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When we have perused the works of an author with sensations of pleasure, still more, should we have derived improvement from them; we naturally wish to become acquainted with the history of one to whom we have been thus indebted. Any attempt to gratify such a desire regarding the author of "The Decision," &c., appears to be almost venturing on forbidden ground. The genuine modesty of her character, made her wish to remain unknown as the author of those works till fully conscious she was about to depart from this world, and to enter upon that eternal state, to the contemplation of which it had been her constant endeavour to lead the thoughts and the hearts of her readers. When, at length, she released her friends from their promise of secrecy, her motive for doing so, was, at the same time, made known; but she certainly never thought of any Memoir of herself appearing before the public; and, as there can be no reference made to any private papers or letters, it is only a very short and imperfect outline that can be attempted.

The author of "The Decision," (the only name by which she was known during the publication of her works,) was the fourth daughter of Robert Kennedy, Esq., of Pinmore, in the county of Ayr, and Robina, daughter of John Vans Agnew, Esq., of Barnbarrow, in the county of Galloway. She was born at Pinmore, in the year 1782; but accompanied her parents, at an early age, to the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and in Edinburgh she chiefly resided during the remainder of her life.

At an early period, she was remarked to be of an inquiring turn of mind, and to have much observation. She was fond of reading, learned rapidly all that was offered to her mind, and, excepting in music, which she never studied, easily obtained a knowledge of those languages and acquirements which usually belong to female education. For drawing, she had a peculiar talent, which she cultivated at different times with much pleasure to herself, but with little assistance from others. Figures were her favourite study; and the engraving accompanying her different little works, were taken from original drawings of her own. She was, in every respect, a most unassisted author; and, in no department of her works, was she indebted to another. She corrected for the press herself; and the only instance in which another was employed, a number of errors in the printing were allowed: this was only in the first editions of two little tracts.

She received from an eminently pious and most amiable mother, the advantages of a religious education which was afterward considered by her as one of the greatest blessings heaven can bestow. While enjoying this peculiar blessing, and regularly taken to the house of God, it was by the preaching of the Gospel that divine light first shone into her young mind, and awakened her from the false security of a natural state, to earnest inquiry after salvation and eternal life. In the use of those means, which God has appointed for the obtaining of spiritual knowledge, her mind was enlightened, and that wondrous change was accomplished in her, without which, our Lord has taught us, none can "enter the kingdom of God." As her character opened and expanded, her spiritual light and knowledge advanced. She studied the word of God, and the doctrines of the gospel, with that seriousness and deep attention, which an inquiring mind devotes to a subject viewed as the most important of all others, and of the deepest interest. Thus made acquainted with the highest source of enjoyment, to an immortal mind, and having experienced nobler pleasures than any this world can offer, she did not expose the devotion of her heart to the cooling influence of worldly society, to which no duty called her; and, it is almost unnecessary to say, that she early ceased to join in any of the gay amusements of life -- in her works, she has fully expressed her opinions on this subject.

She possessed an uncommonly active mind, and was generally engaged in following out some particular subject in her own thoughts, which she frequently mentioned when conversing with her intimate friends, to ascertain whether they had ever considered the subject, and whether their sentiments were in unison with her own. The unassuming modesty of her manners, the sweet and mild cheerfulness of her temper, the vein of humour which often enlivened the domestic circle, though seldom ever seen beyond it, the upright sincerity, the perfect simplicity of her character, united to the superiority of her mind and piety, all formed her to be a delightful companion, and endeared her to the hearts of her friends in no common measure. Of her information, genius, and menial powers, those can judge who read her works; but the peculiar excellences of her private character were known only to her intimate friends, and by those whose comfort was most dependent upon her, and who, in mourning her early and unexpected removal from this world, feel that a large measure of their earthly happiness is withdrawn forever.

