A CONSECRATED LIFE.* THE Warden of the House of Mercy,

Clewer, has prefixed to this Memoir an Introduction, in which he endeavours to remove the prejudices felt by the larger number of Englishmen against what is called the "Religious Life." We submit that the meaning conveyed by that term is sufficient to account for the opposition excited, not by the saintly labours of Sisters and Nuns, but by the belief implied in the use of the word "Religious" that there is something more holy in this with- drawal from the world, and living by fixed rule and vow in a community, than in pursuing in a Christian spirit the 1r- dinary vocations of life. Mr. Carter's arguments, drawn from

• Harriet Nowell: a Memoir. By the Rev. T. T. Carter. London: Masters and Co.

Scripture, in favour of "the devoted separated state," are not likely to convince anyone who has not previously reached his conclusions on other grounds :—

" Much has been said of late," he writes, "and much that I cannot but deem needlessly alarming and unreasonable, on the vexed ques- tion of vows. At the late Reading Congress, at the end of the morning's debate in the large Congress Hall, on the comparative merits of the Sisterhood and the Deaconess principles, it was gener- ally felt that they agreed in representing the self-devotion intended in either state as lifelong. And a vow is but the outward expression of a lifelong devotion. It simply implies a vocation of God in which one so called should abide with him to the end."

So be it ; but if this is all that it implies, where lies the neces- sity for imposing the burden of a vow ?

Happily it is quite possible to admire and reverence the devout life of Harriet Monsell without altogether accepting the form which her devotion took. The story is told by Mr. Carter with simplicity and good-taste, and will be found especially in- teresting from the fact that the Mother-Superior, for such she became, had lived in the world, had married, and had become a widow before she was" professed."

Harriet O'Brien belonged to one of the oldest families in Ire- land, and was born at her father's country-seat, Dromoland, in 1811. She is described as a most joyous child, but without any special mental Capacity. Healthy, happy, and affectionate, a great favourite with her brothers, and wholly unselfish, her childhood was a joyous one, and as the girl grew to maturity, earnestness and good-sense seem to have marked her character.

At the age of twenty-eight she married Charles Monsell, a younger brother of the well-known Dr. Monsell. The one draw- back to the deep happiness of this marriage was her husband's uncertain health. He took Holy Orders, and was made before long Prebendary of Aghadoe, in Limerick Cathedral. Six years passed and Mr. Charles Monsell was seized with a serious ill- ness, which ultimately ended in decline, at Naples. He had been a profoundly devout man, and died, as be had lived, without a murmur. Kneeling by his bedside in that hour of anguish his wife resolved to consecrate her future life to God's service, and nobly was that resolution maintained.

Very remarkable was the manner in which he found her vocation at Clewer. Mr. Carter was at that time rector, and his curate, now Canon Purse, of Westminster Abbey, had taken

charge of a district in which "there was a group of as wretched hovels as could be found anywhere in England, and inhabited by as wretched a set of abandoned women." A poor widow- woman lived there, and through her help and that of the curate, some of these women expressed a wish to lead a new life ; and a lady, whose name deserves to be held in honour, at once offered to receive into her house as many of the outea4ts as desired to come :—

"Mrs. Tennant was a Spaniard, the daughter of a Spanish officer. They had come to England as Refugees. The daughter—a woman of great intelligence—had, by dint of the study of the Bible, reasoned herself out of her Roman faith, married an Erglish elm gyman, and now, a widow, was living at Chewer, with the sob companionship of an Italian maidservant, occupying a house lent to her by relations. She was well known to the Rector for her good works among the poor ; but no one was prepared for the truly wonderful net of self- devotion for which she now offered herself. Iltr maidservant was heartily disposed and well fitted to second her niistress. The very evening of the day—June 29th, 1819,—on whirl; Mrs. Tennant was asked to help in the disposal of the so-called Penitents, she at once received two into her own bense, and four others on the day following. They were women of the lowest and coarsest kind. The fame of what had been done quickly spread, and within a few days two other women rang at the gate and asked for admittance ; another came from a neighbouring village, a few were sent by friends from a distance. Within four months no less than eighteen were housed under this most hospitable roof."

