Women -- Biography; Women -- Social and moral questions
Her intellect was as vigorous as her body was robust. She availed
herself of the power of invigorating her mental faculties, of acquiring
knowledge from experience, of pursuing knowledge for its own sake, of
deriving knowledge from the past, and of rendering the possession of
knowledge an enjoyment. Thus she wanted less than most girls a mother’s
arm to lean upon; and needed less than most wives a husband’s intellect
to guide. She seems to have arrived at her conclusions slowly; but
having arrived at them, she held them firmly.
Kind words and good deeds will be legible, when sculptured inscriptions
are illegible. These speak when the granite and the marble are silent.
The benevolence of the Duchess was world-wide. Perhaps her lavish
hospitality was sometimes taken advantage of; but the keenest cavillers
must admit that her own eye and heart were single. Her aim seemed to be
to convince her guests that the house and all that was in it was their
own. The day after the funeral, an aged man, with moistened eyes made
these remarks. “This is the greatest calamity that ever befel this
district; of a’ the Dukes that ever reigned here, there was never one
like her; there’s nane in this neighbourhood, high or low, but was
under some obligation to her; for she made it her study to benefit her
fellow-men; and what crowds o’ puir craturs she helped every day!” A
soldier who had been in the Crimea, said: “You know that I have seen
much to render my heart callous, but I never was unmanned till now; I
never knew before how tenderly I loved that honoured lady.” She had a
strong feeling of nationality, and a great love for everything Scotch,
such as the Jacobite songs. But when she received new life, these were
exchanged for the songs of Zion. Her spirit was most catholic, and she
longed to see conflicting sentiments blended into brotherhood, and to
hear the grand text repeated throughout all lands: “There is neither
Jew nor Greek, neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female:
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
_SECTION III._—_MARY JANE GRAHAM._
“Her pursuits were only valuable in proportion as they were
consecrated. In everything ‘to her to live was Christ.’ Nothing else
seemed worthy of the name of Christ.”
REV. CHARLES BRIDGES, M.A.
_PIETY AND CIRCUMSTANCE._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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