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 <Jpad ; 
 but we reassured him, thinking, if so, the husband 
 could not be where we saw him. His young grief 
 
 affected me much 
 
 " Thy attached friend, 
 
 "A. OPIE." 
 
48 LIFE OP AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 Mrs. Opie appears from this time to have kept 
 a diary, in which she noted passing events, and re- 
 corded her states of mind and feeling. These 
 private memoranda, intended evidently as aids to 
 self-government, and as means of exciting herself 
 to diligence and zeal, evinced the constant care she 
 exercised over her daily walk and conversation. 
 The first of them is headed 
 
 " 1827. My Journal, New Year's Day. 
 
 " Too unwell to venture to the Sick Poor Com- 
 mittee to-day. Sorry to begin the year with the 
 
 omission of a duty The day was calm, on 
 
 the whole ; but I was not satisfied with myself; 
 nay, far otherwise. Read the 46th Psalm to the 
 servants. Felt the force of the words, 'Be still, 
 and know that I am Grod ; ' and also the comfort 
 of ' G-od is our refuge, a very present help in 
 trouble/ " 
 
 " (21st of 1st mo,) Eose better in health, after 
 a peaceful night, and felt calm and thankful. 
 "Walked to Bracondale ; made calls there, and at- 
 tended the Infant School Committee. In the 
 evening was at a party ; the conversation not gene- 
 ral, Jmt rather pleasant. I believe things and 
 public persons, not private individuals, were talked 
 of; this is always desirable, but rare. . . . Had 
 only time to read a psalm to the servants, which I 
 regret. On looking over the day, I had, in one 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 49 
 
 respect, much self-blame to undergo. Night peace- 
 ful and favoured, but my morning thoughts full of 
 painful recollections of little slights and trials. 
 , Oh, my pride of heart ! not subdued yet. ' Oh 
 for a broken, contrite heart ! ' ' 
 
 In these entries there are allusions to two or 
 three particulars which deserve attention. The 
 habit of daily reading the Scriptures to her serv- 
 ants was one which Mrs. Opie constantly main- 
 tained. She preserved it sacredly even to the end ; 
 and very shortly before her decease, calling for the 
 Bible, she sat up in her bed, and read aloud to her 
 maids. 
 
 She speaks here also of the Sick Poor Soci- 
 ety, and of the Bracondale Infant School. Both 
 these excellent institutions were great favourites 
 with her. Of the former she was a devoted friend 
 and supporter through the rest of her life. As 
 long as she was able she visited for this charity, 
 frequenting the yards and lanes where the sick 
 and destitute resided, and ministering to their 
 wants, temporal and spiritual ; and when she 
 could no longer visit in person, she had her pen- 
 sioners, whom she relieved by her bounty, and 
 cheered by kindly messages and gifts. Truly her 
 heart overflowed with compassion for the afflicted 
 of her kind; she "wept with those that wept," 
 and was to all mankind a friend and well-wisher. 
 
 There is a passing touch here, in allusion to the 
 kind of conversation usually kept up in social in- 
 
 E 
 
50 LIEE OE AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 tercourse, which is very characteristic of her. She 
 disliked, on principle, the personal talk, so prone to 
 degenerate into gossip and scandal, which is too 
 frequently indulged in ; and discountenanced it 
 not only by her own example, but by unmistak- 
 able marks of her disapproval. She aimed at mak- 
 ing conversation on these occasions, as much as 
 possible, general ; and scouted the selfishness which 
 leads to the tete-a-tete chats of individuals, to the 
 exclusion of general converse and the discussion 
 of points of interest and instruction to all. 
 
 The journal continues " (4th day). Had a 
 sweet, sleepful night ; but have passed a self-indul- 
 gent day. Head I\ Hemans' poetry ; it is unique 
 and exquisite, breathing always of salvation and 
 heaven. I felt comfort while reading A. L. Bar- 
 bauld's beautiful hymn, ' Behold, where breathing 
 love divine ! ' I hoped I was not slow to kind 
 offices ; but other convictions kept me full of coun- 
 teracting humility .... I am so dissatisfied with 
 myself that I dare hardly ask, or expect, a blessing 
 on my labours for others. How cold and dead in 
 the spirit I feel to-night ! but I know ' we have an 
 advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the right- 
 eous,' and how I need one ! 
 
 " (7th, 1st day.) A quiet night, and very sa- 
 tisfactory morning meeting . . . "Wrote a serious 
 letter, with Scripture quotations, to L. E., with 
 two copies of J. J. Gurney's Letter ; may the gift 
 be blessed to him ! E-ead about eighty pages of a 
 book lent me by Dr. Ash, called, ' The Grounds of 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 51 
 
 a Holy Life.' Bead Paul's fine address to Agrippa 
 to the servants, and remarks on the Epistle to 
 Titus, by H. Tarford. I hope they understood it : 
 it explains the nature of grace, and clearly. Cough 
 very troublesome to-day, and now to bed, thank- 
 ful for the mercies and favours of the day. The 
 poor Duke of York! would I knew what his 
 death-bed hopes and feelings were, and on what 
 grounded ! 
 
 " (14th.) A night of cough, but of comfort, 
 and rose in spirits ; had a painfully windy walk to 
 meeting. An agreeable surprise there. J. J. Gr. 
 returned this morning unexpectedly from London : 
 he was much favoured in his ministry to-day, 
 morning and evening. Afterwards I called on 
 poor old B. and read the 43rd Isaiah to him ; and 
 on poor P. TJ., and found her very low indeed and 
 no wonder; these are early times with her yet, 
 poor bereaved being ! The sight of such upsetting 
 and destroying grief is very affecting, and I have 
 only too much sympathy with her. "We have both 
 lost our earthly all. I was prevented, by the 
 weather, from calling on the M.'s, and this was 
 fortunate, as the wind had brought down their 
 chimneys in a most destructive manner, though 
 providentially no lives were lost, as they had 
 taken alarm, and removed the children : truly ' His 
 tender mercies are over all his works.' A quiet 
 evening; read to the servants, and hope they un- 
 derstood." 
 
 The next few entries record a short visit to 
 
52 LITE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 Earlham, which " I left (she says) grateful for 
 many happy hours spent there. On my return, 
 was alone all the afternoon and evening ; read in 
 the Italian Bible, and to the servants, and am 
 going to bed comforted and thankful ; but I had, 
 during the morning, one of my paroxysms of regret 
 for ill-fulfilled duties, and was ' brought very low ; ' 
 but He ' helped me/ and all is peace again, and I 
 shall lie down in quiet. (25th.) To meeting ; after- 
 wards went a round of visits to invalid friends, and 
 a poor woman. In the afternoon went out again, 
 and visited another afflicted invalid ; and felt my 
 mind tenderly impressed with pity, and with thank- 
 fulness for my own health . . . (30th.) Eose well 
 and happy, and settled my weekly accounts ; in the 
 evening wrote letters. I have been comforted all 
 day, through the tender, sorrowful remembrance 
 of him who is gone ; and the memory of his deep 
 and ever-enduring and unselfish love is frequently 
 recurring and clinging to me ; and death alone, I 
 believe, can ever banish him from my daily and 
 fond, grateful recollection ; but ' it is well.' I can 
 say so from the bottom of my heart, and though I 
 remain, I murmur not. Now to bed, with thank- 
 fulness, though with tears. 
 
 " (2nd February, 2nd mo.) An idle, and so far, 
 I fear, a sinful day ; gave 11. to a case that touched 
 me ; it was, I fear, too much, but could not help 
 it. . . Dear O. Woodhouse here ; glad to feel that a 
 son of my beloved cousin, and bearing his name, 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 53 
 
 is under my roof. Our evening has been placid; 
 spent part in talk, and part in reading. Now to 
 bed, feeling rather depressed that I have done 
 nothing to-day to improve myself, except reading 
 in the Bible. I begin to feel that my time must 
 be made profitable, or I cannot be happy ; my 
 solitary evenings are my shortest time, and hap- 
 piest, because employed. Oh that I had earlier 
 thought thus ! ; Then would i my peace have flowed 
 as a river, and. my righteousness as the waves of 
 the sea,' perhaps but I am, and was vile. 
 
 " (5th.) E,ose cheerful, and went to visit various 
 friends. To my dear father's grave and the other 
 graves of those dear to me. How I wished he 
 might see me and read my heart ! " 
 
 A few days after the last entry, Mrs. Opie's 
 diary records a visit to her much-beloved friends, 
 Miss Buxton and Miss Gurney, at Northrepps 
 Cottage. Each day, during her stay there, has its 
 memorabilia noted. It is evident from the tone of 
 these short reminiscences, that her spirits were 
 revived and braced by this change of scene and 
 friendly companionship. Returning home on the 
 23rd of the month, she says on the preceding 
 evening, " I leave N. C. with a heart full of grate- 
 ful love to its dear possessors. Alas ! to-bed for 
 the last time here, this year, and perhaps for ever. 
 Peace be to this house ! " . . . 
 
 During this visit the following letter was written 
 to the friend with whom she was at this time in 
 
54 LIFE OF AMELIA OFEE. 
 
 such frequent correspondence. There is so much 
 in it that shows the spiritual mindedness and 
 growth in grace of the writer, that it seemed desir- 
 able not to curtail it. It is dated, 
 
 " 18th 2nd mo., 1827. 
 
 " MY DEAR FKIEND, .... I wish to tell thee, 
 that I have felt so satisfied in mind, and so bene- 
 fited during the last ten years, that I have daily 
 read and studied the Scriptures ; still more during 
 the last two years, when I have read them every 
 morning and every night, and often in the day, 
 besides making a perusal of them my earliest and 
 latest duty that I earnestly wish all whom I love, 
 and in whose welfare here and hereafter 1 am 
 warmly interested, to do the same. 
 
 "Whatever tends to deepen our faith, and in- 
 crease our knowledge of our Grod and Saviour, in- 
 creases our happiness, and gives us weapons against 
 the deceitfulness of our own hearts, and bestows 
 strength wherewith to meet and overcome the 
 assaults of our souls' enemies. I would say to 
 every young man and woman, ' Study the Scrip- 
 tures daily, and be watchful unto prayer;' and 
 having said this r I should feel that I had given 
 advice, which, however common-place, would, if 
 acted upon, insure peace here and happiness here- 
 after 
 
 " (19th.) I had no sleep at first, last night ; and 
 the painful past, the London part, I mean, lived 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 65 
 
 before me, and I wished I had not told thee of the 
 masquerade there, ' a charity ball' it was called. 
 So worldlings cheat the soul's adversary! I do 
 repent of former follies in dust and ashes. Be 
 thankful that thou wast born out of the world, and 
 never even wish to enter it. I solemnly declare 
 that I would not, for its highest enjoyments, ex- 
 change one of my most tearful hours, or my mo- 
 ments of most painful regret and self-abase- 
 ment!" .... 
 
 The diary continues as before, after her return 
 from JSTorthrepps. The entries are daily, and men- 
 tion the events of the passing hour, and the vari- 
 ous engagements of the writer her visits to the 
 sick poor ; to the workhouse ; * to the jail ; to the 
 Magdalen, and to the school. Occasionally re- 
 marks of point and interest occur, and of these 
 some are selected for insertion here. 
 
 " (26th.) Wrote letters. A time of storm and 
 calm ; one of my paroxysms of grief for the dead, 
 and self-blame for neglected duties, succeeded by 
 calm and peacefulness. Paid three visits of charity, 
 and went to the workhouse. Carried coquilles 
 and oranges. Saw the child, and thought her 
 perhaps obstinate, but still an object of pity and 
 interest. Saw the girl, P. C. Death was in her 
 face. Seemingly she was contrite ; but even then, 
 
 * The reader is referred to ch. viii. for an account of Mrs- 
 O.'s prison visits. 
 
56 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 I find, she told me a lie. Oh, that workhouse ! 
 1 There 's something rotten in the state of Den- 
 mark ! ' Spent a happy evening : good intentions if 
 not good deeds. (5th of the 3rd mo.) Had a good 
 night and peace of mind when awake. Visited poor 
 B. and admired his thankfulness for living where he 
 can see the blue sky, the birds, and a rainbow as 
 he lies in bed. Went to the S. Poor Committee 
 monthly meeting ; but too low to enjoy it. One 
 of my sad, sad fits of regret for omitted filial 
 duties, and for things done and undone, said and 
 unsaid; but feel this ever-recurring trial to be 
 inflicted in mercy, and to keep me lowly and hum- 
 ble before my Creator. Fear, however, that the 
 feeling increases, and that it may be a temptation. 
 Find what H. Girdle stone said to me once, the 
 most comforting reply to my fears: 'You seem 
 to have expected that a sinful being should have 
 performed a duty perfectly ; but it was not in 
 human nature to do it.' Well ! I have only to 
 hope that my tears and agonies will keep me hum- 
 ble, as they spring from a sense of my own vile- 
 ness. . . . To the school. Attentive and orderly 
 class. Grave a cake to each child ; afterwards had 
 the sale of the work. Dined at my uncle's at 
 
 six My friends looking well and in 
 
 spirits. Thankful to see them so. All good be 
 with them! Finished reading the 'Hedge of 
 Thorns' to the servants. I lost a great deal of 
 time to-day reading an old favourite ; felt after- 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 57 
 
 wards displeased, and shocked even, at my waste of 
 time, and my life so far spent. ' God be merciful 
 to me a sinner.' To bed, thankful for the enjoy- 
 ment of so many and unmerited mercies. What 
 a generous Master we serve ! 
 
 " (6th of the 5th mo.) Sad indolence and neg- 
 lect; not a line written in my journal since the 
 21st of last month. Oh for a power to be more 
 diligent in future; but how soon, through life, 
 have I been weary in well-doing ! To-day at meet- 
 ing I felt deeply and solemnly engaged in secret 
 prayer. Two of my friends to dinner. How little 
 either of them, poor things, seemed to think of 
 their great change, though one is seventy-six, the 
 other seventy- three ! Dress, cards, the world. But ' 
 let me look to my own blindness and worldliness, 
 and not censure theirs ; and to me the voice has 
 spoken ' Come/ and how have I obeyed it ? Alas ! 
 Visited a sick friend, and a poor lost girl, just 
 released from jail. Read Rutherford's Letters all 
 the afternoon. Wrote for votes for a charity-boy. 
 Read to the servants, and to bed, not so dissatisfied 
 as usual with my day's work. May I be humbled, 
 and enabled to rise early to my work to-morrow, 
 and may the labours of my pen be blessed ! " 
 
 The last entry in this journal is dated the 3rd 
 of the 7th mo. " Rose early. To Infant School. 
 Little boys idle and ignorant in my class; one, 
 however, good and diligent. Went to the jail; 
 have hopes of one woman ; the other is sorry for 
 
58 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 detection, not for sin ; but these are early times 
 yet. Her temper seems bad ; that is, if expression 
 is to be trusted. Two calls on my way home. 
 Tired, but not displeased with my day." 
 
 * * =& * ^ 
 
 I will close this chapter with an extract from a 
 letter written in the autumn of this year, to her 
 friends at Northrepps Cottage. ..." How every 
 day teems with eventful changes ! P. and C., dear 
 ones, have to inhabit a new abode; but death, 
 death is the change of changes. How trumpery, 
 how unimportant, seem all changes compared to 
 that ; and how that changes even the very look of 
 existence to many of us ! Sometimes it is almost 
 unbearable to me ; and I could run into the next 
 room to look for what I cannot find and cannot 
 see again and which, yet, seems blooming beside 
 me, and cheerful and living, and likely to live; 
 and then I think how little I prized him while I 
 had him with me. Oh ! you know something of 
 these feelings, and can deeply sympathize with me 
 in what a child alone can feel. How deeply have 
 I entered into the sorrows of my estimable friend 
 T. E. (an only child), on the loss of his mother, 
 who lived with him. I expressed my feelings as 
 follows : 
 
 At length, then, the tenderest of mothers is gone ! 
 Her smiles, her love-accents, can glad thee no more ; 
 That once cheerful chamber is silent and lone, 
 And for thee all a child's precious duties are o'er. 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 59 
 
 Her welcome at morning, her blessing at night, 
 
 No longer the crown of thy comforts can be ; 
 
 And the friend, seen and loved, since thine eyes first saw light, 
 
 Thou canst ne'er see again ! thou art orphan'd like me. 
 
 Oh, change ! from which nature must shrink overpower'd, 
 Till faith shall the anguish remove and condemn ; 
 For the change to those blest ones who ' die in the Lord,' 
 Though to us it brings sorrow, gives glory to them." 
 
 " 9th mo., 1827." 
 
CHAPTER, II. 
 
 FROM the time Mrs. Opie joined the Friends, 
 she regularly attended the yearly meetings of the 
 Society, held in London during the month of May. 
 At these seasons she met numerous friends and 
 acquaintances, and had an opportunity of attend- 
 ing the meetings of various societies in whose 
 objects she sympathized, and of which the Bible, 
 and the British and Foreign School, and Anti- 
 Slavery Societies, were among the most valued. 
 What cordial interest she always evinced on these 
 occasions, and with how much animation and lively 
 description she loved to detail afterwards what she 
 had heard and seen ! Her eye kindled as she recalled 
 the eloquent address of some friend of the wronged 
 and helpless, and her delighted approval was a 
 meed which a good man might well rejoice to have 
 earned. 
 
 Shortly after the entry in her journal with 
 which the preceding chapter concluded, she went 
 to London for the purpose of attending the yearly 
 meeting. Many painful regrets and memories of 
 the past were unavoidable ; but she bore up against 
 them, and the effect was beneficial. Solitude, pro- 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 61 
 
 longed solitude, preyed upon her spirits, and her 
 essentially social nature languished and pined 
 under it. One letter, written at this time, con- 
 tains some interesting particulars of her proceed- 
 ings during this visit. 
 
 " Bradpole, Uriel/port, Dorsetshire, 
 " 6th mo., 29th, 1827. 
 
 " MY YEEY DEAR FRIEND, .... Pray excuse 
 
 my long silence. I know nothing of N since 
 
 I left it. I have had a feeling which has made me 
 indifferent, not only to ' writing letters, but to 
 receiving them. It was so different once, and my 
 life, during the last three weeks in London, has 
 
 realized my loss to me more than ever My 
 
 time during and after the meeting has been very 
 happily spent. Yearly meeting .was peculiarly 
 sweet to me this year, and satisfactory to friends. 
 I attended the African meeting at the Freemasons' 
 Tavern ; it was this year quite thin. Spring Eice, 
 Charles Barclay, and the Duke of Gloucester, were 
 among the speakers. 
 
 " On the 6th day morning, I went to Lord 
 Boden's, to hear him read and expound the Scrip- 
 tures. At two o'clock every Friday he had this 
 meeting during his stay in London. The company 
 was numerous, and several persons of quality among 
 them. He is, indeed, a highly-gifted man; but, 
 my dear, I have since been at a meeting which will 
 interest thee more. Since I came to London, I 
 
62 LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 have heard of many whom I left in the world being 
 come out of it ; among the rest, Thos. Erskine and 
 his wife. At a bazaar for the schools in St. Giles', 
 held at the Hanover Square Booms, (at which 
 many of the sellers were Irish nobility,) I saw some 
 friends, who prevailed on me to go and dine with 
 them ; and there I met Caroline Pry, with whom 
 I talked of thee. At dinner, they spoke of Mrs. 
 Stephens, who, they said, was to expound this 
 evening at a friend's house near, and I consented 
 to go with them to hear her. It was a large 
 assembly, and I found there many of my bazaar 
 friends. I was warmly welcomed, especially by 
 the fair expounder. Sir J. Mackintosh's daughter 
 (the widow of M. Bich) introduced me to Lady Gr. 
 
 "W . Though tired with the bazaar, etc., and as 
 
 sleepy as possible, that extraordinary and gifted being 
 kept my attention fixed an hour and a half. How 
 eloquent and touching were her words ! When it 
 was over, I went up to her ; and as I could not 
 express my feelings, I gave her a kiss, and she 
 afterwards embraced me, and we promised to meet 
 if ever we came near each other's habitation. I 
 then stole away. It is certainly an extraordinary 
 power, and many of the clergy, who disapprove of 
 woman's ministry, have been brought round to 
 approve ; but I do not call hers ministry, except in 
 prayer. She has done this twenty-two years, and 
 still she does not seem old. How I wish thou 
 hadst been there! 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 63 
 
 " I came here quite knocked up ; but this green, 
 flowery, sequestered nest, among hills, and the 
 sweet society of dear friends, will, I trust, soon 
 restore me. Pray write to thy attached friend, 
 
 "A. OPIE." 
 
 In the following year (1828) "Detraction Dis- 
 played" was published. Among the many acknow- 
 ledgments Mrs. Opie received from her friends 
 on this occasion, was a letter from Archdeacon 
 Wrangham, to whom she had alluded in her work. 
 He expresses the pleasure he had derived from its 
 perusal, and says : " It is the conscientious work of 
 a very gifted writer, and cannot be read without 
 producing, by Grod's accompanying blessing, excel- 
 lent effects. The subtilty of the spirit which you 
 have endeavoured to lay is such, that even the 
 worthy, in many cases, inhale and exhale it almost 
 unawares persons who require only putting upon 
 their guard to avoid it scrupulously for the future. 
 I don't believe the Greek alphabet, (if such be 
 the probable result of your volume,) and its Alphas 
 and Betas, etc., ever accomplished a more valuable 
 service since the days of Cadmus, its reputed 
 inventor. So far do morals outgo mere litera- 
 ture." .... 
 
 These observations, emanating from such a mind, 
 deserve to be pondered. The " subtilty of the 
 spirit" here spoken of is one against which almost 
 every one needs to be guarded ; for there are few 
 
64 LIFE OP AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 indeed who have escaped its influence. Assuredly 
 there could hardly have been found a censor so 
 free from the fault she exposed and against which 
 she warned others, as Mrs. Opie. She hated back- 
 biting, and set her face resolutely against the 
 indulgence of it in her presence. She was of the 
 opinion of Mr. S. W. Landor, who has remarked, 
 (in his " Pentameron and Pentalogia,") that " pro- 
 pensity to censure not only excites suspicion of 
 malevolence, but reminds the hearer of what he 
 cannot disentangle from his earliest ideas of vul- 
 garity." 
 
 In the course of the spring and summer, Mrs. 
 Opie was again in town, and afterwards on a visit 
 to her friends at Upton, from whence she wrote, 
 giving a lively narration of her proceedings, and 
 telling how she had enjoyed the great " delight of 
 hearing and seeing some of the very first men in 
 the country assembled to celebrate the repeal of 
 the sacramental test." Returning to her solitary 
 home after these occasional periods of change and 
 intercourse with her numerous friends, Mrs. Opie 
 resumed, with diligence and interest, her customary 
 habits. As has already been remarked, there was 
 something in her nature and turn of thought that 
 was productive of great variety and diversity of 
 feeling and interest. It was also a matter of prin- 
 ciple with her to turn to the best account the 
 resources of the passing season. But, pre-eminently, 
 she was actuated by a true and innate sympathy, 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 65 
 
 which, when brought under the influence of Chris- 
 tian principle, ripened into the charity of the 
 gospel ; and it was this which gave a life to all her 
 actions, and made her so unwearied in works of 
 benevolence. 
 
 In a letter written about this time, she gives an 
 account of a serious accident that befell her while 
 engaged in one of her visits of mercy: it was 
 written to her friends at Tottenham, and con- 
 cludes thus : 
 
 . . . . " Now, I will finish by telling thee of the 
 fresh mercy I have received from my gracious 
 Creator. I have had, my surgeon says, ' a miracu- 
 lous escape,' and I say, a merciful deliverance. 
 Danger the first, strangulation ; danger the second, 
 concussion of the brain. I was visiting a poor 
 bedridden woman, and fell backwards down many 
 very steep stairs ; but my fall was checked by my 
 sticking fast in the turn of the stairs, wedged in, 
 and my head fast as in a vice ; my clothes tight, 
 and tightening round me, and suffocation very near. 
 It was, indeed, a struggle for life ; and I was gra- 
 ciously permitted not to struggle in vain: my 
 bonnet-string gave way, my head was freed, arid 
 I was glad, though I came down four more steep 
 stairs, and a brick floor was my pillow at the end of 
 them. There I lay -the woman of the house too 
 much alarmed to help me, and the child screaming, 
 * The lady is killed ! ' But a man came in and took 
 
 F 
 
06 LIFE OF AMELIA OP1E. 
 
 me up; and I found, with deep thankfulness, that' 
 I could stand. I sent for a sedan, and was brought 
 home to my frightened maids, looking like a corpse, 
 but calm, and, as I thought, only bruised. Happily 
 a surgeon from the country got to my door just as 
 I arrived, and helped me upstairs. He was alarmed, 
 and alarmed me into sending for advice, by telling 
 me I was in danger of concussion of the brain. My 
 head was indeed swelled and bleeding ; and well it 
 might, for a lock of my hair was torn up by the roots, 
 and found in my cap, showing the violence I came 
 down with : a side-comb, no doubt, did it. "Well ! 
 my friend Martineau came, was alarmed also, and 
 came again to watch the progress of symptoms, 
 but none came on ; and here I am, on the eighth 
 day, unbled, unblistered, (though not unphysicked,) 
 and without having had even a quickened pulse or 
 hot hands. But I am sadly bruised, and the pec- 
 toral muscles have suffered. However, as I am in 
 perfect health, the pain and difficulty of moving 
 tire nothing. Oh ! it is sweet to have to acknow- 
 ledge the tender mercies of the Lord, and to enter 
 his courts with thanksgiving, though subdued and 
 bent low before him, with a deep sense of one's 
 own unworthiness. But he remembers that we 
 are dust, and loves to perfect his strength in our 
 weakness. Farewell. 
 
 " I am ever thy affectionate, 
 
 "A. OPIE." 
 
LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 67 
 
 That the Divine strength in weakness, for which 
 she sought, was necessary to uphold her spirit 
 during the many conflicts of this period of her 
 life, is evident, from the tone of her letters to 
 those, whose sympathy on such subjects she sought. 
 In the month of August of this year, she wrote 
 with a full heart : .... " I am in such deep 
 waters, that I almost feared to take up my pen ; 
 and yet I would not exchange this sitting at the 
 foot of the cross for all . the gay pleasures I once 
 experienced. Did my room look on a running 
 river, I should have nothing to wish for as to situa- 
 tion; but every day convinces me, that if one's 
 mind and soul are but right, one may do without 
 rocks and vales, mountains and rivers ; and if not, 
 all such things are thrown away on their possessor." 
 
 In the course of this autumn, Mrs. Opie repaired 
 to Cromer. This place seems to have been, through- 
 out life, very dear to her ; owing, doubtless, in part, 
 to the fact, that she had frequently spent the 
 summer season there with her mother, in the days 
 of her childhood ; hence it became associated in her 
 mind with these early recollections. There still 
 exists an old MS. book, containing many of her 
 earlier poems. Among them is a sonnet written 
 to the memory of her mother, in the year 1791. 
 
 Some of these "Verses written at Cromer," as 
 they are inscribed, were afterwards published. 
 They are full of descriptions of the scenery that 
 charmed her youthful fancy, and paint the pleasures 
 
68 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 she experienced while passing the long summer 
 days roaming along the shore, indulging in fond 
 hopes and memories, and weaving her thoughts 
 into verse, grave or gay. She thus apostrophizes 
 her favourite spot : 
 
 " Hail ! scene beloved, upon whose tranquil shores, 
 Thoughtless of ill, I breathed my earliest song, 
 While childish sports and hopes a joyous throng 
 In soft enchantment bound the guiltless hours." 
 
 And again : 
 
 " Here I would wander, from day's earliest dawn, 
 Till o'er the western summit steals dark night, 
 And, from the rugged cliff or dewy lawn, 
 Keluctant fades the last pale gleam of light." 
 
 Even amidst the gay scenes of her London life, 
 in the days of her youth, she carried the remem- 
 brance of this loved retreat in her mind, and wrote 
 home : " I am now about to enjoy agreeable society 
 in a pleasant country one of the first luxuries at 
 this season of the year ; but I still sigh for home 
 and its confidential intercourse, and long to wash 
 off the dirt of London in the sea of Cromer, to 
 write poetry on the shore, and to live over again 
 every scene there that memory loves." And never 
 did she love them so dearly as now. In after 
 years this predilection remained in full force, and 
 latterly her visits were annually paid thither. On 
 the present occasion some poetical pieces were 
 added to her note-book, of which I give the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 69 
 
 LINES WRITTEN ON THE SEA-SHORE. 
 
 llth mo., 1828. 
 
 " Above, lo ! cloud to cloud succee ds ; 
 Below, the waves in surges roll, 
 Bounding and white, as Grecian steeds, 
 That bore their monarch to the goal. 
 
 " Now his swift wings the sea-bird lowers, 
 For well he reads the angry skies ; 
 And ere the storm its fury pours, 
 For shelter to the rock he flies. 
 
 " Bird of the wave, when dangers threat, 
 When life looks dark, and conflicts roar, 
 Should deep remorse and vain regret 
 Rouse in my heart desponding fear, 
 
 " May I for shelter seek, like thee 
 Shelter which can all fears remove, 
 And to my Rock of refuge flee, 
 A dying Saviour's pardoning love." 
 
 From Cromer Mrs. Opie went to Northrepps, on 
 a visit to her friends at the cottage, and, while 
 there, she resumed the journal, which had for a 
 time been discontinued. 
 
 " New Tear's day, 1829. Eose at seven o'clock, 
 after a good night, feeling thankful to be once 
 more under the hospitable roof of friends so very 
 
 dear and so very kind At the close of the 
 
 day, went to my room, grateful for the enjoyment 
 I have had ; but, as far as Christian duty goes, I fear 
 it has been a day of selfish enjoyment only a day 
 for tim e, b ut what for eternity ? (3rd) . Eose, very 
 thankful for a refreshing night ; but my dreame 
 were affecting in the retrospect. They carried me 
 
70 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 back to the second house I ever lived in, and where 
 my mother died. I saw her, and my dear father, 
 and the room, etc., plainly, and all the past came 
 rushing over me. Both gone ! What a comfort 
 to remember what my father said to me, when he 
 announced her death to me, ' She is gone ! and 
 may you, Amelia, never have cause to blush when 
 you see her again.' How often, during my suc- 
 ceeding years, did these words of parental warning 
 recur to me, and pleasantly! Surely, when 
 parents do their duty, children can never know a 
 tie stronger, or as strong, as their earliest depend- 
 ence on a parent's love produces ; and, after the 
 lapse of many years, how fresh and vivid still are 
 the recollections of parental and filial love ! At 
 least, I feel them so." 
 
 These words are most characteristic of the writer. 
 In conversing with Mrs. Opie, one was continually 
 reminded of the strong hold her earliest attach- 
 ments had retained on her mind. Tears did not 
 efface the recollection of those who had then been 
 her guides and companions. Often would she 
 refer to the early instructions of her mother, from 
 whom she seems to have learned that careful atten- 
 tion to minute duties, and trifling attentions, which 
 contribute so much to the happiness of social life, 
 and which adorned her own conduct. " Be careful," 
 she would say, " to fulfil the small duties. Deli- 
 cate attentions, constantly yielded, prove that the 
 heart is anxious to please." Above all, she con- 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 71 
 
 tinually guarded, with anxious care, against inflict- 
 ing pain. I can remember many little instances of 
 this. She once administered a rebuke to me when 
 she heard me call some one "old." "Never call 
 a person ' old,' " she said ; " it is a vulgar habit, and 
 one calculated to wound the feelings of others. 
 My dear mother early taught me to avoid this un- 
 courteous epithet/' 
 
 Not unfrequently would she urge, most strenu- 
 ously, the duty of parents and instructors to attend 
 to the very earliest development of mind, and to 
 watch over the first indications of disposition and 
 temper ; enforcing these exhortations by referring 
 to the early influence exerted on her own mind, 
 and the habits and maxims then inculcated, and 
 never afterwards forgotten. Her standard of filial 
 duty was proportionately high. " Honour thy 
 father and thy mother," was a precept which seemed 
 graven on her heart, and she could ill brook any 
 levity of feeling, or undutifulness of conduct in 
 children towards their parents. 
 
 My readers will, I hope, excuse this digression, 
 and return to the diary, which continues : " (6th.) 
 Sleet and snow abounding ; made drawings of three 
 of my friends, and rode out in a snow-storm, and 
 
 enjoyed it To bed latish, with pleasant 
 
 recollections of the day, though burdened with the 
 sin of having desired the accession of great wealth 
 that is, of power and the means of self-gratifica- 
 tion. "Who is to be trusted with such a gift ? 
 
72 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 Not I, I am sure ; and I ought to know that wishes 
 are a species of murmurs, and that, ' Nevertheless, 
 thy will, not mine, be done,' is the only proper 
 language. (9th.) Head Washington Irving's Co- 
 lumbus.' How interesting ! As well satisfied as 
 I can be while doing nothing for the good of others. 
 .... After dinner we had a most charming drive. 
 It was a bright afternoon, and the sky over the 
 sea was full of tints ; and such a glorious setting 
 sun, which clothed the church steeple and many 
 other prominent objects in sunshine, as we came 
 
 down the rode from Eoughton. Drove to D 
 
 B 's, to see my epitaph on the stone, and felt 
 
 thankful to have given pleasure, by these lines to 
 the son. Oh that, like the epitaph named by 
 Legh Richmond, in his i Young Cottager,' they 
 may be made the means of good ! Next day, drove 
 to see that house where I had so often been with 
 those most dear, now in their graves my husband 
 and my cousin, O. Woodhouse. Dear O. ! "When 
 he went away, and sold this estate, he hoped to 
 return and repurchase it ; but he is in his Indian 
 grave ! What a trial his death was to me ! But 
 my last loss annihilated, in a great measure, the 
 sense of every other. 
 
