slavery, the productions of the soil and the working mines will be diminished. This event may happen; but it is unquestionably a minor evil to the inhabitants of those provinces, compared with that of living amidst a volcano, ever ready to explode with dreadful effect; it is better that their agriculture and mines should suffer partial ills, to which gradual remedies may be applied, than, by continuing the former personal slavery, insensibly to heap up combustibles for a terrible conflagration. It is well known, that in this particular, our legislators have been animated by the most profound foresight and justice."

The Author is indebted to the pen of another for the former part of this Number; and his apology for republishing what many of his readers have previously seen, is the deep interest he takes in the agitated question.

"On returning from a lovely walk, as they passed the little chapel which benevolence has raised for the accommodation of the Christian pilgrim, who thirsts for the pure water of life, she facetiously remarked, addressing herself to Mr. R, I presume, Sir, we cannot calculate on your accompanying us to-morrow to this unadorned house of prayer." "Why not?" "Of course, Sir, your profession will lead you elsewhere." "I am happy to say, that I am not ashamed to go to offer up my sacrifice of prayer, and of praise, in any place in which the God of salvation will condescend to accept it. I prefer the village Church to the village Chapel, most certainly; but as I have no wish to become a Dissenter, I shall conform to the religious customs of the party during our visit."

Page 7.

London:

MISS HOLMES.

FART VII.

"Assail'd, in patience she received the shock,
Soft as the wave, unshaken as the rock:
The world receded from her rising view,

And Heaven approach'd, as earthly things withdrew.
In her best prospects, she but wished for life
To be the assiduous, gentle, useful wife:

That clos'd, with wearied mind, and spirit poor,
She dropt her efforts, and could act no more:
With growing joy she felt her spirit tend
To that last scene where all her duties end.

MISS HOLMES returned from the village of where she had been spending some months, much improved in her general health; but her intense anxiety of mind, occasioned by the unhappy marriage of her sister Emma, brought back those symptoms which indicated the presence of some fatal disease in her system. On their re-appearance she consulted an eminent physician, whose prescription gave her relief; and having passed through several summers and winters, without experiencing any relapse, she flattered herself that the bitterness of an early death was passed. Apprehensive, from the extreme delicacy of her constitution, that she had not long to live, she very prudently declined accepting an offer which she had received; but now her health being re-established, and that offer having been renewed, she felt at liberty, to accept it. The gentleman who made it, was the only son of a Mr. Ra very intimate friend of her father's; a young man, about her own age, decidedly pious, and who was likely to come into the possession of a large fortune. He had been bred up to the mercantile profession, but eventually decided on entering the Church. His father, opposed the bent of his inclination, till he was convinced that his motives were pure, and then he gave his consent. He had passed through his examinations at Cambridge with great honour, and was now spending the vacation at home, preparatory to his taking orders. His person, his manners, and his profession combined to render him an interesting suitor to Miss H

united in her character all the excellencies

who

which

are necessary to qualify a female to fill the important station of a Clergyman's wife. She was intelligent, amiable, discreet, and zealous in the cause of goodness; and though she courted not the vacant stare of public observation, yet she felt no disposition to remain in a state of inactive concealment. In a letter which she wrote to her friend, Miss Roscoe, during the time she was in the country, she remarked, " While I disapprove of the conduct of some females, who act to be seen, I equally disapprove of the conduct of others who are inactive lest they should be seen. I detest the love of display in religion, and I equally detest the dread of notice. The former passion originates in the vanity of our mind, and the latter too often in its cowardice; though I believe some few are of such a very retired cast, that they cannot meet the public eye. And when we consider how many of our sex advance to sacrifice at the shrine of fashion, and willingly consent to make themselves the spectacles of observation, surely my dear Sophia, we, who have yielded ourselves to God, ought not to look after excuses to justify a life of religious inactivity, when we have so many opportunities afforded us of doing some good? We may not be called upon to write in the defence of our common salvation, but we may vindicate it in the circles in which we move; we may not be required to preside over the benevolent institutions which adorn the present age, yet we may co-operate in their support: and though it may not devolve on us to invent any new schemes of practical utility to our fellow-creatures, yet we may become the successful agents in their execution."

But while she attended to the cultivation of her personal piety, and devoted a portion of her time to serve the institutions of benevolence and religion, she did not neglect the improvement of her mind. She was fond of the study of history and of botany, and had formed an intimate acquaintance with the general literature of the day usually spending her morning in the delightful occupation of reading and reflection. To the same friend she says, in one of her letters, I often regret that our pious females pay so little attention to the improvement of their mind, by the acquisition of general knowledge. It is true, when they are married and have

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the superintendence of a family devolving on them, they have other duties to attend to; but when living free from these incumbrances, I think they ought to devote some fixed portion of their time to a systematic course of reading. You may probably smile at such a grave remark, but why should we not read systematically as well as the gentlemen? Why should they be allowed an exclusive occupancy of all the departments of literature? Why should they be suffered to monopolize the choicest fruits which grow on the tree of knowledge, leaving for us only the gleanings? I am aware that a prejudice is too often excited against a female, who leaves her music for her books, and who ventures to cross the line of demarcation which marks out the pathway of her intellectual research; but why should we be scared by it? Is not superior intelligence amongst us admired and respected; and does it not invest its possessor with a greater power of influence? I do not wish to see our sex become pedants, nor do I wish to see them leading off in a colloquial debate; but I see no reason why we should not qualify ourselves to take part in a discussion? nor do I think that we should sink in the estimation of the lords of the creation, if we endeavour to place ourselves more nearly on a level with them.

The great fault is, we are so much under the dominion of fashion, that we set no proper estimate on the value of time; and, consequently, can adopt no regular plan of mental improvement. We are not celebrated, you know, for early rising-after breakfast, we attend to a few petty things which must be attended to, and then prepare to pay or receive a visit-after dinner, of course, we must take our lounge; and then in the evening we must relax from the toils of the day, taking care that the unoccupied hours' are filled up by the piano or needle. And though I would not recommend an en tire deviation from the custom, which can plead the sanction of all antiquity in its vindication, yet I think it is in our power to make some important changes. We must visit; but we need not visit every day! We must work for the decoration of our persons, and we must play to gratify our taste; but we need not consume every portion of our time in such engagements! Is it not

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