CHAPTER VIII.

LADY ELIZABETH HASTINGS-H. HOUSMAN-DOCTOR

DODDRIDGE.

SECTION I.

LADY ELIZABETH HASTINGS.

IN the life, sufferings, and death, of Lady Eliza. beth Hastings, we have a lively instance of the power and support of religion.

An ingenuous temper, a quickness of understanding, a benevolent spirit, a flexibility of nature, and a solemn sense of Divine things, were observable in her tender age; and, in the dangerous ascent of life, her feet were guided and preserved in the paths of rectitude and goodness; so that she was not only free from the stain of vice in her rising years, but superior to the world, and its vain and trifling amusements. Through the whole course of her time, her lamp shone brightly; and in mature age, diffused its light and influence in a wide extent around her.

It appears that the great aim of her life was, to promote the glory of God, and the welfare of men, keeping her talents, extensive fortune, and other means of doing good, continually employed for the benefit of her fellow-creatures. Of all her cares, a most especial one was that of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow; the needy, and him that had no helper; the lame, the halt, and the blind. These objects excited her most tender compassion. She participated in their sufferings; she often conversed with them; and inquired into their history, with great condescension. She studied their particular cases, and put them in the way of improving their condition. She often visited them in sickness, bore the expenses of it; and, no doubt, endeavored to cheer and encourage them under all the apparent hardships of their allotment.

The following character of this noble-minded woman, was drawn by the hand of an eminent writer: "Her countenance was the lively picture of her mind, which was the seat of honor, truth, compassion, knowledge, and innocence. In the midst of the most ample fortune, and the veneration of all that beheld and knew her, without the least affectation she devoted herself to retirement, to the contemplation of her own being, and of that Supreme Power which bestowed it. Without the learning of schools, or knowledge of a long course of arguments, she went on in an uninterrupted course of piety and virtue; and added to the se

verity and privacy of the last age, all the freedom and ease of this. The language and mien of a court she was possessed of in a high degree; but the simplicity and humble thoughts of a cottage, were her more welcome entertainments. She was a female philosopher, who did not only live up to the resignation of the most retired lives of the ancient sages, but also to the schemes and plans which they thought beautiful, though inimitable. This lady was the most exact economist, without appearing busy; the most strictly virtuous, without tasting the praise of it; and shunned applause with as much industry as others do reproach."

Towards the close of life, she experienced great bodily affliction, having a cancer in the breast, for which she underwent an amputation. But in all her sufferings from this cause, and even under the trying operation, her religious fortitude and serenity of mind did not forsake her. The resignation of her spirit to the dispensations of Divine Providence, is strongly marked by the following expressions, which dropped from her during the course of this painful distemper: "I would not wish to be out of my present situation, for all the world; nor exchange it for any other, at any price."

The night subsequent to the operation did not afford her much sleep, but it was a night of celestial peace; a time of thanksgiving to her God, for the visible demonstration of his power in and about her; for his stretched-out arm in her great

deliverance; for the bountiful provisions he had made for all the wants of her soul and body; and, in a word, for all his blessings conferred upon her.

She was, sooner than expected, restored to a comfortable state of health, and to that life of charity and beneficence, which was the joy of her heart but the disorder, repressed only for a time, appeared again with new malignity, and, at length, put a period to all her sorrows. Her lamp and her life were, however, to be extinguished together: she was pious and beneficent to the last.

A short time before her departure, impressed with a strong sense of Divine Goodness, she broke out, with a raised accent, in the following manner: "Lord! what is it that I see? O, the greatness of the glory that is revealed in me! that is before me!" So joyful appears to have been her entrance into the kingdom of her Lord and Saviour. She died in the year 1740.

The truly religious, whose evidences of a blessed futurity are clear, rational, and well-founded, have, at times, in their journey through life, a tide of hope and joy springing up in their minds, beyond expression; a felicity more moving and satisfactory than any can imagine, but they who have, in some degree, experienced it. And when they are just entering upon the promised land, they are sometimes favored to have the splendor of the eternal day dawn upon them, and to shine as through the

breaches of their shattered bodies; raising in their spirits such an earnest of happiness, such foretastes of joy, as enable them to pass through the valley of death in peace and triumph. What a rich reward for all the crosses and conflicts of this probationary scene! and how animating a source of encouragement, during our pilgrimage, to rise above, and look beyond, all the troubles of time!