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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Mhs Matihd Fordham .
benevolence of her mind disposed her at all times to tate up the negle ted and ' forsaken . She also found them docile disposed to receive happiness , and to be the instrument of difFu ing it , was to her a pare source of joy , making good the
saying 6 * " her gTeat Master , * it is more fclessed to give than to receive . ' It will be years before I can forget , how her countenance was lighted up with benevolence th 6 most tender and sweet , at the' unexpected sight of her young
acquaintance . " Although she was far from exalting the instrumental duties beyond the moral , her conduct in this respect was worthy of imitation . As far as health
permitted , and sometimes beyond it , she attended public worship , nor did she come in late , to the disturbance of those assembled , nor discourage by drowsiness those who were employed in laying before the society the fruits of dieir meditations . On the contrary , she took heed both how and what the
heard , always happy to repeat the subject , sftating her opinion in a way that could offend no person * but edify all . A letter written to her father , which pas ^ ed through my hands more than two years ago , proves how much she made religion the business of her life . At the
time of writing it , she was only 15 years of age , removed from the eye of her par ^ pt , being 70 miles from home , attended by a female friend about her own age . Being , * as she observed , * a stranger in a ' strange place , we have no visits to pay © r receive , and we therefore devote ourselves to two great objects , health and
mental improvement , and as nothing is done well which is not done with regularity , we divide our time between bathing , books , and walking , regularly reading every day , in order , a portion of the scriptures , also some good theological -work . The work now reading is Dr . Priestlev ' s Institutes of Natural and
Revealed Religion ' After making a variety of observations equally interesting , the letter is concluded by saying , " * I do Hot write these things through vanity , but dmongst the many reasons why [ wish to bne found in my duty , one is the desire of your approbation *
" Those of you , my young friends , who have read biography , must have observed thrat many persons of ordinary natural
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capacity , have acquired great ermnesce by simply adhering to a wi e division of time . To the want cf this it often happens that the great duties of private devotion , seif-eAaminatio » , and reading the scripture are so imperfectly perform * ed , and sometimes altogether omitted * even by those -who look opr > n their
performance as indispensable Christian obligations . Though ^ it is ch iefly in a religious and moral point of view , I wish to exhibit her example , yet her perse * veringindu try in acquiring useful knowledge is worthy of your imitation . It is genera ly said , God has made "us rational beings ; it is more correct to say , he has
given to us the materials by which if we be not wanting- to ourselves , we may become truly rational . Considering , say some , the shortness and uncertainty of life , is it worth while to press upon the minds of children , any knowledge except what is necessary for trade ., or purely ^ religious ? Our young friend was cut
off in the spring time of life , yet who could regret her attention to general knowledge , or did not perceive the benefit she derived from it ? The pursuit of knowledge afforded occupation to her mind ; idle amusements were not desired , retirement was disrobed of its gloom , the foundation of a solid and
thoughtful mind was laid ; constant exertion led to penetration , and judgment , induced habits of diligence and patience ; and thus it was , she brought to the sacred Yoiume a mind strengthened and matured , better prepared and qualified to distingoish the important truths of revelition from the creeds and comments
of fallible men . As a proof of the use of past mental labours , at some periods of the greatest extremity of pain s she hit upon the expedient of imposing upon herself the intellectual exertion of re * peating the first elements of the different sciences she had learnt , endeavouring by a voluntary task , to abstract her mind from the pains of the body .
" . Let us now approach the concluding scenes of her ^ life . Wearisome days and nights were appointed her ; seven weeks she was confined to her bed , enduring much pain , with only short intervals of comparative ease ; did she give way ty unavailing lamentationsJ to murmurings and repinings ? No ; on the contrary , if a sigh or a groan escaped her ,
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332 Obituary *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1807, page 392, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2382/page/52/
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