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Account of Charlotte R'lchardfin. 



209 



Tfl the Editor of the Monibly Magazine. 



SIR, 

 *• Full many a gem ^'of pureft ray ferene 



The dark unl'atliom'd caves of ocean bear ; 

 Full many a flower is born to blulh unTeen, 

 And vvaile its fweetnefs on the defert air." 

 Gray, 



AMONG the various phenomena of 

 the human mind, theie are nor any 

 that more excite our inteielt than the de- 

 velopment of uncommon powers of ir- 

 tereCl by its own native energy ; and if 

 it happen that the moral has kept pace 

 with the mental progrefs, our efttem is 

 engaged at the fame time that our admi- 

 ration is excited. An extraordinary in- 

 flanceof this kind having lately fallen un- 

 der my obfervation, I beg leave, through 

 the channel of your widely-circulattd 

 Magazine, to communicate a few of the 

 particulars to your readers, being per- 

 fuaded that there are many whom the re- 

 lation will intereft — lome, whole ideas of 

 the vaft fuperioriiy of rank and llation it 

 may help to correfl — and a few, perhaps, 

 to whom it may open new fources of con- 

 fi-lation in the day of forrow and diftrefs. 



A few months ago a copy of vtrfes was 

 put into my hands by a ycung woman, a 

 triend of the writer's, who laid (he had 

 called upon poor Charlotte Richardlon, 

 and, finding her weeping, and writing 

 about the death of her hufband, h;id taken 

 the verfes away, for flie thought that ftu- 

 dying and wiiting made her woife ; add- 

 ing, " But I have brought them to rtiew 

 you, they are fuch pretty lines." Upon 

 reading them, I wa« eniiiely of this 

 young woman's opinion, that they were 

 indeed " pretty lines," that they evinced 

 gre'it fenfibility of heart, a mind (otter.td 

 and refined by the benign influence of ge- 

 nuine piety, and enlarged and elevated by 

 the hopes and promifes of the gofpel. I 

 was the more aftjnifhed, as I h^d long 

 known Cliarlotte Richardlon, and was 

 perfectly afcertained, that neither the 

 education (lie had receiveil, nor the ftation 

 in which Ihe had fince been placed, could 

 poflibly have fupplied her with any of the 

 ordinary means of mental cultivation. I 

 inquired if file had written any thing more, 

 and a fmall manul'ctipt houk of poems 

 va* put into my hands, ftveral of which 

 had fo much merit, not indeed as faultlciii 

 piece* ot poetry, but as the fimplc effu- 

 fr n» of a very feeling and pii ui mii.d, 

 tb»t I dcternjined to m'ke a (eledtion 

 from them 10 pullilh by lublcription for 

 (h( author's benefit. At firlt it wa» 

 merely my intention to obtain fubi'crip- 

 tions from a few friend» ; but it being 



Mo.sriiLy Mag. No. 134. ' 



fugeefted, that by means of your 

 highly ufeful Magaz'ne a wider range 

 might peihaps be taken, I (hill firlit 

 tiouhle von with the autnfr s h Horv, and 

 afrerwaids fubjuin a fpeciiiien of her po- 

 etry. 



Charh tte Richardfon was born in the 

 city of York in March 1775, and was 

 eaiiy diftinguifhed tor her quicknefs and 

 docility by the conductors of a Suriday- 

 fchool, and three years afterwards, a va- 

 cant/ happening in what is denominated 

 the Grey-coat Ichool (from the uniform 

 worn by the children), ftie was admitted 

 into it. In this I'cho 1 the girls being; Ifi'- 

 tended for working fervants, are k^t 

 very clofe to the w.irfted wheel, the Ime- 

 wheel, and to every branch of domeftic 

 occupation, and are merely taught to lead 

 the Bible, and to write, io as to keep an 

 ordinary account. She left the fchool ia 

 July 1790, was placed in fervice, and 

 loon afterwards lolt her mother, the only 

 parent fhe had ever known. 



In her three fitft fervices (he was not 

 well treated, and encountered many diffi- 

 culties; but at length the writer of this 

 article was inftrumental in recommending 

 her to a cocik-inaid's place, where (he re- 

 ceived the yearly wages of four pounds in 

 the fmall family of a widow-lady, and 

 where her good qiialities were more duly 

 appreciated. She continued in this pl-.ce 

 f me years, during whicii time flic lolt her 

 only brother. T.iis unfortunate youth 

 had become a cripple in confeque ce of a 

 blow received in childhood : he was bound 

 apprentice to a fhoemaker, was very cru- 

 elly treated by his marter, and at length 

 found an afylum in the poo'-houfe, where 

 he died. Here, in the poor-huufe, he was 

 vifited, as often as fhe could obtain leave 

 of her miHrefs, by his affeflionae filter 

 and only friend, who unccafini,!y endea- 

 voured to pour the balm of confclation 

 on his affiicled ipirit, and to chear hiin 

 and fupptirt hcrfelf by ti'e afi'ared hope pf 

 a happy immortality. She procured for. 

 him whilil he lived every little cninfort (lie 

 could pofTibly afford, and, when he died, 

 borrowed two guineas of h-r miilrefs 

 (which were afterwards fa'ihfuliy rcpad), 

 in order that he might be buiieJ decent- 

 ly." During this period lVver:<l vi he 

 little pieces were written whicli '>o<'m a 

 psrt of the intended felrdtion. Her li. ' 

 hrary conlifted of a Bible, a Common, 

 prayer-book, the Whole Duty of Man, 

 the Pilgrim's Piogrels, . nci one or two 

 other books of a like dtl'cripiion j but 

 having money fotnetimes given htr to go 

 to the theatre, (h< favcd it fr«m tiine to 

 D d tiiue. 



