A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Mohalbi, Garafilia
MOHALBI, GARAFILIA,
A Greek girl, was born in the island of Ipsara, in 1817. Her parents were rich and respectable, and among the first people in Ipsara. When Garafilia was about seven years of age, the place of her nativity was totally destroyed by the Turks, under the usual circumstances of horror. Saved by almost a miracle from a violent death, she fell into the hands of the enemy, was separated from her grandmother and sister, taken to Smyrna, and there was ransomed by an American merchant, to whose knees she clang for protection in the street. This gentleman took her home with him, and became so much engaged by her intelligence and amiableness, that he determined to send her to his relations in Boston, in order that she might receive, at his expense, an accomplished education in a free and undistracted land.
Garafilia arrived in Boston in the year 1827, was immediately domesticated in the family of her liberator's father, and very soon found her way into all their hearts. She won affections as by magic. Her protector knew no distinction, in his feelings, between her and his own daughters—he was her father—they were her sisters. She was so mild and gentle, so free from selfishness, so attentive to the wants of others, so ready to prefer their wishes to her own, so submissive and tractable, and withal so bright and cheerful; the beauty of her mind and morals harmonized so completely with the grace and truly Grecian loveliness of her person, that it was impossible to know and not become strongly attached to her. Her manners were much older than her years, and so considerate in every respect, that, so far from being a burthen, she could hardly be said to have been a care to her adopted father. Without stepping over the strictest bounds of truth, it may be asserted, that the first grief which she brought into his house, was when she sickened and died.
Her constitution had never been a strong one. Toward the close of the winter of 1830, she exhibited symptoms of a rapid decline. During her illness, the singular submissiveness of her character was remarkably developed. She uttered no complaint, was grateful for the least attention, and her only anxiety seemed to be to avoid giving trouble to any one. Her mental faculties remained clear to the last; and, till within a few days of her death, she read daily in her Bible, which she always kept close by her side or under her pillow. She died, March 17th., 1830, without a struggle, and apparently without a pang. She was only thirteen years old at the time of her decease, yet few of her sex have ever experienced such changes or such thrilling incidents as had marked her short span. But it is not as a heroine or a martyr that she finds her place in our record. We give her history as an example for young girls. Her amiable disposition, the lovely qualities of her mind and heart, make her distinguished. Like the rose of her own island home, the beauty of the blossom was brief; but the virtues of the soul, her patience and piety, like the fragrance of the flower, give a lasting charm to her character, and make her memory a sweet blessing to the young.