Grace Darling Part 28

"Trust that the Saviour was to thee The ark upon the 'whelming wave, The life-boat, 'mid the yawning sea Of sin to save.

"That now, where joy, and light, and peace, Are by His living presence poured, Where storms are o'er and tempests cease, Thy bark is moored."

CHAPTER XVII.

"BEING DEAD, YET SPEAKETH."

"What wouldst thou be?

A blessing to each one surrounding me, A chalice of dew to the weary heart, A sunbeam of joy bidding sorrow depart, To the storm-tossed vessel a beacon-light, A nightingale song in the darkest night, A beckoning hand to a far-off goal, An angel of love to each friendless soul-- Such would I be.

Oh, that such happiness were for me."--Frances Ridley Havergal.

It would be little use either to write or read any biography or record of deeds and lives, unless some good lessons could be learnt from the same. But

"Lives of great men all remind us We may make our lives sublime, And departing leave behind us, Footprints on the sands of time."

From the life of Grace Darling several sermons could be preached, especially for those members of her own s.e.x who are interested in her and her heroic exploit. Nor need the preacher be at a loss for texts, for Grace is an ill.u.s.tration of the words of the wise man in the last chapter of the Book of Proverbs. Several of the verses especially appear adapted to show what kind of girl she was; and if the reader will take a few, it will be seen how aptly in her own life she exemplified the teaching, which she must often have read, and with which she must have been very familiar.

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies."

Grace Darling was, of necessity, after her act had made her famous, well known, and constantly watched. But there is only one report concerning her, and that is, that she was the personification of pure and simple goodness. It would not have been very wonderful if the tongues of malice and envy had found something hard to say of her, but we never hear of the shadow of a suspicion of any kind having rested upon her fair name. She possessed in herself the three Graces--Faith, Hope, and Charity. She was tender and pure. She impressed all who knew her by the unostentatious faithfulness of her spirit, and purity of her life. She seems to have been actuated every day by the one desire, to do her duty. She wished to serve G.o.d, obey her parents, and do any good work that might be in her power. And who does not see how much better she was than a useless fine lady, who could do nothing but pa.s.s her life in idleness? Who will not own that King Solomon was right when he said that the price of a virtuous woman is far above rubies? Gold and gems shine, but the pure light of a good woman's life sheds a better and more enduring radiance on the world than any jewels could do. And her value no one can estimate. Had the father of Grace Darling been asked to take a sum of money in exchange for his daughter, it is certain that the world would scarcely contain enough to have satisfied him. Rubies! Oh, they need not be mentioned in the same breath. The weary, sinful, suffering earth could do very well without rubies; but good women are what it sighs and groans for.

And there is not a girl who reads these pages, but can become that most valuable treasure--a good woman. It is possible to every one of them to attain to that degree of excellence to which Grace Darling reached.

They may not, as has already been said, have the same opportunity of saving life by going out over the stormy waters to the rescue of the perishing; but they can be, if they cannot do, the same. And the world does not so much need a few heroines, as it needs a large number of good common-place women. There is not a home in the whole of our land but would be the brighter and better for any number of these women, as mothers, wives, daughters, aunts, cousins, or servants. The millennium will have come when all our women are virtuous, when they who are the very chief over the home-loving peoples are pure, modest, true-hearted, honourable, dignified, devoted, and, in a word, virtuous. But if any one is in doubt as to how these good qualities are to be obtained, let them know that G.o.d can give them to one as well as another. They come in answer to prayer; and those women who steal away sometimes to their chambers, and there pour out their souls in earnest entreaty to Him from whom every perfect gift must come, are the women who bring serene faces into the family circle, and pleasant smiles to dissipate the gloom. These are the women who will be patient among irritating circ.u.mstances, who will give the soft answer that turneth away wrath, who will never make man's care the greater, but who will hold weary heads to their bosoms, and prove what comforters and helpmates they can be. Such women may all who wish to claim sisterhood with Grace Darling, become.

