A SAINTLY LIFE. 
 
 Stiemariitis of tltcsf^ 
 
 ^^txumtter and Itife-HQorfc 
 
 OF 
 
 CATHARINE TAIT, 
 
 Wll't OF THE LATli A R C H B I S H O J' OF CANTERBURY. 
 
 {Obiit ^nt December, 187b). 
 
 ^ Sermitn 
 
 Preached at St. Stephen's Chiitch, rorontu, April ist, iSSj. by the 
 
 REV. A. J. BROUGHALL, M.A., '■ 
 
 INCUMBENT. 
 
 Published by request. 
 
 TORONTO : 
 ROWSELL & HUTCHISON. 
 
 1883. 
 
A SAINTLY LIFE. 
 
 i 
 
A SAINTLY LIFE. 
 
 3lt«^mor!a(s of tf|t s^^ 
 
 OF 
 
 CATHARINE TAIT, 
 
 WIFE OF THE LATE A .i C H B I S H O P OF CANTERBURY. 
 
 (Obiit ^rd December, 1878). 
 
 ^ Sermon 
 
 Preached at St. Stephen's Church, Toronto, April ist, iSSj, by the 
 REV. A. J. BROUGHALL, M.A., 
 
 INCUMBENT. 
 
 Published by request. 
 
 TORONTO : 
 ROWSELL & HUTCHISON. 
 
 1883. 
 
' ' • ; ' 
 
 ' ;' 
 
 , I 
 
 (\ 
 
 
A SAINTLY LIFE. 
 
 " That ye be followers (imitators) of them who through faith 
 and patience inherit the promises.'' — Heh. vi., 12 
 
 IhE enthronement of the new Arch- 
 % bishop on Thursday last reminds us 
 that while one goeth and another cometh m 
 the Church of God, it is still our duty to bear 
 in affectionate remembrance those who are 
 gone before. To remember the dead, to 
 realize the fact that they who are asleep still 
 live to God, is a principle of our holy religion, 
 and is both comforting and salutary to Chris- 
 tian people. In the Epistle to the Hebrews 
 we are exhorted to be ** followers of them who 
 through faith and patience inherit the pro- 
 mises " ; and the reference is not the less to 
 those of our own day and generation than 
 
A Saintly Life. 
 
 it is to the saints of olden time ; and not to 
 men only, but to those Christian women who 
 have given signal evidence of God's grace 
 working in their hearts and lives. 
 
 I intimated on Sunday last that I would 
 probably refer this morning to the wife of the 
 late Archbishop Tait, that we may see what 
 lessons her example suggests for our serious 
 consideration. It is the more fitting to do so 
 because it was a fixed principle with that 
 estimable woman to remember the loved ones 
 God had taken to Himself; and it seems 
 right that the measure she meted to others 
 should be measured to her again. 
 
 In the course of her bright happy life God's 
 hand was now and again laid upon her in the 
 removal of the greater number of the children 
 He had given her ; and we are told in her 
 Life (which every one might read with profit) 
 that constantly with the daily prayers of the 
 family there was said a carefully prepared 
 form of thanksgiving and commemoration for 
 
A Saintly Life. 
 
 the five little ones who, in the space of five 
 weeks, were carried off by scarlet fever — ser- 
 vices which were "greatly soothing to her 
 spirit " when bowed down with sorrow. 
 
 My purpose in bringing the subject before 
 you is not only to show what a saintly charac- 
 ter can be developed in a Church whose two 
 great text-books are the Bible and the Book 
 of Common Prayor, but also the grand possi- 
 bilities of good which are within the reach of 
 multitudes of women in the Church. Every 
 one cannot be a Catharine Tait, but all can 
 be far more like her than at present they 
 dream of, if they will only make the effort, and 
 set the heart to get good from the source of 
 all good, by a diligent use of the means of 
 grace, and by asking in an earnest spirit, 
 " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" 
 
 Let me, then, as far as I can, in the short 
 time allowed me, give a sketch of her life. 
 
