THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY

247158

ASTOR, LENOX AND TILBEN FOUNDATIONS. 1902

ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the year 1841, by M. W. DODD,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New-York.

UNIVERSITY PRESS-JOHN F. TROW, PRINTER.

ELIZABETH THORNTON.

CHAPTER I..

INTRODUCTION-ELIZABETH'S EARLY HOME

CHILDHOOD.

PERHAPS Something will be lost by the reader, if he overlooks these introductory remarks in his haste to enter upon the narrative. I am about to record the simple and faithful history of a retired, humble Christian, whose name was never known beyond the circle of her friends. And I have a definite object in view in selecting such a subject for this sketch.

It has often occurred to me that religious biography fails of its appropriate usefulness, from the fact that only the bright and shining lights of the world are made the theme of the biographer. When private Christians read the memoirs of distinguished servants of God, in the midst of admiration of their worth and works, they feel that few can expect to reach

such heights of usefulness and happiness. The secluded female fears to believe that she may be as holy and consequently as happy as the honoured Ambassador of Christ, who was raised up to move the age in which he lived; qualified by grace divine for the mighty work, and called home in triumph to his reward when the work was done. Though the histories of such saints are rich legacies to the Church, they are not blessed to many, who live with the conviction strongly impressed upon them, that such patterns are too perfect for them to imitate. They feel like saying, "It is high, I cannot attain unto it."

To meet the case of such Christians, I have here chosen one who, like themselves, never rose above the walks of humble life; one, who never dreamed that a memorial of her labours of love would live after her; one, quite content to be unknown, who went about doing good, and whose story is now told with the simple purpose of showing how easy it is for any one to be useful, who has a heart to pray, and a will to toil in the service of Jesus Christ.

The record shall be faithfully true. There is a propriety in withholding the names of

many places and persons to which allusion will be made, but no colouring shall mar the naked simplicity of truth that adorns the character here portrayed. And I give the sketch with the fervent prayer, that all who read it may be led to seek after eminent holiness and extended usefulness in whatever sphere they move.

On the banks of the Hudson bloomed the flower that is the subject of this sketch. It early withered, but it lived long enough to be loved and admired, before it was removed to flourish in immortal bloom by the side of the river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb.

The Hudson is a noble stream. Its placid bosom, its expanded bays, its giant Highlands, its lofty palisades, combine to form its unrivalled attractions, and to make it the most admired of American waters. Between thirty and forty miles above the city of New-York it widens into "Tappan Sea." This part of the river is justly esteemed the most beautiful, from the extent of its surface and the peculiar richness of the scenery on shore. And when the eye has rested on the loveliest spot in this enchanting

scene, Elizabeth's birth-place and early home will have been found.

Every one of the countless passengers on the North River steamboats must have noticed the peculiarly commanding situation of the village of SS The noble view it pre

sents of the river, from the Highlands above, down to the city or as far as the eye can reach -the salubrity of its air-and the romantic country that surrounds it, have made it a favourite resort for those who would fly "the town," and spend the summer months in the luxury of the country.

About a mile below the village is "the Cove." Mount Murray, a promontory so called, extends some distance into the river, and forms a delightful bosom of waters. The visiter at the village soon finds and loves this quiet spot, and a ramble on the beach or a walk through "Fairy Glen" is among the chief attractions of this neighbourhood. No one, with a soul to love the wild, the beautiful, and sublime, ever visited the Cove without being delighted with its charms.

An old fashioned mansion stands on the