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they sink and are forgotten , may be used by their less gifted brethren as reasons for being satisfied with useful mediocrity . The heroine of the work before us was distinguished only beyond the
circle of her friends as " the Relict of James Fordyce , D . D . " It must still be allowed that she had a character , and the * Memoir" contains incidents and descriptions which will interest even the general reader . Mrs . Henrietta Fordyce was descended of the ancient and honourable
Scottish family of Cummyng . She lost her father during her infancy ; her mother was left with scanty means , and , while she lived , took charge of her daughter ' s education , to which she was fully competent .
" Mrs . Fordyce has often been heard to say , that she never was taught , only allowed to learn : with tasks she was unacquainted ; and information was given to her as a reward . In her mother ' s system of education there was no theory ,
all was practice . She was never praised ; any attainment or acquirement was so managed as to be made its own reward . From infancy to age she never said prayers ; she prayed , and then she was with God , and God with her . " P . 5 .
By the death of her excellent mother when she was ten years of age , Mrs . Fordyce was left an orphan . The maternal duties were now discharged by an accomplished relative , Mrs . Baron Muir , €€ whose connexions
were all in the first circle . " She , too , was soon called away from this world , and her proteg 6 e now became , by invitation , a resident in the family of the Countess of Balcarras . An accident made the young lady known at court . She worked an embroidered
dress , as a birth-day present for Lady Buchan , which , being worn at St . James ' s , attracted the notice and admiration of the Queen . Her Majesty learned the history of the fair artisan , and received the highest commendations of her from General Grsem , who was allied to the families of Balcarras
and Buchan . This incident was reported in Scotland , and the young lady expressed her gratitude for the royal condescension by the present of two embroidered groups of flowers on white satin , for fire-screens . * ' The offering had been sent to Lon-
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don ; and on Lady Buchan's return to Scotland , her first visit was to Balcarras . " The two Countesses had been closetted for a considerable time , and on their re-appearance , Miss Cummyng thought she could perceive a something momentous , in which she was concerned , impending . " On this important occasion , the con ^ clave sat in the drawing-room of Bal ~
carras : Lord and Lady Balcarras , Lady Dalrymple the Countess ' s mother , Lady Buchan , the two young ladies , with one or two members more of their respective families , with Miss Cummyng herself , were all assembled . It was then for *
mally , and with much gravity , announced to * Miss , ' that her Majesty had most graciously vouchsafed to command her attendance at Court , when the appointment of governess to the Royal children would be conferred upon her . Bewildered in her own ideas and feelings , and struck as with sudden dumbness , she could only look from one to another till she had
gone through the whole circle : she also stole a peep at herself in a large mirror which happened to be opposite . " A governess ! She doubted the evidence of her own senses , and again , mute as ever , gazed around her . Those assembled betrayed no emotion : no sign of jesting appeared ; all was composed and sober-seeming truth . The silence
was somewhat appalling ; yet it appalled not the damsel so highly honoured , who in a minute after , to the consternation of the whole assembly , burst forth into a most uncontroulable nt of laughing ; and when she could laugh no longer , drawing one long breath , cried , ' A governess !
me a governess ! dear me , I cannot govern myself . ' * You speak truly , Miss Cummyng , ' said Lady Balcarras gravely ; * and if you continue t o treat your friends with ridicule who wish to promote your interests , you never will properly govern yourself . '
" The severe rebuke from one whose every look had been approbation , and whose indulgence had rendered her the petted pet of the family , deeply affected her . Tears of swelling emotion gushed from her eyes , and she cried , If you make me leave you , I will go ; but never , never will I part with my self-dependence . I can work , but 1 will never serve . ' iC
This was pride , it must be confessed ; but it was the pride of principle ; and it pleased God so to order her destiny , that the envied possession , independence , was her own to the latest hour of her existence . She was often to experience how much more blessed it is to give than to receive , aud never knew the pang which
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Review . — -Memoir of the late Mrs . Henrietta Fordyce ; . 45
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1825, page 45, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2532/page/45/
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