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blessed truths of the Gospel were occasionally presented to her; her affectionate attention to the feelings of her weeping parents shewed itself to the last; and she at length breathed her latest breath without struggle or sigh, and with those words dying on her lips in reference to the all-atoning Sacrifice, "I have no other hope."

It seems to have been a mercy singularly appropriate to the overwhelmed survivors, that, a few hours after her death, the following" admonitory and most seasonable lines" were found apparently recently copied on a blank leaf in a pocket Bible which was her constant companion:

"With peaceful mind, thy path of duty run; God nothing does, nor suffers to be done, But what thou wouldst thyself, couldst

thou but see Through all events of things,as well as He." p. 224.

The lessons of consolation which the subsequent pages of the narrative afford to the afflicted, on the one hand, and the warning voice which, on the other, they address to the young and inexperienced, cannot be too often turned over, or too highly prized. May such lessons have their effect! May they teach an early and decisive detachment from a world which we all love too well; indeed from every object terminating in this life; and even from merely earthly views of those blessings which are given us to carry forward our hopes to an eternity of bliss. We consider as highly important the observations in which Mr. Jerram enlarges on the possible effects of some supposed neglect in not availing himself of all opportunities for spiritual conversation with his beloved daughter when in health, with close application to her own case. And happy would it be were we induced to converse more with each other, as fellow-citizens of a heavenly state, fellow-travellers to an everlasting home, It might serve doubtless to relieve much of that surprise which too often is induced by the sudden

irruption of the last enemy, and might alleviate the painfulness of those last disclosures which few perhaps had less reason to fear than the gentle and faithful spirit of Hannah Jerram.

The same volume, which in its first three editions narrated only the true and affecting details above mentioned, adds, in its fourth, a new and striking instance of "God's moving in a mysterious way." To the heavy weight of preceding trials, it adds the death of an eldest son. Yet the pressure which might have

every

seemed severe beyond all common endurance, appears in fact to have been medicinal. It wounded and it healed. It stands with a most important bearing on all that preceded in the volume before us, as well as on all that had passed in the dark volume of parental feeling. It opened fully those views of life which we had almost said nothing but deep affliction can disclose. It operated in appearance to take off the mind from human rest and sublunary stay, and to fix it upon that which is alone stable and divine-even on "that which is within the veil." So at least we collect from the sentiments of Mr. Jerram. It was on the 18th of September 1824, one year and four months after the death of Hannah, that her brother, C. S. Jerram, was taken ill. It was, however, not till the morning which preceded his death, on the 26th, that any serious alarm was felt. Mr. Jerram writes,

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Being under the necessity of going to town on Thursday the 23d, and being assured by one of his medical attendants that there was no apparent cause for expecting an unfavourable termination of his and asked him a few questions on the state malady, I spoke to my son of my intention, of his mind. He said his faith and entire confidence were placed on Jesus Christ; and he asked me, as I then thought, to pray for him, though it afterwards aphim. After he found I was gone, he expeared that he meant I should pray with pressed much uneasinesss, and was particularly grieved that I had not prayed with him. This, indeed, I should have done, notwithstanding my mistaking his request, had I not been afraid lest, under the circumstance of my going away for that

and the following day, it might be too much for his feelings. I regret, however, the omission; and I hope I shall hereafter think less of momentary emotions, and take the opportunity, when it occurs, of discharging every Christian duty." pp. 257, 253.

On the Saturday, however, symptoms had arisen which rendered necessary the painful disclosure of his son's extreme danger: and this, with an exemplary firmness, to be expected from such a father, as indeed generally due from all friends in similar circumstances, was communicated to the patient himself.

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When it is understood that the

general disposition of this youth, then twenty-one years old, was of this kind, so formed by nature and so re-, newed by Divine grace, we seem prepared for that which did take place in him, whilst it was in part mysteriously withheld from his Christian sister; namely, an uninterrupted flow of joy and unclouded serenity of hope, from the earliest to the latest period of his short mortal disorder.

