OF THE UNJTEtiilTY r Religious &vat, Society, MEMOIR AMELIA OPIE; CECILIA LUCY BRIGHTWELL. Still thankful alike, if the thorn or the rose Was strew'd on the pathway that led her to God." LA.YS FOE THE DEAD. PUBLISHED BY THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY, 56, PATERNOSTER ROW, & 164, PICCADILLY, LONDON. M.DCCC.LV. PREFACE. IT seems desirable, in bringing out a short Memoir of Mrs. Opie, tinder the auspices of the Religious Tract Society, to preface it by a few observations, introductory and explanatory. The present Life differs, in some essential re- spects, from the larger " Memorials;" having for its object more particularly the record of Mrs. Opie's religious history; and, consequently, it will be found to contain but a general sum- mary of the events of the earlier years of her life. Since the publication of the former work, I have received many pleasing letters, and extracts from correspondence, communicated to me by the friends of Mrs. Opie, which have been thought likely to interest the general reader, and to bring out into clearer light the character of the departed, as a Christian woman. While I do not desire to convey the impres- M601482 IV PREFACE. sion, that in writing this short Memoir, I feel the wish to retract or alter anything I have given in the " Memorials/' I avow the hope and the expectation, that there will be found in this little volume much additional and in- teresting material. It is, therefore, with plea- sure I indulge the belief that it will, through the medium of this Society, be put within the reach of a far larger number of readers than it could otherwise have obtained. Perhaps I may be permitted to say a few words with reference to the sterling character of Mrs. Opie's religious views and conduct. There can be no stronger test of the genuine nature of a change of heart, than corresponding life and action ; and while, in her case, there was simple reliance on the great fundamental doctrine of salvation by faith in the Redeemer, there was a " bright evidence " that this faith was genuine in the fruits it produced. For proof of this I must refer to the narrative given in these pages, and I may further say, that the character of Mrs. Opie's religious reading, and of her favourite devotional authors, also showed the soundness of her views. Dr. PREFACE. V Chalmers' " Horse Sabbaticse," was one of the books in which she principally took delight during the latter period of her life; and the various marks of approval and feeling, traced by her pencil, in the volumes she read, show the bent of her heart and mind. I know not that any doubt has ever been entertained of the sincerity and truthfulness of Mrs. Opie, in the change she adopted, when she left the world, and gave -herself to Christ as his disciple. The old reproach has indeed been uttered by one critic, who says, "When she began to grow elderly, Amelia Opie became devote." Beneath the sting lies the honey-bag ; and this trite sneer will only assure the Christian reader that the object of it had not offered in vain the prayer of the psalmist, " So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." C. L. BRIGHTWELL, Norwich. LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE, PART I. CHAPTEE I. THEBE is, perhaps, no kind of reading more universally interesting than biography, or "life- writing" as that word signifies. Some of the most ancient literary compositions in existence are works of biography, or of mixed biography and history. The historical parts of the Old Testament are the most remarkable examples of the kind, and are everywhere intermixed with records of the lives of individuals ; in some instances, the compo- sition is purely biographical, as in the case of the book of Euth. Who has not delighted himself in that record of true friendship, so pure and disin- terestedso abiding and faithful? Fresh with Nature's own breath, that world-old tale is ever new and attractive. The old and the young alike take pleasure in it; and all hearts respond to the touching appeal: "Entreat me not to leave 2 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. thee, or to return from following after thee : for whither thou goest, I will go : thy people shall be my people, and thy Grod my Grod: where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried."* The life-history of every man, indeed, could it be faithfully given, would, in all probability, be found to contain some points of interest peculiar to itself, and distinct in character from the experience of all others : so that a lesson of teaching, encourage- ment, or warning might be learned thence, and good might result from a discriminating reflection upon its record. The consciousness of this general love for biography, and the eager interest we all take in the experience of each other, have prompted multitudes to relate that which they have them- selves seen and done, or induced them, in case they have been conversant with individuals of note and celebrity, to give to the world their recollections of the distinguished persons with whom they have associated. It is from a feeling of this kind that I offer to the readers of this little volume some remembrances of one who will ever be dear to those who knew her, and the history of whose long and eventful life is full of much instruction and entertainment. I refer to the late AMELIA OPIE, an authoress whose earlier poems and tales procured her a repu- tation in the world of letters, which is still main- tained after the lapse of half a century, and whose * Ruth i. 16, 17. LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 3 later works of a very different character show the honesty and truthfulness of her renewed heart, and her sincere desire to do good. The principal of these productions is a series of tales, illustrative of the vice of lying ; and this book has been, and is still, extensively read in America, in which country it is acknowledged to have been widely useful, having found its way into the cottages of " the interior," where it is to be seen, "thumbed by frequent use." It is not, however, as an authoress that I wish to present Mrs. Opie to my readers ; my object is, rather to trace, in the experience of her life, the goodness of G-od, and the infinite superiority of religious principle to the highest attainments of nature, as well as the superior happiness it yields over all that the world can bestow on its votaries. In the endeavour to illustrate these points, I shall, almost necessarily, make a division of the memoir into the two periods into which her life seems naturally to fall. The earlier and longer part of her history was one of youthful enjoyment, suc- cessful aspiration, and worldly distinction ; when she drank the full cup of earthly joy, and tasted, with a glad spirit, the happiness of youth, health, prosperity, and "all that earth calls good and great." Of this period of her life I cannot speak from personal knowledge; my acquaintance with her dates from a far later time, when she had long 4 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. retired from the gay circles of the world ; and when, taught by experience, she could say, "I would not exchange this sitting at the foot of the cross for all the gaieties I once enjoyed." But, though unable to narrate, from personal knowledge, the history of her early days, I am possessed of authentic information respecting them, and have heard from her own lips many particulars of their most striking and memorable events ; for she loved to go back, on Memory's swift wings, to the days of " auld lang syne," and would frequently while away the hours in graphically depicting the scenes arid personages of former times. AMELIA ALDEBSON was the only child of a phy- sician of some note, in the old cathedral town of Norwich, in which place she was born, November 12th, 1769. Her mother, Amelia, was the daughter of Joseph Briggs, of Cossambaza, up the Granges. This gentleman was the son of Dr. Henry Briggs, rector of Holt, in Norfolk, and went over, in the Company's service, to Bengal. He died in India, May, 1747. His widow did not survive him many months, and their infant daughter and only child was brought back to England, and committed to the care of her father's family ; and there are still in existence several letters from her paternal uncle relative to the transfer of the child, which breathe a spirit of devout piety, and affectionate interest in the helpless orphan. LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 5 Mrs. Opie has been heard to say, that