MARRIAGES. At Milverton Church, the Rev, Chas. Litchfield Swainson, B.D. late Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford, and Rector of Creeke, Northamptonshire, to Harriet, relict of George Littledale, Esq. of Sandown. At Guisborough, the Rev. W. T. Eyre, M.A. of Brasennose College, Oxford, Vicar of Padbury, Bucks, to Frances, eldest daughter of the late Rev. T. P. Williamson, Perpetual Curate of Guisborough, Yorkshire. At Gloucester, the Rev. Proger Herbert Symonds, B. A. of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, and of Thruxton, Herefordshire, to Anne, sixth daughter of the Rev. John Jones, Vicar of Foy, in the same county. At Benacre, Suffolk, the Rev. Philip Scholfield, B.A. of University College, Oxford, to Georgiana Anne, youngest daughter of Sir Thos. Gooch, Bart. At Henfield, Sussex, the Rev. Charles Dunlop, B.A. of Pembroke College, Oxford, to Fanny, second daughter of Wm. Borrer, Esq. of Henfield. The Rev. M. Wilkinson, M. A. Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge, to Rosa Sarah, only daughter of the late Capt. Lea, R. N. At Stock Gayland, Dorsetshire, the Rev, W. John Meech, B. D. late Fellow of New College, Oxford, and Rector of Whaddon, Bucks, to Sarah Marwood, eldest daughter of the Rev. Henry Farr Yeatman, B.C.L. of Balliol College, Oxford, and Rector of Stock Gayland. The Rev. J. R. Dobson, B.A. of Lincoln College, Oxford, and of Scalby, near Scarborough, to Anne, eldest daughter of Eusebius Cleaver, Esq. The Rev. Frederick Kinneer Eyre, M.A. of St. John's College, Oxford, second son of the late Daniel Eyre, Esq. of the Close, Salisbury, to Louisa Jane, only daughter of the late James Hussey, Esq. of Salisbury. At St. Mary's, Marylebone, the Rev. Henry Arthur Woodgate, B. D, Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford, and Rector of Bellbroughton, Worcestershire, to Maria, youngest daughter of Edward Chapman Bradford, Esq. of York-street, Portman-square. At Bridgewater, the Rev. Horatio Westmacott, M. A. of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Rector of Chastleton, third son of Sir Richd. Westmacott, to Penelope Spencer Ruscombe, fourth daughter of Jos. Ruscombe Poole, Esq. of Bridgewater. The Rev. B. Hutchinson, of Whitchurch, Salop, son of the Rev. B. Hutch inson, Vicar of Kirkburton, to Mary Anne, third daughter of Stansfield Rawson, Esq. of Gledholt. BIRTHS. The lady of the Rev. Dr. Graham, Master of Christ's College, Cambridge, a daughter. The lady of the Rev. F. J. Courtenay, Rector of North Bovey, Devon, a son. The lady of the Rev. Montagu Oxendon, M.A. of Exeter College, Oxford, Rector of Eastwell, Kent, a son. At Filton-house, Gloucestershire, the lady of the Rev. A. A. Daubeny, a son. The lady of the Rev. Henry Clutterbuck, Vicar of Kempston, Bedfordshire, a daughter, still-born. At the Vicarage, Longden, near Lichfield, the lady of the Rev. Stuart Majendie, a daughter. At Hampstead, the lady of the Rev. P. J. Butt, M. A. of Lincoln College, Oxford, a son. At the Rectory, Garsington, the lady of the Rev. W. B. Pusey, M.A. of Oriel College, Oxford, a son. At Levely Glebe, Enniskillen, the lady of the Rev. Loftus G. Reade, a daughter. At Penzance, the lady of the Rev. G. Morris, a daughter. At the Vicarage, St. Stythians, the lady of the Rev. H. W. Hockin, a son. The lady of the Rev. W. Foster, M.A. Head Master of St. Paul's School, Southsea, a daughter. At East Lavant, the lady of the Rev. H. Legge, a daughter. At Boston, the lady of the Rev. M. Robinson, a son, still-born. At Eastchurch Rectory, the lady of the Rev. John Barton, a son. At Castletown, Isle of Man, the lady of the Rev. J. L. Stowell, a son. At Newark, near Maidstone, the lady of the Rev. F. F, Haslewood, a son. At Norwood, the lady of the Rev. Charles Turner, M. A. of Trinity College, Cambridge, a son. At Truro, the lady of the Rev. Arthur Tatham, Rector of Boconnoc and Broadoak, a son, stil-born. At Silk Willoughby Rectory, the lady of the Rev. James Sanders, a son. At Boston, the lady of the Rev. J. Smith, a son and heir. In the New Village, Isle of Wight, the lady of the Rev. Charles Worsley, a son. At Holwell, Hertfordshire, the lady of the Rev. Charles Delmé Radcliffe, a daughter. THE CHRISTIAN REMEMBRANCER. AUGUST, 1838. REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. ART. I.-1. The Life of Hannah More, with Notices of her Sisters. By the Rev. HENRY THOMPSON, M.A., St. John's College, Cambridge; Curate of Wrington, Somerset. London: T. Cadell, Strand; and W. Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. 1838. 8vo. 2. Memoirs of the Life of Mrs. Hannah More. By WILLIAM ROBERTS, Esq. A New Edition, abridged. London. Seeley and Burnside, 1838. Pp. viii. 472. 8vo. THE influence which the character and writings of Mrs. Hannah More exercised for upwards of half a century upon the public mind, renders her biography at once interesting and important; and we consequently hail the appearance of Mr. Thompson's volume with the greatest pleasure. In the first three numbers of our Miscellany for 1835, we entered in detail upon the merits and defects of Mr. Roberts's ponderous four tomes, and grieved we were to be obliged to say that the latter far exceeded the former. In the abridgment, now lying before us, we cannot discern any material improvement; but are sure our readers will agree with us in praising its superior brevity, although still clogged with much extraneous and irrelevant matter, which would mar our pleasure in perusing a work of much higher merit. The duty of a biographer is to place in the strongest possible