its sphere; these charming qualities, which she herself exhibits, she has impressed upon those characters which have been drawn by her with such vigour and success. But that which more firmly strengthens such qualities, that which imparts to her a generous sympathy in the sorrows and joys of mankind, a profound knowledge of the operations of the human heart, as well as the calm and lofty bearing of all her productions, is the deep and warm religious tone which gushes like a spring, refreshing and purifying, from her inner life, and, in all her works, mirrors her soul brightly before us. Her piety has given her eyes for all the wonders of God in nature, as well as in human life, and has consecrated her a priestess of the religion of the visible creation. She observes and understands the mysterious and yet distinct language of the mountains and valleys, of the springs and floods, of plants and stones; the rustling of the leaves, the rippling of the waters, the chirping of the lonely cricket, and the song of the lark, "tone" sweetly in her breast. Her pictures of nature are so living, descriptive, and faithful, that we feel, as it were, at home in that country which she places before our eyes, as the field of the incidents she relates: they are landscapes, which, by their exquisite finishing, produce their full effect. Even when she takes us to that which is strange, the scenery peculiar to the distant North, the life and distinctness of the representation, give us so true a picture, that we easily and speedily accommodate ourselves to our new position. Yet she never loses herself, nor does she fall into a deification of nature, but points emphatically to the Unseen Hand, which so wisely orders all, and of whose goodness the universe is so full; and to the one Spirit in which we live, move, and have our being. She acknowledges, and praises, and loves God, in his mighty works: to these she does homage, with devotion and enthusiasm; and she goes to them and converses with them, as if she were in a loved and friendly home; but, as with a clear eye, she sees Him in his visible creation, so, with listening ear, has she also heard his paternal voice in revelation. The lovely shapes and sounds intelligible Therefore all seasons shall be sweet to thee, EXERCISE CXCIV. CHARACTER OF HANNAH MORE. Roberts. THIS eminent woman's love of her country, and her love of her species, were without any alloy of party feelings or prejudices. To her sound and correct understanding, liberty presented itself as including, among its essential constituents, loyalty, allegiance, security, and duty. Patriotism, in this view of it, should be placed in the front of her character, since it really took the lead of every other temporal object. All the powers of her mind were devoted to the solid improvement of society. Her aims were all practical; and it would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to name a writer who has laid before the public so copious a variety of original thoughts and reasonings, without any admixture of speculation or hypothesis. To keep within this tangible barrier, without contracting the range of her imagination, or denying to truth any advantage to which it is fairly entitled, of illus * The English robin retreats to the remotest seclusion, in summer, and is then exceedingly shy; but, in winter, it frequents the abodes of man, and enlivens the otherwise dreary season, with its delicate notes. In the stillness of a winter Sabbath morning, its voice is the only audible sound, in the suburbs and the villages. tration or entertainment, is a secret in the art of composition with which few, if any, have been so well acquainted. Her indefatigable pen was ever at work; kept in motion by a principle of incessant activity, never to stop but with her pulse; never to need the refreshment of change; and never to be weary in well-doing. Thus to do good and to distribute was no less the work of her head than of her hand; and the rich and the great were among the objects of her charity. The specific relief of which they stood in need, she was ever forward to supply; and as she had passed so many of her earliest years among them, she knew well their wants, and how to administer to them. She was a woman of business, in all the concerns of humanity, refined or common, special or general, and had a sort of righteous cunning in dealing with different cases; exposing without irritating, reproving without discouraging, probing without wounding; always placing duty upon its right motives, and showing the perversity of error, by bringing it into close comparison with the loveliest forms of truth and godliness. It was the privilege of her intellect, to work successfully in the face of forbidding circumstances, such as, in ordinary cases, repress vigour and slacken perseverance. In her early life, her powers of conversation led her into varied society, and principally into those assemblies where intellect is in the breath, and expires in evanescent displays, multiplying its ephemeral products to flutter and expire; - where a mind