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distant lands for transporting the volume of inspiration, and the heralds of the Gospel of peace to "the ends of the earth." By the help of his compass the mariner is enabled to steer his course in the midst of the ocean, in the most cloudy days, and in the darkest nights, and to transport his vessel from one end of the world to another. It now only remains that navigation be rendered safe, uniform, and expeditious, and not dependent on adverse winds, or the currents of the ocean; and perhaps the art of propelling vessels by the force of steam, when arrived at perfection, may effectuate those desirable purposes. Even at present, as the invention now stands, were a vessel fitted to encounter the waves of the Atlantic, constructed of a proper figure and curvature, having a proper disposition of her wheels, and having such a description of fuel, as could be easily stowed, and in sufficient quantity for the voyage-at the rate of ten miles an hour, she could pass from the shores of Britain to the coast of America, in less than thirteen days; and even at eight miles an hour, the voyage could be completed in little more than fifteen days; so that intelligence might pass and repass between the eastern and western continents within the space of a single month-a space of time very little more than was requisite, sixty years ago, for conveying intelligence between Glasgow and London. The greatest distance at which any two places on the globe lie from each other is about 12,500 miles; and, therefore, if a direct portion of water intervene between them, this space could be traversed in fifty-four or sixty days. And if the isthmus of Panama, which connects North and South America, and the isthmus Suez, which separates the Mediterranean from the Red Sea, were cut into wide and deep canals, (which we have no doubt will be accomplished as soon as civilized nations have access to perform operations in these territories,) every country in the world could then be reached from Europe in nearly a direct line, or at most by a gentle curve, instead of the long, and dangerous, and circuitous route which must now be taken, in sailing the eastern parts of Asia, and the north-western shores of America. By this means eight or nine thousand miles of sailing would be saved in a voyage from England to Nootka Sound, or the Peninsula of California; and more than six thousand miles in passing from London to Bombay in the East Indies; and few places on the earth would be farther distant from each other by water than 15,000 miles, which space might be traversed, at the rate mentioned above, in a period from sixty-two to seventy-seven days.

But we have reason to believe, that when this invention, combined with other mechanical assistances, shall approximate nearer to perfection, a much more rapid rate of motion will be effected; and the advantages of this, in a religious, as well as in a commercial point of view, may be easily appreciated; especially at the present period, when the Christian world, now aroused from their slumbers, have formed the grand design of sending a Bible to every inhabitant of the globe! When the empire of the prince of darkness shall be shaken throughout all its dependencies, and the nations aroused to inquire after light, and liberty, and Divine knowledge, intelligence would thus be rapidly communicated over every region, and between the most distant tribes. "Many would run to and fro, and knowledge would be increased." The ambassadors of the Redeemer, with the oracles of Heaven in

their hands, and the words of salvation in their mouths, would quickly be transported to every clime, "having the everlasting Gospel to preach to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people."

ness.

Though we cannot assent to the justness of all Mr. Dick's conclusions, his book is worthy of a serious perusal. To meditate upon the works of God, as they exist in the natural world, and upon the displays of human skill in the various and useful inventions of man's ever active mind, must have a tendency, if directed in our contemplations by a suitable frame of mind, to fill us with wonder and amazement at those manifestations of Almighty power, wisdom, and goodAnd more especially is this effect produced when the volume of Divine revelation pours its enlightening rays upon the understanding. For though we, who live under this bright sun of truth, may not need the lesser light' to conduct us to glory and immortality,' yet following the rays of that celestial luminary, we are enabled more accurately to survey the splendid mansion which has been fitted up for our residence-to estimate the value, the utility, and the beauty of its furniture-and to enjoy, with the more exquisite relish, the rich provision which He has made for our support and comfort. Taking this light along with us, we may minutely examine all its apartments, analyze the materials of which it is composed, and survey, with pious awe and gratitude, the several rooms our heavenly Father has fitted up for our accommodation.

