OBITUARY.

[2]Fenelon.

These observations may be deemed irrelevant, but they are suggested by Miss Adams’s own remarks on this subject. She often regretted the time she had spent in useless, and desultory reading and observed that when she first began to turn her attention to the study of the dead languages, she felt as if she was ‘drawing upon herself the ridicule of society.’ She lived, however, to see these prejudices removed, and to receive a respect and deference from literary men, which often excited her astonishment, as well as gratitude. There have been many instances recorded, of talent which has been suffered to languish in obscurity and want. Against these, the present instanceought not to pass unnoticed. The individual kindness that Miss Adams received was invariable. She had outlived almost all her contemporaries. But new generations had sprung up under the enlightened influences of education, who respected her intellect and learning, and who loved her for her goodness. After her removal to Boston, she was therefore seldom long in solitude. Her little apartment was usually decorated with the flowers that her young friends brought her. Many of them spent hours in reading to her, and cheered her by their bright and animated conversation. It would be injustice, also, not to refer to the disinterested, and liberal assistance she received from those friends, who enabled her to reserve a part of her laborious earnings for the benefit of a suffering relative. The annuity, which continued to her death, was said to have been first suggested by ladies; but afterwards, the proposal was put into the hands ofMrShaw, and the other gentlemen mentioned in her memoirs. A few years previous to her death, a number of ladies atSalem sent her an annual sum as a testimony of their respect.

At one period of her life, her correspondents were numerous. Amongst them might be mentioned names, that will long be cherished by posterity. The venerable President Adams, to whom the second edition of her View of Religions was dedicated, took a benevolent interest in her literary success. From one of his letters to her, the following sentence is extracted.

‘You and I are undoubtedly related by birth; and although we were both “born in humble obscurity,” yet I presume neither of us have any cause to regret that circumstance. If I could ever suppose that family pride was in any case excusable, I should think a descent from a line of virtuous independent New England farmers, for one hundred and sixty years, was a better foundation for it, than a descent through royal or titled scoundrels ever since the flood.’

With the learned Bishop Gregoire, whose name is familiar in our country as well as his own, her correspondence continued manyyears. The congeniality of their labors in the cause of the Jews, as well as general philanthropy, had made them acquainted with each other. WithMrCunningham, also, Vicar of Harrow, and author of ‘The World without Souls,’ she exchanged letters. From Miss More she received several, all of which she most highly prized. The late Mrs Catharine Cappe was among her correspondents; nor can we omit to mention her letters from the amiable, and distinguished Swedenborgian,MrHill. There is one also among her papers from the venerable Bishop Carroll, in reply to a letter of hers addressed to him. It is with no narrow feeling we mention names like these. We ask not their sect or country. They belong to the great family of mankind, and we claim affinity as a rightful inheritance.

The strength of Miss Adams’s natural affection was proportionate to her social ties. Of her only remaining sister, and to whom her memoir is bequeathed in the ‘humble hope that it may be a pecuniary benefit to her,’ she often spoke with deep and irrepressiblefeeling. She sometimes projected plans, by which she might have enjoyed more of the society of her nieces; but she submitted to the necessity which separated her from her relatives without a murmur. One of her nieces was adopted, and educated by a lady, who fell a victim to consumption in the prime of life. Here recollection lingers for a moment. Impelled by a powerful sense of duty, this lady quitted her nearest friend, and sought, in the milder climate of Italy, that health and freedom of respiration which were denied her here. She was able to derive much enjoyment from her short residence in a land that abounded with objects congenial to her taste; but only lived to return, and yield her last breath in her native country.

As Miss Adams has mentioned her works in her memoir, in the order in which they were written, it is unnecessary to say more of them. They have been reviewed, and weighed, by a candid public; and met at the time the wants of the different departments in which they were written. Her History ofNew England was a pioneer to many similar works that followed. There is, however, one work of hers, published in 1804, which is less known. It is entitled, ‘The Truth and Excellence of the Christian Religion exhibited.’ This work contains interesting, and short sketches of the lives of eminent laymen, who have written in defence of the Christian religion, with extracts from their writings. The characters are selected with judgment and taste, and every circumstance is omitted that does not aid her purpose. From the preface to ‘The Truth and Excellence of the Christian Religion,’ written by the author, we select one passage. ‘In order to prevent any misrepresentation of the design of this compilation, it may be proper to inform the reader, that these great names, and the testimonies they have given of their firm belief of the truth of Christianity, are not adduced to justify a reliance upon human authority, or to establish the divinity of the christian system; but the evidences of revealed religion are still submitted to, and boldly challenge, the strictestscrutiny, by the known and established rules of right reason.’ In connexion with this idea, she quotes the following lines from Cowper.