Though mentally very active, personal activity was not her particular gift, and perhaps, she may have been considered by some Christians not sufficiently zealous in this respect, when she declined taking any charge of the more public societies which have been formed here for charitable purposes; but the holy principle which guided her conduct was evinced by the steady and faithful manner in which she fulfilled her part in every benevolent duty in which she engaged. No work was ever undertaken by her that was not faithfully fulfilled; and especially in the instruction of children she took an active interest for many years.

Her habits and taste were of a retired nature, yet she desired to devote the time and talents heaven had bestowed upon her, to the service of her divine Master; and all her works had one single object in view -- she longed ardently to lead others to the knowledge of that almighty Saviour, "whom, having not seen, she loved; in whom, though she saw him not, yet believing, she rejoiced with joy unspeakable, and full of glory;" and whom to know is "life eternal."

Female authors have frequently been accused of neglecting those duties which are considered as more peculiarly belonging to their own department in life, when they enter on the higher ground of literary pursuits; but she was entirely free from any fault of this kind; indeed, so completely was this the case, that even in the minute niceties of ladies' works, she excelled as much as in the higher endowments of her mind. Her retired and deeper studies, and her writing, never interfered with other duties and occupations. She never, for one moment, discovered the slightest literary parade, and had no hours set apart in which she was not to be intruded upon. She wrote with the desire and hope that her works might be of use; but the employment was her pleasure and amusement. When she was living in the country, perhaps, during the hours spent in the garden, with a piece of paper and a pencil, and a book for her table, she pursued the subject with which her mind was engaged. Her first works were completed without even the members of her own family suspecting she had been so employed.

There can be little incident to relate in the life of a retired female; and when no reference is allowed to any private papers, the "mind's history," there remains no materials that can interest the public. The expectations, therefore, which have been formed of a life of the author, must be entirely disappointed; even this slight outline is given with reluctance by her own family. Another wish which has reached them, must, also, be disappointed, that of having prefixes to her works a likeness of the author. In personal appearance, she was of a tall, slight figure; her countenance fair and pretty, and sweetly expressive, conveyed a true impression of the mind by which it was animated, and is indelibly engraven on every heart that loved her; but her family do not possess any likeness of this beloved friend which they consider good. Both from her appearance, and the engaging modesty of her manner, she looked younger than she was.

Her first work was written about 1811, -- a tract intended to promote inquiry on the subject of religion among the Jews. It was sent sometime after, anonymously, to a clergyman of the Church of England, whose character was well known to her, and who takes an active interest in behalf of that unhappy people. He was requested to make what use of it he pleased, if he considered it calculated to promote the purpose for which it was intended; but whether the whole, or any part of it was ever published, remained unknown to the author and her family.

"Dunallan," though the last published of her works, was composed long before any of the others, about ten years since, during a residence in the country.

The first of her works which was published, was "The Decision," in 1821, a little volume intended for the young. The motives which induced the author to write this work, were explained in a letter to her publisher, on sending the first part of it, from which an extract may afford some interest.

"It has often struck me, that among the great variety of excellent little works, published of late years, for the purpose of attracting the attention and regard of young people to the subject of religion, scarcely any have been addressed to the youth of the higher classes. At least, I know of very few, indeed. It is true, works suited to the poor, are equally calculated to teach truth to the rich, when written in the correct and beautiful style that many of them are; but the characters described, and the attendant circumstances, are generally taken from the lower ranks and habits of life, and young people of a higher class too soon learn from those whose opinions they naturally adopt, to consider religion as an excellent thing for the poor, without, at the same time, feeling that they are equally interested in the truths it teaches.

"I have attempted to make the accompanying little work such as a religious friend might present to a young person of a better class, with a hope that it might bring the necessity of personal religion home to the conscience. I am sensible, that I have mingled a good deal that is, perhaps, trifling in the conversations; but feared, from what I have observed in young people, that they otherwise would have appeared stiff and unnatural. A second part will, of course, enter more deeply into the subject of religion, &c., &c."