 The daughter of a country clergyman, she 
 was baptized by her father when three days 
 
8 A Saintly Life. 
 
 old : as a little glH, it is said, she was of 
 remarkable beauty. In childhood she was 
 most endearing in all her ways ; and as time 
 passed, like the Holy Child Jesus, she grew 
 in favour with God and man. She was 
 looked upon as '' a ray of light " in the home, 
 and the joy of the whole household. Fair 
 and fresh in features, playful and gentle in 
 her ways was she as a child — not pert, not 
 affected, not self-opinionated. She was what 
 one likes to see a girl-— bright, enthusias- 
 tic, large-hearted, studious, religious, devout. 
 Although always thoughtful and earnest, her 
 life, from the period of her confirmation, was 
 wholly given up to God's service. In her 
 youthful mind there were distinct awaken- 
 ings of the spiritual life, and she acted upon 
 the call to live to God. She often said that 
 there was a time when no life would have 
 appeared to her more happy than that of be- 
 coming village schoolmistress in the district 
 carved for himself by her brother-in-law out 
 
A Saintly Life. 
 
 of a neglected parish. And at sixteen she 
 often wished to join a mission to convert the 
 Roman CathoHcs in the west of Ireland. In 
 every respect she became a typical church- 
 woman. In the midst of joyfulness and 
 healthful spirits she was more and more occu- 
 pied by thoughts and aspirations connected 
 with the eternal world. Throughout the 
 whole of her life she had a marked love for 
 the ceremonial of the English Church as the 
 outward form in which her deep inward piety 
 embodied itself As daughter, wife, mother, 
 it may be said cf her, that duty was an instinct. 
 She was one of those "glad hearts, without 
 reproach or blot, who do God's work and 
 know it not." In process of time the country 
 maiden became the wife of the headmaster 
 of Rugby, who in a few years was appointed 
 Dean of Carlisle, then Bishop of London, and 
 finally Archbishop of Canterbury, second only 
 in the realm to the princes of the blood royal. 
 And now I would have you note how that, 
 
lo -^ Saintly Life. 
 
 although she was in the world, she was not of 
 the world. Her piety remained with her to 
 the end, deepening and increasing as years 
 rolled by. It is said of her that *' scarcely any 
 one ever so thoroughly enjoyed life " ; her 
 heart was open to every innocent pleasure 
 that came in her way. A little amusement 
 now and then, to use her own words, was 
 ''simply delicious." God gave her wonder- 
 fully good health, and a buoyant, cheerful 
 nature. In the various positions which her 
 husband was called to fill, she always moved 
 as befitted her. She never plunged into 
 society. She could not avoid it altogether, 
 but when it came quietly in her way, she en- 
 joyed it as far as was consistent with the 
 claims of duty, which were ever present to 
 her mind. She cared for pleasure, but she 
 did not live for it. Hospitable at all times, 
 she was most charming as a hostess ; and in 
 turn she was called to enjoy extraneous plea- 
 sures, either at court, or in the company of 
 
A Saintly Life. II 
 
 cabinet ministers, or men of letters, cr 
 bishops, or professional men of every rank 
 and degree. And moving thus in the world, 
 how did she bear herself as a Christian 
 woman ? The things of God, the kingdom 
 of God, first ; earthly things last. Nothing, 
 nothing was ever allowed to interfere with her 
 religious duties ; and as to church work, she 
 never dreamt of excusing herself from it on 
 the ground of family duties, or of society hav- 
 ing so many claims on her. In a very busy 
 life it was a delight to find time for both. 
 Her character, from infancy holy, happy, and 
 joyous, was being deepened year by year in 
 its earnestness and spirituality. At one 
 period of her life, it would appear, she was 
 keenly enjoying the earthly pleasures and 
 blessings which surrounded her, perhaps, as 
 she fancied, a little too keenly ; and her higher 
 life was quickened by a message which seemed 
 to come to her from above. She seemed at 
 the time to hear the words, " But make for 
 
12 A Saintly Life. 
 
 the higher ! " The call met with a ready and 
 full response of heart ; and ever after, what- 
 ever her hand found to do for Christ and His 
 Church, she did it with all her might. 
 
 Let us now look at her in the family and in 
 the parish, or rather in the Diocese. 
 
 I. As regards her family, we cannot con- 
 ceive a better model of a Christian home. 
 We know that, according to the law of 
 God, a father has clearly defined duties to- 
 wards his children. He is to teach them 
 the words of the divine law, and to bring 
 them up in the nurture and admonition 
 of the Lord. But after all, mothers have 
 most to do with their children. Good men 
 and women in all ages of the Church have 
 pointed with gratitude to the teaching and 
 prayers of their mother as most effectual 
 in forming and developing their char- 
 acter. It was so with Mrs. Tait. In an 
 eminent degree, she was careful to instruct 
 her family in the principles of our holy faith ; 
 
A Saintly Life. . ^3 
 
 and in the case of her only son she guided 
 his reading and studies all through boyhood. 
 Every morning, as a rule, she would read the 
 Bible with her children ; and it was her habit 
 to pray not only for them, but with them, 
 teaching them both by precept and example 
 to lead the Christian life to which they had 
 been pledged in Holy Baptism. She felt the 
 force of Keble's words referring to the bap- 
 tism of infants, i r 
 
 " But happiest ye, who sealed and blest, 
 Back to your arms your treasure take, 
 
 '. - With Jesus' mark impressed, 
 To nurse for Jesus' sake." 
 