‘“Philosophy baptizedIn the pure fountain of eternal love,Has eyes indeed; and, viewing all she sees,As meant to indicate a God to man,Gives him the praise, and forfeits not her own.”’

‘“Philosophy baptized

In the pure fountain of eternal love,

Has eyes indeed; and, viewing all she sees,

As meant to indicate a God to man,

Gives him the praise, and forfeits not her own.”’

The order and systematic arrangement of this work is excellent. It was principally intended for the use of young persons; and the characters selected are not wanting in that sort of interest, which is suited to make them attractive to the young. The following anecdote is there related of Grotius.

‘This great man was twice sent on embassies to England. On his return to Holland, he found the religious divisions which had for some time prevailed in that country increased. By his attachment to Barnevelt and the remonstrant party, he incurred the displeasure of Prince Maurice of Orange. In 1669, he was seized and sentenced to perpetual imprisonment, and his estate wasconfiscated. In pursuance of this sentence, he was imprisoned in the strong castle of Louvestein; and after having been treated with great rigor for more than a year and a half, he was rescued by a stratagem of his wife. He had been permitted to borrow books of his friends; and when he had perused them, they were carried back in a chest with his linen, which was in this way sent to be washed. During the first year, the guards were exact in examining the chest; but at length grew remiss, and did not take the trouble to open it. His wife, who belonged to one of the first families in Zealand, and was worthy of such a husband as Grotius, observing their negligence, advised him to bore holes in the chest to prevent his being stifled, and then to put himself into it, and to make his escape. She requested the governor of the castle to permit her to send away a chest. After her request was granted, Grotius was put into the chest, and conveyed to a friend’s house in Gorkum, where, dressing himself like a mason, and taking a rule and trowel, he passed throughthe market place, and stepping into a boat, went to Brabant. There he discovered himself to some of his friends, and hired a carriage at Antwerp. At first there was a design of prosecuting his wife, who remained in the prison. However, she was released by a plurality of voices, and universally applauded for a resolution and courage which saved her husband’s life, while it endangered her own.’

It would be a pleasant office, in paying this tribute to the memory of a friend, to record the names of many whose kindness and attention to her were unremitting. Some, like herself, have gone to their long home; but others still remain, to continue their ‘noiseless deeds of worth.’ One little incident, which greatly interested her from the mystery attached to it, is a reason for mentioning the name of a lady who is now no more, but who was distinguished for endowments of mind and person. She married and went to Europe during the revolutionary war. After passing many years in England, Scotland and France, she returnedto this country, with a mind fraught with practical knowledge, a heart full of benevolence, and blest with that happy talent of conversation, that draws forth from the recipient as much as it communicates. In this lady’s society Miss Adams took the greatest delight. During their long and pleasant intercourse of many years, an artist waited on Miss Adams, and requested her to sit for a miniature picture of herself: saying that he was commissioned to solicit the favor by a friend. She consented, but was entirely at a loss to conjecture who the friend could be. The picture was completed, and in the course of a few weeks sent to her, with the following note.

My dear Madam—I send you the miniature for which you had the goodness to sit. It has been generally recognised, and thought a good likeness. I hope it will be as much approved in your room, as it has been in mine. Now, my dear Madam, you will discover the friend who was desirous that you shouldlivein future, inpersonas well asinmind. I sincerely hope others may feel as I do on this subject; and a more valuable portrait be secured of the lady, whose talents and writings have diffused so much useful knowledge, and whose conduct and life has been so exemplary. After it has been with you long enough for your friends to see it, I wish it returned, and to have the honor of its hanging in my house. If one better calculated for the purpose should not hereafter be taken, I shall bequeath it to the Athenæum.With great respect,Your friend and servant,Catharine Hay.Boston, Dec. 25, 1822.

With great respect,Your friend and servant,Catharine Hay.

Boston, Dec. 25, 1822.

The hope of this lady was accomplished. A few years before Miss Adams’s death, through the influence of a few friends, a fine likeness of her was taken byMrHarding, and was afterwards presented by them to the Athenæum.

