THE POETS OF THE CHURCH. SARAH FULLER [FLOWER] ADAMS. 1805-1848. SARAH FULLER was the second daughter of Benjamin Flower, "one of the fathers of English journalism." He was the son of George Flower (1715-1778), a wealthy tradesman of London, and one of the deacons of the dissenting congregation (Rev. Edward Hitchins), worshipping in White's Row, Spitalfields, and was an intimate friend and correspondent of Toplady. The wife of George Flower was a sister of Richard and William Fuller, for whom two of her sons were named. The summer residence of the family was at Tooting, Surrey. There they became attached to the society under the care of the Rev. Samuel Wilton, D.D., and when in 1776 he became the pastor of the Weigh House Chapel, Little Eastcheap, London, they, too, became members of that society. Toplady, Flower, and Wilton all died the same year-1778. Dr. Wilton was succeeded by the Rev. John Clayton, who, in 1779, married Mary, the elder daughter of Mrs. Flower. Of their children, three-John, George, and William-became Independent ministers, two of them London pastors of much distinction. Benjamin Flower, having been unfortunate in business, for five years served a commercial house at Rotterdam as a travelling agent, and, by his intercourse with politicians of the Continent, became a thorough radical. Returning to England in 1789, he became a resident of Cambridge, and, by the advice and aid of his brother Richard, of Hertford, started the Cambridge Intelligencer, a weekly paper of radical principles and of large circulation and influence, highly commended by the Westminster Review (XV. 334). The freedom with which he criticised the Bishop of Llandaff resulted in a trial before the House of Lords, and a brief imprisonment in Newgate. Shortly after his release, about 1800, he was united in marriage with Miss Gould, an excellent and highly-gifted lady of Dorsetshire. In 1804 the Intelligencer was discontinued, and he removed to Harlow, in Essex, where he opened a printing office and established the Political Review, a radical monthly. He had also a publishing office at No. 69 Cornhill, London. Such was the father of Mrs. Adams, and such were the influences that helped in the formation of her character. Her elder sister, Eliza, was born (1803) at Cambridge. She herself was born February 22d, 1805, at Harlow. Her mother did not long survive, and the sisters thus came more directly under the formative hand of their father, a liberal both in politics and religion. At his death, about 1825, they gave themselves to literary pursuits, and soon after removed to Upper Clapton, a suburb of London. The elder sister, in 1831, obtained considerable distinction by the publication of her "Musical Illustrations of the Waverley Novels." They now attached themselves to the religious society worshipping in South Place, Finsbury, under the pastoral care of the gifted and eloquent William Johnson Fox (1787-1864). This gentleman had separated himself from the Independents, and had taken a position, unconnected with any ecclesiastical body, as a preacher or lecturer in this chapel. Though classed among the Unitarians, he was neither a rationalist nor a sympathizer with Channing or Martineau. He was one of the founders of the Westminster Review, and, from 1847 to 1862 (with the exception of a few months in 1852), a member of Parliament for Oldham, Lancashire. Sarah Fuller Flower became, in 1834, the wife of William Bridges Adams, a civil engineer, who, in 1837, distinguished himself as the author of an elaborate volume on "English Pleasure Carriages," and another on "The Construction of Common Roads and Railroads." He was also a contributor to some of the principal reviews and newspapers. The union thus formed was most congenial. They resided at St. John's Wood, on Hampstead, London. In 1841 Mrs. Adams gave to the press a dramatic poem, in five acts, on the martyrdom of "Vivia Perpetua." The youthful mother whose faith she thus commemorated suffered heroically at Carthage, Africa, A.D. 203, as a devoted follower of Christ (Butler's "Lives of the Saints," March 7). It is more than probable that Mrs. Adams was in full sympathy with the heroine of her drama. At the solicitation of her pastor, she also contributed thirteen hymns to the compilation prepared by him for the use of his chapel, published 1840-241, in two parts, six in the first and seven in the second part. Of these, the two best known-"Nearer, my God! to Thee," and "He sendeth sun, he sendeth shower"—are in the second part. For this work her sister, Eliza, wrote sixty-two tunes. Mrs. Adams' only