voyage, his unremitted, affectionate, and judicious attendance upon his dying master, could not be exceeded; and so powerfully was my son's mind impressed by it, that it was his last request to his sisters, that the faithful and invaluable services of John, might be amply rewarded.

One of these sisters, who, during three weeks, had been torn to pieces by sea sickness, and was brought by it, to the very brink of the grave, owed him little less on her own account, than on her brother's. He anxiously and assiduously watched the intervals, when it was practicable for her to take nourishment; had it constantly ready prepared, (for he was an excellent cook, as well as a judicious nurse,) enforcing the necessity of her endeavouring to swallow it; and she is herself persuaded, that had it not been for these very minute attentions, she could not have survived the voyage, so exceedingly was her strength reduced. These, I am aware, may to some persons, seem uninteresting particulars; yet to those, and to my female readers especially, who have themselves experienced the numerous hardships of a long sea voyage, or, who may have sympathized in the distressing details of those who have experienced them, they will not appear so.

This ingenious young man, and faithful servant, so well understood the management of a ship, that in their road home, having few sailors, and these for the most part, profligate and ignorant, his assistance was always called for on every emergency; yet far from making these sailors his companions on other occasions, or

joining in their profane, licentious conversation, he constantly occupied his leisure hours in reading the Bible, having enabled himself so to do, by his own extraordinary exertions. My daughters set him some copies whilst they were in Italy, that he might teach himself to write, and the quick progress he made, was proportionate to the uncommon talents he discovered in respect to every thing else to which he applied.

On their landing in England, he would gladly have attended them to York, there to have entered into the service of his old mistress, as he denominated the writer of these Memoirs; and who did not fail on her part, exceedingly to regret, that her income would not admit of her engaging him as a servant on the advantageous terms, which his exemplary conduct and inestimable services so well deserved. He was recommended through the kind agency of a very particular friend of Dr. Cappe's, to the family of a gentleman near Liverpool. In this gentleman's service, he died about two years afterwards, notwithstanding the greatest care, and the most judicious medical treatment.

Such was John Hacket, one of that cruelly treated, and unjustly despised race, of whom it has been disputed, whether they should be reckoned as beings of the same species. Lament not, reader, his death as untimely, for his virtues were matured and pre-eminent. Had he lived longer, possessing all the generous fire, and lively animation of his unfortunate countrymen, without perhaps, having gained the necessary pru

dence to steer him safely through the various moral trials, to which, as a servant in a large family, he would have been peculiarly subjected, these fine endowments might have proved his ruin. Now, we have good reason to hope that he is in safety-that he is landed on a shore, where his African descent, his sable colour, and his woolly hair, will not be considered as marks of specific degradation; where the faithful cultivation, as far as he had the power, of his fine natural endowments, will be duly appreciated; where he will assuredly take his place among the distinguished few, from every nation, tongue, and kindred; who have equalled him in piety and virtue; in disinterestedness of spirit; in fidelity, integrity, and generosity of mind; and where he will partake with them, in the glorious reward of advancing continually from one degree of excellence to another, through the countless ages of eternity!

CHAPTER 41.

Return of the afflicted sisters....A visit to London....Return by Cambridge....Reflections on visiting that ancient university....Sermons selected for publication....Thoughts on Charity Schools and Benefit Clubs published and dedicated to the Ladies' Committee....A volume of Sermons published.

On the 7th of March, 1803, I had the inexpressible satisfaction of receiving my two daugh

ters safe, and in as tolerable health as could reasonably be expected, after the great affliction they had suffered, and the many hardships they had undergone. They both of them possess great courage and fortitude, never giving way to fear or despondency, where duty is concerned. Their surviving, affectionate brother, hastened to them at Hoylake, the moment they landed, and conducted them hither.

After they had been at home some time, I determined to gratify a wish, that I had long entertained, of visiting London in company with my daughters; in the hope, that a new train of ideas might be useful to them, and that I might have the pleasure once more of seeing my excellent old friends Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey. We engaged lodgings accordingly, and staid there about six weeks. We returned by Cambridge, which was to me a quite new, and highly interesting scene. The ancient buildings-the magnificent libraries, those sacred depositories of departed genius-the fine statue of sir Isaac Newton, which seems to possess some portion of his living fire the impressive silence of the college walks, shaded by the stately elms, and adorned by the peaceful river, on whose banks, successive generations have for a while disported, and then vanished away-produced altogether an effect upon my mind, which it were vain to analyze. I know not how others may be affected by such contemplations, but to my feelings, whatever may have been the events of human life, whether prosperous or adverse, whether we have attained to

eminence and honour, or have passed unperceived through its sequestered vales, all would be darkness and gloom, were not the last closing scene illumined by that celestial light, which emanates from the empty tomb of the Son of God;-a light transcendantly glorious, and of power to dispel every doubt and every fear.

In July, 1804, I began to select for publication, a volume of my husband's Sermons, chiefly on Devotional Subjects. It was necessary not only to re-transcribe, but to condense many of them; as they had been composed and preached without the slightest view of publication; and it was his method, when delivering a series of discourses on the same subject, to recapitulate from time to time, the arguments which had preceded, and to place the subject in various points of light, in order to make the deeper impression. This method, however useful and important to a congregation, rendered a revision, and sometimes even a new arrangement, absolutely necessary, before they met the public eye in a more closely connected form; and it was not without extreme diffidence and fear, that I entered on the undertaking. But I was stimulated and encouraged, by reflecting on the ardent piety, the comprehensive views, the accurate discrimination, and the flowing eloquence, with which I knew them to be replete, and which would render them, as I hoped, as improving and consolatory to others, as they had formerly been to myself. It happened, however, after I had made some progress, and had even committed a few of the first re