The Power of Faith | Page 2

lamented--Rich temporal blessings--Letter to Mrs. J.W.--Day of

fasting-- 1812-1814, ................................................... 309
CHAPTER XII.
CLOSING LABORS FOR THE POOR--SICKNESS AND DEATH.
Society for the promotion of industry among the poor-- Sunday-school
of eighty children--Love of evangelical books Last two
weeks--Communion--Last sickness--Peaceful death--Character by Dr.
Mason--Epitaph--1814, ................ 348
PROVISION FOR PASSING OVER JORDAN.
Scripture extracts--Meditations--Poetic effusions, ............... 379

LIFE
OF
MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM.
_______________
CHAPTER I.
EARLY LIFE--RESIDENCE IN CANADA.
Mankind take an interest in the history of those who, like themselves,
have encountered the trials and discharged the duties of life. Too often,
however, publicity is given to the lives of men splendid in acts of
mighty mischief, in whom the secret exercises of the heart would not
bear a scrutiny. The memoirs are comparatively few of those engaged
in the humble and useful walks of active benevolence, where the
breathings of the soul would display a character much to be admired,
and more to be imitated.
As the celebrated Dr. Buchanan has observed, that if you were to ask

certain persons in Christian countries, if they had any acquaintance
with the religious world, they would say "they had never heard there
was such a world;" so, while the external conduct of individuals is
made the subject of much critical remark, the religion of the heart, the
secret source of action, too frequently escapes unnoticed and
unexplored.
It is only when the career of life is closed, that the character is
completely established. On this account memoirs of the living are, in
few instances, read with much interest; but when the soul has departed,
and the body sleeps in dust, it may prove useful to survivors to examine
the principles which led their departed friend to a life of honorable
benevolence, and to a peaceful end.
Such considerations as these, and the urgent request of many
respectable individuals, have induced the preparation of the following
sketch of the life and writings of Mrs. ISABELLA GRAHAM, whose
character was so esteemed, and whose memory is so venerated by all
who knew her. The evident purity of motive which impelled her to
activity in deeds of benevolence, at once commanded love and respect,
which, in her case peculiarly, was unalloyed with any risings of
jealousy, envy, or distrust.
Blessed with a spirit of philanthropy, with an ardent and generous mind,
a sound judgment, and an excess of that sensibility which moulds the
soul for friendship, a cultivated intellect and rich experience, her
company was eagerly sought and highly valued by old and young.
Though happily qualified to shine in the drawing-room, her time was
seldom wasted there; for such a disposition of it would have been waste,
contrasted with her usual employments. Her steps were not seen
ascending the hill, of ambition, nor tracing the mazes of popular
applause. Where the widow and the orphan wept, where the sick and
the dying moaned, thither her footsteps hastened; and there, seen only
by her heavenly Father, she administered to their temporal wants,
breathed the voice of consolation on their ear, shed the tear of
sympathy, exhibited the truths of the gospel from the sacred volume,
and poured out her soul for them in prayer to her Saviour and her God.

In a few such deeds she rested not, nor was the story of them obtruded
upon others, or recorded by herself. The recollection of past exertions
was lost in her zeal to accomplish greater purposes and greater good:
her heart expanded with her experience, and her means were too
limited, the active powers of her vigorous mind too feeble, to fulfil the
abounding desires of her soul in alleviating the miseries and increasing
the comforts of the poor, the destitute, and afflicted. To learn the latent
springs of such excellence is worthy of research; they may be all
summed up in this, the religion of the heart.
The extracts from Mrs. Graham's letters and devotional exercises,
which constitute so large a part of the following pages, will furnish the
best development of her principles; and may, with the blessing of God,
prove useful to those who read them. In all her writings will be
manifested the power of faith, the efficiency of grace, and in them, as
in her own uniform confession, Jesus will be magnified and self will be
humbled. Her life was chiefly distinguished by her continual
dependence on God, and his unceasing faithfulness and mercy towards
her.
ISABELLA MARSHALL, afterwards Mrs. Graham, was born July 29,
1742, in the shire of Lanark, in Scotland. Her grandfather was one of
the elders who quitted the established church with the Rev. Messrs.
Ralph and Ebenezer Erskine. She was educated in the principles of the
church of Scotland. Her father and mother were both pious; indeed, her
mother, whose maiden name was Janet Hamilton, appears, from