Page:The part taken by women in American history.djvu/749

708 thing among them was the figure of the benignant old lady. Entering into every subject of interest with the sympathy of youth, she received from all the profoundest reverence and respect.

She died April 15, 1870, at the age of eighty-three. A distinguished educator said of her at the time of her death, "In the fullness of age she approached the termination of life with the calmness, Christian philosophy and faith of a true believer." The place of her death was the old seminary built at Troy where, half a century before, she had founded an institution which was an honor to the country, and where she taught the true philosophy of living and dying—works done in faith made practical in works.

While still very young, Mary Lyon, who was afterwards to become the foremost woman in America in the mental and spiritual training of young girls, wrote a letter to her sister revealing not only the strength of her thought and the intensity of her patriotism, but the deep bed rock of Christian faith which undergirded all her thinking. "This day," she wrote, "completes half a century since the Declaration of Independence. How interesting must be the reflections of those few who remember that eventful day. Who on the face of the earth fifty years ago could have expected such results? It is true that Washington and almost all Americans who lived in the days of Washington hoped for independence, but did they look forward to this time and expect such a nation as this? Must not all believe that self-promotion comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south, but God is the Judge who putteth down one and setteth up another. Must net all exclaim, 'This is the finger of God! This same spir-