These were not printed books, but all in the handwriting of young Ferrar, who at the early age of twenty-one had apparently mastered twenty-four languages.
This brief sketch must now be brought to a close, with the hope that it may prove interesting to some who are unable to peruse the longer narratives on the same subject, and which are, indeed, very scarce at the present time. Should the writer’s hopes be fulfilled, it will surely be to them, as it is to him, a matter of great satisfaction that at least a part of the work carried on at Little Gidding should have been of such a permanent
nature that, after 250 years, the result can still be seen and enjoyed almost in its original freshness, and can, indeed, be actually used for its original purpose.
The workmanship of the Concordances was so excellent in every detail, even to the paste used for their construction, that the volumes may well last for another period of 250 years. And as we turn over their pages and admire the method, the neatness, and the skilful design therein exhibited, our thoughts are carried back to the days and the scenes of their creation, and we picture to ourselves more vividly the happy and religious family which day by day met in the great Concordance room, the well-ordered procession wending its way to the little church at their gate, the meals in the great hall, enlivened only by the “historical anecdote, easy and delightful,” the daily repetition of David’s Psalms, and the frequent singing to the organ, which was tuned so low as to be a disturbance to no one, and the words of the hymn which was frequently sung every day—
“So angels sing, and so sing we,
To God on high all glory be,
Let Him on earth His peace bestow,
And unto men His favour show.”
But though our fancy naturally dwells on the younger and more active members, we must by no means forget the mother of the family, the source of all the virtues exhibited in her children and grandchildren.
Living to the age of seventy-nine, Mrs. Ferrar “at her dying day had no infirmity and scarce any sign of old age upon her.” “There were few women, as all that knew her can testify, that exceeded her in comeliness of body and excellent beauty; of fair, modest, and sober deportment, grave in her looks, humble in her carriage towards all people, superlative in discretion; of few words but when she spoke (as occasion offered itself) no woman passed her in eloquence, in judgement, and wisdom. Great was her devotion to God, and her love to God’s word, constant her reading of the Scriptures, and her singing of the Psalms, when she sat at work with her children and maids about her.”
An inscription in the great parlour, written by her in the last year of her life, may well be given here as a fitting conclusion to this imperfect narrative:—
I. H. S.