 It is the mother that must teach and Christian- 
 ize her children. She must see that they be 
 taught, so soon as they are able to learn, 
 what a solemn vow, promise and profession 
 was made for them in baptism. An hour in 
 Sunday-school (perhaps not that), a few ser- 
 mons poorly attended to, will not instruct a 
 child in the Christian faith, or train it for 
 
14 A Saintly Life, 
 
 heaven. Let parents be careful to guard 
 their little ones from evil influences, encourage 
 and help them in preparing for Confirmation ; 
 let them come with them to Holy Communion 
 and the other services of the Lord's house, 
 and we shall have some hope of the rising 
 generation. 
 
 Mrs. Tait had so trained her children from 
 infancy that when six of them had been taken 
 from her, she had no doubt that every one, 
 from the youngest to the oldest, went to the 
 Saviour. What a blessed and comforting 
 conviction! It was at Carlisle that she experi- 
 enced her first great sorrow, an event that 
 was the pivotal point of her life, and a life- 
 long sorrow. Through five weeks of agony, 
 one darling little child after another being cut 
 off with fever, the iron entered into her soul. 
 She hoped, she prayed, with all the intensity 
 of her earnest spirit, that the uplifted hand of 
 a Heavenly Father's Providence might be 
 stayed. But God in His wisdom willed it 
 
A Saintly Life. v 15 
 
 otherwise, and she acquiesced. Soon alter 
 they left her, she vv^rote an account of that 
 time of trial, in order that, as she said, vhen 
 she was gone, it might speak a word of help 
 and comfort to those upon whom a similar 
 burden is laid, and who are feeling that it is 
 too heavy for them to bear. To them she 
 would say, ** O, tarry thou the Lord's leisure ; 
 be strong, and He shall comfort your hearts, 
 and put you your trust in the Lord." 
 
 By both parents the loss of their litde ones 
 was looked on as a bright chain to draw their 
 spirits up to heaven ; and thenceforward 
 parents and the children that were left 
 ''specially prayed together daily, that the 
 links which bound them to the world unseen 
 might never be broken, that Christ at His 
 coming would bring with Him those who 
 were gone before, so that all again might be 
 united with the Lord." The same solicitude 
 Mrs. Tait manifested for her servants ; she 
 had a constant care for them. There was 
 
1 6 A Saintly Life, 
 
 little of the "fine lady" about her. Even as 
 a girl in her father's house, it was her wont to 
 teach the younger servants, and to prepare 
 them more especially for Confirmation. This 
 practice she continued when she had a home 
 of her own, being careful to instruct both her 
 children and her household, and to guide 
 them in the paths of virtue. 
 
 2. Equally careful was she to do her duty 
 in any parish in which her lot was from time 
 to time cast. She was from girlhood even 
 till old age most active in Church-work. 
 Wherever she lived, she was known as the 
 friend of the poor and the afflicted. People 
 in trouble would come to her for sympathy 
 and advice, and she would send them away 
 strengthened by prayer as well as by ghosdy 
 counsel. If the boys at Rugby were sick, 
 she would read and pray with them, in order 
 that absence from home might not at such 
 times be keenly felt. At Carlisle, as well as 
 at Rugby, her poor neighbours found in her a 
 
A Saintly Life. i? 
 
 warm-hearted friend. In London, the work- 
 houses, homes, hospitals, sisterhoods, with 
 their many works of charity, back alleys, 
 cholera districts,— all alike claimed her time 
 and attention. It is said that she visited the 
 workhouse near her home every Sunday of 
 her residence in London. On being setded 
 in Lambeth palace the record is that '' al once 
 Mrs. Tait set to work among the poor." So 
 thoroughly was charitable work a part of her 
 existence that, as a friend remaiked, ''she 
 took you one minute to call on a duchess, 
 and the next into a ward of a hospital." On 
 one occasion, as she entered her carriage 
 after a lengthened round of calls, and said to 
 the footman, " Home," he prompdy inquired, 
 ^' Which?" St. Peter's Orphanage, in the 
 Isle of Thanet, and a Convalescent Home, 
 are but two of the monuments she has left 
 behind her. Naturally, she was interested in 
 the many ordinary diocesan works of charity, 
 and by her aid contributed largely to their 
 
l8 A Saintfy Life. 
 