"Profession is not Principle," &c., was first published in 1822. Then followed a little work, intended for a different class of readers, "Jessy Allan, or the Lame Girl, a story founded on facts." It is the history of a young woman who was known to the author, and whose real name was Nanny Henderson. She had been educated at a charity school, of which the author took an active and constant charge for many years. Nanny had left school before she began to take an interest in the instruction of the children, and was, at that time, living alone, and able to support herself by her own work. On her being taken ill, a short time after, the author first visited her, and, from herself, and her kind friend, the mistress of the school, the author was made acquainted with those circumstances of her history which had not come under her own observation. During the few years which remained of poor Nanny's short and suffering life, the author continued to visit, and take an interest in her.

In December, 1823, "Father Clement" was first published. "Anna Ross" was published the following spring, and two little tracts, "Andrew Campbell's Visit to his Irish Cousins," and "The Word of God, and the Word of Man," intended for Ireland, which she had been requested to write, were published soon after.

"Dunallan," appeared in December, 1824.

The author was engaged with another long work, entitled "Philip Colville, a Covenanter's Story," which, unfortunately, is not finished; but, as it keeps strictly to the history of the times to which it refers, and is written so as not to require any correction from another, it may, perhaps, be given to the public. Any one interested in the conclusion of the historical part, can find it in various works.*

*The work referred to, has been published since the above was written; also, a little tract, entitled "Address to a Destitute Sick Person."

The author's desire to remain unknown, was early communicated to her publisher, and she considered herself under much obligation to him for the manner in which he acted on this delicate point; for, until the winter of 1824, the name of the author was unknown even to her publisher.

The author enjoyed uninterrupted good health till 1824, when she was frequently indisposed, and, towards the close of it, she suffered almost constant uneasiness, and her illness became of a more serious nature. Her friends, trusting too much to her uncommonly good constitution, were not immediately alarmed, until she herself warned them of the painful and most unlooked for event which awaited them. In the full vigour of those powers of mind, which heaven had given her, and with the fair prospect of usefulness opening before her, she had no wish for life. She was not merely willing and ready, but she longed to depart and to be with Christ, and she met and welcomed death as it gradually approached, with that unclouded serenity and calmness which evinced her mind to be in "perfect peace." No shade ever darkened the comfort of her soul -- she knew "in whom she believed," and, in full assurance of faith, she waited the coming of her Lord.

A short time before her departure from this world, she said to a beloved friend, who attended her, that she now wished her friends to know that she released them from their promise of secrecy regarding her works; that the truths which she had endeavoured to urge upon others, she found completely sufficient to support her own soul, and she thought if this was known, it might tend to their being of more use to those who read them.

The severe illness from which she suffered, was not accompanied by any fever, and the extreme weakness with which she was oppressed, appeared to have no influence on her mind, ever calm and collected, with wonderful composure, she thought of the friends she was about to leave, and expressed her wishes regarding those whose happiness had been very dependent upon her, and who were most deeply to feel the sad change in their earthly lot from a bereavement so severe, and comforted their hearts by the elevated faith and the sure hope which animated her own. When she was too ill to be able to converse, her friends found their sweetest support taken away; but it was with evident pleasure that she herself watched her increasing illness. If once she had been involved in the spiritual darkness of a natural state, now she was "light in the Lord;" and on Monday morning, the 28th of February, her willing spirit quitted the earthly tabernacle, to be admitted to the immediate presence of Him who is the source of all light and joy.

The Sunday after her departure from this world, a funeral sermon, unexpected by her family, was preached by the Rev. Dr. Jones, in the church of which she had long been a member; and her much esteemed pastor, to whom she was warmly attached, and on whose ministry she had constantly attended from an early age, has permitted this short account to be concluded with that part of his discourse with which he also concluded his sermon.

"I have been induced to suspend the conclusion of our meditations on secret faults, and to direct your attention to the end of the righteous, by an event which has taken place since we last met together; that is, the removal, prematurely, by death, from this assembly to that of the church of the first-born, of one who was long a distinguished ornament of it.