"She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms."

Among the many monitors which speak to the women of the present day, there is one to which it would be well that they should give heed, for it says to them, be strong. These are times when strength is needed.

It has become a trite saying, that we live at a railroad pace; and it seems as if it is no use trying to slacken the speed, and there is nothing to do but to go forward, as all the world is doing. But there never were times that made such heavy demands upon physical and mental strength. There seems no room for the feeble. They are almost certain to be pushed and jostled out of the way. And women that are really weak have not only to suffer themselves, but they are the cause of suffering to other people also. Therefore it becomes our daughters to cultivate the strength which they will so surely need. And it is quite possible to do this. Grace Darling was not naturally strong, she was but a slender girl, whose life pa.s.sed away soon; but she would not have been able to take an oar and propel the boat across the seething waves, if she had not had plenty of fresh bracing air, and out-of-door exercise. The times are past when there could be any other feeling than scorn for women who, not being really afflicted with disease, are useless. Let it be understood, as indeed it is beginning to be, that strong women are needed for the work of these days, and let all who would not be mere logs floating down the stream, listen to the injunction, and gird her loins with strength, and strengthen her arms.

"She stretcheth out her hands to the poor, yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy." Every one who knew Grace Darling knew that she had a most pitiful and compa.s.sionate heart. But that was not enough, though many women, it would seem, are satisfied with it. Some there are who weep tears over the imaginary sorrows of a heroine in the last sensational novel, who would not move away from their own firesides to respond to the cry of real misery. No good comes of such pity, and such compa.s.sion is a dishonour to the name. It is not enough to feel for sorrow with the heart, the hands must be stretched out in prompt readiness to help. It was so in the case of the daughter of the lighthouse-keeper, and it was in consequence of this that her short life was blessed. Nor is it enough to relieve the distress which comes to the door, and presents itself to the eye. It is said of Solomon's ideal woman, that she "stretcheth out" and "reacheth forth" her hands.

Grace Darling did this. She went out to those who needed her succour, though it is possible that many of her sisters would have contented themselves with simply going down to the beach to welcome the poor wretches, if they should be fortunate enough to reach the sh.o.r.e. Grace felt otherwise; and those who would do good in the world must be willing to seek, as well as to save, those who are lost.

There is room in the world for the exercise of all Christian charity.

The poor are here, and unless a woman deliberately shuts her eyes to their needs, and selfishly thinks only of her own people, and their sorrows, she cannot help being touched. And the luxury of doing good need not be confined to those of them whose purses are filled with gold. Poor women help the poor, even more than the rich do. Nothing is required, excepting the will, which will certainly find the way.

Money is useful where poverty reigns; but so are the kindly attentions, the filled plate sent from a table, the half-worn-out garment left at the door, and even the sympathetic pressure of a faithful hand. Let the women of England consider the poor, and they will find that they have double rewards for all which they do. It is a great thing to earn the blessing of him that is ready to perish; and those who do that know most of its value. It is a pity it should not be oftener enjoyed, since it is within reach of us all. Those who are selfish and greedy, mean, and grasping, cannot know it; but those who are benevolent, kindly, sympathetic, and liberal, are the people to whom life gives of its very best.

"She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness." It is said of Grace Darling, that she was particularly gently and una.s.suming in manner and speech. She was not lifted up in any way by the sudden popularity which she gained; nor did it cause her to be other than what she had always been--a simple, modest maiden.

She could be dignified in the presence of those who sought her out of idle curiosity, and were rude enough to bore her with prying questions.

But ever to strangers, whom she felt she could trust, she was always pleasant and kind. Her words were sensible, wise, and good. She told the truth, as every good girl will do; and she never had bitter words of sarcasm and envy for anybody who came in contact with her.

May not our women learn from her to open their mouths with wisdom?

