XXXIV BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



versation, sparkling with well-told anecdotes and incidents of 

 men and things garnered during her long life and retained 

 with a memory that is phenomenal, would realize that the 

 secret of her peaceful old age, her unclouded intellect, and the 

 brightness of her eye, is due to her trust in Providence, her 

 contentment with her lot, and a firm faith in the future where 

 a happy reunion with the loved ones awaits her. 



The following lines, written on her mother's eightieth birth- 

 day by Mrs. Traill's third daughter, Mary (the late Mrs. 

 Muchall), though faulty in metre, are so descriptive that I 

 cannot end my brief sketch better than by quoting them : 



" Eighty to-day is our mother, 

 A picture so peaceful and fair, 

 The lilies of fourscore summers 

 Asleep in her silvered hair. 



" Eighty to-day, yet the love-light 



Shines as soft in her sweet blue eyes, 

 As touched with a ray from heaven 

 Of the peace that never dies. 



" The happy spirit of childhood, 



That with some is too quickly past. 

 Caught by some magic enchantment. 

 Is flooding her life to the last. 



"Eighty to-day, and her children, 

 Near or far in a distant land, 

 Are strong sons and happy daughters, 

 A loved and a loving band. 



" In our hearts she'll live forever ; , 



When she leaves for a world more fair, 

 Her smile will be still more radiant 

 As she welcomes each dear one there. " 