"Her works of genius, piety, and usefulness, are extensively known and justly celebrated, although she, until near her last day, hid from the inquisitive public the name of their authoress. This, however, united to the unvarying Christian spirit and conduct which distinguished her, affords a bright example of the character to which your attention has been directed, that of the perfect and the upright.

"At the beginning of this winter, she began to complain of ill health, but neither she nor her friends had any occasion to suppose that her sickness would be unto death.

"At this time, I accidentally called on the family, and I found her in the midst of it. Her conversation was easy, cheerful, and brilliant, attended with a moral loftiness that exhibited her as a person of a different order from those with whom we usually meet, even when endowed with good sense and piety, for she breathed a spirit, and she spoke a language, and showed the manners of one that belonged to another and better world; and, while her eyes sparkled with benignity, she reminded me of that saying of the Scriptures, when the protomartyr, was about to leave this world, 'All the council saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.'

"Some weeks after this, observing her absent from church, I again called at her dwelling, and was informed, that she was confined to her room, and to bed, and that her friends were deeply impressed with the dread that her illness would terminate fatally; and, on being taken to her, I found her weak, and sick and emaciated, and fully conscious that, the day and hour of her death was at hand, and in which she evidently took pleasure, and rejoiced. On this, as on each of my after visits, she retained the same case, the same cheerfulness, the same elevation of language and manner, the same spiritual loftiness and dignity, to which I have before alluded. She spoke of herself, and her religious experience with much humility, and of her friends with the greatest tenderness and warmest affection. She spoke of the world as one that was not of it; she spoke of the church and its ordinances as her delight; she spoke of the gospel, and its facts, and its doctrines, and its premises, as the only foundation of all her hope, and she spoke of its mysteries with reverence and submission; she spoke of heaven, and glory, and immortality, with a rational, and scriptural, and sound belief, that she was just about to enter into them, with a heart tremblingly alive to every tender and pious feeling.

"During her long illness, although weak and distressed to the extreme, yet no complaint fell from her lips, no tear dropped from her eye, no sigh or groan escaped from her breast. Attend to the injunction of our text -- Mark this perfect, and behold this upright character, for her end was peace.

"Fifty years and more, I have been honoured by being permitted to attend the dying beds of Christians; and many a calm, and many an instructive, and many a peaceful, and many a joyful, and many a dignified, and many a triumphant death, have I seen, but never have I seen one more placid, more edifying, or more glorious than that of Grace Kennedy. Full of faith and the Holy Ghost, nothing silly or frivolous could fall from her, all her words were words of wisdom, and all her actions were great and good. On much better grounds than he did, we may say with Addison, 'Come, see how a Christian can die.' Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like hers!

"In the administration, she said, of the gospel, and in fellowship with you in the ordinances of it in this place, she attained to the grace in which she stood. From this fact, we ought to institute, and to prosecute a most important inquiry -- partakers with her, of the same common means, have we acquired with her the same, degree of religious information, faith, piety and holiness? Or, while she advanced to the character of the perfect, and the upright, have we, with identically the same advantages, gone back, and lost that which we had once gained? What is the cause of this melancholy and alarming circumstance? Say not that to her were given ten talents, and to us but one -- be it so, this will not account for the fact, with our one talent we have made no improvement, we should have made at least one tenth of advance towards her religious acquirements, but we have not; we have gone backward, and not forward. Let us not foolishly and wickedly attempt to cover our sins, for so we cannot prosper; but let us humble ourselves, let us confess and forsake them. The truth is, God be merciful to us, sinners! We slept, when she waked and watched; we welcomed temptation, when she spurned it with indignation; we folded our arms, while she laboured; we hearkened to the syren song of the world, and sense, while she girded her mind, and gave diligence to make her calling and election sure. It is hence we have gone back, miserable creatures as we are! while she went on to perfection. This, when we think of the past, should lead us to remember whence we are fallen to repent, and do our first works. This, when we think of the future, should lead us to be 'steadfast, and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.' -- To mark the perfect, and and -sic- behold the upright, for the end of those is peace."

Edinburgh, 1825.