Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-10-28
DEATH 0FA NOBLE WOMAN

We love to see the tributes Of afec
ton as they come from the soul Of
respect and friendship. We have not
been without our own sad share in
family Affections, when, crushed down
by the weight of calamity, our own
heart was too full even TO speak. And,
in such circumstances, nothing posi-
bic is 50 welcome as the sympathising
expressions Of friends. who, knowing
the peculiar facts Of an extraordinary
occasion. and the very worth
Of the departed, give voice to
the sad lament, in terms Of resig-
nation TO the will Of Heaven, which
are eloquent because they are true and
just. In the death Of Mrs. GIDEON j..
PILLOW, such circumstances have
arisen. She was a oma Of extraOr-
binary and eminent worth and lowell
ness. In his sad bereavement, most
deeply do we sympathise with Gen.
PILLOW; whose friendship wehavethe
honor to claim, and vino, Is a friend,
a gentleman, and a man Of honor, in
tegrity and ability, is the peer Of any
man we know. The immediate Occa-
sion Of these remarks is the following
touching tribute from an exchange:
We were deeply plined to see from
our exchanges that Mrs. Gen. Gideon
J.. Pillow, of Maury county, died sud
denly a few days ago from an attack
Of apOpleXy.
The death of noble woman, whose
life has been so pure that never the
faintest sigh Of reproach could soil its
snOwyWhiteness, is at all times a loss
that poor erring humanity can seldom
supply. but in this instance it is pc
cuiiarly ~saddening. The writer of
these lines knew Mrs. Pillow we'll
was honored with her friendship, and
now recalls with a singularly melan-
chOly pleasure the happy hours he has
spent in by-gOne days, sharing her
munifcent hospitality at "Clifton
Place" the beautiful country resi-
dence of her distinguished husband.
He recalls more vivIdly now that she
is gone, her gentle smile, her exquisite
vet easy courtesy; her diguiied but
surprisingly sweet manner; her
mOtherly tenderness and her gentle
and wOmanly bearing that made
the home circle over which she
was the adOred mistress, re-
markable for its charms. Her love
for her husband was the most beauti-
full we have ever seen. Though a ma
iron. there was a girlish tenderness in
her manner towards him that, belong
ing once TO the starry days Of their
WOuings, was never changed by the
influence of that time which some
times in its sOberness makes harmless
folly of lovers ways. We call to
mind now, since that true and emil
uentlv noble heart has ceased to thrOb
To its own lOve-music, the glad look
in her eyes-the ripples of tenderness
about her lips and the girliSl eager
ness mingled with something like
b~ashfulness with which she would 60
10 meet her husband when he re-
turned from M Of his frequent and
necessary Journeys. And then when
her hand lay in his W and he sat by
her side, young as we were, there was
more beauty in the love oil tWO such
heartsthat had passed beyond LIES me-
ridian than any Wehad ever seen in the
gorgeous visions of sentiment viewed
bv the eyes of our bOyish fancy. Mrs.
Pillow wa one OF our sweetest con-
c%eptiOns of that divinest angel Of
lowe mother. Among her children
she wa an empress ruling over the
hearts Of her subjects by love alone.
They ~Venerated and adored her, and
she always mingled with them with
such an air OF familiar tenderness that
no stronger discipline than the love
she inspired was necessary for their
government. The memory Of the
writer delights 10 r call the hours
spent IN Mrs. Pillows presence when
her family and friends were gathered
around her. Then, indeed. did the
sweetest charms OF her sex manifest
themselves. WOOing and winning the
hearts Of al present. Her good hu-
NOR never vanished, and her face
wore always a sweet smile that moth
ing seemed to alter. No wonder,
either, for her heart was 50 pure, so
full Of hove for al, 50 gentle and kind
that il always spread its WI glad
light upon her face.
such a woman could not help but be
A Christian, and Mrs. Pillow was a
faithful and true disciple OF her Savior.
Her religion was not Of the Puritani-
cal Observation-Disclosures solemn and
rrpellant-but OF that warm and tender
Kind that fills the soul with JOY and
Wreathes the face with holy smiles.
She always carried her religion with
her-did not put it on to-day and off
tomorrow, but it was her constant
companion at all times, and we know
when Death, with a swift and sudden
stroke, snapped the bright and gleam-
ing chord Of her life a host OF angel
hands Joined il together forever in
that world beyond the sun.
May God pity the hearts her death
has bcreaved. Dark as midnight we
know is the sorrow that they are
struggling with, for this wife and
mothers heart was almost blended
with those of her husband and chill
drcn. Death alone could have sepa-
rated and sundered them. We have
always loved to think that perhaps
God in his goodness has some lOVelier
heaven than any in His beautiful up
per world prepared for the true wife
and mother. 1t Is love that rules,
and "A noble wOman's love Surpasseth
our understanding after Gods.
Another white robe floats upon the
angels breath in BeUlah's lovely do
mains and another starry crown has
been taken from the treasury of
heaven and placed upon the brow Of
a woman whose death has impOver-
ished many human hearts but en-
Tiched the shining hosts of heaven an
hundred fold.-JlUli0r Editor AeUs.