THIS truly pious and eminently gifted lady was born in London, Septem ber 23, 1783. She was the second daughter of the Rev. I. Taylor, Pastor of the Independent Church at Ongar, in Essex. Her early infancy was marked by considerable delicacy of constitution, which rendered the prospect of life very precarious during the three first years of her existence. The removal, however, of her parents from the confinement of a great metropolis to the pure air of Lavenham, in Suffolk, was the means of completely establishing her health, and sparing, at least for a season, a life of unusual promise. Country scenes, and country occupations seemed, in a high degree, congenial to the mind of this remarkable child. Accustomed, for more than three years, to the restraints peculiar to a residence in London, her retirement into the country was associated with a degree of pleasure which her whole infantile pursuits most significantly expressed.

Even at the tender age of four the lively fancy and intellectual superiority of Jane Taylor began to evince themselves. "I can remember," says her sister, (now Mrs. Gilbert of Not

VOL. IV.

tingham) that Jane was always the saucy, lively, entertaining little thing

-the amusement and the favourite of all who knew her. Her plays, from the earliest that I can recollect, were deeply imaginative, But I think I may say that the retiring character of her mind-a morbid sensibility towards things and persons without, as well as much refined feeling, operated to prevent a due estimate being formed of her talents. I need not tell you, that they were never made a shew of to any body:" But, though her education was not conducted. upon the mistaken principle of display, she was exposed, when but a child, to a measure of flattery, from injudicious friends, which, to a mind less characterized by intellectual and moral strength, must have proved, in the highest degree, pernicious. Her native and habitual diffidence, however, never forsook her; so that with truth it may be said, that a playful innocence and simplicity of character shed an imperishable lustre upon the openings of her genius, and rendered the watchful fears of parental solicitude comparatively unnecessary.

Much, doubtless, of the early and

subsequent proficiency of Jane Taylor, must be traced to the judicious education which she received from her excellent parents, who instructed her under their own roof, and taught her not only to obey them as parents, but also to confide in them as friends. The conduct of Mrs. Taylor, as a mother, is beyond all praise; and it is needless to state, that the character of a daughter must be prodigiously influenced by the habits and intercourses of a mother.

One delightful trait in the youthful history of Jane Taylor was the warmth and stability of her friendships. When she was but ten years of age, she wrote a most tender little poem, expressive of her pungent grief at parting with a friend, who left this country for New England. When she had reached her thirteenth year, her father received an invitation to become the Pastor of an Independent congregation at Colchester, which, after due deliberation, he deemed it his duty to accept. In this new sphere, having recovered from a long indisposition, he addressed himself, with renewed vigor, to the education of his children, and here it was that Jane Taylor formed some of the choicest friendships of her existence-friendships which nothing but the grave could interrupt. Of one of the objects of these early friendships, the biographer of Miss Taylor thus writes: "Those who may still remember Mira S. will allow that they have rarely seen united so much intelligence and sweetness of disposition, and loveliness of manners and person. Her charm was that of blended dignity and gentleness." This interesting lady and her sisters were cut off by fell disease, in the course of a few years; and the death of one of them, in particular, from the interest attaching to it, left a powerful impression on the mind of Miss Taylor. She had become the victim of Socinianism, which "only twenty years ago," as Mr. Taylor observes," was much

er

more specious than it is at present. For within this period the course of controversy has deprived its professors of an advantage-so important to the success of infidel insinuationsthat of having itself no defined or avowed principles to defend." This interesting female had learned to boast of having vanquished the “ rors of her education," and in the eagerness of thinking for herself, had trained herself to look with great contempt upon all her early religious opinions. Her health became so indifferent as to render a removal to Devonshire highly expedient. Never, however, was she permitted to reach it. Her disorder advanced with such rapidity, that she was compelled to stop at an inn by the way, from which she was never removed till after death. Happily she was taught, in her last days, to mourn, and to renounce the awful errors by which she had been bewildered; and her dying words were-" My hope is in Christ,-in Christ crucified :—and I would not give up that hope for all the world."

The constant aim of Miss Taylor's parents was to impress the minds of their children with the powers of the world to come; and there is reason to believe, notwithstanding her timid and distrustful disposition, that at a very early period she was brought to the saving knowledge of the truth.

66

Her imagination," says her brother, "susceptible as it was in the highest degree to impressions of fear, rendered her liable, at times, to those deep and painful emotions which belong to a conscience that is enlightened, but not fully pacified. And these feelings when blended with the pensiveness of her tender heart, gave a character of mournfulness and distress to her religious feelings during several years. Some unfinished verses, written about this time, were evidently composed under the influence of feelings too strong to allow the exercise of her poetic talents."

The following extracts from letters written about this time, will shew how much personal religion was an object of her devout concern:

"Oh it is hard fighting in our own strength against the evil bias of the heart, and external enemies. Their united forces are, I am daily more convinced, far too much for any thing but grace to overcome. No good resolutions, no efforts of reason, no desire to please, can alone succeed:-they may varnish the character; but, O! how insufficient are such motives for the trying occasions of common life. I would shine most at home; yet I would not be good for the sake of shining; but for its own sake: and when thus I trace the subject to its principles, I find a change of heart can alone effect what I desire: that new heart and right spirit,' which is the gift of God."--Memoirs, vol. i. p. 41.

On a subsequent occasion she writes in the following terms to the

same

friend ::

"I am grieved, my dear E., to hear from you so melancholy an account of the state of your mind. I wish I were a more able counsellor; or rather, I wish you would overcome your feelings, and apply to those whose consolations and advice might be useful to you. I can sincerely sympathize with you in all your griefs. I rejoice in having obtained your confidence; and I cannot make a better use of it than to urge you / to seek some abler adviser. I speak from experience when I say, how much benefit you might derive from an open communication of your feelings to your dear mother. Well do I know how difficult it is; yet the good to be gained is worthy the effort. You say she is so total a stranger to your feelings, that she even supposes you to be an enemy to religious principles. If then you consider the pleasure it would afford her to find you seriously inquiring on such subjects, I think you will feel it to be an additional arguIment for the disclosure. Two or three years ago, my mind was in a state of extreme depression:---for months I had been conflicting with the most distressing fear, and longing to disburden myself to my father: at last I could no longer support myself, and breaking through, what I had thought insurmount

able difficulties, I opened my mind to him

completely. It was a struggle; but the immediate relief I experienced fully repaid me; and the unspeakable benefit I have derived from the conversations I have sinee, from time to time, held with him, encourages me to pursue."----Memoirs, vol. i. p. 41.

The education and tastes of Miss

"If, in comparison with some of my friends, others of them may appear less pleasing, or less intelligent, believe me, whenever I compare any with myself, the result is always humiliating. My dear mother, do me the justice to believe that, at whatever crevice my vanity may endeavour to creep out, it will ever fly from the literary corner of my character. I am not indifferent to the opinion of any one; though I never expect to acquire the philosophie serenity which shall enable me to regard the whole circle of my acquaintance with the same glow of affection, or smile of complacency."---Memoirs, p. 55.

Miss T.'s relative character, as a child, a sister, and a friend, was of the most engaging description. At all times obliging and affectionate, in seasons of sickness she put forth the whole energy of her sympathies, and often became a sufferer herself, by what she endured on behalf of others.

The first production of Miss T's