Page:A cyclopaedia of female biography.djvu/547

 name of brother Giambattesta, renounced all worldly pomps and vanities. Overtures had been made to the young prince, by Cardinal Mazaiin, for an alliance with his niece, Laura Martinozzi. These had been rather evaded; when an autograph letter, from Louis, King of France, urgently pressing the marriage, determined the affair; and, in 1655, attended by the most magnificant pomp, Laura was received at Modena as the wife of its sovereign. At the end of six. years of conjugal happiness, Alphonso died, appointing his widow regent, and guardian of his son and daughter. The duchess held the reins of empire, for thirteen years, with a firm hand, and appears to have governed with more ability than her predecessor or her successor. In 1676 she retired to Rome, where she lived in comparative seclusion till 1687, when she died. Her daughter, Mary Beatrice, was the wife of the unfortunate James the Second, whose reverses and exile she shared. 

MARY, mother of our Lord and Saviour, was the daughter of Eli, or Joachim, of the house of David. She dwelt in the city of Nazareth; and her personal history commences with the salutation of the angel, "Hail, highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women." It was the angel Gabriel who thus addressed her. What appearance this ministering spirit wore, we are not told; but it seems that she felt it was an angel, and was "troubled," as she could not comprehend the purport of the salutation. Then Gabriel went on to unfold the purpose of Grod towards her; that she was to be the blessed mother of the holy Messiah, the "Jesus; called the son of the Highest."

To be the mother of "Shiloh" had been, probably, the hope and prayer of many a pious mother in Israel, from the time of Jacob's prediction. But, though Isaiah had prophesied that "a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us," still it is not probable this was understood literally, or that any Jewish virgin had even hoped to be thus miraculously endowed with the privilege of motherhood

Mary of Nazareth was a young and humble maiden, betrothed to a poor man, a carpenter named Joseph. Could she, in her lowly estate, ever have dreamed of the glory awaiting her? She could not. She had, in all truth and humility, only been solicitous to perform, from her heart, every duty before her, in the fear and love of God; thus it was that she "found favour with God."

When the angel had assured her she should be the blessed mother of the promised Messiah, and had answered her simple, child-like question, "How shall this be?" she instantly believed, and accepted the high mission.

Zacharias did not believe the announcement made to him by Gabriel of the birth of John. The priest was righteous—as man is righteous—but the difference between the masculine and the feminine nature is most strikingly illustrated in these two examples; Zacharias was earthward in his doubts, his reason; Mary was heavenward in her faith, her feelings. He believed not the angel, and was struck dumb; she believed, and "the Holy Ghost overshadowed her!" 