youth, been accustomed to receive the deserved tributes of compliment and praise, from such judges of worth, as might have made some degree of vanity almost pardonable in a lady and an author; yet, she retained all the humility of the meanest and most obscure person.

She was perfectly untainted with the love of pleasure; and was even ignorant of every polite and fashionable game. She had no relish for novels and romances, and entirely abstained from the entertainments of the theatre. The grandeur of her mind set her above every species of luxury. She was always pleased with whatever she found on her table; and neither the nature of her food, nor the manner of dressing it, gave her any uneasiness. She despised visits of ceremony, and had a contempt of riches, that has been rarely equalled. She wrote no dedication to great persons, nor is the name of any minister of state to be met with in her productions. She solicited no favours, and never saw a court.

Filial piety was a remarkable part of her character. She loved the best of fathers, as she ought; and has been heard to say, that she would rather die than displease him. In a memorandum, relating to his last sickness and death, are these words: "My father often felt his pulse, and complained that it was still regular. He smiled at every symptom of approaching death; and would be often crying out, Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly! Come, ye holy angels, who rejoice at the conversion of a sinner: come, and conduct my soul to the skies, ye propitious spirits! And then would add, but thy time, Lord, not mine, is best. When shall I awake, and be satisfied with thy likeness?" The anguish she felt at seeing him in so much pain, gave her, during the time of his illness, a kind of habitual convulsion: a disorder, from which she was wholly free, in every other part of her life. Her father died, April 18, 1719, and was indulged with some delightful prelibations of heaven, before he ascended thither.

She was a gentle and kind mistress to her dependents; and a warm and generous friend. It was observed, that none of her domestics ever quitted her service, unless they married off. Nor was there a friend of hers, though in ever so high a station, who did not experience her beneficent disposition, in presents of books, pictures, or something elegant and valuable, as marks of her esteem.

Her charities to the poor were, literally, amazing. The first time she accepted of a gratification from a bookseller for any of her works, she bestowed the whole sum on a family in distress. She solemnly consecrated half of her yearly income, to charitable uses; and employed her own hands, in providing clothes for the necessitous. She extended her liberalities, not to the poor only, but also to the farther relief of those who were raised above absolute want; and would frequently observe, that one of the greatest temporal benefits we can render to our fellow-creatures, is, to free them from the cares and anxieties which attend a narrowness of fortune. In these cases, she knew how to heighten every favour, by the delicate and obliging manner in which she conferred it. She studied to spare their blushes, while she softened their adversity. Thus, when one / of her worldly acquaintances was in known distress, she contrived to lose at play, a sum of money, suffi cient to answer the exigences of the case; and this was, probably, the only time she ever touched a card in her life.

It was matter of wonder, how so moderate an estate as she possessed, could supply such various and extensive benefactions; and her own sense of this, once broke out to an intimate friend. I am surprized, said she, how it is possible my estate should answer all these things. And yet I never want money!

She affected no kind of singularity, or appearance of severity; nor ever presumed to censure those,

whose piety and morals were less exalted than her own. Her serenity and cheerfulness of temper were so perpetual, that (except on the loss of her father and of her husband, and when she was witness to any case of distress in others) her whole life seemed to be a constant calm; or, rather, an uninterrupted sunshine and every hour of it sparkled with good humour, and inoffensive gaiety.

With regard to her religious principles, she was a doctrinal Calvinist and shone an eminent trophy of that distinguishing and efficacious grace, which she so richly experienced, and which diffused its sanctifying power throughout her practical walk. Agreeably to the scriptural views of the divine sovereignty, we find her thus expressing herself, to him whom her soul loved: "Why did thy watchful providence perpetually surround me, crossing all the methods I took to undo myself? Why didst thou pursue me with the offers of thy favour, when I fled thee with such aversion; and had fled thee for ever, if thou hadst not compelled me to return? Why wast thou found of one that sought thee not? Oh why, but because thou wilt be merciful to whom thou wilt be merciful?" [Devout Exerc. Medit. VIII.]-Again: "I lay a wretched slave, pleased with my chains, and fond of my captivity; till love, almighty love, rescued me. Blest effect of unmerited grace! I shall stand, for ever, an illustrious instance of boundless mercy. To that I must entirely ascribe my salvation; and, through all the ages of eternity, I will rehearse the wonders of redeeming love; and tell to listening angels, what it has done for my soul." [Ibid.]-Thy kingdom ruleth over all, O Lord; and thou dost according to thy will, in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. I confess and acknowledge thy providence. ways of man are not at his own disposal, but all his goings are ordered by thee." [Ibid. Med. IV.]

The

The holy doctrine of final perseverance was, through the application of it to her soul by the blessed Spirit, the comfort and rejoicing of her heart. Hence those fine passages, which occur in Medit. X. of the above work. "Shall a soul, consecrated to thee, fall a sacrifice to hell? Shall the temple of thy spirit be profaned, and the lips that have so often ascribed dominion and glory and majesty to thee, be defiled with infernal blasphemy and the execrations of the damned? Shall the sparks of divine love be extinguished, and immortal enmity succeed? And shall I, who was once blest with thy favour, become the object of thy wrath and indignation? It is all impossible; for thou art not as man, that thou shouldest lie; nor as the son of man, that thou shouldest repent. Thou art engaged by thy own tremendous name, for my security. my security. Transporting assurance! What further security can I ask? What security can I wish, beyond eternal veracity? The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but thy kindness shall not depart, nor the covenant of thy peace be broken."

AN ATTEMPT

TOWARDS A CONCISE CHARACTER

OF THE LATE

I

REV. MR. WHITEFIELD.

DEEM myself happy, in having an opportunity of thus publicly avowing the inexpressible esteem, in which I held this wonderful man; and the affectionate veneration, which I must ever retain, for the memory of one, whose acquaintance and ministry were attended with the most important spiritual benefit to me, and to tens of thousands beside.

It will not be saying too much, if I term him, The apostle of the English empire: in point of zeal for God, a long course of indefatigable and incessant labours, unparalleled disinterestedness, and astonishingly extensive usefulness.

He was a true and faithful son of the church of England; and invincibly asserted her doctrines to the last; and that, not in a merely doctrinal way, (though he was a most excellent systematic divine), but with an unction of power from God, unequalled in the present day.

He would never have quitted even the walls of the church, had not either the ignorance, or the malevolence of some who ought to have known better, compelled him to a seeming separation.

If the most absolute command over the passions of immense auditories, be the mark of a consummate orator, he was the greatest of the age. If the strongest good sense, the most generous expansions of heart, the most artless but captivating affability,.

VOL. IV.

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