They have not yet crushed out the reproachful references to "women's tongues," which for so long has been made in their hearing. Indeed, if for every idle word which is spoken an account must be given at the last great day, then may women tremble at the reckoning which has to come. Alas! too many say little besides idle words. Wise speech is not the every-day language in which they indulge; and, perhaps, of all the mischief which they do, that which is done by their tongues is the greatest of all. How is it that so few women open their mouths with wisdom? Is it not because they are foolish, and not wise? Their thoughts are wrong, and so are the words that spring from them. Their feelings are angry, envious, and bitter, how can their words be healing and kind? They need first to get their heads and hearts right by watchfulness and prayer, and then, as a natural consequence, the sting and the folly will be taken out of their words.

It is a great acquisition to be able to talk well. The art of talking is one that should be cultivated and brought to perfection; but let it be remarked that the truest accomplishment is not the power to say fine or clever things, but to say kind things well. There are some people who seem wonderfully like wasps--they are clever at stinging, and they seldom open their mouths but somebody is made to smart. They ought to be labelled, "Dangerous," and to have as wide a berth given to them as used to be accorded to the lepers. But there are others, whose words are kind and wise, and coming from such tender hearts, are so "fitly spoken," that whoever hears is better for them. Will not those maidens, wives, and mothers, who admire Grace Darling, try to belong to this better cla.s.s, that their power of speech may be put to good uses for the production of the highest blessings?

"She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness." Grace Darling was a working woman. She knew what it was to rise early in the morning, and a.s.sist her mother in all good household duties. She had quick, ready hands, that could perform whatever was required of them. She would have despised herself had she been idle. It was not hers to take upon herself the responsibilities of the mistress of a household, but, if it had been, no one doubts that she would have performed them n.o.bly. But as it was, she found enough to employ her, and it may safely be said that she would have been ashamed to eat the bread of idleness.

And there is not a woman living but ought to be ashamed of it, too.

Even if she be rich, and there is no need for her to labour in order to a.s.sist the bread-winner in his arduous duties, there is still plenty of work for all willing hands. No lady ought to be content to pa.s.s her life in cutting holes to mend them up again; in playing a little, reading novels, and visiting. There ought to be some real tangible good done. And there is need around every woman. There are poor children for whom warm garments may be cut and made, poor women who may be helped, and, indeed, a thousand ways in which a woman may, by diligence, benefit others. And she will certainly do it, if "she looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness."

"Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all."

This is very high praise, but Grace Darling deserves it. Few women, if any, have done so good a deed as she. It was not for the sake of winning renown, praise, or reward. There were no witnesses of her act, excepting her aged father, and the poor creatures to whose help she had come. It would have been very different had it been a deed that could have been done before an admiring world. For instance, Joan of Arc was a n.o.ble girl, full of inspiration and courage; but her deeds were great as the world looks on greatness, and there was much of pomp and show about her achievements. But this girl went out on the angry waters in the grey light of an early morning, with the simple purpose in her heart of saving from drowning those whose lives were in jeopardy. She did not care whose lives they were. They might be only those of a few poor sailors or emigrants. It did not matter to Grace. They were human lives, and therefore precious. She must have had the purest motives in what she did, and in this she excelled many women who have been praised. Dear, indeed, she was to the hearts of her father and mother, and all who were more immediately concerned, and dear also to the world, which admired her heroic virtues. Another sermon which she preaches from this chapter is, that women should not be satisfied with less than the best. Even good actions and kind words are not enough; they must be the sincere expressions of good and pure motives.

"Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised." There have been other ill.u.s.trious women besides Grace Darling: some, whose beauty has been so great, that men have gone mad over it, and hearts have been broken, and homes made desolate by it. But when we come to search for any good which came of it, we cannot find it. Beauty was there, but not "the fear of the Lord." When these two are seen together, then indeed there is

"A perfect woman, n.o.bly planned, To warn, to comfort, and command."

