dable diligence she made herself acquainted, in a degree seldom exhibited by her sex, with the language and customs of a large portion of the natives, who at first appeared to her as a people of a strange countenance and a strange tongue. The degraded females around us, both old and young, heard from her lips the doctrine of salvation. They observed her holy walk, and the operation of that principle by which she condemned the world. Those who were acquainted with her know her excellence and appreciated her worth. They witnessed her deadness to the world, and her desire for an entrance into that city which hath foundations, and whose builder and maker is God. They knew the meekness of her spirit and her unwearied benevolence. They saw the peace of the gospel, which passeth all understanding, sustain her in the hour of affliction and trial. They heard her, in view of her dissolution and her solemn entrance into eternity, express her humble reliance on the Redeemer. And in the exercise of faith they traced her ascent to that great cloud of witnesses, who urge us to lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth most easily beset us, and to run with patience the race that is set before us."

From the Missionary Herald, Vol. xxvii.-1831, and Vol. xxviii.-1832,

76

MISS HANNAH ADAMS.

For an account of this eminent lady, we are indebted to her own history of her life, the only document that contains the materials of her biography.

I was born in Medfield, a country town about eighteen miles from Boston. My father early imbibed a love of literature, and prepared to enter the university. But as his constitution then appeared to be very infirm, and he was an only son, his parents were strenuously opposed to his leaving them. Accordingly, to his inexpressible disappointment, he was obliged to settle upon their large farm, without a suitable knowledge of, or taste for, agricultural pursuits. This induced him to open a shop, for the sale, principally, of English goods and books. His taste for reading continued unabated till his death, which took place at the advanced age of eighty eight years.

From my infancy I had a feeble constitution; in particular, an extreme weakness and irritability in my nervous system. Hence I can recollect uneasiness and pain previous to any pleasurable sensations. My mother was an excellent woman, and deservedly esteemed and beloved; but as her own health was delicate, and she possessed great tenderness and sensibility, I was educated in all the habits of debilitating softness, which probably added to my constitutional want of bodily and mental firmness.

My father's circumstances then appeared affluent, and it was not supposed I should be reduced to the necessity of supporting myself by my own exertions. Partly from ill health, and an early singularity of taste, I took no pleasure in the amusements to which children are generally much attached. My health did not even admit of attending school with the children in the neighborhood where I resided. The country schools, at that time, were kept but a few months in the year, and all that was then taught in them was reading, writing and arithmetic. In the summer, the children were instructed by females in reading, sewing, and other kinds of work. The books chiefly made use of were the Bible and Psalter. Those who have had the advantages of receiving the rudiments of their education at the schools of the present day, can scarcely form an adequate idea of the contrast between them, and those of an earlier age; and of the great improvements which have been made, even in the common country schools. The disadvantages of my early education I have experienced during life; and, among various others, the acquiring a very faulty pronunciation; a habit contracted so early, that I cannot wholly rectify it in later years.

In my early years I was extremely timid, and averse from appearing in company. Indeed, I found but few with whom I could happily associate. My life, however, was not devoid of enjoyment. The first strong propensity of my mind which I can recollect, was an ardent curiosity, and desire to acquire knowledge. I remember that my first idea of the happiness of Heaven was, of a place where we should find our thirst for knowledge fully gratified. From my predominant taste, I was induced to apply to reading, and as my father had a considerable library, I was enabled to gratify my inclination. I read with avidity a variety of books, previously to my mind's being sufficiently matured and strengthened to make a proper selection. I was passionately fond of novels; and, as I lived in a state of seclusion, I acquired false ideas of life. The ideal world which my imagination formed was very different from the real. My passions were naturally strong, and this kind of reading heightened my sensibility, by calling it forth to realize scenes of imaginary distress. I was also an enthusiastic admirer of poetry; and as my memory, at an early period, was very tenacious, I committed much of the writings of my favorite poets to memory, such as Milton, Thomson, Young, &c. I did not, however, neglect the study of history and biography, in each of which kind of reading I found an inexhaustible fund to feast my mind, and gratify my curiosity.

Another source of my enjoyments in early life was an ardent admiration of the beauties of nature. This enthusiasm was heightened by the glowing descriptions of poetic writers, and I entered into all their feelings. This taste has continued through life. At the present time, when age and experience have in some measure repressed the warmth of my feelings, and while I am now writing, I should be more delighted with beautiful rural prospects, and fine flowers, than when in early life I used to be enraptured with contemplating the sublime and beautiful in the works of creation.