many of her " relations on the mother's side had been united for generations past to the Wesleyan Methodists ;" and I mention this circumstance, because it is delightful to indulge in the thought, that the pro- mises of Grod, made to the children of the righteous, " even to the third and fourth generations," were fulfilled in the present instance. It appears that Mrs. Opie's mother was a woman of good sense and judgment, and that she endea- voured early to teach her child obedience and self-denial. "Her word .was law;" and though fragile in health, she seems to have been gifted with much natural strength of character. She died when her daughter was yet a girl, but it was per- ceptible, even to the latest period of Mrs. Opie's life, that the influence exerted by her mother never faded from the daughter's memory, but left indelible traces there ; and not unfrequently would she speak of her mother with respect and veneration. One of the most touching of Mrs. Opie's "Lays for the Dead" was called forth by this filial affection, and, in a short narrative of her own earlier days, she speaks of the judicious training of her mother, saying she was as " firm from principle, as she was gentle in disposi- tion." Happy, indeed, would it have been for both mother and child, had the seeds of early piety been sown in that tender and susceptible heart ; but there is no evidence that such was the case ; and while we cannot but feel the wish to know more of the 6 LltfE OF AMELIA OPIE. mother of Mrs. Opie, we are compelled to acknow- ledge, with regret, that in the scanty information we have, no mention is made of the religious train- ing of her child. Having referred to a record of Mrs. Opie's childish days, I will quote, from this interesting fragment, a little incident with which it opens, very characteristic of the natural love for the beau- tiful, and the sweet temper of the writer. She says : " One of my earliest recollections is, of gazing on the bright blue sky, as I lay in my little bed, before my hour of rising came, and listening with delighted attention to the ringing of a peal of bells. I had heard that heaven was beyond those blue skies, and I had been taught that there was the home of the good; and I fanced that those sweet bells were ringing in heaven. What a happy error ! Neither illusion nor reality, at any subse- quent period of my life, ever gave me such a sensa- tion of pure, heartfelt delight, as I experienced, when, morning after morning, I looked on that blue sky, and listened to those bells, and fancied that I heard the music of the home of the blessed, pealing from the dwelling of the Most High. Well do I remember the excessive mortification I felt when I was told the truth, and had the nature of bells explained to me ; and though I have since had to awake often from illusions that were dear to my heart, I am sure that I never woke from one with more pain than I experienced when forced LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 7 to forego this sweet illusion of my imaginative childhood." This lively imagination was shown in various ways, when she was still quite young, and was joined to an eager curiosity and love of excitement, of which she has related various instances. She early gave signs of some of the peculiar tastes and propensities which afterwards characterized her. One of the most remarkable of these, was an eager interest in insane persons ; and her sympathies being excited on their behalf, she delighted in fre- quently visiting them and -bestowing on them little presents of pence, and flowers. Once, during a visit to the interior of a lunatic asylum, she was so much struck by the appearance of a patient, whom she observed gazing at her with earnest and melan- choly interest "a world of woe" written in his looks that she said, " This poor man and his ex- pression never left my memory ; and I thought of him when, at a later period, I attempted to paint the feelings I imputed to him, in the " Father and Daughter." "When very young, too, she became a frequenter of the assize courts at Norwich, de- lighting in the excitement of the trials there; thus early evincing a taste she ever after retained ; but which, it will be seen, at the latter period of her life, was brought under the influence of higher motives than mere curiosity, or the love of ex- citement. Still a girl at the time of her mother's death, 8 LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. Miss Alderson was placed by that event at the head of her father's household, and introduced into the very gay society of the Norwich circles of that day. Dr. Alderson naturally delighted in his daughter's talents. He made her his constant companion, and to his instructions she was, in a great degree, indebted for the information and ac- quirements, which qualified her to take a part in entertaining the numerous and clever guests whom he gathered round him. It was a perilous situa- tion for a young girl, deprived of a mother's watch- ful care, and without the loving influence and sup- port of other female relatives. There was plenty to delight her lively, joyous temperament, but she needed the salutary checks which maternal in- fluence would have exerted, and for the want of which even the devoted attachment of her proud father could not compensate. High spirits, uninterrupted health, a lively fancy, and mental vigour, were natural advantages she pos- sessed, and fully enjoyed and exercised. To these she added great musical talent, and excelled to a most remarkable degree in that expressive style of ballad- singing, which seems no longer to be cultivated in these days of musical science. " Those only who have heard her can conceive the effect she produced in the performance of her own ballads," said one of her early friends; and this charming gift she exerted in the days of her greatest success in so- ciety ; on one occasion being honoured to sing to LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 9 the Prince R/egent. This fact reminds me, that, after Mrs. Opie's death, among the relics care- fully treasured in Dr. Alderson's writing desk, was found a pair of faded gloves, which had been worn by his daughter on that memorable occasion. Another of Miss Alderson's early tastes was a love of the drama; when not more than eighteen years of age she wrote a tragedy, which she afterwards assisted in acting for the amusement of her friends. It was, probably, owing to this taste, that she early formed an acquaintance with the Kemble family, and became intimate with the celebrated Mrs. Siddons. A visit to London in 1794, introduced Miss Aiderson to many celebrated characters. That was a period of revolutionary ferment and unparalleled political excitement ; and Dr. Alderson's views being those of the ultra-liberal party, his daughter's were naturally formed in accordance with them. She attended the famous trials of Home Tooke, Holcroft, and others, for high treason, and wrote accounts of them to her father, full of passionate interest and zeal on behalf of the accused. Throughout her life, Mrs. Opie was a warm sympathizer with the lower orders, though she had many friends in the higher circles. She was never, jit any period, untrue to this early-formed bias, exhibiting a practical habit of tenderness towards those who have to bear a large share of the heavier burdens of life. 10 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. It is evident, that a fellowship in political opinions was the only bond which united Miss Alderson to many of those with whom, at this time, she associated. Her good sense, and firm rectitude of moral principle, happily preserved her from the follies and errors into which not a few of those around her were led, by their extravagant zeal for a liberty which speedily degenerated into licence ; and although she might, sometimes, be betrayed by her native ardour into imprudence, her own standard of duty ever remained pure and high. The following year found Miss Alderson again entering into the exciting pleasures of the society to which she had gained access. Many of the Erench emigrants, the victims of the great Revo- lution, were at that time in London, and among them were men of high standing, and literary talent and repute. The celebrated Count de Lally Tollendal, and the Due d'Aiguillon, formed an acquaintance with the lively and charming young Englishwoman, which they afterwards carried on in correspondence; and she wrote, as usual, to her Norwich friends, telling of all the gay round of visits and amusements in which she