 successful operation. In this respect she was 
 indeed a help-meet for her husband, who says 
 of her that *' for thirty-five years she helped 
 forward every good work he was called upon 
 to promote, and, by the associations of her 
 early Oxford bias, tempered whatever might 
 otherwise have been harsh in his judgment of 
 the good men from whom on principle he 
 differed." And now looking back on the 
 wonderful events of the Archbishop's career, 
 and his remarkable influence on the Church 
 in our day, it may be that there has been left 
 on the Church of England the impress of 
 Catharine, as well as of Archibald Campbell, 
 
 Tait. 
 
 And what was the secret of this holy and 
 useful life ? How was all this wonderful 
 activity and usefulness maintained ? We 
 may say that it was owing to the deeply re- 
 ligious character of this saindy woman, and to 
 her daily, one might say hourly, communion 
 with her God and Saviour. Hers, in a 
 
A Saintly Life, 19 
 
 marked degree, was a life of prayer. Her 
 spirit was ever real, earnest, and devotional. 
 Prayer, private, family, and social, was ever 
 the characteristic of her life. Herein was 
 her strength. She lived in faith and in 
 prayer. Tf one trait in her character shone 
 out above another, it was her constant prayer- 
 fulness and her devotional frame of mind. It 
 was her rule, her pleasure, to attend the 
 Church's daily service. Having risen early 
 and observed her private devotions, she would 
 go, for instance, to the parish church at 
 Rugby, or to morning service wherever she 
 might happen to be, and return in time for 
 family prayers. Intercessory prayer, too, 
 was never neglected ; as a girl she would 
 pray for her brothers and sisters, and after- 
 wards for her family, her friends, and for the 
 candidates who were to be admitted to Holy 
 Orders by her husband at the four Ember 
 Seasons. Any change in life was made and 
 accepted in the restful, acquiescing spirit of 
 
20 A Saintly Life. 
 
 prayer. She took everything as coming 
 directly from God, aid trusted Him im- 
 plicitly. 
 
 The Bible, I need hardly say to you, was a 
 loved book. " From a child she knew the 
 Holy Scriptures ;" and her customary portion 
 was read early in the morning, even on her 
 wedding-day. Pardy from her drily attend- 
 ance at Church she knew almost every Psalm 
 by heart ; and in order that she might under- 
 stand what she read, she studied standard 
 works on theology, among them some of the 
 old English divines, and such books as Den- 
 ton "on the Gospels," and Pusey on the pro- 
 phet " Daniel." Ir( passing, it may be well 
 to remark, that history, ancient and modern, 
 poetry, biography, modern languages, as well 
 as divinity, yielded regular food for her mind, 
 even in the busiest periods of her life. What 
 a contrast this range of reading is to the 
 feeble, worthless, so-called works of fiction, 
 which so many women, yes, and men, are 
 
A Saintly Life. 21 
 
 now-a-days content shall form their sole 
 mental stimulus, even to the exclusion, it is 
 to be feared, of God's Holy Word. 
 
 Sunday was to her a joyous day. It was 
 her ''day of days." Here the under-current 
 of her life obtained freer course by hindrances 
 being put aside for a time. There was the 
 full measure of outward observances, of ser- 
 vices and sacraments, and ''Church-blest 
 things." She honesdy tried to give up the 
 day, whole and entire, to God and His spirit- 
 ual service, or to the service, in some form or 
 other, of His poor and suffering creatures. 
 It was not with her half-church, half-world. 
 The bright stirring Sunday services she could 
 always meet with in England, wherever her 
 lot was cast, she greatly enjoyed ; and her 
 face, ever expressive of joy and peace, was at 
 these seasons a picture, it is said, never to be 
 forgotten. If she joined in that beautiful 
 hymn, "Pleasant are Thy courts above," 
 it was with the heart she drew nigh to God, 
 
22 A Saintly Life. 
 
 and not with the lips only. She felt the 
 words, and she meant what they expressed. 
 Her soul longed for the house of God, and 
 was satisfied. On one occasion, during the 
 six months which elapsed between the death 
 of her son and her ov/n decease, her biographer 
 writes, ** At the Holy Communion we sang 
 Dr. Bright s lovely hymn, * And now, O 
 Father, mindful of the love.' I could not 
 help watching her as she sang it. She seemed 
 absolutely unconscious of any presence but 
 that of the Divine. And, as she came to the 
 last two lines, 
 