 " (19th.) .... Went to see the skaters. Lord 
 Suffield came up to us ; and, while we admired the 
 tints of the sky which were pale green over the 
 sea, melting into pale blue and then gradually deep- 
 ening, till they became the deepest, richest indigo 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OP1E. 73 
 
 and purple, over our heads he observed that he 
 had often, but vainly, tried to convince distant 
 friends, that our skies in Norfolk, near the sea, 
 have the finest tints he ever saw, and pale green 
 particularly. 
 
 " (23rd.) We read as usual this morning. After- 
 wards dear A went in her hand-chair to visit 
 
 the cottages and the sea. The cold, on going out, 
 was intense ; the wind was a keen north-easter, and 
 blew full in our faces ; while I, though shuddering 
 in the blast, ankle deep in snow, and with fingers 
 in agony, romantically attempted to convince my- 
 self how delightful the walk was, by repeating a 
 sonnet to winter, written in the days of my youth. 
 But even my own fictions had not power to warm 
 me ; and as, with blue and quivering lip, I spouted 
 my tuneful admiration of what was taking away 
 my breath, and inflicting pain on me besides, I 
 ended in a hearty laugh at my own absurdity ; in 
 which, as my companion was not sensible of what 
 I was doing, since the wind blew my words away 
 from her, she, happily, could not join, and I kept 
 
 my own counsel On our return, I drew 
 
 three likenesses ; two reckoned very good. Alas ! 
 it was my last evening at the dear cottage, and it 
 was one of love and interest, and, to me, of thank- 
 fulness that I have such friends." 
 
 The following day Mrs. Opie returned to Nor- 
 wich, and the next entry in her journal is made 
 from her own house : 
 
74 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 " Returned in safety to my lonely home. What 
 a contrast to the scene I had left ! but I am deeply 
 thankful for three weeks and two days so happily 
 spent, and for the real and many comforts to which 
 I return." 
 
 Shortly after this time, she records the illness 
 and death of one of her early friends, to whom, 
 in her time of trial, bereavement, and sickness, 
 Mrs. Opie ministered with tenderness and sym- 
 pathy, watching throughout her illness, and at 
 length closing her eyes. After dwelling on the 
 particulars connected with this event, in the entries 
 of her daily journal, she at length writes of the final 
 scene a touching tribute to her generous kindness, 
 the affecting gratitude of the poor sufferer, and her 
 own painful emotion. She closes this account, a 
 day or two after the death of her friend, in these 
 words : " How thankful was I, as I stood by her 
 breathless clay, to know, that she who had shed so 
 many tears was gone where ' tears are wiped from 
 all eyes,' and to picture the re-union of mother and 
 daughter, where separation comes not ! She sur- 
 vived her mother only a fortnight. Oh, what a 
 mercy ! Blessed be He who willed it so to be !" 
 
 Just at this time appeared Mr. Southey's " Col- 
 loquies," in which he referred to Mrs. Opie in 
 these terms : 
 
 " I have another woman in my mind's eye one 
 who has been the liveliest of the lively, the gayest 
 of the gay ; admired for her talents by those who 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 75 
 
 knew her only in ner writings, and esteemed for 
 her worth by those who were acquainted with her 
 in the relations of private life ; one who, having 
 grown up in the laxest sect of semi- Christians, felt 
 the necessity of vital religion, while attending upon 
 her father, with dutiful affection, during the long 
 and painful infirmities of his old age; and who 
 has now joined a sect, among whose members she 
 first found the lively faith for which her soul 
 thirsted, not losing, in, the change, her warmth of 
 heart and cheerfulness of spirit, nor gaining by it 
 any increase of sincerity and frankness ; for with 
 these nature had endued her ; and society, even 
 that of the great, had not corrupted them. The 
 resolution, the activity, the genius, the benevolence, 
 which are required for such a work, are to be found 
 in her ; and were she present in person, as she is in 
 imagination, I would say to her, . . . . l Thou art 
 the woman ! ' : 
 
 The work to which the poet refers, and in which 
 he was anxious to engage the sympathies and aid 
 of Mrs. Try and Mrs. Opie, was the establishment 
 of societies for reforming the internal management 
 of hospitals and infirmaries, so as " to do for the 
 hospitals what Mrs. Fry had already done for 
 the prisons." 
 
 This eloquent eulogy was written, as Mr. Southey 
 afterwards said, in a letter to Mrs. Opie, " under 
 the influence of strong feeling;" "but," he adds, 
 
76 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 "I have ever since been calmly convinced that I 
 never spoke too strongly, nor said too much." 
 
 "What feelings were uppermost in the mind of 
 her who was thus honoured, on reading this flatter- 
 ing testimony to her worth, we learn from a letter 
 written soon after : 
 
 , 4th mo., 1829. 
 
 " MY DEAE FRIEKD, .... I will venture to 
 tell thee the effect that reading this eulogy on my 
 unworthy self produced on me. It made me burst 
 into tears of agony ; and wherefore ? Because I 
 felt how little I deserved such praise, or any praise. 
 I felt my own short-coming and sinfulness, and 
 I uttered these words to Him who reads the secret 
 heart, ' Thou knowest ; thou knowest ! ' And then 
 he who would have enjoyed to read my praises, 
 could not read these. It is sad to say, that what- 
 ever good happens to me is dashed by this con- 
 sciousness at first ; though gratitude abounds in a 
 moment, and I am, I believe, happier than ever 
 
 I was in my life May this sabbath day be 
 
 blessed to my dear friend, and tend, with each suc- 
 ceeding one, to prepare him for an eternal sabbath ! 
 Let us ' watch unto prayer,' let us endeavour to be 
 at the foot of the cross, and let those who i think 
 they stand take heed lest they fall.' How often 
 these texts occur to me ! May I lay them to heart, 
 that I may keep my feet from sliding, and feel and 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 77 
 
 know, that 'in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting 
 strength.' ' 
 
 In the month of May of this year, Mrs. Opie 
 was, as usual, in London ; and, writing to her 
 friends at Northrepps Cottage, she says : 
 
 " 5th mo., IWi, 1829. 
 
 "My YERY DEAR FRIENDS, I would write 
 ' histories,' if I could ; but for even short tales 
 I have no time ; and I am always led to feel myself 
 very ' infirm of purpose ' when I come to London. 
 I meant to have written down what I composed on 
 the road, and sent it to dear Northrepps Cottage ; 
 but I have not had any adequate leisure. I was ill all 
 the way hither with a feverish cold, and kept the 
 house next day, but was well enough by dinner to 
 
 enjoy our admirable guest, B N , and he 
 
 was our only one ; and we did, indeed, enjoy him ! 
 One word is sufficient to express him, and in- 
 cludes his mind, heart, manners, conversation, and 
 character delightful ! 
 
 " In the evening came the T. Erskines. With- 
 out any affectation, B N leads the con- 
 versation to religious subjects ; and happy the 
 young, as well as the old, who can frequently asso- 
 ciate with such a man ! It was a rich day. The 
 next morning we drove to Christie's ; he was very 
 kind, and on the 23rd, my pictures, which now I 
 rather pine after, are to be exhibited and sold with 
 
78 LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 some by Ward and Gainsborough. He advises 
 immediate sale, as times grow worse and worse. 
 
 " H E having given me a reserved 
 
 ticket for the Jews' meeting, I then drove to the 
 Freemasons' Hall, which I found nearly full. As 
 they passed, I had an opportunity of shaking 
 hands with F. C. Wilberforce and Simeon. Sir 
 Thomas Baring was in the chair; and I heard 
 twelve speakers, and was there from twelve to near 
 half-past five ; but I was so deeply interested, that 
 I was not tired. There was much eloquence, and, 
 what was better, a Christian spirit and Christian 
 humility, I think, pervading all, and manifested 
 very visibly. You will read the whole proceedings 
 in the Record ; therefore, I will not name the 
 speakers. "We are going now to the British and 
 Foreign School Society meeting." .... 
 
 In the month of June following, Mrs. Opie 
 visited Paris, and spent some months there. An 
 account of this trip is given in the next chapter. 
 
CHAPTEE III. 
 
 IT had long been the intention of Mrs. Opie to 
 visit the Continent, and especially Paris. While 
 Dr. Alderson was living, she found herself unaDle, 
 of course, to carry out this wish, but now that she 
 was left entirely free, she availed herself of the 
 favourable opportunity. A short account of this 
 trip, and of one she made in the course of a few 
 months later, was written by her, some two or 
 three years after her return; and from this little 
 narrative, the reader will perceive what were the 
 impressions produced on her mind by her sojourn 
 in Paris, and what lessons she drew from the 
 varied and striking scenes she witnessed. She 
 writes : 
 
 " In the summer of 1829, I set off for Paris, to 
 visit a dear relation who had married a French 
 gentleman, and was residing there. It was not 
 without mixed emotions, in which, however, those 
 of pleasure predominated, that I re-entered that 
 France, which, in 1802, I had left a republic, but 
 which, in 1829, was once more a monarchy, and 
 under the government of the Bourbons. The 
 morning after my arrival, I felt impatient to re- 
 
80 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 visit those streets which I had, in former days, 
 found so full of interest ; but still more impatient 
 to go to the Jardin des Plantes, and deliver the 
 letter of introduction I had to Sophie D., the 
 daughter-in-law of Cuvier. 
 
 " Little did I think, while leaving my address 
 and letter at the house, that it would lead to an 
 intimacy with its beloved and distinguished in- 
 habitant, which formed the delight of my residence 
 in Paris ; that I should become the constant visiter 
 at the tea-table of la Baronne Cuvier every seventh- 
 day evening for many months, during the years 
 1829, '30, and '31 ; and that I should learn to love, 
 as well as to admire, the great man of the house, 
 around whom, as the centre, I saw so many stars 
 in science and literature delighting to assemble. 
 
 " Alas ! still less did I imagine that the time 
 was not far distant when death should again hover 
 over that unique and hospitable mansion, to carry 
 off the highly gifted father, as it had, only four 
 years before, removed his admirable and pious 
 daughter ; and that we should have to deplore the 
 loss of him whom France, and even the world, 
 have united to lament as the first of scientific dis- 
 coverers, and most enlightened of philosophers.* 
 
 * Mrs. Opie addressed the following touching lines to his 
 memory : 
 
 " While his fair fame was spread from zone to zone, 
 Within his circle like a sun he shone ; 
 And while the world his powers of mind admired, 
 At home, his heart devoted love inspired. ... 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 81 
 
 " As little also did I think, while contemplating 
 the Hotel de' Yille, as the frowning memorial of 
 scenes of blood and horror, that I should, in the 
 succeeding year, behold it with such different asso- 
 ciations ; that I should see the (comparatively) 
 bloodless flag of the tricolour waving from its 
 ancient roof, and that I should drive within its 
 ponderous gates, and ascend its gloomy staircase, 
 to enter the illuminated ' salons ' of its inhabitant, 
 0. B., the Prefet de la Seine ; and while partaking 
 of tea, a TAnglaise, from the' hands of the young 
 and charming wife, should listen to the captivating 
 conversation of the eloquent husband. 
 
 "Little, too, did I expect that the Place de G-reve, 
 that spot so full of appalling recollections, would 
 in future be sacred to the triumphs of constitu- 
 tional freedom, and that the Hotel de Yille would 
 become the scene of entertainments given tc 
 Lafayette and the citizen-king. 
 
 'Twas sweet that voice of melody to hear, 
 Distinct, sonorous, stealing on the ear ; 
 And watch, to mark some sudden gesture throw 
 The hair aside, that veil'd that wondrous brow 
 That brow, the throne of genius and of thought, 
 And mind, which all the depths of science sought 
 Alas ! that voice is mute, and on that brow 
 No eye can mark the kindling radiance now : 
 Death's seal is there a seal no power can more, 
 Not e'en the prayer of agonizing love. 
 And while all nations share their deep regr. i . 
 His home's sad circle feel their sun has set." 
 
 G 
 
82 LIPE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 "And, marked as everything in this world is 
 by the certainty of change, what changes did I 
 not behold, in a few short months, during my last 
 visit to Paris ! I found my friend, Lafayette, 
 General-in-chief of the National Gruard. I left 
 him about to return, like Cincinnatus, to his farm. 
 I found 0. B., Prefet de la Seine, and residing at 
 the. Hotel de Yille. I left him, returned with 
 simple dignity to comparatively private life, and 
 to those legal duties by which his talents and his 
 industry had led him to fame and honours. 
 
 "What other changes may await him or me, pri- 
 vate or public individuals, the kingdom of France, 
 or our own beloved land, is known only to Him 
 in whose hands are the issues of life and death. 
 How blessed, even here, must those be who are 
 enabled to fix their hopes and affections on that 
 futurity where no change comes, and on that 
 Being who is ' the same yesterday, to-day, and 
 for ever ! ' ' 
 
 During both these visits to Paris, Mrs. Opie 
 wrote numerous letters to her friends in England, 
 giving lively pictures of what she saw and heard 
 passing around her ; and her journal recorded the 
 daily incidents that occurred. It is not my inten- 
 tion to dwell on these, and I will only give the 
 reader one extract from her note book, written 
 shortly before the close of her first stay in Paris. 
 It is her account of a visit she paid to La Grange, 
 the country residence of General Lafayette. 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 83 
 
 " I thought (she writes) the approach to La 
 Grange beautiful, an ancient castle with a lawn, 
 a 1'Anglaise. The general was, as usual, fresh, 
 benevolent looking, and admirable in all ways. His 
 uncle, the celebrated Segur, was staying there. 
 His daughters, son-in-law, and grandchildren, all 
 pleased me. After a most happy day I retired to 
 rest, thankful at heart for the unmerited mercies 
 I had enjoyed. 
 
 " The next morning, at ten, we assembled in the 
 salon. The general led me down to breakfast, 
 composed of hot meat and pottage, wines and fruit, 
 and ending with coffee and dry toast. After break- 
 fast the weather cleared, and the general showed 
 his guests his farm ; all but the Norfolk and other 
 cows, which were out. The evening was most in- 
 teresting. The general gave us an account of the 
 early events of the Eevolution ; the other gentle- 
 men who were present, assisting. The time passed 
 only too quickly ; but when in my own room, I sat 
 up and read the memoirs of Segur; and with a 
 curious feeling laid me down, knowing that I 
 should see both him and Lafayette next day." 
 
 On the 20th of October, "the saddest of anniver- 
 saries " (that of her father's death), she left Paris, 
 and three days after arrived, "thankful for safe 
 return," in her native country. After visiting 
 some friends in town she pursued her homeward 
 course, and there was immediately occupied with 
 those varied engagements which had, for a season, 
 
84 LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 been interrupted. Writing about a month after 
 her return (2nd of Nov.), she says: "My silence, 
 dear friend, has not been without excuse ; I have 
 had committee on committee, and a sick servant 
 also. ... In the midst of all this, I have expe- 
 rienced such a sense of Divine guidance, such 
 peace of mind, and conviction of the emptiness of 
 everything but what tends to the Saviour, and 
 almost a ,total negation of self ; a feeling, as if this 
 little fireside bounded my every wish, and that 
 after a morning spent in Christian objects, I wanted 
 nothing but my solitary sitting, my Bible, and com- 
 munion with the Most High ; and is not this a 
 wonderful mercy shown to such a sinner as I have 
 been?" .... 
 
 Three weeks after, Mrs. Opie wrote to Mr. 
 Southey as follows : 
 
 " Norwich, llth mo., 24tfA, 1829. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, Illness, and other circum- 
 stances, over which I have seemed to have no power, 
 have, since my return to Norwich, prevented my 
 writing to thee. Thy letter reached me at Paris ; 
 I did not for a moment think of answering it then, 
 because I was wholly unacquainted with the so- 
 cieties to which it alludes, and could not obtain 
 the necessary information; but on my return to 
 England I found E. Fry deep in thy book, and 
 believing that she had already made a few steps, at 
 
. LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 85 
 
 least, in the career to which thou hast pointed in 
 
 thy eloquent address to me 
 
 "Thy letter was truly gratifying to me, but 
 humbling also, as it led me to look into myself, and 
 feel how little worthy I am of such an appeal, and 
 how little able to answer it as it ought to be 
 answered. I left Paris (where I stayed four months 
 and a fortnight at the house of a near and dear 
 relation) with a heart full of love and gratitude 
 towards every person there, but also filled with 
 pity, strong disapprobation, and alarm. Still, when 
 I consider the efforts making by many pious and 
 good persons to spread the knowledge of the truth 
 as it is in Christ Jesus amongst them, I can answer 
 the question, ' Can these bones live ? ' not only 
 * Thou knowest,' but that I think they will. 
 Farewell. 
 
 " I am thy grateful and affectionate friend, 
 
 "A. O." 
 
 To this letter Mr. Southey replied, under date 
 29th November, stating that he had been in cor- 
 respondence with Mr. Hornby, the rector of 
 "Winwick, who, in concert with a gentleman of 
 Liverpool, had undertaken to set on foot an insti- 
 tution for the purpose of educating a better class 
 of persons as nurses for the poor. In this infant 
 project Mr. Southey expresses his satisfaction, and 
 urges the great necessity for such exertions on a 
 large scale ; so that nurses might be trained, " on 
 
86 LIFE OP AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 whose competent knowledge and probity, not to 
 say piety," reliance might be placed ; whereas " at 
 present there are no wickeder wretches on earth 
 than some of the women who follow this way of 
 life." He adds, that nothing in the system need 
 be adopted at variance with the feelings of a Pro- 
 testant country, and says : " If the Roman Catholics 
 take up the scheme before us, I know no other 
 means, even at this time, whereby they would be 
 so likely to extend their pestilent superstition." 
 He concludes with expressing his desire that Mrs. 
 Opie and Mrs. Fry would turn their thoughts to 
 this subject, that the sick might be " rescued from 
 the hard hand of mercenary ignorance" through 
 their assistance. In the P.S. to this letter, he 
 mentions a droll incident : " I must tell you that 
 Thomas Wilkinson told me the other day, when you 
 were in the country, it was said at Carlisle, that 
 Amelia Opie was expected to speak at the meeting 
 there. The name was improperly caught, and a re- 
 port spread that an Ethiopian was to speak there !" 
 
 This letter Mrs. Opie sent to Mrs. Fry, who, in 
 reply, said : .... "I think there is much truth 
 in its contents. I also wish thee to weigh the 
 subject, and if thou feelest, as well as seest thy road 
 open to it, I shall be glad ; because I have seen 
 the thing wanted to be done ever since the days of 
 my youth." However, it seems that Mrs. Fry 
 questioned the eligibleness of commencing such a 
 
LIEE OF AMELIA OPTE. 87 
 
 trial in the country ; for she asks, " Is not London 
 the place to begin such a work ?" 
 
 Some years subsequently the thoughts of this 
 admirable woman, Mrs. Ery, reverted to the sub- 
 ject; and she commenced a small society on the 
 plan of Mr. Miedner's establishment at Kaisers- 
 werth, with the assistance of her sister, Mrs. S. 
 Grurney, and some other ladies. 
 
 <k The exertions of this little society (says a 
 passage in Mrs. Fry's Life, vol. ii., p. 383) have 
 been greatly circumscribed, 'and it may be looked 
 on more as an experiment, than as an object 
 attained. The help of the ' nursing sisters' has 
 been sought, and greatly valued, by persons of all 
 classes, from royalty to the poorest and most 
 destitute." 
 
 At the present day much interest and effort have 
 been directed to this most important and Christian 
 object ; and now all hearts are sympathizing with 
 those who have voluntarily offered themselves for 
 this service of love on behalf of our poor sick and 
 wounded soldiers, and with the heroic woman who 
 has placed herself at their head. 
 
 The summer of the following year (1830) was 
 productive of great and alarming events at Paris ; 
 and it was natural, irideed inevitable, that the feel- 
 ings of Mrs. Opie should be deeply and painfully 
 interested in watching their progress. She had so 
 recently left the spot where these scenes of alarm 
 were transpiring, that her thoughts would revert 
 
88 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 with a special concern to those who were now in 
 hourly jeopardy, and exposed to dangers of a terrible 
 nature. She wrote, in the month of August, a 
 letter to her friends at Northrepps, expressing her 
 emotions, and an extract from that letter will best 
 show the excitement of her feelings : 
 
 " Norwich, 8th mo., 2nd, 1830. 
 
 . . . . " What alarming news from Paris ! The 
 Chamber of Deputies dissolved for ever, and the 
 liberty of the press abolished ! We saw the result 
 of these tidings in the fearful prospective, and yes- 
 terday came the affecting news that the National 
 G-uard had reorganized themselves ; that Lafayette 
 was at their head ; that the Chamber had assembled 
 and voted their sitting perpetual, and had declared 
 the throne vacant ; that the king, ministers, court, 
 and ambassadors, had left Paris, and were at Vin- 
 cennes, or Brussels ; that cannon was planted 
 against the city ; that it had fired and killed 5000 
 persons, and the beautiful Rue de Bivoli was run- 
 ning with blood, and that they are to be starved into 
 submission. I humbly hope I shall be enabled to 
 pray for my friends there, which is all I can do. 
 You will readily believe how anxious, interested, 
 and excited I feel. I was, and am, writing on the 
 scenes of the former Eevolution, little dreaming 
 that another was so near, in which some whom I 
 love and reverence must be actors. Well ! I must 
 endeavour to turn from the thought of it as much 
 as I can." 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 89 
 
 Unable, probably, to keep the prudential resolve 
 with which she concludes this letter, Mrs. Opie, 
 full of irrepressible anxiety to be on the scene of 
 action, very shortly came to the resolution to repair 
 to Paris. She seems to have allowed but few of 
 her friends to know of her determination, perhaps 
 anticipating their remonstrances and objections. 
 Her anxiety, however, was so great as to affect her 
 health and spirits ; and, after a few weeks' irreso- 
 lution, her plans were arranged, and she was on the 
 way to Paris. Her stay there proved longer in the 
 event than she had probably intended or anticipated. 
 Of the letters she wrote home during this period, 
 many are still in existence. I will give but one of 
 them, addressed to her old friend " Sarah Bose," 
 and descriptive of various subjects in which she 
 was interested at the time ; it bears date, 
 
 " Hotel de Douvres, Rue de la Paix, 
 IltJi mo., 3(M, 1830. 
 
 . . . . " This shall be a letter- writing day, dear 
 friend. Hitherto all has prospered with me, and 
 will, I trust, continue to do so. We are more 
 quiet here than you seem to be in my dear native 
 land. Even the ex-ministers seem forgotten ; the 
 people threaten them no longer audibly, at least. 
 Violent excitements, if not kept alive, soon wear 
 themselves out. I had such an interesting morn- 
 ing yesterday at the Halle aux Draps. It was the 
 distribution of prizes at the boys' and girls' schools. 
 
90 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 I went alone, and had time to contemplate, with 
 great interest, the young population before me. 
 The boys were dressed in a dark brown tunic, a 
 little a la Grecque, and this added to the illusion, 
 when I fancied that I beheld a race of young 
 republicans. A very good liberal address was given 
 by the mayor of the arrondissement, and imme- 
 diately after, the young voices of the children were 
 lifted up in songs of joy and praise. I felt my 
 eyes fill, and my heart beat, as I remembered how 
 lately blood had run along the streets of Paris, and 
 that probably some of the singers had been orphaned 
 
 by the late revolution 
 
 " I was interrupted here by a visit from Quatre- 
 fuges du Fesq, Commandant de la Garde Rationale 
 du departement du Gard, a Protestant gentleman 
 of large estate. He seems a worthy man, and I 
 was glad to find that he belongs to a Bible Society, 
 chez lui ; and he is going to present me to its 
 president. He is delighted at being one of my 
 agents, and I have met two English clergymen, 
 who are equally willing. To go on with the schools : 
 when the crowns of flowers and greens and the 
 books were all distributed, a letter from Appert, 
 the philanthropist, was read, announcing one prize 
 from the queen, which was given to the girl who 
 had already won the prize for good conduct ; and 
 she came, looking so meek and pretty, in her crown 
 of white roses. One child who got a prize was 
 only six years old. 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 91 
 
 "The parties on the 7th day evening at the 
 Jardin des Plantes (Baron Cuvier's) are pleasanter 
 than ever : ambassadeurs, savans, sages, deputes, 
 historiens, etc., etc. Sophie D., the worthy sister 
 of the admirable and lamented Clementine, has, in 
 conjunction with some other ladies, instituted a 
 committee of management, for so many poor deaf 
 and dumb girls. The object is to teach them the 
 means of maintaining themselves ; but it is sad 
 up-hill work. May He who alone can bless such 
 labours of love, bless these ! . 
 
 "The Paris intellectual world, just now, runs 
 after a new sect the St. Simoniens : the founder 
 is a St. Simon, of the Due de St. Simon's family ; 
 but his disciples preach up equality of property. 
 The thing is, I suspect, more political than any- 
 thing else in its object ; but on a 1st day there is 
 a religious preaching, and the room overflows ; so 
 it does on a week-day evening, when there are only 
 lectures. I am sometimes tempted to go one 
 evening, as they agree with the Friends on two 
 points. Nous verrons." .... 
 
 "I2th mo., 1st, 1830. To-day I have had an un- 
 expected and most welcome visit from E. M. Her 
 account of the state of the religious world here was 
 cheering. May her hopes for this great, but, on 
 some points, blinded country, be realized ; and may 
 the prayers of her Christian heart be fulfilled. 
 There are many labourers in the field. Oh may 
 it truly be white for the harvest ! 
 
92 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 " My friends here have persuaded me to be ' at 
 home,' on one particular day, and so, on 7th day 
 morning I receive from one to five, and I have 
 ' beaucoup de mondc? . . . With love, thine, 
 
 "A. OPIE." 
 
 Mrs, Opie continued in Paris till the month of 
 April, 1831. During that time she saw " many 
 and different scenes," and events of a stirring 
 nature transpired. It is not, perhaps, to be won- 
 dered at that some of her most sincere and attached 
 friends felt a degree of anxiety, lest her lengthened 
 residence in the gay capital of France, where she 
 was surrounded by admirers, and found so much to 
 gratify and charm her taste and feelings, should be 
 injurious to her best and highest interests. They 
 feared lest she should be " drawn away from the 
 simplicity" of faith and manners, which must ever 
 characterize the true Christian in his intercourse 
 with the world. These anxieties were natural, and 
 the expression of them salutary. The knowledge 
 that such care was felt on her behalf, that such 
 watchful eyes of love followed her movements, 
 awakened her gratitude and influenced her conduct. 
 The union that subsisted between her and the 
 Friends with whom she had united herself, was a 
 true and efficient one, exerting an abiding and 
 happy influence, and having a deep hold on her 
 affections as well as her principles. Traces of this 
 feeling are everywhere to be found in her journals, 
 
LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 93 
 
 which continually refer to the dear friends whom 
 she had left behind in her native city, and in reli- 
 gious fellowship with whom she rejoiced, even when 
 severed from them in "a strange land." Her 
 favourite tract, Mr. G-urney's " Letter to a Friend 
 on the Authority, Purposes, and Effects of Christ- 
 ianity," she got translated into French, during her 
 stay in Paris, and largely circulated among her friends 
 there. That it "was in her heart" to use all the 
 influence she possessed over others for good, her 
 frequent aspirations, recorded in secret, touchingly 
 evince. It was " a longing," though, as she some- 
 times feared, " a vain desire," prompting her to speak 
 the word in season, or to indite the friendly line of 
 pious expostulation. There were among her loose 
 papers, several rough copies of verses composed in 
 this spirit, and, as I have said, her diary abounds 
 in entries indicative of her sympathy with all that 
 was good and holy in others, and of her readiness 
 to seize every favourable opportunity for winning 
 the attention of the thoughtless and the unbeliev- 
 ing to the great truths of the gospel. 
 
 Those who best knew Mrs. Opie will readily 
 comprehend how it was that she could, in a manner 
 somewhat peculiar to herself, and partly perhaps 
 resulting from her early habits, as well as from her 
 natural temperament, take so lively an interest in 
 all the varied forms of life and society. Her nature 
 was many-sided and pliant; she divided her 
 thoughts, her sympathy, and her efforts among all 
 
94 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 that asked a share in her regard, and could turn 
 with undiminished interest from scenes of high 
 excitement, to small and apparently uncongenial 
 subjects. To each claim she responded in turn, 
 and the tale of every human heart had power to 
 interest her. Hence, when she returned to her 
 solitary home, and once more resumed the quiet 
 and comparatively monotonous life she led there, 
 she lost none of her spring, nor appeared in the 
 smallest degree less keenly alive to all that claimed 
 her attention. 
 
 The society of her friends and the works of 
 charity she had laid aside awhile, were returned to 
 and resumed with complacency and zeal. She was 
 especially engaged, about this time, in the cause of 
 the Ladies' Branch Bible Society in Norwich. Mr. 
 C. Dudley was anxious to effect improvements in 
 its management, and to enlarge its operations, and 
 there were meetings and committees at the Friends' 
 chapel in Groat-lane, for the purpose, at which 
 Mrs. Opie assisted. She took a district, and visited 
 among the poor, as a collector of their weekly 
 pence; and thus was brought into contact with 
 many scenes of want, and sorrow, and suffering, 
 that drew forth all the yearning pity of her heart, 
 and found employment for its charitable prompt- 
 ings. 
 
 In a letter, written shortly after her return, she 
 gives a lively description of her journey from 
 London, and shows the feelings of her heart at this 
 time. 
 
LIEE OF AMELIA OPIE. 95 
 
 " Norwich, 6th mo., 30^, 1832. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, . . . I had a pleasant 
 journey down, with a most agreeable companion, 
 who never contradicted me ; had the same opinions 
 on all subjects as myself; had read all my works, 
 and admired them of course ! who slept when I 
 slept, and woke when I did, which was at three 
 o'clock in the morning ; but at that hour my com- 
 panion ceased to be agreeable, for she began to 
 preach to me : 
 
 1 And, like the dread handwriting on the wall, 
 To hold past actions up to my review ; ' 
 
 till, at last, unable to say nay to her accusations, 
 and overpowered by their force, I happily recol- 
 lected I had a pocket edition of the Psalms with 
 me, and Isaac Crewdson's ' Spirit of Prayer ' and 
 I took refuge in them from my troublesome moni- 
 tor, who was no other than the egregious Amelia 
 Opie my own self. She and I came alone together 
 all the way. I found my garden a wilderness, and 
 very like the sluggard's ; but my roses were bloom- 
 ing in the midst, seemingly undisturbed by the 
 slovenly appearance around them, like a poet full 
 of glowing thoughts and fine images, though writing 
 in a garret in Grub-street. On 2nd day I hope 
 to see the long grass disappear, and order come out 
 of chaos. 
 
 " E. E. came on 5th day to visit me. I took 
 her a walk to see the Cathedral Close, Bishop's 
 Palace, and my poor uncle's pretty garden, around 
 
96 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 which I had the pain of seeing him dragged, a 
 wreck of former days. That was a sight I could 
 have spared. Yet, no. Such mementos of the 
 frailness of everything of mortal tenure are not 
 to be avoided, and ought to be salutary. In the 
 evening we walked round our Castle Hill, and I 
 found in my companion an amiable aptitude to be 
 pleased with all she saw, and enjoy everything. 
 
 "How differently one feels towards persons 
 when one believes their days to be numbered 
 visibly so, I mean to what one does when one 
 first sees them, and judges them without beholding 
 the grave in their horizon. How lenient one be- 
 comes to their faults ! What an air of interest is 
 thrown around them ! One listens with more 
 attention and indulgence to their remarks, and 
 seeks eagerly to discover in their conversation a, 
 moral preparation for death, more agreeable than 
 the physical one, which we discover with so much 
 pain. If these feelings are entertained towards 
 those whose days are visibly numbered, the same 
 indulgence ought to be shown to every one, for all 
 are alike ' appointed to die,' holding their mortal 
 tenure only at the pleasure of the Most High. I 
 therefore earnestly desire that I may not be found 
 among the backbiters, the haters, and the severe 
 animadverters on the faults of others : amongst 
 them, however, my travelling companion, A. Opie, 
 had the impertinence to rank me. ... I can 
 write no more. . . 
 
 " A. 0." 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 97 
 
 The feelings expressed in this letter exerted an 
 habitual influence on the mind of the writer. Thus, 
 she says to one of her friends, after expressing the 
 pleasure she felt in having been able to render a 
 kind attention to a deceased friend: "I often 
 think that, if we did but consider the brevity of 
 life, we should be more eager in our endeavours to 
 serve and please our friends and neighbours than 
 we are, and more careful to avoid giving them 
 pain. It is, I know, a truism but it is one 1 often 
 try, though in vain, to remember and be guided 
 by that, if we could but recollect, even in youth, 
 that we may be cut off from life and repentance 
 and amendment, in a moment, we could not help 
 acting in a very different, and more creditable, man- 
 ner towards others. What would then become of 
 the jeers, and the flings, and the censures, the 
 misapprehensions and hatreds, in w r hich so many 
 of us think it allowable to indulge ?" . . . 
 
 In the year 1832, Mrs. Opie sold her house in 
 St. George's, which she had been desirous to do 
 from the time of her father's death. In this resi- 
 dence Dr. Alderson lived durjng the latter years 
 of his life, and Mrs. Opie had continued to inhabit 
 it, with one short interval, until this time. There 
 it was that I first saw her. The rooms in which 
 she received her friends were hung with many of 
 Mr. Opie's paintings ; one, the well-known picture 
 of "The Secret Correspondence, or Love-letter," 
 was hung over the mantel-piece of the drawing - 
 
 ii 
 
98 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 room, while the "Shepherd Boy" occupied the 
 same place of honour in the dining-room. There 
 were, besides these, many others, including the 
 portraits which formed the subjects of six of her 
 " Lays for the Dead." Parties of friends fre- 
 quently assembled in these apartments, among 
 whom were some whose memory is still cherished 
 with love and regret. Of these, the E-ev. Joseph 
 Kinghorn was one of the most endeared and 
 honoured. To his conversation Mrs. Opie listened 
 with respectful interest ; and, indeed, it was always 
 worthy to be attentively considered, for rarely or 
 never did he speak, without imparting information, 
 or suggesting some topic of interest. After the 
 death of Mr. Kinghorn, the "Father and Daughter" 
 was found among the books of his library. It was 
 probably the only work of fiction admitted into 
 that sanctum, destined only to contain ponderous 
 tomes of divinity, and erudite treatises on theo- 
 logical subjects ; and much pleased was Mrs. Opie 
 when she was told of the circumstance. This ex- 
 cellent, learned, and holy man died in the month of 
 September,1832; and Mrs. Opie did not see, without 
 a tribute of heartfelt regret, the departure of one so 
 venerated, She listened to the account of his dying 
 moments, and wrote the following 
 
 ".LINES" ON HEARING IT SAID CONTINUALLY, THAT OUR LATK 
 REVERED FRIEND, J. KINGHORN, WAS ' FIT TO DIE.' 
 
