Part 4 (1/2)
”As to the _reading of plays_, or any part of them, to your young people, I must own, it does not appear to me to be expedient; it may be productive of bad consequences, and the _good_ arising from it is, at most, uncertain. It is, no doubt, very desirable to enlarge young people's minds and improve their taste as well as their persons; but such is the state of things in this world, that to attain this to the degree wished for by every person of refined taste, some things must be sacrificed of much greater value: for example, a girl cannot acquire the smart, polished air of a person of fas.h.i.+on, without imbibing too much of the spirit of the world. _Vanity_ and _emulation_ must be awakened and cultivated in the heart, before she will apply herself with diligence to outward accomplishments; nor can her mind and taste be much improved in _polite_ literature, without losing its relish for simple truth. I grant you, there are a few Christians in the world who have acquired the outward accomplishments of it, and have, by grace, been enabled to turn these to good account--who, like the Israelites, having spoiled the Egyptians, have made use of _their_ jewels in adorning the tabernacle; but this can never serve as an argument on your side of the question. If the Lord sees fit to manifest his power and grace by plucking a brand from the burning, this is no reason why children should be initiated into the ways of sin and folly, in hopes that some time or other he will bring them out. We are never to do evil that good may come; and this brings the question to a short issue.
”Do you think it lawful for Christians to attend public places, or to spend their time in reading plays? Do you think these things tend, either immediately or remotely, to promote the glory of G.o.d? If you do not, I cannot see how you, _as a Christian_, can have any hand in introducing young ladies to the one or in giving them a taste for the other.
”This, dear madam, is _my_ view of the matter; but I do not wish _you_ to walk by _my_ light. I believe all the children of G.o.d are _taught by him_, and ought to follow the dictates of their own consciences: I therefore pretend not _to advise_ you, but shall endeavor to _pray_ that the great _unerring_ Counsellor may give you divine wisdom to be your teacher, to lead you into all truth, and to keep you from every thing inconsistent with his holy will.
”I have met with so many interruptions since I began this letter, that I fear that it is hardly intelligible. I shall be sorry if I have said any thing that gives you uneasiness; your spirits seem low, and your business does not succeed so well as could be wished: perhaps I ought to have employed my pen in the way of consolation and encouragement, than by throwing in fresh matter of perplexity. Sure I am, I do not _mean_ to add affliction to the afflicted; but rather have been impelled, from a regard to truth, to write my real sentiments, as you desired.
”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 ladys.h.i.+p 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 G.o.d 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 acc.u.mulate 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 G.o.d. 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 inst.i.tution. 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 Dest.i.tute Sick.”
In July, 1786, Mrs. Graham attended the dying bed of her friend and patroness Lady Glenorchy: this lady had shown her friends.h.i.+p in a variety of ways during her valuable life; she had one of Mrs. Graham's daughters for some time in her family, condescended herself to instruct her, and sent her for a year to a French boarding-school in Rotterdam. She defrayed all her expenses while there, and furnished her with a liberal supply of pocket-money, that she might not see distress without the power of relieving it. So much does a person's conduct in maturer years depend upon the habits of early life, that it is wise to accustom young people to feel for and to contribute in their degree to the relief of the afflicted and the needy.
Lady Glenorchy was a character in whom was eminently displayed the power of religion. Descended from an ancient family, married to the eldest son of the Earl of Broadalbaine, beautiful and accomplished, she was received into the first circles of society. With her husband she made the tour of Europe, visiting the several courts on that continent. Yet all these things she ”counted but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus her Lord.” She became a widow while yet in the bloom of youth. She devoted herself to the service of the Lord, and was made singularly useful. She kept a regular account of her income, and of the different objects to which it was applied. She built and supported several chapels in England, and erected one in Edinburgh, in which pious ministers of different denominations should be admitted to preach.
She also built a manufactory for the employment of the poor, where the education of children was strictly attended to: even the porters' lodges on each side of her gate were occupied as schools for the neighboring poor. Her pleasure-grounds were thrown open for the accommodation of the numbers who usually come from a distance to attend a communion-season in Scotland. In a year of scarcity the same grounds were planted with potatoes for the supply of the poor. She distributed with great judgment various sums of money in aid of families who were poor, yet deserving. She never encouraged idleness or pride, and often remarked that it was better to a.s.sist people to do well in the sphere which Providence had a.s.signed them, than to attempt to raise them beyond it. There was so much wisdom in the active application of her charities, as to render them both efficient and extensive. She seldom was seen in these works of beneficence; her object was to do good: the grat.i.tude of those on whom she bestowed benefits was no part of her motive, or even of her calculation. What she did she did unto G.o.d, and in obedience to his commands; her faith and hope were in G.o.d.
She contributed largely to the public inst.i.tutions established at Edinburgh in her day. Of one or two of the most useful she was the first to suggest the idea, always accompanying her recommendation with a handsome donation to encourage the work.
The venerable Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge and Piety shared largely her patronage; and at her death she bequeathed them five thousand pounds.
She indulged the hope of seeing a union of exertion, among all Christian denominations, for sending the gospel to the heathen. How delighted would she have been with the missionary societies of London and elsewhere, had her life been spared to behold their extensive operations.
She sold her estate of Barnton that she might apply the money to a more disinterested object than her personal accommodation, and that her fortune might be expended with her life, ”I recollect here,” said Saurin in one of his sermons, ”an epitaph said to be engraven on the tomb of Atolus of Rheims: _He exported his fortune before him into heaven by his charities--he Has gone thither to enjoy it_.”
This might be truly said of Lady Glenorchy. In her manner she discovered great dignity of character tempered with the meekness and benevolence of the gospel. Her family was arranged with much economy, and a strict regard to moral and religious habits. She usually supported some promising and pious young minister as her chaplain, which served him as an introduction to respectability in the church.
With very few exceptions, all those who entered her family as servants were in process of time brought under religious impressions. So far it pleased the Lord to honor her pious endeavors to render her family one of the dwellings of the G.o.d of Jacob.
Mrs. Graham had the honor of attending the death-bed, and of closing the eyes of this distinguished child of G.o.d. It had been Lady Glenorchy's express desire that Mrs. Graham should be sent for, if within twenty miles of her, when such attendance should be necessary.
The following letter to a daughter, two months later, gives us another ill.u.s.tration of the self-denial and anxiety for the salvation of the soul, with which Mrs. Graham personally ministered to the needy and the suffering, and how skilfully she improved these scenes for the benefit of others.
”EDINBURGH, September, 1786.
”MY DEAR DAUGHTER--Such a scene as I have been witness to!--poor M. B---- is gone to her last abode; her state is fixed for ever. I attended her sick-bed for eight successive days and nights, except perhaps for an hour that I lay down in the same room. I held by life to the very last, because I feared she was not in a fit state to die.
”She took every medicine that was prescribed for her, which I administered with my own hand; but the time appointed to end her mortal state had arrived, and go she must. She lived four days after the physicians had lost all hope, and I think I never witnessed greater distress. I watched every word with anxious care to find if any breath of prayer was to be heard; but alas, I had no such satisfaction. As she was insensible after the first few days, it was not to be expected she could either think or pray.