which she took in the removal of the Manchester College to York. Besides a strong conviction of the utility and even necessity of this institution to the prosperity of the cause of the Unitarian Dissenters, she entertained the liveliest friendship for the gentleman who is at the head of this academic establishment, and for those that were afterwards called to share in his learned labours. Hence, she watched the growth of the college with much anxiety, and by her tongue and her pen zealously asserted its

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We should gladly have laid before the reader a larger portion of the contents of this valuable work, if the department allotted to our Review would have allowed; but we regret the restrictions under which we write the less, because we feel assured that mend the Memoirs to all that admire we have extracted enough to recomsuperior talents virtuously employed, that sympathize with the best affections of our race, and that rejoice in seeing the profession of the simple truth of the gospel accredited and enforced by the evidence and argument of a holy and heavenly life.

Tfor some

ART. II.-Negro-Slavery; or, A View of some of the more Prominent Features of that State of Society, as it exists in the United States of America, and in the Colonies of the West Indies, especially in Jamaica. 8vo. pp. 124. Hatchard and Son, and J. and A. Arch. 1823. 3s. HE friends of humanity have been years at rest with regard to the subject of Negro-Slavery; apparently satisfied with the great achieveTrade. At length, they are aroused ment of the abolition of the Slaveto a sense of duty upon this important question; they are beginning to awaken public sympathy; and we trust they will not cease their virtuous labours until means shall have been devised for ultimately extirpating the immoral and impolitic system of slavery throughout the whole of the British dominions.

The publication before us originated with an association at Liverpool, formed for the purpose of mitigating and abolishing slavery in our colonies. That town, which was deepest in the guilt of the slave-trade, is thus endeavouring to expiate its sin. The pamphlet consists of the evidence of vari ous unconnected witnesses of great respectability, with regard to the crimes and atrocities that are insepa rable from slavery; and we are pleased

to see that great use is made of the letters of Mr. Cooper in our last volume, and that deserved reliance is placed upon his testimony. In a debate upon the subject in the House of Commons, an attempt was made by one individual connected with the West Indies to shake Mr. Cooper's credit; but in the only report that we have seen of that gentleman's speech, he is represented to say nothing more in reality than that pride prevented the Missionary from endeavouring to do any thing on behalf of the Negroes besides preaching. This charge was oddly followed, by an acknowledgment that the speaker knew nothing of the person of whom he was speaking. Mr. Cooper's own letters are sufficient refutation of the aspersion, and every

one that knows him must smile at a reproach which belongs less perhaps to him than to any person living. But slavery is to be defended, and of course every one that takes part in the abolition is, as far as possible, to be lessened in public estimation. Is there still, however, a mass of inhumanity at Bristol which must be represented in Parliament? We thought not; but if there be, we should not expect to find such a representative, and the representative of prejudice and bigotry in general, in a gentleman who was brought forward by the liberal party of that city, and especially by the Dissenters, of whose party, we know not with what truth, he is generally reckoned.

POETRY.

HYMNS.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Happy the man whose humble mind,
To heaven's Almighty will resign'd,

No wild commotion knows ;
Who, free from pride's tumultuous fears,
In silence treads this vale of tears,

Rejoicing as he goes!

In vain does Wealth her charms unfold,
And court his gaze with gems and gold,
And all her store display;
In vain Ambition shews her page,
And boasts her deeds from age to age,
And tempts his feet to stray.

In vain do pleasure's silken sails
Expand before the swelling gales,

And prosperous breezes blow;
In vain do Fame and Glory rise
And spread their charms before his eyes,
In gay, delusive show.

Pure are his joys and calm his soul,

And, while he hears the tempest roll,
And sees the mountain riven,

Patient he sits beneath the vale,
Nor fears the vengeance of the gale,
But humbly trusts in heaven.

MATT. v. 3.

J. C. W.

Chesterfield.

HYMNS.

"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted."

Come, ye who mourn, and dry your tears,
And let your sorrows cease!

For, lo! the Son of Man appears,
Who calms the sufferer's anxious fears,
And soothes his soul to peace!

Come, ye who mourn the sinner's choice,
Come, and efface the stain!
For, lo! the blest Redeemer's voice
Bids every wounded heart rejoice,
And whispers peace again!

Come, ye who mourn with pain opprest,
And cast your cares behind!
Come, lean upon your Saviour's breast,
And hush the anxious soul to rest,

Come, ye

And calm the troubled mind!

who weep departed friends!
Come, all to sorrow driven !
Lo! o'er the grave Hope's rainbow bends,
Whose beauty from the earth extends,
And reaches up to Heaven!