shared. Still, she was not wholly blinded to the frivolity of much she joined in, but spoke of the scene as " a wilderness of pleasure, in which fruits and flowers disputed with weeds." Intellectual intercourse with Mrs. Barbauld, LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. Mr. Wrangham, Mr. Eogers, Dr. Geddes, and many others of the same stamp, was the principal attraction to her, and she was always on the alert to gain instruction and information, which she stored up for after use. At length, during one of her London visits, she formed an acquaintance which was destined to affect her future history for life. In the house of a mutual friend, she was introduced, one evening, to the painter Opie, then enjoying a considerable degree of popular favour. He was charmed and fascinated at first sight, and pursued with eager earnestness the suit which he instantly commenced. At first there seemed doubts of his success, but eventually she inclined to accept his proposal, and in the month of May, 1798, Mr. Opie and Miss Alderson were married at Marylebone church. From the glimpses we gain of Mr. Opie in the Memoir, prefixed by his wife to the Lectures, pub- lished after his decease, we perceive much that is estimable in his private and domestic character; and the letters she wrote during her married life bear strong testimony to his honourable and truth- ful character, to his feeling of love for his pro- fession, and to his general worth and natural kind- ness. He delighted to spend his leisure hours in conversation with the woman to whom his heart had surrendered itself at the first moment of their meeting. He endeavoured to instruct and improve her mind and talents ; he encouraged her to exer- 12 LIFE Or AMELIA OPIE. cise her natural powers, as an author, and always waged war against the indulgence of idleness and frivolous pursuits ; and she repaid his affection by a sincere regard, and a warm delight in his genius and superior sense. "Knowing," she says in the memoir of her husband, " at the time of our marriage, that my most favourite amusement was writing, he did not check my ambition to become an author; on the contrary, he complained not that I wrote so much, but that I did not write more and better. Idleness was the fault he most blamed in both sexes; and I shall ever regret that I did not write more, when it was in my power to profit by his criticisms and advice ; and when, by employing myself more regularly in that manner, I should have been sure to receive the proudest and dearest reward of woman, the appro- bation of a husband at once the object of her respect and love." Thus urged, Mrs. Opie gave to the world her first acknowledged publication, the " Father and Daughter." It appeared in the year 1801, and was received with much warmth of approval by the public at large, as well as by the more critical judgment of the reviewers of "The Edinburgh," and of men of genius and repute. Sir "Walter Scott declared, that he had shed more tears over that tale than he had ever done over such things. It was translated into almost every European lan- guage, and was afterwards taken as the ground- LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 13 work of a popular Italian opera of the time the " Agnese " of Paer. The next year Mrs. Opie published a volume of " Poems/' which were thus characterized by the celebrated critic, Dr. Brown : " The verses of feeling, on which Mrs. Opie must rely for the establishment of her fame, are cer- tainly among the best in our opuscular poetry." In the midst of these scenes of domestic happi- ness, and successful effort, there were clouds gather- ing around the painter and his wife, which occa- sion e,d anxiety and care for the future. Mr. Opie's talents were not rewarded by so much remunera- tive employment as they deserved, and after a time, obtained. Despondency occasionally possessed his mind, and dark broodings overshadowed his spirit. His aspiring mind yearned after professional excellence, and never rested in present attainments. And now the hopeful spirit of his wife sustained him. She was sanguine in temperament, and cheerful by nature, and well and happily ministered to him by encouraging his nagging spirits. In time these difficulties were surmounted, and, she says in her Memoir, "a torrent of business set in towards him, which never ceased to flow till the day of his death." One of the very few relaxations which Mr. Opie allowed to himself, was a visit to the French capital, and great was the delight which this journey occasioned his wife. She beheld the great master- pieces of art then assembled at the Louvre by the 14 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. victorious arms of Napoleon. She gazed with ad- miring eyes on that mighty conqueror himself, and saw and conversed with her political idol, Charles Jaihes Fox. Many persons of note, including the Polish hero, Kosciusko, were introduced to her acquaintance, and the days were too short to ac- complish the various schemes of amusement and pleasure with which she filled the hours. Her health and spirits were boundless, and her enjoy- ment fully equal to both. Seventeen years after, Mrs. Opie again visited Prance, and as, looking back at the past, she recalled with mingled emotions the widely different cir- cumstances under which she first saw those shores, filled with grateful feelings, she exclaimed, " "When I again beheld Calais, and recollected what I was when I first saw it in 1802, I felt overwhelmed and humbled with a sense of being richer, wiser, and happier in one sense than I was then ; for I had learned to know my Saviour, and not as a Teacher and a Prophet only, but as the Eedeemer as Him who died that I might live, and through whose merits alone I am to be saved. Glory be to the Most High for this greatest of all his mercies ! " Ee turning from this delightful journey, Mr. and Mrs. Opie resumed the usual routine of their life, and the pen and the pencil were industriously exercised. She produced some new tales, and frequently visited her Norwich friends ; her letters to whom, when she was in London, were filled LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 15 with accounts of all the various incidents she judged worthy of record, and varied with descrip- tions of the "celebrities" to whom she had access. "In her own house," said her early friend, Mrs. J. Taylor, " where Mr. Opie's talents drew a constant succession of the learned, the gay, and the fashionable, she delighted all by the sweetness of her manners, and the unstudied and benevolent politeness with which she adapted herself to the taste of each individual." These days passed swiftly away, and all seemed to promise fair for the future. The talents of her husband had now obtained for him both fame and success, and his happy wife wrote : " He now saw himself justly rewarded for all his labour and per- severance ; his circumstances were such as to enable us to have more of the comforts and ele- gancies of life." ..... In short, the hill of worldly prosperity was climbed, and the difficulty of the ascent conquered. The labour and anxiety, how- ever, had told upon the health, and undermined the energies, of the successful man of genius ; and in the spring of the year 1807, just nine years after his marriage, Mr. Opie, after a few weeks' illness, sank and died. His wife did all that was in her power to soothe and comfort him. Alas ! she could not point the eye of the sufferer to the only true source of hope to the Saviour of sinners. She did not know the only refuge of the soul in the hour of calamity ; she had not learned the 16 LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. lesson of believing confidence in Jesus as the way of safety, of holiness, and of peace the lesson which, by G-od's grace and mercy, she was taught in after years, when, under a similar afflic- tion, (the last illness of her father,) she wrote, " I humbly hope, that in my hour of need, if it should come, I shall be permitted to feel that ' my help cometh from the Lord; and that, though I walk in the midst of trouble, he will deliver me.' " There is something exceedingly touching and painful in the history of Mr. Opie ; and it is probable that my readers, as they drop a tear of regret over his untimely end, may utter, in their hearts, the words of the wise "preacher" of old, and say, " Vanity of vanities ; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun ? " * Should they stop there, they will but learn the melancholy lesson, that all the joys of earth, and all