And so have noble wives cherished the memory of their husbands. There
is a celebrated monument in Vienna, erected to the memory of one of the
best generals of the Austrian army, on which there is an inscription,
setting forth his great services during the Seven Years' War, concluding
with the words, "NON PATRIA, NEC IMPERATOR, SED CONJUX POSUIT." When Sir
Albert Morton died, his wife's grief was such that she shortly followed
him, and was laid by his side. Wotton's two lines on the event have been
celebrated as containing a volume in seventeen words:
"He first deceased; she for a little tried
To live without him, liked it not, and died."
So, when Washington's wife was informed that her dear lord had suffered
his last agony--had drawn his last breath, and departed--she said: "'Tis
well; all is now over. I shall soon follow him; I have no more trials to
pass through."
Not only have women been the best companions, friends, and consolers,
but they have in many cases been the most effective helpers of their
husbands in their special lines of work. Galvani was especially happy in
his wife. She was the daughter of Professor Galeazzi; and it is said to
have been through her quick observation of the circumstance of the leg
of a frog, placed near an electrical machine, becoming convulsed when
touched by a knife, that her husband was first led to investigate the
science which has since become identified with his name. Lavoisier's
wife also was a woman of real scientific ability, who not only shared
in her husband's pursuits, but even undertook the task of engraving the
plates that accompanied his 'Elements.'
The late Dr. Buckland had another true helper in his wife, who assisted
him with her pen, prepared and mended his fossils, and furnished many of
the drawings and illustrations of his published works. "Notwithstanding
her devotion to her husband's pursuits," says her son, Frank Buckland,
in the preface to one of his father's works, "she did not neglect the
education of her children, but occupied her mornings in superintending
their instruction in sound and useful knowledge. The sterling value of
her labours they now, in after-life, fully appreciate, and feel most
thankful that they were blessed with so good a mother." [2019]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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