to exercise any degree of self-denial, so that they might keep out of debt and difficulty. Nor were these mere words, as the writer of these lines can testify; for years after, when her income by her wisdom and economy was increased to a comfortable, though moderate sufficiency, she has often been known to wait months before she bought a print or a book upon which she had set her heart, because she thought she could not well afford it! And it was delightful to see united with this self-denial and thoughtfulness in the expenditure of money, how freely and nobly she gave to those who needed it. Many a sorrowful heart has her bounty caused to sing for joy; many, who reduced, perhaps, from affluence, too proud to ask, and suffering in silence, have blessed the giver of the help which it was her delight anonymously to bestow.

It was whilst the sorrows we have detailed were pressing upon Mrs. SchimmelPenninck, that the writings of the Port Royalists were first made known to her. She one day unexpectedly received a parcel from Mrs. Hannah More, containing some few volumes of the Port Royal writers. They seemed providentially sent to meet the inmost wants of her heart and spirit, in this season of outward trial and perplexity. She read them with the deepest interest; she soon succeeded in obtaining others, and the first fruits of these studies, by which she after

wards became so well known, appeared to the public in Lancelot's "Tour to La Grande Chartreuse and Alet," which was published in 1813. A second edition was soon called for. In 1816, it was followed by the narrative of the "Demolition of Port Royal des Champs," with biographical notices of its later inhabitants. In 1829, these works, with many additions, were published under the title of "Select Memoirs of Port Royal." In this form they have passed through many editions.

Immediately after the peace of 1814, Mr. and Mrs. SchimmelPenninck made a tour on the continent. They visited Holland, and passed some pleasant time at Count Schimmel Penninck's, and with other members of Mr. Schimmel Penninck's family.

They also visited Port Royal with deep interest. In the Netherlands Mrs. Schimmel Penninck formed an acquaintance with a Jansenist bishop, Count Grégoire; with him she visited the tomb of the holy Jansenius, and through his help she succeeded in obtaining many valuable Port Royal works, little known, and not attainable in England. It is in connection with the memories of Port Royal that Mrs. Schimmel Penninck's name is chiefly known to the public; she always rejoiced and gave thanks to God that she had been the means of enabling these holy people to speak to this generation. They were henceforth to be her chosen friends and companions,

the subjects of her daily studies, and the delight of her daily life. She never missed an opportunity of acknowledging the spiritual blessings which it had pleased God to bestow upon her through their instrumentality.

When writing on this subject, Mrs. Hannah More says: "I am glad to see you have so much contributed to make Port Royalism known in this country. Even religious readers are in general ignorant of the treasures of religion and learning possessed by these devoted people. I was, even at an early period of my spiritual reading, so warm in their praise, that Dr. Johnson used to call me the Jansenist.""

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Her works at this time appeared in rapid succession. Mr. Schimmel Penninck took a lively interest in his wife's literary labours; indeed, it appears that it was mainly owing to his sympathy and wishes that several of her books were published. In 1815 appeared the Theory of Beauty and Deformity." It was the opinion of some competent judges, that this work showed more of her original talent and genius than any other of her published writings, but it did not prove popular. It was encumbered by most voluminous notes, containing a mass of information not likely, perhaps, to be generally interesting, though testifying abundantly to the author's rare and extensive literary research.

question concerning the standard of beauty. It shows that the error had been in seeking for one standard of beauty, when nature has constituted several. These standards of beauty the author considers to be evidently founded on the successively developed perceptions and requirements of man, and to consist respectively in the reflection from material objects, of the power, the love, and the life of the Divine Being.

In later life Mrs. Schimmel Penninck lamented that in this early work her Theory had not received its proper application to Christian art and Christian taste, nor had been based on its true foundation in Christian truth. It was her cherished wish to re-write the whole, from the enlarged and deepened convictions of her later mind.

She believed that the task of unfolding the eternal principles of beauty, though humble compared with that of teaching spiritual truth, was yet of practical importance. She considered "the tastes to be the extreme ramifications of principles," and she held that the arrangement of a house, and of domestic scenery, according to the perceptions of a rightly informed taste, went far towards promoting the cheerfulness and harmonious feelings of those who would receive its influence. She was deeply anxious, therefore, to discharge the task which she believed had been committed to her, to the glory of God; and her

posthumous work on the "Principles of Beauty" is the result of this desire. It was written in the latter years of her life, but while it might yet be said of her, that spiritually "her eye was not dim, nor her natural force abated."

In the autobiography, we have seen the interest which the subject of slavery awakened in Mrs. Schimmel Penninck's mind from early childhood. The active exertions of future years corresponded with this early horror at the iniquities of the slave trade. At a time when the energies of many benevolent persons of her own sex were strained to the utmost in the cause of the slave, Mrs. SchimmelPenninck devotedly laboured in the part assigned to her. By unwearied counsel and sympathy, and by the use of her ready pen, she gave most efficient support and help to the abolitionists of Bristol. We have abundant testimony how highly her labours were estimated. Hannah More writes of her " excellent tracts" on this subject, one of which seems to have excited a more than common degree of interest. It is on the "difference between Jewish and West Indian slavery," and is entitled "Is Slavery justified or condemned by Scripture?" I regret to say I have been unable to obtain a correct list of Mrs. Schimmel Penninck's tracts and lesser publications either on this or other subject.

During the years of which I am now speaking,