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This same bright luminary will, moreover, conduct us to a believing view of that mansion which is eternal in the heavens,' as the future residence of the saints of the Most High God, and teach them that this is but their temporary home-a home, in which they are to fit themselves for that temple not made with hands,' where there is ' no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God doth enlighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.' And we certainly cannot breathe a more acceptable prayer into the ears of our common Father in heaven, than that all our readers may so use the gifts of an ever-bountiful Providence, while they dwell in this lower mansion, as to be fully prepared, by having their robes washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb,' to occupy some humble seat in that upper temple, where there is fulness of joy, and pleasures for evermore.'

MEMOIRS OF HANNAH MORE.

Memoirs of the Life and Correspondence of Mrs. Hannah More. By WILLIAM ROBERTS, Esq. 2 vols. 8vo. Harper and Brothers.

No subject of biography has occurred of late years so calculated to occupy and engross the attention, alike of the religious and literary world, as that of Hannah More. No author, who has attained an equal reputation, was ever more intimately connected, by purity of principles, by evangelical labors, by the wide and salutary influence of her writ ings, with the one-and by the first offsprings of her mind, the illustrious associates of her youth, and her early and brilliant reputation, with the other. With both religion and literature she has become identified. Her fine mind-her lofty talents-the energy and enthusiasm of her poetical temperament, made her known and admired, when the brightest names that ever England knew were in the zenith of their fame ;-while that solemnity of character, which gradually weaned all the energies of her mind from the mere frivolities of imagination, and which eventually led her to consecrate them, in all their vigor and freshness, to the service of her Maker, has made her after life one of the greatest monuments of good, and one of the most exemplary instances of the triumph of religion, we have on record,— rendering those abilities, which otherwise would have proved merely ornamental-or would have been considered to have best subserved their purpose had they been deemed adequate, in the flowery paths of fiction,

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a mighty means of assisting the moral advancement of the age-and a source of permanent of immortal benefit to her kind.

Though but lately dead, the reputation of Hannah More had long assumed that durable form which it will be destined to retain in the estimation of posterity. Her rank among the leading characters of her age had been permanently assigned her by public opinion;—and ere the close of her protracted life, she had enjoyed that, to an author, rarely accorded felicity, of knowing that her labors had been appreciated by the world as she wished them; and that the future had nothing of panegyric in store for her, which her cotemporaries had not freely awarded to the design and effect of her writings.

No work, then, has been looked for with more anxiety, and with greater expectation by the public, for several years, than these memoirs. It was rightly deemed that her life, when it should be written, would contain more to interest the great mass of the community than any similar book which had been published for a length of time. Those interested in the progress of the Gospel, and all who had derived benefit from the pure precepts and Christian morality of her writings, longed to trace the causes which had led a mind so calculated to win the world's proudest applause, and to be captivated with its admiration— to forsake the tempting paths of such glittering fame for the narrow road of the cross-and the more difficult, less inviting, and less dazzling purpose of improving her sex and species, by the inculcation of

the Divine morality of her Savior. A common and more solemn interest was likewise felt to know the effect of that eloquent religion upon her own character, and the influence which those sacred principles, she so well described, had in comforting her own heart-in cheering her own solitary life and supporting her soul in the last moments of life.

We presume to say, from a perusal of these volumes, that all who looked for them, no matter with what high raised hopes, will be gratified beyond their expectations,-not from any ability on the part of the biographer-for seldom have we seen a work where insipidity and incompetence, on the part of an editor, have had so much effect in marring the general interest. But the materials of which these volumes are composed are beyond the reach of dullness; and are rich beyond most that have been published in this century, in vivid and authentic notices of the brilliant society of that Augustan age of British literature

'When Reynolds painted, and when Goldsmith sung—'

now, indeed, passed away for ever; but which has left a record behind of more enduring and fascinating interest than any other intellectual era in the world. These volumes too contain a picture, one of the most powerful and beautiful that ever was drawn, of the influence of religion in the nurture and direction of faculties of the highest order, and impart much invaluable information as to the state of society in England, when that society was in the incipient stages of the onward progress of heart amelioration which marks our era. We can see the light of knowledge-the blessings of education-brought into contact with the palpable darkness of intellect, and mark its early effect; and, above all, we can see the elevated, the incalculable benefit, which one leading spirit, properly directed, may confer upon mankind—illuminating its own age with a light reflected from the brightness of God's eternal principles, and kindling up a beacon flame to guide the wandering reason of other times, inextinguishable in its strength and immortal in its duration.