My early life was diversified with few events, and those of a painful nature. The loss of my excellent mother, which happened when I had reached my tenth year, was the first severe trial I was called to suffer. When her death took place, I was at an age when maternal direction is of the greatest importance, particularly in the education of daughters. Soon after, I was bereaved of an aunt, who was attached to me with almost maternal fondness. A few years after, my father failed in trade, in consequence of which I was reduced to poverty, with a constitution and early habits which appeared invincible obstacles to my supporting myself by my own exertions. Instead of that gayety, which is often attendant on youth, I was early accustomed to scenes of melancholy and distress; and every misfortune was enhanced by a radical want of health, and firmness of mind. My life passed in seclusion, with gloomy prospects before me, and surrounded with various perplexities from which I could not extricate myself. The solitude in which I lived was, however, to

me, preferable to society in general; and to that, and to my natural singularity, I must impute that awkwardness of manners, of which I never could divest myself at an advanced period of life. A consciousness of this awkwardness produced a dislike to the company of strangers. Those who have been accustomed to genteel society when young, can scarcely imagine the trembling timidity I felt, when introduced to my superiors in circumstances and education. I, however, enjoyed society upon a small scale. I had a few dear friends, (for novels had taught me to be very romantic,) who were chiefly in indigent circumstances, and like myself had imbibed a taste for reading, and were particularly fond of poetry and novels. Most of them wrote verses, which were read and admired by the whole little circle. Our mutual love of literature, want of fortune, and indifference to the society of those whose minds were wholly uncultivated, served to cement a union between us, which was interrupted only by the removal of the parties to distant places, and dissolved only by their death. Yet I soon experienced this melancholy change. One after another became victims to the King of Terrors, till our little society was greatly diminished; and I deeply felt these bereavements which were irreparable.

Sill, however, I was blessed with a sister of similar taste and sentiments, but very different in her disposition. I was warm and irritable in my temper; she, placid and even. I was fluctuating and undecided; she, steady and judicious. I was extremely timid; she blended softness with courage and fortitude. I was inclined to be melancholy, though sometimes in high spirits; she was uniformly serene and cheerful. I placed the strongest reliance upon her judgment, and as she was older than myself, she seemed the maternal friend, as well as the best of sisters. In short, "she was my guide, my friend, my earthly all.”

As I was too feeble to engage in any laborious employments, I found considerable leisure for reading; and as my happiness chiefly consisted in literary pursuits, I was very desirous of learning the rudiments of Latin, Greek, geography and logic. Some gentlemen who boarded at my father's offered to instruct me in these branches of learning gratis, and I pursued these studies with indescribable pleasure and avidity. I still, however, sensibly felt the want of a more systematic education, and those advantages which females enjoy in the present day. Yet as I always read with great rapidity, perhaps few of my sex have perused more books at the age of twenty than I had. Yet my reading was very desultory, and novels engaged too much of my attention. Though my seclusion from the world preserved me from many temptations which are incident to young people, I was perhaps more exposed to errors of the understanding, than those who in early life have mixed more with the world. Time and experience have led me to see the falsity of many of my early opinions and ideas, and made me sensible that they were the source of a large share of the misfortunes of my following life.

The habits of reading and study in which Miss Adams lived for many years, had the effect of unfitting her for ordinary occupations; while her circumstances rendered it necessary that she should in some way labor for her own support. These reasons induced her to attempt the difficult and uncertain business of authorship, which became her employment for a great part of her life. Her first effort in this way was her View of Religions, a work which afterwards was eminently successful, and procured her no little credit as well as a handsome profit in the end. Her attention had been first directed to the subject by reading an account of the doctrinal differences between Arminian, Calvinists, and several other common sects. This awakened her curiosity, and she arduously engaged in perusing all the books which she could obtain, that gave a fuller account of the subject. The style and tone of most of those authors whom she consulted, however, disgusted her, by the uncharitableness and prejudice which characterized them, and from this she was led to form a plan of the subject for herself, and arranged the facts, for her own improvement, in a blank book which she prepared for that purpose. This she did at first merely with a view to her own instruction, but after a while, finding herself obliged to procure some means of support, she was led by the difficulty of finding employment to attempt the preparation of the work for the public. With immense labor and trouble she prosecuted her undertaking, which was rendered still more difficult by the scarcity of proper materials that her situation prevented her procuring, till after various perplexities, she succeeded in putting the book to press in 1784. The profit which she received from the first edition was small, but from a second and third, she was able to acquire more of that emolument which was the just reward of her labor.

The work which she gave to the world in these inauspicious circumstances has justly had the reputation of being the most complete and important work of the kind ever before produced, and fixed her reputation high and permanently.

While she was preparing the second edition of her View of Religions, she suffered a most afflicting bereavement in the loss of the beloved sister, whom she has mentioned in her own account of herself. She then experienced the keenest anguish the human heart can feel in losing a friend, and for a long time did not recover from the shock caused by the removal of one so precious and valued. Under this calamity Miss Adams drew her support from religion alone, as her manuscripts written at the time very clearly show. She employed herself when unable to compose, in making extracts from the Scriptures, which she applied to her particular state of mind. These she arranged in a little book which she preserved till her death. The next literary work in which Miss Adams engaged was her History of New England, which she published, without any profit to herself, however, though it went through two editions. When