Page:A Biographical Dictionary of the Celebrated Women of Every Age and Country (1804).djvu/547

Rh bitter news was brought to her ears, and her reflection upon it was truly christian; "I thank thee, O Lord, that in sending me so great an affliction, thou wouldest purify me from my sins. O Lord Jesus Christ, who by thy death hast given life to the world, deliver me from evil." She survived this event only a few days.

The domestics of this excellent woman were remarkable for their steadiness and good conduct. She was anxious to know and amend her faults, and would often gently reprove her confessor, that he seemed not careful enough of her salvation, in pointing them out to her. "O how happy," said she, "are the poor, to whom truth is told!" By reason of the long wars which had desolated the kingdom, quarrels, murder, rapine, and licentiousness, raged among the nobles and people; indifference and irreligion among the clergy. Margaret, whose conjugal tenderness, unaffected wisdom, benevolence and humility, had softened the heart, and won the entire confidence of her husband, who held her in such reverence, that he would often kiss the book in which she said her prayers, pointed out to him these evils, and induced him to set about a reform of all abuses; to expedite the tediousness of law, to punish the corruptions of the courts of justice, to protect the poor, and repress the insolence of the soldiers. The restoration of regularity in the church was also one of her great cares, which she happily accomplished. She built and repaired many churches, and established the custom of anointing the kings in Scotland, which was not heretofore practised. She made laws also to enforce temperance. She reasoned with those who did not receive the holy communion. "We are all unworthy," said she, "but we are all equally enjoined to partake of it." She served the poor