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gree while he prayed. We then remained, silently watching her; feeling that we had nothing more to do, but to pray in our hearts for her speedy relief from suffering.

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Involuntary groans were occasionally uttered in her convulsions. These, as we were listening to them with painful sympathy, once to our surprise melted away into musical notes; and for a moment our ears were charmed with the full, clear tones of the sweetest melody. No words were articulated, and she was evidently unconscious of every thing about her. It seemed as if her soul was already joining in the songs of heaven, while it was yet so connected with the body as to command its unconscious sympathy. Not long after, she again opened her eyes in a state of consciousness. A smile of perfect happiness lighted up her emaciated features. She looked deliberately round upon different objects in the room, and then fixed upon me a look of the tenderest affection. Her frequent prayers that the Saviour would meet her in the dark valley, have already been mentioned. By her smile, she undoubtedly intended to assure us, that she had found him. Words she could not utter to express what she felt. Life continued to struggle with its last enemy, until twenty minutes before eight o'clock; when her affectionate heart gradually ceased to beat, and her soul took its final departure to be for ever with the Lord."

*

Her funeral was attended on the first of October. The Rev. Daniel Temple addressed the assembled multitude in a most appropriate and impressive manner, and prayed. Out of respect for her, all the ladies present broke over the immemorial custom at Smyrna, of not attending funerals; and joined the procession to the grave. There the solemn funeral service of the church of England was read by the Rev. Mr. Lewis. Mrs. Smith's remains were interred at the new Protestant cemetery at Boujah. Her age, at the time of her death, was thirty-four years.

We have thus given a very brief and imperfect account of the life and labors of this beloved disciple of Jesus Christ. The few pages to which we are necessarily restricted will not allow us to give a full illustration of the varied excellences of her character. Even the volume, which Mr. Hooker has prepared with so much care and judgment, does not, we are assured, contain all, by any means, of the sterling materials which were in the biographer's possession.* In this connection, we are,

*We would suggest to the respected publishers and editor the propriety of procuring a new and better engraving of Mrs. Smith for the second edition. The present engraving essentially fails of doing justice to her features as exhibited in the admirable painting in her father's house. We think, also, that the book could be somewhat enlarged

also, to recollect, that a large portion of her most valuable journals perished in the shipwreck. It may be the opinion of some of our readers, that we have employed commendatory epithets too liberally, and have failed altogether in wielding the independent sceptre of the reviewer. But we cannot help it. In reading such a book, we have no heart to find fault. We leave that ungracious task to some Zoilus or Diogenes in criticism, or to some London or Edinburgh enemy of missions, who sits in the reviewer's "damnatory seat. It would be sacrilege critically to analyze Mrs. Smith's character. The mere critic knows nothing about such excellence. With the pulsations of her frank heart, he has no answering chord. With the heroic zeal which led her to toil and die in a strange land, he has no sympathy.

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It is not necessary, if we had the ability, to give any connected view of Mrs. Smith's character. Mr. Smith has done this already in the closing chapter of the Memoir, with a tender heart and with a discriminating judgment, or rather by the simple facts which he has unostentatiously presented.

In a repeated perusal of the Memoir, we have been struck with the deep experience to which Mrs. Smith attained of the truths of God's word. Many of us, who have assumed the name of Christians, are contented to live in the twilight. We make but little effort to come into the clear sunshine of the gospel. We are not living Christians. We do not enter heartily into the great mysteries of redemption. We do not become possessed of the vitality of our religion. There are many passages in the Scriptures, whose hidden riches,-owing to our negligence and inexperience,-we have never attempted to explore. It is possible, that such an epistle as that to the Ephesians seems like an unintelligible rhapsody to us. But it was not thus with Mrs. Smith. She perceived a spiritual meaning in the Bible. The life which she lived in the flesh was indeed by the faith of the Son of God, who loved her and gave himself for her.

from the golden remains which, we are told, have not seen the light. The account which Mr. Smith gives of his wife's last days,-a paper drawn up with uncommon judgment and delicacy,-might be given in full. It is now much abridged. If it is thought that the book cannot be enlarged, then some parts of the journal of Mrs. S.'s tour in the Holy Land might be omitted. We may here mention, that it would be well to give the dates more fully than they are given in the first edition.

In her missionary course, she was thrown immediately upon God for protection and support. She was stripped of those extraneous and adventitious guards, by which we are enabled to conform outwardly to the precepts of the gospel. She comprehended, with the first Christian martyrs, the length, and breadth, and depth, and height of the love of Jesus.

