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upon her reward

Never will she be forgotten by those who knew her! Her strong sense, her feeling, her energy, her principle, her patriot feelings, her piety, rational, yet ardentall these mark a character of no common sort. When to these high claims upon general regard are added those of relation or friend, the feeling must be such as no course of years can efface.'

"A gentle and scarcely perceptible decline was now sloping for herself the passage to the tomb she felt and hailed its progress as a release from languor and infirmity, a passport to another and a higher state of being. Her friends, how. ever, flattered themselves that they might continue to enjoy her yet a little longer; the roof of her adopted son, that his affectionate attentions and those of his family might be the solace of every remaining hour. But Providence had ordained it otherwise she quitted indeed her own house, but whilst on a visit at the neighbouring one of her sister-in-law, Mrs. Aikin, the constant and beloved friend of nearly her whole life, her bodily powers gave way almost suddenly; and, after lingering a few days, on the morning of March the 9th, 1825, she expired without a struggle, in the eighty-second year of her age."-Mem. pp. liii.-lvii.

and she had consented to remove under

One short sentence in the character here given of Mrs. Barbauld speaks

volumes :

"She passed through a long life, with out having dropped, it is believed, a single friendship, and without having drawn upon herself a single enmity which could properly be called personal."— Mem. p. lix.

Although we are far from wishing that this Memoir of Mrs. Barbauld had been a confession of faith, either her own or her biographer's, we may yet be allowed to express our regret that her character as a Christian is not made more prominent, and that her general views of divine truth are not more precisely delineated. Her belief in the Christian revelation, her trust in a merciful Providence, and her attachment to the opinions of the liberal Dissenters, are apparent in her Works; but her admirers cannot check the desire of knowing the whole his tory of her mind, in relation to these momentous subjects. Her judginent upon the leading theological and moral questions that were agitated during the eventful period of her life must have been worthy of record; and the

statement would, we are persuaded,
have been a new and valuable testi-
mony on behalf of those principles of
Christian truth that most highly exalt
the benevolence of the Divine charac-
ter and the wisdom and equity of the
moral government of the universe.
In a work against the Unitarians that
was once popular, whatever be the esti
mation in which it is now held, Mrs.
Barbauld is alluded to as one of their
writers and is charged with a saying
to their disparagement: the charge
is, we have reason to believe, entirely
groundless; but its being made is a
proof of the importance attached to
her opinions: and the denomination
amongst whom she is thus placed, by
an angry polemic, in order to serve a
purpose, will ever be proud to appeal
to the sanction of a writer, who yields
to few that have earned for themselves
a name in English literature and who is
pre-eminent amongst female authors.
She was not indeed a controversial
Unitarian, but there are passages in
her works which express, and that not
feebly, her dislike of the system of
theology received as orthodox; and
the spirit of all her compositions,
whether in verse or prose, is congenial
with a rational and benevolent scheme
of religious doctrine.

Miss Aikin fancies a resemblance between the genius of Mrs. Barbauld and that of Addison, (Mem. p. xl.) and she characterizes the style of both as being full of idiom. Now this is by no means the quality that we should have attributed to Mrs. Barbauld's prose-writings. In these she appears to us, notwithstanding our previous admission, to resemble Johnson still more than Addison, exhibiting Johnson's stateliness and strength chastened by the liveliness and grace of her

sex.

Her declamation in her pamph lets, and splendid it commonly is, falls into the strain of the author of Rasselas. She displays also some of his tendency to antithesis and the balance of phrases, clauses and sentences. Is it not a corroboration of this opinion that she was so good an imitator of this imposing writer?

We allude to the late A. Fuller's "Calvinistic and Socinian Schemes Compared," in which is attributed to Mrs. Barbauld the remark that “ Unitarianism is the frigid zone of Christianity.”

"The Essay on Romances is a professed imitation of the style of Dr. Johnson; and was allowed by that celebrated rhetorician himself, to be the best that was ever attempted, because it reflected the colour of his thoughts, no less than the turn of his expressions.”—Mem. pp. lxv. lxvi.

We are happy to announce from Miss Aikin that "Mrs. Barbauld composed at different periods a considerable number of miscellaneous pieces for the instruction and amusement of young persons, especially females, which will appear in a separate form about the close of the present year." Mem. p. lxxii.

