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
"Your friend and humble servant,
"W. GLENORCHY."
In after-life, Mrs. Graham was of opinion that she and her
scholars had gone too far in conformity with the opinions and manners
of the world. A reference to this deviation from what she considered a
close Christian walk in life, will be frequently found in her
subsequent exercises.
Lady Glenorchy being in a delicate state of health, made frequent
use of Mrs. Graham as her almoner to the poor. On one of these visits,
Mrs. Graham called on a poor woman with a present of a new gown. "I am
obliged to you and her ladyship for your kindness," said the poor
woman rich in faith, "but I maun gang to the right airth first; ye wad
na hae come, gin ye had na been sent; the Lord hath left me lately wi'
but ae goon for week-day and Sabbath, but now he has sent you wi' a
Sabbath-day's goon." Meaning, in plain English, that her thankfulness
was first due to the God of providence, who had put it into the hearts
of his children to supply the wants of this poor disciple.
Mrs. Graham used to repeat with pleasure an anecdote of her
friends Mr. and Mrs. Douglas. Mr. Douglas was a tallow-chandler, and
furnished candles for Lady Glenorchy's chapel. The excise-tax was very
high on making those articles, and many persons of the trade were
accustomed to defraud the revenue by one stratagem or another.
Religious principle would not permit Mr. Douglas to do so. Mrs. Graham
one evening was remarking how handsomely the chapel was lighted. "Aye,
Mrs. Graham," said Mrs. Douglas, "and it is all pure--the light is all
pure, it burns bright." It would be well if Christians of every trade
and profession were to act in like manner; that the merchant should
have no hand in unlawfully secreting property, or encouraging perjury
to accumulate gains; that the man of great wealth should have neither
usury nor the shedding of blood by privateering to corrode his
treasures; that all should observe a just weight and a just measure in
their dealings, as in the presence of God. Let every Christian seek
after the consolation of Mrs. Douglas, that the light which refreshes
him may be pure.
It being stated as matter of regret, that poor people when sick
suffered greatly, although while in health their daily labor supported
them, Mrs. Graham suggested the idea of every poor person in the
neighborhood laying aside _one penny a week_ to form a fund for
relieving the contributors when in sickness. Mr. Douglas undertook the
formation of such an institution. It went for a long time under the
name of "The Penny Society." It afterwards received a more liberal
patronage, has now a handsome capital, and is called, "The Society for
the Relief of the Destitute Sick."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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