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Untitled Article
the decent pride of better d&ys has to abide , when obliged to let the spirit drop submissive at the foot of upstart Wealth . " Independence ! fair heritage of the happier of their Icind , mayst thou ever be possessed as deservedly as by the sainted being whose memory many will delight to honour !
' * A most dutiful and humble answer was made to the Queen , and many causes assigned for the offered distinction being declined ; when , in fact , there existed no cause , except what originated in her own imagination . Still a very unexpected honour awaited her from Royalty . The Queen had most graciously accepted
the two pieces of embroidery , and as a mark of her royal approbation * sent her a brilliant diamond ring of considerable value , accompanied with a letter written by her own hand , in which her Majesty condescended to express a regret that any circumstances should have deprived the Princesses of the advantages such an instructress would have conferred /'—Pp .
20—23 . Dr . Fordyce and his two brothers , Sir William ( a physician ) and Alexander , were intimate with the Earl and Countess of Balcarras . Alexanander , a London banker , of great reputed opulence , married one of their daughters , Lady Margaret Lindsay ; and the Doctor solicited and obtained
the hand of their yonn # friend , Miss Cummyng * The introduction of the lady of the former to a city life , and the marriage of the latter , are described with no mean effect . We suspect a little romance in the tales . The author thus relates tire explosion which brought ruin on the Fordyce family :
< c They ( the Doctor and Mrs . Fordyce ) were on a visit to Roehampton . Alexander Fordyce , as usual , came home in the ' evening ; but he appeared to be in a hurried agitation of spirits , and uttered his commands with impatience and rapidity , very unlike his usual calm , dictatorial mannerHis cheeks were flushed ¦ l « J V #
. . - » a ** M . . »* - ¦ . » - •« . . m . M x ^ - * a . ji » j ^ s ^* - «_ A » KJ V » v > » * - * -LA ** KJ M J V ^ * and his eyes had an expression which left you in doubt whether what was passing within indicated weal or woe . At supper he ate with avidity , and tossed off repeated bumpers of Madeira . Lady Margaret
gazed on him , and , almost affrighted , at last said , * Mr . Fordyce , you are very gay , or very queer . Something ails you —what is it ? What are you ? ' * What urn I ? ' he cried , bursting into laughter , and violently ringing the bell , ' I am a man . I always told the wary ones , arid
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the wise ones , with hearts of a chicken atid claws of a corbie , that I Would be a inan or a mouse ; and this night , this very night , the die is cast , and I amam " — ' * What , what I' cried Lady Margaret in alarm , and grasping his arm .
" « A man ! Bring champaign ; and , Butler , Burgundy below i Let to-night live for ever ! Champaign above , Burgundy below ! The gods shall celebrate this night , for Alexander is a man I * " Never did the wild hero of his name
appear struck with greater frenzy . Dr . Fordyce , who was present , viewed his brother with compassion : some apprehension passed over his thoughts ; but the mind without suspicion * thinketh no eviP : he , with his Henrietta , saluted poor Lady Margaret and retired .
' * Early next morning , and before Lady Margaret or Mr . Fordyce had appeared , Dr . and Mrs . Fordyce left the splendid mansion of their brother , and returned to their own peaceful hoihe : there they found Sir William waiting their arrival . In as gentle terms ay the intelligence : could be communicated , he disclosed the
painful tidings . Tire blow was struck , the bubble burst ; the Speculation so replete with ruin had failed ^ altogether failed : Alexander Forcfyce was a bankrupt and a beggar ; and the honourably acquired fortunes of his brothers irrecoverably sunk in the vortex , and lost for ever !"—Pp . 53—55 .
A brief Memoir of Dr . Fordyce is extracted ( pp . 11—15 ) from the Funeral Sermon by the late Dr . Lindsay , and a very pathetic letter from Mrs . Fordyce to the same gentleman , contains a narrative of the circumstances
of her husband ' s death ( pp . 67—72 ) . Dr . Fordyee was a successful author , having- received from ten to eleven thousand pounds for the copyright of his works . —P . 61 . The creed of Dr . Fordyce was what is called moderate orthodoxy . From the following passage , it would appear that he approached to Sabellianism :
" In reading the sacred writings , the Doctor drew a wide line between the inspired commandments , and the mere human opinions of the apostles ; and , speaking of the primitive Christians , he said , they did not worship the man Jesus ,
they worshiped the God who dwelt in the man , — ' There is no sentence in holy writ , ' he used to say , ' but what will bear an argument ; yet the unwise should avoid controversy , and read the Scriptures as intended rather to reveal wnat God is
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46 Review . - ** Memoir of the late Mrs . Henrietta Fordyce .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1825, page 46, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2532/page/46/
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