 " Hail, words of truth ! that Christian comfort give; 
 But then, ' the fit to die,' how fit to live ! 
 
LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 99 
 
 To live, a bright example to mankind ; 
 * Feet to the lame, and eyesight to the blind ; ' 
 To lift the lamp, the word of God, on high, 
 Direct to Calvary's mount the sinner's eye; 
 To tread the path the first apostles trod, 
 And earn that precious name, ' a man of God.' 
 And thence the grief, he lives for us no more, 
 Whose loss alike all Christian hearts deplore : 
 But faith, exulting, joins the general cry, 
 The fit to live was greatly ' fit to die ! ' " 
 
 Another of the guests occasionally to be seen 
 under Mrs. Opie's roof, in 'those days, was "William 
 Toungman, of honoured memory; famed (and 
 somewhat feared) for his critical acumen and keen- 
 ness in debate. His fine head, brilliant eye, and 
 acute glance, immediately attracted attention, 
 which was riveted when he talked; and when it 
 pleased him to communicate his stores, it was well 
 to listen and to learn.* 
 
 To all her guests Mrs. Opie delighted to show 
 
 * He was one of those who frequented a social monthly meeting 
 for religious intercourse and conversation, held during many 
 years, principally at the suggestion and through the influence of 
 Mr. Kinghorn. Portions of Scripture were read and freely dis- 
 cussed on these occasions, and Mr. Youngman's remarks were 
 usually full of point and suggestion. As these meetings were 
 held at the houses of the different families whose principals 
 united in them, the young people of the household were always 
 present ; and I shall never forget the interest and pleasure they 
 afforded me, nor can I help wishing that something similar were 
 in general use among the friendly circles of good people now-a- 
 days. I know of nothing more likely to inform and improve 
 young and inquiring minds just awakening to interest on religious 
 subjects, and needing direction and assistance in their researches 
 
100 LIFE OP AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 the pictures that surrounded her ; and it was with 
 evident complacency that she received any tribute 
 to the genius of her husband : she felt proud and 
 pleased when his works were duly appreciated. 
 The mention of this reminds me of a trifling inci- 
 dent that occurred about this time. The Eev. 
 Edward Irving, being then on a visit at Norwich, 
 went to pay his respects to her. He was charmed 
 by the fascination of her manner and appearance, 
 and on being asked afterwards, by the friend who 
 accompanied him, what he thought of her pictures, 
 (to which, as usual, she had pointed attention,) he 
 responded, with eager haste : " I thought nought 
 o' the paintings ; it was the bonnie livin' picture I 
 saw." 
 
 It will be readily imagined that Mrs. Opie could 
 not quit the house, endeared to her by so many 
 tender reflections, without much and poignant 
 regret. Yet there were many causes that combined 
 to make it desirable she should do so. Not only 
 was it far too large to suit the convenience of a 
 single individual, but it necessarily involved the 
 maintenance of a considerable establishment ; and 
 this was incompatible with her wishes, which in- 
 duced her to prefer some arrangements that would 
 allow her to be occasionally absent from Norwich. 
 That she might be the more entirely free in her 
 . movements, she determined to give up housekeep- 
 ing for some time. 
 
 On the eve of her departure, she thus expressed 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 101 
 
 her emotions in writing to a friend : . . . "I 
 wrote my last letter to thee at a moment full of 
 care and anxiety, and I now write at one of the most 
 painful epochs of my life. I shall, in two hours, 
 quit for ever the house where I have lived twenty- 
 four years, and passed the most important and in 
 teresting period of my life. But write I would ; I 
 could not bear to delay my apology for what may 
 have appeared harsh and unjust. . . . 
 
 " Earewell. I write in great haste and some 
 agitation. 
 
 "A. OPIE." 
 
CHAPTEE IY. 
 
 S; OPIE, having succeeded in effecting the 
 sale of her house, and completed the necessary 
 arrangements, dismissed her servants, and found 
 herself free to accomplish a desire which, she said, 
 had for many years been near her heart, namely, to 
 visit Cornwall, her husband's native county; in- 
 tending to make her stay there as long as she found 
 it desirable. On the 20th of September she left 
 London for Falmouth, via Plymouth ; and, on 
 finding herself in Cornwall, wrote thus : 
 
 " I cannot describe the sensation I felt at being 
 in my poor husband's native county, which I had 
 so often heard him lavish in praise of ; but his part 
 of it was bold and rocky, and without trees ; this 
 was rich and wooded, though rocky, and the low 
 walls, made of a red stone, appeared to me 
 particularly picturesque. Indeed, at every mo- 
 ment, scenery of increasing beauty presented itself 
 to the view. Before we arrived at Truro, I was 
 extremely pleased with a long dell, called ' The 
 Forest,' extending to a considerable length. Across 
 this dell very large forest trees bent over, forming 
 a natural bower, beautiful and magnificent ; and, as 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 103 
 
 I concluded must be the case, a fine stream ran 
 through the hollow ; and, at its termination, there 
 is a gentleman's seat. I fear that I envied the 
 owner his delightful residence. 
 
 "Bocks, woods, and river, were the constant 
 succession of objects which my delighted eyes 
 gazed on, as we proceeded on our way ; and the 
 Yale of Perran fully equalled my expectations, 
 though I could not explore its heights and look 
 down on its lovely valley. Penryn is a striking 
 scene, from the business going forward there, and 
 the romantic scenery around its river. Next came 
 the beautiful harbour of Ealmouth, on which we 
 looked down as we drew near: it quite realized 
 my high-raised expectations. 
 
 "At the inn, I found my friend awaiting my 
 arrival. He drove me up an almost perpendicular 
 street, which reminded me of Whitby, where 
 the streets are all precipitous. "When I reached 
 ~W. Place, and the kind inhabitants introduced 
 me into the house, I was overpowered, as it 
 were, by the sense of beauty with which the 
 view from the window impressed me. The bay 
 was blue as heaven, and there seemed nothing 
 between us and it but a gently undulating 
 lawn, enamelled with flowering shrubs. To the 
 left rose the Castle of Pendennis, on its high 
 and verdant promontory ; and the whole was so 
 like an Italian scene, that I could scarcely fancy 
 myself in England. I felt deep thankfulness when 
 
104 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 I retired to my charming room at night, not only 
 for my safe arrival, but that the lines were fallen 
 to me in such pleasant places." 
 
 Mrs. Opie, after remaining a month at Palmouth, 
 left her friends there on the 22nd of October, and 
 proceeded to Perran, on a visit to another branch 
 of the same family ; and from this time she seems 
 to have kept a journal, from which I purpose 
 giving occasional extracts. On her way to Perran 
 she visited a mine, in which was " the largest 
 steam-engine, perhaps, in Europe." The whole 
 thing, she said, was "vast even to sublimity;" and 
 the tremendous volume of sound occasioned by 
 letting off the steam, completely overcame her 
 nerves. "Afterwards," she writes, "we went to 
 see the women at work. The first sight of the 
 mining district exceeded all my ideas of its deso- 
 lation a desolation only equalled by its popu- 
 lation." 
 
 The next entry in her diary tells of her arrival 
 at Perran Yale " and all its loveliness," where she 
 settled down most comfortably, although her 
 thoughts reverted with regret to the dear friends 
 whom she had left. The following weeks were spent, 
 with much enjoyment, in the society of those 
 around, and in making visits and calls ; and the 
 long autumnal evenings passed most agreeably in 
 drawing, reading, and working ; occasionally, too, 
 themes on a given subject were written. One of 
 these, on " Punctuality," was preserved among her 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 105 
 
 papers ; and, as this was especially a virtue in 
 which she delighted, it was evidently written con 
 amore. Its conclusion is amusing, and as it is not 
 long, I venture to give it. 
 
 " There is a habit so injurious to the practice ot 
 punctuality, that I must mention it before I con- 
 clude. I call it a habit of lianging fire. There are 
 persons who get up to go away, an hour perhaps 
 before they really depart ; and who linger at the door 
 of the room, make a full stop on the landing-place or 
 in the hall ; and if one attend them to the door, 
 linger still on the threshold ; and even when in the 
 street, calling up fresh energies, elevate their voices 
 in a few parting words. How can such as these 
 ever be strictly punctual ? I would particularly 
 warn young persons against such a habit. I would 
 say, ' When you are going, go ; for, remember, the 
 moments you thus waste in loitering, are bringing 
 even you, the young, nearer every instant to eter- 
 nity.' I feel that it will become me to conclude 
 my imperfect sketch as fast as possible, and I will 
 do so by giving an anecdote of George, commonly 
 called Beau Brummell. 
 
 "Amongst his other follies, B. had that of 
 choosing to be always too late for dinner. Where- 
 ever he was invited he liked to be waited for. He 
 thought it was a proof of his fashion and conse- 
 quence ; and the higher the rank of his entertainer, 
 the later was the arrival of this impudent parvenu. 
 The Marquis of Abercorn had, for some time, sub- 
 
106 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 mitted to this oft-repeated trial of his patience, 
 but at length he would bear it no longer. Accord- 
 ingly, one day when he had invited Bruramell to 
 dine, he desired to have the dinner on the table 
 punctually at the time appointed. The servants 
 obeyed, and Brummell and the cheese arrived toge- 
 ther. The wondering beau was desired by the 
 master of the house to sit down. He vouchsafed 
 no apology for what had happened, but coolly said, 
 * I hope, Mr. B., cheese is not disagreeable to you.' 
 It is said that Brummell was never late at that 
 house in future ; and here selfishness became the 
 source of punctuality. 
 
 "Perran Vale, "A. OPIE. 
 
 mo., 7th., 1832." 
 
 On the 21st of November, taking a " sorrowful 
 farewell of dear Perran," our traveller proceeded 
 to St. Agnes, where she received a kindly welcome 
 from her worthy relatives, and a few days after 
 wrote the following letter : 
 
 " To Sarah Rose, Bracondale, Norwich. 
 
 " St. Agnes, llth mo., 26th, 1832. 
 
 " MY YEEY DEAR FBIEIST), 
 
 " I shall begin by what is uppermost with me 
 just now. Last night, in the papers, I had the 
 shock of seeing the death of Lady Stafford. "What a 
 loss ! what a wide-spreading loss! How sudden 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 107 
 
 her removal! But it is those who are left that 
 must mourn. One cannot think but all is well 
 with her, poor dear. I used to lament I knew 
 so little of her, but now I rejoice. . . . 
 
 "I am here with my poor husband's nephew, 
 and his wife and family, which consists of Edward 
 Opie, the painter ; a boy of ten, and of a gentle 
 and pleasing young woman named Amelia, after 
 me, at the desire of my poor sister.* They have 
 just lost a lovely girl of thirteen, whose loss has 
 sunk deep into the hearts of her parents. The 
 whole family have soft, pleasing manners ; in short, 
 I like them all. . . . Yesterday I dined &t 
 Harmony Cot, where my husband and all the 
 family were born and bred. It is a most seques- 
 tered cottage, whitewashed and thatched ; a hill 
 rising high above it, and another in front ; trees 
 and flower-beds before it, which, in summer, must 
 mak e it a pretty spot. Now, it is not a tempting 
 abode, but there are two good rooms in it, and I 
 am glad I have seen it. 
 
 * This was Mr. Opie's sister, who during his last illness most 
 tenderly aided in nursing him. Mrs. Opie, in her Memoir of her 
 hushand, speaks of her with affectionate regard in these words ; 
 " Let me be thankful for the presence of that sister so dear to 
 him, who, by sharing with me the painful yet precious tasks of 
 affection, enabled me to keep from his bed all hired nurses all 
 attendants, indeed, but our deeply interested selves that was, 
 indeed, a consolation." 33uring this Cornish visit, Mrs. O. fre- 
 quently alludes to the regret she experienced, that one whom she 
 had always remembered with affection was no longer living, to 
 welcome her, and to go over with her the memories of the past. 
 
108 LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 " I was at Palinouth one month, at E. W. Pox's ; 
 and at his mother's, at Perran and Falmouth, 
 another month, and came hither last 4th day ; and 
 I go to Truro to stay till the beginning of next 
 month, when I go to Burncoose ; and I hope to 
 take up my abode in lodgings of my own, at Pen- 
 zance, by the 2nd of the next year, if not before ; 
 but I have so many invitations. I was, on 5th 
 day, up St. Anne's Beacon: such a magnificent 
 sea- view ! 
 
 " How many persons have died even in the short 
 time of my absence ! To-day I have had a letter 
 
 from Lady M , like herself, admirable. How I 
 
 wish I were what I am not, and fear I never may 
 be, weaned from the pleasures of this life, and 
 given only to preparation for another ! I some- 
 times reprove myself for the happiness I feel, and 
 my health is so perfect. . . . 
 
 " I am thy ever affectionate friend, 
 
 "A. OPIE." 
 
 Her journal proceeds : " (7th day, 1st of 12th 
 mo.) Went to see the market, and institution, or 
 museum. (1st day, 2nd.) Went to meeting. 
 Snowy. In the evening came on an awful storm, 
 thunder loud, lightning vivid. When it subsided, 
 W. T. opened the windows for me to see what he 
 called his illumination. It was the large Methodist 
 meeting-house lighted up, and towering in radiance 
 in the valley on the left. (4th day, 5th.) Quar- 
 
LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 169 
 
 terly Meeting. A full attendance of Friends from 
 all parts of the country. Several Friends spoke to 
 great edification, and the meeting was well attended 
 in the evening. Next morning our friends left, 
 with a solemn, sweet, though short, parting bene- 
 diction, (1st day, 9th.) Lodgings suitable pro- 
 cured for me at Penzance : much pleased to hear 
 it. After dinner we walked up the hill beyond the 
 house, to see to advantage the remarkable and 
 sublime appearance of the clouds, which resembled 
 the glaciers, and formed ridges of ice, like those 
 on the Mont de Grlace. It was a sublime spectacle." 
 On the 10th of January, 1833, she left St. Agnes 
 for Penzance. The day was one of incessant wind 
 and rain. Her first glimpse of the Mount and its 
 bay was a momentary one, caught in passing. " I 
 turned," she says, "to the coach window on the 
 left, just in time to see it in all its glory, and quite 
 near me, the billows lashing its rocky sides." The 
 lodgings which had been provided proved quite to 
 her mind. " A good drawing-room, a decent bed- 
 room, and a fine sea- view, are my possessions here," 
 she says, and significantly adds, " with leisure : 
 may I employ it well." The next day her diary 
 mentions her first walk on the shore, and shr 
 prettily apostrophizes the Mount. " Beautiful 
 Mount ! I long to be better acquainted with thee. 
 When I first saw it, it was very dark ; then it was 
 sunlit ; then dark and misty ; then light again, 
 and green as an emerald was the flood swelling 
 gainst it, and edged with snow-white feathers." 
 
110 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 The letter that follows, addressed to her " dear 
 and long-attached friend, Sarah Eose," never 
 reached her ; for, only the day after it was written, 
 Mrs. Opie received the tidings of her death, which 
 she recorded in her diary, with an expression of 
 pain and regret, yet at the same time with thank- 
 fulness for the assurance she felt that it was indeed 
 a mercy to her, who had long suffered under a fatal 
 malady, and who was prepared, by Divine grace, for 
 the great change. 
 
 " To S. Rose, Bracondale, Norwich. 
 
 " Regent's Terrace, Penzance, 
 
 " 1** mo., I4th, 1833. 
 
 " It is long since the receipt of any letter has 
 given me so much pleasure as the one I received 
 from thee, beloved friend. ... I intend to write 
 to my friend, J. Beecroft, but I defer doing so till 
 I have visited St. Michael's Mount. I am to enjoy 
 the great pleasure of passing a night in that rocky 
 wonder, and of visiting the rock and ramparts by 
 moonlight. I shall also see the sun rise and set 
 there a great privilege ; whether I may have the 
 bells set a-ringing or not, I can't tell, but I should 
 like to judge of all the effects possible in that 
 unique spot. 
 
 " I have lately been staying at Lord de Dunstan- 
 ville's, and he it was who wrote to Sir John St. 
 Aubyn's housekeeper, desiring a bed to be pre- 
 pared for me, whenever I choose to go ; and that 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. Ill 
 
 is at the next full moon, (a suspicious circumstance 
 rfest ce pas ?) But, dear me ! how should there 
 be any moon where there is no sun ? Only once 
 have I seen the latter since I came here, last 5th 
 day, the 10th. "Wind, rain, and no fish ! and I 
 usually live on fish ; but then, in two minutes I 
 can be on the beach, and see the Mount 
 
 " Oh, what a blessing is leisure, and its promoter, 
 solitude ! I can say, with deep thankfulness, that 
 I have been only too happy with my dear Cornish 
 friends ; too happy, because I have been idle and 
 useless ; but, much as I have enjoyed this very 
 precious society, I cannot express my delight at 
 feeling that I have fourteen hours before me when 
 I rise, or more, to do what I will in, and write and 
 
 read as I choose At Paris, the glass 
 
 is many degrees below freezing point ; here there 
 is rain and wind, but no frost. I fear, indeed know, 
 that you have frost, but I hope thou feelest it not. 
 I will add that my health is perfect, and I need 
 the sorrows of my friends to soler my spirits. My 
 drawing-room commands the bay, and on one side 
 the town and hills of N., washed by the sea. 
 
 " Now, to talk of thyself. I am cheered much 
 by thy letter, and I humbly trust that the best of 
 all cheerfulness, that which results from entire 
 resignation, is thine now, and will be to the end. 
 If we * live to the Lord,' we shall also ' die to the 
 Lord ;' and, I believe, persons afflicted with incur- 
 able complaints are permitted to live on and suffer, 
 
112 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 that they may be made profitable examples 
 
 .... To-morrow I am going to dine and sleep at 
 Sir Eose Price's. I have many letters yet unac- 
 knowledged ; I like to put my friends in my debt. 
 I am paying off mine : I sent seven yesterday to 
 the post. Farewell. [Remember, I must hear from 
 thee again. 
 
 " Thine affectionate friend, 
 
 "A. OPIE." 
 
 The journal proceeds : " (18th.) The day lovely ; 
 walked to find the tombs of my cousins. Such a 
 walk ! the air balmy, the bay blue and gold, the 
 Mount darkly grand. I saw it almost all the 
 way. The churchyard is pretty, the tomb simple ; 
 in its railing is another like it, over a mother and 
 son, friends of Philothea.* On our return, the 
 Mount was bright : saw the granite rocks ; and the 
 sea was, first green, and then a bright blue. So 
 lovely ! Not at all tired ; enjoyed my walk and my 
 dinner. In the evening 1 wrote to General La- 
 fayette, and E. M. (5th day, 24th.) A bright and 
 dazzling sun, silvering over the bellowing sea, like 
 great wit and talent throwing a lustre over turbu- 
 lent passions, under an agreeable surface. This 
 day four months I came to dear Palmouth. "What 
 
 * In her "Lays," p. 72, there are some lines " On a Mother and 
 Daughter, relations of mine, who died at Penzance within a short 
 time of each other ; " beginning : 
 
 " Pure, lovely, learned, pious, wise, 
 There, by her mother's side, Philothea lies." 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 113 
 
 happy months ! Blessed be His goodness, who 
 
 willed them so to be ! 
 " (1st day, 27th.)-To meeting. Bead Newton's 
 
 Cardiphoma,* and in the Acts: an edifying even- 
 ing. Still, to bed discouraged, though much 
 enabled to pray during the day. (28th.) -A dis- 
 turbed night; but woke with "My grace 'is suffi- 
 cient for thee" on my lips; hoped it was an 
 answer to prayer. Slept again, and woke with the 
 
 same text. Eose encouraged T}ri s 
 
 evening, went on with my remarks on the sons of 
 Eli and the Eechabites. Bead Game's " Letters 
 from the East," which, though not new to me, were 
 most pleasing. So absorbed with his accounts of 
 the Holy Land, I could scarcely quit them to go 
 to bed." 
 
 A few days after the last entry (on the 6th of 
 February) Mrs. Opie proceeded to Marazion, and 
 carried out her purpose of visiting Mount St. 
 Michael. The ascent she found "very steep" 
 and was " surprised at the difficulty and pain of 
 the effort;" but the "novelty of the situation" 
 charmed her, and she stayed two days and nights, 
 instead of one, as she had purposed. The accom- 
 panying letter graphically depicts the scene she 
 witnessed, and her feelings on the occasion. 
 
 * In one of Mrs. O.'s notes, she writes, " Of all the books I ever 
 read, Newton's Cardiphonia (the Bible excepted) did me the 
 most good." 
 
114 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 " To Thos. BrigUwell, Norwich. 
 
 " Regent Terrace, Penzance, 
 
 " 2nd mo., Ilth, 1833. Evening. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, If I were now at my dear 
 old house at Norwich, I should, perhaps, have the 
 pleasure of passing this evening with thee ; but as 
 we are separated by a distance of nearly 400 miles, 
 this pleasure I cannot have. I am, therefore, de- 
 sirous to make myself amends for a privation which 
 I frequently regret, by holding with thee that 
 communication, imperfect though it be, which I 
 can enjoy through the medium of pen, ink, and 
 paper. * * * * 
 
 " One of the most interesting sights I have seen 
 is THE PIT, where Wesley, almost at the hazard 
 of his life, addressed the Cornish men for the first 
 time. It is now an immense punchbowl of green 
 turf, cut into circular steps, from the top to the 
 bottom ; steps left to ascend and descend, dividing 
 the area into four parts. At the top of the last one 
 are two posts of granite, on which, when any one 
 preaches, there is laid a board, to support whatever 
 the preacher may require. On every "Whit-Sun- 
 day, one of their most distinguished ministers 
 holds forth to an immense congregation immense 
 indeed! for the place holds above ten thousand 
 persons, and it is often quite full. I could fancy, as 
 I stood there, those ten thousand of uplifted faces, 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 115 
 
 rapt in devout attention, and, as I hope, drinking 
 in water from the well of salvation. 
 
 "The greatest sight, and, perhaps, one of the 
 most unique in Europe, is St. Michael's Mount, as 
 it is stupidly called, for the term mount gives one 
 no idea of vastness, but the contrary ; and who 
 would expect to find a place called a mount a 
 rock, a mountain, and a castle ? Tet, such is St. 
 Michael's Mount, one of the seats of Sir John St. 
 Aubyn ; where I passed two days and two nights, 
 alone, last week ; and where I had leave to stay as 
 long as I liked ; but I felt a scruple against taking 
 possession of a man's house in his absence, and 
 putting his housekeeper to the trouble of waiting 
 upon me, and cooking for me. She said she wished 
 me to stay a week ; but I thought she would, in 
 her heart, be very glad to get rid of a crazy old 
 gentlewoman, who came to look at the moon from 
 the ramparts of the castle, as if she had no moon 
 in her own country; and I don't doubt but she 
 fancied me moonstruck, which idea was, I daresay, 
 confirmed, by her catching me drawing the faces 
 and figures I saw in the fire a new, but, I assure 
 thee, a very amusing occupation. I advise Lucy to 
 set about it directly. 
 
 "The sea is closed round this magnificent 
 mountain, with its masses of rock frowning midway 
 down its verdant sides, during the greater part of 
 the day ; and such a sea as it is in winter ! 
 They are shipless waters, for no vessel could live in 
 
116 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 them ; and I did enjoy to see the waves of the 
 Atlantic rolling proudly on one side of the castle, 
 telling of greater and more fearful power beyond, 
 where my eye could not penetrate. The first night 
 I was there the weather was so rough, that I went 
 to bed, supposing the moon would not shine. But 
 when the tide unclosed, (as the saying is,) the 
 moon shone, and I, on awaking past midnight, saw 
 her light, but could not see her. So the next night 
 I sat up till she rose, and leaning on the balcony, 
 witnessed her fight with the wind and rain, and 
 her ultimate victory. Such was the roughness of 
 the sea, that the white foam made the ( darkness 
 light about it ' without the aid of the moon ; but 
 where she did not shine on their jutting points, 
 dark as Erebus were the turrets, the ramparts, and 
 the walls of the castle ; while the little town at the 
 foot of the mountain, and the more distant town 
 beyond, lay in a sort of half tint of moonshine ; and 
 the noble rocks over which I leaned, were softened 
 into beauty by the mellowing rays that rested on 
 them. It was interesting to watch the lights from 
 the habitations, far and near, as they gradually dis- 
 appeared ; and to feel that I, probably, was the only 
 being awake and moving in that vast space of land 
 and water. I walked, and gazed, and leaned upon 
 the ramparts, till the consciousness of my solitude 
 became oppressive to me, and I hastened along the 
 corridor, so often trodden in times long past by the 
 monk or the warrior, to my repose. 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 117 
 
 " This castle was once a monastery, and I entered 
 a dungeon, which was found, a few years ago, bricked 
 up, with the skeleton of a large man in it, no doubt 
 that of an offending monk, left there to die by 
 inches. Mont St. Michel, in Normandy, is the 
 counterpart of this ; but, though the castle is larger, 
 the rock is only half as high. Both are conical, 
 and so like in shape and external appearance, that 
 the coloured drawings of the Norman castle I took 
 for those of the English one. I have seen pictures 
 of the Mount by my husband, but no painting can 
 do it justice in detail ; those masses of granite must 
 be seen to be conceived of. 
 
 " It is five months and three weeks to-day since 
 I left Norwich ; and eventful months, indeed, they 
 have been to my frientls there, and the city in 
 
 general I can say, with thankfulness, that 
 
 my spirits have been so high since I have been in 
 this lovely county, that the misfortunes of those 
 amongst whom I have been living were necessary 
 to sober me a little ; and death has been busy here, 
 especially among children. 
 
 " I have been reading Newton's Cardiphonia. 
 I am now reading the Prophets, in Adam Clarke's 
 Bible. What a loss he must be to the religious 
 world ! 
 
 " Well ! by this time, I daresay thou art as 
 much tired of me as the housekeeper was, and art 
 tempted to think her opinion of me a just one. 
 I intend to be in Norfolk in the 6th month j no 
 
118 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 house vacant for me, I suppose ; nor do I intend 
 to settle yet ; I have Devonshire to see, and the 
 north to revisit. I remain here probably till the 
 25th, when I return to Falmouth. Farewell. 
 With affectionate remembrance to thy belongings, 
 
 " I am thy attached friend, 
 
 "A. OPIE." 
 
 " 2nd mo., 10th. A day of storm and rain; but 
 my dear friends came, and we went to meeting, 
 which was still and solemn. (2nd mo., llth.) Rose 
 low ; read St. John's Gospel, as well as a psalm ; 
 wrote letters. A. C. called, and stayed some time ; 
 very agreeable. Evening pleasant, but in my heart 
 I felt sad and self-judged. To bed sorrowing for 
 my sinfulness. 
 
 " (1st day.) A good night, but dared not go to 
 meeting. Rain again ! ' The rain it raineth every 
 day.' Eead some notes of Matt. Henry's Psalms, 
 and Job ; copied his note on the Rechabites ; read 
 to Mary, then to bed calm and encouraged. 
 
 " (2nd day.) Went to the workhouse and jail. 
 Found one of the committee there, who was very 
 civil, and, with the governor, went about with me. 
 The workhouse well conducted and comfortable. 
 Mad patients there also. Saw one poor woman. 
 In the prison not one person, but a woman debtor ; 
 going out soon. Grave 5s. to the fund, and 2s. 6d. 
 to the poor woman. They promised to send me 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 119 
 
 an account of the average expense of the esta- 
 blishment per week, to the fund collected by poor's- 
 rates ; he thinks it not more than 2s. and a 
 few pence each person. This gentleman called 
 to tell me that what I had given, with a little 
 added, would give the poor people a treat of cake 
 and tea at five, next fourth day, and asked me 
 to go and see them enjoy it. It was kindly meant, 
 
 but I should think it ostentatious Went to 
 
 the shore to see the Mount by moonlight. I saw 
 
 that poor young Irishman, A- , at No. 1, walking 
 
 to-day, and I met him. He looks thinner and 
 weaker, but his colour grows more and more bril- 
 liant. How I wish I dare speak to him, and ask 
 him how he does. He comes from the north of 
 Ireland. It is a comfort his brother is with him. 
 (22nd.) My last day at Penzance. I felt quitting 
 a spot so endeared to me by hours of refreshing, 
 and, I trust, beneficial solitude. A pleasing note 
 from poor young B. A., (the lame invalid I saw 
 daily from my window,) returning my books, and 
 regretting my departure.* 
 
 * He afterwards corresponded with Mrs. O., on religions snb- 
 jects, and she lent him books, and wrote, giving him Christian 
 advice and instruction. He eventually died in Cornwall; and 
 there is reason to believe that her efforts were not in vain, and that 
 she was instrumental in leading him to the only " hiding place 
 from the wind, and covert from the tempest" *' I shall always 
 believe (she afterwards said) that I was constrained to speak to 
 him, and offer him books, before I had even learned his name, by a 
 power higher than myself, and who, to effect any important purpose, 
 deigns to make use even of a weak and unworthy instrument." 
 
120 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 Mrs. Opie returned from Penzance to Falmouth, 
 where she remained some weeks, visiting her 
 friends, and enjoying their warm-hearted hospitality 
 and kindness. She makes daily entries in her 
 journal, and details the domestic every-day life, 
 and the occasional fetes or troubles of her friends. 
 Especially she dwells, with evident delight and 
 cordial satisfaction, on the religious communion 
 and true sympathy of spirit in divine things, which 
 she enjoyed in such congenial society. At length, 
 on the 29th of April she writes : 
 
 " Alas ! the day of my departure from dear Corn- 
 wall therefore unwelcome. I bade a reluctant 
 adieu to all my dear Cornish friends, deeply thankful 
 for the happiness I have enjoyed during seven 
 months' stay in this charming country, and with this 
 interesting family and others ; and endeavouring 
 to prepare mentally for other scenes and other 
 persons." 
 
 She spent a few days with friends at Combe, on 
 her way to Bristol, where she arrived on the 4th 
 instant, and closes her diary shortly after, with 
 these words : 
 
 " Here ends my journal of my Cornish visit (and 
 its appendix at Combe), for the health, safety, 
 benefit, and enjoyment of which, I feel deep thank- 
 fulness to the (river of all good." 
 
 I cannot forbear, in closing this chapter, to 
 quote a few lines, in which Mrs. Opie has, I think, 
 beautifully painted the scene of her midnight watch 
 
LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 121 
 
 on St. Michael's Mount, described in the letter to 
 Mr. Brightwell. These lines are taken from her 
 four "Sketches of St. Michael's Mount," appended 
 to the volume of her " Lays for the Dead." 
 
 The time was midnight ; and the wintry wind 
 Howl'd o'er the bosom of the foaming deep, 
 Which to its voice in louder war replied, 
 When, on the ramparts of that castled rock, 
 Sea-girt, which bears the great archangel's name, 
 I held my lonely watch and held it, awestruck. 
 * * # * * * 
 
 But happier thoughts stole on me, as the wind 
 Ceased its wild roar and round the castle's walls 
 I took my solitary walk, and hoped 
 The dark Atlantic heaved with gentler swell 
 Its mighty billows while the eastern waves 
 Began to wear a soft and pallid hue, 
 As yet the source unseen that unseen source 
 The cause that led me to my midnight watch 
 On that tall rock, braving the driving storm ; 
 For I was come to see the beauteous moon 
 In cloudless majesty her state assume. 
 But I was forced to wait upon her smile 
 As courtiers watch the smile of earthly queen, 
 And long I waited on the battlements 
 With folded arms ; with pensive eye 
 Marking the scene below, wide, billowy, dark, 
 Save where, from lowly cottages, which lay 
 Scatter'd around the mountain's foot below, 
 And from the dwellings on the distant shores, 
 As yet, some lights put forth faint twinkling rays. 
 But, when the distant clock, upon the wind 
 Gave solemn notice of the midnight hour, 
 Lo! one by one I saw those welcome lights 
 Fade from the view, till not a single beam 
 Was left to tell, that in the dark expanse 
 
122 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 And near that wilderness of waters then 
 
 Another eye than mine a vigil kept ; 
 
 But J, alone, seem'd waking. Thus, methought, 
 
 As life advances, one by one, we mark 
 
 Our dearest friends and relatives expire. 
 
 No eye of love remains to cheer our age, 
 
 And we are left alone. 
 
CHAPTEE Y. 
 
 AFTER her lengthened absence, which was ex- 
 tended to the month of July, 1833, Mrs. Opie, 
 returning to Norwich, established herself in lodg- 
 ings in St. Giles'-street. Immediately after, we 
 find her resuming the daily entries in her note- 
 book ; but they were soon discontinued, evidently 
 in consequence of her frequent visits and short 
 absences from -home. 
 
