Mrs. Savage was the eldest sister of Matthew Henry. When she was a child
she had a great many advantages for the improvement of her mind. When
only seven years of age, she could translate the Hebrew language, and
when ten years old, she would write out her father's sermons. She
possessed a very amiable disposition, and was very kind and benevolent
to all who needed the comforts of life. She was a Christian, and when
she became a mother she began the work of educating her children
herself. She had a large family of nine children, and as she had
treasured up in her memory many hymns and verses which she had learned
when a child, she was able to teach the same to her children. She was so
kind and affectionate that every body loved her. Her children took much
pleasure in hearing their mother repeat to them the hymns and texts of
Scripture which she had learned.
Some children are very careless, and indifferent to their parents'
advice; such ones will regret it in their riper years. But Mrs. Savage's
little boys and girls loved their mother, and were very obedient to her
commands. When evening came, before they retired to bed she would call
her little children around her (as you see in the picture,) and they
would kneel down and say their evening prayer. A pleasant sight, indeed,
to see our dear children remembering their Creator in the days of their
youth. Mrs. S. was "useful, beloved, meek, humble, and charitable." She
lived a happy, cheerful life; she was an ornament to her Christian
profession, a "good mother." She died suddenly at the good old age of
eighty-eight.