The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1885-06-06


versed in Hebrew, Chaldaic and Arabic;
that she excelled also in the various branch
es of ordinary female education, played
well instrumental music, sung exquisitely.
wrote an elegant hand, and e1celled III Gu
rious neediswork, and, with all these rare
! endownents, was of mild, humble and
modest spirit" Sir Harris Mich
olas closes bis memoir of Ler with the fol-
lowing touching and beautiful tribute: In
the instance Of this exemplary woman no
other language than that Of praise can pos
sibly be used. Her conduct as daughter
and wife afford ample scope for panegyr-
| ic, and her extraordinary attainments, for
titude and piety have ever been the subject
| of admiration. K Thus her every
action seems to have originated in virtue,
and although neither her beauty, her ac-
| guirements nor her innocence could save
her from a premature and disgraceful
death, it may with truth be affirmed that on
the tomb of Lady Jane Grey, perhaps with
more justice than on that of any other in
heritor of mortality, might the emphatic
lines of our bard be inscribed:
Now boast thee Death! In thy possession lies
lass unparalleled"
And in contrast with the irreligion of
Elizabeth, let US see James Christian faith
and piety as e1eInplifed in the farewell let
ter to her sister written in the blank leaves
of her Greek testament, which she left her
as legacy: '' I have sent you, my dear
| sister Katherine, book which, although it
is outwardly trimmed with gold OF the Gu
| rious embroidery of the artfuIlest needles,
yet inwardly it is more worth than all the
precious mines which the vast world can
boast of. It is the book, my only best loved
sister, of the law of the Lord. Il is the tes-
lament and last will which He bequeathed
unto US wretched sinners, which shall lead
you to the path of eternal Joy, and if you
| with good mind read it, and with an ear
nest desire follow it, no doubt it will bring
you to an immortal and everlasting
| life. It will teach you to live and to die.
| 4 Now, as touching my death,
rejoice as I do, my dearest sister, that I
| shall be delivered OF this corruption and
put on iaeorraption, for [ am assured that
l shall, for losing mortal life, win one
that is immortal, joyful and everlasting, the
which I pray God grant you in His blessed
hour and send you His all-saving grace to
live in His fear and to die in the true Chris
tian faith, from which in Gods name I ex-
hort you that you never swerve, neither for
hope of life nor fear of death. Fare
we'll once again, my beloved sister, and
put your only trust IN God, who only can
help you. Amen. Your loving sister,"
This letter was written in the evening,
and the following morning she was be-
headed. This was her legacy to the world
and (may we not say?) especially to all
coming generations of Christian girls. Oh
what a tender and winning sermon it is
and how solemnly impressive as coming
from one, herself mere girl, standing on
the very brink of eternity! have quoted
from it the more freely because many of
my hearers may never have met with it, and
because can thus preach without holding
forth in propria persona and more forcibly
inculcate the greatest of all lessons in fem
mime education. Yes, consider the proper
moral and religious training of our youth,
both young women and young men, as the
| first and most essential requisite in AL edu-
cation. And in contrasting these two fe-
male characters, it has been for the purpose
of showing, in the strongest light, how, in
| 4,.,-@ e ;.4.1
and literary acquisitions, the one. from
the want of moral and religious convictions
as the guiding principle of life, will live
forever in history-.in spite of the profound
king craft Gin which she excelled her
successor) and great ability as a ruler that
distinguished her-as a hateful moral ex-
ample and warning; while the other will be
embalmed forever in the hearts and mem,
ories of untold generations as a pattern and
example Of all that is true and sweet anG
tender and faithful and sincere in the
highest type of Christian womanhood.
[ en- tempted to quote two
more illustrations of the truth that the
highest intellectual development, the pro
foundest learning and the most wonderful
acquisitions in science may not only be me-
with in women, Gas no impartial observer
will deny,) but they are compatible will
the possession Of all feminine graces anG
accomplishments as we'll as the practice O.
the most prosaic and useful domestic
duties. And, furthermore, that they ma,
| fn how faI tbo n
religious faith.
Elizabeth Carter-the translator of Epic
tetus-by her own unaided efforts and in
domitable industry made herself 81
thorough a Greek scholar that Dr. johnson
in speaking of some celebrated scholar
said that he " understood Greek better THAI
any one whom he had ever known excep
Elizabeth Carter And as an encourage
ment to industry it may not be amiss t,
say that she gained even the rudiments o
knowledge with great labor and difficulty
SO much SO that she wearied the patience 0
her Gather, who repeatedly entreated her tt
give up all thoughts of becoming scholar
(We do not find nowadays, that this sor
of parental entreaty is often needed.) Be
sides Latin and Greek she acquired Hebrew
French, Italian, Spanish and German sh
learnt to speak like native, and the las
thl ee languages she taught herself withou
any assistance. Later in life she learne
Portuguese and taught herself Arabic
making dictionary for herself. She be
slowed great deal of attention upon as
tronomy, in which she made very consid
erable progress. She had rare knowiedg g
Of history, both ancient and modern. Sh
had some poetical taste and published
volume of poems. She plaved on the soin