Page:For Remembrance (ed. Repplier) 020.jpg

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allegiance to the ancient faith. It was Mother Tucker who changed the name of Eaton Hill to that of Eden Hall, and the altered title was but a symbol of the transformation accomplished by her generous heart and cultivated mind. The young superioress, ardent in her zeal and courageous through her trust in God, became the soul of a rapidly developing institution which was soon a little world in itself. The force of her character and the strength of her convictions left, on convent and pupils, an impress which time has not effaced.

Summoned away at various periods to govern other houses of her order, Mother Tucker always returned to the place with which her life was identified. She died in Philadelphia, 1881. Under a plain cross of gray stone, erected by a faithful friend as a token of enduring gratitude, rests, on the fairest hillside of Eden, all that could die of that noble and gracious personality. Beside her tomb her old pupils and her religious sisters pray and remember. They are certain that she intercedes and does not forget.

Though hers is the name most closely linked to the old convent, its former children keep grateful memories of Mothers McNally, Hamilton, Boudreau and Dunne.

Three pretty chapels at various points bear witness to Mother Tucker's tender piety, always seconded by the generosity of her friends. The "Seven Dolors," the "Lily of Judah," the shrine of St. Joseph, the Pietà of the little cemetery, and even the rustic niche of "Our Lady of the Fields" give token of the faith which renders good thoughts visible on every roadside.

Among other valuable donations to Eden may be signalized a fine and very complete collection of minerals, accurately classified, the gift of Miss Jenny Abell, of Baltimore. In earlier years a series of Swiss specimens in stones and pressed Alpine plants bore the name of Mr. Charles Repplier.

On the occasion of the Jubilee, Colonel Charles Howell, of Torresdale, bestowed on the convent a magnificent oil painting, the portrait of Pius IX, originally executed for Cardinal Antonelli, and afterward sold to an American gentleman from whose family, Colonel Howell had purchased it.

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