114 THE FEMALE MISSIONARY. The following lines were written immediately after || tor's wife, she had contemplated not only the priviher conversion, and are subjoined to illustrate the new ||leges to which she would thus be introduced, but also character which had now been given to all her thoughts and feelings. Like other fragments from her pen that have been preserved, they are the spontaneous effusion of a soul warm with gratitude and invigorated by hope-penned without reference to the rules of the art or apprehension of criticism. Indeed, she is not known to have ever composed a line of poetry with a view to publication. EASTER SUNDAY. Nature, rejoice, for thy Maker has risen Let thine incense of praise, like gratitude, rise; Man, let thy soul soar above its clay prison, And in rapture ascend to its primitive skies. Break forth in gladness! for death is subdued- Roll on in rapture, sweet rivers and streams! Like you, I am bound to a happier home- Where the Peris are waiting the tributes that come. To "the home of the blessed" I'm wending my road, To expiate sin my Redeemer hath died, Then, nature, I join thee to swell the glad song, the trials. She fully understood and admired the system of an itinerant ministry, notwithstanding the inconveniences to which it subjects the family of the minister. Writing on this subject, she remarked, "Our home is in the hearts of our people;” subjoining the sentiment that although her residence might be repeatedly transferred among strangers, yet she would hope to find, even there, other homes, perhaps equally dear, while the former would in no case be abandoned, but, on the contrary, rendered sacred by the tender and hallowed recollections of the past. If, indeed, there be any philosophy in the precept of one of the philosophers of Greece, "Let no day pass without having gained a friend," then, truly, a life spent in multiplying the pure and exalted friendships that subsist between the pastoral family, and a Christian congregation, is one of no ordinary privilege. In the course of the following year her husband received an appointment as missionary to Rio de Janeiro. Although such an appointment had been unsolicited, and indeed but a short time anticipated, and would of necessity involve the subject of this notice in all the counsequences of a long and perhaps final separation from kindred and country, yet on her part it was cheerfully acceded to. Nor was the question of duty in her case regarded as it has been in many similar instances-as separate and independent from determinations already fixed. In short, she had considered the act of becoming a Christian as one of entire consecretion to God, requiring every sacrifice that could be promotive of his glory. Hence, it was not a question absolutely, "Is it my duty to become a missionary?" but, rather, "Being a Christian, can I be most useful abroad?" Regarding the world as "the field, is it the order of Providence that I should occupy a foreign allotment?" She, moreover, considered the decisions of proper authorities of the Church as a satisfactory indication of the will of Providence, and suffered no personal considerations to divert her from a prompt compliance. In November, 1836, Miss Russell became connected in marriage with Rev. D. P. Kidder, and immediately thereafter removed from Wetang, the seat of her paternal residence, in the delightful valley of the HousaThe separation from her beloved friends in Rochester tonic river, to Rochester, N. Y., where her husband occurred in Sept., 1837, and was rendered less painful in was then stationed as a minister of the Methodist Epis- anticipation of a visit to her parents and friends in Concopal Church. In this new and extended field of necticut. In that visit she renewed the fond and deep Christian exertion, her feelings became deeply interest-attachments which her affectionate heart ever cherished ed. She was conscious that with her youth and brief experience as a Christian, her only hope of sustaining the responsibilities devolving upon her, would be in the Divine assistance. For that she fervently sought. She was unremitting in her attentions on the Sabbath School, the class, and the prayer meeting; while it was her pleasure to co-operate with her female friends in every practicable branch of benevolence and Christian Mrs. Kidder had anticipated much satisfaction from effort. Her visits to the poor and afflicted were not the voyage at sea. Unfortunately, by the protracted unfrequent; and to what extent, in the discharge of affliction of sea-sickness, this was greatly diminished. these varied duties, she became endeared to a numer- But notwithstanding being thus very much reduced in ous and affectionate people, let their remembrance bear health and spirits, she was deeply alive to the various witness. interesting phenomena which successive changes of In entering into the responsible relations of a pas-latitude developed, both in the sky and in the waters. towards her relatives; and after a few weeks, accompanied by one of her sisters, bade a tender farewell to the home and scenes of her childhood. A month elapsed, while engaged in necessary preparations in the cities of New York and Boston, after which, on the 13th of November, we embarked from the latter port for our foreign destination. THE FEMALE MISSIONARY. 