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The writer of this article , who bad the ' f pleas i ^ re of being intimately acquainted with her , had the honour to b * j consulted respecting what hooks were best to be purfib bed for her winter ' s amusement . The Wor ^ s of Lord Bacon and of Archdeacon Parley , as well as the Correspondence of and of
^ njuel Rzciiardjon Anna Seward , gogetber with fuller ' s Wort hies of England , yvt r' jre procured , / or her b y * particular request . $ jjr Walter Raleigh ' s History of the AVorld w ^ as another publication with whic h , notwithstanding its antiquated style , she was much pleased . The ordinary effusions of
the press had no charms for her : she was edified only by works oi established reputation . Nor was she ( though leading a very secluded life ) wholly devoid of cut viojsity . 9 y ¦ Fa cial . cles > ire I accompanied her to Westminster Abbey , and a visit was meditated to Bunbill Fields . She
held in veneration tht illustrious deadwhose names were emblazoned by their genius , their patriotism , or their piety . The deceased had a talent for poetical composition , and exercised it on tender and
elegiac subjects . Some lines on a snowtirqp , and . also on that domestic little bird a robin , w ^ io had , visited her bouse for several successive winters , were , on account of their . fjejicacy * much admired . Stanza * likewise on the death of a
favourite sister evinced the sensibilities of her heart . She had many manuscripts both in prose and poetry . Once indeed she furnished me with an article translated frum the French for insertion in a periodical publication , and her friends have her - translations of some of Petrarch ' s Sonnets , in their possession .
> Her opinions on almost every subject w « r § marked by singularity . With difficulty she submitted to any medical prescription but what she thought her brother the physician had sanctioned , nor admitted in , theology any sentiment or practice , but what she imagined her Father the divine had adopted . Observing one day at my
house the beautiful engraving of the resurrection of a pious family , she exclaimed , after miuutely noticing it , * ' I do not like tUa * . picture—there is the old mat * with his , grey hairs and wrinkles ; I have no ideas sve &hall rise with any of the deformities . of Hge at the resurrection . "
A cold brought on an illness which terminated her quiet and peaceful life . She ay as not even one day confined to her chamber , though her indisposition was * e . vere > Medical assistance however skilful came top iatc to prove of any avail . She was found dead hi her bed , the clothes uiiruftied—her features not in the least distorted , aod > with everj appearance of tranquil dissolution . She had slept the
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sleep tfdenthJ Tine rtty day before , « Ke lamented to a feniate frieild , tfrat harvinp g ^ ne ttocrc far th rou gh the ^ Utoer ^ thi * calamity should now befall her . Bet * tfee
inevitable hour * ' which awaits , ertry «< m and daughter of Adam h * & arrived . Not even patriarchal longevity exeat j > ts from the ravages of the last foe . AfethuselUh lived nine hundred and sixty nine year * ^ and » e died .
Her property , which was very consfiw ^ rable , was devised in a well-written w ^ H of her own composition , to relatives , friends and charitable institutions . Sh « b ^ q ^ ueathed handsome sums to those excellent establishments— -the Orphan ScAoal City Jttoad , the Presbyterian Fund , and the Fund for relieving the / Widows 4 > f
Protestant Dissenting Ministers . Nor has she forgotten two faithful female servants , who , liberally , remunerated , are made comfortable during the remainder of thefrr lives . Indeed her legacies have been writer
numerous and liberal : ana tbe must in justice add , that on the only two occasions he ever applied in behalf of the acred cause df charity' —the one the case of the JFrench Protestants , the other an instance of individual distress , she gfcve to an extent that does honour to ber me *
mory . H « r remains were deposited in Maid- * stone church , along with those of ' her dear brother and sisters , " as she usually termed them , most of whom were lifce herself remarkable for longevity . And now the insatiable grave hath closed upon them all , and will in like manner engulph the successive generations of mankind .
" But know that thou must render up thy dead , And with high interest too ! they are not ; thine , But only in thy keeping for a season , TiU th $ great promis'd day of restitution * When loud diffusive sound from braze a
trump Of strong-lung * d cherub shall alarm thy captives , And rouse the long long sleeper * into \ Mc Day-light and liberty . " Thus though disease and accident may spare the children of men for a long-series of year » j approaching even to the
revolution of a century , yet old age lax Us be ~ hind , and , without respect of persons , bows dowu the human frame tottering and trembling into its original dust . Let not however this venerable period , the natural and uncorrupted wish of every rational being , be deprecated or despised . " To tbe intelligent and virtuous ( # ay » Dr . Pcreival ) , old age prcstmts a s « eac of
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1 V 8 Obiiuar ^^^ Mrst . Hester Milncr . „ -
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1817, page 118, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2461/page/54/
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