The first of these volumes contains Mrs. Barbauld's poetical, and the second her prose works. The poetry comprises all that had been published in the volume of her poems, together with many smaller pieces, some of which have been printed, a few anonymously, but which were never before collected. Amongst these latter we perceive the several poems communicated by Mrs. Barbauld to this magazine, which are pointed out at the end of the obituary notice, p. 186 of this volume; and also two others, which we did not know to be hers, though we suspected it, viz. "The Pilgrim" (which is now entitled, "A Pastoral Hymn,") Mon. Repos. II. 261, The Death of the Righteous," (which is now entitled, "The Death of the Virtuous,") Mon. Repos. IX. 243.

and "

Our early readers must remember the beautiful and affecting Memoir of Mr. Barbauld, which his widow communicated to our IHrd volume, P. 706, &c. Part of this Miss Aikin has with evident propriety transplanted into the Memoir (xlv.-xlix.); and on this melancholy subject there are now published for the first time, (Vol. I. pp. 224-226,) the following verses, which no one can read without deep emotion. They exhibit the fervour of poetry, without its fiction. The first, fourth and last stanzas are the effusions of unmingled "bitter grief."

"DIRGE:

Written November, 1808. PURE Spirit! O where art thou now? O whisper to my soul!

O let some soothing thought of thee, This bitter grief controul !

"Tis not for thee the tears I shed,

Thy sufferings now are o'er; The sea is calm, the tempest past, On that eternal shore.

No more the storms that wrecked thy

peace

Shall tear that gentle breast;
Nor Summer's rage, nor Winter's cold,
Thy poor, poor frame molest.
Thy peace is sealed, thy rest is sure,
My sorrows are to come;
Awhile I weep and linger here,
Then follow to the tomb.
And is the awful veil withdrawn,
That shrouds from mortal eyes,
In deep impenetrable gloom,

The secrets of the skies?
O in some dream of visioned bliss,
Some trance of rapture, show
Where on the bosom of thy God,

Thou rest'st from human woe!
Thence may thy pure devotion's flame
On me, on me descend;
To me thy strong aspiring hopes,

Thy faith, thy fervours lend.
Let these my lonely path illume,

And teach my weakened mind To welcome all that's left of good, To all that's lost resigned. Farewell! with honour, peace and love, Be thy dear memory blest! Thou hast no tears for me to shed, When I too am at rest."

in this collection is the verses" On One of the earliest written pieces the Deserted Village," [Vol. I. p. 60,] and these possess much of the sweetness which makes that poem so great a favourite with unsophisticated readGoldsmith, whose envy is well known, ers. We are told (Mem. p. Ixi.) “ that bore involuntary testimony to the merit of these lines, by exhibiting no sentiment but mortification on hearing them read with applause in a London circle." We give them entire :

"On the Deserted Village. In vain fair Auburn weeps her desert plains,

She moves our envy who so well complains;

In vain has proud oppression laid her low,

So sweet a garland on her faded brow. Now, Auburn, now absolve impartial fate, Which if it made thee wretched, makes

thee great:

So, unobserved, some humble plant may bloom,

Till crushed, it fills the air with sweet perfume;

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TE have before had occasion to take notice of volumes of Sermons by this much-respected author; [Mon. Repos. I. 544, and XV. 163;] and we are glad that conjugal affection has done honour to his memory by presenting another to the public. There may have been more able and more eloquent divines; but a more amiable or more useful preacher cannot be named than Mr. Butcher, nor are his excellencies in these respects any where more prominent than in the "Discourses" before us.

They are Twenty-one in number, and bear the following titles: General Remarks upon the Sermon on the Mount-On Poverty of Spirit-On Afflictions-On Meekness Righte ousness the only Foundation of Happiness-The Reward of Virtue-Ön Mercifulness-On Purity of Heart

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miliar and frequently searching. Every one, of whatever age, character, or calling, will find something in them suited to his own case. Mr. Butcher probed with an unsparing hand both public and private vice. He wrote as a patriot and philanthropist, and though he designed these Sermons to be chiefly moral, he omitted no convenient opportunity of asserting and defending his principles as a Protestant Dissenter and an Unitarian Christian.

We have space but for few extracts, and many are not necessary to shew the value of this little volume.