The work grew on Mrs. Tennant's hands, and, in spite of bad- health, she continued it for two years. Then it was found necessary to form a permanent institution, or rather a sister- hood. A priest was needed, and the Hon. Charles Harris, brother of Lord Malmesbury and afterwards Bishop of Gibraltar, offered to serve gratuitously. He had married one of Mrs.

Monsell's sisters, and thus she was brought to Clewer and led to undertake work of which she had no experience :—

"The Penitents were to be cared for on a system of which there -had been as yet no precedent within the Church of England. The House of Mercy had to make its own traditions. The Sisterhood was ta be begun entirely de nc vo, and of this, too, the principles had to be thought-out and tested by personal experience."

We can well believe from this Memoir, which is free from any signs of exaggeration, that the Mother-Superior was eminently fitted for the post. There was nothing rigid or formal about her, no indications that she loved authority, none of the self-consciousness which makes so many good people devoted to "a cause" exceedingly unpleasant. Full of sympathy and life, with a heart open to all good in- fluences, no matter from what quarter they might come, blessed with a buoyant temperament that made light of diffi- culties, and with a large amount of common-sense—the Mother- Superior seems to have won love from everyone and from those over whom she was placed the most willing obedience. To

appreciate her character, which was at once saintly and pure and womanly, it is necessary to readthe Memoir, which not only describes the impressions of those who knew her best, but con- tains not a little correspondence that shows the true heart of the woman. "Be as simple," she writes, "and natural as pos-

sible about everything. Try always to see clearly that right is right and wrong is wrong." Simplicity and love of truth mark her course throughout. Having once discovered the line of duty, she ceased to look at obstacles or to believe in them, and this hopeful courage inspired all who worked under her. There was no lack of the tenderest human feeling in Harriet Monsen. Long years after her husband's death she wrote, in allusion to his grave :—" Thanks for the rose from my home,— the only spot of earth I ever call, or shall call, home. I build up, as God permits me, Homes for His children ; but mine is within those rails and that bright, sunny land." The following passage is characteristic :—

"‘ We must speak of ourselves, if we want to help others,' she once said ; people shrink from doing this, but they should not do so too much. Our experience has been given us for others, not for our- selves alone.' Some years ago, one who was of a proud, reserved nature, and who was becoming hardened under a great sorrow, was induced to go to Mrs. Monsell by a friend, who hoped that her words might bring peace and comfort to a sorrowful heart.—' My poor child,' said the Mother, as soon as they were alone, you are in great trouble. I know just what you are feeling, and I know well what it was to feel hard and rebellions when my husband was taken from

me. Sit down, and I will tell yuu all about I could not have spoken of my grief,' said the visitor afterwards, only she told me all about herself and her own sorrow, and then I felt she understood, and so I told her all, and she comforted me as no one else has ever done.'"

We must find space for one more extract, which expresses what many must have felt painfully in the daily intercourse of life :—

" We all agreed how much of life is spoiled by the incessant chaff of the day. I am sure it is a great temptation and a great loss to our better being. One's deeper self starves instead of growing, and souls who would strengthen and cheer each other on the journey onwards lose this blessing because of the passing rubbish for which they care nothing. I wonder how this could be altered. I am sure no one seriously stands still and looks at a day's talk without wish- ing it bore better grain, and they would in their better moments throw half the chaff at least to the winds; and yet ponderous preaching talk is not what one wants, nor canting talk, nor surface discussions of controversial subjects, nor any appearance of being better than one's neighbours. Still there is an indescribable want and loss in this everlasting hiding under this guise of all that is best and noblest in us, and all that forms the meeting-point of soul with soul, all in us that has an undying life."

Mrs. Monsell's life was at once active and contemplative, but the Memoir contains few biographical incidents. It is a record of thoughts and spiritual aspirations, rather than of events. The special interest of such a record is in the illustration it affords of the common ground on which all devout spirits may meet and rest, despite a divergency of opinion on some points that might seem to form an irreparable breach between them. This, it seems to us, is the prominent lesson to be learnt from Harriet Monsell's life, and in these days of Church discord it is surely one worth learning.