other publication, a catechism for children, entitled "The Flock at the Fountain," appeared in 1845. Inheriting the feeble organization of their mother, the sisters soon yielded to disease. Eliza, after a lingering illness, expired December 12, 1846. Worn down by faithful devotion to the invalid, Mrs. Adams' health gradually declined, and she closed her earthly pilgrimage August 14, 1848, with entire resignation and joyful hope. "She wore away," as one of her friends testifies, "almost her last breath bursting into unconscious song as the gentle spirit glided from its beautiful frame." The following stanza, from one of her own lovely hymns, in "Vivia Perpetua," fitly expresses her trust in Christ: "Part in peace-Christ's life was peace; Part in peace-Christ's death was peace; Part in peace-Christ promise gave Brethren, sisters! part in peace." Her remains were laid to rest in the Forest Street burialground, near Harlow, her native place. Her uncle, Richard Flower, emigrated to America in 1822, and founded the town of Albion, Ill. Sir Roundell Palmer was misinformed when he wrote that Mrs. Adams also "left England for America." Her hymn, "Nearer, my God! to Thee," etc., was introduced to American Christians in the "Service Book," published (1844) by Rev. James Freeman Clarke, D.D., of Boston, Mass., whence it was soon transferred to other collections. JOSEPH ADDISON. 1672-1719. THE father and grandfather of Joseph Addison were both clergymen of the Church of England, and each was named Launcelot. The poet was the son of Launcelot Addison, D.D. (1632-1703), and Jane Gulston, the sister of the Rev. William Gulston, D.D., Bishop of Bristol, England. Joseph was born at Milston, in Wiltshire, May 1, 1672, the second of five children. Dr. Addison, who had been appointed in 1670 Chaplain to the King, was, in 1683, made Dean of Lichfield. He was the author of several theological works, and in 1699 published a volume of "Devotional Poems, Festival and Practical." Joseph Addison inherited his father's love of learning. He was educated first at home, then at Amesbury and Salisbury, finishing his preparatory course at the Charter House, London. At the age of fifteen he entered Queen's College, Oxford, of which his father was a graduate. Two years later (1689) he was transferred to Magdalen College. Having obtained distinction in Latin verse, he graduated M.A. in 1693. Several of his minor poems appeared (1693, 1694) in the third and fourth volumes of Dyden's "Miscellane ous Poems." A poem addressed to King William, celebrating one of his military campaigns, appeared in 1695, and led to his obtaining in 1699 a royal pension of £300 a year. A Latin poem, in 1697, on the "Peace of Ryswick," added to his renown. A year was spent at Blois, in France, and two years in travelling on the Continent. By the death of King William, in 1702, his pension was lost, and he returned home to engage anew in literary pursuits. In 1704 he ingratiated himself into the favor of the Ministry by the publication of his poetical "Campaign,” a laudation of Marlborough and the battle of Blenheim. The same year he succeeded John Locke, as Excise Commissioner of Appeals. His "Remarks on Italy" appeared in 1705. The following year he became Under Secretary of State, and in 1709 Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Keeper of the Records in Birmingham Tower. Another ministerial revolution in 1710 deprived him of office for four years. His leisure was employed in literary work. He wrote five essays for the Whig Examiner, and was a frequent contributor to The Tatler, edited by his schoolmate and intimate friend, Sir Richard Steele. The Tatler came to an end January 2, 1711, and The Spectator, No. 1, appeared March 1, 1711. It was continued in 555 Numbers, daily (Sundays excepted), until December 6, 1712. It was revived June 18, 1714, and continued in 80 numbers, thrice a week, until December 20, 1714. Of this celebrated series of periodical essays, Addison, as "Clio," was one of the principal editors. He contributed also about fifty papers, in 1713, to The Guardian, and to The Freeholder, 1715, 1716. A volume of his "Poems" was issued in 1712, and his "Cato a Tragedy," in 1713. Queen Anne died in 1714, and Addison again came into favor and obtained preferment-first as secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, then in 1716 as one of the lords of trade, and in 1717 as Secretary of State and a privy councillor. He held a seat in Parliament from 1708, with the exception of a short interval in 1709, until his decease. By his literary fame he |