by EDWARD SGS of Durham, of Grace Darling, who saved
the survivors it the wreck of the Forlarshire steam-boat. The parti- culsrs of this heroic action are fresh in the public memory; but we cannot deny ourselves the pleasure of repeating the story of so noble :111 CC if cuurnee and humanity on the part of a woman. Grace 1/4rling and her parents teal heard from their ocean tower, Longstone Ligleheuse, the cries of the perishieg souls at intervals of the storm during tie night, but darkness prevented their lending any aid : when menthes daweed, the fury of the wind had not abited, and the father thought ;I: madness to lab II'. Pt to launch a boat in such a tremendous sea : the :irgent s:areaties of the daughter at last prevailed over the old man's prudence, and the brave girl herself volunteered to take an oar. At the imminent peril of their lives, the noble father and daughter suc-
melted in reaching flu. rock ; with great difficulty and hazard, took (4T sev:ral p”r-.0n: and lalia,d them in safety.
It tLe print before us, Grace Darling is represented (not, as she has Lesn in a trumpery mu,ie-title, in a ball-dress with a floating scarf, like another Lady of the Lake, holding an oar with a melodramatic air, as if it were Harlequin's wand, but) in her ordinary attire, probably what she wore on this occasion—a plain bonnet, and a shawl folded across her bosom so as to leave her arms free to ply the oar. It is not often that heroines of red life possess the adventitious attractions of a pretty name or a charming person ; but Grace Darling has both. She would unquestionably have been loved and admired as heartily had she been Dorothy Dobbs, with a wide mouth, snub nose, and a squint ; but it is pleasant to find coupled with a fine and generous nature a lovely face and a name at once euphonious and eherishable. Grace Darling !— poet or novelist need not desire one better fitted to bestow on a paragon of womanhood : we would fain see it embalmed in a sonnet by Woans- :venni or a lyric by Casnemee; but it will "live in her land's language "if not immortalized in verse. Of ignoble homage she has had enough ; and she who "did good," not "by stealth," but by in- stinct, has often " blushed to find it fame" since : ladies have begged locks of her Lair in return for bank-notes, until they would have served for her papillottes had she any curls left.
To return to our interrupted description—Grace Darling has an oval face, with handsome features and a sweet expression : her long dark eyes look from under her level brow, with a quiet intelligence, to which the smile that curves the well-formed lips lends a pleasing archness.
The same artist has also published sketches of the Father and Mother uf Grace. William Darling is a hale, weather-beaten old man, with a fine manly head, which be holds erect, though looking as if he did not know what to make of having his likeness taken. It is a capital study of u veteran sailor ; and is lithographed with vigour and spirit by Miss LOUISA CORBAUX., Mrs. Darling is a comfortable, " crummy dame," remarkable for nothing but being the mother of a daughter whose fame fills all England.
Previous page
