“As to sanctification, that it is the work of the Holy Spirit, and progressive, is the very thing I see and rejoice in.  He has brought me into the ‘highway of holiness’ up which I trust every day to progress, continually pressing forward, led by the Spirit of God.”

The simplicity of her trust in God and His Word comes out strikingly in her writings.  She seems to have grasped the fact that Jesus Christ was “a living bright reality,” pledged to uphold and help and comfort all who go to Him as little children.  Another marked feature in her life was her deep sympathy with others in their trouble and anxieties.  And this spirit of unselfishness enabled her in her prose writings and her hymns to inspire something of her simple trust into those who read them with receptive minds.

To see under the surface of Frances Ridley Havergal’s character, look into her works, and you find the humble servant of Jesus Christ revealed.  She “walked with God,” and by the attraction of a life bright with the beauty of holiness revealing itself in her writings, she has exercised and still exercises a great power upon Christians by lifting them up to a higher walk with God.  And many singers will doubtless join hereafter in the song of “Moses and the Lamb” whose souls were on earth attuned to heavenly music through the pleading words or holy example of Frances Ridley Havergal.

John P. Hobson, M.A.

HANNAH MORE.

I.

EARLY II

Amongst the staunchest supporters of Presbyterianism in the days of Charles II. were the Mores of Harleston, Norfolk.  Glorying in the risk incurred of proscription and imprisonment, they turned their dwelling into a conventicle.  Here the faithful gathered stealthily at midnight to hear the Gospel preached, whilst one of the house, with drawn sword, stood at the threshold prepared to defend with his life both minister and congregation.  From this sturdy stock sprang Jacob, the father of Hannah More.  He married a sensible, high-principled farmer’s daughter.  A family of five girls was born to them, the fourth being Hannah, whose birth occurred on the 2nd of February, 1745.

Hannah displayed remarkable precocity.  Before she was four she could repeat the Catechism, much to the astonishment of the parish minister; whilst startling questions about matters far beyond her age were put to those around her.  At eight her thirst for knowledge increased.  Sitting on her father’s knee she listened eagerly to his recital of the brave deeds of Greeks and Romans and the wise sayings of Plutarch.  Sometimes her father repeated orations of classic heroes, first in the original tongue, and then in English.  The interest thus excited led the child to crave for a knowledge of Latin.  Her father, although averse to girls exceeding the limits of the three “R’s” and a few accomplishments, yielded at length to his promising