The bearing of these scenes on those which had preceded in the same family, sixteen months before,. will be most fully understood by the last extract we shall give from this memorial, and which will leave room for but few of our own closing observations. After remarking, that, not withstanding the assured confidence of his hope as on a rock that had long been tried,

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"He received the intelligence without any apparent alarm; and intimated that he was not surprised at the information, but had himself suspected that his case was dangerous. From this time till that of his death, I scarcely ever left his bedside. Indeed, if I were absent for a moment, he immediately inquired, Where is my father?' and seemed uneasy till he saw me return. At one time, when I had been directing his views to the all-sufficiency of the Saviour, and said he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him,' he replied, with emphasis, Yes, and he is also willing to save; and on my adding, O yes, he is indeed willing to save, and that the greatest of sinners,' he rejoined, If it were not so, what must become of such poor wretched sinners as we are?' He then said, if it should please God to restore him to health, he trusted he should be more diligent in his service than he ever had been and I" And herein I cannot help thinking may here remark, that it was chiefly the sins of omission that most grieved him. He thought he might have done more in the cause of religion than he had done, and he determined on a life of greater zeal and devotedness, if he were permitted to return to health." pp. 259-261.

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The intercourse which subsequently took place was such as might have been expected between such a father and such a son. "I love to lean upon my dear father," said the dying son on one occasion when requiring support, "because it reminds me of leaning upon my heavenly Father." And on another occasion he evinced the same affectionate tenderness, when, on hearing from his mother the expression of kindness from a near friend, he exclaimed, "Stop!-do not say any more- such kindness quite overpowers me;" and he burst into

tears.

nothing could well exceed the humility with which he viewed his own character; but he was mercifully enabled (as far as any one could ascertain the fact). during the whole of his illness, and especially the last day of it, to turn his thoughts from himself to the all-sufficiency and willingness of the Saviour to save the greatest of sinners;" p. 276. Mr. Jerram proceeds:

that the rough passage, which his beloved sister had experienced during a part of her voyage to the haven of rest had smoothed the waters for him, for he evidently had her frequently in mind: he quoted most of the passages of Scripture, as actually affording him comfort, which were presented to her, with a view to bring consolation, and as though he had begun in his Enjoying, from the first, a full confidence sickness where she appeared to leave off. that he should be accepted for the sake of the Saviour, he seemed never to have had this confidence shaken; and the enemy was not permitted for a moment, apparently, to harass his mind. If this were the case, how can I be sufficiently thankful for the events of my dear daughter's last few days, and for having been enabled to record them!" pp. 276, 277.

Thus have we brought our extracts and notice of this double memoir to a close; and our readers, we think, will agree with us in thinking we have not dwelt on it too long. The experience of two highly

interesting and Christian death-beds, and the bearing of each on a surviving Christian family, whose living feelings could scarcely have met with a more vivid and faithful painter than the present devout and talented author, form, independently of all other matter in this volume, a subject for contemplation alike interesting to the public instructor and the private Christian. The mixture of sobriety in principle with fervour in feeling, of practical circumspection with sublime contemplation, of self-renouncing faith with self-denying holiness and the truest obedience; this handed down from parent to child, and beautifully displayed in either generation, and surmounted by a really magnificent exercise, under most trying circumstances, of Christian resignation and triumphant patience, both in the living and the dying;-all this, we say, forms together a phenomenon which, if uncommon amongst Christians, ought surely to be exhibited for its instructive novelty; but if not uncommon, then still more deserving publication, for the credit of our blessed religion, and for being one case only of many to prove that to be most excellent which lifts us far above the waves of this troublesome world, and that to be divine which actually raises us up together, and makes us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

The West Indies as they are; or a real Picture of Slavery, but more particularly as it exists in the Island of Jamaica. By the Rev. RICHARD BICKELL, a Member of the University of Cambridge, late Naval Chaplain at Port-Royal, some time Curate of that Parish, and previously of the City of Kingston, in the aforesaid Island. London: Hatchard. 1825. 8vo. pp. 256.

SOME of our readers, we fear, begin to be tired of the subject of slavery. Its enormities, however, still exist

