MEMOIRS OF MRS. BETHUNE. CHAPTER I. PARENTAGE. Reasons for Writing.-Death of Contemporaries.-Memories of Isabella Graham.-Entail of Grace.-Pious Parentage.-Dr. Graham, of the British Army.-Fort Niagara.-The "Doctor's Garden."-Birth of Joanna Graham in the Fort. THE eminent and wide-spread usefulness which God granted to the subject of this memoir has caused a general desire that the history of her life should be written, for the honor of Christ, whom she followed, and the encouragement of His disciples, whom she loved. The duty of complying with this wish of many Christian friends devolves on her only son; and he, asking God's help, gladly undertakes it, though not without fear lest the biographer may be suspected of being biased by his affectionate veneration, and so be less trustworthy in his portraiture of his mother's character and services to God and man. But it is true, on the other hand, that none had better opportunities than he of knowing her daily life in private and public, or of hearing from her own lips the reasons and motives from which she acted. There is also less danger of exaggerated praise, so commonly the fault in modern religious biography, because, as will be seen in the following pages, her life was so full of activity that there will be little room for any thing besides a detail of facts. The copious extracts from her own writings, which are given in the Appendix, will show that, for herself, she depended on the free sovereign grace of Christ alone, and gave Him the praise of the good works He had wrought in her to will and to do of His good pleasure. It would be most inconsistent with the spirit of so humble and devoted a Christian, for one who cherishes her memory, so beautiful with the graces of the Spirit, to overcharge with personal eulogy a life which derived all its beauty and strength from the love of Christ shed abroad in her heart; but it would also be unjust to that divinest principle of Christianity if the genuine effects of evangelical faith, as manifested in the lifelong, devoted charities of Mrs. Joanna Bethune, were allowed to be forgotten, or set forth with less than actual truth. The author has occasion for regret that the material and authorities for an accurate and full history of a life covering a period of nearly a century are not so abundant as is desirable and was expected. Mrs. Bethune, though not unwilling that the light of God, shining in her experience and devotion to His service, should be made to reflect His glory, was too busy with her duties for any anxiety respecting her own credit. She adopted as an axiom the counsel she learned from the lips of the seraphic Summerfield, |