The history of Lynn - Lynn Massachusetts Genealogy Project

1800.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 193the father of Mrs. Carnes, was born at Antigua, educated atone of the universities in Holland, became a counsellor andjudge in the colony of Essequibo, and died in 1791. Mrs.Carnes received a refined education from a learned instructor,Mr. William Payne, preceptor of Clinton Academy in the stateof New York. She was extensively and sincerely beloved,and was remarkable for her pure dovotion, the true nobility ofher mind, and the possession of those amiable qualities whichrender the female character most admirable.Amid the attention which is given to the various concerns ofhumanity, surely one page may he spared as a tribute to theexcellence of woman. In the course of History, the virtues andthe worth of man are delineated in all the features of strong andadmirable portraiture; but woman—the inspiration of existence,the sou] of humanity, without whom the world would bebut a resplendent desert, and life itself a burden to its lordlyand lonely possessor—Woman is overlooked with indifference,as if she were not entitled even to a small share in the recordof human events. When man is consigned to tbe tomb of hisfathers, his worth is recorded on monuments of marble, and hisvirtues illuminate the page of history ; but the grave of womanis passed in silence and neglect. She who is the mother ofman, the wife of his bosom, the daughter of his affection—shewho has shared all his dangers and encouraged his footsteps upthe steep ascent of fame—she who in the hour of sickness hasbeen his comforter, in the day of adversity his support, and inthe time of trial his guardian angel— generous, virtuous, unassumingwoman—is permitted to go to her everlasting sleep,with no mention of her name, no record of her virtues. Poetryindeed has extolled her, but even poetry has praised her buthalf. It has represented her chiefly as a thing of beauty, anobject of youthful admiration, a creature of light and fancy, fullof fascination and the blandishments of love. Poetry and romancefollow her in the sunny days of youth and beauty ; butwhen the time of her maturity and usefulness arrives, theyabandon her for other pursuits, and leave her alone to encounterthe trials, and sickness, and sorrows of home. It is there,in the unobserved paths of domestic life, that the value of womanis to be estimated. There may be found unwaveringfaith, untiring affection, hope that endures all afflictions, andlove that bears all trials. There may be found the smile ofunfailing friendship, mantling over a breaking heart—die unob-