 The journal commences: "(25th of 6th mo.) Ar- 
 rived at 70, St. Griles'-street ; breakfasted, and went 
 to bed ; thankful for my safe arrival, and also that 
 I did not feel not coming to my own house and ser- 
 vants. At three, P.M., arose, and went to call on 
 my aunt, and other friends. Then to the bury ing- 
 ground ; found my dear father's grave well done, 
 and the l forget-me-not' on it, in full bloom; 
 thankful for that.* On my way homeward, I was 
 
 * Mrs. 0., in one of her letters written after visiting Pere la 
 Chaise, said, " I envy the power of planting flowers on the graves 
 of those we love." She appears to have indulged this feeling as 
 long as she lived, in having Dr. Alderson's grave carefully pre- 
 served from weeds, etc., and she paid an annual sum to have it 
 kept, and flowers planted round it. The " forget-me-not" was a 
 favourite with Dr. A., and she endeavoured to naturalize it, but 
 in vain, the soil and air being inimical to its growth. 
 
124 LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 kindly greeted by some poor people I met, and 
 welcomed back. I must call on poor Lizzy's pa- 
 rents as soon as I can, her death me tient au coeur. I 
 know she was well cared for in temporals ; but more 
 I know not. (3rd day.) Having dined, I went out 
 at seven ; took tea at my own dear ci-devant house, 
 and saw the improvements. It is now perfect. 
 Went home by the A.'s, and learned there the 
 death of poor T. S. How thankful I am that before 
 I went away I put her under the care of friends ; 
 so that I know all was done for her that she 
 needed. She was a truly pious Methodist, and 
 needed not the preparation of a deathbed, I be- 
 lieve, to fit her to meet the Lord. 
 
 " (1st day, 29th.) Rose, after a restless night. 
 Meeting at the Grildencroft ; felt favoured and 
 encouraged. Went with S. Mackie to visit the 
 graves : forbade the culture of that yellow flower 
 (name unknown to me) on them, in future. After 
 dinner, called on A. B. Surprised and pleased to 
 find her so well in body. Her mind is always well. 
 He is the great Physician of souls. My room north, 
 and cold ; I have a fire. Read again Matt. Henry's 
 life. (2nd day, 30th.) H. Girdlestone called. Went 
 
 to see poor at her desire ; she thought I 
 
 should do her good. I did my best, having asked 
 Divine assistance. Sent her Wesley's hymns for 
 all states, and a tractate on self-resignation. What 
 a dreadful feeling for any one to feel themselves 
 spiritually deserted, and unable to pray ! But then 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 125 
 
 the case is one of physical as well as moral disease. 
 May I be permitted to do her good, by leading her 
 to throw herself wholly upon her Saviour ! Called 
 on my dear old friends, the Bogers' (3rd day, 1st 
 of mo.) Went to the Infant School, called on 
 various friends, and went to tea at the Martineaus'. 
 (5th day, 3rd.) Came to the Grove for a week." . . 
 
 After remaining a few days at the Grove, Mrs. 
 Opie went to Earlham, where she enjoyed the 
 great pleasure of meeting Dr. Chalmers, who was 
 then on a visit to Mr. J. J. Gurney. In his 
 journal (given in his Memoirs) Dr. C. has made 
 very pleasant mention of this occurrence. After 
 noticing various incidents that had impressed him, 
 he writes : 
 
 " Friday, July 26th Lastly, I must men- 
 tion a lady who dined, and spent the night one 
 who, in early life, was one of the most distin- 
 guished of our literary women; whose works, 
 thirty years ago, I read with great delight no 
 less a person than the celebrated Mrs. Opie, 
 authoress of the most exquisite feminine tales, and 
 for which I used to place her by the side of Miss 
 Edgeworth. It was curious to myself, that, though 
 told by Mr. Gurney, in the morning, of her being 
 to dine, I had forgotten the circumstance ; and the 
 idea of the accomplished novelist and poet was 
 never once suggested by the image of this plain- 
 looking Quakeress ; till it rushed upon me, after 
 
126 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 dinner, when it suddenly and inconceivably aug- 
 mented the interest I felt in her. "We had much 
 conversation and drew greatly together, walking 
 and talking with each other on the beautiful lawn, 
 after dinner. She has had access into all kinds of 
 society, and her conversation is all the more rich and 
 interesting. I complained to her of one thing in 
 Quakerism, and that is their mode of introductions ; 
 that I could have recognised in Mrs. Opie an ac- 
 quaintance of thirty years' standing, but that I 
 did not, and could not feel the charm of any such 
 reminiscence, when Joseph John simply bade me 
 lead out Amelia from his drawing-room to his 
 dining-room. I felt, however, my new acquaint- 
 ance with this said Amelia to be one of the great 
 acquisitions of my present journey ; and this union 
 of rank, opulence, literature, and polish of mind, 
 with plainness of manners, forms one of the great 
 charms of society in this house. "We had much 
 and cordial talk all the evening, a family exposition 
 before supper ; and at length, a general breaking- 
 up, somewhere about eleven o'clock, terminated 
 this day, at once of delightful recreation and need- 
 ful repose. Saturday, July 27th. Mrs. Opie left 
 us early, and we parted from each other most 
 cordially." 
 
 Mrs. Opie was much gratified with this meeting, 
 and afterwards addressed these 
 

 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 127 
 
 LINES TO DR. CHALMERS, 
 
 On reading his description of Dr. Brown, in his Chapter on the 
 Connexion between the Intellect and the Will. 
 
 When Eve, (by Milton's magic muse portrayed) 
 
 In the clear stream her new-born self survey'd, 
 
 Surprised she gazed, with admiration fired, 
 
 Nor knew she was the being she admired ; 
 
 And, while describing what had charm'd her view, 
 
 Suspected not she her own portrait drew. 
 
 Chalmers, however strange the thought may be, 
 
 To our first mother I resemble thee. 
 
 In what, with all thy generous warmth of praise, 
 
 Thy pen lamented Brown's vast powers displays ; 
 
 Paints him, diffusing Fancy's genial hue 
 
 O'er the cold paths philosophers pursue, 
 
 Intent to bid, round Reason's thoughtful brow, 
 
 Imagination's varying garlands glow, 
 
 Till "Intellectual Power" attention lends, 
 
 And from its " awful throne " soft " smiling bends;" 
 
 Paints him, on mind's most arduous summit placed, 
 
 The scene still decking with the flowers of taste, 
 
 As if call'd forth by wand of fairy elf: 
 
 Then trust me, Chalmers, thou describ'st thyself; 
 
 And all the charms which in Brown's picture shine, 
 
 By thy unconscious hand portray 'd, are thine. 
 
 The letter that follows, written about two months 
 later, gives us some account of the manner in which 
 the intervening weeks were passed. 
 
 " To D. F. Tottenham. 
 
 " 10th mo., Wth, 1833. 
 
 " MY VEBY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 "... I returned home in full feather ; 
 but just now the illness of one of my old servants 
 
128 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 confines me, and I cannot go out till she is better, 
 or all is over. This (her illness) is to me a little 
 sorrow. I have passed a very pleasant autumn. I 
 was at Bradfield House, near "Woodbridge, for ten 
 days : but alas ! to go there, I made such a sacri- 
 fice ; and had I not been engaged to go, I must 
 have remained at Earlham, for there 1 left Dr. 
 Chalmers. Such a companion ! Such a man ! How- 
 ever, I had a long tete-a-tete with him, and made 
 the most of my time. Such simplicity, with such 
 true Christian humility, I never saw before, united 
 to such genius and learning. 
 
 " I was ten days, previously, at the Grove. Since 
 then I have been to Euncton, and at Earlham, to 
 meet the Bishop of "W.'s wife and family ; who 
 (especially the bishop) are uncommon and delight- 
 ful persons. Also, at Lowestofb, staying with the 
 Judge (Alderson), and since then at JSTorthrepps 
 Cottage, which I left with great regret. It is such 
 a treat to me to be with them, and I have promised 
 to return thither on the 12th of 1st mo. 
 
 " Since my return from them, I have been stay- 
 ing with H. T., the highly gifted and learned man 
 who is so kind as to be my chief critic. I have been 
 over my Book of Lays twice with him ; and I trust 
 that, in a month or two, I shall be in the press. I 
 have been about this little volume twenty years ; 
 still, it is with trembling that I shall give it to the 
 public ; though many whom I esteem good judges, 
 and even severe critics, are very encouraging. 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 129 
 
 " .... In the case of that dear friend whom we 
 have recently lost, I see another proof that the 
 Lord's choicest ones are thus tried for the good of 
 others, and of his church militant on earth, to 
 show, not only a bright example, but to prove how 
 sufficiently potent to make the tortured rise su- 
 perior to physical suffering, is the hope that is in 
 Christ Jesus Dear friend, I must conclude. 
 
 " Thy ever attached 
 
 "A. OPIE." 
 
 The " Lays for the Dead" did, as their authoress 
 anticipated, make their appearance " in print," very 
 shortly after the date of this letter. Among them 
 are many which have reference to friends and 
 events connected with the history of her life 
 through successive years ; and some are very 
 touching tributes to the memory of those whom 
 she had loved, and lost. This little volume was 
 the last connected work she ever published : the 
 number of pieces it contains is fifty, including the 
 " Sketches of St. Michael's Mount, inscribed to 
 Lord de Dunstanville and Sir John St. Aub} r n, 
 with which it concludes. 
 
 Six of the Lays are inscribed, " On the Portraits 
 of Deceased Eelatives and Friends which hang 
 around me." These portraits, as I have said, she 
 retained in her possession, and cherished as her 
 choicest treasures. Gazing on them, she seemed 
 
 K 
 
130 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 to find consolation ; and when she penned her 
 "Lays of Death," it was fitting they should wake 
 her lyre's fondest and saddest chord. Thus she 
 apostrophizes them : 
 
 " I am left 
 
 Alone on the earth. Yet, not alone while thus 
 My solitude is peopled. Precious art ! 
 I am alone : the fireside vacant now, 
 Once fill'd so happily. But when I gaze 
 On you, art's fair creations, I no more 
 Seem desolate and left ; for fancy, fired 
 While gazing on you, o'er the present throws 
 The bright, heart- warming radiance of the past." 
 
 These pictures are so associated in my mind 
 with all my recollections of her, from seeing them 
 constantly in the rooms she inhabited, and from 
 hearing her so frequently speak of them and point 
 attention to them, that I cannot resist the wish I 
 feel to make my readers acquainted with them, and 
 especially as they will thus learn some interesting 
 particulars respecting the early history and friends 
 of Mrs. Opie. 
 
 "PonTKAiT THE FiBST " was "Augustine Briggs, 
 M.P. for Norwich, who lived in the days of Charles 
 the First, and left as an heir-loom, a long sword 
 with a label, in his own handwriting, tied to it," 
 purporting that it was worn "in the service of 
 the royal martyr." Honourable mention is made 
 of him in Blomfield's History of Norfolk, and he 
 was a public benefactor to his native city, which 
 still enjoys the benefit of his generous bequests. 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 131 
 
 He was Mrs. Opie's " great, great, great grand- 
 father," and she was evidently not a little proud 
 of him ; she addresses him as her 
 
 " . . . . honour'd ancestor, 
 Who for his sovereign drew the loyal sword, 
 Yet civic chain, well earn'd by civic worth, 
 Respected bore. In childhood's earliest days 
 That picture was my conscience. I delight 
 To gaze upon it still, bound in thy spell, 
 Association ! of the moral world 
 The unfading ivy." 
 
 " POETBAIT THE SECOND" was the subject of 
 one of Mrs. Opie's first-published lays, written 
 the year after her marriage, and addressed to her 
 husband, "on his having painted for (her) the 
 picture of Mrs. Twiss." The concluding lines 
 contained a pleasing tribute of affection to him 
 whose "gift of bridal love" it was, and a soft 
 sweet breath of love pervades the later verses 
 given in the series. 
 
 " POKTEAIT THE THiED " was one of the most 
 admirable, artistically speaking, and for the per- 
 sonage it depicted Mrs. Opie entertained a most 
 affectionate respect, dating from the days of her 
 girlhood. He was her " dear friend and French 
 master, John Bruckner," a Flemish clergyman, 
 who resided in Norwich for fifty-one years, during 
 which period he officiated as pastor of the Walloon 
 and Dutch churches in that city. 
 
 He was a proficient in the French language, and 
 
132 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 for many years gave lessons in it, and Mrs. Opie 
 was one of his pupils. To this amiable and ac- 
 complished man she was also indebted for much 
 general information, which he was well qualified to 
 impart. Mr. Opie's picture of him was painted at 
 her request, and was an excellent likeness, as well 
 as an admirable work of art. 
 
 "THE FOURTH PORTRAIT" was that of Dr. 
 Alderson. It was a profile view of his face, and 
 considered a fine likeness. His daughter, in the 
 verses she has devoted to this picture, dwells on 
 the latter period of his life, and expresses her deep 
 thankfulness for the bright hopes that shone on 
 his declining days, and illumined the dark valley 
 of the shadow of death. 
 
 "THE FIFTH PORTRAIT" in the series repre- 
 sented Mr. Ollyett Woodhouse, the much-loved 
 cousin of Mrs. Opie. She styled him her " gay 
 childhood's darling, the beloved companion of (her) 
 youth," and ever entertained for him the warmest 
 affection. He went to India, and found an un- 
 timely grave on "the distant shore of Malabar." 
 There are other verses, in this volume, addressed 
 to him, and frequent allusions to him are scattered 
 about in her letters and diaries. "Well do I recol- 
 lect the burst of feeling with which she reproved 
 me, for having once made some disparaging re- 
 marks upon this portrait. What possessed me 
 I know not; I was young and unthinking, and 
 I was not aware that it was the likeness of one 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 133 
 
 dear to her. Alarmed and distressed, I begged her 
 forgiveness, and soon I received it in the following 
 note, which I preserved ; and some of its remarks 
 are so excellent that I think it deserves to find a 
 place here. It is dated 
 
 " 1st mo., 30, 1835. 
 
 " MY DEAR LUCY, I thank thee for thy note, 
 and can, en toute siirete de conscience, reply, that 
 I most sincerely excuse the' fault alluded to ; but 
 it went on growing so comically. Last came thy 
 dislike of the countenance of one whom I loved 
 better than any being I ever knew, except my 
 father ; he was my first cousin, and the most love- 
 .able of human beings. But I always am more 
 inclined to pity, than to blame, the fastidious 
 those who are not easily pleased ; for a power of 
 being easily pleased I look upon as one of the 
 surest sources of happiness ; and for that power 
 in myself, I every day, almost, thank my Creator. 
 
 "Nothing e"ver prejudices me more in favour of 
 any one, than the prompt and candid avowal of an 
 error. Little dear ! does not the cap fit ? 
 
 " Pare well, in love, 
 
 "A. OPIE." 
 
 "PORTRAIT THE SIXTH," the subject of the 
 last of the Lays, is that of her husband. This 
 
134 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 picture represented the painter, with his brush and 
 easel in hand, looking towards the spectator. It 
 seemed impossible, as you looked at it, to doubt 
 that it presented a faithful portraiture of him. 
 In compliance with Mrs. Opie's wish, it was sent, 
 after her decease, to Mr. Opie's native place, 
 Truro, to be placed in the public hall of that 
 town. 
 
 When this volume, so full of affecting memories, 
 that had so long engaged her thought and care, 
 was at length completed and given to the world, 
 its writer pensively recorded her feelings in these 
 words : . . . . " I have humbly endeavoured to 
 school my mind against the trial of its failure by 
 meditation and prayer. I feel that it must appear 
 sadly monotonous : the St. Michael's Mount Lays 
 are less gloomy, but all are tinged ; yet I hope 
 that it will touch a chord in the hearts of some of 
 my readers." 
 
 During the autumn and winter of this year, 
 Mrs. Opie's health was considerably impaired. 
 She already began to suffer from attacks of the 
 disorder which afflicted her throughout the re- 
 mainder of her life. She walked lame, and was 
 under medical treatment ; but still her spirits were 
 buoyant, and she wrote : " I am full of hope. It 
 is, after all, no bad thing for any of us to feel the 
 time for positive preparation come. Life ought, 
 indeed, to be a constant preparation for death ; but 
 few make it so, and I feel that I have not so 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 135 
 
 done I love home better than any other 
 
 place, and also solitude ; which is, considering my 
 lone condition, a mercy. This winter has been one 
 of much physical trial ; but I believe I can say, 
 without affectation, it has been one of the happiest 
 and most beneficial of my life."* 
 
 In the spring of 1834, she went to London, and 
 consulted Sir B. Brodie, who gave it as his opinion 
 that there was no radical disease. This was a 
 great relief to her; although she still suffered from 
 pain, her mind was " relieve'd of its burden ; " and 
 she decided upon carrying out an intention she 
 had long entertained, of visiting Scotland. Many 
 years had passed since she was there; and she 
 
 * The following extract, from a letter written in November of 
 this year, will interest the reader : 
 
 " llth mo., 1, 1833. 
 
 " Thou wilt have heard of dear S. H., jun.'s merciful release 
 from his bodily sufferings, and also that ' Lord, I am thine ! ' were 
 probably his last words. What an instructive lesson, both to 
 young and old, has the whole scene been ! The manner in which 
 he was enabled to bear his trial, (and what a trial ! giving up 
 every tie and everything that makes life valuable,) is a proof of 
 what importance it is for parents to give their children early 
 habits of piety and a knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ 
 Jesus. One may say of L. and her husband, that they had indeed 
 educated a child for heaven. And, another proof of what advan- 
 tage it is to a young man to choose for his wife a girl who had 
 been piously brought up, this sweet young widow was able to 
 meet her poor husband's mind on every point, to contemplate 
 with him the dark valley before him, and to rejoice with him in 
 the sustaining rod and staff. She was, indeed, his earthly helper 
 in his time of need." 
 
136 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 much desired to see again the country for which, 
 from her earliest days, she had indulged the 
 warmest prepossession, and also to get a glimpse 
 of the Highlands. The month of August found 
 her on her way ; on the 9th inst. she went on 
 board the "Monarch" steamer; and her journal 
 gives an amusing account of the scene she wit- 
 nessed when she awoke during the night, and of 
 the inconveniences of the crowded vessel. The 
 next day was the sabhath, and divine service was 
 performed by a clergyman on board. "After- 
 wards," she writes, " I read some psalms, and have 
 been in spirit with my afflicted friends, the 
 Candlers, at their mother's interment, and have 
 thought of them and other friends there ; I hope, 
 too, I have been thought of and remembered before 
 the throne of grace." 
 
 On arriving at Edinburgh, our traveller thus 
 records her feelings : " Deeply thankful do I feel 
 for the mercy that has hitherto attended and 
 watched over me. Oh that beautiful and sublime 
 castle and rock, on which I gaze from my sit- 
 ting-room window ! how I delight to see them 
 again! " 
 
 Having rested for two or three days, she pro- 
 ceeded to Aberdeen, for the purpose of attending 
 a general meeting of Friends there. The journey 
 thither was delightful, " the skies blue, the waters 
 calm, the hills fine, and the corn golden." The 
 Firth of Tay strongly reminded one of her fellow- 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 137 
 
 travellers, who had lived many years in India, of 
 the mighty Ganges. From Aberdeen Mrs. Opie 
 proceeded to Stonehaven, and in her note-book 
 she thus describes an excursion she made in its 
 neighbourhood : 
 
 . . . "From Stonehaven I walked to TJry a 
 lovely place. Afterwards, my companion took me 
 in a boat to see the ruins of Dunnottar Castle. 
 We sailed past it, and went out to sea, in order to 
 view a most magnificent ridge of rocks, where the 
 sea-fowl live. I was rapt- in a sort of devout 
 astonishment at the size and height of the rocks 
 the highest on the coast and pleased with the 
 novel sight of the countless sea-anemones, just 
 under the waves, like a varied flower-garden, pink, 
 lilac, purple, white, yellow, orange, and variegated. 
 Nor was the sound of the birds, as they winged 
 their flight over our heads, without its appropriate 
 charm in such a scene. ... I was too tired to 
 visit the castle that day, but the next we drove 
 there ; the ruins are grand and vast, and the rock, 
 of which they form a part, sublime." 
 
 Returning to Aberdeen, she started again by the 
 ' Highlander " coach for Braemar. She speaks 
 with ecstasy of the drive beside the Dee. " Words 
 can't do any justice to the magnificence of the 
 scene. The Grampians and 'their dark Logne- 
 gan,' sung by Lord Byron, defy description. . . . 
 The most remarkable objects were the immense 
 rocks and mountains around. Oh ! it was at times 
 
138 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 a fearful pass. The road wound round the edge 
 of a precipice, spirally ; and there was (at least in 
 the worst part) no fence. They were, however, 
 so sublime, that I was sorry to part with them for 
 tamer scenery. The Spittal of Grlenshee is a deso- 
 late, wild, savage-looking place indeed; nothing 
 could possibly make me like to abide there, except 
 the wish to do good to some one." 
 
 The journal goes on to describe her progress to 
 Blair Growrie and Dunkeld, at which place the 
 Grampians " exchanged their bare grandeur for a 
 robe of verdure, feathering them up to the top." 
 She next visited the good town of Perth, and was 
 pleased to find in her landlady a Norfolk woman, 
 who expressed herself glad to see one who was 
 welcome both for her own and her country's sake. 
 The following day Mrs. Opie went, in a gig, to see 
 Scone. Of the Old Palace she found no vestige 
 remaining, save one doorway; but the furniture 
 being all transferred to the new one, she says, " I 
 saw there a bed and a screen worked by poor Mary, 
 when a prisoner at Lochleven, and her odious son's 
 bed, etc." The sight-seeing of the day was com- 
 pleted by a visit to Kinfauns, " a beautiful place 
 built of white granite ; from the terrace and the 
 windows grand wooded rocks are to be seen, and 
 the Tay glides through the vale beneath." Here 
 was the sword of Wallace, "which," she says, 
 "I lifted with great difficulty." Unfortunately, 
 at this point of her journey, Mrs. Opie became 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 139 
 
 really ill. She went in an open carriage to Crieff, 
 and got wet through ; the consequence of this im- 
 prudent act was a violent cold, succeeded by fever 
 and much suffering. Happily, some benevolent 
 strangers Dr. (now Sir J.) Eichardson, the well- 
 known Arctic traveller, and his lady came to 
 her assistance, and rendered her all necessary 
 succour. 
 
 Returning to Edinburgh, she remained there 
 about three weeks, enjoying much the company of 
 numerous friends, pleasing visits in the neighbour- 
 hood, interviews with Dr. Chalmers, and many 
 agreeable incidents which are recorded in her 
 journal. On the 22nd of September she com- 
 menced her proposed journey into the Highlands. 
 A few extracts from her letters and notes will 
 enable the reader to follow her steps. 
 
 " .... On the 22nd of September, I left Edin- 
 burgh for G-lasgow. I dined at the house of Sir "W. 
 Hooker. Next morning I set off by steam-boat, 
 along the Clyde to Dumbarton- from thence 1 
 went by coach to Loch Lomond. How glad was I 
 to find myself, at last, gliding up that lake full of 
 islands. One of these is appropriated to the use of 
 harmless insane people, who are permitted to wander 
 about it at will. Had I known this at the time, 
 my interest would have been greatly enhanced. . . 
 The afternoon was lovely ; the sky was blue, and 
 the clouds floated in silvery brightness above the 
 mountains, and even the lofty head of Ben Lomond 
 
140 LIE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 was unveiled. As I gazed upon his grandeur, and 
 listened to the gentle ripplings of the waters of 
 the lake as they broke against the shore, I felt a 
 soothing calm and a devotional enjoyment. When 
 a girl, I had delighted to read ' Grilpin on Pic- 
 turesque Scenery/ and particularly had admired 
 the coloured print of the Castle of Inverary, with 
 the sun setting behind it ; and now I had come to 
 see it ! How busy was my memory, as we rowed 
 over the clear and lovely waters, skirting the proud 
 domains of the house of Argyle ! 
 
 " . . . . The morrow came, and what a lovely 
 scene did I gaze upon when I entered my sitting- 
 room ! The sea was so smooth that the vessels on 
 it, though all the sails were up, appeared quite 
 motionless. The top of Mull was cloudless ; but 
 the mists of night were slowly and gracefully un- 
 winding themselves from the verdant sides of 
 Morven ; and I was indeed gazing on the Western 
 Isles, so often imaged to my fancy, and so full to 
 me of Ossian and poetical associations. But regret 
 mingled with my pleasure, as I knew that I was 
 come too late in the year to visit Staffa and lona. 
 Still it was a satisfaction to look at them, and I 
 could not long keep away from the window. 
 
 " As we steamed past ' rocky Morven,' it was 
 clothed in lights, shadows, and tints, which no 
 pencil could paint nor pen describe. I gazed, 
 almost spell-bound, as I floated by. There was an 
 unearthly hue over the western side of the scene, 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 141 
 
 which would soon have assisted the fancy to trace 
 on it the forms of the heroes of Ossian. The 
 declining sun, while scattering over surrounding 
 objects the brightest hues, threw at the same time 
 over the Western Isles and their lofty boundary of 
 rocks, a mysterious, faintly coloured mantle of ever- 
 vanishing yet ever-renewed vapour. The rippling 
 waves were bright with gold and silver ; the black 
 shadows of the rocks of Morven were reflected in 
 the glassy bosom of the sea ; and the magic colour- 
 ing of the western vales, mountains, and waters, 
 rendered me insensible to the attractions of the 
 eastern shore, till there was pointed out to me the 
 land of Selma and of song." 
 
 The notes of this journal are closed with the 
 following lines : " How congenial to the High- 
 lands are solitude and silence ! "We may deplore 
 the present desolateness and depopulation of those 
 most interesting scenes, but they certainly increase 
 their beauty and solemnity. I always admire the 
 ocean most when there are no vessels whatever on 
 its waves ; and the solitude, stillness, and depopu- 
 lation of the Highlands were, to me, heighteners 
 of their charms." 
 
 Mrs. Opie afterwards visited Abbotsford. "I 
 will see," she said to herself, "the wonderful man's 
 house in life, and his house in death;" and so, 
 " at six o'clock on a misty wintry morning," she 
 set off for Melrose, from whence she took a post- 
 chaise and drove to Abbotsford. Eighteen years 
 
142 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 had passed since first she crossed the Tweed. At 
 that time Abbotsford was not in existence; nor 
 did she see Sir "Walter when she visited Edinburgh 
 in 1816. He did not chance to be there, and she 
 was obliged to content herself with gazing on 
 E-aeburn's lifelike picture of him, the property of 
 Constable, whose guest she was. She had seen 
 him, indeed, a few months previously, at the 
 house of Sir George Phillips ; and her admira- 
 tion of him caused her to delight in recalling the 
 pleasure of that meeting. "Eagerly did I tell 
 everybody who would listen to me," she said, " of 
 the impression he had made on me; but I was 
 mortified when, on my praising the beauty of his 
 countenance, under strong excitement, and the 
 fire of his blue-grey eye, Dr. Brown, the cele- 
 brated professor, interrupted me with, ' Nay, nay, 
 Mrs. Opie, do not go on with these flights of 
 fancy; the face is nothing but a roast-beef and 
 plum-pudding face, say what you will.' "Whatever 
 that face was, would I had had the pleasure of 
 seeing it again ! The remembrance of the enjoy- 
 ment the morning I passed with him at Mount- 
 street gave me, I treasure as one of the greatest 
 which was ever afforded me by worldly inter- 
 course." 
 
 That pleasure she never enjoyed again. Very 
 different were the feelings she has depicted in her 
 account of the visit she paid to his deserted man- 
 sion and to his grave. " It was with considerable 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 143 
 
 emotion that I beheld the gates of Abbotsford, 
 that far-famed, but now untenanted house ; but the 
 mind of Sir W. Scott seemed yet to pervade every- 
 thing around. All the objects, all the furniture, 
 spoke of and realized, as it were, the creations of 
 his pen ; nay, evidently had helped to create them. 
 It was action and reaction. He began to write 
 with warlike weapons and things of 'auld lang 
 syne' about him, and these stores accumulating, 
 impressed themselves powerfully on his imagina- 
 tion ; and his imagination, in, turn, stamped them 
 upon his paper, till his pages resembled his rooms, 
 and his rooms resembled his pages. How much was 
 I interested in examining the varied curiosities 
 which the rooms contained the beauty of the 
 apartments themselves, the pictures, the gate of the 
 Tolbooth and its massy keys the silver vase, the 
 gift of Lord Byron, containing the ashes of the 
 Greeks, found under the walls of the Acropolis, 
 and the various other objects around me ! 
 
 " But the sight of all these things did not tend 
 to elevate my spirits, and I quitted the place with 
 feelings suited to a scene more melancholy still. 
 .... The fatigue of my journey from Edinburgh 
 had disposed me to sleep, but I was aroused from 
 my slumbers by a strange sensation, like that 
 produced by the motion of a steam-vessel. We 
 were fording the Tweed, and going against a 
 very strong current ; and, in spite of my admira- 
 tion of that river, I did not relish the idea of 
 
144 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 being drowned, even in its classic waters ; not that 
 there was any real danger, but the tide rolled 
 darkly and powerfully along, and I was tired and 
 depressed. 
 
 " I soon found a guide to the ruins (Dryburgh 
 Abbey), and followed her along a narrow path, 
 covered with fallen leaves, the emblems of decay 
 a fitting carpet for the road to the abode of death, 
 which now met my view in unmitigated dreariness ; 
 for, though the carved roof of the crypt remained 
 entire in its beauty, the sides of the ruin were open 
 to every wind that blew. The graves of Sir Walter 
 and Lady Scott, raised several feet from the ground, 
 were placed beneath the arch of the building, and 
 therefore, in a degree sheltered from the weather. 
 But not one blade of grass grew on those graves 
 of clay ; and, giving the unconscious dead my own 
 feelings, I was weak enough to wish, while the rain 
 fell and the wind whistled around, that their last 
 dwelling had been warmed, at least, by a covering 
 of vegetation. To my judgment, this seemed, 
 indeed, an idle desire ; but feeling, or rather, per- 
 haps, folly, was predominant. It was with many 
 affecting associations that I gazed on the grave 
 nearest me, that of Sir Walter ; and some minutes 
 elapsed before I could prevail on myself to quit 
 the spot, and go to the burying-ground of Lord 
 and Lady Buchan, where I experienced an absurd 
 feeling of satisfaction in finding that their remains 
 were deposited under stones of memorial, and in a 
 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 145 
 
 building covered in from the weather. But the 
 sight of those tombs did not call forth in me either 
 regret or emotion. Their inhabitants had died at 
 a good old age, surviving even the usual term of 
 man's existence ; but their far-famed neighbour 
 in the abode of death had fallen a victim to pre- 
 mature decay." .... 
 
 A short extract from a letter, written by Mrs. 
 Opie when at Edinburgh, shows her state of feel- 
 ing as she reviewed this journey. She writes : " My 
 tour, beloved friend, has been- a sort of epitome of 
 human life. I have been now in heights, now in 
 depths ; now it has been sunshine, and now dark 
 clouds ; smooth waters and rough ones ; now I 
 have been well, now ill ; now driving through 
 vales and over mountains, free as the denizens of 
 the air ; and now confined to my own room, a suf- 
 ferer and a prisoner. But, through all these vicis- 
 situdes, I have to acknowledge, with deep thank- 
 fulness, that I have been * kept in perfect peace ;' 
 and, were I to name one part of my life as more 
 uninterruptedly cheerful than another, I could, 
 with truth, name the period of my Highland wan- 
 derings, and of my visit to Scotland." . . . 
 
CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 Iff 1835, Mrs. Opie again visited the continent. 
 As on former occasions, she kept a daily journal, 
 which was written in very fine characters, and in 
 pencil. Her route was directed through Bruges 
 and Ghent, to Brussels, where she was to join a 
 friend, with whom she purposed making a trip 
 up the Rhine. This journal commences : " On 
 board the Lord Liverpool packet for Ostend, the 
 
 25th of the 7th mo., 1835 What a lesson 
 
 for human pride, and what a leveller, is a steam- 
 boat ! Lords, ladies, nurses, ladies' maids, Quakers, 
 and Catholics, believers, and probably infidels, all 
 levelled by sea-sickness, and alike bowing to a 
 conscious sense of human infirmity ; and some, I 
 trust, with feelings of profound submission to the 
 humiliation inflicted by a higher Power." . . . 
 
