The highest enthusiasm prevailed throaghout Great Britiain as the adventure became known, and distant nations responded with hearty sympathy. To reward the bravery and humanity of Grace Darling, a subscription was raised in England, which amounted to £700, and she received besides numberless presents from individuals, some of them of distingiushed rank. Her portrait was taken and multiplied over the kingdom; the Humane Society sent her a flattering vote of thanks and a piece of plate; dramatic pieces were performed representing her exploit; her sea-girt home was invaded by steamboat loads of wonder-seeking admirers, and offers of marriage, not a few, flowed in upon her.
Amid all this tumult of applause, so calculated to unsettle the mind, Grace Darling never for a moment swerved from the modest dignity which belonged to her character. She continued, notwithstanding the improvement in her circumstances, to reside at the Lighthouse with her parents, content to dwell in the secluded and humble sphere in which her lot had been cast; proving by her conduct that the liberality of the public had not been unworthily bestowed.
Grace Darling, as is too often the case with the noble and good, was not destined to enjoy long life. She survived only a few years to enjoy her well-earned fame. In 1841, symptoms of declining health exhibited themselves, and, on the 20th. of October, 1842, she died of consumption.
Grace Darling is described as a woman of middle size, comely, though not handsome, but with an expression of mildness and benevolence most winning. Her disposition was always retiring and reserved, the effect, no doubt, of her solitary mode of life; a life which unquestionably fostered and concentrated the quiet enthusiasm of her character, and made her the heroine of one of the most beautiful episodes that ever adorned the history of woman.
DARUSMONT, FRANCES,
Better known as Miss Fanny Wright, was left an orphan at the age of nine years, with a younger sister, the two being heirs to a considerable property. They were placed under the guardianship of a man who was an accomplished adept in the philosophy of the French Encyclopædists. Her parents had been strict Presbyterians, and, apparently, she was brought up in that faith; yet the poison of the French philosophical ideas was instilled with zeal into her young and eager soul, that should have been moulded by a pious mother's wise care; for, with warm feelings and a mind of strong powers, Fanny Wright had an enthusiasm of nature which would have its way. If such women are trained rightly, what noble beings they become!
When Miss Wright came of age, she found that the Old World was a hard field for her philanthropic plans. She had been taught by her infidel friend, and honestly believed, that religion, or the priest rather, was the greatest obstacle in the way of human happiness and social improvement. She therefore went to the New World to see another phase of society. Her travels and observations extending from 1818 to 1820, and entitled "Views on Society and Manners in America," evinced a hopeful mind, enlarged and liberal political views, with no expressed hostility to the Christian religion.
