THE WORKER IN CHRIST'S VINEYARD. to ; and her aid was freely accorded to those who stood in need. Consolation and advice were given by her to friends in circumstances of difficulty or affliction ; and her purse was opened with no niggard hand to all who were worthy of assistance. In 1815, one of her greatest literary performances -" An Essay on the Character and Writings of St. Paul " -appeared, and was read with the same avidity as her former works, the whole of the first edition being sold on the day of publication. Some of the Tracts were, in 1818, translated into Russian by the Princess Metschersky ; several were translated into the languages of Sweden and Iceland ; and Sir A. Johnstone had translated many of her works into the Cingalese and Tamul languages. At length, in 1819, the last and best beloved of Hannah More's sisters, Patty, died, after an illness of only four days, leaving Hannah a lonely but not hopeless woman of seventy-four. Her health was more than ever shaken, and there seemed but a faint hope of her surviving these repeated griefs, for, from time to time, she was now seized with attacks which seemed to defy all remedy. Yet, although suffering so much, she did not refuse to see the crowds of visitors who eagerly flocked to Barley Wood ; and her manners and conversation were remarkable for cheer- fulness and vivacity. Her last years were much saddened by the base ingratitude of her servants, who, during her repeated attacks of illness, made her house a scene of 42
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