 It was indeed a tedious and disagreeable passage. 
 The vessel was crowded, and the wind blew con- 
 trary the whole time. Glad was our traveller to 
 reach the shore early next morning ; and, after a 
 hasty breakfast, and a walk round the town, she 
 proceeded to Bruges, and thence by the passage- 
 boat to Ghent, where she visited the various cha- 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 147 
 
 ritable institutions of that city ; among others, the 
 lunatic asylums. In the one devoted to women, 
 she was much pleased with the superintendent, who 
 showed her over the establishment. Surprised at 
 the number of the patients, Mrs. Opie observed* 
 that they doubtless required many assistants. 
 " Such is not the case," was the woman's reply ; 
 " we need no aid. I myself sleep every night alone 
 with sixty or seventy of the women." The visitor 
 observed, " Astonishing ! but the great God knows 
 and protects those who are his." "True," she 
 answered ; " we trust in him, and are protected." 
 " As she said this," remarks Mrs. Opie, " I was 
 forcibly reminded of the same sentiment, so sweetly 
 expressed in the following lines : 
 
 " 'Jesus protects, my fears, begone. 
 What can the Eock of ages move ? 
 Safe in his care I lay me down, 
 Protected by a Father's love.' " 
 
 In the course of this conversation, Mrs. Opie 
 learned that, among the unfortunate inmates, there 
 was one of her countrywomen ; and, on her request- 
 ing to see her, a pleasing-looking young woman 
 was pointed out, whose appearance immediately 
 fixed her attention. She learned that the poor 
 creature had been there two years. She had been 
 found in the streets of Q-hent, where she had been 
 deserted by her husband, an Englishman, who had 
 literally left her to perish. The authorities had 
 directed her to be taken to the asylum, where she 
 
148 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 was sometimes, apparently, nearly well ; but as she 
 could neither speak nor understand French, the 
 difficulty of treating her was great, and the phy- 
 sician had thought that the best chance for her 
 recovery would be restoration to her friends and 
 native country. For two years she had not at- 
 tempted to speak; nor did she answer the inquiries 
 which Mrs. Opie proceeded to address to her. 
 " Touched with compassion, I eagerly sought," says 
 Mrs. 0., " the necessary information. I found the 
 certificate of the birth and baptism of the poor 
 girl, and, copying the document, I promised to do 
 all in my power to restore the sufferer to her parents 
 and her country."* 
 
 I do not propose to accompany Mrs. Opie in her 
 
 * This pledge was faithfully fulfilled. Mrs. Opie, at the end 
 of three months, returned to Ghent, saw the chief physician 
 of the establishment, obtained from him an admirable statement 
 of the case, which she took with her to her friend, Dr. JL, of 
 London, who willingly undertook the task of getting the sufferer 
 conveyed to England. The necessary expenses were provided by 
 friends to whom Mrs. Opie had applied for aid ; and in a short 
 time the woman arrived safely at the Tower-stairs, where she was 
 met by her father, who had come up from Southampton to re- 
 ceive back his long-lost child. He carried her with him to her 
 native place, where, for a time, she seemed restored to reason ; 
 but afterwards the malady returned, and it was necessary to have 
 her removed to an asylum. Painful as this result doubtless was, 
 Mrs. Opie, nevertheless, expressed her satisfaction that she had 
 been permitted to procure for the unhappy sufferer so great an 
 alleviation as was afforded by her removal to her own country 
 and friends. 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 149 
 
 visits to the numerous institutions, charitable and 
 religious, which attracted her notice during the 
 time of her sojourn in Ghent. She published a full 
 account of her " Eecollections in Belgium," in 
 "Tait's Magazine" for 1840, and to this I refer 
 the reader. From Grhent Mrs. Opie proceeded to 
 Brussels, where she was to meet a lady, who had 
 agreed to be her companion in making the tour of 
 
 the Ehine. Madame M having arrived, the 
 
 two ladies pursued their way to Antwerp. Mrs. 
 Opie was much impressed -with the celebrated 
 picture by Eubens, of the "Descent from the 
 Cross;" she exclaims, " "What grand conception! 
 What motion in all the figures ! The scene, the 
 subject, the sense of surpassing genius, and the 
 living effect of everything, quite overcame me, even 
 to tears." 
 
 Proceeding from Brussels to JSTamur, Huy, and 
 Liege, on the 16th the travellers were at Spa, of 
 which she speaks with admiration. " This is a 
 lovely spot indeed ; to me, how does it bring back 
 my earliest recollections ! Poor Amisant used to 
 give me bon bons and toys from Spa, and tell me 
 stories of it. We dined at the table d'htite, forty 
 persons present good company. Next day, we 
 went to see a famous cascade ; the drive thither, 
 through a deeply wooded ravine, was beautiful. On 
 the 20th, we were to have seen a curious grotto, 
 but could not get horses, on account of the odious 
 
150 LIPE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 races. "Well, money saved, and fatigue avoided. 
 A hundred persons dined at the table d'hote." 
 
 They left Spa for Aix-la-Chapelle, on the 21st, 
 where, much against Mrs. Opie's will, they were 
 obliged to remain five or six days. It happened to 
 be the time of the races, which occasioned much 
 turmoil and crowd ; and the sight of the gambling 
 constantly going forward in the "Salle de Eedoute," 
 a licensed gambling-room, fitted up in splendid 
 style, caused her much painful feeling. The sab- 
 bath-breaking, too, shocked her, and it was doubly 
 distressing to see our own countrymen willing to 
 join in such profanation of that holy day, as they 
 would be ashamed or afraid to practise at home.* 
 
 * I am reminded by this remark, of an excellent " Address to 
 Travellers on the Continent, on the Observance of the Lord's 
 Day," which appeared in the " Christian Observer " for 1833 
 from which I am tempted to give the reader a short quotation. 
 " On that holy day, drinking and gaming, dancing, singing and 
 theatrical amusements abound in France and elsewhere. I be- 
 lieve all travellers will confess this is no exaggerated account of 
 the objects to which every Sunday is devoted throughout a con- 
 siderable portion of the continent. From this vortex, it will 
 become the Christian traveller to steer at a cautious distance ; 
 for it is hard to struggle against it, if carried by the current 
 within the sphere of its attraction. When once we are committed, 
 to a certain extent, in society, unforeseen circumstances unin- 
 tentional, or perhaps wilful, misapprehensions the fear of giving 
 offence the silence of hesitation construed into that of assent 
 and many similar causes, draw us, even without the aid of incli- 
 nation, far beyond our intended limits of concession. I do not 
 speak this merely from general observation, but from a case 
 directly in point. I happen to know, that a person who is in the 
 habit of avoiding public society on a Sunday, from conscientious 
 
LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 151 
 
 She writes : " (23rd, 8th mo.) * . Eose depressed. 
 Sunday, no sabbath for me. This is an odious 
 place. However, I enjoyed my quiet sitting at 
 home, and was at Norwich meeting, with my dear 
 and endeared brethren and sisters, in spirit. 
 (24th.) All noise, bustle and carriages, come in 
 for the races. No one seems to think of anything 
 but les courses. We have bitten all nations now 
 with this vicious folly." 
 
 On the 28th, the travellers proceeded to Cologne, 
 which they reached after "a, pleasant drive," and 
 hastened to see the cathedral, which is described 
 in one word, " exquisite." Next day, the journal 
 proceeds : " My window looked on the river, and 
 I rose at half-past four to gaze at the Rhine ; the 
 sun was just rising behind a church with fine 
 towers, and the river reflected objects. No one 
 seemed waking but myself. It was a still, sublime, 
 and solemn moment. At seven we came on board the 
 steamer, where I now write, the E/hine, broad and 
 rapid, spreading around me. The banks are tame, 
 
 motives, having, when abroad, yielded this point once, on a par- 
 ticular occasion, was, in the end, so entangled hy a train of 
 unforeseen circumstances, as to find himself at the theatre in the 
 evening with the rest of the party, to his own surprise and 
 sorrow. A French writer confessed, that the sigh of some High- 
 landers on their way to church, made him and his friends feel 
 ' rather ashamed of their Sunday travelling.' Did English tra- 
 vellers uniformly ahstain from such indulgences, it is possible 
 that, in time, they might make their continental neighbours 
 'rather ashamed' of their Sunday opera, their Sunday theatre, 
 and their Sunday rcdoute." 
 
152 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 and fog hides the hills ; but the voyage is truly 
 pleasant, and then we are on the Rhine." 
 
 Here we will leave them to proceed along the 
 " glorious Rhine in all its beauty," visiting all the 
 points of interest so well known, and so often 
 described by travellers. The month of September 
 passed quickly away, and on the 1st of October 
 they reached Friburg. 
 
 " From thence (the journal proceeds) we set off 
 for Boldbach, en route to the Falls, and soon turn- 
 ing into a valley, went up, on foot, a very steep, 
 narrow, rocky defile, the river rolling and talking 
 beneath, the rocks and mountains so high, that in 
 the carriage it was difficult to see to the top, the 
 vale was so narrow. It was sublimely grand to 
 look back, and so repeatedly did the road wind 
 that it seemed as if we were blocked in by rocks. 
 This was the Black Forest and the famous Grorge 
 d'Enfer. The next thing worthy of equal admira- 
 tion was the Black Forest itself, through which 
 we passed, and the latter part of it we had the 
 moon to light us through. Before we reached the 
 Forest, we saw the . Alps, and for some time, 
 some nearer and plainer than others. Oh, it was 
 glorious! (3rd of the 10th mo.) Eose at five, 
 but not off till past seven, and I was going to the 
 Falls of the Rhine ; at length I heard them roar, 
 and saw them smoke ; and as soon as the voiture 
 stopped at the inn, I ran off to the Falls." 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 153 
 
 " To Thos. BrigUwell. 
 
 " Hotel of the EUne Falls, 
 IQfh mo., 3rd, 1835. 
 
 " .... I think, my dear friend, thou wilt not 
 be sorry to hear a little of my goings on. My 
 journey has been extended much beyond my 
 original plan ; but I am so delighted with the 
 Ehine, that I could not resist the temptation and 
 the opportunity one which cannot occur again 
 of seeing it in its wondrous 'beauty here. Three 
 times have I visited the Falls to-day ; and if the 
 moon rises bright, I am to visit them again. "We 
 came yesterday from Friburg, and to that place we 
 went from Baden-Baden, a beautiful spot ; but 
 there is no water except in the environs, and I 
 admire no place where water is not. Friburg 
 Cathedral is most beautiful. They say Strasburg 
 is finer ; nous verrons. From Friburg our route 
 lay through a very steep, mountainous country, 
 and through the Black Forest, that haunt of 
 banditti in former times, and the scene of so many 
 tales and romances. It is sublime in its dark- 
 browed beauty still, and a fine moon added to the 
 solemn calm of the scene. But the Alps ! Long 
 before we saw the Forest, the snow mountains 
 were in sight ; and also, long before we were in 
 Switzerland, Swiss cottages, Swiss chalets, and 
 Swiss costumes 9 met our eyes at every turn. We 
 went, just after we left Friburg, up a steep, rocky 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 defile, and up mountains, and through forests, to 
 the top of which our eyes could scarcely reach, 
 and in which the exquisite beauty of foliage and 
 colouring went de pair with sublimity ; and from 
 the top of these passes the snow mountains first 
 met my eager gaze. This morning we set off at 
 six precisely we are at present travelling in a 
 return carriage, which holds us and our luggage, 
 and we find such modes of conveyance the cheapest 
 and the best." 
 
 " It was half-past twelve when we reached this 
 hotel. CJiemin faisant, I heard the roar of the 
 Palls, and saw them smoke ; and while my friend 
 stayed to eat her breakfast, I (who had coffee before 
 starting) could not delay my visit to this long- 
 desired scene, and I hurried down a steep path 
 to it, which, if under less powerful influences, I 
 should have cautiously trodden ; but I arrived safe 
 at a railing near the Pall, and was awhile satisfied. 
 But I soon changed my place, and walked till I 
 came in front of the mighty torrent. Oh, those 
 busy, restless waters ! No one can fancy what 
 they are ; they must be seen to be conceived of. 
 Some persons are disappointed when they see them, 
 and, in one respect,' so should I have been, had not 
 prints prepared me for what I was to expect. I 
 am used to see and admire cascades that fall from 
 a height over one narrow rock, and then over 
 another, and perhaps over another still; but this 
 is, I may say, like Niagara, a table or flat 'fall. It 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 155 
 
 is a wide river coming to an edge or wall of rocks, 
 and leaping over them, then gracefully rolling on 
 like liquefied aqua-marine that beautiful green 
 stone, of such exquisite tint and clearness. The 
 chute itself is like the purest snow ; but ever and 
 anon, as the sun shone on it, some of the tumbling 
 masses falling over the rocks below the great fall, 
 were like liquid sapphires, and of the palest, purest 
 blue. Still the Ehine is here, as a river, unlike its 
 usual self, of the full green blue, like the precious 
 stone I have named. In its lest dress, where the boats 
 go, thou mayest remember, it is of that undefmable 
 light-bluish green, the colour of Dresden china. 
 When it flows smoothly on at this place, it turns 
 up a narrow channel, and glides along through 
 richly-wooded rocks, and is seen no more. Oh, it 
 is a glorious river ! and had it no banks, I should 
 love it for itself alone. There is something awful 
 in the constant roar and eternal motion of these 
 waters. The sea is sometimes calm, and its roar 
 becomes a gentle murmuring; but these rolling 
 waterfalls seem to know no change, but fall and 
 roar for ever, exempt from the common doom of 
 created things, which is to alter and to end. There 
 is an inhabited castle on a rock beside the Ehine 
 Falls. I should like to know whether its inhabit- 
 ants have of necessity acquired the habit of speaking 
 so loud as to break the drum of the ears of their 
 acquaintances. 
 "We go on improving in our enjoyments, I 
 
156 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 mean, tlie natural beauties we see go on increasing 
 in sublimity and charm ; and so they had need, to 
 console me for my trying absence from my religious 
 duties and opportunities, and my religious friends. 
 My sabbath-days ! Ah, there's the trial ! But 
 when I left home, I had no anticipation that my 
 absence would be thus prolonged. I never con- 
 templated so long a tour. We did mean to go 
 
 back by Holland, but have given that up 
 
 I am very, very home-sick ; however, if permitted 
 to return in health and safety, I shall do so with a 
 deeply thankful heart, and I can also add, with a 
 heart still more attached to the friends I have so 
 long deserted. "We have associated occasionally 
 with some pleasant men and women, and have 
 sometimes travelled with them, but I have not 
 desired to form acquaintances. We have mounted 
 the Kiederwald, and we visited the Brunnens 
 We liked Heidelberg much; we were there five 
 days. Chaude Fontaine we liked ; but Spa, Wies- 
 baden and Aix-la-Chapelle I hated; they are sinks 
 of dissipation, gambling, and vice, and even English 
 ladies gamble there at the public table, in the 
 public rooms, and at* all hours. Nowhere, and by 
 none, is the first day of the week kept holy. True, 
 the English, as well as the Germans, go to church 
 after the Lutherans and Catholics are come out of 
 it ; but cela suffit. 
 
 " We occasionally see an English newspaper, or 
 rather, Galignani's Messenger, and are amused at 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 157 
 
 O'ConnelTs progress, but alarmed at Spanish 
 
 affairs "Farewell, till I return from my 
 
 walk, or find I cannot go. I hear the waters roar- 
 ing most invitingly Just returned; the 
 
 moon showed herself, de temps en temps, but not 
 enough. However, I dare say she is now gilding 
 the waters well ; but I had no right, I thought, to 
 keep my poor guide out of his bed for my pleasure ; 
 so I came away, having seen her rays sparkling on 
 one side of the river; but I doubt whether her 
 beams would ever reach the Tall, so as to convert 
 it into diamonds. Thus I console myself. Eare- 
 well ; love to thy circle. Let my aunt, E. Alderson, 
 know of this letter from her vagrant and, as yet, 
 far-distant niece. I thought of you all in the 
 Bible week, and wished myself with you 
 
 "Thy attached friend, 
 
 "A. OriE." 
 
 The next day the journey was continued to 
 Zurich, " the green Bhine" being visible again for 
 a few minutes on the way. The travellers made 
 no stay at Zurich, but rowed for sometime on "the 
 noble lake, its banks all studded with country 
 houses and gardens." On the 5th of October, by 
 twilight, they reached Lucerne. 
 
 " Beautiful Lucerne ! During the drive hither 
 the Eighi was before us, unveiled almost all the 
 way, and now we found him on the banks of the 
 
158 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 lake, as it seemed ; on either side were snow moun- 
 tains, in rows, one behind another, filling up the 
 lake in one place, so as to make it seem impassable 
 by boat. The moon was rising, the sun setting ; 
 a neck of green land, covered with flowers, was 
 shooting into the lake near where I was, and the 
 whole scenery was lovely beyond description. Our 
 inn was eight stories high, my room five ; but then 
 it commanded the lake and its beauties, and I was 
 never tired of looking out of my window. From 
 the balcony I saw the moon rolling its flood of 
 light into the bosom of the lake, the Bighi in deep 
 shadow, the snow hills of a ghostly white, and the 
 rays just catching on some of their sharp peaks. 
 
 " Mount Pilate, which rises just behind our 
 hotel, is the most beautifully outlined and grandest 
 mountain I have yet seen. (6th inst.) "We rowed 
 on the lake to where the rocks and hills form a 
 complete cross four cantons at the end of the 
 four arms Uri, Friburg, Unterwald, and Lucerne. 
 The wooded rocks come down straight into the 
 lake, and the effect is fine ; but there is no walk on 
 the banks, as at Zurich. "We dined at the table 
 d'hote; the dinner was excellent; in short, this 
 hotel, both in rooms, situation, fare, and attendance, 
 is perfect. The next morning I saw the sun rise 
 at six, behind the Bighi, from my window, and fill 
 the lake below with crimson light. Oh, it was 
 glorious ! but so fleeting. It was beautiful to see 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 159 
 
 the mists rolling off the mountains. "We were 
 very sorry to come away." 
 
 During the next two days rain and mist pre- 
 vailed, and the mountains were closed in; no 
 Jungfrau visible. At Berne, at the table d'hote, 
 Mrs. Opie found herself placed beside a marquise, 
 whom, from her accent, she supposed must be 
 English. On inquiry, it proved that she was born 
 English, but was the widow of a French peer, the 
 Marquis Lally Tollendal. How, as she heard 
 that name, did memory, in a moment, leap over 
 the forty years that had passed since she had seen 
 the Count, then an emigrant, in exile from his 
 country; and when, full of the enthusiasm of 
 youth, she had addressed to him a " Quatrain" on 
 his "Defence of his Father," and had received 
 from him, in acknowledgment, a French poem of 
 one hundred lines ! * 
 
 The sun at length broke out, but it was only for 
 a passing hour ; a " piece of the Jungfrau and one 
 or two snow hills were visible, and no more." 
 Tantalized, and weary of waiting, on the llth the 
 travellers proceeded to Thun, but were still pursued 
 by rain and mist. However, at Interlachen, the 
 prospect was lighted up in sunshine, and they saw 
 the distant Alps "in beautiful and glorious suc- 
 cession a scene never to be forgotten." 
 
 * This poem is still in existence, and was preserved among 
 her papers. 
 
160 LIFE OF AMELIA OPTE. 
 
 " Above me are the Alps, 
 The palaces of nature, whose vast walls 
 Have pinnacled in clouds their snowy scalps, 
 And throned eternity in icy halls 
 Of cold sublimity, where forms and falls 
 The avalanche the thunderbolt of snow. 
 All that expands the spirit, yet appals, 
 Gathers around these summits, as to show 
 How earth may pierce to. heaven, yet leave vain man below." 
 
 Mrs. Opie was greatly distressed, on her arrival 
 at Thun, at reading the announcement of Mrs. 
 Joseph John Grurney's death in Galignani. Of 
 this painful event she thus writes : 
 
 "Most afflicting and unexpected tidings! the 
 death of my beloved young friend, Mary, the wife 
 of my dearest and best friend, J. J. Gr. I had learned 
 to love her dearly. Ey constant and never-failing 
 experience, I knew the generosity of her heart and 
 the openness of her hand in giving ; her will to do 
 good was even greater than her power. To her 
 husband she was the heightener of his joys ; the 
 sharer, and I may say, assistant, of his literary 
 labours ; to his children she was a most kind, 
 affectionate, and judicious mother ; to me she was 
 ever a kind, attentive friend, and I looked forward 
 to her being one of the comforts of my old age. 
 But she is gone before me, and has left a blank 
 which cannot be filled up. Alas ! how many are 
 deploring with me her loss ! But it is my misery 
 to deplore her alone in a foreign land deplore, 
 I mean, for the sake of others ; for she, I can have 
 no doubt, is gone to glory, to that Eedeemer, 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OP1K. 161 
 
 through whom, alone she hoped for acceptance, 
 and for the joys of the world to come." 
 
 Mrs. Opie ceased to make any entry in her 
 journal for many days after this. She proceeded to 
 Basle and Friburg, and thence to Strasburg and 
 Manheim, where she found letters that cheered 
 and refreshed her. Here she enters in her note- 
 book : 
 
 " So thankful to be here ! To-morrow I hope 
 to be on the Rhine, and my face turned towards 
 home. May I not be disappointed ! I hope fear- 
 fully, and trust humbly." 
 
 .On the 22nd of October they were at Mayence, 
 where they went on board the boat, and had for 
 their travelling companion the Princess of Saxony, 
 who, attracted by the singularity of the Quaker 
 costume, opened a conversation with Mrs. Opie, 
 and having asked her name, exclaimed, " Quoi ! 
 1'auteur celebre!" and immediately causing two 
 seats to be placed on the deck, she proceeded to 
 avail herself of the opportunity to make the 
 acquaintance of one whom she had long known by 
 her works. 
 
 At Cologne they took leave of the Bhfine. " I 
 rose (she says) in the night to look at the river, 
 and for the last time gazed on it from the spot 
 where I first saw it. How much had I undergone 
 of trial in many ways since I saw it last ! I felt 
 humbled, but resigned and contented, and, I trust, 
 taught. How thankful I felt that the journey and 
 
 M 
 
162 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 voyage were over, and I in health and safety ; and 
 one cloud only the removal of dearest M. G. over 
 my prospect ; but that was a dense one indeed." 
 
 On the 27th they reached Brussels, from whence 
 Mrs. Opie proceeded, next day, to Ghent, in order 
 to accomplish her charitable object. Arrived 
 there, she hastened to the " maison des alienees," 
 and was gladly welcomed by the inmates, who were 
 most agreeably surprised to find she had come over 
 to Ghent entirely on this errand of pity. Next 
 day she saw the physician, and obtained from him 
 the necessary statement of the case ; after which, 
 she left, as she says, " thankful to the Almighty for 
 having seemingly smiled on my effort, and much 
 relieved in my mind ; and on my return, I found a 
 letter directing 10 to be placed at my disposal for 
 this case. What an evident sanction to my pro- 
 ceeding! How did I bless the Giver of all good !" 
 
 On the 1st of November, the two friends parted 
 at Lisle, and Mrs. Opie, travelling all night, 
 reached Calais, where she writes, " So ends my 
 journal of my journey ; would it were a better 
 record of better things ! But I am returned, good 
 things more endeared to me than ever; and when 
 I saw Calais to-day, and remembered 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 have learned to know my Saviour, and not as a 
 teacher and a prophet only, but as the Eedeemer : 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 163 
 
 as Him who died that I might live, and through 
 whose merits alone I am to be saved. Glory be to 
 God the most high, for this greatest of all his 
 mercies ! 
 
 "A. O. 
 
 "2nd of llth mo., 1835." 
 
 The next day, on board the "Lord Melville," 
 another entry tells us that she was " off Margate," 
 and, looking on the Thames, she says, "It is 
 broader than the Rhine, where we are, and, per- 
 haps, everywhere, but not so lovely. But it is my 
 own river, and all is now English, and I rejoice 
 to see dear England again. "What a grateful heart 
 shall I have on landing ! but ought I not to have 
 one everywhere ? I trust I have, though some 
 circumstances call forth the expression of it more 
 frequently than others." 
 
 On the evening of the 7th of November, she 
 reached Norwich in safety. 
 
CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 MRS. OPIE returned from her trip up the Rhine, 
 as we have seen in the preceding chapter, in the 
 month of November, 1835. This was her last 
 journey ; and, from this time, her absences from 
 home were never of long duration, but limited to 
 a few weeks in London, and occasional visits to 
 her friends in the neighbourhood of Norwich. She 
 did not continue many months in the lodgings in 
 St. Griles'-street, but removed to Lady's-lane, 
 where she had commodious apartments, and in 
 which she remained until her final settlement in 
 the Castle Meadow house. In this home she 
 established herself, surrounded by the portraits, 
 which hung on the walls of her parlour, and 
 appeared to great advantage when lighted up at 
 night by wax lights in branch lamps. The most 
 beautiful of them, the portrait of herself, is not 
 described by her pen. It was painted soon after 
 her marriage, and was engraved, though very in- 
 differently, in "The Cabinet," a periodical of the 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 165 
 
 day, at the time of Mr. Opie's death. This pic- 
 ture is certainly very charming, and is also 
 admirable as a work of art.* 
 
 Bright colours Mrs. Opie delighted in, and she 
 indulged this taste in a peculiar and ingenious 
 manner. She had several prisms set in a frame, 
 and mounted like a pole-screen ; and this unique 
 piece of furniture stood always in her window, and 
 was a constant source of delight to her. " Oh ! 
 the exquisite beauty of the prisms on my ceiling 
 just now!" she writes; "it is a pleasure only to look 
 at it. I think that green parrots and macaws, 
 flying about in their native woods, must look like 
 that." Frequently she would move the frame in 
 all directions, so as to throw the reflection now on 
 one of the pictures, and now on the face of a 
 friend who chanced to be sitting by ; and then, 
 with a merry laugh, she would comment on the 
 funny effects produced, of green or blue noses, and 
 yellow eyes, etc. Flowers, too, were her constant 
 companions ; she luxuriated in them, and filled her 
 window-sills with stands of ' them, and covered her 
 tables with bouquets ; their most luscious scents 
 seemed not too strong for her nerves. Light, 
 heat, and fragrance were three indispensables of 
 enjoyment for her. 
 
 It has been truly said, that her mornings, during 
 the latter years of her life, were spent in an almost 
 
 * The engraving which forms the frontispiece to this volume 
 is from this picture. 
 
166 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 constant succession of receiving visitors and writing 
 letters. Everybody who came to Norwich sought 
 her; old friends, acquaintances, and strangers, 
 hastened to pay her their respects ; and she loved 
 to welcome all, and to give a cordial greeting 
 to each. The extent of her correspondence was 
 such, that it would have been a burden, had it 
 not been a delight. In a letter written in 1849, 
 she said, in her vivacious manner, " Were writing 
 even an effort to me, I should not now be alive, but 
 must have been absolument tpuisee ; and it might 
 have been inserted in the bills of mortality, 
 * Dead of letter-writing, A. Opie.' My maid and I 
 were calculating the other day how many letters 
 I wrote in the year, and it is not less than six in 
 a day, besides notes." Indeed, she scattered 
 about her pretty three-cornered notes in a de- 
 lightful profusion; they came on every little 
 occasion, to bear her small messages of kindness 
 or inquiry, and were frequently transmitted by 
 means of a small page, whom she called her ( sun- 
 beam,' so swiftly did he fly to do her bidding. 
 
 " It was delightful at all times to receive her 
 letters," says MBS. Hall;* "her feelings were 
 so well expressed, her criticisms (she hardly ever 
 wrote of what she did not admire) were so over- 
 flowing with kindness. She felt so much pleasure 
 in giving praise, that she never appeared to be 
 
 * In her notice of Mrs. Opie, given in the Art Journal, No 61. 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 167 
 
 happy until she had poured forth all she thought, 
 to those who, she well knew, would sympathize 
 with her." 
 
 Her pen was also diligently employed in writing 
 for various periodicals of the day. She regretted 
 afterwards that she had not kept a list of the 
 publications to which she had sent contributions, 
 as she was frequently applied to by friends, anxious 
 to identify her verses, etc. Many smaller pieces? 
 both of prose and poetry, appeared in the "An- 
 nuals" year by year; and several papers, entitled 
 " Reminiscences of an Authoress," were published 
 in Tait's and in Chambers' Magazines, about this 
 time. These were short papers, giving her recol- 
 lections of some of the distinguished persons with 
 whom she had met in former years : Alexander 
 "Wedderburne, Baron Loughborough, Earl of Eoss- 
 lyn, Sir Walter Scott, Lady Eosslyn, a Party at 
 Lady E. Whitbread's, etc. etc. There is one of 
 these memoirs of the past preserved among her 
 MSS., and, as I believe, never published, which is 
 given here as a specimen of her powers of de- 
 scription. It is an account of a speech made by 
 Mr. Erskine, in a right-of-way cause in Norwich, 
 at which Mrs. Opie was present. This event 
 occurred in the year 1805, but it was not the first 
 time of her seeing this great orator. She thus 
 describes the impression made on her by a mo- 
 mentary glance she had once had, when she waa 
 disappointed of hearing him : 
 
168 LirE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 " Well do I remember him, as I first saw him, 
 entering for a few minutes, and taking a hasty 
 survey of the court. I was immediately struck 
 with the look of intelligent inquiry which he cast 
 over the eager crowd assembled in the hope of hear- 
 ing him. That eye reminded me of the description 
 of the eye of Ledyard, the eastern traveller ; for 
 it looked ' bright and restless, and its rapid glance 
 seemed to observe, in its brief survey, as much as 
 other eyes in a more lengthened one.' I had also 
 before observed the same expression in the eye of 
 Bonaparte, when, standing near the marble stairs 
 of the Tuileries, I saw him as he ascended them, 
 and looked on a group of English assembled to 
 gaze at him. I much regretted that the interest 
 which his (Erskine's) appearance excited in me was 
 not to be increased by the well-known melody of 
 his voice. I had afterwards, however, an oppor- 
 tunity of hearing him in the year 1805, when I was 
 in Norwich, on a visit to my father. 
 
 " Being very early in court, I obtained a seat by 
 the side of the judge, Sir Alexander Macdonald, 
 and saw and heard everything to the greatest ad- 
 vantage. In that place I remained the whole day, 
 except when, on being assured that my place should 
 be kept for me, I went home to tea ; but soon re- 
 turned to the scene of action, where I stayed all 
 night, for I could not bear to go away without 
 hearing the great orator's reply to the defendant's 
 counsel : he (Erskine) appeared on the side of the 
 
LIFE OF AMKLIA OPIE. 169 
 
 plaintiff. As I was desirous that the plaintiff should 
 gain her cause, I had been alarmed to find, by the 
 speech of the eloquent advocate of the defendant, 
 how much could be said on both sides, and was, there- 
 fore, anxious to hear by what means his arguments 
 could be rendered powerless. Therefore, although 
 listening with delighted attention and wonder to 
 the powerful cross-examination, I wished it over ; 
 but witness, on the defendant's side, succeeded to 
 witness; the audience gradually became smaller 
 and smaller ; and although Lord Brougham, with 
 his usual eloquence and felicity of expression, has 
 said, that 'juries declared they found it impossible 
 to remove their looks from Mr. Erskine, when he 
 had, as it were, riveted and fascinated them by his 
 first glance,' I am obliged to confess that some of this 
 Norfolk jury began visibly to nod, and it seemed 
 likely that, except the judge, the high-sheriff, the 
 barristers, the officers of the court, and myself, there 
 would soon be no hearers awake, and the beams of 
 rising day were forcing themselves through the 
 windows. The observant Erskine took the hint, so 
 palpably given, and, coming up to me, kindly said, 
 * G-o home, go home ! I shall not reply to-night ; 
 but you had better be .here by eight in the morn- 
 ing;' and, soon after, the court adjourned to that 
 
 hour 
 
 " I was in court again by half-past seven, but too 
 late to obtain a seat, and I stood many hours in a 
 painful position ; but I was soon made unconscious 
 
170 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 of it by the eloquence of Erskine ; for during those 
 hours he spoke, and hushed a court crowded even 
 to suffocation, into the most perfect stillness. Never 
 was the power of an orator over his audience more 
 evident or more complete. The plaintiff gained her 
 cause, and her advocate new laurels ; for I know 
 that those best qualified to form a correct judg- 
 ment on the subject, namely, his brother lawyers 
 who were present, declared that they had never 
 before heard Mr. E. so great in reply. Fortunate, 
 therefore, were those who heard him that day, as 
 never again was he heard to equal advantage. A 
 few months afterwards he was made Lord Chan- 
 cellor ; and when, while talking to him at a party 
 in London, I told him I was every day intending 
 to go into the Court of Chancery, in hope of hear- 
 ing him speak in his new capacity, his reply was, 
 Pray do not come ; you will not hear anything 
 worth the trouble. I am nothing now. You heard 
 the last and best of me at Norwich last year.' This 
 was, indeed, too true ; and those powers of forensic 
 eloquence, for which he was so celebrated, he could 
 exercise no longer. His audiences in future life 
 were almost wholly different from his former ones ; 
 and those attractions, so peculiarly his own, were 
 not necessary on the judgment-seat in the Court 
 of Chancery, and would have been, in a measure, 
 thrown away in the House of Lords. Fortunate, 
 therefore, I repeat it, were those who heard him 
 in the right-of-way cause at Norwich, and when he 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 171 
 
 forcibly reminded me of the portrait of Grarrick, 
 drawn by the pen of Sheridan, in his unequalled 
 monody a portrait which might have been sup- 
 posed to be that of the Hon. Thomas Erskine ; for 
 his, indeed, were 
 
 " ' The grace of action, the adapted mien, 
 Faithful as nature to the varied scene ; 
 The expressive glance, whose subtle comment draws 
 Entranced attention and a mute applause,' " etc. 
 
 The year 1836 seems to have passed in the quiet 
 of ordinary routine, unmarked by change, other than 
 of short visits to friends residing in the neighbour- 
 hood of Norwich. In the year following (1837), 
 Mrs. Opie's revered friend, J. J. Grurney, went on 
 a religious visit to the United States, and was ab- 
 sent nearly three years. On his return, he printed, 
 for circulation among his friends, an account of this 
 journey, " described in familiar letters to Amelia 
 Opie." This interesting volume is very scarce, as 
 only a limited number of copies were given. One 
 great charm it possesses is that of simple bonhomie; 
 and the pure enjoyment of natural scenes and 
 objects breathes through every page a tone of hap- 
 piness and love. ISTot unfrequently the author 
 indulges his sportive fancy, by depicting, in verse, 
 any sight that specially interested him. Here is 
 one of these poetical pictures, he describes a day 
 of early spring, in the neighbourhood of " that 
 noble expanse," Long Island Sound: 
 
172 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 " Blue were the waters of the Sound, 
 
 That spread before my view ; 
 And the skies were azure all around, 
 
 And still of a brighter hue 
 Was the wing of the bird that flitted there 
 
 Upon the spreading oak. 
 But the giant boughs were brown and bare, 
 
 No verdure yet bespoke, 
 In the trees above, or the fields below, 
 
 The genial sap of spring. 
 Songs of the lark in chorus flow, 
 
 'Tis prophecy they sing ; 
 Excited by the unclouded beam, 
 
 They pour the votive lay, 
 Gaily predicting, as 'twould seem, 
 
 An early coming day, 
 When, bursting into glorious green, 
 
 The hill, the vale, the grove, 
 Shall usher in a fairy scene, 
 
 The reign of joy and love." 
 
 Mr. Grurney, telling of his adventures when in 
 the "backwoods," was wont to relate how, on one 
 occasion, his eyes were greeted with the sight of a 
 familiar object one of his friend Amelia's notes. 
 It was pasted, as an ornament or precious relic, 
 upon a fire-screen. 
 