115 Indeed, so powerful was the impression made upon her || try, conjointly with the performance of other duties, it mind by the vastness and sublimity of the ocean, that devolved on her husband to visit different and distant her warm fancy led her to choose, momentarily, its "dark unfathomed caves" as a resting place for her remains, in case, as she seemed to anticipate, they could not repose on the soil of her fatherland. parts of the Brazilian empire. His first tour was to the province of S. Paulo; and with this began a series of duties and trials more calculated to call forth the peculiar energies which need to characterize the female missionary, than any situation in which she had been previously placed. Not to feel, and deeply feel the exposure and loneliness to which she was subject, saying nothing of apprehensions in behalf of the ob The following stanzas were composed soon after she landed in Rio, while residing on the shore of the bay, in a part of that city, denominated the Gloria, but never copied out until subsequent to her death. They must not be understood to express any permanent de-ject of her hope and affections, would have been the sire of her mind, but rather a poetic reverence for that mighty element which now seemed the only material object to connect her with the scenes and loved ones of her native land; although, in other respects, the lines are proved to have been literally prophetic. We are far from home in a distant land, Our hearts are pledged, and hand in hand But, O, when the hour of death shall come, O, bury me not in Brazilian earth, Though its beauty enchants my eye; Thus far away from the land of my birth, "Tis a solemn thing to die To be laid in a cold and narrow tomb, When thy loved one 's gone, and thou no more, When she sleeps in death, who e'er before Hath waked thy voice to hear; O, yes, beloved, when thy wife is gone, And thou'lt to our friends at home return; And when thou crossest my ocean grave, On her passage out, Mrs. Kidder had made a good beginning in the study of the Portuguese language, and thus commenced qualifying herself for the especial duties of the station to which she was introduced; and notwithstanding the additional and multiplied cares which subsequently devolved on her as a mother, she attained a very free and correct use of that idiom in a comparatively short time. This was not only made of essential service in her various domestic relations, but also in the Sabbath School, and in private endeavors to instruct persons of little opportunity in reading the Scriptures and in the truths of religion. triumph of stoicism and not of Christianity. But it was her happiness, while she fully realized the crosses of her situation, magnanimously to bear them, and find abundant consolation in the love and supporting grace of that Savior for whose sake they were endured. A letter written at the time, among other lines, contains these, which are evidence in point: O, what is this drear world, when absent from thee, To the wife thou hast chosen-thy partner in careTo her who can wish naught else than to be Ever near to thy side, thy fortune to share? But hush'd be my grief that thou art away, Though dark be my path alone in this land, Full soon he will call us, if faithful we prove To the trust he has giv'n in our pilgrimage here, To the light of his smile, in the heaven of love, Where never shall enter, parting, sorrow, or fear. February 11, 1839. Her husband had not been long returned from this tour before he commenced preparations for another and a longer absence. In the course of these, it was deemed expedient to unite the mission family under one roof. This was done by a mutual removal of Mr. Spaulding's family from the Gloria, and our own from Engenho Velho to the Largo d' Ajuda. This residence was peculiarly agreeable, and calculated as much as it could have been, to lessen the inconveniences and loneliness unavoidable to Mrs. Kidder during the long voyage of her husband up the northern coast. Her dwelling was pleasantly located at a short distance from the praya, or beach. Upon the north, was the fastello hill, surmounted by the towers of the Jesuit College and the Church of St. Sebastian, strangely contrasting the relics of a former age with the gay and changing pennants of the signal-staff that floated near them. West, and on the opposite side of the street, stood the Ajuda Convent, in gloomy grandeur, with its massive walls and grated windows. South, within a few steps, was the Public Promenade, or Battery where, amid the balmy shades of the mango, the tamarind, the palm, the ever-flowering