We hope it may not be deemed improper to mention one other friend, whose life wasa series of benevolent and disinterested exertions. Immediately previous to Miss Adams’s illness, she spoke of this friend with her accustomed interest; and with an anticipation that they should be fellow-travellers to the land of spirits. Mrs Codman’s death took place a few days after that of Miss Adams. She has left to her friends those sweet and sacred remembrances, that soften and elevate the heart; while the influence of her intelligent, and liberal mind, will long be felt in the society in which she lived.

The most prominent trait in Miss Adams’s character was sensibility. It was impossible to converse with her any length of time, without touching some of the numerous chords that vibrated through her system. An instrument thus organized did not require the skill of an artist to set it in motion. The feeblest hand could extract notes of joy, sorrow, or apprehension. It responded to every breath that passed over it. This sensitiveness sometimes put her at the mercy ofthe unfeeling and obtrusive. But, generally speaking, her sensibility was a source of great enjoyment. Towards her friends it flowed forth in an affection fervent and enthusiastic. ‘The sight of them,’ to use her own expression, ‘was like the sun and air of Heaven.’ All that was remotely connected with them became important to her. Those who have heard her speak ofMrThacher, the eloquent and feeling historian of her friendMrBuckminster, understood the nature of her emotions. She almost identified him with the being that he so beautifully and justly delineated. Brothers indeed they were in the sacred ties of love and harmony, and in those qualities of mind that emanate from the source of perfect wisdom and goodness. There are many who may apply to both that touching sentence the survivor applied to his friend; ‘Even now, when time has interposed to subdue all the more powerful emotions of grief, there are those who delight to recall the hours we have passed withthem, and to dwell on those traits, which weloved while living, and which death cannot efface from our memories.’

MrThacher, unlike his friend, was doomed to see death approach by slow and faltering steps. If there is a trial on earth that mocks the power of human fortitude, it is to feel the usefulness of life cut off, and to be compelled to remain idle during the toils of the day, while cares and labors are thronging around. How nobly he endured this affliction, how justly he reasoned that the part assigned him was towait, must be well remembered. The teachings of Heaven are as various as our wants. This sublime example of patient endurance has found its way to many a heart, and spoken more forcibly than the services even of an active ministry could have done. His fervent prayer is now accomplished. He has gone to that world where ‘friendship is uninterrupted, and virtue eternal.’

We bless God for the natural evidence of a future life, which minds like these, bearing the visible stamp of immortality, afford; webless him that such have existed, and we bless him that such have preceded those whom we love, to cast brightness over the dark valley of death.

We hope this involuntary digression will be pardoned, and we return again to the subject of our memoir. We have spoken of her sensibility and elsewhere of her humility. This, however, must not be mistaken for that slothful quiescent sense of inferiority, which sometimes belongs to common minds. It was true christian humility; it was the consciousness of high moral capacities, falling far short of her exalted standard of excellence. The sensibility that led her so fully to appreciate the kindness of her friends, made her alive to injury. At any attempt at imposition, her spirit rose proportionably, and she expressed and felt a resentment for which she afterwards reproached herself.

Her judgment and opinion of books was derived from her own power of thought. She did not wait for the decision of others, but expressed her own fearlessly, when called for.But it was on the subject of character that her mind discovered most acuteness and originality. Even in those whom she loved, she knew how to discriminate, and when she allowed herself to speak on the subject, plainly discovered that she knew how to separate the good from the evil, and that she had learned to love them with their faults.

The last visit that Miss Adams made was to South Boston, in the family of the Superintendent of Juvenile Offenders. There was much in her short residence there to interest her mind. The success of this institution; the groups of rescued children, now cheerful and obedient; the disinterested kindness of the family; nor ought it to be forgotten, the beautiful situation of the building, overlooking the bay of Boston with its many islands, the harbor and city rising in its pyramid of beauty, and crowned by the dome of the State-house; all called forth her enthusiasm, and brightened the last days of her earthly existence. When she returnedto her lodgings in Boston, she lamented the want of sun and of prospect. By the instrumentality of judicious friends, she was removed to Brookline; and when there, she wrote the following note to a friend, which, as thelasteffort of her pen, is here inserted.

Dear Madam—Will you excuse me if I trouble you with a few lines. I am now settled for the winter,if I live. The greatest earthly happiness I can enjoy is seeing my friends, among whom dear Mrs —— is in the first rank. I need not inform you, and I am unable to express, how much pleasure it would give me to see you in Brookline. The lady I am now boarding with is all goodness. My trembling hand will scarcely allow me to write. Adieu, dear Madam; pray call upon me as soon as you can conveniently.From your affectionate and grateful friend,H. Adams.Brookline, Nov. 12, 1831.