 During the course of this long absence from his 
 native land, he experienced a very striking " token 
 of the ever-watchful and most merciful providence 
 of Grod." He has thus described the occurrence : 
 " . . . . When we were fifty miles south of Sa- 
 vannah, we were overtaken by a fearful storm. 
 About eight o'clock in the evening, we observed 
 some dark clouds over the horizon, and summer- 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPTE. 173 
 
 like lightning playing to the north and west, and 
 the moon soon after rose of a blood-red colour. 
 .For some time, we imagined that the clouds were 
 gradually dispersing ; but, after two hours had 
 elapsed, these hopes were annihilated. The clouds 
 met over our heads, and veiled the moon in deep 
 darkness, and the rain poured down in torrents ; 
 the ship flew before the wind, and awful flashes of 
 forked lightning, with thunder immediately follow- 
 ing, gave ample proof that the weapons of ' heaven's 
 artillery' were nigh at hand, even at our doors. 
 Suddenly, the vessel received a terrible shock. 
 Almost all the sailors were knocked down ; the 
 captain himself received a stroke which left black 
 traces on his legs. Either a blazing rope, or the 
 appearance of it. in electric fluid, was seen falling 
 on the deck ; a violent smell of sulphur assailed 
 us ; both the upper and lower cabins were filled 
 with smoke ; and it was the general belief and cry 
 that the 'ship was on fire. At the same time, the 
 cook ran into the cabin, and told us that the hold 
 of the ship was filling rapidly with water. 
 
 "But beyond this climax we were not permitted 
 to pass. The storm, after raging about an hour, 
 rapidly subsided ; the sky became clear, the moon 
 regained her ascendency, our poor stricken sailors 
 began to recover; and, on examination, the ship 
 was found to have escaped both fire and flood. 
 The next morning we discovered the effects of the 
 lightning. The sails were pierced with holes, the 
 
174 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 mainmast was cracked, and the maintop-gallant 
 and royal yards shivered. To us it was an agree- 
 able circumstance that the day after the storm was 
 the first of the week. At the appointed hour, the 
 ship's company assembled on deck under no common 
 feelings of seriousness. The 40th chapter of Isaiah 
 was read to us, commencing with the exhortation, 
 ' Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,' and ending 
 with the cheering declaration, that ' they that wait 
 upon the Lord shall renew their strength.' After- 
 wards the whole company sat in silence; and, 
 during the solemn hour that ensued, we were re- 
 minded of the words of the poet : 
 
 " ' Unfathomable wonder, 
 And mystery Divine, 
 The voice that speaks in thunder, 
 Says, Christian, I AM THINE.' " 
 
 Well might the pious writer of this striking 
 account call on the " large circle of friends and 
 acquaintance" who welcomed his safe return to his 
 native land, to join him in "humble thankfulness 
 to the Grod of nature and of grace, the controller 
 of storms and thunderbolts, and the preserver of 
 men;" and among the many hearts that responded 
 to this appeal, there was none more sincere and 
 ardent in its gratitude and joy than that of Amelia 
 Opie, the friend to whom he dedicated the narra- 
 tive of his journey ings. She thus characteristically 
 mentions the subject, in a letter written at' the 
 time : " No bells will ring to celebrate the Chris- 
 tiaxi warrior's return ; but how many hearts in the 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 175 
 
 various grades of society in this city and its 
 environs will throb with exultation, and breathe 
 silently, if not vocally, the solemn strain of thanks- 
 giving!" 
 
 In the course of this year Mrs. Opie records the 
 arrival of Bishop Stanley and his family in Nor- 
 wich; she speaks of it as "a great acquisition," 
 and their friendship proved indeed a source of 
 much happiness to her. There is a short note in 
 her pocket-book, written about this time, which, as 
 illustrative of one of the excellences she specially 
 cultivated, deserves to be given here: " J'ai tou- 
 jours attache une importance extreme a ce qu'on 
 appelle vulgairement, les petites choses : des atten- 
 tions delicates, quand elles sont persistantes, prou- 
 vent la constante occupation de la pensee."* The 
 proverb says, " If you take care of the pence, the 
 pounds will take care of themselves," and this rule 
 is applicable to everything, I think, and particu- 
 larly to human conduct, and the formation of 
 character. Take care of indulging in little selfish- 
 nesses ; learn to consider others in trifles ; be 
 careful to fulfil the minor social duties ; and the 
 mind, so disciplined, will find it easier to fulfil the 
 greater duties, and the character will not exhibit 
 that trying inconsistency which one sees in great, 
 and, often, in pious persons." 
 
 * " I have always attached great importance to what are vul- 
 garly called 'little things;' delicate attentions, when persisted 
 in, evince the constant occupation of the thoughts." 
 
176 LIFE OE AMELIA OPTE. 
 
 The autumn and winter of the following year 
 brought with them returns of the malady from 
 which Mrs. Opie had before suffered, and her 
 medical attendants were of opinion that she must 
 in future expect such attacks ; in which she quietly 
 acquiesced, saying, "No doubt I must." She 
 seemed to have nerved herself to bear pain without 
 complaint, and to the close of her life she showed 
 much heroism in the patient endurance of bodily 
 suffering, rarely betraying by word or gesture her 
 uneasiness. There was occasionally an expression 
 which those who knew her intimately could read; 
 and if at such a time the inquiry was put, " Are 
 you in pain?" her answer would intimate that she 
 was so, but she would sometimes add, " I am so 
 used to it, that I don't mind it." 
 
 Among her private papers was one which tells 
 whence her support was derived, and to what 
 source she looked for strength in time of trial. 
 She has headed it, A Prayer for Trust in Grod in 
 Sickness : " O Almighty Grod, our only help in 
 time of trouble, look with pity and compassion 
 upon me, now under thine afflicting hand. Be 
 thou my stay and confidence under all my sorrows 
 and afflictions, and suffer me not to sink under the 
 weight of them, through any dejection or faintness 
 of spirit. Give me such an entire trust and con- 
 fidence in thy mercy, through the merits of my 
 dear .Redeemer, that I may cast all my care upon 
 thee, and with cheerfulness commit myself into 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE 177 
 
 thy bands, assuredly believing tbat ' all things shall 
 work together for good to them that love thee.' 
 Make me willing and ready to yield to thy wisdom, 
 and to prefer thy will before my own ; to be con- 
 tented to bear what thou pleasest, and to be eased 
 of my burden in thy time, which is always best. 
 But, O Lord, however thou art pleased to deal 
 with my body, yet spare my soul, I beseech thee, 
 and deliver it from the bitter pains of eternal 
 death. Grant, Lord, that, whether I live I may 
 live unto thee, or whether I die I may die unto thee ; 
 so that, living or dying, I may be thine, through 
 Jesus Christ, my ever-blessed Saviour and Ke- 
 de6mer. Amen." 
 
 Mrs. Opie's cousin, Mrs. Briggs, died in the 
 month of September, 1839. She was with this 
 endeared relative during her last hours, and her 
 distress and grief at the painful loss were very 
 great. "These are the trials," she wrote, "which 
 make lengthened life, or long life, appear so un- 
 desirable ; but * it is the Lord ; let him do what 
 seemeth him good.' " 
 
 The winter of 1840, and spring of the following 
 year, were passed by Mrs. Opie much as usual- 
 She suffered from occasional attacks of pain, but 
 these did not prevent her from exerting herself in 
 constant efforts to assist the needy, and to meet 
 the wants of the numerous claimants on her bene- 
 volence and charity. That she sometimes felt the 
 pressure of these efforts too much, is evident from 
 
178 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 many of her notes. In one of them, dated 3rd 
 month, 1841, she says : " ... I am weary of 
 having to give the little time I may have yet to live 
 to the business of others ; and it saddens me. Two 
 letters are come, involving me in writing and 
 trouble again. But, be it so ; it is a favour to be 
 made useful to others, and my life here seems 
 passing away in writing about other people's 
 affairs ; well, the time may soon come when I can- 
 not work." 
 
 Nor was this an imaginary pressure, as was 
 abundantly evident to those who saw her day by 
 day. Unwearied in her efforts to relieve the neces- 
 sities of others, when her own resources were ex- 
 hausted, she made it a point of conscience to exert 
 all her influence with those who possessed wealth 
 and power, on behalf of the object of her charity. 
 Hence the frequent calls upon her time and inge- 
 nuity. She taxed herself to meet the wishes of 
 those, who, sure of her generous sympathy, were 
 not, perhaps, so careful as they should have been 
 to avoid imposing upon her kindness. The truth is, 
 I cannot find words to express adequately her free, 
 full, and spontaneous generosity. She gave, as 
 she once laughingly told me, because she could not 
 help it. If ever there were one who might read 
 with a smile of hope and a tear of gratitude the 
 award pronounced by the Saviour's lips, it was she : 
 " Give, and it shall be given unto you; good 
 measure, .pressed down, and shaken together, and 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 179 
 
 running over, shall men give into your bosom : for 
 with the same measure, that ye mete it shall be mea- 
 sured to you again." 
 
 In the spring of 1842, Mrs. Opie .was again in 
 London ; and her notes give some lively touches, 
 descriptive of the two months she passed there. She 
 attended the yearly meeting as usual, and enjoyed, 
 with much of her wonted animation, visiting her 
 numerous friends. These notes show that, although 
 she had numbered more than the allotted years of 
 man's life, she was still able to enjoy the inter- 
 course of society, and still alive as ever to the 
 tender sympathies of compassion and benevolence 
 
 In the course of the summer, she paid her usual 
 visit to the coast. "The weather seems so hot 
 here," she wrote after her return, " I almost pine for 
 the fresh sea-breezes. I like the book I borrowed of 
 you (Lives of Physicians). It delights me to read 
 how generous those great physicians were; how 
 patriotic, and full of care for others. I feel proud 
 of the faculty." This is quite a characteristic 
 touch. She was always jealous for the credit and 
 good name of the medical profession, and very de- 
 sirous that its members should be held in high 
 esteem, and their services liberally remunerated. 
 
 During this winter, and in the early spring of 
 the following year, Mrs. Opie suffered from occa- 
 sional returns of her disorder. The supports and 
 consolations of Christian faith and trust were not, 
 however, .withheld; and in one of her notes she 
 
180 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 sweetly expresses her confidence in a Father's love 
 and wisdom. " My trials," she says, " are afflictive 
 to nature ; but I have long known and expe- 
 rienced that there is support in entire submission 
 to Grod's will, in little as well as in great trials ; 
 and when I can buckle on that armour, I feel as if 
 I could walk erect and securely,"* 
 
 In May she was, as usual, in London ; and writ- 
 ing thence says : " Yearly meeting has engrossed 
 me as much as ever ; for I never missed one sitting 
 since I obtained the great privilege of belonging to 
 it ; one which, I feel more and more every year, is 
 the last thing increasing age will cause me to 
 forego." Again, (7th mo. 12th) " I have struck 
 up a friendship with ' Sam Slick,' alias Judge 
 Haliburton ; but, alas ! one of the American dele- 
 
 * A touching proof that she endeavoured to minister to others 
 of the " consolations wherewith she herself was comforted of 
 God," was afforded me at the time I was writing this. Visiting 
 some poor people, I was shown a little book, called " The In- 
 valid's Hymn-book," which had formerly belonged to one now no 
 more, who had marked against her favourite hymns the names of 
 two or three friends by whom they had been read to her. I 
 chanced to open on a page containing the hymn, headed, "He 
 openeth thine ear to discipline : " 
 
 " Chamber of sickness ! much to thee I owe, 
 
 Though dark thou be : 
 The lesson it imports me most to know 
 
 I owe to thee!" etc. 
 
 At the beginning of this hymn, I found these words written. 
 <; Bead by dear Mrs. Opie to me, 1842," (the date,) and at the 
 end again the words, "Dear Mrs. Opie!" Several others were 
 similarly marked 
 
LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 181 
 
 gates carries away with him a large piece of my 
 heart ! It is grievous to make acquaintance with 
 people, learn to love and admire them, and then 
 bid them farewell for ever. Almost all the Ame- 
 rican delegates and their wives came to me on the 
 10th, to tea and supper. I had -some friends to 
 meet them, and they, wishing to he pleased, were 
 so." 
 
 Among these Transatlantic friends was one, who 
 afterwards wrote to Mrs. Opie, expressing the gra- 
 tification he had felt in her society, and assuring 
 her of the popularity and usefulness of her later 
 works in America. He says : "... Your books have 
 been very extensively read here ; no work of Miss 
 Edgeworth's or Mrs. Hemans' ever circulated more 
 extensively than the ' Illustrations of Lying ; ' and 
 I may with perfect truth say, I think that, next to 
 the works of Hannah More and Miss Edge worth, 
 A. O.'s have been most read in America ; and in 
 this opinion I am supported by one of my col- 
 leagues whom I have consulted on the subject." 
 
 This summer seems to have been a very happy 
 and busy one. The following extract from a note 
 gives us a peep at one of her mornings : " (8th 
 mo. 16th.) I have seemed lately to want, for many 
 necessary and good purposes, the most precious of 
 all things, time. Other people's business and my 
 own pleasures have prevented my writing before. 
 At ten I must be out shopping ; at eleven to the 
 Magdalen; at two I must drive to see my aunt, 
 
182 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 and say farewell ; and then I am off to Kettering- 
 ham, to a* five o'clock dinner, as E. Sidney lectures 
 at seven." 
 
 Mrs. Opie had been alarmed, during her stay in 
 London, in the spring of 1841, by the serious in- 
 disposition of her cousin, Mr. Briggs. He had 
 been suffering from pulmonary disorder, and the 
 symptoms at length increased to an extent that 
 seemed indicative of approaching dissolution. Under 
 these painful circumstances, she received a sum- 
 mons to go to him, as he had expressed a wish to 
 see her. On the 9th of January, 1844, she wrote : 
 " I do so enjoy my home. In a morning, I am 
 only too full of company ; but when, at nightfall, 
 I draw my sofa round, for a long evening to myself, 
 I have such a feeling of thankfulness; and so I 
 ought. It is well to see how the burden is fitted 
 to the back by our merciful Father. I have been 
 a lone woman through life ; an only child ; a child- 
 less widow ; all my nearest ties engrossed by nearer 
 ones of their own. If I did not love to be alone, 
 and enjoy the privileges leisure gives, what would 
 have become of me ? But I love my lot, and every 
 year it grows dearer still; though parting with 
 beloved friends throws, for a while, a deep shadow 
 over my path." / . . . And even then the shadow 
 was upon her ; for, six days after, she writes : " I 
 go on my melancholy journey to-morrow, scarcely 
 expecting to see my poor cousin alive ; but he 
 wishes to see me, and it is therefore my duty to 
 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 183 
 
 go." She remained with him to the last, and very 
 touchingly describes the closing scenes. "When all 
 was over, she said : " Groing into the gallery of 
 pictures, where so many, alas ! are unfinished, re- 
 minds me so powerfully of bygone days, when I 
 stood in my own gallery, where finished and un- 
 finished pictures abounded." 
 
 This melancholy visit was the last Mrs. Opie 
 paid to the metropolis for a long period. During 
 the next four years, she was closely engaged in at- 
 tendance upon her aged aunt, Mrs. E. Alderson, 
 and seldom left Norwich for more than a few days 
 at a time. 
 
 After her return home, she wrote to Miss G-ur- 
 ney : 
 
 " 5th mo., 7th. 
 
 " MY DEAKEST A 
 
 " .... I fear that I shall feel the loss of Lon- 
 don and the meeting ; but at present I do not ; for 
 the duty and necessity of staying where I am is 
 more evident every day, because my aunt is become 
 so dependent upon me, that I could trust no one 
 to attend to her wants but myself. I have seen A. 
 Hodgkin at meeting and at the Grove. Her hus- 
 band had a public meeting last night, and has again 
 
 to-morrow. Such ministry as J. H 's last night v 
 
 is what is rarely heard ; it was soul-searching ; and 
 I only wished that hundreds could have heard it. 
 I have sent a large boxful of repository purchases 
 to M, a to-day. I kept shop." . . . 
 
184 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 The last sentence alludes to the yearly sale at 
 the repository, for the Norwich Sick Poor Society, 
 held in the fine old building, St. Andrew's Hall, at 
 which Mrs. Opie, for many years, kept a table or 
 stall of fancy articles ; and an admirable saleswoman 
 she was. On one of these occasions she wrote to a 
 friend: " Simeon's Life is most precious to me, 
 I have had extracts from it made and printed, to be 
 sold at the repository." 
 
 During the summer assize of this year, she was 
 present in court, as usual ; and among her papers, 
 left in an unfinished state, is one, entitled, " Re- 
 miniscences of Judges' Courts, written in 1844." 
 This piece, which was never completed, gives her 
 recollections of these scenes, which she had, from 
 an early period in her life, been in the habit of fre- 
 quenting. It was a peculiar penchant, for which she 
 endeavours to account at the close of her observ- 
 ations ; and she traces it to the operation of the 
 two prevalent feelings love of excitement, and 
 sympathy, or fellow-feeling. She adds : " What- 
 ever be the cause of the pleasure I take in attend- 
 ing on these occasions, I hope it is an innocent 
 gratification ; . . . . and it is my conviction, that 
 whatever brings us acquainted with, and interested 
 in, the affairs and well-being of our fellow- creatures, 
 in their varied stations and positions in society, 
 may have a beneficial influence on our hearts, 
 minds, and characters." 
 
LIl'E OF AMELIA OPIE. 185 
 
 Though we may, perhaps, differ from Mrs. Opie 
 as to the desirableness of encouraging the taste 
 which she thus acknowledges and endeavours to 
 justify, yet it seems indisputable that, in her pe- 
 culiar instance, the results were not prejudicial. 
 Her finer sensibilities did not become blunted, nor 
 did she, on the other hand, indulge in a useless 
 sentimentality of feeling, barren of practical re- 
 sults on the character and conduct. The interest 
 excited in her mind on behalf of the unhappy 
 criminals, whom she beheld the victims of their 
 own evil passions, prompted her to desire, if pos- 
 sible, to aid in their reformation, and to awaken in 
 the minds of those who were not wholly lost to the 
 feelings of rectitude, the kindlings of repentance 
 and better emotions. The result of these humane 
 and jpious feelings is seen in a MS. volume now 
 before me, almost entirely in her own handwriting, 
 entitled " Transactions of the Norwich Ladies' As- 
 sociation for Prison Discipline, formed 6th Oct., 
 1823." In the first leaf, she has written as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 "Norwich, Oct. 3rd, 1823. 
 
 " "We, the undersigned, agree to form ourselves 
 into an association to visit the females in the differ- 
 ent prisons belonging to the county of Norfolk and 
 city of Norwich, namely, the city jails, the bridewell, 
 
186 LIFE OP AMELIA OPIE 
 
 and the castle ; and we consider the Lady Suffield 
 as our patroness. 
 
 " Lucy Aggs. Amelia Opie. 
 
 " Henrietta Grurney. Catharine Grurney. 
 
 " Rachel Grurney. Lucy Aggs, jun. 
 
 " Treasurer, L. Aggs, jun. 
 " Secretary, Amelia Opie. 
 
 ""We form the following resolutions for our 
 future government : ' 1st. A fund mast be raised 
 to defray the necessary expenses of the institution. 
 2nd. We agree to be a branch of the British 
 Prison Society of Ladies, in London, and to corre- 
 spond with them at least once a year.' 
 
 " It is agreed, that H. and E. Grurney visit every 
 5th day (Thursday) morning ; L. Aggs, sen. and 
 jun. on 3rd day (Tuesday) morning ; and A. Opie 
 and C. Grurney on 7th day (Saturday). "We also 
 resolve to read the Scriptures to the female pri- 
 soners whenever we visit ; to see that the ignorant 
 are instructed, and the idle employed ; to keep a 
 book, with an account of conduct ; to have a small 
 collection of books, suitable for the women, which 
 are to be kept under lock and key, and given out 
 by the visitors ; to keep a watchful care over them, 
 when discharged from the prison, particularly 
 those who are going to Botany Bay ; to meet on the 
 5th day (Thursday) of every month 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 187 
 
 "Further rules must be the result of experi- 
 ence." 
 
 In pursuance of these resolutions, this small 
 band of Christian philanthropists commenced ope- 
 rations, at first amidst difficulties and some degree 
 of opposition. Their " Second Report, sent to the 
 British Society, 7th January, 1825," after detailing 
 proceedings, concludes : " On looking back on the 
 exertions of the past year, the ladies have cause 
 to acknowledge, with pleasure and gratitude, that 
 many of the difficulties they at first had to combat, 
 are overcome, and they trust a little fruit of their 
 labours is already to be seen ; and though in some 
 respects they have still to experience opposition, 
 yet they anticipate with hope and encouragement 
 the time when every prejudice will be removed, 
 and when they will have free access into all the 
 prisons.* They cannot close this report without 
 mentioning two cases which augur well for the 
 occasional success of their efforts." The cases are 
 then particularized. 
 
 Appended to this report is the following notice, 
 referring to the work which was then being carried 
 on, single-handed and unknown, by the admirable 
 and devoted Sarah Martin :f 
 
 * They had been refused permission to visit the bridewell, 
 and were " positively denied entrance there." 
 
 t See the Life of Sarah Martin, published by the Religious 
 Tract Society, London. 
 
188 LIFE OF AMELIA OPJE. 
 
 " Yarmouth. 
 
 " The young woman who has so long and so in- 
 defatigably laboured in the prisons at Yarmouth, 
 almost unknown and unassisted, now continues 
 her exertions with the approbation of the magis- 
 trates. She instructs all the prisoners who desire 
 it, in reading and writing ; supplies the women 
 with plain work, the produce of which is appro- 
 priated to their own use; and, as there is no 
 service performed in the jail on a Sunday, she is 
 in the practice of reading a sermon and the liturgy 
 of the Church of England to the men and women 
 collectively, twice a day. The number of women 
 admitted into the jail during the year has been 
 twenty, and into the bridewell nineteen ; and 
 although no particular instance of reformation has 
 lately occurred, she hopes that, notwithstanding, 
 her labours have been beneficial." 
 . One-half of this volume is devoted to an account 
 of the female prisoners in the city jail, which is 
 entirely written by Mrs. Opie, and commencing in 
 1823, continues to the end of 1828, the last entry 
 being January, 1829. The name and age, time of 
 admittance, crime, sentence, times of trial and dis- 
 charge are given, and some " observations" on the 
 individual cases. In the great majority of in- 
 stances, the prisoners seem to have conducted 
 themselves with propriety and thankfulness towards 
 the ladies ; but in most, their subsequent conduct 
 proved that their promises of amendment were 
 
LIFE OP AMELIA OPIE. 189 
 
 fallacious. There are a few pleasing exceptions, 
 in which they were encouraged to hope better 
 things ; but it is evident that, after a trial of two 
 or three years, circumstances were altered, and the 
 ladies found less room for their interference. Their 
 last recorded report to the British Society says, 
 that while they " continue their attention to the 
 jail and bridewell, as reported last year, from the 
 smallness of the number of prisoners, and some 
 other unavoidable circumstances, their visits have 
 been less frequent." " The daily and very efficient 
 labours of the chaplain of the jail, and the employ- 
 ment of the women by the mistress," are men- 
 tioned as rendering the assistance of the ladies 
 unnecessary. 
 
 The first case entered in the "account of 
 the prisoners," is that of a young woman, aged 
 twenty, who was discharged at the end of six 
 months ; but was soon after committed to bride- 
 well on suspicion of theft. Mrs. Opie writes : 
 "While she was there, her conduct was so 
 violent and improper, that the governor was 
 obliged to confine her in the ' black hole,' as it is 
 called. She was a second time committed to jail, 
 April 7th, 1825 ; tried five days afterwards, and 
 sentenced to seven years' transportation. She 
 conducts herself exceedingly well in the jail. She 
 has long been so notorious and pernicious a cha- 
 racter in this city, that her conviction and sentence 
 were received with rejoicing by all to whom she 
 
190 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 was known. Her house was the general rendez- 
 vous of thieves and bad women ; and she had been 
 the ruin of many youths of both sexes. But, to 
 be the worst of the bad, is a proof of no mean 
 abilities; and it is really lamentable to see such 
 power as this unhappy girl possesses, so awfully 
 perverted. Her behaviour to the ladies is respect- 
 ful and gentle." She was sent on board the 
 li Midas " on the 2nd of July, having continued to 
 conduct herself well in prison, and shown both 
 diligence and ability in learning and performing 
 all the tasks which the ladies set her. 
 
 This case may serve as a specimen of the others. 
 I will only add, that of the fifty-one or fifty-two 
 women named in all, twenty could not read. It 
 will be remembered that, in her journal of the 
 period, Mrs. O. from time to time mentions her 
 visits to the jail, and observes on what she saw 
 there. She continued her co-operation with the 
 Society as long as it existed ; and, in after years, 
 up to a late period of her life, occasionally visited 
 the women prisoners confined in the castle and 
 jail. 
 
 I will close this chapter with an extract from 
 one of Mrs. Opie's letters, written during this 
 year (1844) to a friend, who seems to have ex- 
 pressed his anxiety for her spiritual welfare, and 
 to have exhorted her to maintain ; a watchful state 
 of preparation for the hour of her departure : 
 
 ". . . . Alas! I sometimes fear lest my house 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 191 
 
 be not in order ; but no one can be more aware 
 than I am, that I shall surely die ; and my daily 
 prayer is for ability to keep my lamp always burn- 
 ing, lest I be unprepared when the Bridegroom 
 comes. But I do not talk or write upon the subject 
 to others ; for I presume the old know they are old ; 
 and the unhealthy, that they are liable to be called 
 away, be they young or old ; and I shrink from 
 appearing to deem them so weakly blind as to 
 want to be reminded that ' all flesh is as grass.' 
 
 " Oh ! if my dear ' concerned ' friends could but 
 know my secret heart, and' the deep thankfulness 
 with which I every day receive the gift of another 
 day of life, they would not do me the injustice to 
 believe me so careless and so blind as not to hold 
 many hours daily of serious communion with my- 
 self and my Grod. I say this, dear friend, to thee, 
 because I wish to make thee more easy on my 
 account than I now think thee to be," . . 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE shades of evening were now gathering 
 around the beloved, subject of this little memoir. 
 She had entered 'on her seventy-fifth year ; and 
 confinement and pain awaited her during a large 
 part of her remaining days. Tet, on the whole, 
 she was remarkably free from most of the infirm- 
 ities, , bodily and mental, usually-; attendant upon 
 such advanced age. Her sight was perfect ; it 
 even excelled in keenness, so that she read, with- 
 out difficulty, the smallest print, and wrote in the 
 same minute and delicate characters, to the last. 
 Her sense of hearing, too, though less acute, was 
 not perceptibly impaired, and her carriage Was as 
 erect as of yore, and still indicative of vigour and 
 energy. But it was her soul the mind within 
 that never felt the frosts of age. Her heart beat 
 warm, her eye kindled with living joy, and her spirit 
 responded, like a well-tuned lyre, to every breath 
 that passed over it. In all her sympathies and 
 antipathies, too, she was so thoroughly womanly, 
 with such quick sensibilities and vivid perceptions, 
 such appreciation of little attentions, and cordial 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 193 
 
 interest in that which touched the hearts of others, 
 that it was no wonder the young loved her. 
 Perhaps never were so many young and fair faces 
 seen clustering around an old one, as were to be 
 found in her room, week after week. They came, 
 and made her their confidante; and she dearly 
 loved to hear the tales, and enter into the hopes 
 and fond anticipations of youth. 
 
 Her love of fun, too, her merry laugh and ready 
 repartee, made one forget that she had numbered 
 threescore years and ten. If we would ask, whence 
 came this bright and joyous old age, we may trace 
 it, in part, to natural temperament: her nature 
 was genial, her temper sweet, and, until a late 
 period, her health was excellent. But, great as these 
 natural advantages were, yet more was owing to 
 religious principle and self- discipline. She was kind 
 and forbearing, not merely because her temper 
 was sweet ; she was so on principle in obedience 
 to the great command of the gospel, " Love one 
 another." The forgiveness of injuries was the one 
 of the Christian duties which she most urgently 
 enjoined, and most conscientiously practised. Her 
 readiness to pass by an unkindness did not spring 
 from easy indifference; no one was more keenly sen- 
 sitive to any want of kindness. "When she was deeply 
 wounded on one occasion, and could find no excuse 
 for the offender, she looked sad and disquieted, 
 and at length said, " I hope I shall be able, in time, 
 to forget this." One of her latest acts was to burn 
 
 o 
 
194 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 an impertinent and unfeeling letter, which had 
 been addressed to her some time before ; and, as 
 she did so, she expressed her forgiveness of the 
 writer: "It ought never to hate been written," 
 she said, " but I forgive her ; and the best place 
 for it is the fire." 
 
 It was a pain to her to think otherwise than 
 well of any one ; it was a real pang to be con- 
 strained to believe that he had acted unworthily. 
 She wept over the misdeeds of others, and rejoiced 
 in their good and noble actions. She was " tender- 
 hearted" towards their failings and infirmities, and 
 would not believe an evil report. There was really 
 nothing which so roused her indignation as that any 
 one should spread a malicious rumour ; and I have 
 seen her colour with displeasure, and plainly indicate 
 how offensive she felt it to be, when any one ven- 
 tured to indulge in backbiting in her presence. If 
 she ever offended the self-love of any, I am inclined 
 to believe it was by showing them that they had 
 lowered themselves in her opinion by uncharitable 
 talk. The " virtuous indignation of her eye" could 
 hardly fail to inflict a righteous punishment. 
 
 It would be easy to give instances of her true 
 loveliness of spirit and careful observance, in her 
 own personal conduct, of the Christian graces and 
 virtues which she had, in her writings and with her 
 lips, enjoined others to cultivate. It may be allowed 
 me to mention one instance of her humble-minded in- 
 genuousness, in acknowledging herself to have com- 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 195 
 
 mitted a fault. I was one day calling upon her, when 
 there was some one present who was afflicted with 
 deafness, and talked in a loud, harsh voice. After 
 this individual had left the room, Mrs. O., chancing 
 to refer to something that had passed, repeated the 
 words of her visitor in his dissonant tones in fact, 
 mimicked him to the life. Scarcely had I reached my 
 home, before I received a note from her, saying how 
 much self-reproach she was suffering, in the thought 
 of the "unchristian and vulgar action" of which 
 she had been guilty, and begging it might be " ex- 
 cused and forgiven." 
 
 Mrs. Opie has stigmatized mimicry in her " De- 
 traction Displayed," as being a twofold detraction, 
 acted, as well as spoken; and has especially 
 warned her readers against it, because of its great 
 power and attraction ; few being able to resist its 
 fascination, for it gratifies the vanity of hearer and 
 actor at the same time ; and yet, who can endure to 
 be the subject of mimicry ? In close proximity to 
 this detracting and treacherous propensity, she 
 always ranked that malevolent pleasure in inflict- 
 ing pain which vents itself in sudden sarcasms or 
 flings. She called this a "cat-like" nature; and 
 she hesitated not to say, " Old as I am in years, 
 and still older in worldly experience, there are 
 many, even among my young acquaintance, from 
 whose detracting laugh and sneering observation I 
 occasionally shrink, feeling myself both unsafe and 
 uncomfortable in their presence. Oh! there are 
 
196 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 many cats in the world; and I have seen even 
 youth and beauty become suddenly offensive by 
 the expression of malevolent pleasure at having 
 inflicted pain by a coup de patte" 
 
 Mrs. Opie always considered it a vulgar error, or 
 an observation the result of envy, to say that clever 
 persons are usually satirical. She said, her experi- 
 ence convinced her, on the contrary, that the most 
 satirical of her acquaintance were those who had more 
 quickness than sense ; that a tendency to see the 
 ridiculous and ludicrous in persons and things, is 
 nothing more than a quickness of observation 
 which even children possess. " There is some- 
 thing," she said, "tempting and agreeable in talk- 
 ing over one's friends and acquaintances, and 
 children soon learn to enjoy it. 'Mamma/ cried 
 a little boy, while his parents were receiving some 
 morning visitors, ' when will these people go away, 
 that we may talk about them?' In short," she 
 added, " detraction requires so little ability, that I 
 wonder we are not too proud to be guilty of it." 
 
 "While I am thus recalling to mind the many 
 lovely and amiable traits that adorned her character, 
 I am powerfully reminded of her own statement : 
 " The consciousness of truth and ingenuousness 
 gives a radiance to the countenance, and a charm 
 to the manner, which no other quality of mind can 
 equally bestow." Nor can I help appealing to 
 those who knew her, whether she did not present 
 in her own person a striking example of the truth 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 197 
 
 of this. The bright beaming glance of her eye, and 
 the winning loveliness of her deportment, spoke 
 her true in heart, and were the fair reflections of 
 that inner rectitude which is " the sunshine of the 
 breast.' ' " She was one of the most sincere, most 
 honest of women I ever knew," was the testimony 
 of a friend who had known her long and well ; and 
 the word "probity" was justly applied to her by 
 the friend of her youth. Gladly would I linger 
 over these pleasing and soothing recollections, and 
 endeavour to draw them in the colours of vivid 
 truthfulness to my reader; but it is time that I 
 continue the regular course of her "life-story." 
 
 We have seen that the loneliness of her lot was 
 felt increasingly as her years multiplied ; but most 
 happy for her was it, that, amidst the failure of 
 earthly supports, she was sustained by a conscious- 
 ness of the Divine presence and grace ; and it was 
 this which cheered her solitary hours, and inspired 
 the sentiment with which we find her entering on 
 a new year. She thus writes : 
 
 " (2nd mo., 4th, 1845.) I can say with truth, I 
 am never less alone than when alone ; home is be- 
 coming daily more and more the place that suits 
 me best. I have many cares, and some trials ; but 
 I feel, in the depths of my heart, that all is right, 
 and that all has been, and will be, for my good. 
 ' Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ?' " 
 
 The death of Sir Thomas Powell Buxton occurred 
 
198 LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 during this month, causing another gap in the 
 circle of Mrs. Opie's intimate friends. She had 
 been long and greatly attached to him and all his 
 family, and cordially united in his views for the 
 abolition of slavery, and in his desires and plans 
 for the improvement of Africa ; and her notes in- 
 dicate the painful emotion with which she heard of 
 his removal from earth. 
 