This volume may be made eminently advantageous to the foreign missionary cause. It erects a high, yet attainable, standard of duty. It shows what a missionary can do, and can become, in all the details of his calling. The importance of the acquisition of language is presented in its proper light. External accomplishments, suavity of manners, and a conformity to the innocent customs of society are not overlooked. Practical questions of great moment, in respect to the employment of servants, the proper degree of interference with the rites of a corrupt religion, and the appropriate methods in which the females of a mission can labor, are either settled or strikingly illustrated. Above all, the grand secret of happiness and success in missionary exertions is placed in strong relief. This secret is prayer. Mrs. Smith loved to pray. Prayer was her vital breath. The throne of grace was her cherished home. And here she was no monopolist. Her heart was large as the world. The number and variety of the objects of her stated petitions would astonish and confound the ordinary Christian. And yet she was continually adding to them. Her example, in this respect, as well as in many other points, let all missionaries zealously copy. In this way, her works will follow her, and her influence, if not her name, will be in everlasting remembrance.

We cannot but add, in conclusion, what a place heaven is becoming! "Heaven is" truly "enriching itself with the spoils of earth." It is delightful to think of Mrs. Smith as now an illustrious spirit in that world, though saved by grace. She has lost none of her individuality. Those qualities of mind and heart, ennobled and sanctified by the Spirit, now exist in a perfection, of which we have but little idea. She has joined those "long lines of ancestors" who fell asleep in Jesus. According to her wish, she may have become a ministering spirit with that dear brother whose dying bed she soothed,—a co-messen

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ger on errands of love and mercy. Her earthly remains sleep near one of the "seven churches," where reposes the body of Polycarp, and not far distant the body of that "disciple whom Jesus loved." The time is fast coming when these bright forms will rise, together with all those ancient Smyrnean saints "who were faithful unto death," that they may receive "a crown of life."

ARTICLE VII.

BROUGHAM'S SKETCHES OF STATESMEN.

Historical Sketches of Statesmen who flourished in the time of George III. To which is added, Remarks on Party, and an Appendix. First Series. By HENRY, LORD BROUGHAM, F. R. S., and Member of the National Institute of France. 2 vols. pp. 223, 216. Philadelphia. 1839.

THIS is a work of intense and of permanent interest. It is, we confess, in some respects, without the circle within which we more commonly restrict ourselves as Christian reviewers. It is neither theological, nor ethical; it has nothing directly to do with men, either as Christians or as heathen. While all this, however, is true, it furnishes so many lessons which most forcibly impress the precepts of the gospel, it contains so much that may serve to enkindle the fire of eloquence in the bosoms of those who are called upon to address their fellows on topics of surpassing importance, that we make no apology for presenting before our readers some account of its contents, and some reflections to which the perusal of its pages naturally gives rise.

These two volumes contain an almost complete portrait gallery of the statesmen of the reign of George III. Of these, the characters most elaborately finished, are Chatham, North, Mansfield, Burke, Pitt, Fox, Erskine and Canning. The other less remarkable men of their age are sketched with graphic power, and vividly, yet, we

think, faithfully, colored. The author has been personally acquainted with most of the men whom he has described, and has known the contemporaries of those whom he delineates from tradition. There is great reason to believe, that he has intended to be strictly honest and impartial, without being unnecessarily severe. If in any thing we suspect the soundness of his judgment, it is when he has occasion to speak of George III, and his immediate family, and of the general character of the tory aristocracy. On topics of this kind, we sometimes perceive, that it costs him an effort to speak kindly of kings and kingcraft; and sometimes when the effort has been made, and made successfully, he is obliged to turn back again, and give vent to his indignation in some covert allusion, as though to remind us, that the respect which he testifies, is merely an observance of the decencies of society, and that this thin veil is loosely thrown over a spirit, which holds the whole thing in utter abhor

rence.

Of the literary execution of the work, we cannot speak in high commendation. Of words, the author has a sufficiently copious, though neither a very rich, nor very classical, supply. He aims at effect, and is so careless of the means by which it is produced, that the effect itself is frequently impaired by negligence. But it is in the structure of his sentences that our author principally fails. He has manifestly been accustomed to speaking rather than to writing. Hence the rapid movement of his thought is checked and embarrassed by the necessity of committing the thought to paper. By the time that the half of a sentence is written, the mind of the writer has wandered into some far advanced region of thought; and, when recalled to the subject matter before it, the latter part of the sentence, as originally conceived, is irrevocably lost. The sentence is patched up in haste, and another is formed in the same. manner. And besides this, he who speaks extempore, must, frequently, be obliged to use, on the instant, words which do not, indeed, suit him, but which are the best. that come immediately to hand. In this manner, we contract a careless habit in the selection of words, our instinctive perception of the delicate shades of their meaning is lost, and our relish for the nice adaptation of the word to the thought is seriously abated.

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