e preacher be at a loss for texts,
for Grace is an illustration 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 God, 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
pass 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,