Victorian Scrapbook ~ April 1864

"No influence is so powerful as that of the mother."

~ Sarah Josepha Hale, Editress of Godey's Lady's Book (shared below)

Would you like to step back in time to the April of 1864?

BIBLE PHOTOGRAPHS OF WOMEN. 

"MIRIAM, THE PROPHETESS." 
"Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea! 
Jehovah has triumphed, and Israel is free." 

"The Bible has a wonderful distinctness in its delineations 
of human character. The Divine Light (of which the 
effect of the Sun in lining the photograph seems a faint 
illustration) produces by a single impression, the charac- 
teristics of the man or woman who stands under its beams 
of eternal truth. We feel this power of holy inspiration, 
and rest on its revealings with an assured conviction that 
the likeness is true. 

There are not many women introduced in Bible history; 
those who are, touched by this Ithuriel spear, seem to 
come like revelations of what God designed as the destiny 
and duties of the feminine sex. Among these representa- 
tive women, is one whose name is united with intellectual 
powers and great deeds, surpassing all others described 
in the old Testament, as surely as the evening star out- 
shines her sisters of the sky — "Miriam the prophetess." 

The first glimpse we have of Miriam's remarkable in- 
telligence and power of aiding the plans of Divine Prov- 
idence, is when she, a little girl, watches the cradle of 
her baby brother Moses, as he lies helplessly exposed to 
his fate among the reeds of the Nile. {Exodus, chap, ii.) 
Was not Moses then, even in his helplessness, a strong 
tower of faith and hope to that waiting girl, who must 
have known that her people inherited the promises, and 
believed that the time of deliverance would surely come? 
How she must have rejoiced when the babe was saved 
and adopted by Pharaoh's daughter! Did not Joseph 
become the ruler of all Egypt ? Might not her brother 
Moses be thus raised to honor? and then the Hebrews 
would be free! As Miriam "stood afar off, to witness what 
would become of him,'-' and saw him saved ; did she not, 
in her young heart, "Sing to the Lord" in the triumph 
of her soul, and dedicate herself to him? 

Eighty years had gone by since that scene on the banks 
of the Nile. During these years no ray of light had 
broken the gloom of Egyptian bondage for the Hebrews. 
Now they are redeemed by the mercy of God, and, led by 
His servant Moses, stand free and triumphant over their 
enemies, who have all perished in the Red Sea. What 
themes for joy and gratitude to the Lord this wonderful 
deliverance gave that ransomed people! "The Song of 
Moses" seems, even now, when reading it, to shout the 
praises of the ever-living and true God. 

It is the fitting time for the Hebrew heroine to come 
forth from the shadows of eighty years, since she, a little 
girl, watched the cradle of her brother Moses, See her 
stand by his side, in the full radiance of her majestic 
womanhood, his helper: her name joined with her 
brothers (Micah iv. 4), "Moses, Aaron and Miriam," as 
leaders of Israel ; her assigned duty to be leader of the 
women:''Miriam the prophetess.'' 

What honor was hers, as the light of divine truth 
stamped on the holy pages of God's Book an indelible 
photograph of that joyous thanksgiving of praise and 
glory to the Lord God, when "Miriam the prophetess 
took a timbrel in her hand ; and all the women went out 
after her with timbrels and with dances." And Miriam 
answered them, " Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath tri- 
umphed gloriously ; the horse and his rider hath He cast 
into the sea!" 


Yes, Miriam, a devout worshipper of the true God 
had kept her faith and hope in His promises; and now, 
at the age of ninety years, she seems endowed with the 
full powers of her mind and health, most probably was 
in the full possession of that oriental comeliness, "where 
all that's best of dark and bright, meet in her aspect and 
her eyes."

No Queen on her throne ever had such a glorious triumph as                       Miriam then enjoyed..."

~ Excerpt by Sarah Josepha Hale, Editress of Godey's Lady's Magazine

I hope you enjoyed these treasures from the past…

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January 1864

February 1864

March 1864

This post may be shared with some or all of the following lovely link-ups: Modest Mom Monday's, Teach Me Tuesday, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, and Deep Roots at Home. Thank you, dear ladies, for hosting these! The engraving of Miriam was not in the original Godey but has been inserted by the author of this blog.