 ' In Thine ov/n service make us glad and free, 
 And grant us never more to part from Thee,' 
 
 her face was peace itself." Yes, let me add. 
 Holy Communion was to her to " spiritually 
 eat the flesh of Christ and drink His blood; 
 to live in Christ and Jhrist in her ; to be one 
 with Christ and Christ with her." She thank- 
 fully received the docrine of sacramental grace, 
 and found it to be a blessed reality. Among 
 
A Saintly Life. 23 
 
 all the changes and chances of life, in all her 
 doings for the Church, this was the central 
 point of union for herself, her friends, and 
 fellow-workers. In the dark, sad days of 
 mcurning for her little girls ; on several occa- 
 sions when her husband was thought to be 
 dying ; or at times of rejoicing, such as on the 
 morning of a daughter's marriage ; before her 
 only son's death, the day after he died, and 
 again on the following Sunday — there were 
 special celebrations of the blessed sacrament 
 for the strengthening and refreshing of their 
 ^ souls. In view of her own death, it was still 
 the same. As the end drew near, the Arch- 
 bishop writes, " we were now in great alarm 
 of some sudden termination . . . and it 
 would have left a sad memory if she had de- 
 parted without that solemn rite through which 
 her soul had always rejoiced to hold com- 
 munion with her Saviour. ... I administered 
 the Holy Communion to her, to her daugh- 
 ters, and to the physician." And soon after 
 
24 . A Saintly Life. 
 
 she joined those bUssful spirits which had 
 gone before, and which, doubdess, with out- 
 stretched arms, were ready to welcome her. 
 ' Time would fail to tell of her unselfishness, 
 of her sympathy, of her uniform spirit of 
 thankfulness. Her large-heartedness as op- 
 posed to narrowness and bigotry, were well 
 known. She used to say that "though thor- 
 oughly orthodox herself, she had no faculty 
 for detecting heresy ; and could read with 
 the deepest interest the books, and enjoy the 
 conversation, of men from whom she differed, 
 and admire their great qualities and help them 
 in good works, without in any way pledging 
 herself to follow their guidance." In fact, 
 she had enjoyed to a great extent those helps 
 which promote large-heartedness — ''light, 
 e^iperience, and observation." The sick in 
 mind or body, those in distressed circum- 
 stances, the lonely, the suffering, all came 
 within the range of her sympathy. Blessings 
 she always enjoyed with the keen sense of 
 
A Saintly Life. 2$ 
 
 thankfulness. "A heart full to overflowing 
 with gratitude to God," expresses her charac- 
 ter and is the key to her life. Afflictions 
 were meekly borne in submission to the will 
 of God. Amid all her joyousness, her cup 
 was full of sorrow. '' None but my God and 
 I know what I have suffered," she said, to- 
 wards the end of a life which had been sancti- 
 fied by prayer and disciplined by abundant 
 suffering. And what was her stay through it 
 all ? She acted on the advice of the prophet 
 Isaiah — " Who is among you that walketh in 
 darkness, and hath no light ? Let him trust 
 in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his 
 God." This was her never-failing support. 
 She never repined, nor charged God foolishly. 
 She could leave all in His hands, knowing 
 that He would give what was best. One was 
 guiding her who could guide, and guide well, 
 in sorrow and in joy ; and she felt that the 
 years of life would soon be over, and then she 
 should know how well it was, and how well it 
 
26 A Saintly Life. 
 
 had ever been, with her. Christian mothers 
 may well desire to imitate her ^aith and 
 patience, to live as she lived, and work as she 
 Worked for Christ and His Church. Many of 
 you will confess you have not that faith you 
 vmuld like. Jesus Christ has been a long 
 time with you, and yet you have not known 
 Him. Ask God to increase your faith. Use 
 what you have, and obey the promptings of 
 God's spirit already felt in your heart. God 
 will lead you on, and gradually reveal to you 
 the higher life, that '' other life the world doth 
 not account." It is only when we feel the 
 nothingness of earth that we begin to know 
 the joy we have as Christians. And knowing 
 this, the love of Christ will constrain us to 
 work for him, whether in a lowly or an exalted 
 position, by serving His Church below. And 
 work, any work for Christ, if heartily rendered, 
 will be for good to one's own soul, and help 
 to wean us more and mere from the things 
 which are seen, and set our affection on things 
 
A Saintly Life. 27 
 
 above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand 
 of God. God grant us all this heavenly frame 
 of mind, and fill us more and more with His 
 love, so that we may indeed rejoice in hope 
 of that glory which is to be revealed at His 
 coming. I