Wotton's two lines on the event have been celebrated as containing
a volume in seventeen words:
"He first deceased; she for a little tried
To live without him, liked it not, and died."
So, when Washington's wife was informed that her dear lord had
suffered his last agony--had drawn his last breath, and departed
--she said: "'Tis well; all is now over. I shall soon follow him;
I have no more trials to pass through."
Not only have women been the best companions, friends, and
consolers, but they have in many cases been the most effective
helpers of their husbands in their special lines of work. Galvani
was especially happy in his wife. She was the daughter of
Professor Galeazzi; and it is said to have been through her quick
observation of the circumstance of the leg of a frog, placed near
an electrical machine, becoming convulsed when touched by a knife,
that her husband was first led to investigate the science which
has since become identified with his name. Lavoisier's wife also
was a woman of real scientific ability, who not only shared in her
husband's pursuits, but even undertook the task of engraving the
plates that accompanied his 'Elements.'
The late Dr. Buckland had another true helper in his wife, who
assisted him with her pen, prepared and mended his fossils, and
furnished many of the drawings and illustrations of his published
works.
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