Let us review, then, the life of this great author, and Christian lady. Though we cannot attempt any thing like a detailed account, yet the subject is so replete with instruction, and will present, as we advance, so much of elevated entertainment, that it cannot fail to be interesting.

Hannah More, the youngest but one of five sisters, was born in 1745-a memorable year in British domestic history. Jacob More, her father, was an educated man of good understanding, and strong natural sense. To his early instruction and assiduous pains we may attribute much of that stability of character which distinguished his eminent daughter,—another lesson, if another were wanting to parents, of the vital importance with which every moment's attention is fraught with regard to the future character and destiny of a child. She early displayed a precocity of disposition; and we are told, that her nurse, a pious old woman, had lived in the family of Dryden, whose son she had attended in his last illness-and the inquisitive mind of the little Hannah was continually prompting her to ask for stories about the poet; an anecdote, which, though of little importance, is still curious, as evidencing the intellectual and imaginative cast of mind which could lead a child, at such an early age, to feel interested in the

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personal history of an eminent poet. From her father little Hannah acquired a knowledge of the Latin and French languages, beside an excellent English education. She early developed that taste for holding the pen, which she afterward turned to such account.

The following trait of her infancy strongly reminds us of a similar propensity told with so much liveliness by Madame D'Arblay of herself. So well has Wordsworth called

'The child the father of the man.'

In her days of infancy, when she could possess herself of a scrap of paper, her delight was to scribble upon it some essay or poem, with some well-directed moral, which was afterward secreted in a dark corner where the servant kept her brushes and dusters. Her little sister, with whom she slept, was usually the repository of her nightly effusions; who, in her zeal lest these compositions should be lost, would sometimes steal down to procure a light, and commit them to the first scrap of paper which she could find. Among the characteristic sports of Hannah's childhood, which their mother was fond of recording, we are told, that she was wont to make a carriage of a chair, and then to call her sisters to ride with her to London to see bishops and booksellers; an intercourse which we shall hereafter show to have been realized. The greatest wish her imagination could frame, when her scraps of paper were exhausted, was, that she might one day be rich enough to have a whole quire to herself; and when, by her mother's indulgence, the prize was obtained, it was soon filled with suppositious letters to depraved characters, to reclaim them from their errors, and letters in return expressive of contrition and resolutions of amendment.'

Respecting her adolescence few details are given. She made acquaintance of the elder Sheridan, (father of the statesman,) Ferguson the astronomer, Dr. Stonehouse, and Langhorne the poet and translator of Plutarch-between whom and the young poetess a correspondence commenced, of which several sprightly letters from Langhorne are given. Miss More's preference of a single life arose (a circumstance unknown until the publication of these volumes) from an unprofitable attachment which she formed in her twenty-second year, and of which some curious particulars are given. As our limits, however, are confined, we must refer our readers for particulars to the work, page 28 et seq. Up to this period of her life, she had been engaged with her sisters in the management of an extensive and lucra. tive school in Bristol; and though, at the age of seventeen, she had published her Search after Happiness,' she was as yet but little known, and comparatively obscure.

We have now to follow her to the metropolis of England, mingling in its brightest and most intellectual circles-yet unseduced by pleasure, and unawed by timidity-there laying the foundation of her future fame, and ushering her first productions into the world, under the surveillance, and cheered by the admiration and applause of men, who stood the mightiest in their own age, and whose equals it would be difficult to find in any.

As this period of her history is of great importance in its bearing upon her future life, and as it is of unrivalled interest in an abstract VOL. VI.-April, 1835. 16

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