From your affectionate and grateful friend,H. Adams.

Brookline, Nov. 12, 1831.

The friend to whom the note was addressedhastened to see her. She found her in a large, and airy apartment. It was a fine morning; one of those days in which ‘Autumn seems to linger in the lap of Winter.’ The sun poured its rays into her apartment to her heart’s content. She was bright, and cheerful, and said with a smile she ‘believed some people thought she had lived long enough; but she was willing to remain as long as it pleased God to continue her,’ and then added, pointing to the prospect without, ‘how can any body be impatient to quit such a beautiful world!’

But little remains to be added to this short sketch, and that little perhaps is expressed in the Obituary notice which we subjoin.

Died at Brookline, near Boston, on the 15th inst.Miss Hannah Adams, aged seventysix. Her literary labors have been long before the public, and have made her name known in Europe as well as in her nativeland. Her first work, the ‘View of Religions,’ was published at a time when this country had few authors, and when a book from a female hand was almost without precedent. She was not impelled by any desire of fame; and though the hope of usefulness was undoubtedly a strong motive to her literary exertions, yet this would not have availed, without the prospect of contributing by her pen to her own support, and the comfort of her nearest friends. It is gratifying to know, that she has left behind a simple and interesting memoir of her early life, which precludes the necessity of saying more of her literary history. Indeed,literaryclaims are perhaps among the last that, at a moment like this, present themselves to the minds of her friends. The virtues and excellences of her character, her blameless life, her sensibility, the warmth of her affections, her sincerity and candor, call forth a flow of feeling that cannot be restrained. To an almost child-like simplicity, and singleness of heart, she united a clear and just conceptionof character; to a deep and affecting humility, a dignity and elevation of thought, that commanded the respect and veneration of those around her. Amidst many infirmities she retained the freshness and enthusiasm of youth. Society never lost its charms. To the aged she listened with submission and gentleness; to the classic and highly gifted, with a delight almost amounting to rapture. The young, and there were such who felt it a privilege to ‘sit at her feet,’ she viewed as ‘ministering angels’ dispensing joy and gladness. Her love of nature was exhaustless. The first beam of morning, the glory of noon, the last rays of the setting sun, were objects which through a long life she never contemplated with indifference. Those who were in the habit of visiting her, will recollect how constantly her apartment was decorated by flowers of the field, or the garden. It was her object to gather round her images of natural and moral beauty. In many respects her mind seemed so truly constituted for enjoyment, that to those whoknew her but slightly, she might have appeared to be exempted from that mental discipline, which is gradually leading the pilgrim on to the land of promise. But her friends knew otherwise; they knew how keen was her religious sensibility, how tremblingly alive her conscience, how high her standard of excellence, and how great her timidity and self-distrust, and they felt that this was not her haven of rest.

Though Miss Adams’s faith was fervent and devout, it partook of the constitution of her sensitive mind, rather than gave the tone to it. Yet amidst moments of doubt and despondency, a passage from scripture, or a judicious observation, would disperse the clouds that had gathered round her, and the brightest sunshine would diffuse itself over her mind and countenance. There are many who will sorrow that they shall see her ‘face no more;’ but those who knew the peculiar delicacy of her constitution, ought rather to rejoice that she has escaped from the present inclement winter; from thestormy wind and tempest; that her eyes have opened upon ‘one eternal Spring,’ a season that always awoke the enthusiasm of her nature, and which she said seemed to her ‘like the first freshness of creation.’

It was her happiness to have been conversant with some of the most enlightened and gifted men of the age. From many she received essential benefit; and the universal sympathy and respect, as well as the individual kindness which she excited, are testimonies honorable to human nature. Many in whom she delighted have passed away. To those she has gone, and to the Father and Saviour whom she loved.

The last tribute of respect is, however, yet to be paid to the honored subject of this notice. Her remains are to be removed to Mount Auburn, near Boston, the spot selected for a cemetery. Subscriptions for a monument to her memory have been raised, and it will be erected in the spring. There seems to be almost a poetical unity in thisarrangement; that one who so devoutly

‘Looked through nature up to nature’s God,’

should be one of the first tenants of a spot, combining so much natural beauty; and which possesses that magnificence of wood and water, which bespeaks it ‘a temple not made with hands.’

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