ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1847, By BELKNAP & HAMERSLEY, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut. STEREOTYPED BY RICHARD H. HOBBS, PRINTED BY CASE, TIFFANY AND CO., HARTFORD, CONN. PREFACE. "That life is long that answers life's great end." To few, perhaps, whose period of action was so limited, could the above sentiment be better applied, than to the subject of this memoir. Her life, though short, was filled up with acts of beneficence and love; and although many of those acts, like fragrance borne upon the breath of morning, and then scattered by the winds of heaven, can never again be gathered; yet something remains in the memory of those who best knew her, and something more in her writings; and it is hoped that from these two sources a little volume may be made, which will be both interesting and profitable to the young. In regard to the following memoir, it is proper to remark, that it was not attempted under the impression that the subject of it possessed extraordinary powers or attainments. Such qualifications, however desirable in themselves, or coveted by others, are not deemed indispensable to a life of usefulness. A friend remarked, “I know of no character more worthy of being presented as a model for the young, than Mary's; and for this reason, among many others, that it exhibits no unattainable excellence. It was not by any extraordinary gifts of nature that she won all hearts, and adorned her Christian profession more than any other young person I ever knew,-it was the complete subjection into which she had brought her every wish and purpose, to the one object of promoting the happiness of others, and their spiritual welfare, that made her daily life such a steady light, and gave to her manners that indescribable sweetness, so that none saw her but to love her. I think, however, there was in Mary's disposition, a very uncommon share of affectionateness and simplicity, but of course I cannot judge as well as those who knew her in childhood, whether those traits were as striking then as in after years; though it seems to me that no selfcultivation, nor even the grace of God, could have supplied them, had they not always existed in an unusual degree. But on this account I should think her character would be a difficult one to delineate with distinctness." The traits to which this friend of Mary alludes, the writer of this never expects to portray so that those who did not know her, could see them as exhibited in her life. The beautiful symmetry of her character, embodying as it did every social virtue, and every Christian grace, must have been seen, to be fully known and appreciated. There is one circumstance, which, more than any other, prompts the wish to try to sketch something which shall do her justice. She was early called away from the field of her labors; and as she was eminently qualified and disposed to do good, it does seem to be no more than a suitable tribute to the promise she gave of future usefulness, to attempt to extend her influence beyond the brief period of her life. Another reason for writing this memoir, is found in the melancholy satisfaction of recalling the incidents of a life, which, while its few, fleeting years were passing, was the source of so much happiness to the mourning survivors. As this little work was not entered upon under the impression that the subject of it possessed extraordinary powers, so neither was it attempted under the impression that she was exempt from the faults and imperfections incident to our fallen state. Should a perfect character be held up to view as always having been such, it would immediately be felt by all, not to be just, nor true to nature. Mary had faults, but by the grace of God, she was able to correct them; and on this account her character seems a suitable one to present as |