The age-herald., 1898-01-06
ETCHINGS FROM
 CURRENT TOPICS.

few days ago; the other, be use she is in
 an American hospital. sorely stricken with
 a probable fatal illness. The first, Lady
 Milais, was the principal actor in perhaps | the most romantic drama of the nine-
 teenth century, and her death was the re-
 suit of her devotion to. her second hus-
 band, Sir John Millais, the great artist As
 is well known to the reading world, Lady
 Millias was born Euphemia Gray, of Perth
 shire, England and her rare spirituelle
 beauty soon attracted the admiration of
 men and women.
 She was eventually won by John Rusl1in,
 the celebrated English critic, and the fu-
 ture opened bright and cloudless for the
 newly welded pair
 l But Ruskns close, dear friend was John
 Millas-afterwards lnighted for his ar-
 tistic achievements-and he soon became
 an intimate guest around the family fire I side. With his keen appreciation of beauty I in every form, Millias immdiately recog-
 nized the fact that his friends wife was l the ideal women for an ideal picture. Sc 1 she became the model for one of Mllias
 celebrated paintings, "The Huguenot l Lovers."
 l During the sittings necessary for the
 production of this masterpiece of modern art Millas and Mrs. Ruskin, without any violation, OF consciousness of impending
 danger on their part, found that they were | in perfect and absolute sympathy with each
 other and John Ruskin discovered that his . wife and his friend were in love, each with l the other
 l Without creating any excitement, with
 no reproaches for either his wife Mill | lias-whose conduct was blameess-Ruskin procured speedy divorce, and with un- | paralleled generosity presented Mrs. Rus | kin to Mllias, with all impediments to | honorable marriage removed by himself, 1 and the English courts The wedding fol- 1 lowed in due course of time, and Ruskin | attended the ceremony, uniting his friend l and his former wife, and ever after was a l loyal, devoted friend of both!
 | The illness and death of Sir John Mlias I is a matter of too recent history to need | repetition. Millias died of cancer of the l throat, and his wife's loving devotion and
 tenderness followed him to the brink of the 1
 and, notwithstanding the warnings of his physicians, manifested her undying love for
 him with fervent kisses Soon after the
 death of Sir John Millias, eighteen months l ago, Lady Millias developed physical ail- I ment similar to that which had deprived 1 the world of one of it's marvellous artists, | and a few days since she fell asleep. The 1 journals of the day are telling the wonder | full story of this most wonderful romance | of this unromantic century.
 
 Tn A hosiptal at New York lies beau- l tiful English woman, wel-nigh sick unto | death. Amid the clash of business enter prises the turmoil of modern politics and | clamor of contending nations, men stop to
 ask how fares 1t with this remarkable wo- | man who quietly and unobtrusively has
 won her way to the hearts of humanity by | her deeds of Christian charity. The cleo | tric wires flash over the continents, the bulletins which tell what hope there Is Tor | this glorious specimen of modern woman- hood, Maude Ballington Booth. and even
 the telegraph operators and the busy jour | nalists stop reverently to receive the latest l tidings from this sick woman's bedside No woman in this country has come | quite as closely to the hearts and souls of | the great masses of the people who consti- 1 tute the worlds population as Mrs. Balling- | ton Booth No woman has labored more l faithfully for the good of humanity that l class of humanity that is generally forgot | ten and ignored by the people at large, than | has this noble worker for Gods poor, and
 no other womans death could cause such
 widespread sorrow and distress. l ess
 | l The pathetic part of Mrs. Booths illness l lies in the fact that it was induced by men,
 tai worry over the injustice and harshness l of her dictatorial old father-in-law, who viewed with alarm the constantly increas- l ing popularity of Commander Ballington l Booth and his wife in America.
 It will easily be recalled how they were
 disciplined by Gen. William Booth; how
 they properly resented his arbitrariness,
 and how at last they formed another
 branch of the Salvation Army, which they | aptly called the American Volunteers"
 But while success crowned their efforts; while men of note and men of wealth stood firmly by them in their days of dismal | darkness, and thousands joined them in l their good work, yet the tender heart of Maude Ballington Booth was broken by the | miserable injustice of her husbands ambi- | tious but jealous family. She sank under
 it and today is making brave fight for
 life in an American hospital, while the peo- | pie of several continents watch for the bull | letins which tell of her condition. | Maude Ballington Booth Is an English woman by birth, the daughter of an Eng fish clergyman. Early in life she married l William Booth, who Is the most distin- | guished member of remarkable family. | With her husband she has struggled for | the redemption of the masses in the great | cities of the world, and into thousands Of
 desolate homes she has carried light and | hope.
 | She has preached the gospel of Christ, l and, what is more she has lived it! | BALL. HOW AN ANGEL LOOKS.