its works and deeds, perish and come to nought are, indeed, nothing, and less than nothing, and vanity : " False as the smooth, deceitful sea, And empty as the whistling wind." But the Christian will go further; he will re- member the words of the Lord Jesus, and the solemn question he put, which none on earth, or under the earth, has ever been able to answer, " "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"t * Eccl. i. 2, 3. t Mark viii. 36. LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 17 That inquiry is still put by the Saviour to all who, sinking beneath the labours of earth, or goaded to sacrifice everything in pursuit of its rewards, ask, in the bitterness of disappointment, "Who will show us any good?" To them the voice of love says, " What shall it profit you, though you gain all that you pant to acquire, if the one thing needful be not yours ? Seek first the king- dom of Grod, and his righteousness, and all things else shall then be added unto you." CHAPTEE II. AFTER Mr. Opie's death, his widow returned to her early home, and continued during the remainder of Dr. Alderson's life to live with him. Her at- tachment to her father was of an ardent and devoted character ; she loved him with an intense affection, and as he was the only object united to her by the dearest ties of nature, all her tenderness seemed to be concentrated upon him. It w r as now her duty and delight to cheer and soothe his declining years, and love, and duty joined to aid her in the per- formance of the task. For a while her intercourse with the world and its society was laid aside. She gave her time and thoughts to quiet literary labours, published her husband's lectures, with her memoir of him, and wrote a second volume of poems. After a period of retirement, she resumed her intercourse with London friends, and visited the metropolis, usually in the spring of each year. Her letters and reminiscences (the latter were written several years after the events they recorded) are full of lively pictures of the personages and events of the time. Many of those who figure in them are names of the first celebrity: Lord LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. . 19 Erskine and Madame de Stael, Sheridan, Lord Byron, Sir James Mackintosh, Mrs. Siddons, Baron Humboldt, and many others, were there, witty, brilliant, learned, and attractive, contributing of their various stores to the general fund of enjoy- ment. These yearly visits to London did not interfere with Mrs. Opie's literary pursuits. She continued diligently to use her pen, and in the year 1812 published "Temper" a tale, in which she adopted more the character of a moralist, aim- ing at practical usefulness ; and she had the satis- faction of receiving assurances that it had exerted a beneficial influence on some of her readers. In the following year appeared the " Tales of Eeal Life," and we mention them, especially from the wish to say, that the one entitled " Love and Duty" was a favourite with herself a fact incidentally mentioned by her at an evening party, when she was told that a young friend, who had hoped to meet her on that occasion, was consoling herself by reading this tale. "With great naivete, Mrs. Opie acknowledged that these early productions of her mind still possessed an interest for her, and she added, that "Lcve and Duty" was her favourite among them. We now pass on to the summer of the year 1814. when, to use her own words, " the emperor of Russia, the king of Prussia, and other royal and distinguished foreigners, were, as everybody knows, in London." It was a stirring time, and she was 20 ^ L1EE OF AMELIA OPIE. present, amidst all the gaiety and whirl, chasing the imperial strangers when they appeared in public, sharing in the gay amusements of her friends, balls, and masquerades, and concerts; and on Sundays, alas ! receiving her guests, and doing as the multitude around her did, not observ- ing " the ordinances of the Lord, nor obeying his commandments." From the midst of all this worldliness and vanity Mrs. Opie was suddenly and painfully summoned, by an event which excited deep feeling in her heart, and which must have been the more impressive and distressing, by the contrast in which it stood with all that had occupied her thoughts during the months of her absence from home. Among the friends of her early days were the well-known and much-honoured family of the Griirneys. Her inter- course with them dated from a very early period, and when Mrs. -Fry, on her marriage, settled in London, Mrs. Opie visited her there. After her return to Norwich, on the death of her husband, she resumed her former habits of intimacy with the family at Earlham, and formed a warm friendship with Priscilla, the youngest sister, whose lovely and Christian character especially endeared her to those around her, and whose influence on Mrs. Opie, combined with that of her brother, the admirable and lamented Joseph John Gurney, appears to have been the principal means of producing that gradual change of sentiment which eventually led LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 21 to her joining the Society of Friends. The melan- choly event of which we have spoken as the occa- sion of Mrs. Opie's sudden recall from her London visit, was the death of Mr. John G-urney, the elder brother of Mr. Joseph John Gurney. He had been for some time in a declining state of health, but the end seems to have been unexpectedly rapid, and happened precisely at this period. To the memory of this lamented friend, Mrs. Opie dedicated the second of her " Lays for the Dead," which was written (as she says in the title to it) after attend- ing his funeral in the Friends' burying-ground at Norwich ; she having travelled all night in order to arrive in time. From this period Mrs. Opie attended the reli- gious services of the Friends ; and continued to do so until she united herself to their communion, eleven years after ; and in a note, written the year of Mr. Gurney's death, (1847,) to the writer of these pages, she says, " In 1814 I left the Unita- rians." It does not appear, indeed, that she was ever in actual communion with that body. It seems most likely that in her youth she had no settled opinions on religious subjects ; and that the mere circumstances of her birth and education associated her with the Unitarians. One thing is evident, from the whole tenor of her conversation, as well as from her subsequent acknowledgment, when she had been brought to know " the grace of God. in truth," that at this time she had not ^2 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. experienced the great vital change of which the Lord Jesus Christ spoke in these impressive words, " Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of Grod." Prom this period, however, as we have said, she ceased to attend the religious services at the Octagon Chapel, and though she did not at once sever herself from her former associates and pursuits, yet there was a gradual and steady pro- gress ; and an entire change in her principles and conduct eventually ensued. During the next five or six years, Mrs. Opie published two or three tales, one of which, called "Valentine's Eve," is interesting, as showing the state of her religious feelings at the time it was written. The lesson it inculcates is, the superiority of religious principle as a rule of action, and as a support under affliction and unmerited calumny. The heroine of the story, pronouncing it to be her conviction that " moral virtues are only durable and precious as they are derived from religious be- lief, and are the result of it," says, " Some suppose that morality can stand alone, without the aid of religion, and even fancy that republican firmness will enable us to bear affliction; but I feel, that the only refuge in sorrow and in trial is the R/ock of ages, and the promises of the gospel." Happy, indeed, was it for her, that these sentiments were those of her own heart ; for the time was approach- ing when she was to stand in need of all the sup- port which the " exceeding great and precious LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 23 promises" of Grod's word alone can impart, Not many months after, she mentions, in writing to Mr. Hayley, that her father had been indisposed, had accidentally lamed himself, and been " unwell, dispirited, and broken down in mind and body for weeks, nay, months." From this attack Dr. Alder- son rallied, but his illness returned, and assumed a more serious aspect in the latter part of the year 1820 ; and his