ing in almost undiminished force and malignity, notwithstanding all that the government, and the parliament, and the public have laboured to effect for its mitigation and final extinction, we are compelled by a sense of duty still to recur to the painful topic, and to reiterate our calls on the Christian world to persevere in their efforts on behalf of the oppressed slaves. We have endeavoured to make our readers acquainted with the real nature and effects of Negro bondage. Still we fear that the general impression of the iniquity and wretchedness of the system is far less deep and vivid than the truth of the case, if it were fully understood, would justify. On this account, we hail with satisfaction the appearance of the present volume, which is the work of a clergyman of the Church of England, who resided for about five years in the West Indies, chiefly on the island of Jamaica. We cannot, it is true, speak in very high terms of the work as a composition. It abounds in faults of style, and is expanded to very undue dimensions. But, though it might have been contracted, with advantage, into a much smaller space, and might have been divested of many blemishes which diminish its value as a literary production, it is nevertheless a most important as well as seasonable accession to our stock of information on a subject of peculiar interest. The writer is evidently a fair, upright, and unbiassed witness, who describes plainly and distinctly, and we would add fearlessly, the scenes which have recently passed under his own eyes; and no one can peruse his observations without an irresistible impression of the fidelity with which it is his purpose to execute the task he has undertaken. He paints the West Indies as they are in the eye of an impartial Christian observer; and his testimony has this peculiar recommendation, that it is given by one who is uninfluenced by party feelings, and exempt from controversial asperity.

Mr. Bickell is a moderate man, by no means disposed to go all lengths in vituperating those whose practices he feels himself compelled to condemn. He sympathises with his West-Indian friends in the difficulties of their situation, and is solicitous both for their personal safety and for the security of their property. The tale, at the same time, which he has unfolded is a tale of horror. We refer to it with confidence, as establishing in their full extent the specific charges which have been preferred against the West-Indian system. If Mr. Bickell is to be believed, and his book bears every mark of truth, then is the indictment against the colonies not only found to be a true bill, but a verdict of guilty must be recorded,and condemnation, we trust, will follow.

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In the course of the last year the Anti-slavery Society published a sheet for general circulation throughout the country, containing A Brief View of the Nature and Effects of Negro Slavery, as it exists in the Colonies of Great Britain." This statement has been vehemently attacked by different advocates of the colonial system, as false and calumnious; and ticularly by Mr. Gladstone, in his correspondence with Mr. Cropper, published by the West-Indian Committee of Liverpool, and by Mr. Macqueen of Glasgow. In order that the reader may judge of its correctness, we shall transcribe a part of it for the purpose of more easy comparison with the statements of Mr. Bickell.

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"In the colonies of Great Britain there are at this moment upwards of 800,000 human beings in a state of degrading personal slavery. "These unhappy persons, whether young or old, male or female, are the absolute property of their master, who sell may or transfer them at his pleasure, and who may also regulate according to his discretion (within certain limits) the measure of their labour, their food, and their punishment."

، The Slaves being regarded in the eye of the law as mere chattels, they are liable to be seized in execution for their master's debts, and, without any regard to the family ties which may be broken by this oppressive and merciless process, to be sold by auction to the highest bidder, who may remove them to a distant part of the same colony, or even exile them to another colony."

Now, let us see what confirmation these statements of the Antislavery Society's Brief View derive from Mr. Bickell's book.

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Slavery is undoubtedly and confessedly one of the greatest evils that ever was inflicted on the human race, and has been tions, in all ages of the world." (p. 1.) considered as the greatest curse by all na"It was reserved for modern times, for men calling themselves Christians, and nations professing the religion of the meek and lowly Jesus, to carry this heaviest curse inflicted on the human race to its highest pitch." (p. 3.)—Of this system, some of the harsher and more cruel fea"Still tures may have been done away. however much remains to be done, both in a physical and religious point of view, before the Negroes can be said to approximate to even the lowest and worst paid poor of the British islands." (p. 4.)"The great body of the colonists, with very few exceptions, look upon the Negroes as beings every way inferior to the Whites; and this is one great cause of their ill treatment, and being deprived of with perfect safety be granted them." (p. many little privileges which, I think, might 8.) They look upon the Blacks as much beneath themselves, as the brutes are beneath the Negroes ; they think them hardalmost insensible to punishment. This is ly capable of religious impressions, and one great reason of their depressed state and frequent rigorous treatment." 197.) These illiberal opinions," he adds, "I can positively assert, are adopted and held by a great part of the colonists of the present day.'

