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    That the amount intended to be distributed be £ 100 , that it be repeated an * nually , accompanied by a public exhibition , and that the amount oe divided according to duration and merit . 6 th . That the like sum of £ 100 be raised to be distributed , at the same time and place , amongst those fathers or mothers who have raised the most numerous families with the most scanty means , and the most general propriety of conduct .

    7 th . That a committee be appointed to carry these resolutions into effect , witji powers to add to their number at their own discretion ; that no distinction be made either in their persons or , in those of the receivers as to religious tenets , and their judgment to be guided by such information and circumstances as may come before them in the course of inquiry .

    8 th . That it be recommended to the committee to engage the theatre for the annual exhibition ; that to secure decorum and propriety , the boxes and pit be charged such price for admission as may seem most fitting for the occasion ; but that the gallery be free , and that every means be adopted to render the exhibition interesting and instructive to all parties .

    These resolutions were carried by unbounded acclamation ; in less than a quarter of an hour the £ 200 was subscribed ; the committee was soon nominated , and the office gladly accepted . My imagination now rapidly changed this preparatory scene to the real exhibition . The house was crowded , and the orchestra was well filled with the dilletanti of the town and neighbourhood . A beautiful pastoral drama , in two acts , written for the purpose by the versatile and fascinating pen of

    Miss Mitford , was performed by a voluntary set of amateurs . It represented a village festival under the superintendance of the neighbouring gentry , exhibiting athletic games and other rural sports suitable for the occasion , and displaying , in all the magical effect of the writer ' s unrivalled talent , at once the unaffected condescension of the patrons , and the artless gratitude and

    simplicity of rustic life . The feelings of humanity and benevolence hereby excited in the breasts of the admiring audience were well calculated to prepare them for the display which was to succeed ; and when , the judgment and the passions are thus arrayed to act in perfect unison , then , and then only , is human bliss approaching to that of the blessed in the celestial mansions of harmony and love .

    At the close of this performance the worthy and benevolent * * * addressed the audience on the subject of the meeting . In a clear but concise arrangement he , explained the origin of society , the unavoidable inequality of conditions , the distinction of ranks , the mutual dependence of all classes upon each other , the obligations of the moral and social duties equally binding upon the prince and the peasant , and all the intermediate and numerous gradations . He enforced with a degree of energy well suited to the subject

    and the occasion , the observance of the rules of truth , of honesty , of domestic attachment , of diligence , of economy , of good-will and forbearance , and of that independence of spirit which raises man above the level of the brute creation , and so far from weakening the bonds of social life , is the best guarantee for their safety and preservation . He explained the relations of

    property and self-interest , as being , under good regulations , the best stimulus to action , that would operate upon every individual to the performance of his relative duties , and thus provide , in the most effective manner , for the wants and conveniencies of all , thereby securing the whole from want and starvation . He shewed that this property , however , was a trust for the general good , and when the wealthy were supplied in their gratifications and indulgencies

    Untitled Article

    Vision of an almost Septuagenarian Recluse , 29

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1829, page 29, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2568/page/29/