jessamine, and numAfter the lapse of nearly a year, spent in acquiring berless other trees of tropical growth and beauty, it a knowledge of the language and customs of the coun-was at any moment inviting to thread the winding 116 THE FEMALE MISSIONARY. walks, almost secure from a vertical sun. Eastward, || the assiduous attentions of Mrs. Kidder could not be beyond the proud shafts of granite that mark the en- too highly prized, contributing, as they doubtless did, to trance of the bay, stretched the expanse of the broad a speedy recovery. Her elasticity of spirits seemed Atlantic. From the balcony overlooking the garden, now greatly restored. In addition to the several religher eye would instinctively fall upon "the sea, the ious meetings on shore, she repeatedly attended the open sea!" and might daily gaze upon the enlivening Bethel service on board ship, and availed herself of every scene presented by the entrance and egress of vessels occasion to manifest the interest she felt in different from every commercial nation; while not unfrequently, branches of Christian enterprise. Her letters, written the surrounding mountains reverberated with peals of to friends at this time, exhibit great cheerfulness, an incannon from forts and frigates, announcing in thunder-creased attachment to the work in which she was entones the courtesies of naval life. gaged, and a disposition to continue in it as long as This residence has been more particularly noticed, might be necessary. Her promptings to arduous duty, as being the last which Mrs. Kidder occupied during and her cheerful encouragements in their accomplishher sojourn on earth. It was here, also, that in con-ment, were invaluable, and such as may ever render the nection with Mr. and Mrs. Spaulding, she had the female missionary among the most serviceable laborers in a foreign land. pleasure of welcoming the large and interesting comNor did her experience of the pains of absence from pany of missionaries bound to Oregon. Although no one could be more sensible of its beauties and outward the partner of her bosom, cause her to shrink from enattractions than herself, yet the Christian and social during them again, in view of the objects to be thus privileges it afforded her in the society of Mrs. Spaul- subserved. She voluntarily and cordially assented to ding, and the small, but interesting circle who regularly his undertaking another journey to a distant inland worshiped at the Mission-House, were much more province. That was not, however, thought expedient highly prized. Having the constant care of an infant at the time, and she commenced assisting him in imson and daughter, a great portion of her time was ne-portant and voluminous translations. But alas! her willing and faithful services in "the cessarily engrossed in attentions due to their helplessness; nevertheless, she found intervals for reading, and work whereunto she was sent," were suddenly and fain which to conduct an extensive correspondence. Her tally interrupted by the hand of death. After a few convictions of the necessity of constantly seeking wis-days of sickness and bodily suffering, "her spirit returned to the God who gave it." She was indeed "full dom and grace from on high, are recorded in her journal, where, among other pious resolutions, is this: "I soon" called up higher, as we fondly trust, ever to rehave also determined regularly to observe the hour of main in the presence of that Savior, twelve, M., as a season of prayer for the especial direction and blessing of God, in my maternal duties." From subsequent events it is now probable that her health was, during this period, fearfully, though almost imperceptibly, declining. This circumstance will account for a more than ordinary degree of melancholy feeling which seems to have, at times, weighed down her buoyant spirits, notwithstanding all her Christian fortitude and perseverance in using the means of grace. Many additional extracts from her journal and letters might be given, but this one from the former must suffice: "Nov. 15, 1839.-Another week has gone! Its record is filled and closed up for eternity! Why am I yet so cold, so indifferent to the goodness of God? My heart is sorrowful; but is it not for the absence of earthly friends? O Lord teach me to be content in this, and all the dispensations of thy providence. Securely stayed on the Rock of Ages, my soul should rest, unmoved by separation from parents, brothers, sisters, husband, friends-all-all! O for this heavenly peace of mind!" ed. "For the light of whose smile in the heaven of love," the aspirations of her heart had been continually upliftIn April, 1840, at the early age of twenty-two and half years, she ceased at once to work and live. The circumstances of her death and burial have already been given to the public, and will not be here repeated. a Cut down in the midst of usefulness and in the morning of life, by an unlooked for stroke of the destroyer, her memory is