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"Another of the evils of slavery is, that the slaves are so degraded and deconsidered persons, but mere animals or pressed in the eye of the law as not to be chattels; so that they can be sold, not only at the will and pleasure of their masters or owners, to any other person, at any part of the island, but can be seized and sold for debt, by a writ of execution, and exposed for sale at a public auction to the best bidder. Many a bitter cry is heard when the marshal's deputies (dogs to hunt down and seize the victim or as they are emphatically called) are sent victims, and drive or drag them away to

the workhouse, or gaol, till the day of sale arrives, which is to deprive them of their little homes, the gardens they have cultivated, the acquaintances they have made, and all the little comforts which make even slavery, in some measure, to lerable. This hardship is much increased when slaves are married, or have families, as the woman may be separated from her husband, or parents from their children; for here the tenderest ties of nature are broken in an instant, and the wife's, or mother's, or children's cries would not be in the least attended to, nor heeded, any more than the moans of so many [brute] animals." pp. 16, 17.

"The distress and terror among a gang of Negroes, when the marshal's deputy, with his dogs and other assistants, comes to levy in a large way, cannot be conceived by those who, happily for themselves, have never been spectators of such scenes, and can scarcely be described by those who have witnessed them. I was once on a coffee mountain (staying for a few days with a brother clergyman, who had permission to reside there,) on which were about seventy or eighty Negroes. The proprietor was much in debt, and was aware that one or two of his largest creditors had for some time wished to make a levy on his slaves to pay themselves; but by keeping his gates locked, and the fences round the dwelling-house and Negrohouses in good repair, he had hitherto baffled the Argus-eyed deputy and his deputies. The night after I arrived on the property, however, I was awaked, about an hour before daylight, by a great noise, as of arms, with cries of women and chil. dren. In a few minutes a private servant came to my window and informed me that it was the marshal's deputies making a levy on the Negroes, and that the noise proceeded from the clashing of weapons; for some of the slaves, he said, had stoutly resisted. I then alarmed my friend, and we determined to go out to see that no improper use was made of the tremendous power given to these Cerberuses. By the time we arrived at the Negro-houses the resistance had ceased; for the Negroes being divided, had been overcome by the myrmidons of the law. One poor fellow, however, was being dragged along like a thief by a fierce and horrid-looking Irishman, who had been one of M'Gregor's freebooters, and who, when we came near, grasped his victim more tightly, and brandished his broadsword over the poor creature with the grin and growl of a demon. "Many of the men escaped from the property, and some few others, with some women, secreted themselves among the coffee trees, till the party had gone off with their prey. They secured, however ten or twelve men, and many of the women and children, amounting in the whole to between thirty and forty, who were huddled together on the outside of the

principal fence, and presented such a heart-rending scene as I never witnessed before, and should be very sorry ever to witness again. Some of the children had lost their mothers, and some of the mothers had been torn away from a part of their children; for some of the little urchins also escaped. One woman in particular, a housewoman, had six or seven children; two or three of them were seized, and the others escaped; but the youngest, an infant, had been caught, and she wept aloud and very bitterly for it, saying, that she must give herself up if the child was not got back, for she could not live separated from it. There were many a bitter cry and sad lament among the women and children, for they loved their master, who was kind, and had excellent provision grounds for them; but most of the men were dogged and sullen, and only wanted arms to obtain their freedom from the savage Whites and their associates, who now guarded them. As it was, two or three of the poor fellows were wounded; and I was assured by a free Brown man, who was looking after the property in the master's absence, that had the proprietor been there, there would have been sad work, and very likely murder; for it was an illegal levy, and the resistance would have been desperate under their master's eye and voice. They were tied together, or hand-cuffed, and driven off the same morning to Spanish-Town gaol, a distance of twenty miles; but as they had been seized before sun-rise, and the fence had been also broken through, both of which are illegal, the owner obtained their enlargement shortly after, and they were allowed to go back to the spot they loved. I might here remark, that the labour is much lighter on a coffee mountain than on a sugar estate, and that the Negroes are not required to be up so much at night, to pick and cure coffee, as they are to make sugar; where, therefore, they have good provision grounds, as they had on this mountain I have been speaking of, they are much more comfortable, and less harassed than on a sugar estate." pp. 19-23.

Has any thing ever been written by Mr. Cooper or Mr. Meabry; or has any thing ever been asserted by Mr.Wilberforce or Mr. Buxton, more damnatory of the slave system than the above simple narrative of a respectable eye-witness?

We could not, without quoting nearly the whole of Mr. Bickell's book, adduce any passage which is directly in point as to the absolute right of property in his slaves possessed by the West-India planter. That right, however, is assumed throughout the work, as well as in all the arguments

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