Teresa
performed a splendid service inside the Church to which she belonged: but
that service was wholly confined to the Religious Houses that she founded
and reformed. Teresa's was intended to be a kind of counter-reformation
to the reformation of Luther and Melanchthon and Valdes and Valera. And
such was the talent and the faith and the energy she brought to bear on
the work she undertook, that, had it been better directed, it might have
been blessed to preserve her beloved native land at the head of modern
Christendom. But, while that was not to be, it is the immense talent,
and the unceasing toil, and the splendid faith and self-surrender that
Teresa brought to bear on her intramural reformation; and, all through
that, on the working out of her own salvation,--it is all these things
that go to make Teresa's long life so memorable and so impressive, not
only in her own age and land and church, but wherever greatness of mind,
and nobleness of heart, and sanctity of life, and stateliness of
character are heard of and are esteemed.
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