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piemoir of h § r in our last Number ( pp . 494—496 ) has been read with , deep interest . This sermon , by her most intimate friend , is altogether worthy of the subject of it , and higher eulogy cannot be passed upon it .
Mr . Wellbeloved opens his sermon with a brief statement of the impression made by Mrs . Cappe ' -s death . He next explains , and we think truly and satisfactorily , the import of the words of-his text , Luke xii . 37 , 38 :
and then proceeds to inquire , I . What this state of watchfulness implies ; II . What is the nature of the happiness which attends it : and he proposes , III . To observe how admirably this watchfulness , and all its happy effects , were illustrated in the life and character of
her whose decease had brought together the large and solemn assembly before whom the discourse was delivered . The sermon is tinged with the peculiarities of the York school , of theology , and these upon the whole give new force to the preacher ' s application of the Evangelical admonition . The
character of Mrs . Cappe is simply and unaffectedly , and therefore beautifully and impressively described . Considered as a whole , we have never seen a Funeral Sermon in which the subject is better adapted to the occasion , in which there is more of the genuine pathetic , or in which the moral lesson is more
effectively delivered . The preacher is exceedingly happy in some quotations from Mrs . Cappe ' s own writings . The following Reflection of hers , on the passage including the text , taken from her " History of the Life of Christ , " is strikingly appropriate :
' It was of the utmost importance to the first disciples , even on the principles of temporal security , to watch for the coming of their Lord ; when , according to the bold hyperbole of eastern language , he should descend from heaven
with the sound of a trumpet , to inflict destruction on his enemies , and to gather his elect from the four corners of the land : but these awful predictions having long since been fulfilled , they can apply to us of this distant day , only in a
secondary sense , and in the way of accommodation : but they aie not on that account the less important : the day of our death , in respect to us , is the coming of the Son of God . Then our account is close d—the time of our probation is over ' —and as the hour is not less unknown
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to us , than was the destruction of Jerusalem to the Jewish people , the event not less ( certain * or the issue less momentous , it surely behoves us , as much as it did them , to watch always , to have * our loins girded , and our lamps burning . "Pp . 8 , 9 .
This passage , so suitable in itself , is rendered more interesting by the circumstance which Mr . Wellbeloved states in the following note : " My revered friend was busily engaged at the time of her death in reprinting , in a cheap form , the beautiful and
impressive Practical Reflections which accompany this very useful work . Two or three days before that event , she had put into the hands of the printer the part in which the above extract occurs ; and it was my painful task to revise the proof sheet , while preparing to commit her remains
to the silent grave . "—P . 9 . To the discourse are subjoined some short meditations and prayers found amongst Mrs * Cappe ' s papers after her decease . These Mr . Wellbeloved
has with great propriety published as illustrating her character and justifying his description of it , and particularly as proving that the religious system , to which she was so strongly attached , is not that cold and presumptuous
system which some , who know little of it or of those who maintain it , so erroneously assert it to be , but that it is perfectly consistent with devotedness to God , with ardent piety and with deep humility of spirit . We extract two of them :
* On having attained the age of seventy . " O most merciful and righteous Father , through many perplexities and difficulties has thy kind and good providence graciously conducted me . Many have been my failings , many my imperfections and errors ; but most of all have I to
lament that insensibility of heart which has too often estranged my spirit from that delightful communion with thee the only true source of all perfection , and in which can alone consist permanent and real felicity . 1 acknowledge , with the devoutest gratitude , that the disappointments and privations to which I have
been subjected , as well as the success with which I have on many occasions been favoured , have equally been the effects of thine Infinite goodness- Praise the Lord , ' O my soul ! and'all that is within me , bless his holy name ! And now , O * Lord , for what remains , having attained , through thy goodness to the age of threescore years and ten , enable me ,
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Review . — Wellbeloved ' $ Sermon on the Death ef Mrs . C . Cappe . 547
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1821, page 547, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2504/page/43/
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