The preacher remarks that the Sermon on the Mount exhibits "the great design of the Christian Institu

tion :"

"Now, in this discourse, delivered to such a multitude, and in so formal and Lord should confine himself only to the solemn a manner, is it probable that our subordinate and inferior parts of his reli

Is such a

gion? Would he omit any important
article of his commission?
supposition consistent with any just no-
tions, either of his wisdom or faithfulness?
Is it for a moment to be imagined that
in the longest of our Master's discourses,
which has been handed down to us,
there should be nothing or but little truly
evangelical? But if there be any thing
evangelical in it at all, it must be entirely
so, for it is all of a picce. Here, there-
fore, we may expect to meet with every
thing that is essential to our practice, as
disciples of Christ and candidates for
eternal salvation. That every thing of
this kind is actually contained in this
sermon, Christ has expressly assured us,
for he thus closes the whole; Whoso-
ever heareth these sayings of mine, and

doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise

man who built his house upon a rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock.""-Pp. 8, 9.

He has a shrewd remark upon the frequent apology for bad temper:

Character and Reward of the Peacemakers-Promises to the Persecuted -On Persecution-Christians the Salt of the Earth-The Influence of Example-The Duty of setting an Eminently Good Example-On the Importance and Stability of the Moral Law-The Mischief and Iniquity of corrupting the Moral Law-Character of the Pharisees-On Anger-On the Importance of Right Dispositions in many occasions, requires so much resoReligion-On the Necessity of Chastity and Self-Denial.

From these titles the reader will justly infer that the "Discourses" are practical; they are also plain and

VOL. XX.

fa

3 R

"Great, however, as these advantages of meekuess are, the exercise of it, upon

lution and self-denial that very few make the attainments they might in this divine temper; and the common excuse is, that by their very constitution they are so inclined to lastiness and passion, that they really cannot help it. This is not

only a poor, but a false apology, for where these people have any interest to serve, they can keep their tempers well enough." -P. 62.

The following is the bold and animated introduction to Sermon IX. on Matt. v. 9, The Peacemakers:

"None but those who have actually felt the ravages and desolations of war can have a full conception of the inestimable blessings of peace. Imagination may sketch a dreadful picture, but the most vivid painting must fall infinitely short of the reality. To have the harvest, when it is just ready for the sickle, laid waste by a fiery deluge-to see a ruffian soldiery ransacking every house-tearing from the trembling inhabitants their necessary food-stalking along the streets begrimed with the blood of the innocent infant, and the venerable old man-to sce in every quarter, wives, mothers and virgins flying in vain from violation and death-to behold the land not wide enough for these outrages, but the sea also crimsoned with the blood of contending mortals, and to hear, as has frequently been the case, the names of justice and religion prostituted in the defence of such barbarities,-what can be imagined more terrible than this?-And yet we know that into this picture, melancholy as it is, not a hundredth part of the calamities of war are introduced. The labour of ages is annihilated in, perhaps, a single campaign, and the most serious part of its mischief it is impossible to repair. Cities may rise again from their ruins-houses may be rebuilt, and considerable portions of property may be replaced; but the mutilated limb it is impossible to restore-the moral contagion it is impossible to calculate-and the immortal spirit, which was sent to its account in the most awful circumstances,

can never be recalled. If we measure

this calamity by the numbers it is sure to involve, what an enormous evil is this Scourge of the earth! Admit that most of those that thus perish are, as is always the case, of the lower orders of society, yet each of them has an immortal soul; and supposing the tear of the poor widow, and the helpless orphan, to pass for nothing, yet, surely, an immortal soul is of some consequence! Can we wonder that Jesus, who was the prince of peace, that

Jesus, who was all benevolence and love,

should pronounce such an eulogium as the text contains upon the promoters of peace and concord ? Blessed are the peace-makers: for they shall be called the children of God. Every line of the gospel illustrates this character of the

Almighty, that he is the God of peace, and the Father of all consolation.”—Pp. 119-121.

Ser. X. on Matt. v. 10, the Persecuted, is thus introduced :

"Into what a multitude of sorrowful and aching hearts has this beatitude darted consolation and joy! Ye howling wideruesses, ye dens and caves of the earth, the habitations only of savage beasts, till persecution peopled you with the sons and daughters of integrity, bear witness with what a glistening eye, with what a transported spirit, many a trembling forlorn disciple has uttered these words of his Master: Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness' sake!'”—P.

135.