point of view "the lights and shadows" of the individual whose life he undertakes to illustrate. Nor is every peculiarity of sentiment, or every particular bias in the judgment of the party on certain minor points, to be paraded forth as pervading the general character. Mrs. Hannah More, for instance, may have entertained some opinions in common with dissenters and sectarians, but we still cannot admit that she was hostile to the Church; she may have adopted a conciliatory tone in her intercourse with those who differ from us, but we are proud to rank her among the members of our holy communion; and, that such were her own avowed principles, we confidently appeal to the works under consideration, and her intimacy and correspondence with some of the soundest divines, and most distinguished ornaments of the Established Church. In our former notice we gave a brief outline of the life of this exemplary woman. We spoke of her early efforts with respect-we dwelt upon the development of the matured powers of her mind with increased admiration; and we saw her pass through the trials of life, uninjured and unscathed by the malevolence of avowed enemies, or the supineness and indifference of professing friends. We watched her on the bed of sickness-we followed her to the tomb; and in every instance we felt and expressed our conviction, that her pure and bright example ought, and we doubted not would be, a "lantern unto the feet, and a light unto the paths" of many yet unborn. The libeller in Tait's trashy Magazine, and the other prurient slanderers, were properly knouted, so that on the present occasion our chief object will be to point out the different merits of Messrs. Thompson and Roberts, in their praiseworthy endeavour to give to the world a faithful and judicious narrative of the Life of Mrs. Hannah More. In speaking of the fidelity with which the task may have been accomplished, we have no wish whatever to cast the slightest imputation upon either of our authors; but we should not discharge our duty if we neglected to point out certain discrepancies in the quotation of letters, &c., which are any thing but favourable to the care and accuracy of Mr. Roberts. In page 199 of Mr. Thompson's volume, he says, "The letter which she wrote on that occasion (the Blagdon Controversy) is, perhaps, the most important single document in existence for the illustration of Mrs. More's character and opinions, as well as one of the most eloquent productions of her pen. I am here, by the great kindness of a friend, enabled to present it to the reader entire, from the autograph, with the omission only of one short passage, relative to a strictly private transaction, and the substitution of a dash for a name." Now if we compare the letter in Mr. Thompson's volume, with that inserted in Mr. Roberts's, we shall find some marked and rather startling variations. The verbal inaccuracies, are, perhaps, scarcely worth notice, except, that we think Mr. Roberts would have shown more prudence by allowing Mrs. Hannah More to use her own language; the force of which, if not the actual meaning, is injured by his intended amendments. But we must deprecate the suppression of any portion, which tends to place the views and opinions of the lady in a more favourable point of view, and to show her devoted attachment to the Church. The following are altogether omitted by Mr. Roberts :— I do not mean to extenuate, much less to deny, any point in which I may have been to blame. I shall only fairly state a few circumstances which have been violently exaggerated, or grossly misrepresented; the greater part of the charges being wholly groundless.-Pp. 200, 201. One circumstance which is now made a ground for past accusation is but recently brought forward. The circumstance I allude to is, my being charged with having constantly attended and received the sacrament at Mr.- -'s chapel at Bath for fifteen years. The simple fact is this: The novelty and talents of Mr., a celebrated dissenting minister at Bath, were considered as such an attraction, that I, in common with a number of strict Church people, frequently went to hear him preach. It was chiefly at six o'clock in the evening, an hour which did not interfere with the Church Service. It was not unusual to see, perhaps, near half a score clergymen, who, I presume, no more thought they were guilty of disaffection than I myself did. I went, of course, to church as usual, except that the extreme nearness of this chapel drew me a few mornings, in severe weather, when my health was bad. At one of these times I unexpectedly found they were going to give the sacrament. Taken by surprise, in a moment of irresolution, never having been used to turn my back on the communion at church, I imprudently stayed. How far this single irregularity, which I regretted, and never repeated, deserves the term of constant, your Lordship will judge. My eldest sister has been accused of denying it. She well might deny it, for she never knew it till now. I believe it to have been nine or ten years ago. Again, I did not begin to reside part of the winter at Bath till about the beginning of 1791. I never go thither till near Christmas, and at the time alluded to I always left it, and went to London in February. During a part of this short season I was generally confined by illness. When the interests of the Church became a question (I cannot be quite accurate as to the time, but I think it was either seven or eight years ago) I ceased entirely to go to Mr.'s. How far this justifies the charge of fifteen years' constant