sacredly cherished on earth, but her record is on high. Her death, like untimely winds of autumn, swept away many tender blossoms of hope and promise to the oblivion of her own "peaceful grave." Her resting place is not in the depths of "the deep blue sea," but in the Protestant burial ground of Rio de Janeiro. Her remains repose on the northern declivity of Gamboa, at whose rocky base the tide of ocean ceases not to ebb and flow, and where the breezes of the Tropic will daily fan the luxuriant foliage that shades her tomb. The following fragment of poetry was found among her papers, and is believed to be the last she ever composed. It is added to speak her sentiments on the great The weary half year of her husband's absence at change that she was conscious awaited her. length rolled away, and safe from the perils of the deep," O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy and exposure in scenes where a Protestant missionary had never before gone, he was once more restored to his affectionate wife and family. But the health he had uniformly enjoyed during his voyage and journeys, was soon after interrupted by a severe illness, during which | victory ?" This beating pulse, this aching heart, When shall they throb no more? MAN AND THE GRAVE. When in the calm and peaceful grave, Beneath the clay I rest, O then, from life, no angry wave, Shall sweep across my breast. Ah, yes! beneath the clay-cold sod, No storms of sorrow come; There, grief and pain, care, and the rod, Are all alike unknown. The dreamless sleep, the mournful gloom, For Jesus slept the sleep of death, And in the tomb was laid; To his dear hand I yield my breath, He has my ransom paid. Like Him who died that I might live, I sure shall rise again; And blessing now the rest death gives, I then shall prove it gain. November 1, 1839. NOTE. We had solicited from our worthy friend, Rev. D. P. Kidder, some pieces from the pen of his deceased and lamented companion. One has already appeared in the Repository; and as the two which follow were not in time for the March number, we insert them here, in connection with this interesting biographical sketch.-EDs. HOURS OF GLOOM. OFT, when worldly cares oppress me, When my heart is grieved and weary, Charms like thine on earth I find not; Hear thy suppliant daughter's prayer, To mortal cares my spirit chain not, Between my spirit, soaring high, By thine anguish, groans, and fears, By thy sufferings here on earth, Savior, dissipate my gloom, Light my path-way to the tomb! March, 1836. HYMN TO THE SAVIOR. In affliction's darkest hour, Thou the healing balm canst give; On us, then, thy blessings shower, Bid us in thine image live. Long we've grovel'd in the dust, Long the death of sin we've proved; Jesus, Lord, thou canst be just, And yet, by our weak prayer, be moved. Give us, then, the living faith 117 That brings thy promised blessing down; The costly purchase of thy death, The hallowed radiance of thy crown. From the power of sin set free, Grateful homage may we bring. Mercy, Lord, is all our plea, Stained with sin and guilt we are; Mercy, open, boundless, free, Hear, O Lord, our fervent prayer. Original. MAN AND THE GRAVE. BY F. H. BLADES. THIS life is the twilight of our being. Its progressive stages are presumptive of the fact, that man is destined to another and more noble state. This is too circumscribed a scene for our god-like powers. Man bears upon him the impress of Divinity. His erect posture, and his intelligent eye glancing towards the infinite source of his being, indicate him to be of heavenly origin. Whether he be considered in regard to his material organization, or to the quenchless immortality of his nature, he is wonderfully made. His tripple nature embraces the elements of various worlds. His physical and intellectual powers render him a fit actor in the scenes of the present; while his moral, connect him with the future, and render him the subject of an endless destiny. In him, the extremes of honor and dishonor-of dignity and vileness of exaltation and humility, are blended. "How poor, how rich, how abject, how august, A beam ethereal, sullied and absorbed, Man claims intimate alliance with earth; yet with uplifted eye, and a soul thrilled with the visions of immor 118 THE JEWISH SACRAMENT. Original. THE JEWISH SACRAMENT. tality, he may call God his father, and angels his brethren. But he must die. The scenes of earth must fade from his view, like the departing glory of spring. Cut down by relentless death, he will disappear like leaves festivals. It was instituted in remembrance of the fact, of autumn. Sometimes he withers like the bud, that the Lord passed over the dwellings of his chosen nipped by the wind's untimely blast." Should he people, when he slew the first-born of the Egyptians. long survive the "pestilence that walketh in darkness," "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God;" let or the "destruction that wasteth at noon-day," yet is us then search