One of the reflections upon " the dreadful consequences of bad example," is very impressive:

"A city set on a hill CANNOT BE HID. If our conduct be careless and criminal, it will be of no importance that our general conversation and manner be grave and serious. Men will judge of us, not by what we say, but by what we do. What an awful thing will it be in the day of judgment, to have many, perhaps, ascribing their everlasting ruin to our conduct-saying to the Judge of the universe, That was the man, that was the woman by whose example I was drawn aside into the paths of folly and sin!They taught me that under the cloak of religion I might indulge my impure and unholy passions, and that if I preserved a fair outside, it was a matter of little consequence what was my real character! O my fellow-professors! never, never let such a charge as this lie at your doors." -P. 195.

We could readily multiply interesting quotations. The above are perhaps sufficient to justify our recommendation of the volume.

It ought not to pass unnoticed that the work, though neatly printed, is sold at a price (five shillings) which makes it accessible to the mass of readers.

The Sermons are generally short, and on this as well as other accounts are well adapted to the use of families.

Contemplating a second edition, we Egypt," p. 45, is a misprint for "the would suggest that "the garden of garden of Eden," and would also recommend that the passage, p. 236, charging upon the Church of Rome the maxim which she has solemnly renounced, that no faith is to be kept

with heretics, should be either omitted or new-modelled.

The Preface states that before his decease Mr. Butcher "had selected from a large store of sermons a sufficient number to form a fourth volume of the same size as the three which have been already published:" may we express a wish that these may be published in the same unexpensive way as these "Discourses"? This we think would insure their wide circulation.

ART. III.-An Answer to the Lord Chancellor's Question, "What is a Unitarian ?" By J. G. Robberds. 8vo. pp. 24.

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THIS is a singular title for a Sermon, but it is very appropriate. The discourse was preached to the author's own congregation at Manchester, June 19, and again at Hull, before an Unitarian Association, July 5, (see our last Number, p. 424,) and is now published in compliance with wishes expressed on both those occasions. It is a just, temperate and pleasing delineation of the religion of the Unitarian Christian. Whether it will be seen by the Chancellor, much more whether it will be read by him, and, above all, whether on the supposition of his condescending to read a discourse, however able and excellent, which has not the imprimatur of authority, he will gain the knowledge which he affects to want, and learn Christian charity and renounce intolerance, though it be convenient and profitable, may be matter of doubt; but we can have no doubt whatever that it will satisfy every candid reader, of any denomination, that the Unitarian is entitled to be regarded as a fellow-christian and to be on a level with his brethren in respect of political rights and civil iminunities. The following are the introductory paragraphs of the Sermon, the text of which is Acts xvii. 19, 20:

"I should be glad to be informed what a Unitarian is'said the Lord Chancellor, on a recent occasion. There

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is certainly some resemblance in the language, whatever there may have been in the spirit of the speaker, to the somewhat contemptuous questions of the Epicurean aud Stoic philosophers recorded in the gislator's inquiry does not appear to have But one object of the modern lehad any counterpart in the minds of the Athenian sages. Whether they spoke from the mere curiosity of idleness, and the desire to hear some new thing, or from that love of wisdom to which they pretended, they did not, it would seem, want to ascertain whether Paul was liable to punishment for the doctrines which he professed. In the instance, on the other hand, to which I have alluded, the declared object of the wish to be informed 'what a Unitarian is,' was to know whether, as such, he be entitled to the same protection of the laws with his fellowsubjects-whether, iustead of asking for any farther indulgence to the scruples of his conscience, he ought not to ask pernions on which his scruples are founded. mission to avow with impunity the opi

"It may seem strange that a grave and learned and conscientious man, one too who thinks so much dependent upon the answer which he shall receive to his question, should call upon others for information, with which he must have had as good opportunities of providing himself as they. The philosophers of the Epicureans and Stoics, who asked of Paul, May we know what this new docleast the merit of addressing themselves trine, whereof thou speakest, is?' had at be the character of their curiosity, they to the proper person. Whatever might

went with it to the best source of information. The doctrine too about which they inquired was literally new. It did not as yet, probably, exist in books; at least, the very few writings which can be supposed to have been in circulation at that early period, were not likely to have fallen into the hands of any but of the nineteenth century, in a Christian believers. But, in the twenty-fifth year and Protestant country, and after successive generations of far-famed disputants on the same great subject of controversy-the doctrine of the Unitarians cannot be so new, or the books which state and defend it so rare, or the lives and characters of its preachers and professors all so utterly obscure, as to leave our legislators in any unavoidable uncertainty on the question, What is a Uni tarian ?'"-Pp. 5-7.

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