attendance, your Lordship will judge. And is it unfair to request your Lordship to draw your own conclusion concerning the accuracy as well as the candour of my accusers? -Pp. 201, 202. This passage is highly important, and is alluded to with great ability by Mr. Thompson in his last chapter; and in our opinion offers the most powerful refutation to the charges of Methodism and Dissent, which were so lavishly heaped upon this most excellent and exemplary woman by her enemies and slanderers. How Mr. Bere could reconcile his conduct and his conscience when twice, in this letter, he is said with tears to have implored the establishment of a school by Mrs. More, we profess ourselves unable to surmise. In page 204 we find another omission: Another proof that there was no longer any ground of complaint existing is, that, when Mr. and Mrs. Descury, a respectable family, came to live at Blagdon, near a year after, they were introduced by Mrs. Bere to the school in presence of my sister, with the highest encomiums; their attachment to the school originated from those warm praises, and was afterwards confirmed by their own frequent attendance. In p. 206. It was from half a dozen to twelve or thirteen poor neighbours, who, it seems, met for one hour in a week for religious conversation. In p. 210.-Who, without cant or enthusiasm, is always exhibited in a pious and amiable point of view. In pp. 214, 215.-When we are present, we ourselves always read the sermon and prayer; in our absence, the clergyman commonly chooses them for the mistress, and he or his wife is generally present, whether we are there or not. I was scarcely ever at Blagdon school without Mrs. Bere, at least. I dissolved one very large and flourishing school, because, after the death of the rector, who had assisted me in establishing it, and the removal of his curate, no subsequent curate had thought proper to attend. At Banwell, when I withdrew my school Mr. Blomberg, the present vicar, employed the same teachers to superintend his. At Congresbury, the woman who had taught in my school now conducts that of the vicar, Dr. Small; for I had established there two small schools, and another, because the numbers did not make amends for the trouble and expense, and I was about to establish in their stead a large one in the populous parish of Chew-Magna, where the rector had long been looking out for a house for me, when the sudden and violent attacks on me discouraged or rather disabled me for any additional exertion. My schools, except in a very few instances, have always been, and now are, conducted by a mistress. I prefer women, and find it does better. In p. 216.-As the morals of those of my own sex have been the constant object of my peculiar regard, it is a standing rule at these anniversaries, that every young woman bred in the schools and belonging to the club, who has been married in the preceding year, and can produce a testimonial of her good conduct from the minister and the schoolmistress, receives a little public reward, consisting of a crown piece, a pair of white stockings of my own knitting, and a Bible. This trifling encouragement has had its effect, and sobriety and virtue are now considered as necessary to the establishment of a young woman. Forgive these petty details. In pp. 217, 218.--May I presume to refer your Lordship to a small pamphlet, called "A Statement of Facts," by nine clergymen who are or have been connected with my schools? May I also venture to refer you to those gentlemen personally? and may I take leave to observe, that they cannot, as has been suggested, be persons of a particular description, picked out to serve a particular purpose, being the real officiating ministers of the several parishes? Two others are dead; to the widow of one of the decased, who always spent a great part of the Sunday in my school (Mrs. Chapman), and to all who are living, I can refer, except to the curate of In p. 218. For ten years they met with general approbation. Ibid. Most of my immediate neighbours, Mr. Leeves, the rector of my parish, Dr. Randolph, to whose congregation I belong at Bath, are likely to know more of my principles and conduct. My habits in the world are well known. In p. 219.-And my forbearance in avoiding attack or accusation. In p. 220.-The late Henry Fielding assured a friend of mine, that, during his late administration of justice in Bow-street, only six Scotchmen had been brought before him. He accounted for it entirely from the peculiar attention which the Scotch pay to the early education of the lower classes. In the late revolution in France and rebellion in Ireland, did not the sworn enemies to government and good order find the mass of the people in both countries proper tools for their iniquitous designs in proportion to their gross ignorance and unformed morals? In p. 222.-It will be a strong proof of your Lordship's goodness if you will pardon the egotism and the tediousness of this letter; but I thought it my duty to be full and explicit. Now we maintain that Mrs. More's friends and admirers are deeply indebted to Mr. Thompson for the publication of these suppressed passages. Mr. Roberts may have spoken the truth, but here we have the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; and the letter, with these additions, and other little verbal corrections, place the character of Mrs. More in a much higher and nobler point of view. Nor is this all; we have a few questions to ask Mr. Roberts, to which we shall at present not attempt to reply, but leave our readers to draw their own inferences. |