daughter, anxious that he should have the best medical advice, accompanied him to London, though without any beneficial results ; for he was seized while there'with extreme depression of spirits, and shortly returned to Norwich, and from this time till his death he hardly ever left his own house. Those only who were acquainted with the intense and devoted attachment of Mrs. Opie to her father, can fully appreciate the anguish of that feeling which drew from her the words, " I suffered much. Oh ! it was the most bitter trial I ever experienced, when I was obliged to tell the poor afflicted people to whom he gave advice daily in our large hall, that their kind physician was no longer able to receive them and to try and heal their diseases. For many years he prescribed for about four or five hundred persons at his house every week. As long as he could, he continued to see them ; and when unable to go down stairs, he admitted them into my little drawing-room, till at length he said he could see no one again. He wept, and so did I ; and they 24 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. were bitter tears, for I feared lie would not long survive the loss of his usefulness." For nearly five years the continued and increasing illness of ' Dr. A. occupied the time and constant thought of his daughter, and there are many interesting evi- dences that this afflictive visitation was a " blessing in disguise," sent by her heavenly Father to wean her from the world, and call her wholly to himself. Two touching prayers, written at this time, were found preserved among her papers affecting testi- monials of her love and filial piety. In one of them occurs the following petition : " . . . Deign, Lord, to hear the prayers of a child for a beloved parent. Enable me to be the humble means of leading him to thee. Oh, let us ' thirst' and come together ' to the waters, and buy wine and milk without money and without price.' Grant, O Lord, that ere we go hence and are no more seen, our united voices may ascend to thee in praises and in blessings ; and may we together call upon the name of Him who has redeemed us by his most precious blood, that in that blood our manifold sins ' may be washed away.'" About this time happened the death of Miss Priscilla G-urney an event deeply lamented by Mrs. Opie, who lost in her a true Christian friend and helper. In some lines, written in memory of her, she thus tenderly apostrophizes her : " Oh, how vast thy loss to me ! I miss thy soothing smile of love ; LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 25 Thy voice, that could my fears control, Thy words, that bade my doubts remove, And breathed conviction o'er my soul." It is pleasing to observe the interest hencefor- ward taken by Mrs. Opie in the spiritual well-being of others. Naturally benevolent, when the in- fluences of Divine love began to operate in her heart, she sought to communicate to others the light and joy vouchsafed to her own soul. In the Eible and Anti-Slavery Societies she took a deep interest, which became increasingly warm, and induced her, after a time, to engage actively in promoting their interests. After uniting herself to the Society of Friends, she constantly attended the public meetings, and took a share, for many years, in the duties of a Eible collector. Those who were in the habit of attending the religious anniversaries held in St. Andrew's Hall, will re- member her striking figure, erect and stately, seated upon the platform, surrounded by the numerous friends who congregated there. What pure benevolence, what fervent eloquence, what devoted charity, characterized the speakers on these occasions ! Mr. Grurney attracted to his hospitable mansion a goodly company of philanthropists and Christians of various denominations, who met to promote these great objects ; and the meetings, annually renewed, were a source of rich enjoyment, as well as true profit to many. In the year 1823, Mrs. Opie published the work 26 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. on " Lying in all its Branches," of which mention has been made at the commencement of this memoir. The subject is one affording ample scope for the moralist, and it is handled in a manner at once novel and ingenious.* It received the best of all sanctions, that of the Divine blessing. Writing shortly after to Mrs. Pry, Mrs. Opie says : " Joseph and Catherine are highly pleased with my new book on lying, (each sort of lie is illustrated by a simple anecdote or tale,) and they think it must do good My dear father is better, I think, on the whole. I am at times very low ; but there is safety in lowness for some people, and I am one of them. I know a tortoise-pace is a safe pace ; but still I am dissatisfied with my slow progress." Dr. Alderson attained the age of fourscore in * It has recently come to my knowledge, that this work was made the means of lasting benefit to a young lady, who being convinced, from its perusal, of the wickedness she was guilty of in lying merely through inconsideration and carelessness, was gradually induced to think seriously of her true spiritual con- dition. By the blessing of God, this serious thought issued in sincere repentance and conversion. There is only one drawback to the great satisfaction I feel in this fact ; I mean, that she to whom the knowledge of it would have given such happiness, remained in ignorance of it, and knew not that she had reaped this fruit of her labour. I cannot forbear to add the testimony of a Christian friend in America, who, speaking of the wide circulation of this book in, that country, and its great usefulness there, added, significantly, " Had Mrs. Opie only lived for the purpose of writing that one book, she would have done a life's work of good." C. L. B. LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 27 the spring of this year, and his daughter thus greeted him on the return of his birthday : " TO MY FATHER. "7th April, 1823. " And thou art eighty ! 'tis thy natal day. Then, oh, forgive me, that I dare to pray, ( Since from so dear a tie 'tis hard to part, A tie, bole treasure of this lonely heart,) That many a year thou yet may'st with me stay, Resign'd in pain, and cheerful in decay. While the bright hopes redeeming love has taught, Prompting each pious, purifying thought, Live in thy soul, to tell of sins forgiven, And plume its pinions for its flight to heaven." Several years had now passed since Mrs. Opie first attended the religious services of the Eriends. Her attachment to some among their number, whose influence had tended so greatly to promote her best interests, and by whose counsels and prayers she had been so much aided, had become more and more deep-rooted; and at length she decided to " cast in her lot" among them. This decision cost her, indeed, much anxiety and long deliberation. It was not without many a pang that she finally renounced the prepossessions and friendships of former days, and resolved to sacrifice so much that had been endeared to her by the ties and habits of early years. It was no small self-denial, not only to yield up the gaieties and friendships of the world, but to adopt the strict and more precise 28 LIFE Or AMELIA OPIE. views and principles of the Society to which she now applied for membership. Of the perplexities and difficulties she experienced at this time, her letters, written to Mrs. Fry, give sufficient proof. In January, 1824, she thus expressed her feelings : "It is indeed true, that I never feel so com- forted as when I am humbled, and experience a deep sense of my own sinfulness ; when I rise from my knees, or leave meeting with an arrow striking in my heart, as it were, I feel a sort of pleasure which I now would not exchange for aught the world can give. I hope this will not seem to thee unreal or fantastical ; but no, I think thou wilt understand it Meantime I feel my reliance on my Saviour growing stronger every day. But no one, save that wise, and merciful, and just Being, who has tried, and is now trying me, knows, or ever will know, what I have to endure from the many unseen peculiarities of my situation. How- ever, I take comfort and encouragement from my difficulties ; I know that I am most vile, and that I ought to be for ever striving to show my grati- tude to my blessed Eedeemer, by devoting myself entirely to his service. I feel a repose and peace, in spite of my conscious sins, which the world cannot give, or take away ; and which, I humbly hope, will continue to bear me up unto the end. Above all, I am conscious of a daily