 The winter of this year was very stormy, and 
 the tempests which prevailed on the eastern coast 
 made great inroads at Cromer and in the neigh- 
 bourhood. The early love of Mrs. Opie for that 
 endeared spot seems to have been kindled afresh 
 on this occasion ; and writing to Miss Gurney, she 
 said, " I am very sorry for that dear West Cliff 
 
 ' Where once my careless childhood stray'd, 
 A stranger yet to pain/ 
 
 There used to be r I am sure, a field, before one 
 comes to S. Hoare's field, where I used to gather 
 the blue bugloss, and deck myself out in it. Such is 
 my love of Cromer, I sometimes think when I lost 
 my dear father, I should have settled myself there, 
 or very near it (on the "West Cliff, probably), had I 
 not joined Friends. I try not to be impatient of 
 the duration of this winter, and I rejoice at the 
 belief (probably, however, an erroneous one) that 
 my only tree, an elm, in my south garden, into 
 which my sitting-room looks, is budding. It is a 
 pain to me to think of the sufferings of inanimate 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 199 
 
 nature, as well as of human nature. I grieve for 
 the cruel sea's inroads at Cromer. But as almost all 
 things work together for some good, these dangers 
 give rise to circumstances productive of conduct 
 honourable to one's species ; as, for instance, that 
 of the pious child, who would not be saved till his 
 father's safety was secured. Generally speaking, 
 I own I have long thought that, in these days, 
 filial piety was at a low ebb ; but in this instance, 
 'assuredly, the high tides have floated it into my 
 good opinion again. . . I am just returned from 
 Earlham, where I have been passing a happy day 
 and a half with J. J. Grurney and Eliza ; no other 
 guest there but myself. "We called at dear W. 
 Porster's door on our way home." 
 
 Mrs. Opie made frequent visits this year from 
 time to time among her friends, and mentions with 
 peculiar pleasure meeting Mr. Hallam, during her 
 stay at Ketteringham. Although occasionally suf- 
 fering from accesses of her old disorder, she was, 
 on the whole, free from much pain. Her notes 
 refer to the great enjoyment she felt in attending 
 various public religious meetings, and also the 
 course of lectures at the Museum, delivered by 
 Professor Sedgwick. On the return of the autum- 
 nal season, her malady distressed her much ; and 
 during her customary stay at Northrepps she was 
 quite confined to the house, "never quitting it," 
 she said, " after I entered it, until I got into the 
 carriage which took me away ; but though unwell 
 
200 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 during the eighteen days I spent there, I had 
 much enjoyment." "Writing in October of the 
 following year, to her beloved friend there, she 
 said : "Oh, how sorry I am that I cannot come to 
 thee, even in a carrier's cart ! but I cannot. 
 Dr. Hull says it would be madness ; and I have so 
 much cold and cough besides, that I fear I shall 
 not be able to leave the house at all. It is a dis- 
 appointment to me not to have paid my usual 
 visit to Cromer, and to feel there the gratitude 
 due to Him who has, in unmerited mercy, spared 
 me, that I might have been enabled once more to 
 enjoy the society of my dear friends at that place, 
 so full to me of early and pleasant recollections." 
 
 In the course of the summer of 1846, she was 
 cheered by a visit from Mrs. Backhouse, the 
 daughter of Mr. J. J. G-urney, whom Mrs. Opie 
 always called her grandchild, bringing with her 
 her infant son, who was greeted as great-grand- 
 child, and pronounced a darling. "I love all 
 babies," she said ; " but this one excels them all, 
 in my eyes." Her cousin, Mr. E. "Woodhouse, also 
 visited her in the month of August ; but amidst 
 all her cheerful and sympathizing enjoyment, she 
 suffered grievously ; a sorrowful note written about 
 
 this time tells how much "You will be 
 
 glad to hear I am better. This day week, I was in 
 great pain for hours. How thankful I ought to 
 be ! Nothing can have exceeded Dr. Hull's atten- 
 tion ; he came twice a day to me, and I am sure 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 201 
 
 his medicines have done me much good 
 
 Sir E. Peel's heart has stolen mine. That exquisite 
 self-oblivion, and that prompt sympathy with poor 
 Hay don's sorrows, even only four days before his 
 death ; and then the feeling and immediate reply to 
 the hopes of the poor suicide, in his letter in his 
 dying moments; and the prompt help, and the 
 promised succour of his purse and influence at a 
 future time, and when he (Sir Robert) was not 
 himself lying on a bed of roses." 
 
 On the 4th of January, 1847, died Mr. J". J. 
 G-urney. Three weeks before, he had been thrown 
 from his pony, while crossing Orford-hill. At 
 first he appeared not to have sustained much 
 injury ; and with thoughtful love he hastened to 
 Lady's-lane, to inform his dear friend of the acci- 
 dent, saying that he could not bear she should 
 hear of it from any other but himself, that he 
 might assure her, with his own lips, of his safety. 
 Alas ! how little did either of them imagine that 
 ere that moon had waned he would be sleeping 
 the sleep of death; but so it was. The tidings 
 of his departure came suddenly upon his aged 
 friend ; she knew not that he was in danger till 
 the night before the event, and could scarcely 
 " believe that it was true " which she heard, for it 
 seemed like a dream. Alas ! as she gazed her last 
 on the motionless form of her " dearest and best 
 friend on earth," she knew that it was a sad 
 reality, and that she should see him no more. This 
 
202 LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 was indeed a heart-blow ; and shortly after, his 
 beloved daughter, Mrs. Backhouse, following him 
 to the grave, there was an entire breaking-up of 
 the much and long-loved circle at Earlham. Mrs. 
 Opie attended the funeral of her friend. She saw 
 him laid low in the midst of his usefulness ; cut 
 down while there was, as yet, no shadow over his 
 path to tell of coining night. Honoured and be- 
 loved he was, and a blessing to thousands. Doubt- 
 less, in her heart, she said, " Would Glod I had 
 died for thee!" but she remembered whose hand 
 had inflicted the blow, and bowed and worshipped 
 in silence and resignation. The following note 
 was written to me, shortly after this event. It 
 gives a passing glimpse of her state of feeling : 
 
 " Norwich, 1st mo., 29th, 1847. 
 " Mr DEAR CECILIA, 
 
 .... "Thanks for thy kind inquiries, 
 and still more for thy graphic description of the 
 Cambridge show. It made me long to have been 
 there. Thy account of the behaviour of the stu- 
 dents carried me back to 1810, when I was at 
 Oxford, at Lord Grenville's installation, and was 
 excessively amused by the thundering and hissing 
 of the students for some time ; but the third day 
 I grew tired of the noise. The proctors there 
 were treated, one excepted, with great indignity. 
 How I did rejoice in the first wrangler's success, 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 203 
 
 when I found he was a boy of obscure birth, edu- 
 cated by a benevolent individual, on whom he had 
 no claims ; and that he had been enabled to repay 
 his benefactor ! 
 
 " The dear bishop came yesterday afternoon, and 
 was so kind and sympathizing. I could see him, 
 for I was in my drawing-room again. My doctors 
 are just gone. I hope I am improving, and expect 
 to be allowed to get out next week, to see my aunt. 
 But I shall be slow in returning my calls, and 
 slower still in paying any visits. I do so dread the 
 convincing myself, when I go out, that there is one 
 whom, if I look for, I shall never, never find. . . 
 But no more of that, I can't bear it. 
 
 " Believe me, thy attached friend, 
 
 "A. OPIE." 
 
 Her grief did not, however, prevent her taking 
 an active interest in the sorrows and sufferings of 
 others. She was engaged in collecting for the re- 
 lief of the poor Irish, and says : " Oh, the horrible 
 state of things in that country ! "Without our aid, 
 they say, the poor people must perish. I am col- 
 lecting for the Ladies' Committee at Dunmanaway, 
 near Cork; a very distressed district, but small, 
 and with few rich residents in it ; and therefore 
 the more needing help. I let no day pass without 
 having, in the course of it, begged of some one. I 
 take sixpence, or one shilling, with thanks, and I 
 have accepted twopence from a little boy, who sent 
 
204 LIFE OP AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 it to me, because lie knew what it was to be hungry 
 himself. I have a humble agent at work to pro- 
 cure small sums, as my Irish ladies advise; and 
 have a little money still in hand, which I hope to 
 make more. "We shall one day, perhaps, know- 
 scenes here like those in Ireland, and trials which 
 wealth cannot help us to avoid or remove ; but 
 ( shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ?' ' 
 
 In the spring of this year Mrs. Opie was suffi- 
 ciently recovered in health to pay her usual visit to 
 Cromer. While there, she received the tidings of 
 Dr. Chalmers' death ; she wrote home, requesting 
 to have the lines she had addressed to him in 1833 
 sent to her ; and acknowledged the receipt of them 
 in the following letter : 
 
 " To Mrs. BrigJitwell. 
 
 " Cromer, 6th mo., 5tJi, 1847. 
 " MY DEAH FKIEND, 
 
 " I do not exactly know to 
 
 whom I was indebted for the great kindness of 
 copying for me my lines to dear Dr. C., but per- 
 haps the same pen (it was thine, I think) would 
 do me the same favour again ; I am very desirous 
 of having them, though ashamed of troubling thee. 
 Poor dear man ! on his way home to Edinburgh, 
 he would not be easy without going to Darlington 
 to see dear J. J. Gurney's daughter once more. 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 205 
 
 In liis letter to me, he said that he hoped one day 
 * to see him lefore the throne] or words to that 
 effect. How soon, as I trust, the hope has been 
 fulfilled. 
 
 " I am here, in a lovely lodging ; my sitting- 
 room has a bay-window, that looks on the sea, and 
 up the shore, and on the jetty and the breakwater. 
 I am at Randall's bath-house, and the hot-bath is 
 delightful indeed. I think I am better, in spite of 
 visitors ; I have had eleven callers already, since 
 ten o'clock. . 
 
 " When I came, the sea was beautiful ; yesterday, 
 it was awful to look at. The white horses, the 
 cavalry of the sea, were all out yesterday. Alas ! 
 their appearance was signalized by death, A boat 
 was capsized, and a poor old man drowned, in sight, 
 almost, of my window. At twilight I looked on the 
 sea, which appeared terribly sublime. The hue grew 
 darker and darker, as the mass of waters seemed 
 sloping upwards as they went, till they looked like a 
 dark mountain, bounding forth to engulf us ; and 
 I retreated almost in fear. I hope, this evening, 
 to see the sun set from the western cliff. How 
 beautiful, in my eyes, were the hedges, as I came ; 
 such a profusion of germander, bright red ba- 
 chelors' buttons, the golden furze and broom, in 
 luxuriant blossom; and the may, only too much 
 laden with flowers. Farewell. With love to thy 
 spouse and bairn, thy attached friend, 
 
 "A. OPIE." 
 
206 LIFE OP AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 Mrs. Opie returned from Cromer in the middle 
 of June ; in her notes I find the following entries : 
 " I am come home, not the better for the sea 
 and baths, though much so in mind and feelings for 
 the great attentions and kindnesses I received. A 
 lame old woman is, however, best at home. Poor 
 dear Dr. Chalmers ! he passed four or five as happy 
 days as he could pass with the daughter of J. J. ; 
 he could not rest without going, and was so charm- 
 ing : he died two days after. He left Darlington 
 well; but went home, as it proved, to die. He 
 was every day, when there, going to write to me, 
 and I was just about to write to him, from Cromer, 
 when he died." 
 
 " (6fch mo., 19th.) I have been reading the Life of 
 Sarah Martin. It made me shed many tears, from 
 the sense of her superior virtue, and of my own 
 inferiority. "What an example she was, and how 
 illustrative her life, of what that of a humble but 
 real and confiding Christian should be ! and her 
 end was one of intense bodily suffering ; as Pope 
 says of some one 
 
 " ' Heaven, as its purest gold, by torture tried, 
 The saint sustain'd it, but the woman died.' 
 
 "W. Allen's admirable Life I have read quite 
 through, with delight and, I hope, instruction." 
 
 Mrs. Opie visited her friends at Brooke in the 
 following month ; and writing shortly after to Miss 
 Gurney, said: " ... I received, before I went 
 
LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 207 
 
 to Brooke, a very valuable present from Lord 
 Brougham, which he had ordered to be sent two 
 months ago, and I expected. It arrived at last, 
 and is a folio volume, two nails thick, containing 
 the evidence before the select committee of the 
 House of Lords, appointed to inquire into the 
 execution of the criminal law, especially respecting 
 juvenile offenders and transportation. It interests 
 me, and I dare say I shall read it through 
 
 " My head is full of this horrible, most horrible 
 of murders at Paris. I am glad I do not know the 
 parties concerned. I earnestly hope that, if he 
 must die, he will be allowed no privileges on 
 account of his rank; 3 the people would not bear 
 it, and the Most High 'is no respecter of persons.' 
 
 "If my aunt's health allow, I intend to go to 
 the Birkbecks' ere long, for a few days ; but yester- 
 day I conceived an alarm concerning her, poor 
 dear, and I must talk to her medical man on the 
 subject." 
 
 This alarm proved to be well grounded; Mrs. 
 E. Alder son sank gradually, and at length expired, 
 at a very advanced age, on the 10th of January, 
 1848. 
 
 The time had now come, when Mrs. Opie was 
 able to carry into effect an intention she had long 
 entertained. She felt very desirous to have a 
 house of her own ; it had become, indeed, neces- 
 sary to her comfort ; and after long consideration, 
 at length she fixed upon the house on Castle 
 
208 LIFE Or AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 Meadow, which she inhabited during the re- 
 mainder of her life. Before removing, or rather 
 preparatory to doing so, she went up to London 
 to spend some months there, according to her old 
 usage. Four years had elapsed since she visited 
 the metropolis, and the present occasion proved 
 one of much enjoyment. She bade adieu to Lady's- 
 lane on the 6th of April, and journeyed to town, 
 availing herself there of the cordial invitations 
 given her by her friends in Russell-square and 
 Langham-place. Much occurred, during her stay, 
 to interest and cheer her, of which she wrote 
 accounts to her friends at home. She made short 
 excursions to Hampstead, Hornsey, "Wandsworth, 
 and Tottenham, and went to hear the speeches at 
 Harrow. She also attended all the Friends' Meet- 
 ings, and was present as well at the Missionary and 
 Bible Meetings, in all which she took a lively 
 interest. Her letters show that she still retained 
 much of her wonted energy, and interested herself 
 in the stirring events going on around her. 
 
 The following is selected from among others, 
 written at this time, as being of the most general 
 interest : 
 
 " To Thomas BrigUwell. 
 
 " Russell-square ; 5th mo., 22nd, 1848. 
 " MY DEAK FKIEND, 
 
 " I have been intending to write to thee 
 for some time past, but was prevented. My career 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 209 
 
 has been a very pleasant one, spite of occasionally 
 great lameness ; but though I always limp, I am 
 not always in pain, and I find it possible to bear 
 with patience the ill which can't, I fear, be ever 
 cured. 
 
 " I will, as briefly as possible, give thee a sketch 
 of my goings on. A dinner at Lord Denman's 
 was my pleasantest. I met Mr, Justice Erie, the 
 new judge, and Mr. "Warren, the author of " Ten 
 Thousand a Tear." These gentlemen and my host 
 talked across the table, and most pleasant were 
 the dinner hours, as well as those which succeeded. 
 . . ... . . More of this when we meet, if I am per- 
 mitted to return in health and safety. 
 
 " The next prosperity was, my going to a private 
 view at the Society of Arts and Sciences, in the 
 Adelphi, where Barry's pictures were lighted up, 
 and the wonderful and beautiful specimens of new 
 English arts and manufactures exhibited to those 
 able and willing to purchase ; and it was to be that 
 unusual thing, an evening private view beginning at 
 ten o'clock. My kind friend, Lady C. B., gave me 
 a ticket, and, after Jicurs at the Bible Meeting and 
 a dinner at Baron Alderson's, I went to the place 
 of rendezvous. I was the first person there; so 
 that I could survey all the lovely things and exqui- 
 site pictures, long and well known to me, before 
 any one came ; but the room filled at length, and 
 the Bishop of Norwich told me he never saw 
 
 p 
 
210 LIEE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 more of the nobility assembled. I saw many old 
 acquaintances, and made many new. 
 
 " Last 6th day (yesterday week) I dined at Sir 
 J. Boileaii'8 5 I met Guizot, the American ambas- 
 sador, and our bishop. After dinner, we all went 
 to the Royal Institution, to hear a lecture on the 
 Greek Anthology, by Mr. Newton. Lady C. B. 
 and I sat on a form near the lecturer ; in front 
 of him was another chair for the president, the 
 Duke of Northumberland ; and on a chair, placed 
 on his right hand, was Guizot; on his left, the 
 American ambassador ; par consequent, we con- 
 ceived this was meant as a compliment to Guizot, 
 who seems much noticed. 
 
 " Now, to finish with my visit at Claremont. 
 The ex-queen fixed the day and hour by Madame 
 de Montjoye, her lady. I hired a clarence and two 
 horses, and borrowed J. Bell's servant, and, in a 
 broiling day, set off on my fifteen miles' journey. 
 Madame de Montjoye came to me first, and said 
 the Queen would soon come to me. She did, and 
 I cannot express my feeling, when I thought ol 
 the change in her position since we met. I could 
 scarcely speak, while she pressed my hands most 
 affectionately, and called me, Ma chere bonne Opie, 
 que vous etes bonne de venir me voir ! ' At last 
 she sat, and desired I would do the same. . . . 
 After half-an-hour, she rose and said she was very 
 sorry to go, but she must, because she had letters 
 to write, which were to go to Paris that morning 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 211 
 
 again she took my hands, and pressed them to her 
 heart, I not being able to speak, from rising tears. 
 At length I got out that 6 Les paroles me man- 
 quaient, et que je ne pouvais pas exprimer les 
 sentiments que f eprouvais ? and I almost wished 
 to kiss as well as press the hand I held. Madame 
 de Montjoye gave me her arm to the other room, 
 and we parted most cordially 
 
 " Thy attached friend, 
 
 "A. OPIE." 
 
 Mrs. Opie's stay in London was cut short by 
 her increasing indisposition. She had prepared to 
 go on a visit to Mr. S. G-urney, when, on the 7th 
 of July, she had a severe access of her disorder 
 and Sir B. Brodie recommending rest and quiet, 
 after a week's nursing, she returned to Norwich. 
 
CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 from London on the 14th June, 
 1848, Mrs. Opie took possession of her new house 
 on the Castle Meadow. She looked back with 
 pleasure upon the time she had passed in town, 
 and said, " Never, indeed, did I have a more grati- 
 fying reception than I met with from all my friends, 
 of different ranks, this time of my being there." 
 Fortunately, her choice of an abode proved satis- 
 factory ; she thoroughly liked it from the first, and 
 conceived the happy idea, that Dr. Alderson 
 would have been pleased with it ; "for," she said, 
 " he would have enjoyed this lively scene, and 
 he often wished to have a house in this locality." 
 When she had become quite settled in it, she wrote : 
 . ..." I am every day more charmed with my 
 new house and home. I feel it a very desirable 
 house to die in that is, to be ill in c a pleasant 
 cradle for reposing age ; ' and I do so love to 
 look at my noble trees, and my castle turrets 
 rising above them ; and when the leaves fall off, I 
 shall still have the pleasure of seeing the green 
 and grassy mound of the castle. From one of the 
 windows of my drawing-room I see the woods and 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 213 
 
 rising grounds of Thorpe. I neither see nor hear 
 the cattle on market days ; and I am quite happy 
 in my choice, and deeply thankful that ' the lines 
 have fallen to me in pleasant places ; ' indeed, I 
 have no desagrements at all, that I am conscious of, 
 in my new abode." 
 
 In the month of October she made a short stay 
 at Lowestoft ; but the fatigue brought on a return 
 of her malady, and in one of her letters she wrote : 
 " I came from Lowestoft apparently well, but 
 soon became ill, and was obliged to send for Dr. 
 Hull, who was at first alarmed at my symptoms ; 
 but I was not, as he kept his fears to himself. 
 My sufferings were great indeed, and I never was 
 so conscious of his judgment as while observing 
 the truly efficacious manner in which he treated 
 me. I rallied immediately, and was able, with his 
 leave, to go to Sir J. Boileau's to stay two days 
 and nights. I was charmed with M. Gruizot, who 
 was one of the guests. His manners are very 
 simple, and he played at 'jeuoc de societi ' with us 
 young people at night, and enjoyed it as much as 
 we did. It is, indeed, a great favour to be per- 
 mitted still to enjoy life so much as I do, in com- 
 pany ; but it is a far greater one to be able to 
 
 enjoy equally my lonely hours How fearful 
 
 is the state of things on the Continent, and who 
 knows what the result will be ? But I read the 
 46th Psalm, and remember who reigneth, and I 
 trust in Him, and am at peace." 
 
214 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 Shortly after, referring to the fearful crimes 
 which were committed during that autumn, she 
 says : 
 
 " I heard, at that blessed City Mission Meeting 
 which I attended the other evening, that our 
 county is reckoned one of the worst for crime and 
 ignorance ; and now comes that murder by whole- 
 sale at Stanfield ; indeed, every week I read of 
 two or three murders and other atrocities." 
 
 Mrs. Opie appears to have sympathized, to some 
 extent, with the opinion that there is an injurious 
 tendency in the great publicity at present given 
 to crime; and the disposition to dwell upon its 
 details, so as to possess the minds of the people with 
 all its horrors. She read the daily papers, in 
 which the same case is repeatedly brought to notice 
 week after week, and the particulars of everything 
 connected with the offence minutely given; and 
 became possessed with an idea that murders and 
 horrors were multiplied in proportion^ to the in- 
 creased notoriety given them. 
 
 In the month of March, she went to visit Miss 
 Ghirney, and returned from Northrepps on the 
 morning of the Lent Assizes, when the trial of the 
 notorious B-ush came on. She did not attend on 
 that occasion, adhering to her constant determina- 
 tion, never to be present in the criminal court in 
 a capital case ; but, in one of her notes, she gives 
 a lively picture of her feelings during the time the 
 trial was going on: 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 215 
 
 " I know not what to do to-day, except look at 
 the Castle, and watch the crowd on the plain, and 
 the people continually passing ; few walking, but 
 most running, as if too much excited to do other- 
 wise. Eush is on his defence. ... I dread to hear 
 the verdict, and yet I wish all was over." The 
 evening of the 2nd day : " On my castle turrets, 
 to the west, the sun set gloriously this evening, 
 converting it into a mass of red granite ; and, 
 while I write, the moon is shining into my room, 
 looking tranquillity. But what is passing within 
 those castle walls ? A' man, fierce as a tiger, is 
 
 struggling for life at the awful bar of justice 
 
 What hundreds are passing to and fro, and what 
 various sounds I hear! now children and boys 
 laughing and shouting; then, men, congregated 
 under my windows, and talking; but always, 
 within those walls, I see that wretched man, 
 writhing in mental agony, and against what I fancy 
 he now believes inevitable doom." 
 
 In the summer assizes Mrs. Opie was in her 
 usual place in court, and with how much lively 
 interest she watched the proceedings is evident 
 in the following letter, which she wrote to me 
 I being in Leicestershire at that time. 
 
 " Castle Meadow, 8th mo., 4th, 1849. 
 
 " Well, C. L., how art thou now ? And so thou 
 hast trodden where Hobin Hood did. He was one 
 of my heroes when I was young ; and, at sixteen, 
 
216 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 when driving through. Sherwood Forest, I insisted 
 on getting out, to walk through it, and tread where 
 he and his merry men had trodden. Thy papa 
 has been very kind to me, and saw me safe home 
 when I walked two evenings together from the 
 Shirehall, where I was from nine to six on the sixth 
 day, and from nine to nine on the following day ; 
 that is, twelve hours on Saturday, and without 
 refreshment of any kind, save two gingerbread 
 cakes ; but I wanted nothing, so completely did 
 mind conquer matter. It was one cause only, 
 which lasted from twelve on Friday to six that 
 evening ; and the next day, from nine to nine ; and 
 so interesting it was to me, my attention never 
 flagged a minute, and when I got home I was 
 quite as able and bright as when I went into 
 court. It was Lord W. Poulett's action against 
 our railway company for damage done to his 
 property and his tenants by the fire emitted from 
 the train. I never saw a clearer case proved. I 
 had no bias either way ; if I had any leaning, it 
 was to the Norwich persons, the defendants ; but 
 I felt sure the verdict was a just one. It was for 
 the plaintiff. The fire may be kept in, but they 
 must take more trouble, and go to more expense ; 
 and I believe this action will save property, if not 
 lives. B. spoke admirably, and the judge was 
 excellent also. I assure thee, this calling up of all 
 my energies has done me great good. Except in 
 my lameness, I am as well as ever I was in my 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 217 
 
 life ; and, at the palace the other evening, I walked 
 across the room to my fly, having hold of A. S., and 
 did not limp. It is, to my feelings, so cold a day 
 that I am sitting by a large fire in my smaller 
 drawing-room. . . . There, my letter is longer than 
 thine, and I have already written four besides this, 
 so hasten to conclude. 
 
 " Thine faithfully and affectionately, 
 
 "A. OPIE." 
 
 In August, Mrs. Opie spent a week in Cam- 
 bridgeshire, visiting some kind friends at Mel- 
 bourne Bury, and returning home shortly before 
 the lamented death of Bishop Stanley. This was 
 a grief which, as she herself expressed it, cast a 
 shadow over the remainder of her days, and to 
 which she could never refer without deep emotion. 
 How many hearts grieved when the solemn sound 
 of the bell announced to the inhabitants of the 
 city this melancholy event ! Every one felt that it 
 told of a general loss, and that a good and holy 
 man had been taken from among them ; and when, 
 in compliance with the wish of the honoured and 
 beloved prelate, his remains were brought to rest 
 in that cathedral, where his voice had so often 
 been heard, there was a mournful satisfaction in 
 the conviction that his heart had loved the people 
 for whom he had laboured with an unfailing 
 charity and with a ceaseless zeal. Several refer- 
 ences are made, in Mrs. Opie's notes, to this 
 
218 LIFE OE AMELIA OP1E. 
 
 fc 
 
 event. At the time it happened, she was sur- 
 rounded by a large circle of her relatives; and 
 while they remained with her, she said, " I was 
 taken from myself; but now regret is uppermost 
 again. How I feel for the dear bereaved ones!" 
 Again, she says, (9th mo., 20th) . ..." I cannot 
 reconcile myself to this great loss to me ; and, as 
 yet, can scarcely believe I am awake, and not in a 
 delirium. I can't believe he can be gone for ever. 
 He came to take leave of me, and I am recalling 
 all his looks and words. I followed him to the 
 top of the stairs ; he said he was to be gone a 
 month, and that he wanted rest ; and I would not 
 call him back, if I could ; he was weary, and is gone 
 to his rest the rest of the people of Grod." 
 
 In the course of this autumn, Mrs. Opie paid 
 several short visits to her friends in the neighbour- 
 hood of Norwich ; the last of which was to Keswick 
 Hall. On her return home, she was attacked with 
 a severe inflammation of the right eye, which 
 caused her much pain, and compelled her to sit in 
 a darkened room. This confinement was trying in 
 many respects to her, but her usual cheerfulness 
 and Jmidly response to every endeavour to enliven 
 her hours, were pleasing and instructive, and still 
 more endeared her to the hearts of those who loved 
 her. There was nothing of the selfishness and 
 irritation of age betrayed in her words or looks ; 
 but the same delighted interest in the welfare of 
 others was still evident, accompanied by a loving 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 219 
 
 spirit of thankfulness for all kindness sho^rn to 
 herself. 
 
 The spring, with its cheering influences, relieved 
 her indisposition, and she was able to pay her usual 
 visit to Northrepps in the month of April, return- 
 ing home on the 16th of May. At the Midsummer 
 assizes, Baron Alderson and Mr. Justice Patteson 
 being on the Norfolk circuit, Mrs, Opie went into 
 court, accompanied by some of her relatives ; and 
 not being able to walk, in consequence of her in- 
 creased lameness, was carried thither in a sedan 
 chair. It was her last- visit to that scene which for 
 so many years she had been Wont to frequent. 
 She did not neglect, on this occasion, to make her 
 usual offering of a bouquet to the judge. 
 
 In the month of September she attended the 
 annual meeting of the Bible Society, in St. Andrew's 
 Hall ; and in November she was present at that of 
 the City Mission. These meetings cheered her 
 spirits, and she " closed another year very happily." 
 
 In 1851, after a visit at Keswick, Mrs. Opie, 
 on the 7th of May, travelled to London, and 
 took up her residence with her friends in E/ussell- 
 square. During her stay, she attended several 
 meetings at Devonshire House and Westminster 
 meeting, and paid numerous visits to her friends 
 and acquaintances. She felt that it was her last 
 visit, and seemed desirous to take a farewell look 
 at all her old haunts. She would go to the various 
 shops she had been wont to frequent, and at every 
 
220 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 turn was met by some one who recognized and 
 welcomed her. She was greatly interested, too, in 
 visiting the Great Exhibition, being among the few 
 privileged persons who, from age or infirmity, re- 
 quiring chairs, had the entree an hour before the 
 usual time. After the public were admitted, she 
 remained, sitting in the transept an hour, enjoying 
 the sight of the many hundreds who rushed in, 
 among whom were several of the Society of Friends, 
 and others known to her, who gathered around her 
 chair, and cordially greeted her. 
 
 Mrs. Opie left Bussell-square on the 19bh of June, 
 for Ham House (Mr. S. G-urney's), where she stayed 
 two days. Her homeward journey was rendered 
 uncomfortable by some derangement of the railway 
 engine, so that they were twice stopped on the 
 road, and had to change carriages. On arriving 
 safely at home, she expressed her gratitude for the 
 mercies she had enjoyed during this journey, and 
 added, " These alarms have been warnings to me 
 that, in my infirm state, I must not venture on the 
 line again. So, railway, farewell! " 
 
 During the course of the autumn, numerous short 
 visits were paid to different friends in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Norwich ; and although suffering much, 
 and almost constantly, from pain, she was bright 
 and cheerful ; but the afflictions and bereavements of 
 those she loved awakened her sympathy, and drew 
 from her this expression of her feeling : " It is a 
 heavy trial to witness the sorrows of others, and to 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 221 
 
 be called on to survive so many dear ones, younger 
 than one's-self. It has been my fate to do, and 
 seems likely to continue so to be ; but still I think 
 and feel that He doeth all things well, and I hope 
 to be always able to say with the patriarch, 
 " Though He slay me, yet will I trust in him." 
 
 Mrs. Opie attended, for the last time, the annual 
 meeting of the Bible Society in St. Andrew's Hall, 
 in the month of September. She says : " I had 
 been nursing for it two days, and was so glad to be 
 able to go. I did so enjoy it, in spite of certain 
 reminiscences of 'auld-lang syne.' The bishop's 
 speech was charming and judicious, and, to me, so 
 affecting, that it brought me to tears. He paid a 
 just and touching tribute to the memory of Andrew 
 Brandram. Last year, he (A. B.) came to me, 
 while I was waiting for my carriage, and I con- 
 gratulated him on his good looks ; he looked ten 
 years younger than when I saw him last : and there 
 was I yesterday, years older than himself, sitting 
 there, in health, though not with my once active 
 limbs ; and lie was in his grave." 
 
 In November, her final visit to Northrepps Cot- 
 tage was paid. On the 2nd of January following 
 (1852), she was attacked with rheumatic gout in 
 her feet, which confined her to her bed two months, 
 and never afterwards entirely left her. The follow- 
 ing note, written to Miss Grurney shortly after this 
 time, shows her happy resignation and cheerful 
 spirit amid increasing infirmities : 
 
222 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 " Castle Meadow, 3rd mo., 5th, 1852. 
 " MY DEAKEST ANNA, 
 
 " I was very sorry not to be able to see 
 
 JR. yesterday, but I was denied to every one 
 
 while my visitor was with uie, as I had much to say 
 to her. The cold of this day has kept me in bed, 
 and one of my feet has been very painful. How 
 many things I want to. say to thee, but I can't say 
 them ; but I am very thankful for what I can do, 
 and I do not repine at what I can't do ; and life 
 flies only too fast. I do not see, at present, any 
 chance of my speedy recovery ; but life has still its 
 charms. I am glad to have an excuse for lying in 
 bed all day ; it is so troublesome to move from bed 
 to chair, and thence to sofa 
 
 " I am ever thine most affectionately, 
 
 "A. OPIE." 
 
 A lew passages, selected from her notes, will be 
 read with pleasure : " (4th mo., 18th). My prisms 
 are, to-day, quite in their glory ; the atmosphere 
 must be very clear, for the radiance is brighter than 
 I ever saw it before. Surely, the mansions in heaven 
 must be draped with such unparalleled colours!" 
 " (5th mo., 4th.) Oh ! Captain Gardiner and his 
 crew ! how I have cried over their deaths, and yet 
 how enviable was the state of their minds ; how 
 meek and entire their resignation ; how blessed 
 their entrance into their Redeemer's kingdom, and 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 223 
 
 their awaiting welcome there! I have read it 
 through three times, as though fascinated." " (5th 
 mo., 18th.) No one, surely, ever had so many 
 kind friends as I have. I can truly say, that I 
 have every alleviation of my suffering that I can 
 have, and have every comfort that I desire, and I 
 do not want any nursing but that I have. Mine 
 has been a lonely lot latterly, but I have never felt 
 it painfully so ; and I believe the happiest persons 
 are those who have the fewest wants. The great 
 I AM is more even-handed than we think him." 
 
