ctable 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