MEMOIRS OF THE LATE Mrs. Mary Cooper, OF LONDON; WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE JUNE 22, 1812, IN THE TWENTY-SIXTH YEAR OF HER AGE. EXTRACTED FROM HER DIARY AND EPISTOLARY CORRESPONDENCE. BY ADAM CLARKE, L.L.D. From the fourth London Edition. BOSTON: WELLS AND LILLY, COURT-STREET. ADVERTISEMENT. THE Editor of these Papers had the pleasure of a short acquaintance with the late Mrs. Cooper, eldest daughter of John Hanson, Esq. a worthy and respectable magistrate of the county of Middlesex; and, in conjunction with her friends, he deplores the premaTM ture death of a woman, of whom, he feels no hesitation to say, that her understanding was sound, her mind carefully cultivated, her charity unbounded, her faith unfeigned, her piety deep and rational; and her religious life without blemish. This is certainly saying a great deal; but not more than the subject most completely warrants. The mind of Mrs. Cooper was of no common mould; and this, her Diary, and Letters, from which the following Extracts are made, sufficiently prove. The Diary she had kept carefully concealed, even from her most intimate friends; and certainly never wrote it to meet the eye of man. As her heart dictated, and as occurrences presented themselves, so she wrote. To speak incorrectly she could not; to wait to revise and polish, she had neither time nor inclination as she wrote exclusively for her own instruction; and the improvement of her heart was the grand object at which she aimed. When this was attained, the manner in which it was accomplished was of no importance; as the whole, from beginning to end, was designed to be a secret correspondence with herself. Let this be the apology of the work, where the matter may appear diffuse and inartificial ; and the language negligent. To have suppressed the following Extracts on such accounts, would have been a real injury to all who shall have the opportunity of reading them; as it may be safely presumed, that no unprejudiced person can peruse this little volume, without having his heart religiously affected, and his mind considerably improved. The advantages which this excellent young woman derived from a religious education, were many and important. Her pious parents taught her to fear God from her youth. The great and momentous truths of the religion of Christ, they carefully inculcated on her mind and heart, from her earliest years-they shewed her, not only in their precepts, but also in their life and conversation, how she should walk and please God. They were workers together with Him; and He blessed the work of their hands. In all the branches of their very respectable and orderly family, they have proved the unfailing truth of that Divine saying, Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it. They have |