increasing spirit of prayer, and a constant desire of communion with the Bestower of it What a letter of egotism ! LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 29 But I know thy mind will be interested in the ' dealings ' with mine ; and I wish thee, dearest Betsy, always to know whereabouts I am." To those who have themselves experienced similar trials, hopes, and fears, the sentiments expressed in the above letter will appear far from " unreal and fantastic ;" they will see in them evidences of a " good work" begun in the heart, and will rejoice in the belief that the hope of the writer was justi- fied by her subsequent experience. She had been brought to the point at which the great apostle had arrived, when the messenger was sent to tell him what he must do. " Behold, he prayeth," it was said of Paul ; and from henceforward, having openly given himself to Christ, he went on his way rejoicing, to run in all the commandments of his God and Saviour. Several months elapsed after this letter was written, before Mrs. Opie finally united herself to the Society of Friends. The intervening period was one of trial and deep anxiety to her. Long and sadly did she watch the painful and lingering decline of her beloved father, as she tended him with unwearying love and care, and endeavoured to while away the tedious hours by every device her ingenious affection could suggest. She played to him on the piano, and, at his request, sang to him the psalms and hymns of Dr. Watts. He appeared to find great consolation in listening to her, as, in rich, full tones, she sang the versions of the divine 30 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. songs of the "sweet psalmist of Israel." Often he asked to have the hymn repeated, and that music soothed him to rest when any other medicine might have been administered in vain. And when, worn by pain, and enfeebled by the infirmities of age, he sank to sleep, and enjoyed a temporary ease, with fond eagerness she sketched him as he lay, and again and again traced the features she loved to gaze upon, conscious that, ere long, she must see them no more. Her sketch-book was filled with numerous pencilled outlines, which she delighted to take of all her friends and acquaintance ; and among them were repeated likenesses of Dr. Alder- son, usually representing him in sleep. Some notes addressed by her at this time to a friend residing at a distance, bear touching evidence of her grief, and also show how she was sustained through the season of trial, and from what sources her support was derived. One or two short ex- tracts may be given from these affecting memo- randa. " I shall not be quite easy (she writes, under date 23rd, 7th month, 1825,) till my dear father is better. Nor can I help remembering with pain that Hudson Grurney and Joseph John Grurney, I believe, are absent. But I humbly hope, that in my hour of need, if it should come, I shall be permitted to feel that ' my help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth,' and that c though I walk in the midst of trouble, he will And again, writing shortly after to LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 31 the same friend, she says " .... I fell into deep depression yesterday evening, and during the night; and this morning I still feel that ' all his waves and billows are gone over me : ' never did I pass such a night, or wake to such a morning. Tet all is as it was. JSTo one came near me for hours in the evening, and I felt the bitterness of the anticipated solitude of my life to come a tie- less being. I also seem as if the light of his coun- tenance were turned away from me, and all is dark. Doubtless, this is a new trial of faith and trial it is. My only moments of comfort yesterday even- ing, were when I sang repeatedly to my precious charge, my own hymn,^ ' Great Grod, let thy con- straining power,' repeating the last verse several times ; on which verse he said he wished to sleep. "Well! the darkest cloud has oft a silver lining, and so may mine " * This hymn was afterwards published in a collection of poeti- cal pieces ; as it is short, I give it entire : " Great God, let thy constraining power To thee our wandering feelings draw, And let us give this sacred hour To humble fear and holy awe. " And should the sense of conscious sin Our trembling hearts with anguish shake, And hope thy pardoning love to win, Our fainting, sinking souls forsake, " Oh, let thy grace such strength supply, Lord, breathe the thought which comfort gi res, And point to faith's uplifted eye The Lamb who died, the God who lives;" 32 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. In this note there is a passing allusion to Mr. Joseph John Grurney. During the lengthened period of Dr. Alderson's gradual decline, he had been much comforted and assisted by the atten- tions and religious counsels of this excellent and devoted man ; and there is reason to believe that the well-known work of Mr. Grurney, on the " Evi- dences of Christianity," had been of use to him. When Mrs. Opie joined the Society of Friends, Dr. Alderson expressed his warm approval of the step his daughter had taken. He had, during the time of his illness, greatly changed in his feelings on the all-important subject of religion. He read the books which his child brought under his notice ; above all, he read the Holy Scriptures, and sought the wisdom which should enable him to see the "wonderful things" that are hidden from the mind of the natural man, and can only be revealed to the soul by the Spirit of Grod. There exists an affecting record of the last two years of his life, in a ledger-like book, into which he entered all his medical cases, day by day. The first entry is dated January 25, 1824 ; and the last, September 7, 1825, little more than a month before his death. In this book he has, every now and then, in the midst of his professional notes, made an entry of some personal feeling or event. Thus, under date January 27, 1824, he writes : " Southey came his portrait taken his hair grey." March 4, 1825, "Miserere mei, Domine, precor;" and LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 33 again, August 16 : " Never felt so like dying as I have just now done ; the sensation was indescrib- ably bad." At length, on the closing page of the book, he writes : " I never thought I should live to finish this book. If I live till to-morrow, I shall begin a new one. My pain, at this moment, is bad ; my intellects clear, and I look forward to my being saved for happiness hereafter. How much I long for my last end ! but in this I act wrongly ; for a man ought to wait patiently till his end comes ; for I can live no longer than Grod pleases, let a man talk to me ever so long about curing my legs." On the cover of this book Dr. A. has written the following verse of Dr. Watts : " Let all the heathen writers join To form one perfect book ; Great God, when once compared with thine, How mean their writings look ! " Shortly before his death he was visited by Mr. G-urney, and, in reply to an observation made by him, expressed, with great feeling, his humble con- fidence in the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So died the father of Amelia Opie. As she gazed upon his lifeless countenance, she was able to entertain a hope that supported her soul, and preserved her from sinking under the blow. How deeply and enduringly she lamented him, and how tenderly she cherished his memory, was evident in every day of her after life. He had expressed a 34 LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. wish to be permitted to find his last resting-place in the Friends' burial-ground, and in compliance with his desire, he was interred there, in the grave which is now shared by her who loved him so dearly. PAET II. MUS. OPIE S HOUSE, CASTLE MEADOW, NORWICH. CHAPTEE I. WE have now arrived at a period in this short biography, from which I wish to invite the reader to look back on the past history of her, whose path through life we are tracing. I said, at the com- mencement of these pages, that I believed we should find in that history much to illustrate the 36 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. goodness of God, and to show the infinite supe- riority of religious principle to the highest attain- ments of nature, as well as the greater happiness of which it is productive. If we endeavour now to recall the incidents that have been touched upon as we passed along, I think we cannot fail to ob- serve many striking proofs of the providence of G-od and his