the pillow, fills the pitcher, sets it within reach, and administers only a cup of cold water. Peace be with that good soul! She also must come in due time into the condition of her neighbour, and then, may the Lord strengthen her upon the bed of languishing,' and, by some kind hand like her own, make all her bed in her sickness." On the morning of Sept. 6, she came down stairs, as usual, to breakfast, which was always in the hall during the warm season. There she also dined with the family, and ate moderately of the breast of a partridge. She even talked of riding out that afternoon behind her father, which had been her constant custom, whenever the weather was favourable; but, finding herself not equal to the fatigue of the exercise, she declined it; and, according to her usual custom, she retired into an adjoining parlour; when, having been assisted to her seat, she said, "Don't leave the room, sister; bring my little table and cushion:" upon which she reclined her head. The difficulty of breathing, with which she had been frequently afflicted, returning and increasing, at last, about a quarter before four in the afternoon, without convulsion, without struggle, without pain, without the least discomposure of features, or alteration of countenance, she softly breathed out her gentle spirit into the hands of her beloved Lord; still sitting as before, and with her father's arms around her. - Although her affliction was long, yet no murmur, no repining, no complaint ever escaped her. She was favoured, almost uninterruptedly, with the light of her heavenly Father's countenance. Scarcely a single cloud intervened; which made her say, as she frequently did," My affliction is a light affliction." MRS. MARY COOPER. The MISS MARY HANSON, eldest daughter of John Hanson, Esq. was born in London, September 16, 1786. She was favoured with a religious education, and was not suffered to enter into those vain amusements which are so injurious to multitudes of young persons. At twelve years of age she left school, and completed her education under private tuition. encouragement held out to her application and improvement by an intelligent and affectionate brother, proved the means of exciting in her ardent mind, that thirst for knowledge which ever after proved a source of constant delight. Her early years were passed in comparative solitude, her parents judging that the example of youth, in general, affords but few instances worthy of imitation. At the time, however, she thought this a very unnecessary strictness, and envied those whose less cautious parents suffered them to form acquaintances without inquiry or con cern. At this period, and previously to her leaving school, she often felt deep convictions of her own sinfulness, and the absolute necessity of personal religion. She has been known frequently, when at school, to assemble several of the girls together in a large closet, and there speak to them, and pray with so much earnestness, that they have been all melted to tears. These impressions, however, were but as the " morning cloud and early dew," and were succeeded by a very different disposition of mind. In the summer of 1802, she for the first time left her parents' house, on a visit to Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight; where the natural gaiety of her mind, which had been hitherto under restraint, meeting with objects congenial to its taste, appeared in all its ardour. Card parties and gay visits were now her delight; and she afterwards confessed, that she endeavoured to disbelieve the Bible and the existence of a God. The reflections of her retired moments were now so intolerable to her, that, to drown them, she read, with her accustomed avidity, volume after volume of novels and romances. Fascinated with the world and its manners, she returned home with a mind little disposed to enter into those serious and self-denying views of religion, which the Spirit of God had wrought in the minds of three in her own family, during her absence: she, however, attended with them at the Lock Chapel, where the judicious and intelligent preaching of the Rev. Mr. Fry first arrested her attention, and then excited in her mind an earnest concern for the salvation of her soul. She soon became a member of the Lock, by receiving the Sacrament, administered according to the form of the Church of England, which she always preferred. She also united herself with a society called a Conversation Meeting, under the superintendence of her minister, for the purpose of spiritual advantage and instruction; and exerted herself to the utmost of her power, to instruct a large class of girls in the Sunday school of that society. But her removal to Hammersmith, in the spring of 1803, put a period to this work of love in which she so much delighted; and it was not until the year 1806, that an opportunity again occurred of resuming her successful endeavours to impart knowledge and light to the benighted minds of the ignorant poor. This she did, not only on the Sabbath, but constantly twice in the week, when she devoted her evening hours to instruct them in writing, arithmetic, &c. In the year 1806, she began to note down her religious experience, rather by way of meditation and reflection, than of diary. From the age of seventeen, she had renounced the world, being fully persuaded that none of its pleasures or pursuits could impart happiness to her immortal spirit. For a considerable time, she was a plant that flourished in the shade, and her real worth was little known; but, had God in his providence called her to a more public situation in life, such were her natural abilities, and so highly had she cultivated them, that she would have ranked high among those excellent and intelligent women who are an honour to our country. A series of extracts from the Meditations will more justly portray her character than any thing that could be said by any other person. The first entry of this kind is dated in her twentieth year. "July 20, 1806. Happiness is the universal object of pursuit; but how various are the ways which men propose to themselves for its attainment! When the desired object is possessed, alas! it also has inscribed upon it vanity and vexation of spirit.' The hope still remains, that the next attempt will prove more successful; but, alas! it is not in the power of finite creatures to impart it. God, in his wisdom, has made us dependent on himself for happiness; he has given us a free will, to choose this world for our portion, or Himself, from whom flow pleasures for evermore. Sin has so bewildered, so darkened the faculties of our souls, that every thing beyond what is finite, is enveloped in a mist. Revelation, the best gift of God to man, unfolds the glories of an invisible world. The solitude I have so long enjoyed, and yet, alas! so little improved, has often led me to retire into my own mind, and converse with my heart. I have discovered a jewel, little prized, because little known. This treasure, bestowed on all God's creatures, when improved, may become a source of consolation and felicity that will make them superior to the contempt of men, and the agitations of disquietude. I feel convinced, that to improve my intellectual powers, is to have in store a constant spring of delights: it may prevent me from running into those snares which are held out as baits to the vacant, listless mind. But let me not forget that inward monitor, that soul bestowed upon me; that it is immortal, and will return to God who gave it, and that it is made capable of happiness or misery beyond this visible state. The thread of life, so very slender, so soon broken, is in the hand of God. Ŏ thou Searcher of hearts, cold and senseless as I am to spiritual things, let not a consideration at once so awful and impressive, pass over my mind without its due weight.' August 10, 1806. The cultivation of patience and meekness, both personally and relatively, is of the utmost social importance. If meekness in the sight of God is of great price, how must the possession and exercise of that spirit promote the peace of the possessor, and diffuse the charms of kindness around! In a moral point of view, the government of the passions, when heathenish darkness prevailed, was esteemed the highest pitch of moral perfection, and worthy the endeavour of every man. Socrates proved how the exercise of his reason could subdue dispositions of the worst kind; mental energy could repress passions, which, if unsubdued, would, like a torrent, bear down every thing before them. If a man, destitute of the meridian light of revelation, ignorant of the purity of the Deity, surrounded by superstition and pagan brutality, could thus triumph over himself, how should a Christian blush, who indulges every rising disposition, and suffers passions to be unchecked, which disturb the harmony of social intercourse, and exclude the sweet breath of peace! "I desire to live and act as in the sight of God; of him who gave an example of what his followers should be. Professors of religion, while they study to preserve outward decency and circumspection of deportment, too often stop there. This is a stumbling block to many. Is this all Christianity has effected? Was it for this only the great Sacrifice |