Grace Darling was not what is called beautiful; but she had a pleasant face, and she made no wrong use of it. She had favour, too; but, perhaps, in her case, it was not deceitful. But better than beauty or favour is conscientiousness, that fears to do wrong and displease G.o.d.

It is true that she did not parade her religion, and even refused to give satisfactory answers to some of those who sat in judgment over her, and wished to pry into her Christian experience; but no one could know her, or could read the records that have come down to us, without knowing that she was "a woman who feareth the Lord." There is a rule by which she never needed to have feared to be judged, "By their works ye shall know them." And Grace Darling's life showed only good fruits.

Her heart must have been right, or her actions must not have been so worthy. And few women ever found greater truth in the words, "She shall be praised." She was praised, indeed, most eloquently and generously. She had not to complain that she was not appreciated, for honours were heaped upon her, both while she lived and after she was dead. And now a new generation adds its honours to those which were rendered by the old.

Will not the women who read this history also take the wise words to heart? Favour is deceitful. To be praised is not enough to satisfy a woman's heart alone. To be admired and flattered may be pleasant while it lasts; but it does not last long. People soon tire of their favourites, and cast them aside for new ones; and then there is desolation indeed in the hearts of those that have been carelessly rejected. And beauty is vain. It is often a snare to its possessor.

The love which owes its being to nothing besides is not particularly worth having. For beauty fades; and the faded flower is often thrown away as something that is worthless. But beauty and favour are indeed G.o.d's gifts, which many women know how to use to His glory, and the good of those who love them, or are in any way connected with them.

But it is only where these things are sanctified and controlled by the fear of G.o.d that they are really valuable possessions. The first thing necessary, then, is to seek that religion which comes from above, and, making the heart right, causes the life to be also right.

The last verse of this remarkable chapter of Proverbs is peculiarly applicable to the case of Grace Darling--"Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." No true, and kindly person will begrudge her the praise she received, since she really earned it. She sowed the seeds, and it was only right that she should reap the fruit. And of all the praises that were heaped upon her none equalled the simple unvarnished story of her own deed. To describe her exploit, with no word of comment, was to load her with commendation of the highest kind. And it is well indeed when that can be said of any woman--which is always the case when her life is right.

On the whole, even now people get pretty much what they deserve. For a little time an individual may be misunderstood and maligned; but in the long run it will be found that

"Ever the right comes uppermost, And ever is justice done."

The world is not so unfair as it seems. It is not very quick to read people, but it gets to comprehend them at last, and no one who is really good has to confess that he gets no praise.

These seem to be the teachings of Grace Darling's life. If the women of these times will take them to their hearts, and profit by them, the n.o.ble lighthouse-girl will do a better and more enduring work now, than when she went out with her father to the wreck of the "Forfarshire."

CHAPTER XVIII.

CONCLUSION.

"Where no shadow shall bewilder, Where life's vain parade is o'er, Where the sleep of sin is broken, And the dreamer dreams no more; Where no bond is ever sundered; Partings, claspings, sob, and moan, Midnight waking, twilight weeping, Heavy noontide--all are done; Where the child has found its mother, Where the mother finds the child, Where dear families are gathered That were scattered on the wild, Brother, we shall meet and rest, 'Mid the holy and the blest."--Bonar.

Very little remains to be told, either of Grace Darling or her family.

The grief of the latter was of the most poignant kind, when their famous and beloved daughter had really left them. Death creates great desolation for those who are left behind; and the more excellent the deceased has been, the greater is the loss which is felt. But when this world has but been exchanged for a better, there are consolations for the mourners, who feel that the parting is for a little while only, and who look forward to a joyful re-union.

"A few more years shall roll, A few more seasons come; And we shall be with those that rest Asleep within the tomb.

"Then, O my Lord, prepare My soul for that great day; O wash me in thy precious blood, And take my sins away.

"A few more suns shall set O'er these dark hills of time; And we shall be where suns are not, A far serener clime.