overruling care on behalf of his servant. Adverse as the circumstances of her early history assuredly were to the formation of anything like Christian character leaving her exposed to various dangerous and seductive influences, and assailed by numerous snares and temptations she was, never- theless, preserved from running into the extrava- gances of many others, who shared, with her, the enthusiasm and exaggerated opinions of an age of excitement arid revolution. Had her affections un- happily become interested on behalf of any of those " friends of change," it is but too probable that her course would have been a very different one. But, guarded by the influence of early attachments, she clung to the home and the friendships of her girlhood ; and when, at a later period, she became the wife of Mr. Opie although, unhappily, this union was not one that brought her within the influence of the high and happy sanctions of true religion, yet there was much about her husband calculated to check her natural inclination to gay pleasures and company, and suited to excite in her mind a spirit of diligence in the cultivation of her LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 37 natural powers. The impression produced on her character by the few short years of her married life, seems to have been, on the whole, a healthful and useful one. She was roused to energy, and quickened by the example of her husband's earnest- ness and self-denial, to industry and self-culture. Prom the natural character of Mrs, Opie it might have been expected, as was actually the case, that she would be greatly influenced both in her general conduct, and the formation of her opi- nions, by those who had power over her affections. Accordingly, it was by this means the Spirit of God operating through the medium of her affec- tions and friendships that her mind was gradually turned to the consideration of religious subjects. There is something very significant, as it appears to me, in the coincidences of events at this period of her history. Brought, on her return to her father's house, after she became a widow, into con- stant intercourse with those friends whose influ- ence so powerfully affected her future history, she was arrested, at a season of gaiety and worldly excitement, by the death of one of their circle, and recalled from town, to share in the affecting solem- nities consequent on that event. Her friendship was thus more closely cemented with those who used all their influence to direct her mind to the knowledge of " the truth as it is in Jesus." Good and amiable, of cultivated minds, and actuated by holy principle, they hailed with joy the first dawning 38 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. symptoms of awakened spiritual interest in her mind. How touchingly has Mrs. Opie spoken of the fostering care and Christian love of her sweet friend, Priscilla Grurney! And when that lovely being was summoned " to her kindred skies," she left behind her the remembrance of her example, and the effect of her counsels and prayers. Those who knew the late lamented Mr. Joseph John Grurney will feel, that his friendship, his in- fluence, and his ministry, were peculiarly adapted to meet the wants and feelings of his sister's friend. He has himself said, in his diary, given in his life, that her friendship with his sister Priscilla and himself appeared to be the principal means of pro- ducing the gradual change in her sentiments on religious subjects. But, above all, the inmost depths of her nature were stirred by the illness and death of Dr. Alder- son. Filial love was, through life, her strongest passion; and all the affection of which she was capable was centred on her father. It is evident that, so soon as. she was alarmed by the symp- toms of approaching decay and death in this be- loved being, the fountains of her soul were broken up. She felt anxious concern ; and her care, not only for his present but future happiness, was quickened into anguish : " I suffered (she said) much and deeply." From various hints in letters to her friends, as well as from occasional references elsewhere, it seems evident that she was dissatis- LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 39 fied with his mental and spiritual condition. He had not been orthodox in his opinions, he had not " lived to God in the world." The eyes of her soul were opened to a perception of the absolute necessity of a change of heart. She felt that for him, as well as for herself, the vital transition "from death unto life" was needed; and humbly, earnestly, and prayerfully she sought, by every means in her power, to direct the mind of her aged and sinking parent to the only and all-sufficient source of hope and salvation, the Eedeenier of sinners. It was a delicate and difficult task, to teach while seeming rather to inquire ; to lead him to whom she had been wont to look for guidance. But she persevered in her work of faith and love, and at length she rejoiced in hope that her desire was fulfilled, and she was able to yield up the father whom she loved, in submission to the Divine will ; for she felt that there was hope in his death. It is to this period in the history of Mrs. Opie's life that we have now arrived ; and I purpose, in accordance with my original design, to give a more detailed account of her future career, endeavouring, as much as possible, to let her speak for herself in her letters and journals, from which the reader will gain the best and truest picture of her life, and be able with most satisfaction to judge as to the true excellence of her moral and religious character. I can, with the greater pleasure, dwell on this latter 40 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. time, as it was then I personally knew her, and enjoyed the happiness (especially in the last years of her life) of a frequent and intimate intercourse with her. Alas ! I now speak of this as a plea- sure that I had; and its loss has taught me more highly to appreciate its value. During the first months which followed her father's death, Mrs. Opie, though suffering deeply, was sustained by her faith in the promises of Him whose voice she had heard and obeyed, and for whose service she had renounced the approval and the pleasures of the world. In the kindness and sympathy of her friends she found comfort, and thankfully acknowledged that there is " good in friendship, arid delight in holy love ;" and, in her turn, she sought to " bind up the heart that was broken," and to minister to the consolation of others one of the surest and best means of obtaining relief under the pressure of sorrow. It is impossible to read her journals and letters of this time, without recognizing in them a depth of piety and Christian experience that could only spring from a divine source. Her tender com- passion for the afflicted, and her labours of love, in visiting the sick, the prisoner, and the necessitous, remind one of Horace Walpole's words to Hannah More : "Tour heart is always aching for others, and your head for yourself." Writing to the friend, in correspondence with whom she experienced the LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 41 relief of disburdening her sorrows, she told of the paroxysms of grief that sometimes threatened to overwhelm her, and of the help afforded in her time of need. These letters are deeply affecting, and a few pas- sages from them will not, perhaps, be unacceptable to the reader. ..." He who is a ' Father of the fatherless ' (she says, a few weeks after her be- reavement), permits the storm that beats upon me to pass away soon ; and I am really better, on the whole, than I could expect to be. I am thankful to say that my nights are good, and so favoured ! 