 In the month of September, Mrs. Opie once 
 more repaired to Cromer. She remained there for 
 a fortnight, and had two rooms on the ground floor 
 of the house in which she lodged, where she could 
 lie in bed, and watch the billows as they rolled. 
 Numerous friends flocked about her ; amongst 
 them some whose daily visits cheered her, and the 
 various little kindnesses she received, though small 
 in themselves, were yet valued as tokens of love, 
 and were mentioned with grateful remembrance , 
 Beaching home in safety, she wrote, shortly after 
 her return, to Miss GKirney. 
 
 " 9th mo., 26tJi, 1852. 
 " DEAEEST ANNA, 
 
 " I had a pleasant journey home, arriving 
 comfortably at my own door ; but the passage up- 
 stairs, which I made in my basket-chair, was not 
 quite so agreeable. ... It grieves my heart to 
 
224 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 think that I am not any nearer at present than I 
 was, to get to the Bible meeting and my quarterly 
 meeting ; but I am not up to the exertions neces- 
 sary. It is heart-breaking, almost, to me, to miss 
 a Bible meeting. This is the first I ever omitted, 
 and I did not with any certainty look forward to 
 another. I am able to say, although I give it up 
 most unwillingly, His will be done ! ' I am come 
 home with a cold ; but nothing to make me regret 
 one hour spent at Cromer. I had so many dear 
 friends to see, and some new ones to welcome, and 
 am returned more enamoured of Cromer than 
 ever. Pare well. I must now lie down and sleep. 
 
 " Thy ever affectionate 
 
 "A. OPIE." 
 
 Three months later she wrote : " I shall pro- 
 bably never be able to go out again ; and the idea 
 of being confined to my bed is anything but dis- 
 agreeable. "What a mercy this is ! Thankfully, as 
 well as reverently, I can repeat, ' His mercies are 
 new every morning.' I must, however, own, that 
 being unable to go to meeting is a continually 
 recurring trial ; but I hope by spring, if I live so 
 long, I may have contrived a way to get there 
 again : all I ask is, to be made more and more 
 resigned to the Divine will, whatever it may be." 
 
 During the course of the summer, many of Mrs. 
 Opie's relatives visited her; their presence seemed 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 225 
 
 greatly to cheer and comfort her, and she fre- 
 quently spoke of the delight it gave her to see 
 them all. The strong feeling of family attachment 
 which characterized her through life, was retained 
 to the last. She also evinced the deepest sym- 
 pathy with her beloved cousin, Lady Milman, whom 
 she knew to be dying, and who, in fact, survived 
 her but a very short time, constantly inquiring for 
 her, and suggesting anything which occurred to 
 her mind, as likely to contribute to her comfort ; 
 expressing also her joy, that the confidence of this 
 dear relative was, like her own, placed on the 
 blessed promises of the gospel, and thus secure for 
 eternity. The departure of the lamented "William 
 Forster to America, on a mission in behalf of the 
 slave, was a great trial to her ; he had been her 
 friend and counsellor one to whom she looked for 
 help and support, and from whose lips she had 
 drunk in truth and wisdom. It was his preaching 
 which first led her to attend the meetings of 
 Friends, and she rejoiced in the fond hope that the 
 intercourse she had so long enjoyed with him 
 would be permitted her even to the end of life ; 
 but when she saw him on the eve of departure, 
 she felt that she should "see his face no more," 
 and with a heavy heart she wrote : " (7th mo., 
 28th.) Dearest W. Forster going away, not to 
 return again, I fear, till I am no more. I shall 
 not, however, own this to him. How very much I 
 feel the return of this season this year ! The dead 
 
 Q 
 
226 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 have been more present with nie than the living, 
 but that is very natural. I am writing in bed 
 the place, now, I love best. Alas ! to the house of 
 the Lord I cannot go, and that is indeed an evil." 
 
 On the 21st of October, Mrs. Opie appeared 
 much as usual : during that morning she received 
 several friends, and was highly interested by a visit 
 from Lieutenant Cresswell, who had recently re- 
 turned to England with despatches, bringing news 
 of the discovery of the north-west passage, though 
 not, alas ! of the finding of Sir John Franklin. His 
 communications excited her lively sympathy, and, 
 as the grandson of Mrs. Fry, his presence alone 
 sufficed to awaken the slumbering remembrances of 
 the past. The following day she was evidently 
 somewhat fatigued, although able to write several 
 short notes ; in one of them, addressed to Miss 
 G-urney, she speaks with pleasure of seeing some 
 friends who had dined at her house, and attended 
 the Bible meeting ; and she concludes, " I could not 
 accompany them ; nor can I, perhaps, expect to go 
 out again. "Well ! all good and all evil here will 
 soon be over with me now. I am abundantly 
 thankful for everything ; for I feel that ' His mer- 
 cies are new every morning. 7 How I wish thou 
 and dear Lady Buxton could have been my guests 
 yesterday ! It was really a very enjoyable time, 
 and the only drawback was, my being unable to go 
 to the meetings, and to dine below stairs." 
 
 The next day was Sunday : early in the morning 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 227 
 
 she became very restless and unwell ; and her own 
 maid, perceiving symptoms unusual with her mis- 
 tress, sent immediately for Dr. Hull, who desired 
 that she might be kept perfectly quiet. 
 
 I had been frequently in the habit, since Mrs. 
 Opie's confinement to the house, of spending an 
 hour with her on Sunday morning, when there was 
 not the usual influx of visitors, and she seemed to 
 enjoy having a quiet chat. That day I called as 
 usual, but the mandate of the doctor was com- 
 municated to me, and, of course, obeyed. It was 
 with a strange feeling of disquiet that I turned 
 away from the door-step, and as I slowly bent my 
 course homewards, I reflected over the incidents of 
 the past few months. Tes ; there had certainly 
 been some tokens of enfeebled powers a partial 
 failure of memory an occasional loss in the thread 
 of her conversation, and at times an inability to 
 express clearly her meaning. Once or twice, too, 
 an ominous sentence had been dropped that startled 
 her friends : " When I am gone," " I feel I shall 
 
 not be here long." To her old friend, the Rev. II 
 
 T , she had said, when he was about to leave 
 
 her, " Don't be long before you come again, for I 
 am on the wing;" and in reply to his question, 
 "Do you really mean that?" she said, after a 
 moment's hesitation, "Tes, yes! I do" All 
 these slight indications of evil now recurred to 
 my mind; but still there were counterbalancing 
 recollections. Her aunt had lived .more than 
 
228 LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 ninety years, and Mrs. Opie was so cheerful and 
 bright, her carriage so erect, her general bearing 
 so animated, and she looked so much as she had 
 long done, though somewhat more pallid, that, 
 after all, these occasional symptoms were probably 
 merely the inevitable results of advancing age, 
 and her foreboding expressions the effects of con- 
 finement and seclusion. So whispered Hope, and 
 I put aside the thought of alarm, and did not 
 realize that the end was at hand. 
 
 On the evening of that Sunday a message was 
 sent from her medical attendant, to the effect that 
 she was very ill might not perhaps survive many 
 hours ; and as she had desired, in case of any 
 sudden attack of illness, that " her friend, Thomas 
 Brightwell," should be sent for, he had felt it to 
 be his duty to inform him of her condition. In 
 a few hours, however, the more alarming symptoms 
 subsided, and the gout appeared externally, and 
 fixed itself in the right heel. 
 
 Mrs. Opie survived nearly six weeks from that 
 day, being unable to leave her bed, and suffering 
 greatly. At first there was much of her usual 
 cheerfulness and buoyancy of spirit about her, and 
 she evidently entertained no apprehension of the 
 fatal nature of the attack. She evinced an interest 
 in the events occurring around her, and frequently 
 made inquiries and observations that showed her 
 sympathies were lively, and her recollection unim- 
 paired. Her constant patience and cheerful en- 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 229 
 
 durance under suffering were truly exemplary. No 
 murmuring word or look did she suffer to escape 
 her ; on the contrary, when her pain was alluded 
 to, and compassionated, she gently made answer, 
 "I think more of my mercies than of my trials." 
 She had learned, like the apostle Paul, in every- 
 thing to give thanks, and to draw from tribulation 
 itself the sweet blessing of patient hope. 
 
 I am reminded, in thus speaking, of her own 
 lines, written some time previous to her last illness, 
 entitled " Thanksgiving," and, as they are very 
 illustrative of her feeling, and afford a pleasing 
 specimen of her religious poetry, I give them 
 here : 
 
 THANKSGIVING. 
 
 " There's not a leaf within the bower, 
 There 's not a bird upon the tree, 
 There 's not a dewdrop on the flower, 
 But bears the impress, Lord, of thee. 
 
 " Thy hand the varied leaf design'd, 
 
 And gave the bird its thrilling tone ; 
 Thy power the dewdrop 's tints combined, 
 Till like a diamond's blaze they shone. 
 
 " Yes, dewdrops, leaves, and buds, and all, 
 
 The smallest, like the greatest things, 
 The sea's vast space, the earth's wide ball, 
 Alike proclaim thee King of kings. 
 
 " But man alone to bounteous heaven 
 
 Thanksgiving's conscious strains can raise ; 
 To favour'd man alone 'tis given 
 To join the angelic choir in praise." 
 
230 LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 During the last three or four weeks of her life 
 she became greatly worse ; her weakness increased, 
 she took but little nourishment, and suffered much 
 distressing pain in the hip and in the heel. 
 Throughout this trying season, her kind, gentle, 
 and watchful friend, Mary Brown, remained in con- 
 stant and unwearying attendance beside her, minis- 
 tering to her wants, and answering the numerous 
 inquiries, personal and epistolary, of her friends. 
 
 The frequent presence and attention of her 
 cousin, the Eev. R. Alderson, was another great 
 comfort to Mrs. Opie ; happily, he was able to give 
 much of his time to her, and she missed him when 
 he was absent, and anxiously inquired when he 
 would return. A great satisfaction it was to him, 
 doubtless, to render these last and important ser- 
 vices to his honoured relative. 
 
 On more than one occasion she had been heard 
 to express the hope that her friend, Wm. Forster, 
 would be with her during her last hours ; but this 
 wish was not granted her. Other Christian friends . 
 paid her visits of religious instruction and conso- 
 lation, which afforded her comfort and assistance ; 
 but soothing as are the offices of friendship, and 
 precious the prayers of the righteous under such 
 circumstances, how unavailing is all human minis- 
 tration when heart and flesh are failing ! It is then 
 the soul realizes its independence, and the ineffi- 
 ciency of earthly help, and feels with whom it has 
 to do, and knows that for itself, and alone, it must 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 231 
 
 stand in the presence of the Holy One. And so it 
 was in this instance. Alone, in the night season, 
 her voice was heard in supplication, pouring out 
 the desires of her spirit to her Eedeemer. The 
 pathetic utterances of resignation, amidst pain and 
 anguish, were audible to those who watched beside 
 her couch. ""What am. I," she said, thinking 
 aloud, " that I should expect to escape suffering ? 
 This, also, is meant for my good." Often, too, she 
 was heard repeating to herself texts of Scripture 
 and hymns; and on more than one occasion she 
 called for her Bible, and for "Wesley's Hymn Book 
 (her much-used copy of which, now in my posses- 
 sion, is full of her marks, and turned down at her 
 favourite hymns), and sitting up in her bed, read 
 aloud to her maids, as it had been her constant 
 habit to do. 
 
 Mrs. Opie often spoke during her illness of the 
 kindness of her friends, and evinced the most 
 tender interest in them ; weeping, as she men- 
 tioned the proofs of their affectionate remembrance, 
 and sending touching messages in reply to their 
 inquiries. " Tell them," she said, " I have suffered 
 great pain ; but I think on Him who suffered for 
 me." "Say that I am trusting in my Saviour; 
 and ask them to pray for me." And, when told 
 by one of those who visited her, that many prayers 
 were offered for her, she said (and a tear glistened 
 in her eye), " It were worth while to be ill, to have 
 the prayers of our friends." 
 
232 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 Latterly, there was a striking change in her per- 
 sonal appearance. So completely was her coun- 
 tenance altered, that it would have been impossible 
 for any one, even of those who knew her best, to 
 recognize her. The only vestige remaining of her 
 former looks, was a peculiar uplifting of the eye, 
 accompanied by a slight shake of the head. Her 
 articulation also became so imperfect, that it was 
 very difficult to distinguish what she said ; and for 
 very weakness, her head lay, bent sideways, appa- 
 rently powerless, on the cushion. Her debility 
 now visibly and rapidly increased. She refused 
 almost all nourishment, and seemed to crave no 
 other refreshment than " cold water," for which 
 she frequently called. It was evident that her end 
 was approaching. 
 
 On the last Sunday of Mrs. Opie's life (the 27th 
 November) I went, accompanied by my father, to 
 pay a farewell visit to the bedside of our dying 
 friend. She lay propped up on pillows and cush- 
 ions, extremely feeble, but perfectly clear in her 
 intellect, calm, and composed. She had become 
 conscious of her danger, and anticipated her ap- 
 proaching departure. This she intimated by say- 
 ing, " The last few days I have been preparing to 
 go;"* In reply to my inquiry what she meant to 
 
 * The preparation to which she alluded, had reference to 
 some small directions she had dictated to her maid, a few even- 
 ings hefore, to be communicated to her executor ; at the close of 
 which she said, "I should have liked to give little remembrances 
 to all my friends, and have taken leave of them; but I have done 
 the best I can." 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 233 
 
 convey by these words, she said, " "Why to die, 
 child, to be sure!" " You have long been pre- 
 pared to die, we hope." "I hope so indeed," she 
 replied ; " there is only one way." 
 
 There she lay, helpless, dying, alone. Could all 
 those whom she had served and loved have been 
 permitted to gather around her couch, what a 
 cloud of witnesses, circle within circle, had thronged 
 that small chamber with looks of tender sympathy ! 
 Impelled by some such thought, I said, as I bent 
 over her " It is a great thing to be loved as you 
 are loved. How many ask anxiously for tidings of 
 you!" She raised her eyes to mine, with an ex- 
 pressive gesture, and appeared to wait a confirma- 
 tion of this assurance, and looked satisfied on re- 
 ceiving it. She responded, too, with evident earnest- 
 ness of feeling, to the expression of the hope that 
 she was soon about to rejoin those dear ones, whom 
 she had loved so well, and who were gone before. 
 
 From time to time she uttered a few broken 
 words, and once said, with a piteous look, " I am 
 very thirsty ;" but her weakness was too great to 
 allow of more than an occasional sentence. It was 
 truly distressing to gaze upon her entirely changed 
 countenance and exhausted frame, and to feel the 
 sorrowful conviction that we were looking on her 
 for the last time. 
 
 At the former part of her illness, Mrs. Opie's 
 natural warmth of affection and lively interest in 
 those whom she loved, seemed to induce her still 
 
234 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 to cling to life ; and while she said that, on look- 
 ing back and contemplating the past, the time 
 appeared to her long in the review, yet she inti- 
 mated it would be sweet to live a little longer, if 
 permitted to do so, "were it not still better to 
 depart." But, as the end approached, there seemed 
 to be a gradual giving up of her hold on the pre- 
 sent life, and the few words she uttered showed 
 that her thoughts were on heavenly things. On 
 the night of the 30th, she said to her cousin, " All 
 is peace;" and afterwards, when Mr. S. Gurney 
 was present, she gave it as her dying testimony, 
 " All is mercy." 
 
 During the last five days of existence, her suffer- 
 ings were protracted and severe. Hers were " the 
 groans, and pains, and dying strife" of a mortal 
 conflict. But her faith and patience failed not ; 
 and at length the angel-messenger came, and she 
 was released. 
 
 At midnight, on Eriday, the 2nd of December, 
 1853, Amelia Opie breathed her last. 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 IT appears to me that, in closing these pages, 
 I cannot do better than give my readers the testi- 
 mony of one who long knew and deeply revered 
 her of whom they speak. Her friend and execu- 
 tor, Mr. Brightwell, in his Preface to the " Me- 
 morials of the Life of A. Opie," says : 
 
 "My acquaintance with the subject of these 
 memoirs commenced nearly forty years ago ; and 
 well do I remember the first impressions made on 
 me by her frank and open manner, the charm of 
 her fine and animated countenance, her artless 
 cheerfulness and benevolence, and the extraordi- 
 nary powers of her conversation. But it was not 
 till the time of Dr. Alderson's last illness that my 
 acquaintance with Mrs. Opie ripened into confiden- 
 tial friendship. From that period, to the time of 
 her decease, I had the happiness to enjoy much of 
 her society, and to hear her recollections of her 
 earlier days, and her graphic descriptions of the 
 scenes and characters which had been the subjects 
 of interest to her during the course of her long 
 
236 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 life ; and she subsequently often read to me a 
 large portion of the correspondence she continued 
 to maintain. Gifted with an extraordinary memory 
 and reverence for truth, extending even to the 
 minutest details, a disposition to look at the best 
 side of everything and everybody, and with almost 
 dramatic power in the exhibition of character and 
 manners, Mrs. Opie, when she entered into any 
 details of her former life, painted the whole scene 
 with such truthfulness and power, as to make it 
 live before her hearers, and fix it ui their memory. 
 
 " The great leading feature of her character was 
 pure Christian benevolence charity in its highest 
 sense. None who knew her could fail to observe 
 this. Unwearied in her efforts to relieve the dis- 
 tresses of others, and limited in her own means, 
 she was almost ingenious in some of the methods 
 she devised for doing so. Her patience in dealing 
 with the incessant importunities of persons who 
 applied for her aid, was almost more than exem- 
 plary; but she found a blessing in doing goods 
 and in a parting address, dictated, shortly before 
 her death, to me and my daughter, she has not 
 failed touchingly to urge the remembrance of the 
 poor, so as to be blessed by them. 
 
 " Of her religion, the best evidences will be 
 found in the experience of her latter years, and 
 especially the short extracts from her private jour- 
 nals. These, speaking from the depths of her own 
 heart, show how holily and humbly she walked 
 
LTtfE OF AMELIA OPIE. 237 
 
 before her God, how strictly she called herself to 
 account, day by day, and how firmly she relied on 
 the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ as her 
 hope in life and support in death. Mrs. Opie had 
 no liking for religious controversy, and seemed to 
 me always desirous of avoiding it. I believe she 
 disliked dogmatic theology altogether. Her re- 
 ligion was the * showing out of a good conversa- 
 tion her works with meekness of wisdom.' She 
 ever deemed her union with ' the Friends ' the 
 happiest event of her life ; and she did honour to 
 her profession of their principles, by showing that 
 they were not incompatible with good manners 
 and refined taste. She met with some of them, 
 who have always appeared to me to come the 
 nearest to the standard of Christian perfection ; 
 these were her dearest friends on earth, and she is 
 now with them, numbered among the blessed dead, 
 who have died in the Lord, who have ceased from 
 their labours, and their works do follow them." 
 
 The 9th of December was the day appointed for 
 the funeral of Mrs. Opie. She was interred in the 
 Friends' burying-ground at the Gildencroft, in 
 the same grave with her father. About two hun- 
 dred persons, assembled in solemn silence, stood 
 there to meditate ; one voice alone was heard that 
 of a venerable friend, who uttered a few simple 
 scriptural words. It seemed strange to miss from 
 
238 LIFE OE AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 among the sorrowing group around so many who 
 had loved and honoured her. But the eye had 
 only to glance around the green enclosure, and one 
 was reminded that they lay there, beside and 
 around her. Bich, indeed, is that small plot of 
 ground. The good, the honoured, the lovely and 
 beloved, lie there ; some of the best of men and 
 saints, whose prayers drew blessings down from 
 heaven awaiting the day when " the secrets of all 
 hearts shall be made known." li is a hallowed 
 spot, consecrated to holy memories. 
 
 Should any wanderer, at some future day, desire 
 to visit the grave of Amelia Opie, he will find, at 
 the extreme left of the ground, beneath an elm- 
 tree that overshadows the wall, a small slab, bear- 
 ing the names of James Alderson and Amelia 
 Opie, with their ages and the dates of their deaths. 
 
 Among those present on this occasion, was one 
 long and well known to Mrs. Opie, and of whom 
 she has spoken in terms of high eulogy in one of 
 her notes Mr. Hodgkin, a minister of the Friends, 
 who, addressing those around, invited them, after 
 the interment had taken place, to accompany him 
 to the meeting-house, where, a short time having 
 been spent in silence and in prayer, he rose, and 
 spoke, in words very pleasant and judicious, of the 
 dear departed friend whom they had lost. He 
 had known her, he said, from his own earlier days, 
 and when she was very different from what she 
 afterwards became. He believed that the ruling 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 230 
 
 GRAVE OF DR. ALDERSON AND MRS. OPIE, 
 IN TUB FRIENDS' BURIAL-GROUND, NORWICH. 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 241 
 
 principle in her mind, and that which, being im- 
 planted there by Divine grace, had remained the 
 dominant one in her soul, was the love of Christ ; 
 constrained by the sweet influence of which, she 
 had been enabled to maintain much consistent 
 Christian deportment, amidst snares and tempta- 
 tions of peculiar fascination for one endowed by 
 nature, and trained by early habit, as she had been. 
 Much more he added of a nature to impress his 
 hearers with a deep sense of thankfulness for the 
 Divine goodness, and to urge them to pursue with 
 humble and pious zeal the path of Christian de- 
 votedness and obedience. 
 
 It may seem natural and desirable that a few 
 words should be said touching the personal appear- 
 ance of the subject of these memoirs during the 
 latter period of her life. How difficult, and indeed 
 impossible, it is to satisfy yourself when attempt- 
 ing to portray the form and features of those you 
 know most intimately, and have been constantly in 
 the habit of seeing ! This you feel in trying to 
 describe the members of your own family. In the 
 mind's eye their image lives, it is true ; but it is 
 rather as a consciousness; something, as it were, 
 that is interwoven with the secret and hidden ideas 
 of your soul. In a degree this is the case with all 
 those most familiar to you ; and perhaps the rea- 
 son is, that the whole idea of their personality has 
 been formed by degrees, shade after shade, as the 
 events of passing years have left their impress. Be 
 
242 LIFE OF AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 that as it may, the difficulty is known, and will 
 be acknowledged. Yet, for the sake of strangers, 
 rather than to assist the recollections of the friends 
 of Mrs. Opie, I will attempt to give a slight 
 sketch of her. 
 
 She was of about the standard height of woman : 
 her hair was worn in waving folds in front, and 
 behind it was seen through the cap, gathered into 
 a braid; its colour was peculiar betwixt flaxen 
 and grey ; it was unusually fine and delicate, and 
 had a natural bend or wave ; her figure was stout, 
 her throat short ; her carriage was invariably erect, 
 and she bore her head rather thrown back, and 
 with an air of dignity. Her countenance, in her 
 later years, lost much of that fire which once irra- 
 diated it; but the expression was more pleasing, 
 softer, more tender, and loving. Her eyes were 
 especially charming : there was in them an ardour 
 mingled with gentleness, that bespoke her true 
 nature, and occasionally they were raised upwards, 
 with a look most peculiar and expressive, when her 
 sympathy was more than usually excited. Her com- 
 plexion was fair, and the kindling blush mantled 
 in her cheek, betraying any passing emotion, and 
 reminding one of her description of one of her 
 friends who " blushed like a girl to hear his own 
 praises." Altogether, she attracted you, and you 
 drew near to her, and liked to look into her face, 
 and felt that old age, in her, was beautiful and 
 comely. 
 
LIFE OF AMELIA OPiE. 243 
 
 Often, how often, have I, while listening to her 
 lively anecdotes, and watching her animated coun- 
 tenance, drawn my chair closer and yet closer, and 
 at length, slipping down, rested on one knee, in 
 order the better to see her ; and after bidding her 
 farewell again and again, returned to the same 
 position, and " stayed a little longer." How lively 
 were her narratives, and with what minute touches 
 she gave the details of the scene she was describing ! 
 What spirit and life did she impart to the por- 
 traits of those whom she admired ! Certainly her 
 conversation was superior to her writing : perhaps 
 the charms of manner and voice aided to enhance 
 the effect of her words. 
 
 The peculiar virtues and excellences of Mrs. 
 Opie's character have been manifested, as it were, 
 unconsciously, in the notes and diaries given in 
 these pages ; and it would be unbecoming, and is 
 unnecessary, for me to enumerate them. Her 
 foibles, too, are shown by her own hand ; and happy 
 they who have so few; happier still they, who 
 exercise the same watchfulness against their easily 
 besetting faults. In one of her earlier notes, she 
 says, " My practice every night is, to examine all 
 my actions, and sift all my motives during the day, 
 in all that I have said or done. I make sad dis- 
 coveries, by that means, of my own sinfulness ; but 
 I am truly thankful that this power has been given 
 me, and lay my head on my pillow with much 
 gratitude." 
 
244 LIFE Or AMELIA OPIE. 
 
 To many hearts the remembrance of Amelia 
 Opie will long be dear, and the thought of her be 
 cherished with tender regret. One of the ancients 
 accounted the recollection of his departed friends 
 among his solemn delights, not looking upon them 
 as lost ; for, he said, " The thought of them is sweet, 
 and soothing to me. While I had them, I expected 
 to lose them ; and having lost them, I feel that I 
 still have them ;" and not only may the Christian 
 cherish delightful recollections of the friends he 
 has lost, but it is the will of G-od, and part of the 
 favour which he has promised to his servants, 
 that the memory of the just shall be blessed. 
 
 Reed and Pardon, Printert, Paternotier Row, London. 
 
PUBLICATIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. 
 
 THE LIFE OF FEANCIS, LOED BACON, 
 
 JJarott 0f Jtetilam, 
 
 VISCOUNT ST. ALBANS, AND LORD CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND. 
 
 By the Rev. JOSEPH SORTAIN, A.B., of Trinity College, Dublin. 
 With a Portrait engraved on Steel. Foolscap 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 extra cloth boards. 
 
 LUTHEE: 
 
 anb 
 
 With Special Reference to its Earlier Periods and the Opening 
 Scenes of the Reformation. By BARNAS SEARS, D.D. 12mo, 
 with Portrait of Luther. 4s. boards. 
 
 THE STAES OF THE EAST: 
 
 attir 
 
 By the Rev. JOHN STOUGHTON. Royal 18mo, 3s. 6d. cloth 
 boards ; 4s. extra boards, gilt. 
 
 THE LIGHTS OF THE WOELD; 
 
 r, Illustrations of Character, brafon from t^e $Urorbs of 
 Christian |fife. 
 
 By the Rev. JOHN STOUGHTON. Royal 18mo, 2s. 6d. boards ; 
 3s. extra boards, gilt edges. 
 
Publications of tfje l&eligiotts STract 
 
 MEMOIE OF LADY WAEWICK. 
 
 With her Diary, A.D. 1666 to 1672, now first published ; to 
 which are added, Extracts from her other Writings. With a 
 Portrait. 12 mo, 3s. boards. 
 
 THE HENEY FAMILY MEMORIALIZED. 
 
 By Sir J. B. WILLIAMS, KNT., LL.D., F.S.A. 18mo, Is. 6d. 
 boards ; 2s. half-bound. 
 
 THE LIFE OF MES. SAVAGE. 
 
 By Sir J. B. WILLIAMS, KNT., LL.D. A new Edition. 2s. 
 boards ; 3s. half-bound. 
 
 THE LOLLAEDS ; 
 
 0f WLiivtmtz 0f Km m 
 
 Between 1400 and 1546. 
 
 With Frontispiece, and superior engravings on wood. 12mo, 
 3s. boards; 4s. half- bound. 
 
 FEMALE EIOQEAPHY. 
 
 Vol. I. 
 
 Containing Memoirs of Mrs. Judson, Mrs. Huntingdon, Mrs. 
 Newell, and Miss Linnard. Vol. II., containing Memoirs of 
 Mrs. Baxter, Mrs. Walker, Mrs. Turner, Lady Glenorchy, etc. 
 Each volume, 3s. 6d. half-bound. 
 
 LIVES OF THE BEITISH EEFOEMEES. 
 
 Jiom aSidliff to <f 0*. 
 
 18mo, 3s. boards ; 4s. half-bound. Royal Edition, with 12 
 Portraits, 6s. boards. 
 
publications of tfye Eeltgtcits fttact 
 
 MEMOIR OF MRS. M. M. ELLIS, 
 
 10 tlje S0ut|j 
 
 ISino, Is. 6d. boards ; 2s. half-bound. 
 
 MEMOIR OF MRS. HARRIET WINSLOW, 
 
 i % American: gpagtmt at 
 
 2s. boards ; 3s. half-bound. 
 
 MEMOIR OF MRS. SARAH L. SMITH, 
 
 l?ate 0f fyt gtnterixan $JBssimr t0 Sgria. 
 
 18mo, Is. boards ; Is. 6d. half-bound. 
 
 ANNALS OF THE POOR; 
 
 By the Rev. LEGH RICHMOND, A.M., late Rector of Turvey, 
 Bedfordshire. Illustrated edition : with a Life of the Author. 
 Foolscap 8vo, 2s. 6d. boards ; 3s. 6d. half-bound. 
 
 A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF SARAH 
 MARTIN, 
 
 With Extracts from her Writings and Journals. 18mo, Is. cloth 
 boards. 
 
 THE APOSTLES : 
 
 Containing %ir jpotorg to % <Kn0 of t^ir IRfas ; 
 
 With brief Notices of their Writings. 18mo, with Map of the 
 Journeys of St. Paul, and many Engravings. Is. 6d. boards ; 
 2s. half-bound. 
 
 MEMOIR OF MISS SARAH SAUNDERS. 
 
 With Nine Letters addressed to her during her last illness, by 
 JOHN FOSTER. Royal 32mo, lOd. neat cloth boards. 
 
33ufjltcatt0tts of tfje Religious 
 
 MEMOIE OF JOHN LANa BICKEESTETH, 
 
 f ate 0f Itrgbg ScfcraL 
 
 With a Preface by the Rev. J. BICKERSTETH, M.A. I8mo, Is. 
 cloth. 
 
 LIFE OF EAMON MONSALVATGIT; 
 
 gt. fonferteb jjpamafj p0nL 
 
 Is. cloth ; Is. 6d. half- bound. 
 
 THE CHILDEEN OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 Umiea for C^ilbutr. 
 
 With superior coloured Engravings. 2s. in an elegant cover. 
 
 LIVES OF THE C^ESAES ; 
 r, ff 
 
 By CATHERINE SINCLAIR. 18mo, with Engravings. Is. 6d. 
 hoards. 
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPAETE : 
 
 Adapted for the Young. 18mo, with Engravings. Is. cloth ; 
 Is. 6d. extra boards, gilt. 
 
 LIFE OF FELIX NEFF, 
 faster af % figfe g^Ips. 
 
 18mo, 2s. 6d. cloth boards; 2s. half-bound. 
 
publications of tfje Religious Eract .Societg. 
 
 MEMOIR OF HAELAN PAGE; 
 
 Or, The Power of Prayer and Personal Effort for the Souls of 
 Individuals. 18mo, Is. cloth boards ; Is. 6d. half-bound. 
 
 THE SWISS PASTOE : 
 
 The Life of Rev. F. A. A. GONTHIER ; with Preface by Rev. 
 C. B. TAYLER, M.A. 18mo, Is. cloth boards ; Is. 6d. half- 
 bound. 
 
 COLUMBUS AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 18mo, with engravings. Is. 6d. cloth boards ; 2s. extra cloth 
 
 THE FOECE OP TEUTH : 
 
 iic Jarratifce, 
 
 By the Rev. THOS. SCOTT. 18mo, Is. cloth boards ; Is. 6d. 
 half-bound. 
 
 LIFE OF WILLIAM FAEEL, 
 
 Jfeje Striss ^former. 
 
 Foolscap 8vo, 2s. cloth boards ; 3s. half-bound. 
 
 LIFE OF CHEISTIAN GOTTFEIED 
 
 ASSMAN, 
 
 8Hritttn bg ^imgjelf; 
 
 With Preface by Rev. C.B. TAYLEB, M.A. Foolscap 8vo. Is. 
 cloth boards; 2s. half-bound. 
 
publications of tfje i&eligious &ract 
 
 JHemoir 
 
 OF THE LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH OF THE LATE 
 
 WILLIAM THEAP BUCHANAN, ESQ. ; 
 
 By the late WM. SHEPHERD, Esq. Foolscap 8vo, Is. cloth 
 boards ; 2s. half-bound. 
 
 . THE USEFUL CHEISTIAN : 
 
 A Memoir of Thomas Cranfield, a devoted Sunday School 
 Teacher. 18mo, Is. 6d. cloth boards ; 2s. half-bound. 
 
 THE CHURCH IN THE ARMY; 
 
 r, &(je ttrrmpfjs xrf Ipibine d>rate nm0n0 (Dffkera anfr 
 18mo, Is. 6d. cloth boards ; 2s. half-bound. 
 
 THE KAREN APOSTLE; 
 
 OR, MEMOIRS OF KO THAH BYU, 
 
 tfj Jfirst ]^%nn Conkrt. 
 
 With Notices concerning his nation. 18mo, Is. cloth boards : 
 Is. 6d. half-bound. 
 
 LIVES OP ORIQEN AND CYPRIAN. 
 
 18mo, Is. 4d. cloth boards. 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS TRADESMAN : 
 
 gi P^motr 0f |I0rmsnb mi% of Qmztun ; 
 
 By Rev. Dr. HA WES. 32mo, 6d. cloth boards; lOd. half-bound. 
 
RETURN TO the circulation desk of any 
 University of California Library 
 
 or to the 
 
 NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station 
 University of California 
 Richmond, CA 94804-4698 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 
 2-month loans may be renewed by calling 
 (510)642-6753 
 
 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing 
 books to NRLF 
 
 Renewals and recharges may be made 
 4 days prior to due date 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 
 MAR 1 6 2003 
 
yd 
 
 7 
 
--rp - 
 
 T^:t. HI -,v f ^w^WwWi 
 
 -, ^i^piffl%Wifti|jt 
 
 J^Ml|lfl|?P|