capable of things of lasting effect and extensive benefit, often lays out all its strength in thoughts that do but gild the fugitive hour, and fade from the memory, like the phantoms of a summer's cloud. Those who move amid such fascinations, are seldom extensive contributors to the treasury of human knowledge. It was therefore the more remarkable that Hannah More, during this part of her life, was actually accumulating, projecting, and accomplishing beneficial schemes and purposes; and as some rivers are said to pass through large receptacles of waters, without intermixture in their passage, and to roll onward, in their own course, till their destination is completed; in some such manner did this single-minded woman travel through this gay medium without disturbance or diversion, till, in no long time, she gained a clear and uninterrupted current, dispensing beauty and fertility throughout her beneficent progress. Of the works of her pen, we may in truth aver that they have raised for her a monument which can never fail to remind her country of what it owes her. They are, for the most part, elevated above criticism by the noble purposes to which they were devoted, and by the decisive suffrages of the moral public. There was hardly a period of her life which was not stamped with her intelligence. From her infantine days, books were her playthings; and her first discoveries were their own reward. The conscious capacity of doing good and making happy, seemed to possess her earliest thoughts, and to prompt her first wishes and efforts. That, setting out in such a course, and excited by the anticipations and predictions of all around her, she should set her first foot upon life's open stage, without art or enthusiasm, and with neither singularity of deportment nor conceit of superiority, - that she should carry with her the same consistency and sobriety of character, when her powers expanded, - and terminate her brilliant career, with a composure which infirmities could not disturb, and a beneficence which age could not contract, are truths which those who admire excellence, will delight in contemplating, and those who love their country, will desire to see displayed and detailed with fidelity. EXERCISE CXCV. FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS. Hannah More. A YOUNG lady may excel in speaking French and Italian; may repeat a few passages from a volume of extracts; play like a professor, and sing like a siren; have her dressingroom decorated with her own drawing-tables, stands, flowerpots, screens, and cabinets: nay, she may dance like Sempronia herself; and yet we shall insist, that she may have been very badly educated. I am far from meaning to set no value whatever on any or all of these qualifications: they are all of them elegant, and many of them properly tend to the perfecting of a polite education. These things, in their measure and degree, may be done; but there are others, which should not be left undone. Many things are becoming, but one thing is needful." Besides, as the world seems 66 to be fully apprized of the value of whatever tends to embellish life, there is less occasion here to insist on its importance. But, though a well-bred young lady may lawfully learn· most of the fashionable arts; yet, let me ask, does it seem to be the true end of education, to make women of fashion dancers, singers, players, painters, actresses, sculptors, gilders, varnishers, engravers, and embroiderers? Most men are commonly destined to some profession; and their minds are consequently turned each to its respective object. Would it not be strange, if they were called out to exercise their profession, or to set up their trade, with only little general knowledge of the trades and professions of all other men, and without any previous definite application to their own peculiar calling? The profession of ladies, to which the bent of their instruction should be turned, is that of daughters, wives, mothers, and mistresses of families. They should be, therefore, trained with a view to these several conditions, and be furnished with a stock of ideas, and principles, and qualifications, and habits, ready to be applied and appropriated, as occasion may demand, to each of these respective situations. For though the arts which merely embellish life, must claim admiration; yet, when a man of sense comes to marry, it is a companion whom he wants, and not an artist. It is not merely a creature who can paint, and play, and sing, and draw, and dress, and dance; it is a being who can comfort and counsel him; one who can reason, and reflect, and feel, and judge, and discourse, and discriminate; one who can assist him in his affairs, lighten his cares, soothe his sorrows, purify his joys, strengthen his principles, and educate his children. Ar an evening party at my father's, Dr. Johnson was announced. Every body rose to do him honour; and he returned the attention with the most formal courtesy. My father, then having welcomed him with the warmest respect, whispered to him that music was going forward; which he would |