it the night before last, and viewed it with a trepidation of nerves and spirits somewhat akin to what I should have felt, had the dear original presented herself to my embraces. I kissed it, and hung it, where it is the last object that I see at night, and, of course, the first on which I open my eyes in the morning. She died when I completed my sixth year; yet I remember her well, and am an ocular witness of the great fidelity of the copy. I remember, too, a multitude of the maternal tendernesses which I received from her, and which have endeared her memory to me beyond expression. There is in me, I believe, more of the Donne than of the Cowper, and though I love both names, and have a thousand reasons to love those of my own name, yet I feel the bond of nature draw me vehemently to your side. I was thought, in the days of my childhood, much to resemble my mother; and, in my natural temper, of which, at the age of 58, I must be supposed a competent judge, can trace both her, and my late uncle, your Father: somewhat of his irritability, and a little, I would hope, both of his and her -9 I know not what to call it, without seeming to praise myself, which is not my intention, but, speaking to you, I will speak out, and say, good nature. Add to all this, I deal much in poetry, as did our venerable ancestor, the Dean of St Paul's (his Mother, too, he might have added, who, if not a poetess, was fond of poetry), and I think I shall have proved myself a Donne at all points." To another relative, about the same time, he says,-The portrait "I had rather possess than the richest jewel in the British crown: for I loved her with an affection, that her death, fifty-two years ago, has not in the least abated. I remember, too, young as I was when she died, well enough to know, that it is a very exact resemblance of her, and as such it is to me invaluable.” Cowper's case is one most affecting proof of the amount of loss sustained in the removal of such a Mother. Witness what happened immediately afterwards. Though much of his distress is to be referred, unquestionably, to physical causes, and the mistaken treatment of early disease, long, long before the alienation of his mind,* yet had she survived to * Between mind and body there is such an intimate connexion, that, in many cases, the state of the individual may be conjectured. train this tender plant, many a gloomy hour, and day, and year, might, humanly speaking, have been averted. At all events, one is pained in being obliged to ascribe so much of what followed to some sad oversight or mistake in tender and considerate training, during the rest of his boyhood; while it is pleasing to observe, that these first six years of existence afforded even to him a subject of frequent delightful reminiscence during his whole life. To extend this list of eminent men, so peculiarly indebted to parental influence, would not be difficult; but when the names of Fenelon or Locke, of Huss or Junius, of Latimer or Jeremy Taylor, of Baxter or Flavel, of Romaine or Chandler, are mentioned, let it not be forgotten how much we stand indebted to the Father of each. When Augustine or Luther, Lord Bacon or Bishop Hall, George Herbert or Halyburton, Hervey or Colonel Gardiner, Doddridge or Cecil, Swarts or Brainerd, are thought of with gratitude or admiration, let their amiable and interesting Mothers be also remembered, to whom, in a greater or less degree, they owed the rise and origin of all their future eminence. In almost all these cases, it is by no means intended to exclude the other Parent, who either assisted or sanctioned all that was done, when So, when Cowper was depressed, or under alienation of mind, his health, in general, was good; when unwell, his mind was better and comparatively easy. Indeed, as to its physical cause, the mental obliquity of this amiable man, it is now well known, was owing to his having, in very early life, unadvisedly checked an erisipelatous complaint in the face, which rendered him ever afterwards liable to depression of spirits. that parent survived; but to both Parents we are equally under obligation for John Howe and Jonathan Edwards, Witsius and Grotius, Bates and Henry, Watts and Dwight; for the family of Collins, mentioned by Fox in his Acts and Monuments, as well as the Mathers, and Cottons, and Mayhews, of North America. Nay, when deprived of the advantage of both parents, it is often to some other relative that we trace the early training of the mind, or the direction given to the genius of the Child. By his Grandfather, Melancthon was instructed; Beza and Ridley were indebted to their Uncles; while Archbishop Usher was trained up from infancy by his two Aunts, though they were born blind! Both persons of great piety, as well as a remarkable knowledge of Sacred Scripture, they actually taught him to read, and until he was eight years old, he remained under their tuition alone. Proof being now not so much my object as impression, and as the minds of Parents in general seem to be far from sufficiently alive to the power thus lodged in their hands, until it is too late, I hope I may be excused in noticing, though very briefly, a few of these names. RICHARD BAXTER, the English Demosthenes, though at one period likely to prove only a grief to his Parents, at last reached the eminence on which he now stands. Fortunately for him, his Father directed his attention to the historical parts of the Bible, which much interested him, and inspired him with a desire to peruse the whole. In consequence of this desire, the perusal of other books, and the conver sations of his Father, his mind was enlightened; for these were, to say the least, among the means `employed for his cordial reception of divine truth. And though this extraordinary character often lamented that, with him, " childhood and youth had too much vanity," he never forgot how greatly he had been indebted to the restraining power of parental instruction and example. Hence, even in old age, he published the sense he still entertained of his obligations to these divinely-appointed guardians of his infancy. Among his homely "poetical fragments," we find him referring to his Father and Mother in the following lines: "My Parents here thy skilful hand did plant, In which my spring-time I should else have spent.' HALL, Bishop of Norwich, the English Seneca, not only felt himself, throughout life, under singular obligation to his Mother, but, if eloquent at any time, it was when referring to her. "How often," says he, " have I blessed the memory of those divine passages of experimental divinity which I have heard from her mouth! Never any lips have read to me such feeling lectures of piety; neither have I known any soul that more accurately practised them than her own. Shortly, for I can hardly take off my pen from so exemplary a subject, her life and death were saint-like." DR DODDRIDGE.-A Bohemian female, the daughter of a worthy minister, who had been compelled to forsake his native country, in consequence of persecution, took refuge in Britain, and so she became the Mother of this excellent and useful man. Nor was this the only notable circumstance in regard to his origin: Dr Doddridge having been the twentieth child, and the only surviving Son of his Mother. As the children, with the exception of one daughter, had all died in infancy, young Doddridge had been actually laid aside as dead soon after his birth; but some motion being observed, and having been nursed with great care, his earliest years were consecrated, by both his Parents, to the acquisition of religious knowledge; nay, before he could read, the history of the Old and New Testament his Mother taught him, by means of some Dutch tiles, in the chimney-corner of the room where they resided. On these histories she was in the habit of making her own judicious reflections to the little child; and thus impressions were made on his mind, which subsequent years never could obliterate. In his thirteenth year he was deprived, by death, of his Father, and soon after of his affectionate Mother, of both of whom he always spoke in terms of the greatest respect and affection. Hence, in his own character as a Parent, we see their influence extended and improved. Not only was he an affectionate husband to an affectionate and pious wife, but to the education of his children he paid |