Born: 2 June 1816, United Kingdom
Died: 16 September 1847
Country most active: United Kingdom
Also known as: NA
The following is excerpted from the Dictionary of National Biography, originally published between 1885 and 1900, by Smith, Elder & Co. It was written by Sidney Lee.
AGUILAR, GRACE (1816–1847), novelist and writer on Jewish history and religion, was born of Jewish parents, of Spanish descent, at Hackney, in June 1816. Of delicate health from infancy, she was chiefly educated at home, and rapidly developed great interest in history, especially in that of the Jews, besides showing much aptitude for music. In her youth she travelled through the chief towns of England, and resided for a long time in Devonshire, whither her family removed in 1828. At an early age she first attempted literary composition. Before reaching her twelfth year she produced a drama on ‘Gustavus Vasa,’ and in her fourteenth year she began a series of poems, of no particular merit, which were published in a collected form in 1835, under the title of the ‘Magic Wreath.’ She never completely recovered from a severe illness by which she was attacked in the same year, and when the death of her father soon afterwards forced her to depend on her writings for a portion of her livelihood, her health gradually declined until her death, twelve years later. At first she devoted herself to Jewish subjects. The ‘Spirit of Judaism,’ her chief work on the Jewish religion, after being printed for private circulation in England, was published in America in 1842, with notes by an American rabbi who dissented from her views, and it met there with a warm welcome. In the treatise she boldly attacked the formalism and traditionalism of modern Judaism, and insisted on the importance of its purely spiritual and high moral aspect, as indicated in much of the Old Testament. Four years later she produced a work with a similar aim for general reading in this country, entitled ‘The Jewish Faith, its Spiritual Consolation, Moral Guidance, and Immortal Hope.’ And about the same time (1845) she published a series of essays on biblical history, called ‘The Women of Israel.’ Her occasional contributions to periodical literature on religious questions were collected after her death, under the title of ‘Sabbath Thoughts and Sacred Communings,’ 1851. But Grace Aguilar is better known as a voluminous writer of novels, most of which were, however, published posthumously under the editorship of her mother. ‘Home Influence, a Tale for Mothers and Daughters,’ alone appeared in her lifetime (1847). It met at once with a good reception, and, after having passed through nearly thirty editions, is still popular. ‘A Mother’s Recompense,’ a sequel to ‘Home Influence,’ and ‘Woman’s Friendship,’ novels of similar character, were published in 1850 and 1851 respectively. Two historical romances, the ‘Days of Bruce, a Story from Scottish History’ (1852), and the ‘Vale of Cedars’ (1850), a story of the Jews in Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella, together with a collection of short stories, entitled ‘Home Scenes and Heart Studies’ (1853), exhaust the list of Grace Aguilar’s works. All her novels are of a highly sentimental character, and mainly deal with the ordinary incidents of domestic life. Like the rest of her writings, they evince an intensely religious temperament, but one free from sectarian prejudice.
In June 1847 Grace Aguilar’s health, owing mainly to her literary exertions, was clearly breaking down, and she determined to leave England on a visit to a brother who was studying music at Frankfort. Before her departure the Jewish ladies of London presented her with a testimonial and an address, ‘as the first woman who had stood forth as the public advocate of the faith of Israel.’ Soon after her arrival in Frankfort, Grace Aguilar was taken seriously ill, and, dying on 16 Sept. 1847, she was buried in the Jewish cemetery of the town. Her friend, Mrs. S. C. Hall, describes her as a woman of singularly lovable character, and relates many charitable acts done by her to fellow authoresses. Two of her works, the ‘Mother’s Recompense’ and the ‘Vale of Cedars,’ have been translated into German.
The following is excerpted from A Cyclopædia of Female Biography, published 1857 by Groomsbridge and Sons and edited by Henry Gardiner Adams.
AGUILAR, GRACE, Was born at Hackney, England, June 1816. Her father was Emanuel Aguilar, a merchant descended from the Jews of Spain. Grace was the eldest child; and her delicate health, during infancy and early youth, was a source of great solicitude to her parents. She was educated almost entirely at home, her mother being her instructor till she attained the age of fourteen, when her father commenced a regular course of reading to her, while she was employed in drawing or needle-work. At the age of seven she began keeping a regular journal; when she was about fifteen she wrote her first poetry; but she never permitted herself the pleasure of original composition until all her duties and her studies were performed.
Grace Aguilar was extremely fond of music; she had been taught the piano from infancy; and in 1831, commenced the harp. She sang pleasingly, preferred English songs, invariably selecting them for the beauty or sentiment of the words. She was also passionately fond of dancing; and her cheerful, lively manners, in the society of her young friends, would scarcely have led any to imagine how deeply she felt and pondered the serious and solemn subjects which afterwards formed the labour of her life. She enjoyed all that was innocent; but the sacred feeling of duty always regulated her conduct. Her mother once expressed the wish that Grace would not waltz; and no solicitation could afterwards tempt her. Her mother also required her to read sermons, and study religion and the Bible regularly; this was done by Grace cheerfully, at first as a task, but finally with much delight; for evidence of which we will quote her own words in one of her works, “Women of Israel.”
“This, (reading the Bible and studying religion,) formed into a habit, and persevered in for life, would in time, and without labour or weariness, give the comfort and the knowledge that we seek; each year would become brighter and more blest; each year we should discover something we knew not before; and in the valley of the shadow of death, feel to our heart’s core that the Lord our God is Truth.”
The first published work of Miss Aguilar was “The Magic Wreath,” a little poetical volume. Soon afterwards, “Home Influence” appeared; and then the “Women of Israel,” to these may be added “The Mother’s Recompense,” a sequel to Home Influence; “Woman’s Friendship,” a story of Domestic Life; the “Vale of Cedars,” a story of Spain in the 15th. century; and “The Days of Bruce,” a story from Scottish History, All of these works are highly creditable to the literary taste and talents of the writer; and they have a value beyond what the highest genius could give—the stamp of truth, piety, and love, and an earnest desire to do good to her fellow-beings. The death of her father, and the cares she took on herself in comforting her mother, and sustaining the exertions of her brothers, undermined, by degrees, her delicate constitution. She went abroad for her health, and died in Frankfort, in 1847. She was buried there in the cemetery, one side of which is set apart for the Jews, the people of her faith. The stone which marks the spot bears upon it a butterfly and five stars, emblematic of the soul in heaven; and beneath appears the inscription—”Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.”
Her works do indeed praise her. She died at the early age of thirty-one, and was never at leisure to pursue literature as her genius would have prompted, had not her spirit been so thoroughly subjected to her womanly duties. She seems always to have striven to make her life useful. She shows this in writing chiefly for her own sex; and her productions will now be stamped with the value which her lovely character, perfected and crowned by a happy death, imparts. She could not speak for some time before her decease; but having learned to use her fingers, in the manner of the deaf and dumb, almost the last time they moved, it was to spell upon them feebly—”Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”