The Power of Faith: Exemplified In The Life And Writings Of The Late Mrs. Isabella Graham.Graham, Isabella
Religion
The Power of Faith: Exemplified In The Life And Writings Of The Late Mrs. Isabella Graham.
Graham, Isabella
Christian biography; Graham, Isabella, 1742-1814
"In her house originated the Society for the Relief of Poor
Widows with Small Children. Large, indeed, is this branch of the
family of affliction, and largely did it share in her sympathy and
succor. When at the head of this noble association, she made it her
business to see with her own eyes the objects of their care; and to
give, by her personal presence and efforts, the strongest impulse to
their humane system. From morning till night has she gone from abode
to abode of these destitute, who are too commonly unpitied by the
great, despised by the proud, and forgotten by the gay. She has gone
to sit beside them on their humble seat, hearing their simple and
sorrowful story, sharing their homely meal--ascertaining the condition
of their children--stirring them up to diligence, to economy, to
neatness, to order--putting them into the way of obtaining suitable
employment for themselves and suitable places for their
children--distributing among them the word of God, and tracts
calculated to familiarize its first principles to their
understanding--cherishing them in sickness, admonishing them in
health--instructing, reproving, exhorting, consoling--sanctifying the
whole with fervent prayer. Many a sobbing heart and streaming eye is
this evening embalming her memory in the house of the widow.
"Little if any less is the debt due to her from that invaluable
charity, the Orphan Asylum. It speaks its own praise, and that praise
is hers. Scores of orphans redeemed from filth, from ignorance, from
wretchedness, from crime--clothed, fed, instructed--trained in
cleanliness to habits of industry--early imbued with the knowledge and
fear of God--gradually preparing for respectability, usefulness, and
happiness, is a spectacle for angels. Their infantine gayety, their
healthful sport, their cherub faces, mark the contrast between their
present and former condition; and recall very tenderly the scenes in
which they used to cluster round their patron-mother, hang on her
gracious words, and receive her benediction.
"Brethren, I am not dealing in romance, but in sober fact. The
night would be too short for a full enumeration of her worthy deeds.
Suffice it to say that they ended but with her life. The Sabbath
previous to her last sickness occupied her with a recent
institution--a Sunday-school for ignorant adults; and the evening
preceding the touch of death, found her at the side of a faithful
domestic, administering consolation to his wounded spirit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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