Chesterfield.

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

Chesterfield.

Blest are the meek, the sacred train

Who from all guiltiness refrain,

Through life's still varying scene;

Who, though the tempest rages fast,

Amidst the fury of the blast,

Are gentle and serene !

The power which shakes the mountain brow,
And bids the knotted oak to bow,
And binds the eagle's wings,

Yet spares the lily's tender form,

And sheds the fury of the storm,
On loftier, mightier things.

So, while Ambition, Power and Pride,
Spread moral desolation wide,

And fill the world with woe;
The meek, in secret silence laid,
Court the seclusion of the shade,
Nor tremble at the blow.

As some pure river, deep and wide,
In silence rolls its gentle tide,

And seeks the boundless sea;
Thus, unobtrusive flow their years,
While to their ardent gaze appears
A blest eternity.

J. C. W.

J. C. W.

OBITUARY.

1823, Feb. 20, at Madeira, JOHN SOLLY, second son of ISAAC SOLLY, Esq. aged 22.

March 29, at his Lodge, in Downing College, Cambridge, EDWARD CHRISTIAN, Esq., Chief Justice of the Isle of Ely, and Professor of the Laws of England in the University of Cambridge.

19th inst., at Brixton, Mr. LINDSAY BOWRING, aged 28, an amiable and excellent young man, who was deservedly held in the highest esteem by the numerous members of his family, and by all his connexions. It may be remarked, as another of the many coincidences that strikingly manifest the vanity of human life, that he had given his name as one of the Stewards of the Christian Tract Society Anniversary, and that when the meeting was held, he was a corpse. This melancholy event was alluded to at the meeting, and a just tribute of respect was paid to the memory of the deceased.

P

At Cirencester, at a very advanced age, Mrs. KIMBER. The qualities which most distinguished this excellent lady were integrity, benevolence and piety. Her integrity appeared in every transaction of her life. She uniformly acted from principle, from a sense of duty, from a regard to right. The fine tender feeling of honour which she possessed, gave a dignity to her mind and an independence to her conduct, such as are seldom witnessed in the world. Of the integrity of her religious principle she gave a remarkable proof about fifteen years ago, when, in Consequence of the Unitarian Meetinghouse at Fairford having been given up to the Independents, she left the town and a large circle of friends, and removed to Cirencester, where she could worship God, even the Father, in a manner more congenial to her views and feelings. Her benevolence shewed itself both in her spirit and her conduct. She wished well to all, thought the best of every one, and put the most charitable construction on every action. If any thing, she was too charitable in her feelings, which led her sometimes to administer pity where censure would have been more just. Of the benevolence of her actions, or what is more commonly termed charity, or alms-giving, it is almost impossible to speak too highly. It was

impartial, it was disinterested, it was generous. Meek herself as a child, and humble as a saint, she regarded not the distinctions which pride and vanity make shred of the same frail texture, and, among mortals. She considered all as a therefore, meriting her equal love. She bestowed her charity without regard to persons, and almost without regard to character;" for e'en her failings leaned to virtue's side,"-it was sufficient for her that an object wanted relief, and she could give it. But her benevolence was not quite impartial; for she certainly leaned towards the poor, the distressed, and those who had none to help them. Many such in her neighbourhood are now mourning her loss; and well they may, for her place will not soon be supplied. Her charity was disinterested: what she gave, she gave for the object's sake, and not for any private gratification or show of vanity. Her right hand knew not what her left hand did. She never liked to be thanked for any kindness she bestowed, much less did she ever mention it herself. "To do good," she used to say, was a duty in which there was no merit." Moreover, her charity was generous, and what is a remarkable fact, her generosity increased with her years. To form an idea of this excellent quality, it was necessary to witness its effects. Her liberal hand extended itself as far as it could. And it is but justice to add, that the recipients of her bounty were not ungrateful, if a devout attendance at her grave, and many tears and expressions of regret, can be considered indicative of the feelings of the heart. Of her piety much might be said, but it is unnecessary after such an exhibition of its fruits; for her philanthropy sprung from its legitimate source, love to God. general it may be observed, that her piety was an habitual feeling, and not an occasional impulse, or formal observance. It was a disposition of soul which softened down all her thoughts and feelings to one continued flow of devotion-to a constant expression of gratitude and praise to the Giver of all good. It was her practice to trace every blessing and mercy, every comfort and convenience, every pleasing thought and holy feeling, to the Great Origin of all things, even her God and Father. She saw God in every thing, and every thing in God. She believed and she felt that all circumstances and events were under the controul of a wise and gracious Providence. Hence her constant

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