in the oracles of truth for the origin and he doomed. The "silver chord" shall be loosed-the aim of those customs, which, though now no longer tenure by which he holds life be dissolved. And though obligatory upon us, nevertheless may afford us instruche possess wealth and honor, they shall be to him as tion in righteousness. nought. Dark, indeed, was the moral state of the children of Israel during the Egyptian bondage. It was aptly illustrated by their temporal condition. Four hundred and thirty years were they dwellers in Egypt, in which time kings reigned who knew not Joseph and were strangers He who visits the everlasting pyramids and catacombs, must be impressed with a deep sense of his mortality. He must realize the force of what Horace says, "Death is the utmost limit of earthly things." As a mighty conqueror, he sways his sceptre over men and empires. to the God of Jacob. Their rapid increase had excited The pride of princes and the haughtiness of kings vanish at his approach. The hero, who has slaughtered millions, must yield himself a victim. The conqueror of mighty Babylon slumbers in the tomb with his fathers; and the fallen hero of Waterloo sleeps in undisturbed solitude. Cicero is silent; and the irresistible appeals of the impassioned Demosthenes are no longer heard in the forums of Greece. Those men, with their thousands of spell-bound hearers, are no more. Shadows overspread them, and long since they have mingled with the dead. Where are the millions that once crowded the ancient cities of Palmyra, of Nineveh, of Thebes, of Jerusalem, of Athens, and of Carthage? Echo answers, "Where!" Well may we say, in the language of the poet: "The spade, the plow, disturb our ancestors; To us, thus doomed to the grave, the resurrection becomes a matter of deep interest and importance. Shall the millions who have been cut off by death feel the animations of returning life? It would be melancholy to look at the grave as the extinguishment of human being and hope. But turning from these gloomy anticipations, we catch the light of the glowing torch of revelation. Grasping this Book of inspiration, we read, "Death is swallowed up in victory." 044110 Original. per VICTOR COUSIN was an eminent French philosopher, whose writings form an interesting epoch in the history of metaphysical science in France. He found the French school of philosophy almost incorrigible supporters of materialism and infidelity. He has wrought wonders towards its reformation. He has ⚫ formed almost as great a service for science on the Continent, as Locke did in Great Britain; and indeed a greater, in a moral point of view. His system is founded on induction; an induction, too, which does not overlook the grand elements of the human charH. acter. the jealousy of the Egyptians, and measures were devised for their extirpation. But the God of Abraham was their protector, and they still increased. Taskmasters were set over them, who exercised their power with most cruel rigor, till the groanings of the people were heard on high. "I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people," is the language of Jehovah. A deliverer was sent to conduct them from the land of their captivity, to Canaan, the land of promise. Miracles were wrought in their behalf. Ten plagues were, in rapid succession, inflicted upon their haughty foes, falling upon them in terrific wrath. The first plague turned the waters of Egypt into blood throughout all the land. The plagues of frogs, lice, flies, murrain, boils, blains, hail and fire, and of darkness that might be felt, speedily followed. Still Egypt refused to let the people go. Then came the tenth and last great plague -the slaying of the first-born-connected with which is the institution of the Passover. This was to be kept in the Jewish month Abib, which answers to portions of our March and April. A lamb was to be slain for every household; the blood was to be sprinkled upon the two side-posts, and to be eaten in haste, with the loins girded, shoes upon upon the upper door-post of the house; the lamb was the feet, and staff in hand, ready for departure. All this was done. That night the destroying angel went forth, and passing over the habitations where the blood was sprinkled, slew the first-born of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, to the first-born of the captive in the dungeon. Terror seized the Egyptians, who now became urgent for the departure of Israel, for, they said, "We be all dead men." Though the Passover was designed to commemorate this great deliverance on the part of Israel, it had also a higher object-it was typical of the Lamb for sinners slain. We spoke of the moral condition of the Israelites as unfavorable. We infer this from their subsequent career-the weakness of their faith compared with that of the patriarchs, their frequent rebellions, and their murmurings against God. How brightly in the midst of this gloom is shadowed forth the long-suffering of |