Mr. and Mrs. Schimmel Penninck received, though always with simplicity, a good deal of society at their own house; literary people, family friends and connections, and others, attracted by the charm which Mrs. Schimmel Penninck's wit and originality threw around her.

In the year 1813, she first became acquainted with the late excellent Mrs. Richard Smith, an acquaintance which soon ripened into close friendship, and which, as we shall see, took an important place in her daily life, and continued' almost without a cloud for more than forty years. Mrs. Smith and the Rev. Dr. Okely, pastor of the Moravian church in Bristol, a man of devoted piety, and of many gifts and peculiarities, were her frequent guests.

She had also at this time very frequent intercourse with the late Lady Bedingfeld, and with Mr., afterwards Cardinal, and Mrs. Weld, who then resided at Clifton, and with Sir Thomas Clifford, whom she constantly met at their house. Mrs. Schimmel Penninck retained the highest respect and esteem for these excellent friends, but letters written at this time bear witness that she was enabled to resist the most strenuous efforts made by them to bring her over to their communion.

Love to her mother was the great affection of Mrs. Schimmel Penninck's life. No words of mine can adequately convey her grief when the long

illness of this beloved parent terminated in death, November 16th, 1817.

One who was with her at that time, and passed through those deep waters in near sympathy with a sorrow which no human aid could mitigate, believed that she would have sunk under the anguish of her mind, but God in His love and mercy brought her through. Every year during the rest of her life, as November came round, she put on mourning in vivid remembrance of this, her greatest sorrow; she wore it till Christmas Day, and then she took it off, "in sympathy with the glad tidings that day commemorated to the vast family of God's children."

Of outward things, in this time of sore trial, probably nothing afforded Mrs. Schimmel Penninck so much consolation as the study of her favourite Port Royal writers. She often used to say that these books having been sent to her before this sad time was an especial instance of Divine love and mercy. She had also now begun the study of Hebrew with her friend Mrs. Richard Smith, and henceforth this Divine language, as she loved to call it, became one of her chief delights. Its ideal character exactly met her mind, as the light it afforded in her studies of the word of God met her conscience.

The first fruit of Mrs. Schimmel Penninck's He

Mr. and Mrs. Schimmel Penninck received, though always with simplicity, a good deal of society at their own house; literary people, family friends and connections, and others, attracted by the charm which Mrs. Schimmel Penninck's wit and originality threw around her.

In the year 1813, she first became acquainted with the late excellent Mrs. Richard Smith, an acquaintance which soon ripened into close friendship, and which, as we shall see, took an important place in her daily life, and continued' almost without a cloud for more than forty years. Mrs. Smith and the Rev. Dr. Okely, pastor of the Moravian church in Bristol, a man of devoted piety, and of many gifts and peculiarities, were her frequent guests.

She had also at this time very frequent intercourse with the late Lady Bedingfeld, and with Mr., afterwards Cardinal, and Mrs. Weld, who then resided at Clifton, and with Sir Thomas Clifford, whom she constantly met at their house. Mrs. Schimmel Penninck retained the highest respect and esteem for these excellent friends, but letters written at this time bear witness that she was enabled to resist the most strenuous efforts made

bring her over to their communion

Love to her mother wo

Mrs. Schimmel Penn

can adequately

entitled "Biblical Fragments," to which a second volume was added as a supplement in the succeeding year.

Amongst Mrs. Schimmel Penninck's tracts appeared a very interesting notice of the late Emperor Alexander. It was in part a translation from the French, and contained many facts not generally known to the English public. This little book excited great interest.

The year 1818 was marked by her reception into the Moravian Church, into which her scruples with regard to the use of the "Lot" had, as we have seen, hitherto prevented her from being received as a member. In her letter to Dr. Okely, in which she applies for fellowship, when tracing the course of her mind on this subject, she thus expresses her ultimate conviction: "I had, indeed, long believed in Jesus, but, like Martha, I had too often been busied about many things, though all, as I thought, relating to His service. I now began to feel that I most needed, like Mary, to sit quietly at His feet, and my heart yearned after companions who, in common with other Christian brethren, feed on the Bread of Life, but eat it unmixed with the chaff of human speculation. During this period, too, I had seen much of the so-called religious world, and all I saw without, as well as all I had experienced within, convinced me more and more of man's utter empti