1 am then permitted to feel, more sensibly than at other times, a conviction of the happiness of him whom I have lost ; and that He who has removed my father from me, listens, and will continue to listen, to the cry of my penitence and my prayer." Yet sore was the conflict of her troubled heart ; and shortly after, speaking of her distress and anguish, she says : " I must not proceed on this subject, or thou wilt think me rebellious to the just and merciful dispensations of the Most High ; which is by no means the case. I trust that I am resigned and thankful ; but thou wilt own, that if one does not deeply feel a trial, it is no trial. . . . The sense of my loss increases upon me indeed, yet I am more cheerful to-day ; and, in time, I hope to be more even in spirits, and more what I used to be in cheerfulness, I mean; for never, never may I, in other respects, resemble my former self, 42 LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. that thoughtless trifler along the path of life here so long forgetful of the only path that is worthy to be trodden, and which leads to life hereafter the road to Zion, that city of the saints' solemni- ties. But I must watch and pray, lest I enter into temptation, and ever distrust myself and my own deceitful heart." The following letter, written to another friend shortly after, shows a gradual improvement in her spirits, and evinces much Christian submission, as well as watchful alacrity to do good, as opportunity presented itself. " Norwich, 3rd mo., 26th, 1826. "My BELOYEB FRIEKD, .... I had thought that I could never feel anything again, but thy news really affected me. I am, I own, uneasy at thy present state of suffering. What a mercy it is that thou wast enabled, through faith, to bear thy apparent sentence, so abruptly pronounced! In nothing are the Lord's dealings with us so wonderful and gracious as when he enables us to bear trials, which we should once have expected to shrink from and to sink under. How have I been permitted to experience this ! My health is quite restored, my recent journey having, I think, been beneficial. On my way home, I was alone, from Scole to Norwich, with a young man, apparently dying of decline ; and I felt it a duty to talk on religious subjects, and found him, I trust, teach- LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 43 able ; and I promised to send him J. J. G-urney's letter, and others. He was so delighted! but, poor thing ! he was full of hopes of recovery. " I have been tolerably tranquil for some days ; and to-day I visited my dear father's grave : he hoped I would sometimes do so. I felt peace, both for him and myself, while I gazed on it, and looked forward with cheerfulness to sleeping beside him. H. G-irdlestone comforted me much, the other day, by reminding me how often, in mercy, the child was summoned away soon after the parent. The idea brought closer the prospects of eternity, and the necessity, therefore, of preparation as more urgent, that the day's work may be done in the day. " May my attention be fixed on present duty, that my remaining time may be usefully and well spent, and that I may be ready when the summons shall come to call me hence ! Oh, my dear friend, let us offer up our prayers to Him who heareth prayer, that we may both humbly endeavour to improve the present, and, relying on him who careth for us, be contented to let the future remain, compara- tively, uncared for. I believe, that even for me, one of his most unworthy servants, he will ' make a way through the wilderness,' if he intends my tarrying here ; and if it is his gracious will to summon me away, I trust that he will be with me in the valley of the shadow of death, and that through the merits of the Redeemer, and his merits alone, I shall find acceptance." .... 44 LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. A few months later (the 26th July), she writes . . . . . " "What a privilege is that of prayer ! what power is vouchsafed to us, when enabled to hold communion with the God who heareth prayer! There is no satisfaction equal to lying at the foot of his throne, and pouring out the inmost soul before him, even though it be in self-abasement and conscious sinfulness. My beloved friend, continue ' instant in prayer,' and then, I trust, thou wilt find, even here, thy reward, and all thy wants will be supplied." .... In the autumn of this year (1826) Mrs. Opie went on a visit to some friends residing near the Lakes. The change of scene, and friendly inter- course, were beneficial to her, and she returned refreshed to her now solitary home. During her stay at Grasmere, she wrote to some dear friends, residing near London, a letter of details respecting her journey, so full of natural feeling, and so char- acteristic of the writer, that I give it at some length ; the rather because it is not published in the Memorials. " Grasmere Cottage, 9th mo., 15th, 1826. . . . . "I think this spot the most beautiful I ever beheld ; it surpasses all my conceptions and expectations, and baffles all my powers of descrip- tion. I want to see a little more of the lake as I sit. But I would not touch a bristle of the beard LIFE OF AMELIA OP1E. 45 of the venerable oak that stretches its arms across the lawn, as if in kind protection of its beauties. I saw the moon double itself in the lake last night; and to-day the water is almost equally lovely in sunshine. What a drive I had from Ken- dal hither ! yet I seemed in a dream ; and I wanted then, as I do now, to write all I saw and felt to the beloved being who used to double my enjoyments by more than sharing them. This is, 1 think, a sort of insanity, but one that time only can remove ; and it has, I hope, its use, by keep- ing me low and bowed down before Him whose chastisements are in reality mercies. " My journey in all respects has been comfort- able, nor did I feel fatigued till yesterday at noon. Then my strength and spirits suddenly gave way ; for I had undergone much excitement on the road. I had met with interesting persons and things, and 1 really think I could make something amusing out of my three days' journey. . ..." I was alone some time in the evening of the first day, when the guard put in a poor girl, who was too thinly clad to continue outside ; and in spite of her sleepiness and her reluctance, I chose to make her answer my questions, and I learned much to shock me every way. The poor pretty thing (for very pretty she was) had been up to London from Wellington, to work in the gar- dens at Eulham ; and I find that scores of girls, and young men also, I dare say, go up from the 46 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. country for this purpose, and that they work all the sabbath day also, and no care whatever seeins taken of them, religiously or morally. I do hope that, lost and ignorant as I know this poor thing to be, there may yet be found means to save her ; at least, it is worth the trial. But, to think of the yearly victims to this frightful system of sum- mer w r ork and sabbath-breaking ! We ought to send missionaries to Eulham, I think. "My second day's journey found me in com- pany with a London tradesman's handsome wife, going to Trentham, and a young man well dressed, who was going to Stafford. My tracts ' burnt in my pocket,' as the saying is ; but how to pave the way to a delivery of .them, I knew not. At last, after a long silence, I took out my tiny Bible, and said I did not like, in company, to read to myself; therefore, with their leave, I would read a chapter aloud. They consented, in a way, and I read 'The woman of Samaria.' They seemed pleased, and both commented well on it. My way was now opened, and I gave each of them J. J. G-ur- ney's Letters, and the young man William Allen's tract, and that against theatrical amusements ; and the lady the extracts from Judge Hale. They seemed grateful, and we parted with mutual good wishes. Now, my dear friend, I must say that I feel it very difficult to give to persons in general, tracts, without stories, to get the wholesome but severe truths down. No one, when administering LIFE OF AMELIA OP1E. 47 a salutary pill or medicine, scruples to clothe it in currant jelly, and I really believe that your Tract Society would do more good by letting the ca- terers for it provide suitable moral stories and anecdotes. Among the ever- varying passengers of a stage coach, was a lady who at last said she thought she had seen me before; and we found that twenty years ago we had met at a Lady Bush's, and she said that she thought she had heard Lady Hamilton and Mrs. Opie sing a duet together. I was glad to be able to contradict this. I never sang with that talented but disreputable woman. The other passenger, then, was a little boy, who told me he was sent for from school to Manchester, where he lived, because his mamma was very ill, and wished to see him. Twelve miles from Manchester, the boy spoke to some one at the coach door, and said, How is mamma ? ' ' Oh, never you mind,' was the reply ; ' do you go on to Manchester.' On hearing this, I looked out, and saw a man dressed in black, with red eyes, and evidently much affected ; and I concluded the poor child was motherless. So did he. At first his tears fell in silence ; and I asked him who was that person that spoke to him ? He said it was his papa, and no doubt his poor mamma was