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Art . VI . —The Female Missionary Advocate , Holdsworth , St . Paul ' s Churchyard . 1827 . 18 mo . Pp . 96 . We make no apology for introducing to the notice of our readers , the humble production of one who , while suffering under numerous and depressing evils of poverty , has endeavoured to display , in
verses of considerable harmony and beauty , the principles and feelings by which those females are guided who so warmly support the several missions of our orthodox fellow-christians : for piety and benevolence are not of any creed . And at a time when Unitarians are looking
with earnest expectation to India , as a field promising a glorious harvest if it be diligently cultivated , the example may excite a spirit of holy emulation , which would give still greater vigour to our Missionary exertions , and render success no longer doubtful , even to the most timid advocates of our foreign cause .
The Editor in his preface says , " The following work is the production of a poor but pious female , in the evening of life ; and designed to avert the object of her acute apprehension , a Workhouse /" After a short Introduction , the Poem is interlocutory . The characters of the speakers are very well supported ; and
the short sketches of their joys or sorrows , which they are made to give , evince the author's acquaintance with human nature ,, and her poetic talent ; while they are made strictly subservient to her main object , which , as the title imports , is to persuade to female missionary exertions . The Poem thus commences :
" Fair was the evening , while the setting sun Pour'd o ' er the hills his last departing ray , And bade the vales adieu ; resigning now His blazing honours , and his sultry reign , To that fair orb , who , with reflected light , Sheds gentler beams to cheer the midnight hour . Mild Queen of Night ! * Nocturnal friend of man !'
Thy soften'd splendours to the mind recall The visit of thy Maker to this world : The brightness of his Father ' s glory ! He Hid the refulgence of his awful brow , And veil'd his grandeur in the human
form : Yet , in his spotless purity of life—In wonders of benevolence and power-In doctrines that proclaimed the sinner ' s friend—Shone all the glory human sight could bear . "
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There is truth as well as beauty in the following sentences : " False is the notion that the human heart . » . Can feel no real sympathy with those Whose joys or sorrows never were its
own ; A strong imagination may impress Upon the tablet of a feeling heart , So deep a colouring of another ' s woe As may portray ( if it does not exceed ) The real anguish that the sufferer feels . Again , we see the hard , obdurate heart , Though weeping floods of sorrow for itself , Still thinks another ' s grief below its own . "
We shall content ourselves with one more extract . " True , in the sweets of solitude I liv'd , My prayers were wafted by the balmy gale , And echoing cares resounded to my hymns ; 'Tis true my thoughts en wrapt in things divine , Aspired to scenes beyond this nether world i
And when my tears bedewed the sacred spot Where rests the object of my youthful vows , My heart receded from all earthly joy , And long'd to join his spirit in the skies ;
Yet the bright hope which then engaged my soul , Revealing heavenly glories to my view , Strange to relate , did not enlarge my heart , Nor give me those benevolent desires Which true religion ever should inspire . And wherefore ? 'twas an idol love that
wean'd My heart from earth , and all its vain dc - lights : In sullen mood I bade the world farewell , Not because heaven possesses brighter charms , But because that which I had made my heaven
No more my eyes or ears delighted met . " The poetry is unequal : but we can assure our readers , and young frierids especially , that they will find much botji % q interest and instruct them in this little poem . And if it should excite any to greater exertions in the cause of religion , our purpose in this notice will be answered , while the aged and deserving author will reap some advantage .
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532 Critical Notices .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1827, page 532, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1798/page/60/
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